Getting Rough (11 page)

“Well, well, well… What do we have here?” she asked as her eyes made an intrusive sweep up and down my body. She cocked her head to the side and smiled at me. “I’m Brittnie, and this is Whittney,” she said, pointing a thumb toward her sidekick. Said sidekick had opted to use her back arch to showcase her ass instead of her chest. It was a nice ass, I’d give her that much. Just not as nice as a certain redhead’s I knew.

Giving them a polite nod, I responded in kind. “I’m Shaw. Nice to meet you.”

Before I knew it, I was flanked by Brittnie and Whittney, each of them linking an arm through mine. Then they whisked me away toward an empty picnic table. There was a flurry of conversation between the two of them. A conversation I thought they were having with me, but since I didn’t have to say a word, maybe not.

“Oooh, you’re so strong,” Whittney said, molesting my bicep.

“Someone should get you some food so we can keep you that way,” Brittnie agreed. “Whitt, go get him a plate.”

“You go get him a plate,” she countered.

“And leave you all alone with him? I don’t think so.”

I let them have it out, not really wanting either of them to get me a plate, to be honest. I just didn’t want to be rude. Though I felt a little smothered, they didn’t particularly bother me. Both women were very pretty in a natural sort of way. Much like Cassidy. Maybe that was the sort of women Stonington bred. But unlike Cassidy, their behavior was a little too desperate for my taste.

Just then, a plate filled with a mountain of food slid before me. I looked up to see my Abby smiling down at me. “There you go, darlin’. Eat up.” The smile dropped when she turned to regard my company with a warning glare. “Don’t even think about it, you two. He’s Cassidy’s guest.”

Whittney wore a mask of false confusion, her tone completely innocent as she said, “What are you talking about? He was standing all alone, so we just thought we’d be friendly and make him feel welcomed.”

“Mmhm. I’m aware of your definition of ‘friendly,’” Abby said. “And I know where your welcome mat is. You heard me. And if I have to say it again, I’m going to tell your fathers what that definition is, too. And then I’m going to tell them just how friendly the two of you have been all over town. I’m sure that’ll make them proud.”

I loved Abby in mama bear mode. Swear to God, I was going to put her in my pocket and take her back home with me.

Abby returned to her duties, but not before giving me a conspiratorial wink. As soon as she was out of earshot, Brittnie and Whittney straddled the picnic bench, waiting for me to take the seat between them. Instead, I picked up the plate Abby had brought me and dug in right where I stood, which didn’t seem to deter the ladies at all. I could’ve walked away, but then that would be rude. Besides, if the way they were looking over the crowd of people was any indication, they were about to get their gossip on. And maybe, just maybe, some of that gossip would be beneficial to me.

I was not disappointed.

Whittney crossed her legs, shaking one so vigorously that her whole body moved in time. “So you’re Cassidy’s guest, huh?”

I nodded even though, technically, I wasn’t. Guests were normally invited. I hadn’t been, and certainly not by Cassidy. Maybe Abby should’ve said I was Cassidy’s creepy stalker. Something told me not even that disturbing title would’ve deterred these two.

“From California?” Brittnie asked, hopeful.

Again I nodded.

Brittnie adjusted her top. To show more cleavage, not less. “Oh, I’d love to go to California. I’d love to go anywhere that isn’t Stonington.”

Whittney rolled her eyes. “Why? You’d just come right back. Everyone comes right back.”

Once I’d swallowed the creamy bit of potato salad I’d been eating, I finally spoke. “Really? What’s that mean?”

“You’re not from here, so you wouldn’t understand,” a gruff voice answered from behind me. I turned to see Duff Whalen standing there. “Run along, girls. I need a word.”

Though they obviously weren’t happy about it, Brittnie and Whittney did as they were told. For a second, I contemplated begging them not to leave me alone with Duff. Truthfully, he sort of scared me. Again, I wasn’t really sure what Cassidy had told him about me, but the vibes I’d been getting off him hadn’t been anything nice. I didn’t know why I was so nervous; I knew how to handle men like Duff. I’d wooed my fair share of clients’ mothers and fathers. This shouldn’t be any different. But it was. This was Cassidy’s father.

