by J. M. Madden
"Do you still want to go for a dip?"
"Absolutely," she nodded. "Those two yahoos aren't going to chase me out of one of my favorite places on earth."
They untacked the horses and let them roam. She gave Mineer an extra pat for being the patient horse he was, then headed for the path.
When Brock saw the signs of her struggle, his jaw clenched and he stopped her. "Let's go this way," he told her, leading her in an alternate direction. "Just in case Sheridan needs pictures of something."
Payton followed along and soon they were on the beach. They looked around for anything the men might have done, but they didn't see anything out of place.
"Assholes," Payton muttered. "Why do people have to be like that? Always wanting to ruin what other people have?"
"Not sure," Brock murmured.
"Fuck 'em," she muttered, stripping off her T-shirt.
Payton wore a dark purple bikini beneath her clothes. Within moments she'd stripped down and was wading into the water. "Oh my gosh, this feels good."
Brock stripped down to nothing. He hadn't planned ahead like she had, so he had to go au naturel. Payton's bright green eyes watched him as he entered the water, and she swam forward. Looping her arms around his neck, she let him support her weight as he moved into deeper water.
"Thank you for coming to my rescue," she murmured, pressing a wet kiss to his lips.
He raised his eyebrows and shook his head a little. "I didn't rescue you. You did that on your own. I just did a little cleanup."
She kissed him again. "You would have come to my rescue if you'd been here."
"Hell, yes, I would have. Maybe then I would have been able to beat Ronnie's face in like he deserves."
"I love you, Brock."
His eyes softened as he looked at her. "I love you too, Payton. Don't scare me like that again. Between the bull and you walking out of the pond naked and Ronnie, you've been trying to give me a heart attack all week."
She stilled at his words, as if letting them sink into her heart, then she laughed and pushed away from him, swimming backward. When she hoisted the top of her bikini out of the water and flung it toward the shore, he grinned. Oh, she was in that kind of mood.
Brock swam toward her, trying to grab something, but she was too quick. When she threw her bottoms toward the shore he made a mad lunge and gripped her by the bare hips. "Now what are you going to do?"
She wrapped her thighs around his hips, nudging at his hard length. "What do you think we should do?" she murmured, pressing kisses along his jaw line.
Brock squeezed her ass cheeks, positioning her. It was a little difficult in the swaying water. "I say we head to the beach to sun ourselves."
Putting actions to words he walked toward the edge of the pond, carrying her directly in front of him. Only when they reached the smooth pebbles of the beach did he let her down. Payton headed toward the box, the drops of water glistening on her hourglass shape. Retrieving several towels and a blanket she returned to him. The approaching view with her full breasts swaying was just as amazing as the retreating view, and Brock wrapped a fist around his dick. It had only been hours, but he was starved for her.
When she bent over in front of him to spread the blanket, he almost moved in behind her, but he thought she had other plans. Quickly, she blotted herself dry with one of the towels, then moved to do the same to him. She jostled his erection and grinned at him. "Sorry," she murmured.
His patience was almost gone by the time she dropped to her knees and took the head of him into her mouth. Brock could have keeled over with pleasure, but he braced his knees and rested a hand on her head. Her talented tongue swirled over and around him, then her mouth widened and she took him deeper down her throat. Brock looked down the line of their bodies, a hard wash of arousal making him even harder. Payton moved her head up and down, licking and sucking every inch of him. Brock knew that he would orgasm within just a minute if she didn't pull her from him.
"We gotta swap, baby, or it's going to be over before it's begun."
Payton wiped her mouth with her hand.
"Did that hurt your lip?" he asked.
She shook her head and grinned. "Didn't notice it until I stopped."
He made a motion to the blanket and she relaxed back onto it, silky as a cat. Her nipples were hard but the long expanse of her perfect skin had dried, giving her a beautiful glow. She shifted, frowning, and he realized that even though the pebbles were fairly smooth, it wasn't like making love on a mattress. He motioned her out of the way and took her place.
Oh, this was going to work out so much better. Brock could not have envisioned a more beautiful woman standing over top of him. Those beautiful teardrop breasts jiggled as she moved close, stepping over him with one leg. Her lean thighs parted as she lowered herself over top of his waiting cock.
Brock tried to pay attention, but all he could feel was the wet, burning heat enveloping his bare penis. Payton gasped as she settled her weight onto him. "Oh, my holy hell, you feel huge this way," she whispered.
She braced her hands on his chest as she rocked forward, then back, finding a rhythm. Brock growled low in his throat as he gripped her hips in his hands.
