by Mari Carr
“Yes!” he shouted as his head fell back for a moment. He fucked deep and thoroughly a few more times before going still above her. “Yes. Sterling!”
He soaked her with his come, saturating her with his pleasure. She swore she could feel the ethereal joy as clearly as the scalding fluid that painted her pussy with his seed. Good thing he couldn’t get her pregnant again. It was no wonder the Vasalgel had been no match for his impressive release.
The man was practically a sex god.
And he proved it.
“Do you think you’re so clever?” he said between kisses on her nose, mouth and over her eyes. His cock softened within her, but that didn’t stop him from pumping a little, making her rethink her strategy as her body still pulsed with warmth and some excitement.
Contentment too, and that would be plenty.
“Kind of.” She grinned up at him.
“Well, shows what you know. Now I can concentrate on driving you crazy again.” He bit her neck softly, making her eyes fly open at the resulting electric jolt straight down her spine.
“What?” She tugged at her restraints. “Viho, I’m good. Seriously.”
“Think you’ve had enough, do you?” He lifted a brow.
“I’m never going to be horny again.” Sterling admitted.
He took that as a challenge. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
His cock slipped from her along with a trickle of moisture. Instead of pausing to clean her off with a more traditional method, Viho surveyed her pussy, messy from his release. He flicked a glance at her as he descended.
“I like seeing my claim on you.” He shrugged. “I know I’m probably not supposed to admit that, but…it’s true.”
Sterling didn’t think she was woman enough to confess that she liked his possessive streak, just a bit. So instead, she drummed her heels, as much as she was able, in response to the first contact of his mouth on her iced folds.
At one with everything natural, she shouldn’t have been surprised by his acceptance of their mingled fluids as just another normal part of them. He devoured her, proving over and over, that he would always have the upper hand when it came to delighting his partner.
No matter what, he would satisfy her.
Beyond even what she realized she needed.
Viho dipped his fingers inside her, withdrawing them to study the mark he’d left within her. He played with the result of their passion, toying with the cream inside her to allow him to slip and slide against her sensitive flesh.
The idea alone had her gritting her teeth to keep from coming so soon.
He chuckled against her, only making her dilemma worse.
Until he paused long enough to say, “That’s what I thought.”
Before she could gather her wits enough to make some retort, he’d surrounded her clit with his lips and began to suckle with a light and rapid pulsing pressure that she had absolutely no chance at resisting.
“Viho!” she screamed as she shattered, this time losing all of herself in the process. She unraveled so thoroughly, she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to be put back together. Or not in the same way she had existed before.
Still he didn’t abandon her. No, he brought her down slowly, feeding her his finger and tongue until the spasms faded to aftershocks and then those diminished, leaving a gentle glow in their wake. Only then did he kiss her belly before untying her limbs and blanketing her with his body.
As Sterling lounged beneath him, steeped in passion and bliss, she realized that Viho had won more of her than a partner in raising a child. He’d stolen part of her heart. And she didn’t ever want it returned.
It might take a while for it to grow from this spark to something that burned as fierce and bright as the love of her mother and father or the other Compass Brothers and their wives, but it existed. And if they nurtured it, it would thrive.
Feeding the fire could make it burn forever, granting them a lifetime of warmth and light.
She chided herself for getting so sappy after a handful of spectacular orgasms, until he spoke and sealed the deal.
“Would you mind if I raided your kitchen to make us breakfast in bed?” he asked. “I’ll even bring some of those brownies I found out on the counter last night. They were fucking great.”
Oh yeah, he was definitely a keeper.
Chapter Twelve
Jake sat with Vicky on the porch of the main house a couple of months after the incident with Sterling. For him, he’d considered that the beginning of the true end. Though she’d declined by degrees, Vicky had never fully recovered to even her previous level of alertness.
Sam and the rest of the Compass Brothers had agreed that for the foreseeable future he should spend his days tending to her, since they needed to be sure that whoever kept her company could take charge physically if necessary. They wouldn’t risk one of the women after what had nearly happened that day.
He shuddered.
Tucking the quilt tighter around Vicky, he stood and stoked the blaze in the fire pit, which allowed them to get some fresh air despite the steady slide into winter that had already begun. Most times they sat here, saying nothing, Vicky lost in her own world while the sounds, smells and sights of the ranch formed a backdrop for her memories.
It seemed fitting that he was here with her, near the end.
They’d always shared a bond. The understanding of the pain of a lost mate. Vicky had been there for him, a mother, mentor and friend. And now he would be there for her. Until she no longer required his assistance.
He’d gotten so used to his quiet guard that it shocked him when Vicky spoke. Lucidly.
“Jake?”
“Hey there, pretty lady.” Surprised, and thrilled, he rushed to her side and knelt so they were at eye level. “How are you today?”
“There’s no good answer to that, is there?” She shrugged. “Let’s not pretend, Jake. Things are as they are.”
He could have plopped onto his ass, she sounded so much like her old self. Spunky and direct. Sure of herself. How he’d missed her!
