by Becky McGraw
“You’re mine, don’t you forget that, sugar,” he growled, then slammed his mouth over hers and kissed her until she was panting for him. He moved over her and lifted one of her legs and then positioned himself between her legs He held her gaze with his angry eyes and entered her with one firm stroke.
Katie fisted the sheet in her hand as he stretched her deliciously, and desire shot through her. “Oh, god…” she moaned brokenly.
His face lost some of its color and he asked, “Am I hurting you?”
“No—hurts so good, baby…more…” she moaned and rotated her hips against him.
Tommy growled then moved again, slow at first, then with increasing ferocity. His lips were a thin line and his eyes were dark with anger and heated desire, as he pounded into her. With every stroke, the exquisite friction notched up the tension inside of her to wildfire proportions, until it turned into a raging inferno and an orgasm barreled down on her. She wailed his name, and clutched the sheets as her inner muscles clutched him increasing the friction. The first waves of her impending release washed over her, then he stopped moving inside of her, and Katie whimpered, then looked up at him.
“Say it Katie—tell me you’re mine,” he demanded holding her gaze with his angry, passionate hazel eyes.
Her voice was choked when she said, “I’m yours, Tommy…please,” she begged and tried to wiggle her hips, but he held her still.
“Only mine—say it, Katie,” he hissed with his jaw clenched, his lips in a flat line, and beads of sweat dotting his forehead. His body shook from holding back, and his hands clamped her hips like a vice.
Katie reached her limit and snapped, in between stuttering breaths, she said, “Dammit, Tommy…don’t do this…you know I love you. I’m yours, now move, or I’m gonna finish this myself!”
She looked up at him with intent, then releasing the sheet from her fists, she moved her hand to her center and closed her eyes, then started circling the nub at the apex of her thigh, until the tension inside her ramped up again.
“Goddamn, that’s hot, baby…” Tommy said in a strangled voice, then started moving inside of her again, faster, harder than he had before. His breathing was erratic and he pounded into her, until she screamed and came apart, her body vibrating from the electric current shooting through her. He shouted her name hoarsely, and his body stiffened, then he stilled and opened his eyes to look down at her, before pulled out of her body and laid beside her, and tried to pull her into his arms.
Katie scooted away from him, then pushed up off the bed with her good arm and stood up, searching around for her shorts and underwear. “That wasn’t funny…and the jealousy thing is getting old,” she snapped angrily. When she found her clothes, she walked to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
Tommy got up off the bed and grabbed his clothes, then walked to the bathroom door and twisted the knob. When he found it was locked, he got worried about her, then he got pissed and banged his fist on the door, “Open up the damned door, Katie!”
He heard her crying softly from behind the door and wanted to kick himself in the ass. Pondering what he could do to fix this latest demonstration of what an ass he could be, Tommy finally yelled, “I’m going call Chase back and see what he wanted.”
He slipped his underwear back on and had just gotten his pants zipped, when the bathroom door opened and Katie hissed at him, “Don’t you dare…that’s my business,” she told him sternly.
“You are my business, sugar…I love you,” he said then huffed out a frustrated sigh, “I’m sor—” he started, but stopped when she held her hand up to him. “No, you’re right, I’m not fucking sorry…angry sex is unbelievable…that’s another one I can mark off of our list,” he told her with a grin.
The cold look on her face was shattered by an involuntary grin, and she shook her head, then said with a giggle, “You’re a mess, have I told you that lately?”
He waggled his eyebrows at her then said, “How bout we try makeup sex now, so we can scratch that off too?” then he stepped to her and pulled her to him, and kissed her hair. “I love you, Katie.”
She rubbed her face against his chest then mumbled, “I love you too, asshole cowboy.”
He squeezed her then stepped back and took her hand in his and said, “Let’s go call Chase, it might be good news…I’ll tell you mine after you talk to him.”
She smiled up at him and leaned up to kiss his cheek, then led him out of the bedroom and down the hall. He sat on the stool beside her and waited patiently while she talked to Chase Rhodes.
Her easy friendly banter with him set Tommy’s teeth on edge, but he maintained the forced smile that was making the muscles of his face ache. Evidently, Chase Rhodes told her something that surprised or pleased her, because her eyebrows raised, and her face flushed, which made Tommy wanted to jerk the phone out her hands and hang it up. She looked over at him with her mouth forming an O, then put her hand over it and gasped.
“Holy, crap, Chase…wow, I don’t know what to say,” she said breathlessly, and Tommy bit back the growl that formed in his chest then pushed up into his throat, but he couldn’t stop the blood that rushed to his face.
“That’s amazing…thank you so much for…everything,” she said and looked down the counter. “I will, I’ll call you at the end of the week…bye.” she said hesitantly then pushed the disconnect button.
