Whiskey Rebellion - Toni Aleo Read online

  I have no clue what she is talking about, but I don’t dare say more. As I watch her struggle with what she wants to say, I can’t help but think we are two fucked-up people just trying to make it. I’ve had time to adjust, to figure myself out, but I feel like Lena is still struggling with that. I can’t handle watching her do so either. I want to fix it all for her. To make it go away. But as much as I want to know everything, she isn’t ready to tell me.

  And that’s okay.

  When the music I have playing on my phone switches Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect Symphony,” I close my eyes. “Man, I love this song.”

  “Oh, me too. It’s so classic.”

  “It is,” I agree. I get up, wanting to make all her uneasiness go away. She watches as I move, her eyes full of tears that tug at my heartstrings. When I pull her up and into my arms, she comes willingly, wrapping her arms around my middle as she presses her nose into my chest. I cup her by the back of her neck with one of my hands, and we sway to the music ever so slowly as I trail kisses down her temple to her ear.

  “We should be barefoot,” she says softly.

  “It’s too fuckin’ cold,” I laugh, and she grins against my cheek as we sway.

  “Finally giving in?”

  “I don’t have a choice.” Leaning into her, I kiss her ear once more as my heart soars for this girl. “You can tell me anything, Lena. I’ll never judge you. I’ll never think you’re anything but perfect. You do realize that, right?”

  She chuckles slightly, though it’s full of pain. “Ah, Jacks, ya don’t know anything about me.”

  Holding her tightly, I kiss her ear. “I know I really like who you let me know, and I want to know so much more. Everything, actually.” Moving her head back from my chest, she places her chin there, her eyes burning into mine as her breathing picks up. “I know that when I’m with you, my heart goes wild and I can’t think of anything but holding you, kissing you, and being with you.”

  Her lips part a little as her fingers run along the back of my shirt. “All that?”

  “And more,” I say, running my lips along her cheek. “I’d never hurt you.”

  “Oh, I know that. Yer too good for all that.”

  “So, what’s holding you back?”

  She blinks then, and I almost think she’s gonna walk away from me. But to my surprise, she doesn’t. Actually, the opposite happens. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down for a long, lusty kiss. One that curls my toes in my boots as I hold her close to me. As we kiss, each one longer and lustier than the last, I wonder why she is holding back. Was I right to assume we were just having fun? That she had no intention of ever caring more for me than a hookup? And what’s wrong with that? I’m leaving, she is the princess of this place, and I know it would never work out. I should be thankful. Glad and relieved.

  It’s what I wanted.

  But why do I feel like it isn’t?

  Before I can dwell on that, though, her fingers capture my chin as my eyes meet hers. “Jacks.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You have a bed in that tent?”

  I smile. “Well, I have sleeping bags.”

  Running her fingers down my jaw, she asks, “Can you fuck me on them?”

  I hesitate. I don’t want to just fuck her. But then, what do I want? Why is this so confusing? Why do her eyes render me so utterly stupid?

  I don’t know, but why am I questioning it?

  Unable to answer her with the emotion clogging my throat, I pick her up as our mouths meet. But before she presses her lips to mine, she whispers, “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes,” I answer, and then we’re kissing once more. It feels so right, our lips moving and playing with each other’s as the music fills our little space. As I carry her, I pull away a little so I can see where I’m going, but that doesn’t stop her from kissing my jaw, my neck, and licking along my ear. Driving me absolutely insane.

  Going toward the tent, I fall to my knees, still holding her as I open it. I carry her in before lying on top of her. I have so many blankets in here, and I made sure to activate the heating pads before I met her at the bridge, so everything is pretty cozy.

  “This is awesome,” she gushes as I sit up, closing the tent flap so none of the warm air gets out.

  “It’s okay, but you’re amazing,” I say, covering her body with mine once more. When I capture her mouth, she wraps her legs around my waist as I press into her, wanting her so badly, I’m unable to think of anything else. I want to figure her out; I want to know why she is holding back. But when I’m between her legs, all I care about is her.

  And making her scream my name countless times over.

  Sitting up, I pull off my sweatshirt and my shirt, undoing my pants as she does the same. Soon we are fumbling over each other trying to get our clothes off, along with our boots. When she goes to kick her boot off to try to get it out of the way, it hits me square in the face. Her eyes widen, but soon we’re both laughing so hard, we can’t breathe.

  “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!”

  I fall on top of her, our naked bodies becoming one, and her laughter dies off. “I love it when you laugh like that.”

  Her eyes fall shut as her lips part. She is so hot between her legs, and her nipples are hard against my chest, making every coherent thought evaporate.

  “Hell,” I mutter against her bare breast as I run my tongue along her hardened peak. “You’re magnificent.”

  Gently dragging her nails along my back, she arches up into me. “No, you are.”

  A grin pulls at my lips as I kiss down her stomach, tonguing her pussy as she cries out, making my dick harder. While I lick her, I am shaking with need. It has been so long since I’ve been inside of her. Days of fighting my need for her, wanting her like mad, but keeping it under wraps because I wanted to make sure she was okay. I still don’t know if she is. But in a way, I think she is when she is with me. As I open her up, taking her clit between my lips, I suck her hard as her moans fill my tent, rocking me to the core. She tastes sweet and like everything I’m craving. When she comes, it’s hard, her whole body shaking as she pinches my head with her delicate thighs.

  Laughing, I remove my head as I look down at her. Her body jerks, a little grin at her lips as her eyes squeeze shut, her hands holding her sweet breasts.

  She’s outstanding.

  “I want it hard, Jackson.”

  A grin pulls at my lips. “Hard, you say?”

  “So hard.”

  Her eyes are so lusty, her body so beautiful that I’m worried I’ll hurt her. But then her lips curve up at me, and I lose all sense of control. Pushing her legs back, I enter her in one thrust. Hard. And with need. She arches up, crying out, my name falling from her lips as I move into her over and over again. My fingers bite into her thighs as she clutches me with her tight center. Each of my thrusts is harder than the last, and her body jerks, her breasts bouncing with the motion as she clutches my wrists, such a blissful look on her face.

  I think that’s what does me in because soon I’m coming so hard it rattles me.

  Closing my eyes, I dig my fingers into her skin as I ride out my orgasm, shuddering into her as I moan loudly. My whole body seems to be shaking, and my heart feels the same. Falling to her side, I gather her in my arms as our mouths join and her leg comes over my hip. Closing my eyes, I exhale as her fingers move along my jaw, her nose pressed into mine, our mouths joining with small but robust kisses.

  We lie there for what seems like hours, but I know it’s only seconds before she whispers, “I don’t want to leave.”

  “Don’t, then.”

  I feel her lips curve as she presses her nose into mine. “A lady never has a nightcap with a man she isn’t going to marry.”

  Don’t read into that, I caution myself. “Well, that’s a problem, then, eh?”

  I can feel her smiling against my lips as she runs her fingers through the hair on my chest. Turning my head, I meet her gaze before my hand c