Page 11 of Twister

Marshall

This poor man. This poor, sweet, heartbroken man.

How I wanted to wrap him up in my arms and hold him tight for longer than just this moment.

Protect him from all the crap that had happened to him and to Rose, even though it was years ago now.

By the sound of things, he’d kept all his focus on getting Rose stable and not worried at all about going to therapy for his own benefit.

It was crystal clear that he needed someone to listen to him, someone he could confide in and tell all his worries to.

How many friends did he have that he could talk to about all of this?

Did he have anyone at all? The way he’d been clinging to me as he fell apart made me wonder if the answer was no.

Maybe it was something I could broach with him later—ensure he had help set up for after my Jeep was fixed and I left Rockdale.

Something in my chest clenched hard, making me realize that a small part of me wanted to stick around longer than just the hopefully few days I’d need to get my car sorted.

For now, I’d happily be the one he could lean on, the one he could cry to, the one who could hold him close and protect him from the evils of the world.

The one he could kiss.

For all his hesitancy about kissing me last night, there was no reluctance now.

After the initial and expected jolt of surprise, he relaxed against me, his lips melding to mine.

The soft bristles of his beard tickled me as his hands slid up my sides slowly before he growled, losing patience.

He gripped my head and tilted it a tiny amount to get the angle right, and then his tongue teased my lips, begging for entrance.

As soon as I granted it, he plunged in, exploring my tongue with eager licks and sucks.

This wasn’t just a kiss; it was a claiming.

My eyelids fluttered shut as I leaned into him, my fingers running through his beard before they gripped his hair, holding him close as we devoured each other.

I whined when he pulled away from me, chasing after him as he gasped for air.

“Wait,” he panted, holding me at bay, his hands trembling as they held my head in place. “Wait.”

My gaze flickered between his eyes. “What’s wrong?” My fingers drifted down from his scalp, gently tracing from his cheekbones to his jawline.

Breathing heavily, he let my head go, only to grip my wrists to stop my fingers from wandering. “You’re so young.”

Confused, I tilted my head to the side, studying him with a slight frown, trying to understand where he was going with his line of reasoning. “But you’re obviously interested.”

“I shouldn’t be.” His eyelids fluttered shut as he took a slow breath and shook his head gently with what seemed to be regret. His grip on my wrists loosened enough to allow me to cup his chin, and I rejoiced when he subconsciously leaned into me.

“Why not?” I watched the minute changes in his expression. The emotion that seemed to take prime position was anguish, his eyebrows bunching up in a furrow. He wanted me, wanted this, but he was fighting it, just like he had last night.

If he couldn’t take the plunge, I’d have to do it for him.

“I’m so much older than you…,” Daniel said quietly, his eyes still closed, clenching tightly like he was regretting every single word.

Did he think that if he couldn’t see me, it would make this easier on him?

Nope. I wasn’t going to let him take the easy way out on this.

Taking the opportunity because his eyes were closed, I leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “Does it matter?”

He let out a low moan as I nuzzled into his neck, his fingers spasming around my wrists. His soft beard tickled my lips before I dragged my nose up his jawline to his earlobe, so I could nibble on it.

“Tell me you don’t want this,” I murmured, leaning my temple against his. “And I’ll stop.”

His hands dropped to my waist, gripping and releasing, gripping and releasing, fighting with himself before I felt him finally pull me forward.

I grinned at the low rumble reverberating from his chest as the internal war that he’d been fighting dissolved, and he gave in at last. I felt the tension in his body release all at once before his hands made their way around my waist and down to grip my ass. “You want me?”

“Yes,” I said, nodding. “So badly.”

With a groan from him and a squeak from me, he lifted me onto the island before pushing my legs open so he could stand between them. My cock went from highly interested to oh, fuck yes, give it to me now in less than half a second at his easy show of strength.

Even then, he was too far away, so I shuffled forward and drew him toward me by his belt loops.

My fingers crept under his hoodie, allowing me to feel his sturdy body through the thin T-shirt he had on underneath.

His muscles tensed with every move I made, but the longer I caressed him, the more they relaxed.

