Page 17 of The Highwaymen

With a broken cry, I slammed down one final time, taking Stu to the hilt. My orgasm crashed into me, whiting out my vision and shredding my nerves. I spilled across Stu's chest and stomach, painting his skin with ropey spurts of cum as I clenched around his rigid cock.

Beneath me, Stu made a choked sound, his hips giving an aborted twitch as his own climax overtook him. I felt the hot pulse of his release deep inside me, flooding me, marking me. Claiming me as his, just as surely as I'd claimed him.

For a long moment, I just clung to him, shaking and gasping, lost in the aftershocks. Pleasure radiated out from my core, washing away the ugliness, the shame, the phantom pains. In that suspended instant, there was only Stu's solid heat, his strength anchoring me. Grounding me.

Finally, I peeled my body off of his and flopped over onto my back beside him. My chest heaved as I gulped down air, slowly coming back to myself. The sweat cooled on my skin, and my racing heart gradually slowed.

I felt wrung out, emptied of everything - the bad and the good. Numb and floating, but calm. Satiated.

The mattress shifted as Stu rolled onto his side to face me. He reached out, brushing his knuckles down my cheek in a surprisingly tender gesture. “You good now?”

I leaned into his touch, craving the contact, the connection. “Yeah. I am now.”

Stu's hand drifted lower, skimming over the finger-shaped bruises he'd left on my throat just hours ago. His expressionflickered, something like remorse darkening his features. “Got a bit carried away earlier.”

I captured his wrist, stilling his movements. Met his gaze dead on. “I'm not some delicate flower, Stu. I can take it.” I gentled my grip, letting my fingers caress his pulse point. “I need it, sometimes.”

Understanding dawned in his eyes, chased by a flash of heat. He knew. Knew the ugliness inside me, the darkness. The hunger. It called to his own, resonating in the blackened depths of his soul.

Stu's hand slid into my hair, fingers twisting in the sweat-damp strands. He yanked me closer, bringing our mouths together in a steamy, sinful kiss, one that bordered on too much affection for a couple of fuck buddies who had killing in common.

We stayed like that for a long moment, mouths locked, sharing breath and heat and something that felt dangerously close to tenderness. It was too much, too intimate, too real. I broke away first, rolling onto my back and staring up at the water-stained ceiling.

Beside me, Stu lit a cigarette, the click of his lighter loud in the suddenly awkward silence. He took a long drag and exhaled, the smoke curling towards the ceiling.

I tracked it with my eyes, needing something to focus on besides the man beside me and the unfamiliar emotions trying to take root in my chest. This thing between us...it was supposed to be simple. Uncomplicated. Just two twisted souls finding solace and release in each other's darkness.

I wasn't prepared for the way my heart clenched at his surprising gentleness, the way my body craved his touch in a way that went beyond the physical. It terrified me, these fledgling feelings worming their way into the numb wasteland of my heart.

I couldn't afford this—whateverthiswas. Attachments, affection, caring...it made you weak. Vulnerable. And in my line of work, vulnerability got you caught.

Or killed.

The sun glinted offthe chrome of my rig as I fired her up. Another day, another haul. But something was different this time. I could feel it in my bones.

Jamie sauntered out of the motel, hips swaying, a devilish glint in his eye. The little shit had gotten under my skin last night. I don't mix business with pleasure, especially not with batshit crazy little twinks like him. But damn if he didn't look good climbing up into the cab, his pert ass taunting me.

I put the hammer down, engine roaring, wheels eating up the blacktop. Miles to go. Sitting this close to Jamie, I could smell his sweet scentmixed with the tang of blood and sex. It was driving me wild, but I kept my eyes on the road, hands gripping the wheel until my knuckles went white.

Memories kept jumping to the forefront of my mind of how Jamie had climbed on top of me, how I’d let him take what he wanted while I played dead. I never thought I’d be into that sort of thing. I was all for a rough and dirty tumble in the sheets, but playing possum while he used my dick like his personal toy? That was a whole new can of worms and I wasn’t sure how to unpack the fact that I’d liked it.

We'd been on the road for hours, nothing but empty desert and telephone poles whizzing by. The cab was thick with tension you could cut with a knife. Jamie was humming tunelessly under his breath, tapping his fingers against the dash. It set my teeth on edge.

“Would you cut that out?” I snapped.

Jamie turned to me with an innocent expression, but I could see the hint of a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. “What's the matter, honey bunny? Am I getting on your nerves?”

“You could say that,” I growled. My grip tightened on the wheel as Jamie's hand slid over to my thigh, fingers digging in.

“Maybe you need something to take your mind off things,” he purred, hand creeping higher. “I could help with that.”

I bit back a groan, trying to focus on the road. But it was damn near impossible with Jamie palming me through my jeans. I was getting hard embarrassingly fast. He knew just how to push my buttons.

Jamie leaned in close. “Pull over. I wanna suck your cock.”

I pushed him away. “Not now. Traffic’s about to pick up. We’re gonna be in Flagstaff by the top of the hour.”

Jamie pouted, but pulled his hand away. “Fine. But you owe me later.” He slouched back in his seat, staring out at the barren landscape.

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