Chapter Ten
Stubborn ass.
Henry slipped on his shoes, grabbed his handful of blankets and headed next door. She’d called someone to look at her heater. Next week before they could get there. Next. Week. And would she stay in his spare room? Or in his bed? No. Because she was a stubborn ass. Sometimes it was nice to see her take what she wanted. Not so much this time because he couldn’t sleep in his warm room, in his warm bed while she shivered next door. He just couldn’t. He should. He should wake up the next morning and brag about how well he’d slept, but it would be pointless.
It’s not like she’d change her mind. And besides, he wanted to see her. He wanted her nearby. So, here he was, walking across the frozen ground and up her back porch steps. He opened the backdoor he had fixed that afternoon, since he’d been the one to break it. That she had let him do.
She sat up from the couch as he came in. “What are you doing?”
He sighed and dropped his pile of blankets on the floor in front of the fire and started layering and straightening them. “If you’re not going to sleep in the heat with me, then I have no choice but to sleep here. That’s how grandpa raised me.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“No, sweetheart, I’m being a man.” He glanced down at the blankets he’d spread out. “It’d be warmer if we slept down here together and could share body heat.”
“A pick up line.” She rolled her eyes. “Still being a man, I see. Did your grandpa teach you that too?”
“That I should worry about the comforts of a woman?” He grinned. “You bet your sweet ass, he did.” He held out his hand and she took it. He pulled her to her feet and in close against his body. Now this was worth the trouble. “In fact, I’ll lay on my back and let you sleep on top of me, to further your comfort.”
She shook her head. “You’re so generous.”
He winked and tugged her toward his makeshift bed and drew her down on the floor. It actually wasn’t too bad when the fire was only a few feet away. Not near as warm as his RV, so he for damn sure wasn’t sleeping naked tonight.
“Well?” she asked.
“Fine. It’s not freezing cold.”
“Told you.”
“But I bet it is one cold bastard in here come morning when all those logs burn off.”
She laughed. “It is. But since you’re this great powerful southern gentleman raised by your grandpa, I know you’ll be itching to crawl out from under the covers and throw more wood on the coals to further my comfort.”
He tugged at her ponytail. “Someone found their sense of humor.”
She laughed and stroked her legs up his. “I’m finding worth to your thought process. I’d think you’d be glad.”
“Uh-huh.”
Again, her leg slid up his. An arm wrapped across his chest. He cocked his eye at her and she was still grinning, with that soft feminine sigh.
He met her gaze. “If you want to have sex, we’re going back to the RV. I’m not getting undressed out here.”
She slid atop him. “Who says you have to get undressed?”
His brow lifted, but then she pulled the cover over her head, her fingers skimmed down his sides and dipped in the band of his pants. “Jessie.”
“Yes, Henry?”
“No.”
“Yes.” She pressed kisses along his bared lowered stomach.
Her warm breath tickled him and her tongue made his breath catch. For this moment, with his ass clenched and cock thickening, he agreed—
Yes.
She inched the band of his pants down a bit further. He couldn’t see her under the covers, only feel her movements sliding down his body. Feel her weight shift and legs brush against his thighs.
Warm air blew across the head of his cock and he jerked, waiting and needing more, but blind to where she was. Warm, soft wetness stroked across his head and he groaned, fisting the covers in his hand as she took him in her mouth.
Liquid heat from her mouth surrounded him, pulled on him. Her fingers traced between his legs and she gripped his sac. He tried not to roughly jerk against her, but he couldn’t stop himself from thrusting as she sucked him deeper, then released. Her mouth took him, pulled on him tight. Her teeth slid along the sides of his cock and he groaned. Pain turned to pleasure. He put his hand on her head, trying to set a rhythm, but not push deeper than what she wanted.
He was painfully hard, wanting more, wanting to explode, but he held off as best he could. “Jessie.” His voice was thick and rough. “I’m about to….”
