A/N: This chapter bears a warning for smut! I figured this story deserved it!

Static building up in here
Where you take me, I don't care
The further we get, the closer we are
Blurring the lines under midnight stars

Kane Brown ft. Becky G — Lost in the Middle of Nowhere

Her favorite song was the crunch of gravel under truck tires, the sound of Johnny Cash crooning through the static of the radio station, the groan of the gear shift trying to connect. Barely any clouds against the bright half-moon in the black and blue velvet sky was her favorite view. Already, she could count two constellations against the brilliant stars.

"Goddamn it, someone screwed up this stick," Jax growled. Rhiannon could only watch in amusement as he attempted to find the proper gear. Her fingers gripped the panic handle as the truck found each bump in the road.

"Baby, I love you, but you are not good at this," she laughed and the truck came to a screeching halt. Her free hand gripped the worn leather dashboard to brace herself. "Jesus Christ, Jackson, Uncle Emmett said we could borrow the truck, not ruin it."

"Do you want to drive, Rhiannon?"

"Considering I'm clearly better at driving a manual than you are? Yes. Please. You pedal and steer, I'll shift. I taught you how to do this, you should not be having these issues." Rhiannon unbuckled her seat belt to slide next to him, the worn vinyl sticking to the back of her thighs as she adjusted the red cotton sundress back over her legs. Her fingers nudged his hand out of the way to take the gear shift from him. "Press the clutch now so I can get us into second. It's a bumpy road, we don't want to go too fast. You're stuck in first gear, that's why you're having problems."

The bouncing and jerking slowed to a smoother roll and a pothole sent her lifting from the seat.

"I'm just not used to driving stick this much, you know that," he defended.

Her eyes rolled skyward before she leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek. "But you make up for it in so many other ways," she teased. "It helps that you're hot. And you've gotten better at sex."

"I knew you were only with me for my looks. Here, I thought it was my smarts and my personality." His head turned and she let out a peal of laughter as his teeth grazed along the side of her neck.

"Watch the road, asshole! We're not gonna crash because you're trying to feel me up," she chided as he bent down to place a kiss under her ear.

"I'd have my free hand down your dress if I was feeling you up, babe, but now that you're the one shifting, I can do both." His free hand toyed with one of the ties holding up her dress and tugged it loose.

"Get us there and you can second-base it up all you want, Teller. Now, clutch, please. I don't want to crash and die because you're getting horny," she requested. His lips brushed over the hollow beneath her ear and she felt a shiver race down her spine. Stopping him took Herculean strength she hadn't been sure she possessed until then. "Come on, Jax. You can behave yourself for...however long it takes us to get there. One of these days, you're gonna have to tell me where you find all these places you keep taking me to. Is it that girlfriend from Canada you keep telling me you have?"

Now that it occurred to her, Rhiannon very rarely ever knew where Jax was taking her until they arrived. She only knew he found them and that she loved them.

"How else do you think I got better at sex?" he returned.

"You'd think she'd help you learn how to drive stick instead of messing around with yours. You should introduce me to her sometime, I'm starting to think you made her up."

"I'll be sure to run it past her next time I have that super-secret meeting with her that no one ever knows about. The spot's just up here. I found it when I was out riding the other day and I rode up to where the road ends. I think you'll like it, it has this really neat tree." Jax's hand soon bumped hers to take over shifting. Her eyebrow raised as the truck rumbled seamlessly and with minimal grinding.

"You've been holding out on me," she accused. Rhiannon leaned from his side to sit up straight, one bare leg tucking under herself. "And this tree, is this where you kill me and dump my body?"

"I was thinking we could have a little fun first. You know, really let me get my last kicks in before I bring in that Canadian girlfriend."

Her head tilted back in a laugh. "Alright, touche. I just have to get the truck back by midnight. I only was able to get this far because I promised Emmett I was going to get my college applications finished and do my essays. Stanford's a ridiculous pipe dream, there's no way in hell I'm getting in, but Emmett said there's no harm in applying. They'll probably put my application up as a joke in the dean's lounge or something."

Even if it was her uncle's alma mater. And her grandmother's alma mater. And her great-grandfather's alma mater. Going back another generation or two, she was certain. Westmorelands went to Stanford.

The rules had been simple. Rhiannon could date if it didn't distract from her schoolwork. She could date if it didn't distract from her work at the barn. She could date if it didn't get in the way of her life plans, yet almost every amendment had a loophole. Rhiannon saw Jax at school and 'helped' with his homework. He helped her at the barn. The last one, however...broken completely.

Now, she looked for colleges nearby or within a two-hour drive to come home on weekends.

"Why do you think you won't get in?" Jax finally asked. The tires met grass and the truck rumbled up a hill.

