by Gray Gardner
“Hmm,” she replied, trying to act indifferent. “Maybe he just hit her too much and she wanted to send a message.” Eve grinned at her comeback, but couldn’t hide the surprised look on her face when he appeared next to her with two crystal goblets of wine and an intense frown.
He plopped down on the saddle stool next to her and shook his head. “You think that’s it?”
Eve set her phone down and turned her body towards Bradley, taking a sip of the delicious wine for courage and raising a brow at him. “No, dumbass, it’s so evident in the way she worded it. Either when she wrote it down one hundred and fifty years ago or when she recounted it to Nana Carrie.”
Bradley chugged his wine impatiently as he eyed her, waiting for her to proceed.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “He’s acting like he’s not sexually attracted to her. These days you just swipe left and proceed to the next. But back then? You needed a husband. You needed protection, security. If he didn’t want to bang her, then I can see why she’s wounded by it. She felt like a burden.”
“Okay,” he began, closing his eyes and shaking his head. He walked back to the bar and returned with the wine, refilling their glasses. “First of all, you shameless hussy, it’s swipe right when you want to bone. I can see now that you haven’t done any online dating.”
“Have you?” she huffed, hoping the answer was no.
“No, but I know the terminology at least. You’re awfully cute, historian, but you are hopelessly clueless. And that brings us to my second point. He so clearly wants her. Hard. He wants her so hard.”
“How do you know?” Eve shifted in her seat every time he said the word hard.
“Because I’m a man.” Like that was an adequate answer.
Eve rolled her eyes and took another sip of wine, peering at him over the lip of her wine glass. He was so in tune with her. He knew what to say, what she was like, and obviously how much she enjoyed a glass of red wine. Straightening her shoulders and raising an eyebrow, she finally tried to take back control of the conversation.
“So. Anyway. What’s with you, Mr. Swipe Right? You go to med school, you come back here. You have a practice, you lose it, but still stay here. And you work on this lonely ranch where Bill lived maybe six or seven months out of the year, and when he dies, you stay here? You could live anywhere. Why here?”
She watched him squeeze his glass a little too tightly as he took a sip and stared off to the side of the room. When he set it down carefully and inhaled, she knew she was about to get a story.
“I don’t want to leave. Hell, maybe I can’t, I don’t know. It’s like I’m stuck, but not in a bad way. This is my home. This ranch, this town, has been central to my family’s history since the Daniels first came across the Atlantic. You read it in the journal. Shay Daniels, daughter to Dr. Mordecai Daniels, and BFFs with Pryce and Holly Browning, who would end up having a daughter who marries a Childress and the rest, as you would say, is history. We’ve been tied to the Childresses from day one. Bill was the last Childress here, and I’m the last Daniels. It just, feels wrong to me. Leaving.”
Eve swallowed the wine that had been swimming around her mouth as she listened. Well, that had been the perfect answer. She nodded and looked away. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted. A permanent spot, a beacon to call me, something homing in on my very being, calling me to where I belong. We moved around so much. I just loved the holidays we got to spend here. I get it, Bradley. You love it here. It’s your home. You should never leave.”
She gave a half smile as he wrapped his hand gently around hers as it held her glass, tipping the wine bottle over and refilling it.
“No one’s ever understood that before,” he said, an incredulous air to his statement. He pressed his lips together as he stayed by her side and looked down into her eyes. “Did you have to use your inhaler today?”
“No,” she snapped, unhappy at the turn in the conversation, given his proximity and the damned pheromones he was giving off being so near.
He laughed softly as he said, “You’re going to pay for that ‘dumbass’ remark.”
Her mouth dropped open in disbelief, but he closed the distance between them quickly with a scorching kiss that left no questions about his intentions. He wanted her. She could feel every hard line of his body pressing into her and it made her insides hum with energy. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands roamed around her back and lifted her to his chest.
