by Lori King
Chapter Seven
Claudia wrapped a towel around her wet body as she ran to answer the front door the next afternoon. She wasn’t expecting to find Mack standing there but she readily returned his friendly smile and hello kiss when she opened the door.
“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you working?” she asked, pushing the door shut, and tightening her grip on the towel.
“I took off early. I wanted to see you again, and if I had known you would be naked and wet I would have taken the morning off too,” he said with a wicked glint in his eyes, reaching for her towel as she darted away.
“I was supposed to have dinner with Mayor Edwards tonight to discuss the project, but he backed out about an hour ago without rescheduling,” she responded, with a heavy sigh.
Mack frowned, “That can’t be a good sign.”
“I’m not beaten yet. If he thinks avoiding dinner with me will get me off the trail, he’s mistaken.”
Mack’s dimples flashed as he smiled at her, and she reached up to run her finger over one of the deep grooves. Turning his head, he captured her fingertip with his lips and nipped her gently. “So does this mean you’re free to spend the rest of the day with me?”
“I suppose so. As long as you don’t suggest going for another trail ride,” she said, grimacing as she rubbed at her tender backside.
Instantly, concern filled his gaze and his eyes narrowed, “Are you hurt? I shouldn’t have kept you out so long yesterday. It’s been too long since you were in the saddle.” He grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the stairs, “Damn it. I wish I had known, I could have brought some liniment to rub on your muscles.”
“Mack, stop!” she protested, but he continued to pull her along up the stairs, only hesitating long enough for her to direct him to the right bedroom. Before she could get her bearings he was pushing her down on the bed and pulling her towel away. “Hey!”
A sharp slap to the side of her hip made her squeal in surprise. “I want to make sure you’re not bruised. Spread ‘em.”
He pushed her thighs apart, and she felt moisture flood her pussy as he ran his hands up and down her inner thighs and over her plump ass. “Mmm. I won’t protest if you deem a massage is in order,” she teased.
The tentative touches became firmer and he chuckled behind her. “Have I mentioned how much I like your dirty talking side?”
Rolling up on her side, she rested her head on her hand and gave him what she hoped was a seductive look. “How about this side? Are you interested in this side too?”
The heat lighting up his eyes made her skin tingle. His breathing was heavier as she whispered, “Definitely. Roll over, sweetheart, so I can play with those pretty tits.”
Shaking her head, she rolled over but she didn’t stay put. “Nope. I think it’s my turn to make you squeal. Remember? I’ve got some scarves I think I’m going to use on you just to ensure you can’t take over.”
Shock filled his features, and a pink flush stained his cheeks, but she saw his cock twitch with interest behind the denim of his jeans. His body suddenly tensed and he took a step backwards. Jumping to her feet, she placed one hand on his chest, and gripped the back of his neck with the other, drawing his eyes back to hers. “Hey! Why are you so embarrassed?”
“I’m not,” he argued, but she wouldn’t release him when he tried to pull away. “I’m fine, really.”
“No, wait, if we’re going to pursue this relationship you have to talk to me. Why are you suddenly acting awkward? Is it because I want to tie you up?”
Mack slowly shook his head, and took a deep breath. “No. It’s because I want you to. I’m not entirely comfortable with my desire to be on the receiving end yet.”
“We’ll take it slow. Practice makes perfect, right? I’m assuming you would like the opportunity to tie my ass up and drive me insane.” She lifted an eyebrow at him, and giggled when his grin widened. “That’s what I thought. Well fair’s fair. I want to explore this gorgeous piece of man-flesh, and the only way to prevent you from taking over is to tie you down. Are you game?”
“Man-flesh?” He looked genuinely affronted at her choice of words and she rolled her eyes.
“Seriously? Are you in or not?”
Mack suddenly laughed loudly and wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her up onto her toes so he could kiss her. When they parted to breathe again, he smiled down at her. “You’re perfect, do you know that?”
