by Joanna Sims
“Don’t worry. We’ll make it work.” She could tell, unlike her, he wasn’t willing to call it quits.
Liam sat up a little, his arms braced behind him. “Here. Wrap your legs around me.”
He positioned her so that she was sitting in his lap; it was the perfect solution. Now all she felt was his warm skin, his erection so deep inside her and the hard muscles of his thighs on her buttocks.
“How’s that?”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, sunk her body down and began to move her hips. “Perfect.”
She rode him, setting the pace, reveling in the feel of him suckling her nipple, reveling in the feel of his thick erection inside her. All she could hear was the wind rustling the leaves of the trees surrounding them and the sound of her moans of pleasure—and a laugh.
“Wait!” Kate whispered harshly, yanked back into reality. “Did you hear that?”
“No,” he said against her breast. “Don’t stop, Kate.”
Another laugh.
They both froze their bodies, and looked around. “Is someone coming?”
“No.” Liam tried to get back to business. “It’s just an echo. They could be on the next mountain.”
He tried to get her back in the mood, but all she could think about was getting caught, naked, doing the dirty. Liam was holding on to her, moving inside her. And, it felt so good, what he was doing, that he almost convinced her. Until she heard a male voice join that female laugh.
“Someone’s coming!” she said urgently, separating her body from his. “Someone is coming!”
“Not me.” Liam sighed in frustration. “Not anymore.”
Chapter Seven
Kate was hiding behind a small clump of trees nearby, and Liam could hear her cursing under her breath as she yanked on her jeans and top. The moment, a moment he was really enjoying, was ruined. He had already pulled on his jeans and was bending over to retrieve his shirt when he saw his older brother, Bruce, the oldest of his six siblings, and Savannah, his sister-in-law, appear at the top of the mountain.
“Hey, brother!” Bruce, tall, broad shouldered, growing a beard, gave him a wave as he reached behind to make sure Savannah was safe.
Liam gave him a nod before he pulled on his shirt.
“Liam!” Savannah, as always, was happy to see him. She was a pretty, petite woman with auburn hair and moss green eyes.
“Who is it?” Kate asked harshly from behind the bush.
“My brother and his wife.”
“Great,” he heard his woman mutter. Exactly. Great.
Bruce and Savannah walked over to where he was standing, oblivious, at least in the beginning, about what they had just interrupted. Bruce clasped his hand and gave him a slap on the shoulder, and Savannah, now pregnant enough to begin showing, gave him a strong hug.
“We didn’t expect to find anyone up here,” Bruce said, looking around at the view.
Liam caught Savannah staring at the bra at his feet; for a brief moment, his sister-in-law met him eye-to-eye, her fair cheeks reddening.
“I think we should go.” Savannah tugged on her husband’s sleeve.
“Are you feeling okay?” His brother’s immediate thought was about his wife’s pregnancy. They had lost a son to a tragedy, and Bruce was hyperprotective of Savannah during this pregnancy.
Savannah, known for her sweetness, tried to smile through her embarrassment. “I just think that Liam wants to be alone...”
Bruce, who hadn’t looked down and hadn’t seen the bra, looked at his wife curiously, finding no particular reason why his brother would want them to leave.
“Oh, screw it,” Liam heard Kate say from her hiding place.
Kate marched out from behind the shrubs, gave his brother and sister-in-law a little wave, scooped up her bra and tucked it into the front pocket of her jeans.
“Hi,” Kate said with a little wave.
Understanding dawned on Bruce’s face, but instead of turning red like Savannah, he laughed a loud, hearty laugh and held out his hand to Kate.
“Nice to see you again, Kate.”
“You remember my brother Bruce,” Liam said causally.
Kate nodded.
“I’m not sure if you’ve ever met Savannah.”
“Hi, Kate.” Savannah shook Kate’s hand. “We went to school together, but you were older, so...”
“I remember you. It’s easy to remember the smartest student in school. Nice to see you again.”
Savannah’s face turned even redder at the compliment, one hand resting on her rounded belly, the other hand tucking a wayward hair behind her ear.
“I’m actually glad that we ran into you. I mean—I’m not glad that we interrupted what we...interrupted. Even though, it is kind of ironic because I was just talking to Bruce on the way up here that I needed him to text Liam so I could get your number. The whole family wants you to come to Sunday brunch.”
Kate glanced at him—she knew that his family was aware that they were dating, but he’d deliberately shielded her from the craziness of his family’s traditional Sunday brunch at Sugar Creek Ranch. His family was large and nosy and could overwhelm a person. He did not want Kate to feel overwhelmed while he was busy working his magic on her. Things were good between them, but by no means solidified.
“I think it may be a little soon for that.” Liam blocked the invitation.
Savannah’s expectant face turned crestfallen.
“Kate seems like she can handle herself,” Bruce interjected. “Why don’t you let her decide?”
Savannah reached over hand touched Kate’s arm. “It’s kind of like a rite of passage, but the food is amazing and everyone will love you. I promise.”
“I can’t leave my daughter alone and the person who watches her has Sundays off,” Kate explained.