Tommy didn’t say anything, because as keyed up as he was, he would probably say the wrong thing. She didn’t say anything for several minutes, so it took a lot for him to hold back from asking, especially seeing that she was breathing erratically and her face was as red as the t-shirt she had on. Finally, she took a deep breath, then spun on the stool and let out a whoop that any country girl and half the cowboys in Texas would envy.
Sliding off the stool, she put her hand behind his head and roughly pulled his lips to hers, then kissed him silly. That unexpected kiss scrambled his brain and it wasn’t quite functioning right when she pulled her lips from his and squealed, “We’re rich, darlin’! then spun in circles.
“We’re not just Edith Preston rich, either…we’re fucking Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg rich! We could buy and sell her a thousand, ten thousand, times over!”
With a shake of his head, Tommy got to his feet and said, “Katie calm down and tell me what’s going on!”
“They hit the mother lode on the ranch, sugar. They finished putting in the pumping well yesterday, and it’s pumping like my heart does when you kiss me! Chase said they also found a natural gas source at the back of the property, and they’re exploring to see if it’s good…if it is, they’re putting in a well back there too…he said they’d probably know by Friday.”
“I thought they leased the rights from you…how does that help you?” Tommy asked, because he really knew nothing, less than nothing, about oil production.
She walked up to him and put her hand on his cheek then said slowly, “We get twenty-percent of the take…whatever they produce, we get a twenty-percent royalty on.”
Clarity dawned in Tommy’s brain like a rain cloud parting after a thunderstorm, and the bright sunlight of realization blinded him. The breath in his chest froze, and his heartbeat stopped, then both kicked into overdrive, and he picked her up and spun her in circles, careful to hold her arm still between them.
He set her down then held her face in his hands, and said in between gasping breaths, “Oh, my god, baby…” then he growled then leaned down and kissed her, unleashing the tide of emotions swirling around inside of him.
Katie moaned, and he let her go and stepped back studying her face with concern, “Did I hurt you, darlin’?”
“Not yet, but you’re going to,” she said with a sly smile, then grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the hallway. “Let’s go make up…and celebrate…that’s two more off our list,” she purred and tossed him a grin.
An hour later, Katie was laying in Tommy’s arms gathering her senses, and she rubbed his chest an
d asked, “So, you didn’t tell me your good news, baby…spill it.”
“I don’t think mine could top yours, sweetheart,” he said with a chuckle, and stroked her hair.
“We deserve all this good news for a change—tell me!” she demanded then pulled his chest hair.
“Ouch,” he chuckled and covered her hand, then said, “I think we’ve got Edith on the ropes…her son too.”
“Really?” she said then looked up at him. Her beautiful blue eyes were sparkling with the aftermath of their mind-blowing lovemaking.
Tommy would never get tired of seeing that satisfied look on her face. He knew it mirrored his own. Never in his life, had he been so happy…because of her.
“Yeah, I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t want to worry you, but—”
Katie groaned and pulled away from him, then sat up. “When you start a sentence like that, I know I need to brace myself, because I’m probably gonna be pissed,” she said the cocked an eyebrow waiting.
Blood rushed up Tommy’s face and a sliver of fear sliced through him…maybe he should have told her. “Gabe said we needed to act normal…not tip them off…that’s why I didn’t tell you.”
Her face got red then and she said angrily, “So, Gabe knew and didn’t clue me in? What about my sister, did Karlie know too?”
“I asked them not to worry you,” he admitted then sat up and shoved a hand through his hair.
“Worry me about what, Tommy? Tell me what’s going on here,” she demanded, her eyes now wary.
“Have you noticed the security cameras in the house? Out at the barn?” he asked and she shook her head, but didn’t say anything, so he continued, “Someone hacked into our security system, and they were using the cameras to spy on us…that’s how Edith knew you were here, and what was going on…that’s why she showed up here after I left to go to the hospital to be with you. She saw Karlie and thought it was you.”
Katie sucked in a breath and put her hand to her chest, and her face went white, and she looked around the corners of the room. “And you didn’t think this was something I needed to know? That the home where I am living is bugged?” she asked him in a high-pitched voice, her breathing shallow.
“It’s not bugged, baby…there’s no audio, just video footage, and the cameras aren’t everywhere. We had to leave it in place, until Gabe’s friend traced it back to the source, and found out who hacked it,” he said in a calm tone, hoping it would settle her down.
“Oh, that makes all the fucking difference in the world!” She spat then slid off the bed and headed for the bathroom, dragging the sheet with her to cover herself. “This is how we should start our marriage, keeping secrets from one another, good job, Tommy,” she spat then went into the bathroom and slammed the door.