“I should listen to your lungs and take your blood pressure,” he mumbled against her lips, trying to pull away.
Eve grabbed his hand and pressed it to her chest, pushing hard against her breasts. She knew her heart was racing and she knew he could feel it, but she also knew he would realize the reason. He looked down at his hand and then back into her eyes.
“BP seems within normal limits.” He kissed her again and lifted her out of the chair, backing up to the wide chaise sectional couch in the large living area.
Eve felt the soft cushions on her back and reached for his arms when he tried to roll off.
“I won’t break.” She grinned up at the concern in his dark eyes. “I’m not some delicate flower.”
It was Bradley’s turn to grin as he looked down at her underneath him, his weight completely on is elbows. “I know. But I have to be careful with you because what I want to do doesn’t involve being very gentle.”
Eve’s blood rushed through her veins and she finally just grabbed his white pearl snap shirt and ripped it open. Then she pushed him back, straddled his lap, and yanked her navy tee shirt over her head, tossing it aside, along with her glasses. Yes, she was wearing a super sexy sports bra and leggings, but the look he was giving her at that moment said he didn’t seem to really care.
“You can be as careful as you want to be,” she mumbled into his mouth, pushing against him as she sat up on her knees. “I’m going with the not-very-gentle route.”
Bradley chuckled as his hands slid down her bare back. He smacked her ass in those thin leggings and then gripped her tightly when she squealed and pulled back. But she didn’t fight him and she really only pulled back a little. She didn’t feel trapped by him. She didn’t feel like he wanted to hurt her. Truthfully, she felt nothing beyond being so damned turned on.
She wanted to be on top. And he only wanted to give her everything she desired. She looked so beautiful in the dim lighting, her blonde ponytail falling out, her glasses off, her pink sports bra an almost perfect match to her pale pink skin tone. She was giving him that look that really had only one response.
And when he’d smacked her ass, she hadn’t run away or given him one of those adorable scowls. If he took things slowly, he’d be able to get her through this without an attack. He groaned as she rubbed against him, straddling his hardness in his jeans. God, man, take it slow.
She pulled her sport bra over her head, revealing a pair of pale, perky breasts, and that was it. He immediately drew a nipple into his mouth, loving her moan, soft with desire. His hand spread over almost the whole of her back, holding her to his mouth as she gripped his shoulders. He was trying to figure out the logistics of getting her leggings and pink tennis shoes off, when she reached down into his jeans and boxers and gripped his waiting erection.
Slowly, tortuously, she moved her hand up and down.
He ground his teeth and when he couldn’t stand it anymore, he carefully turned them both and laid her on her back. She gave him a look so trusting that he had to smile. As he kissed her again, he popped open his belt and shoved his jeans and boxers down his legs.
She wrestled her shoes and leggings off at the same time and grabbed his face in her hands. “Don’t stop,” she whispered, kissing him again and wrapping her legs around his back.
He didn’t need to be told twice. Careful about putting all his weight on her, he pushed his hips forward, feeling all the moisture between her legs surround him. He pulled back, then rolled his hips into her again, this time slowly driving into her
, loving that she closed her eyes and smiled as she accepted all of him.
He had to grip the pale gray couch cushions tightly as he ground his hips into her again and again, trying his hardest to wait for her to climax first. It was one of the most difficult things he’d ever done. She was hot, tight, and so wet for him. When he moved a little faster, she tightened around him, her body starting to quake.
“Yes, Eve,” he breathed, feeling himself starting to come in a wave of elation like he’d never felt. She cried out underneath him, grasping at his shoulders and squeezing her eyes closed, his climax quickly following.
He kissed her again as small ripples of pleasure still pulsed through them both. He flipped to his back but held her close on his chest, reaching around and smacking her ass again.
“Such bad behavior for such a good girl.” He grinned, loving her returning giggle as he massaged the soft skin he’d just slapped.
“You haven’t seen bad behavior yet, foreman.” She squealed again when he smacked her, then kissed him slowly.
