The first touch of her lips was tentative but when he guided his mouth over hers, she eagerly welcomed his demand for more by tipping back her head. Dan flicked his tongue across her lips and then delved deeper to graze her teeth. The soft, inner recess of her mouth tasted sweet and he could feel the pant of her breath whisper across his tongue and lips. Soon she was matching his motions and exploring his mouth with her own swift strokes. Her curious movements became more definite and sure yet he could tell she was holding back.
He lifted his mouth and tucked her head to his shoulder, held her firmly against his chest. “He loves you too, Tara.”
“Then why am I here?” She ran her hand across him, moved it lower and stroked him between his legs. Her fingers curved around his hard cock. “Like this?”
“He wants you to have what he can’t give you right now.”
Her fingers tightened around his shaft and squeezed. But he didn’t need the stroke of her hand to know she was aroused. He could feel it in the quickness of her breath and tension in her spine.
“I want you,” he whispered. Then realized he wanted to take it back. Not because he didn’t want her to know but because he didn’t want it to be true.
“Is that why I’m here?” She stroked him again. “Because you want me?”
“I’m here because he asked me.” At least that was true.
Tara stepped back. The Velcro rasped when she tugged on the strap of the first glove. After she tossed it to the ground, she looked up as she tugged off the second one. “I want you to want to me.” She lifted the glove to her face and smelled the sweat-soaked leather. “Is that wrong?”
“I don’t think there is a wrong or right here. For us.”
“Only the question of what’s next.”
“Yeah. That.” Dan ran his hands through his hair, shoving the damp strands back from his face. “I have an idea.”
Tara had followed Dan’s instructions. Wearing only her bra and panties, she sat on the hay bale, her back to the open door. With her hair loose and hanging over her cool skin, she waited, listening through the chatter of the barn swallows for Dan’s footsteps.
Off in the distance, she heard the smack of a door. Her heart sped up and her nerve endings fired. She heard each swoosh of feathers above and felt each strand of hay on her ass cheeks. Even the scent of the dirt floor saturated her senses. For a few beats, the possibility of backing out flitted through her mind but she just as quickly rejected it. Doing nothing wasn’t an option. She could do this. Dan’s plan was good. The footsteps became louder and then the signal, two raps on the big wood door. Again her heart kicked up speed but she waited, doing what Dan had explained.
There was a pause, the light scrape of him getting things set. Then he was behind her with his hands on her shoulders. “Stand up and turn around. Let me look at you.”
Tara pulled in a shaky breath, braced her herself by putting her hands on her thighs and pushed herself to her feet. Once up, she felt steadier. The hay bale between the two of them created some distance. Remembering the plan, she straightened her spine and rolled her shoulders back, shoving her breasts up into Dan’s gaze. The wicked glint in his eyes encouraged her.
He was still bare-chested and wearing his jeans and boots. With the evening sun slanting in through the wide barn doors, roaming across her body covered only in the tiny bra and panties, they must have made a porn-worthy pair. That was exactly the point.
He reached for her, she sidestepped and spun, glanced at him over her shoulder. It was a calculated, flirtatious move, but it felt good to be silly. To tease. And it gave her something to do with all the restless, nervous energy flowing through her veins.
After rounding the bale, he reached for her a second time but again she scooted aside, a surprising ripple of laughter rolling through her. The third time he was quicker, grabbing her by the waist and holding her steady as he pulled her to him and kissed her firmly on the mouth. The sensation of his strong, warm hands on her bare skin stirred her physical side, that side of her personality Matthew understood so well. The side that brought them close in the first place. The side that seemed to be the problem for them now.
Dan lifted his mouth and whispered into her ear. “Open your eyes.”
She did. He was grinning, a smile that lightened his entire face.
Of all the things she’d been expecting, that wasn’t even close. Matthew had made a point of telling Tara that Dan was dark, controlled, and buried his emotions deep. Yet this man was nothing like that. Laughing, he let go and moved back, set her on the bale, put his boot between her thighs and pushed the sole lightly against her crotch. The brown leather looked even darker compared to her pale skin. “Take the heel and pull.”
