by Carly Bloom
“That’s enough,” Beau said. “Climb on. Before I embarrass myself. No more dirty talk.”
“That wasn’t dirty talk.”
“Someday, I’d really like to hear your rendition of dirty talk. It’s probably in Latin. But right now . . .”
Alice peeled off the negligee and climbed on top of him, completely nude. Her breasts were beautiful. He reached out and cupped them in his hands, feeling the hard little nipples against his palms.
“But right now, what?” Alice asked, taking hold of his cock and rising on her knees.
Beau inhaled sharply, anticipating the ecstasy to come. His eyes met hers. “Fuck me.”
There. That’s how you dirty talk.
Alice raised both eyebrows. She didn’t like being told what to do, and for a terrifying moment, Beau thought she might refuse, just on principle. But then she smiled and slowly lowered herself onto him.
Oh God. He closed his eyes and sighed as she slowly—very slowly—slid down his shaft.
“Oh,” she said. “Oh, Beau.”
The way she said his name, with such sweet surprise and rapture, made his heart thump and pound. Something was caught in his throat, and it terrified him, because it felt like a sob. And he was damn sure not going to start crying. There were some things a guy couldn’t recover from, and crying during sex was one of them.
Alice slid down a little farther, and Beau watched her face break out in total bliss. It was like watching the sun come out.
But then she winced.
“Are you okay?” he asked quickly.
“Yes, but I think you might be a bit wider than my hot-pink friend.”
She leaned forward and rested her hands on his chest and tentatively moved her hips. Beau groaned. He wanted to let Allie take her time and figure out what felt good and what didn’t, and he absolutely didn’t want her to experience any pain or discomfort. But good Lord, he was going to suffer.
She rose up and slowly slid back down. Then she did it again.
Yep. He was really going to suffer.
“You’re also warmer than my dildo.”
“That’s because, even on my worst day, I’m not an inanimate object.”
Alice moaned. “And you’re harder.”
Damn straight.
“And as smooth as satin,” she whispered, eyelids fluttering. Her lips parted as she slid all the way down, taking every inch of him in. “Beau, I’m so . . .”
“What, baby?”
“I’m so full. You’ve filled me completely.”
How stupid he’d been to worry about taking anything from this woman—not her virginity, not her spirit, not any living part of her. As she moved on top of him, seeking her pleasure like a fucking goddess, all he wanted to do was give.
Alice moved her hips, searching for that sweet spot that Beau had managed to hit with his fingers. She rose and fell, and if she started to lose her rhythm, Beau grabbed her hips and helped her find it again.
She was in good hands. Good, strong, kind, and gentle hands.
“Is it okay, Allie?” His voice sounded strained, and his face was flushed.
Alice stilled. “Am I hurting you?”
He laughed. “No, darlin’. I’ve literally never felt better in my life. But are you having a good time?”
“Mm . . . yes,” she said, rotating her hips. “A very good time.”
“Do that again. With your hips.”
“You like it?”
Beau moaned. “Damn, woman. You’re driving me wild.”
Driving Beau wild was an unexpected pleasure. It made her feel powerful and sexy. She loved watching the flush travel up his chest and neck—the way his cheeks turned splotchy and pink. She liked the sound of his breath hitching when she moved a certain way.
She rotated her hips. She moved back and forth, grinding herself against him and stimulating her clitoris. And then she rose up and came back down. Not quite all the way down. But pretty dang close. And yes, it hit the mass of nerve endings on the interior wall of her vagina, just where the elusive G-spot was supposed to be located.
She sat up straight—ooh, yes, right there—and took him all the way in.
Beau responded by bucking his hips. “Come on, Allie. Ride me.”
She started moving again, up and down, and soon, she was desperate for release. She wanted it harder. And faster.
Beau, sensing her energy shift, lifted her up and brought her down like she didn’t weigh a thing. And on every thrust—because he was thrusting now—she climbed higher and higher up the pleasure wave.
