by BJ Wane
“I don’t think so.” Turning her toward the bed, he patted her butt. “Climb up and sit at the headboard.”
He followed her onto the bed, enjoying the sway of her plugged ass as she crawled to the pillows and turned over. Settling at the foot of the bed, he placed the pizza between them and grabbed a large piece. “Mmmm, good. Thanks for dinner.”
Her slim brows dipped into a confused frown. “We’re just going to sit here naked and eat?”
He shrugged. “Sure. Why not?” Taking another bite, he watched her expression go from baffled to stupefied to mortified with his deepened voice and order to, “Bend your knees and spread your legs.” He held up a hand against the swift protest crossing her face. “Remember the consequences I mentioned in the shower.”
Sitting back, Lillian followed his command and spread her bent knees, offering him a lovely view of her glistening pink slit and the flat end of the dildo nestled between her buttocks. “Between your patients and the women you’ve tormented over the years, haven’t you seen enough naked bodies?”
“The female body fascinates me, as does the different responses I can pull from the same touch or scene. Are you ready to tell me why you stayed with your ex until your sister died? How long were you with him?” Her jaw went rigid and he could see in her glaring eyes she didn’t want to talk about the man. Too bad. If he intended to pursue this relationship, which he wanted to, he needed to know what McCabe had held over her to keep her with him. That was the only explanation why a woman like Lillian would stick with an abusive ass.
“How long were you married? Did she obey your every dictate every time you snapped your fingers?” she countered.
Fair is fair, Mitchell decided, reaching for another slice of pizza. He rarely talked about Abbie; at first because it was too painful, and after moving here because he was trying to put the past to bed and start over. Lillian deserved to hear a few details about his last relationship as much as he did hers.
“Fair enough,” he replied after swallowing. “We were married one year after we met, together eight years. And yes, she was submissive to the bone and not only obeyed my commands without question but relished my control. Abbie was the complete opposite of you.”
“Makes me wonder even more what I’m doing here, with you,” she murmured.
“If it helps, I’m just as baffled by it.”
Lillian blew out a breath, glanced out the window for a few silent moments and then faced him with a resigned expression. She appeared to either have forgotten her exposed position or had become so comfortable with it, it no longer embarrassed her.
“I dated Brad for a few weeks before his control issues became unbearable.” A quick grin came and went on her face as she said, “I broke up with him, telling him bossy, control freaks weren’t my type.”
“And yet, here you are, with me.”
“Yeah. Go figure. You’re nothing like him, though. I can’t picture you threatening a comatose woman to get someone back in your bed.”
That son of a bitch. Mitchell went taut with anger as he imagined Lillian’s terror for her sister. He didn’t need her to tell him how close the two of them were, he’d seen it reflected on her sorrowful face numerous times. “The morning she died you were free of that threat.” That was easy to deduce, and another wrenching heartbreak for her to cope with, he imagined.
“Yes. It was awful, the grief mixing up with relief.” She sighed, took a long drink of soda and then said, “I took off, went by the bank and just drove.”
Picking up the e-stim pinwheel, Mitchell leaned forward and wrapped a hand around her right ankle, bringing her foot to his lap as he confessed, “I went up to our cabin and stayed drunk for a week. My mother and sister came up and dragged me back.” Flicking the stimulator on low, he ran the spiked wheel along the bottom of her foot, watching her tear-filled eyes dry as surprised arousal took over. “You have no other family?”
She shook her head, dropping the crust left from her pizza onto the bed and gripping the comforter in her fists. “No, it had been just the two of us for several years.”
That explained even more of her story and sorrow. He couldn’t imagine having to cope without his family’s support. “Well, now you have new relationships. You should think about staying, cultivating them, give them a chance to fill the void in your life.” He rolled the instrument around her ankle, over the top of her foot and slowly up the inside of her leg.
“Right now I can’t think about anything except what you’re doing,” she breathed, her nipples puckering into tighter pinpoints the closer he got to her pussy. She lifted her eyes from his traveling hand to his face, her breath catching as she demanded, “You wouldn’t, would you?”
