by Alexa Davis
“You worried that you won’t feel that way when Dad’s thieves are found?”
“Should I come back to the ranch, work for Danny?” I paused. It was lovely here. Being all together, and the land itself was nourishing to the soul. But, my home and my work were too long a commute to see him every day.
“Are you asking me to give up the Pup Hut, or asking me to give up seeing you?” I turned so I was facing him, but he was shrouded in darkness and I couldn’t’ see his expression. “I can’t ask you to stay in Austin and make it work if you need to be here. But, you just asked me to look forward and make a life with you. Where does that fit in with you staying here?”
“You’re right. You’ve given all this time up at your store, I forgot how much you’ve been itching to go back. Tomorrow, you go back. I guess I was hoping we could steal a few more weeks of the easy life, being fed, going for rides…”
“You are willing to work for your brother just so we have a reason to stay up here? How about instead, we promise your mother weekly visits on the weekends. We have to finish what we started, and you need to get on that dream of yours – to finally be the boss, instead of just another soldier.”
“I’ve let you down every time I tried to be something else. I’m almost twenty-seven years old with eight of those in the military. I was planning on being in for life.”
“So, you got blown up and sent home. You are under stars that tell you that you belong here and with a woman who loves you. You took the time and care to help my dad possibly save his reputation. Maybe even his business. Nothing you will do here is less than what you were doing as a soldier.”
“I think it will be harder.”
“But you have us, so maybe it will be easier.” He kissed me tenderly, one hand sliding up my arm and caressing my cheek. I pulled away and he sighed, a long, dry breath that moved the wisps of hair hanging against my cheek.
“Go to bed with me, wife-to-be. Tomorrow begins the new chapter in our forever.”
“I napped, now I’m not sleepy. You’ll need to make me tired again.” He laughed, a deep, low sound that made my stomach do flips in anticipation. I helped him stand and followed him back toward the bedroom. As he stepped inside the door, he stopped so abruptly I bumped into his backside. He sidestepped and put his finger to his lips.
I slipped into the room and looked where he was pointing. In the center of the queen bed I’d been using, Slinky-dog and Xavier were stretched out, paw to paw, down the length of the mattress, from pillow to footboard. Slinky snored, and Xavi’s ears twitched in rhythm to her heavy breathing. Her front paws twitched against his, and Xavi whimpered softly in his sleep then quieted down. I motioned to the door that led to the hall between our rooms.
“I don’t think I get to sleep there tonight. Mind bunking with me?” I asked as he softly closed the door behind him.
He ushered me into his old room, and I was flooded with memories from the days when I would sneak up using the back stairs from the garden and wait for him to go through the motions of saying goodnight to his parents before joining me. I often wondered if they ever knew I was in there, listening to his music, and later, sleeping in his arms. But, until that day, I’d never broken my word to his mother.
Now, as I watched him take his shirt off, his muscles shifting and bunching under his skin, I wanted to wrap my body around him, take him into me, and swallow him whole. He turned around and saw me watching him, and his face softened and darkened at the same time. His eyes reflected my desire back to me more perfectly than a mirror could.
He held his hand out to me and I took it and let him pull me in to his bare chest. I laid my cheek against the thick, curly fur that covered it. He slow-danced with me in the half-light of his bedside table lamp. He hummed in my ear, and I shivered at the tickle of his warm, damp breath on my skin as he ran his hands over my body. My light summer clothes were thick as a curtain between us and my skin ached with the need to be free and feel his hands without the cloth barrier to separate us. He undid the buttons on my ankle-length skirt one at a time until it slipped down my legs in a puddle of cotton on the floor.
I lifted my t-shirt and let him pull it over my head and drop it on the growing heap of cloth, followed quickly by my bra. I stood in front of him in my panties and shivered from the chill of the room and his whisper light touch on my shoulders. He slid his hands down to my waist, lifted me free of the fabric, and carried me two uneven steps to the bed before he set me down on top of the quilt.