“She’s welcome to come, of course!” Savannah assured.
Liam was surprised that Kate didn’t seem completely opposed to breaking bread with his family. He’d eaten at her house dozens of times. Maybe it was the right time for her to run the gauntlet that was his family.
Liam ignored his brother and sister-in-law and turned to Kate. “I’d like you to be there. But only if you’re ready.”
Kate stared into his eyes as if she were trying to read his very soul before she said, “I think Callie would enjoy meeting new people.”
His brother and Savannah left them to be alone on the top of the mountain after Kate agreed to join them for Sunday brunch. After their visitors were well out of earshot, Kate punched him in the arm.
“Ow!” He pulled his arm away jokingly as if she had really hurt him with that weak punch.
Kate held out her hand. “Underwear.”
She knew that he had to have them because they weren’t on the blanket where she had left them.
He shook his head with a smile. “No.”
Hands on her hips, she frowned at him. “I’m not kidding, Liam! I can’t believe that this is how I get introduced as your girlfriend to your brother and his wife! It’s humiliating.”
“No, it’s not.” Liam refused to give up her underwear and refused to give up on their mission to make love on top of this mountain. He’d never brought a woman to his special place; when Kate told him that she wanted to make love outside as a part of her bucket list, he knew that this was the right woman and the right place.
He pulled her into his arms even though she resisted half-heartedly. He kissed her on the neck, breathing in her familiar, sexy scent. God, he had actually fallen in love with this woman.
“They’re gone,” he said between kisses on her lips. “They won’t come back.”
“I’m not getting naked again if that’s what you’re thinking.” Kate had her arms locked in front of her body, her forearms pressed against his chest.
“
That’s exactly what I’m thinking.” He grabbed her bottom with both hands and pulled her groin into his. “Are you going to just leave me like this?”
“You’re a big boy.” She twisted out of his arms. “You can handle it.”
He walked up behind her, wrapped her in his arms. He knew exactly what he needed to do to get her out of a “no” mentality and into a “yes” frame of mind. He began to kiss her ear, nibbling, licking, blowing and she immediately began to squirm in his arms, but not to get away.
She reached behind her body and put her hands over his erection. “You aren’t playing fair.”
“Make love to me, Kate,” Liam whispered into her ear. “Right here. Right now.”
She spun in her arms and kissed him, saying yes with her body, and her lips. Laughing, they stripped off their bottoms, but decided to at least leave their T-shirts on just in case.
“Crap!” he said when he realized he didn’t have another condom with him.
“What?” Kate looked around expecting to see more people cresting over the mountain peak.
“I don’t have another condom.”
Her face went from relieved to thoughtful. “Oh.”
They stared at each other for a moment, thinking. Then, Kate said, “I had my tubes tied.”
That was news—they’d never really discussed it. They’d always used condoms.
He nodded, not upset. It was hard to think of either of them wanting to start all over again with a baby.
“We’re...exclusive...” There was a question at the end of that statement.
“Yes,” he said seriously. Definitively. “We are.”
“I had myself tested after Callie’s father. It’s been a bit of dry spell since.” she added with a raised eyebrow. “You?”
“I had myself tested last year,” he told her. “So...are you okay with making love...without one?”
Her eyes drifted down to his softening hard-on, then back up to his face. “I am if you are.”
Liam didn’t bother to respond—he trusted Kate and if she trusted him, there were exclusive, and he wanted to make love to her in the worst way.
He lay on the blanket and she straddled him. They kissed and fondled and rubbed up against each other until he was good and hard and she was good and wet. Then, she sank on top of him, taking him inside her until he was buried so deep that it felt as if he were going to lose himself within her. She was so warm and tight and slick that he had to fight not to come right away. Without the condom, the sensations were so much more intense for him.
“God, baby.” He gripped her hips with his hands, his eyes closed, fighting the feeling of wanting to explode.
“Is this okay?” she asked, her hands on his chest, her hips moving slow and steady.
“You feel so good, baby.”
“I’m sorry.” Kate stopped moving. “My knees. Can you sit up again like before?”
With one arm holding her close to his body, Liam leveraged himself into the sitting position. Kate wrapped her legs around his hips, and they were body to body, so close, holding each other so tightly.
Kate began to rock against him, taking her pleasure; this was a much better position because he could watch her beautiful face. He took her face in his hands and kissed her lips.
“Kate...” He said her name softly. “Open your eyes, Kate.”
Her breath was shallow, her lips wet from his kissed. She opened her eyes. “I love you, Kate.”
Her eyes widened in surprise at his words and, even though she didn’t say the words in return, he could see the love in her eyes just before she closed them again; with a sigh, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulders. She came then, held so tightly in his arms, their groins pressed to together. She whimpered so sweetly, shuddering with the orgasm, Liam joined her. He had held off for so long that there was a sense of pain mingled with the pleasure.
“I love you too, Liam,” Kate whispered.
Still connected, they held each other, their brows sweaty, their breathing rapid and shallow. For Liam, he couldn’t remember ever feeling this way when he made love to a woman. This time was different—it was special. Kate was special. And it occurred to him, right then, that he wanted to make this woman his wife. He wanted to marry Kate King.
