Bourbon Springs Box Set: Volume II, Books 4-6 (Bourbon Springs Box Sets Book 2)

by Jennifer Bramseth

  Jon didn’t even give Pepper time to take off her coat before he turned her around, wound his hands into her hair, and gazed down into her face.

  “I love you, Pepper. Damn, I’ll never get tired of saying that.”

  He kissed her without allowing her a chance to respond, and the kiss was slow and deep, with their lips slowly tasting and enjoying. She allowed him to gently pull her into his world, into his realm of deepening desire and love for her, a place that she’d never known with another man, even her ex-husband. Pepper hadn’t enjoyed the long friendship with her ex that she’d shared with Jon. And she knew the bond she was forging with this man was something so different and profound that it frightened her in its unfamiliarity and power.

  She’d expected him to be a little more frantic or forceful once they entered his house and closed the door behind them. And while she knew that what they were about to experience was going to be physically and emotionally intense, Pepper also felt like this was going to be very different than what had passed between them during those encounters in Hannah’s guest room.

  Jon pulled away and kissed her on the temple as she slid her hands around his waist.

  “I love you too,” she confessed as he kissed her cheek. She snuggled up against his chest, inhaling his scent and letting his presence infuse her consciousness and fill her with a sense of well-being. “Why do you think it’s taken us so long to get here? Why did we let all those years pass without being able to recognize this?”

  The question was filled with regret rather than fear. No longer was she questioning the basic reality of their love or the reasonableness or wisdom of their feelings; she was questioning why the hell they’d ignored or denied it for so long.

  “I don’t know,” he answered. “I know that question’s had you bothered for a while, and I admit that it’s puzzled me too. But in the end, I’m not sure the answer is that important. As long as we can say we love each other, it doesn’t matter how we got here. The wonderful thing is that we did get here.”

  Pepper put her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him close.

  “And I plan on staying here,” she said and kissed him.

  Jon put his hands underneath Pepper’s coat and, still kissing her, slipped it off her. He broke away to hang her coat and his on pegs by the door, then took her by the hand and led her down the hall and into his darkened bedroom.

  The walls were painted a dark blue, with dark blue carpeting, giving the room a closed-in, cozy feel that felt right for a bedroom retreat. The queen-size bed was made, with a darkly-patterned comforter atop it. It was tidier than she would’ve imagined for a bachelor’s room, and she detected the light soapy scent associated with freshly washed laundry.

  Jon moved to her, but she put her hand out and arrested his advance.

  “Remember I told you there was something I wanted to see?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “I do remember.”

  Pepper took a step toward the bed, put her hands on her hips and considered the bedroom landscape before her. She put a hand to the top of the comforter and prepared to pull it down, but then looked over her shoulder at him.

  “Clean sheets?” she asked. “The thought of them has been on my mind for weeks. I haven’t forgotten about them.”

  “Neither have I.” He removed his suit jacket and loosened his tie. “Take a look for yourself.”

  She pulled back the comforter to reveal smooth, clean sheets, and the smell of freshly-done laundry rose from the bed.

  Pepper put her hand on the sheets and felt the silk-like smoothness of the fine white cotton sheet.

  “Nice,” she said. “And lucky that you changed them—what, this morning? They’re just too perfect to look like you slept on them last night.”

  “Yes, I changed them this morning,” he confirmed. “Just like I have every day for the past several weeks.”

  Pepper looked askance at him. “You change your sheets every morning?”

  He nodded. “Since our little discussion about them, I’ve changed them every day.”

  She sat on the bed as the length of the obsessive nature of his practice sank in. “But that’s been weeks ago.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Why?”

  Jon sat on the bed next to her and leaned in close until he was inches from her face.

  “Because I’ve been waiting for this day, this moment, this second since that day you teased me about these sheets,” he said and patted the top of the bed. “And I knew that if I ever had the chance to get you to my house and into my bed, I was going to make damn sure that you had those clean sheets to feel against your skin as I made love to you again. It was a promise to us both and I kept to myself until this moment. It was my little ritual of hope or craziness, I guess. I just kept washing and changing sheets, over and over, repeating it like some kind of magic—or hoping it would be—just in case you were here, in this place with me.”

  She leaned closer to him until their lips were touching but she could speak.

  “Consider yourself a magician.”

  Jon began to lean Pepper back on the bed, but she resisted and put a hand on his chest.

  “Let’s get out of these clothes, now,” she insisted. “I want to feel these clean sheets.”

  He stood. “Undress me,” he ordered in that same tone of voice that made her want to comply with his every demand.

  She stood before him and removed his tie, taking care to place it on the bedside table.

  “You have plans for that thing?” he asked.

  “You’ll see,” she said, “or not.”

  She took delicious pleasure in unbuttoning his shirt slowly, savoring the view of Jon’s taut skin as it came into view with each button undone. When the shirt finally fell away, Pepper placed her hands flat on his chest, kissed Jon directly over his thundering heart, and moved her thumbs to his nipples, where she relished the feel of the tense points beneath his skin.

  This time was going to be slow.

  Not the crazy, frenetic sex they’d previously shared.

  But she knew it would be just as hot, if not hotter.

