by Karis Walsh
The switch from tantalizing to determined caught Tegan by surprise, and she cried out, moving her hips in response to Alana’s relentless rhythm until she hovered on the edge of her climax, caught between needing to come and never wanting the moment to end.
Alana raised herself up on her elbow and kissed her softly, and it was the tipping point for Tegan who couldn’t have delayed her orgasm any more than the ocean could stop the tides. She wrapped her arms around Alana and rolled them both over until she was on top, straddling Alana’s hips.
She kissed Alana with the same tenderness that had been her undoing moments before. “I didn’t think you were asleep,” she said, tilting her head toward Alana’s hand when she reached up and tucked Tegan’s hair behind her ear. “Thank you for the proof that you were awake.”
“Anytime,” Alana said. She laughed. “Seriously, anytime. Sleep is overrated. Besides, I can always take a nap at work.”
“Good,” said Tegan as she inched lower. “Because now I’m wide awake and just looking for something to do…” She moved until the ends of her hair brushed against Alana’s collarbones, then the tops of her breasts, then her stiffened nipples. She lowered her head and kissed Alana’s breastbone, feeling the change in movement against her lips as Alana’s breath became more rapid, shallower. And lower, until the scent of Alana washed over her and everything—doubt, fear, worry—disappeared until the only thing filling her mind and her senses was Alana.
Chapter Fourteen
Tegan woke with a start, jolting to a half-sitting position as she tried to figure out where she was and whether she was late for work. The night before came back in a rush when Alana mumbled something in a groggy voice and reached out to pull Tegan into her arms.
She settled down again, with Alana curled warmly against her back. She had just dozed off when Alana sat up.
“I hear Lace,” Alana said, rubbing her eyes. She looked at Tegan and smiled. “Good morning.”
She bent down to give her a kiss, and Tegan slid her fingers into Alana’s hair for just a moment, holding her tight before letting her go. She watched her walk across the room naked and get a robe out of the closet, marveling at the memories of Alana that were now imprinted on her body and heart. She got up, too, twitching the rumpled comforter back into place and getting dressed.
She had been anticipating some morning-after awkwardness, but the puppy-induced chaos that greeted her when she came down the stairs was enough to drive away any thoughts of shyness or unease.
“Can you take them out back?” Alana asked, coming out of the puppy room on her way into the kitchen. “I’ll make coffee.”
“Of course,” Tegan said, wading through the puppies and opening the back door. Lace trotted outside, and the puppies scampered after her. Tegan hurried to catch them before they tumbled down the stairs, scooping them into one huge armful and setting them on the grass. They raced around, already sturdy on their tiny legs, and Tegan settled on the top step to watch them.
Alana poked her head out the back door. “Cream or sugar?”
“Black, please,” Tegan said. A moment later, Alana came outside with two steaming mugs. She handed one to Tegan and sat next to her, wrapping her hands around her mug.
“I was wondering if you were going to bring me coffee in a juice glass,” Tegan said, turning the mug in her hand. The design on it was a pretend postcard with Yakima written across the top and a row of apple trees underneath.
Alana smiled and bumped her shoulder gently enough not to make her spill. “I actually bought these. I thought they’d be fun souvenirs.”
Tegan gave herself a stern mini-lecture about not getting weepy every time she was reminded that Alana was a transient here, not a local. “You seem to be embracing the fruit theme wholeheartedly.”
“You haven’t seen the whole of it yet. My plates have clusters of grapes around the edges. I think Chip bought them from a winery.” She yawned and leaned her head on Tegan’s shoulder. “Do you have clients this morning?”
“Yes. It’s going to be a busy day. What’s going on at the ranch?”
“I have a staff meeting this morning.”
“Sounds interesting.” Tegan took a drink of coffee, and then considered the way Alana had phrased her appointment. “Wait, do you mean you have a staff meeting that Chip is leading and you have to attend? Or are you leading the meeting yourself?”
