by Tess Oliver
Raini gave me a quick lesson on how to get up in the saddle and then hopped onto her horse.
"Where are we heading?" I asked.
She smiled. "You'll see. Jumbly will pretty much follow Pepper so you won't have to do much except not fall off. How often have you ridden on a horse?"
"That depends, does it count when you're strapped in by a belt as a pony goes around a little circle?"
"Hey, ponies are horses. Trust me, they'd be the first to tell you that."
"Then once. I've been on a horse once at a county fair, and I only remember it because my mom kept the humiliating picture of my ride up in the hallway with the words Cowboy Zane written in glitter gel on the dusty frame. Aidan must have seen that picture a thousand times when we were growing up, but it never stopped him from curling over into a laughing fit."
"Aidan is the massively built guy with the dark blond hair and tattoo sleeves, right?"
Raini hadn't exaggerated about Jumbly following her horse. I basically just sat upright in the saddle as my horse followed obediently along next to hers. "Yep and Trey is the guy who looks like he belongs at the head of the table in a boardroom and on the front cover of a high end magazine. Chase didn't show. He's our fourth partner. We all grew up together."
"That's cool that you all stayed close and that you get along in business. That's not always easy."
"Yeah, we all went through rough times growing up, so we've always had each other's backs."
"Do you know how amazing that is? Most people go through life feeling lucky if they have at least one friend they can count on. You guys have three." Raini turned Pepper toward a grassy hillside and Jumbly followed.
"I have to admit the green pastures, country landscape and blue skies all look pretty amazing from the top of a horse. Maybe I should have followed my mom's dream and become Cowboy Zane."
She glanced over at me. "I personally think a black Stetson would look dashing on you."
"Have to agree. What about you? Have you found that one true friend you can count on? Or maybe it's your sister."
A laugh spurted from her mouth. Pepper lifted his head and stuck his ears back as if he was listening for a command. "As you might have noticed, Mindy and I are far from best friends. We're just too different." She pushed her legs against her horse, and he picked up his pace up the hill. Jumbly followed suit but only after releasing a grumpy snort first.
"I had a lot of friends growing up but none that I can pinpoint as that special person I could count on. That was my mom. She had been the friend I'd always counted on."
"I'm sorry to hear that you lost her."
"Did you four always know that you'd eventually be running a company like Plaything?"
"Not exactly. When we were kids we were too obsessed with things like watching the girls in the pool during gym and deciding who we would dance with at school events to worry about the subtle nuances of sex."
She leaned her head over. "Um, I've seen a few of your monthly boxes. They are hardly subtle."
"Says the woman who is anything but subtle."
"Touché."
The conversation brought me back to my childhood. I rarely talked about the terrible turn my life took in my teens, but Raini and I had somehow connected, and it wasn't just the sexual attraction. I felt comfortable with her, almost as if we'd known each other for a long time instead of just one long eventful day.
I patted Jumbly's neck. "Believe it or not, I had my sights set on studying law. I earned the grades for it too."
"That's not surprising to hear. Why'd you change your mind?"
A small flock of birds fluttered up from the tall grass startling Raini's horse. Jumbly, who had decided to mirror everything Pepper did, took a sharp step sideways too. Raini glanced over to make sure I was still sitting upright.
"I didn't change my mind but something happened that sort of changed it for me."
She looked over at me, waiting and listening. It was one of the first civilized conversations we'd had that wasn't dripping with sexual innuendo or teasing. It was nice.
"After my dad died, my mom raised my sister and me alone for many years. Then she met this guy. I don't even like to say his name. He fucked up my whole life. They got married, and eventually his true monster personality emerged. One day I walked into the house and he had his hand around my mom's throat. He was a big guy, and I was a skinny, gangly teen. I grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the asshole in the back. He didn't die, and the police hauled him off for attempted murder. I was thrown into a foster home about fifty miles away. My grades went to shit after that, and all my chances for a much needed scholarship went with them."
"But you saved your mom's life."
I nodded and my throat tightened as it always did when I thought about how close I'd come to losing her that day.
"Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe law wasn't your path anyhow. Do you like your job now?"
"Shit, are you kidding? I wake up every morning and think, damn, how the hell did I get so lucky?"
"See, it all played out for the best. It's nice when you get to do the something that makes you happy. I just wish my dad would see the world that way."
"What do you mean?"
"He doesn't see any value in me studying art."
I looked over at her, a luxury I had because my horse was on autopilot and I didn't need to watch the road. "I think his mind might have changed last night."
"What do you mean?" Raini turned the horse down a dirt path where a small cottage, built to look like it was sitting in the English countryside, sat in the middle of nowhere.
"Carter Bonneville is a gruff old guy who wears no emotions on his sleeve, at least none visible to the naked eye. But that picture you painted of your mom choked him up. I watched him open dozens of gifts, but the only gift that had any impact on him was that painting."
I caught a blush on Raini's cheeks. A smile titled her lips. "I think it was the subject matter more than the actual art that had him choked up."
"Bullshit. You're not giving yourself credit." I squinted ahead into the sun. "Am I imaging that English cottage at the end of this path?"
