Truly Mine Read online

  Copyright © 2015 by Amy Roe

  All rights reserved.

  Visit my website at www.amyroe.com

  Cover Designer: Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations, www.okaycreations.com

  Editor and Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  nostalgic

  trepidation

  lalochezia

  confront

  victorious

  amalgamate

  denude

  inculcate

  bedevil

  practicable

  dispirit

  masquerade

  vacillating

  denouement

  quotidian

  disharmony

  fracas

  determinate

  antagonism

  truly

  acknowledgments

  about the author

  pronunciation no-stal-jik

  (adj.) a sentimental longing for a time gone by

  Tyler

  I leaned my hip against the tailgate of my dirty old pickup truck and looked down at a woman I’d assumed I would never see again. It felt surreal really. Ten years had passed since I last saw her, and our twenties were nearly gone.

  Her perfectly manicured fingertips grazed my hand as I took the bottle of strawberry wine we’d been passing back and forth. It was always her favorite, and even if I tried, I couldn’t count how many bottles she’d drained to the very last drop right in that spot. It seemed to have almost the same effect on her that night as it had when we were in high school. The only difference was that, ten years earlier, she would have been dancing in the bed of my truck instead of lying across it.

  In that moment, she looked just like the Truly I remembered. She was wearing my hoodie and a pair of blue jeans that made me wish her hot ass were pressed against my raging hard-on. Her once nearly black hair was a warm bronze and looked just as beautiful while fanned across the tailgate. Big brown eyes still looked at me the same way, eager, and I liked that.

  For an hour, she’d sang every country song playing on the radio, and in between, she’d asked me about what had happened to all the people we grew up with—if they still lived in town, if they were married, and if they’d had children. I thought we’d covered just about everyone—except for Truly.

  She hadn’t shared any words about where she’d been or what she’d been doing all those years since she graduated high school and skipped town, and she hadn’t asked about what I’d been doing either. I wasn’t surprised though. That was exactly how we’d interacted in the past—no questions, no expectations. We only had fun.

  “So, the city girl still likes country music?” I asked.

  She quickly sat up, and we were face-to-face. Her features were soft and relaxed for the first time that day. It took all the willpower I had not to touch her. I wanted to trace her high cheekbones and kiss her sweet lips.

  “Yes, Tyler, I still love country music. I love all types of music.”

  That raspy voice and those fucking doe eyes had always done me in, and it was no different that night. Only, I knew I wouldn’t be ripping off her clothes like I had the last time I saw her. Years ago, I had done just that before she wrapped her skinny legs around me, and then we’d fucked like it might be the last time. We were so young and full of emotions, our hormones ruling our lives. Every time we had been together was like the first and last time we’d have the opportunity to touch one another.

  Her pouty lips were inches from my face, but again, I refrained from burying my tongue deep in her teasing mouth. She breathed out a heavy sigh and looked over my entire face, examining me. I expected her to say something, to ask me a question. The wheels were most definitely turning, but she said nothing.

  Finally, I arched my eyebrows, attempting to coax a thought from her, anything out of her. She’d never been a talker. She was always a doer. I kept forgetting that I didn’t know this woman. She might have the same name and resembled the younger version of Truly, but she looked a bit different, she talked different, and she smelled different, too. Before she left town, I wanted to know how different she felt.

  A few moments passed, and there was enough tension in the air to suffocate us both.

  I hung my head, frustrated in the worst way. Instantly, I noticed her tiny hands resting on her thighs, and all I could think about was replacing them with mine before spreading her legs and sliding my body between them—

  Oh, fuck me! This is torture!

  “Truly, tell me something about yourself,” I said in hopes of distracting my wayward thoughts.

  “What do you want to know?” she asked.

  Hoping she’d talk about herself, I asked her the only thing I wanted to know, “What have you been up to all these years?”

  She tipped her head to the side as she smiled with what appeared to be an almost devilish look—a look that I dealt with all the time in my line of work—and I certainly knew how to deal with it. There was a hell of a lot more behind that smile, and I wanted to know just a little bit more about why she found the need to be so distant and mysterious.

  “Well, Tyler, that’s a long story. What have you been up to?”

  She only made me more curious, and I was willing to give a little to get a little—in more ways than one.

  “Well, Truly, that’s a long story.” After mocking her, I decided to let her think she was in control. I was a pro at this game. “Ask me one thing, anything you want.”

  I was still leaning my hip against my truck, one arm across Truly’s outstretched legs rested on the truck bed, and her face was just inches from mine. It was quiet, aside from the crickets and a few creatures that could be heard in the distance. She briefly looked up at the star-soaked sky and then back at me.

  Her white-tipped fingernail slid over my naked left ring finger. “You’re not married. I mean, are you married? Have you been?” She stumbled over her words.

  “That’s two questions…and an answer.” I watched her touch me, not taking my eyes off of her hand. That slight touch had me even more frustrated, and it was clearly evident in my voice.