Leaning his forehead on mine, his hands held me steady on the edge of the island and close enough that he could grind against me, letting me feel his hard cock alongside my own.

I groaned at the sensation of his firm body touching mine. Oh God. What I wouldn’t give for us to be naked right about now so I could feel his skin next to mine. What wonderful things we could do to each other.

“We shouldn’t….” Daniel’s eyes fluttered closed as he pressed the side of his forehead against mine before his lips ever so gently rubbed along my jawline in a mirror of what I’d done to him earlier. He used his nose to guide his way to my ear, making my heart rate spike. “You don’t even know me.”

Whining, I melted into him. It didn’t matter.

After what we’d been through yesterday, time meant nothing anymore.

What mattered was that we were both adults who clearly wanted each other.

Shouldn’t we live in the moment? Grab every opportunity that comes along with both hands and fuck it into submission?

“Or is that what’s turning you on?” he whispered in my ear, his voice gravelly and thick with need. “The fact that we’re essentially strangers?”

“Oh God.” Holding his ass tight against me, I squirmed, trying to gain that friction I so desperately needed.

I buried my face into his collarbone, nipping at his hoodie and wishing it was his skin.

With every gentle roll of his hips, his rock-hard cock continued to grind alongside mine, fueling my desire for him.

Of course, that was the moment that my phone had to ruin everything and ring.

I groaned at the interruption and reluctantly pulled away from Daniel, searching the countertop for the source of the infernal cockblocker. “Unknown number,” I muttered in annoyance, ready to toss the phone down and get back to more enjoyable activities.

Daniel glanced at the screen. “That’s local.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Could be the mechanic.”

“Aw, crap.” I swiped to answer quickly before my voicemail picked up the call. With finally getting to be so close to Daniel, I’d completely forgotten about my Jeep. “Hello?”

“Is that Marshall Bradford?” the gruffest voice I’d ever heard in my life barked at me through the speaker.

I flinched and held my phone away from my ear so I wouldn’t go deaf. “Yes?”

“Thank fuck. I’d hate to fucking leave a message like I’ve had to do with so many other fuckers this morning.”

I blinked and glanced at Daniel, only to see him silently laughing at the interaction. “Um… okay?”

“I’ve checked your Jeep—”

I let out a quick breath. Daniel was right; this was indeed the mechanic I’d been waiting on. What was his name? Pretty sure it started with a K…. Kaleb? Kadir? Karson?

“—and it’s gonna take at least a fucking week to get the parts in to get it fucking roadworthy.”

A tiny thrill ran up my spine at his words.

One whole week. I looked at Daniel, who was still standing between my knees, leaning in slightly to listen to the profanity-laden words filtering through the speaker.

He met my eyes, nodded, and gave me a thumbs-up, presumably to let me know he was okay with me staying with him and Rose for the week.

I’d have to confirm that with him once I got off the phone with the customer service representative from hell. “Oh… um—”

“You got fucking lucky, actually,” he continued.

“The windows are all fucked, but you knew that already. There’s a little bit of body damage, but you’d never know it with all the old fucking dents the poor thing had before its fight with a tree yesterday.

Who the fuck taught you how to drive? I swear to fucking Christ, some people should never have been given a fucking license. ”

I blinked again in alarm. I watched Daniel wince even as he slid his palms up and down my thighs. “Well—”

“Anyway,” he went on before I could explain that the Jeep had actually been sold to me like that, and someone else—someone decidedly not me —had been the reason for its poor condition.

“The body damage is not going to fuck with your roadworthiness like the missing fucking windows are, so I’m only estimating a week’s fucking wait for you for them. ”

“Okay—”

“If you want the body fixed, we can do it, but it’ll fucking take longer, especially considering how many fucking cars we’ve got in the garage now because of yesterday’s fucking twister. Our window guy is gonna be flat out getting all of them fucking replaced.” He paused for a second. “Well?”

Feeling myself blink again, this time in confusion, I answered the only way I knew how, with an eloquent, “Well, what?” before swatting at Daniel, who had started audibly chuckling at my predicament.