Tight Quarters: Strangers on a Train Read online

  God, she was sweet, and it touched him that she trusted him enough to let him cover her like this without panic. She was gorgeous, strong, and sexy, and he wanted to touch and taste every inch of her to let her know it.

  Not here, though—they couldn’t risk that. Train staff made the rounds through the cars every so often. But right now, they were alone.

  Running his hand down her hip, he sprawled his fingers over her knee and then moved them lightly up underneath the skirt of her sexy dress. She gasped, breaking their kiss as his fingers slid higher, and Reid’s heart nearly stopped when he realized she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

  “Reid, stop. Someone might come along. That was a surprise for back at the room,” she whispered. She looked left and right, though in her position she couldn’t see much.

  He checked, leaving his hand where it was, and smiled down at her.

  “No one’s here but us.” He slipped his finger in between soft folds of flesh, groaning as he felt how wet she was already.

  Her gasp turned into a moan, and she writhed under his touch, her eyes closing. Reid took that as a green light. Her thighs fell apart, encouraging him. Lifting the skirt, he took in the view of this beautiful woman splayed out before him, letting him touch and watch her in such an intimate way.

  He was turned on as all hell, but he also felt warm and protective. Possessive. As if she was his. That was new. It made his heart slam hard against his chest as he slid down to the floor on his knees and bent to kiss her thigh, and higher. He listened to every sigh and moan, knowing what touch pleased her and what made her tremble.

  He wanted to know it all.

  Taking another quick glance down the center aisle of the train car, he bent to touch his tongue lightly against her clit, enjoying how her nails dug into his shoulder. She cried out his name as his fingers discovered how hot she was inside.

  Tight. Seeking, clenching. For him.

  In seconds, she broke apart, flooding him, spent and breathless. He watched her, her eyes heavy-lidded, cheeks flushed, lips parted. This single moment, this vision, would stay with him until his last day.

  Reid took her hand, not trusting his voice, and hurried her back to the berth, where he didn’t take the time to completely undress. He freed and covered his throbbing cock quickly, anxious to do what he’d been fantasizing about all day.

  When he turned around, she had completely lost the dress, and she stood waiting for him like some sex goddess come to life. All ripe, wanting woman. He stalked forward and pressed her back against the door of the berth, then lifted her and slid inside, deep and sure, as a shudder of pure male lust rippled through him.

  “Fuck, you feel good, Brenna. I’ve needed this all day. I can’t believe how much I need this.” His tone reflected wonderment, every word of it true.

  “Oh, yes. More, please,” Brenna begged, her legs wrapping around his hips, her hands on his shoulders as he bent to suck a hard nipple in between his lips. Her ass was like velvet in his hands, and he held her firm as he started thrusting hard, pushing her up against the metal door in a frenzy of need. If she needed him to be careful, he was too far-gone to know it.

  But she didn’t stop him—quite the opposite. Her cries of pleasure heightened until she crashed around him, holding on, her inner muscles tightening and surrounding him, drawing pleasure from his body into hers, making his knees shake with the force of it.

  He lowered her from where he’d pinned her against the door, pushing her hair back from her face, still catching his breath as he pulled her against him. Had he ever known a woman as passionate and giving as this? So willing to tackle her fears and to live life head-on?

  Her arms locked around him too. They walked back to the bed, and he pulled her down against him.

  “You are rocking my world, Brenna Burke,” he said with a chuckle.

  He could feel her smile against his chest.

  “Mine, too. I can’t believe how…free I feel.”

  “Want to really put it to the test?”

  Propping up on one hand, she looked down at him with definite curiosity and smiled slightly.

  “The cuffs?”

  “Maybe later. I was thinking I could really use a shower, but maybe you’d like to join me?”

  Unmistakable apprehension filled her expression.

  “It’s so small in there. I had to do breathing exercises the entire time I was in there alone to get through my own shower. Though I could use one.”

  “It’s okay, baby.” He pulled her in close and kissing her neck. “No problem at all. Maybe another time. We can work on it, one day at a time.” The words were out before he realized how they sounded.

  She pulled back. “That’s a nice thought, but we only have two more days of the trip left. Unless you were thinking, you know…um, that maybe we’d see each other after.”

  He hadn’t been thinking that, not consciously, but he knew the minute she said the words that it was something he wanted.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, the words rushed as she stiffened. “I didn’t mean to suggest—”

  “That would be nice,” he interrupted. “If you’d want to see me. Maybe go on a date or something.” He smiled and kissed her. “We don’t live too far from each other.”

  “Unless I get the new job. Then I might be on the road a lot, or I might move to be closer to the home office,” she reminded him, sighing as he kissed his way down to her pretty breasts, full and warm in his hands. He fondled her nipples until they were hard and dark and then pushed them together to take both between his lips.

  For several long, luscious seconds, he sucked, and she moaned, lifting her hips against him for more of what he wanted too.

  When he broke away, he looked down into her face, knowing that even though it had been a mere twenty-four hours, he wanted to see more of Brenna. As often as possible.

  “We’ll figure it out. I can’t possibly get enough of you in these few days.” He reached for another condom, thinking he’d have to be sure to pick up more at their next stop.