“What do you think?”
“Oh, God, you would.”
Lillian shuddered as the light buzzing and tiny pinpricks neared the sensitive apex where her thigh met hip, her mind switching gears back to her decadent vulnerable position. Mitchell’s eyes, more green than brown now, traveled from her face, down her chest to rest on her exposed vagina, and damn if she didn’t relish his heated stare at her most intimate body part. The plug’s vibrations distracted her from the discomforting full sensation and she ached for a touch, any touch on her clit.
“See how well you know me already?” She held her breath as he circled around her gaping folds and over her denuded mound.
She squealed as those vibrations and pricks unleashed a torrent of new sensations from nerve endings never exposed before. Before she could beg him to stop, it was too much, he slid upward, across her quivering belly and lightly around the fleshy mound of her left breast. Her stalled breathing quickened, her pulse skyrocketing as he bent his head and licked her right nipple while circling her left bud with the torturing device. Tingles from the stimulation buzzed under her skin as he pushed harder on the pointed spikes, just enough to sting and leave small red dots in its wake.
“Mitchell,” she groaned, wondering if she wanted him to torture her nipple or move away.
“I’ll decide,” he stated, as if he read her mind again. Covering her nipple with his hot mouth, he trailed the pinwheel over the other, the combination of vibrations deep inside her tissues and painful jabs into the tender nub dragging a shriek past her tight throat. Her legs quivered, sweat broke out along her body and her hips bucked, her needy pussy begging for attention.
With a low curse, he tossed the pinwheel aside, reared up to grip her hair and tilt her head back for a hard, deep kiss as he sheathed his cock with his free hand. “Why is it,” he ground out, sitting back on his heels and then lifting her onto his steely erection, “it’s always hard and fast with you?”
“I don’t know, don’t care.” She moaned as he pulled her down, cramming his cock inside her as she clutched his sides with her bent knees. Between the dildo and his thick shaft, she’d never felt so full, the tight fit uncomfortable until he reached behind her and removed the plug. She breathed easier until he grabbed her hips, lifted and then slammed her back down with a guttural command.
“Ride me, pet.”
Gripping his shoulders, she bounced on his cock, his heavy grunts mingling with her mewling whimpers as he drove into her over and over. The bed squeaked, her breasts bounced and their lower bodies slapped together in the fast race to completion that left them both winded and shaking from the onslaught of drenching ecstasy.
Chapter 12
“How big is this place?” Lillian asked as Mitchell drove through the open gates leading onto Kurt’s ranch.
“I don’t know the exact acreage but it’s one of the largest in the state. I’m going to check in on Leland, Kurt’s father, while you and Leslie visit. We’ll come find you when I’m through.” He pulled to a stop in front of a sprawling ranch home, complete with a wide front porch and rocking chairs facing several barns of varying sizes across a spacious lawn.
Lillian hopped out of the SUV and took in the sweeping view of miles and miles of open prairie expanding beyond h
er vision. She spotted groups of grazing black cattle and cowboys riding the herds with expert horsemanship she admired, clusters of wooded areas and an island range in the far distance. Wildflowers and greener grasses could be spotted here and there, signs an early spring was right around the corner. She inhaled a lungful of fresh air and listened to the neigh of horses prancing in a large corral behind one of the barns.
She’d always thought Salt Lake City was a medium sized city, not too big or too small, with all the amenities and social activities she needed to keep her happy there. Now, compared to Willow Springs surrounded by all of this land free of large buildings, busy traffic and the clamor of city noise, her hometown held less appeal.
Mitchell came around and took her hand, cocking his head as he asked, “What are you pondering over so seriously?”
She shook her head, offering him a smile as the front door opened and an attractive woman with long, sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes came out to greet them. “Just comparing this to home. Cows and horses instead of cars, weird.”
“It grows on you. Come meet Leslie.”
“Hey, Doc. Go on in, I’ll take Lillian on a tour,” Leslie said as she skipped down the porch steps with her hand outstretched toward Lillian.
“I’d like that.” Lillian shook her hand and waved to Mitchell as Leslie steered her toward the corral.
