Control (Kenshaw Ranch Book 4)

by Piper Frost

  “Yeah. Damn.”

  Affton stands and moves quickly to pull up her suit bottoms then she looks between us. Now's about the time when I start to regret letting her do that, because the wild look in her eyes and the tremble to her voice scares me half to death.

  “Um, night.” She kisses Grant's cheek quickly, then pecks my lips before rushing to the room she was staying in before we decided to be together. Backtracking, she chuckles and shakes her head blurting, “Wrong room,” padding down the hall to my room.

  My heart's in my throat when she clicks the door shut and I stare at it, unsure what to do.

  “Think we fucked up?” he asks, watching the closed door.

  I don't. At least I hope we didn't.

  “I haven't even slept with her yet,” I mutter, panic starting to surface.

  “No fucking way!” he blurts, laughing and slapping my back. “You two are somethin’ else.”

  I rub the back of my neck, her smell all over me.

  “Hey, make sure you didn't get shit on my floors, man.” I nod toward the chair he was in and he whines at me like I'm the little bitch for asking him to clean up his mess.

  “I got it, fuck,” he says, then throws me a smirk. “But that was pretty fun.”

  “Yeah.” I sigh. “I'm going make sure she's okay. You good making yourself at home?”

  “I practically lived here before Affton came back. I'm sure I can manage.” He uses his shirt to wipe up the floor. “Hey, if she is in there freaking out right now, apologize for me.”

  I wave him off and step toward my bedroom door, taking a deep breath before turning the handle. “Bean?” I whisper, walking into the dark room. “You alright?”

  “Hey,” she says groggily. “Yeah. Totally.” That didn't sound convincing at all.

  “Alright,” I say, crawling into bed and scooping her into my arms. “Spill it. You've never fallen asleep that fast after an orgasm so I know you weren't in here already asleep.”

  “I'm drunk...we're drunk.” She groans and shifts to her back. “What we just did...that was Grant.” I feel her head shaking and chuckle.

  “That was me and you, Beany. Sure, Grant was there, but that was all us. And it was hot as hell. I know for a fact you enjoyed it.” I smirk and push her hair from her face. “Talk to me. If it freaked you out it never has to happen again. I promise.”

  “I just don't want you to think I want Grant like that.” She quickly turns to face me and pulls me closer. “Because I don't. I want you, and yes I liked it, but not because it was Grant. God, Tommy, we haven't even had sex yet and I just don't want you to think Grant's the reason I did that. It was the whole thing. Me and you, and just someone watching. God,” she mutters into her hands covering her face.

  “Hey,” I wrap my arms around her. “I know you don't like him like that, trust me.” I laugh. “Bean, I honestly thought you hated the guy for the longest time. He's my best friend though, so the fact that you two can stand each other enough to do something like that is amazing. I trust him, and I trust you, and I know the emotion of not knowing how to feel after that. The first time we did it I think I stayed piss-roaring drunk for three days because I didn't want to face the truth of what we did.” I chuckle again. “That,” I kiss her nose and lock eyes with her. “Was hot as fuck, Affton.”

  Her hand slides down my stomach and her fingertips dip into the front of my boxers while she sucks my bottom lip into her mouth. “I want you,” she whispers, pushing her hand downward to grip my cock.

  I groan and push my lips to hers harder, trying to stay as still as possible even though all I want is to fucking rip her clothes off and fuck her senseless. “You sure about this, Bean?” I mumble against her lips. Her fist tightens around me and I groan louder. “God, Affton.” I let out a strangled chuckle before she sucks my lip into her mouth again.

  She shifts me to my back and is straddling me before I even realize she's taken her shorts off. She's sinking over me before I'm ready and her moan fills my bedroom, probably alerting Grant to our second round.

  “I take it you really fuckin' liked that out there,” I groan, gripping her thighs tight. She’s wet. Incredibly wet, and when she starts rocking her hips I curse. “Fuck, you feel good, Bean.”

  Her thrusts become harder and her nails scratch down my chest. “I've needed this for so fucking long, Tommy.” She moans loudly again and she rides me fast and hard.

  I'm in fucking heaven. This is heaven.