  She parted for him lazily, and he accepted the invitation, pushing inside her warm body, settling down between her legs, laying over her, not in any rush.

  “This is nice,” she said, her hand on his face, her eyes aroused but also serious. “Nicer than you could know.”

  He moved just so, tightening their connection. He loved how her lips would part when he did that.

  “Oh, I think I have some idea.” He sought another kiss.

  She shifted under him. “I mean, I’ve never done…this. Not easily. Not like this.”

  He pulled up again. “Done what?” Reid was sure she hadn’t been a virgin.

  “Lay underneath a man like this. It’s always been impossible for me. I don’t like feeling trapped. But I don’t feel that way now. Not at all.” She dragged her fingernails up and down his chest in the most hypnotic, incredible way. “I want more. Deeper.”

  “If something gets to be too much, you say so, and I’ll stop.” He buried his face in her neck, unable to resist the need to move.

  “I will, but if you’ll just keep doing more of that, I think we’re good.” She chuckled, then sighed as she linked her ankles up around his thighs.

  “I aim to please,” he said lightly.

  “Aim a tad to the left, then, if you can,” she said, making him laugh even as his body tightened and surged inside of hers. They both forgot their conversation, words abandoned as Reid made pleasure the goal of his entire night.

  Chapter Six

  Reid woke up alone, twisted in the sheets of the bed. He lay quiet, sated, and listened for sounds of Brenna moving around, but the room was silent.

  Maybe she had gone to get breakfast? Rolling over and looking at the clock, he groaned. It was almost noon. The train was also still—they’d already arrived at their next destination, Skaneateles, New York.

  Pulling himself out of bed, he stretched sore muscles. Brenna inspired him to have the endurance of
his twenty-year-old self, but his thirty-six-year-old self sent up a few protests as he headed to the shower, wincing as his side reminded him he’d overexerted.

  Totally worth it.

  Brenna probably hadn’t wanted to wake him. He’d been sleeping like the dead.

  A few minutes later, he was dressed and out to search for her, his stomach grumbling. The train perched on a hill at a train station that looked down over a sparkling lake, and the small town at the top was visible from the other side of the car.

  Very pretty, he thought absently as he looked for her.

  Finally he saw her. She sat alone on a wooden bench on the platform outside the exit, looking over the lake. Reid stepped forward, putting his hand on her shoulder as he took the seat next to her.

  “Hey, good morning, gorgeous.”

  He leaned in to kiss her cheek. She didn’t turn to meet his lips. She looked miserable and didn’t say a word, which didn’t bode well. “I thought maybe you’d decided to leave without me, since I was in danger of sleeping all day. You wore me out,” he joked lightly, rubbing a strand of silky hair between his fingertips.

  “I went for a walk.” Her voice was faint as she looked at the doors.

  He paused and pulled back a bit. “By yourself?”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “It seemed like a good idea. I felt great yesterday, so right. Like I was…past all of it. My phobias. So this morning, when I came down for some coffee, I bumped into a few other passengers who asked me if I wanted to take a morning walk before breakfast. I thought it would be fun, and I said yes. You were sleeping, and there was no need to wake you.”

  “You could have.”

  “I didn’t want to.”

  “So what happened?”

  “I went, and it was very nice. Until I tried to get back on the train.” She swallowed hard. “And I couldn’t do it. Every time I tried, I just felt like my breathing was going to stop, and I had to back up. Some of the other guests tried to help me, taking my hand to try to tug me up inside—they didn’t know—and I kind of freaked out. They really do think I’m crazy now,” she said miserably. “So I’ve been sitting here, trying to get up the nerve to try again, but I couldn’t.”

  “Aw, Brenna. You should have had someone come get me. I would have helped—”

  She stood, walking away, pacing nervously and shaking her head.

  “No. Don’t you get it? I need to do this on my own. You’re just a crutch, and depending on you won’t help me get over this problem. It’s holding me back. I never should have let this happen. I came on this trip for a specific reason, and I lost focus. I shouldn’t have done this,” she repeated, clearly agitated. “What’s the point of this whole trip if I can’t do this on my own? You won’t be there come Tuesday, and then what? Then what do I do? Clearly, nothing has changed.”

  “Brenna, there’s no shame in letting me help you—” he started, trying to ignore the sting of her words. She was just upset.

  “Don’t try to save me, Reid. You’re not a cop anymore, and I’m not some damsel in distress,” she bit out. Then she laughed, though it wasn’t a happy sound. “But I guess I am, aren’t I? God, how pathetic. Why did I even think I could get that job?”

  Reid wasn’t sure what to say. It killed him to see the tears staining her cheeks, the tension in her form, but she didn’t want to be reassured, didn’t want to be helped. She didn’t want him, apparently. For all he knew, she had just had her fill of him and was giving him the brush-off. Maybe this was all some kind of act, some kind of game she played. Or maybe she really was crazy.

  “I don’t know what to do for you, Brenna,” he said helplessly.

  “I don’t want you to do anything. I—I want you to leave me alone. I have to get back on that train myself, or nothing else matters.”

