Josh & Hannah (Redwood Falls 1)

Her sigh sounded like utter satisfaction to him and he couldn’t deny that he loved it.

****

A couple of months slid by and to the relief of everyone, a speedy trial took place. The case against Jesse was cut and dry. He was convicted to life in prison by a jury of his peers and parole was highly doubtful because of the knife he’d pulled on Hannah. It was

a deadly weapon and had upped the counts against him.

After the trial, Hannah bounced back pretty quickly. Jesse hadn’t had enough time alone with her to cause any permanent damage because Josh had gotten to her so fast. Her parents were justifiably upset and sat beside her through the entire ordeal of the trial. Josh knew that Zachary was in the Middle East doing deals, and he didn’t even know if Hannah’s brother knew what had gone down.

Josh continued to worry about Katie. His aunt and uncle had been heart-broken when they’d learned of the rape, and that she’d kept it from them. When they put two and two together and figured out why Katie was suddenly staying at home all the time, they tried to get her to agree to go to counseling, but she wouldn’t.

Other than that, life slowly got back to normal.

Josh finished his online courses and received his associate’s degree and all he had to do was wait for his twenty-first birthday and he’d officially become part of the law enforcement in Redwood Falls. Hannah was happy and excited for him, and that pleased him.

Katie was at least settled at UT Arlington and seemed to be doing well. She continued to come home and visit every few weekends. Josh seriously doubted she was dating yet, and he continued to worry that his cousin would never heal completely.

Ty took off to North Dakota and the oilfields there that had created a recent boomtown. He was sure he could make some big money quickly.

Ethan and Ava. As Josh thought about Ethan and Ava, he couldn’t help but feel for them. They’d been through so much. They’d endured so much that Josh didn’t know how that relationship survived from one day to the next.

But he and Hannah were good. Her senior year had started, and Josh knew that she couldn’t wait for it to be over. She seemed to mark the days on the calendar, and he knew that she was just as anxious for their future to begin as he was.

****

Hannah’s eighteenth birthday fell on a Saturday and Josh was so glad it did. With her eighteenth birthday, her parents had lifted her curfew completely, with the stipulation that she continued to be responsible and didn’t take advantage of the fact.

Josh was through fighting the urge for Hannah. He’d been fighting it for over two years now. But now the waiting was over; he wasn’t going to fight it anymore. He couldn’t. And he knew she wouldn’t want to wait anymore either.

He pulled his truck in front of her house to pick her up and was about to get out and go get her, but she beat him to it and came outside before he could even get his door open. He sat and waited, studying her as she walked down the path toward him.

It was utterly amazing what a difference two years could make. She had been so pretty before, like a delicate little fairy angel that he wanted to hold and taste. Now, two years later, she was stunning. She was still tiny, still delicate, but her features had a new dimension that transformed her from pretty to beautiful. The roundness had left her face, her cheekbones had become more defined, and her lips were fuller and beyond tempting.

He slid from the truck and held his door open for her, and as she stepped up, he put his hand on her butt and lifted her. His fingers sank into her flesh, only momentarily, but it was enough to set him on fire.

He got in beside her and drove off. When they reached the mailbox about half a mile away, and beyond any eyes that could possibly see them, he braked and turned to her. “Happy birthday.”

Her eyes flared at what she read in his, and she smiled, almost shyly, the way she used to when they’d first gotten together. An ache formed in the region of his heart.

“Thanks.”

He leaned in and stole a quick kiss, and then drove to their place, the washout underneath the wooden bridge. Night had already fallen, but there was a full moon, and the moonlight illuminated the interior of the vehicle enough that they were able to see each other.

Josh killed the engine and turned to Hannah, and took her in his arms. He kissed her the way he’d been dying to all day long. Her arms went around his neck and she kissed him back, their tongues dueling. He kissed her until he couldn’t stand it anymore, and then tried to put her away from him to take in oxygen. They’d talked about it often enough; they both knew they were going to start making love when she was eighteen. But Josh really didn’t want their first time to be in his beat-up old pick-up truck.

Of course, he was prepared if anything got out of hand, but that wasn’t anything new. He’d been prepared from the moment they’d first started dating. Hannah’s health, her happiness, her future, weren’t things he was prepared to risk if he found himself in a situation where he lost control.

So he was always prepared.

He took a steadying breath. “You think you could get away next weekend?”

“Away? Away, where? Why?”

“I don’t know where yet, just somewhere we can have some privacy, and a bed. A hotel or something.”