Her grip tightened around the base of him and she sucked harder. Her hand squeezed on his balls. He was about to come. He thrust up, his hands pulling against her hair as she sucked him until he couldn’t take anymore and release overcame him.
Muscles bunched and tightened. A knot held in his gut released and a sweeping path of tingles breathed through his veins. He let go of her hair and the heat of her mouth left him. Her fingers were cool against his belly as she pulled the band of his pants over him. A soft kiss was left on his stomach.
She tucked in next to his side and he caught his breath. He stroked against her back and stared at the ceiling. “I told you no.”
A small chuckle escaped her. “You should know by now that I’m not good with instructions.”
“Maybe you need a firmer hand telling you what to do. Take off your pants.”
“Not in this cold house.” She reached up and put her hand over his lips. “But maybe tomorrow I will.”
The storm outside picked up, rain pinged over the window. He lay not quite awake. Not quite asleep. It was like a camping trip. Crackling warm fire. Blankets and pillows piled up on the floor. A beautiful woman against his side falling asleep with her head on his chest.
This had been what he’d wanted. Her soft in his arms. Leaning against him for warmth and comfort. It didn’t really count since she was sound asleep, but it was there. Nearly.
He stroked his hand down her back and closed his eyes. Another creak and a crack popped. The wind was strong tonight, blowing and whipping around the corners of the house. The old pipes groaned. The glass panes shook. A small tremble of vibration shuddered through the floor of the house and his eyes flew open.
Wind whipped hard. Rain pounded and sleet pinged and splattered the sides of the house. Again, vibrations rumbled under him.
“Jessie.” He shook her.
She moaned and wiggled down in the blankets. Her head moved against his chest and then stilled.
The house rumbled. Wind howled. Rain pelted down. Something splintered. A loud crack. There was no lightening illuminating the windows and he didn’t think that was thunder. He sat up. Trinkets and pictures on the walls shook. The ceiling fan, duct taped in place, swung in wide arches. Surely that wasn’t normal in a storm. Another splinter shattered and popped from another room.
He threw covers back and stood.
“Jessie!” He yelled and grabbed her sleep-sound body around the waist and jerked her from the floor.
“Henry!” she screamed.
He grappled with her, stumbling through the living room. He dragged her along beside him, trying to stand with her legs twisting around his. He shoved open the door and the house rumbled and groaned.
The walls and doorway shook. Cold air, rain and slivers of ice beat against his cheeks. The house shook rattled. The frame of the door cracked. Shards of wood flickered off. He jumped and slung her as hard as he could. He landed on the steps and rolled down. The house groaned, crashed, shaking the ground he laid on.
Dust gusted up in the air and he rolled away, looking for Jessie in the pitch dark blackness. “Jessie!”
“Henry?”
He crawled to the sound of her voice. A boom thundered from behind. He turned around, tucked her against his side. Lights from his RV illuminated the home crumbling to a pile. She shivered against his body, staring toward the heap of everything she was holding on to. He stood, getting them out of this weather and carried her to his thankfully spared RV.
The strong winds had pushed the house away from it. Her eyes never left the remains of her home and it stabbed deep, all the way through his chest. Once inside, she said not a word, but stared out the window. He stood with her a moment, looking at the pile that was once her house. Staring where they’d been not moments ago.
She didn’t move and he stroked his hand down the freezing sleeves of her pajamas. There was no point waiting or asking. He grabbed sweats which were going to be way too big for her and quickly undressed her. Only the outer layer had been wet and put his clothes on over. Her hair was soaked and he took a towel to her until it was no longer dripping. She was swallowed in the old LA TECH college sweatshirt with her hair hanging, but she was dry and would be warm.
He encouraged her to sit at the kitchen table and he changed his clothes. When he came back, she was in the same spot, still staring.
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Jessie?”
She glanced to him, her eyes somehow heavy and sadder than before, held his gaze for a brief moment before returning to look at her destroyed childhood home. He fixed her a mug of hot chocolate and sat next to her.