  “I’m sorry. Touchy subject?” She leaned in and pulled my gaze back to hers. “Let’s talk about something else.”

  I gave my head a little shake to clear it. “I’m good. Not a touchy subject at all.” I breathed deeply and took another swig of the nearly empty bottle of wine. It tasted so much worse than I remembered. “I’m not married. I was married once. It was short-lived.”

  She raised her eyebrows and nodded her head, accepting my answer.

  “My turn.” I was not surprised when she became immediately guarded.

  Her smile dropped, and she looked straight ahead. I slid my large hand over the top of her delicate small hand and traced the length of her ring finger, from her knuckle to her long fingernail. Her breathing became shallow. I wasn’t completely sure, but she might even be holding her breath.

  “Are you married? Have you been?” I asked.

  A few seconds passed before she turned toward me, looked me in the eyes, and whispered, “No.”

  “No, you’re not? Or no, you’ve never been?” I asked.

  “Both…neither. No, I’m not married, and I’ve never been,” she explained, clear
ing up the confusion of her unclear answer.

  She looked down at our hands where mine still rested on top of hers. She was also affected by that simple touch. I guessed one thing hadn’t changed. She was still more physical than verbal. I liked that. I liked it a lot. It gave me a sliver of hope that I could have her again.

  “Let’s go back to my place, Truly.” The words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them.

  As I expected, she wasn’t having it. She shook her head.

  “To talk. I just want to catch up,” I pleaded.

  She glanced up at me and slowly pulled her hand away. “I’m not the same girl I was. There’s nothing to catch up on. You wouldn’t even like me now.” She gazed up at the stars, and emotionally, she bowed out of the conversation.

  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at her comment. How absurd could she be? “I assure you that I really like you right now, Truly.”

  If she let me, I would show her just how much. I would take her back to my house, and just like I had before she left town, I would devour every inch of her body—but not without letting her beg first. Because that was the way she liked it. Truly was all about working to get what she wanted, and I would gladly let her—as long as, in the end, I’d get a taste of her sweet pussy.

  “Let’s get out of here.” With that, I lifted her off the truck and cradled her in my arms.

  She squealed in my ear. I was laughing, too, but I could promise, there was nothing funny about what was happening to my body. If I didn’t get out of there right now, I was going to bust a nut like an inexperienced teenager.

  I dropped her onto the passenger seat and closed the door. I walked to the back of the truck and realized the tables had turned. I was suddenly the one feeling inadequate. With a loud crash, the tailgate closed, and I dropped my forehead to the cold metal, resting it between my hands.

  I didn’t like the feeling one single bit. It had been many years since I spent the evening with a beautiful woman and didn’t have the privilege of taking her to bed afterward. It was double the torture because Truly wasn’t just any woman. I knew her in a way that I didn’t know any other women.

  As far back as the first time when we had been together, she blew my mind. She had no inhibitions. When it came to sex, for being such a shy girl, she was anything but. In high school, I’d thought she was just a freak in bed, but as I had grown older and looked back on my times with her, I’d realized that girl was much more experienced than she ever admitted, and she had been all about pleasing me.

  She’d changed a lot since then. Just in the encounters that we’d had that day, I could see how smart and confident she was. It was clear that pleasing others was not at the top of Truly’s list. She appeared to be on a mission, and she was focused and fearless. I felt like there was absolutely nothing sexier than a confident woman.

  If the adage of getting better with time was true, then I wanted to experience the older Truly.

  When I finally lifted my head from the tailgate, I found her reflection in the side view mirror. We stared at one another until it became awkward, and she looked away. If she hadn’t known before that moment, then she knew now exactly the effect she had on me.

  After I gained my composure, I rounded the back of the truck and made my way to the driver’s door. Before opening it, I looked across the cab to a tense Truly. She was sitting tall and proper with her hands on her lap and looked straight ahead with no trace of pleasure in her expression. I decided to abort my mission. She was visibly not feeling it, and the last thing I wanted to do is make her any more uncomfortable than she already was.

  I opened my door and slid into the truck. “I’ll take you back to town now.” I dug into my pocket for my keys. I was disappointed but tried hard not to show it. I slipped the key into the ignition, and—

  Click, click, click.

  “Shit!” I exclaimed.

  “What?” she asked, concerned.

  Meeting her gaze, I turned the key again…and again, nothing.

  “What the fuck, Tyler? Seriously?” she shouted, anxiety clear in her tone.

  “Dead battery.” I laid my forehead on the steering wheel for a moment.

  I could call Cory, but we had left him at the bar several hours earlier. God only knew how much he’d had to drink by now. I didn’t want to deal with the aftermath of calling any of my sisters, so that was out.

  I realized I only had one option. I sat up and pulled my phone out of the center console. I dialed Eric’s number. Truly and I were in the same class with Eric Yost. He had been the biggest burnout in high school, which made the fact that he was the chief of police laughable. Not to mention, the transition from drug supplier to law enforcer was a little awkward.

