His Wicked Mouth

by Jessica Mills

  Rather than replacing the big picture windows on the front of the shops with solid walls like in so many other towns, these windows had seen years pass and generations inherit the shops. The owners kept them going and rotated the displays from season to season to show off merchandise and celebrate holidays.

  One of my favorites was always the thrift shop toward the back of the street. The owners were a creative, artistic couple who loved creating displays that showed off what they had inside and invited shoppers to come for a treasure hunt.

  That was exactly what it was like to go shopping in that store. The inventory came from all over and the couple was particular about what they offered. We stopped in front of it and I immediately noticed a pair of boots sitting in the display.

  “Look at those boots,” I said. “They are adorable.”

  “Why don’t we go inside and take a better look at them?” Garrett said.

  The light was on in the shop and we could see a couple of other people inside, so we knew it was still open. The couple who owned it didn’t keep any regular shop hours. They kept up a pretty consistent schedule, but for the most part, they opened when they wanted to and closed when they decided they were done for the day.

  They never talked about it, but the idea that drifted around Green Valley was they had more than enough money without an ongoing income from the shop. Owning the store was a hobby they both loved.

  We went inside and Bronwyn smiled from behind the counter.

  “Can we see those boots in the window?” Garrett asked.

  “Sure thing,” she said. “Be right there.”

  She finished packing up the purchase from the customer before us, then came over to reach into the display and get the boots. Bronwyn held them out to me and I carried them over to a bench so I could try them on. Taking off my shoes, I slipped one foot into the boot, then followed up with the second. They fit perfectly. I stood up and took a few steps in them.

  Whoever owned the boots before they found their way to the shop hadn’t worn them very often. They still felt almost new and didn’t have any scuffs or damage.

  “You like them?” Garrett asked.

  “I love them. They’re perfect.”

  “Then we’ll take them,” he said, reaching into his pocket and handing over a folded stack of bills.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I said.

  Bronwyn looked at Garrett, and he nodded, so she took the money and went to the cash register.

  “I know I don’t,” he said. “I want to.”

  Bronwyn returned with Garrett’s change and a box for my old shoes so I could wear the new boots out of the store. Garrett took the bag and carried it as he held my hand while we walked back to the truck. We got inside and I leaned across to kiss him.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Of course. Want to go for a drive?”

  “Absolutely,” I said.

  We drove out toward the Montgomery Ranch, to the roads that wound around the back of the property. He cranked the heat up high as we rolled down the windows to let in the fresh air. The heat kept us warm while the cold air felt wonderful against our faces.

  Garrett reached across the seat and held my hand as we drove along the roads, listening to the radio. I gazed over at him, reveling in the glow of this all-consuming new love. I couldn’t believe the intensity of what I was feeling, how fast it came over me. But I couldn’t deny it. I was so in love with Garrett Montgomery and I never wanted to stop feeling that way.

  After a few moments, Garrett looked over at me and grinned when he caught me staring.

  “What are the chances we’ve known each other all this time, but it took running into each other on the street in Las Vegas to end up like this?” I asked, feeling slightly breathless with the feelings rushing up through me.

  He lifted my hand up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “Somebody was looking out for me. I didn’t deserve it, but I couldn’t be happier it happened. I’m so grateful for you.”

  Chapter 37

  Garrett

  I had a specific destination in mind on this long drive, but when we got close, I realized it wouldn’t work. The fall had brought families of all types out into the open air and I wanted a bit more privacy than that. Instead, I took us the long way around, back through deep country and out the other side, close to an hour of driving to get to a spot my brothers and I found when we were younger and just looking for a place to throw a party and not have the law called. It had been a hell of a party then, but it was just a quiet, empty place now.

  The drive had been quiet and peaceful. The music was soft and comforting and Annabelle seemed content to go wherever I wanted to go, no matter how long we ended up driving. I was pretty confident that if we had suddenly rolled into Las Vegas again, she would have taken it in stride and made the best of it. But I had something less bright in mind for us.

