A Diamond in the Dark

by Sassie Lewis

  “Night, Tia.”

  Chapter 4

  Axton was having another dream. Tia had her head resting on his arm, and he could smell her hair. Strawberries mixed with honey was becoming one of his favorite scents. Her plush ass was rubbing against his morning wood, and his hands were full of her soft breasts. Her nipples were starting to get hard against his palms, so he gave them a little squeeze at the same time as he ground his cock into her ass. If she kept wiggling like that, he was going to go off before they got to the good part. He must be turning into a romantic, because Beethoven’s overture was playing in the background.

  Running his hand down her supple tummy, he found the edge of her shorts. Sliding his fingers under the elastic, he had just started to slip his hand further south, looking for her inner warmth, when Beethoven began again. It seemed to be getting louder. The next minute he was flat on his back with Tia trying to climb over the top of him to get to the ringing phone.

  “Ax, you gotta move. You’re lying on my hair.”

  Well shit, that obviously wasn’t a dream. He tried to untangle himself from her hair as she reached over and answered the phone. Hang on, what the fuck was she doing in bed with him? After double-checking that he hadn’t climbed onto the sofa with her, it was confirmed. She had somehow ended up in bed with him.

  He couldn’t even escape, because at present she was perched half on top of him talking on the phone, and he was still tangled in her freakin’ hair. Closing his eyes, he tried to will his cock back to sleep so when he was finally untangled from her hair, he would be able to stand up without having a flagpole pointing from his body.

  * * * *

  Tia had been having the best night’s sleep she’d had in weeks. Her body was just beginning to get that warm, wet feeling when her phone started to ring.

  Jumping up with a fright, thinking she might have slept in and missed her appointment, she scrambled—well, tried to scramble—over the top of Ax to get to her phone. Stupid hotel only had a charger on one side of the bed. And seeing as she hadn’t braided her hair last night, it seemed to have wound itself around Axton. Reaching as far over him as she could, which put her halfway on top of him, she was finally able to grab the phone.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, baby girl.”

  “Oh, hey Luke. What time is it?” She couldn’t find the clock anywhere, but as she really couldn’t move her head too much, it was probably on the other side of the bed.

  “It’s just after six.”

  Relief filled Tia at the knowledge she hadn’t slept in.

  “I was just calling to wish you luck today, not that you need it. If I was as smart as you, I would have been a vet years ago instead of just getting my license last year.”

  Tia smiled at that. Luke was plenty smart. He was a large animal vet, which was one of the reasons she had told him about her studies, seeing as how they would be working in similar fields and all. Apart from working on the family ranch, Luke also worked for one of the vets a town over from Lewisville.

  “You know you’ll have your own practice soon, so I don’t want to hear any of that ‘not smart’ crap. But thanks for the luck. I’ll give you a call tomorrow and let you know how it went.”

  “Have you told Dad yet?”

  She could hear the frustration in his voice. It had been a topic of debate between the two of them for the last few years. He couldn’t understand why she hadn’t told everyone about her studies. As she kept pointing out to him, she didn’t need the added pressure of them all knowing.

  “No, but everyone will know in a couple of days. Y’all be either consoling me or telling me to stop smiling so my face won’t freeze that way.” She laughed.

  “It’ll be the latter, baby girl. Now get that sexy ass out of bed. Have a big breakfast, and go and whip some professor’s ass. Love you.”

  “Love you too.” She disconnected the call and put her phone back on the table, looking down at Ax.

  “What are you doing in my bed? And would you, for the love of God, get me out of your hair?”

  Tia slumped back down on his chest, giggling like a schoolgirl. Once she calmed down a little, she opened her eyes to look at Axton.

  “Okay, maybe that came out a little wrong, but could you please free me from your hair? It seems to have taken on a life of its own and is trying to constrict me,” he said with a playful pout on his face.

