A Rancher’s Love: The Stones of Heart Falls: Book 4

by Vivian Arend

But when Ginny reached forward, intent on claiming her prize, she was once again crowded back against the mattress. Tucker loomed over her, all stern and sexy. “Stay put.”

  Slowly, so slowly, he lowered. Heated skin met heated kisses, and all her worries truly fell away.

  This was what she’d missed the most. Not the sex, but the intimacy of it all. His tongue teasing hers before stealing away to torment the spot under her ear, the top of her collarbone, the swoop of her breast up to her nipple.

  The entire time Tucker kissed and nipped, he rubbed against her, his hard body hot and possessive and perfect.

  He slid a hand ahead of his lips, cupping her sex firmly. More heat, rubbing his palm slowly against the sensitive spot at the apex. As he suckled one nipple into his mouth, a finger pressed through her curls and into her wet core.

  Tucker’s forehead met her torso and he breathed shakily. “You are so fucking wet.”

  “You get me excited,” Ginny admitted. “You’re pretty much a wet dream machine.”

  That got the snort of amusement that she’d hoped for.

  It also got more than she bargained for, because in a heartbeat, slow vanished.

  Tucker dropped between her legs, put his mouth over her sex and went to town. He pressed long hard strokes with his tongue over her labia and between. Then sharp, quick flickers at the peak, and her clit all but buzzed a warning of the rapidly approaching storm.

  He slid his finger back inside, still teasing, and the tingles expanded even farther.

  Tucker added another finger, stroking slowly, then faster, rubbing in exactly the right spot until her hips were all but vibrating.

  “That’s it, beautiful. Come all over my fingers. Show me how you’re going to squeeze my cock the next time we fool around. Because I’m going to take you hard. Bend you over and push into you until I’m buried deep and then I’ll fuck you until you’re boneless.”

  His fingers—so deep inside. So full. Teasing and stroking and—

  Ginny broke. Her orgasm rushed, swirling for a second before becoming a million stars escaping in a cosmic explosion.

  Tucker swore, adjusting position to kneel up on the bed beside her. He had his cock in his hand, pumping furiously as he stared down. Gaze jumping from her breasts to her mouth, to between her legs where she lazily stroked herself to keep the rumble of pleasure going.

  “Fuck.” The thick head of his cock peeked out from his hand over and over. His abs tightened even more as Tucker’s head fell back, semen flying over her hips and stomach in pale white lines as he pumped his release free.

  Perfectly dirty. Dirty and perfect.

  Tucker sank back on his heels, chest rocking with each sharp inhale as he worked to catch his breath. “Damn, woman.”

  “I know, right?” Ginny stretched her arms overhead, pulling them back as her knuckles banged into the trailer wall.

  He smirked. “Tight quarters.”

  “That’s what he said.”

  Which triggered another of his rare smiles. “I like that you’re a dirty girl,” he admitted, “only I was more focused on the fact there’s not enough room to take you in the shower and clean you up.”

  “Ravish me against the wall, more likely,” she teased. “You did that the one year, remember? When we met in Banff.”

  “Trust me.” Tucker leaned over and grabbed his T-shirt, sliding it over her belly in a careful clean-up caress. “Every single one of our escapades is burned into both my brain and my retinas. You are one sexy woman, Ginny. I have zero problems remembering every wicked moment we’ve shared.”

  She waited until he was done, then tugged back the covers and gestured him in. “After you.”

  Tucker paused to pull on his boxer briefs.

  Ginny curled up on an elbow and watched with gut-happy satisfaction. “Feeling shy? Want me to pull on my pjs?”

  “Hell, no,” he said quickly, joining her on the mattress. He arranged them until she was wrapped up in a Tucker burrito, naked back to his front, the long length of his cock under the fabric pressed to her backside. “Just making sure there’s at least one barrier in the way so I don’t start thinking I’m having the dream of the century and discover we’ve gone somewhere we don’t want to go without a condom involved.”

  “Good idea.” Ginny relaxed into him. “Tucker?”

