Dearest Cowboys Box Set

by Mia Brown

  “Thanks,” she said and blushed. “Are we ready to go?”

  I nodded, and we left the bunkhouse together.

  We went to Steins Ultra Bar. It was the place to be in Odessa and exactly the kind of place I needed. When we walked in, it was getting full already with many tables occupied and a string of people sitting at the bar.

  Lance waved at me across the room, and we made our way across the seating area.

  “It’s been too long, bro,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder.

  “You’ve always gotta have an Ace up your sleeve,” Lance said. I shook my head, laughing. His jokes had always been terrible.

  “This is Vanessa,” I said, introducing her to Lance. He leaned in to hug her, winking at me when he let her go. He was going to ask about her when we were alone, I knew it.

  Alana joined us, and her and Vanessa greeted each other like they were best friends. I hugged Alana, too.

  “Now all we need is Andrew, and we’ll be just like old times,” Lance said.

  “He’s coming by later,” I said.

  We found a table and sat down. We ordered drinks and talked for a while. Steins often had live music, but tonight it was a DJ, and they had moved some of the tables to make a dance floor.

  “We’re going to go dance,” Alana said over the music, and dragged Vanessa with her. We watched them walk to the dance floor and start moving their bodies to the beat. Vanessa knew what she was doing; I had to give her that. She was fucking hot on the dance floor.

  “Has she been around a while?” Lance asked. “She’s tight with Alana.”

  I shook my head. “Only a week. She’s working at the ranch for a while. She needed a job.”

  “A week? Wow, she fits in so well with you guys. Is work all that’s going on?” Lance wiggled his eyebrows at me.

  I laughed. “It’s only work. She’s not interested.”

  Lance made a face. “There’s a woman out there not interested in you? What has this world come to?”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Fuck you, man. I can have female friends without it being more, you know,” I said.

  “Oh, I know that. You’ve never wanted to bang Alana. I’m just trying to figure out the math.”

  I shook my head and sipped my beer. My eyes moved to the dance floor again. It was easy to pretend that I didn’t care, but I did. I was irritated that she’d rejected me. No one could resist me. If anyone did the rejecting, it was me.

  A while later, the girls returned, and Andrew joined us at about the same time. I ordered shots for the table, but Vanessa shook her head.

  “I’m only having one drink,” she said. “Driving, remember?”

  Right, she’d offered to drive for us. Sweet of her, but I wanted to get drunk with her. I’d thrown a few drinks down already, and I was starting to feel it. My head was light and airy, and I was starting to care less and less about what people thought of me. The music picked up, the bar was full, and we headed to the dance floor. We danced in a big group, but I wished I could pull Vanessa closer to me and grind up against her. Her ass looked fantastic in those jeans, and I wanted to peel her shirt off her and see if my imagination was correct. If she really did look like a goddess when she was naked. I wanted so badly to touch her, to feel her soft skin under my fingertips again and to taste her when I kissed her.

  But I wasn’t going to make a move. I wanted her to be the one to do that. She had told me she wasn’t interested in sex with me so if that was what she wanted, she had to come and get it. The moment she asked, she was going to get it. God, I could picture all the things I would do to her. But unless she was going to come to me, I wasn’t going to do any of them.

  It was a damn shame, but there it was.

  So, I drank more. I wanted to let loose, to really enjoy myself on my night off. Besides, with Lance in town, we had to party until dawn. I’d made up my mind. Although, judging by how loopy I was starting to feel, I wasn’t sure I would make it that far. I knew my limits, and I was getting close.

  We carried on dancing and drinking. I started noticing that Vanessa was looking at me, glancing at me every now and then. When I looked at her, she looked away, trying to look like she wasn’t looking, but she was. And I was looking at her, too. Her body was mesmerizing when she danced.

