by AC Arthur
There were no more words. No more excuses or explanations. Nothing mattered now except kissing her.
With that thought he closed the space between them cupping her face in his hands and tilting his head to touch his mouth to hers. Her arms immediately circled his neck as she returned his kiss with fervor. Damn, he loved kissing her. There was no hesitancy whenever their lips touched. Only the instant flicker to the flame that hummed constantly between them. Her blunt nails scrapped his scalp as her hands moved through his hair.
He needed more than just this kiss, this time. He needed to touch her, everywhere. His hands moved down her body, his skin singed by the heat of her skin so soft and pliant beneath his palms. He grasped the mound of her breast, groaning as his tongue continued to stroke over hers. Her nipple was already pebble hard and his dick jumped each time it rubbed against his palm. She tugged at his hair and Tyler moaned.
With her body flush against his, Tyler lifted her, her thighs parting, legs clasping around his waist. He carried her around to the side of the bed where he turned and sat on the edge. He tore his mouth away from hers only long enough to lick along the line of her neck, his tongue tracing a wet trail down her skin until the dark circle of her nipple was in his mouth. He sucked her deep, while palming the other breast. She arched her back, pressing her already damp mound against his abs.
“You taste like honey,” he grumbled as he moved from one breast to the next. “The sweetest fuckin’ honey.”
And Tyler gorged on her, loving the sounds coming from her as well as the way her hands moved over him. From his hair down to his neck, to where her blunt-tipped nails now scraped over his back. He couldn’t get enough.
He moved fast, flipping her from his lap to lay her back on the bed, then immediately lifting her legs, so that her ankles rested on his shoulders. Tyler tore that pretty little piece of pink fabric away and licked the clean-shaved curve of her mound. Her knees fell down and she opened like the petals of the prettiest blossom before him.
His mouth was on her flesh before he could think of another word to say. It didn’t matter, no words would have accurately described how sweet it was to run his tongue along her plump folds, lapping the thick rivulets of her essence hungrily.
“Tyler.”
She whispered his name.
He’d heard it and wanted desperately to hear it again. So he licked her faster, slipping a finger into her entrance and moaning with the delectable tightness that gripped him. She squirmed beneath him. Lifting her hips to meet his mouth, her fingers grasping the sheets. He sucked the tight bud of her clit and she bucked off the bed, his name coming in a repeated litany that was like music to his ears.
Moments later, when she’d settled pliantly on the bed, Tyler kissed the inside of her thighs. He rubbed his hands up her torso and tweaked the still hard nipples of her breasts. As he raised up over her he thought she looked like a dream lying there. Her hair spread wildly over the sheets and her body beautifully naked. That sensation in his chest started to rise again, but the pressure of his almost painful arousal demanding to be set free from the constraints of his shorts won.
Tyler stepped back from the bed and pushed his shorts down his legs. He picked his wallet up from the nightstand and found a condom inside. Coming to stand at the edge of the bed between her open legs, their gazes locked as he rolled the condom over his length. When it was done, he waited. Not sure why, but he just did not move.
Until she lifted her arms from the bed, beckoning him to her as she said once more, “I’m ready.”
* * *
Gabriella wasn’t ready.
Not for the instant flash of passion that burst before her eyes the moment Tyler thrust his full length into her. He’d lifted one of her legs, his fingers wrapped securely around her ankle. Holding that leg at an angle he pulled her closer to the edge of the bed and pushed inside her without speaking a word. She couldn’t imagine what he could have said as a preamble to such blinding pleasure. “Get ready.” “Hold on tight.” “Beware.”
She gasped as he stroked her long and slow. Really, he moved deliberately slow now, easing into her inch by damn inch and then pulling out in the same fashion. Her legs were trembling, cool air brushing over her nipples causing her to shiver as her teeth sank into her bottom lip.
“Please,” she moaned.
“Please what?” he asked going still over her.
She looked up to see him staring down at her. His blue eyes a seductively dark green now, his hair a ruffled mess. She almost smiled as she recalled her fingers doing that. But her gaze went lower to his tapered torso and his thick length now coated with her desire, paused just on the brim of her center. It was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen, the partially ensconced penis waiting eagerly to sink deeper. Gabriella licked her lips and whispered, “More. Now!”
When he shook his head and lowered her leg to the bed, Gabriella wanted to scream, just in case he hadn’t heard her instruction.
“I don’t want this to go too fast,” he said.
He eased all the way out of her and stretched out on the bed beside her. Wrapping his arm around her waist Tyler pulled her onto her side until their bodies touched.
“I want to remember every second of this night with you, Gabriella.”
He kissed the tip of her nose, then the corner of her mouth. He licked his tongue over her lip and she shocked them both by extending her tongue to rub softly against his. Their gazes held and Tyler eased them slowly into a kiss that was more than Gabriella had ever experienced. It wasn’t just hot and explosive the way the kisses she’d previously shared with Tyler were. No, this was something else. It was like a fast-acting drug, pulling her deep, down into an unfamiliar vortex. He kept his eyes open, so she did the same, but it was a struggle, because the kiss was making her languid and relaxed and safe.