I stared up at him as he took off his pants and lay down next to me and curled up into him so his breath warmed my forehead. I leaned my head back and found his lips with mine, and opened to his tongue and teeth while his hands groped my breasts and backside.
His hand slid under the panties and inched them down over my buttocks as I writhed in his hands, using my movement to help him remove the thin silk from around my hips. I tugged at his boxers and felt him hard and ready under the cotton and slid my fingers in the front to stroke his silky skin. He hissed out a quick breath and sat up on his knees to yank my hip-huggers all the way off and stared down the length of my naked body. With a low whistle, he reached a hand up to stroke the wet heat between my legs.
“What do you think it will take to make you sleepy, gorgeous?” He pushed my knees further apart and kissed his way up my thighs.
“All that and everything else you got, soldier,” I panted as he traced a circle around the most sensitive part of me with his finger. He kissed me there until I was dizzy, despite being flat on my back, and I clutched at his arms and hair to stay connected to earth. He sank his teeth into my thigh, drawing a gasp from my throat which was chased by a scream of ecstasy as he used his fingers and tongue to drive me over the edge of the abyss.
I shuddered against the pillows and reveled in my racing heart as George finally kicked off his boxers and knelt over me. I let my eyes rove over the whole of him, taking in his tan lines, scars, and the cut of the muscles in his abdomen. I marveled that, even while nursing his injured leg, he looked every bit the hero that was just leaving for the Middle East.
I finally met his eyes and my pulse bumped at the pure carnal masculinity in them as he stared me down. He licked his lips and a predatory smile spread across his face as he leaned in close to me, until I could feel the air move over my eyes as he blinked.
“Give yourself over to me, and I will give you everything I have.” I breathed in and exhaled deeply.
“I have been yours since we were children. I want it all.” I closed my eyes and waited, then they flew open when I felt the bed lift as weight was removed.
George was gone.
25. George
I had a moment of guilt when I slipped off the bed and into the adjoining bathroom as quickly and quietly as I could when she closed her eyes. I prayed that the champagne that I’d put on ice in the sink hadn’t gotten too warm and that the chocolate-covered strawberries Patty had made at my request hadn’t melted.
Thankfully, the iced tray was still cold to the touch, and while not ice cold, my surprise hadn’t been ruined by our time out on the patio. I carried the tray back into the bedroom, met by Callie’s shocked stare. I set the tray down and picked up a strawberry, smiling as I offered it to her.
She chuckled, but opened her mouth and let me place the chocolate-covered goodie between her lips. She mouthed it and drew it in further with her tongue and bit into it, juice slipping down her chin. Her eyes flew open, but before she could wipe it or pull away, I licked the line of strawberry up and kissed the corner of her mouth.
“I bought your favorite champagne.”
“You mean that cheap Cook’s champagne I always keep in my fridge for mimosas?” she scoffed.
“No, the Diamante Bleu that your aunt bought you in Monterrey when we went on vacation.”
“You remembered that?” She wiped a little remaining chocolate off her lips. “That was years ago; I would’ve had to look it up. A memory that good deserves
a reward.” She leaned forward. “Open the bottle, and you’ll see how grateful I am for your thoughtfulness.”
I popped the cork with only a little fizz at the top of the bottle and poured her a glass. Then I grabbed the longneck from the bottom of the bucket, where it had stayed nice and cold, and popped the top off that as she laughed at me.
“You still won’t try it?” she teased.
“Nope. I’m good with the bubbles in my Coors, thank you very much.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to show you how enjoyable champagne can be.” She snagged a strawberry and stuck it in my mouth like a plug, then patted the pillow next to her. “It’s my turn, sugar.”
I lay down and munched on the strawberry, watching Callie drink from her champagne flute. She set the glass aside and ducked her head down. I’d started to go limp from the distraction, but a firm squeeze of her hand was enough to get me almost rigid and ready for her. The sensation of the inside of her mouth was enough to finish the job, and by the time she slid off me and then thrust me back to her throat, I was rock hard and throbbing again.
