by Kay Maree
I gathered her in my arms and took her lips with mine. She didn’t miss a beat, and in a second, the kiss grew dirty, open-mouthed and wet. That was what I enjoyed most about this lass—her needs matched mine. She wanted to be bossed around but she also gave as good as she got.
I had so many plans for her.
First, the need to fuck her and come inside her reigned supreme. It had built to towering heights over the past couple of days and it crested now.
I picked her up and dropped us both to the soft rug. Then I rolled her to her front and made swift work of unhooking her bra, grappling her breasts for good measure.
“Take those knickers off or lose them,” I growled.
“Tear them off me,” Autumn threw back.
Aye, all right then. In a swift snatch, the underwear was shredded, and her bare, pert arse waited for my attention.
“Fuck,” Autumn said. “That was hot. I like you being rough.”
I’d guessed that from before. “I’ve waited too long for this, so listen good. I’m going to use you as my plaything this first time. I’ll fuck ye hard and make ye come on my cock. Do ye hear me, lass?”
“Aye,” she replied cheekily and raised her backside in the air provocatively.
I shifted to move between her legs.
“Arse up, head down,” I commanded.
Autumn complied, and I took her thighs in my hands then raised her legs over my shoulders, fixing my mouth on her sweet pussy.
She gasped and buried her face in her hands as I licked into her, holding her slight weight up with one hand. The taste of her sent me into a frenzy. With my free hand, I stroked my painfully hard cock a couple of times then reached out to grab her tits.
“I want you to fuck me.” She moaned.
“Patience.” I pulled away then slapped her backside once—and hard. Now I knew for sure she liked to play, I’d give her what she needed.
“Again.” She pushed against me.
“Bossy wee thing, aren’t you?” I laid a nice slap on her again, my hand bouncing off her taut arse cheek.
“Oh God, Bull.” She twisted and turned around to face me, then she dove on my mouth, kissing the ever-loving fuck out of me. “Condom. Now,” she demanded, breaking her lips from mine.
I snatched my jeans and found the packet and covered myself before she’d had time to blink. Then I had her astride my lap so we were face to face.
Autumn rose, took me in hand, and got in position. Then, in pure torturous slow motion, she impaled herself on me.
We both exhaled hard.
I’d planned to fuck her from behind, but this was better. Her gorgeous face wasn’t hidden. The way she bit her lip as I stretched her had my blood surging.
“You’re so big.” Her eyes shuttered closed and she inched lower. “Almost too big. You have no idea how incredible that feels.”
“Good to know,” I forced out. Need surged, but Autumn wasn’t ready, so I ducked my head and buried my face in her breasts, sucking on her and making myself crazier still.
Finally, she bottomed out, and I was as deep as I could be.
Autumn gave a small whimper and rocked carefully on my lap. “Fuck,” she whispered.
I had no answer. My mind was away.
She gripped my shoulders and rose, riding me just an inch before dropping and grinding down on me.
“Christ,” I muttered, stemming the urge to take over. I propped myself back on one arm so I could get a better view of her arched body. So fucking gorgeous. “Make yourself come on me. Use me.”
Autumn gave a moan in response, then her eyes closed, she breathed deeply and began a rhythmic rise and fall.
I watched, clamping down my own longing to be in control.
“Ye are so beautiful,” I told her. “Sexiest woman I ever saw.”
“Touch me,” she directed.
No need to tell me twice. I reached out and ran my palm down her body from her throat to the centre of her. I found her clit and made circles over it with my thumb.
“More!”
I increased the pressure.
Then I pulled my hand back and smacked her clit. Only a light slap, but she dragged in a breath.
“Again!”
I repeated it, my chest rising and falling hard now.
Autumn upped her pace, and I kept up my action. Once more, twice…
“Oh God!” Autumn yelled, and she collapsed forward, hugging me, moaning my name.
My dam burst, and I took over, grabbing her hips and jerking up into her. Her orgasm held me in a vice, and I gave a strangled yell then came. Fuck!