A smile quirked her lips as she wrapped her hands around the smooth, hard heel. “You’re kidding?”
After tapping his toe lightly, he said, “Pull.”
She took hold and tugged, grasping so tightly that Dan had to hop on the other foot to keep his balance. It came off and then, using exaggerated care, she set the boot on ground.
“Very funny,” he said, lifting his other foot.
She arched an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the second boot.
His devilish grin faded as she wrapped her fingers around the heel and pulled, more gently this time. She placed the second boot beside the first then set her hands behind her. The lace of her bra was sheer enough that her tight, peaked nipples were easily visible. She liked the way his gaze narrowed as he stared at her breasts.
“Unzip my pants,” he said, moving forward and folding his arms across his chest.
As soon as she had the zipper down, he nodded. “Now pull them off.”
“You going to ask me to suck your cock next?”
“No point in talking dirty. We’re too far away for him to be able to hear you.” The teasing gleam came back into his eyes. “Now do what I told you to.”
She tugged his jeans all the way down and saw the solid erection pushing at his briefs. She grabbed the waistband and pulled them down. He kicked away his pants and spread his legs, angling his hips forward, bringing his rod close to her face. “See anything that’ll give him ideas?”
“Yeah.” She touched his inner thigh then moved her fingers up toward his balls. “I do.”
“Glad to hear it. Come on.” He lifted her to her feet, took her hand and led her out of the barn.
Matthew didn’t go back to sleep after he watched the video Dan had sent to him. Wearing only his robe, he’d sat on the balcony, watching the city with his cell in one hand and his car keys on the other. Using either would be a violation of the rules he’d established.
After several hours passed, and Tara still didn’t come home, he got the message. She was staying over, sleeping in Dan’s bed, no doubt.
The sun came up and he went inside to make a breakfast he knew he’d be eating alone. Each time he took another bite of his eggs, he glanced at his phone, hoping it would flash from a new text and yet also hoping it wouldn’t. About the time he was headed to the shower, it vibrated from an incoming call. He answered it with a hard knot in his gut. His question came out before he had a chance to hold it back. “Is she okay?”
“Of course, I left her a few minutes ago. She had me drop her off at the beach. I guess she wanted a few minutes to herself before she came home.” After a beat of silence, Dan came back to ask, “How are you? You okay?”
“I got the video,” he said, stepping into the bathroom and looking at his weary face in the mirror. The face of a man who’d spent the night fantasizing about his wife being fucked by another man.
“Good.”
Matthew shrugged out of his robe and glanced down at his cock. It was getting hard again as the image of Tara’s breasts bouncing as she tugged off Dan’s boots flashed in his mind.
Dan spoke again. “Did you like it?”
Matthew stroked his dick. “What kind of question is that?”
“A serious one. Did you like it?”
Matthew watched his hand, the dark skin of his fingers moving across the pale skin of his cock. He squeezed the shaft, felt his balls heat. Matthew clicked off to end the call, threw down the phone and grabbed his dick with both hands. Tara’s smile, her breasts, the lighthearted way she dodged Dan’s attempts to grab her—even the sight of his friend’s bare ass and rigid cock. Those images flowed through his mind, teasing him, tormenting him, making him more horny than he’d been in a long time.
Damn.
What had they done after they’d left the barn?
When Tara had first left with Dan, he’d felt lost, lonely, weak and depressed. Then, after the video had arrived, he’d been on fire. Half hating, half loving the lust churning inside him. He’d been avoiding jacking off all night, almost frightened by the fierce urges coming over him. But he couldn’t take it any longer. His hand picked up speed, his fingers tightening around his shaft as he stroked himself, seeking the release he’d been aching for for hours.
