by A. D. Ryan
“Anything on the menu appeal to you?” I asked, lifting mine again to have a better look.
“Actually, the Linguini Puttanesca sounds fantastic. And I’ll probably start with a mixed green salad. You?”
I perused the menu again, being sure to bypass anything meaty, and found the pastas to be the only thing that catered to my personal dietary restrictions. Since Jensen was already getting the Puttanesca, I decided I’d get something different so we could try some of each other’s if we wanted. “Oooh,” I said, practically salivating as I read the description for the Penne alla Norma. “I’m thinking the penne and a salad.”
Just then, Marshall arrived with a huge smile on his face. “So, how’s everything here? Have we decided what we’re having?”
“I think so,” Jensen said, glancing to me and then ordering for both of us like the gentleman he was.
After Marshall left to put our orders in, Jensen and I fell back into conversation about the coming weeks of work, Dad going fishing, and the camping trip.
“So,” Jensen said, his thumb brushing the back of my hand as we touched innocently across the table. “I was thinking we could take the ATV’s when we went camping.”
“We only have the two,” I reminded him, reaching for my cider with my free hand.
“I could have Kyle stop by my parents and pick up theirs.”
Nodding, I agreed. While it would have been nice to ride out there, keeping the horses in an open field would be impossible; they’d be sure to wander while everyone was asleep. “That sounds great,” I assured him. “I’d like to buy all new gear too. Everything I have is from ten years ago and it’s crap now. I haven’t been camping in forever, so I’ve had no need to buy new stuff until now.”
Conversation then shifted to what was lined up for the ranch in the coming weeks; a few new boarders, Ransom and Starla’s continued training, as well as beginning to rehabilitate Halley a little more. I needed to start figuring out if she’d be able to compete again, or if I’d have to find a new mount.
“So, you’re going to ride?” I arched an eyebrow, his question confusing me. “It’s just … Do you think that’s such a good idea?” My eyebrow raised a tad higher. “If you’re …” He let his words trail off, probably hoping I’d just pick up on what he was trying to say without actually having to voice it.
“I don’t see how that should stop me from doing my job while I can,” I told him honestly. “Besides, we don’t know for sure if there’s anything to worry about.”
Jensen didn’t seem appeased, but he also didn’t argue with me. “Okay,” he acquiesced, even though his tone gave me the feeling he wasn’t finished. “But until we know we’re in the clear, no jumps. Groundwork only, okay?”
While I knew he was just looking out for me until we had a conclusive answer, being told what I could and couldn’t do was starting to wear my patience thin. “Jensen—”
“I’m just asking you to wait.”
“And if I am? What then?” I asked, knowing the answer before he spoke.
Jensen sighed. “Then we wait to see what a doctor has to say. Is that something you can agree to?” I could tell he was frustrated, so I didn’t argue any further. “I’m not trying to be controlling, Madi. I just want you to be safe.”
The corners of my lips turned up into a tiny smile, and I squeezed his hands. “I know, and I appreciate your concern—I do—but you have to realize that no one other than my father has ever been so over-protective. It’ll take some getting used to. Just, bear with me. Is that something you can agree to?”
With a chuckle, Jensen brought my hand to his lips and nodded. “I think I can, as long as you realize I’m never going to stop looking out for you.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I told him with a shrug.
I was happy for the interruption when Marshall arrived with our food, knowing that this conversation had the potential to wreck the evening entirely. Not willing to let that happen, Jensen and I ate our meals, revisiting the topic of camping and what all we would need.
The food was absolutely incredible, and the view of the city as the sun continued to set beyond the mountains was breathtaking. All-in-all, our date was absolutely perfect.
“How is everything here?” Marshall asked, returning as Jensen and I finished our meals. “Would the two of you care for any dessert?”
Even though my appetite was sated, I couldn’t help but remember seeing a delicious sounding dark chocolate and espresso cheesecake on the menu. I looked to Jensen expectantly and he nodded once before I turned to Marshall. “The cheesecake, please?”
