Trouble Brewing (In Ashwood Book 2)

by Kinney Scott

  When he explained the job, the emails, and his appointment for an interview, his sister almost cried.

  “That’s so romantic! But Wade, what if she offered you a job? I mean, if she needed you…there, would you make a change.”

  “Absolutely. Her dreams, her goals are just as important as mine.” He had wrestled with this for weeks. No matter how successful he was, living without Ravenna wasn’t much of a life. Right now, he was merely existing.

  “But I’m hoping she will want to help me make a decision on a house. When is saw the land I could see her there with me, right on the river. It’s perfect, but I don’t want to build a home without her. What do you think Linnea? Will she be able to forgive me?”

  “I’m pretty sure she already has.”

  ***

  Klamath Falls looked the same. Last time he drove these streets, Leo still ran Silver Raven. Wade was over an hour early. He killed time circling the streets of town. Driving usually calmed him, today the waiting may be his death.

  He drove past the brewery for the third time, her car, the one that took her away from him as she drove away from Ashwood, was the only vehicle in the lot. Wade couldn’t wait any longer.

  Parking his car next to hers, he stood for a moment to gather what was left of his senses. All the words he planned to say scrambled like shards of glass in his shattered mind. Wade placed both palms against the side of his truck, the truck he had bought in Vegas after meeting Ravenna. His arms felt heavy as he leaned into his stance to steady his shaking frame. “Don’t mess this up.” He whispered aloud, and took a deep breath then walked to the door where a faded open sign hung in the white framed window.

  He pushed the door open and walked inside. The heavy door slammed behind him, shaking the panes. Wade winced at the racket he created. Not the stealthy entrance he hoped to make.

  “Hello! I’ll be just a minute!” Her voice rang out after she heard the familiar heavy thud.

  Frozen for a minute while his eyes adjusted to the dim interior light, he followed the sounds of her movements and waited for Ravenna to appear. When she stepped into view, he finally inhaled. Unaware that he had forgotten how to breathe for the last few moments.

  Backlit by the windows, all Ravenna could make out were broad shoulders and a sturdy tall frame. Yet, something about that shape lit every nerve in her body. Wade.

  He took a few solid steps forward then paused. Her blank shocked expression scared him more than if she had yelled, or cried or screamed.

  “I’m early.” Was all he could say. Obvious to him, but adding only confusion to her vacant stare. “For my interview…Ravenna…I couldn’t wait another moment to see you…I’m early.

  Finally, her words broke free, “You’re the…guy from…Portland?” At least she was speaking to him. “Wade, I’m confused. What are you talking about?”

  Now that she had moved, had spoken, and not run the other direction, he needed to feel her touch. Wade’s quick steps now brought her close - she had never looked so beautiful. Her coveralls were worn and too large on her tiny frame. Her ebony hair had been tossed out of her way in a clip. Leather gloves protected her hands. Almost every inch of her was covered, and he needed to feel the heat of her skin.

  She watched as Wade’s fingers slid away the worn calfskin gloves to cover her small shaking hands. When his movements stilled, Ravenna’s eyes slid from her hands, across his chest, to his eyes. Tears rimmed his expression, a potent mixture of sadness, fear and love.

  His lips parted to speak, but she stopped his words by raising to the tips of her toes, to pull one hand from his grasp, and slide it possessively around his neck. Pulling him down to her five-foot three height, she claimed a longed-for-kiss. His entire body responded, shaking with relief. Perhaps she could find a way to forgive him.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered against her lips. She felt her cheeks moistened but didn’t know who had shed those tears. Wade pulled back. He had to look at Ravenna, to memorize her beauty again. He placed his hands gently on her face as his thumbs brushed away the tears from her dark lashes.

  “Please forgive me Ravenna. My only hope is that the pain I’ve caused, the hurt I’ve inflicted can be repaired by the love I have to give you. Please let me try, Ravenna, let me love you.”

  “I forgave you as soon as I drove away from Ashwood, but my pride and my wounded heart needed time.” He kissed her again. She had not said she loved him, but forgiveness was a start. Wade just wanted an opportunity to earn her love.