"No you are not. My dad had it built for my mom. She used to like to ride out here and paint. That's where I got it from. There's no electricity or plumbing. It's basically just a cute box, a quiet place to sit away from the house."
Raini faced me and seemed to be assessing the way I was sitting in the saddle and whether or not my feet were secure in the stirrups. "Are you ready to go faster? If I kick Pepper into a lope, Jumbly will follow. But I won't do it if you're not comfortable."
I raised a brow at her. "Are you seriously asking me if I'm afraid to ride this horse?"
"That's what I thought." Her leg pushed against Pepper's side and with a snort he took off. Jumbly followed right behind.
Chapter Fifteen
Raini
Admittedly, when I'd started out of the house this morning, I had only one goal in mind. A short ride around the ranch. At that point I had figured it was probably best just to leave the fun with Zane where it had ended, which was no real ending at all. After all, we'd both be leaving today, going our separate ways. But then I saw him sleeping on the lounge and the same physical urges returned. I wanted him. It might just have been the long build up and the abrupt letdown from the night before, but I still wanted him. It was like working on a piece of art and never getting to put the final strokes on the canvas.
I took care of the horses while Zane explored the area on foot. Most of the ranch was really just rugged untouched landscape with an abundance of trees, shrubs and even the occasional pond. Mom had chosen this location because it had a great view from every angle. There was enough grass surrounding the cottage to keep two horses happy for hours. There was a hitching post for tying horses but Pepper and Jumbly weren't the type to go anywhere when not prodded to do so. I took off their bridles so they could graze.
Zane had wandered out of sight. I decided to leav
e him a few bread crumbs so he could find me. I pulled off my boots and stuck them on the porch steps. Then I dropped my jeans on the landing. I piled my shirt a few steps away and hung my bra over the doorknob. I went inside.
The cottage was really just one room. It had been solidly built to keep out critters, rain and dust, but it was stuffy from months of being locked up. I pushed open several of the windows. The place was hardly ever used or even visited anymore, but it was always my favorite riding destination whenever I was on the ranch. There was a single bed on one side of the room and several chairs on the opposite side.
My plan was to be standing naked in the room when Zane walked in, but the morning air was still too cold. I picked the quilt up off the bed, draped it around my shoulders and stood quietly, feeling a little silly for a moment, thinking maybe the clothes strewn on the porch would scare him off. But then his solid footsteps thudded on the steps and the door flew open.
Zane stood in the open doorway with my bra dangling from his finger. His long hair resembled fire as it fluttered in the breeze coming across the porch. In fact the expression on his face conjured the image of the devil himself. The predatory look in his eyes made me take a shuddering breath.
I dropped the blanket off my shoulders. Zane stomped toward me. His improper kisses were getting better and better. Seconds after his mouth covered mine, I felt my body sag against him in surrender. After all the sparring and me thinking I could outmaneuver him, with one long, deep kiss he proved his theory that I was punching above my weight.
Through the haze, I felt my panties flutter down my legs.
"Now this was the fucking ride I wanted," he growled against my mouth. His big hands circled my ass and I threw my arms around his neck as he lifted me off the ground. I wrapped my legs around him and instinctively began rubbing my throbbing wet pussy against him.
I gasped as he dropped me unceremoniously on the bed. I'd teased the man to distraction and now he was taking his revenge. I was ready for it.
I reached for the button on his pants, but he took hold of my wrists. He held them in one hand while he fished the infamous necktie from his pocket. A second tie followed. I couldn't stop the moan from rolling off my lips. I waited for him to tie my hands but instead he reached down and grabbed my ankles, yanking my ass closer to the edge of the bed. I leaned back on my elbows and watched him through bent knees as he bound one silk tie around my ankle. He lifted my foot and moved it as far to the corner of the bed as was physically possible. He placed my foot down on the mattress and secured the other end of the tie to the bed frame. He repeated the same with my other ankle, spreading me so wide I could feel the cool air on my completely exposed pussy. My clit was throbbing, waiting to be relieved of tension.
Zane stood over the bed, looking at my face before dragging his heated gaze down between my legs. "Hell, you've turned me into a fucking madman, baby."
He pulled off his shirt. I badly wanted to touch his chest, but it seemed he wanted complete control, and I was going to let him have it. I wanted nothing more than to give in to everything he desired.
I remained on my elbows and watched as he kicked off his shoes and unzipped his fly. He stopped and pulled several condoms out of his back pocket. He tossed them onto the bed next to me. Then he pushed down his pants. His cock was stiff and silky with precum. I bit my lip with excited anticipation at the thought of him driving into me with that cock.
"Please, Zane, put me out of my misery. You win. I surrender. I need that inside of me this fucking minute."
A faint grin crossed his face. "All in good time, my sweet tease." He dropped down to his knees at the end of the bed and began with a trail of kisses on my thighs. My legs were splayed wide apart, and he'd done an impressive job securing them. There wasn't even an inch of give. I badly wanted to be fucked, but I was never one to turn down oral sex. And something told me Zane would be highly skilled at it.