  * * *

  Jon moaned loudly and placed his hands lightly on her hips, willingly surrendering himself to her soft touch. He wanted them both to strip at once, much as they had the first time they’d made love, and have that passionate, frenzied experience again. But she was going slow this time, and he sensed she craved that change. He decided to match her pace, at least for this encounter. He hoped she would be there far into the afternoon and evening if he had his way with her.

  So they deliberately removed each other’s clothing as they stroked, explored, and rediscovered. His shirt, her skirt, his pants—they all languidly fell away and seemingly disappeared as Jon could only keep his mind, hands, and lips on the woman in his bedroom. When they were finally nude, Jon took both of Pepper’s hands in his, kissed them both, and eased her back onto the bed. The sight of her there at last—her luscious body and wild red hair draped against the whiteness of the sheets—was so wonderful, so surreal, that he could not remember a more perfect sight. It was not merely his dream coming true before him, but his future, and it blazed before him like a summer sun, pure and intense in its perfection and heat.

  His mouth claimed hers, desperate, hungry, and still disbelieving, before his lips pleasured her along her neck and breasts. Pepper cradled his head against her chest and sighed happily as his lips continued to delight her. He moved a hand to the spot between her legs, stroking her and finding her warm, wet, and ready for him. But in keeping with the pace of their lovemaking, his touch was slow and light, and Pepper’s hips moved to meet his ministrations with gentle thrusts.

  When he pressed his thumb ever so lightly against her clit, she moaned, and Jon began to move lower along her body. But Pepper stopped him.

  “Sit up,” she commanded.

  Perplexed but curious and highly aroused, Jon obeyed.

  Pepper reached to
the bedside table and grabbed his tie. Grinning, she held it by the ends.

  “So what are you proposing to do with that thing?” he asked.

  “Can’t you guess?”

  He laughed and let her blindfold him with the tie.

  “Um… I’ve never done anything like this before, just so you know,” he said, touching the tie.

  She giggled. “Me neither.”

  “Why do I feel like we’re kids playing some kind of game?”

  “I’m pretty sure I can quickly relieve you of that notion.”

  He felt her hands on his chest as she pushed him back on the bed. Jon felt captured by her, and succumbed to her will, eager to let her love him again. Pepper straddled him and his erection was pressed against her core; he moved his hips against hers, instinctively searching for release.

  “Not yet…,” she whispered against his lips before kissing him.

  Her mouth was on his chin, neck, and chest in the next seconds before her lips enveloped his nipples, and he sucked in a shuddering breath. Jon held her head against his chest as she kissed and sucked. And when she moved a hand to his shaft, wrapping her fingers around his length, he cursed.

  “Pepper…,” he begged and warned in the same breath.

  He grabbed her by the hips, craving the feel of her around him. Instead, she wriggled from his clutches, dropped her hand from his erection, and kissed him down his chest until she was at his waist.

  The next thing he felt was her lips upon the tip of his length.

  “Oh God… ” he cried, winding his fingers into her hair.

  Her mouth covered him as her hand moved up and down his shaft. He couldn’t resist; he had to get a glimpse of Pepper pleasuring him and moved his hand to adjust the tie across his eyes.

  “No peeking or I’ll stop,” she whispered.

  With a long groan, his hand fell away from his face as he gave himself to her, allowing her to taste and taunt him until he was very close. It was torture not being able to see her as her tongue and mouth enveloped and claimed him.

  “Pepper…” He gripped her head in warning.

  Ceasing her ministrations, she giggled, straddled him, and took him inside her at a stroke.

  Still blind, he reached for the tie, but her hands caught his.

  “Not yet,” she said, and bent to kiss him.

  Pepper rode him and he gripped her hips, trying to hold back the climax he knew would be explosive. Fumbling and sightless, he reached for her breasts and devoured them as he experienced Pepper making love to him again. An experience he had craved, mourned, and feared he would never savor again.

  He sensed her getting close and finally moved a hand to adjust his blindfold. Looking up as Pepper continued to move against him, their eyes locked.

  She tried to speak, but failed. Her climax was too intense. Pepper shuddered against him, her eyes closed and head thrown back as a long wail of pleasure escaped her. There was nothing for him to do but thrust against her. He convulsed under the power of his own orgasm, his cry of release and reunion joining hers as she fell upon him, trembling and breathing heavily. Ecstatic yet scared, Jon mustered his strength and embraced Pepper as hard as he could.

  This woman, this connection, this love…

  He would not let it escape him again.

  20

  After her long afternoon with Jon, Pepper drove him back to town and returned to GarnetBrooke late in the day in a giddy, loved-up state. She’d invited him over for the evening, promising that he could at last see her bedroom, and he said he’d be over for dinner—and dessert upstairs.

  His comment had reminded her that she needed to get to the grocery store, but instead of tending to that necessary errand after leaving his house, Pepper had driven straight home in a happily preoccupied mood. Upon walking into her kitchen, it hit her that she was going to have to go back into Bourbon Springs if she were to save them from a dinner of stale bread, old cheese, and possibly cold cereal.

