Somewhere to Belong

by Caitlin Ricci

  I sat down on the edge of his bed to take them off. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s hope that you never break your wrist.”

  “Since I don’t often play with crazy, unpredictable horses I don’t think that will be anything that you have to be worried about.”

  He was naked a few minutes later, and I smiled up at him as he stepped between my thighs and offered himself to me. I’d sucked him plenty of times, but that was before everything else. And this was different. I kissed his stomach and ran my hands down his sides. His short hairs tickled my nose as I brushed my mouth over his dark skin. I loved how dark he was and how beautiful he was, like a deep black horse whose color was so much more interesting up close.

  I kissed his base as the tip of his cock slid against my throat, leaving a trail of wetness in its wake. I didn’t mind. I actually kind of liked the taste of him.

  I stroked him first and smiled as his hands went to my shoulders and the back of my head. That’s why I didn’t often suck people. Because everyone seemed so interested in trying to choke me with their cocks, like that somehow made them better, cooler, or more powerful, knowing that they could gag someone. I thought that it made them jackasses. But Grayson only ran his fingers through my hair as I slid my hand over his cock. I wanted to have my other hand free to play with his balls, but that wasn’t going to happen for a while because of the damn cast.

  I licked him from his base to his tip, then continued to gently stroke him while I dipped my head to lap at his balls. His hair there was trimmed short. I’d been with guys who shaved themselves clean, and I’d been with guys who looked like they had no idea that razors even existed. I liked it like this, where I knew Grayson cared about his appearance, but he wasn’t obsessive over it. There were plenty of other things for him to be neurotic over besides how hairy his balls were.

  He helped me start the condom, since it would have been pretty hard to do without the use of my other hand, and then I slid my mouth carefully over his length. He touched the back of my throat, but since he wasn’t holding me down or even guiding me at all, I could pull away instantly. I really hated the condom, though. It was a barrier between us when I didn’t want anything there ever again. And it annoyed me to no end that I couldn’t feel his thick veins under my tongue as I took him between my lips.

  I lay back shortly after that, and he covered me with his body just as we’d done in the woods. I kept my hurt arm above my head so that it would stay out of the way. I was in pain now, and while the clinic had given me pain pills, I hadn’t taken any. But I’d get some later. I didn’t want to stop now just to go pop some pills and come right back into the moment. That seemed like far too much work, especially when I had Grayson kissing me and sliding against me with his cock. He was teasing me, and I loved it, but I wanted more from him. I brought my thighs up around his hips and felt him reach down to my hole. Maybe he thought he needed to remove my plug for me, since I hadn’t before I’d sat on the bed, but when I felt his fingers against my hole, he smiled down at me.

  “You’re not wearing it,” he said.

  “Only ever did because it was a way to keep guys from rushing to get their dicks in me before I was ready. I realized that I don’t have to do that with you.”

  He kissed me on my forehead. “You never, ever wore it because you liked how it felt?”

  “Not really. I mean, sometimes, when I was riding it felt really good. But most of the time it was there so that I was already stretched, and I made sure that the guys couldn’t hurt me. A few of them thought it made me a slut, since I was always ready for sex, but I preferred that to the times I hadn’t worn it before realizing that I needed it. Some guys were fine, but some can be serious dicks about wanting sex when they want it and not when I was ready for it. And you know I like some pain, but I draw the line at pushing in before I’m ready to take a cock.”

  I caught Grayson staring. Then he kissed me long and slow. Lube came next, and I waited as he stretched me. He took minutes making sure I was okay and asking me the whole time that he was doing it if he was hurting me. Sometimes he wasn’t even stretching me. Sometimes he’d just run his fingers around my hole and tease me like it was kind of a damn game. I was really starting to miss my plug by the time he stopped teasing me and slid his cock up against my hole.

  pushed into me, but there was no pain to go with it. He’d done a good job of getting me ready. I just wanted him to hurry up now and fuck me. That would be really nice. But Grayson seemed determined to go slow as he slid inside of me like neither one of us was in any kind of a rush. He rained kisses down over my cheeks and chin, and I gasped under him as he pushed inside of me with such glacial speed that I was ready to start begging before he ever got deep in me.

  Thankfully he didn’t make me wait too much longer before he was all the way in me, and I had my legs clamped around his hips as he started to really work me. I kept having to remind myself not to reach over with my bad hand to touch his shoulder like I normally did. I liked having his muscles move under my fingers. He had wide shoulders. I’d thought he was a linebacker or something at first. He was built like it. And I loved that about him too. He was big and powerful, and when he really started to fuck me, I could always feel that part of him. Sure he dealt with papers all day and sat at a desk when he was at work, but when he wasn’t, there was something about him that said that he could have done anything with his life, and he still had so much potential wrapped up in him.

  He gasped out my name with each hard stroke into me, and I closed my eyes as I clung to him. His tight hairs tickled my belly and my cock, and I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from coming before I was ready. I wanted more time with him. I wanted hours more, just like this, where there was nothing else in my world except for Grayson and his impossibly soft bed underneath me.