  I almost missed the turn and had to brake pretty quickly to get to it. A hidden, almost secret turnoff from the highway led to an old farm, one owned by an old man the Montgomerys knew, who had long since passed away. His only child, a boy I grew up with in school named Charlie Roosevelt, had no interest in the farming life and turned it into a Christmas-tree farm.

  For months out of the year, he would only occasionally visit, checking on the trees. Then for two months, he worked it religiously, then planted his seeds and went back home again. I occasionally helped him out during the winter months, hauling trees around and helping people tie them to the tops of their cars, and for it, he offered me the use of the land anytime I wanted during the off season.

  Keeping an eye out for any cars that might be hanging around, indicating that someone was on the land that day, I drove down the several miles of driveway until we reached the farmhouse. It had been converted to a Christmas shop and was where everyone checked out, but it was clearly empty. Charlie had given me a key in case I needed it long ago, but it was somewhere in my room on the ranch. But we didn’t need to get inside anyway.

  Instead, I followed the path to get us deep into the farm. Annabelle looked out the window, seeming to marvel at the trees that grew around us, and when she turned back to me, her face was locked in a giddy expression. I laughed at how cute it was.

  “Is this a Christmas-tree farm?” she asked, her voice nearly a squeal.

  “It is. I have access to it whenever I want, and its off season, so it’s rather quiet.” I gave her a bit of information about Charlie as we drove deep until we reached the place I wanted us to get to. It was a little bit of a steep hill, and the truck whined as we went our way up, but when we crested the top, the audible gasp from Annabelle was worth it.

  “This is gorgeous,” she said, looking out over the view.

  “It is,” I said. “I found this spot by accident one time while working their tree farm. I didn’t realize where the hill went, thinking I was heading back toward the house. Apparently, their old man used to camp up here all the time because he could look out over the entire farm. Come on.”

  I opened the door and went around to open hers. She had already unlatched it, but I insisted on opening it for her and helping her out of the cab. She blushed as she got to the grass and I reached inside to grab the blankets. The sun was nearly gone, and the sky had a beautiful purple glow as we gazed out over the expansive land and rows upon rows of trees. It was like being on a mountaintop, overlooking a Christmas village, some of the signs sporting candy canes and elves standing year-round.

  I laid out the blanket, and we curled up together on our backs, watching as the purple ink turned into the velvet night, pocked with millions of bright stars. I pointed out a few and she saw others that I never would have found. Lying there with her, the night settled in around us like we were the only two people on Earth.

  I only got up once to grab a second blanket and a bottle of wine. I resigned myself to only taking a few sips since I had a long dark drive ahead of me, but Annabelle was free to the rest of the bott
le if she wished. She took a deep drink and we lay back down again. I pulled the second blanket over us to protect us from the slowly increasing chill. It wasn’t enough to be uncomfortable, not yet, but it was enough that the blanket felt soft and warm and cozy.

  I could have lain there with her under that blanket on top of the hill watching the stars arrive in the night until the end of time. We watched for a while as they appeared overhead, not speaking but just enjoying each other’s company when she curled into my shoulder a bit deeper and sighed.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked.

  She reached for my hand and we intertwined our fingers. There was something bugging her, and I worried what it might be. I had an inkling, but there was always the chance that maybe things were moving too fast for her and that she would tell me this was nice but she needed to slow down. After what I had spoken with Mr. Dixon about, the last thing I wanted to do with Annabelle was slow down.

  “I’m worried about my daddy,” she said. “He has always seemed like he was invincible, you know? This bear of a man who was like granite. He would always be here. And now, I realize I could have lost him, and he isn’t completely out of the woods. The day is coming where he won’t be here anymore. I’m so scared of being alone.” She curled her face into the crook of my arm and I stroked her cheek as I searched for the words to say.