  She looked at me more and more often, sometimes making eye contact. If she hadn’t told me she wasn’t interested, I would have interpreted it that she was. Maybe it was wishful thinking because I had told myself I would wait for her to make a move before anything happened. But it wasn’t my imagination, or how much I’d been drinking. She was paying more attention to me.

  Maybe, if we carried on like this, she would make that move after all.

  God, I wished she would. I wanted her, and I wanted her badly. I wanted to take her home, strip her of her clothes, and fuck her in every position I could think of.

  Twelve

  Vanessa

  He was drunk and getting drunker. And no matter how silly he got because he was drinking, he was still impossibly attractive. I had to keep reminding myself that he was a womanizer, that hundreds of other women had thought the same thing. But I couldn’t help it; he was so hot.

  I was glad I wasn’t getting drunk, too. I had only downed one drink, so I wasn’t even tipsy and could act responsibly. I was relieved I had offered to be designated driver. God knew what stupid decisions I would make with alcohol in my system. Besides, I was still having a good time despite how sober I was compared to everyone else.

  I was glad Ace had asked me to come out with them. It was good to have a break from all the hard work at the ranch, even though I’d only been there a couple of days. I was having a good time, and it was good to be able to relax. I didn’t even mind what had happened between me and Ace anymore. Of course, I was still put off by how nonchalant he’d seemed when I’d rejected him. He hadn’t seemed at all like he’d cared. But we could be friends, I’d decided. It hadn’t affected us in the least. We were having a good time together, and now that the sexual tension was out of the way, we could move forward.

  Or at least, now that I was pretending the sexual tension was out of the way. It wasn’t, of course, I still thought he was ridiculously attractive, and if it weren’t for my sobriety, I would have done something stupid. But if I kept telling myself it was only friendship now, I would believe it.

  The bar was a fun place, too. It was lively and cheerful, and everyone seemed to know everyone else. Maybe that was how it was in a small town. I liked the idea that it was a community where people were connected to each other. That never happened in the big city, and my parents had always been so worried about image that even if it were, I doubted they would have any kind of interest in others besides judging them.

  It was nothing like that here. Odessa was the kind of place that I could imagine myself becoming a part of.

  Alana and I danced together. The music had a great beat, and Alana was so much fun. She was down to earth and worked hard, but she could party just as hard. I liked that about her. I had made a lot of friends while I’d studied but since I’d left, I’d had contact with very few of them. They always said that the people you met at college were the friends you kept for life, but I couldn’t see that happening. What I could see happening was the people around here staying my friends.

  I had come to Odessa to work on the ranch as a last resort to get away from my parents. I hadn’t expected anything to come from it other than an escape. Instead, I had met people I could relate to. And I was learning things about a trade I had never dreamed I would be interested in. I was falling in love with the idea of living in the country, being part of a small town, and working with my hands instead of thinking everything through.

  I was changing.

  Lance was a cool guy, too. He was funny. His jokes were terrible, and half the time we laughed more at him than what he was saying, but he was completely comfortable with himself. And he was smart; he was a total nerd. Even though he d
ressed just like Ace and Andrew, he geeked out every now and then for no reason at all. But it was refreshing to be around someone like him, someone that could be who they were without worrying about what other people thought. All the people I spent my evening with were terrific.

  Our little group was fun. Alana and I got along well. Even though Ace and his brother didn’t along very well—it wasn’t hard to see around the ranch that they didn’t exactly see eye to eye—they weren’t bumping heads tonight. Alana was making googly eyes at Ace all night. It wasn’t hard to see at all that she was head over heels for him and seeing that they’d grown up together, I was guessing this had gone on for a long time.

  Did Ace not know? Or did he know Alana was hot for him, and he wasn’t interested? I knew from firsthand experience how much he could seem like he didn’t care. I had to hand it to her, though, she had tenacity if she was still crushing on him and he was so uninterested.