“What do you think?” Alana sat up and rolled her eyes. “The other day, I asked him if we were going to get everyone together, from housekeeping to reception, and talk about the grand opening, answer questions, get to know each other. All that. Chip said it sounded like a good idea. I didn’t say anything, waiting for him to suggest a date, but he just stood there, looking like he was about to be sick, so I said, Do you want me to organize it? And he gave this big sigh and said I was amazing and what would he do without me.”
Tegan was laughing by the time Alana was done talking. She had a deadpan way of delivering stories, barely pausing for breath in between sentences, and she didn’t seem to realize just how funny she was.
They lingered on the porch together as long as they could, talking and watching Lace lie patiently in the yard while the pups chewed on her ears and wrestled with each other. She tidied up the dog’s bedroom while Alana showered, and then helped her load the animals into the truck.
“I’ll see you tonight?” Alana asked as they kissed good-bye in the driveway. She had her arms around Tegan’s neck and her forehead pressed against Tegan’s. “I’ll miss our riding lesson, but I don’t know how long this meeting will go. I haven’t even met most of the staff yet, and I’m sure they’ll have a ton of questions.”
“I’ll come by here after work,” Tegan promised. She kissed Alana once more and got in her Jeep, trying to look serene and detached even though her sex-addled mind was encouraging her toward great feats of immaturity. Like hanging on to Alana and begging her not to go to work today. Or initiating some sort of I’ll miss you more—No, I’ll miss you more conversation.
Lace had been an efficient alarm clock, and Tegan got to the clinic with time to feed the horses and shower before her first appointment. She dragged through the day, growing more and more tired from lack of sleep as the morning progressed. She perked up a bit right before lunch when Rosie arrived with her most recently trapped feral cat and a box of puerquitos for her and Dez. Tegan hadn’t had anything for breakfast except Alana’s coffee and a handful of blueberries, and she sighed with pleasure as she bit the head off the pig-shaped cookie. It tasted like a soft gingerbread, with warm spices, molasses, and a strong hit of cinnamon.
She left Dez at the reception desk with two cookies—not the entire box, or she’d eat them all—and led Rosie into the examination room, closing the door behind them. She peered into the crate and saw an adult gray cat staring at her with wide, frightened eyes.
“I guess I don’t need to ask how you’re doing today,” Rosie said, leaning her hip against the table and smirking at Tegan. “Should I just say congratulations?”
“What?”
“What?” Rosie said, mimicking her in an exaggerated way. “I’m assuming it was Alana?”
Tegan bit back the impulse to say What? again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Please. You’re obviously a person who has recently had sex. Really, really good sex. I hate you.”
The last was delivered with a smile, so Tegan ignored it, concentrating instead on how Rosie had known. Her hand strayed to her neck, as if checking for bite marks, before she realized she was doing it. Rosie laughed harder.
“Well, I’m glad to see you happy.”
Tegan decided her best option was to focus on the appointment. “How did you find this one?” she asked, turning her back on Rosie and getting a leather glove out of a drawer. She opened the crate and reached in cautiously, bringing the cat out by the scruff of his neck. He was skinny, and his coat was dull, but he was going to be a handsome cat when he
was healthy, with his blue-gray coat, white paws, and small white moustache.
“He’s been wandering around the apartment complex in Union Gap for a few months,” Rosie said, accepting the change in subject with grace. “The manager has been feeding him every once in a while, but some of the tenants complained and the owner said he had to go. Can you believe some people?”
Unfortunately, Tegan could believe it. She took off the glove, since the cat seemed docile, and gently pulled back his lips to check his teeth and gums.
“I’d guess he’s about seven, give or take. He’s already neutered.”
“Two tenants who’d had cats left about the time he showed up. Probably dumped by one of them, but the manager wasn’t sure which one did it, if either, since she’d never seen their pets.”