“Of course I am. Now, on your back, cowboy. I’m going to lasso you.” She wiggled her eyebrows and bounced over to her dresser to pull out several silk scarves that would bind him securely to the headboard. Hopefully they won’t leave marks, she thought. The moment the thought crossed her brain she smiled inside at the image of another woman seeing her marks on his wrists. Pure feminine pride filled her chest, and she stalked back to the bed, determined to leave a mark on his soul, if not his body. She wanted to rock him to the core like he did her yesterday.
Straddling his chest, she tied his wrists and then scratched her nails lightly down his forearms to the tender skin on the inside of his arms. Goosebumps popped up all over his skin, and she continued her exploration over his shoulders and neck, tangling her fingers in his yellow curls.
“I love your hair. It’s so sexy. You should leave the bandana off more often,” she murmured, pressing tiny butterfly kisses to his forehead and cheeks.
His lips parted, but he didn’t respond, and she continued to kiss every inch of skin she could reach. Making her way down to his broad chest, she nipped at the tan circles of his nipples making him twist underneath her. She filed away the knowledge that his nipples were sensitive as she moved on to the sharp jut of his rib cage. There was a scar over his left bottom rib and she traced the four inch line with her tongue.
“What happened?” she whispered against his skin.
He shuddered underneath her, and his voice was thick with desire when he answered, “A tree branch when I was nine. I was climbing a tree and slipped. I caught the edge of a broken branch as I went down. Got lucky it didn’t go through me.”
Pressing another tender kiss to the old wound, she moved on to his rock hard abs, flexing beneath her hot breath. The line of hair stretching down his center intrigued her. It was crisp under her fingers, but soft against her skin, and it led her further down his body until she came face to face with his thick cock. Easily eight inches long and thick, she was fascinated by the thick vein running along its underside, pulsing with his heartbeat.
Her tongue followed the line up to the dripping hole at the top, and then back down to the especially sensitive spot where his cock and sack connected. Heavy balls hung below his shaft, begging for her hands, and she didn’t hesitate to run her lips over them, before rolling them in her palm. Mack was moaning now, his thighs tense on either side of her head as she fondled him.
Watching his face closely, she engulfed the head of his cock with her mouth while twisting and tugging ever so gently at his nuts. His hips jerked upwards and she smiled around the mouthful of cock. Taking another chance, she scratched her fingertip over the sensitive purse of his anus while she swallowed as much of his cock as possible.
The wild way he twisted and jumped encouraged her to press her fingertip harder against his pleasure button, just barely entering him on the next swallow. Still, he didn’t protest. In fact, his pupils dilated and a pink flush covered his chest and cheeks, proving how much he was enjoying her attentions. Before she could second guess herself, she pushed her finger into his ass, and forced another inch of his cock into her throat, gagging just a bit. The spurt of pre-cum that filled her mouth left her gurgling for air, and she had to release him.
When she lifted her head again, he looked like a wild man. His biceps were bulging, and his abs were clenched. His cockhead was an angry purple color, and he growled at her when she didn’t immediately resume her fondling.
“I need to be inside you, baby. Now.” He was gritting his teeth as he tried to
maintain control, and Claudia frowned down at him.
“I’m the boss today, baby. So relax. I’m going to ride you, but it’s going to be slow and easy,” she assured him as she rose up over his hips and lined his cock up with her dripping snatch. Slowly she sunk down on him, taking a couple of thrusts to get him all the way inside of her.
They came together like a match to kindling. Fire coursed through her veins, making her motions jerky and sharp. Mack groaned underneath her when she leaned forward dragging her aching nipples over his mouth.
“I would die happy if I suffocate with my face full of those beauties,” he hissed at her, and she giggled. “Let my hands loose, sweetheart. I want to touch you.”
