Hold on Tight (Cowboys & Angels Book 1)

by Anjelica Grace

  Allie lets her body relax beneath my touch, and the tension slowly releases from her shoulders the longer I work my fingers over them. I’d love to do this for her all night, but we’ve only got so much time before the hot water runs cold and all the progress I’ve made freezes back into her muscles.

  “Pick your bodywash, Darlin’,” I whisper to her. She reaches out and grabs the lavender one I love and passes it back to me.

  “I’m so tired now,” she says. “You’ve relaxed me so much I could fall asleep right here.”

  “I’m almost done. Then I’ll dry you and get you to bed.” I kiss the crown of her head and start washing her body. I work my way down her back first, bending to wash down her rounded, perfect ass, and along her firm legs to her heels. “Turn around so you can rinse while I get your front next.”

  She turns carefully and I look up from where I’m still kneeling at her feet. Every part of her that turns me on most is right here, open and exposed. All I would need to do is lean forward and kiss her, and she’d widen her stance and give me a part of her that only I’ve ever had.

  She smiles down at me and threads her fingers through my wet hair silently.

  Don’t do it. Not tonight. This is about her, not you.

  I mentally chastise myself for thinking with my dick rather than my brain and heart. Instead of leaning forward to kiss and taste what’s taunting my body, I kiss her flat stomach, right where a child will grow one day, and soap her up again, massaging all of the tight muscles in her legs before I stand.

  She’s watching my every move with tired, happy eyes. I did that for her. I’m not going to fuck it up by being a horny man, now. But I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to move my hands over her chest, either. With the bodywash still on my hands, they both glide easily up her abdomen, and over her breasts. I brush my thumbs over her tightening nipples, drawing a small sigh out of her.

  “Tomorrow. Tomorrow.” I’m repeating it more for myself than her, but her answered agreement makes me happy, nonetheless.

  I stand fully again and wink at her. “Turn and rinse, I’ll get my hair and body real fast, too. Then I’m getting you to bed.”

  “Thank you,” she says; then turns to rinse her body off. While her back is to me I grab my shampoo and work it into my hair quickly, giving my body an equally quick pass with the same shampoo on my hands, then rinse it all off beneath the other showerhead.

  “I could’ve done that for you,” she says, just before her hand touches my back.

  “Next time. This time was about you, not me.” I spin and reach for the handles, shutting the shower water off and then grab her big, fluffy towel and use it to dry her off.

  “I need pajamas, please.”

  I guess we can’t exactly walk out of here and climb into bed naked tonight. Not with our girls asleep in there. “I’ll be right back, you stay put.” I cinch my towel around my waist and head into our bedroom. The girls are both out, and taking up the whole bed, as I figured they would. I grab her clothes, and mine, then go back to her. She’s wrapped in her towel and looking more gorgeous than should be possible.

  “I hope these are okay,” I say as I hold up what I brought for her.

  “They’re perfect. I love sleeping in your shirts.” She steps out of the shower and takes the clothes from me, dropping her towel to dress in her pajamas, and then she winds her hair up into a bun.

  “Funny, I love you sleeping in my shirts, too.” I grin at her and dry myself off the rest of the way, then dress as quickly as I can and scoop her into my arms. She wraps her arms around my neck and lays her head on my bare chest while I carry her to bed. I lay her down beside Aubrey and bend to kiss her lips. “Good night, Allie. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Chase.” Not long after the words leave her mouth, she closes her eyes, and sleep finds her nearly immediately. I plan on joining them in slumber soon. But first, I want to watch them. Take in my girls, and let the weight of the day and what might have happened melt away.

  Allie

  There are mornings when you wake up, and everything feels a little brighter, a little happier, and a little calmer. It’s like a blanket of happiness has settled over everything dreary and sad, and all you can see are the stunning colors of the world. All you can see are the bright sun rising out of the east, peeking up behind our lands and the cattle. The green, open fields just beyond the grazed-over pastures. The rich, dark brown of the coffee swirling perfectly with the white of the creamer. It’s all more vivid, more special than it’s been in I can’t remember how long.

