by Billi Jean
Eric swallowed his envy and considered how insane it was that his life had turned so upside down. He’d put it to rights soon enough. He’d gone this long without sex. He could make it a bit longer, because he had an idea that there was more than one DNA match for his dick. Savannah had been one—a weak one. Obviously Mindy was. But Sonya, he thought, and felt his pole harden to the wood he was used to. Sonya—he’d bet—was another.
He’d fuck her until he tired of her, then he’d kill her and go kill Tazz for sticking him in this situation with Mindy. Without that, he’d be screwing as usual.
As he watched, Savage set down the pill and, smiling, turned to his keyboard. Seconds later and he was in the millionaire’s club. The sensation was almost as good as sex. Almost.
“If I need to contact you, I’ll call. Otherwise, expect your product within a few days.” He stood and reached over to shake Savage’s hand.
“You can’t stay? I was thinking I’d show you around. There are some beautiful women at my club.”
“That is an offer I wish I could take,” he responded automatically and pasted on his best smile. “I have some unfinished business, if you know what I mean.”
Savage glanced down at his hips, no doubt in cock envy. “I bet you do,” he muttered but met Eric’s eyes again with his own ‘I have a big cock, too’ smile and nodded.
“I think I have the same unfinished business to see to, Eric.”
Eric laughed, but he doubted it. He highly doubted it.
* * * *
“I can’t believe you climbed up that cliff,” Cody said after a bit of quiet riding with Sonya resting in his arms. She smelled like sunshine and some kind of citrusy vanilla perfume. It wasn’t heavy or overboard, but he’d never be able to smell the scent again without thinking of her.
“You don’t climb?” she asked, turning her head to examine his face. All of it, he knew. She’d never shied from his scars. In fact, she tended to kiss that side of his face when she did gift him with a brush of her soft lips.
He shook his head, more at how pretty she was, especially with her hair braided Indian style with her long bangs covering her forehead, than at her question. “I did in the Army, but only because I had to. Heights freak me the hell out.”
“They do?” she asked and he could tell that he’d not fooled her at all. He had a feeling she’d checked him out. He wasn’t sure why he felt that way, but he did. She was too cautious and too well trained not to have done some research on him while he’d had his head up his ass. For all he knew, she had the equipment to run DC from her little cabin.
Little cabin. Amazing house was more like it. Whoever her friends were, they had taste, and smarts. There had been a cabin up here ages ago. He remembered his dad talking about it, but he’d never really paid attention to where. Even back then his dad said the guy that had built it only came up every few years.
“You’re making that up,” she said in that sassy tone he liked.
He nodded then kissed her on the side of her head. “They don’t freak me out but I don’t like ’em. I like my feet—or my foot—on the ground.”
She snorted cute as hell and gave him an elbow in the ribs. “You’re a smart ass, too.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that,” he admitted.
“Ranger, were you?”
He frowned and glanced at her. “Yeah, how’d you know?”
“I’m wicked smart,” she murmured and leaned back into him with a shiver.
He rested her more comfortably against his chest and wrapped his arm tighter around her. “You getting cold?”
“A bit,” she admitted. “Does it snow in August here?”
“Sometimes, sure. There’s been snow in July here. July Fourth last year, it snowed. I think the fireworks were canceled.”
“Really?” she laughed and peeked at him, as if to check if he was teasing her.
He shrugged. “I think so.” He hadn’t paid much attention. Now that he thought about it, he’d not paid attention to a lot. Christmas, Thanksgiving—all were a blur of him digging his heels in and refusing to leave his house.
“You don’t celebrate the Fourth of July?” she asked.
The woman probably excelled at interrogation. She sure had him pegged. He knew that she was digging and for more than facts. She’d put together a profile on him, complete with drinking himself to oblivion, no doubt.