Payton's eyes fluttered closed and her head tipped back as she rode him, obviously searching out her own pleasure. One of her hands reached up to pinch her nipple, then drifted low to finger herself. Brock had a feeling that he could come himself just by watching her masturbate.
As her pleasure neared and began to peak, she moved her hips faster, harder. Brock dug his fingers into her skin, urging her on. Oh, fuck, she was going to kill him!
But when the orgasm rolled over him it was one of the most surreal feelings he'd ever experienced. From the tips of his toes to the lobes of his ears, goose-bumps broke out all across his skin. Payton continued to manipulate her hips, because she hadn't found her peak yet, but she was becoming more frantic, and dragging his pleasure on even longer. Brock arched up into her, his spine cracking, as she pulled every bit of release from him.
And when she finally found her climax, she cried out above him over and over again, her body gripping his rhythmically.
When she fell to his chest, still joined, and began kissing him, Brock could have wept. Emotion choked him and he wondered where the hell the tough ass cowboy had gone. She'd picked him up and loved him and completely changed his life in a few short days.
Epilogue
It took a while for people to figure out they were a couple. Brock and Payton walked in hand in hand, but even that wasn’t much of an indicator. Payton had always hung around the Lowells. It wasn’t until they were seen kissing next to the drink station that people began to catch on, then excitement rippled through the crowd. Brock looked up at one point to see Cheyenne snapping a candid shot of them on her phone.
Marlene, the sheriff’s busybody receptionist, just happened to be refilling her punch beside them. She gave them a smile. “I knew when I saw you on the square that there was something brewing. Congratulations, kids.”
Payton’s cheeks grew pink, but as more people began congratulating them her color eased. Brock watched her react to their friends and family and again wondered why he hadn’t done this sooner. He and Payton were perfect together, and more than one person mentioned that they’d always thought they would eventually fall in love and be together.
Fall in love. Yup, that’s exactly what he’d done.
Cheyenne wrapped her into a huge hug, whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. Then she turned to give him a hug. Brock squeezed her hard, because her support had been the first sign of approval he’d received from the family, through Payton. He would always remember that.
“You did good, big brother. Look at that smile.”
Brock looked at the grin on Payton’s lips as she talked to a neighbor and nodded. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
Cheyenne smacked him on the arm. “I meant you, you big stupid. You’re strutting like a peacock with
her on your arm, and you haven’t stopped grinning since you came in.”
Brock frowned. “Really?”
His sister nodded. “Totally.”
Shrugging, he let his hands fall away. “I’m beginning to realize how blind I’ve been. If you’d told me she was the one for me five years ago, I’m not sure that I would have listened to you.”
Cheyenne’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s a pretty big admission. You know,” she said thoughtfully, “the family has had a running bet on when you’d see it. I sent Daddy the pic of you two together.”
She showed him her phone, and a text message from their father. ‘About time! with a kissing smiley emoji.
For a long moment, Brock wasn’t sure if he should be pissed or laugh. Rather than destroy the mood he laughed. “Who won the bet?”
She scrunched up her face. “Not sure. We’ll have to look at the notes.”
Sheriff Lane had wandered over to talk to Payton, and he gave her a bear hug. The man was huge, so his arms wrapped around her with room to spare. Brock tried not to stiffen. The sheriff was a good-looking man. And Payton looked spectacular tonight in a tight-bodiced dress in shades of red, her hair curled again. Make-up enhanced her eyes, making her look more sultry than she already was. The two of them made a striking couple.
Even as he thought it though, the man looked up, his gaze locking on Cheyenne. Cheyenne had caught the look too. She turned toward Brock, panic in her big blue eyes. “Talk to me about something, Brock. Hurry!”
“I think you’re going to have to straighten this mess out one of these days, Cheyenne,” he told her softly. “You can’t keep carrying this. There’s too much good going on right now for you to be haunted by the past.”
Sheriff Lane moved closer. Not giving his sister a chance to leave, Brock wrapped his arm around her narrow shoulders. Tremors shook her bones, but he kept her tight against his side as he held his other hand out to Sheridan. “Sheriff.”
“Brock.” His voice lowered and he took off his Stetson, revealing walnut colored hair. “Cheyenne.”
“Sheriff.”
Sheridan looked back at Brock and seemed to force a smile. “Seems you’ve had a change of circumstance, Mr. Lowell.”
Brock grinned as his gaze lifted beyond Sheridan’s shoulder. “I have indeed.”