  Then again, I’ve had my Cowboy home for nearly forty-eight hours now, and he won’t be leaving for another seventy-six at least. And that is enough to make everything perfect right now.

  Chase walks into the kitchen behind me and slides his hands over my hips, pressing his body into the back of mine, and his lips into my hair, kissing me with a subtle groan.

  “You showered without me this morning,” he murmurs.

  “I did, I’m sorry. You needed to sleep, though. And I wanted to get a jump on coffee and laundry.” I turn in his arms so I’m facing him and we are pressed together, front to front. “You looked way too comfy with the girls snuggled into you to disturb you for something as mundane as a shower.”

  “Mundane? You call time spent with you wet and naked mundane?” He smirks at me. “You sure you weren’t the one who hit your head a couple days ago?”

  I nod and grin up at him. “Positive.”

  “Speaking of hitting heads, and Ava, how did the girls end up in bed with us?”

  “They snuck in about an hour ago. I heard Aubrey stir first, she went into Ava’s room, and then they both came and crawled in with us. You were out like a rock.”

  “I must’ve been. I didn’t notice anything. Not them joining us or you leaving.”

  I slide my hands up his bare chest and link my fingers together behind his neck. “I stayed in there for about thirty minutes after they came in, I couldn’t go back to sleep.”

  “So you showered, then got a jump on laundry and coffee?”

  “Close,” I respond. “I haven’t gotten to laundry yet. You interrupted my morning flow.”

  He lets out a low, deep chuckle. “Morning flow?”

  “Yep, my morning flow. I have to act before the girls are awake, otherwise what should take ten minutes takes an hour.”

  “Ah, I see.” He leans in and kisses my lips, then smiles against them. “You know what, though?”

  “Hmm?”

  He kisses me again. “I’ll keep the girls company this morning, so you can take a few minutes right here with me and not have to worry about your morning flow.”

  “You’re a saint.” I open my eyes when he pulls back a little.

  He shakes his head and smirks. “Believe me, it has nothing to do with me being a saint. I just left the girls, and they were out cold. So, I’m thinking if I play my cards right, I can make out with my wife for a while before they wake for good and ruin my morning flow.”

  A laugh starts deep in my belly and bellows out into the open kitchen, and he slides his hand over my mouth, laughing at my laugh, much quieter than I was.

  “Shhh. You’ll wake them up before I get some time with you,” he chides, lifting me by the hips up onto the counter. “And if they wake up, I can’t do this…” He steps between my legs, sliding his hands up them and beneath my T-shirt, trailing a featherlight touch from my tummy, around to my back, before he pulls me closer to him and kisses me.

  His lips claim mine with an intensity that steals my breath, and makes every part of my body tingle with need. “Chase…” It’s a plea…and a warning.

  “What?” He moves his mouth from my lips to my jaw, and kisses down my jawline and toward my ear.

  “That feels…” He scrapes his teeth over the sensitive skin just beneath my ear and I moan quietly.

  “How does it feel?” He does it again, and my breath catches.

  “Too good, we
can’t… The girls could…”

  He moves his mouth lower down my throat and starts working his way over to the other side. “We aren’t. I’m just… giving you a little taste of what comes later. While I take a little taste of you now.”

  His teeth graze over my skin again and I shiver. “You’re such a jerk.”

  His mouth moves expertly from my throat up to my jaw, kissing back around and up to my lips, until he’s able to take them with his again. They flutter and dance over mine until I part them to breathe, and he takes the opportunity to dip his tongue in for a taste. It brushes over mine then glances the roof of my mouth—teasing me just a little—before he pulls it back out and he kisses only my lips again.

  I can’t help the small sounds of appreciation, or lust, that escape in little bursts. He’s assaulted my senses and kicked my body into overdrive in a way he hasn’t been here or able to do in close to a month.