  “I know it’s scary to think of him not being here anymore,” I said, pulling her chin up and brushing my nose against hers, “but you still have time left with him. And I am not going anywhere. I will be there every step of the way, the good and the bad. I mean it.”

  Annabelle smiled as her eyes searched mine and she nuzzled up closer to me. The tears glistened over her eyes until she pressed them shut and they ran down. I brushed one running down the ridge of her nose away with my own. As much as I hated to see her upset, I understood. Perhaps more than most people would. I tried to fight the memories of my own loss as I comforted her, but the feelings kept bubbling up.

  “Thank you,” she said, wiping an errant tear away from her cheek. She seemed a little less worried, and I felt good that I had given her that peace. But the old wounds kept opening, and I wasn’t sure if I could keep the pain away.

  I never grieved for my father, not properly, and that fact kept me from letting myself think about him. I always shoved it to the back of my mind with all the other thoughts I avoided about how much of a disappointment I was.

  But I couldn’t not say anything either. I couldn’t let her feel the same pain and suffering I lived with all the time. She didn’t deserve that.

  “Of course,” I said. “The most important thing is that you enjoy the time you have with him. Don’t let that time go to waste. I spoiled the last few years with my father, and it is a regret I live with every single day. I wasted so much time, so much of his effort, and actively avoided him near the end. I know that’s not how you and your father are, but I don’t want you to ever have to live with the regret I feel. Not for one second.”

  It was my turn to have emotion well up in the center of my chest. I usually tried to avoid thinking about my father and the pain of my actions his last few years. Commiserating with Annabelle was worth it, though, and I glanced into her concerned face and tried to smile. It wasn’t working too well.

  “Oh, Garrett,” she said.

  “I just… I just regret that so very much,” I said. “And I don’t want you to ever have to live with that.”

  Annabelle placed both hands on either side of my face, and I turned my head to kiss her wrist. She pulled me so our lips touched before placing her forehead on mine.

  “Your father loved you very much,” she said. “And so do I.”

  Our lips touched again, but that time, there was a need behind it. It was more than just a simple touch, an embrace by two people who cared deeply for one another and wanted to ease their inner turmoil. It was a kiss of passion, of love, of intensity the likes of which I had never felt before. I truly loved this woman, and the kiss we shared was more than what two people who dated could share. It was the kiss of pure, unadulterated love.

  “I love you too,” I said.

  She pulled me into a deeper kiss, and my tongue slid into her mouth, exploring gently and finding the taste of her. I rolled so I was on top of her, my weight bearing down on my elbows and knees but not in any hurry to move. In that moment, all we needed was to be close to each other, to embrace as lovers, and to become one with the vivid, decadent night.

  “I want you,” she whispered in my ear as I kissed her neck. “I want you here, Garrett. Now.”

  I rose up on my elbows to look into her eyes. Then I pressed my lips to hers in a kiss that held more hunger than the ones before. More intensity and a promise of satisfaction.

  Kissing down her throat, I reached her collarbone and trailed across as much as I could reach. I unbuttoned her flannel shirt as I kissed every available inch of her skin, and when the last button was open, I spread her shirt out, and she slipped her arms out.

  Annabelle’s breasts heaved underneath me, color splashing them and rising up her cheeks and the cool air causing goosebumps to rise over them. I pulled the blanket over us tighter, covering my head as I kissed along one breast and then the other, making my way to the clip in the center of her bra. I opened it with my teeth, and her heavy, perfect breasts tumbled out of the cups.

  I pressed my lips to the center of her stomach and worked my way up until I was between her breasts, letting my tongue trail along her skin. She pressed her shoulders forward and her round, soft pillows surrounded me, and I groaned as I made my way up one peak to take her nipple into my mouth. Swirling my tongue around it caused it to perk up rigidly, and I toyed with the other in my hand. My cock bulged in my jeans and I ground it into her core as I made my way back to her lips and met her with a deep kiss.