Vicky stared down at him. “Winter is coming.”
“Are you cold? I can take you inside.” He shrugged out of his coat and layered that on top of her blankets.
“No, I’m ready for it, Jake.” She smiled. “Sometimes those snowy days are best, when you forget about going outside and stay in your cozy house, surrounded by loved ones.”
He remembered a lot of such days. When they’d done the bare minimum, feeding and watering the animals then racing inside to enjoy Vicky’s spiced hot apple cider. Card games, trash talk and home cooked meals. They were good times.
“And somehow, when it’s coldest, a new year begins. A place for spring to jump out from. Like most things in life, it’s a matter of perspective,” she continued. And it’d been so long since she’d spoken like this, making sense, that he didn’t dare interrupt.
“I’ve seen a lot of years, Jake. A lot of winters. Some of them colder and longer than others. But there’s always the chance to start again. I want you to remember that.” She lasered her blue gaze at him. “I don’t worry about my children. They’re living their own lives as they should. But you…I’ve always been troubled about you, my friend.”
“I’m good, Vicky.” He shrugged. “Don’t waste time thinking about that.”
“You will be.” She nodded. “If you embrace the new year. I understand that some things cannot be replaced. But you have a chance now. To know your son. Your grandbaby. To fill the winter inside you with light and warmth. It won’t be the same as a sunny summer day. But it will save you from freezing to death.”
He was stunned that she remembered Sterling was pregnant. Almost so much that he took longer than usual to process the rest of what she said. But when he did, the words hit him like an angry bull. Goring him.
; There was a time when he’d used sex to thaw that part of him. But he’d outgrown that phase of his life. Mostly. What she said made sense. And already he knew that spending time with Viho these past eight weeks had begun to chip away at the layers of ice that had preserved him when he couldn’t handle a world without Haiwee.
Other things had helped. Sterling, her brother, their cousins.
Being lucky enough to do what he loved every day of his life.
But Vicky was right—there were times when he’d imagined himself frozen to the core. A lost cause. A man without a purpose.
“If you repeat this to my children, or theirs, frankly I’ll pretend like I’m demented and you heard what you wanted in my rambling. I’ve got a little practice.” She shrugged and flashed him a devious grin.
Oh, this could not be good.
Jake nodded solemnly.
“I’m telling you this because I know you understand. There are times when I have prayed to forget. Permanently.” She wrung her hands. “What would it be like, if I hadn’t spent all these years with the constant knowledge that my soul mate was gone?”
A white-hot poker stabbed Jake in the chest. He knew that pain, lived with the regret every day. That he hadn’t looked harder. In his heart, he could have guessed where Haiwee had fled to, but he’d let his own doubts encourage him to stay still.
He’d convinced himself that she left because he wasn’t good enough. Couldn’t provide for her in the way she was used to as the daughter of a powerful family. He was no Compass Brother, only a ranch hand. And now he’d never see her again. He’d live with that bitterness until he died, knowing he could have done more.
And hadn’t.
“If I could simply forget he was gone, I could be happy again, Jake.” She turned to him with tears in her eyes. “My final days would be spent at peace. The kind I haven’t known in over twenty years. I know that it is selfish. But I have held off the winter for over two decades. Is it wrong to want that pain to ease?”
“No, Vicky. It’s not.” Jake felt the ragged wound in his own heart. He knew as long as he was alive, it would never fully heal. Scab over, maybe. But it would scar.
Had already.
“I feel most days like I’m living in a fog,” Vicky continued. “It’s not so bad, that aimless floating. But when I surface. And I remember.” She gasped. “It hurts, Jake.”
“Where?” He was afraid she was having a stroke or something else he couldn’t combat.
“Here.” She tapped her chest, over her heart. “Worse, every time. It’s a cruel punishment. And I’m ready to stop living in pain.”
The piercing look she gave him chilled him to the core. No amount of wood on the fire would melt that terror. “Uh, Vicky. You’re not asking me to—”
“No. No need to smother me with a pillow.” She chuckled, then patted his hand. “Nothing like that. It’s just that none of us knows what waits for us beyond this life. I think I’d like to spend what time I have left with those who have gone before me. Is that terrible to admit?”
Jake thought of JD. Plus Snake and all the other old-timers who’d passed on. A whole generation of ranchers lost. And he knew there were more, from before he’d found Compass Ranch and the community it had founded. He wished he could visit them himself. Maybe Vicky’s illness wasn’t exactly the curse it seemed.
“No, Vicky. That sounds…kind of nice.”
She nodded. “I think so too, dear.”
For a while longer they sat in companionable silence.
“So you’ll explain, to my family? Where I’ve gone? It’s a lovely place.” She looked up to him. “I have lived a fantastic life. One any woman could hope for, and I am happy to relive the best moments of it. The barn dances…our children being born…their children…but mostly, my husband…JD…”
And when she trailed off, the glassy look he’d gotten so familiar with lately hazing her once-clear eyes again—more completely—he knew she had gone. For good.