  Yeah, her hair was long. At present it reached her ass. Apart from the occasional headache when she wore it up, it was worth the time and effort it took to take care of it. She had tried cutting it a few times, but with her hair being neither curly or straight it had turned into a frizzy mass, making her look like a Troll Doll. The one thing she loved about it was the color, a black that was almost blue, a gift from her father’s Native American heritage. Her father had died in a motorcycle accident when she was two, and she barely remembered him, but the memories she did have were good ones. It was after his death that her and her mama had moved from California to Texas and began working for the McGraettys.

  “Well, mister drama queen, if you would kindly roll to your left you would free my hair that you have been using as your own personal silk sheets.” She managed to say all this with a straight face, despite the look that appeared on his when he realized that he was the one lying on her hair. But she did break into a smile when he made a huffing noise.

  He grabbed her in his arms and rolled to his left. With a quick peck to her forehead, he sat up. Tia could only lay there, because she’d finally had Ax on top of her. Okay, it might have been innocent, but hey, she would take every little thing she could and bank it.

  “So, Tabbitha, mind telling me what you’re doing in bed with me?”

  He was obviously not a morning person, given he’d used her first name. That was usually reserved for Leonie, who always used her first name because apparently she thought it was beautiful. Or for when someone was pissed at her.

  “Well, for a five-star hotel, their sofa bed fucking sucked.”

  “Don’t swear. And what was wrong with the bed?”

  Instead of saying anything Tia turned her back to Ax, then lifted her shirt up to her shoulders, showing him what she meant.

  * * * *

  “What the fuck happened there?” Momentarily distracted by her pulling her shirt up, it had taken Ax a second to see the big scratch running from the top of her shoulder to almost her hipbone. He winced when he saw there was dried blood in a few places.

  “Don’t swear,” she said, smiling over her shoulder at him. “And that is one wicked scratch I got when I rolled over in that stupid sofa bed. A flipping spring popped through,” she replied as she got off the bed. “So instead of sleeping on the floor, I got into bed with you. Didn’t really think it would be that big a deal though.”

  “Shit, Tia. No, it’s fine. A bit of a shock as I wasn’t expecting it, but fine.” Didn’t he feel like an ass? At least he was staying true to form. Here he was angry at her because he had been feeling her up, when she was the one that had been hurt. “I’ll see if housekeeping can change it out today.”

  “Thanks. I’m going to order breakfast, then jump in the shower. You want me to get you something?”

  “Yeah, that would be great. I need to head out in about an hour. Do you need a lift anywhere?”

  “Nah, I’m good. I booked a cab last night when we got in. But if you’re free by about lunch could you pick me up?”

  “Call me and see. I don’t know if I’m going to buy anything at this auction. I just really want to go and check out a few of the mares. So if I’m not buying, I should be done by then.”

  * * * *

  It took her just under two hours to get ready for one of the most important meetings of her life. Every nerve in her body had its own little butterfly attached and each one was doing a nervous dance, threatening to cause her breakfast to reenter her mouth.

  Tia walked into the building she had been assigned to present her dissertation. S
he was wearing a tight, high-waisted, pinstriped, knee length skirt and a tucked-in, sleeveless, navy inspired shirt. She’d forgone the little waistcoat. It was just too damn hot. She was also rocking a pair of five-inch black and white vintage style shoes. Her outfit was kick-ass. Now she just had to try and muster the same attitude.

  Knocking on the door, she held her head high and took a cleansing breath.

  * * * *

  Three and a half hours later, she’d nailed it. It would still be a few weeks before she got her actual certification, but everyone on the panel had shook her hand and said, “Congratulations, Doctor Teeford.”

  Excited didn’t cover it. Ecstatic, overjoyed, relieved, and maybe a tiny bit of fear were all vying for the top position in her emotional pool. With a bounce in her step she pretty much ran out the doors, clutching the phone to her ear, checking to see if Ax was free to pick her up. She hoped he could, because she felt an overwhelming urge to share her news with him.

