by Mia Madison
I guess if this was a test, my girl has passed with five gold stars.
I settle down on the ground at her side, my back against her calf and she wraps one arm around my shoulders, bringing me closer in to lean on the side of her bare thigh. It takes a pile of self control not to spin around on my knees and spread those perfect little legs apart again for another taste of her delicious nectar. But there’s work to get back to and a long drive ahead. Possibly with some fallout to face when we arrive.
Chapter Eighteen
Modesty
I feel a cool vacancy inside at the very core of me, an emptiness where last night, Rafe’s amazing cock rocked in and out, stretching the walls forever. I know I’ll never be quite so tight and intact again and I’m glad. The first time I was sore after, like something had torn inside me. Not in a bad way, a delicious kind of ache that couldn’t completely eradicate the throb of need I feel whenever I think of Rafe.
Now I’ve been completely broken in, like one of the filly’s he spends his days taming. Except while I’ve been dominated and claimed by the man, I’ve also found my freedom. At least that’s how it feels as we drive back across the flat endless plain.
Rafe reaches to curl his fingers around my bare thigh at the hem of my dress and I take his huge hand in both mine, leaving it resting on my leg so the throbbing picks up at the apex between my legs. It would seem my body is never going to get enough of Rafe and constantly be pining for more, to have him buried inside me again.
A tension builds inside the comfortable ambiance of our shared ride. Rafe’s fingers squeeze mine a little and I can feel him leading up to something.
“What?” I mewl, hearing the nervousness in my own voice. I don’t want anything to spoil this moment between us.
“Something I've been wanting to ask,” he gruffs. “Yesterday, when I dumped you into the horse trough.”
“Oh god, don’t remind me, you monster.”
“Why did you mean when you said you can’t go home?”
I grip his hand tighter without realizing at first how desperately I don’t want this to come up. Not in my own thoughts where it causes all kinds of turmoil in my body. Unrest that’s just been relaxed and mostly erased by Rafe’s goodness and hotness. I’m also desperate not to break the mood between us with a load of unpleasant history.
He looks across at me and I turn my head to meet his gaze, seeing an urgent desperation in his eyes, I know this means a lot to him that I tell him. Even though he doesn't know how important the event was, somehow he gets it. Like he can read each and every one of the feelings I’m holding inside.
“I know it’s something, Princess,” he says, giving my hand another encouraging squeeze. “That wasn’t just a throwaway line. It unraveled you. Tell me what it is.”
For just one second I don’t think I can share. It’s so embarrassing and makes me feel so childish, it would probably bore him senseless. He’ll quickly discover I’m not a woman he wants to be around.
“Baby?” he prompts me, his thumb pad rubbing up and down my palm giving me more sensations of safety.
Rafe isn’t like Andrew or any of his friends. I can trust him after what we shared last night. An entire night together, I still can’t quite believe it. But I feel so good and so warmed by belonging to a man I can count on, I want to tell him what happened. I want it all out in the open, no games, no secrets. I inhale deeply and begin.
“When I went back to school after the summer touring with the rodeo, I started dating this guy.”
Rafe’s hand in both of mine stiffens, just a fraction, but I don’t miss it. When I look at him his jaw is pressed taut. I continue quickly so he knows there’s absolutely nothing for him to be possessive over, quite the opposite. He’s the only man I’ve ever really loved.
“It’s the one I mentioned before, Andrew. A real jock, you know, football team, the whole -”
“Stereotype,” he snarls.
“Exactly. A total stereotype in fact, but I didn't get that until it was too late.”
“Why, what happened?”
“Girls can be real gossips when it comes to getting a hot guy’s attention.”
Rafe nods.
“Someone I confided in told Andrew I was a virgin and I didn’t know it but he had a bet on with his teammates that he’d be the one to stamp my card.”
“Stamp your card?” Rafe repeats with a confused look.
“You know – take my virginity.”
“There’s a card for that?”
“Are you for real?” I laugh
“Probably not. I always called that popping the cherry. Now you got to carry a card like your innocence is a library book to be loaned out and not something precious.”
I nod and suck on my lower lip to contain the rising tremors.
“So he deflowered you?” he continues.
Rafe shakes his head with an ironic grin and the mood lifts a little as we negotiate our first age gap hurdle with humor.
“No, you did,” I say and am rewarded with a startle.
Rafe swivels hard in his seat and his eyes are popped wide in shock. The truck veers slightly and he regains control to pull over on the side of the road.
“What are you talking about, Princess? You’re a virgin?”
“Well. not now.” I grin. “My first day of freedom from that yoke around my neck. We should celebrate. Where’s that champagne?”
“Geezus Baby, why didn’t you tell me?”
He scoops me up and hauls me across the seat, pulling me into his lap so I’m cosseted in his solid embrace. He strokes my hair, my cheek, my bottom lip. All the while he’s looking at me as though searching out some difference in me, or looking for a hairline fracture in an otherwise perfect piece of porcelain.
“That’s not exactly something a girl trying to attract a mature experienced man is going to announce as a sales feature.”