Payton had moved across the room to hand old man Johnson the gift she’d brought him. The old man kissed her on the cheek and waved her toward the food line, but she looked around instead, her gaze latching onto his. Smiling, she started winding in their direction, but was quickly sidetracked by her mother. Payton looked surprised, then happy to see her, wrapping her in a huge hug. It was obvious her mother cut right to the chase, because Payton glanced at him and nodded. With every answer she gave June Hanniford, her smile seemed to grow. When Rex, her father, joined them it was obvious Payton had to repeat all her answers, but by the end of the conversation Brock could see tears in her eyes as she nodded several times. The three of them hugged for a long moment, then let her go. Rex Hanniford looked up and caught his eye. Brock touched the brim of his hat for a second in respect, and received a similar response. If this relationship developed into more, and he couldn’t imagine that it wasn’t going to, Brock would have to go talk to the man.
The entire incident had only taken a few long seconds, but when Payton’s gaze connected with his own, there was serenity in her beautiful eyes.
“I booked those two yahoos,” the sheriff continued, “and it seems our Mr. Green has a lot of dirt on Ronnie, besides what they were already caught doing. I have a special investigator from the state police coming in tomorrow to interview them.”
“That’s great news. After talking to my father about some of the things they’ve done and he hasn’t reported, I’m not surprised.”
“Yes. We’ll be looking into Ezekiel Critman’s ranch practices as well, since he’s given part of it to Ronnie to run.”
Brock’s brows popped up. “Oh, damn, I didn’t know he’d taken over any part of it.”
Sheridan nodded. “Mr. Critman has been having back problems the past several years, and they’re getting worse, so Ronnie’s been covering.”
Silence settled between them and Sheridan looked at Cheyenne again. She had turned her pale face away to watch the band set up. His gaze connected with Brock’s again, and Brock could sympathize with the man.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said finally. “Congratulations, Brock. Nice seeing you again, Cheyenne.”
His sister didn’t say anything, but he felt her relax as soon as the sheriff left. He let go of her shoulders and she stepped away. “Not sure what you have against the man, Cheyenne, but you should take a minute and think about everything he’s done for you. No matter how well liked a person is in the community, if people found out what he’d done for you they’d probably kick him out of his job.”
Big blue eyes flashed to his in hurt, but he stared at her hard until she looked away. “I know,” she whispered.
Payton joined them, her arm slipping naturally around Brock’s waist, and she smiled up at him. “Want to take a bet on her falling for Sheridan?”
Brock narrowed his eyes at her as if in thought. “I’d be willing to take that bet. What are the stakes?”
“Case of root beer?”
They shook hands and Cheyenne glared at them, before turning away in a huff.
“It was all well and good when she was betting on me,” Brock laughed.
“I know. She’ll be fine. I’ll ride over there tomorrow and harass her.”
Brock looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Maybe. I have a feeling you’ll be busy for a large part of the day. You know, recovering from the hard night of sex you’re about to have.” He leaned over, staring down her cleavage.
Payton giggled and glanced around, trying to see if anyone had overheard them. If they had they gave no indication. “You’re bad,” she hissed. “But oh, so good. When can we cut out of here?”
Brock glanced around. They’d only been here a few minutes, but maybe that had been enough.
“Let’s go, sweetness.”
If you loved Brock and Payton’s story, please leave a review where ever you purchased the book. They are so important to authors!
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The Lowells Of Honeywell, Texas
Prequel- Forget Me Not
Book 1- Untying His Not
Book 2- Naughty By Nature (available for Preorder!)
Book 3- Trying the Knot (Coming soon!)
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Check my website at Jmmadden.com for more details!
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If you haven’t read the Lost and Found series, I suggest that you do. Forget me Not is a spinoff of a main character from Embattled Home, Chad Lowell.
And if you haven’t read the lost and found series, I suggest that you do! The first two books are free! Check my website for more details!
If you’d like to connect with me on social media and keep updated on my releases, try these links:
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And of course you can always email me at [email protected]
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About the Author~
NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author J.M. Madden writes compelling romances between 'combat modified' military men and the women who love them. J.M. Madden loves any and all good love stories, most particularly her own. She has two beautiful children and a husband who always keeps her on her toes.
J.M. was a Deputy Sheriff in Ohio for nine years, until hubby moved the clan to Kentucky. When not chasing the family around, she's at the computer, reading and writing, perfecting her craft. She occasionally takes breaks to feed her animal horde and is trying to control her office-supply addiction, but both tasks are uphill battles. Happily, she is writing full-time and always has several projects in the works. She also dearly loves to hear from readers! S
o, drop her a line. She'll respond.