  “Hey, are you able to pick me up?”

  “Sure. Where are you?” The sound of a car honking in the background told her he had already left the auction yards.

  “The University of Houston.”

  “What… Never mind. I’m about five minutes away. See you in a few.”

  By the time she had made it across the quad Axton’s truck was already there.

  “Are you enrolling?” he asked as he pulled away from the university.

  Tia couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t that the question was funny, it was a sign of relief. She was done. She’d worked her butt off for years, and her dream had just been achieved.

  Axton’s sharp “Tia” stopped her laughter.

  “Yes?”

  “Is that a yes, you’re enrolling?”

  “No. I didn’t want to tell y’all until I was done. There will be no more meetings or research assignments for me. Pull over for a minute, Ax.” Excitement won out, and she couldn’t wait to tell him her good news.

  He pulled over to the side of the road and turned to look at her. She held her hand out to him. He might think it was odd that she wanted to shake his hand, but she needed to touch him, share her first introduction as a doctor with him. When Axton’s calloused hand encompassed hers, a shiver of both happiness and arousal shot through her system with such speed it stole her breath. Calming her desire for more of his touch, she squeezed his hand, added a little shake, and introduced her new self.

  “Howdy, I’d like to introduce myself. I am Doctor Tabbitha Tattiana Tia Teeford,” she said with a giggle. Seriously? When had she become a giggler? And why did Axton look like he was in pain?

  “Okay. What have you been smoking? You’re not making any sense.”

  She slumped back into her seat, a little hurt that Axton wasn’t getting it, and all the excitement of minutes ago died a quick death at the hands of frustration. But honestly, what did she expect? Apart from Luke, they all thought she had just done some online college courses, instead of having actually spent the last five years working her ass off, full scholarship and all, to finally accomplish what she’d completed today.

  Taking a deep breath, she turned to Ax. “As of about…” She looked at the clock on the dash. “...an hour ago, I presented my dissertation to a panel of professors. Once I had nailed it, I was given the title Doctor with a few initials to add to my name.” She watched him closely to see if he finally understood.

  “How’s that even possible? You’re only twenty-one, and you have never been to college. Hell, Luke’s a vet and he had to go away for five years.” There was an undertone of anger to Ax’s voice that she couldn’t understand. Why would he be upset about her not going away to college?

  “Umm, Ax, you do realize I have an IQ over one-eighty?” Well, she had done a few tests over the years and she had always tested above their scoring system. So to get the point across, the largest IQ number she’d been given worked.

  Instead of responding, Ax pulled the car onto the road, heading back to their hotel.

  Forty minutes later they had reached the Marriott and made their way to the room. Axton’s continued silence was driving her mad. In a bid to get his attention she slammed the door behind her, not an easy feat when those things had a self-closing mechanism. She had to put her full body weight behind it. Axton spun around at the heavy thud of her shoulder connecting with the door.

  “What’s your problem?” Tia screamed at him while regaining her balance. Fucking jerk. After telling him her happy news, he’d driven them back to the hotel without even so much as a ‘that’s great, Tia’. Asshole. “I’ve worked my ass off for the past five years, and you can’t even congratulate me?”

  She was getting so worked up she had tears in her eyes. God, she hated crying. It made her all blotchy, and not only that, the man she loved was a bona fide dick. So why was she crying over him being one?

  Through tear-drenched eyes she glimpsed him moving toward her, then his large arms engulfed her body, his fingers traveling over her back in a soothing motion. “I’m sorry, baby. But I’m trying to get my head around this. I always knew you were smart. But you just dropped a bomb on me. ’Cause you’re not just smart, you’re a fucking genius! How the hell does no one know this?”

  God, he felt good. His touch was magic. Once he had pulled her into his arms, she forgot about being angry at him. He smelt so good. Sweat, cattle, and sandalwood...the scents filled her mind with not only images of him covering her, marking her in that delicious fragrance, but also of home.