  As she deepened the kiss and heat rose between them, Wade scooped her into his arms and headed toward the door he had just entered. Smiling at her confused expression, he grabbed the sign in the window, and flipped it over, to read closed. When he locked the door, she tipped her head back and laughed, knowing how thoroughly Wade intended to love her.

  Ravenna shifted her body to straddle his torso with her slim legs. His hands supported her butt as she kissed away any remnants of their salty tears, laughing as his lips nipped and bit the curve of her neck. Sturdy tanks and tall vessels sped by in a blur as he rushed up metal stairs to her attached industrial loft.

  Possessive need shimmered off Wade’s body like heat from black asphalt, as he lay Ravenna carefully on her neatly made bed. Beneath the worn tan fabric of her coveralls, Wade could see her skin flush anticipating his touch. The oversized canvas workwear disguised her shapely curves. He licked his lips anxious to unwrap the delicious gift that lay waiting for him.

  Her eyes did not leave his intense obsidian gaze, as his fingers grasped the zipper resting just between the dip in her breasts. Slowly, Wade slid the closure down; the sound coiled as much tension as climbing the first tall hill at the beginning of a wooden coaster. His eyebrows raised as he revealed the scanty clothing choice hidden under the canvas colored jumper. Amusement lifted the corners of his mouth, a boyband tank top and short slick nylon shorts. “Do you always wear so little under your coveralls?”

  She looked down and blushed, “I’m too hot with more.”

  “Oh, you’re about to get much, much hotter.” He growled, as he lifted her hips to slide the coveralls completely off her body. Now that he could drink in her bare arms, delicious curves and lean supple legs, he didn’t know where he wanted to touch first.

  “God I missed you,” he murmured, as he prowled to take a kiss. He hovered over her on hands and knees. The first heated contact starting with her moist full lips.

  Ravenna had forgotten what the taste of his kisses could do to her senses. Like a drug, she tasted him. His lips carefully touched hers, as she swept her fingers across the light stubble of his jaw. She slid her hands back to loosen the leather tie holding the wavy length of his hair.

  Wade dropped to his elbows. Instantly a thousand points of contact pressed her body. His fingers touched her cheeks, securing her face to deepen the kiss. His chest pressed her breasts, flattening them against his hardened plane. A slim line of bare skin between the bottom of the tank and the cinched waist of her shorts felt the hard evidence of Wades arousal trapped in the confines of his jeans. She snaked her legs round his hips, whimpering with need.

  He lost himself in her lips, her citrusy scent, and her delicate touch. The movement of her legs set off his desire to take action. Wade nibbled his way down her neck, recalling the contours of her body. His tongue re-mapped every spot he knew brought a sigh, a moan, or a keening cry of pleasure.

  The clothes she wore, blocked his path…and needed to go immediately. In a blur of fabric Wade stripped her bare. Time stopped for a moment as he drank in the woman laying before him. “This time, you’re not a dream,” he gasped.

  Then she nodded, she had those dreams too, haunted by the memory of his touch. She smiled and said, “Wade, in my dreams you weren’t wearing any clothes.”

  A laugh burst from his lips, relieving some of the tension. “I can fix that,” he smiled.

  She put both hands behind her head, “Wade, take them off - slowly.” A wic
ked grin played across her face, adding a naughty glint to her exotic brown eyes.

  He slowed his movements, and with each stitch of clothing, Ravenna felt her body grow more pliant and wet. Her bare legs scissored over the soft linen comforter, and spread slightly, an involuntary invitation.

  Wade watched as her skin pinkened, her hue deepening everywhere. She had asked him to move slowly, but the pace nearly killed him. He locked eyes with her as he sprang free from the confines of his boxers. Her sensual gasp pearled another bead of cum from the slit at the tip of his cock.

  A few steps brought his knees to the edge of the bed, “I must taste you,” he growled, as his weight bowed the mattress when he settled between her legs. “Open for me,” he commanded, as she slid her knees up and out, a vulnerable invitation.