It hit me by surprise. A series of stunning throbs that had my head spinning. I stilled, grasping Autumn to me as I sank deep, my cock pulsing.
The ecstasy sank every thought. There was only her. The connection between us.
It took a minute to come back to earth.
“That was incredible,” Autumn murmured. “No one has ever done the things you do to me.”
“I’ve never come so hard and so out of my control,” I admitted.
She giggled, a sweet sound, then snuggled into my arms.
From the moment I’d first seen Autumn climb out of her busted-up car, I thought her the prettiest woman I’d ever seen, but now, having witnessed her writhing on my lap, taking her pleasure on me—nothing could beat that. It was a view only I had.
I wanted to keep her.
For now, at least.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Mind Blowing
Autumn
Bull’s strong fingers raked over my scalp in relaxing repetition. Both still naked after a second round of mind-blowing sex, we caught our breaths, curled up on the rug in front of the fire. His chest hair tickled my back, and I huddled closer.
This was wonderful. Too wonderful, really.
“Can I ask a question?” His low tones came from just above my ear.
“No.” I smiled, not that he could see. “Bet you will anyway.”
“Is your real name Autumn?”
I twisted in his arms and found his lips. Then I gave him a slow kiss. “Yes.”
Bull rumbled approval. “How old are ye?”
A mini battle played out in my head. On the application for the bar job, I’d aged myself a few years. If Bull knew enough details about me, he could look me up. But it wasn’t him I was afraid of.
Suddenly, I wanted him to know me. Hardly anyone else did anymore.
“I’m twenty-two.”
“So young.” He pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear then took my chin and laid his mouth on mine. His powerful kiss felt like a reward for letting him in.
“I’m a decade older than ye,” he muttered.
“I like that.” Right now, in his arms, I felt safer than I ever had. I let the sensation wash over me, lulled by incredible sex, warmth, and the sheer strength this man held.
“Got any questions for me?” he asked.
I did. Before, I’d stopped myself from asking too much about him. I was leaving, and I didn’t want to know. But his words had another meaning. Almost like he was showing how to be vulnerable.
I knew that all too well.
“Do you own this place?” I murmured.
“Aye. I bought it when I moved here. It was failing, and I liked the challenge. It was called Pete’s Bar then. No wonder no one dropped by.”
I pondered this for a second. “Why Bhaltair’s?”
“That’s my name. Bhaltair Graham. Traditional Gaelic. Bull is a nickname.”
I chuckled. “Then you’re the one who’s been fake-naming me this whole time.”
Bull rolled me onto my back and placed his hand on my chest, flat over my breastbone. Then he trailed his fingers down to my nipple, so lightly it tickled as much as it turned me on. We both watched his hand.
“And Smith?” he asked.
“Not so real.” That was all he was getting on that. “Where do you live?” I push
ed the subject on.
“Around the back. There’s an apartment. It isn’t much, but I moved there after…” He cleared his throat and stopped his movements. “After Cindy and I broke up.”
It was none of my business. Not a damn bit. But the hurt that played out in his face and in his tone socked me in the gut. His tattoo of the boy’s name curled around his side, and I reached out and touched it, propping myself up on my elbow so we were face to face again. “What happened?”
Bull didn’t speak right away, and I faltered. “Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Everyone else knows. It’s no secret. I met Cindy when I’d been in the US just a few days. My da, who had been my last living relative, died, and I was in a strange state. My mother came from here, ye ken, and I have dual citizenship. I decided I needed to make a new life rather than wallow in memories back home in Scotland.”
He glanced over my skin again, like touching me comforted him. His rough hand skimmed my side, finding the flare of my hips.
His fingers dug into my flesh. “She was a one-night stand. But she found me a few months later and told me she was pregnant.”
“Holy cow,” I whispered.
