by Jen Talty
“JB,” she said with a throaty moan. “Yes. Yes. Yes…” She tossed her head back and forth as the first orgasm tore at her system like an out-of-control locomotive.
And he showed her no mercy.
Her body jerked and shivered. She couldn’t tell when one started and the next one began. Or maybe it was just one giant climax.
It didn’t matter.
And she knew it wasn’t over.
Not even when he lifted his head, wiped his lips, and kissed her mouth. “You are amazing,” he whispered.
“No. I think your tongue is.”
He chuckled as he pressed himself against her opening, pushing slowly, entering her as another wave crashed into her gut.
She sucked in on her lower lip.
“Just let it go. Please, Cheyenne. I love this about you,” he whispered as he nuzzled his face in her neck.
She wrapped her arms and legs around his firm body, hugging him as close as she could as he stroked her insides. Slowly at first, giving her a chance to catch her breath, but then he took her mouth in a hot, wet, sloppy kiss and picked up the pace, pounding into her his own need.
He exploded inside her, sending her into a tailspin. She gripped his shoulders, hanging on for dear life as he collapsed on top of her, whispering her name and kissing her neck.
It took long moments before she could take a normal breath.
He rolled to the side, pulling the sheets over their bodies. He tucked her head to his chest and rubbed his hand up and down her arm.
Fear crept into her mind and heart. She hoped he didn’t regret taking her to bed.
JB kissed her temple and let out a long breath. No one ever made him feel so alive, and having Cheyenne back in his arms was both exhilarating and terrifying. He slipped from the bed.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
He found his underwear and hiked them up. “I thought I’d go check on Jimmy and then keep the door unlocked and maybe ajar, just in case.”
“I don’t think I should stay in here all night. That might confuse him.” She sat up, holding the sheet to her chin as if she had regrets.
He had only one.
Not taking her phone call five years ago.
“We can set an alarm or something.” He rummaged through his dresser and found her one of his T-shirts and tossed it at the bed. “I don’t want you to leave yet.” He stepped out into the hallway and tiptoed toward where his son lay sleeping in the other room. Peeking into the bedroom, he clutched his chest. Jimmy hadn’t moved. His little chest rose up and down.
Too precious.
JB made his way back to his room, thankful that Cheyenne hadn’t left his bed. He sat down next to her and tipped her chin. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Before she could tell him she thought they’d made a huge mistake, he leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss. One that had intent behind it. One that should let her know that he certainly didn’t regret what had just happened between them.
She pressed her hand on his chest. “You know this can’t go anywhere, right?”
Of all the things she could have said, that wasn’t one of the things he thought would come out of her mouth. And then it dawned on him.
Texas.
He dropped his hand to the bed. “Because you plan on leaving at the end of the summer.”
“Texas is the only home I’ve ever known.”
“You can’t just snatch him away from me again. It’s not fair.”
“JB, I don’t plan on doing that. We’ll work something out.”
“You and Jimmy can move here. You can make Whiskey Ranch your home,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound too desperate.
“I have a home. And I have a life in Texas.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but what do you really have there? Your parents passed years ago. You don’t have any siblings. What do you really have…fuck. You have a boyfriend.”
“No. I don’t,” she said with a fair amount of disgust. “I wouldn’t do that to you, again. To Jimmy. But I don’t know that uprooting his life is the right thing to do. Kids might be resilient, but we don’t know how all this is going to affect him in a week, or a month.”
JB stood and shook his head. “And you think taking him away from a father he’s been dreaming about meeting for as long as he can remember isn’t going to affect him negatively?”
“Of course it will, which is why we need to figure out a plan, and I don’t know what that is. But fighting about it at two in the morning isn’t the right time.”
“All right.” He had to give her that point. But now he wasn’t so sure if he wanted to snuggle for the next couple of hours. The push and pull of wanting to be with her, maybe start over with her, and wanting to just co-parent still tugged at his heart. He knew he cared about her. Loved her even.
