Simple Beginnings

by Janelle Stalder

  My lips felt numb as we continued to lose ourselves in each other. Breathing suddenly wasn’t as important as keeping my lips against his. When he pulled back a groan of disappointment escaped me before I could stop it. Gage chuckled, the hand that had been holding my head moving until his thumb grazed my moist lower lip.

  “If we don’t stop now, I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to,” he said, his voice gruffer than usual. It only helped to increase my desire for him. My fingers hooked into the waistband of his pants, keeping him close.

  “I wouldn’t complain,” I said, shocking myself slightly. No guy had ever made me feel this crazed before. I wanted Gage. Plain and simple.

  He groaned, his mouth swooping in again to take over mine. I greedily opened up to him, wrapping my tongue around his. I felt more complete with him touching me, his taste and smell overwhelming me. The feel of his smooth, bare skin beneath my palms made me wish we were completely skin to skin.

  Gage ripped his mouth away from mine with a growl. “Seriously, Ella. We need to stop. There’s no way I’m taking you out here in the field.”

  Okay, he had a point. I really didn’t want my first time, never mind our first time, to be out with all the crickets and mosquitos watching. I let him take a step back so we could both gather some control.

  “You’re right,” I finally managed, smoothing down my hair. Gage gripped the back of his neck as he looked up at the sky. His mouth moved silently. I could tell he was counting down, which made me smile. Seeing Gage Hunter unravelled and struggling for control because of me was empowering. My gaze drifted down to the front of his pants. I couldn’t help but gulp audibly, my eyes glued to the rather large bulge there. Suddenly my lady parts were thankful we’d put a stop to things.

  “Don’t stare or I’ll never be able to calm down enough to walk back home,” Gage pleaded, his eyes still trained upward.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, embarrassed at being caught ogling him. “Maybe I should head back,” I suggested.

  He finally looked down at me, the heat in his gaze still blazing. He held his body stiffly as he nodded slowly. “Yeah, maybe you should. I need a few minutes by myself.”

  I scooted off the wall and went to walk around him. His arm instantly shot out, snaking around my waist, pulling me against his side. I gasped, not expecting him to touch me again, considering …

  I didn’t know much about guys in that department, but even I could tell he was having difficulty calming down. Touching me seemed counterproductive – not that I was really complaining. My body instantly melted into his side of its own will, even though my brain yelled at me to behave.

  “Good night, Ella,” he said softly, kissing me on one corner of my mouth, and then again on the other corner.

  I sighed, my eyes closing as he went back and kissed the first corner again, never placing his lips directly over mine the way I wanted him to. Then he kissed me lightly on the nose.

  “These damn freckles,” he muttered.

  I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me in a way that made me both want to smile back, and cry from the overwhelming emotions washing over me. How I could ever have convinced myself I hated this man was beyond me.

  “Good night, Gage,” I said as his arm dropped away from me. He didn’t stop me again as I walked past him and headed back to the farm. I didn’t know how things were going to be between us tomorrow, but I was eager to find out. Morning couldn’t come fast enough.

  Twenty

  Gage

  “Who pissed gold into your cereal?”

  I looked up at Cam, noticing for the first time that he was watching me. “What? That doesn’t even make sense.”

  “Seriously,” Chris said, sitting down beside me. “Where do you come up with shit like that?”

  Cam shrugged, not taking his eyes off me. “What’s with the stupid grin on your face? You’ve been smiling since you walked into the kitchen.”

  “Can’t a guy just be happy in the morning?”

  “No,” both brothers said simultaneously.

  “Only a guy who just got laid has a smile like that,” Chris said, now watching me too. “Is that it? Did you finally nail someone?”

  My smile slipped as I frowned at them both. “No.”

  “Hmmm, then what?” Cam said, almost as though he were talking to himself. “The last time I saw him he was cranky, moody Gage because of a certain someone. And now he’s super happy Gage. So am I to assume the change in mood is also due to this certain someone?”