Tegan shook her head wordlessly. She and Rosie had seen the same thing happen too many times to count. Someone deciding their animal was too much bother to take with them. Or their new home didn’t allow pets, so they just let them go. Union Gap was a busy area, with most of Yakima’s big box stores and fast food restaurants clustered together. The cat was fortunate to have survived the traffic long enough for Rosie to get him.
“Well, he’s a lucky fellow,” she said. This wouldn’t be Rosie’s normal catch-and-release, like the wilder feral cats she brought to be fixed. She’d find this one a new home. “I’ll probably have to pull a tooth or two, but I’ll be able to see them better when he’s sedated. I’ll take care of his nails then, too.”
She stroked the cat and was rewarded with a rumbling purr. “We’ll get him scheduled for dental surgery in the morning, but tonight he can rest and eat.”
She picked up the cat and carried him into the back room, settling him in one of the large cages. She stopped by the bathroom on her way back, just to find out what Rosie had noticed to tip her off about Alana, but she looked the same. No telltale marks, no fingernail scratches. Well, her smile looked a little goofy. She tried a frown, but her reflection just made her laugh.
She went back into the room where Rosie was closing the door of the empty crate and getting ready to leave.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Rosie asked.
Tegan frowned for real this time. “Yes. Like you said, I’m going into this without trying to fool myself into thinking she’s going to stay. I’ll be fine.”
“That’s not what I meant, although it’s part of it.” She paused, as if choosing her words carefully. “You have a soft spot for needy women, Tegan, and sometimes they take advantage of you. Okay, all the time. They take from you and never give anything in return.”
Tegan felt her cheeks flush as she thought back to the night before. Alana had been anything but selfish. She knew Rosie was thinking about more than sex, but so was she. Alana took care of the people around her.
“It’s different with her, Rosie. I agree with you, I’ve gotten hurt in the past because of needy women, but Alana isn’t needy. She needed help learning to ride, true, but she’s worked harder than I have. I gave her a few lessons during my lunchtimes, but she’s been out at the ranch practicing for hours every day. Plus, she’s managing the damned place. And taking care of six stray puppies. She’s not fragile, even though she was in a fragile place when she got here.”
“Oh, Tegan,” Rosie said, her voice sounding sad. “I was worried she was going to be selfish and hurt you, but this is worse. She’s going to be wonderful and break your heart.”
Tegan looked away, blinking to keep her eyes from tearing up. “I know. She won’t stay.”
Rosie paused. “But you might go with her?” she asked quietly.
Tegan shrugged. She and Alana had time to figure it out. Alana wasn’t the only one in the relationship, so the burden wasn’t solely on her to stay if they wanted to make things work out. “It won’t happen for a while, Rosie. She’s committed to staying at the ranch for the season at least. We’ll see how it goes.”
Rosie was about to speak again when Dez knocked on the door and opened it. “Tegan? You have a phone call.”
Dez’s voice, so abnormally polite and quiet, made Tegan’s heart thud in her chest. She immediately pictured Alana out on the trails alone, lying broken and bleeding after falling off a horse.
She hurried out and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hi, pumpkin,” her grandfather said. “I’m at the hospital, sweetheart. Your grandma’s okay, but she had a small heart attack. She’s going to be fine.”
Tegan rested her hand on the counter, feeling her energy draining away and leaving her hollow. “I’ll be right there, Gramps, okay?”
“Sure. I’ll be here waiting for you.”
She hung up and felt Rosie’s hand on her shoulder. She turned and was pulled into a hug. “Gran had a heart attack.”
“I’ll cancel this afternoon’s appointments,” Dez said, still sounding un-Dez-like. “I’ll come back later and feed the horses, too, in case you’re there late.”
