by Ali Parker
She hooked her fingers in the waistband of my boxers and smiled up at me.
Piper worked my boxers down and stared at my cock. She pinched her bottom lip with her teeth again, and I wasn’t sure how to read the expression she wore when she looked back up at me. “Take it easy on me tonight, will you?” she asked.
I chuckled and was about to answer her with a witty comment, but she took my cock in one hand, pursed her lips to my tip, and then took me in her mouth, sealing her red lips around my shaft as she worked her way down.
“Holy fuck,” I grated, hanging my head back as she took me deep in the back of her throat.
She moaned around my thickness and bobbed on my cock. I gripped the leather seat and clenched my ass as she worked me over, nice and slow at first, and then faster, pausing only to trace her tongue around the head of my cock, knowing all the sensitive places to pay special attention to.
The limo pulled through the gate of my ranch. I tapped Piper’s shoulder, and she looked up at me with my cock still her mouth. I almost came right then and there.
“We’re here,” I managed to say through clenched teeth.
Piper straightened and licked her lips. I leaned forward to fix some of her smudged lipstick, and she giggled bashfully. Then I pulled her up onto the seat beside me before yanking my boxers and pants back up. Piper did up the buttons of my shirt and then raked her fingers through my hair, fixing the disheveled pieces from where she’d plunged her fingers into it during her climax.
My cock was rock hard, and I had to tuck it into the waistband of my jeans to spare the poor limo driver discovering his two customers were fooling around in the back of his car.
The limo stopped near the back porch. I didn’t wait for the driver to come around. I opened the door, stepped out, and offered Piper my hand. She emerged and ran her fingers through her hair. Her cheeks were bright pink, but the driver didn’t say anything besides, “Have a good evening.”
We thanked him, and I took her hand, and then we hurried up the porch steps. I opened the back door, and she stepped through. When she spun to face me, I scooped her up in my arms. She laughed joyfully, and I carried her upstairs to my bedroom, where I threw her down on the bed and hurried to undo my jeans, which were rubbing uncomfortably against my erection.
As I undressed, Piper inched to the edge of the bed and slid off. She took off her boots, put her back toward me, and pulled her hair off her back and over her shoulder. “Can you undo me?”
There was a long silver zipper down the back of her dress. I swallowed and pulled it down for her, exposing a lean back of fair skin and one dark freckle beneath the band of her bra. She shrugged the dress off her shoulders, and it fell to the floor, where she stepped out of it and turned to face me, now wearing nothing but her black lace panties, matching bra, and black thigh-high nylons.
“Damn.” I whistled. “You’re so fucking sexy, Piper.”
Piper placed a foot on the edge of the bed and removed one stocking. Then the other. Then she faced me again and reached behind her back to unclip her bra. It popped open, and she pulled it off. Her breasts were full and perky, and each of them were a small but perfect handful. Her nipples were hard, and her cheeks were pink as she stripped out of her panties.
I hurried to take my shirt off so we were both completely nude.
Piper looked me up and down. “You’re pretty sexy yourself, cowboy.” She licked her lips. “Do you have a condom?”
I nodded and went to my nightstand, where I retrieved a condom, tore it open with my teeth, and proceeded to roll it over my cock as I went back to Piper, who had perched herself on the edge of my bed. I took a moment to admire her in all her glory.
Her legs were long, and her thighs were strong, a sign of a woman who spent most if not all of her time on her feet. Her hips were equally as wide as her shoulders, and her waist was narrow. A line went from the middle of her ribcage down to her navel, carving its way down a lean stomach. Another freckle lingered right above her belly button.
I stepped toward her, and she parted her knees for me. I took her by the waist and lifted her higher up the bed. Then I pushed her down on her back by her shoulders. She gazed up at me as I moved in closer to rub my shaft up and down her wet pussy.
“Wyatt,” she breathed.
“I haven’t forgotten. I’ll be gentle.”
She smiled and relaxed into the mattress. Her knees fell farther apart in invitation, and I obliged, pushing my hips forward and entering her warm, slick pussy one inch at a time. Piper moaned and closed her eyes. The sound dared me to work hard to earn it again. And again. And again.
She had no idea what she was getting herself into with me.
She couldn’t take all of me. Not yet. But that was all right. I waited patiently for her to adjust to my size, and then I worked myself in and out of her. The sounds of her wetness made it almost impossible for me to keep myself from blowing my load too early.
She lifted her legs and reached for me. I leaned over her, bracing myself with a planted hand on either side of her. She gazed up at me, her dark eyes alight with desire, and then draped her arms over my shoulders to pull me down to her for dozens of sweet, sexy kisses. She nipped at my lips and drew me even lower to pinch my earlobe between her teeth and trail kisses down the side of my neck. She was going to push me over the edge.
I shrugged out from under her, took both her wrists in one of my hands, and pinned them above her head. She watched me with a devilish smile playing on her lips. Her lipstick had all but worn off.
I held her in place, and she lifted her legs higher. I pushed in deeper and watched as her eyes rolled back in her head and her lips parted with a cry of pleasure. She arched her back and lifted her ass as if pleading for more.