She made love to me with her hands and mouth, tenderly, sweetly kissing my thighs and then giving my erection her undivided attention until I was begging her to stop before I couldn’t hold out any longer.
With mischief in her eyes, Callie stared up at me, then sank down against me until her lips touched my stomach. The discomfort brought tears to her eyes, but she stayed there until the second I couldn’t hold on any longer. Just as I was about to drown under the tidal wave of pleasure that threatened to sweep over me, she released me, sitting up and wiping her eyes.
“Next time, we should time me,” she managed to gloat, her voice full of gravel from the punishment to her throat. She ran her hands down her body, then reached over and sipped at her champagne, watching me over the glass. I reached for her, and she inched closer to me, so I could just barely trace my fingers over the soft, pale skin that never saw sunlight. She drank more champagne and inched further up my body until she straddled me, so close to me that I warmed to the heat of her core and felt the light brush of hair against my own.
One last sip, and she bent over to kiss me. Her kiss tasted of bubbles and the dry, light tang of champagne. I parted my lips further and invited her tongue into my mouth as I lifted her hips and slid her onto me in a long, steady thrust that drove me to the very end of her. I lifted and slid her onto me again, and her back arched as she moaned into my mouth.
She lifted her chest away from me, arching her back further and giving me full access to her full breasts. I cupped them in my hands and she used me to brace her as she started a rhythm of her own, rocking on me with her head thrown back, whimpering and trembling from the sensation.
I squeezed her breasts in my hands and rolled her nipples between my fingers and thumbs, gently at first, then hard enough to make her gasp and buck as she rode me. I felt her heart race faster under my hand as she moaned louder and sped up the rhythm of her thrusts.
With a guttural, primal cry she came, dragging the wave of pleasure over me and bringing me hard and fast inside her. She held me tight within and clung with her thighs to stay upright as I spasmed and emptied into her. Still sheathed in her, I lay her down on my chest, our hearts twin beats pounding through bone and flesh as she melted into me and nestled her face in my neck.
She shivered as the cool of the night air intruded on us, and I reached for the edge of the quilt, throwing it over us both so I could stay inside her as long as possible. It wasn’t until I felt her breathing change, that I realized she had fallen asleep, still holding me inside her, still wrapped around my body like the honeysuckle vines she loved so much.
I gently turned us over so she was resting on the bed next to me, using my chest as her pillow and my body for warmth, and drew the coverlet over us as best I could to keep her from feeling the mountain chill.
We laid there without moving for a long time, and I held her hand between us, pressing the colored stone in her ring against my chest hard enough that it left an imprint in my skin. When she finally rolled away to assume her usual position, with her beautiful rear end pressed against me so snug I started to get hard again, I ran my finger over the indentation over and over, until it lulled me to sleep.
Morning brought with it a gentle lightening and warming of the room, and as I lay in bed listening to Callie shower in the next room, I was grateful once more, that our rooms were not on the east side of the big ranch house.
Already I was attacked by the aroma of smoke-cured bacon rashers, homemade, spicy sausage, and fresh-baked biscuits that made my mouth water. Thinking the poor dogs would be going crazy, I pulled on sweatpants and a tee shirt and headed down the hall to Callie’s room, but the door was open and the animals were already long gone. I knocked on Jackson’s door as I passed it on my way back to Callie, and when he didn’t answer, I let myself in. The room was empty and as tidy as barracks right before inspection.
I made my way back to the bathroom attached to my room, and when I heard the shower still running, stripped down to join Callie before she finished. I was disappointed when the water shut off as I opened the door, but the sight of her as she stepped out and took the towel I offered made my tardiness worth it.
