“Yes,” she said softly.
I didn’t pry any further than that. Now wasn’t the time.
“You call me if you ever need anything,” I said. “Anything at all, I’ll be here.”
Gia blinked her tears away and gazed at me. The tip of her nose and her cheeks had a rosy glow from crying, and tears clung to her lashes as she slowly closed her eyes. Even crying, she was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. She leaned in and kissed me.
It was gentle at first, almost like she was thanking me for being there for her. Then it got deeper. Her hands dug into my hair and she pressed against me, her mouth parting and her tongue sliding against mine. She tilted her head to deepen it and crawled closer. I held her to me but didn’t do anything to further the kiss. As much as I wanted her, now wasn’t the time for that either.
Finally, Gia pulled away.
I wiped her tears with my thumb and smiled at her. “I should go. You need some rest.”
She nodded again and walked me to the door where we said goodnight. I left reluctantly, knowing it was the right thing to do but also hating the thought of leaving her there.
Chapter 18
Gia
The stars twinkled high overhead and I gasped as they seem to double, then triple in number as the darkness took over the sky rapidly. I felt fingers entwine with mine and rolled my head over to see Clayton staring back at me.
Behind him, the sky burned black, comets passed, and stars burned, lighting the night like a million candles. He grinned and I felt myself returning the expression, my lips aching to touch his. Music drifted to us slowly from somewhere in the distance, and I kicked off my shoes, letting the short blades of grass tickle my soles beyond the edge of the blanket.
I rolled over and placed my head in the nook of Clayton’s arm and leaned my face up to his. He curled down into me and our lips met passionately. My skin seemed to burn with anticipation, and I brushed my hand over his cheek. It felt rough and smooth at the same time, the five-o-clock shadow prickling my palm but the skin underneath soft and slick. His white button shirt from our date was open at the neck and I could smell his cologne. It smelled like bourbon and mahogany. Safe. Sturdy. Warm.
One hand cupped my ass and pulled me closer to him, and I wrapped my leg over his. His bulge was pressing against my thigh and I shuddered at the thought of revealing it. I let my hand slide down to it and felt it over his jeans, like I had before. It was thick and hard, and he moaned when I brushed my palm over it. This time, I wasn’t going to hold back. I flicked at his belt with my thumb and opened it. His body shuffled to give me a better angle, and I pulled at the tab of his jeans to unbutton them.
I slid my hand inside and felt the thick, long staff twitch under my fingers. A moan escaped his lips at my touch, and it sent a thrill down my spine, making me want to hear more of it, to make him moan so loudly that it was all I could hear, all I would ever hear.
I reached for the waistband of his boxers and pulled down, and he angled his hips up so he could push his jeans down with it. I grasped onto the shaft and wrapped my fingers around it, and when his waistband was past it, I pulled so it sprang out at me.
A smile crossed my lips, and I stroked him, eliciting another groan of pleasure, and I moved my eyes to watch it. His cock in my hands was warm and slick at the tip, and I stroked him slowly.
I kissed his neck and then the center of his chest where his shirt opened. Still stroking him, I moved my lips down his shirt, and he unbuttoned it as I went, exposing hardened muscles and smooth, tender skin.
My tongue flicked between the muscles of his abdomen, and I trailed it down the path of small dark hair leading to where my hand was working him. I finally reached the base of his cock and slid my tongue around it. Sliding it up the underside, I felt him shudder beneath me, and I was overcome with the need to bring him to climax. I wanted him to come under my touch, as he had done to me on our first date. And I wanted to feel that peak again myself.
The head of his cock was slick with fluid and I swept it up in my tongue, mixing it with my saliva before taking the head into my mouth. His moans were louder now, and one hand had slid behind my head, guiding me.
Fingers clenched into my hair as he groaned and I pushed myself lower, taking as much of him into my mouth as I could. I flicked my tongue as I went down, and soon, he was pushing at the back of my throat. I couldn’t help but choke a little as his firm, hard cock filled my mouth, and I made a moaning sound of my own. The vibration of my mouth pleased him, and he twitched under me, throwing his head back and making a sound between a groan and a shout.
My hand stroked him as I bobbed back up and down over him, my other hand slipping below to cup his balls and massage them. Both of his hands were in my hair now, guiding me faster, and I let the rhythm increase until his hips began to buck and my head stayed still, letting him fuck my mouth as the passion overtook him.
He must have been close to climax when he pulled himself out of me, and a trail of saliva connected his cock and my lips. He wiped my lips with his thumb, and I took it into my mouth as I climbed up him.
He grabbed one of my legs and helped me to straddle him, and the flowy skirt I wore billowed around his abdomen. I pulled on my panties, shoving them to the side and exposing my white-hot core to the summer air.
I slid my pussy against the underside of his slick cock, and the head brushed against my clit. I cupped him against me and let my own juices mix with his as his hard erection pressed against my sensitive pearl. My body tingled as I brought myself closer to climax with just his cock touching me. But I needed more.
I raised my hips above him and guided his head to my opening. His thumb slid out of my mouth and moved down my body as I positioned myself above him, steeling myself for his massive cock filling me, stretching me until I wrapped around him like a glove.
