Bigger Than the Sky (Serenity Point) Read online

  “Have to say, I’m kinda surprised you still have a face because it looked like Jeremy was trying to suck it off,” I tease with a giggle.

  “Holy shit, Mill. He’s the best kisser ever,” she replies with a dreamy sigh. “I think I want to have his babies.”

  I raise my eyebrows at this. “That serious?”

  She shrugs then takes a drink.

  “Wow,” I respond. This is interesting. I know she’s liked him for a long time, but Cass has not once talked about settling down with anyone ever.

  “So, what happened with you and my brother last night?” she inquires.

  “Really wanna know?” I ask as I hold a rib with my fingers and bite off the meat.

  She scrunches up her face in thought for a moment. “You know, this is tough. You’re my best friend and I want to know all about your sex life just not with my brother. That’s kinda gross.”

  “Let’s just say I got mine and leave it at that.”

  I can see she’s conflicted not knowing whether to cheer or be disgusted that she knows her brother performed oral sex on me which makes me snort.

  “Damn…” she mumbles.

  “Yeah. When he left, he told me to let him know when I’m ready for all of him.”

  She chokes on the drink she’s taking. “God. If he wasn’t my brother, I’d say that was fuckin’ hot.”

  I nod in agreement, also taking a drink. “Got my permits today and had several people come in for applications.”

  “You gonna set up interviews?” she asks.

  “After they turn in their apps. I’m excited, though! Who knew I’d feel this way about getting the place up and running?”

  “I’m glad, Mill.” She takes a bite of her beans. “Wish you’d consider staying.”

  “Wish you wouldn’t talk with your mouth full,” I say then crack up when she almost spits out her bite.

  Dinner’s great, the company’s even better and after I help her clean up, I head back to town with her following so she can run by the fire station and drop off some ribs for Brody and Jeremy and maybe have an impromptu “make-out sesh” with Jeremy, her words exactly. I’m really happy for her. She’s pined for him for years and I’m glad he’s finally gotten his head out of his ass.

  It’s eleven when I finally plop my tired body into bed. Just as I’m drifting off, I get a text message.

  Kade: …the sky

  I bite my lip and decide not to reply.

  Chapter 13

  Tuesday goes by quickly with several more people coming in to pick up applications. I’ve looked over the ones I’ve gotten and called those who I feel are most qualified in for interviews on Friday. I’ve heard back from the state and the inspector will be out Friday to have a look around, and as soon as that’s done, the fuel company Papaw used is coming out to fill the tanks. I’ve kept the insurance all along and the next payment is due next week, so everything’s in order.

  Several times during the day when I’ve been outside sweeping the filling lanes or cleaning the windows, I’ve not been able to help myself and looked across the street at Kade’s store. Funny thing is, of the several times I’ve checked it out, I’ve caught him watching me right back a few times, his eyes boring holes into mine from inside the store and once when he was outside loading plywood into Mr. Matthews’ truck. I can feel his ire from here as the tension between us mounts. Yikes.

  I get no texts from him tonight, which kind of disappoints me. As I lie in bed, I wonder if we could ever make it work again, if I could let my guard down and trust him completely. Then thoughts of him and Peyton sucking face enter my head and I huff out a sigh knowing the answer.