“Goodbye, Vicky.” A lone tear trailed down his cheek. “Say hello to JD for me, would you?”
Chapter Thirteen
“I’m nervous.” Sterling chewed the nail on her index finger as she milled about the lobby of Compton Pass’s tattoo shop.
“Because of the baby?” Hope asked. “We checked with your doctor. You’re all clear.”
“It’s not that,” she answered. Once Viho saw what she intended, he’d know how she felt. It would be impossible to ignore a declaration like that. Was she ready?
“Then why? It’s not like it’s permanent or something,” Jade ribbed her. “Oh, wait. It is.”
“Come on, chicken.” Sienna smiled. “If I can do it, you can too.”
“I’ve always had a thing for women with ink.” Viho bent down and kissed her, sexy and sweet. The past two months had flown by and she could no longer imagine a world in which he wasn’t by her side each time she needed him or as they enjoyed the simple moments in life together. Things in the old Compass Girl cabin were comfortable. Someone to come home to, to share the evenings with and make love to every night before bed.
Her life was so much more than she could have dreamed of before fall set in. It would always be her favorite time of year from now on because the colors of the leaves, the scent of pumpkins and spice, all of it reminded her of falling in love, softly and gradually, with him.
Still, she couldn’t deny that it had happened.
She smiled into his eyes as they parted their lips. She was ready.
“Well, that settles it, then.” Sterling couldn’t resist zooming up for a final taste before one of the artists cleared her throat and invited the four Compass Girls to take their places in the shop where they’d simultaneously get matching designs in honor of their family. Vivi.
“Imagine our dads doing this the hard way? With that old dude, Snake, and his ancient equipment? At least modern methods aren’t painful,” Hope speculated.
“We’ll see what you think of that when you’re finished.” Wyatt patted his woman on the shoulder. “You’re pretty brave. I’ve seen grown men afraid of all those needles. Especially since you’re going big your first time out.”
“Hey, Jade, were you lying to me? Does it hurt? They still use needles? Not some fancy laser thingy?” Hope’s smile faded as her suspicions grew.
The other three Compass Girls snorted and giggled. Even the guys they’d brought along had a hard time containing their amusement. Of course it wasn’t pain-free. Nothing that mattered in life was.
“You bitches!” Hope shrieked as the first dots buzzed into her skin.
Sterling tried not to laugh too hard since she didn’t want the lines of her design to be fuzzy. That would be fitting punishment for their prank, though. The Compass Ranch logo would look pretty fine on her forearm, surrounded by a riot of flower blossoms from Vivi’s garden. Each one represented a person in her family, who had chosen their favorite and added it to their bouquet.
The four women had arranged the flowers in their matching designs very precisely by the season in which they bloomed. They even included some evergreen branches and a poinsettia to celebrate how Comptons could flourish in the harshest conditions.
For several hours—maybe even three or four, she kind of lost track—they were mostly quiet. Somber and introspective as the matching portions of their designs took shape.
Sterling admitted the fall foliage plus the orange and deep purple of the mums that represented her were her favorite. Like their fathers before them, each of the women had chosen one section to personalize. And she knew exactly what she wanted in that precious spot on her skin.
Forever.
Indelibly etched.
And hopefully the man beside her would understand the significance.
She took a deep breath and figured this endurance test of her pain threshold would be good practi
ce for labor. A while passed before the artist broke her from her wandering thoughts.
“Okay, have you decided what we’re doing here?” She tapped the blank spot at the center of the identical design with her gloved finger some time later. They’d all agreed to have their artists freehand their individual components, both to keep them a surprise and to fit the flow of their bodies once the rest of the art had been established.
“Yes.” Sterling stared at Viho, who’d sat beside her the entire session, holding her hand and murmuring his approval. “I want a set of shears. Because every garden needs someone to tend it. I also want a dove, flying above it all, keeping an eye on things.”
Viho cleared his throat, and she knew he was thinking of Haiwee, finally free of all the weighty things in life that had kept her grounded. She reached out to solidify their connection even as the proof of it became part of her forever. With his other hand, he cupped her baby bump.
She beamed up at him while still speaking to the artist. “And right on that rock there, can you add a little turtle?”
“Sure thing. It’ll fit great. Kind of looks like it needed something else right there.” The artist got to work making it a reality.
“Sterling, I know this is probably a weird time to have this conversation, but I figure you can’t run away from me at the moment.” Viho spoke softly, but it wasn’t exactly a large space. All three of the other Compass Girls stared over at them, not even pretending to give them some privacy.
For that matter, Liam, Wyatt, Clay and Daniel seemed pretty damn interested in their business all of a sudden too.
“Uh, okay.” She winced as she realized how unsure she sounded. It wasn’t often he got this serious, and the times that he had, she hadn’t always responded well. She hoped he realized she wasn’t so afraid anymore. That he had won her over.
It was just that they didn’t have the best track record when it came to deep conversations about their future. Though she would really like to change that.
“So here goes.” He cleared his throat. “I love you, Sterling Compton. I think I have since the moment I met you.”
