Who You Least Expect (19 page)

They landed with a
thud
, Cody using his body to cushion her as much as possible. After a moment, he stood, taking her with him, and then untangled the chute. Then he wrapped her hand in his and headed back to the hangar. He didn’t see any MPs running toward them, so he guessed the thousand favors he’d called in to plan this had paid off.

“You still hate me?” he asked teasingly as he removed her helmet when they got back to the hangar.

Instead of responding, she looked ahead, a thousand-yard stare in her eyes. He’d seen Blake spitting mad or on the edge of hysteria, but this placid inscrutability was new and unnerving. It made sense, he supposed, given how afraid of heights she’d said she was, how much she hated being out of control. Still, when she hadn’t said anything as he’d helped her out of her suit or as they drove off base, his worry increased. He kept glancing at her furtively but there was not a single hint to her feelings in her face or in her posture, and Cody got that sinking feeling that he’d fucked up royally.

“Pull over please,” she said quietly when they were about five miles from the base.

A quick glance at her showed she still had that same unreadable expression, so at the first side road, Cody pulled off and parked. But he didn’t look at Blakely, not right away.

“Cody,” she said, her voice drawing his gaze, “that was the most amazing, wonderful, awesome thing ever!”

Now, her face was alive with excitement, her body humming with energy. “I can’t believe it. I mean, that was terrifying, but so not. I felt so light, so free!”

She smiled at him, and Cody felt that trickle in his chest again, suspected this time he knew what it was. Her expression changed, taking on a depth and desire that went directly to his cock.

“You should recline your seat,” she said on a husky whisper.

And then she unbuckled her seat belt and with easy motions, she unfastened and then lowered her pants and underwear. He swallowed, surprised and so incredibly turned on as she unbuckled his seat belt. His gaze was drawn to her naked lower body, her rounded thighs and her plump pussy lips. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on her, thought he could make out a faint sheen of moisture on her, but before he could determine whether it was just a trick of the light, she was on top of him, her thighs bracketing his, the heat from her cunt searing him even through his jeans.

“Back,” she said as she reached over and reclined his seat. Once she had him satisfactorily situated, she smiled and then stroked her hands down his chest and over the ridge of his cock.

“I don’t know why you decided to take me on that little trip, but it was very…inspiring.”

As she spoke, she leisurely ran her hands across his cloth-covered cock, the muted sensation still enough to have him bucking his hips.

“Glad to be of service,” he choked out, to which she replied with a husky laugh.

“I bet you are,” she said as she grasped his belt and pulled the leather from the clasp.

Her movements were slow, deliberate, and she seemed to enjoy prolonging his torture, content to move slowly as she unbuttoned his jeans and then gripped the zipper. One hand on his waistband, the other on the zipper, she pulled firmly but slowly, making a concerted effort to not touch him. At first glance, she appeared completely unaffected, but he couldn’t stop his smile when he noticed her jerky breaths, felt the way she rocked against his thigh, subtlety, almost imperceptibly, but just enough for him to know that she too was being swept into this story of need.

When she had fully lowered his zipper, she moved fast, hooking her fingers into his underwear and pulling it down, taking it and his pants with her. He lifted slightly, pushing her back, and they both laughed when the horn honked. But the levity was short-lived because his laugh morphed into a moan when, after she’d pulled his pants down, she lowered her hips until she rested above him, the hot wetness of her pussy making his balls draw up.

Anticipation had him gripping her ass tight, but again she slowed, trailing a finger across the crown of his cock and then down his shaft and back up again. She repeated the motion, all the while moving at such a deliberate pace that he again bucked and cried out.

“Don’t play, Blake. Need you,” he said, his voice low and thick with frustration and desire.

“But you like games, Cody,” she said, finally wrapping one of her hands around his shaft. “I might be coming around to your way of thinking.”