  “Hey, Eric,” I greeted him.

  Truly sat with her head leaning against the window. She looked down at her tangled hands in her lap.

  “I need a favor. Are you busy?” I told Eric where I was and dodged his questions about why I was where I was. I was pretty sure no one my age had been down here in many years.

  I ended the call with Eric and watched as Truly tapped her fingers against her thigh, obviously not amused with the situation.

  “I’m sorry. I’m an idiot. I haven’t parked in the woods in quite a while. It doesn’t even seem like we’ve been here long enough for the battery to go dead,” I apologized.

  She sighed heavily. “It’s kind of funny, considering…” She tucked her hands into the pocket of the hoodie I’d loaned her and turned, looking out her window at the darkness.

  “Considering what, Truly?” I asked, curious about what she meant.

  A small chuckle escaped her sweet lips just before she turned back to me. “To be honest with you, Tyler, my intention was to make it out of Fallport without seeing you. But here I am, stranded in the woods with you.” She pulled her top lip into her mouth and bit it, trying to hide her smile.

  Sensing her shift in demeanor, I listened intently but didn’t interrupt her.

  Her hair fell over her eyes as she looked down. “Do you remember when we would go to great efforts to make this happen? You and me…alone. God, Tyler, we had so much fun here.” She looked up at me and then out to what was left of the fire. It had burned out, and only quick flickers from the ashes were there.

  Looking the same direction she was, I smiled fondly at the memories that crashed into my head. “Yeah, we did. I’ve thought about some of those nights many times over the years.”

  Turning toward her, I lifted the center console, opening the space between us. I laid my hand on the seat. With Truly looking down, focusing on my hand, I slid it across the seat and stopped just shy of touching hers. I wasn’t sure of the reaction I was going to get since she’d made it clear she wasn’t interested in reliving the past. She finally loosened up, and I was willing to risk yet another rejection. To my surprise, she slid her hand over, placing it over mine, and took hold of two of my fingers.

  A soft moan escaped me as butterflies fluttered around my stomach. She’d always held my hand this way when we were younger. Grasping my two fingers, she would drag me to see something or hold on for dear life or beg me to give her whatever she wanted. The silver band she wore on her thumb glistened when the moonlight bounced off it. I focused on the ring, and I thought back to how much that little gesture meant to me. I wasn’t taking it for granted tonight.

  With my thumb, I rubbed her fingers to let her know that I remembered. She looked at me, but I couldn’t read her. For once in my life, I wasn’t sure of my next move. I scooted toward her a few inches and placed our hands on her thigh.

  “Wanna take a quick stroll down memory lane?” I smiled as if I were joking, but I most definitely was not. Without a second thought, I would gladly re-create any one of those nights with her.

  Her eyes grew big. “You want to have sex, for old time’s sake?”

  She was grinning, so I held out hope.

  “Of course not!”

  I swore, I felt like th
at sixteen-year-old kid who had once sat next to her in an old pickup truck all those years ago. The anxiety and excitement along with a little embarrassment were present now. I hadn’t had that much pent-up sexual tension in so long. Just talking and touching her made me want to taste her…among many other things.

  Fuck it.

  With my eyes fixed on hers, I reached out, took the back of her neck in my palm, and slowly dragged her close, giving her every opportunity to pull away from me.

  She didn’t.

  Instead, she crashed into my mouth. Her lips were so soft and tasted as sweet as that strawberry wine. I only wanted to suck on them, so I did. She moaned in that irresistible raspy tone that drove me mad. The vibration of her hum traveled straight to my cock, and I needed more—now.

  Reaching under her with my other hand, I grabbed her perfect ass and hauled her onto my lap. Truly took control without skipping a beat as she straddled me. She grasped my face, tangled her fingers in my hair, while I pressed her so close that we could barely catch a breath. I dug my fingertips into the curve of her hips and pressed her ass down hard onto my rock-hard cock.

  She molded perfectly against me. I died and went to heaven.

  When Truly’s hands traveled down my neck to my shoulders, then my chest, and finally to the button on my pants, I knew I had to stop her. If I was lucky enough to have her, I needed it to be in my bed. Most of all, I wanted the chance to do this part all over again. I loved foreplay as much as sex. I always had. There was something about the adrenaline rush and seeing how long I could hold back before I finally gave in that matched no other feeling I’d ever had in my life.

  I grabbed hold of her face and kissed her slow and deep while she made quick work in releasing me from the pants that were nearly splitting a seam. Her little hand on my cock was enough to get me off in itself. My eyes tried to disappear into the back of my head, but I had to keep my composure. I had to muster up the strength to stop her. I’d never thought this would happen again.

  Fuck, I don’t want her to stop though.

  For a moment, I contemplated just taking her right here. The only problem was that I was pretty sure she wouldn’t be giving me a round two. I wanted to feel and taste so much of her, and there was no way to have her the way that I wanted to inside of that truck. If I could just get her to my house, I could guarantee round two and a very sated Truly.