Lyric rode it hard. Her delicious nectar gushed to meet his touch, and her cavern craned open to swallow his fingers to their limit. Every plunging thrust of his hand against her bones brought another tempestuous gasp to her lips. Every swirling insertion of his digits into her glory hole sent her spiraling out of control into dizzying heights of heavenly rapture.
Before she knew what had happened, she rocketed out into space. Brilliant flashes of light exploded before her eyes, and a massive wave of sweeping orgasmic bliss washed her out to sea. She thrust her hips back and forth on his swimming fingers, and she sank onto his hand in ecstatic throes of passion.
She never could figure out afterwards how he managed it, but the next thing she knew, his hand disappeared and left a throbbing, burning torch in its place. It worked against her swollen tissues with a thick round head. It sipped her sugar through its tiny gold-tipped straw.
In an instant, that powerful rigid shaft slipped in to find its place among her frilly tissues. No friction or pain of any kind marked its passage. Her body opened to receive it, and she sat down on it with a satisfied sigh. It filled every inch of her being with its muscled length. It touched the exotic territory inside her and sent her spinning through even greater storms of climax and cataclysm.
Their bodies fit together in a tighter embrace than ever before. Not one wink of space held them apart. Her skin sealed against his in a film of hot sticky wetness. His sweat glued his cells to hers. Those wicked hooks arched around his sides to anchor his twining tendrils into her very being. She could never get away. She didn't want to get away. She collapsed under his ravishing power to become his.
The monstrous waves of ecstasy and bliss cascaded over her and tumbled her into oblivion. He rocked her back and forth on his torturous spike. He wouldn't release her from the torrential implosion. He injected his throbbing meat to her very center and rocketed her beyond the reach of understanding.
Before she could come down from drifting in the clouds, he collapsed back on the bed. He tried to take her with him, but the unstoppable surges blasting through her whipped her out of his grasp. She arched back with his spike still embedded inside her, and it nagged her to new extremes of screaming fury.
He bucked up into her from below, and she rode that wild bronco with all her passion and skill. Her hips swayed to find her natural balance. Her head whipped back, and her untamed cries drifted into heaven. She sank her claws into those sharp patterns marking his chest. She raked her fingers down his abs where they crunched against her sweet mound. She kicked her pelvis hard to swallow his shaft into her deepest cavern.
Mattox rolled her head back, and his lips shivered away from his teeth in a deathly snarl. He gripped her hips in both hands and jerked her forward and back against his delving thrusts. He worshiped at the altar of the goddess riding him to angelic climax.
Through it all, Lyric sang to the stars in glorious fulfillment. His prick shot her full of the most delightful pleasure she could imagine. Her body liquefied in hot torrents of juicy ecstasy. She lost all awareness of what she was doing or how she did it. Her body took over and moved where it wanted to go, and where it wanted to go was onto him.
Her flesh gleamed bright with golden passion. She sparkled all down her skin from her eyelids to the tips of her fingers. She consumed this food from the gods in craven hunger. It completed her whole life with its beautiful orgasmic glory.
Mattox growled louder, and his rising cries matched her heavenly song. He lifted her off the bed with his insistent pounding thrusts. He buried his shaft in her delicious opening until terrible racking spasms shook him to the core.
Lyric heard him racing to meet her. She ran her hands down his chest and stomach in loving tender care to bring him along on her cosmic ride through the stars, but her own explosive climax wouldn't stop for anything. She howled to the skies in agony while his lance stabbed into her again and again.
All at once, hot lava poured into her from his burning shaft. He drove his pelvis up in one dying thrust and held it there. He groaned and sobbed in rapture while his sauce blazed into her depths. Lyric screeched in delirious delight. His injection added fuel to the fire scorching her insides. She galloped into eternity on that plunging steed. She disintegrated into the bliss of ultimate completion.
Chapter 16
Lyric pillowed her head on Mattox's shoulder. He combed his fingers through her hair, and they watched the daylight creep over the window. Voices rose and fell in the house below them. The sun touched the curtains and refracted golden light into the room. A clear blue sky spread over Mackenzie Homestead outside.
Mattox murmured into her hair, “There's a storm coming.”
Lyric closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest. She understood every hill and valley in his burly frame now. She understood his smell with her Bruin soul. “I don't want to think about it.”
“The sooner it breaks, the better.”
“How can you say that? Riskin could kill you.”
“He can't kill me. I'm stronger, and I already beat him once. One more decisive confrontation, and he'll leave. We'll never see him again.”
“I don't even want to think about it.”
He hooked his free hand under her armpit and hoisted her up. He laid her across his chest and stroked the hair back from her face. “It's gonna be all right. Nothing can separate us now. We can face anything, as long as we face it together. Riskin knows that as well as we do, and we've got your father's blessing. We don't need anything more. The sooner we get all our cards on the table, the better for everybody. It's better for Riskin, too.”
