“And you’re not like any woman.”
She is more than beautiful; she’s gentle and funny and being in her presence relaxes me. Makes me see a future that is more than me on my own, here in the woods. I see a future with Rainey.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I say.
“It’s okay.” She winces as I fill her and I kiss her softly, wanting to ease the pain. “Good thing you got me so damn wet,” she says with a soft laugh that fills the heated sauna with a warmth it’s never felt before.
“There we go,” I murmur in her ear. “That’s better.” I fill her as slow as I can, and as she relaxes into the moment, I feel her shoulders fall, her belly expand. She makes space for me, and God, do I fill it.
“Oh Reed,” she moans as I take her to the edge with a few gentle thrusts.
We make love the way I always dreamt about, slow, kissing, our bodies melting together. The temperature of the sauna is set to low, and so it’s the perfect heat after the rainy night. Coupled with our intensity, the warmth builds as our desire grows.
“Fuck,” I groan, lacing my fingers with hers as we move faster, her legs wrapping around me as we do more than get off. We grow closer. Closer. One.
“I don’t want this night to end,” she whispers as the pleasure mounts. She gasps as I thrust inside her, her pussy slick as I take her deeper, kissing her perky tits, memorizing her every curve.
“Oh Rainey, you’re mine,” I say as my seed fills her up, as our hearts unite. She comes against me hard, tears streaking her cheeks as the power of this union dawns on us both. There is no going back. Ever.
I will protect her, whatever the cost.
There is a roar of engines outside, and we both still, listening to the sound. “What is that?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Not sure. Let me see.” There’s a flash of fear in her eyes. “It’s okay, I got you.”
She bites her bottom lip as I pull on my jeans. There is shouting, and I hear her name being called.
“Rainey, you here?” a man says.
“Tim.” She looks at her watch. “Shit. We lost track of time.”
“Fuck. It’s okay, though. Don’t worry. I can explain.”
She laughs tightly. “Reed, you don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
She pulls on her dress. Her shoes. Grabs her jean jacket and purse.
I run outside, ahead of her. She’s right, the bikers she came to the bar with are here on my property.
“How did you know where I live?” I call to them.
Tim stalks toward me. “You fuck my sister?”
I clench my teeth. “That’s none of your fucking business.”
“Where is she?” he asks. “She isn’t yours to have, you understand?”
“She can do what she wants. She’s a grown woman.”
“No, she fucking can’t.” Tim looks past me. Rainey is running up the steps.
“I’m sorry Tim, I didn’t realize how late it was.”
Tim glares at her. “Good thing the drunks at the bar are loose-lipped. Told me where this fucker lives.” Tim spits, looking around my place.
“Rainey can stay here,” I say, not wanting to start anything with these men, but also not wanting Rainey to leave with them.
“Oh can she?” Tim snorts. “What did you tell your little lover boy?”
Rainey’s eyes darken. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”
“What?” I step toward Rainey, confused. “Where are you going? You can stay here. With me. We can—”
She cuts me off. “I told you I had one night. One night. I don’t have more.”
“We have all the time in the world.”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Reed. I didn’t mean to hurt you. But I have to go.” Tears fill her eyes, but she wipes them away, stepping toward her brother, getting on his bike. “And for the record,” she says as the engine starts. “I think you’re more of a Prince Charming than you give yourself credit for.”
And then, just as quickly as they came, the bikes roar to life, and ride off. Away.
She leaves of her own free will, without looking back.
Whoever I thought Rainey was, I was wrong.
Who knows if anything she said was true?
But fuck — everything I said, felt, believed — there wasn’t a single lie in that.
She’s gone as quickly as she came. Out of my life, but dammit, not out of my mind.
Rainey
I didn’t mean to lie by omission. But what was I supposed to tell the man of my freaking dreams?
Oh, by the way, Reed, I have to do anything my brother says because if I don’t, I could go to jail.
Because yes, I was a virgin, and yes I love to read… but this club my brother runs is more of a drug ring than anything else.
And my hands are dirty.
So, so dirty.
I go where Tim goes because without his protection, whose do I have?
Reed wasn’t a one-night stand — that was one night where I dreamed of a bigger, better life.
But I could never stay. Reed is a good, honest, honorable man. He can’t seriously think we could work out. I’m too much of a mess for his true grit. Too much of a liability for his love.
But God, it hurts to leave. To walk away without looking back.
When we get to a motel, Tim asks if running off like a little slut was worth it.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I tell him, walking past him to the bathroom, closing the door. His girlfriend Carly-Anne is in there, peeing in the toilet, and I don’t even look at her. I take off my clothes and turn on the shower, wanting heat. Warmth. To stand under the water until it runs cold, memorizing every detail from the night.
“He’s pissed,” Carly-Anne says, pulling open the shower curtain to talk to me where no one else can hear. “When he realized you left the bar, he
