Impulsion (Station 32 #1)(23)

“Creek tonight?” he asked in a husky breath as he ended their kiss. They usually avoided the creek for days after a hard rain, but there had been two days of punishing heat, so the bank was sure to be dry enough. Even if it wasn’t, he didn’t care. In fact, as far as he was concerned they could stay in the golf cart.

“No matter how late,” she said as she grabbed her lunch and ran down the stairs before anyone could bother to miss her.

Dinner was a grill out that night. Beckett had cooked enough for an army to arrive. All of Ava and Truman’s friends were over again. Memphis even showed in the middle of it, but no one stayed the night.

By ten, most had left. Harley stayed in her room. She could hear Camille on the phone down the hall. It sounded like she was talking to Harley’s mom, only because her tone was sharp and she was using terms that she knew would be lost on Claire Tatum, horse terms at least. Basically, Camille was saying that it was not her issue that Claire was on a tight schedule, that skill, horses, and riders had their own schedule to run by.

Harley knew that meant her mother was arguing that Danny Boy was going home to New York in a few weeks, that Harley’s mother had found even more trainers for Camille to meet. Apparently, the last two Camille had shut down before they ever opened their mouths.

Knowing that pushed Harley to want to escape, lose herself in Wyatt even more. Normally, she would wait an hour after she heard a voice or TV before she would dare to sneak out, but not tonight. She flashed her flashlight in Wyatt’s window across the way not long after she heard Camille end her call.

A few minutes later, she was climbing down the side of the balcony.

Wyatt wasn’t expecting Harley’s signal as early as it came. It was only by chance that he was even looking that way in the first place. From his apartment, he could see the lamp in his mom’s room still on, but he came anyway—ran, actually, because he thought something was wrong.

By the time he helped Harley down, it was too late to tell her that his mom was still up. They were better off running into the darkness and holding on to the hope that his mom would not check on Harley. She hadn’t in three summers, so their chances were pretty strong on that front.

They ran through the shadows, found the golf cart Wyatt had hidden earlier that day, and took off.

“What happened? It’s early,” he asked her once they were almost to the creek.

She couldn’t tell him that she was sure she was losing her argument, that there was a ninety-nine percent chance that she and Danny Boy were leaving in less than three weeks. The words hung in her throat.

Instead, she slid next to him. “I wanted every second with you, even if I had to steal a few.”

He knew that wasn’t it but gave in to the moment. They could find a way to argue, even worry together around others. Moments like this, they had to take when they came.

He laid out the blanket like he always did, expected to lay there and count the stars with her, maybe even find a way to plot around this hell before him, but before he even knelt down her lips were on his. Her kiss went deep fast, and her hands were grabbing, as they raced across his chest, his waist, lower.

He broke away and pulled a plastic square from his pocket. “Same deal,” he breathed.

She took it from him and let it fall on the edge of the blanket, then moved back to claim his lips. He picked up her legs, wrapped them around him, feeling her use all the strength that he had tried to pull from her, then laid her down on the blanket. There was no caress in either of their touches—they were on fire, demanding to get as close as possible as fast as possible, knowing any distant sound would rip them apart.

She had worn a dress again, on purpose. It made it past her chest with little effort from his strong hands. She struggled with his clothes, just wanting to touch him. Not long after she found him, after she heard his breath catch a time or two, she reached to find that plastic and both their hands landed on it at the same time.

She didn’t look away this time. She didn’t have a doubt in her mind, but he still hesitated as he hovered over her. She pulled him to her. Wyatt eased them together, sensing every part of her body. She only winced once, but it was followed by a gasp. Taking her lead, they gained speed.

Shocking him, she clamped her legs around him, nearly stealing his breath, then rolled him to his back.

The position caught Harley off guard at first. A trace of that pain from before was there, but the sweetness was stronger. As soon as she relaxed once more, she found a rhythm, not caring that the blanket had been moved, that her knees were basically in the dirt. All of it felt empowering to her—the night stars blanketing her; the summer air causing their skin to glisten; the sound of his breaths; the deep moans; the way he would say her name, in that deep southern tone. When he leaned up, she tensed for a moment, felt that pain for an instant, but then it faded as soon as he moved.

His lips were moving across her neck, and she could feel him mouth ‘I love you’ against her skin; that was her undoing. It felt like her entire body was shattering from the inside out. She felt a wave of energy vibrating through her body, throbbing against his. That instant, he moaned and lifted her at the same time, then fell back, catching his breath. All she could do was stare at his chest, every rigid muscle, the breath going in and out of his lips, which were still wet from her kiss.

“It can’t get any better than this,” she breathed.

“I have no problem testing that theory,” he said as his hands moved to her hips.