A wicked smile crossed her face and she tightened her grip and stroked his shaft. The precum that flowed from his slit coated him, easing her path, and he watched avidly as she stroked him, her small, soft brown hands moving over him so expertly that he thought he might come. He gritted his teeth and tried to hold back when inspiration struck.

“Oh, ahhh.”

Her eyes, which had gone soft and almost sleepy, flew open when he touched her. She apparently hadn’t noticed that as she’d stroked him, he’d moved himself and now had two fingers wedged between her legs, filling the small space between her cunt and the base of his cock. And while his movements were limited, there was more than enough room for him to trace the hood of her clit, let his finger drop down to graze the distended little nub, which was hard with her own arousal. She looked down at him with surprise in her eyes.

“You said it yourself. I like games.”

She laughed lightly and then tightened her grip, stroking him with renewed vigor. The heat of the day and their harsh breaths warmed the inside of the car, but he didn’t care, too enraptured by watching her hands as she touched him and touching her in the same way.

“Condom?” she said in a tight voice.

“Console.”

He moaned when she released him, but sighed when, after fumbling in the console, she retrieved a condom, slid it onto him and impaled herself on his cock. Her walls pulsed around him, warm and tight, and he again felt like he was home as he had since that very first time. He sat up, pulling her as close as he could and wrapping his arms around her body. They stared into each other’s eyes, still, silent, and as close as two people could be. His heart started beating so hard, he thought it would explode with the emotion of it all.

Then he captured her lips in a rough, needy kiss, and she responded, opening for him and rocking her hips wildly. The space didn’t allow much movement, but little was needed. He was buried to the hilt and her jerky motions set off a riot of sensation that again had him on the edge. He tried to wait for her, but it was too much, and he felt the sizzle of pleasure across his skin as cum shot from him. When he held her even tighter and pushed up, her walls clamped down on him and she broke the kiss, crying out her own pleasure against his neck.

He held her as he spent himself fully, held her as she rode out her own climax, held her long after, not wanting to let her go.

“Looks like we’re making this sex-in-semi-public thing a habit,” she said.

“Your idea. And I have to say, pretty smooth, Ms. Bishop. And it seems you’ve done something like this before,” he responded.

She shifted her face up and trailed her lips over his throat, up his jawline, and then stopped at the corner of his mouth.

“I’ll never tell,” she said softly and then chuckled.

Sensitized after his climax, he felt the rush of her breath against his face, the weight of her body against his was more intense and, wanting to feel more of her, he gripped her ass cheeks, moved up the curve of her waist and back, loving the play of her soft, satiny skin beneath his palms.

“You know,” she said as she rocked slightly, “you can be fun sometimes.”

He laughed and then went quiet, staring down at her. Her eyes were averted and he was grateful, not yet sure if he wanted her to see the intensity that he knew was reflected in his eyes.

“Maybe I can be other things, too,” he eventually said.

“Of course. You’re strong, brave, very sexy,” she said, punctuating the last word with a kiss to his collarbone.

“Thanks, but Blake…” He trailed off and then stilled her movements by resting his hands on her hips, and she looked up, a slight smile on her face, her eyes soft and glazed with passion. “I am more, you know. We are…argh. I’m fucking this up. What I’m trying to say is, Blakely, I love you.”

He held her gaze with his after he said the words and watched as the teasing in her eyes curdled and her smile went hard.

“Cody, don’t.”

“Too late. I said it.”

She shook her head. “Why?”

“Why do I love you?”

“No. Why did you have to ruin this? I was having a good time; we were having a good time, and you had to go and get serious about it. I can’t manage your feelings too, not with everything else that’s going on.”

Disbelief ricocheted through him, but it wasn’t enough to block out the look of disgust on her face.

“I sorry you find my declaration of love so distasteful and inconvenient,” he said, somehow, and he wasn’t sure how, managing to keep his voice relatively level even though his heart pounded so hard that his chest ached and his lungs felt as if they were constricted by a vise.

