Chapter 50

50

DAPHNE

M y heart was racing a million miles a minute, my body already raring to go. The adrenaline from my argument with Peter and Sterling's sudden appearance was still coursing through me like lava, making me feel like I was on fire for him.

It spurred me on even though I knew I should pump the brakes. The simple fact was that I didn't want to stop. Sterling pulled me into his lap and I went eagerly.

Whatever issues we had, it wasn't that we weren't compatible. It wasn't that there were no feelings involved or that we'd gotten each other out of our systems.

If anything, I wanted him now more than ever, this man who kept showing up exactly when I didn't even know I needed him. He seemed to have an uncanny ability to be there for me, whether I wanted him to be or not.

It made me feel more supported than I ever had been by anyone, like he was the wind I needed in my sails. No matter how annoyed I was with him, that didn't change the way he—and what he'd done—made me feel.

Not even to mention what it did to me when he said things like "there's only one woman who's perfect for me, and that's you." What was more was that as his tongue slid into my mouth and he pulled me into his lap, lowering his seat back with his free hand to give us more space to move, I felt like he genuinely meant it.

I'd never felt as out of control while knowing that I had all the power I needed. If I said stop , there was no doubt in my mind that he would, but I didn't say it and he didn't do it. The fact was that things between us were a mess, and yet, I needed to be with him.

Sterling grounded me while he also gave me wings to fly. He made me feel safe even when faced with an ex who I knew had been about to take a swing at me. All the bravado in the world couldn't change how much I appreciated that he'd intervened when he had.

I didn't want to care, but I did. Peter had been the biggest threat I'd ever faced, not only tonight, but for all the years we'd been together. I wanted to be strong and independent and I was, but standing on that sidewalk with our argument coming to a head and not knowing if anyone would ever even know what had happened to me if Peter took things too far?

My heart lurched and I wound my arms around Sterling's neck, allowing myself to take comfort in his passionate embrace. I moaned into his mouth as his tongue swept into mine once more, giving myself over to that moment instead of worrying about what had come before.

I'd finally stood up to Peter and Fiona had been making moves on Sterling, but he and I were here. Together. With neither of them anywhere close by. Even Eric couldn't come between us here, and I recognized that we needed to take advantage of this opportunity, possibly our last to be together.

Breaking the kiss, I slid my nose along the length of his and closed my eyes, just taking a moment to breathe it in. Outside, the storm was still raging, rain coming down in sheets that made me feel like we were in our own little bubble in here.

In here, nothing could touch us. With that thought in mind, I kissed him again, but deeper this time, slowing it down even as I pushed his jacket off his shoulders. Sterling moved with me, drawing his arms out of his sleeves before starting on my clothes in turn.

Elbows bumped against the emergency brake and the side of the truck, everything seemingly in our way but none of it stopped us. Getting him out of his pants with me still on top of him proved to be a challenge, but we managed.

As I lifted myself up on my knees to peel off my own pants, he turned up the heat in the cab, jets of hot air washing over the naked skin of my back and making goosebumps rise all over me. Sterling's eyelids were heavy, his gaze hooded as he watched me kick my jeans aside. He pulled me back to him, capturing one of my nipples in his hot mouth.

"God, Daph. I missed you," he groaned as he nibbled on my sensitive flesh.

Sparks of pleasure shot through me and I shifted forward, sliding his hard shaft through my folds and moaning again at the sensation of having him there. "I missed you too."

I ran my fingers through his hair. Raising his chin, he looked into my eyes and leaned into my touch. Then he slanted his lips over mine once more and only stopped what he was doing when he reached for a condom. I watched as he covered himself, my muscles already spasming with the anticipation of it all.

I tucked my hair behind my ears and lifted myself over him, almost banging my head against the roof. Sterling's gaze caught mine. His lips parted as he moved his hands to my hips, gripping them and guiding me down.

With his smoldering eyes burning into mine, he thrust into me and I sank onto him at the same time. His breath caught in his chest. I pushed my fingers into his hair again, my breathing ragged. I stared at him, still for just a beat, and adjusted to having him inside me.

My body pulsed around his shaft, my heart hammered, and my cheeks flushed with heat. Sterling's fingers flexed on my hips and he started moving again, slowly rolling his hips. He kept looking into my eyes.