* * *
Kate was running late for Sunday brunch; he could tell by her harried voice on the phone that she was having “one of those mornings” when everything seemed to go wrong. Yes, things had gone wonky with her morning—a couple of hands called in sick and that put her behind. But he also knew that meeting anyone’s family was stressful, and Kate had to be feeling that stress too. He knew he was, and to make matters worse, his father was on the warpath because one of his brother’s daughters, a brother he hadn’t spoken to in over twenty years, had been in contact with Savannah about her nonprofit. He’d almost told Kate to just scrap the brunch, but then again, she might as well see what kind of dysfunction she would be getting if she agreed to marry him.
“I don’t give a good goddamn who contacted who and who did what first. I don’t want any of Hank’s kin on Sugar Creek Ranch! What in the hell were you thinkin’, Bruce?” Jock Brand bellowed, slamming his hand on the table.
Savannah, whom Jock had always favored and had never had a harsh word for, spoke up. “I’m the one who answered Jordan on Facebook. Not Bruce. She wanted to donate to Sammy Smiles, and I wasn’t going to turn her down. It’s for Sammy’s memory.”
The table went temporarily quiet when Savannah mentioned her son, who had accidentally drowned when he was just a toddler. Savannah had started a nonprofit to spread the word about household hazards that could lead to accidental drownings, and everyone in the family knew that this was a “hands off” subject.
Jock frowned, his long, tanned, deeply lined face sullen. Savannah was pregnant on top of everything, and even Jock, who wasn’t known for his sensitive nature, would be mindful of that. Instead of yelling at Savannah as he would any of his own natural born children, Jock balled up his fist, wrapped the table with his knuckles, pushed back his chair and left.
“I’m so sorry,” Savannah apologized to the table. “We met Jordan’s friend on our second honeymoon trip and one thing led to another...”
Bruce, ever protective of his wife, put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and told her not to worry about it, as they all did.
After a moment, Lilly, his stepmother, a quiet, calm woman who had managed to last longer in marriage with Jock than any of them had bet, pushed back from the table.
“I will speak with my husband. Then we will have breakfast,” Lilly said in a soft, but firm, voice.
“God—Dad is so uptight all the time.” Jessie, the youngest, rather spoiled child and Jock’s only blood daughter, was half paying attention to the discussion and half paying attention to her phone. “He really needs to seriously take a pill and get over it. Why can’t I see my cousins? They didn’t do anything to me, after all.”
“Pop ain’t gettin’ over nothin’.” Colten laughed between bites. “Pass those biscuits if no one’s gonna eat ’em.”
Liam looked at his phone to check the time—Kate and Callie were set to arrive in a few minutes, and he could hear Jock complaining loudly to Lilly about the breach of his long-standing rule—Hank and his kids were dead to them. Now, if any of them were communicating with their cousins on Facebook or any other social network, it would be mighty difficult to pretend that they were dead.
The doorbell rang and Liam got up quickly. He pointed his finger at all of his siblings. “Act normal. All of you.”
“Ha!” Jessie laughed. “Fat chance of that!”
Liam beat Rosario, the house manager, to the door. “Thank you, Rosario. I’ve got it.”
The woman gave him a curious look, then went about her business.
Liam sw
ung open the heavy, carved door and greeted his love and her daughter.
“You have a b-beautiful house, Dr. B-Brand.” Calico smiled at him.
“Thank you, Callie. Come on in.”
He hugged Kate and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Hi.”
“Hi.” She gave him a nervous smile. “Sorry we’re late. Rough morning.”
He shut the door. “Don’t worry about it. It’s been a rough one around here too. Let me apologize in advance for my family. They can be...challenging.”
“Don’t forget, I’ve already met everyone at least once.” She was kind to try to reassure him.
“That’s true,” he agreed, leading to the dining room. “But you’ve never encountered them as a group. They can be a bit like a pack of wolves.”
Kate, her hand holding on to her daughter’s hand tightly, continued to smile nervously. “We can handle them, can’t we, Callie?”
“Of course,” Callie said, confidently. “They aren’t really wolves, Dr. B-Brand. They’re just people.”
Kate and Liam looked at Callie and then looked at each other. They both started to laugh; Callie had managed, in her own special way, to break the tension.
“I don’t know, Callie,” Liam said as he showed them to the dining room. “The jury is still out on that one.”
* * *
Liam was damn proud of his family. They were on their “better” behavior for Kate and Callie, and they treated the young woman with kindness and acceptance and love. Lilly, who everyone called the “Jock Whisperer,” had managed to get their hothead father back to the table. His face was still red and he looked as mad as a hornet, but his father had managed to be remotely cordial to Kate and Callie. That was more than he had expected.
“I can’t remember the last time I ate so much food,” Kate groaned as they walked the property surrounding his cabin. Callie had never met his horses or seen where he lived—it was time. While Callie visited with the horses for a bit longer, Liam took Kate to see one of his projects.
“Jock does everything to the extreme. He always has.”