No. He knew he loved her and that’s why this situation was so fucked up.
“No. This isn’t all right,” he said, inching closer. “It’s not just Jimmy I want to stay. I want you too. I don’t want to lose you again.”
“I’m here for the entire summer. I have no intention of leaving until right before school starts. You have two whole months with your son, and you can come anytime you want, and I’ll make sure we come for long weekends and holidays. I promise.”
“No.” He took her hand and kissed it. “You’re not hearing me. I want you and Jimmy. I want to see if you and I can be more than two parents. I want us to be a couple. All of us to be a family. Right here under this roof. We were so good together. We can be that way again. I fucked up when I didn’t take your call and I’m sorry. I wish I could go back in time and do that over. Please, Cheyenne. Give us a second chance.”
“Wow,” she mumbled, rubbing her temples. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“Do you care about me?”
“Of course I do.” She glanced up at him with pleading eyes. “I can’t talk about this right now. I’m panicking again.”
“Okay.” He pulled her tight to his chest. “Just promise me you will take a few days or even a couple of weeks to think about things. And don’t shut me out. Can you do that for me?”
“As long as you don’t pressure me.”
“Fair enough.” He wouldn’t say anything for the next few days, but he certainly would go about setting up subtle hints about how wonderful things could be for her here at Whiskey Ranch.
“Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?” Jimmy called.
She pushed from JB’s grip, scrambling to put on her clothes.
As calmly as he could, he made his way to his son’s room. “Hey, little man, what’s going on?”
Jimmy stood at the door, rubbing his eyes. “Where’s Mommy?”
“I’m right here, baby.” She knelt down and scooped him up. “Did you have a bad dream?”
“I don’t remember.” He laid his head on her shoulder and blinked. “Can I stay in your bed?”
“Just for tonight,” she said. “But you have to get used to sleeping in your own bed starting tomorrow.”
“Can Daddy sleep with us too?”
“Mommy’s bed is too small,” she said.
“Why don’t we all go to my room?” JB looped his arm around Cheyenne’s waist.
She glared at him. If her eyes were weapons, she’d be shooting daggers at him.
“It’s a much bigger bed, and he can be in the middle,” he whispered. “I’d like to be able to comfort my boy.”
Cheyenne nodded. “This can’t be a regular thing, Jimmy. You’re a big boy now.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
JB lifted Jimmy from her arms and set him in the center of the bed. He snuggled in, curling into a little ball.
Cheyenne climbed in on one side, and JB on the other, facing each other.
Jimmy looked to his left and then to his right. “I love you, Mommy. I love you, Daddy.”
JB locked gazes with Cheyenne. He reached around Jimmy and took her hand, placing it on
Jimmy’s belly and closed his eyes.
Somehow, he would find a way to make sure that this would be the rest of his life.
5
JB leaned against the fence with JD and watched as his son rode Lilly, one of the sweetest ponies on the ranch. Cheyenne kept her distance, but stayed close by just in case. He was only four, however, he handled the horse like he’d been born to ride. Following not too far behind was Tony, saddled up on Kiki with his mother walking by his side, holding him steady.
The last two weeks had been confusing to say the least. He and Cheyenne couldn’t keep their hands off each other, even when they went to bed in separate rooms and made a promise to each other that they wouldn’t go sneaking into the other’s bedroom.
That only happened two nights out of fourteen.
Their lovemaking would make a sailor blush, but whatever happened between the sheets, and the emotions tied up with it, stayed right there in the light of day, and it was making him crazy. He knew there was more to their attraction than really hot sex.
He just couldn’t manage to get her to acknowledge it. If he dared to bring it up, she’d accuse him of putting on the pressure.
“Jimmy reminds me of you at that age,” JD said. “Fearless.”