  His answer came slower. Softer. “Yeah?”

  “I’m glad you’re here. In Silver Stone, but also, that you’re in bed with me.” She’d never been one to hold back. Why start now?

  “Me too. Now shut up and go to sleep before I get cranky.”

  “How can you get cranky after you just—”

  He covered her mouth with his hand, nuzzling her neck as he whispered gently, “Shut the fuck up, goddess.”

  She snickered, then licked his palm.

  Tucker was still chuckling softly as she nestled in and fell asleep.

  6

  An insistent buzzing tickled in Ginny’s ears. She was so cozy and warm it was hard to pull herself awake and even harder after she realized the reason why she was so comfortable was the sleek muscular form of Tucker against her side.

  They had both rolled to their backs, but their legs were connected, heat cocooning in the space around their bodies.

  Buzz, buzz, buzz.

  When another second set of alarms went off, this time across the room and accompanied by a strange rattling noise, understanding kicked in. She had messages, and Tucker’s phone, on the other side of the room, was also going off.

  She slid from under the covers and grabbed hers first, peering at a series of messages lighting up her screen from Dare.

  She ignored them for a moment and headed across to where Tucker’s jeans lay abandoned on the floor. His phone buzzed again, rattling against the linoleum. She stole the phone out of his pocket and caught a glimpse of her brother Luke’s name.

  Ginny glanced at the bed.

  Tucker stretched lazily, pale blue eyes looking her over with rising heat. “Put the phone down, and I’ll find a better way to wake you up,” he promised.

  Ginny resisted the urge to flip the device at him. Instead, she reached into his duffle bag and pulled out one of his T-shirts, slipping it over her head as she grinned. “I think you should answer your messages. Just so my brother doesn’t get it in his head to come over here for the second morning in a row with a wake-up call.”

  Tucker shot upright, thrusting his hand forward. “Yeah, good idea.”

  Ginny bounced onto the bed and across his lap first, diving in for a morning kiss before she could think better of it.

  He didn’t seem to have clued into the concept that morning breath was bad, and just the pressure of his arms around her as he hugged tight—not a thing wrong with that scenario.

  She scooted back quickly though, just in case. “My sister’s messaging me. Let me see what she wants.”

  The two of them must have looked a sight. Rearranging pillows so they were propped up sitting comfortably in the bed to check their phones.

  “I swear to God we must look like one of those social media disaster ads. No one communicates anymore…,” Tucker muttered softly, but he still thumbed open his messages.

  Ginny snickered then glanced down to see what Dare had spewed at her.

  Dare: It’s seven o’clock, wake up, wake up.

  Dare: Boxing Day, and I’ve got a million things I need to do, but I want to talk to youuuuuuuuuu.

  Dare: Wake up, sleepyhead. I can’t imagine you’ve got anything happening over there that should’ve exhausted you so much that you’re still sleeping.

  Dare: Ping

  Dare: Ping

  Dare: Okay, I’ll stop now, just in case you actually are still sleeping. Lazy butt. Message me!

  Ginny chuckled as she messaged back.

  Ginny: Motherhood has not increased your patience any.

  Dare: I’ll have you know I’m extraordinarily patient in some areas. You are not one of them. The Coleman gatheri
ng today is at Whiskey Creek ranch for Boxing Day shenanigans, as Lisa would say. What mischief are you up to?

  Ginny glanced over at Tucker who was making funny faces as his thumbs moved over the screen. Oh, there were a few things that she wanted to do. Speaking of which—

  Ginny: One. I told Caleb what I was upset about, just like you suggested, and everything’s cool and over and forgotten.

  Two. Tamara gave me a present from my mom that’s been packaged up for nearly fourteen years.

  Three. I’m currently in bed with Tucker.

  She hit send with gleeful delight.

  Tucker elbowed her in the side. “The expression on your face right now is downright evil.”

  “Talk to my brother and ignore me. I’m having fun with my sister.” Ginny ordered. She leaned closer, though, peeking at his screen. “Are you telling him about us?”

