Hard and Fast(39)

"Yes, you can." He lightly smacked her bottom and said, "Roll over. Lie flat, and cross your ankles."

"Excuse me?" But she was already doing it, rolling in a lazy, satisfied  flop onto her stomach and shifting her hands above her head. She could  fall asleep at any given second.

Until he moved over her and pushed inside her.

Ty loved that first push into Imogen. She always made the same sound-a  little gasp of appreciation-and that totally turned him on. As did the  feel of her wet and willing body surrounding him.

He couldn't get enough of her. He loved touching her body, loved making  her insensible, got off on the sight of her biting her lip, her eyes  half-closed, the beauty of her when she snapped her head back and had a  really hard orgasm.

Now looking down at her, her body relaxed, her dark hair spilling over  her shoulders, her creamy pale skin smooth beneath his fingers as he  held her and thrust into her, Ty felt something big and strong and  shocking rise up in him. He wanted to pleasure her, worship her, care  for her, protect her. Be the one who had those denim blue eyes trained  on him while she had every orgasm. He wanted to be with her.







And instead of scaring the shit out of him, the thought had him  thrusting harder, faster, groans sneaking out as he started to lose  control. She had very obediently crossed her ankles, which kept him in  position, and she raised her hips very slightly to meet him, a hot and  heady subtle invitation. He suspected he was doing things with Imogen  she hadn't experienced with other men, and that only added to his own  passion.

He would have never in a million years thought his sex life was in any  way lacking, but his entire past paled to the satisfaction he got from  burying himself in Imogen, and when she bit the tip of her index finger,  he came inside her, a pulsing, hot orgasm that had him groaning loud  enough to be heard back in Charlotte.                       
       
           



       

As soon as he could speak, he apologized. "Sorry, I'm sorry, I should  have pulled out." It was rude and insensitive at this point in their  relationship to just go for it inside her, even if he was pretty certain  nothing on planet Earth could have made him stop. The position, her  body, the lack of a condom . . . he only had so much control and Imogen  shattered it.

"Why? I told you I'm on the pill," she said, her voice husky and muffled by the sleeping bag.

"Yeah, but most women aren't thrilled with the aftereffects of this." Ty started to pull out, but Imogen grabbed his hip.

"Don't. Not yet. I like to feel you pulsing in me."

Which was why he adored her. Ty stopped moving, wishing he could rest his weight on her, but knowing that would crush her.

"I want you to come in me," she said. "And I want you to lie down on top of me now like you really want to do."

"Really?" He ran his fingers across her back, raising goose bumps. He did want to do just that. "I shouldn't."

"‘The Lady doth protest too much, methinks,' " she murmured.

"Kenny Chesney?" he joked.

" Hamlet. Lie on me."

"Okay. But I'm no lady."

"That is the understatement of the year. You are all man." He liked the  sound of that. Ty dropped his weight on her as gently as he could, and  sighed at the feel of her warm skin beneath his. He kissed her hair and  rested his head next to hers.

"I think I like camping after all," she said.

Ty laughed. "Me, too."

CHAPTER FOURTEEN





TY was in such a good mood, he didn't even mind when he and Imogen  emerged from their tent three hours later after a nap to find that  raccoons had been having a party on the picnic table. Their lunch was  torn into and scattered all around, most of it missing, but a few random  bits of bread and fruit scraps were left behind. It even looked like  one ambitious guy had gnawed on the plastic container the sandwiches had  been in.

The one lone party animal left sat on the bench nibbling on a piece of cheese, staring at them with mild interest.

"Oh, my God!" Imogen said, grabbing on to Ty's arm as she maneuvered behind him. "What is that?"

"It's just a raccoon. They'll eat anything and they aren't afraid of people."

"Obviously. What do we do?"

"Nothing. They're mean as a snake and carry rabies. We're going to  ignore him and light a fire. Maybe that will send him scattering."

"He doesn't look mean."







"Trust me, you try to take that cheese away from him, he's going to spit and hiss."

"Well, it's not like I want the cheese back at this point, so why would I attempt to take it away from him?"

Ty laughed. Trust Imogen to point out the obvious and logical. "True.  God, I can't believe it's dusk already. Guess it really is fall."

He started building a fire with the wood he'd gathered earlier, content and still sleepy from their post-sex nap.

Imogen perched on a rock, giving wary glances at the raccoon every now  and then. "There are only a few weeks left to the season, aren't there?  How do you feel about that?"

"Yep, only four races left. Not much time to make a difference. I'm in  fifth place right now." Which he should be stressing more about,  frankly, but for some reason he wasn't. Fifth didn't suck, and he wasn't  feeling quite the competitiveness he had in previous seasons. It was a  little unnerving, but at the same time, he suspected it was just that he  was comfortable with his career. He had achieved a lot already and he  worked damn hard. If it didn't land him in the number-one spot, that was  no reason to beat himself up. There were some damn good drivers and  cars out there every week.

"Wow, that's really impressive," Imogen said, sounding like she actually  meant it. "What does the overall winner for the season get?"

Ty surveyed his fire pile, satisfied. He glanced back at Imogen. "Fame  and fortune, babe, plain and simple." He turned full around, realizing  she was shivering. "You cold?" She nodded, her arms crossed across her  chest.

"Go get your sweatshirt."

"I didn't bring one. I only brought this sweater I'm wearing. I thought it was sufficient and I was trying to pack light."

"I knew there was a catch to that tiny backpack you brought. I'll get  the fire going and that will help, and the sleeping bag is plenty warm,  especially with me there to heat you up." Ty gave her a wink. "But in  the meantime, grab my sweatshirt. It's in my pack."                       
       
           



       

"I don't want to go through your bag."

"Why not? I can't imagine the sight of my underwear is going to upset you in any way."

"Well, no. But it seems like a privacy violation."

"I've got nothing to be private about." Not in his bag anyway. Maybe he  did have one tiny little thing that he kept from most people, but it  wasn't a big deal. And as much as he liked Imogen, he couldn't foresee  telling her he couldn't read. She'd run for the hills and he just wasn't  ready for that yet.

"Okay. Thanks." Imogen stood up and patted her front pocket. Ty knew she  kept her phone in there when her purse wasn't available and she did  pull it out. "Wow, I just got a message. Who knew you could get cell  reception out here? I wonder if I can check my e-mail?"

"No e-mail." Ty frowned. "That's just wrong."

She nodded. "You're right. But I should check to see who called. It might be my parents or something."

"I can authorize that," he said with a smile. Hell, he'd brought his  cell, too, because Toni would have a heart attack if he didn't. "Then  put a sweatshirt on and come over here and share my body heat." Imogen  didn't say anything, and Ty glanced over to see her listening to her  voice mail with a weird expression on her face. "What's wrong?" he asked  her when she hung up.

"Nothing." She crammed the phone back in her pocket and looked around. "What was I doing?"

"Getting a sweatshirt," he said carefully. He hesitated, thinking it was  none of his business, but the red stain on her cheeks bothered him.  "Who called you?"

She was inherently honest, to the point where he had heard her say  something, then immediately confess it wasn't the truth. He suspected  she couldn't lie to a straight question like his. He was right.

Biting her lip, she said, "Um. Evan Monroe."

That had him pausing in the act of lighting his kindling with a lighter.  "Evan Monroe? Why the hell is he calling you? I didn't even know you  knew him." Well, of course she must have met Evan at some point given  that Evan's brother Elec was married to Tammy, and Ty had seen Imogen  talking to Evan at the gym, but he wanted her to explain how she knew  him.