  “Marry me,” he whispered against my neck in between lightly biting me.

  I opened my eyes and glared at him. “Excuse me?”

  He didn’t even falter in his pace as he leaned up on his hands to loom over me. “You heard what I said. Marry me. Please?”

  “Fuck no.” I laughed at him, which instantly made him frown.

  “Why not? We love each other. I love having you here. We’re great together.”

  While all of that was true, he was missing the bigger picture. “You can’t just ask someone to marry you when you’re balls deep in their ass. That’s not how it’s done. Ask me again later.”

  “Would you say yes if I asked you properly, then?”

  I grinned and looked away from him as he tried to kiss my mouth but only got my cheek. “Maybe. Depends on how you ask. It can’t be anything ridiculous like what you just did.”

  He laughed, and I gave him my mouth this time. We kept kissing, and then there was less kissing as his speed fell apart and his rhythm went to shit. He was close, and my thoughts were circling around marriage and marriage to Grayson and what was marriage like and did I have any right to be married to someone when I was still trying to figure out what, exactly, love was since it wasn’t what I’d always thought it was.

  Grayson bit my lower lip, snapping me out of my racing, maddening thoughts. I was back in the moment with him within an instant and coming only minutes after that as he grabbed my cock between us and stroked my orgasm out of me.

  As soon as I was done, he pulled out of my ass, tossed the condom aside, and came over my hips and stomach, mixing our come together and making me smile. We always did make such an absolute mess.

  He was gasping for air as he lay down next to me on the bed and put his arm across my stomach, right where the bulk of our combined come was.

  “I need a shower,” I said with a groan. But I definitely was not going to be getting up to go get one anytime soon.

  “I’m sorry I asked you,” he quietly told me once he’d regained the ability to speak coherently and not just gasp out my name and fuck mixed together as he came.

  “Are you regretting wanting to marry me already? Becau
se it’s kind of shitty to do take-backs on something like that.”

  I was relieved that he wasn’t saying that. Marriage was a terrifying concept for me, but if he had already been ready to call it off, I knew I probably would have cried, and I really didn’t cry all that often. I couldn’t remember the last time I had. I’d been close today, with the pain, and without sex there to cloud up all my thoughts and make me forget about it, the throbbing in my wrist was back with a vengeance. I needed to take some pills, too, to go with my shower.

  “I should not have asked you like that, but I don’t regret wanting to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, but tonight sealed it for me. And don’t you dare ask me if it was because of the sex that we just had, because not everything in life is about sex.”

  He knew me too well, because I was absolutely about to make that joke. “Then was it when Nigel was here and being an asshole?”

  Grayson kissed me on my sweaty temple. I was surprised he didn’t make a face at the grossness of that. “No, it was actually while we were grocery shopping. You stopped and turned to me and told me we could deep-fry the pizza to make me like it more. You were joking, and I knew I loved you so much right then, and I didn’t want to ever stop seeing you smile at me like that.”

  I swallowed deeply and gave him what I hoped was that same smile, though I really wished someone had gotten a picture of us in that moment because I wanted to practice that smile all the time until it was the only one that I ever gave to him.

  “My answer is yes.”

  More from Caitlin Ricci

  A Thornwood Novel

  Wanting to start over after breaking off a relationship with his married boss, Caleb Robinson is happy to move from Los Angeles to Thornwood, Colorado. He can barely find the town on a map, which is just the kind of place Caleb needs. He’s not looking for a relationship, and Thornwood looks to be the perfect place to get lost in his art. But when Thornwood’s local police officer, Trent Williams, knocks on Caleb’s front door, both men have an instant attraction to each other, and Caleb’s plans for solitude might have to change.

  But he soon learns that Trent is a legendary one-night-stand man for a very special reason. His boyfriend has been kept on life support for the past five years after a serious skiing accident. Even though Simon isn’t expected to wake up and Trent says he’s trying to get past him, he won’t entertain anything that comes close to commitment. As compelling as their attraction is, Caleb doesn’t want to be just another hook-up, and he won’t be the other man. But Trent isn’t sure he can risk the pain of losing someone else he cares about, no matter how intense the chemistry between him and Caleb.

  A Thornwood Novel

  Before jumping into his first semester of college, Thomas Maloney decides to lose his virginity at a party to a stranger he’s sure he’ll never see again. Only the next day, he’s surprised to learn the same one-night stand will be sharing his dorm room. Thomas considers himself lucky, but his new roommate—not so much.

  Closeted as they come, football jock Remington “Rem” Daniels is on track for a shot at the pros. Rem tries to play it cool and avoid falling for the confidently gay Thomas, which could hurt his chances. Dealing with their constant need to get in bed together wouldn’t be so hard if Rem didn’t have a girlfriend and Thomas didn’t have a conscience.