Callie went back to her own room still wrapped in a towel when I told her that we were alone in the wing. While she got ready for the day, I took my place under the rushing hot water and relaxed until it ran cool down my shoulders and back. I washed up quickly, before it could run to ice water, and once I was out, dried and dressed quickly, belatedly realizing I was hurting my chance to get as much ranch cooking in me as possible before it was time to compile the evidence and confront Bill, Tom’s best and hardest working foreman.
It churned my stomach thinking about having to dress down or even fire the one man who had done so much to teach and train me to do what I was best at. I forced myself to stop thinking about it at all, just so I could enjoy what would be my last Lago Colina veranda breakfast for a while.
As I feared, the table was full and the platters were emptying fast by the time I joined the rest of my family, Callie, and the workers for breakfast. Apparently, Callie’s parents had also stayed the night, and Callie made room for me on the long, wooden bench seat between her and her mom, while Mrs. Drake piled food high on a plate and set it in front of me. A mug of fragrant, steaming coffee was passed down from the big percolator at the end of the table, and Callie slid the carafe of real cream over to me, after pouring a healthy serving in her own oversized mug.
Callie and I both seemed to be stalling as the table emptied and the morning’s special jobs were assigned. Her parents headed back into town before I’d even finished my first cup of coffee, since they hadn’t planned to stay or brought a change of clothes. Tom reminded us that he’d meet with us after Jackson had tallied up the total cost to Drake Construction from the thefts, and my stomach flipped like it was the first day of training all over again.
By the last dregs of my second cup, Jackson had taken the dogs for their pre-drive bathroom break, and Callie and Rachel were setting up a lunch date that sounded suspiciously like a wedding planning session. Mom and Dad waited for me near the fire, and out of other options to keep me from getting in my truck, I joined them after a stop at the percolator for one last half cup of joe for the road.
“Your father and I talked, and I was surprised to hear your request.” My mother turned her coffee cup in her hands and I followed the rotation of the handle with my eyes, refusing to meet hers. She paused, long enough that I had to look up.
“I’m very proud of you. You have never been afraid to step outside the safety of Lago Colina to find your path, and I can’t imagine a more responsible choice you could make for your future family than to put all that knowledge to use.” Gaping, I glanced at my father, who managed a tight smile and a nod.
“Danny and Tucker will draw up the paperwork, unless you have a problem with your brothers handling your
money.” I shook my head.
“Can’t imagine anyone I’d trust more, except maybe Callie, and she wouldn’t want the job.” Dad’s smile relaxed as he sighed.
“Your mother’s right. We’re happy to see you finally getting your head on straight. A military man, past or present, needs a good wife.” He held out his hand, and I laughed at him. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed him in a one-armed hug, then turned to hug Mom and kissed her on the cheek.
“Be good, Georgie,” she whispered in my ear as she hugged me as tight as she could.
“I’ll see you soon, Mom. Dad.” I promised them we’d visit soon, and signaled to Jackson, who was loitering by the pastries at the end of the table. He grabbed one last Danish and stuffed half of it in his mouth as we walked to the truck together, with Callie and Rachel still chatting away about any one of the female mysteries I knew better than to try to hear, let alone understand.
Luckily for me, I didn’t have to wonder, even if I’d been inclined to. The entire drive back to Austin was laced with conversation about the upcoming wedding, which Callie now asked that I choose a rough date for. I tried to laugh, but thinking about the wedding on top of everything else made my hands white knuckle grip the steering wheel. I felt Xavi scoot closer to me and slip his head into my lap, and Callie fell silent. After a minute, I asked if she was going to finish.
“I’m okay. We have all the time in the world to talk about the wedding after you are all finished with this Bill Allred business. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
I grinned despite myself, just plain grateful that she understood. I reached over Xavi’s back and grabbed Callie’s thigh, earning myself a giggle from her – and a melodramatic sigh from Jackson in the backseat. We passed the remainder of the drive in silence until I dropped Callie and Slinky off at the Pup Hut and Jackson climbed up from the backseat and let Xavi stand on his lap to get his face out the window.