  He sighed. “I guess that means you just told Dare where you are, yes?”

  Before Ginny could answer, her phone went off with three rapid pings in a row.

  “I’ll get back to you on that,” Ginny told Tucker.

  On her phone, Dare was blowing things up.

  Dare: Holy shit

  Dare: That’s for all three of your bombs

  Dare: Did you have fun? Did you stay safe?

  Of course Dare would focus on the Tucker part of the occasion.

  Ginny: Yes, mom. Safer than a certain other person I know.

  Dare: Stop it. We used condoms. Anyway, was it good?

  Ginny: As always. Tell you more about that, later. Right now I’m a little more focused on the present from Mom.

  This time the message took a little longer to arrive, and Ginny feared her sister was probably writing some huge missive. She glanced over and examined Tucker again.

  He had put his phone away and was watching her.

  May as well stick to the truth. “Yes, I told Dare you and I are in bed together. She knows about all the other times. I told you that, and you said it was okay.”

  He shrugged. “Just getting everything straight so there’s no misunderstanding later.”

  That didn’t sound like a hey, ho, everything’s kosher. “What does that mean?”

  He leaned forward. “It means once you’re done talking with your sister, we’re having another conversation about the sexing business, capisce?”

  Ping.

  Ginny waved a hand in the air. “I’ll get back to you on that as well. I’ll have my people call your people.”

  She got a lip twitch out of him. It was stupid how good that made her feel.

  Dare truly had written a mini novel.

  Dare: First, I’m glad you talked to Caleb. I’m glad it’s behind you.

  I need to say—you are so freaking good at that telling the truth thing, and I’m glad. I would have stewed over it for three years and ended up hating everybody, including myself. But like you said, you’ve talked about it, it’s over, it’s done. I love you.

  Dare: Next part. The present from your mom. I read that, and I swear a freaking load of butterflies took flight in my gut. That is the most Oh My God thing I’ve heard in a long time.

  How are you doing? Do you want me to come down and be there when you open it? Do you want to—I don’t even know what to offer. Tell me what you need, and I’m there for you.

  I love you so much, and I’m equal parts excited and terrified for you right now.

  Yup. Her sister understood completely.

  Her own answer took a bit of time to compose.

  Ginny: I love you too. Right now the present is sitting on the dresser top, looming ominously. Thank you so much for offering to be there when I open it, and I would totally take you up on the offer other than that’s not a good idea, because you’re the one with the babies, and you’re going to come to me? If I need you to hold my hand, I will admit it and haul my carcass up to you.

  Ginny: But it’s already feeling a little less gut-numbing. I think I might open the envelope first and see how emotionally devastating Mom decided to be. It could be a card with a farting dog on it, and there’s not a lot of backlash from that. Know what I mean?

  Dare: I could see your mom doing that.

  Ginny: So can I.

  Dare: My babies are calling, and my man is waving frantically. I’ve got to go. Call me if you need me.

  Ginny: I will.

  Dare: I love you, Truth.

  Ginny: I love you, Dare.

  Ginny stared at her phone for a minute, the familiar phrasing such a part of her past.

  Tucker stroked his fingers up and down her arm in a gentle caress. “You okay?”

  It was good to answer, once again, truthfully. “I think I am.”

  She had good people around her. So many people willing to support her and help her, and that’s what she wanted to be for them. Supportive.

  A seed of an idea began to grow.

  Barely past seven and already the day was lining up to be a doozy. Tucker curled himself into an upright position so that he and Ginny were face-to-face.

  “How’s Dare?”

  A true smile of contentment crossed Ginny’s face. “She’s good. Her three kiddos are adorable, and her husband’s so freaking head over heels for her that it’s kind of obnoxious to be in the same room as them. Plus, she’s got hordes of Coleman family at her beck and call.”

  “Yeah, but she doesn’t have you anymore,” Tucker pointed out.

  Ginny dipped her chin slowly. “I was glad I finished my journeyman program in time to be there when Dare had her twins. And while I have now had way too many sleepless nights for a nonparental human, I adored being there with the babies. But now it’s time to do the next thing. For both of us.”

