Wild grunts rumbled from his chest as he plowed into me, and then his hands reached behind me to lift me up. I sat on him, his knees still on the bed of the truck and his hands holding me up by my ass. He walked me back to the back window of the truck and pressed me against it, our mouths searching and finding each other again. His tongue slid between my parted lips and found mine, and I curled my arms around his neck, pressing my breasts, my nipples taut and hard, into his chest. Gently, I bit down on his bottom lip as his body thrust up into mine, the new position letting him brush against the top wall of my core and his soft hair to brush against and press into my clit with each thrust.
Another world-shaking orgasm was about to take control of me, and the tension rose to an unbearable level. My body shook as I let it roll over me in wave after wave, and my head fell back to the top of the truck, and Clayton took a breast into his mouth. Just as I felt like I couldn’t control myself any longer, his grunts began to rise in volume and intensity. I dug my fingernails into his back in an effort to grind myself into him, the passion of our moment guiding me. Suddenly, he slammed hard into me, and exploded, his cock emptying itself with a heavy load. My legs vibrated as the sensation of him coming inside me tumbled me over into a new, higher level of climax. I cried out a sound to match the night that sang all around us and clenched my legs around his waist. My pussy throbbed as it milked him until there was no more, and he began to become soft in my grip. We crumbled back, so he lay on his back and I lay beside him, my face resting on his chest and the sound of his heartbeat filling my heart with the rhythm of his own, making it beat fully, truly as one.
Chapter 25
Clayton
Getting up early had never been a challenge for me. At least, it had never been a question. Even when I didn’t want to pry my eyelids up and my body protested getting out of my warm comfortable bed, not doing it wasn’t an option.
I might have to drag a sore, stiff body into the frigid cold of a morning, but I did it. Because I had to. It was just one of those things in life that came without argument. The ranch was there and needed to be worked. It was instilled in me from the time I was old enough to remember. Unless you were sick, injured, or it was Christmas morning, you were up before the sun and taking care of your responsibilities.
So I did it.
Right up until that Saturday after my date with Gia. I wasn’t injured. I definitely wasn’t sick. And the August heat reminded me it wasn’t Christmas. But I did have sweet images dancing in my head. Staying in bed well past when my alarm tried to wake me was all about my own amusement. I had the best night I’d had in a long time the night before and I didn’t want to shake it yet.
As soon as I got up, it would officially be the next day. I’d have to start thinking about other things and concentrating on all the work waiting for me on the ranch rather than the way Gia felt in my arms. Or the smell of her skin. The taste of her lips. Staying firmly lost in those thoughts sounded far better to me than anything I needed to do out on the land.
But that didn’t last long. As much as I might have wanted to stay locked away in my room for the rest of the morning and then sneak off to Gia’s place, there was no chance. Every minute was borrowed, and soon, I ran out of favors from the universe. Without even so much as a knock, the door flew open.
Sawyer came in and loomed over me. “Forget to charge your phone, brother? Your alarm should have woken you up almost two hours ago.”
“It did,” I said, pulling the blankets up over my head to steal a few more seconds.
My youngest brother grabbed onto the blankets and wrenched them off me. “Then you have no excuse. Get your lazy ass up. We’re not picking up the slack for you today.”
“You are still a brat, you know that?” I asked but got out of bed.
“Shannon came by earlier with breakfast and you’re lucky because we left you a few scraps. But if you’re not down there fast, Boone is going to eat them.”
“Fine,” I said. “I’m coming.”
He left the room and I went to close the door behind him, surprised I didn’t hear anything about where I was the night before.
“And if you’re hiding that new girl in there, find out how she takes her coffee,” Sawyer called from down the hall.
Shit. Shannon and her mouth. Or Jesse and his mouth. Probably both.
The threat of my breakfast being hijacked by my brother and me having to eat a bowl of cereal was real. It got me moving faster as I got dressed, ran a comb through my hair, and went downstairs. Jesse, Sawyer, and Cassidy were around the kitchen table drinking coffee. Two extra cups sat on the table with them and I rolled my eyes.
“Seriously?” I asked.
They snickered as I snatched one of the mugs and carried it over to the coffeemaker.
“What?” Cassidy asked. “It was a just-in-case measure. We wouldn’t want Gia to feel unwelcome on her very first visit to the ranch.”
I didn’t bother telling him it wasn’t her first visit. That honor was reserved for the first night I brought her out, when we had dinner under the stars on my favorite hill. My brothers had enough ammunition to tease me about. I didn’t need to give them anything else to rib me about.
And I felt strangely protective of those memories. They were mine and I didn’t want anyone else messing with them, especially not my brothers.
“She’s not here,” I said. “She didn’t come back with me last night.”
“No?” Sawyer asked. “Word is all around town you two lovebirds were at The Junction last night and you seemed mighty friendly.”
“All around town, huh?” I asked.
“I might have acted as eye witness,” Jesse said. “But it was kind of hard not to be. You two were all over each other.”