“Okay, he’s inside. Give me the scoop. I’ve only heard tidbits.” The gleam in Leslie’s eyes and expectant look reminded Lillian of Nan and Avery’s initial reactions when they had first met her.
“Let’s just say I never held an interest in the lifestyle you’ve enjoyed for a while until I met him. He’s had a way of changing my mind about a few things. Oh, aren’t you sweet?” Lillian rubbed the silky nose of a miniature horse trotting up to the rail.
“That’s Taffy. You wouldn’t know it to look at her now, but six months ago her ribs were showing and she’d lost a lot of her hair due to malnutrition. Kurt surprised me with her and her brother.” Leslie nodded toward another small pony across the paddock. “It was love at first sight. Isn’t that right, sweetie?”
Taffy abandoned Lillian for Leslie, butting her head against her owner’s arm.
Leslie held her hand out, palm flat, offering the mare a sugar cube. “She takes that so politely,” Lillian stated, in awe of the little horse’s affection for her mistress. Because she traveled a lot for art shows, she’d never owned a pet but used to ‘dog sit’ Liana’s scruffy little mixed breed that had been cute as a button. They were both devastated when Brandy died of heart failure at age thirteen.
Leslie glanced at her, asking, “Something wrong?”
“Just thinking about my sister and a dog she used to have. Adorable little thing, and the closest I’ve come to a pet.”
Lifting her hand in a wave to one of the ranch hands galloping by, Leslie replied, “It didn’t take me long to fall in love with these two and I didn’t have any experience with horses. Kurt, and several of the guys around here all gave me pointers and help when I needed it. I’m sorry about your sister. I think it was Avery who told me she passed away recently.”
“Yes, a month ago. Sometimes it seems longer than that, and sometimes like it was just yesterday. Those horses are beautiful.” She pointed toward the second barn and the regal heads hanging out the open, upper doors of their stalls.
“Those are the Thoroughbreds for breeding and sale. I’ll show you.” Hopping off the rail, Lillian followed her toward the stable, surprised when Leslie said, “I went four years without seeing or speaking to my older sister after I was put into the witness protection program, so I can sympathize, to a degree, with how you must feel. I was devastated without contact with my only family.”
“Now it’s my turn to say give me the scoop. How did you end up in witness protection?” The scent of sweet hay and pungent manure hit her nostrils as they entered the neatly kept stables. Even in the dimmer lighting, she could see the sorrow crossing Leslie’s face at her question.
“I witnessed a murder, a nice man who never hurt anyone. They were spoiled, punk teens, riding high on drugs and unafraid of consequences due to their father always bailing them out. I didn’t realize how far he would go to protect his kids, or how much I would have to give up when my testimony sent the boys to prison and he threatened me.” She reached up to stroke a hand down the sleek neck of a black equine. “Keeping to myself so I wouldn’t inadvertently put anyone else at risk should he ever find me was the hardest after missing my sister.”
They strolled down the clean-swept aisle with large stalls on each side, the tremor of remembered heartbreak in Leslie’s hushed voice drawing on Lillian’s sympathy. “That was quite a sacrifice on your part. Was it worth it?”
Leslie stopped at the stall of a huge stallion, his muscles rippling as he pawed at his door. “Kurt rescued this guy from the dog food factory. He was a mean son-of-a-bitch, unrideable and malnourished. My fiancé busted his butt gaining his trust and getting him healthy again and I lost track of how many times I asked him if he was worth it.” Reaching a steady hand toward the animal, she rubbed behind one ear, unafraid. “He would always reply ‘ask me again later’, but as you can see, I didn’t need to. Devil here is still feisty but happy and healthy, and worth every sweaty, painful hour Kurt put in working with him. Yes, Lillian, as hard as those four years away from my sister and home were, it was worth it to see justice for Alessandro. Come on.” She nudged her with her elbow and a smile. “It’s too nice an afternoon to brood about the past. There’s the cutest premature calf I want to show you. I’m trying to convince Kurt to let me keep her.”
Laughing in disbelief, she followed Leslie outside, asking, “Why?”
