Experimenting With Ed (16 page)

The driver’s-side door jerked open and she whacked her head on the dash again. Once the spinning stars from the blow faded, she had a good view of Darwin pulling his door closed and twisting the key in the ignition.

“Did Gordon see you coming out?” she asked Ed quietly as the truck pulled away from the curb.

It was Darwin who answered, while giving her an offended glance. “Give me a little credit, would you? He was too busy scheduling an interview with
Great Day, USA!
to talk about his obsessed, murderous, research-wrecking ex-lab assistant.”

Claire frowned. “Great what?” She clung to Ed’s knees to keep her balance as Darwin made a left turn.

“
Great Day, USA
? The number-one morning news show? With Chip McClean?” Darwin offered with exaggerated patience.

“Never heard of it—or Chip,” she admitted. “I don’t watch much morning news, though.”

Darwin shook his head, looking disappointed, but Ed patted her hair. “He made it up.”

“He made it…” Claire trailed off with a laugh, reaching over to smack Darwin’s knee. “And he believed you were this Chip guy?”

“Of course.”

Claire looked at his flannel shirt and worn jeans. “Really?”

Darwin shrugged. “Told him I was on my way to do a story about the secret life of construction workers and the station manager demanded I wear this.”

“Good thinking.”

“Thanks.”

“Aren’t you tired of driving?” Claire asked. “I could take a turn while you sleep.”

“I can drive too,” Ed offered.

“Let me get a few miles between us and the lab before we stop.” He glanced down at Claire. “Though it should be safe for you to get up now.”

With a hand from Ed, she uncurled her body and sat on the seat between them. “You!” She punched Ed in the shoulder. Once again, she regretted it the moment her knuckles connected with unyielding muscle. “Ow.”

“What?” His look was so full of offended innocence, she hit him again.

“Ow!” she yelped, scowling at him as she shook her stinging hand. “You
know
what. We already had the laptop. Why didn’t you leave when I did?”

“I had to get something,” he told her, reaching into his jacket pocket.

“What?” she demanded. “What was so important you had to risk…” Claire trailed off as he pulled a small, white-furred animal from his pocket. “Wilma?”

“Figured Gordon wouldn’t keep her around long,” Ed told her as she reached out to take the rat from him. “Since the treatment didn’t work on her.”

“What is that? A rat?” Darwin snorted a laugh. “Figures. E’s always been a sucker for little soft things.”

Cuddling Wilma against her chest and blinking away tears, Claire stretched up to kiss Ed. “Thank you.”

“Welcome,” he said, shrugging off her thanks as a touch of red darkened his cheekbones. “Now put on your seat belt.”

Ignoring that, she kissed him again. “And I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Hitting you. Twice.”

Ed laughed out loud. “Don’t worry,” he told her, his smile making her heart jump. “It didn’t hurt.”

Chapter Eleven

Claire sighed. “I miss Darwin’s truck.”

“Just be glad we’re not on the bike.”

“Oh, I am. This car isn’t so bad. There’s plenty of room for Wilma in the back. I just really liked that truck.” She turned her head to look at Ed. The light from the control panel of the station wagon cast odd shadows on his face, turning his features into those of a harsh stranger. Feeling silly for letting her predawn imaginings get away from her, she still reached out and touched his arm. His muscles jumped beneath her fingers and the feel of him, even through his sleeve, reassured her tired brain that he was warm and alive and familiar.

He caught her hand, entwining their fingers and resting them against his thigh. “Darwin would’ve shot us if we tried to take his truck.”

With a laugh, Claire settled against the seat, resting her cheek against the upholstery so she could continue to look at Ed. She never seemed to get tired of watching him, despite the distorting glow of the instrument panel. A thought occurred to her and her smile fell away. “Will he be okay?”

“Darwin?” He glanced at her quickly before returning his gaze to the road. “Yeah.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have stayed with him after we got the laptop back.” Claire chewed on her bottom lip.

“It was only for a couple weeks,” Ed reassured her, giving her hand a squeeze. “We barely left the cabin. Besides, wouldn’t matter if someone
did
recognize you—you’re free and clear now.”

“That I am.” Claire gave a satisfied smile. Her short time as a fugitive made the transformation to whistle-blowing hero so much more satisfying. “Gordon’s going to prison. How great is that?”

Ed grunted. “He deserves it. Bastard tried to kill you.” His voice went icy cold on the last words and his fingers tightened until they squeezed her hand almost painfully.

“Um…Ed?” When Ed looked at her, she smiled at him. “Ow?”

With a grimace, he released her hand. “Sorry.”