  Andrew was a different story, though. Alana was watching Ace all night—even more than I was, in fact—and at the same time, Andrew was watching her. He stared at her like she was the only woman in the room; like his life wouldn’t be fulfilled unless she was in it. Again, I wondered if she had any idea. The four people I was with had grown up together. Surely, someone had said something once? I couldn’t imagine all of them spending so much time together and no one ever saying something about their feelings for each other.

  Although, Ace was intimidating. So, if Alana didn’t approach him, I understood why. And Andrew was older, but he seemed to feel like he was walking in Ace’s shadow. At least in regards to education, but I was willing to bet that it was in regards to women, too. The family dynamic was a little messy. But wasn’t it always?

  I had noticed all this. I liked watching people; it was amusing.

  I was watching Ace, too. Not because I was reading him or trying to figure out who he was or what he liked, but because he was hot so I couldn’t help it. I’d only had a little bit to drink, but he was such a turn on it was hard not to have the hots for him. Alana had excellent taste, I had to say that much.

  After midnight, Ace had had too much. He wasn’t dancing as much as he was stumbling around. When he spilled half of his beer down his shirt, I called it.

  “I think we better get you home,” I said.

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Alana said. “You’ll be fine?”

  I nodded. He wasn’t paralytic yet, so I could get him out to the truck.

  “I’ll see you on Monday,” I said, hugging her. “You’ll make sure Andrew gets home?”

  “On it,” Lance said and hugged me. “It was good to meet you.”

  We said our goodbyes, and I guided Ace out of the bar. When I had him packed into the passenger seat, I got in behind the wheel. The truck was a lot bigger than the car I drove, but I could manage. I backed out of the parking lot and turned into the road.

  Ace leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes.

  “Wake me when we get home,” he said. I wasn’t sure if falling asleep was a good idea. If he passed out, I was going to leave him in the truck. I didn’t have what it took to carry a man his size inside. At least he wasn’t throwing up everywhere.

  I made it back to the ranch and parked in front of the main house.

  “Ace,” I said, nudging him. “We’re home.”

  I thought he was asleep, so I nudged him again. I leaned a little closer.

  “Ace,” I said again. He slid along the seat and leaned toward me. His face was on my neck, and I shivered, giggling.

  “Come on, we’re home,” I said again. “You have to get out of the car.”

  “You smell fantastic,” Ace mumbled. He’d put his arm around my body, his hand on my back and his face was so close to mine. I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t keep pretending like I felt nothing. His face was so close to mine it would only take me turning my head to press my lips against his.

  And I couldn’t help myself. I had been resisting this man since the moment I’d met him. Something snapped inside me, and I closed the distance between, pressing my lips against his.

  Ace made a small sound of surprise before he kissed me back. His hand slid up my back into my hair, and he straightened himself out, picking his body up like he wasn’t nearly as drunk as he’d been a moment ago. His other hand went to my face, and he kissed me hard. He tasted like the alcohol he’d been drinking, and desire grew inside me.

  “I want you,” he mumbled against my mouth.

  I wanted him, too. I had been turned on by him all night. I wanted him so badly.

  “Come to the bunkhouse with me,” I said.

  Ace broke the kiss and pulled back, his dark eyes on mine, and I was drowning in them. He didn’t ask me if I was sure. He nodded, fumbled for the door handle, and opened the door. I got out the other side and walked around the truck. Ace took my hand and all but dragged me to the bunkhouse, kissing me on the way so that we got distracted, and it took us longer to get there than it needed to.

  The moment we were inside, Ace pulled me against him and pushed his tongue into my mouth. He ground his hips against mine, and I could feel his hard cock through his pants. He pushed me against the wall like he had before, and it was so hot. There was something about a man taking control that got me going. He was drunk—I’d seen how much he’d had to drink—but now that we were making out, feeling each other up, it didn’t seem like he was drunk at all. He knew exactly what he was doing and what he wanted.

