by Ciana Stone
“Okay, how much does it pay?”
Clint laughed. “Already figuring up your budget to get the hell outta Dodge, Lil?”
She looked down, a little embarrassed that he’d read her so well. He put two fingers under her chin to tilt her face up. “No pressure,” he said softly. “But I’d really like you to stay.”
“Why?”
“Because,” he said and grinned.
She smiled up at him. “Well, when you put it that way. Okay, boss, what’s the first order of business?”
Clint chuckled and pulled her to him. “We’re not quite ready for business.”
Lily knew in her bones it was a mistake. She should draw a line. Mixing business and pleasure always led to trouble. The problem was, as had been pointed out her entire life, she was a total sucker for trouble.
Shoving doubts and reason into an already jumbled closet of problems in the back of her mind, she met his lips.
Chapter Four
Lily put her shovel and rake into the wheelbarrow and pushed it out of the stall. Some people might look at mucking out stalls as nasty work but she didn’t mind it. It’d taken her the better part of the morning, but when Clint and Cam got back from the livestock auction they’d find the place in tiptop shape.
It made her feel good that they’d trusted her to take care of the place. They’d invited her to go, but truth be told, she needed a break from Clint. Not because things weren’t going well, but because they were.
She’d been there nearly two months and each day she was more in love with him. At first she’d figured it was just sex. Sex with Clint was as addictive as she’d feared. He evoked passion she didn’t know she possessed and delivered pleasure the likes of which she’d never imagined.
After a month it started to be clear that it was more than sex. She saw him for the man he’d become. Honest, hardworking, with a strong sense of self, a sense of humor and a kind heart. He was all the things she admired most. And just looking at him started a fire inside her that she couldn’t control.
They hadn’t talked about the future. No words were spoken of love or commitment. She’d wanted it that way. No, that was a lie. That wasn’t what she wanted, but it was the way things had to be. She wasn’t even divorced.
Besides, he’d given her no indication that he wanted anything to change between them. Maybe she had been right in the beginning. Maybe Clint wasn’t looking for forever.
That thought brought a little cloud of depression to her sunny mood. She mentally cursed herself for even allowing romantic notions of happily-ever-after to enter her mind. She needed to focus on the now. And right now, life was pretty damn good.
* * * * *
Clint watched the passing scenery as Cam drove. He was eager to get back home. They’d picked up a bull at the auction and had two potential buyers lined up for their cattle, so all in all it had been a successful trip.
Until last night. They’d gone to a local bar with a couple of guys they knew from Georgia who were at the auction. It was a typical country-western club, loud music and most of the clientele as far from cowboy as you could get with their new shiny boots and ill-fitting hats.
Women in tight denim looking for a hook-up were plentiful, and as always, Cam drew more than his share of attention. Clint had to hand it to his baby brother. Cam couldn’t walk into a bar without turning female heads. At six foot four and two hundred and twenty-five pounds of solid muscle, he stood a head higher than most men.
Thanks to their parents, they’d both been blessed with thick dark hair and the kinds of features that were easy on the eyes. Cam’s natural, outgoing nature and easy charm made it almost too easy to score with the ladies.
Last night was no exception. Within ten minutes there were two fillies perched at their table. Cam was having a high old time with a sassy redhead while the cute blonde with the store-bought breasts and teeth so white they damn near glowed did her best to entice Clint onto the dance floor.
When he finally gave in and let her drag him to the floor, the music switched from a lively foot tapper to a slow belly rubber. The blonde plastered herself against him and wound her hands around his neck.
Clint looked down at her smiling up at him and in that moment it hit him. He didn’t want to be here on the dance floor with her. Not because she wasn’t pretty, or sexy, or damn eager for whatever he had to dish out, but because he was in love with Lily.
It shocked him so much that he stepped on the blonde’s toe. She squeaked and hopped and almost toppled over. He caught her, apologized and walked off the floor.
“I’ll see you back at the hotel,” he said to Cam as he reached the table.
“You leaving?” Cam looked up in surprise.
“Yeah. Catch a ride with Mike.” Clint headed out the door and to the truck.
He thought about it all night, and most of the morning. Now, seven hours from home, he watched the passing scenery as Cam drove.
“You got something stuck in your craw, bro?” Cam’s voice cut into his thoughts.
Clint looked over at Cam behind the wheel of the truck. “Just ready to be home.”
Cam chuckled. “You mean ready to get back to Lil.”
There were a lot of people Clint could fool, but Cam wasn’t one of them so he didn’t bother to deny it. “I think I’m in love with her.”
“Shit on a stick, are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. You got a problem with it?”
Cam shook his head. “It’s your life, brother. I mean I knew you and she had a case of the hots but I thought it was just sex, ya know?”
“So did I,” Clint admitted.
“She’s something,” Cam commented. “Damn good with the horses, works circles round most men and easy to be around—doesn’t jaw your ears off twenty-four seven.” He looked over at Clint with a grin. “And definitely easy on the eyes.”
Clint nodded. Everything Cam said was dead on the money. “There’s just one thing,” he replied.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“She’s still married.”