  I dream of Kade’s hard body covering mine as he pumps inside me over and over, and I wake up frustrated, cursing myself for not bringing my vibrator.

  ~~~

  Late Wednesday morning I’m outside with a can of paint touching up here and there when Dax pulls up again. Yippee.

  “I hear your permits went through,” he says with a grin coming forward to invade my space.

  “Yes, they did,” I reply moving away from him and walking over to set the paint can down by the door.

  “If you need me to make any calls to hurry the inspection along, I can do that.” He’s followed me and is once more hovering in my personal space.

  “That’s okay,” I reply taking a step away. “I’m expecting them Friday anyway.”

  “It wouldn’t be a problem. I’m always up for helping a pretty lady.” He steps even closer. Good God. I try moving away from him again, but he takes the step with me and curls his arm around my waist. Oh, boy. His mouth is at my ear when he murmurs, “I’ve got a ten-acre ranch south of town if you’d ever like to come out for a ride.” He’s put emphasis on the word ride and now Captain Insinuation is getting ready to get slapped.

  “Dax,” I hear Kade say from behind me, his voice clipped.

  I turn around quickly and see him glaring at Dax, his jaw muscles jumping, his eyes stone cold on him.

  “Hey, Kade! How’re you doing?” Dax says as he turns, holding his right hand out and bringing his left up to clap Kade’s shoulder either oblivious to the fact that Kade’s giving him The Look or not caring one bit that he is.

  Kade stares at the hand Dax is holding out for a few seconds, not taking it, before his eyes come back up to continue giving him what I’d now call The Uber Look. I had no idea there were different levels to The Look. Yikes. And I think it’d be safe to say there’s some bad blood between them. Then I remember that Peyton was cheating on her husband with Dax, so of course Kade doesn’t like him and that thought pisses me off.

  “Well, I’ve got things to do,” I say and start to walk away.

  “It was nice seeing you again, Amelia. Come by the office some time. Better yet, come on out to the ranch,” Dax says with a wink and a big, flirty smile.

  Yeah. That’s never going to happen. Then stupid me, you know, thirty-year-old-woman-who-knows-better me, plays the high school drama card and I throw out there, “Thanks. I will, Dax,” and I give him what I hope is a coy smile trying to make Kade jealous. I turn and, rolling my eyes, go inside the station behind the counter and fire up Papaw’s computer. Grabbing my now-cold mug of coffee, I go to the back to dump it in the sink and refill it and when I return to the front, Kade’s standing there hands on hips looking at me like he wants to strangle me. “Jesus, I’ve gotta put a frickin’ bell on that door,” I mumble, going behind the counter to check the computer but also to put some space between us.

  “The fuck, Mill?” he spits out with a scowl.

  I scowl right back at him throwing in some squinty eyes. This goes on for a couple seconds before I say, “What?” Groundbreaking, I know.

  He throws his hands up then frowns and those freaking intense gray eyes of his narrow, burning into mine. “Had my mouth on you not three days ago. You, screamin’ my name, beggin’ for me to make you come, hands clutchin’ my hair like you’d die if I let you go.”

  I barely hold in my gasp. The man does have a way with words.

  “Then you ignore me for the rest of the time and now openly flirt with that asshole? And right in front of me?” His hands go back to his hips and he’s looking at me as if I’m just the worst kind of person.

  And that just does not sit well with me.

  “Are you kidding me right now?” I ask, setting my coffee cup down and putting my hands on my hips to mirror him.

  “It look like I’m kidding?” he asks, his tone dangerous.

  I walk around the counter right up to him and put a finger to his chest, poking him as I talk. “Yeah, well, don’t forget that three days ago you also had your tongue rammed down Peyton’s throat!”

  He looks at me as if I’m just plain nuts.

  “What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” he asks, frowning and shaking his head at me.

  “I saw you Sunday night after you left here! I watched you walk her a
nd Brody to your pickup then after you got in, you and Peyton practically attacked each other.” He frowns even harder now, looking like he’s trying to remember what happened a few days ago. I’ve had enough and roll my eyes, shaking my own damned head. “I understand it’s Peyton and I realize she’s not too memorable, but I know what I saw.”