Neither of us said a word but we sped up. Our mouths crashed together as our bodies fused and did the talking for us. We might not have known what to do about these feelings we had for each other, but it was clear in each furious, passionate kiss and every desperate moan and thrust that they existed—and that neither of us wanted it to end.

Inevitably though, it did end—in spectacular fashion. Pleasure pooled in my core, tightening my muscles until it erupted. The orgasm raced through me like the lightning streaking across the sky outside. Sterling's thrusts became less rhythmic and more urgent, and he crushed me to him when I felt him swell deep inside me.

"I lied earlier," he murmured against my hair, his chest still heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

Still trembling in the aftermath, I rested my head on his shoulder and waited for my heartrate to return to normal. My lips curled into a smile against the crook of his neck. "Yeah? About what?"

"I'm not taking you home. When I said it, it wasn't a lie. I really was planning on driving you back there, but the only place I want to drive you right now is to my house."

"What about your dad?" I whispered, my voice barely audible against the rain thundering against the roof. "Isn't he there?"

"I'm sure he is, but he'll be sleeping by now. Besides, I don't care if he knows you're there. I want you in my bed tonight."

My heart skipped a beat. I wanted to be in his bed tonight just as much as he wanted me to be there, but he and I hadn't really worked anything out. Aside from my suspicion that Fiona had either been lying or greatly exaggerating the truth, nothing had really changed between Sterling and me.

Yet, our days together were coming to an end, and if I could have one last night with him, I'd take it. Even if I knew I would only be subjecting myself to even more intense heartbreak once he finally left.

I found myself nodding anyway, deciding that heartbreak was heartbreak. At least this way, I'd have another memory to look back on when he was gone. "Take me to bed, then."

Sterling grinned and offered his hand to help me keep my balance as I climbed back over to my side of the truck. "Are you sure?"

"It'll be our last hurrah," I murmured as I reached for my shirt, hiding the pain in my eyes with the fabric as I pulled it on.

He didn't respond, simply gathering his own clothes and hurriedly getting dressed himself. When we were decent, he started the truck, reached for my hand, and twined his fingers through my own. We stayed that way as he drove to the house.

As we approached, an attached garage I'd never actually been inside opened, and I glanced at him questioningly. He chuckled, squeezing my hand. He drove in once it was all the way open. "I don't want you getting even wetter than you already are, and I don't mean that in the dirty way."

I gave him a playful shove as he parked in the dusty dark depths of the garage, climbed out, and walked around to open the passenger door for me. Looking around, I accepted his hand once more. I saw all sorts of old farming equipment, ATVs covered in thick blankets of dust, and shelves full of tools.

"Someone needs to tidy up in here," I murmured as he led me to the kitchen door. "Think John will let me sort it out for him?"

Sterling smiled as we walked into his house. "I doubt it, but you could try. You'd probably have a better shot than anyone else."

I added it to my mental to-do list immediately. Once Sterling left, I would have to keep busy and this was another way I could serve Northfield Farms and my community.

After silently following him up the stairs, I paused when he shut his bedroom door behind us. For obvious reasons, I'd never spent much time in here, but I had seen it before.

I remembered the last time I'd been in here as if it was yesterday. "It hasn't changed at all since your senior year."

The same navy blue curtains hung in the windows, the bedding the same hunter green, deep red, and navy blue. His antique wooden bookshelf even still held his old books, but his desk now had a sleek laptop sitting on top of it instead of a writing pad.

Trophies lined the tops of his shelves and posters of NFL players from back in the day peppered his walls. It was nice and toasty in here. An old fireplace lit the corner of his room. If memory served, it had been the main bedroom before the Norths had expanded the house.

Sterling smiled as he brought me with him to his bed. I ran my fingers through his hair. He sighed and closed his eyes. "I forgot you even knew what it looked like back then, but yeah. I haven't touched it. Does it weird you out?"

I shook my head, stepped back to pull my damp shirt off, and dropped it on the floor beside me. "It doesn't weird me out at all. In fact, it's kind of exciting, like we're getting to travel back in time and be together despite all the odds stacked against us."

"I like the sound of that." He yanked the comforter back, slid an arm around my hips, rolled me onto the bed, and climbed in it with me. He pulled the comforter over both of us and sealed his lips over mine.

This was just a continuation of the fantasy that we would somehow get to be together forever, but just for tonight, I decided to indulge. Just one last time. And then I would find a way to get over him—even if it didn't feel like that was possible.

Not ever.

Not in the slightest.

Not at all.