That’s right. This was Cassidy’s father. And I knew how much it irked her when she thought someone was placating her or wasn’t being respectful of the things she felt were important. Clearly, this small fishing village was important to the man who’d made his life here.

I set my plate down and looked him in the eye. “Help me understand.”

He just looked at me for a moment and then finally nodded.

“Look around you,” he said, pointing toward the crowd. “You probably wouldn’t know it by looking at them, but a lot of these young men and women are well educated. That one over there,” he said, pointing to a sandy blond guy standing with a couple of his buddies, “went away to college and got a degree in engineering. Know what he’s doing now?” He didn’t wait for my answer. “He’s back here, lobstering right along with the rest of us.”

“Why?” I asked, shocked. “An engineering degree pays very well.”

“Lobstering pays better.”

“Really? Wow.”

“Most of these boys start going out with their pops the summer of their fourteenth year and start sterning, making their own money. Do you know what it’s like to walk around with that amount of cash in your pocket at fourteen?”

I didn’t. When I was fourteen, I was hanging out at stadiums, eavesdropping on conversations between athletes, coaches, and agents to learn the ropes. I didn’t have any money, went hungry most of the time, and wore clothes I’d picked out of the lost-and-found bins.

“Some of them blow it, of course, on stupid stuff that don’t add up to much. But if they’re smart, they save up to get their own boat and gear. The ones that do that will probably drop out of high school before they graduate, and that’s just fine because they’ll be making plenty of money on their own.” He sighed. “And some of them might use that money to go to college, but like I said…”

“They end up back here,” I finished for him.

“That’s right. Lobstering is what they know. It’s good, honest money. But that’s not the only reason they come back,” he continued. “See, Stonington is its own way of life. The rules are different in the outside world, so most of them can’t hack it out there. They might leave with big hopes of going away and staying away, but after about a year, two at the most, they find themselves right back where they belong.”

He put his big paw on my shoulder, leveling a meaningful stare. “My little girl is one of the very few exceptions to that. She’s the most stubborn and determined woman I know, and when she’s faced with a challenge, she rises above it.

“All of this,” he said, gesturing toward the picnic, “is for my wife, not Cassidy. And though I’d never tell the missus this, I don’t want my little girl back here. Truthfully, I don’t think someone who’s been away from Stonington for as long as she has can ever really come back again. Not permanently, that is. She’s changed. And there ain’t a damn thing wrong with that. I’m proud of who she’s become.”

“Why are you telling me all of this, sir?”

He grinned. And for the first time since I’d met him, I felt like we had something in common that wasn’t quite evident to me yet.

“You’ll figure that out once she figures it out. And when you do, just remember: it’s a mighty big ocean out there. An ocean filled with cage after cage of meaty bait.” His laugh was as robust as his barrel chest and slightly serial killer–ish when he clapped me hard on the arm.

“And watch out for Whitt and Britt,” he said, turning to stand beside me and giving a backward nod toward them. How he’d known where they were with his back to them, I’d never know. “They’ve been circling like a couple of vultures since I shooed them away.”

Leaning in, he lowered his voice. “They’re the number two and three. Cassidy’s the number one, and they’ve been trying to take her spot.”

Huh? I was definitely missing a key piece of information. “I’m sure you’re trying to tell me something really important, but I have no clue what you just said, sir.”

“I told you it’s a different world here. There’s a ranking order among the single boys and girls. The boys are ranked according to their earning potential, who’s the best lobsterman. And the girls are ranked on beauty. Cassidy’s the number one girl, and since Casey is a legacy, he’s the number one guy.

“It was a given that those two would end up together, but when Cassidy left, it was free game. Now that she’s paying attention to you, the other girls will try to lure you away.” He shook his head incredulously. “These kids will step all over each other to land someone as high up on the ranking order as possible. Your best friend will steal your girl right out from under your nose, if you’re not paying attention. Of course I never had to worry about that with Thomas. He’s always been true blue.”