  He huffs out a laugh as if we’ve been chit-chatting about the weather and I’ve just made some kind of cloud joke. As if what I just told him isn’t big news, big enough to make someone, like, say me, become jealous that someone else, maybe him, had his friggin’ tongue rammed down another woman’s throat even though this particular someone, still using me as an example here, won’t own up to the fact that maybe she just might be madly attracted to him, even still in love with him, but is so confused about where she stands on that teeny bit of info that it makes her want to scream.

  He takes a couple steps toward me making me back up. “It’s not what you think,” he says with a chuckle still coming toward me as I keep retreating.

  Shit. I look from side to side as I move back, trying to get away from him. “That’s what all cheaters say.”

  “How can I be called a cheater when you keep telling yourself that we’re not together?” he asks with a smirk, still advancing upon me, his eyes now filled with hunger as he looks me up and down as if he wants to devour me whole. Holy hell.

  I make it to the stairs and start up them backwards. “Wh-what are you doing?”

  “Gonna tell you what you saw Sunday night.”

  “Uh, I’m good,” I say as he continues following me up the stairs, that damned smirk still present.

  When I get to the top, I turn and try to put some distance between us but when I spin again, he’s right there. I must remember to call his commanding officer or whoever and congratulate them on teaching our nation’s bravest how to move like frickin’ ninjas. Jeez. And now he’s finally got me cornered, my back to the wall by my bed and I’m trapped.

  “Want you to listen, Mill, and listen fucking good. Peyton’s a bitch. Haven’t been with her and don’t plan to be. Got it?” His hands are on the wall on either side of me and he’s leaning down getting right in my face to tell me this.

  “I know what I saw,” I mutter weakly turning my face away from his with a frown. I know what I saw, damn it!

  He takes my chin between his thumb and finger, turning me to look at him. “When I went back to Jen’s to get Brody, Peyton pulled her ‘I’m too drunk to drive’ routine, hanging all over me asking me to take her home. Some asshole I didn’t know was hitting on her. What was I supposed to do, leave her there with him not knowing what he’d do with her?”

  Well, yeah! I want to say, but I guess I can’t argue with what he did. I’m thinking he’s such a nice guy when I remember that he took her home with him. What an ass.

  “So here’s what you saw. Got her in the truck, got Brody’s drunk ass in the truck. I got in the truck. Peyton tried her usual bullshit getting all up on me, but that shit’s not gonna happen, you understand?”

  “But you kissed her for like ever! She had her arms around your neck!”

  “She did. Was buckling Brody in and she was all up on me making it difficult. Guess you didn’t see when I stuck my forearm in her throat making her move back.”

  I narrow my eyes at him knowing what he’s saying could be the truth because his truck was dark and I couldn’t see that clearly. Maybe he’s not an ass after all. But now an ugly thought hits me. “Then why’d you take her home with you?” Changed my mind. He’s still an ass.

  “Didn’t.” He traces his work-roughened fingers down my throat now, watching them as they meet the scoop neck of my sweater.

  I swallow thickly, his fingers on me making me a tad flustered. “I-I saw you driving out of town toward Brody’s.”

  “When Peyton realized she wasn’t getting anywhere with me, she asked me to take her to Dax’s, so I did. His house is on the way to Brody’s, so I dropped her off.” He raises his eyes to mine daring me to ask him more.

  “Why the hell are you so nice to her if she’s such a bitch?” I blurt.

  Drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he removes his hand from me and runs it over his face then down to scratch his cheek through his beard. He pushes off the wall with his other hand and turns taking several steps away from me. When he turns back, I see his jaw muscles going at it again and I can tell he’s mad. “It’s complicated.”

  “Yeah? Well, I think I’m intelligent enough to understand complications.” I know I’m being nosy, but I want to know why he feels he has to be nice to her.

  “Let it go, Mill,” he says, now pinning me to the wall with just the look he gives me.

  Oh, no. He’s not getting off that easily. I mean, I’m involved now whether he likes it or not. “You know what? The other day you told me you love me. You… you…” I whisper this next part, feeling my face getting hot, “made me come so hard I think I traveled to Venus,” phew, got that over with, “but now you can’t trust me enough to explain why you’re best buddies with the Regina George of Serenity Point?” God! This is so not fetch!

  “Don’t know who that is, Mill,” he says making me stare slack-jawed at him.

  I finally shut my mouth and say, “Mean Girls? You know, ‘Boo! You whore!’”

  I see his mouth tip up at the edges and then his eyes are burning into mine again as he changes the subject and takes a step toward me. “Made you travel to Venus, huh?”