Matthew watched himself jack off until the sensations became so brutal that he had to close his eyes. As soon as his lids flickered shut, he saw Tara’s face with Dan’s dick inches from her lips and felt the first spurts of cum. Matthew gave himself over to his own touch, stroking himself with awkward jerky pulls until the last drops wet his hands. Even after the spasms stopped, he held his wet, limp dick and waited for his breathing to return to normal. Then he opened his eyes, looked at himself in the mirror and saw the reflection of a stranger. He stepped into the shower and turned on the water, let the cold spray roll across his naked body but it didn’t quell the heat.
* * * * *
Exactly a week after the first time, Tara stepped out of Dan’s truck. Again the ride had been quiet but a different kind of quiet this time. It’d been one that simmered, growing both more silent and more intense with each passing second. Energy vibrated between them, buzzed and snapped until Tara was sure she’d leap out of the truck as soon as they reached Dan’s secluded home. Maybe Dan sensed her extreme case of nerves because right after he cut the engine he reached over and set his hand across hers. “Are you going to tell me how things went last week? With Matthew?”
Words formed her in mind but she couldn’t get them out.
“Did he ask about us?”
She offered him a weak smile to show she appreciated him caring enough to ask, then pulled her hand from under his. She climbed out into the shade of the gnarled oak. The air north of the city was fresher, clearer, and had a ting of salt. Even after this, whatever it was, was over, Tara had a feeling that scent would always remind her of Dan. When she walked away from the truck and toward the footpath that led to the open field behind his house he followed, as she knew he would.
Dan caught up and started walking beside her. “Did he act different?”
“Sort of,” she replied, letting him take her hand. His grip wasn’t tight or possessive and it felt right. She curled her fingers around his.
They reached the top of a hill and stopped. Off in the horizon the ocean rolled, white foam across azure waves. Closer, stalks of sea grass poked the sky and all around were batches of purple wild flowers and cactus. They stood in silence for a few moments, until he finally asked, “Sort of different in a good way? Or bad?”
“He kept staring at me,” she replied, thinking about the way her husband had been both distant and possessive. “Looking at me weird but not saying much of anything.”
Dan smiled and playfully bumped against her shoulder. “That’s good.”
Tara tried to ignore the wave of heat his body caused. It wasn’t so much him, she mused, as it was a response to the constant ache for physical release. Well, then again, of course it was him, if she wasn’t in love with Matthew…
But she was in love with him and that made all the difference.
“If you say so,” she replied. But why had Matthew only looked? Wasn’t the plan to get him to do something?
“I’m a man. I know what that kind of looking means.”
Tara glanced up, knowing the gentle skepticism showed on her face. “You do, huh?”
“Yep. That means it worked.”
Tara shifted her weight to lean her back against Dan’s chest as she gazed out over the rough yet beautiful terrain. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned her head back. It was easy to see how this place had created the man behind her. Even the delicate wildflowers had rigid-looking stalks. Some had sharp-edged leaves but were still beautiful and vibrantly alive. “We never came up here, to the canyon, when I was a kid. My mom and dad talked about taking us to the park to go hiking but we never did.”
“No Girl Scout camping trips?”
“Nope. Lots of days at the city pool, though.”
After a rush of wind sent some brittle brown brambles dancing past, Dan spoke again. “We never went to the city when I was a kid. I spent most all my free time running up and down these mountains with my brother.”
Tara glanced up at Dan, spotting the rough stubble on his chin. “You and Matthew aren’t much alike.”
“Where we were, doing what we were doing, where you grow up doesn’t matter for shit. It’s what’s deep inside a person that makes the difference.”
Tara knew better than to ask any questions about their time together in the military. So instead of speaking, she waited, wondering if he’d say more.
“I know him and he knows me in all the ways that matter.”
A red-tailed hawk swooped low, talons pointed, vanishing quickly into the dense grass. It rose again, claws empty as it flew off, disappearing behind a cluster of olive trees.
Thinking of her husband’s maddening silence, Tara said, “Maybe I shouldn’t have told him so much.”
“About what?”
“Things I did before I met him. Back then I wanted him to understand that I was not innocent, not by a long shot.”
“You did the right thing. Honestly like that is good.”
