by Gemma Weir
“Okay hun, speak to you tomorrow, love you,” Cora calls.
“Love you too,” I call back, blowing her a kiss as I step out onto the sidewalk and cross to the truck, pulling open the door and sliding inside. Opening my mouth, I start to greet my dad, only to find my brother sitting behind the steering wheel.
“Oh, Caleb. Err, I was expecting Dad,” I say quietly.
“He had to take a call, so he asked me to come instead,” Caleb tells me, not even bothering to glance in my direction as he pulls away from the curb, turning to head back up the mountain.
The air inside the cab becomes thick as the silence stretches between us. Caleb and I have never been close, but it’s only been the last couple of years that our relationship has become so strained we can’t even make small talk with each other.
“So, you and Beau Barnett?” Caleb finally says, breaking the awkward quiet.
“I guess. It’s not serious,” I reply quietly.
“He’s too old for you.”
Glancing towards him I expect to see some kind of expression on his face, but all I find is blank indifference. Swallowing down the words to tell him I’m an adult, I stay quiet, waiting to see if my brother has anything else to say to me.
“He’s just toying with you. He fucks women, not immature twenty-one-year-olds. I don’t know what he’s playing at, but I’ll speak to him,” Caleb says bitterly.
“Caleb, who I have sex with is absolutely none of your business,” I seethe. “I might only be twenty-one, but I stopped being immature the moment Mama got sick. I grew up really quick when that happened. I don’t know if you noticed, but I quit school and got my G.E.D so I could stay home and look after her. I’m not a silly little girl who has zero responsibilities and childish notions about life. I have a full-time job; I work on the ranch on my days off. I look after the house and Daddy, plus do all the little things Mama did that we all just took for granted, like baking for the ranch hands every day and making sure the store rooms are all stocked all the time. I pay my own way; I don’t take handouts or rely on Daddy to look after me. I don’t know what the hell you think gives you the right to treat me like I’m some indulged little princess when I’m anything but. I have never expected you to take care of me, nor have I ever asked you to. You are my brother, not my keeper, my father, or my parole officer, and you won’t speak to Beau because you don’t get to have an opinion on my life.”
“You’re my little sister,” he starts.
“Am I? Because you don’t treat me like I am. You don’t speak to me; you talk down to me. You refuse to acknowledge that I’m an adult, and you make it so obvious that I’m unwelcome in your life that I have to visit with my sister-in-law and nephews while you’re at work, because if I’m there when you get in, you make it clear that you don’t want me in your home.”
“That’s—” he starts again but I interrupt him.
“Look I don’t want to argue with you, it’s counterproductive. I know where I stand and that’s okay, but you don’t get to comment on my life, my choices, or my relationships, sexual or otherwise.” Caleb pulls the truck to a stop behind two other ranch vehicles and I unclip my seatbelt and open the door, eager to get away from this awful encounter with my brother.
“Bonnie.”
“Look, Caleb, don’t worry about it. Like I said, I know where I stand and now you know where you stand too. Thanks for the ride.” Closing the door behind me, I make a beeline for the house, not even glancing back in my brother’s direction.
Throwing open the back door, I stomp into the kitchen and grab a bottle of beer from the refrigerator. It’s probably too early to be drinking, but spending time with my brother seems like a justifiable reason for an afternoon beer.
Beer in hand I stomp through the house and up to my bedroom, flopping down onto my bed like a hormone ridden teenager. I’m still wearing Beau’s hoodie and it’s warm and so comfortable, that when a wave of exhaustion crashes over me I roll to my side, pull the hood up over my head and close my eyes.
My bedroom door crashes open, jolting me from sleep and making me shriek in fear as a furious looking Beau explodes into the room, his eyes blazing with anger, his jaw tight. “Where the fuck have you been?” he shouts.
“What?” I ask sleepily, pushing the hood off my head and blinking at him.
“I’ve been texting you and calling you all fucking afternoon, then I panicked and drove down to the shop only to find Owen there and you gone. How the hell did you get home? Please tell me you didn’t fucking walk,” he bellows.
“Of course I didn’t walk, it’s miles. I finished on time, realized I didn’t have a car, and called my dad for a ride. What the hell is wrong with you?” I snap.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I was asleep,” I say sardonically.
“No, why didn’t you call me for a ride,” he snarls.
“Why would I?” I ask confused.
“Because I’m your man. I drove you to work, I come get you from work. I can look after my fucking woman,” he snarls angrily.
Blinking slowly, I look up at him. “You’re mad because I didn’t call you for a ride?”
“No. I’m mad because I didn’t know where you were, I’m mad because you haven’t replied to my texts or answered my calls all afternoon, and I’m crazy mad that you called your daddy instead of me.”
“You’re definitely crazy,” I say beneath my breath.
“Bonnie,” he hisses, saying my name like a warning.
“Beau,” I smile.
His sigh is so loud, that I can’t help but giggle.
“It’s only been a couple of days; you don’t think you’re taking this all a bit far?” I ask.
“No, I fucking don’t. I think you’re not taking it far enough,” he says as he climbs onto my bed and crawls over me, pushing me to my back and parting my legs with his. “Now kiss me,” he orders.