"Because I'm not exactly the smartest kid in school and my extracurriculars aren't exactly stellar. I don't think they'll be impressed by the fact I can spin the horn three times in trick riding or that I set the county record for barrel racing. It's a pipe dream. I mean, Emmett's footing the bill for the application, so it's not like I'm paying them to reject me," she answered, her shoulders bouncing in a shrug. "It's not like I can say living in Charming is an extracurricular in and of itself. And I don't want to talk about that right now. The future can wait."

"You're smart enough, Rae. Just...for the record," he informed her. He slowed the truck to a stop and set it into park.

"Can we please not talk about it? I want to just see you before I have to focus on all that bullshit," she nearly pleaded. She wrenched the door open and slid from the truck into soft grass. A large sycamore tree sat several yards away and Rhiannon wasn't sure she had ever seen a view that beautiful. The slight bite to the air had her rubbing her arms to warm them.

The fluffy, overstuffed grey comforter sat on the ground along with the others that she had the feeling they should retire sometime soon. Rhiannon adjusted the tie of her dress after taking a seat on the ground, only for the opposite to become untied from Jax's playful teeth. Her fingers threaded into his hair to coax his mouth her way to kiss him. It was that familiar, addictive flavor of peppermint, cigarette smoke, and something so uniquely Jax Teller.

The odds were stacked against them, yet all she wanted to do was believe in that silly, arrogant side of her that truly believed things could work. They weren't their parents, they were them. They were two people who worked together so seamlessly and were so in tune. One drove, the other shifted. They could tell each other's moods from the slightest shift in body language. She could tell from a mostly imperceptible clench in his jaw if he was mad or worried. Or how utterly easy it was to get his self-control to snap when she tugged his hair or drew him in with her legs. Or how he was able to make her whimper with need just as easily when he found that spot between her neck and shoulder with his tongue.

"Jesus, Rae, I could barely keep my hands off you in the truck," Jax muttered against her lips. Rhiannon moved to straddle his lap and she pushed her tongue past the seam of his lips. He found the other tie and tugged down the top of her dress with a violent yank. The soft material of the comforter met her semi-bare back as his strong hands gripped her ass and moved to lay her back.

God, how could I ever let him go? she couldn't help but think.

His hot mouth fixated on her bare nipple, flicking the bud with his tongue until it hardened. The simple scrape of teeth shot sparks to her core and a small whine slipped from her parted lips. He repeated the action with the opposite breast, one hand bracing his weight over her and the other slid its way up the hem of her dress. From her position on the ground and her thighs on either side of his hips, she could feel him hard against her.

Just like so many times before, the point of no return came with zero warning.

His fingers shifted her panties aside and pushed into her entrance, thumb circling her clit. Her back arched from the ground and her thighs tensed around his hips.

"Oh, my God, Jax, please," she hissed against his lips. Already, his ministrations threatened to shatter her nerves. She broke the kiss and her head fell back into the blanket. Her hips rocked and she could feel her core pulse and clench around his fingers. His thumb didn't let up, instead moving in faster circles and pressing just that little bit harder. For once, she chased the desperate, needy feeling that he coaxed from her body, the feeling like she craved this more than her next breath. "I'm so close."

"That's it, Rae, that's it," he murmured in her ear as she splintered beneath him. His name escaped her lips like a whimpered prayer, a plead for mercy, a deliverance.

Rhiannon gave no stock in personal ownership, but she couldn't be more his if she tried. Her heart thundered in her chest, threatening to leap from her ribs as she slumped beneath him and he withdrew his fingers.

"Fuck, please," he whispered in her ear and she felt the head of his cock pressing against her entrance. Somehow, she'd missed him pushing his jeans down to let his erection spring out. "Please, I'm dying."

Her breasts pillowed into his chest as he entered her in one smooth thrust following her nod of approval. She locked her legs around his hips and her fingers tangled into his hair when he began to move. Being out in the open like this, even without anyone around for presumably miles, had her on edge. Yet Rhiannon couldn't deny the flutter of excitement that ran through her. While she normally cringed when watching movies and hearing the man groan, she relished the quiet groans and curses Jax emitted.

She placed soft kisses against his neck to muffle the sounds that threatened to escape when a snap of his hips stimulated something in her. Her walls clenched and rippled around him as he moved faster and rougher, the tip of his cock hitting that spot again and again.

"I'm getting close again, Jax," she panted in his ear as her hips rocked up to meet him. It pushed him deeper and deeper until that pressure curled itself within her abdomen once more, winding her tighter and tighter. His fingers rolled in untidy circles over her swollen clit. The bursting sent her head falling back again while she fell apart, the tense, trembling spasms that racked her body struggled to help her ride it out once more. His hips jerked faster as he came until he collapsed on top of her.

Rhiannon's face scrunched as Jax pulled out of her and pulled his jeans back up. She knew better than to talk to him right after sex, not if she ever wanted an actual conversation instead of the depleted shell of a human being he was then and there. A soreness took place between her thighs and a stiffness slowed her movements when she stretched out her legs. What took her by surprise was how intently he watched her move.

"Hey, Rae?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanna marry you someday."