“Sir, Cassidy and I aren’t…” I didn’t know how to finish that statement, but I didn’t need to. Duff got it.

“Yeah, well, just remember what I said and you won’t end up as lobster bait.” With one more clap to my shoulder, he headed back to man his station.

On cue, Brittnie and Whittney reappeared.

“We’re baaaack,” Brittnie sang.

“I see that,” I said, grinning and bearing it.

Brittnie linked her arm through mine again, pressing her tits against me. “How about if we get you out of here? Maybe show you some secret hiding places where
all three of us
could get to know each other better?” The suggestive tone to her voice couldn’t be missed.

I chuckled, thinking how cute it was that these two thought they might be offering me something I’d never had. They weren’t. Threesomes were okay, but really, they just made for more work on the man because he had two women to tend to while they shared the responsibility of taking care of one man. Doing the math, that didn’t seem fair.

But I wasn’t a lazy lover. And there was only one woman in the vicinity who could attest to that. Only one woman who I had an interest in putting that much work into. And she was standing across the lawn, staring down another couple that was engaged in what looked to be an entertaining conversation.

Casey and Mia. For Cassidy, this was becoming a pattern. Maybe even an obsession. One that I didn’t much care for.

The set of Cassidy’s body was all too familiar for me. She was pissed and having a damn hard time containing all that explosive energy running through her. Finally, her attention broke from Casey and Mia, but she was obviously determined to fixate on something else. Tossing her head back and forth, looking for that something else – maybe some
one
else – she stopped when our eyes met, and I knew she’d found it. Target located, Cassidy turned and headed in my direction, stomping across the yard, each step only fueled by her determination.

Her eyes flashed to Brittnie and Whittney, who’d become even more friendly while I’d been distracted. The sort of friendly that was just short of molestation. And then it occurred to me…

Holy shit. She was going to kill Brittnie and Whittney. Or maybe I was her intended victim. Either way, a murder was about to be committed. If I’d been a pussy, I would’ve grabbed one of the girls and used her as a shield, but that would’ve been wrong.

When she reached us, she set her shoulders and stepped past Whittney and into Brittnie’s space.

“Excuse me, Mount Inappropriate,” Cassidy said, waving a hand over Brittnie’s exposed cleavage, “but I need to borrow him for a bit. Go find another bone to bury.”

Ouch!

Grabbing my hand, she dragged me along behind her as she made her way toward…

“Where are you taking me?” Asking questions was a risk I had to take.

“Away from here.”

Great, they’ll never find my body
. I started mentally ticking off the names of people who knew where I was. Demi, Sasha, Quinn? Nope, they’d probably help her with the cover-up. Ben? No, he’d keep his mouth shut so he could take my position. Chaz? Demi would threaten to cut off his balls and follow through on it. Landon? Yes! Landon was a soldier; surely he’d feel it was his duty to expose the crime.

But maybe there was a logical explanation and I just needed to keep my cool and ask her. So I did. With my fingers crossed. “Why?”

“Because I need to be away from here.”

“Why do I have to go?” It was a fair question. One that I’d feel more comfortable knowing the answer to.

“Because I need to be with
you
away from here.”

At least she’d said she needed to
be
with me and not that she needed to
kill
me. Still, I felt it necessary to point out that someone would notice her absence.

“You’re the guest of honor. Don’t you think people will start looking for you?”

“Probably, but they won’t find me. Or you.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I mumbled.

I was not Dorothy. I didn’t own a pair of ruby slippers or a little dog named Toto, and I didn’t have an Auntie Em. But Stonington was starting to feel an awful lot like Oz. All the people I knew were there, familiar yet different somehow. The same names, faces, and places surrounded me, but all I wanted to do was rip my skin off like it didn’t belong to me. Like I didn’t belong there among them.