Lifting my head, I press my lips to his, letting him take over the kiss like I knew he would the moment we’re touching. His tongue parts my lips and invades my mouth, learning each detail as if he’ll never get the chance to do it again.
Everything Beau does is intense, or at least everything he does with me and to me is. He’s all or nothing, literally, and even though I love the way he makes me feel when he touches me, being with him is exhausting.
“You should have called me,” he says when he finally pulls away.
“You were at work somewhere on the mountain, it would have taken you longer to get to me and you would have had to stop working. My dad was closer and he sent my brother, it’s not a big deal.”
“I didn’t know where you were.”
“You don’t need to know where I am. I’m an adult, I can go where I please and do as I please, I don’t need to ask permission from anyone,” I say, pursing my lips as I turn my head away from him and glance out my bedroom window.
“Of course you don’t need permission, that isn’t…” he pauses, pushing my face back to look at him. “That’s not what I’m saying, I was just worried, you didn’t have your car and—”
“You’re unreasonable, jealous, and possessive,” I say, listing off the things he keeps warning me about.
“Exactly,” he smiles coyly.
“What time is it?”
“Just after five.”
“Wow I’ve slept all afternoon.”
“Why? Are you sick?” he asks quickly.
“No, I’m just tired and I got into it with my brother on the ride home. Dealing with him is more tiring than dealing with you,” I laugh.
“What’d he say to you?” Beau asks angrily.
“My brother and I don’t really get on too well. He thinks I’m still a child and tries to treat me like one. The other day he didn’t think I should drink beer, today he doesn’t think I should be having sex with you, he’s always got lots of opinions on my life,” I say tiredly.
“You discussed our sex life with your brother?” Be
au asks slowly.
“No. I just told him it was absolutely none of his business who I had a relationship, sexual or not, with.”
“I’ll have a word with him, I don’t want him upsetting you,” Beau mutters.
“No you won’t.”
“He needs to know he has to answer to me if he does something to upset you,” Beau snaps.
“Jesus Christ, how did I end up surrounded by idiot men,” I grumble. “You won’t speak to my brother, because it’s none of your business, just like you’re none of his business.”
“Of course he’s my business,” he snarls.
“Why? How is he?”
“Because you’re mine, so anything that involves you is my business.”
Rolling my eyes, I glare at him. “That’s ridiculous, it’s only been a couple of days.”
“Baby girl, you’re starting to piss me off. I don’t give a fuck if it’s been a day, a year or a fucking lifetime. You’re my business, everything you do, say, feel, that’s my fucking business, and by saying that it’s not; you’re fucking cheapening what’s happening between us.
My anger dissolves in an instant and guilt replaces it. He’s so earnest, so intense and passionate, and I’m being dismissive. Even if I have my doubts that this will last, it’s unfair of me to treat him like he’s not important. “I’m sorry. That was thoughtless, I’m just not used to having someone other than my dad to share my life with.”
“Well now you have me and I want to be the person you go to, the one you call when you need something. I won’t sit and watch from the outskirts of your life; I need to be your world.”
16
Beau
Her eyes widen and she looks at me with so much confusion on her face. “You want to be my world?” she asks quietly.
“Your entire world,” I nod, pressing my lips to her jaw.
I wait for her reply, but when one doesn’t come, I kiss her quickly and jump up from her bed. “Are you showering here or at home?” I ask.
“Your place. I need to get changed though; I smell like coffee.”
“You get changed and I’ll pack you some more stuff. Are you working tomorrow?” I ask, walking over to her closet and looking through the clothes.
“I’m at work tomorrow, then I’m off Tuesday and Wednesday unless Owen calls me in to cover for him,” she says, her feet on the floor as she sits on the edge of her bed and pulls my hoodie over her head.
“So, I get you all day Tuesday and Wednesday?” I ask.
“I usually help out on the ranch on my days off. Don’t you have to work?” she asks, not looking at me as she strips out of her shirt, leaving her in just in her tempting bra and tight jeans.
“Come on, baby girl, I want to spend some time with you, I’m the boss, I can take a couple of days off to spend with my girlfriend. Stay with me Tuesday and Wednesday, we can sleep late and have unadulterated alone time with no interruptions and no five am wakeup calls,” I coax.
“I can’t, I still have to bake for the ranch hands and make dinner for my dad, I’m supposed to ride the fences with Barber—”
“Who the fuck is Barber?” I growl, the shirt in my hands falling to my side as I spin around and glare at her.
“He’s the ranch second, I’ve known him my entire life,” she says, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“How old is he?”
“I don’t know, a few years older than Caleb,” she shrugs, walking past me and taking a soft black, long-sleeve thermal from her closet and covering her fantastic tits.
“You and he?” I ask, the words tasting bitter on my tongue.
“Oh my god, no,” she shrieks, clearly appalled at the thought. “His wife used to babysit me.”
“You ever had a thing with any of the guys that work on the ranch?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“What? No, of course not. My daddy would fire them on the spot, he tells everyone who comes for a job that I’m off limits, plus most of them are twice my age.”