  But before doing that, she decided to go upstairs and shower and change clothes. Once there, Pepper checked her phone for any messages and learned that Nina Cain had called her yet again.

  Pepper fell into an overstuffed chair near the window and decided it was time to get the noisome task out of the way.

  “Thanks for calling me back,” Nina began. “I guess I don’t need to say too much by way of introduction or why I’m calling.”

  “I’ve been warned you’d be calling.”

  “I hate it when people say that,” Nina lamented.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you.” Pepper was a little surprised by the reaction. From Jon’s description of this attorney, Pepper had imagined her as a tough, thick-skinned prosecutor.

  “You didn’t. I get that all the time. I’m not everyone’s ideal of someone you want to hear from. Attorneys and witnesses alike.”

  Pepper hadn’t taken the time to think about that aspect of Nina’s job and felt a little sorry for her. “I don’t know how you do your job.”

  “That’s exactly what my family says.”

  “Oh, yeah—your family!” exclaimed Pepper, wondering whether Nina knew her brother was a married man. “I know your brother, Walker.”

  “Really?”

  Pepper explained that she had been volunteering at the distillery and helping out with tours.

  “Walker’s a real charmer,” Pepper said. “I love it when he’s around when I’m giving tours. He loves to talk to the tourists about the bourbon.”

  “Oh, yeah, he’s a bourbon nerd, that’s for sure.”

  “Bourbon nerd? What a great term!” cried Pepper. She hadn’t expected to like Nina, and the turn in the conversation was a fun and happy surprise.

  “Well, he is a master distiller. Being a bourbon nerd is a job hazard—or, I suppose, a job requirement. But the man knows his stuff. And the samples he brings me! To die for! Have you been lucky enough to try Garnet Center Cut?”

  “Yeah, just today, Walker gave us some after the wed—”

  And Pepper shut up immediately, wondering whether she was about to give something away.

  “You had Center Cut with Walker today?” Nina said, impressed. “That must’ve been one hell of a tour.”

  “When was the last time you talked with Walker?” Pepper asked, thinking that it was probably before lunchtime today.

  “About a week ago,” Nina said. “But you’ve apparently only seen him today. What kind of special tour is it where the tourists can get Center Cut? The bottles they released before Christmas are so hard to find now, so I didn’t think they’d have Center Cut samples at the distillery. Was it some kind of special tour or occasion?”

  Pepper put her hand over her eyes, wondering how she was going to get out of this one. Why did she feel so deceptive for not spilling it about Walker and CiCi?

  “Yes, it was a special occasion,” she said.

  “I think you were about to say wedding, weren’t you? Who got married? Was it—” Nina went silent for a few seconds before finding her voice again. “They didn’t!”

  No avoiding it now.

  “Yes, they did.” Pepper couldn’t recall that Walker and CiCi had sworn them to secrecy. After all, they had said they were going to the clerk’s office and then the distillery to spread the good news. “Let me tell you all about it since your brother hasn’t bothered to fill you in and you’ve figured it out.”

  “CiCi made some comment last time I saw her about how she was hating all the wedding prep,” Nina said. “I shouldn’t be that surprised.”

  Pepper described the whole strange affair with detailed descriptions of the baby’s comic relief contributions to the sacred ceremony. Pepper’s retelling the tale had Nina roaring with laughter.

  “Oh! That is hilarious! That sounds like they had much more fun than some stuffy church wedding! I’m so glad it was special.”

  “I’ve never seen any wedding like it,” Pepper said, “and before you ask, I have no idea where they are. I ove
rheard CiCi saying something that they were off on some secret honeymoon that Walker had planned for them.”

  “My brother planned a secret honeymoon? Walker Cain? The man whose idea of spontaneity is changing the channel?”

  “I don’t think his lovely bride would share your assessment of his charms,” Pepper laughed.

  They talked a little more about Walker and CiCi and the distillery before returning to the original reason to be talking at all.

  “Your dad’s hearing is around a month away now.”

  “I didn’t know that. He hadn’t given me a date.”

  Pepper had e-mailed her father a few times and had one voice mail from him, but his contact with her since the cemetery incident had been infrequent. Pepper had assumed he was deliberately keeping his distance from her before the hearing lest he create the false impression he was trying to warm up his daughter so she could testify favorably on his behalf.

  “I’ll be up-front with you: I’m going to have to call you as a witness, Pepper. And I’d love to come down to Bourbon Springs and interview you in person before the trial.”

  “Can’t we do this over the phone?”

  Pepper heard Nina sigh. “Sure. I guess I don’t have that much to ask you really.”

  “So why did you want to come interview me if you don’t have that much to ask?”

  “First, because you’ll be a major witness, even if you don’t have that much to say. You’re the daughter of the person who’s trying to get his license back. I’d like to be able to look you in the face, meet you, get you at ease with me, although the story you told me about my brother’s impromptu wedding helped in that regard, I think.”

  “Okay, and the other reason?”

  “I want to go to the distillery, of course.”

  “To see Walker? But who knows when he’ll be back from—”

  “No, not because of him,” Nina said. “I mean, I love him and love to see him, but I love going to Old Garnet. It’s the most beautiful distillery I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something if you’re a Kentuckian.”