by Becca Van
“You have dark smudges under your eyes, Carly. Humor me, okay? I care about you. I want you to take care of yourself.”
Carly’s heart flipped and melted at his sweet words. She nodded to appease him, but since she felt fine and wasn’t used to being idle, she decided to clean the house. Hopefully, by the time the men came in for lunch, she would have everything done.
Ridge lifted her into his arms, and when she looped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist to steady herself, he lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her passionately but, as far as she was concerned, nowhere near long enough. She was breathless by the time he lifted his head and set her back on her feet and headed out. He paused in the doorway and turned to meet her gaze as he pointed a finger at her. “Rest.”
She didn’t get to reply because he disappeared before she could.
Carly started on her chores and began with the dishes from breakfast, and then worked her way through the rest of the house. She vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the bathrooms, put the wash on, and mopped the floors. When she’d finished she stood back and inhaled the scent of lemons from the cleaning product she’d used on the floor. The house smelled fresh and gleamed with cleanliness.
After taking the time to have a cup of tea, she set about making sure lunch was ready for when the men came back from outside.
She’d defrosted and then placed a hunk of roast beef into the oven to cook for sandwiches, and if there was any left over, she would make a couple of shepherd’s pies for dinner that night.
She sliced up tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and sliced cheese into dishes to be put in the sandwiches with the beef. When the oven timer went off, she removed the beef and, after letting it rest for a bit, cut that into thick slices, too. The fresh pot of coffee had just finished brewing when she heard footsteps on the front verandah.
“Is that roast beef I can smell?” Rocky asked as he entered the kitchen.
“Yes. Go and wash up. The food will be on the table by the time you come back.”
Rocky chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
Carly swatted him with the dishtowel that had been over her shoulder as he turned away from her. “Don’t call me ma’am.”
All the food and drinks were on the table when they came back from washing up. She hadn’t seen Bull and Ridge come in but had heard them as they headed to the bathrooms.
She glanced at them as they entered the kitchen but froze when Ridge scowled at her. He looked so angry, but she had no idea what she’d done to warrant such a reaction. He stalked toward her, took the dishtowel which was back over her shoulder, and tossed it aside. His hands clasped her waist, and then he lifted her until they were at eye level.
“What’s—” Carly didn’t get to say anything else because Ridge slammed his mouth down over hers. She was pleasantly surprised that he was gentle with her, passionate but gentle, since he was pissed about something. When he finally broke the kiss, she was panting as if she’d just run the hundred-yard dash, and her body was entwined around his. She didn’t remember winding her arms around his neck or her legs around his waist, but that’s where they were. She shifted her hips and then moaned when the hard ridge of his erection pressed against her wet cunt.
Ridge kept his gaze locked with hers while he moved to the table and sat with her in his lap. She’d lowered her legs as he sat down so they didn’t end up stuck against the back of the chair. Carly drew back, putting a little space between them since her hard, sensitive nipples had been rubbing against his chest and compounding her desire to be taken by him, by them.
“I thought I told you to rest.” Ridge’s jaw was clenched so tight she could see the muscle ticking under his skin.
“I don’t need to rest. I had a great night’s sleep last night.”
“You have dark marks under your eyes, darlin’. If you could see how tired you look, you would understand my concern.”
Carly blew out a breath and tried to get her frustration under control. He was only saying these things because he cared. Her breath hitched and her heart flipped as she stared deeply into those dark blue eyes. She would never get tired of meeting his or his brothers’ gazes or perusing their big, muscular bodies or handsome faces.
“Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it, but I can’t sit around and do nothing. I would go stark raving mad if I didn’t have anything to occupy my time.” She palmed his cheek. “I’m used to working, Ridge. I have done so since I was fifteen years old. Most of the time I was by myself because Shaun was away serving our country. I stayed with our neighbors when mom and dad died since the house needed to be re-let and Shaun needed to work. Those people were kind, but they were elderly and didn’t have the energy to deal with a kid.
“I learned to keep myself busy so that I wouldn’t feel so alone. When I finished high school, Shaun found an apartment to lease for us until I started working full time. The shelter was great, but it didn’t pay much and I didn’t work there fulltime until I’d finished getting my chef’s degree.”
Ridge sighed. “I understand, darlin’. I really do, but we care for you and want to make sure you stay healthy. You’ve had so much to deal with and I, we, can tell by the loose fit of your clothes that you’ve lost weight.”
“I have, but not by choice. It was difficult to eat regularly while running for my life and dealing with the grief. After Shaun died, sometimes just the thought of eating made me feel sick. However, since I’ve been here the grief has let up some and I’m eating three meals a day.
“Please, let me take care of the house while you’re out working with the animals and such. Surely you don’t want to have to deal with household chores after working so hard all day long?”
“Carly’s right,” Bull said. “She needs to stay busy. She’s independent. We don’t want her to feel stifled or trapped.”
“Okay,” Ridge conceded with a sigh. “I’m not trying to dictate because I like giving orders, although I normally do like being in control, but I just worry.”
“Thanks.” Carly kissed Ridge lightly on the lips before scrambling from his lap and taking the seat next to him.