He eyed her beautiful face. There really was no reason not to tell her, and more than a few to be honest with her. Maybe if he was, she would be even more open than she had been. He still felt a rush of some kind of crazy shit hit him, thinking of the trust she was giving him telling him about her childhood experience. That kind of thing wasn’t offered up easily—unless she was a lot like him and wanted to spill the bad so it could be out of the way. God knew she couldn’t have cared less about what was left of his leg.
“I’ve been a bit busy drinking lately and just…” He shrugged and turned away to add, “Didn’t notice the holidays or want to be around anyone during them.”
She nodded as if that made sense. “Sometimes you need a break, I guess. Like me…out here,” she went on to say. “It’s sweet out here, you know? A place I never really considered coming to before, but now…” She paused. “Now I’m glad I did. The mountains are amazing, but all of it,” she said, gesturing to the wide openness of the landscape, “is so soothing, you know?”
He did know. He was just surprised she did. “Yep, the pace of this place is different. It’s set on a clock that we can’t control.” He motioned to the sun dipping down near the mountains. “That rises and sets and there’s not a thing we can do. It’s kinda humbling.”
“Yeah,” she breathed. “A reality check in a way.”
A reality check. He thought about that and agreed completely. After being in combat and experiencing death and dying all around him, with the constant state of awareness battle brought, being here was simple. The sun came up. It set. Life went on—sometimes too fast, sometimes without knowing it, but it didn’t wait for anyone. It just kept on going.
“You weren’t born in the States, were you?” he asked after a quiet spell.
She stiffened in his arms.
Touchy subject or he’d surprised her.
“Why do you ask?” she asked, confirming that he’d surprised her.
“You have an accent sometimes,” he murmured and rubbed his lips along her cheek. “Especially when you come. Then it comes out all the stronger.”
She relaxed back into him and laughed softly. He liked her laugh. It wasn’t fake, put on or over the top.
“Oh, is that so?” she asked, turning to meet his lips with hers. She kissed as if she had all the time in the world. With his horse going home and no one around to care, they did have all the time in the world. He was glad, too, because he wanted her alone, all to himself. For how long?
“Damn,” he breathed against her lush lips, so turned on by her he had to fight with himself not to stop and make love to her. “You’re a hard woman to say no to, but I’m determined.”
“Why?” she asked, as if he puzzled her. As if wanting more than sex was odd—or having fun, he thought with more surety, like having fun with a man in or out of bed was unusual. Maybe both, he considered, watching her green eyes examine his face.
“Because I want to show you fun,” he said, watching her eyes narrow with interest. “I don’t think you’ve had much fun, and I sure the hell haven’t in too long, so why not?”
“Why not have fun?” she asked. “I don’t know. I guess we can try it, but I’m not eating any fish you pull out of a muddy pond.”
He laughed so hard his stomach hurt. She wrinkled her nose when she said that like it was the grossest thing in the world.
“All right, how about a creek? Fresh water trout. Once you’ve had it, you’ll never doubt me again.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, cowboy,” she murmured but rested back in his arms. “I’m picky about some things, but I�
�ll follow your lead on this one.”
He liked that—how she let him guide this. He wasn’t fool enough to think she’d go along if she really didn’t want to go, but he hoped she wanted to spend the time with him. He’d missed her this morning and he barely knew her. That kind of thing was dangerous.
Still, he wasn’t going to give up.
Now, if he could just figure out what she did and why she was out here.
“It’s the truth. You’ll see. Have I steered you wrong since we met?” he asked and sure enough, she turned her head and pressed a kiss to his mouth.
“Not at all,” she whispered, “but right now I want something a lot more strenuous than fishing, Cody.”
His cock swelled from her sexy teasing alone. Forget the fact that he’d been primed for her all day and now held her sweet curves in his arms. He fought it, but really, why when she wanted it? She’d run from him this morning. He was no fool. She’d gone hiking to avoid him. Maybe he could show her that was a mistake.
A big mistake.