  When she delivers news that will change Rem’s life forever, Thomas knows it’s time to move back home to Thornwood, Colorado. But neither the distance nor knowing Rem belongs to someone else helps Thomas get over him. Rem’s feelings haven’t changed either. When it comes down to love or football, Rem will have to make the hardest choice of his life and hope Thomas will still be waiting for him when he does.

  Dare: Book One

  For successful businessman Bran Wilson, selling the large Montana dairy farm that has been in his family for generations is an easy decision. He hates the farm, the land, even the cows, and wants nothing to do with any of it. But there’s a glitch in his plan: a stubborn cowboy from New Zealand who is as sexy as he is aggravating.

  Kaden Barker loves the Wilson farm, and respected Bran’s grandfather up until the day he died. With his two best friends, he’s taken over working the farm and caring for the cows, and he’d happily spend the rest of his days doing it.

  When Bran charges into his life, telling him he’s selling the farm and there’s nothing Kaden, or his friends, can do about it, the animosity between them is instant. But so is the attraction, and only one extreme can win out.

  When his best friend, Lee, offered him his sub as part of a bet, Colton Prier never expected more than a clean condo from the boy. But Tate Nicholson is well-trained, eager , and he likes rope play as much as Colton enjoys tying him up. It should have ended after one night, but they begin meeting in secret, and Colton can’t stop thinking about Tate. It’s a betrayal of his friendship with Lee to fall in love with Tate, but Colton can’t help wanting the sub for himself.

  He’s not alone in his feelings, either. Tate thought he was happy with Lee. Not completely fulfilled, but happy enough. But as he spends more time with Colton, he realizes Lee isn’t capable of giving him what he wants anyway. Lee demands his full submission, but Tate doesn’t want to be a lifestyle sub. Colton expects his obedience at times but gives him his freedom more often than not, which is more in line with what Tate wants.

  When Tate really needs his Dom and Lee isn’t around to help him, he reaches the tipping point and needs to choose who he wants to give his submission to, and to accept the consequences of his choice when he does.

  A Planet Called Wish: Book One

  The Intergalactic Star Pilot Academy has accepted Thierry Leroux into the elite class of sky year 2231. But the academy comes with a hefty price tag, and there’s no way he, a poor Sythe orphan, has the credits the academy requires. Thierry’s brother, Corbin, a high-class companion, suggests Thierry sell his virginity for the cost of tuition. It seems like a ridiculous idea, but it may be Thierry’s only shot, so Thierry asks Corbin to arrange a meeting on the pleasure planet of Wish.

  On Wish, Thierry meets Corbin’s boss, Monroe, and they agree to auction off Thierry’s virginity. Thierry is grateful to the masked buyer he knows only as “Dragonfly,” and Dragonfly is gentle, making Thierry’s first time a good memory. When Dragonfly requests to see him again, and pay for the pleasure, Thierry returns to Wish. But in this game, falling in love is dangerous for the heart, and Thierry might not like the man behind the mask.

  Readers love the Thornwood series by Caitlin Ricci

  One More Time

  “I had a blast with this story… It caught my attention from the moment I started reading and kept it all the way to the end.”

  —MM Good Book Reviews

  “It was excellently written, and Caitlin makes sure not to rush…”

  —Just Love: Romance Novel Reviews

  About Last Night

  “Once I started this little gem, I couldn’t stop until I finished.”

  —Inked Rainbow Reads

  “I am in awe of this book, the character development is beautiful.”

  —Two Chicks Obsessed

  CAITLIN RICCI was fortunate growing up to be surrounded by family and teachers who encouraged her love of reading. She has always been a voracious reader and that love of the written word easily morphed into a passion for writing. If she isn’t writing, she can usually be found studying as she works toward her counseling degree. She comes from a military family, and the men and women of the armed forces are close to her heart. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and horseback riding in the Colorado Rockies she calls home with her wonderful fiancé and their two dogs. Her belief that there is no one true path to happily ever after runs deeply through all of her stories.

  Website: www.CaitlinRicci.com

  By Caitlin Ricci

  Blood Slave

  Country Strong

  For the Asking

  His Lion Tamer

  Marked by Gr
ief

  One Pulse (Dreamspinner Anthology)

  Reckless

  With Cari Z: Worth the Wait

  A FOREVER HOME

  Rescuing Jack

  Of Monsters and Men

  A PLANET CALLED WISH

  To the Highest Bidder

  Fantasy for a Gentleman

  Falling Into the Black

  THORNWOOD

  One More Time

  About Last Night

  Somewhere to Belong

  With Kara Nash

  DARE

  Dare to Risk

  Dare to Hope

  Published by Harmony Ink Press

  Crush

  First Time for Everything (Harmony Ink Anthology)

  With A.M. Burns: Running with the Pack

  ROBBIE & SAM

  Weathering the Storm

  Head Above Water

  Battle Born

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Somewhere to Belong