“You aren't something to be bought and sold.”
“I know, but it feels like it when men are only chasing you to be the first to crack you open.”
“But Princess, I would have made it unforgettable for you.”
“And that’s why I didn’t tell you. You did make it the most memorable event of my life which it wouldn't have been if you were treating me with kid gloves. It was amazing, everything I could have wished for. I didn’t want you asking me every two seconds if I was okay, I wanted you to fuck me like a man fucks a woman and you did. And last night – you made love to me.”
“Oh Baby, I sure did,” he says, then startles as though realizing what he just owned up to.
Warmth gushes through my core, spreading out through me until a rash of goosebumps rises all down my arms. He kind of just admitted to loving me.
I can feel a blush stinging at my cheeks and he strokes the heat with his finger and gives me a secret smile. No need to say any more words. We both share the same feeling and it’s communicating loud and clear through our gaze, bolted on to the other.
“But that doesn't explain why you can’t go home. Did he try to force you?” Rafe grits the last sentence and I feel anger rising in his chest.
Some of the pleasure seeps back out of me. I know I have to get this over with. Once it’s out there, it’ll be done with and won’t hold any more power to hurt me. Or us.
“No, not that.”
Rafe relaxes back a little.
“When I resisted his begging, because something inside was telling me it was fake and I was also wishing he could be you, then he got pissed and posted photos of my – you know.”
“He has photos of you naked?” Rafe rages.
“I never drank when we were together so he spiked my lemonade with something that made me pass out.”
“I’ll fucking kill him.”
“It’s okay, please Baby, don’t get upset.”
“How can I not get upset about a man hurting a woman, any woman, but especially my woman?”
Another gush of warmth emanates from my heart
and spreads to my edges. Rafe is so protective of me and the way he calls me ‘his woman’ sends delighted tingles to every part of me.
Chapter Nineteen
Rafe
When Modesty finishes with the rest of the story I grip the steering wheel and focus on not punching my fist into something. The only available surface is the glass windscreen which would be pretty dumb but I almost don't care, that’s how viciously my blood is boiling to go on the attack.
“Revenge porn? What the fuck is that?” I snarl.
She has to explain another new term and I feel older that my dad, shaking my head in disbelief at how young people treat each other.
Her tiny hands stroke my huge one lying in her palms and trail across my forearm, soothing me until I calm down enough to start the engine again and continue the journey back to Foxworth.
We travel in silence but I keep both her hands locked inside mine so she knows I’m right here. That I’m not going anywhere.
When we reach the ranch, I lift her down from the cab and she turns to head toward Shea’s house. I grab hold of her hand and yank her back to me. She lets out a squeak of surprise and looks up at me questioning.
“You think I’m letting you walk away just like that?”
“I’m only across the yard and you can come for me whenever you like, I’ll be waiting.”
“Uh-uh, Princess. You’re mine now and I need to make sure you’re taken care of properly. No asshole is ever getting his hands or eyeballs on you again.”
She laughs lightly and says that asshole Andrew is a six hour bus ride away. But I’m not hearing any of it. I gather her up and lead her by the hand to my house, not listening to any pleas.
“I can only take care of you if you’re right here with me.”
“You want me living with you?” she says in wonder.
“Today I do.”
“But I don’t have any clothes. I need to change out of this princess dress.”
“I like that dress on you, especially when you wear it without underwear underneath. It makes me super easy for me to deal out a spanking when you get out of hand.”
She looks at me wide-eyed in shock.
“You can’t be planning on spanking me on a regular basis,” she squeals.
I look all around to make sure no one’s lurking and heard her but it’s almost lunch and the guys will be out with the cattle. We’re stopped in the middle of the yard and I turn her to face me. Her adorable face gazes up at me so it takes all my resolve not to slide my hand over her firm round flesh right here in the open. Then I give her my filthiest grin.
“That’s exactly what I’m planning, Princess. Whenever you get sassy with me or if I happen to feel the need to train you.”
“You’re an oaf Rafe Millitant,’ she says but her eyes are glistening with delight and I’m certain she’s enthralled at the prospect of going over my knee. I continue the walk, leading her half running beside me
“In fact, I think I may have to give you a little retraining right now, for telling me I could come find you if I needed anything.”
“Nooo,” she squeals.
She wriggles her teeny hand out of mine before I can grasp her more firmly, then takes off running. I immediately hurtle after her and as she runs squealing around the perimeter of my cabin, I’m catching up close behind. She dashes up the steps and through the unlocked door. Now I’ll have her cornered. She won’t get away from me now she’s trapped. She runs around the table in circles with me in furious pursuit.
My house isn’t massive so I stop and extend my arms forming a barrier she can’t get around without me grabbing her. She screams with laughter, breathless and panting, then dashes away to the kitchen in her attempt to escape me. I bolt right after her. Speaking of bolts, my erection is huge in my jeans from the way her short dress flying up as she runs, affording me glimpses of her delectable bare cheeks underneath. It’s more than I can stand and the prospect of taking her across my knee when I catch her and sliding that fabric up over her naked round butt, makes me solid rock hard.