  “I love you, Affton,” I murmur, the words falling so freely from my mouth and the minute they do I panic because they weren't meant for now.

  She groans in pleasure and slams her lips to mine, still working my cock. “I need you.” She kisses me. “I need this.” Her pussy's tightening around me and she's starting to move faster. “You're what I've always needed.” Sharp fingernails claw into my shoulders as she comes and I feel her come cover my balls and the sheet. “Fuck, I love you. I love you!” Her mouth covers mine while she whimpers through her orgasm.

  I thrust up, holding her tight against me and she moans. I hit her deep and it doesn't take long for my own orgasm to rip through me. I moan into our kiss, never losing our connection and not letting her pull away even after I'm done.

  “You love me?” I whisper, pushing my lips to her neck.

  “It's hard not to.” She murmurs into my pillow by my ear. “You're what I need.” Her face turns to nuzzle into my beard.

  “Well I've known that our whole lives, Beany.” I chuckle and hug her tight against me, still trying to catch my breath. We lay in each other’s arms until she's almost asleep and a knock comes at the door.

  “Y’all did it! Fuck yes!” Grant yells from the hallway, then music starts blaring through my house. Celebration music.

  “Fuck off, Grant!” We both yell in unison and the music stops abruptly, but Affton and I are both laughing now.

  “He means well, most days.” I say, grinning and shifting so we're on our sides and my arms are still around her.

  “He's an idiot,” she mutters tiredly and chuckles. “I love you,” whispers from her lips and she kisses me softly.

  “I love you, too.” I nuzzle my nose to hers, my chest finally happy, my heart finally light. I got my girl back.

  The next week and a half flies by in a blur. Having Affton back is something I've wanted since she left, but a long time ago I settled on it not happening. But she's here, and she seems to like it here. I haven't broached the subject of her phone yet. The day after she came home from her trip I handed it over to her and didn't ask what she was going to do with it. A few hours after I gave it to her she walked in my room, crawled in my bed and cried in my arms for almost an hour until she fell asleep. I know she's read the messages, and my heart hurts for her, but I wouldn't change the situation. Not one fucking bit.

  It's been a long day on the ranch today, so I'm ready to be home with my girl. She's been coming with me and hanging out around the farm, helping with things, but today she wanted to stay back. I finally trust her enough not to worry about her leaving anymore. I walk in the house and she's sitting at the table, staring at her phone screen and I immediately worry that I know the real reason she wanted to stay behind today. We're too busy living in the right-now to try and fix the shit storm we caused, but I know it needs to be fixed.

  “Hey,” I say, kicking my boots off by the door and walking over to her, wrapping my arms around her from behind while pushing my lips to her neck. “I like coming home to you,” I whisper before standing up and stretching out. “Whatcha doin’?”

  She looks from me to her phone then sets it down. “Damage control. I've spoken to my lawyer. LAPD. And Corey's lawyer today.” She stands and slides her fingers through her hair. “He just wants to talk.”

  When I look at her, her eyes go to her phone again. “Not happening,” I growl. “Did he sign the papers? He doesn't know where you are, does he? What'd his lawyer say?” I’m fucking shaking now because this is all too da
mn real. He wants to talk? Fuck no he doesn't. I read those texts he sent her. That's not a mentally stable man.

  “His lawyer wants us to sit down with my lawyer, but I have to go back to L.A.” Before I can interrupt her, she puts her hand out. “My lawyer advised against that after I...told him.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “Corey does not know where I am. But I had to tell the police because they have video footage of four men abducting me from my home, Tommy. I'm supposed to show my face in the station by Saturday.”

  My head won't stop shaking back and forth. “No.” I storm to the kitchen, needing a fucking beer. “No. You're not fucking going back there. I just got you back, I'm not fucking losing you again. Not to him. Not to that city. Can't they video call or some shit?” I’m getting way too worked up and when I look at her she looks too goddamned calm.

  “It's in my lawyer's hands now. If I want to file a restraining order, I have to go there and my lawyer said that should have been the first step I took.” She sits back down and grabs her phone.

  “Filing a restraining order is like telling a child not to lick the melting ice cream in their hand. That won't do anything for a man like him.”

  She looks at me and the look on her face turns from calm to desperation. I don't know how to help her.