“Yeah, but he’s got your talent for understanding a horse.” JB lifted his Stetson and raked a hand through his hair, wiping the sweat from his brow. “You should have seen him approach Sparky. Scared the crap out of me, but that damn horse calmed right down when Jimmy stretched out his little arm with an apple slice in his palm and a smile on his face. Sparky barely does that for me, and I trained him.”
“Was Cheyenne right there? Because Sparky has always had a soft spot for her.”
“Nope. She was still back at the house sleeping. We snuck out early this morning.”
“When does the paternity test come back?” JD asked.
“It already did, and it confirmed what we all knew deep down. Jimmy is most definitely my son.”
“And how do you really feel about that?” JD said. “I mean now that it’s official and all.”
“I think I would have been devastated if came back otherwise,” JB admitted. “I’m madly in love with that little boy.”
“Technically, Tony isn’t my flesh and blood, but he’s my son and I love him just the same.”
“I know you do. And so does he,” JB said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe Annette got you to stop chewing on toothpicks.”
“It was more Tony than her. He kept wanting to be like daddy, and all I could think about was he was going to trip and fall with that thing in his mouth. It’s amazing how kids make you change your perspective on life. Now how does Cheyenne feel about what JW and Kitty ended up naming their baby?”
“She’s honored and a bit overwhelmed.” Actually, when they had gone to visit Kitty in the hospital, and she asked Cheyenne if she wouldn’t mind if they named their little girl Cheye Marie, it had reduced Cheyenne to a puddle of tears.
Cheyenne had spent most of her life alone. Her mother had died when she was only two and her father shortly after her eighteenth birthday, though her father had been pretty useless considering he was the town drunk. Cheyenne had essentially raised herself, and she’d done a mighty fine job of it to boot. But she wasn’t used to being honored for doing what she considered was simple human kindness.
Which boiled down to everything her father had never done for her.
“What is going on with you?” JD turned and stared at JB dead-on. “You are acting so melancholy, and it’s depressing the shit out of me.”
“It’s Cheyenne. She still plans on going back to Texas at the end of the summer. And she plans on taking Jimmy with her.” JB saw no reason to lie to JD. He’d never done it in the past, so why start now. His other two siblings, he might bend the truth. Not that he didn’t love them, respect them, and trust them. It was just that he and JD had a bond that only two very wounded hearts could share. “After Veronica dumped me, I was a hot mess. I didn’t know what end was up.
“That’s putting it mildly,” JD said. “She did a number on you between the lying and cheating. But not every woman is a Veronica.”
“That’s true. But the only other woman I ever gave my heart to was engaged to another man. And she married him. It killed a piece of me and you know it.”
“I get that. But you need to ask yourself this question,” JD said. “Are you afraid if you and Cheyenne were to get together, she’d cheat on you? Because that’s the reason you gave for not chasing her when she left with Scott and honestly, I always thought that was a copout.”
“You would be correct in your assessment. I don’t think she’s an inherent cheater. I just don’t think she wants me, outside of the bedroom, and no matter how hard I try to show her that life here could be good for her and Jimmy, she keeps pulling away. I’m afraid I’m going to lose her, and that means I’m not going to get to be a full-time dad.” JB pulled his shades from his pocket and shoved them on his face, covering his eyes.
“She’s only been here a month. You’ve got time to turn up that good Whiskey charm.” JD rested his hand on JB’s shoulder and gave it a good squeeze. “Don’t give up. She cares deeply for you. We all see it. She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t.”
“She’s doing this for our son. Not for me.”
“If you believe that’s the only reason, you’re a fool and stupid,” JD said as he waved to Tony. “Why don’t we arrange for Jimmy to have a sleepover with Tony tonight. Bring him over before dinner and that way you can take Cheyenne out for a romantic dinner somewhere, and you can have some real alone time.”
“You wouldn’t mind?” JB asked. “Shouldn’t you run this by JW and Kitty? I mean, sharing the main house with them until your home is completed has to be a strain.”