The headboard banged. Beau’s pillow slid onto the nightstand and knocked the lamp over. Rose petals flew everywhere. And they didn’t stop.
The room could catch fire, and they wouldn’t stop.
Alice rode the wave higher and higher . . . She teetered at the edge of the abyss, where pleasure and pain blended together, frantic to get over the edge. Then Beau brushed her clitoris with his thumb.
She cried out . . . She was falling . . .
No, she was flying.
The moment stretched into an eternity as she contracted again and again. Beau cried out, too, and she collapsed on his chest as he bucked beneath her. Only the sound of Beau’s frantically beating heart kept her from floating away.
He wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly. “Oh, Allie,” he sighed.
Oxytocin spread throughout her body—the love hormone—making her sleepy and content. Beau stroked her back, humming gently, and she felt almost high.
Words formed in her head and eventually worked their way to her tongue. “That was so much better than I ever dreamed it would be. Thank you, Beau.”
He laughed softly. “Don’t thank me, Allie. I just laid here. You did all the work, and man, you’re a real hard little worker. I should have expected it.”
She raised her head. “I’m serious. Everyone always talks about how disappointing, or even miserable, their first sexual experience is. And mine was, well, let’s just say I have a super huge vocabulary, and I’m coming up short.”
“It was good?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling. “Let’s go with that.”
“It was good for me, too, Allie. I was nervous about being your first, but it was amazing.”
“Why were you nervous?”
“Because I knew you’d always remember it. And I’d never want to be a bad memory for you.”
She didn’t want him to be a memory. “I think we might have broken the lamp,” she said.
“And I imagine we pissed off the neighbors on the other side of this headboard,” Beau added.
Alice sat up. “Oh no! Carmen is in that room. Do you really think she heard us?”
Beau laughed. “I think everyone on this ranch heard us.”
“This is embarrassing.”
“And possibly illegal. Do you know what the noise ordinances are in Travis County?”
Her embarrassment only increased. Beau was teasing, but now she realized how obnoxious she must have seemed, marching upstairs at the Village Chateau to tell two people who were lost in their own universe, making wild crazy love, to quiet down.
“I’m ashamed that I did that now,” Alice said. “No wonder you’ve always found me obnoxious. I guess I kind of am.”
Beau rose up to lean on an elbow. He touched her chin. “I’ve never found you obnoxious, Allie. A bit irritating now and again, maybe.” He grinned and the dimples in both cheeks made an adorable appearance. “But that was only because I wanted to bang you so bad.”
She slapped playfully at his arm, “I doubt that’s true.”
“Oh, it’s true, all right. Also, that couple was seriously annoying. I’m suspicious she was faking it.”
“I don’t know, Beau. I just got pretty swept away. I mean, I broke a lamp. And I think I might have vocalized rather loudly.”
“We both did. And Carmen is going to give us shit about it in the morning. Be prepared.”
Beau removed t
he condom. His penis was no less beautiful resting lazily against his leg than when it was hard and pulsing. And she wanted to play with it.
“I see what you’re eyeing, Allie. And it’s going to take me an hour or so before I’ll be ready for round two.”
“Oh, that’s not what I was thinking.”
Beau raised a single eyebrow.
“Okay, so maybe I was,” Alice said. “I’m going to go use the restroom, because some women get urinary tract infections after intercourse, and when I come back, we’ll take a little nap.”
“How about a medium-sized nap? I’ve rounded up cattle, loaded them onto a trailer, unloaded them at an auction, braved a strip mall, fixed a fence, danced at a bachelorette party, performed a private lap dance, and had sex with my ex-babysitter”—he looked at his watch—“all in the past eighteen hours.”
Yikes! Sometimes she forgot just how hard Beau worked, and that what he did all day often involved physical labor.
She kissed him on the nose. “You can sleep as long as you want, Beau Montgomery. You’ve earned it.”
He winked at her. “Give me two hours to rest my eyes, darlin’. And I want you in my arms while I’m doing it.”