  “Who’s that? Ella?” Chris asked, looking between us until his eyes finally settled on me and stayed. “Did you nail Ella?” he said, his tone taking on a warning tone.

  I sat up straighter, not liking his defensive manner. Not that I thought he was acting that way because he liked Ella or anything. Both my brothers saw her as a little sister, I knew that. Some part of me still resented anyone who thought her safety and well-being were anyone’s business by mine.

  “Don’t you go screwing with that,” he continued. “Ella is not that kind of girl.”

  “You think I don’t know that? I’d do anything to protect that girl.”

  “Even from yourself?”

  We stared at each other. I’d screwed up a lot in my teenage years, but surely Chris knew I wasn’t the same anymore. Especially when it came to her. “I’m not going to hurt her,” I gritted out.

  “Better not.” He got up, dumping his bowl in the sink.

  Cam just watched us in his usual observant silence. When Chris left, Cam finally looked back at me. “So is that it then? Something happened with Ella?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I answered, getting up to bring my dish to the sink, adding it to the growing pile. Someone was going to have to clean around here eventually. Four guys in one house left a lot of much needed chores undone. It was disgusting.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Cam’s voice called out as I made my way to the door.

  I stopped just inside, not bothering to turn and look at him. “I do,” I said, reassuring him and myself. This thing with Ella was new to me. I’d never really been serious about a girl before. But I knew there was no way I’d do anything to screw it up. I just prayed I knew myself as well as I thought I did.

  I wrapped my arms around Ella’s waist from behind, unable to continue to watch her from a distant like I’d been doing for the past ten minutes without touching her. She’d been hard at work planting, bent over, unaware of how my eyes greedily stroked over every appealing line of her body. She was so tempting, she made my mouth water.

  Finally I’d given in when she’d stood up to stretch and crept silently behind her. Pulling her body against mine, I dropped my head forward, breathing her in. My tongue licked the salty sweat that had beaded on her neck, a groan escaping before I could stop it. Ella melted against me, easing all my fears that in the light of day she might regret what had happened between us last night – or this morning would be more accurate.

  “Good morning,” she said in an amused voice, her head falling back to rest on my shoulder as I continued to taste every bit of skin I could reach.

  “Morning,” I replied, smiling against her.

  “You’re late.”

  I chuckled, nuzzling into her hair. “I had a hard time falling asleep last night, so I slept in a bit.”

  She laughed. “I bet you did.” Turning in my arms, she looked up at me. Her eyes had a look in them that told me she was more nervous about this than she was letting on. I didn’t want that. I wanted her to be comfortable with me and whatever this was between us. But I knew it was new, to both of us.

  I leaned forward to drop a kiss on the tip of her little nose. The smile that spread across her face made something tighten in my chest. I wanted to put that contented look on her face every day for the rest of my life.

  “How peeved is Nan?” I asked.

  Her eyebrows shot up. “You mean you haven’t gone in to see her yet?”

 
I shook my head, smiling guiltily. “I’m avoiding it.”

  She whistled. “Boy, you’re going to be in so much trouble.” She stepped back, swatting at my chest. “You better head up there before she sends out the hounds.”

  I reluctantly let my arms dropped away from her as she put space between us. “Lucky for me she doesn’t have any,” I said. “Guess I should go face the music, huh?”

  “Yeah … good luck with that. Bring me something to drink when you’re done getting in trouble.”

  I sighed, pretending to turn to leave before moving forward quickly to wrap her in my arms again. She squealed as I hauled her against me, her feet rising off the ground. Before she could speak my mouth was on hers. There was no way I was going to walk away from her without kissing her.

  She opened to me easily, her tongue meeting mine, making both of us moan together. I squeeze her tighter, unable to get close enough to satisfy me. I wanted this girl so badly, I didn’t know how I was going to get through a day without touching her at all times. She had become an addiction, one that I didn’t want to overcome.