Droves upon droves of people kept coming up to me, welcoming me back home and telling me I’d been gone for far too long. Each of them felt the need to fill me in on everything that had happened in their life while I’d been away, as if my leaving had caused their hardships in the first place and my return was suddenly going to make everything better. It didn’t and it wouldn’t. And I wasn’t home for good, dammit.

That old smothering feeling I’d thought I’d left behind was back in full force, so naturally I searched out the one person who’d always whisked me away from it before.

Casey.

Popping up on my tiptoes and bobbing and weaving to see around the crowd, I finally found him. He was standing under the giant maple tree, one booted foot propped up on a picnic bench as he leaned over with his arm resting on his knee in that easygoing way of his. No doubt he was talking about boats and lobsters with one of his buddies because his hands were animated as he spoke, and a breathtaking smile was on his lips that magically swept me away from the conversation before me. And then the crowd parted and I saw that the company he kept was not one of the boys. It was Mia.

I made a mental note to check the reservation book to see how long this Mia would be staying with us because she was taking up a little too much of my Casey’s time. Honestly, how much information could she possibly need to write her stupid book? And something about her must have been blocking Casey’s Spidey senses, that knack he’d always had for knowing when I needed him the most, because as hard as I was willing him to turn and look at me, he wasn’t. I needed him. He was my Tin Man, my Scarecrow, my Lion, my Toto, and my ruby slippers all rolled into one. But right now it felt as if I was looking at him through a crystal ball and he couldn’t hear a word that my head and my heart were screaming.

I was mad and frustrated and jealous and my stupid feelings were hurt, and all I wanted to do was go home. Only I didn’t know where home was anymore. But I knew who could help me find it. The wizard, of course.

Another search of the crowd and I’d found him. Unlike Casey, Shaw’s attention had already been locked on me. Maybe I’d messed up and sent my damsel-in-distress vibes out to the wrong person. Then again, seeing the flying monkeys, Brittnie and Whittney, surrounding him, maybe he’d been the one to send out the SOS.

Excusing myself from the conversation Mrs. Paddock had all but been having with herself, I made my way across the yard. Shaw didn’t break eye contact with me as I approached, though I thought I sensed a spark of fear. That was probably my fault. My lip may have pulled back to bare my canines when I saw Brittnie rub her tits all over his arm. He was mine, the only thing in this town that still was, and no one was going to stop me from staking my claim.

Grabbing Shaw, I pulled him along behind me, wanting nothing more than to get him alone somewhere. He’d been asking questions, which I’d answered, but I wasn’t in the mood for talking. What I wanted was something exciting. Something that would remind me that Stonington’s dull and boring existence was not my own.

So we set out on the yellow-brick road to hike the short distance to the park, not stopping until we reached the Emerald City, Stonington’s only playground. The wooden jungle gym I’d played on as a child had been replaced with a bigger, fancier one with suspended bridges, nettings, swings, and slides. There was also a play tower that was covered by a green roof, though it still felt open and roomy. That was our destination.

“Come on,” I told Shaw. Walking over to the ladder, I started my climb.

“Are you trying to relive your childhood?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Quite the opposite, actually.” With quick footing, I crossed the suspended bridge, balancing out the tilts with my body weight until I’d reached the tower.

When I turned, I almost expected to see Shaw still standing on the ground, but he wasn’t. He’d followed me, not really knowing what I wanted with him there. That was Shaw. He took risks, did things on a dare, leaped with blind faith. He was white-knuckled excitement. I wanted to be that. But more than anything else at the moment, I wanted to feel the adrenaline rush of having him inside me.

“Now what?” he asked once he reached me.

I fisted the front of his shirt and yanked him toward me, rising up on my toes to answer him with a kiss that should’ve told him anything he wanted to know about the purpose of our quest. Shaw kissed me back, his expert lips and tongue doing that thing that made me seriously wonder whether they, alone, could impregnate me. Jesus, the man could kiss.

I had no intention of wasting any time, so I got on with it, turning and walking him backward even as I worked his belt loose. Once I had satisfactory room, I slipped my hand down his pants to grip his long, thick cock firmly.