Chapter
Thirty-Four
A gap in the drapes allowed a sliver of light to enter the room, and in a flash, Beau threw off the covers. What time was it? If a cowboy opened his eyes to daylight, he was already late. He looked around for his boots, ready to jump into them like a firefighter rushing to a three-alarm fire.
But wait. He rubbed his eyes. This wasn’t his room. Hell, this wasn’t even Rancho Cañada Verde. He flopped back onto the mattress with a huge old grin as last night washed over him. He sighed contentedly. He had nothing to do today but help get the place ready for Brittany’s wedding tonight.
The wedding. After last night, he was more confident than ever that what he and Alice had together was real. He was going to suggest ripping the contract to shreds.
Allie’s side of the bed (if you could call it that—she’d pretty much slept on top of him) was empty. But there was a note on the pillow.
Beau squinted in the dim light. The first thing he saw was hearts. He grinned stupidly. Because she’d drawn hearts. Focusing more intently, he noted the first letter of each word as Allie had taught him. And then the rest settled into place. He heard her voice in his head as he read.
Bridesmaid breakfast. Busy all day. See you at the wedding!
PS Thanks for the love lessons. You’re a good teacher, Beau Montgomery.
Love lessons. He wasn’t exactly sure that he’d been the teacher.
He looked on the nightstand for his phone, and found it on the floor next to the broken lamp. Damn, it was a quarter after nine! He hadn’t slept this late since . . . Well, he’d never slept this late. He grinned lazily. Allie Cat had worn him out.
Last night, she’d let him sleep for two hours before waking him up in a most enjoyable way, and then they’d gone at it again. You couldn’t introduce Alice to a new subject and not expect her to do extensive research.
Beau, how long does it take for your penis to become flaccid after you ejaculate?
What happens if I keep touching it?
Why are you making that face? Is that a happy face or a pained face?
They’d tried every position he could think of, and a few he hadn’t.
Beau, can we do it standing up?
The answer to that had been yes.
There were so many things left on Allie’s bucket list. He wanted to be there for all of it, even the fancy European museums. He’d never been all that interested in traveling before, but doing it with Allie would be an adventure.
He stretched, and his heart filled up with hope just as surely as his lungs filled up with air. There was one thing he’d wanted for seemingly his entire life, and he’d just had her. Multiple times. Multiple ways. And goddammit. He planned to keep her.
Someone pounded on the door. It was probably Bryce, so he grabbed a pillow to cover himself, climbed out of bed, and answered it.
Bryce stood there with his left eyebrow raised. Do you know what time it is?
Beau stepped back and let him in.
“Jesus Christ. What happened in here?” Bryce asked, yanking the curtains open. The comforter was on the floor. The sheets were bunched up at the foot of the bed. Rose petals were strewn everywhere.
Beau winced as the light hit his eyes.
“Never mind. Don’t answer that,” Bryce said. “But you’re going to pay for that lamp.”
Beau picked the lamp up and set it on the nightstand. “I don’t think it’s badly broken.”
It didn’t matter if it was. He’d happily pay for it. Right now, he’d happily do just about anything.
“I’m going to meet up with Ford at the lodge and have a cup of coffee. Why don’t you come join us? Then we’ll get our day started.”
“Sounds good,” Beau said. Because everything sounded good right now. There was literally nothing on this earth that could bring him down.
“So, uh . . .” Bryce smiled. “I’d say things went pretty good between you and Alice last night.”
Beau dropped the pillow. He was as naked a jaybird, but he had zero qualms. “Pretty good,” he said with a wink.
Bryce shook his head. “I could have done without seeing the morning wood, brother.”
Beau laughed. “You see it every day when you get out of bed. I’m hitting the shower, but I’ll be quick. I’ll meet you and Ford in a few minutes.”
He stuck to his word, and it was only about fifteen minutes later that he walked into the grand lodge. Ford and Bryce sat by a huge fireplace—it would probably be really nice in winter—holding coffee cups and talking.