All night long, he sat next to her. The hot chocolate, untouched, had long gone cold.
She only blinked and stared out to the remains of all she had until the sun finally rose over the far horizon. He kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be right back.”
She didn’t nod or anything and he hurried out the door and to his car. He didn’t know the number to her cousin Tiffany, but he knew she lived at the next house down the road.
Her cousin would know what to do. She would have to.
Chapter Eleven
Everything she owned was on the ground in a heap. What few things that might not have been destroyed by the house falling, were being finished off by the rain.
Everything she’d been holding on to for so long was gone. Just like that. Gone.
“Jessie?”
She blinked and faced her cousin, Tiffany, who squatted at her side. “What are you doing here?” She looked up to see Mike, Rebecca and Grant all there as well. “What are you all…doing here?”
Tiffany put her hand on Jessie’s thigh. “We heard about the house. Henry came looking for me.” She blinked, a knowing look crossed her face. “I was worried.”
Tiffany of course knew of Jessie’s months of loss…and now Henry did, but none of the others. She smiled at her. “I’m okay.”
“You look…still.”
Jessie looked at the heap and shook her head. God, they’d been so close. Had Henry not been with her, woken up in time and literally thrown her out the door, she’d have been gone. She pulled in a breath. “It’s a miracle it stood this long and I was lucky Henry was there to pull me out before I was crushed.”
Tiffany hugged her tight and stood. “I’m glad you’re okay. Come on. You’re coming home with us. We have a spare room now that Rebecca’s moved out.”
“And as soon as the manor is restored,” Rebecca added, “we’ll be moving out and you can have our trailer. You’re okay.”
Jessie smiled at her friends, her
family
and didn’t know what to say. Not that she was given the chance.
“No.” Henry’s hands settled on her shoulders and the people in front of her lifted their gazes over her head, presumably to Henry. Mike was there, his badge on his hip, his glasses pulled off and his cop face on. Then Grant, who, well frankly, people just didn’t mess with Grant between his rippling muscles, height and tattoos. Henry rubbed his hands down her shoulders. She glanced up his slender, but solid frame. His face serious, jaw set. “Jessie has things to do here. She’ll tell you of her…things she does on this land and why she can’t leave it. She’s welcome to stay with me for as long as she likes and when I have to go, I’ll leave her my RV until she rebuilds so she can be on her property to easily maintain her place. Unless she wants to go with you all.”
She smiled and covered his hand with hers. “Thank you.”
He looked down at her. “Besides, there’s work to be done out there. The Jessie McBride I know will be putting on a slicker suit and thermals in a few minutes to start digging through what’s left.”
She laughed. Hard. None of the others did, but she stood, wrapped her arms around Henry’s neck and pressed at kiss to his smiling mouth, then looked at her family. “Henry is right. I do have things to do here, but I think I’ll pass on the slicker suit and wait until tomorrow.”
She had other things in mind. Facing her family head on, she dropped her hand down his back and pinched Henry’s ass as she walked past. He didn’t jump or startle, but merely cut his eyes at her.
She hugged Tiffany and Rebecca, thanked them for coming and saw them out. After closing the door, she turned to Henry, unable to stop the smile on her face. “Thank you.” She walked to him. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
He shrugged. “I told you I was a good listener. I knew you wouldn’t want to be pushed around.”
She covered his mouth. “Thank you for getting me out of the house. Thank you for running to get Tiffany because you were worried.” She smiled, unable to stop it. “And yes, thank you for standing up for me. For listening.”
“But your mother’s house?”
Sadness coated her insides. “It’s gone. It’s been trying to fall apart for years, but I’ve been struggling to hold it together.” She turned and stared out the window. Looking for some emotion to explain how she felt. There was no answer. “I just…I don’t know how I feel. I’m sorry I scared you earlier, but I’m trying to figure it out. Sad it’s gone? Sad my things are gone. Thrilled I’m alive? Upset that there’s nothing left of my mother’s house when I’ve been fighting like hell to keep it all for years…but then, how can I be upset that the house is gone when I was nearly killed in it?”