  Chapter 38

  Annabelle

  I took in a deep breath as the blanket fell past my breasts and the cool air brushed along the wet peaks of my nipples. They hardened and I could feel the white-hot burning of my core crying out for him to penetrate me, to fill me. His lips made their way back to mine and we kissed languidly, our tongues brushing against each other, and I took the opportunity to roll him over. I climbed on him, pulling the blanket up over my shoulders as I opened the buttons of his own shirt until it fell apart, revealing the soft cotton undershirt underneath.

  Pressing a kiss to the center of his chest, I reached down to pull at the hem of the shirt and he did a small sit-up, hovering in position as I pulled the overshirt off his muscular arms and the undershirt over his head. The veins on his muscles stood out as he flexed, pulling the shirt off, and I marveled at the chiseled body of the man I loved. I was suddenly overcome with a desire to drag my tongue across every inch of him, and I started with the crook of his neck. His scent was intoxicating and manly, and I kissed and licked my way down to his chest, letting my tongue slide between the ridges of his muscles.

  He laughed as I reached his belt and pulled me up to his lips again, embracing me more playfully than before. But there was still a passion there, something undeniable between us that made the air sparkle and the world fade away until there was nothing left but our bodies, the blankets, and the stars. He rolled us over again, and the blanket tangled around our bodies. He stood on his knees and pulled it away, lifting it so air caught underneath and it fell slowly around us.

  The darkness cast shadows over parts of his face and made deep lines across his muscles. He was incredibly sexy and a little dangerous, and my body responded immediately. I lifted my hips toward him, and he gleefully took my waistband in his hands and pulled.

  The blanket fell over his head as he brushed kisses down my chest and to my stomach. I felt him bring the pants past my feet and toss them beside him under the cover, and then his lips trailed down my hip to my thigh. I gasped as he slid his tongue up the inner thigh, pausing only to blow a slow stream of warm breath across my wet pussy and then repeating t
he motion on the other leg. I lifted the blanket just enough to watch him as he made his way back to my core. His eyes opened briefly to look up at me and make eye contact before he smirked and went back to his task.

  My body tingled with anticipation as he moved through my folds and found my clit. I cried out into the empty night air, my hands reaching for something to hold and finding only grass and blankets. Long slow licks brought my pearl to attention, and one hand slid back up my body to knead into my breast. The other lightly traced the tips up my thigh until they circled around my opening. I was wet, and my hips moved involuntarily with each increasingly fast lick.

  Suddenly, two fingers entered me and I shouted out to the sky. The pads of the fingers brushed the top of my walls, and his tongue focused its attention, bringing my stimulation to an incredible peak and making me lose the ability to think. All I could focus on was the breeze on my chest, the strong sure strides of his tongue on my clit, and his fingers mimicking the fullness his cock would bring soon.

  My body cried out for more as the tension built inside me. A climax was coming, and I didn’t want to hold back. I didn’t want to stop myself from enjoying the moment fully, and I grabbed the wrist of the hand kneading into my breast. I brought the fingers to my lips and pressed them inside. The salty, comforting taste of his skin on my tongue melded with the power of his mouth on my mound and his fingers deep inside me, and I tumbled headlong into the orgasm.

  It shook me, and I couldn’t make sounds for a moment as my hips rose in the air and he rose with me. The blanket fell away and I wrapped one leg around his neck, holding him there as I came. I was naked and exposed to the night, but with Garrett’s mouth on my pussy, I didn’t care. All that mattered was his touch.

  The orgasm rolled through me and I squirmed and shook as it rattled me to my very core. Gasping for breath, I pulled at his chin, needing him to stop or else I might have lost my mind. He brushed my chest with kisses as he made his way to my lips and I rolled him over again, so he lay on his back. Our tongues intertwined as I opened his pants with one hand blindly. He helped me by pulling them down over his hips in the hurried craze of someone who needed me as badly as I needed him.