by C. M. Steele
He throws his hands and his lips upturn just a bit. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Your expression says it all.” I do my best to glare at him even though I’m not angry in the slightest.
"Sorry, babe. I can't help it. You nearly gave me a heart attack when you slipped outside this morning, and then outside the truck. Let's not get into all the lovely accidents the day we met."
"I might add they were mostly your fault, as I remember."
"Touché," he says, smiling handsomely.
"So how long did you play?"
"Seven years."
"What happened? Injury?"
"No. My dad died, and I came home to take over the family ranch."
"Oh wow. I'm sorry."
"It's been four years since then, but I don't miss it. The game's fun, but I had no intention of playing ten years anyway. I knew eventually I'd take over for my father. I just never expected to lose him so soon. The things my parents are missing out on breaks my heart." I try to hold back the tears, but they welled up in my eyes too fast to stop them. "Shit. There I go again. Baby, please don't cry."
"Sorry. It's a shame that they're gone, but I'm sure they were proud of you."
"They were. My sister reminds me of that all of the time."
"Oh yeah. John did say you were visiting family back in Chicago."
"Yes, my sister lives with her filthy rich husband Landon Black."
"Landon Black?"
"So you know him?" He narrows his eyes at me.
"I do, but we've only met a couple of times. That means I've met your sister. Lara, isn't it?"
"Yes. Did you normally hang with those snobs?" he asks with a smile.
"Hardly. Although, I did love meeting Lara. She's a sweetheart, and she busted out pictures of her babies. They're adorable."
"They're great boys. They're actually expecting their third child now."
"I'm sure she's hoping she gets her little princess."
"Landon's already a protective dad. I don't know how he's going to handle a little girl. She'll be in a gilded cage until she's thirty."
"He's a good dad?"
"Yep. He'd do anything for them and if he could convince my sister, she'd pretty much stay pregnant."
"They sound like they're a fantastic couple."
"They are, but enough about them. What are you going to do today?"
"I don't know. I'm at my boss's leisure."
"Good. He plans to put your time to good use."
Tobias waves to the waitress for the check. "We need to get a move on. I have to finish all that paperwork tonight, and then I'd like to stay up and watch the countdown with you." My heart jumps into my throat as I think about the alone time with him. Will he kiss me at midnight? I know he will, but I want more than a kiss. I want to be naked and be feeling him deep inside of me while we ring in the new year.
"That sounds like a great idea," I say, practically purring.
After paying, he leads me out to the truck. The drive back is silent, but it's nice. His fingers slide between mine as he drives, rubbing his thumb back and forth over my hand. I bite my lip and look out the window because I'm about to come on the spot.
"Am I being too forward?"
"No. It's just...well, we have a busy day ahead of us." Understanding my meaning, he nods, but he doesn't stop. Once we're pulling through the ranch gate, he parks in front of the house and says, "Don't move. I'll help you out."
"I can."
"Woman, did you hear me? Are we going to go through this again?"
"Okay. Fine." I smile and wait for him to come around. When he opens the door, I swear I don't feel the cold because the heat between us is coming off in massive waves. His hand comes up to my cheek and I close my eyes, absorbing his touch.
"You're so beautiful, Ava."
He leans in as if he's going to kiss me, but instead unbuckles my seatbelt. I sigh, and so does he. "I'm sorry, but if I kiss you now, we'll never get anything done but orgasm after orgasm."
"I get it. Let's just get the groceries inside."
"You take your ass inside and I'll bring them in." I use the key he gave me two days after we met. I unlock the door and strip out of the winter gear, placing my boots on the mat so I don't get water everywhere. He drops off the first round of groceries at the door and goes back for more. I take a handful and go into the kitchen, setting them on the large island to put them away. It takes me another five minutes to bring them from the door to the kitchen since there are a lot of bags. Tobias kicks off his boots and comes into the kitchen with the last of the bags and helps me put them away. We bump into each other and he grips me around the waist to stop me from falling. Our eyes meet, breathing faster and faster. We lean in and then force ourselves to pull back.