He wrapped his arms around her from behind. “It’s okay. You don’t have to figure it out today.”
She rubbed his arms holding her close. “I guess I’m just a little lost. Where do I go from here? The land and the house are all I’ve ever had. Thanks to you, keeping the land isn’t a worry anymore. I was going to use the money to fix momma’s house. Now, I have nothing.”
He cupped her shoulders and tugged at her, turning her around. “Grandpa says you can have anything you want, you just need to pick.”
She dropped her head to his forehead. “That grandpa of yours?”
He frowned. “What about him?”
“I’m thinking he’s an awesome man and I can’t wait to meet him.”
She cupped his cheeks, pulled him in close and pressed kisses over his lips. His arms came around her, tugged her to his chest and she walked him backwards. To his bedroom. With dawn coming over the horizon, Jessie was going back to bed. She grinned against his mouth.
“Something funny?” His voice was down to a whisper. Heavy and raspy.
“I’m just happy.”
“Good. You deserve to be.”
She pushed him through his bedroom door, but turned, putting her back to his bed and fell on the thick mattress and pulled him down over her. “You know how the other morning I didn’t want to lay in bed all day?”
He combed her hair back. “Yeah.”
She smiled. “Can we do that today?”
“We can do whatever you want.”
He dropped his mouth over hers. His tongue swept across her lips and she opened for him. Surrendered to his touch sliding down her arm, to her waist and under her shirt. Under her thermals, to a thin layer beneath and he laughed.
“What?”
“You have way too many clothes on for this.” He pushed off the bed and pulled her to sitting. “Arms up.”
She did without question and he lifted all three of her shirts and pulled them off at once, leaving her bare. The air in the room was cool, but when Henry dropped to his knee in front of her, his breath was hot.
Her nipples pulled into tight buds until they ached. His lips nipped across her breasts and she wanted more, harder. They would get there. In this, she knew Henry was right, she’d be nothing but satisfied at his hand.
She smiled as he moved close and sucked the tip of her in. A sharp, intense tingle spiraled through. She grabbed him by the hair and held him close, but he didn’t give it easy. Instead he kissed down her stomach until gripping her hips and encouraged her to stand. He hooked his fingers in her pants, pushed her layers down.
He paused with his face at her curls. His breath blew against her most sensitive spot. “Three pairs of pants too?”
She nodded. “And two socks.”
He chuckled and bent, pulling the pants off one leg at a time. The rough stubble on his cheek slid down her thighs and she shuddered. She barely caught his quick grin before stroking against her knee.
He glanced up. “Why don’t you sit before you fall down?”
She did as he suggested and lifted her foot for him. He kissed her knee, the side of her shin and rolled off the first, thick sock to reveal the tighter fitting white one underneath.
“You really know how to dress to turn on a man on.”
She laughed as he started on the next sock.
“You think I’m playing. You’re like one of those presents that have been wrapped in several different kinds of paper and boxes.” He pulled off the sock and moved to the other foot. “Taking off each new layer makes your heart pump a little faster.”
“And here I thought men liked slinky and see through.”
He grinned and removed both socks at once. “I wouldn’t complain over that either.” He stood, his hands dragged up the side of her. “Or if you came to bed just like this.”
He leaned forward and she laid back as he continued hovering close. This was so different than what she was used to, but she wasn’t going to guide or instruct. She flashed back to that moment in the woods that seemed forever ago. When she’d been lost in his arms, powerless but to feel him. That’s what she wanted again. He moved above, his mouth fitting across hers, tongue slipping past her lips.
For just a few hours today, Jessie was going to let all her worries go and let someone take care of her. Do as he wanted with her. Tomorrow she’d go back to work. And her schedule and her needs. But today, she was going to be at the mercy of Henry’s hands.
Completely surrender everything.
He kissed down her throat to her breasts. His touch was soft, teasing. Then increasing to firm strokes. His thumbs rolled across her sensitive hardened tips.