“But what if he’s thinking about all that stuff I told him and its giving him ideas about me, about us. What if this is actually pushing him away?”
“It’s not.”
Two simple words she desperately wanted to be true. Even though Dan was so certain, she couldn’t let the worry go. “Did you talk to him at work?”
“Not about this. Not about you.”
Tara sighed. Them not talking about “it” actually didn’t surprise her. No doubt they had some exciting conversations about major accounts and new key programs.
“Turns out that Olivia’s promotion of Josh might not get approved.”
“Oh?” She’d been so far into her own feelings, it took her a few seconds to remember the promotion Matthew had been expecting.
“Matthew didn’t mention anything about that guy Josh?”
“Nope,” she replied, thinking of all the quiet, lonely evenings she’d spent on the couch. “He hasn’t said much at all this week.”
Dan broke into her troubled thoughts. “I bet he’s home right now holding his phone, waiting for what we’re about to give him.”
Action. Truly, her only option.
Tara shook off the doubts and told herself to keep trying with Matthew. Make something happen. Anything at all would be better than the nothing they had now. “You have an idea about what we’re going to give him?”
“Oh yeah.” He grabbed the hem of his polo shirt and peeled it off. The lean muscles of his arms and shoulders rippled as he bent down to smooth his shirt across a wide sandy patch. Next, he unzipped his jeans, shoved them off, then threw them near the shirt.
“You next,” he said, standing in his tight, black briefs with the evening sun shining across his hard, lean chest.
When she didn’t peel off her shirt right away, he came to her and grabbed its hem. “You’re wearing a bra. Right?”
She winked to cover the nerves starting to skitter up her spine. She trusted him and had decided to go all in with his plan. “Take it off and find out,” she replied.
He lifted the shirt as far as he could but her arms got in the way. Laughing, she twisted to help him get it off. Then he grabbed the waistband of her shorts and tugged. “Can you do these on your own? Or do you want help with them too?”
His playful attitude helped ease her nerves. “Thanks for the offer but I think I can get it.” Tara unzipped her cutoffs and let them drop at her feet. The seductive breeze curling around her reminded her how exposed she was and she wrapped her arms around herself.
Dan lightly touched her elbows. “Think about Matthew. Imagine it was him here instead of me. Close your eyes.”
Tara did as he said, using the brief darkness to get her focus back. Then her lids flittered open. “Matthew would never do this, be almost naked like this, out in the open.”
Dan had been watching her while her eyes were closed and he didn’t try to hide it when she caught him. “Would you want him to?”
She sighed. “Yeah. I would.”
“Follow my directions and that’s going to change.”
She wiggled her toes in the sand and watched Dan look her over. It was satisfying to have him stare, his appreciation for her obvious in the growing bulge in his briefs.
He motioned to his shirt. “Sit and spread your legs.”
While Tara lowered herself to the center of Dan’s shirt, he bent down to get his cell phone from his jeans pocket. He knelt in the sand and took the first picture.
“Was that of my crotch?”
“We’re just getting started.” He stood back up. “Know what? I could use something to drink. Want something?”
“Water would be great.”
“It’s your turn to think up what we send him this time. You’ve got until I get back.” Tara watched his powerful-looking ass until he disappeared down the hill then she stretched out on his shirt and stared up at the cloudless, indigo sky. Dan’s scent surrounded her and she didn’t stop herself from turning her head and taking in a long, deep breath of his musky scent. Even though Dan and Matthew had become close, there was a lot Tara didn’t know about Dan. Beneath his restrained exterior was a simmering intensity Tara sensed he kept under tight control.
But she’d seen that wildness in his eyes, watched it come out when he hit the bag. That untamable emotion was akin to rage but not quite the same. If it had a name, Tara didn’t know it. Her man was steady. It wasn’t that Matthew wasn’t intense, he was. But his emotions and actions always had an end in sight. Dan’s didn’t seem to. Even though he’d accepted the entry-level job Matthew set up for him, Dan didn’t appear to have an immediate focus or goal—professionally or personally. Maybe that was why the wild force inside him churned and spun. He was seeking his place in the world.