“It won’t be a problem. Kitty and JW want all the cousins to be around and bond with each other.” JD slapped JB on the back before jogging toward the center of the corral.
“Look at me ride, Daddy,” Tony yelled.
“You’re doing great.” JD walked up to the side of the pony and patted Tony on the head.
Jimmy maneuvered his pony toward JB, smiling like a proud boy, Cheyenne only a few steps away. She wore a pair of jeans that hugged her hips like a second skin. Her boots came up over her sexy calves. And her long hair cascaded over her breasts, bouncing at her waist.
“Do you think I can work at Whiskey Ranch when I’m bigger?” Jimmy asked as he pulled back on the reins.
“Of course you can, but just so you know, all of this will belong to you and your cousins someday,” JD said as he helped him from the saddle, avoiding Cheyenne’s deadly glare.
The fact of the matter was Jimmy was his son and this ranch was his birthright, and that brought him to the fact he wanted his boy to have his name. “Why don’t you go get a couple of carrots from the bucket so I can talk to your mom for a minute.”
“Okay.” Jimmy took off running.
“I wish you wouldn’t put ideas like that in his head,” Cheyenne said.
“It’s not an idea. It’s fact.” JB scratched Lilly’s head between her ears and was rewarded with a nuzzle of her nose. She was a very loving pony and one of his favorites. “He’s a Whiskey, and someday this ranch will belong to him, along with Tony, Cheye, and any other child we all have. Which brings me to something else I need to discuss with you.”
“What’s that?”
“I want him to have my last name.” JB lifted his gaze. He was prepared to fight. This was not a point he’d negotiate.
“I don’t see why that can’t be arranged. However, I think we should talk to him about it. I know he’s only four, but he’s really smart, and it would be an adjustment.”
“Why is it you’re so reasonable with everything but staying here?” He let out an exasperated sigh.
She stepped from the other side of Lilly and tipped her hat. Reaching out, she palmed his cheek. “I have a home in Texas. It’s not much.
But it’s mine. I bought it with my own money. Right now, a friend of mine is taking care of it for me. When I go back, I have a job, giving riding lessons at a local ranch. You’re asking me to give up all that I’ve worked hard for. It would be like me asking you to leave Whiskey Ranch and come to Texas with me.”
If he pointed out the differences, he’d be the biggest asshole on the planet, and he already felt like a dickhead half the time when it came to Cheyenne.
But now came the real question. Could he leave Whiskey Ranch and his siblings? His first instinct was a big hell yeah, but before he made that decision, he’d have to have a sit-down with the entire family.
Of course, she might not even want him to go.
“Are you asking?”
She cocked her head. “You’d never leave.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’m not asking because I could never do that to you,” she said with shiny eyes. “I know what this ranch means to you. To your family. I couldn’t ask you to give up something that is in your blood.”
“That boy over there with his hand in a bucket digging for the best carrot to feed this pony has my blood in his veins. You don’t think I’d give my right arm for him?”
“JB. Don’t even go down this road. You’d end up resenting me and then eventually him. And someday down the road, you’d pack your bags and end up right back here, and we’d all be left with broken hearts. I won’t hear of it. We will make the distance work. I know we can.”
Before he could respond, Jimmy came barreling between his legs. “Daddy, can we practice roping now?”
“We sure can. And then later, if it’s okay with your mom, your Uncle JD and Aunt Annette have invited you for a sleepover with Tony at the main house with Uncle JW, Aunte Kitty, and baby Cheye.”
“Yes.” Jimmy made a little fist and waved it in the air. “Can I? Mommy? Please?”
“Of course you can.” Cheyenne bent over and kissed his pudgy cheek. “You boys have fun roping. I’m going to go visit with Aunt Kitty.” Cheyenne leaned in, lifting JB’s hat off his head, and planted a kiss on his lips. “You’re a good father. I’m never going to take that from you. Trust me on that.”
