Whiskey Girl (6 page)

Ausha thought about it. She wasn’t quite
sure she would go that far but didn’t know how to explain it without sounding
like a complete idiot either. “No. Maybe. I don’t know, but it was nice.”

“That’s a start, darlin’, a very good
start.”

Chapter Five

Doug was chomping at the bit the next
morning, waiting for Ausha’s call. He couldn’t get the feel of her out of his
head. She was so fucking sexy his cock twitched just thinking about her. It had
taken every ounce of willpower he possessed not to remove her pants and take
her right there on the plain beige couch of her sparsely decorated apartment.

That thought had him laughing. Sparse was
being generous where the appeal of her place was concerned. It was one of the
things Doug had decided to fix. He really had no clue what her tastes ran toward,
but he was willing to take a chance. The place was in need of color,
desperately.

He released a sigh of relief when the phone
rang. “Hello.”

“Morning.” Her voice was throaty and low as
if she wasn’t quite awake. He loved the sound of it and couldn’t wait until he
could hear it firsthand from right next to her on the bed.

“Good morning to you too, beautiful.” And
she was. Stunningly, gloriously beautiful. “What’s your favorite color?”

His question seemed to cause some sort of
confusion. “My favorite color?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

If she said black, he was going to tan her
ass. Once the thought danced through his mind, Doug wished she would say black.

“Red, I guess.”

She guessed?
“You
don’t know what your favorite color is?”

When she got quiet, Doug knew there was
more going through her head than colors. “It’s been a long time since I’ve
thought about it. I used to like calm colors, pastels.”

Doug couldn’t understand why the change.
“Why red now?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s silly.”

Now she’d piqued his interest. “A silly
reason for picking a favorite color? Now I
have
to know.”

“All right. I read somewhere once that for
the Cherokee red was a color of protection. I liked the story so I sort of
borrowed the idea.”

Ausha was such a contradiction. She left herself
open to theft and God knew what else by leaving her doors unlocked, yet she
picked her new favorite color because it was one of protection. As the thought
crossed his mind, Doug asked, “Are your doors and windows locked?”

A groan of irritation crossed the distance
between phones. “Yeah, all locked.”

“Good. Curtains drawn?”

“Yep, I’m shut in tight.” This time he
could hear the smile in her voice. It warmed his heart.

“Thank you, darlin’. It makes me happy
knowing you’re safe.” Doug meant every word he said. “Not that I would have
minded terribly, spanking your ass for not taking care of business.”

When her end of the line remained silent,
Doug decided to get a feel for the lay of things. “Does being spanked turn you
on, Ausha?”

She made a choking sound before answering.
When she did, her voice was much lower than before and no longer sounded sleep
muddled. “I’ve never really tried it.”

“Ahhh, makes me almost as happy as knowing
your doors are locked.”

This time her laugh was full of energy. It
was the first time he’d heard her truly laugh. “Why the hell would you say such
a thing?”

Doug’s smile reached from ear to ear at the
humor in her voice. “Because I want your first experience to be with me.”

Her laughter died an abrupt death only to
be replaced by a hiss of breath. He nearly cursed aloud, thinking he’d royally
screwed up, possibly pushing too hard too early.

“After last night, that might be a very
good possibility.”

He was taken aback by her candidness. “I’m
always open for possibilities, darlin’.”

The next few seconds were occupied by an
uncomfortable silence. When she spoke again, her voice no longer seemed joyous.
“I used to be, but, Doug?”

Doug hated to hear her sound so uncertain.
He wished she were there with him so they could speak face-to-face while he
held her tight in his arms. “Yeah, baby.”

“I’m scared.”

Admitting fear was the last thing he
expected from her. It made his heart ache to know she was going through so much
at a time when she should be experiencing life to its fullest.

“I know and I’m sorry for it, but, Ausha?”
He didn’t wait for her to answer. “We’ll figure it all out and you’ll do what
you need to do to bring yourself back to a life with some sort of semblance of
normalcy.”

For a moment he’d wavered in his decision
to push her, to drag her out of the doom and gloom she called life, but saying
those words to her were like a vow. He was going to do exactly as he said. She
was going to be pushed until she probably hated the mere sight of him. Doug
sincerely hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but he also knew it was a distinct
possibility and was trying to prepare for the outcome.

Ausha didn’t respond to his comment. “I’ll
be ready in about thirty minutes. If you could pick me up then, that would be
great.”

“No problem. I’ll see you then.” Hell, he
was ready to see her now. Thirty minutes was going to seem like a lifetime.

Doug made the short drive to Ausha’s with
excitement pumping through his veins. It was a short-lived emotion however
because when she answered the door, it was obvious she was not feeling the same
way. Her stance was rigid, her tone of voice tentative and unmistakenly
regretful. All of that was bad enough, but her refusal to look him in the face
as he greeted her was like a kick in the gut.

She didn’t invite him in, instead she
closed the door behind her and locked it. Well, at least she’d learned one
thing, Doug thought to himself as he watched her turn the key in the deadbolt
lock.

As he had last night, Doug made sure Ausha
was settled safely into the passenger seat of his truck before walking around
and climbing into the cab himself.

“Thank you for coming to get me.”

They were the first words she’d spoken
since he’d knocked on her door. “I said I would.”

Doug wasn’t going to let her hide from him
even if it was within plain sight. Leaning across the bench seat, he took her
chin between his thumb and index finger. She turned to him without too much
prompting, her eyes bleak.

“We can’t do this.”

The hell they couldn’t!
“What’s that, darlin’?”