“Because otherwise she’ll end up on someone’s table and I helped bottle feed that baby.”
“Oh, well, when put that way, it makes sense.”
Leslie grinned. “I like you, Lillian. Kurt didn’t think so, but I almost have him agreeing.”
Lillian enjoyed the hour she spent alone with Leslie, listening to her talk about her second-grade students with such fondness, how her relationship with Kurt had begun with a one-night stand between two strangers and meeting several young cowpokes whose polite addresses tickled her. After she crooned over the tiny calf with big doe eyes, they strolled across the lawn and up a small hill, walking by the family plot, shaded by large trees, the graves decorated with plants and fresh cut, colorful flowers. The story of how Kurt lost both his mother and sister so close together resurrected the sorrow of her own losses.
“I’m sorry,” Leslie said, reaching over to squeeze her hand. “I wasn’t thinking. It’s become a ritual for me to come up here and check on the plants and flowers when Babs, our housekeeper and cook, has the day off.”
Shaking her head, Lillian turned away from Leslie’s sympathetic gaze. “It’s all right. Everyone has lost someone, right?”
“True, but that doesn’t make it any easier.” Pivoting, Leslie led the way toward another corral where Lillian saw Mitchell and Kurt saddling three horses.
“That’s a beautiful horse,” she remarked, nodding toward the pale-coated stallion Kurt was tossing a saddle onto.
“That’s Atlas and he’s a sweetie. Not as sweet as my girl, Anna Leigh. She’s the Appaloosa between Atlas and Mitchell’s bay.”
Mitchell looked up as they approached, his gaze as probing as always, Lillian’s response to it the same with warm tingles racing across her skin. With his Stetson shading his face, the sleeves of his black western shirt rolled to below his elbows, those long, muscled legs encased in snug denim and wearing scuffed boots, he appeared more a rough wrangler than a medical professional. Either way, her heart tripped as he held a hand out to her and she wondered what pivoting point in their relationship had caused her to set aside her annoyance with his autocratic tendencies long enough to fall for the protective, caring side of him.
“You’re thinking too hard, pet” he whispered in her ear as sh
e took his hand.
“I have to around you,” she retorted before turning to smile at Kurt. “Thank you for inviting me out today. I’ve had fun touring your ranch with Leslie.”
“It’s good to see you again, Lillian. The tour’s just begun. Mount up with Mitchell and I’ll show you some of the prettiest country in Montana.”
She could see why Leslie had fallen for the cattleman as she watched him boost his fiancée onto the dainty mare. Dressed similar to Mitchell only wearing a burgundy shirt, he sported a perpetual five o’clock shadow along his jaw that was as dark as his black hair and ebony eyes. Lillian sure hoped things worked out between her and Mitchell because there would be no going back to the pansy, vanilla lovers she used to date after being subjected to the focused gazes and sexual dominance of these cowboys.
“You’re up with me, Lillian.” Mitchell’s gruff voice pulled her head out of the clouds and she turned to see him mounted and leaning down with an outstretched hand. “Don’t worry, Phantom’s well trained now.”
“What do you mean now?” She clasped his hand before she could let the size of the animal scare her off. With little effort, he swung her up and wrapped a tight arm around her waist as she settled astride in front of him, surprised the horse didn’t budge.
Kurt sent her a wicked grin, turning his steed around to face them. “I thought he was crazy to pick that son-of-a-bitch at auction last year, but Doc swore he saw something in his eyes that made him worth saving. For a city bloke, it turns out he has a good eye for horseflesh. We’re heading east.”
“I know a good bet when I see one,” Mitchell said, his arm tightening around her waist as he kicked the horse into a slow walk.
Lillian gripped his forearm, refusing to look down. From the distance she could now see, she knew how high up they sat. The slow, sedate pace lulled her into relaxing and leaning back against that wide, rock-solid chest, the deep rumble of Mitchell’s voice above her a pleasure to listen to. The never-ending acres of fields were broken up by wooded areas and in the distance they pointed out a mountain range that appeared as an island of higher ground and would make an awesome painting.