I rested back against the bed and relaxed as he kissed my thighs. His hands slipped under my ass. I sucked in a sharp breath as he impaled the tight opening with his finger. He lifted me higher to his mouth. He lathed his tongue back and forth over my exposed clit and then his lips massaged it as his tongue flicked inside of me.
I had been right. Zane knew his way around a pussy. And while he stroked and licked me to a frenzy, his finger penetrated my ass as his strong hands held me firmly against his mouth. I writhed against him, wanting to feel his unshaven face, gritty and rough, against my skin as he devoured me.
"Yes, Zane," I sighed as I felt myself hurtling toward an orgasm. But before I exploded in ecstasy, he pulled his mouth from me, returning to the pleasant but virtually meaningless kisses on my inner thigh.
I pushed back up to my elbows. "No, you cruel bastard, what are you doing?" I asked through a weak laugh.
His brown eyes peered up at me over my body. The mischievous glint in his eyes could not be missed.
"You don't snap the cookie jar shut when I'm about to wrap my fingers around a fresh cookie," I complained.
He laughed at my analogy as he lowered his mouth to my pussy again. The earlier sensations were as strong as ever, and in seconds he had cream pooling in my pussy. My clit was just one good caress from taking me over the edge. But the caress didn't come. Once again my body was slammed against a wall instead of taken into the abyss. His mouth pressed against my thigh as he let some of the heat between my legs cool.
"You fucker and you call me the tease? I'm ready. I'm there." My earlier weak laugh had morphed into a frustrated sob.
"Really? I'm not quite there yet. I wanted to taste the cookies myself for a little longer." He winked up at me before dropping his mouth to my pussy again. From behind, his hands spread my butt wide, his long finger still penetrating the tight hole. The movement spread my pussy wider and my clit felt tighter with pleasure as he licked it.
It was the third time he had taken me to the outer edge of an orgasm. I wasn't taking any chances. I reached forward and tangled my fingers through his long hair to hold his mouth captive against me, imploring him to finish what he'd started . . . three fucking times.
I knew, of course, that he could easily pull away, but it seemed he'd finally decided to end my agony. His tongue and lips worked in harmony as they brought me back to orgasm.
I gripped his hair and held him against me as I cried out in pleasure. Then, before the waves had resided and with my body still shuddering from it all, Zane lifted his mouth away. He had the condom on before I could take a breath. With my legs still splayed wide and my ass still at the edge of bed, he stood up. His eyes were glazed with fire as he leaned down over me and thrust his cock inside of me. My pussy clenched around him again as if the orgasm had started anew. Long rolling pulses sputtered through my body as he fucked me fast and hard.
My fingers clutched at his arms. I knew my nails dug into his flesh, but I couldn't stop myself.
"I can't get deep enough," he grunted. He was still jammed hard inside of me as he reached back and untied my ankles. I moved to wrap my legs around him, but he shook his head. He lifted my legs up so that my knees were hooked over his shoulders. Then he ground into me.
He stared down at me and pulsed hard and fast, barely giving me time to breathe. With one long, deep stroke, his eyes closed and he groaned as he came.
I lifted up my hand and waved it as if I was holding a flag.
He sat still tucked deep inside of me, my legs draped over his shoulders. "Is that the white flag of surrender?" he asked.
I shook my head. "Nope. It’s my victory flag because I think I just won. That was a perfectly perfect fuck."
He laughed. "Perfectly perfect. Not sure if I can ever top it then."
I reached up and ran my fingers along his chin. "You can't and I'm going to be comparing every other subsequent fuck to this one. So I guess you just set a high bar for my sex life."
"You think? I'm thinking I can lift it even higher. But you've got to give me a little time to recharge."
He kissed the inside of my knee and then gazed down at me. We'd been joking with each other, but in that moment, something changed in his expression. There was a seriousness, a quality that struck me at my core. Or maybe it was my imagination.
Chapter Sixteen
Zane
There was nothing quieter than a cottage out in the middle of nowhere. Raini and I had collapsed together on the bed, both still tired from the long night and early morning ride. I woke with her snuggled against me. I breathed in the scent of her hair as I held her in my arms. She sighed contentedly in her sleep and pressed closer to me. It felt nice as hell to be holding her. After the wild, almost out of control flirting, Raini was now sleeping peacefully against me. I couldn't deny how right it felt to have her there. I knew damn well that having someone like Raini would be the last thing I needed, but I couldn't help but think that it would be a lot of fun too. There was something to say about spontaneity and impulsiveness. It meant life would never be dull, and I was sure that was true tenfold with Raini. There wouldn't be one boring moment. But just as there was something nice about spontaneity, there was also a lot to be said about predictability. And something told me Raini's predictable moments were few and far between. But right now, with her sleeping sweetly in my arms, I could almost convince myself that I could put up with her impetuous nature. Especially if it meant having her naked in my arms whenever the urge overtook me, which I was pretty certain would be all the damn time.
Her breath tickled my skin as she yawned herself awake. "Do you think my dad will notice if we're not at the brunch? I'd rather just stay here and have sex all day."
I was hungry but my appetite was pointing in a different direction than Eggs Benedict and bacon quiche. "Maybe we could be fashionably late." I smoothed my hand down her back and over her ass.