In the next moments Tyler was running a hand down her side, cupping her bottom before easing her leg over his. He broke the kiss the second the tip of his sex touched the mouth of hers.
“I want you to remember every second of tonight, too. Every touch, every sensation.”
He pushed into her slowly.
She moaned. “I will.”
He started to move, a little faster than before, like a slow stirring of something that planned to burn long and bright.
“I want you to remember me,” he whispered before licking her lips again.
“I will,” she replied and knew that it was the absolute truth.
She would remember his touch, the sight of him inside her, and the feel of him filling her completely. She would never forget how warm and comfortable it felt to be in his arms and how, even though she’d been the one to come to him, there had been no mistaking that he wanted her and had been waiting for her.
That made her feel amazing. So much so that she began to move with him, giving him so much more than just her body. When his hands moved up and down her back and he dipped his head to kiss along her neck, Gabriella nipped the skin of his shoulder. She licked that spot and thrust her hips into his. When he reached down and hooked her knee in his arm and leaned her back to once again change the depth of his thrusts, she closed her eyes to the pleasure. And then when he stopped just before making her come and rubbed his thumb over her chin, staring deep into her eyes, she whispered, “I will remember you, Tyler.”
He rolled her onto her back at that moment and pounded into her until they were both breathless, climbing together to reach a blissful climax.
A half hour later, after they’d taken a quick shower and returned to the bed, Tyler wrapped her in his arms. She’d never been spooned or cuddled before. Austin was always in a hurry.
“I don’t sleep with the boss,” she said abruptly.
“I never sleep with clients,” he replied.
Gabriella closed her eyes. She wanted to remember this feeling forever, the one where his arms were around her in the dark of night and she wasn’t in the bed alone.
“And I don�
�t share,” he continued. “When I’m sleeping with a woman, I don’t expect her to be sleeping with anyone else. I give her the same respect.”
“I agree,” she whispered.
“Then it’s settled.” He leaned in closer and kissed her cheek. “Let’s get some sleep.”
Gabriella snuggled back against him and for the first time in she couldn’t even count how many nights, she fell soundlessly asleep.
* * *
“My gracious, it’s three o’clock in the morning, Dessie,” Clyde grumbled as he climbed down from the passenger side of his red Silverado.
“I know what time it is, Clyde. You’ve been reminding me every five seconds since I answered the phone.”
He walked around the truck just in time to extend his hand and help his wife of thirty-one years down. She was still as pretty as the day he’d bumped into her grocery cart at the supermarket. Still as bossy too.
“Now, I don’t know what’s going on, but Audrey never calls me at this hour and she certainly never screams so loud through the phone that my ear drums are still ringing,” Dessie said. “And you could have stayed in bed.”
“Wasn’t about to let you get on the road at this time of night by yourself,” Clyde told her.
Plus, he had a bad feeling about this. Truth be told, he’d had a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach since Dessie had called him yesterday morning to say that there’d been shots fired at the ranch and that the ambulance was taking Gabriella to the hospital. Things hadn’t been right since George and Verna were found in that burning truck. And Clyde was afraid they were gonna get much worse before long.
They walked through the front doors of the resort. Morena, one of the night clerks was at the front desk wearing a worried look to go with the black and yellow Westwind Resort uniform.
“Oh, Ms. Dessie. I’m so glad you’re here. They’re still upstairs in the room. They didn’t want anyone else wandering in there, but I’m supposed to tell you to come right up. Right away!” Morena exclaimed in one breath.
Dessie walked over to her and patted Morena’s shaking hand as she’d set it on the desk.
“Alright, take a deep breath. Go get yourself some water and calm down. I’m here and I’ll take care of everything,” Dessie promised.
She would try, Clyde thought as he walked to the bank of elevators to the left of the front desk area. There were only three floors to the resort, but it was a long building and had sixty guest rooms. Gabriella had some great ideas for expansion that Dessie was really excited about.
They stepped off the elevator on the third floor and walked down the hallway to the end. Only suites were on this floor. They had double the space of the standard rooms below and they each had walkout patios with gorgeous views of the hills.
“Oh my Lord,” Dessie mumbled as they walked.
“What?” Clyde asked while looking around because he thought she’d seen something.
“That’s Gabriella’s room,” she said just before they came to the open door and stepped inside.
It was a mess. A horrific mess. Black paint splashed all over the walls. The curtains were slashed, pillows on the bed left in tatters. The sheets had been drenched in paint, and the mirrors were cracked.
“Ms. Dessie! Ms. Dessie!” Audrey yelled when they walked further into the room.
The thin wisp of a girl came running and draped her arms around Dessie.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know what happened or what to do. Willie said he was delivering room service to the room down the hall and he heard a noise down this way. When he got here the door was open but nobody was in here. The patio door was open too and the room was like this,” Audrey said.
“Where’s Willie now?” Clyde asked as his booted feet crunched over broken glass from the bedside lamps when he walked across the floor.
“I’m right here, sir,” Willie replied. “There’s black paint in the soaker tub and the water was left running so it started to flood. We’ve got damage to the floor and a little to the room beneath. I got maintenance down there now.”