  Reid frowned. He might be hurt, and pissed, but he wasn’t about to leave her out here by herself in this condition.

  “Brenna, your stuff is all on the train. You can’t just stay here. What will you do? Just let me help you back on.” He stepped toward her and reached out.

  She backed away, wrapping her arms around herself, her mouth pressed tight as she shook her head.

  “I mean it. Leave me alone. I can take care of myself. One way or another, I have to.” With that, she turned and walked off.

  Reid wanted to follow—and not. What had he gotten himself into with Brenna? He’d known her for three days, and it had just been sex. A fling.

  So why was he so angry and hurt at her rejection?

  That she wouldn’t let him help.

  That she could walk away so easily.

  Cursing, he shook his head and closed his eyes.

  “For fuck’s sake, Cooper, you’re starting to act like a girl,” he growled to himself and forced his eyes to look away from Brenna’s retreating form.

  If she wanted to go, fine. They’d had some fun; that was it. He was going to get his stuff and enjoy the day. Maybe she was right. Reid had come on this trip for a reason too—to celebrate his new life, to think about what he wanted to do next and maybe even to scout out some places to move or live.

  He’d lost his focus on that, as well. He’d gotten a bit carried away the night before, thinking about pursuing something with Brenna after the trip. He was starting a new life and hardly knew what he wanted next. He didn’t need to tie himself down to a woman, especially one with problems like Brenna’s.

  It was what he told himself as he made his way into town to find some breakfast; maybe if he repeated it enough times, he’d start to believe it.

  Brenna was miserable.

  She’d asked one of the train staff to please get her things for her before Reid got back, and her bags had been delivered to the station holding area.

  She hadn’t gone anywhere else the rest of the afternoon, but instead had paced the platform over and over again, not knowing why she couldn’t get back on the train. She’d gotten on it so many times before. What was the problem now?

  She’d wanted to get back on so much—she’d actually stopped on the walk that morning and bought some beautiful pastries at a bakery in town, hoping to go back and surprise Reid with them, but then…she couldn’t. The worst part was that she didn’t even know why. She just hadn’t been able to do it.

  The train was gone. It had left a few hours ago, moved on to the next stop, with Reid on it. Glad to be rid of her, she imagined. She’d booked a room in town and would stay there until she could get home. She could rent a car, probably, and drive the distance in small sections of highway. It was only a few hours.

  That idea freaked her out too. What if she couldn’t get back into the car halfway home, in the middle of the New York State Thruway? Right now, she couldn’t trust herself.

  Tears stung. She was stranded, and she felt unbearably stupid. She should have given in and let Reid help her onto the train, but she’d been so embarrassed for being dependent on him. It wasn’t how she wanted to be.

  She’d been furious and upset with herself, and she’d taken it out on him, Brenna knew. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, but she hadn’t been able to stop the things she was saying.

  As she sat on a pretty bench by a white gazebo that looked out over the lake, watching townspeople and tourists walk around her, she’d never felt more alone in her life.

  She tortured herself, wondering if Reid would take the sexy blonde from the bar up on her offer. Or maybe someone else. Some lucky woman who didn’t freak out at the idea of taking a shower with a man because of the small space or who couldn’t get in a car or a train.

  Clearly, the new job opportunity was out.

  There had been moments—only a few in her life, but this was one—when she wished she hadn’t made it out of that accident, either. Everything was just so damned hard.

  The breeze was cool, and she thought she should get up and go to her room. Still, she continued to sit, looking at the water as if she didn’t have a care in the world, when in truth she was loaded down
with them so heavily, she didn’t feel like she could stand up.

  Knowing she needed a lifeline, she grabbed her phone and dialed desperately. Melissa Garvis had been her therapist for years, though their relationship was mostly one of friendship now. Brenna had quit regular therapy years before.

  Mel answered. “Brenna? I didn’t expect to hear from you this weekend—did you get my flowers?”

  “I did, thanks. They were gorgeous.” She tried to sound normal and failed miserably.

  “Hey are you okay? Where are you?”

  “In Skaneateles, a small town in Central New York. By the lake. It’s a beautiful place,” Brenna said with a sniffle.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I met a guy. We sort of… Well, we—”

  “Oh my God, that’s fantastic! Is he hot? What’s his name?”

  “Reid. But, well, things didn’t quite work out. I’m kind of in a jam. I left the train this afternoon, and I’m not entirely sure how to get home.”

  “Oh, no.” Mel’s tone softened. “What happened? Did he hurt you? Did you have to get away from him? Was he crazy or something?”

  Brenna couldn’t help but smile. “No, I think that would be me, actually.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  Skipping the sexier parts, Brenna related what had happened. Mel did what she always did, listening intently as Brenna poured her heart out.

  “He sounds wonderful, Brenna. What do you think made you run?”

  Brenna blinked. “Run? I didn’t run. I just couldn’t get back on the train. Without his help anyway.”

  “So why not let him help you?”

  Brenna sputtered. Mel didn’t sound as sympathetic as she usually did. “Well, because I need to do this on my own. I need to prove I can do this so I can apply for that job.”

  “Really? Are you sure that’s it?”