As they ate, she thought about Scott Gold and prayed to God that the authorities would find him soon because she had a very bad feeling that if he ever found her, she wouldn’t live to spend the rest of her life with Ridge, Bull, and Rocky like she yearned to.
Chapter Eleven
Ridge stood and helped Carly take the dishes to the kitchen after they’d all eaten lunch. Bull and Rocky had already left to bring another herd of cows to the pasture closer to the house and barn.
He felt a little guilty for getting angry at her earlier but was glad they’d cleared the air. She seemed happy enough, but he was worried that she was only hanging around him and his brothers because they’d been childhood friends and because they could protect her, but when he remembered how she looked at them when she didn’t think they were glancing her way, he quickly pushed that thought from his mind. Carly wasn’t the type of person to use anyone. In fact, she was so kind hearted she would let others use her and not say a word even if she realized what was going on.
Ridge was antsy and had no idea why. As he placed the rinsed dishes Carly handed to him and put them in the dishwasher, he tried to work out why he felt the way he did.
He was so used to action and making decisions it was hard to be on the sidelines and not know where the investigation into Scott Gold’s whereabouts was at. He’d been in command of a military unit and was used to issuing orders without second guessing himself or anyone else. When he’d given orders, his men had obeyed implicitly, even in life and death situations. He’d had their trust, and he’d trusted his guys to have his back.
While he knew that the sheriffs and the men of Slick Rock would drop everything and come running if need be, he still felt as if Carly’s safety should be up to him and his brothers. He wanted to track down that Gold bastard and take him out, but of course he wouldn’t do that, because if he did, he migh
t well be the one locked up behind bars for taking the law into his own hands.
“What’s wrong, Ridge?” Carly asked as she handed him the last dish and wiped down the counter.
“Nothing much.”
“That’s a lie. You been frowning and sighing the whole time you’ve been helping me with the dishes. You didn’t have to help me, you know.”
Ridge heard the exasperation in her voice and, after turning the dishwasher on, straightened and turned to face Carly. “Doing a few dishes don’t bother me, darlin’.”
“Then talk to me. Tell me what is bothering you.”
Ridge took the cloth from her hand, rinsed it, and hung it over the tap. He threaded his fingers with hers and led her into the living room, and the sofa. When he was comfortable, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her up tight against his side. His fingers idly played with her hair while he thought about what he was going to say.
“I’m used to being in the action. I don’t like not being able to help look for this bastard to take him down.”
Carly placed her hand on his thigh and caressed up and down in a soothing rub to ease the tension in his body. “I understand that, but you’re not the law. You need to let the authorities do their job. If you did find him and hurt him, you could be charged with assault or murder.”
She licked her lips and snuggled into his side, but she glanced down until her hair fell across her face. Ridge heard her inhale deeply and felt the tautness in her body as if she was about to move away from him. He squeezed the arm he had around her shoulders to keep her against his side and she exhaled in a noisy gust.
“I love you, Ridge, and it would kill me if something happened to you or your brothers. I’ve loved all of you since I was a kid, but now that we’ve all matured, my feelings are so much more intense. When we moved away, I never thought I’d see you again. It was a blessing that I ran into you, Bull, and Rocky that fateful day. I don’t want to see any of you getting hurt.”
“You love me? Love us?” Ridge asked in a hoarse voice.
Carly kept her head down as she nodded. Ridge swallowed as he stared down at her bent head and saw that her cheeks were bright pink. The pulse at the base of her throat fluttered wildly, and when he heard her panting, he cursed mentally. She’d just bared her heart to him, and he was sitting there silently in a shocked stupor. The silence in the room was so loud he could hear the voices of the men working outside and the lowing of cattle, as well as the clip clop of horses’ hooves on the hard-packed ground.
Elation and love surged into his heart, and he was the one inhaling deeply as he tried to get his mind into gear.
“Look at me, darlin’,” Ridge commanded.
Carly inhaled deeply and held her breath as she lifted and turned her head to meet his gaze. Her eyes widened when she looked into his eyes. He let all that he was feeling show in his blue orbs. All the love, joy and desire that was in his heart and soul.
He lifted her from the cushion and onto his lap, with an arm curled around her back supporting her weight while the other hand and his fingers threaded into her hair and tilted her head back. He slowly bent down, and then his lips were on hers.
He groaned as his tongue licked into her mouth. She opened up for him and met him half way. Their tongues stroked along and twirled around each other’s as the hunger in his body roared to life. He’d never wanted a woman the way he wanted Carly. His cock twitched and began to fill with blood as he devoured her mouth. She shifted on his lap and he gripped her hips as she turned to straddle his pelvis, and then they were kissing again.
She sucked on his tongue and then nipped his lip before licking over it to soothe where she’d bitten him. He caressed up and down her sides until he reached the outside of her breasts and palmed the soft, feminine globes through her shirt. He kneaded and molded her shape before flicking his thumbs back and forth over the tips, and he growled appreciatively when she whimpered.
“Oh,” Carly moaned.