  “Chase…” I say again, this time it comes out as a soft moan. “Please…”

  He grins and asks, “Please what? Please stop? Please more?”

  “More, so much more.”

  He nods and slips his hands back toward the front of my shirt and slowly walks his fingers up my ribs, but halts them in place when the sound of one of our girls coming down the hall alerts us to the fact that our alone time is up.

  “More’s going to have to wait,” he whispers, sliding his hands back down my stomach and around to my back, just before Aubrey walks into the kitchen.

  “I’m hungry,” she says, rubbing her eyes with her hair wild and falling into her face.

  “See,” I whisper to Chase while we watch her, “this is why my morning flow gets ruined.”

  Aubrey pays us no attention while she finishes rubbing her eyes, and then she looks up and grins wide when she sees us here.

  “Looks like someone finally noticed us,” Chase says under his breath, resting his head against my chest while he watches her.

  “Hi, Daddy.” She waves, then walks around the island and climbs up onto a stool across the counter from us.

  “Mornin’, Aubrey,” he replies and pulls his hands out from beneath my shirt where they had been resting on my back. “Do you two want some pancakes?”

  I nod my head and reach for my cup of coffee again, then reposition myself so I’m angled toward Aubrey and Chase, and that’s when I notice Ava walk into the kitchen, too.

  “Did Daddy say he’s making pancakes?” she asks.

  “I did. What kind do you guys want?”

  I look at both girls and ask, “What do you say, do you guys want them?”

  Each of our girls nods their heads.

  “On the count of three then,” I say, smiling. Then I hold up my hand, using my fingers to help me count, one…two…three…

  All three of us say in unison, “Cowboy Pancakes!”

  Chase laughs and gives us a little salute. “Let me go put a shirt on, and then I’m going to need some help. Allie, why don’t you get to your morning laundry going so when we’re done, maybe we can drive up to Denver and go to their zoo.”

  “Don’t you have to practice?” I ask, smiling wide.

  “Not today. Today I’m taking the day off to spend with you three. So everybody better get a move on.”

  “But what are we supposed to move on to?” Aubrey asks, holding her hands up by her shoulders to show us just how confused she is.

  I can’t help but laugh. “You girls get the table set, and grab the stuff you want to put over your pancakes, while your daddy gets his shirt on, then the three of you can make the pancakes together. I’m going to go do laundry.”

  As the girls set out to grab plates and forks, and their toppings, Chase helps me off the counter and kisses my lips. “See, morning flow problem solved. Now get moving so we can have a fun family day together at the zoo later.”

  It’s been one of the best days we have had together as a family in a very long time. Once breakfast and laundry were finished, Chase did take us to the zoo. And it was a blast. We don’t make it to Denver’s often, so to see the changes they’ve made, to watch the girls in awe by the animals and the shows, feeding the giraffes, it was everything.

  Chase and Aubrey bonded over the monkeys, especially the ones out on the open ropes course in the new elephant exhibit. Aubrey was so hoping one would land on our shoulders, though it never happened. I suspect the zoo has ways of stopping them from doing that.

  Ava loved the elephant show. She picked the seats right in front of the glass railing and got to throw some of their fruit chunks out for the elephant to snag and eat up. Even her headache didn’t put a damper on the day.

  What he did for me today, getting us in privately to see the sloths, and the new baby sloth—I’m certain I fell even harder for him than I already had.

  Now that we’re home, with two exhausted girls he’s tucking into bed, all I can think about is spending some alone time with him.

  I walk into our bathroom, washing my hands and face then get a washcloth out to wipe my sweat and sunscreen-covered body down. I strip out of my clothes and change into a navy lace bra and panty set, then I find his favorite body spray and spritz a thin coat over myself. A quick glance at the mirror and a pinch to each cheek and I feel sufficiently ready for the night I have planned with him.

  I move back into our room, light a few candles throughout, and settle in our bed to wait for him. His approach is easy to see with each light that dims and cuts out from the living room, down the hall and the girls’ rooms, until he’s stepping through our door.