  This was only the second time Wade had tasted her. As before, she felt a bit nervous, but any hesitation evaporated as he set about pleasing her with his lips, teeth, tongue, and expert fingers. His possessive growl was almost as potent as her cries of pleasure.

  Carefully his tongue circled, teasing her to raise her hips off the mattress. His work-calloused hands held her in place, as he plunged his tongue deep, pulsing to the beat of her desire.

  Never breaking contact, he explored the nub that begged for his attention, and used first one finger to take over where his mouth had left off. Adding a second, his long slow strokes enhanced the pressure as his tongue circled slowly at the apex of her sex.

  Ravenna lost all sense of control and began thrusting her hips pursuing a climax that was just beyond her reach.

  “Squeeze your nipples for me, I need to feel you fly apart.” Wade commanded in a growl that she willingly obeyed.

  His eyes locked on hers for a moment, as she caressed and tugged her taught peaks. Ravenna’s eyes went wide with desire, and Wade settled back to tasting her sweet arousal. From the delicious space between her hips, his eyes flicked up across her body. He had never witnessed anything so devastatingly hot. The sleek rise of her belly, her fingers grasping her soft breasts, digging into the pliant globes as she chased her release. Dipping his head again, her wet heat tightened around his fingers. She was moments from ecstasy. In a rhythm matched by the pulsing of his tongue, he plunged his fingers to her center. She screamed out his name as stars shot behind her tightly closed eyes, and her gasps gave way to moans of sheer satisfaction. Wade milked every last wave of hot release from her pliant body.

  She came back to earth with nibbles and kisses softly laid across the dip between her hips, moving up the valley and swell of each breast. When he finally found her mouth, she was aroused by the taste of her body on his mouth. “I taste sweet,” she laughed.

  “You have no idea how delicious you are.”

  Her mouth explored his and she murmured against his lips, “I need to feel you inside me.”

  Ravenna waited. He settled over her on his elbows and watched her expression as he teased the smooth crown of his cock over the edges of her wet cleft. She closed her eyes for a moment, and his movement stopped.

  When her lashes rose again, he whispered, “I need you to see me, Ravenna. To witness my love for you.”

  “Yes,” She nodded, tears catching in her throat. Before she could respond again, his hips plunged forward and he sank deep with a possessive groan. Her hands and calves rounded his body, clinging to long ropey muscles as Wade set his pace.

  Each plunge drove a bit deeper into her body and deeper into her soul. Still gazing at her rapt expression his lips parted, “I love you Ravenna. You are mine.” A low growl said the last words again slowly - “You are mine.”

  “I am yours.” She whispered softly as her climax had begun to coil. Taught with need, Ravenna repeated, “I am yours.” He picked up the pace. Pulling entirely out of her heat, pausing and plunging in again with a claiming force that buried his cock so deep inside, she could scarcely breathe.

  Again, he repeated the path. Their shared words transitioned to barely recognizable moans as the pair merged in a climax that connected their souls in breathless euphoria, ebbing slowly into aftershocks of release.

  Wade caged her in his arms and rolled, still sheathed in her heat. She now rested comfortably on top of his torso. “I’ve never stopped loving you, Wade,” she proclaimed. He felt the vibration of her voice in his body. His hands tightened on her hips when she spoke the intoxicating words he had longed desperately to hear.

  “I began loving you when you rescued me by the side of the road in Ashwood. Before that, in Vegas, I could not see past my blinding desire to detect love that may have been there all along.”

  “I knew I loved you, as I drove out of Vegas. No matter how many miles I put between us, I could not get far enough away to break the bands you had fastened around my heart.”

  “Sounds painful,” she laughed.

  “Not as painful as losing you. I’m so sorry.”

  “You don’t need my forgiveness, Wade. I never held you accountable for the decisions you had to make. But, if it makes you feel better, I’ve moved past any hurt the circumstances caused. I’m ready to heal.”

  “Your father once told me, long ago after we had a few too many drinks together, that We cannot control those things that bring us together…”

  Ravenna finished the words with him, “but we can control if they tear us apart.”