"Damn it. I'll let you get back to this. I have a bunch of things to check on around the ranch. I will be back at four and then if you want to help me, we can get to work on the end of the year numbers and filing."
"Okay." He's out of the door before I can say anything else. I realize that we never picked up a phone for me, so I just continue organizing the pantry with all the stuff we picked up. After I'm done, I straighten up the room and head out into the living room to give it a clean. The cleaning crew came yesterday briefly. They do the windows, bathrooms, and the baseboards type of cleaning, which I'm grateful for because I have no interest or energy for that, but I do all the other household cleaning.
An hour into cleaning, the doorbell rings. That's a first. I walk over to the door, and it's one of the ranch hands.
"Hello, Miss Ava. I'm Dillon. We haven't met officially, but I have a favor to ask. I'm out of garlic for dinner tonight, and the boss man said you guys just picked some up at the store."
"Come on in and I'll get it."
"I'll wait here. I don't want to get water on the floor. Also, Tobias asked me to bring this to you." He hands me a cell. "It's Tobias’s phone. He says if he needs to call you, he'll use one of our phones.”
"Okay, thanks. Give me a second and I'll get that garlic for you." I return twenty seconds later with a bulb of garlic. "Here you go."
"I don't need that much."
"I have plenty for the next two weeks."
"Thanks. It's hard to serve fresh garlic mashed potatoes without garlic."
"No problem. It's nice to meet you officially, Dillon."
"Uh oh, John's calling." I answer, "Hello John."
"No, babe. It's me. I totally forgot about your phone, but I'll order it online tonight. I'm glad Dillon dropped it off. Did he leave?"
"Not yet. He needed garlic."
"Oh yeah. I suppose I should have asked if he needed any groceries before I left." He's grumbling something, but I swear I hear tapping on the phone.
"It's okay. We have plenty."
"I'll be on my way," Dillon says, walking out of the house after checking his phone.
"Bye, Dillon." He's quickly out of earshot and then I growl on the phone. "Did you send him a message?"
"I did. I told him to be quick about it."
"I stopped him because I thought John needed you."
"I'll be with John the rest of the day, so you don't have to worry about it. You'll get a call from this number if necessary. See you soon, babe."
"Ugh." I end the call, feeling annoyed. Then I think about it. He gave me his phone to use until he gets back. That's a little too trusting. I'm not complaining, but I keep it anyway and set it on the table in the living room and go about straightening up. I'm making chicken fettuccini alfredo tonight for dinner with fresh garlic bread, and I like to use fresh garlic when I can. After straightening up the living room, I take a nap on the sofa. The sound of the phone going off wakes me up. I look at it, and it's John. "Hello," I groggily answer.
"Babe, were you sleeping?"
"Damn it, you caught me sleeping on the job," I joke.
"I didn't mean to wake you. I'm going to be a little later than I hoped, but I'll be back around five."<
br />
"So do you want dinner when you get back, or later when we're done with the paperwork?"
"A late dinner works better for me."
"It won't take me long to cook either way.”
"Good, babe. I'll be back then. Get some rest. I want you to stay up for the countdown, remember?"
"I haven't forgotten."
"See ya." I end the call because he doesn't want to hang up, and I love it. I might be getting slightly addicted to the sound of his voice. Still, sleep takes over and I fall back to sleep on the sofa.
Chapter 7
Tobias
I feel like a jackass when she ends the call. I was about to say goodbye again for the third or fourth time like a dummy. I'm glad she saved me from myself.
"You are like a lovesick puppy. You know that, right?"
"Fuck off, John." He just laughs at me as we continue, cataloging the cattle and the sheep. We've sold off three dozen sheep this morning along with two dozen cattle. I have two full grown bulls that are going to be sold next week, but I have to make sure their records are up to date. In the past year, my cows gave birth to six more bulls. It's good for business, but I need to offload some of them soon. I'll probably go to an auction in the coming months.