  Ace kissed a trail of fire down my neck and onto my chest. He pulled up my shirt, and I lifted my arms, helping him get rid of it. My breathing was shallow and ragged. Ace pulled down the cups of my bra, exposing my breasts and taking a nipple into his mouth. I gasped when he sucked on my nipple, the little nub tight and erect in his mouth. He flicked his tongue back and forth over my nipple, and I pushed my hands into his hair.

  Without letting up with his mouth, Ace wrapped his hands around my back. I arched my body to allow him to unclasp my bra, and he dropped it on the floor. His hands found my breasts again, and he squeezed me while he explored me with his mouth.

  The feel of his hot breath on my body made me suck air in through my teeth. It felt so good, the way his tongue flicked across my skin. It was mesmerizing. My body responded to his movements. I pushed myself against him. I wanted to feel more of him.

  I pushed my hands underneath his shirt, and his skin was hot. His muscles rippled under his skin as he moved. I worked his shirt up and over his head. He let go of me long enough for me to do that—and I ran my hands over his naked back when I was rid of the shirt.

  Ace moved further and further down my body, eventually kneeling. He undid my jeans and peeled them over my ass, taking my panties with them when he pulled them down. I stood naked in front of him besides the pants bunched around my ankles until I stepped out of them.

  Ace’s hands were on my hips, pulling my hips closer. He was still on his knees in front of me and planted kisses on my abdomen, working his way toward the V between my legs. I squirmed, knowing where he was headed, and I was too turned on to worry about it.

  When he closed his mouth over my pussy, I gasped. I widened my stance to give him space, and he pushed his tongue into my slit. He flicked it back and forth over my clit, and I gasped and moaned as he licked me and sucked me. My body moved with each motion; I couldn’t help but move my hips against his mouth. He was so good with his tongue, and I could hardly control my own body. I felt myself growing closer and closer, and then finally he tipped me over the edge of my first orgasm.

  Ace picked me up and carried me to the bed. He put me down and undid his jeans, pulling them down. When he stood in front of me, his cock hard and straining, I returned the favor. I wrapped my fingers around his shaft and took his head into my mouth. He hissed when I did, and I licked the tip, swirling my tongue around and around. I sucked him deeper into my mouth and bobbed my head, fucking him that way. I cupped his balls and kept at it until he got harder
and harder—so hard that he was like silk over steel.

  He was drunk, but he didn’t seem to have any problems performing.

  When he got close to coming, he pulled out. He pushed me back so I lay on the bed, and crawled over me. My thighs fell open for him, and he positioned himself between them, pushing against my entrance. When he entered me, I cried out. He was large and split me open with pleasure that was just this side of pain.

  Ace meant business. The moment he was inside me, he started pounding, bucking his hips and hammering into me. I cried out as he slammed into me again and again, and he breathed hard in my ear. His hands were braced on each side of my head as he fucked me, and my little bed creaked with the motion and the extra weight.

  Ace pushed me over the edge and a second orgasm ripped through my body. He barely gave me time to recover before he flipped me over. I arched my back so my ass was on display for him. Ace ran his hands over my ass, admiring it for a second before he pushed into me again. I cried out as he pumped into me from behind. He was bigger, harder, and eager to push me even further. I didn’t know if it was the alcohol or if he was always this aggressive as a lover, but it was delicious.

  When he fucked me from behind, Ace leaned forward and cupped my breast in one hand. He pulled at the nipple, squeezing my breast before he slid his hand down my body and found my clit. He slowed down his pace, sliding languidly in and out of me while he rubbed my clit in a circular motion. It was hard to concentrate on orgasming with the double onslaught, but it didn’t take him very long to push me closer and closer to a third orgasm. This was a record for me. I hadn’t been with many guys, but I’d thought they were alright in bed. They paled in comparison. Of course, if they’d had as much experience as Ace had, they might have been better. I pushed the thought away. Tonight, I didn’t care about the number of women he’d fucked. I focused only on that he was fucking me.

  And the third orgasm shattered through me, pulling me apart at the seams. I cried out.