“No worries.” Claire kept her hand on his leg, turning her palm over to stroke the denim over his thigh. “Not to be vindictive, but I wish Joelle and Nadine had gotten more than a slap on the wrist. I mean, they just stood by as Gordon threw me to the wolves.”

In the dim light, Claire saw the rise and fall of his shoulders as he shrugged. “Be hard for them to find work.”

“That’s true,” she agreed a little more cheerfully. “Maybe those bitches’ll have to turn tricks to make money.”

Ed gave a choked laugh.

She made a face. “That sounded harsh, didn’t it?”

“Little bit,” he told her. “They deserve it, though.”

“Yeah,” Claire said doubtfully. “Still, they did used to be my friends.”

“Makes it worse.” When she glanced at him curiously, he clarified, “What they did.”

“True.” She considered it for a moment. “How about if I wish for them to be strippers? That’s not quite as bad.”

“Claire.”

“Yes, Edward?”

His hand flattened hers against his thigh. “Can’t drive when you’re doing that.” He sounded as if he were talking with his jaw clenched.

Claire realized she’d been absently massaging his thigh while she’d been talking. “Oops. Sorry.”

His grunt was skeptical. “Uh-huh. Then why are you still doing it?”

She was. Even with the pressure of his hand over hers, she still managed to squeeze the hard muscle of his quadriceps. “Because you’re irresistible?” she guessed.

This grunt sounded equal parts amused and breathless. “Hang on,” he warned her, and turned sharply onto an exit ramp. Deciding to take his words literally, Claire dug her fingers into his thigh in a tight grasp. He turned right onto a two-lane county road and pulled onto the shoulder as soon as they were out of view of the interstate.

As he cut the headlights, Claire peered into the predawn darkness. “You know,” she warned him as he unfastened his seat belt. “This is the beginning of every teen slasher flick ever ma—”

Her words were cut off as his mouth covered hers. As always, her brain was reduced to pudding the instant his lips made contact. Without breaking the kiss, he unbuckled her seat belt and hauled her onto his lap. Claire knew it was the cavewoman in her talking, but the ease with which he moved her snatched away her breath.

As she straddled his lap, her knee banged against the door. In a fuzzy corner of her brain, she realized that the bruise would hurt later but, for now, she was too caught up in Ed’s kiss to care. Yanking off his stocking hat, she ran her fingers over his shorn skull, pulling his mouth even more tightly against hers.

He took over her mouth, thrusting his tongue against hers before pulling back far enough to nip at her lips. When she made a frustrated sound and tugged on his head, trying to make him stop teasing and kiss her again, he closed his fingers around her wrists and moved her arms behind her back.

“Keep them there,” he told her.

“What did I say about giving me orders?” she asked, although her tone was more breathless than chastising.

“Do you want to get fucked?” Ed asked.

“Yes, please.”

“Then do what I say.”

Her belly melting at his bossy words, Claire kept her hands behind her back and squirmed against him. “Yes, sir.” At his rough groan, she pressed back a smile. There was more than one way to torture Ed.

Grabbing the hem of her sweater, he yanked it over her head, leaving her arms still twisted in the sleeves. The way the knit bound her arms turned her on even more, and she whimpered, grinding against his lap. The steering wheel was pressing into her forearms but that was just a minor annoyance, since Ed’s fingers were brushing against her stomach.

He unbuttoned her jeans and worked the zipper down before slipping both hands under the loosened denim and beneath her panties to cup her bare ass. Gasping at the heat of his palms against her sensitive skin, Claire leaned forward to press her face against his neck. She moaned as he massaged two handfuls of flesh.

Licking and kissing his neck, she pushed her ass into his grip. With a growl, Ed pulled his hands free and lifted her, twisting around so he could lay her on the seat. Confused, she opened her mouth to tell him to get his hands back to the lovely things they’d been doing and then snapped her mouth closed when he yanked her jeans and panties down over her hips. Claire tried to help as he pulled her clothes down her legs, tugging her shoes off in the process.

“Okay,” she puffed, her head mashed against the passenger-side door and her legs pretzeled to prevent her from kicking him in the head. “Next road trip, we’re buying an RV.”

Ed’s answer was an indistinguishable groan that she chose to take as a yes. He tugged his shirt over his head and let it fall before straddling her on his hands and knees.

“Or at least a van. I mean, this does have this bench seat, thank God, but it’s still like a travel game of Twister. Dirty travel Twist—” His mouth came down on hers again, ending the stream of words. Claire was okay with this.