  “If they force you to come in, I'm going with you. Grant can fly us so we won't have to drive then we'll have more muscle to kill that fucker,” I growl, clenching my fists. “Goddammit.” I pull the chair out and sit next to her, pushing her phone out of her hands and taking them in mine. “Beany, this ain’t over. Your lawyer... He seem pretty smart? Good at his job?”

  “Yes, he's extremely intelligent and knows his job so I think I should do what he said. We...w-we can fly to L.A. and I'll file the restraining order.” Her grip tightens. “But you promised, Tommy.” She looks me dead in the eyes. “You promised we'd stop this. Fighting violence with violence isn't going to stop this.”

  I pull her hands to my lips, closing my eyes because the rage is burning and I really don't want her to see it. I hate that this makes me angry enough I feel like I can't control it. The last thing she needs is another violent man in her life, but I'd never hurt her. I can't promise the douche that did this is safe if I ever get my hands on him though.

  “Just in case, Beany. The minute he gets word that you're there he's...” I clear my throat. “Can we just do it all in a day? In and out in a few hours? Maybe he doesn't even have to know.” Fuck, this is making me uneasy.

  “Yes.” She nods and that Affton smile pushes on her face. “Yes, if Grant can do that, that's what we'll do. My lawyer told me not to contact him. He doesn't need to know my whereabouts. Just in and out. We'll file and see my lawyer for the next steps. Just one thing.” She clears her throat and pulls her hands away. “It's against the law in the state of California, what we're doing.”

  “Yeah.” I stand and pull her to me, wrapping my arms around her. She’s my girl, but I know we have to keep that under wraps. “I love you, Beany.” I take a deep breath. “Let me call Grant and we'll get this worked out.” I want to talk about what happens next. Now that it's finally out to her lawyer and the police will be called off....what's next? She's not going back to California and she better not be considering working at that company anymore. That shit's not going to fly.

  “Okay.” She nods, forcing her smile now. “I love you, Tommy.” Her head's still nodding like she's lost inside it.

  “Hey.” I tug at her chin, smirking at her when her eyes hit mine. “This is all going to be fine. I promise you.” I push my lips to hers and drink in her sweet taste.

  “I know.” She smiles against my mouth but the second her phone goes off, she jumps with a yelp, quickly covering her mouth and I see her hands trembling. “It's my lawyer,” she says, her eyes on the phone. “You call Grant, I'll take this.” Grabbing the phone, she won't even look at me before she walks out the back door.

  I sit at the table and run my hand through my hair. I wish I knew what the hell's going on over there, but I know if she wants to keep me in the loop she will. Later.

  I pull my phone out and call Grant.

  “Yo,” he answers, the music from the shop almost so loud I can't hear him.

  “Hey, can you step out for a minute?”

  “Sure thing.” I hear the music disappear and he clears his throat. “So uh...everything alright?”

  We haven't talked much since what happened here at the house. Grant's one of those friends that's always there even if he isn't, so it's not unusual for us, but after what happened here that night I'm sure he's waiting to hear how Affton is.

  “Not really,” I mutter, my brain too deep in this shit to even start to process what I'm about to ask him. “We need a plane. And a pilot. This week.” I watch Affton put her hand over her face as she listens to whatever her lawyer's telling her.

  “We? Why? Where?” Grant blurts, his tone more serious than I'm used to.

  “California. Affton's on the phone with her lawyer. There's legal things she's got to get taken care of but, Grant...” I curse under my breath. “We need in and out. Her husband gets wind of this and shit's going down, and I promised her shit wouldn't go down.”

  “That's a stupid thing to promise, Barns,” he growls. “That asshole has it coming.”

  “Can we focus here?” I blurt. “Will you fly us to California? I’ll pay you of course.”

  “Shut the fuck up. You know I will. You pay for the fuel. What day you thinking?”

  “I'll text you later and let you know. From the looks of it, probably tomorrow or the next day.”

  “Shit,” he huffs. “That's fine. Don't worry, I'm on it. Hit me up as soon as you know something.”

  He ends the call and I stare out the window.