He bent, pulling her in his mouth. His warm tongue rasped over her and she arched into him. The soft cotton of his sweatshirt brushed against her stomach. The rough material of his jeans awoke every nerve ending along her thighs.
She reached under his thick sweatshirt and inched the band up his body. He was bare underneath. No long-sleeved undershirt. Not even a t-shirt. He reached behind his head and pulled it off, tossing it on top of her already large pile. She didn’t wait. Had been robbed of this chance before because she’d been stupid and taking to satisfy instead of feeling, enjoying.
She put her hands to his flat, firm chest. His skin was warm. The small patch of hair smooth. He lowered to his elbows, his stomach pressed flat atop her. His hands caressed through her hair, wound the ends around his fingers. “You’re a beautiful woman, Jessie McBride. I hope you know that.”
She pressed her lips together and just stared into his wide, open eyes. She did know that. Knew every time he looked at her.
He glanced down, toward her mouth and traced her lower lip with his thumb. “And not just because you’re pretty on the outside. But the inside too. You’re so strong. I meant what I said. You can do anything you want.”
“That means a lot.”
His cheeks colored to red and he dropped his gaze. “Well, uh, grandpa always said honesty with the ladies was the best way to go.”
She laughed and pulled him to her. She wasn’t sure how she ended up with this man. She didn’t know how long it would last, but she knew for certain agreeing to lease him a few acres of land was the best decision she had ever made. This between them was good and comfortable. She’d been a fool to resist this long.
She reached down the front of him and popped open his jeans.
He stopped her with a quick grab of her wrist. “This isn’t going to be like last time.”
She shook her head and swallowed. “No. I just, I’m not used to staying afterwards.”
“You’re going to have to get used to it. I like to cuddle.”
She laughed and he released her hands. She fumbled between them and loosened the buttons and lowered the zipper. He was long and firm against the back of her hands. His stomach tightened as she lightly stroked him through the fabric of his underwear.
She pushed on the band of his pants. He stood long enough to shove his jeans down. His member was long and firm. He opened a drawer at his back and covered his length, then returned to the bed with her.
Skin on skin. From head to toe. Where he was hard, she was soft.
He moaned against her ear. “You should have left my pants on.”
She arched up, stroking along his length. “No. I want this, like this.”
He reached down and cupped her thigh. His fingers squeezed against her leg, hand drifted up over the top and his thumb just barely grazed against this center of her. She tried arching to follow his touch, to have more of it, only to be denied.
Again, his hand moved up her thigh. This time sliding along the inside of her leg. She angled her hips, wanting and needing his touch. His fingertips drew closer and he edged around the side of her. He didn’t tease her long this time and stroked back down, his finger caressed her wet opening and she sighed as he offered a bit of relief from the straining pleasure.
She held him as tight to her as he would allow. She wanted him closer, covering her, inside her. She wanted him rocking her with pleasure and making her world come apart for those few precious seconds where there was nothing but tingles sparking through her skin.
He moved over her, his hips between hers. She wrapped her legs around his waist, ready to pull him in close. The tip of his sex slid along her opening and he leaned forward, filling her in one long, slow agonizing sweep.
She hooked her ankles together, angled her hips and took his strokes. Slow at first. Then faster. He was over her head and she caught his lips with hers, opened her mouth for him and his tongue moved alongside hers.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands cupped her breasts and his thrusts grew faster. Filled her harder. She dropped her head back. It was all so much, all happening so fast. A wire from within pulled tighter and tighter. Her toes curled, thighs squeezed.
He filled her again and the wire shattered. She cried out, tugging at his hair. Those blissful, peaceful moments of nothing but her and intense pleasure blanketed over everything.
He thrust again and stilled, a deep moan rumbled from his chest against hers and he settled down on top of her. He finger combed her hair back from her face and caught her lips against his in nuzzling kisses. She melted under him, unwound her arms and legs from him and just relaxed.