It was perfect.
Afterwards, they somehow made their way through the dark house to the master bedroom. He held her on his lap on the overstuffed chair by the tall window, watching the moon slowly move over the snow-capped mountains in the distance. He had one arm wrapped around her waist and slowly stroked her thigh with the other. Only the thin throw blanket he’d grabbed off the back of the chair covered them, but they were creating enough heat to not catch a chill.
“Christmas was so lonely this year,” he said quietly, his cheek pressed against her loose hair. “This has been so… unexpected. And nice. I don’t want it to end.”
“Well, we have like nine hours until sunrise,” she replied with a laugh. Every time he ran his fingers over her skin, she arched her back a little, rubbing her delicious ass over his practically uninterrupted erection.
He grinned and pressed his lips to her ear, replying in a low, stern voice, “That’s not what I meant, historian.”
He heard her exhale. “I know. Tomorrow’s my last day, though. December thirtieth I have to be out of here. Legally, I mean. It’s in the will.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s so close to New Year’s, and really, what are they going to do, send the Last Will and Testament police out here to arrest you?” He smiled at her giggle and kissed behind her ear.
“I don’t know, foreman. That sounds like rule breaking. And Pryce Browning wouldn’t have been happy at all with Holly if she’d disregarded a dead man’s wishes.”
“Make no mistake, Little Miss Eve.” He grabbed under her knee and hooked it over his, spreading her open and making her suck in a breath as the cotton blanket dropped to a heap on the floor. “Bill liked you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been in the will. And that clairvoyant bastard must have known that I’d like you, or else he would have scheduled your visits in November and early December like the rest of your relatives. That’s my busiest time of year selling the livestock at auction. I’m hardly ever here then, maybe once or twice a week.”
“You think?” she asked, suddenly clutching his forearm as he popped her other leg over his and began caressing the unbelievably soft skin inside the top of her thigh. She let out an adorable high moan when he cupped her breast and drew her earlobe into his mouth.
“He wanted you. Out here with me. Under this late December moon.” He’d never been surer of anything. What a sneaky son of a bitch. Even Bradley didn’t know that he was attracted to cute, nerdy, asthmatic historians. How had Bill Childress known?
Eve inhaled and arched her back again, rubbing over his erection and bringing him back to the task at hand. He simultaneously circled her clitoris and nipple, speaking in a low, deep voice in her ear. He told her what a good girl she was being. He dipped his finger down between her silky folds of skin and curled his finger inside her, brushing his thumb over her and feeling her tighten around him.
“Stay with me until New Year’s Day,” he rumbled into her ear, almost ready to burst himself. The friction of her ass rubbing around his cock was getting him there.
“Yes!” she shouted, so tight around his finger and so lovely as she came. She mumbled some agreement about staying as she writhed on his lap, and that was it for him. He had to grunt out a few expletives as he gripped her hips and buried his face into her neck.
They breathed heavily in the quiet room for a second, before she turned and curled up under his chin and arm in a way that endeared him so much to her it scared him. He’d never had this. He’d never known he even wanted it.
“Boy you sure know how to get your way, Bradley Daniels. But if the Last Will and Testament police come, I’m giving you up as an accomplice.”
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. Shit. He’d go to jail for her. He’d do anything for her.
Chapter 8
The Bridal Express, Eastbound
“An annulment is easy.”
Holly peeled her face off the cold windows of the train car and wiped her damp cheeks. She was surprised she wasn’t all cried out. It had been two days of straight bawling on that train ride, only Zeke and Sarah Zachary to console her. And Rose, who was their daughter, it turned out. Rose had given her space, but remained close from the moment the Zacharys had seen Holly on the depot platform in Silver Creek City.