Claudia hesitated, because she was enjoying having control, but if she was honest, it wasn’t nearly as sexy to ride his cock without him holding her. Hurrying to release the ties, she had to stretch almost the full length of her body on top of him to reach them. The moment his hands were free, he gripped her hips, his fingertips digging into the soft flesh, hard enough to leave bruises. She screamed when he shoved his cock upwards, spearing her hard and fast. An orgasm washed over her, leaving her lying limply on top of him, trying to remember why this was a bad idea in the first place.
Mack might have stayed on his back, but he definitely took control. Moving her hips to a rhythm that quickly brought them both back to the edge of orgasm. With her last bit of functioning brain cells, she reached out and pinched his nipples as she exploded on top of him. Whimpering and babbling her pleasure as he released his cum deep inside of her.
She collapsed onto him, her vision slightly fuzzy, and her body tingling everywhere. There was no denying they were explosive together. Lying there in blissful silence, she listened to his heart race under her ear and just breathed in the scent of sex as he ran his fingers up and down her spine gently.
“I hate to ruin the moment, but this is the second time we’ve had sex and the second time we’ve forgotten a condom,” Mack said hesitantly.
Claudia turned her head, so her chin rested over his breastbone and she could meet his eyes. “I’m clean, and safe from pregnancy. I have an IUD, but I should have been more responsible. To be honest, I don’t sleep with just anyone. I haven’t had sex in over a year.”
He hugged her tightly, and pulled her up to kiss her forehead. “I’m clean too, but I’ll get you papers if you’d like to see. I haven’t had a serious relationship since right before the business went under. When I slept with a sub at The Cage there was always a condom involved.”
She nodded, “I’ll get paperwork for you too.” Frowning, she wrinkled her nose, “Not very sexy talk for after something like that.”
“No, but I wanted to make sure you were protected.” He cocked his head, “I want to be a dad, but not until I have my life pieced back together.”
Lifting off him, she went to the bathroom to clean up and then rejoined him in her bed. Snuggling up to his naked body, she relaxed on his shoulder and let her eyes drift closed listening to him breathe.
“Mack? When you say you want to piece your life back together, what does that mean exactly?” she asked quietly, unsure if he was still awake or not.
After several breaths she decided he must have fallen asleep and she sighed heavily, jumping when his voice startled her, “I really don’t know. I’ve just kind of been hanging on by the skin of my teeth for the last few years. No sense of direction or purpose. I guess I’m hoping things will start to fall in place for me soon.”
“I know what you mean.” Before drifting off to sleep, she allowed herself to imagine she had found a permanent home in Stone River, and possibly the missing puzzle pieces to her empty life.
*****
Ryker didn’t know what drew him back to Claudia, but for whatever reason he found himself back at her home, scraping paint from the east side of the house. She turned out to be an easy person to talk to, and he found himself sharing all of the sordid details of his past with Tina and Scott.
“So, Scott had been working as your accountant for five years and he had been honest the whole time?” she asked. The confusion in her voice matched the questions he’d been asking himself for months.
“Yep. Not a penny out of place until I hired Tina Ash as my business manager. I was looking into opening a bar and grill in Galveston before my football contract was due to end in two years. I figured I had better start making plans for a future that didn’t involve full body contact.”
“And the police can’t do anything? What about tracking the money electronically? Surely the bank knows where it was sent. My father had an incident with an employee embezzling a decade ago, but they managed to piece together the missing money and arrest him.”
Ryker shook his head as he climbed back down the ladder and joined her under the shade of the neighbor’s Maple tree draping over part of her yard. “The positive and negative about technological improvements. They sent the money to overseas accounts, and then began a series of complicated transfers. Apparently Tina was a hacker in her juvy days. Of course, that was a fact she conveniently left off her resume.”
“I’ll bet. I know it sucks, but Karma will bite them in the ass someday, Ryker.”
The look of concern in her pretty hazel eyes made his heart clench. “Thanks. I know you’re right. It just sucks to lose everything in a matter of days.”
“But Mack said you sold your home and some cars, so you should have a nice nest egg, right?”
