Saving the Rain (Crimson Ridge #4)

by Elliott Rose

“Goddamn. That ass was sculpted to wear a pair of wranglers.”

“Over there in the red flannel. He’s got that look about him. You know, the one that says he’s bad for your health, and your heart.”

And that leaves me all kind of churned up inside my head. I thought my own stepbrother was hot. Fuck. My. Life.

Balling my fists in an effort not to shove this twiggy-looking motherfucker out of the way, my grunt comes out gritty and forceful. “He’s got asthma, you shit for brains.”

But my hold doesn’t ease on him. For some goddamn reason, I don’t trust letting him go. I feel like if I do, he’ll simply slump to the ground. If I don’t hold him up, who else is gonna?

“I fucking idolized you.” Those wide eyes still trace back and forth over my mouth as he gives me his soft admission. “I hated losing to you . . . but I loved seeing you win.”

“We can’t.” This is so wrong. So very, very wrong. I’m fucking everything up. Another way that I’m at fault. “Want to stop?” The evil tormentor he is, his hips thrust a little in return. “N—no.” Oh, my god, it feels incredible, and more goosebumps pop up as I struggle to form words.

“What a pretty thing you are when you blush for me,” he murmurs, and I nearly combust on the spot at the way that turns me inexplicably and confusingly to absolute stone.

“Fuck this. Fuck you, Kayce.” I’ve been crawling out of my skin since last night. The way he touched me, so hesitant and uncertain, felt like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, and I damn well hate that it’s him. Because none of this makes sense. This is monumentally fucked up, and surely I should be pushing him away. I’m supposed to be halfway back to Crimson Ridge, and yet I can’t seem to unclench my fingers from his fucking hoodie.

“You should be staying the fuck away from me.” A dark noise vibrates from somewhere deep in my chest, and I lose it. I finally lose any sense of control. I dive against his lips.

I’m certain he’s never been kissed properly before now, and each slide of my tongue owning his mouth, my stubble rasping against his skin, it sounds like it’s too much for him to comprehend.

“We should . . .” Kiss. “Probably . . .” Lick. “Oh, god . . .” He can’t finish that statement.

“Staring at your stepbrother’s dick, like a little slut.” My words are harsh, taunting, and I feel him kick under my palm in response.

“You want to be a brat? Or do you want to be a good boy for me?” His panting intensifies. “I—I want to . . .”

“I want to be good. For you.” He rushes out the last part, shuddering as he breathes life into those words.

“Jesus. Look how much of a mess you’re already making. All from the thought of me slipping into your tight little hole.”

“Good boys swallow my fingers. This ass has never had a fat cock in it before, has it?” I study his face, as his breathing shallows more and more. “No . . . the way you just clenched around me, snowflake, I know you haven’t. But you’ve been dreaming about it, haven’t you?”

He drags a hand down his face, looking shattered and defeated, as his words hang broken on the night air. “I had nowhere else to go.”

He’s become my sun, and without him, I don’t know which way to turn. I’ve wilted even in the space of a single day without him nearby, and it’s frightening to acknowledge that I’m more strung out by this man than I dare admit.

“But I could never . . .” He lets his lips hover over mine, and I’m trembling beneath his hold. Every part of me screams to know another of his kisses. To have him give me another hit of the wicked rasp and scrape and taste of him. The sexiest, rumbly noise bursts forth as he dusts those lips that I so desperately ache for over mine. Relief and a pure lust-fueled appetite coil through me as Raine speaks against my mouth, and I damn near feel like I’m about to fly off into the night sky. “I could never hate you, snowflake.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Gonna just stand there, or are you gonna be a good boy for me?”

“Ummpphhf. Oh, god,” he gasps and immediately rocks into my hold. “No, snowflake. There’s no one here but me giving you this. I’m the one fingering your ass, with your dick weeping, all for my hands.”

“I don’t have to do more than stuff your holes with my fingers, and you’re spraying cum. What kind of mess do you think you’ll make when I’m filling you properly? What kind of a noisy slut will you be for having my cock deep inside your tight little ass?”

“I’m in the kind of mood to ruin you.” His velvety words dance across my skin, leaving shivers in their wake. “Is that what you want, my sweet boy?”

“To the outside world, yes.” I let my hold flex, curled around the side of his neck. “But there’s nothing complicated about the fact I’m here, ok?”

“God . . . oh my god . . .” That quivering in his muscles intensifies, and he clenches around me tighter and tighter. “No. Raine. My name is the one on your lips when you’re taking my dick, snowflake.”

He flips my cap onto the ground, then does something that leaves my body lighting up from head to toe. Raine lifts his hat off his head, and settles it on mine.

