“Okay,” Madison answered, turning to place Cooper on the chair she had just vacated and kneeling down before her. “Cooper, just sit here for a bit while I go and talk with Rafe and Jake. I won’t be long, honey. You can read your book.”
“Mommy,” Cooper whispered, her lower lip trembling. “Please don’t leave me.”
“Baby, I won’t be long. Gracie will be here with you.” She turned to look at her friend quickly, relaxing when Gracie nodded and stepped toward her daughter.
“No,” Cooper whispered, pushing into Madison’s chest and gripping her navy sweater.
“I’ll watch the little one,” Marc spoke up, stepping forward.
Marc’s offer shocked the rest of them into silence. John’s cousin was not exactly a man who opened up to women—and he especially did not ever volunteer to care for children.
Cooper turned her little head slowly, looking at the large man who stood before her. When she saw his face, his long hair, and his warm, brown eyes, she pushed away from her mother’s chest and smiled at him.
“I know you,” she told him happily.
“Do you?” Marc asked her softly.
Cooper nodded her head. She reached out her arms to him, giggling when he pulled her into his embrace, straightened to his full height, and held her firmly against his chest. She grabbed a good section of his hair and pulled it forward over his shoulder. She ran her fingers through it over and over again, the silkiness of it soothing her.
“My name is Cooper,” she told him sweetly. “What’s your name?”
“Marc,” he answered her gruffly.
“I like your hair,” she told him, continuing to run her fingers through it.
“Thank you,” he answered her, trying to keep the amusement from his voice and failing miserably. “I like your eyes.”
“Mommy has eyes just like mine,” Cooper told him. “Look.” She pointed to her mother and smiled happily.
Marc was unable to do anything but follow the little girl’s finger to look at her mother’s eyes as she stood and faced him. When Madison’s smiling eyes met his, it was as if time stopped for him. As much as he wanted to deny what he was destined to find here on McKade land, he couldn’t. The eyes that looked at him at that moment were the exact same smiling, blue eyes that had looked at him from his dream.
“If you wouldn’t mind staying with my daughter, I would appreciate it,” she told him, smiling at the adorable sight of her little girl within the giant man’s arms. She had never seen anything so cute. Despite the fact that he was obviously unaccustomed to holding a child, he held her securely within the cradle of his arms. “She’s a good kid. She won’t give you a hard time at all.”
Marc nodded, unable to trust his voice to speak. His heart sped up as she flashed that brilliant smile at him one last time then turned to follow Rafe toward the back of the building to Jake’s office.
Deuce looked at Gracie and tipped his head toward Marc. Gracie nodded, smiling. It looked like her friend Madison was going to find a job and a mate all on the same day. She couldn’t be happier for her friend. She deserved to find someone who would love her.
The front door of the business opened, and two men entered. One Deuce recognized as TJ Porter, the other he had never seen before.
“Hello, Deuce,” TJ called to him, waving as he walked over to the counter. “How’s it going?”
“Good, TJ. How about you?”
“Real good, Deuce. I’ve got some plans to expand my home,” TJ told him. “Thought I could hire your brothers to do the job.”
“I’m sure they’ll be able to help you out,” Deuce told him without hesitation.
“I hope so,” TJ told him, taking off his hat and scrubbing at his white whiskers. “I’ve got my nephew here with me. Did you ever meet Martin?”
“No. It’s nice to meet you, Martin,” Deuce greeted him, reaching out to offer his hand in friendship.
“You, too,” Martin answered, shaking his hand briefly before turning to face Gracie. “Well, hello, darlin’,” he told her warmly. “You sure are a pretty little thing. How about you and me going out for a coffee?” He reached out and took her hand in his, pulling back immediately as he felt the pain that radiated from her.
Deuce immediately pulled Gracie against his side, wrapping his arms around her. “Don’t touch my mate,” he warned Martin, using every bit of control he had to keep from laying him out flat with one punch. “Are you okay, baby?” he whispered, reaching up with his index finger to tip her chin up so he could see her face. “Are you in pain?”