Beau helped himself to a muffin wrapped in cellophane and sat in a leather chair next to Bryce. “Good morning.”
“Mornin’,” Ford said.
There was tension across Bryce’s brow. He looked at Beau. Brace for it.
Ford leaned back in his chair. “Worth called. The pump stopped working where you hooked up those new solar panels. He’s called a technician and he moved the cattle down to the river.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. “Who’s watching the cattle? They can get across the Rio Verde right now.”
“He’s got a couple of guys on it.”
Maybe Worth should be the fucking foreman. “So, the pump stopped working? Like, entirely? It was working when I left.”
“Something must have happened. Don’t fret over it. We should have paid someone to come out and hook it all up in the first place. I just wanted to keep you apprised because you’re the foreman.”
What kind of a foreman let his cows get thirsty during a drought? Twice? Fire-hot shame and embarrassment took over Beau’s body, making him break out in a light sweat. “Yeah. Well, I’m real sorry about it.”
Ford shrugged. “You tried to save us a buck or two. But next time, if you aren’t sure what you’re doing, just let me know. If Worth hadn’t caught it—”
“The cattle could have died.”
“This drought is a bitch for sure,” Ford said. “Right now, everything is about the water. And that reminds me. Little Rosa and I are going to play in the pool while you two suckers work your asses off today. I’m on vacation.”
“It hardly feels like working,” Bryce said. “After years of wrangling cows, wrangling chairs and tables is easy.”
“I suspect Anna will be a tough taskmaster,” Ford said with a chuckle.
As if she’d heard her name, Anna walked in. She spotted them and came straight over. “I need you to haul a margarita machine to the bridesmaids’ suite.”
“Right now?” Bryce asked.
Anna shrugged. “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” Then she turned her attention to Ford. “Claire is looking for you. She wants you to take the baby so she can go to Austin.”
“What is she going to Austin for?”
“Shoes.”
Ford sighed. �
��I should have seen that coming. Tell her I’ll be there as soon as I finish this cup of coffee.”
Beau was hardly listening. He wanted to leave here and get back to Rancho Cañada Verde so he could check on things. Take a look at that solar panel hookup, make sure Worth wasn’t going to let the cattle cross the Rio Verde . . . Dammit. Why hadn’t he just admitted the instructions were over his head?
It hadn’t felt like it, though. He’d understood the diagram.
Anna marched off and Ford stood up, downing the rest of his coffee in one gulp. “I’d better get going so Claire can buy all the shoes in Austin and be back in time for the wedding,” he said. “And Beau, speaking of Austin, I heard Alice’s good news. Claire probably wasn’t supposed to tell me, but she did.”
Alice’s name got Beau’s attention. “Pardon?”
“She told me Alice got that big, fancy library job in Austin,” Ford said. “Claire’s happy for her, but she can’t believe Alice is leaving Big Verde.”
Bryce looked at Beau. What is Ford talking about?
Beau had literally no idea. Ford leaned over and slapped him on the shoulder. “Long-distance relationships can be hard, but Austin isn’t too far away. And when something’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, right?”
Alice had gotten a new job? In Austin? The ground seemed to tilt, and the sip of coffee he’d just swallowed rose into his throat, along with a healthy dose of bile. He worked hard to keep his face blank. He didn’t want to look like he felt, which was sick. And stupid. Stupider, in fact, than he’d ever felt. And that was saying something.
How could Alice not have mentioned a new job in another town? Like, how could that have happened? Jesus. Their fake relationship really was fake. He’d fooled himself (easy to fool a fool). But he should have known better. What would a brilliant woman like Alice ever want from a guy like him?
The same thing every other woman wanted—a good time.
He was nothing more than an amendment to a contract. An item to be marked off of a bucket list.
How would he get through the rest of the day? He was gutted. Shattered. Nothing mattered anymore.
Everything he and Alice had shared together was fake.