He widened his eyes. “She told me the bairn was mine, and I believed her without question. I bought a home with money Da left me and moved her in. We weren’t a couple. She admitted she was married, but separated, and it all became about the boy.”
“Archie,” I said, sparing him the word.
“Aye.” For a moment, Bull went perfectly still, the colour lost from his cheeks and his gaze on a distant scene. “I love that wee lad,” he finally said, the words coming out hoarse. “I held him first after he was born and gave him my name. Archibald is my middle name, and his surname is still mine. But even then, I should’ve known. He’s fair. Blue-eyed and with a bonnie complexion. Nothing of me in him.”
My heart ached at the tragedy of it. “How did you find out?”
“Cindy’s ex turned up. My— The boy was a few months old. This arsehole came to my door and told me I was stepping in on his family. I had him by the throat when Cindy yelled for me to stop. She admitted the truth, and I left the same day. This man,” he spat the word, “claimed he’d support them. He wanted to be part of his son’s life. Cindy asked me to walk away, and I did.”
“I can’t even imagine how much that must have hurt,” I said. If anyone tried to take Benjamin away, I couldn’t cope. We woke early together every morning. He’d have his bottle of warm milk in bed cuddling up with me, then we’d go down to play with the family. I’d babysat for Lena and Mark and had all the kids for an early evening movie with popcorn. At work, I’d call him to make sure he was okay, and at night, I snuggled him and kissed his soft baby cheek. I missed his little face, even now.
“Aye, it hurt. But I thought it was for the best. I’d been made a fool of, but Cindy claimed she wasnae sure who the father was. It was only when the bairn got older that she recognised her ex in his face. I might even believe that now.”
“Why was she here the other day?”
Bull grimaced. “Her ex has left her again. He’d only needed a roof over his head and had no real interest in her or the boy. She begged me to come back. Then she said she was sick and to remember that legally, I was the boy’s da and had to take him on if anything happened to her. Then she put him in my arms. He recognised me right away, and the poor wee thing cried and clung tight.”
There was nothing I could say to this so I hugged him. I held on to the guy I’d decided to have a fling with but whom I liked. Really liked. Far more than was reasonable for the short amount of time we’d known one another.
For a while, we just lay there, and I lent him my strength.
“Why do you have Benjamin?” Bull asked finally.
“My sister is in jail for fraud. My dad, too.” The words fell out, and I snapped my mouth closed like I could take them back. “I don’t think either of them will be out for a long time. It’s just me and Benjamin, we’re all each other has.”
But for this, I got another kiss, and it burned me with its ferocity. I kissed him back, angry now, at his ex, at her ex, at Dad and Tabby and everyone who put themselves before those they should care for.
Bull fitted his thick body between my thighs and covered himself with yet another of our stash of condoms. He drove into me, hard, kissing me at the same time, fucking me like he could erase all our problems by sheer force of will. I came quickly, and he followed, crashing down on me, his brutal body owning mine.
Then sleep took me under. I might be safe with Bull for a little while, but the tables had turned, and he now sought solace in me. I wanted to give it. The trouble was, how much would this hurt when it came time to stop?
****
The snow didn’t let up. Overnight, it piled high outside the door and, at first light, we peered out into a silent world.
“My car’s buried.” I gazed at the lump that made up my parking space.
“I’ve got snow shoes. I can carry you home if we don’t see a plough in the next hour.” Bull wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck.
I gazed into the thick white drifts and shivered. “I bet you would as well.”
We’d slept in front of the fire—for the small amount of sleeping we’d done—but now, Bull took my hand and led me through the bar. From the back door, a short, covered path ran to another low building, and we stepped over piles of snow then entered his apartment.
It smelled of him. Oh God. I took a deep inhale and slipped past him to poke my head into his lounge.
Unashamedly curious, I took in his comfortable old couch next to a woodburning stove. A laptop sat on a coffee table made from a tree stump. There was no TV, but stacks of books teetered on shelves. Almost exactly what I’d pictured.