“Ain’t no big thing, bro. People get divorces all the time.”
Yes, they did. And there was no reason Lily couldn’t file for divorce. In fact, as soon as they got home, Clint was going to talk to her about seeing a lawyer. The sooner she was free of Eddie Haywood, the sooner he could talk to her about their future.
* * * * *
It was the dogs that alerted her something was wrong. Lily took one of the four-wheelers to check it out. A section of fence was down in the south pasture. She hoped none of the cattle had wandered. The land behind the south pasture was very marshy, the kind of marsh that conjured up visions of snakes and gators. Not exactly a place she was keen on wandering around in.
But if any of the stock had gotten out, she had to find them. Clint and Cam were due home today and there was no way in hell she was letting them come home to missing stock.
She got off the four-wheeler at the fence. The moment she cut the engine, she heard the sound. A calf. In fear or pain, and dogs going nuts. She took off at a dead run, beating her way through the tangle of palmetto and vines.
Twenty yards into the brush and her right leg sank to the knee in muck. She yanked free and looked for another way, edging along as fast as possible in the direction of the commotion.
She stepped out into a small clearing and saw it. A calf was stuck in the mud on the edge of a small pond, bellowing like mad while two of the dogs, Charlie and Pickles, snapped and barked at a gator in the water.
“Shit!” Keeping her eye on the gator, she headed for the calf. Aside from being terrified and stuck, it appeared unharmed.
Lily tugged and pulled, swore and pulled some more, twice slipping as she tried to get the calf free. Finally, she pulled it free, accomplishing another ungraceful splat in the process.
Her hat had fallen off and was dangling in front of her, her hair twisted in the cord. She managed to get to her knees in the mud and caught
sight of movement on the ground to her right. Before she had time to process what was happening, something came off the ground at her.
The water moccasin hit her hat. She yelled and flopped back. Christ on a crutch, the damn snake had a hold of her hat and wasn’t letting go. A million things went through her mind in a split second, none of them much help, so she did the only thing she could do. She grabbed the snake at the back of the head and hung on, using her free hand to help her get on her feet.
The calf had already taken off, barreling through the brush in the direction of the pasture. The dogs were still raising hell at the gator, which was trashing around in the water, decidedly annoyed.
It was clearly time to get the hell out of Dodge, so Lily took a page from the calf’s book and ran.
It wasn’t the homecoming Clint had imagined. He hopped out of the truck at the house, while Cam pulled around to the pasture to unload the bull from the trailer.
“Lil?” he called out the moment he entered the back door.
There was no answer. He headed out to the barn. No sign of her. Where the hell was she? Just as he was leaving the barn, he heard the commotion. It was coming from the south. Sounds of frightened livestock, barking dogs and a woman’s voice.
Clint jumped on one of the bikes and gunned the engine. Cattle were clustered at the near end of the south pasture. He had to stop and open the gate. The cattle were obviously agitated, and that made him nervous.
He blasted across the pasture. There was a four-wheeler parked at a section of fence down on the far side. Maybe that explained the cattle. Beyond the pasture was a marsh and every now and again they’d get a gator come into the pasture.
Clint stopped at the downed section of gate and cut the engine on the bike. A moment later, a muddy calf appeared through the brush, making tracks. Clint watched it run by. What the hell?
That was when he heard it. Lily cussing a blue streak and frenzied barking. He jumped off the bike and started for the fence but stopped cold, completely unprepared for the sight that met his eyes.
Lily burst through the bramble, covered from head to toe in black mud, her hair a wild tangle, hat hanging over her right breast and of all things, a snake latched on to the hat and her hand latched on to the snake.
She saw him and screamed, still running. “I can’t get this fucker off me!”
He ran to her, both of them stopping at the same moment. Her chest was heaving. “What do I do?”
He wasn’t quite sure. He’d never seen anything like it. He moved closer. As unlikely as it was, the moccasin had gotten a fang hung in the straw weave of her hat, trapping itself. Its thick body was thrashing and curling beneath her hand.
“Can you pull it loose and throw it?”
“I tried. It’s not budging and I can’t get my hat off. My hair’s tangled in the cord.”
“Okay. Okay, no worries. There’s a knife in the tool pouch on the bike. We’ll cut you free.”
She nodded and followed him to the bike. He got the knife. “Okay, I’m going to cut the cord on your hat and work it free from your hair. Just hang on.”
“Just do it,” she whispered.
It took a bit of doing to untangle her hair from the cord, but finally he succeeded. “Okay, you’re free. Just throw it as hard as you can.”
She did exactly that. The hat, with the snake still attached, sailed through the air. They watched it land. The snake came free. And demonstrating that the phrase “mean as a snake” had to have been coined for water moccasins, it came right at them.
“Kill it, kill it, kill it!” She screamed and jumped up on the seat of the four-wheeler.
Clint leaped for the bike, snatching the shotgun from its holster.
“Clint!” Lily screamed.
He whirled to see the moccasin strike at the four-wheeler then draw back, preparing to launch itself again. He took aim and fired.