“Two?”
Shaking my head, I amended his assumption. “Just one. We’ll share.”
“Perfect. I’ll bring it right out.” He was gone maybe five minutes before he returned with our dessert in-hand. “Enjoy,” he told us before going to check on his other tables.
Jensen reached for his dessert fork and cut off a tiny bite, holding it out for me. In order to accept the bite, I had to lean over the table, lifting myself off my chair a few inches. I wrapped my lips around the fork, never breaking eye contact with Jensen, and slowly slid back with the rich cheesecake in my mouth.
I hummed seductively, sitting back in my chair and licking my lips. “That’s good.” I swear, I saw Jensen’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed thickly, watching my tongue swipe some of the graham cracker crust from my lips. I picked up my own dessert fork and mimicked Jensen’s actions, holding my fork out for him before we started feeding ourselves.
“We should go,” Jensen said after leaving me the last bite. I nodded, my stomach full and appetite sated, while he stood and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He removed a wad of colorful Canadian cash to cover the bill and a very generous tip before pulling my chair back and offering me a hand to help me stand.
In the elevator, Jensen’s hand moved from the small of my back to the exposed skin above my dress. He trailed his fingers up and down my spine before eventually fiddling with my zipper. Electric currents zipped through my body, and it took everything in me not to push Jensen against the back wall of the elevator and ravage him. When the doors opened with a soft ding, I almost broke out into a chorus of “Hallelujah,” pulling him into the main lobby of the building and toward the doors. We half-ran to the car, my heels being the only thing to slow us down, and my hand had just barely touched the handle when Jensen turned me quickly and pressed me against the cool passenger side door. His lips descended on mine desperately, his fingers curling tightly around my hips as his tongue traced the line of my lips.
Sighing softly, my lips parted, and our tongues united frantically. Slowly, his fingers started moving over my hips and down my thighs, inching the hemline of my dress a little higher with every movement. The tips of his fingers caressed the bare skin of my upper thigh, carefully moving inward until the backs of his knuckles stroked the ticklish flesh just below the juncture of my legs.
“Jensen,” I panted against his lips, my fingers finding purchase in his hair and tightening until he groaned with pleasure.
His fingers inched higher and higher as my breaths came faster and faster. Unable to take it anymore, I thrust my hips forward in hopes of forcing his hand where I craved it … but he withdrew it before I could succeed. His lips slowed against mine before he nibbled on my bottom lip, and when I opened my eyes, he was looking at me, his forehead pressed to mine. “Get in the car,” he ordered hoarsely.
I complied without breaking eye contact, reaching behind me and lifting the handle. The door popped open as Jensen placed another soft kiss upon my lips and ushered me away from the door so he could open it. After getting in, Jensen rushed around the front of the vehicle to climb in behind the wheel.
My eyes focused on Jensen’s fingers wrapped around the steering wheel, imagining the pleasure I knew was coming—no pun intended. I fought back a whimper. My gaze continued to roam up his arms and neck until I finally settled on the profile of his fac
e. When I reached his eyes, he turned to me, smirking as though he could read every filthy thought running rampant through my mind. And it thrilled me.
We arrived at the hotel a few moments later, and only one thing was on our minds the entire trip from the car to our room. Jensen wasted no time once the door was closed, pulling me into his arms and kissing as he pressed me against the cold wood.
Our kiss started off tender and sweet, our lips moving lightly against each other’s and slowly deepening with every languid sweep of our tongues. Jensen pulled me farther into the room, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist until he sat back down on the bed and began to unzip the full-length zipper of my dress. Every clicking sound the zipper made while moving down my back made my heartbeat quicken, and my lips moved more enthusiastically while I tugged his tie from around his neck and tossed it to the floor.
Feelings of déjà-vu from our first time came flooding back, and I moaned into his mouth as my dress fell slack around me. Removing my hands from his shoulders, I let the satiny fabric flutter to the floor before I straddled him, forcing him to lie back on the bed. Keeping my bare upper body from resting flush against him, I slipped my hands between us and began undoing his shirt one button at a time. While I worked to rid him of his shirt, his hands moved down over my ass, resting just under it as his fingers dug into the flesh of my thighs, pulling me against him.