“Good job, Willie. Thanks for chipping in,” Dessie said. “Now, Audrey I need you to get your head on straight. We’ll have to call the sheriff out here and let him do his thing.”
“Don’t touch anything else,” Clyde told them. “In fact, let’s just clear out and let Alvarez get down here with his guys.”
“Some of Gabriella’s things were still in here. Naomi came to get her clothes yesterday, but she left some stuff. You want me to gather them before Sheriff Alvarez arrives?” Audrey asked.
“That’s not a good idea,” Clyde said.
Dessie immediately turned to him. “That’s her personal stuff, Clyde. We can’t let Alvarez and his deputies start pawing through her stuff.”
“It’s evidence,” Clyde told her. “Everything in this room is evidence now. We shouldn’t even be standing in here thinking about contaminating things. So let’s get on out. We’ll call over to the ranch house from downstairs.”
“No,” Dessie said as she walked ahead of him to the door. “Those two were shot at not even twenty-four hours ago. I’m not calling and waking them up out of their sleep to give them more bad news. We’ll wait until sun’s up and go out there personally.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Audrey said. “This is gonna upset them more.”
“Yeah, but they gotta know,” Clyde said. “They gotta be prepared.”
He didn’t finish his thoughts because he didn’t want Dessie to know that Alvarez was sniffing around Gabriella’s past to see what he could dig up. If he wasn’t already, the sheriff was going to be hot on her trail and Tyler’s for that matter, the moment he saw that room. All hell seemed to be breaking loose in Hobbs Creek, and Clyde wondered who, if any of them, would survive.
Chapter 11
“I like my kale cooked in ham hocks and seasoned to perfection on a plate with a couple slices of baked ham and my grandmother’s homemade baked macaroni and cheese,” Gabriella said as she leaned over the counter, watching Tyler.
He was taking a handful of greens—a mixture of kale and spinach, as he’d just informed her—and dropping them into a blender.
“This twelve ounce drink will give you an energy boost unlike any of those sugar-laced drinks or any off-the-market pills,” he told her. “Finish cubing those pineapples?”
“Yup!” she said with fake exuberance.
“Okay, pour them in,” he instructed.
She did and he scooped out a few spoons of plain Greek yogurt. Adding that, coconut oil, lime juice, almond milk and green tea, he snapped the top onto the container and hit the blend button.
Gabriella shook her head.
“When I go over to my parents’ house on Saturday mornings my mother cooks fluffy buttermilk pancakes, cheesy scrambled eggs and bacon.”
“And when you’re finished eating all you want to do is curl up on the couch and fall asleep,” he said.
He stopped the blend cycle and lifted the top to taste his concoction.
“This is much healthier,” he confirmed, before squeezing in more lime juice and hitting blend again.
“It’s turkey bacon,” she replied. “My dad isn’t big on pork products.”
“What about the ham hocks in your kale and baked ham slices on your plate?” he asked.
“That’s my plate,” she said with a grin. “Dad gets roasted turkey, rice and gravy and his greens are cooked in turkey necks.”
After chuckling with her, Tyler poured them two glasses of the disturbingly green concoction. “You do not have that body from eating that way on a daily basis.”
She had accepted the glass he offered her and was still staring down at it, when he spoke.
“No, not all the time. That’s a holiday dinner. I tend to cook lighter meals and I hit the gym at least three times a week. But that’s as strict as my health regimen goes.”
“You drink it, Gabriella. Not stare at it,” he chided
and took another gulp of his drink.
He looked so good standing in that big country kitchen wearing a wrinkled t-shirt, sweat pants and bare feet that Gabriella could almost forget what he was trying to get her to drink. Almost.
She took a deep breath and brought the glass to her lips for her first taste. He watched her closely. Months ago that would have been too closely. She would have wanted him to look away, or she would have turned away. Funny how time, and most likely, people, changed things.
Gabriella sipped the smoothie and didn’t gag. She figured that was a good sign.
“You like it don’t you?” Tyler asked, his grin too big and too natural for her to say anything negative.
“It’s alright,” she replied.
He laughed. “Just can’t give me any props, huh?”
“I’m still drinking it,” she said after another sip.
“Come on, let’s go out on the back porch for a bit.”
He had his drink in hand and Gabriella kept hers as she followed him out. She did have on socks, cut-off jean shorts and a tank top. But there was no one else at the ranch house this morning so she figured she wasn’t being too unprofessional. Considering she’d spent the night in the boss’s bed, she figured she’d already blown that cover anyway.
The back porch was just that, wood beams stretching about twenty feet toward the end of the house and a wood covering. It was being knocked down next week and rebuilt with sturdier wood and all new furniture. Tyler sat in one of the four rocking chairs that faced the open fields. Gabriella sat in the one beside him. For the first few minutes they rocked back and forth in the chairs without speaking.
Gabriella sipped from the glass again and watched as the sun created the perfect focal point to a lush western backdrop. Green grass stretched far and wide, with hills dipping and diving to break the monotony. The tips of trees in the distance stretched up and appeared to touch the gold and orange of the early morning sky. It was quiet, except for the occasional mooing of a cow that seemed to echo through the air.