The Tribute

by Beth Williamson

  Alex pressed her body against his, her fingers digging into his back, pulling him closer. The hard nubs of her nipples rubbed against him, inviting his mouth to come by for a visit.

  “Brett. I can’t,” she said in between long, fierce kisses. “My…father…is…upstairs.”

  Shit.

  Brett stepped back, breathing hard and shaking harder. He’d nearly fucked her right there in the waiting room with the door unlocked and her father upstairs.

  She touched her lips with trembling fingers. “I don’t know if I can do this again.”

  What could he say? Words were never his strength, actions were. He tugged her into his arms and held her tightly. Their matching heartbeats thundered together as the fire of arousal that had to be quenched still ran rampant in their veins. He had missed her and she felt like heaven in his arms.

  “Slow down, Brett. You’re going to have to give me…time. Would you like to have supper with me? I’m going over to the restaurant. Tonight’s meatloaf and mashed potatoes.” Her voice sounded husky, strained. No wonder.

  “I’m not sure I can sit down yet.”

  Alex pushed back until she was outside the circle of his arms. The loss of her heat made him shiver.

  Her eyes swirled with confusion and arousal. “Please.”

  Brett reined in his raging desire and accepted her peace offering. “Sure, supper sounds good.”

  Maybe dinner would give him the opportunity to do some more wooing, or perhaps start wooing. He wasn’t sure he could classify what they’d been doing as wooing.

  They left her house together, arm in arm, and walked down the street at a much more even pace than Brett had set minutes earlier. A feeling of rightness settled over him, as if being at Alex’s side was the place he was meant to be. Sounded silly, but true.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Good. Better than I expected.” Brett hadn’t been surprised how quickly his wounds were healing with such an amazing doctor.

  “Excellent. After we eat, I’ll check your stitches. Save you a trip to town tomorrow.”

  “Are you flirting with me, Alex? It seems you’re just trying to get me to take my shirt off again.” He smiled broadly.

  “Take it as you wish.” She squeezed his arm.

  When they arrived at the restaurant, they chatted with several folks having dinner before sitting down. Throughout the meal, Brett had a hard time concentrating on his food. He wouldn’t have been able to say if they had meatloaf or chicken to eat. His entire body tingled with the anticipation of being alone with Alex again.

  “You keep leaving me behind and I’m going to think you don’t like me anymore.” Kincaid’s voice broke the spell surrounding Brett. He glanced up to find a grinning ex-gunslinger standing beside their table.

  “Would you like to join us, Mr. Kincaid?” Alex offered.

  “No, that’s okay. I ate down at the saloon.” Kincaid looked at Brett with an innocent expression. “Should I meet you back at the ranch later?”

  Brett resisted the urge to smack the grinning fool. “That’d be fine. I’ll be back…later.”

  Kincaid winked at Alex. She blushed a sweet shade of pink.

  “You need anything else?” Brett growled.

  “Nope, not a thing. Have a good time, you two.” With a tip of his hat, Kincaid left the restaurant.

  Brett’s good mood nearly went with him. He felt embarrassed to be so wrapped up in a woman, even Alex, he forgot about everything else. Nothing and no one had ever distracted him before.

  Until her.

  “What is it, Brett?” Alex’s brow furrowed in concern.

  He shook his head. “I couldn’t explain it if I tried.”

  She smiled crookedly. “You don’t need to. I think I understand.” After swiping one finger through the gravy on her plate, she opened her mouth, and her finger slid in. Brett forgot to breathe. She sucked the digit, swirling her tongue around the tip. When she pulled her finger out, he wanted to snatch it so he could taste her.

  Alex’s eyes darkened as her pupils dilated. “I’ve got something to show you. Will you trust me?”

  Brett would’ve trusted her with his life at that moment. He barely ground out a “Yes.”

  She left money on the table and stood, placing her breasts eye-level with a very hungry man. Her nipples stood proudly at attention. Brett swallowed with difficulty.

  “Come on, cowboy.”