Ridge shoved the shirt she was wearing up over her head, and she helped by lifting her arms. He growled with desire when she began rocking on his hard cock. The heat emanating off of her jean-clad pussy was unbelievable, and he couldn’t wait to have her naked skin against his.
He flicked the front clasp of her bra open and smoothed the straps over her shoulders and down her arms until it fell onto the floor. He latched onto a nipple with his mouth, sucking and laving the tip with his lips and tongue before moving on to the other breast. His fingers searched out and found the button on her jeans, and after tugging it open, he lowered her zipper.
“Stand up, darlin’,” Ridge said as he helped her rise.
Carly trembled on unsteady legs and kept her eyes on his as he knelt, lowered her jeans over her hips and down her legs. He nudged one leg, and she lifted her foot so he could pull one shoe off before repeating the process and removing the other, and then finished taking her jeans and panties off.
Ridge wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the soft, warm skin on her flat belly. She moaned and sighed as he licked his way down to her pussy and buried his nose in the top of her slit and breathed in deeply.
“Oh, god,” Carly moaned.
“You smell so good, darlin’. Good enough to eat.”
Ridge rose, lifting her as he stood, and then turned to place her ass on the edge of the sofa. He shifted between her legs, lifted them over his shoulders, and then feasted.
He licked up through her drenched folds, lapping up all the delectable cream her pussy produced as he heightened her arousal. When he got to her clit, he flattened his tongue and laved over the engorged pearl. She cried out and bucked her hips up toward his mouth.
Ridge tightened his hold on her hips, opened his mouth wide, and devoured her cunt, dipping his tongue into her vagina before flicking his tongue over her clit again.
He clasped an ankle in his hand, placed her foot on the edge of the sofa, and spread her out wide as he sucked down her honey. He rimmed her pussy with a finger, causing her internal muscles to clench, and she moaned as she arched up. His cock was so hard it was aching, and he was leaking pre-cum in the tight confines of his pants. After releasing the button on his jeans and lowering the zipper, some of the pressure on his dick eased.
“Ridge, I need you,” Carly gasped as he pressed a finger up into her pussy.
He groaned when she flexed around his digit and couldn’t wait to have her pussy clenching down on him as she came.
The hunger burning inside of him was so intense he didn’t have time to remove his clothes. He was shaking with his desire for her, but he did manage to pull his shirt up over his head before pushing his jeans down his thighs.
He grabbed hold of the base of his hard dick and ran to the tip up through her drenched folds, coating himself in her cream and giving her pleasure as he brushed over her clit.
“Please?”
Ridge stilled and waited until her hazel eyes met his gaze. “I love you, Carly Gregson.” And then he began to push his cock into her hot, wet cunt.
She reached out to him, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling his head toward hers. Her lips pressed against his and she moaned into his mouth as he rammed to the hilt inside of her wet sheath.
“Yes. You feel wonderful.”
“So do you, darlin’.” Ridge gritted his teeth as he retreated until the tip of his cock was just inside of her pussy, and then he slowly slid back in.
“Oh,” she gasped.
“You like that, darlin’? You like having my hard cock sliding in and out of your pretty, little, wet pussy?”
“God. Yes! More! Please?”
Ridge palmed a breast and began to roll her nipple as he began to pump his hips. Each time he drove deeply inside of her, he picked up the pace until his pelvis was slapping against her ass cheeks. He shoved a hand under her ass, tugged her butt off of the edge of the sofa, and began to pound in and out of her. In this position, her ass was lower than his hips and he was
able to stroke down into her hard and fast.
She moaned and groaned each time his cock caressed along the walls of her cunt, and her nails dug into the muscles on his chest.
When he felt her internal walls ripple around his dick and she covered him in her honey, he tried to count the cattle and horses that were almost due to give birth so he wouldn’t come too early. The warm tingles were already moving from the base of his spine toward his balls, but he wasn’t going to come until Carly did.
All of a sudden, she used her stomach muscles to pull her upper body upright and she slid right off the sofa onto his lap. He groaned as he squeezed her ass cheeks before he used his strength to lower and lift her over his cock. Her nails dug into his shoulders and she gasped as she took him deep inside of her cunt.
The animals flew out of his mind when he felt her cunt flutter around his dick and she began to tremble.
“That’s it, darlin’,” Ridge panted. “Give it to me. Come for me, Carly. Cover me in your honey.”
“Oh!” Carly gasped right before she screamed softly.
Her cunt clamped down around his cock, released for an instant before clenching down hard on him again. A ball of fire encompassed his whole lower region and his balls hardened as they drew up closer to his body. He actually felt his cock go tight as it expanded, and then he roared as he started to come. His fingers dug into the cheeks of her ass as he continued to shuttle his dick in and out of her cunt as spume after spume erupted from the tip of his erection.
He ground his hips into hers, feeling every contraction of her cunt as she came with him. Each time her pussy gripped him, his cock spewed another lot of jism deep into her cunt and womb.
When the last aftershock faded, he became aware of two things. One, his feet were tingling from lack of blood since he was sitting on bent legs, and two, he would do anything in his power to make sure that Carly was happy. He didn’t care about his discomfort because he was content to stay sitting on the living room floor holding the love of his life for as long as possible.
