Page 43 of Braving the Storm
So silence has seemed like the safest refuge.
Cutting the engine, the quiet is oppressive. Deafening in contrast to the hum of the motor and my usual roster of metal blasting through the speakers. I flick the headlights off, and darkness seeps in, wrapping around us. Only the glow of the porch light left on outside the cabin spills out a warm patch of yellow, reflected off the faded reddish paintwork on the hood of my truck.
Neither of us moves.
“Your car’s a piece of shit, by the way. Total death trap.” I tighten both hands around the wheel, staring straight ahead while painfully aware of the small space filled by the two of us.
Briar seems a little surprised that I've finally said something.As if she’d been caught out while somewhere far away from this mountain, lost in thought herself. “Oh… it is?”
“Don’t go driving anywhere in it.” And by anywhere, I mean the date she’s got coming up tomorrow. I’d prefer she never left this mountain unless it was under my supervision, but it’s hardly likely she’ll be happy to tag along with me for the rest of her time in Crimson Ridge.
Suddenly, I’m seeing images flash in front of my eyes of Westin fucking Hayes pulling up this very drive, in his truck that looks identical to mine, with Briar cozied up next to him, tucked under his arm.
“If you ever need to get into town, especially if it’s icy, take my truck, not that heap of junk, ok?”
Briar twists her body to face me and laughs softly. It’s a sound that makes my gut twist because I want to be the only man she laughs freely like that around. I want to be the one she rolls her eyes at and graces with disapproving huffs and gives her smart-mouthed side exclusively to.
“I’m serious.” My knuckles are white, gripping the steering wheel like I’m intending to rip it out.
“Well, I have no idea how to drive a stick.” Briar rolls her lips together. “So, in that case, it looks like I’m going to be stuck up here.”
The temperature in this truck skyrockets as she says those words. She’s got that raspy edge to her voice as she says out loud what shouldn’t sound so alluring, but does.
Is Briar content to be stuck up here… with me?
Fuck. Maybe it’s the late hour, or the tension of seeing her with another guy, one who’s been busy stealing her smiles, but something breaks inside my brain.
“Do you want to learn?” The words are out of my mouth, and I can’t take them back. Either Briar is going to vanish out that door, with it slamming in my face, or she’s going to step across this line with me. Embers build low in my stomach as soon as she locks her dark eyes with mine.
Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, and she slowly nods her head.
“Slide over here then, darlin’.” There is absolutely no doubt that I’m going to hell, but fuck it.
She hesitates for a moment, then inches closer. Her jeans crease around the tops of her thighs, and it reminds me just how difficult today has been not to stare at the way they suction perfectly around her ass. This girl has got a body designed to bring a man like me to his knees.
“You’re not gonna learn from all the way over there.” I ease myself further back in the seat to create more room between my thighs and the wheel. Yup. Straight to hell.
Widening my legs, I reach one hand to settle on the headrest, opening my lap in invitation.
“Come here.”
Her eyes widen slightly, and goddamn, do I eat up every second when she starts to squirm at the prospect of what shouldn’t exist between us. Of the two of us dancing around this closeness that we’ve both tried our hardest to ignore.
But like the good girl she is, Briar slides over onto my lap, and I have to stifle a groan at how fucking perfect it feels to have her back tucked against me, her hips fitted to mine, our bodies lining up in the most sinfully, temptingly, perfect way.
“Now what.” She tilts her head to one side, voice barely a whisper, just like the night in the kitchen.
“You have to use the clutch to change gears.” I show her with my feet on the pedals. “When you want to shift up or down, you gotta use this guy right here. It’s like a dance. If you ease this one down, you let up on the accelerator. And then do it all in reverse.” My voice is low, my chin just about resting on her shoulder as I talk through the motions.
“I can’t reach the pedals.” She protests.
“Just put your feet on top of mine, I’ll guide you through it.”
Briar’s steady breathing picks up a little as I shift my arms, caging her in to demonstrate shifting in and out of gear.
“Seems complicated.” Her fists are balled on top of her thighs. The way my head is spinning with her scent and the heat between our bodies, I’m not entirely sure she’s talking about driving a stick, or something else.
“Nothing you can’t learn if you give it a try.” I wrap my palms over her fists, and she hitches in a breath, that preciously soft body jerks slightly when I make direct contact to lift her hands.