His thumb pressed between my thighs and found my center, kneading and circling my clit, sending my voice into whimpers as his head slid inside me. I sat down slowly onto him, reveling in every inch of his cock pressing my walls apart, making me open myself for him, to create space for him. I had barely gotten half of him inside me, but I felt like I was full with him, and I had to stop to breathe. His thumb swirled around my clit and I was overwhelmed with sensation. His other hand slid down to my hips and pulled me gently down.
His cock pressed against my back walls, stretching me farther than I had ever been before, and I opened my mouth to cry out, but no sound came. I was teetering on the line between pain and pleasure, and my fingers dug into his chest muscles, simultaneously searching for relief from his body filling mine so completely while also wanting more, wanting him to completely smother me with his body until we melded into one. Strong fingers pulled me to rock on him and I followed the instruction, riding him and closing my eyes to focus on the completeness of our bodies being joined.
He brought his hand up, leaving my hip, to pull at the shoulder of my loose blouse. It slid down, exposing one breast, and I felt his body vibrate below me with a groan from deep in his belly. It dropped out of the blouse, heavy and round, my nipple perky and pointed, and he grasped it eagerly in his palm. I pulled my shoulders in so the other strap fell and he happily yanked it down, so my other breast tumbled out into his waiting hand. He pressed my breasts together and into me as I rocked over him, riding him in increasing desperation. My entire body felt like it was on fire and overwhelmed by his every touch. I could feel the oncoming climax building between my thighs, and I rode him harder, faster. He seemed to sense how close I was, and his thumb slipped between my legs again, pressing into my clit as my head rocked back and I let out a yell into the night sky. My toes dug into the dirt and I pressed down into him, letting him fill me as much as I dared, and the earth-shattering orgasm filled my every thought.
I shook as my body writhed in wave after wave, and I collapsed into his arms. He held me there for a moment and then we rose as he sat up. Our lips crushed together again as he rolled me over, s
o I lay on my back, my eyes drifting to the inky tapestry of lights above me.
My senses were alive and crackling, and I could smell the honeysuckle of the trees and the smoke in the air from a fire being burned nearby. His body curled over mine and I rested my feet on the blanket, wisps of grass tickling the top of my toes. The weight of him crushed down on me, but it was gentle, like a heavy blanket, and I nuzzled into the skin of his shoulder while he positioned himself.
His first thrust into me made lights flash behind my eyelids and I struggled to keep from crying out so loudly I would wake the wildlife. His body filled mine so impossibly deep, so completely, that I thought I might burst.
His hands pressed down into the blanket on either side of my body and I let my eyes trail down his muscular chest to where his cock slid out and back into my wet, aching pussy. Watching his veined, throbbing cock enter me, filling me, brought another wave to the edge of my perception. I reached down to grasp at his hard, round ass to pull him into me deeper, faster.
He took the instruction and increased his speed. I held him for a while, guiding him to fuck me harder, and then let go. I wanted to revel in the sensation, and I let my arms lay above my head in the cool grass.
My eyes opened and I moaned as I watched the stars twinkle overhead and his face contort in effort and pleasure as he rammed into me with an increasing hunger. The light of the stars and the wide bright moon cast shadows down our bodies, and I wrapped my hands around his neck, filling my fingers with his hair as he slammed into me.
I raised my legs to wrap around his hips, and he reached down to grab them, pulling them to his shoulders. He sat up, and I let go of his hair, unsnapping the flowy skirt and letting it fall to my sides. I ran my hands up my sides and cupped my bouncing breasts as he fucked me harder, more intensely.
His moans became grunts of exertion and concentration. I knew he was getting close. I pushed my hips up into him so he could slide deeper into me. When he came, I wanted to wrap his cock so completely that nothing would be lost.
His thick cock was hammering into me and his voice rose in short grunting bursts. The climax that had been threatening at the edge of my own consciousness let loose and washed over me. Wave after wave of a powerful orgasm shook me, and my legs jiggled as my pussy pulsed, and I slid my finger down to press into my clit and heighten the experience.
Above me, his grunts got louder, more intense, and I lost myself in the music of them. My body responded with my toes curling as my climax shook me deeper, longer and I joined him in the sounds of ecstasy.
Suddenly, his body went rigid, and his hips slammed into me hard. He cock exploded as he came deeply in me, and our orgasms peaked at the same time. I clenched my fingers into his muscular back and held tightly to him, pulling him as deeply into me as I could.
Finally, his body was spent and mine had milked him empty. He collapsed into me and I covered his face with kisses until his lips met mine for one more long, luxurious embrace.
Just as he moved to roll over so he could cuddle me against him, my eyes snapped open.
Clayton wasn’t there. Neither were the stars or the grass or the sweet smell. I was in the bedroom of my new apartment, listening to the sound of Gabby breathing heavily in her sleep beside me. I stared up at the ceiling, drawing in breaths as I tried to cool down from the intense dream. Groaning, I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow.