  Like a mindless idiot, Brett stood, following her out the door. His body throbbed with blazing arousal again. She led him down the street before slipping into an alley. The dark dampness of the space felt cloying, fortunately they arrived at the back door of a building quickly.

  “Where are we?”

  She shushed him with a hard kiss. “Trust me.”

  Brett wanted to say he trusted her, but she disappeared through the door of the building. He followed in a blink, his eyes adjusting to the dim light of the lamplit hallway. Alex was just entering a room two doors down. She turned and crooked her finger.

  The sounds around him faded to nothing. He vaguely realized they were in the hotel, but he didn’t care. All he knew was if he didn’t have Alex in his arms in the next ten seconds, he’d need a different pair of britches.

  When he entered the room, Alex put a finger to her lips to shush him. She needn’t have because he doubted he could speak anyway. He’d been mesmerized completely. The small room was a linen closet. The door shut behind them, the grating of the key in the lock the only sound.

  A small window about the size of a block of wood let in weak light, giving an air of mystery and sensuality. The smell of soap and starch wasn’t nearly as strong as her scent. He wanted to ask her why they were in the closet but he didn’t. A spell wound around them, and one wrong word could break it.

  Brett didn’t want that to happen. Sneaking into the closet seemed naughty, more than that, forbidden. Something he never expected from Alex. Then again, over the last few weeks she’d done nothing he’d expected her to.

  A rectangular table sat in one corner, more than likely where the hotel staff folded most of the linens. Shelves of towels and sheets lined the walls, along with some cleaning supplies like buckets and scrub brushes. And interestingly enough, a chair. A cushioned chair.

  With a wicked grin, Alex unbuttoned his shirt, her soft lips kissing each inch of skin she exposed. Brett had never felt so out of control. His entire body buzzed with arousal. He should have told her to stop, but he couldn’t. In that closet, they were in their own world and nothing else existed. Just Alex and Brett.

  She ran her hands up his chest, lightly scratching his nipples until they were hard points, almost painful. Alex leaned forward and her hot little tongue lapped at one, then the other. He couldn’t stop the shudder that wracked his body. He’d had dreams of Alex’s tongue on his body for a very long time.

  She slipped his shirt off and laid it on the table. As she lightly touched his back and shoulders, she kissed his healing wound. Brett wondered how long he’d be able to stand. Alex’s face pressed against his back and she inhaled deeply.

  “You smell good,” she whispered.

  He didn’t think that was too true since he hadn’t taken a bath before coming to see her. A quick splash from the well pump had sufficed. However, he wasn’t about to argue with her.

  Her nimble fingers skimmed along his waistband, reaching around to unfasten his trousers and push them down with his drawers. They puddled at his feet. A sharp pain in his ass made him jump a country mile.

  “What are you doing?” he hissed.

  “Sorry.” She chuckled under her breath. “I couldn’t resist.”

  She’d bitten his ass. Bitten him!

  When her touch fell between his thighs, Brett forgot about the bite. With the light caress, he grabbed the table for support. Again she reached around, pressing her breasts into his back. He realized somehow she’d gotten undressed behind him while he was busy acting like an idiot over her.

/>   Her bare skin pushed against him, while one hand cupped his balls and the other encircled his cock. Sweet, sweet heaven.

  Her talented hands—he’d dream about those hands for the rest of his life now—pleasured him. Touching, caressing, running her fingernails up and down his sensitive skin.

  “Mmmm…” she breathed into his ear. “Someone’s ready.”

  Brett wanted to shout, “Hell, yes I’m ready.”

  Instead, he nodded, struck mute by her hands on him. She moved away and he felt something pushing against his knees. As he lost his balance, the chair appeared beneath him and he sat. Thank God for that.

  Alex stepped around in front of him. He’d never seen anything as beautiful or sexy as she was at that moment in the dim light of the linen closet. She knelt in front of him and he held his breath, desperate to see what she’d do next.