Her expression was calm as her fingers went to the top of his short-sleeve button down and began unfastening it, efficiently and quickly. When she got to the bottom, she separated the material and pushed it aside, and sank her hands, palms flat, on his chest. “We have privacy here.”

“But we need a bed, Hannah.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s your first time, and you deserve it.”

Her teeth sank over his nipple and as she tugged it between her teeth, his erection thickened and he groaned. Her tongue licked over his nipple, once, and then twice. “That’s sweet, Josh,” she breathed out as her hands went to his jeans and she began tugging on his zipper.

“Jesus, Hannah. Stop doing that. I won’t be able to find the control to stop.”

“You always stop.”

He brushed at her hands but they came right back and pulled his zipper all the way down. “I mean it. Quit it. It’s like… now that you’re eighteen, there’s nothing inside of me that’s making me stop. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop,” he reiterated.

“You don’t have to stop, I don’t want you to stop.” She pushed at his jeans and he lifted his hips, just enough, and he reached down and helped her drag them down a few inches, until his erection was freed and pulsed between them.

Her hot little hand wrapped around him and as she caressed him, she put her mouth over his again. They both began panting hotly, and her lips lifted enough to say, “I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to wait for a hotel room. This is our place, and this is the memory that I want to have, forever.”

Shit.

Well, that about did it.

He threaded his fingers through her hair and held her face captive in his hands as he studied her. “Are you sure?” he asked in a deep, raspy voice.

“Yes. I’ve been sure for a long time.” Any hesitation was gone and she answered quickly. “I love you.”

“God, I love you, too.” His fingers tightened. “So much.” Hannah was a craving that wouldn’t go away, and he knew it wouldn’t go away even after he’d had her. Which he intended on doing, tonight. She had a magnetism that drew him to her. He couldn’t fight against it. She had cast a spell on him over two years before, and he felt the aggression rise in his blood as he realized he was about to satisfy his deepest craving.

Hannah was feeling somewhat apprehensive, but mainly she was happy and excited. That she was about to dive off a precipice into full adulthood, she didn’t even consider. All she knew was that she craved Josh Turner, and she was going to have him. She had no interest in other guys, and it was time. It was past time. She desperately wanted him take her virginity, and she was only glad that it was about to happen.

Their hips met and their bodies jarred together from the rough impact. Josh’s dark head lowered to her blonde one, and his arms encircled her. They kissed for several long moments and then he lifted his head.

“Hannah, we don’t have to do this. It’s enough for me just to get to hold you. Jesus. I want to hold you forever.” He lowered his mouth to hers again and gave her no time for a response.

&n

bsp; In the direct opposite of what he had just offered, he reached down and lifted Hannah’s t-shirt over her head. He pulled his own off and started pushing her down on the bench seat.

The emotional upheaval that was encompassing Hannah was sending her heartbeat escalating and her nerves soaring. She broke her mouth away and tried to catch her breath. Her slender body was pliant in his arms, and she took several sustaining breaths of oxygen as Josh moved down her body and clamped his mouth to the slight swell of her breast above her bra.

As he began to suck on the softness above the lace, his hand slid to her other breast and pulled the cup of her bra down. His palm encircled her warm flesh, and his fingers found her pink nipple. A deep vibration came from the back of his throat, and his body clenched as his hands tightened on her and his voice rasped out, “Ah, Jesus Christ, you’re beautiful. You’re always so beautiful.”

When Josh touched her nipple, Hannah’s heart went haywire and she felt a surge of desire that felt somehow different now because she knew this would end differently. Wonderfully. Her breathing became labored and blended with his deep inhalations as the excitement built between them.

Josh lifted his head and moved his hand to unsnap the front closure of Hannah’s bra. When her perfect, small round breasts were completely naked, he gritted his teeth and raised his eyes to hers.

He cleared his throat so he could speak. His words were rough as his nostrils flared. “Just for the record, you want to do this, right?” His body was clenched over hers, tension filling him, while he waited for her answer.

“Yes.”

Intense satisfaction filled his features and he held her gaze as he rubbed his thumb over the hard pebble of her pink nipple. The flames licking Hannah’s insides from the touch of his skin on her nipples was about to make her mind explode. She felt an arrow of excitement that connected from her breast to the place between her legs. She moved her body, trying to find some relief. She wrapped her hands around his biceps and answered his question again. “Yes.”

Josh closed his eyes briefly and then opened them, his intense green gaze on her. His mouth fastened on hers, and Hannah was inundated with feelings that she couldn’t control. All she wanted was him. She had wanted him for so long. So long.