Chapter 44: Encroaching Insecurities And Innuendos

The Quinn Residence, Backwoods, Temperance, South Dakota....

The familiar sight of the yellow house amid tall trees put Layla on edge as she had not known if and when her father had decided to show up and she had not wanted there to be an altercation between the two apparent men in her life. She'd still been reeling mentally and physically from what happened between her and Brick at the creek and for the most part had not known how best to deal with it. He had been vastly experienced in comparison to her and she worried that if they had cross that untouched threshold and she accepted him, then he'd simply get bored with her and her lack of ability to please him and move on to the next available body he'd come across. Brick seemed to note her relative silence and felt the anxiousness within her as if it had been his own.

"Something wrong?" he asked catching her completely off guard as they got close to her house before he stopped in the same area she had instructed him to the first time he dropped her off after work.

"It's nothing." replied Layla unsure how to voice her innermost fears with Brick of all people. "I'm just tired and my legs are numb."

Brick smirked at the unintended complement, but he wasn't buying that she'd just been tired.

"If you got something on your mind then say it." he said looking back at her as she slowly unwrapped her arms from around his waist and attempted to climb off his bike.

"It's nothing Brick." she insisted.

"I can hear your heart beating a mile a minute, don't lie to me girl." he said in a stern tone that caught her off guard as it reminded her of her father when he'd been confronting her.

"It's stupid." she said not wishing to divulge more for fear of adding to the issue of showing him how inexperienced she was with things like this. Adult relationships had been complicated and she wasn't in the least ready to attempt to have one with someone she knew so little about let alone someone who could have any woman he wanted just by walking into the room.

"I'll be the judge of that." said Brick getting off his bike and approaching her as she stood beside it.

His towering height had been quite the contrast to her average frame and she felt even smaller in his eyes as she stood there unsure of how to word what she'd been feeling. She decided to go for his initial response and ask a few questions. Questions after all, were the best way to obtain vital information whether one liked it or not.

"Have you ever done that, with anyone before?" asked Layla nervously letting it all out.

Brick arched a brow as he looked over the rather nervous younger woman. He might have known she'd start back into the issue with insecurities given her age.

"Quite a few." he replied honestly. "But none I wanted to eat without excess booze as an excuse."

Layla had been caught off guard again but slightly amused by his rather twisted sense of humor. It was as if he had always had a joke in mind for something or another, but in this case it served to put her at ease when questioning their relationship and his life before her.

"Listen Layla, I've been around the block a few times and I have a good deal more experience than you, so what?" he said knowing all too well where her line of questions were going. "You get me hard like the best of them and taste sweeter than the rest of them, I ain't gonna lie to you I have been known to wander a bit in the past, but none of that's crossed my mind since you and me started this whole thing and I can assure you I don't have no regrets."

As odd as his choice in words had been. Layla found a good deal of comfort in them.

"Okay." she said apparently done with her questions and insecure feelings for the time being.

"Okay." replied Brick making his way over toward her and scooping her into his powerful arms.

He'd gone in for a kiss, but was met via Layla's hand covering his lips as she knew all too well where his mouth had been.

Brick chuckled a bit as he held her close to him.

"Don't you wanna know what you taste like baby?" he asked in her ear.

"No thank you, of the two of us you are the dirty one." said Layla with a smirk as Brick pretended to be wounded by her words.

"Alright, but you don't know what you're missing." he said opting to pinch her young arse instead earning him a smack via her swift hands across his chest as he chuckled once again.

"I hate when you do that." she said annoyed, but still slightly amused that he'd taken the hits she delivered as if they were mere child's play. "You're as bad as the old guys at the diner."

"My woman, my ass to pinch." said Brick pulling her close to him once more. "You're mine now Layla Quinn, you and that sweet cherry pie in jeans."

Layla's cheeks turned red as she recalled him taking his time when licking her back at the creek.

"Mmmm." groaned Brick his heat filled grey eyes fixated on her as she stared back up at him. "Taste so good you'd make a grown man cry."

He held her close to him for a few moments more before she decided it was time to head inside for the day. She'd truly been tired after her shift at the diner and needed more than anything to unwind by way of a relaxing hot bath. Brick's antics at the creek had also seen to her needing a long hot bath as he once more licked his lips in recollection of her taste.

"I'm hitting the road come mornin' but we'll be within a day's ride depending on whether or not we catch the son of a bitch in time." said Brick. "In any case I ain't gonna see you for a while, you good with that?"

Layla sighed and nodded as Brick brought his index finger up to stroke her chin before hugging her and letting her take her leave.

"Be careful." she said worried about their upcoming separation. She had not feared for his welfare the last time he'd gone out of town, but they weren't in agreement to actually see each other then.

"As you wish." replied Brick as he headed back toward his bike and watched Layla disappear onto her front porch and into the house through the thick black screen door.

Layla paused at the door as she heard the sound of his revving bike engine and knew that he'd finally sped away once she stepped inside the house. There was still no sign of her father, and she guessed he'd been on another one of his drunken benders before feeding Brutus and making her way toward the bathroom for the long hot bubble bath she'd promised herself.

Brick was once more on her mind as she recalled how sticky his saliva had been between her thighs and that he'd actually spent the past half hour licking her for all she was worth in such an intimate place.

When it came to Amy's mental list of comparisons for guys, Brick was most definitely a bad boy, and a dirty one to boot.