Gracie shook her head immediately. “No, Deuce. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure, honey?”
“Yes. It’s amazing, but I didn’t feel any pain at all.”
“Well, I sure as hell did,” Martin complained. “What the hell was that?”
“Gracie is my mate, Martin. Do you understand what that means?” Deuce asked him, his voice deep and menacing.
“It means I won’t hit on her,” Martin answered immediately. “I’m sorry, Deuce. I didn’t know she was your mate or I wouldn’t have tried to ask her out.” He turned to Gracie and lifted his hat in apology. “I apologize, Miss Gracie,” he told her sincerely.
“That’s all right,” Gracie told him, blushing. “I’m sorry you felt pain when you touched me.”
Deuce looked at Gracie and then at Martin as he thought about the situation. “Martin, do me a favor please and take hold of my mate’s hand again.”
“Deuce, no!” Gracie protested.
“I think it’s going to be fine, Gracie,” Deuce told her softly. “Now that Martin knows we’re mated, he’s not a potential boyfriend. At least he’d better know that.” He turned to look at Martin and stared at him with murderous intent.
Martin raised his hands in surrender. “Absolutely, Deuce. I have no intention of asking your mate out. I’m not a home wrecker.”
Deuce nodded after a moment then turned to look down at his woman. “Gracie, let Martin touch your hand, honey.”
Gracie looked at Martin worriedly. When he held out his hand for her, she reluctantly placed her hand in his. When he didn’t pull away in pain, she looked at Deuce in shock.
“He doesn’t feel any pain. Do you feel any pain, Martin?” she asked him, needing the confirmation.
“No, ma’am. Not a bit. Not like the last time,” he confirmed it honestly.
Gracie turned back to Deuce, leaning against him as she suddenly felt weak. “I don’t understand,” she told him softly as his arms encircled her waist and held her tightly against his chest to support her.
“I’m taking Gracie home,” Deuce told them all, looking at John and nodding briefly. “You can get Marc signed on as our electrician. Tell my brothers that I vote yes on hiring Madison.”
John nodded and smiled at his best friend. He saw the way his cousin’s hearing was pulled toward their conversation. He knew, and Deuce knew, that they were going to help Marc with obtaining a job and claiming his mate. It was going to be an interesting journey for his stoic cousin—one that he was going to enjoy watching unfold.
Deuce lifted Gracie into his arms, surprised when she didn’t protest. He carried her from the construction company office building and brought her to his truck, unlocking the doors with the key fob and helping her inside it. He was about to close the passenger side door when her hand reached out and stopped him.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
Deuce leaned in and kissed her forehead gently. He melted against her as her arms encircled his body, and she held him tightly against her. Pulling back just slightly, he smiled down at the confusion on her face.
“I think that now that you’re a mated woman, you won’t feel any pain when another man touches you because you know you’ve already found me,” he explained with determination. “No other man is a potential mate, so the Great Spirit doesn’t need to have you feel pain to let you know that another man is not your mate.”
“But why did Martin feel the pain when he first touched me and then he didn’t feel any pain the second time he touched me?”
“That’s easy, Gracie Lee,” Deuce told her, smiling. “When Martin touched you the first time he was trying to hit on you. He wanted to go out with you,” he told her, his voice grumbling with controlled anger. “Once I explained to him that you were my mate, he realized that he had no chance of dating you, so the way he looked at you was not as a potential suitor—instead he looked at you as a friend. That’s why he didn’t feel any pain the second time he touched you. The Great Spirit didn’t have to shock him away from you.”
Gracie rubbed her face tiredly. “This is too much to think about,” she mumbled against her hands. “I’m so tired.”
“I know, honey,” he told her, kissing her cheek lightly. “You just settle back. I’m going to drive us home, and then you’re going to take a nap. You and our baby need to rest.”