He flinched, and his brain automatically went into ‘I gotta fix this’ mode, a gear it had been in too much lately, dammit. He needed to tell her about the takedown Beau and Glen were heading up this afternoon, but she was too mad at him. He’d let her calm down and then he’d tell her.
Right now, he needed to go out to the barn and talk to Jud and make sure the ranch didn’t have any problems. He’d been gone three days, and with all that had happened recently, he’d dumped on him entirely too much. Maybe he’d send Jud and Elaina on a vacation somewhere when this was all over…he knew he sure needed one.
Tommy got up off the bed, then pulled out jeans and a t-shirt and put them on with his work boots, then he went to the bathroom door and knocked. Katie’s angry voice filtered through the door and he flinched when said, “Go away, Tommy! I can’t talk to you right now!”
“I’m going out to the barn for a little while, sugar…please don’t be mad at me. I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” he told her with his palm on the door, like he could touch her like that. “I love you, baby.” he said, and when there and when she didn’t respond, he put his forehead against the door, before he pushed off then walked out of the bedroom, hoping she’d forgive him…again.
Katie waited a few minutes, until she was sure Tommy was gone, then she washed up, and walked back into the bedroom and got dressed. It wasn’t easy by herself, but she managed it, then went into the kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar, holding her head in her hands.
What the hell was she going to do with him? Tommy didn’t have a clue how a relationship was supposed to work. He obviously just didn’t get that withholding information from her trying to protect her, wasn’t acceptable.
If they didn’t have open, honest communication, if they weren’t on the same page about things, they had nothing…except heat…lots and lots of heat. She shivered thinking about their last round of lovemaking. He was very onboard about learning about sex, and a damned quick learner. She just wished he would put as much effort into making good choices where their relationship was concerned.
The front door opened, and she looked across the foyer and saw Dixie walk in with her hot pink book sack slung over her shoulder. She grinned at Katie and ran over and gave her a hug, “Hey, Miss Kat—” she started, then hesitated and swallowed, before she corrected, “Hey, Mama.”.
She gave Katie an uncertain, shaky smile and her blue eyes held fear. Katie slid off the stool, and hugged her, then kissed her hair, and said, “Hello, my precious baby girl, daughter of my heart…how was school?”
Her little body relaxed in Katie’s hold then she stood back and grinned. “I got an A plus on my spelling test!” she squealed then pulled it out of her backpack and proudly handed it to Katie.
Dixie fought hard with spelling and reading, and they’d been working on it every night, before she went to bed. Katie suspected, as bright as she was, that she might have a learning disability like Karlie had. Karlie had always struggled in school, and Katie had done her best to help her twin too, so she knew how discouraging it could be for a little girl to go through that. She planned on talking to Tommy and her teacher about having her tested soon.
Katie let out a whoop then hugged her again and told her, “I am so proud of you, sugar. You are one smart girl,” she told her then took the paper from her hand and went and clipped it onto the refrigerator with a magnet. “We’re gonna show this to your daddy as soon as he gets back from the barn,” she told her with a grin.
Her daughter’s face lit up like a hundred watt bulb, and a grin split her face. “He’ll probably like it, huh?” she said.
“He’ll love it! Now, go get changed, and take Snuggles out for a walk, before we have a snack,” Katie told her and Dixie took off for the stairs, her ponytail bouncing behind her.
Gerrie walked into the kitchen and smiled at her then asked, “What do ya’ll want for a snack?”
“You have any of those chocolate chip cookies you baked yesterday left?” she asked with anticipation in her voice. “Those were scrumptious…the peanuts loved them,” she said with a chuckle and rubbed her belly, and got a kick in her palm for the effort.
“Yep, have quite a few left…milk?” she asked then pulled down a couple of glasses from the cabinet and walked to the refrigerator.
“Yes, indeed…thanks Gerrie, I appreciate you, lady,” she told her sincerely.
Katie sat back at the breakfast bar, and heard Snuggles toenails clipping across the hardwood floor, mixed with the sound of Dixie’s boot heels, as they headed to the front door. When it closed behind her, Katie told Gerrie, “I think I’m gonna take this out to the porch.”
“Let me get you a tray then,” Gerrie said and loaded the cookie plate and glasses on it, then told her, “I’ll carry it out for you.”
Katie gave her a grateful smile, then walked to the front door with her. When they got out on the porch, Gerrie sat the tray on the table between two rocking chairs, and turned to go back inside, but stopped and shaded her eyes with her hand and stared down the driveway at a car parked under a tree, then asked, “You know someone with a black Cadillac?”
Shortly after she said that, Katie heard Dixie scream then yell, “No!” Katie t
ook off running, with Gerrie right beside her, screaming Tommy’s name at the top of her lungs, several times. Since he was at the barn though, she didn’t hold out much hope he’d hear her.