Shaw grabbed my arm and suddenly broke the kiss, but he didn’t pull away. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Here? Out in the open?”

Ignoring the brakes he’d put on, I revved the engine, my fingers continuing to stroke the soft skin of his hard length. “Yes. Right here. Right now. Because I want you.”

“But what if someone sees us?” Though he was questioning whether or not we should be doing what we were about to do, he was moving against my hand. Yeah, he wanted me, too.

Leaning in again, I kissed his neck. “Don’t be scared, Shaw. Everyone is at the picnic.”

He chuckled. “‘Don’t be scared,’ she says. I’m a stranger in the middle of a town that doesn’t even have a police station, and the town’s most favorite daughter wants me to defile her on a jungle gym while its very scary residents could leave a picnic they threw
in her honor
and catch us.” His words were a protest, but the tilt of his head to give me better access to his neck was an invitation to keep going.

“They won’t,” I whispered into his ear before taking his lobe between my teeth. All the while, I undid the button on his pants and lowered the zipper.

Shaw groaned, his large hands kneading my ass. “They might.”

Pushing his jeans over his hips to set him free, I stepped back to ogle my prize. Shaw’s cock was quite the sight to behold. I sighed, knowing I was about to have him inside me.

“I really don’t care,” I told him. Because I didn’t.

I pulled my shirt over my head, leaving my cami in place, and then I spread the shirt over the wooden bench in the corner before giving Shaw’s shoulder a push so he’d sit on it.

“I’m pretty sure your dad threatened to make me lobster bait,” he said as I stepped out of my pants. He finally shut up when I straddled his lap and rubbed my bare pussy on his exposed cock.

“Please?” Rocking back and forth to let my wetness coat his cock, I took his bottom lip between mine for a soft suckle. Good God, but the man felt so good between my legs. And his lips tasted so sweet.

Shaw’s hands gripped my thighs and then cupped my ass. His voice was raspy, quiet but sure when he said, “There’s no need to beg. You can have whatever you want. All you need to do is take it.”

There was a dare in his eyes, a challenge on the lip he bit into as he encouraged my movement. “What do you want, Cassidy?”

I lifted my hips, angling my body so that his cock was at my entrance. “You,” I whispered, and then I sank down onto him.

I groaned at the sensation of the stretch and fill. Shaw did as well, the sound only doubling my pleasure. Holding on to his shoulders, I undulated over him, working his cock deeper and deeper until I’d acclimated to his size.

Shaw wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me closer as he nuzzled the cleavage of my still-covered breasts. “You don’t want me. You want my cock,” he corrected.

Whether it was true or not, it didn’t matter. Being back in Stonington after having been gone for so long was like doing a zombie’s frolic through a field of poppies, and it was time for me to wake up. Maybe Shaw had been onto something when he’d ignored the truth about his life for all those years and made people see what he wanted them to believe. The smoke and mirrors, the grand illusions… they were magical and awesome, and no one could say Shaw Matthews was a dull person. He was the wizard, and I wanted to live in his world.

Take me away from here,
were the words I thought, though I wouldn’t dare say them out loud for fear he’d get the wrong impression. But Shaw had suddenly developed a knack for reading my mind, something I’d have to evaluate further when I wasn’t straddling the lap of an egomaniac with a massive cock. Taking my hips in his hands, he assumed control, moving me back and forth so that my clit was gifted that delicious bit of friction I loved so much.

“Jesus, woman. Why can’t I ever get enough of you?”

The feeling was mutual. Even in this place where every nook and cranny held a memory of someone else, I still couldn’t get enough of Shaw. I should’ve felt guilty, but I didn’t. Why should I? Casey sure as hell didn’t seem to feel guilty about spending all his time with someone else.