The kiss didn’t last nearly long enough before his lips were trailing across her throat, his tongue dipping into the notch above her breastbone. From there, he kissed and licked his way down to the edge of her bra, which, she decided, felt very much in the way. Claire squirmed, trying to free her sweater-bound hands enough to unhook her bra.

Sliding a hand beneath her back, Ed lifted her up far enough to pull the sweater off, freeing her arms. Although she almost missed the restraint, Claire eagerly explored the unyielding columns of his arms, rigid as they supported his weight. Trailing her hands over his shoulders and across his chest, she could feel the sweat glazing his skin and the press of each quick breath against her palms.

Claire couldn’t hold back a smile. This hot, sweet, perfect man, with his incredible strength and endurance, trembled when she touched him. It was amazing.

Ed dipped his head and caught her nipple with his teeth. Despite the lacy barrier of her bra, she could feel every pinch, every soothing stroke of his tongue, every sucking pull of his mouth all the way down to her toes. Arching her back, she moaned, wrapping her fingers around Ed’s stubbly head and pulling him against her.

Despite her eager sounds, he didn’t linger on her breast. Instead, he traced a line to her bellybutton, dived in once and then kept moving down. Since she had a pretty good idea where he was headed, Claire didn’t try to stop him but just continued cupping his skull in a gentle grip, guiding him.

As he moved lower and lower, Ed pushed her thighs higher until her feet brushed the ceiling of the car. Her breath caught as he nipped at her thigh. Moisture gathered in her pussy, which was feeling emptier by the second. Claire released his head and grasped her legs behind the knees, opening herself even wider, aching for his fingers, his mouth, his tongue—anything to soothe the almost painful ache growing in her pussy.

He kissed her thigh, trailing his tongue along the seam at the top of her leg, running parallel to her needy center, tantalizingly close.

“Please!” she begged, tilting her hips up, pulling her legs even closer to her chest. To her utter relief, he kissed her pussy, his tongue stroking into her desperately hot depths. The caress took all her words away and she could only moan as he teased her clit with tiny flicks of his tongue. His rough cheeks scraped against her inner thighs, the prickling burn only sharpening the pleasure his lips and tongue created.

Catching her clit between his lips, he sucked gently as she twisted beneath him. The awkwardness of the narrow seat and the dig of the door handle against her scalp didn’t matter anymore—every nerve in her body was focused on the wonderful things Ed’s mouth was doing to her pussy. Nothing else in the world existed.

Leaving her clit, he plunged his tongue into her, withdrew and plunged again, his tongue fucking her like a small, slippery cock. This made her hungry for more—hungry for
him
.

“Ed,” she managed to gasp and she could see the dark outline of him as he raised his head. “Fuck me!”

He groaned and went to his knees, smacking his head on the ceiling as he did so.

“Shit!” he swore, his hands working at the front of his jeans. “An RV next time. Promise.”

Claire’s laugh was more of a desperate gasp as Ed shoved his jeans and underwear around his hips. She heard a crinkling sound.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked breathlessly.

“I’m the prepared one this time,” he told her.

“Yay!” she cheered, squirming impatiently against the seat. “Now hurry up!”

With a growl, Ed bracketed her body with his arms and entered her in one smooth thrust. She cried out, not in pain but in total completion. When his mouth met hers, she arched into the kiss, pressing her lips hard against his. His hips retreated and then he slammed his cock into her again, over and over, each thrust filling her, stretching her. With one hand, he cupped the top of her head, protecting her from the hard surface of the door.

His rhythm grew faster and he plunged deeper with each stroke, his balls slapping against her, driving her higher and higher until she came, her body gripping his cock, holding him buried inside her as her orgasm crashed over her.

She gasped for breath, oblivious to everything except the sparklers of pleasure fizzing inside her. Gradually she became aware of Ed, still incredibly hard and still buried within her body. When she tightened around him, he gasped, quickening his thrusts and then slowing again. It became a game, Claire squeezing his invading cock with her inner muscles, trying to drive him over the edge.

“You feel so good,” she gasped, watching as his face, usually so expressionless, contorted in pained ecstasy. Encouraged, she gripped him with her body and tried again. “I love how you fill me up. You’re so hard and hot and
huge
.”

Ed gave a ragged groan as he came, driven into orgasm by either her words or the tight squeeze of her body…or both. Claire watched his face, enthralled by his expression—by all of him, actually. His arms shook as he lowered himself to rest just a portion of his weight against her, enough to keep her warm without squeezing the air out of her. She smiled and kissed his ear. Even in the darkness, she could still make out his features and her stomach dipped as she realized how much this big, kind, quiet, sexy-as-hell man meant to her.

His eyebrow quirked, sleepy yet curious.