An intense tremor of pleasure shot up my spine and escaped as a breathy sigh against Jensen’s lips. Once his shirt was undone, I ran my hands up and down the bare skin of his chest, tracing the waist of his pants and moving back up again. When my fingers ghosted over his nipples, causing them to harden immediately, I smiled against his mouth before trailing kisses down his jaw and over his throat.
His breaths grew uneven as I continued my way down his body, teasing one of his nipples with my tongue the way he always did with mine, and he responded by thrusting his hips up against me. “Fuck, Madison,” he groaned.
“Soon,” I murmured, raising my eyes to him.
My entire body felt like it was on fire—like one single touch would cause me to spontaneously combust. After lightly grazing his nipple with my teeth, I kissed my way down his body until I was forced to stand at the foot of the bed. His head shot up off the pillowy blanket, a look of confusion across his face as his wide eyes darted back and forth between mine.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to grab a condom.” I turned toward his suitcase before tossing one sly glance over my shoulder and smiling. “Unless you aren’t interested in seeing where this is headed?”
Jensen pushed himself until he was sitting, propping his body up with his hands flat on the bed behind him, and nodded his head in the direction of his suitcase to urge me on. After retrieving it, I made my way back to the bed, Jensen’s eyes looking over my near-naked body as I walked back to him.
Standing before him, I braced myself on his shoulder, lifting my left leg to remove my shoe, when his right hand shot out to grip my wrist firmly. “Leave them on,” he growled in a raspy voice that thrilled me to my very core.
“As you wish,” I complied, tossing the condom next to him on the bed. He reached for it, and I shook my head. “Not yet.”
He opened his mouth to speak, likely to ask me “why the fuck not?”, but my motives were clear the second I sank to my knees in front of him and unfastened his pants. His breath shuddered as our eyes locked, and he lifted his hips off the bed so I could tug his pants down and remove them along with his socks and shoes. He tore his shirt from his body and added it to the growing pile of clothes before I placed my hands on his upper thighs and wet my lips.
“Wait,” he said, lying back and reaching above his head for a pillow. “Kneel on this.”
I stood up and smiled as he placed it on the floor before I resumed my previous position. “Always so thoughtful.”
Jensen reached out and cradled my face with his left hand, his fingers tangling in my hair as his thumb stroked my cheek softly. That one look shared between us spoke volumes as I wrapped my hand around his length and sheathed the tip with my lips. Jensen groaned, his fingers tightening into my hair as I lowered my head until I felt him touch the back of my throat and moved up slowly. Using both my mouth and my right hand, I maintained a steady rhythm, moving up and down, swirling my tongue around the head on every upward pass before taking him all the way in again.
As I continued, I could feel myself getting more and more aroused. I wanted to stop and have Jensen throw me down on the bed and fuck me into oblivion, but the sounds he made encouraged me to carry on. Desperate for some sexual gratification of my own, I slipped my left hand between my legs and began stroking my fingers through the moisture that had gathered there.
I had just taken Jensen all the way into my mouth again when I swiped my fingers over my clit, moaning around him and pushing him that much closer to his release. Without warning, Jensen pulled my head back until I released his length. We were both breathing pretty heavily as he stared at me, his eyes dark and hungry.
“On the bed, now,” were the only words he uttered, and I listened without pause, placing my hands firmly on his thighs and pushing myself to my feet, sidestepping and crawling toward the head of the bed. “So, how do you want me?” I asked coyly, turning my head to find him watching me raptly.
In a flash, Jensen grabbed my ankles and had me on my back. I squealed and was yanking my panties down my legs, careful to leave my shoes on the entire time. Before lowering himself, he rolled the condom on. He hovered inches above me, and it felt like the sweetest torture; heat radiated off of his body, but he wasn’t touching me. And I needed him to be touching me.