  And he’d called her baby! The effect it had on her was at odds with Luke’s use of the same endearment. Luke’s always felt brotherly. Seeing as how Axton hadn’t called her anything but her name since she was about sixteen, the word baby felt like a passionate kiss.

  “Luke knows. But that’s only because he found me pinching some of his college books a few years ago.” She answered his question instead of pulling his head lower to see what his kisses tasted like.

  Tia moved away from temptation. Really, if she stayed in his arms any longer, she was going to start licking the little vee of exposed skin between his pecs. The top three buttons of his shirt were undone, giving her a great view of his toned chest. Needing to be even further away from the tantalizing scent of him, Tia moved across the room to perch on one of the barstools.

  “I didn’t want anyone to treat me any different. Apart from my teachers in high school, most of the other kids just thought I was smart. I finished high school in one year, and spent the rest of my time there taking college courses, doing my undergraduate studies. And by the end of high school, I’d already finished my postgraduate studies. Since then I’ve been working toward my PhD. I could go for my DSc, but I think that might just be overkill.” One of her professors had asked her about it, but she’d declined. It involved a hell of a lot of research and writing papers for publishing.

  Ax moved closer to the bar, but instead of taking a seat beside her, he stepped to the other side. Grabbing a beer from the fridge, he drank down half before looking over at her. His stare was intense, his forehead wrinkled and his jawline tightening with tension, but he didn’t ask any questions. It was like he was waiting for something. Shaking his head, he took another healthy swallow of beer.

  When he returned his gaze to her, Tia raised her eyebrows at him and pointed to the almost empty beer in his hand, then flicked her fingers in the direction of the refrigerator. Reaching back into the icebox, he grabbed a beer and popped the lid before placing it on the bar in front of her. It wasn’t until she was taking her second swallow that Axton finally spoke.

  “So you’ve secretly been studying, but how the hell did you become a doctor without actually going to college? And what the heck kind of doctor are you?”

  “Oh, I did go to college. Once a month I would come into Houston to spend time with my professors or help out with a research group. But other than that I did most of it online. That’s where my IQ helped. It also got me a full scholarship. As long as I co
uld complete the work on time, everyone was fine with the way I wanted to do things. After I pointed out that one of the textbook reports was incorrect, I think they got the idea that I was smarter than a lot of them. As far as practical work was concerned, the hospital in Mason has a great genetics lab. And Doc Mullen had no problem with me using his space when I needed it.” Tia paused, taking another swallow of her beer. “To answer your other question, I’m a doctor of animal genetics.”

  The poor guy looked perplexed. Yes, she’d just dumped a lot of information on him, but he did ask the question.

  “So, that would explain why the few horses we let you buy at auction were our strongest breeders.”

  “Yeah, it kinda helps. I didn’t just check to see if they looked good, or what their lineage was, I would read over their genetic profile and pair them to the best match possible. Making sure we weren’t inbreeding and things like that.”

  “Well shit, I think you’ll be coming to all the auctions from now on,” he said with a wink.

  It had been a long time since Tia had seen the lighter side of Ax. She was liking it. “You’re a natural, Ax. Some of the mares you’ve picked up have been great, and the stallions even better. Let’s not forget that almost every bull we have on the ranch are of the best quality in the state.”

  Just then her phone chimed. Checking the message, she saw it was from her cousin Tegan, letting her know Alex, her big brother, was riding at the Houston rodeo. Tegan thought it would be great if Tia could surprise him.

  “Hey, that was a text from Tegan. Alex is riding here in Houston. Do you wanna come with me to cheer him on?” She spoke to Ax while messaging her cousin back, telling her she wouldn’t miss it for the world.

  “I’m cool with that. But you’ll probably want to change. I think you might be a little overdressed for a rodeo,” he said, pointing to the outfit she was wearing.

  “Smartass. I’ll go get changed, then we better head out if we want to get there before the first event.”