"That's the second call in two hours after spending several hours together."
"So fucking what. How many times do you call Louisa during the day?" I bark out, getting pissed because I know I’m obsessed with Ava and I’d be pissed at my guys if they spent half the day mooning over some girl.
"It depends on how swamped we are."
"Fuck off, John."
"You said that already. I've got a loving wife for that."
"Get back to work, then."
"I'm waiting on you, lover boy. You know I'm teasing. I'm happy for you. She seems like a really good girl."
"She is. I finally told her about playing football."
"Oh wow. How did that go?"
"She was surprised and not, at the same time. She said it explained why people stared at me. She didn't seem pissed."
"That's good. Very good. I suppose she knows that she has her own secrets, so it's only fair."
"You have a point there. Now let's finish this before it gets any later. I'm sure you want to get home to your family before the night's over."
"True."
We work our asses off, and finally I'm on my way back to the house. I would call, but I sent John home with his phone. When I unlock the door, I smell something that hits my nose. After slipping out of my gear, I enter the kitchen and see her mixing something in a bowl.
"I'm home.”
“I see.” She raises her eyebrow and smiles.
“What's that?"
"Bruschetta. Here. Have a bite."
"Okay." I close the distance and open my mouth. She places the small, toasted garlic bread with the toppings to my lips. I bite down and groan. "This is good, baby."
"Thanks. I figured we could have some as a snack tonight.”
"Works for me." I bite the rest she's holding between her fingers, stealing a taste of her skin in the process. She gasps, and I'm ready to carry her upstairs to get rid of this ache between my legs. My dick throbs like a motherfucker. "I need a shower. I'll be down in fifteen. Then we can go over the paperwork.”
As soon as I get in the shower, I stroke my cock, groaning, rocking my hips to the vision of her down on her knees with those parted lips ready for me. She cups my cock, slipping her soft hands around my base and then wraps her tongue over the head before sucking me down. She moans, vibrating my cock and I nut, shooting my load into my hand and onto the shower wall. I'm so fucked. Hopefully, that will help me get through the next few hours of working in close proximity with her without stripping her bare.
After rinsing off and getting dressed, I remember the basket outside the bedroom door. I’d been in such a hurry to get my hand on my dick that I forgot it. I peek out of the room and snatch it up, closing the door again. The next time I show her my body, she’s going to be anxiously waiting to see it. Damn it, I’m getting my cock hard again just thinking about her.
Quickly, I get dressed and slip on a pair of jeans and a white tee. I have nice enough feet to leave them as is. As soon as I get downstairs, she’s waiting for me. “Lead the way, Mr. Reynolds.” I take her hand because I’m a fucking glutton for punishment and we enter my office. “Wow. Yeah. You hire a cleaning crew?”
“Ha, ha. No one’s allowed in here.”
“I better go, then.” She lifts her leg to spin, but I bring her back, pulling her to my chest.
“No one except you. I need your help, Ava.”
“Okay.” She tilts her head and smiles. I can’t stop myself. My mouth comes down on hers. Our first kiss. One hand slides into her long hair, gripping the base of her skull, while my other hand pulls her firmly to me at the small of back. Her soft lips mold to mine, perfectly fitting. I tug on her strands. “Open up, Ava,” I grunt against her mouth, deepening the soul-penetrating kiss with my tongue swiping inside. Her hands move to my chest and then over my shoulders and around my neck. “Tobias,” she moans, gripping tighter, rolling her warm pussy against my throbbing need.
I pull back before I fuck her on the desk. “Tonight,” I whisper, kissing her lips lightly. She nods, stealing another kiss on my chin before walking over to the other side of the room.
“So what do we need to get done?” she asks.
After catching my breath, I walk around and sit at my desk to get my body under control. “Okay, I actually sold some of the livestock off today, so I need to enter everything into the computer and then file the actual paper invoices. I keep both paper and electronic copies. As you can see, a storm can knock out electricity, so despite how many feel it’s outdated, the risk of losing important records causes me to keep a paper trail.” I explain to her the filing method and what I need to enter the rest of the year’s figures and the sales slips. It’s mostly for my benefit to get it done now before I submit everything to my accountant in Billings.