They’d rushed to her, worried as to why she was there on their return trip to their headquarters in Washington, D.C. She’d explained everything, including the fact that Pryce would not consummate the marriage. Zeke Zachary had cursed him and declared that Pryce Browning would never be a client again. Sarah had tutted and fussed over her and promised that it wasn’t her fault. And Rose had taken her hand and held her close on the shiny walnut seats of the last train car as they pulled away and Silver Creek City became a speck in the distant mountains.
“What’s hard is deciding to leave it all behind.”
Holly nodded at Rose’s wisdom and looked back out at the snowy, flat terrain passing by. “It wasn’t a decision, really.”
Rose slipped an arm around her shoulder and sighed. “Was he just awful?”
Holly sniffled and shook her head, as more moisture filled her eyes. “That’s the problem. He was wonderful. He just… didn’t think I was good enough.”
“Well,” Rose said, folding her arms over her chest. “It’s his loss, anyway. And as my friend Athena, who does my hair would say, screw him!”
She was so stunned at the language that she blurted out a quick laugh. It had felt good and she was grateful for the companionship. She leaned back and settled in for the rest of the ride, at least taking comfort in that.
They arrived the next night, deboarding the train at the busy station, and took a black coach back to the academy. Holly was worried. Would they promise her to a new husband? Would they turn her away? Would they let her stay, at least until she could find a way to stand on her own? What would she even do for work?
“Who is that?” Rose blurted, disturbing the silence of the ride down the streets with dim gas lamp lighting.
The carriage stopped and they all got out, curious to see the large, dark figure looming at the bottom of the steps to the academy. He wore a dark coat and hat, and they could see the air steam out of his mouth with each breath.
“I’m here for my wife.”
The Zacharys looked at one another cautiously, but Holly, unafraid, took a step forward.
“Christ Almighty.” She shook her head and shivered, maybe from the cold, maybe from something else. “Pryce?”
The Zacharys looked absolutely shocked, as the large man appeared at Holly’s side in two strides.
Holly looked confused. “What… What are you… How did you get here?” She wasn’t sure which question to start with. She was sure of one thing, though. He looked angry.
“Mr. Browning, the marriage was never consummated, therefore the marriage contract is null and void. You have no rights to her as your wife.” Zeke Zachary was ab
out to go on, when Pryce suddenly knelt down in front of Holly and took his hat off, his anger dissipating into something that looked like desperation.
“Holly, I’ve been a terrible husband, and I’m sorry. I’m gone all day while you do all the washing and cooking, and then I still discipline you after all you do. And I’m sorry. You have to believe me, Holly. I need you. I thought these last two weeks, we’d been getting to know each other, getting along. I didn’t convey that very well. My feelings, I mean. And that’s my fault. I love you, Holly. I want you. I need you.”
Holly’s mouth was wide open as she stared at him. Her stomach fluttered, though, at his words. Her heart warmed instantly, she had to admit, just at the sight of him.
“Pryce, I-”
“But you gave me no indication that you were going to leave me.” His voice turned as cold as the wind blowing through the brownstones around them. He stood slowly. “And that’s on you. I said no lying, Holly, and I meant it. Lying by omission is just as bad. You should have told me how you were feeling. Why you thought you had to leave me. Am I wrong?”
He was so calm, that Holly was just a little frightened. Of him hurting her? Never. Of what he was planning? Definitely. She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. “I love you, too, Pryce. But is that enough? When we’re trapped inside during a long winter. When you’ve run out of invented ways I’ve disobeyed you. Then what?”
She jolted slightly as he stepped forward and gently held her shoulders, staring right into her eyes. “Then we make love all night long.”
Holly felt her face heat as she turned her eyes towards the Zacharys, who couldn’t look away if they’d tried. Then she turned and wondered what she was supposed to say to that.
“Starting tonight,” Pryce declared, picking Holly up under her arms and practically tossing her into the black carriage next to him. He turned to Zeke Zachary. “Unless you object, of course? Otherwise, come and call at the Willard in the morning, if you’d like. We’ll be on a train home by tomorrow afternoon.”