“I have enough. I don’t have to work as a ranch hand like Mack.” He didn’t mean it the way it sounded, and she bristled.
“At least he’s not sitting in a recliner feeling sorry for himself, and crying into a can of beer.” Her words created an awkward silence between the two of them, and he had to bite back a nasty response because the truth hurt.
“Well played. I’m sorry. It’s just a sensitive subject. I have to figure out what’s next for me.” Ryker watched as her eyes suddenly stared off and her tone grew distant.
“Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that going on around here.”
Before he could question her more, her cell phone rang and she hurried to answer it. He heard her greet one of the town board members and confirm her attendance at the town hall meeting later that night. He was actually anxious to see her in action. The image of her in his head didn’t match up to the rich socialite he knew she had been before moving to Stone River.
When she hung up and walked back his way, he gestured to the phone, “Getting nervous?”
“No, not really. Well, no more nervous than I was before. The town is certainly determined to hold off development. I just hope they keep an open mind tonight.”
“Give them a little credit. Just because they live in the sticks doesn’t mean they aren’t open minded. They do seem to embrace alternative lifestyles…” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her and making her laugh.
“That they do. I have to admit, that part of Stone River caught me off guard.”
Ryker nodded his agreement. “Me too. I was at the Keegan wedding, and I saw how much the three brothers love Zoey with my own eyes, but it still seems weird to me. I mean, how do they decide things like who goes on the marriage license, or who goes to parent/teacher conferences with the kids?”
Claudia looked thoughtful, and she absently rubbed sweat from her cleavage distracting Ryker and making his cock twitch. “I suppose it takes a lot of communication. Who did Zoey legally marry?”
“It’s Tanner’s signature on the doc. He’s the oldest, and the legal owner of the ranch, but she said vows with all three of them.”
“I wish I could have been there. I love weddings, and I’ve been to a hundred or more. Big ones, small ones, weird ones…I went to one where the theme of the wedding was Nightmare Before Christmas, and the bride and groom dressed up as Jack and Sally. I’ve never seen a bride marry more than one groom, though.”
Ryker grinned, “Like I said, small town doesn’t mean small minded.” He pass
ed her a bottle of water, watching as she drank deeply. When she dropped it from her lips, her sexy pink tongue darted out and he hissed a breath.”
Frowning at him with concern, she ran her eyes down his length, “You okay?”
“Yeah, just have a crick in my back, that’s all. I was thinking, you said you’ve never climbed a tree before, right?” Ryker delighted in the wary grimace on her face.
“Uh, right, but—”
“Now’s as good a time as any, duchess. Come on, I’ll show you how it’s done.” Grabbing her hand, he dragged her around to the front of the house where the massive maple tree stood. Its long limbs stretching gracefully toward the sky, reaching for the sunshine.
“Ryker, this is not a good idea. I have to get cleaned up before the meeting tonight. I do not have time to go have a broken arm set.” Claudia stopped in her tracks, and crossed her arms under her breasts, plumping them up and making his mouth go dry.
He consider dropping it, but then he caught a glimpse of the tiny diamond chip earring glinting in her earlobe, and the two hundred dollar sneakers on her feet that were now dotted with paint spatters. She needed someone to help her expand her horizons, and if he couldn’t take her to bed, then he was damn sure going to ingrain himself in her memory banks.
“Chicken.”
The one word had exactly the right effect. She bristled, and her eyes flared to life with annoyance at the challenge. “It’s not cowardly to avoid putting oneself in harm’s way.”
A loud bark of laughter burst from his chest, “And that, duchess, is exactly why you’re going to haul your cute ass up into the tree one way or another. No one in Stone River, Texas should ever say “oneself”. Now, the first thing you have to do is find a good solid handhold. You want to get a good grip, and up you go.” Ryker hauled himself up the tree onto the first limb, and then looked back to see her studying him intently. Unable to wipe the grin from his face, he hopped back down to the ground and jerked his head toward the tree, “Your turn.”