So, I gave her more.
Piper shook and shuddered beneath me as her climax broke over her. Her breathless cry did me in, and I released her wrists to descend upon her with kisses as I came. She held me to her with a fierce strength I didn’t know she had, and she wrapped her legs around my waist.
When I was done, I gazed into her eyes and stroked her hair away from her cheeks.
She smiled up at me, and neither of us said anything. We didn’t need to. Instead, we kissed, and before I went to the bathroom, I said, “Stay where you are. I’m not done with you yet.”
Piper flashed me a dazzling smile. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter 16
Piper
I straightened up, leaned on my shovel, and dragged the back of my hand across my forehead. I’d worked up a serious sweat mucking the stables, and the end was only sort of in sight. After this, I would move on to check the horseshoes while Dodge and Boone brought fresh hay into the stables. As it was, the two ranch hands were busy filling the water troughs with fresh drinking water.
Dodge caught me catching my breath and chuckled. “Wyatt sure picked the right day to head into town and do his errands. It’s a hot one today, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “I can only imagine how much harder this is in the middle of summer.”
“We get leaner, that’s for sure,” Dodge said, patting his stomach, which was already pretty lean.
I smiled. “I don’t doubt it.”
Boone nodded in my direction. “What do you think so far? How have the last two weeks been for you? Are you itching to get back to the city?”
I picked at a splinter on the handle of the shovel and considered his question. “The last two weeks haven’t even felt real.”
I wasn’t lying. My time with Wyatt seemed to get better with each passing day. I had abandoned sleeping in my own bed a week ago, after our night where things really heated up in the limo. Now I fell asleep next to him and woke up to a kiss on the forehead. Every morning, Wyatt would make the coffee while I got up and got dressed. We would enjoy our early morning before starting in on the chores for the day, and I found every part of it enjoyable.
Sure, it was hard work. The hardest work I had ever
done. But with his company and Boone and Dodge, the days went by quickly. The work was rewarding. And the aches and pains I’d felt on my first day had subsided to dull feelings of sore muscles. My body was growing used to the labor, and even though it had only been two weeks, I was seeing changes in my body. Mostly my arms, but still.
Boone finished filling the last trough and marched over to the fresh pile of hay in the middle of the barn. “Hasn’t felt real, huh?”
“Yeah,” I said, unsure of how else to explain it.
“So you like it?”
I nodded. “I love it.”
I loved it so much I didn’t want to leave. The thought of meeting yet another man after this and starting from scratch all over again made me want to throw in the towel and call it quits on the Casanova Club.
It was all just too much. I was emotionally exhausted. Saying goodbye to Joshua had been one of the hardest things I ever did, and saying goodbye to Easton was no walk in the park either.
I knew leaving Wyatt in the rear-view mirror was going to break me.
Dodge lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe sweat from his upper lip. “For what it’s worth, we’ve liked having you around too, Piper. It’s nice to have someone who isn’t infinitely better at everything than me and Boone.”
I giggled and then blinked when I realized he was not really paying me a compliment. “Hey.”
Dodge snickered. “I’m just saying. Wyatt is one of those guys who excels at everything, and Boone and I, well, we’re the definition of mediocre.”
“Are you calling me less than mediocre?” I asked, cocking my head to the side and trying to hide the smile tugging at my lips.
I had a fun, playful relationship with the two ranch hands, and even though we liked to give each other a hard time, there was an unspoken bond that had formed quickly between us. It was like I’d inherited two older brothers over the last two weeks, as well as a lover.
Dodge grinned at me. “At ranching? You bet your ass you’re less than mediocre.”
I laughed and shook my head at him as I went back to mucking out the stable. “All right, all right. I suppose that’s fair. I’ve only been at it a couple weeks. I can’t expect to be anything but shitty at this.”
“Well, you’re not shitty at it,” Dodge amended.
“We don’t want you to leave either, Piper,” Boone added.
I stopped working once more to look back and forth between the two of them. My heart swelled. “Really?”
“Really,” they both said in unison, nodding eagerly.
“That means a lot to me, you guys. Thank you.”
They exchanged a look, and then Boone said, “Truth be told, you’ve had a bigger impact on the ranch than you realize.”
I arched an eyebrow. “How so?”
They exchanged a look again, and I suspected they were debating whether or not to tell me something. I held my tongue and did not push.
Boone bit the bullet. “Wyatt is a totally different guy than he was just a couple weeks ago. And that’s because of you, Piper.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Boone said, shrugging one shoulder. “He’s ten times happier. He’s like the younger version of himself we grew up working with. You know, the Wyatt who still had his father and his family. Who still had the people that made him.”
I swallowed a sudden swell of grief that gathered in my throat. “Oh.”
Boone’s eyes widened. “Shit. Piper. Let me explain. Wyatt is a grown-ass man, and he has moved on. He handled his grief, and although he still misses his family and carries some regrets, he has persevered. He’s stronger than ever, and he loves his life. It’s just been nice to see him laughing and smiling as much as he used to.”
I pushed down the lump in my throat. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Boone said. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to upset you.”