  “What do you want me to do, Brett?” Her hands continued to stroke him, driving him mad. “Tell me.” Alex always had shown him what it meant to live in the moment. And he damn sure meant to do it.

  He leaned forward to grasp her waist, pulling her to her feet. His tongue snaked out to her bellybutton, licking the soft skin. Looking up at her, he kissed her.

  “I want you to ride me.”

  She smiled like a siren. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

  She straddled him, positioning his aching staff at her hot, wet pussy. She tried to take it slowly, but Brett was done with taking it slowly. His body’s needs overwhelmed him. He had to be inside her. Now.

  Taking hold of her hips, he thrust upward and embedded himself deeply inside Alex’s body. She clenched around him, the heat, the tightness, her musky scent enveloping him, pulling him into a haze of pleasure. He almost spilled his seed immediately.

  “Oh, God, Brett. Oh, God,” she groaned.

  Her breasts sat directly in front of him, within reach of his mouth. He cupped one and glanced up at her while his thumb tweaked the nipple. Her brown eyes were tinged with marked arousal, nearly black with her dilated pupils. A small sheen of perspiration covered her face while her hair hung in tousled waves.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  Alex shook her head. “You feel really good.”

  “This cowboy’s ready.” He rolled his hips, thrusting upward slightly.

  Her gasp echoed through him like rolling thunder. “I can see that.”

  “So let me feast while you ride. Come on, Lex, honey. Ride.”

  She slid up until his cock almost left her body, then she slid back down. Hard. Each time she came down, his mouth latched onto a breast. Licking, nibbling, sucking, biting.

  Her tempo increased, nearly slamming herself down with each thrust. He was close, so close. His balls tightened, his eyes closed and as he felt her muscles quivering on the edge of release, his world exploded.

  Tiny shards of ecstasy pricked him. His fingers dug into her flesh as he held on, trying desperately to ride the wave of pleasure as it washed over him—rocked him to his very core. When it was all over, he realized he’d been holding his breath. He sucked in a huge gulp of air.

  “Jesus.”

  This time not just his knees were shaken. Brett’s heart trembled. The world he’d thought he lived in—the world of reality with everything in its place—ceased to exist. What he had instead was the dawning acknowledgement his entire world had just changed and Alex was essential to living. No more pussyfooting around the subject, he needed her.

  “Marry me.”

  ———

  King decided to wait and watch from the shadows. Normally watching folks wasn’t something he did himself. That’s what he paid people for. But this was personal—very personal. So he stood beside the livery and waited. When Brett and Alex left the restaurant, he’d expected them to walk back to her house. What he didn’t expect was to see her lead that fool Malloy down an alley next to the hotel. After ten minutes, he knew they weren’t coming back out any time soon.

  He could have used the word anger to describe what he felt, but it wouldn’t have been accurate. What he felt was more like cold fury. A feeling he’d had before, but never as intense as it was at that moment.

  When they finally emerged an hour later, he knew for certain what they’d been doing. He didn’t have to guess or assume. He knew.

  King could almost smell the scent of sex from across the street. Although they were completely dressed, he knew when someone had been fucking. Hair slightly mussed, and her lips, Alex’s lips, were swollen. Even in the semi-darkness of twilight, he could tell. They’d been used, and used well.

  Alex and Brett were about to find out what it meant to take someone who belonged to King Dawson. A lesson they would not soon forget.

  ———

  Alex stared at the moon through her window. The sweet night breeze ruffled the gauzy curtains. She’d never felt so confused or lost in her life. Her heart told her Brett was the only man she could ever love. Her head told her to remember how much his rejection had hurt her before.

  She hadn’t really planned the hotel encounter, but being with him turned her brain off and her body on. She didn’t exhibit one iota of self-control where Brett and sex were concerned. The idea of teaching him a lesson, then leaving him unsatisfied turned into something completely different. Alex lost control and left them both shaking from the experience.

  When he asked her to marry him, Alex couldn’t help the knee-jerk reaction. Slapping him had appeased the vengeful bitch who lived deep inside her—the woman who wanted nothing more than to see Brett get his comeuppance.