“I am going to spank that little ass of yours until it’s hot pink,” I warn her, and elicit another peal of breathless squeals.
“And then what?” the little vixen taunts.
“And then I’m going to carry you to my bed and fuck that perfect pussy until you scream and beg me to be your master forever.”
“And what if I don’t beg?” she calls, managing to wriggle out of my clamp on her wrist and sprinting headlong for the door.
“Then I’ll spank your butt again until you do beg me.”
“I’ll never beg,” she hollers. “You can spank me forever, I will not beg.”
I’d be more than happy to spend my days with her soft curves across my knee, spanking her ass until she agrees to my terms and I chase her from the kitchen, ready to tell her so when she comes shuddering to a sudden halt.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Damn.
In my eagerness to catch Modesty in my grasp, I forgot to kick the front door closed. Some tall dude is darkening my doorstep and I don’t like the way he’s staring back and forth between her, then at me, one little bit.
“Daddy,” Modesty squeaks. “How did you find me?”
Her bubble deflates faster than a shotgun burst. I go immediately to her side, ready to step up and be introduced to the man that turns out to be her father. He doesn't look that much older than me and I get the feeling he’s noticed the same thing himself.
“I said, what the hell is going on here,” he snarks, not looking like he’s ready for the introductions.
“Nothing. We’re just playing.”
“Who is this you’re playing with?” he spits out.
He looks Modesty up and down as though he’s caught her in a pole dancer outfit instead of a pretty dress. Shit, I hope he didn't get a look at her forbidden parts as she ran screaming around the room skirt flying.
“Rafe Millitant” I say, stretching my hand forward to shake his.
He looks down on my palm like it’s covered in shit and it seems like he’s going to ignore my greeting. In my own damn house.
Can this guy really be that much of an asshole?
I look at it from his point of view. His own little darling chasing around some strange man’s house, a much older guy. Without her panties on.
He shakes my hand like a woman. Whether that’s his normal limp grip, or he didn’t want to get too close, I don't know. But now he’s looking all around my place like he’s landed in some cave belonging to feral beasts. It’s not much, but it’s clean and neat. Who the fuck does this dude think he is anyway?
“Daddy, how did you find me?” Modesty repeats, her voice shaking.
I try to take her hand but they’re wrapping the hem of her skirt, for obvious reasons. I wish there was something I could do to help her out of her embarrassment but we’re stuck in this jam. All I can do is lead her through this by dealing with her old man.
I’ll be he first to admit, I’m not that great with parents. I haven't seen my own in years, because my way of dealing with shit is, if you can’t shoot it or rope it, just walk away and never look back. But once my perfect princess and her father get to talking, the urge to do the former soon becomes overwhelming.
Chapter Twenty
Modesty
I can’t believe my father is standing in my lover’s house and with his face set in stone-hard annoyance at me. I hate it when daddy’s angry, but what I hate more is how he’s looking at Rafe and around his home like it’s beneath him to even be standing here with us. It’s like two worlds have come crashing together with no way to merge.
My heart is pounding in my chest, partly from the running and excitement at what was coming when I was caught, but mostly because I have to find a way to deal with this. It’s up to me, I can’t expect Rafe to take care of it.
“I found emails to some kid called Andrew on your laptop,” my father announces.
�
��My laptop is password protected,” I reply.
“One of the guys at the office hacked through that.” Like he has every right to go through my personal communications.
“You hacked my private information,” I say, with more disbelief than I actually feel, because I know Daddy will do anything to get what he wants.
“You left the house without telling me where you were going. You’re my daughter, I have a right to find out what you’re doing.
“Andrew knows where I am?”
My eyes slide over to Rafe and I see the tension balled up in his body, his fists two like rocks at his sides.
“He directed me to some girl, Caroline, who said you had mentioned the other rodeo princess planning a wedding.”
Sweet Caroline, one of the mean girls that spilled the private share of my virginity to the entire team.
“But does he know where I am?” I quiver.
“I don’t know, maybe.”
“Oh god.” I groan and Rafe is immediately beside me, rubbing the small of my back in support, letting me know that no one is going to hurt me now just like he promised.
So long as I stay here in the house with him, Andrew can’t do anything to me – not physically at least. But that’s not how I want my relationship with Rafe to be. That he feels obliged to keep me.
“I don’t know what the problem is,” my father continues. “Andrew’s a good kid.”
“How would you know that from one meeting?” I snip.
“Because his father is a very prominent man in the city.”
That’s all that matters to my father.
“You’re a very lucky girl to have attracted his attention.”
If he could sell me off to forge a strong family alliance, like fathers used to do with their girl children, I have no doubt he would. I really don't like the way he’s looking at Rafe like he’s some sort of lower class being.
“Now I don’t know what you’re doing here with this man, but you’re -”
“This man is your daughter’s boyfriend,” Rafe steps in before I can say he’s a friend of Shea’s, my friend’s fiance.
That would have taken some sting off until I get the chance to explain. Now I see the rage welling into my father’s eyes, his cheeks, his entire face. He’s about to blow.