“Don’t be silly. It’s not…distasteful. It’s just…misplaced. You’re young, so your emotions get away from you, but I’m sure you’ll get over whatever it is you think you feel soon enough.” She paused and stared at him as if figuring out a puzzle. “Yes, that’s it I’m sure. You just got caught up in the excitement of the day and let your tongue loose. Don’t worry. I’ll pretend you never said it. Now, where were we?” she said, leaning to kiss him again.

He stopped her, and realized that being near her, being practically inside her as she’d so casually spoken those words, had left him feeling used and dirty, worse than he’d ever felt in his life. He pushed her away, the need to be as far from her as the confines of the car would allow hastening his movements. He turned his eyes away and listened as she moved back to the passenger seat and put on her pants. Mechanically, he adjusted his own clothes and then gripped the steering wheel.

“Cody, are you upset?” she asked and when he risked looking at her, he saw the confusion on her face.

“Upset? Why the fuck would you think a thing like that?” he said bitterly, his capacity for calm apparently exceeded.

She looked taken aback for a moment, but then regained her composure. “I’m sorry, Cody. I know you didn’t mean it, though, and I don’t mind. Like I said, heat of the moment and all that. And it doesn’t change anything between us,” she said as she touched his arm.

The feeling of her flesh against his made his skin crawl, and he shook her off and stared at her, not even trying to keep his expression neutral.

“Wait. Cody, you think you mean it? I’m sorry, honey,” she said, her face and voice turning sympathetic.

“Don’t fucking patronize me, Blakely. And don’t tell me how I feel.” He bit out the words in a hard voice that had her eyes widening.

“I just thought… I mean…”

“Why does the idea that I love you, that I’m in love with you, leave you speechless?” he asked.

“It’s just so…silly. Cody, I don—”

“Shut up, Blakely,” he said, unwilling to listen to anything else that might come from her mouth, wondering how he could have so badly misread the closeness that he’d sensed growing between them, and feeling like the world’s biggest, blindest, stupidest fool.

Mercifully, she complied.

He pulled onto the road and drove back to Thornehill Springs as fast as he could, and he didn’t spare her another glance.

••••

The grim ride back to Thornehill had been such a stark contrast to the joy of the skydive and their passionate lovemaking on the side of the road that Blakely could hardly believe that all three events had occurred on the same day. But they had, and if Cody’s angry demeanor and the waves of rage that wafted off him hadn’t been clue enough to the seriousness of the situation, that fact that he wouldn’t look at her and hadn’t even put his car into park when they’d reached her place more than confirmed how critical and how delicate this situation was.

Her initial response hadn’t been the greatest but still, she was confused. They had an agreement, had gone into this thing with their eyes wide open, and she didn’t exactly know how to react now that he’d tried to change the rules. Her logical mind told her to let it lie, but she couldn’t leave things like this, needed to make sure that they were still all right.

A quick glance showed that he was still stewing, his hands wrapped tight around the steering wheel, his face flat, emotionless. Girding herself for his response, Blakely again tried to reason with him.

“Cody, I’m sorry. I—”

“I! Is that the only word you know?” he yelled, the flatness in his expression giving way to a riot of raw emotion. And then, in the blink of an eye, he went deadly calm. “Get out.”

The words were low, lethal, and for a moment, Blakely feared he would push her out if she didn’t do as he bade. She dismissed that thought, though. Cody was mad—practically throbbing with seething rage—but he wouldn’t hurt her. It also seemed he wouldn’t talk to her, so reluctantly she got out of the car, wondering what she’d need to do to make things right and get back into the good graces of the man she’d so come to crave.

The instant she closed the car door, he was speeding off and had rounded the corner in two seconds flat. His place was in the opposite direction, but she doubted he cared. Being anywhere but with her seemed to be his only goal. She stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes and then headed up her porch and into her house, not letting her eyes linger on the clutter or the progress she’d made in clearing some of it. Instead, she kept focused on the day, the good parts of it.