He closed the passenger door and walked around the front of his truck. Opening the driver’s side door, he stepped up into the cab. Settling himself behind the wheel, he buckled his seat belt, started the engine, and began the journey home.
“Deuce,” Gracie called to him softly.
“What, honey?”
“I’m very happy that I’m pregnant with your baby.”
Deuce looked at his mate with a big smile on his face. He reached out and took her hand in his, squeezing it lightly.
“I’m happy about that, too,” he told her, turning his gaze forward to pay attention to the road ahead of them.
“When we get home, would you take a nap with me?” she asked him calmly.
“I think that can be arranged.”
“Good. I want you beside me when I wake up.”
“Why is that, honey?”
“Because I want to show you just how much I love you. I intend to show you with us both completely naked. Do you think you’ll be able to lie still while I lick and suck every inch of your body?”
Deuce nearly ran the truck off the road.
Chapter 27
Deuce looked up from his pile of papers as he sat at his large mahogany desk in his ranch office. He smiled at the welcoming sight of his mate standing in the doorway.
“Hello, baby,” he told her, beckoning her forward.
Gracie walked into the office, coming around his desk to stand before him. When she looked down at him, there was concern and worry on her face.
“What’s wrong, Gracie?” he asked her, pulling her to stand between his legs as he turned his chair to face her.
Gracie lifted her right hand and touched his cheek lightly. “You look tired, Deuce,” she told him softly. “You work too hard.”
Deuce turned into her hand and kissed her palm lightly. “I’m fine, honey.”
Gracie placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back so that he sat against the tall back of his leather office chair. When he was comfortably resting against the softness, she sat on his lap, her legs hanging sideways over his thighs.
“Comfortable, Mate?” he asked her, amused.
“Yes. Now shush and listen to me,” she told him sternly.
“I need a kiss first.”
Gracie heaved a sigh of exasperation. Leaning forward, she kissed his lips briefly. Before she could pull away, he pulled her tightly into his arms and deepened the kiss. She allowed him the kiss, admitting that she wanted him to go on with it, possibly taking it further, but she couldn’t allow her need to make love to him to cloud her purpose. She pushed away from him gently and looked up at him with determination.
“Don’t try to distract me,” she warned him.
“Am I distracting you?” he asked as he leaned in to kiss her neck, biting down on it lightly.
“Stop, Deuce,” she warned him, reaching up to grab his hair in a strong grip and pull at it to tip his head back. “I need to talk to you, and you kissing me isn’t helping me concentrate.”
“Do my kisses distract you, baby?” he asked, trying to get closer to her to kiss her again.
“Deuce,” she said firmly. “Yellow.”
Deuce pulled back immediately. “What’s wrong, honey?” he asked her quickly.
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” she assured him, “but there’s something wrong with you.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I see how hard you work, and I’m afraid that you’re going to burn yourself out,” she told him softly. “Every night you come into this office after dinner and work for a good hour before coming out to visit with the family.”
“I have to, honey,” he told her gently. “I need to make sure everything we need to run the ranch is taken care of.”
“I know,” she told him softly, releasing her hold on his hair and massaging his scalp lightly. She smiled as he closed his eyes and moaned with appreciation at her touch. “Listen to me, please.”
He opened his eyes and smiled at her. “I’m listening, honey. But if you continue to pet me, I’m going to rip off your clothes and have my way with you right here, on top of my desk.”
Gracie laughed and continued running her fingers through his hair. “Promises, promises,” she whispered.
“Are you saying that I won’t carry through on that promise, Gracie?” he challenged her.
“No, Mate. I know you will carry through on your promise.”
The fire in Deuce’s eyes at the use of the word mate made her smile. She was quickly learning some of the hot buttons that were guaranteed to spark Deuce’s desires and would make her experience some intense loving—not that she really had to do more than touch him in even the most innocent of ways.