  Crap. I did say that, didn’t I? “Uh…”

  He’s now coming toward me with the smoothness that I think his body has always known and it’s just a sight to see, let me tell you. So while I’m appreciating the ease at which he moves, forgetting all about Peyton, I’m too distracted to get the hell out of there and find myself once again captured against the wall. Double crap.

  “Think you should stop fighting this and just give in,” he says looking down at me with a trace of humor in his smoldering eyes.

  Okay. Let me take a timeout here. Honest to God, I don’t know why I’m fighting this so hard. I mean, would it really be so bad to just give in to my feelings for him? I know I’m wildly attracted to him, I know he’s a good man, and I know I could fall for him so easily again, so what’s my deal? Then I think that maybe five years of living without letting emotion rule my thought processes might have something to do with it. That or I’m just plain scared. Yep. Pretty sure that’s it. Or I could be a masochist who enjoys keeping my body from experiencing the pleasure I know he can administer like none other. And suddenly, I feel like I’m starved for all things Kade, and I’m so tired of fighting it and he looks so damned good that I just decide to give in.

  For now.

  I raise an eyebrow at him. “You want me to give in? Think you can handle it, Kade?” I challenge arrogantly with a smirk of my own as he narrows his eyes at me. I don’t give him a chance to answer, grabbing him with both hands at his chest, my fingers latching into his shirt and pulling him down to me, proceeding to smash my mouth to his. I turn us so he’s against the wall and press my body into his like some damned cat as I rub myself all over him while our tongues tangle together furiously.

  Believe it or not, with all the hotness going on here, my stupid brain won’t shut off and I find I’m suddenly angry that he’s gotten through the walls I’ve built up, that he’s pushed me this far, that he won’t answer simple questions, and I stop for a few seconds pulling back to glare up at him. But angry sex is good sex even if just one party’s mad, and from the look on his face, I don’t think he cares whether I’m mad or not which just pisses me off more. But I can’t stop this. Not now.

  “Want me to stop fighting it?” I ask haughtily, attacking his neck with my mouth, nipping it with my teeth and making him groan. “I’ll stop fighting it, Kade, but you think you’re ready for all of me?” I throw his words from last night back at him as I continue rubbing myself against him, biting his jaw
lightly then moving to his neck again. I’m out of control, unable to stop myself or the thrill that runs through me as I feel him now hard against my stomach. My hand moves down to stroke him over his jeans and I hear him hiss out a “Fuck!”

  A couple more strokes and I know he’s had enough of being my boy toy when he grabs my hand by the wrist twisting it behind my back and turning us to where I’m facing the wall as he crushes his hard body against my back.

  “Question again is, will you be ready for me,” he growls into my ear, his hot breath making me shiver against him as he grinds his erection into my bottom.

  He lets my wrist go only to take it again along with my other one, now holding both arms above me against the wall, both wrists captured in one of his hands as his other moves to my front, sliding up under my sweater to my breast where he rakes his thumb over my hardened nipple then across to the other to do the same then his hand continues down over my abdomen. When he gets to my jeans, the tips of his fingers dance across the skin above the waistband, flirting with the idea of dipping inside, as he moves them a bit underneath the denim then back out. I arch my back into him in anticipation and let out a moan right before he plunges his hand down, right into my panties, his fingers curling over me as he mumbles into my ear, “So fucking slick… so hot,” then he thrusts two fingers inside making me cry out as my head slams back against his chest.

  I think the question of whether I’m ready for him has now been answered because it only takes two more thrusts of his fingers and a swipe of his thumb over my clit a few times before I come unglued right there against the wall, screaming his name as my climax blazes through me, igniting every last part of me, leaving me breathless, gasping as he continues moving his fingers inside, wringing every bit out of me as I continue to spasm around him.

  I’m now standing with my forehead pressed against the wall trying to catch my breath when he whispers roughly in my ear, “Amelia.”

  And holy hell that’s hot. Just hearing my name uttered from between his lips makes me tremble with excitement.