  She's nodding, saying something and I wish my windows were open so I could hear what's going on out there. When I see her end the call she slowly sets the phone on the table and her eyes hit the horizon. She's got too much going on in that head of hers, and if I know Affton she's out there overthinking everything. I finish my beer and stand, steeling myself for the conversation that's more than likely going to end in us taking a trip to the one state I never wanted either of us to set foot in again.

  I walk out to the porch without saying anything, sitting in the chair across from her and reach over the table, taking her hand in mine. We sit here in silence until the sun's completely gone from the sky.

  “Did you talk to Grant?” Her thumb mindlessly rubs over the same spot on my finger and it's driving me insane. Her mind isn't here with me right now.

  “Yeah, he's good any day this week. We just gotta make the call.”

  Watching her, it’s like the person she was when she was with that asshole is resurfacing. The real Affton, the strong Affton is going back into hiding. Just another reason why I can't wait to kick this fucker's ass. I know I promised her I wouldn't seek it out, but he's the type of person that starts his own battles so I know he'll be begging for it when the time comes.

  “Just as soon as you can. My lawyer wants me to press charges,” she says in a quiet tone and I can hear the fear. “I don't want to do that. If I press charges, I have to stay, and if I press charges, there's no chance he'll just let this go. I just want to give him the out. I won't tell anyone, you know? I just want him to leave me alone.” She bites her lip to keep from crying.

  I stand and pull her out of her seat, bringing her over to me and onto my lap. My arms wrap tightly around her and I hold her, because I have nothing to say that's going to make this better. I want the charges pressed. If I'm not allowed to kick his ass, then let the fucker sit in prison and get that ass handled by his new boyfriends. But...I know that's not how it'll go. He's got too much money; he'd end up buying his way out with money and power and then he'd come after her tenfold. She's right, he just needs to go away.

  “I'll text Grant tonight that we need it tomorrow. That way it’s over and done and we can start to
move on.” I kiss her head softly. “I'm so ready to move on with you, Beany.”

  “That's all I want.” She lays her head on my shoulder. “After I handle this, I'll figure out a job.” Sitting up, she looks me in the eyes. “That's when—” Her phone starts to ring and she reaches for it, when I see his name on the screen I yank the phone out of her hand. “Tommy, don’t!” she blurts, slowly taking it from me like it's a bomb.

  We watch it until it stops ringing and minutes later he sends a text. All it says is 'Check your profile’. With a shaking hand, she opens her account and her thumb presses a recently posted video. When the visual of her getting fucked fills the screen and the noises rattle the speakers, she drops the phone and jumps out of my lap. In tears and a trembling mess, she tries to delete the video but she can barely keep herself standing. I take the phone, my own hands shaking but I manage to get it deleted before she has too many views. There were still quite a lot, but maybe we caught it in time.

  “Bean,” I whisper, walking over to her. She's frantic, tears streaming down her face and I have to battle just to get my arms around her to try and calm her down. My phone buzzes in my pocket and immediately I groan. I can only fucking imagine who it is.

  With an arm still tight around her, I reach into my back pocket and yank out my phone, answering Grant's call.

  “Yeah?” I mumble.

  “Tommy...” He sounds baffled. “Dude, I was just online...”

  “Stop,” I blurt. “Ignore it and stop. That wasn't her,” I say, knowing full well it was my girl on that screen.

  “She okay?” He knows, how could he not?

  “No.” I end the call and wrap my arm around her again. She's still crying but she's stopped shaking. “Let's get inside, Bean. No more phone for you tonight, alright?”

  “He's going to ruin me. I have to go back to him. He's going to ruin my entire career. This will ruin my life. I have to go back,” she keeps rambling and my heart breaks all over again.

  “No. Stop and listen to me. He's not going to ruin your career. We're getting these papers filled out and doing whatever the fuck your lawyer thinks we need to tomorrow, then we're coming back here. You're going to find another kickass company to work for and we'll go from there. He's not ruining anything and there's no way in hell I'll let you go back to him.” I know she's panicked and she didn't mean the words she just muttered. Hell, she probably won't remember it tomorrow, but it’s still fucking with me. “Come on, let's take a shower and go to bed.” I need to text Grant still but that can happen later. Right now I need her out of this state she's in.