Bits of dirt and snake exploded, peppering Lily. She looked from what was left of the snake to Clint and jumped off the four-wheeler, dancing around. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Take that, you nasty fuck!”
Clint didn’t even have time to reholster the shotgun before she launched herself at him. He caught her with one arm, swinging her around as she latched hold of him, legs around his waist and arms around his neck.
She plastered her lips to his. Even when she was filthy, smelly, covered with mud, snake and leaves, her kiss kindled a fire in his belly. When she finally drew back, she smiled at him.
“Welcome home.”
Clint laughed until he almost fell down. She was without a doubt the woman for him.
When he could finally talk, he set her down. “Come on, let’s get you back to the house and turn a hose on you.”
“You might want to turn it on yourself,” she pointed out.
He looked down at himself. “Good point. How ’bout we share?”
“Now you’re talking.” She grinned and jumped on the four-wheeler.
When they pulled up at the barn, Cam was getting in his truck. “What the hell happened to you two?”
“A calf got stuck,” Lily replied.
Cam nodded, clearly not buying it. “Right.”
“Where’re you headed?” Clint changed the subject.
“Date.”
“Have fun,” Lily said with a smile.
“I intend to,” Cam replied, waved and started his engine.
They watched him drive off, then Lily grabbed Clint’s hand. “Now what was that about a hose?”
Clint swept her off her feet and headed for the well house in the back of the yard. Lily squirmed out of his arms when they reached the well house and grabbed the hose as he turned on the water.
He had enough time to straighten up and turn toward her when the water spewed from the nozzle on the end of the hose and hit him. Lily laughed and danced around him. He caught her and after a brief wrestling match in which they both got drenched, managed to take the hose from her.
Lily screamed, laughed and squirmed as he held her with her back to him with one arm, drenching her and himself even more. “Enough!” she gasped between laughs. “I give, I give!”
Clint released her and she turned to face him. The smile on his face transformed into a look that had her reaching for him to pull him into a kiss that was hot enough to boil the water.
Lily surrendered to the kiss, exulting in the riot of sensations rocketing through her. When Clint drew back and looked down at her with eyes smoldering with desire, she grabbed his shirt and ripped it open, sending buttons flying.
Her hands started on his chest, moving over the wet flesh, squeezing and stroking their way down his rippled abdomen. By the time she reached for the buckle of his belt, her mouth was on his skin, licking, sucking and tasting him from chest to navel.
Clint hauled her back up as her tongue worked its way toward the waist of his jeans. With one swift move he grabbed her tank top, yanked it over her head and lifted her to latch on to a hard nipple. Lily moaned, fisted her hands in his wet hair and arched back, pressing her breast harder against his mouth, wanting more of the sublime sensation that was cascading down from her nipple to her belly and then lower into her sex, making her throb with need.
She climbed on him, securing herself to him by wrapping her legs around his waist, pressing her sex against him. His free hand moved beneath her to hold her up by the ass, squeezing her flesh and pulling her against him tighter. Their lips met, hot and wet, each vying for dominance.
Lily broke free and went for his pants. He followed suit, working to get her wet jeans peeled down over her hips. It took some doing to get out of wet boots and jeans, but after a good amount of effort, their clothes lay in a muddy tangle on the ground.
“Come here.” He reached for her hand.
Lily grinned and launched herself at him. He caught her as she wound her legs around him, running his hands beneath her ass to support her. She wriggled against him. “Get in me.”
Clint didn’t have to be asked
twice. Supporting her with one hand, he reached beneath her and guided himself inside her. Lily’s fingers dug into the top of his shoulders and she moaned his name.
It was akin to a fight announcer shouting the words, “Let’s rumble!” He gripped her ass in both hands, widened his stance and drove deep. It was all she could do to hang on for the ride with the slam of an orgasm taking her over the edge almost immediately.
Clint dropped to his knees in the grass then lowered her back. Lily released the grip of her legs around him, propping her feet on his calves for leverage so that she could arch against each thrust.
“Do it, do it, do it,” she panted between planting wet kisses on his chest.
His pace increased until they were both breathing harsh and fast, the slap of flesh against flesh an accompaniment to the sound.
Lily raised her legs again to lock them around his torso then ran her hand beneath her to cup his balls. They immediately tightened more, telling her he was close.
“You’re gonna make me lose it,” he rasped.
“Hmmm, I hope so,” she replied, stroking lightly.
“Lily.” His breath hitched a bit on the second syllable.
“Clint,” she moaned, feeling the approach of another climax. “Now. Now, now, now!”
He pounded in her fast and hard and within moments she toppled over the edge, screaming his name. A few seconds later she felt his entire body tense and she increased the grip of her legs around him, tightening her pussy around his pulsing cock.
Clint slowed and after a few seconds, lowered himself to his forearms, resting his head on her shoulder. Lily wound her arms around him, encouraging him to sink more fully on top of her, despite his weight.
They stayed there for a few minutes, not moving, just holding each other. When Clint pushed up and looked down at her, she felt tears spring to her eyes at the look on his face.
“I love you, Lil.”
“I love you more.”
“More?”
She smiled up at him. “More than yesterday.”