She pushed out of his arms and stood before him calmly. Lowering to her knees before him, she saw the way his expression changed as she knelt between his spread thighs and framed his waist with her hands, rubbing her thumbs against his waist just above his leather belt.
“I want to take over the running of your office. I want to share the workload with you so you can run the ranch without having to worry about the paperwork. You can train me on what needs to be done in order to keep the ranch running efficiently. When you come in from working, you’ll be able to enjoy dinners and your nights with the family. When our baby arrives, you’ll be able to give her the time she’ll want to spend with you.”
Deuce was silenced by her desire to be a part of the running of the ranch and by the way she craved that he be part of their child’s life. The fact that she knelt before him in sincere caring and submission melted his heart.
“Gracie,” he whispered. “I think that would be a great idea. I can show you everything you need to know to take over the office. I know you’ll probably do a better job than I am.”
“I don’t know about that, Deuce, but I want to do it. I want to help you.” She leaned forward and kissed his chin lightly. “And I want our baby to enjoy her father.”
“I want that, too.”
Gracie smiled up at him in relief. “Good,” she whispered. “Now sit back and relax while I take care of you, and then we’re going to go out into the living room and spend some time with the family.”
“You’re going to take care of me?” he teased her.
Gracie leaned down and rubbed her cheek against the bulge in his pants. She smiled as she heard the sharp intake of his breath and felt the way his hands tightened on her shoulders.
“Help me out, Deuce,” she told him, winking up at him. “Unbuckle and unzip, cowboy.”
Deuce chuckled as he did as she asked. Pushing open his jeans and reaching in to free his shaft, he gave her control as she brushed aside his hands to reach for his cock and balls to gently lift them free of their confines.
She leaned in and nestled her face against his groin, breathing in deeply and sighing. She loved the scent of him. Her soft hand gathered his balls and brought them to her mouth.
When the heaven of her warm and wet mouth sucked him gently, he couldn’t prevent the grunt
of appreciation that escaped him. Her right hand began a gentle rhythm of stroking his shaft, her thumb swiping over the head and slowly swirling the fluid that escaped his hole.
She pulled away from his balls with a pop and looked up at him with a knowing smile. “I’m going to suck your cock, Mate,” she told him softly. “I want you to take what you need from me. Don’t worry about overwhelming me. I want you to take my mouth as hard as you need to, and I want to swallow every bit of your cum. Okay?”
“Okay, baby,” he whispered, reaching up to card his fingers through her silky, light brown hair. “Whatever you say.”
Gracie nodded, smiling. “Good.”
She leaned forward, kissing the tip of his cock as she held it gently in her hands. She spread the spongy head with her thumbs, pointing her tongue and swiping at the hole, taking the pre-cum into her mouth and swallowing it greedily.
When she finished playing with the head, she opened her mouth and plunged down the length of him, taking as much of him inside as she could. When the head bumped the back of her throat, she took a deep breath and swallowed.
Deuce moaned and tightened his grip on her hair, holding her in place as his hips lifted and he plunged even further. Gracie placed her hands on his thighs to steady herself, giving him complete control.
He took it.
With each plunge and retreat into the beauty of her sweet mouth, he felt more love than he could have ever imagined feeling toward his mate. The way she submitted to him, cared about him, and gave herself freely to him was a gift—a gift he would never take for granted.
When she started to moan and caress his thighs, he lost all control. He plunged deeply into her mouth, retreating from its warmth only to seek out its beauty once again. It wasn’t long before his impending orgasm loomed closer.
“Gracie, I’m going to come,” he warned her, never stopping the way his hips rose off the chair to seek what she was willing to give to him freely.
Her moan of satisfaction and need vibrated around his shaft, throwing him off the precipice and into completion. He held her head steady as his cock erupted, sending stream after stream of his cum into her waiting mouth, sounds of pleasure escaping him in deep groans.
Touching Deuce [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 33