  “Lock it, Chase,” I whisper, watching him take in the candles around the room. He looks around as the flickers of each small flame cause shadows to dance across the walls, and then he reaches me with his gaze. I wish I could see his eyes clearly right now, whether they’re wider or showing the possessive hunger I only know is real because he seems to always have it for me.

  “Allie,” he husks out. “The way you look in the candlelight, shit…” He steps farther into the room and closes the door with the quietest click possible, and then I hear the lock engage.

  “It’s been a while, we haven’t…” Explaining myself to him makes me more nervous and my voice falters, “I don’t know when we’ll get to again… Is it too much?”

  He steps beyond the door and into the first glow of light from the candle on our dresser, and the smile on his face stops my heart, then proceeds to cause it to not only speed up but pound against my chest like a drum.

  “Why is everything always too much with you?” he asks teasingly, as he slowly steps toward the bed. It’s a joke we’ve had for a while now. I’m always telling him he’s too much. Honestly, I think it’s something he takes pride in. Then he reminds me in his very special way, that with him, it’s never too much.

  “Because I like making you show me it’s actually just enough.”

  He stops at the foot of our bed and lets his eyes lazily traverse my body, pausing briefly on my chest, and then stopping at my face, our eyes locking instantly. “When it comes to you, it’ll never be just enough. I’ll want and take more, as often as I can, until the day I die.”

  “Do you promise?” I’m not sure why I’m asking, except for the fact I know in the back of my mind, when these few days are over, he will be back on the road, away from me, and all of this will be a memory I cling to until he’s home for a few days again

  “I swear, Darlin’.” He pulls his shirt over his head, using his one perfectly fine arm, and then he starts working his belt loose. His hands are large, moving over the buckle so quickly and precisely you wouldn’t think it possible. I want them to move that way over me.

  “Let me.” I push forward to my knees and crawl to the foot of the bed where he’s standing. I feel his eyes on me; know he’s looking down my back and at my bare ass as it sways with each movement forward. It’s highlighted by the black lace along my waist that disappears between each cheek.

  “You’re wearing a thong,” he sta
tes, his voice gravellier now. “You’re trying to kill me right where I stand, aren’t you?” His hands are no longer moving over his buckle, he’s frozen in place, watching me. As I kneel in front of him, I know as long as he’s staring at me, he won’t actually get his belt the rest of the way off. So I replace his hands over it with my own, and finish working the metal loose with a clank, then let it fall and hang off his belt loops.

  “I’d never kill you. I need you too much.”

  He finally snaps out of his trance and forgets about undressing himself, choosing instead, to touch me. His hands move steadily down my shoulders and arms, and his lips find their purchase along my throat and collarbone as he murmurs, “You’re so soft. Always so soft.”

  His hands, in complete contrast to my skin, are rough and calloused. They’re the hands of a hard-working, bull riding cowboy who knows exactly how to use them. And use them he does. He moves them from my wrists to my body, barely touching my skin as he slides them from my ticklish sides, up to my covered breasts. “Always perfect.”

  His words make me move faster. I pop the button of his jeans open and lower his zipper so I can push his pants off his hips and down his strong, built legs; they fall in a heap at his feet. We’re on equal ground now. He’s in nothing but his tight-fitted boxer briefs, which are doing absolutely nothing to hide his growing erection. And I’m in nothing but my panties and bra. The same bra he’s eyeing and licking his lips hungrily over.

  I suck in a sharp breath when he pinches my nipples through the lace, then I look up into his eyes, breathing hard, needing to see what I couldn’t before. Now that I can see what’s in them, with the flickering of the candles behind me, I see every last thing running through his mind that his eyes give away. I see the heat of his stare, the desire, the love, and mixed within all of that is the obvious fight for the restraint and control he’s holding onto—even though he really wants to let go.

  Knowing I do this to him still, after all this time, is such a powerful feeling.