Shaw lifted me up and slammed me back down on his cock, like shocking my thoughts back to him… back to now. It worked. I opened my eyes and saw him there, his lips parted and pupils dilated, his brow peppered with beads of sweat even in the crisp air of Maine’s spring. I fisted his hair and yanked his head back to crane his neck. And yes, I even relished the resulting warning growl and rough handling of my hips. He’d leave bruises and he wouldn’t regret doing so because I’d earned them.

Yes, take me away from here
…

Casey would’ve never agreed to this. He would’ve insisted on something more romantic and respectable. He would’ve made love to me, tenderly stroking my face and hair while whispering sweet things that would make me feel all girly inside. He would’ve looked into my eyes in search of a deeper meaning… much like Shaw was doing now, I suddenly realized.

My head was a jumbled up mess then, a tornado of thoughts spiraling out of control. The faces of the two most prominent men in my life meshed like two worlds colliding. Where did one end and the other begin? My hero had become the person I needed rescuing from, and my enemy had become my savior. That wasn’t what I wanted. And it definitely wasn’t what I needed.

“Don’t,” I told him, and then I closed my eyes and buried my face in the crook of his neck.

“Don’t what?” Shaw nudged me back, but I clung to his shoulders, refusing to sit up. “You just asked me to take you away from here. What does that mean?”

Crap. I hadn’t realized I’d said the words out loud. God, what he must think.

“You’re going to ruin it,” I mumbled against his skin. “Please don’t ruin it.”

I was desperate then. Desperate for that dose of oxytocin, the connectivity that would undoubtedly make me feel whole again. My movements were hurried and awkward, selfish in my quest. Not Shaw, though. He was silent as I rode him, but it was too late. Try as I might, I couldn’t erase from my mind the way he’d just looked at me. He’d seen something different in me. Or maybe I was seeing something different in him now. Gone was his arrogance, his selfishness, the asshole I’d come to hate. When had the great and powerful wizard become just a man hiding behind a curtain?

“Hey?” Again he nudged me, his voice too kind, too soft to be ignored. I gave in, lifting my head and letting him see me. Shaw cupped my face, scanning it for the answer to an unspoken question. I supposed he found it when his expression changed to one of understanding.

“I’m not going to ruin anything,” he said. His thumb brushed my bottom lip. “Use me.”

And that was the tether I’d needed. With renewed fervor, I rocked back and forth, moving along his still-hard cock like my life depended on it, because dammit, it did.

Shaw kissed me deeply, his tongue stroking mine in time with the roll of my hips. And then he let go, gave up the control, sat back, and let me take the lead.

It was
exactly
what I needed.

I rode him. Hard. My knees burning from the scrape of the wood through the thin material of my shirt beneath. But I watched him. I maintained eye contact with Shaw even though I knew I’d regret it later. He was my anchor, my escape from a world that no longer made sense. Maybe he wasn’t the wizard after all. Maybe he was Kansas.

It was damn near nightfall by the time Cassidy and I made it back to the Whalen House. After she’d worn herself out on my cock, I’d gathered her in my arms and just let her be. I don’t know why. I guess it felt like the right thing to do. I didn’t even get off, and this time I didn’t give a shit about it. For one, we didn’t have any napkins or anything, and I wasn’t about to come all over a bunch of kids’ jungle gym – that’d be disgusting and just plain rude – and I
never
came inside a woman since baby-daddy material I was not. For two – probably the more important reason – none of what had gone down between us had been about me. It had been about Cassidy and what she’d needed. I knew it the second I saw that desperate look in her eyes when she asked me to take her away. Still didn’t know what the hell she’d meant by that, but it didn’t matter.

Cassidy Whalen was the most together person I’d ever known, all logical and business-minded, no girlie shit like being run by emotions. If that was ever the case, she’d done a damn good job of hiding it. Not today. Today, whatever fucked-up confusion she was feeling – and, believe me, she was definitely having a moment with some what the fuckery – it was spilling out of her eyeballs. Guess that was why they called them the gateways to the soul, or some philosophical whatevers. She wasn’t together. She was all bedlam and disorder on the inside, and I’d been more than glad to let her use me to gain whatever perspective she’d needed.