It’s already eight thirty and we’re getting to the last of the paperwork. My stomach lets out a loud rumble. “Since I’m almost done with this, could you start dinner?”
“Absolutely.” She gets up from her chair and hands me the rest of the files she organized for entry. “It’ll be ready in half an hour. The sauce has been simmering for a while now.”
“Good. I can’t wait to have it.” She saunters out of the room and closes the door behind her. My phone rings just then and she brings it into the office. “Thank you,” I whisper as she leaves again. I hit the green answer button. “Happy New Year’s Eve, Lara!”
“Happy New Year’s Eve. I hear you have a little bird that flew into your nest. I’m so happy for you, bro!”
“Thanks. I hope to persuade her to stay.”
“It’s so awesome that I know her. Go give her the dick, and she’ll stay. It works. Trust me. A good dicking, and a woman is pliable.”
“I hope to seduce her into cooking up more than just food.”
“Get to it, big brother.”
“I’m trying, little sister. Have a good night. Happy New Year.” I hang up and get busy working. I can’t wait until we’re done eating because I want her for dessert. Fuck, the thought of her pussy on my face. I rub my short stubble, wondering if she’ll like it against her sensitive skin.
The second I enter the kitchen, I pull Ava into my arms. "I missed these lips."
"They missed you too." She throws her arms around my neck and she gives me a smile that I can't resist. My hand comes to her ass, lifting her against my ridge as I crash my lips to hers. "Tobias, I need you."
I turn off the stove and carry her into the living room. We fall onto the sofa and I kiss up and down her neck, moving back to her mouth. Kneeling, I grab the waistband of her leggings and tug them off, taking her panties with them. I groan at the sight of her sex soaked with need. "Part your legs, babe. I want to see what you have for me." She does
and I bend down, nudging her thighs until they're over my shoulders and her pretty pink slit is in my face. I run my tongue over her lips, tasting my woman and becoming addicted.
"Mine," I growl. I know that I'm going to do whatever I can to make her forget anyone else. My fingers splay on the outside of her core and my thumb teases her nub. The second I set my tongue on her clit, she arches her back so sexily, crying out my name.
I take off my shirt, and she helps me shove down my jeans. My cock juts out rock hard, and her hand goes straight to my length. Fuck, I choke out, pushing her hand gently away and lining up the tip with her slit. The head pushes through, her warmth hugs me, and I lose all control, slamming into her. With one hand gripping the sofa to hold my weight off her tiny frame. I use the other hand to grip her hair. "Ava, Ava."
"Oh my God. I'm going to come again." Her thighs cling to my hips as she clenches around my shaft.
“Come for me, Ava. I want to feel your pussy come on me before I come deep inside you.”
“Tobias,” she cries out as we both come hard.
We fall onto the floor, flushed and spent. I can't believe we had sex without protection and yet, I want to be inside her again, filling her with every last drop of cum until she starts showing with my kid. "Way to end the year off," she sighs, resting on me. I stroke her hair, needing to be touching her in any way possible.
"Talk about going out with a bang," I add, wagging my brows as she looks up at me with her chin on my chest.
"That's what I'm talking about." She kisses my breast right above my heart and my dick jerks, coming to life against my stomach.
"I'd like to ring in the new year as well." I want to wake up inside of her, come home and worship her. I need to be with her for the rest of our days. "Make you forget about anyone else."
"Tobias, there's something I need to tell you." Please don't say this is a mistake.
"What? You can tell me everything." Anything but a mistake.
"The truth is...I wasn't running from an abusive boyfriend. I was running away from my father." That son of a bitch. How could a parent abuse their child like that? Negative, violent thoughts swirl inside my head. I want to leave him black and blue and to be too afraid to tell anyone.