  “Ah, we have both been schooled by his wisdom.” He chuckled.

  “Nothing will tear us apart again. Wade, I love you.” She said, as she crawled up his torso to seal her promise with a kiss. Ravenna took control this time, setting a pace that restored the faith they placed in their love.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Heavy trucks rumbled away in the distance, moving row-to-row, cutting bines and taking cone-laden plants to the processers. “Do you think your parents heard us this morning?” Ravenna worried as they walked hand in hand through the towering hop trellises. She stepped up to Wade as he pulled her tight, bunching the fabric of her shirt in his hands, taking a thorough kiss.

  This morning they had made love quietly in the room Wade grew up in. His parents, mostly his father, had begun to relax some of his conservative views about sharing a room before marriage. This change surprised Wade when Ravenna first came for a visit a few weeks earlier.

  Now that harvest was in full swing, Ravenna, considered one of the family, had been put to work. She loved the acceptance, the challenge and the unrelenting schedule. The ripe hop smell hung heavy in the damp morning air. Soon heat would add a sharp dry bite to the citrus aroma that Ravenna could already taste in the breeze.

  “No, not a chance,” Wade added, as he released her from his embrace. “Mom was already downstairs making breakfast. During harvest I’m not sure Dad sleeps much at all.” Wade tore a cone off the bine and crushed the papery flower between his fingers. He brought the sticky golden resin to his nose and breathed deep. His Rusk hop hadn’t produced the yield he hoped for, but the quality was outstanding, and the aroma had a unique mango scent. “Erik and Trish have plans for a wet hop batch, and will stop by to pick up some of the harvest today. It will go into the boil tonight.”

  “I can’t wait to see them again,” she said.

  “I look forward to tasting their beer.”

  “How are they adjusting to running their own brewery?” She asked. Erik and Trish thought long and hard when renaming Old Mosquito. He was now producing his own beer under the Canyon Bat label. Erik wanted to make sure he chose a predator that took out the Mosquito when he picked the name. Wade had roared with laughter at the time.

  Competition never bothered either man, and they looked forward to sharing samples together. The taproom in Ashwood looked forward to featuring all the original brews of Mosquito Creek, Silver Raven and Canyon Bat.

  “They love the independence, but will need more help,” Wade smiled.

  Ravenna finished his thought, “now that they are expecting a baby. I’m so happy for them! Trish and I had such a great time working
on their label design. Next month when Trish and Linnea visit Klamath Falls for our girls’ weekend, we are ordering swag featuring the Canyon Bat logo.”

  Another truck rumbled by, overflowing with deep green hops heading to the processor. “We better get back or Linnea will hunt us down.” Wade stepped into the Gator to speed them back to the plant. Over the hum of the motor Ravenna shouted, “I get the feeling Linn’s trying to train me as her replacement.

  That night, well after dark, everyone finally sat down. Exhausted from the long day on the farm, they were happy to have showered off the dust and looked forward to a meal together as a family. Ravenna felt a sense of belonging that she knew was the beginning of a lifetime of holidays, vacations, harvests and maybe in the future babies, all close to Wade’s side.

  Easing his hand possessively around her shoulder, he dipped his head and whispered, “I love you.” The words were for her ears only, but his parents knowing smiles tipped slightly. They had heard their son repeat those words several times each day, since Wade and Ravenna had arrived together from Ashwood.

  Thank you for reading the second book of the In Ashwood series

  I love to hear feedback from my readers. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review. Even a few words are valued more than you know.

  If you would like to read Seth and Natalie’s story Inheriting Trouble

  follow this link to download the free sample

  Inheriting Trouble the first book of the In Ashwood Series.

  ***

  Visit Kinney at her website - kinneyscott.com

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR - KINNEY SCOTT

  Kinney Scott lives near Tacoma, Washington. After completing her degree in creative writing, she left a career in the insurance industry to begin writing romance novels. Her complex heroines and steamy heroes feel most at home in the rugged and uniquely romantic environments of the Northwest. When she has time away from her computer, she spends time gardening or hiking with her husband and boxer on trails near her home.