With a grin, he stroked down her thigh then back up to her stomach and right under her breasts. She stopped breathing and he swore her temperature turned hotter just like that. He caressed downward slowly, building the anticipation while he pressed a kiss to her throat. Slowly, he inched his way to where he wanted to be—her pussy. The way she leaned into him, he knew she could feel him swelling to fully loaded along her lower back. He’d made sure to shift himself upward before he climbed on behind her. No way did he want his dick hardening sharing space with his thigh in his jeans. Sure enough, when he leaned forward in his stirrups and sucked in a breath, the head forced its way above the loose waistband. Thank God he’d lost some pounds with all his drinking, or his jeans would have cut off all circulation to his cock by now. His balls were already tight, clearly ready for more of Sonya.
“Cody—”
“You see those flowers over there, Sonya?” he whispered against her neck. He felt her turn her head. “I’m going to lay you down in those flowers and make you scream my name in less than five minutes. It’s going to be fast, from all the teasing you’ve been doing,” he warned. “But I’m going to make clear that this is much more than some sex vacation for you, Sonya, much, much more. Then we’ll go get ourselves ready for a different kind of fun.”
“Cody,” she breathed on a sexy moan.
“It’s gonna be hard, firecracker, but you’re going to go off like the Fourth of July—all for me, okay? And after, you’re going to remember that I’m the one that can give you that,” he growled.
She nodded urgently.
“Good girl,” he said and squeezed her mound, driving a finger against the soft, thin pants and right between her thighs. He swore he could feel the heat from her through the fabric. He rubbed her there and was rewarded with a heavy moan and more heat against his fingers.
“Let me hear you say it.”
The breath left her on a groan and he swore he could feel her soaking her panties. His erection thickened, so hard he had to reach between them and unbuckle and drag his zipper down so he could ease the thing.
As he did, Sonya turned her head and panted against his jaw, clearly turned on. “Cody, get me off this horse,” she demanded in a voice so rich with passion he felt his body tense.
“Gotta be careful of your leg,” he remembered.
“Yes, of course,” she agreed, sounding like she would agree to anything.
“And no more running, Sonya,” he added, cupping her breast while he breathed against her ear. Her skin was soft, but here it was so silky he couldn’t keep his mouth off her. She trembled and dug her fingers into his wrist where he was lightly massaging her.
“Say it,” he demanded and rolled her nipple in his fingers, just the way he’d learned she liked it. She gasped and moaned when he tugged on it and bit down on the nape of her neck where she had a sensitive spot.
“Oh shit,” she cried and by the sound of it, she nearly orgasmed.
“God damn,” he growled and wrapped his arms around her waist and took her mouth in a kiss that he couldn’t control even if he wasn’t on the edge of fucking her on his horse. The kiss turned wild and before he embarrassed himself by coming, he jumped down and carefully brought her with him.
“Another kiss,” he demanded, taking her mouth as he pulled her climbing pants down gently over her leg. He let them go and gripped her bare ass. He couldn’t remember why he wanted to make clear that this was more than sex, more than him fucking her. All those thoughts left the building—completely vanished from his consciousness as he stroked her lush ass while he devoured her lips. All that was left was the driving need for the silky heat of her surrounding him.
She seemed to agree. She tore at his shirt and buttons ripped free but he didn’t care. Seconds later she was on her back and he settled between her silky thighs. He fumbled with shoving his pants out of the way more completely, only because she was kissing him like crazy. He reached down and grabbed his throbbing erection and fit it to her gloriously soft and slick pussy.
She moaned and wrapped her legs around his ass and he took that as the signal to go. He shoved in easily. She was that ready for him. With rough, urgent passes of his hips he couldn’t control, he fucked into her until he felt his balls begin to slap against her soft flesh.
“Oh shit, shit, shit,” she chanted until he gave her a long, firm pass that jarred them both at impact then she simply gasped sexily.
