Hot-Bites, Volume Two by Jenika Snow

Chapter Three

Michael

“Hi.”

I jerk as the soft whisper of a word hits me.

Cassie Buchannan.

I know it’s her even if my back is to her. Her voice is etched into my brain, and the memory of her ass encased in her tight jeans haunted me all damn night. I’m leaning over the front of her car, and I close my eyes, trying to control my raging cock. As it is, the fucker is getting harder than granite. I grab an old grease-stained rag and wipe the oil from my hands. Adjusting my cock, I finally turn to face her. I can see she’s standing on the other side of the hood, and thank fuck for that because no doubt my erection is evident through my coveralls.

She was pretty last night—pretty enough that she haunted my dreams—but today she literally stops my breath. Her hair is down, brushed until it shines and falling in waves around her face. Her blue eyes seem even brighter today, and she’s wearing a long dress that hugs her body, and yet makes her look almost innocent and pure, young even. My mouth waters at the thought of tasting her … of dirtying her up … of making her mine.

Christ. I haven’t wanted a woman in so long, I was beginning to think my dick was dead. Apparently all I needed was Cassie Buchannan because since I saw her walking along the side of the road, my cock hasn’t gone soft for a minute. I’ve jacked off twice to the thought of her. I feel like a damn pervert, but already I know I’ll be stroking my dick to the thought of her again tonight.

“Hey,” I answer, trying to bring my thoughts to the present. I hold the rag in my hands at my lower waist. I pretend I’m spending a little extra time getting the oil off of my hands when in reality I’m hiding the way my dick is tenting my damn coveralls. Jesus, my balls are going to turn blue at this point.

“I see you got my car,” she says, and she looks unsure of herself, but I can’t explain why. “Thanks for that.” But fuck if I don’t love that look of uncertainty on her face. I want to take her in my arms and show her just who she is, who she can be…

There’s a small voice in my head saying she’s meant to be mine, but I try to ignore it. It’s ludicrous to assume she is mine when I just met her last night. But that primal, possessive need in me is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt.

“Yeah. Went out this morning and hauled it in. Got bad news for you, Sunshine,” I tell her, the nickname slipping out with ease. It fits her, though. She’s warm and bright like the sun that moves across the mountains on a spring morning.

“What’s that?” she asks, watching me closely. She’s still skittish around me—afraid, even after I helped her last night.

I need to find a way to make her relax with me. Somehow, I’ve got a feeling that might not be an easy task. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a pretty motherfucker. I’m tall, which can be intimidating, broad too. I tower over Cassie and could almost span her waist with one of my hands. That has to frighten her but there’s no way around it. She’s tiny compared to a brute like me. She has no way of knowing I’d never hurt her. If she weren’t just passing through, I might make it my mission to prove it to her.

But the very thought of her leaving town, of leaving me, has this uneasy feeling moving through me. I don’t like the fact she won’t be here for the foreseeable future. I want her by my side.

“You’ve got a blown head gasket,” I tell her, and wait for the blow to hit.

She blinks.

“Oh. Is that … bad?” she asks, clearly not understanding that her motor is shot.

“Yeah. It’s bad.”

“Like, how bad?”

“It will probably cost more than this bucket of rust is worth to fix,” I tell her frankly.

I should have tried to give her the truth a little more carefully because I can literally see the color drain from her face.

“But I don’t have that kind of money,” she whispers so quietly that I almost don’t hear her. “And I have to get to Boise in three days,” she adds, and this time her voice takes on a panicked tone.

I don’t like it. Cassie shouldn’t have to worry about anything in life—ever. That’s not what bothers me the most though. It’s the fact that she’s desperate to leave me … leave Shelby so quickly. She’s obviously on a deadline, and immediately I begin to worry that she’s going to meet another man. I like that even less.

“Sunshine, this is just a general gas station. Full service, sure. But, besides filling up your tank, washing your windshield, and fixing the odd flat here and there, I don’t really do mechanic work.” I don’t mention that I can take apart and put a car back together again.

“Is there someone else here in town I could go to?” she asks eagerly—way too eagerly.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t do it, only that I don’t normally do it, especially not here. That’s not the issue though.”

“It’s not?” she asks, clearly confused.

“Cassie,” I start, saying her name for the first time. I have to admit—at least to myself—that I like the way her name rolls off my tongue. It feels good. It feels right.

“Yeah?” she prompts when I don’t finish, too involved in repeating her name over and over in my head.

Damn.

“It doesn’t matter who works on your vehicle. There’s no way you’re going to get this piece of shit car back on the road and all the way to Boise in three days.”

“But I have to!” She sounds panicked as fuck.

“Why?”

“What?” she asks, taking a step away from me. Her face looks pale, and I have the strangest urge to pick her up in my arms and reassure her. I resist—but it’s not easy.

“I asked why you had to go to Boise,” I ask again, waiting.

She stares at me for a few minutes and I don’t understand her hesitation, but then I’m not about to press her either. I’m a stranger to her, and she’s skittish as a doe in the woods staring down a hunter.

“I … it’s personal.”

Her answer has the power to piss me off. There’s something about this girl that makes me feel like I’m losing control, like she holds all the power. There should be nothing about her that’s off limits, and she shouldn’t keep secrets from me.

It’s completely crazy, but it is definitely how I feel. “Maybe I could take a bus—”

“Nearest Greyhound station is about three hundred miles out,” I inform her and watch as more color drains from her face. “Shelby is legit out in the middle of fucking nowhere.”

“Oh,” she answers, and she looks so damned lost. Before I can stop myself, I speak up.

“I’ll take you,” I tell her, kicking my own ass because I know being close to this woman for any length of time will spell trouble. Besides, for all I know, she’s going to Boise to meet some prick. Idaho is also a long damn way from Ohio, but none of that stops me and it doesn’t for one simple reason.

I want to be close to her. I want her to be mine.

“But… I mean… Well, you…” she sputters out nervously, wringing her hands frantically in front of her body.

“If you really need to get to Boise in the next three days, I’ll take you. Think it over, Sunshine, but do it quickly. You won’t get a better offer.”

“But—” She exhales. “I don’t know you,” she whispers, her eyes wide with what I assume is panic. If she knew how badly I want between her legs, or how long I’ve been without a woman, she’d really panic.

Yes. Fucking years I haven’t been with a woman.

“I’ve owned this gas station for over fifteen years in this town. You can ask anyone about me, Cassie. They’ll vouch for me. You may not know me, but I can promise you that you will be safe with me,” I tell her.

I’m not lying, not really. She’ll be safe, but I can’t promise I won’t own every inch of her body, or that I won’t fill her with my cum over and over by the time we get to Boise.

Because that’s exactly what I want to do.