He appeared behind me. “You okay? You’re breathing heavy.”
“You have an addictive smell. I’m getting high off it.” I could say this now after the night we’d had.
Bull chuckled and gestured for me to go into the bathroom. He switched on a big shower then turned to me and undid my coat buttons. Underneath, his t-shirt fell to halfway down my thighs, leaving my legs bare above my boots and socks. The rest of my clothes were in my bag now dumped on the hall floor.
“It’s like unwrapping a Christmas present,” he said, his eyes gleaming as he lifted the hem, making me naked once more.
Steam rose around us.
We got dirty again before we got clean.
By the time we were done, the snow plough had cleared the road and, together, we got my car out of the drift, followed by Bull’s. Like before, he escorted me home and waited for me to go in safely.
Lena met me at the door and gave Bull a wave then dragged me in. Benjamin toddled over, and I scooped him up and bundled him in a hug.
“Ma,” he said, patting me and beaming. Then he blinked. “Tum Tum,” he corrected himself.
“That’s right. I’m your Autumn,” I said then tickled him.
“He saw a picture of Tabby on the news. It was a bit of a surprise, but he doesn’t seem bothered.”
“Tabby was on the news?” It was Christmas Eve. There was no way the courts would be open for hearing cases, was there?
“It was a recap on the big news stories of the year. Tabby’s pretty, you know? She’s newsworthy.”
“There wasn’t anything new on the case?”
Lena confirmed there wasn’t. Toting Benjamin on my hip, I got on with making breakfast—luckily, I was in time as it was my turn—and got on with the day. I wasn’t working tonight. Bull had some kind of special event booked, and the rota had already been full. I’d spend the whole day with my nephew and friends. Then tomorrow, we were all going to Lena’s parents’ home for Christmas Day.
Did Bull have plans? I wish I’d asked. After spending the night so close I could still feel his touch on my skin, it hadn’t felt necessary to make plans. We’
d see each other soon, surely.
****
The next day, with careful driving, we made it through the snow to Lena’s in-laws for Christmas lunch. Waiting for us was a huge turkey, every vegetable known to man, and a happy, hearty family welcoming Benjamin and me into their fold. The farmhouse was warm, laughter in ready supply, and the traditions rich.
Mark’s mother introduced me to the dozen or so relatives there, but everyone seemed to already know my name. I’d never had a close family to experience a real Christmas meal with, but this had me big-eyed in wonder.
They’d even found Christmas crackers with jokes and silly hats to make us feel at home.
There was only one thing missing: Bull being there with me, finding a sprig of mistletoe to steal a chaste kiss, and to touch his knee to mine under the table.
He’d be at my side as we admired the elaborately decorated Christmas tree. Our hosts would chat with us, but his words would be all for me.
Sharing with him had felt good. It had also stopped my panic, enabling me to think deeper on what had happened to bring me here in the first place.
After the Christmas fruitcake had been demolished, I volunteered for kitchen duty to give myself a little headspace. I took a moment, while putting away the freshly washed dishes, to reflect on my past month.
The fear that had me running had been my sister telling me people were coming for us. Then we’d arrived home to find two men fleeing after ransacking the place. It had been clear we were in danger.
Yet, they hadn’t actually threatened us.
I removed a plate from the dishwasher and moved on to the next point. My sister was in prison for fraud and therefore fundamentally untrustworthy. A moment of clarity dawned. I’d run, taking everything for Benjamin that my sister had asked me to take.
Including a pack of papers which contained Benjamin’s birth certificate, and his birth announcement and first birthday cards that she’d begged me to make into a scrapbook for him.
The request had been a weird one coming from my unsentimental sister.
My phone was in my bag. I finished emptying the dishwasher and found Lena in the lounge, sitting at the edge of a noisy game of charades. In the centre of the room, Benjamin sat with Stephi and the other kids from the joined families. He’d settled in so well; suddenly I needed to make sure I did all I could before I wrecked this, the new happiness we’d found.