He felt the same way but bent and tortured himself by shoving her shirt up and sucking on her nipple. It tasted sweet, like her, and he tugged hard with his mouth while he shafted her tight pussy in a growing frenzy. It was insane how wild she made him, how much she urged him on and how fast he wanted to burn into flames. It felt as if he couldn’t slow, couldn’t go easy and had to suck up as much of this as he could.
Within seconds she climaxed hard enough that he broke his hold on her breast and followed her with harsh, out of control groans. His cum burst down his swollen cock and out in spurt after spurt of just plain amazing sensations that seemed to grow each time they made love.
When he could see past the spots spinning in his vision, Sonya lay under him. She’d collapsed back on the soft bed of flowers with her hands over her head, still shuddering as she continued to climax. She moaned and bit her lip to hold in the sound as he watched, but her legs trembling along his ribs and her body clenched on him, telling him exactly how much she’d liked this idea of fast and hard.
As soon as her pleasure slowed, she relaxed under him with a dreamy sigh and opened her eyes with a sated expression on her flushed face.
He gave her a cocky grin, feeling as if he’d just scored some pretty big points. “Liked that, did you?”
“Oh, yes,” she whispered.
“No more running then,” he growled and leaned forward to drive in deeper.
“Oh, Cody, I don’t think I could even walk right now,” she said, sounding worried about that.
Chapter Thirteen
There were things in life that Sonya wished weren’t the way they were, but knew she couldn’t change. Watching Cody gathering up his fishing equipment wasn’t one of them. She liked the way he moved, so confident and sure of himself. That had to have taken months of rehab to accomplish, but he acted as if all he’d done since he’d left the service was drink and stay at home. She could watch him all day and still find something unique to only him.
“This is a nice place,” she offered.
He turned his head to give her a glance then scanned his home as if seeing it for the first time. “You think so?”
“I do,” she said, and walked over to the wall of pictures. His family and him as a small boy, then older all the way up to a recent photo of him. Or him in the service, she corrected. He had longer hair now—back then he wore it close like most military. “Ranger, I see, with some decorations on that chest,” she commented, wondering if he’d say more about that now.
“Yeah,” he muttered
, but didn’t go on like some men would.
He’s not some men. Cody’s not like anyone else I’ve ever met.
“Where are your parents?” she asked, half afraid he’d say dead.
“My folks are in Florida. They split up when I was around ten and my dad moved to Florida, then my mom.”
“Together?” she asked and turned to see him watching her.
He grinned and shrugged. He did that a lot. “I don’t think so, but I don’t pry.”
“But you came here.”
“This was my grandpop’s before, so I stayed here with him,” he said as if that explained it.
Of course it didn’t. “So you grew up with…?”
“My grandpop. My folks kinda got busy down in Florida, and he was here, I liked it here, so I stayed with him.”
“And now,” she murmured, finding one picture of a younger Cody holding a fish near an older man with bushy white hair and a lean face. “Your grandpa is dead.”
“Yeah, he passed on some time ago. He lived to be ninety-three, though, so I have hopes. What about you? You from long-lived stock?”
“Stock?” she laughed. “I don’t know,” she added when he appeared curious. “I didn’t really know my father, and my mother remarried. We didn’t get on,” she said, simplifying her experiences that easily. “I don’t talk about it or think about the past. For me it’s in the past for a reason.”
He took the hint and nodded. “I see. Looking forward works for you.”
“Yes,” she said, surprised that he got it. “It does.”
That seemed to give him something to think about because he got quiet taking care of the fishing supplies, then packing ice in a chest and adding a few beers when she nodded. He didn’t add any whiskey and she didn’t see any about the place.
Surprisingly, the house was neat, even if a little dusty, but sparse. There was no lady’s touch here. A fireplace on one wall, a wood stove in front of it, hardwood floors throughout, a throw rug where the couch and two comfortable chairs stood at different angles and a bookshelf stuffed with books and sports trophies was about the extent of the living room. His kitchen was practical, with nice, newer appliances she’d bet he’d bought his grandpa.