  There were a million reasons to say yes to his proposal. She could think of one major reason to say no. Brett had broken her heart twelve years earlier and she still hadn’t forgiven him. Perhaps it was time to let go of her hurt from the past and embrace the love in the future.

  Could she count on him to not break her heart again? To fulfill the promise he made by asking her to marry him? He still hadn’t told her he loved her and it made Alex hesitant to believe in them, in their future.

  Her love had slumbered for so long, bringing it back to life might be impossible. Alex laid her forehead against the cool glass and sighed. Her breath formed a circle of condensation. She drew a question mark in the moisture with her finger.

  What was she going to do about Brett?

  Chapter Seven

  The August sun beat down on Brett and Kincaid as they worked. Brett figured he could cook an egg on his head, yet they continued to work on the barn. There was so much to do, so much damage to repair. He needed to get the barn fixed and not just for the horses. Grain needed to be stored as winter feed for the cattle. He’d brokered a deal with Casey to include winter feed for the herd Brett had purchased. If he didn’t get the barn finished, he’d be knee-deep in hay in the house come wintertime.

  His mind kept wandering back to Alex of course. He’d proposed to her and she hadn’t answered him. Instead, she slapped him, making his ears ring and his heart ache. He’d thought of little else since then. His need for a bride had taken a left turn and picked up his heart along the way.

  With a sigh, he just kept on hammering, telling his heart to shut up for five minutes. If it didn’t, Brett might lose his mind. His blisters had long since been covered with more blisters. His hands sweated rivers within the gloves. He’d taken off his shirt, as had Kincaid and Mason. The sun, the heat, were relentless.

  “Hello up there!”

  Brett stuck his head through a hole in the side of the barn, surprised to hear his mother’s voice. He looked down at her standing in front of the barn doors.

  “Mama, what are you doing here?”

  “Now, Brett, do you understand what it means to be a Malloy? It means we’re a family and we’re always there when we need each other.”

  That’s when he saw the rest of them. His father, Ray, Lily, Melody, Noah, Tyler, Nicky, Jack, Ethan and Bonita. Jesus, even Nicky’s twins were down there. Rebecca appeared to be the only adult Malloy abse
nt. More than likely she’d drawn the short straw for watching the little ones.

  They’d come on wagons and on horseback like an invading army. He saw fresh lumber, nails and food. More than that, he saw his family.

  Kincaid peeked out. “Jesus, it’s a swarm. Should we run?”

  Brett punched his arm. “Nah, just my family.”

  Kincaid’s expression closed in on itself. “Great. We could use the help.”

  His voice was as flat as the sweat-soaked hair on his head. Brett didn’t know what Kincaid had against families. Normally Brett would have sent them away and said no. But the fact was, they needed help desperately.

  Brett wasn’t the kind to ask for it and it was hard to take it when offered. In this case, he’d swallow his pride and his stubborn insistence and accept it. Mason looked like a cornered rabbit in the loft. Brett invited him downstairs.

  “Don’t worry, kid, it’s just my kin. They don’t bite. They came to help.”

  Mason’s eyes grew impossibly wide. “You got a big family, boss.”

  “That’s not even all of them. You have no idea.”

  “There’s more?”

  “Yep, there’s more.”

  Brett went downstairs and introduced everyone to Kincaid and Mason. The twinkle in his mother’s eye told him she’d already decided to take on Mason as a pet project. He wouldn’t be the first orphan the Malloys had embraced. His sister Nicky and husband Tyler had adopted Noah when he was fifteen.

  Everyone set to work seemingly without being told what to do. One thing about the Malloys, they usually worked well together. Brett started unloading lumber off the back of his parents’ wagon when Ray joined him.

  “I hear tell King went and hired himself a gunslinger.” Leave it to Ray to know exactly what was going on.

  “Yep, sure did. Name’s Ford.”

  They both grabbed the ends of a stack of boards and headed toward the barn. Ray’s gaze reflected worry and a bit of frustration.