A sight that will forever be written upon my psyche, further completing my utter ruination at his hands. Raine starts to move, and I realize in that split-second that this man is about to drop to his knees. For me.

“But . . .” I wet my lips, ransacking around for the proper way to explain this. “You fuck me . . . like, isn’t there some rule about who does this to the other person or something?” God, my pulse is a blur of thrumming hummingbird wings in my throat. “There are no rules.” Raine leans forward, letting his lips and stubble graze the side of my neck when he hovers right over that sensitive point. “And what if I enjoy knowing that I can make you spill cum like this, too? What if seeing you lose your goddamn mind like a little slut is the thing that gets me off hardest?”

“Yeah. You don’t want a soft, tender, sweet cunt bouncing up and down on your cock. You want to have your ass eaten, and balls licked, and you want to be pounded into so hard you see stars all night long.” “Raine, you’re gonna end me right here. You’re such a fucking asshole.”

“How hard are you right now, hmm? How fat does this perfect,” Kiss “. . . pretty boy cock of yours,” Lick “. . . get when you’ve got a real cowboy to look after you?”

I know, with each skilled suck and swirl of his tongue, that this isn’t about me. This is absolutely something that hands over the keys to my goddamn soul so he can have that power.

“I know I’m fucked up for saying this out loud . . . punch me in the face if you want, but . . . I want this, not in a way that’s hidden. I want us. And I want what we have to be more than just a random hook-up.”

He knows. He knows I’m close. And Raine is nothing but ruthless when it comes to demanding that I fall apart. “My.” Thrust. “Sweet.” Thrust. “Boy.”

“Are you sore?” His mouth finds my ear. A sleepy rasp as he places a kiss against my neck. “No.” My head tilts, giving him better access to keep doing that thing with his mouth that melts me into a puddle of bliss. “Good.” His whisper is velvety and oh-so-delicious. “Because I need you.”

To fall in love for the first time, with Raine, of all people, is probably the stupidest thing I could ever do.

This has gotta be the strangest place to realize you’ve fallen for someone. Standing in the middle of the grocery aisle,

“I’m here for each version of you, snowflake,” I confess into his hair before clearing my throat.

“If you think I would choose a drink over you, snowflake. Then you’re sorely mistaken.”

“You’re right here in my goddamn heart, baby.” I give in, dragging him against me so that I can tuck his head into the crook of my neck and brush my mouth against his ear. “This is where you are. No matter whether you piss me off, or leave me ready to toss you over my shoulder, or be so goddamn in love with you I don’t know how to breathe. That’s who you are. You’re better than this, and I believe that you’ll figure out you’re worthy of being loved by someone one day. Trust that I’m gonna be out there hoping like hell you might want that guy to be me.”

“It’s you. I don’t know if you’ll ever trust that. But I guess I understand a little too easily why you wouldn’t. Those walls are hard to let down, which is why I also know how hard it is to hear me . . . to believe me, when I say that I love you.”

“Maybe one day you’ll let me love you the way you deserve.”

“But I don’t think of it as reflective of being weak. A snowflake is a thing of beauty. An infinitely unique pattern. It melts, yes, but that depends on its circumstances. When it transforms into water, you and I both know, that’s one of nature’s most powerful forces. Able to flow and bend and fucking move mountains. A life-giving substance.”

“You give me life, Kayce. You’ve shown me there’s a way to move on from the hurts of a past we shared . . . you’re stronger than I am, because you got back up each time. I’m so proud of you, and I didn’t always know how to say those words.”

“Snowflakes are beautiful,” he murmurs against my mouth. “You think I’m . . .” It’s mostly just choked-up noises, rather than words coming out of me. “Beautiful?” He hums. A rich, life-giving sort of vibration that pours forth to fill my veins. “Of course I do. You’re so goddamn beautiful, my sweet boy.”

“I love you.” Sliding my hold up the wrap back of his neck, I seek out his hair and tangle my fingers there, whispering the words against his throat. “I missed you so fucking badly. I’m sorry I fucked everything up for us.”

“I’m yours, snowflake. I’m so fucking in love with you. Got it?”

“You told me you’re a better person because I taught you how to love. Well, I'm better because of the way you love. I’m out here wondering how a guy like me could ever get so lucky . . . or ever deserve to have someone like you looking my way twice.”

“You don’t even know all the ways I love you, baby.” “Never not obsessed?” His lips form a hesitant little smile over my mouth. “Never not obsessed with you.”

“I’m never going to walk away from you ever again. I need you to know that. I’m in this thing with you, snowflake, where you own my whole goddamn heart. So I’m asking if you’re ok with me taking care of you forever, baby?”