“All over each other and you didn’t bring her home?” Sawyer asked. “Either you totally bombed with sealing the deal or you are seriously falling hard for her.”
I didn’t answer. There was no reason for him to know there was another option.
“I guess what they said was true,” Cassidy said. “No Green Valley girls were good enough for you. Somebody had to ship one in for you to get interested.”
“But here’s the question,” Jesse said. “Is there a trial period? Can you send her back if it doesn’t work out within thirty days?”
My brothers laughed and I rolled my eyes again. They were just giving me shit, so I wasn’t going to let it get to me. After all, they were probably just as shocked as the people around town that I’d finally fallen for a girl. Up until now, I was too wrapped up in the ranch.
Not that I was dead or totally blind. I noticed girls around town and had been on a few dates. There was just no one who ever kept my interest. I wasn’t caught enough by them to want to give my time and effort to keeping up with any sort of relationship.
That definitely wasn’t the way it was with Gia. From the first second I saw her, I was done for. I couldn’t get her out of my mind and I needed to know more about her. Getting her in my arms didn’t do anything to lessen the drive. It only made it more intense. Now I wanted her even more. I’d had my taste. I’d experienced her. It wasn’t enough. I didn’t think there was a way I could ever have enough.
Even while I stood there listening to my brothers making fun of me, all I could think about was Gia and when I would get to see her again. Maybe I could get through the work on the ranch fast enough and spend the evening with her again.
“Look at him,” Cassidy said, laughing. “He’s a million miles away.”
“No, he’s not. He’s about twenty miles away in town.” Sawyer laughed.
I waved my brothers away and headed for the plate of breakfast casserole waiting for me on the kitchen island. “What are you three doing in here anyway? You just came back to the house to give me shit?”
“Yes,” Boone said without emotion or hesitation.
“We already got our day started at the normal time,” Sawyer said. “We’re just taking a break.”
“Listen to Clayton giving us orders like we we’re the ones sleeping away the day,” Cassidy said.
Glaring at my oldest brother, I ate the food on the plate as fast as I could without making myself sick. The sooner we got out there on the ranch, the sooner they would get more in their heads and stop thinking about Gia and me.
I finished up eating, took down another mug of coffee to fuel me through, and filled my canteen with water. It was important in the blazing sun of late August to make sure to have enough water at all times. This was when summer actually got to be the most dangerous.
When the heat first started building up and in the hottest days of July, thirst came fast. Water was always on a cowboy’s mind. But when those hottest days broke and some of the rain came in, it was easier not to think about it as much. That could lead to dehydration and nobody wanted to be out in the middle of the ranch with seized-up muscles or pass out in the fields.
My boots on, I grabbed my hat, and we headed out to get started. I was just starting down the porch steps when Wade came around the side of the porch.
“The new girl’s not here?” he asked. “Too bad. I was looking forward to meeting her.”
My brothers behind me were rolling with laughter and I just shook my head. “You’re ridiculous.”
Fortunately, the conversation shifted away from Gia and me by the time we were saddled up and heading into the back portion of the ranch. The fences were finished, but we still had a few more steps to totally prepare the ranch for winter on top of everything else we did from day to day.
The supplemental feed was down, vitamins and minerals given, and the waterers checked when Sawyer looked over at me.
“Have you heard anything else from that girl about Garrett?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No. She backed off. I figure she either did the math again and figured out that baby isn’t his, or there never was a baby and she realized that game wasn’t going to work on us.”
“Fair enough,” he said.
“Why do you sound so disappointed?” I asked. “You don’t want to see Garrett all tangled up in that kind of mess, do you?”
“No. It’s not that. Obviously, it’s better for him not to be all wrapped up with some girl and have a baby to take care of. But there was a part of me that had a little hope about it. If she could get in touch with him and tell him about it, maybe Garrett would come home. It’s been a long time.”
It reminded me of how much younger Sawyer was than the rest of us. He was a grown man, but he was still young. Things affected him differently than they did the rest of us. Just like Jesse being gone, Garrett got to Sawyer in a different way.
He knew about the things our brother did, just like all of us. But he didn’t have as much time to be angry and jaded over it. There was still some sparkle in his eyes when he thought about Garrett and Colt eventually coming home and all eight of us being together.
So many years had passed since that actually happened. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time all eight brothers were on the ranch. There was always at least one missing. I couldn’t blame the youngest brother for his hope. We all wanted that. Even with everything Garrett had done, we still loved him. We were brothers, and when even one of us was missing, the rest felt the absence.
We talked about Garrett for a little longer, then moved to Sawyer and the dude ranch experience. He needed to start making plans for how it was going to go during the winter. Prospective guests had been calling, asking if there were available slots during the winter months. Some even wanted to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas on the ranch and wanted to know if the experience would have anything special going on.