“Come on,” Rosie said. “I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
Chapter Fifteen
Alana came out of the staff meeting feeling better about the grand opening weekend than she had since arriving in Yakima. She might not have been as cheerful about the long meeting if Tegan had been home waiting for her, but she’d be at the office all day, so Alana could put her out of her mind. She only got distracted a few times while working through her agenda, feeling her neck and cheeks grow hot when she remembered particular places where Tegan had kissed her the night before, or the wholehearted way she had responded to Alana’s touch. Each time it happened she would drink some water and continue. She had considered pretending she was coming down with the flu to explain her fevered look, but she figured Chip would pass out if he thought she’d be sick and miss the opening.
They went an hour over her allotted time since most of the staff had questions and seemed happy to get more than Chip’s vague answers from her. Even though Chip might not be cut out to manage a resort, he had excellent instincts when hiring people. His emphasis on having staff members feel like family seemed to work, and the general atmosphere in the cafeteria, where they were meeting, was enthusiastic and positive.
Alana’s benevolent feeling toward Chip waned slightly when she saw him doling out personal checks to the employees. She pulled him aside once the meeting was over.
“Chip, you’ve got to find an accountant. My parents ran a hotel for years, and they always had an independent accountant come in to help with taxes and take care of payroll. You can’t keep doing this on your own.”
“I know,” he said, gazing longingly at his office where the puppies were probably gnawing the legs off his desk. She stepped between him and the door to block an escape into his sanctuary. “I’ve talked to a couple,” he continued, “but I wasn’t comfortable with them. I want anyone who works here to be like—”
“Family, yes, I know,” Alana said. “That’s fine for the main staff, but this is different.”
He looked at her with stubborn determination, and she stopped arguing. Let him hire his mother if he wanted. It was his business to run into the ground, not hers.
“Oh,” she said, as a solution popped into her head. He didn’t need to hire his mother, but a mother, nonetheless. She paused, considering all sides of the possibility and liking it more and more. “I might know the perfect person.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ll need to talk to her first and make sure she’d be comfortable with the work. I’ll let you know right away.”
“Thanks, Alana. You’re—”
She waved him off. “I know. I’m amazing. I’m going to go over procedures with the housekeeping staff now.”
She had gotten in the habit of telling him what she was about to do, and then pausing so he had a chance to come up with a task or project to tell her about, too. Leading by example. It hadn’t worked so far.
“I thought I’d go for a short hike,” he said. “I’ll make sure the t
rail leading down to the river is clear for guests.”
She sighed. Well, it was sort of work related.
He disappeared into his office with the puppies, and she went down the hall and caught up with the small group of housekeepers. With so few guests booked, there hadn’t been any reason to hire a full staff. They hadn’t seen the rooms yet, and when she took them inside one to go over the daily cleaning checklist, she had to wait while they looked around and exclaimed over the décor.
Alana was surprised by how much they liked it. She had told Tegan she didn’t have decorating experience, but she and Chip had worked together to come up with the color scheme and choose the furnishings, so part of this belonged to her.
The guest wings weren’t built of logs, like the main lodge, and the walls were paneled with wood stained a warm, golden brown. Most of the furniture was similarly toned, and the comfortable chairs and headrests on the bed were covered with brown faux leather. Splashes of color kept the rooms from being too boring. The window frames were painted a bright teal, and thick rugs in a rich maroon covered a large portion of the hardwood floors. Chip had brought smaller versions of his metalwork animals from his workshop, and each room had its own mascot.
She looked at the silver-toned coyote trotting across the wall over the bed and added Make sure the wall hangings are still there! to the housekeeping checklist. They’d be easy to steal unless she could convince Chip to bolt them down securely.
She had just about finished going through her list when Chip came in the room.
“There’s someone on the phone for you, Alana. It sounded important. Someone named Rosie.”
“Rosie? Tegan’s friend?” She walked back to reception with Chip, wondering why she was calling. Although Alana had originally thought Tegan and Rosie were an item, she had quickly dismissed the idea once Tegan started talking about massages. And after last night, she had no doubt about where Tegan’s interests lay.