Chapter 19
Clayton
The heat of summer still sizzled around us and in the middle of the afternoon when the sun seared the backs of our necks and thirst parched our throats it felt like it would never end. But preparing for winter was always on our mind. Winters in Montana were intense. Extreme cold brought feet of snow, and harsh winds whipped it around almost constantly. There were days when it felt like being inside one of the old water globes our grandmother used to keep up on her mantle at Christmastime.
That kind of snow made life difficult for the animals if we didn’t prepare properly. It wasn’t like we could just turn the cattle out to the pastures and let them dig down into the massive drifts to find the grass. There might be a few places throughout the ranch where they could access bits of plants that grew up on elevated soil. Some may even chew on the bottoms of tree limbs. But it was far from enough to sustain them and there was too much danger in just letting them out into the snow and cold for too long. Even animals that large and hardy could succumb to the extreme temperatures quickly.
Throughout the year, we prepared for those difficult months. Even as we felt like we were going to evaporate in the heat, we thought about the cold to come. That meant getting all aspects of the ranch ready. Cold weather could make for sick animals, and every couple of years, winter brought a surprise baby or two as the cold weather made the cows calve earlier than we expected. It was important we were ready to get them better and sustain a vulnerable calf if we were stuck in a blizzard.
We also had to be sure the herd would have access to enough food and water when the coldest weather hit. Every day during the winter months, we put extra feed down throughout the ranch. But we also had to stack barns full of bales of hay and supplements to make sure they had all the nutrition they needed. Water from the creek was their favorite, but during the blizzards, it might not flow. Electric waterers scattered across the ranch kept water available even when the creek wasn’t. But they could freeze up, too. We had to check the lights and heaters to make sure they could stand up to the winter and stay working even when the snow came down.
A few years back, a massive blizzard in October pounded the area. Some families lost hundreds of cattle because they weren’t prepared. We were lucky to weather it all right, but it was far from comfortable. Our animals were hungry and stressed, and it took a hard struggle after to get them strong again and shore up for the rest of winter. After that, we were determined not to ever get caught with our pants down again. We worked through the year and doubled up toward the end of August to make sure we were ready whenever Mother Nature decided to test us.
That day, Sawyer and I had our sights on the winter needs of the other animals on the ranch. Us.
Taking care of the herd during a blizzard was critical and all of us were willing to go through some discomfort if it meant they were safe and healthy. But we’d rather not have to deal with long stretches of cold and hunger if we could help it. That meant stocking the pantry with food we could eat if we couldn’t get to the store and having a good stash of firewood we could use to heat the house and cook. Sawyer also needed the firewood for his ranch experience. The guests who flocked to the ranch expected evening campfires, but browsing the land for bits of wood wasn’t part of the schedule.
Mainly because he was afraid of losing any of the guests if they wandered off. It was much easier hauling precut wood and having fire starters in his pack than it was to explain to someone why their loved one was missing.
That afternoon, we were combining efforts. As we sought out downed trees we could chop, we also continued to track the lone wolf. The night before, another horrific scream from one of our cattle marked a brutal attack that took another from our herd. We were tired of losing our cattle to this creature and determined to get rid of it once and for all.
We were finally on its trail and I felt like we were getting close. Our anxiety was creeping up, and to cover it, we were trying to carry on a normal conversation.
“Do you trust her, or do you think it’s just another girl trying to get her claws into Garrett?” I asked.
Sawyer shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know what to think anymore. It’s been a long time since he’s graced this ranch with his presence. Doing the math, it would mean he would have had to have been in Green Valley about three months ago. None of us saw him any time around there. So he would have had to run through town just to hook up with her and head on his merry way without anyone else knowing he was here.”
“I don’t put that past him. He could have been talking to her and gotten his appetite w
orked up. You know how Garrett is. He hasn’t set eyes on a girl he wants around for longer than a couple of days. He might do repeats, but they have to be spread few and far between.”
It wasn’t the most flattering depiction of our brother, but it was accurate. In his heart, Garrett was a good man. He wasn’t great at showing it, but he cared about other people, especially his family. When he knew someone was in trouble or needed something, he would often find ways to help them without letting anyone know it was him doing it.
But that was a side of Garrett few people knew. Instead, they saw the wild one. The boy who brushed too close to the law too many times. He had the scars and rough edges to show for his showdowns with the men who butted heads with him and wouldn’t back down. And there were enough broken hearts among the women in Green Valley to scatter them from one end of Main Street to the other. He wasn’t good at relationships. He was even worse at pretending he was good at relationships. The girls who fell under his spell had to be prepared to be forgotten as quickly as they were noticed.
One day, that would be different. He wouldn’t listen to it for a second, but I knew there would be a time when some girl would come along who would bring Garrett to his knees. It wouldn’t be easy. But it would amuse everyone who knew him.
I might not be able to dismiss this girl’s claims offhand, but I wasn’t totally buying into it, either. It didn’t sound like Garrett to go to the trouble of coming all the way back to Green Valley for some sort of clandestine hookup. He wasn’t known for his subtlety and I doubted he would actually move through town without even stopping into the ranch for supper.
“I didn’t even know what to tell her,” Sawyer said. “All I could say was I promised to get in touch with her if I heard from him again and to let him know she was asking after him.”
His Dirty Hands (The Montgomery Boys Book 2) Page 11