  “Which means you here at the ranch?” Tucker asked.

  He really needed to know the answer to this. It had been hinted at yesterday, but never straight up said. All of his plans were for nothing if she wasn’t sticking around. Because as much as he wanted to help his uncle, as much as he loved Silver Stone…

  Ginny was the deciding factor.

  She straightened, her breasts pressed to the front of his T-shirt. He ripped his gaze back up to her eyes, and she smirked. “You are so easy to distract.”

  “Answer the question, woman.”

  “Yes.” She nodded firmly. “I’m home, and I plan on being the best…something. I have no idea how to finish that statement right now, because there’s a lot of things up in the air, it seems.”

  She had no freaking idea.

  Tucker shook his phone. “Luke told me there’s a hockey game starting at eleven a.m.”

  Ginny frowned. “Which teams have games on Boxing Day?”

  A laugh escaped before he could stop it. “Ginny. Pond hockey. Your brothers, me. The poor Southern gentleman who’s probably never been on skates in his life.”

  “Oh, that kind of hockey.” Mischief danced over her face. “I wonder if my old skates are still in the basement.”

  “You can be goalie for my team,” Tucker offered.

  Her jaw dropped with an exaggerated gasp. “Number one, no way am I standing defenseless while my brothers flick rock-solid pucks at me.”

  When she didn’t continue, he frowned. “What’s number two?”

  “There is no number two. Number one pretty much says it all. I like my teeth in my mouth, thank you.”

  He curled his arms around her and rolled until she was on top. “I like the way you’re put together, too. Teeth, lips, spectacular breasts.”

  She folded her hands over his chest and rested her chin on them. “Really? This is an interesting conversation twist.”

  “Just continuing the one I mentioned before. Regarding sexing.”

  She didn’t stiffen, but Tucker knew enough about Ginny’s body language to read she was in wait-and-see mode. A little cautious in case he threw something unexpected at her.

  He wasn’t ready to lob the true grenade yet, but at some point, it was happening. Until Caleb gave them th
e go-ahead, Tucker couldn’t assume his place was a shoe-in. Which meant not changing his and Ginny’s relationship.

  Yet.

  Only one thing was non-negotiable. “We’ve had good reasons to keep our adventures discreet. Until there’s a need to change that, I’m okay with Dare being the only one who knows.”

  Okay, so Ashton had also implied he had his suspicions…

  Tucker met Ginny’s gaze steadily. It was mere days at the most before he’d be able to confess to that part.

  Ginny twisted her head slightly. “You didn’t say the but yet, did you?”

  “Smart woman. The but is… if anyone finds out, we agree to tell the truth and don’t scramble like we’re living in some awkward sitcom. We tell them that we’re adults, and our decision didn’t involve them. Keeping something from my friends because it’s none of their business is completely different from lying to their faces.”

  Ginny raised a hand in the air. “I am the most truthful person in the entire Stone family. Plus, I agree with you, but please, can we avoid spilling the beans, if possible? I really don’t want anybody to beat you up. It’s bad enough when you and Luke go off and pound on each other—I still do not approve, by the way.”

  Tucker raised his brows, ignoring her comment about fighting because that was a confrontation just waiting to happen, and he didn’t want it now. “I’m sure Luke would claim it was your fault. Which it totally was if we’re being honest.”

  “You wanted me just as much as I wanted you,” Ginny said.

  He had, after the shock of her coming onto him had faded. “I never suspected a thing, but I’m damn glad you made a move when you did. At least, looking back.”

  She grinned hugely. “Yeah, once you got over trying to be heroic. And then once you got over being scandalized at the idea of doing Luke’s sister. And once you got past the…”

  “You done anytime soon?” he drawled.

  She smacked a hand down on his ribs then turned it into a tickle.

  She knew all his hot spots and took merciless advantage. By the time he had caught her wrists and tugged until she was spooned against him, they were both once again relaxed and content, comfortable with each other in a way that made Tucker drift back to some very specific thoughts.