  “Oh good, you made it,” came Nan’s voice from behind me.

  Ella and I pulled apart instantly as I continued to hold on to her. She looked over my shoulder, her cheeks turning a bright red as she met her grandmother’s stare. Slowly I looked over my shoulder with the grin I knew Nan couldn’t resist. There was something to be said about the Hunter charm.

  “Morning, Nan,” I said, not putting Ella down even though she wiggled in a way that told me she wanted me to. Instead I held on tighter.

  Nan grunted, her mouth flattening into a straight line. “Morning indeed,” she huffed.

  “Do you remember that time we went up on that hill near the Parkson’s property just as the sun was setting?” I stroked my fingers through silk strands of hair. “And that family of deer came out from the forest close to us?”

  “Wow. Do you two need some privacy?”

  I looked over to see Ella watching me with a shit-eating grin stretched across her face. Tut huffed as I went back to brushing out his coat.

  “We don’t mind an audience, do we Tut?”

  Ella laughed, the sound rolling over me making me smile in return. I loved the sound of her giggle. Even after all these years, it had hardly changed except to deepen slightly, making it even more attractive, if that was possible.

  “You two have a strange, strange relationship. You know that, right?” she said, walking up to rest her arms on the stall door.

  “We just happen to understand each other is all,” I said, giving the old guy a good pat. “Isn’t that right, Tut?”

  He snorted, lowering his head slowly to pick at the hay I’d given him as I groomed.

  “Well I certainly hate to break up this little love fest, but I’m melting out there. I thought maybe we could take a break and go for a quick swim.”

  My head shot up in excitement. Any excuse to see Ella half naked and wet was more than okay with me. She certainly didn’t need to ask me twice.

  “Nan going to be okay with that?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I already told her we’d be gone for an hour or so.”

  I let my eyes drop down the front of her slowly. “Are you wearing that red bikini again?”

  Her laugh pulled my eyes back up to focus on her radiant face.

  “I guess you’ll just have to wait to find out,” she replied, turning to walk back toward the barn exit.

  I groaned loudly, giving Tut a quick goodbye smack before hopping over the stall, and following her out like the love-struck fool that I was. The girl could probably lead me off a cliff and I’d follow happily.

  Twenty-One

  Ella

  I slowly stripped off my shorts, feeling Gage’s eyes on me the entire time. Normally it would have made me nervous, but having Gage watch me like that only increased the heat that was slowly burning me from the inside out. I couldn’t be around him anymore without feeling it.

  The memory of his kiss last night hadn’t left me once during the entire day, no matter how much I tried to focus on something else. My brain and my body were finally in agreement with what they wanted, and that just happened to be the guy standing waist deep in the water before me. My hands itched to touch him, especially with all that toned, tanned skin on display. God he was gorgeous. Farming sure did the boy some good.

  I walked slowly toward the edge of the water, deciding to skip the rope swing for once. As soon as my toes hit the cool water a sigh escaped. The air was humid and sticky, the sun blaring down in a cloudless sky. This was a much needed reprieve from the heat. I hadn’t been lying when I told Gage I was melting. It wasn’t my fault that it also happened to be the perfect excuse to be alone together.

  “Move it, woman,” he called out. “What are you waiting for?”

  I stepped in further, letting the refreshing water pool around me, stopping when it reached my thighs. Gage tilted his head to the side with a warning look.

  “You can do better than that,” he urged. “Otherwise I’m going to have to come over there and get you myself.”

  My heart instantly picked up speed at the thought. It must have shown on my face because his mouth stretched out into a knowing grin, his eyes heating as he began to prowl toward me. It’s the only way I can describe the way he moved forward. If he were a predator I was certainly his prey. A willing victim at that. My feet stayed where they were as my eyes watched him grow closer and closer, his gaze never leaving mine.