The holidays were still months away, but it wasn’t as long as it seemed. Plans had to be put into place and arrangements made so it could go well. We had to make decisions about how everything was going to happen and if we were going to host guests over the holidays. The decisions we made now and how well it worked could impact years to come. It was a bit daunting but also exciting.
And it kept them from poking fun at me, so that was a bonus.
Chapter 26
Gia
I was still riding high when I woke up the next morning. My body was warm and tingling like I could still feel Clayton’s hands on me. And my heart felt full and fluttered in my chest. A grin stretched across my face as soon as my eyes opened. The night before with Clayton had been incredible enough to be a dream. But I knew it wasn’t. That was real and it was amazing.
Getting out of bed carefully so I wouldn’t wake Gabby where she was still sleeping on the other side of the room, I went to take a shower and get ready for the day. Taking a glance at the clock, I was surprised to find how early it was. Darcy and Gabby had both been sleeping when I got back to the apartment after my date. It was late, and by all rights, I should have stayed in bed long after them, trying to catch up on the time I missed.
But I felt energetic and refreshed. My sleep from the night before was deeper and more restful than I could remember in a long time. It was like something inside me has been restored, built back up again after being empty for years.
Gabby was starting to stir in her bed when I got back into the bedroom carrying my armful of pajamas and towels. I tossed them in the hamper and smiled down at her.
“Good morning, baby girl,” I said. “Did you sleep well?”
“Hi, Mama,” she said. “You’re home.”
I giggled and stroked her curls away from her face. “I am. I got home a while ago, but you were sleeping so well I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Did you kiss me goodnight?” she asked.
As if my heart wasn’t full enough as it was, that made it melt. I smiled and nodded at her.
“Of course, I did. Could I possibly sleep without kissing you good-night?”
She shook her head, one little fist rubbing a sleepy eye. “No.”
“Exactly. Did you have fun with Aunt Darcy last night?”
“Yes, we read and watched movies and had ice-cream sundaes on spoons,” she said.
“Ice-cream sundaes on spoons?” I asked.
“No bowls,” she said. “Just ice cream on spoons with toppings.”
“Mmm, sounds delicious. It’s making me hungry. How about you? Are you hungry for breakfast?”
“Yes,” she said. “But not ice cream on spoons.”
I laughed as I scooped her up into my arms and kissed her good morning. “Definitely not ice cream on spoons. But how do waffles sound?”
She made a low sizzling sound and wiggled her tiny fingers in front of my face, smiling when I gave her a questioning look.
“You asked how waffles sound,” she said.
I shook my head at her silliness and laughed, carrying her off to the kitchen. Sitting her on the counter, I moved around gathering up the ingredients to make waffles. My daughter babbled happily about the movie they watched and how one of her bites of ice cream was mostly sprinkles.
This was the kind of morning I imagined when I found out I was pregnant. When I decided to put aside all the fear and the negativity my family tried to make me feel, I knew motherhood was exactly what I wanted. I could envision being with my child and how much I would love that time together. When I found out I was having a girl, I dreamed of time spent in the kitchen together and sharing all my favorite things with her.
I tried to have as many of those days as I possibly could with Gabby. But even when I was able to have them throughout most of her life, I was still so afraid and on edge that I couldn’t really relax and enjoy the time with her. Now it felt different. It was like I could just relish the time with her. I wasn’t trying to enjoy it while pushing away fear or desperately trying to make memories to compensate for something. For once, I felt happy and at ease.
The pile of golden waffles was growing high on the platter by the time Darcy made her way into
the kitchen. Yawning and with hair that didn’t seem to be able to decide its direction in life, she looked like she might not be all the way awake yet. She went straight for the coffeemaker and brewed a cup. That first sip opened her eyes a bit more and she looked over at me.
“Morning,” I said cheerfully.
She blinked at me a couple of times. “Is it? Because I’m pretty sure I just went to bed like two hours ago.”
I laughed. “Not quite. You were definitely asleep when I got home last night.”
“I must have just nodded off,” Darcy said.
“Did you have trouble sleeping?” I asked. “Was Gabby giving you trouble?”
“No,” Darcy said. “Gabby wasn’t a problem at all. But I was worried about you.”
“Why were you worried about me?” I asked, going to the waffle maker and spearing the fresh waffle with a fork.
“Because you were out all night,” she said. “I thought you were just going to dinner with Clayton.”
Shaking the final waffle onto the stack with the others, I carried the plate to the table and set it down beside the butter dish and bottle of syrup. “And you thought perhaps he had suddenly become a serial killer?”
“You never know,” she said. “People are weird as hell. One minute, they’re a sweet, unassuming cowboy, and the next, they’re—” Gabby looked at Darcy, who paused and offered a smile. “Not.”
I went to the cabinet to get out plates, then grabbed forks and knives out of the drawer. “Well, as you can see, I am all in one piece. Fully intact.”
“I can see that,” Darcy said. “I can also see that goofy smile on your face. You want to tell me what happened last night?”
His Dirty Hands (The Montgomery Boys Book 2) Page 15
