Read Online It Took a Rumor by Carter Ashby - Free Book Online Page B

time pushing herself onto him, meeting his thrusts passionately.  
    There was nothing he could do. No way he could hold back. If he could speak, he’d beg her to slow down and let him have the reins. But she kept pulling at him, sucking at his ear and neck, kissing him, riding him. Moaning. Breathing. “Jake!” she gasped as her muscles rippled around him and he lost the little bit of control he had, coming hard inside of her.
    For a moment she clung to him, her arms and legs around him, her head on his shoulder. Small and vulnerable in his arms. The torrent of their breaths and heartbeats and moans subsided. Now there was only the trickle of the creek, the breeze rustling the leaves, and a nest of young sparrows singing nearby. Basically, silence.
    Jake held her. Her small, vulnerable body was plastered to him and he felt like a protector. Like a hero. He breathed in the scent of her, felt her hot breath on his neck. Never in his life had he felt like more of a real man than in that moment.
    He kissed her on the cheek and neck, cherishing her for a moment. Caring for her. He pressed his hand to her back feeling the fragile swell and contraction of her ribcage as she breathed and wondered how this moment felt like so much more than it should have. More than an indiscretion. More than an impulsive, foolish act. More…but what?
    Ivy moaned and dropped her legs, sliding off of him. She slipped past him. He pressed his palms against his truck, closed his eyes, and took a breath to steady himself. When he turned, it was to see her kneeling in the creek water, her skirt gathered in one hand while her other hand was busy washing between her legs.  
    They hadn’t used a condom.
    “Oh, hell, Ivy, I’m so sorry.”
    He couldn’t see her face. Her hair curtained it. “It’s okay,” she said in a weak voice. “Not my smartest moment. But I’m on the pill. And you’re healthy, right?” Her words were confident, but her voice shook like a leaf in the breeze.
    He knelt in the water next to her, not caring about getting his jeans wet, touched her chin, and turned her face towards him. “Perfectly healthy,” he promised.  
    She nodded and went back to washing.
    “I’m so sorry,” he repeated.
    “Oh, stop. I totally jumped you. Let’s just…let’s just leave this here. Okay?” She stood and dropped her skirt. It clung to her wet thighs.
    He stood and faced her. “Absolutely,” he agreed. Then he cleared his throat, suddenly nervous. This wasn’t   courtship, he knew that good and well. But Ivy wasn’t some random woman he’d met at a bar and would never see again. She was his neighbor. The little girl he’d once bought cotton candy for at the fair. And beyond all that, a good woman. He stood a little taller, cleared his throat once more, and asked, “Could I walk you home?” It was supposed to be, ‘Will you have dinner with me,’ but he just couldn’t quite pull that off.  
    Ivy smiled. “You’re a real gentleman. But no thanks. In fact, I’d rather just forget this happened.”
    He frowned over at his truck as though he could see the ghost of what had happened there. She wanted to forget it happened? Well, that sucked. “Um, yeah,” he stammered, not sure how to answer.  
    “No need to acknowledge it anymore? No need to talk about it?”
    He nodded, still frowning, still wishing he could have a moment to formulate what he wanted to say. He wasn’t above trying to convince her to see where it would go. “Sure, Ivy. Whatever you want.” The words were distant and insincere.
    She bent down and picked his hat out of the water where it had hung up on a rock. With a grin, she plopped it on his head. He closed his eyes as water dripped down the sides of his face and neck, and opened them again in time to see her skipping through the creek and over the fence.
    He watched her gather her book and boots, take her horse by the reins, and walk over the hill and out of his sight. There was