She motioned, a nervous gesture with her
hands. “Whatever this is. Between us. It isn’t going to work.”

Doug stared deep into her eyes then. He
took in everything he saw, the fear, the pain, the confusion, and he took it
within himself in order to remain calm and patient. He had absolutely no
intention of letting her do a one-sided dictation of what happened to them when
he knew damn good and well she’d enjoyed herself last night. Doug also knew
that was the crux of the problem.

“It already is happening, Ausha baby. It’s
been happening since the second we laid eyes on each other.” When she opened
her mouth to speak, he moved his hand from her chin in order to lay a finger
across her lips. “Have a little faith in yourself, darlin’.” He rubbed the
backs of his knuckles across the silky-smooth flesh of her check before
returning it to the steering wheel. His next words were hard for both of them.
“If you’re able to do that, then maybe one day you’ll be able to have a little
faith in me.”

Driving to the bar was a somber event. They
both remained quiet. Ausha was probably just as lost in thought as he was. When
they reached Malone’s, Doug put the truck into park. “Stay where you are,
darlin’.”

Of course she didn’t do as asked. Before he
got around to her side of the truck, she had already unbuckled her seat belt
and thrown her door wide.

“I’m perfectly capable of getting in and
out of a vehicle all by myself.” Her chin was set, her mouth a frown.

“Remember the spanking we were talking
about on the phone this morning?” She said nothing so he continued. “They
aren’t nearly as much fun if I’m not fucking you or touching your body in a way
that makes you tingle. Get my drift?”

Instead of appearing meek or concerned as
pretty much any other woman would have when placed in the same position, Ausha
once again showed her true colors. She slid off the seat to land right in front
of him. Doug’s hands wrapped around her narrow waist then took a step back.
He’d been preparing to lift her down when she took matters into her own hands.

Ausha’s skin felt too tight. She was wound
up and not too happy with the way her body and mind seemed to be warring with
one another. The whole damn thing made her crabby as hell.

“You mean did I get the drift where I think
you should take your commands and go fuck yourself? Yeah, I got that drift all
right.”

She watched as his eyes widened then he
laughed. It was such a deep, full-bodied sound she couldn’t help but grin.
People walking down the street stopped and turned to see what was going on he
was so loud. Ausha wasn’t sure but she didn’t think being so was the usual for
Doug. He seemed to be the tall, dark and quiet type.

“That’s my girl.”

The way he said the words sent goose bumps
skittering up her arms. They weren’t contrived or false. As a matter of fact,
they seemed completely natural and right. More scary shit.

Doug changed places with her, placing his
back against the truck, and pulled her into his arms. She thought he might have
a thing for kissing because it always seemed as if he wanted to do it. This
time though, he didn’t take her mouth with his. Instead of his tongue slipping
between her parted lips, it was the feel of his leg sliding between her own she
noticed.

“I loved how your warm pussy felt grinding
on me last night. Even with clothes on it was fucking hot.”

Ausha could feel her cheeks heat. She
couldn’t remember anyone ever speaking to her so erotically. Her core clenched
at his words.

“I liked it too.”

There was a smile in his voice when he
spoke against her hair. “I’m very glad to hear that, darlin’. Tonight we’ll
have supper at my house.”

He didn’t give her time to answer before
separating their bodies and turning her toward the entrance of her bar. When
she started to walk away, Doug landed a stinging smack to her right ass cheek.
Holy fuck, it felt like fire crawling across her skin! Ausha turned around to
ask him what was up when he answered her question.

“Next time do as I say.”

Not knowing what else to do and not wanting
to make a spectacle of them, she turned and walked away. The man was a damn
menace, especially to her libido. The fiery sting had spread and now caused her
nipples to tingle and peak. It was the first time a man had ever laid a hand on
her but hopefully not the last.

Ausha spent the rest of her day trying not
to think about last night and this morning. Emotionally she didn’t want to be
in such a position and wasn’t quite sure how she managed to get there with
Doug. Physically she wanted things to continue to progress, she wanted so much
more.

Which side would win out was fairly obvious
when merely thinking about his spanking her made her core weep. She spent the
better part of her shift trying not to imagine them in any number of sexual
positions. Was he the type to take charge in bed the same way he did out of the
bedroom? Ausha would bet her panties he was. How it made her feel was anyone’s
guess at this point. All Ausha knew was every time she pictured him behind her,
spanking her ass as he pounded into her, she wanted to go to the bathroom and
rub one off. The thought was foreign to her since it had been over two years
since she’d masturbated. The thought of doing so now seemed wrong and so Ausha
fought it even though her body pleaded with her to go ahead.

She was ready to leave when Doug showed up.
Her will to resist him went to hell the minute he smiled at her. It was hard to
remember what it felt like to have someone care about her, to care about
someone else.

“What time are you done tonight?” His eyes
roamed her body before landing on her lips for the kiss she was already
becoming accustomed to receiving.

Ausha grabbed her purse from beneath the
bar and watched as he walked toward its end to meet her. “I’m done.”

“Good.”

He was an enigma. It seemed as if he always
said a lot without actually saying much at all.

“What’s for dinner?” Ausha asked in hopes
of defusing the sexual tension coursing through her body just by looking at
him.

“I put a roast in the Crock-pot this
morning. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Starved.” There was definite double
entendre there. Ausha didn’t look up in order to see if he’d caught her
meaning.

“Me too, darlin’. Me too.” With the tone of
his voice Doug made it clear he’d heard and understood her clearly.