The realization came suddenly—he reminded Tara of herself.
Did Matthew see that restlessness in both of them?
If so, what would such a controlled man think of that kind of undisciplined approach? Could he understand it? Probably not. But appreciate it? Yes, he could do that. No doubt, Dan’s wild side was the force that kept them both alive in Afghanistan. Did Tara’s wild side keep Matthew alive as well? Maybe. That was a possibility she’d never even considered.
Tara stretched out in the sand, easing into the warm breeze that spun across her skin. The sun caressed her everywhere, over her arms, her breasts and between her thighs. She pulled in another breath and felt some of the tension that had been clinging to her soften. She ran her hands across her stomach and then slipped her fingers under her bra cup to stroke the soft sides of her breasts. It had been too long since she’d felt the delicate, slow stroke of skin on skin. Her mind drifted back to the early days with Matthew. She closed her eyes and tried to pinch her nipples. The band of her bra was too tight so she unhooked it and slipped it off. The electricity under her skin skittered when she cupped her breasts and squeezed the tender flesh.
Her nipples tightened and she encouraged the response by pinching them with her fingertips. A strike of electricity raced down her spine and she clenched her thighs but the pressure only made her ache for more. She dropped her thighs apart and slid her hand into her panties. Her clit was stiff between her slick folds and so sensitive that it only took the lightest touch to bring on the first curls of intense pleasure.
She continued rubbing herself, easing into a sensual rhythm as she arched her back and lifted her hips off Dan’s shirt. Just as she was nearing orgasm, she heard the soft press of footsteps. It was Dan, standing at the top of the path between tuffs of tall sea grass. He was holding up his phone, a question in his gaze.
She glanced at the phone then dropped her head back. “Yes.”
He came closer, moved his phone into position, and started snapping the image of her lying across his shirt and pants, stroking herself. She wanted to relax again but Dan cast such a heavy shadow that not even the tender touch of her practiced fingers could soften the edge of self-consciousness. She stilled as she tipped her head toward him and looked into his eyes.
“Don’t stop.” His voice was husky and raw.
“You already have a couple. Send him those.”
“Keep going.” Dan sat down but kept the phone angled in her direction. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”
Gradually, she turned her head toward the clear, cloudless sky and began stroking herself again. The heat returned but she was still very aware of Dan, taking pictures to send Matthew. In the edges of her mind, she thought about her husband. She tried to think about their relationship but questions about where this all was taking them wouldn’t leave her alone. And so she thought about their physical relationship as it once was and those edges softened and vanished as the hot swirls of her release started to drift through her.
As she thought about those early days, her body responded. Her breath came in quick, light pants as her pussy tightened briefly and pleasure whipped through her. But the orgasm was too short and too soft. It barely touched the surface of her tension and actually managed to leave her even less satisfied. Her hand fell aside and she rolled onto her stomach, stretching across Dan’s clothing. Tara rested her head on her hands and let her gaze roam across the tops of the olive trees and tuffs of sea grass.
She’d been with a lot of men before committing to Matthew, but as a single woman in LA, why not? It was fun. But her desire to try a different man every weekend ended when she fell in love. He’d been the first man she’d been with who understood her and accepted her, and all her flaws, the way she was. Still, she had learned something during her rowdy years as a single woman—if you want something, you go after it.
She angled her head to lock gazes with Dan and held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
He came over and put it in her palm.
She looked him over, her gaze lingering on the baggy athletic shorts he must have put on when he went down for the water. “Take off the shorts.”
The bend of a smile curled his lips as he shoved his shorts down, taking his snug, black briefs at the same time. Grinning, he stood before her, stroking his partially stiff cock. Tara took the first picture.
“Are these for Matthew too?” Dan asked, squeezing his fingers around his hardening shaft.
She didn’t answer.
But already lost in his need, he wasn’t really listening either.
As Tara took the shots, she got the idea that he’d been thinking about jacking off the whole time he’d been taking the pictures for Matthew.