Just as I lifted my head to kiss him, our lips barely touching, he pulled back a little. “Roll over, love,” he commanded softly, his nose brushing mine.
I was probably a little too eager to comply. “Whatever you want,” I said, sitting up and turning onto my hands and knees.
I felt his hands ensnare my hips, pulling me back onto him slowly. It took everything in me to not push myself back onto him like the shameless hussy that teetered on the edge of my awareness. We moaned with mutual satisfaction the second his hips rest against my ass, his fingers digging into my skin while I fisted the blankets. Soon, he was moving steadily behind me, each thrust making me see stars as I balanced on the brink of bliss.
It wouldn’t have surprised me if the neighbors on the other side of the wall called in a noise complaint.
I moaned as he continued his manic thrusting, tightening my already strong grip on the blankets, and before I knew it, my orgasm crashed through my entire body.
Jensen groaned and murmured through his own climax, his hands gripping my hips and pulling me back to meet his own ferocious movements as he rode out his own final surges of pleasure.
My arms and legs trembled as Jensen leaned forward, placing delicate kisses onto my neck and shoulder while lowering us to the bed. “I love you,” he whispered, pressing his lips to the hollow below my ear.
I hummed contentedly, my body sinking into the bed as numbness set in. “I love you, too.” Turning my head to him, I smiled. “Tonight was amazing.”
Jensen kissed the tip of my nose. “Only the best for my girl.”
Chapter 29. Back in the Swing of Things
I slammed my hand down on the alarm clock, silencing its insufferable buzzing, before turning back to Madison as she rolled onto her stomach and pulled her pillow over her head.
Smiling, I wrapped my arm around her waist and turned her back onto her side so I could press my body against hers as I kissed the top of her shoulder.
With a groan, she tossed her pillow to the foot of the bed, multiple strands of her hair standing on end as she turned to look at me through the corner of her eye. “It’s too damn early,” she grumbled, pushing her bottom lip out into a pout.
Smiling, I kissed her cheek. “Baby, it’s no earlier than every other day this week.”
&nb
sp; We’d been home from Calgary for a week, and while Madison and I were hoping for a low-key weekend with Wayne and Tom gone, we actually found ourselves quite busy. We hardly saw each other except for first thing in the mornings, at lunch, and in the evenings. With Madison taking care of all the lessons, as well as her usual responsibilities, she seemed a little more stressed than usual, and was tossing and turning in her sleep almost every night since we returned as a result.
I moved my hand down her body, up over her hip, and traced my fingers over her bare thigh below the hemline of her shorts. She shivered. “Come on, we have to get up and get ready for work. I’ll make you breakfast.” I stood from the bed and entered the bathroom to brush my teeth. “What are you in the mood for?” I mumbled around my toothbrush, leaning against the doorframe to watch her.
Groaning again, she propped herself up on her elbows and frowned, shaking her head. “Um, nothing … I’m not feeling very hungry, actually.”
I laughed, rinsing my toothbrush off and watching her through the mirror. “Sweetheart, you have to eat.”
Slowly, she pushed herself up before turning to put her feet on the floor. “I know. I guess just eggs. Plain though.” She was acting odd, and I watched her carefully as she stood up, pulling her white tank down over her exposed midriff. “I’m just going to use the washroom, and then I’ll be right out, okay?”
After pulling my T-shirt on, I nodded. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just really tired.” she said, placing a hand flat on my chest in passing, before closing herself in the ensuite.
Upon hearing the soft click of the washroom door, Bones woke up, his oversized ears perking forward and his tail wagging as he looked between the door and me from his dog bed. Finally, he decided I was the better option than the closed door, and he got up, clumsily running across the room with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
After opening the patio door for him, I started on Madison’s eggs. Thinking back on her change in appetite the last few days had me starting to worry about what fate might have in store for us. If I really thought back on it—not something I relished doing—Kaylie had shown similar signs right before I found out she was pregnant.