  When he stopped just in front of me, I breathed in deeply, inhaling the delicious scent that was Gage. He wasn’t the kind of guy who poured on cologne like so many did. I’d been around enough guys at parties where you could taste their cologne there was so much in the air around them. I’d always hated it. One would think they bathed in it.

  Gage wasn’t like that. He simply smelled like soap, shampoo, and man. It made my mouth water, as embarrassing as that was to admit. Not that I would say it out loud to him. I watched as his eyes finally left mine to drop down my body. I hadn’t worn the red bikini this time. Instead I had put on the white one I owned and had happened to pack. Ruffles lined the curves of my chest, and the waist below my bellybutton. Between my boobs was a little pink bow.

  I didn’t wear it often because my mom had always complained it looked like lingerie. Why I had even packed it was beyond me, but at this point, looking at the way Gage was devouring me with his eyes, I was glad I had. He raised a hand, one finger slowly drifting over the ruffles on my left breast, his skin just barely touching mine as he followed the line to the bow in the middle.

  “I’m not sure which one I like better,” he said, his voice hoarse. I’d have laughed if I’d had any breath in me. Instead I just stared at him, my lips parted slightly as he stepped even closer. “I’d probably like anything you wore though,” he continued. “Even a plain, brown paper bag I bet.”

  I smiled weakly, trying to hide the way my breath hitched as his other hand landed on my hip. It was cool and wet against my skin, not that I really felt it. The heat his touch infused was no match for the cool temperature of the water.

  “A paper bag, huh?” I said, desperately trying to find my voice. Geez, this was just Gage. I mean, it was silly to start getting all tongue-tied and nervous around him, even if our relationship was going down a different path. He was still just a boy. I’d always been good at keeping my cool around guys. Why should he be any different?

  His head bent forward as he took one last step, causing our chests to mash together. His lips trailed along my jaw. Not kissing, just stroking a path that had me answering my own question. He was different because for some reason my body had decided anything he did, any touch, ignited something inside me that had never been awakened before. It was as though our bodies recognized each other. There was some intangible, inexplicable connection there that made me want to melt against him and stay there.

  His lips moved until they hovered just above mine. I felt th
em as they stretched into a grin. “Let’s get you wet,” he said against me. His words took a second to register, and when they did I didn’t have time to respond before he moved quickly. In the next second I was flying through the air, a scream escaping me right before I plunged into the cool depths of the pond, the world around me disappearing.

  Sputtering when I resurfaced, I wiped the hair from my face and eyes as I gasped for breath. “That was mean, Gage Hunter!” I yelled.

  His laugh was closer than I’d expected as I cleared the water from my vision. Gage was right beside me in an instance, his arms wrapping around me below the water, easily pulling me against him. Without thought, I wrapped my legs around his waist, letting him hold me.

  “I told you we were going to get you wet,” he said smugly. “You’re the one that said you needed to cool down.”

  I gave him a look most guys would be terrified of, but of course he just smiled even wider than he was already. Gage had always loved to purposely piss me off. It seemed that hadn’t changed between us.

  “I’m going to get you back for that,” I said.

  He chuckled. “Sure you are, sweetheart. Bring it on.”

  I raised my eyebrows, biting my lip. “Is that so?” I tightened my legs around him, bringing out bodies even closer together until my center rubbed up against his. Even in the water I could feel him react against me. I rocked slowly once, watching as his eyes practically rolled back into his head.

  “Ella,” he said warningly.

  “Gage,” I replied innocently.

  His eyes narrowed on me as those full lips of his pressed into a thin line. “You’re playing with fire,” he said. “You have no idea how much I want you. Behave.”

  I rocked again, feeling him fully now. He was impressive, that much I could tell. It made my mouth dry and I suddenly wondered who exactly I was torturing – me or him. My insides had started to quiver as he rubbed up against the perfect spot, shooting little sparks of pleasure up my spine. I was definitely playing with fire, and it was possible I was going to get burned in the process. And yet I couldn’t seem to stop myself from rotating my hips one more time.