I relax a little, then remember that I’m twice her age. She lives on a property with thirty fucking horny men and my baby girl is hot as fuck. They might have stayed away while she screamed ‘the boss’s virgin daughter’, but the moment they realize she’s not so untouched anymore I can guarantee they’ll be crawling all over her like flies. The thought makes me want to pack all of her shit and drag her down to city hall to get a ring on her finger, to make sure the entire world knows she’s mine.
She watches while I take hanger after hanger out of her closet, folding the clothes into a pile on the edge of her bed.
“What are you doing?” she asks, walking to my side and peering at the ever-growing mound of clothes I’m creating.
“Packing,” I say, not looking at her.
“I told you I’m not moving in with you. I only need one set of work clothes and a couple of sets of comfies. I’ll just come and grab anything else I need before I go out on Friday night.”
“We’re going out Friday night?” I ask.
“No. I’m going out Friday night,” she says, taking the clothes I’m folding and carrying them back over to her closet.
“Where the fuck are you going on Friday?”
“Out with Cora, dinner, then drinks and dancing.”
“Hell fucking no,” I hiss, turning my back on the clothes as I spin around to face her.
“I wasn’t asking permission,” she shrugs.
“Good, because I’m not giving it. Who the hell is Cora?”
“Cora Cunningham, I think her brother was in Penn’s year at high school, her mama owns one of the boutiques in town,” she says distractedly, pulling a tiny red dress from her closet and holding up against herself.
“You’re not going out, I thought we could go on a date this weekend, dinner, then a movie, then you can tell me about one of your dirty dreams and we can see about making it come true,” I coax, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back to my chest. “We could even start with that one that ends up with you bent over my bed, helpless while I fuck you from behind.”
A shudder runs through her and I chuckle lowly against her neck.
“You like that idea, don’t you, baby girl? I like it too,” I rasp, bending forward and making her body fold at the waist as I slide a hand between her thighs, cupping her sex.
“Beau,” she gasps.
“Your perfect ass, naked and ready to be spanked. I bet I could make you come so hard with my dick buried deep inside you from behind and my hand on your ass, making it red.”
“I already told her I was going,” she says, her voice thick with want.
“Then cancel, tell her you’d rather be riding my dick. I bet she’ll understand.”
“No, I can’t, I made plans, you don’t get to derail them by tempting me with sex,” she says, her voice a little stronger as she pushes against my hold on her.
My fingers work at the button of her jeans, popping it open to allow my fingers to slide inside. Pushing beneath her panties, I slide my fingers between her wet folds, barely able to move inside her tight jeans.
“Beau,” she gasps, in what I think is supposed to be a warning tone.
“Yeah, baby girl,” I coo against her ear, moving my fingers in further until I can just get a single fingertip inside her pussy.
“You can’t manipulate me with orgasms to get your own way.”
“Can’t I?” I ask, pushing my finger in deeper.
A barely audible gasp falls from her lips and I smile, working a second finger into her and curling, trying to find her g-spot.
“Oh god,” she whimpers.
“Say you’ll stay home and I’ll peel your jeans down and make you come with my tongue,” I challenge.
“No,” she moans.
“I want you with me, no space, no distance,” I remind her.
“I’m going out,” she stubbornly argues.
“Fine,” I say through gritted teeth, pulling my hand free of her jeans, leaving her wet and ne
edy.
“Why are you stopping?” she cries.
“Because I need you naked to properly convince you,” I tell her, returning to her closet and pulling out more things.
“Are you serious?” she asks, her eyes narrowed. “You started this, come finish it.”
“No. How would you feel about me going on a boys’ night out?”
“If you’d already made plans then I’d be fine with it,” she says, taking the hangers from my hands and putting them back onto the rail.
“You would?” I question, shocked.
“Of course I would. I’m not your keeper, you can do what you like, I wouldn’t expect you to change your life for me.”
Baffled, I stare at her. She really isn’t into me the way I am her, because the thought of her out drinking in a bar full of guys drives me fucking crazy.
“Fine, whatever,” I mumble, grabbing an overnight case and a backpack from the back of her closet, and shoving the clothes I’ve already folded into them. I grab another couple of handfuls of underwear and shove them in too, zipping the bags up and almost dragging her from her room.
“Stop, wait,” she says, yanking her hand from mine. “I need to get my makeup and some stuff from my bathroom.”
Snarling beneath my breath, I watch as she disappears through a door, reappearing with a small makeup bag, a couple of bottles of product, and a hair dryer.
Her eyes lift to mine and she purses her lips. “Look you’re obviously pissed at me, so maybe I should just stay here tonight. I don’t want to argue with you and I’m not going to change my mind. I work at the ranch on my days off and I don’t bail on plans with my friends, and you won’t convince me otherwise.”
“That’s not happening. We’re going home, I’m not fucking happy about you going out, I want to spend time with you, but if I’m losing you to the ranch Tuesday and Wednesday and you’re going out on Friday, then I’m having you every night, including this one. I don’t want to argue either, so you can either walk with me, or I’ll carry your ass out of here, your choice.”