“I know,” I said softly, forcing myself to smile. “You didn’t upset me. I just… I wish things could be different for him, you know?”
“So do we,” Dodge said.
“I’m glad he has the two of you,” I said. The fact that Wyatt’s two best friends happened to work with him every day was the only saving grace in this thing. If I had to leave him behind and he didn’t have them, I might never be able to get on the plane back to New York City. “You’ll take care of him after I’m gone?”
“Of course,” Boone said. “We’ll keep him on his toes like we always do. We won’t be as good of company as you are, I’m sure, but we can offer good enough distractions.”
“I can only imagine.” I chuckled.
The three of us picked up some pitchforks and began tossing hay into the stables. As we worked, we continued chatting.
Dodge glanced at me. “Can I ask you something, Piper?”
“Of course,” I said.
He waited a beat. “Do you care about the other two men you’ve spent time with this year?”
I froze.
“I’m sorry if I crossed a line,” Dodge said hurriedly. “It’s none of my business. I just… I don’t know. This Casanova Club thing seems kind of crazy to me. Wyatt is aware that there are other men in the running. And he’s come to terms with it. But I can’t really wrap my head around how hard it must be on you.”
I blinked at him. “Pardon?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I mean, how do you hop from one life to the next every month for a whole year? It’s just enough time for you to really get to know someone and start caring for them, and then they rip the rug out from under you, and you have to move on to the next guy in line.”
“It sounds shitty,” Boone added.
I rubbed the back of my very sweaty neck. “It is. It’s really shitty.”
“So, you do care about the other two men you’ve met?” Dodge asked.
I considered lying to him, but lies never did anyone any favors, and I trusted Boone and Dodge. Had Wyatt asked me the same question, I would have been honest with him too. I had nothing to hide. “Yes, I care about them.”
“Equally?” Dodge pressed.
I shrugged. “Differently.”
Boone scratched his jaw. “So, if you were to number them all, including Wyatt, in terms of who you liked the most and who you liked the least, where would Wyatt stand?”
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m not playing that game with you two.”
“Damn it,” Boone muttered. “It was worth a shot.”
I found it sweet that they were trying to protect Wyatt in their own way. They wanted to know where he stood in all this. At the end of the day, they were probably terrified that he was going to get his heart broken and that he’d be back grieving the loss of someone he cared for. It wasn’t as bad as death, but it wouldn’t be pretty, and his pain would be on my conscience.
I sighed and nudged the pile of hay with the toe of my boot. “I can tell you both in all honesty that Wyatt has a very special place in my heart. But that is all I will say.”
“I’ll take it,” Boone said.
“Me too,” Dodge added with a smile. “You’re good people, Piper.”
“So are you guys,” I said.
Everyone was quiet for a couple minutes as we returned to our work. Then, when the moment passed, Dodge piped up again. “We’ll be sad to see you go, Piper.”
I finished mucking the stable and put the shovel away. “Me too.”
“Are you going to come to the dance next weekend?” Boone asked.
I cocked my head to the side. “Dance?”
He stared at me blankly. “Yeah, didn’t Wyatt tell you about it? One of the other ranches hosts a swing dancing outdoor party. The whole community shows up. There’s always great food and some drinks. It’s a family friendly event with plenty of churchgoing folk.”
I dimly remembered Wyatt telling me about it over my first couple days on the ranch. “Right. Yes. I think we are going.” I paused and pursed
my lips as a thought struck me. “Do the Buck brothers usually go to that sort of thing?”
Dodge shrugged. “You never know with those two. They might show. They might not.”
“Let’s hope they don’t,” I said.
“Amen.” Boone nodded. Then he pointed his chin at the hay pile. “Let’s get this shit done before Wyatt gets home. Yeah?”
Chapter 17
Wyatt
Joe Kirby put his hands on his hips and watched as I opened Duke’s paddock. The horse bowed his head in a greeting, shifted sideways to let me into the stable, and stood calmly and patiently as I ran my hand over his right shoulder.
“I’ll be damned,” Joe said with more than a hint of disbelief in his voice. “I tried everything to get him to trust me like that, and all I had to do was send him your way for a month?”
I smiled and patted Duke down, working from his shoulder to his back legs and down to his hoof, which he lifted for me when I tapped his leg. I rapped my knuckles on the bottom of his hoof and showed Joe the horseshoe.
“He’s a good animal, Joe,” I said, letting Duke put his leg back down. I moved back up toward his head and patted his cheek. Duke closed his eyes and leaned into me for more affection. “The key with him is to move slowly. So long as you do that and you don’t spook him, he’s a calm, loyal horse.”
Joe rubbed the back of his neck. “I owe you big time for this one, Wyatt. Seriously.”
I waved my hand at him. “You don’t owe me anything. I had a good time working with him. You know me. I like a challenge.”
“He didn’t do any damage to you or your boys, I hope?”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing serious. He knocked Dodge on his ass a couple times, but that was Dodge’s fault, not the horse’s.”
Joe chuckled. “Fair enough. The least I can do is buy you a few drinks at the Doherty’s party this Saturday. Are you going to be there?”