She let her lips fall on his mouth. She tasted the sweet tenderness of his love in that kiss. He filled her soul with peace and rightness she never thought she'd ever experience. “I'm just glad you're here.”
“I'm here. I'll never be anywhere else. You'll never go back to that room of yours. You'll spend the rest of your life in this room, with me.”
She rose up to look him in the eye. “Do you promise?”
“I swear it. I'm doing this for you. None of this means anything if I don't have you. You're everything to me now. You're mother and father and sister and brother and home and family and life and death to me now.”
“It's not just me, though, is it?” she asked. “You're different.”
“You keep saying that. I'm still me. I'm still the me that fell in love with you. That will never change.”
She climbed off him with a shake of her head. “That's not what I mean. You changed even last night. You never flinched from facing Riskin. I can almost believe you're looking forward to facing him.”
Mattox studied her. Then, with a sweep of his legs, he swung out of bed and onto his feet. He slipped into his pants and buckled the buckle. “You're right. I am looking forward to it. He tried to challenge me yesterday, and I had to put him down. He won't leave until I answer that challenge, claw to claw.”
Lyric gazed up at him. His arms flexed and his obliques popped when he tightened his belt. “You're an Alpha now. Did you always know you would become one, even when Brody sent you away?”
“I never knew. First of all, Brody never sent me away. I agreed to go because I knew our tribe needed him as Alpha. I never thought I could be Alpha of anything. I didn't want to be. Now, I know I am an Alpha, whether I want to be one or not. I'm head of this family, no matter what. I'm where I ought to be, doing what I ought to be doing, and that includes getting rid of Riskin. Now that I've got you as my mate, nothing can stand in my way.”
Lyric nodded. “I can see it all around you. You've got this halo of vitality and confidence you never had before.”
He leaned over her and planted his hands on either side of her hips. He dove in to kiss her. “That's your sweet love working on me, baby. I can't wait to get out of this room and confront anything that tries to stop me.”
She pushed him back. “You're drunk on your own testosterone. Put your shirt on before you lose control of yourself
.”
He tugged his shirt over his head. “Nothing will make me lose control, for the rest of my life. I'm master of the universe.”
Just then, Melody's voice echoed up the stairs. “Breakfast's on the table!”
Lyric leapt out of bed to grab her clothes. “I'll never live this down. She made breakfast while I rolled around in here with you.”
He handed her her dress. “You were busy with more important things. You can let her make breakfast once in a while. You need your own time, especially now.”
Lyric paused to study him. Then she shook her head. “I never should have taken over everything. I should have let her help me more before instead of controlling everything.”
“You know better now. Now, come on. I'm hungry.”
Lyric laughed. “I'll bet you are. We've been up all night.”
He took her hand, and they went downstairs together. Lyric didn't see Riskin anywhere. Melody looked up from the stove, and her eyes widened when Lyric entered holding Mattox's hand.
Azer stopped chewing his bagel and cream cheese to stare at them. The bedroom door opened under the stairs and Rex strode into the room. He cast a quick glance down at Mattox and Lyric's joined hands before he kept on walking to the breakfast table.
All three followed the couple from the base of the stairs, where they came down from Mattox's room, across the living room, to take their places side by side at the breakfast table. Everyone knew the truth now. Everyone knew Lyric spent the night in Mattox's room. They'd done it. They were mated for life.
Melody set out the steak and eggs and toast and bacon and sausage. She poured her father a cup of coffee while Lyric sat idle. She arranged everything on the table before she sat down next to her father.
Lyric sipped her orange juice. “Where's Riskin?”
“No one has seen him,” Azer replied. “I checked his room this morning. His bed hasn't been slept in.”
A shadow crossed Mattox's face and disappeared just as fast. Rex drank a gulp of coffee and set his cup down with a sigh. Everyone ate in silence for a while until Mattox turned to Azer. “If you don't mind, I have a favor to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“I want you to quit working on the fences and concentrate on selecting the best cows out of your herd. Nobody knows that herd better than you. You've followed every cow for years. You know which ones give the highest successful birth rate. You can sort them out better than anyone.”
“Riskin's the man you want for that job. He knows more about the ranch than I do.”
“Riskin's not here. I'm asking you, and this job is a lot more important than replacing some fence posts in a pasture you're not even using. We can leave the north pasture fallow for the rest of the summer and replace the fence posts over the winter.”
Azer swallowed his mouthful of sausage and stared at Mattox. “You're talking about running the round-up early. We aren't supposed to sort the cows for another six weeks.”
Mattox nodded. “Exactly.”
“We can't do that without Riskin. We need at least three men on horseback to sort the cows.”
“Lyric can help us. She can ride as well as any man, and with Melody helping out in the house, she'll have the time to ride out with us. What do you say?”
Azer glanced at his father. Rex and the sisters hung on every word. “Are you sure about that? We planned to move the cattle into the north pasture after the round-up. That's why we've been busting our humps for a month to get the fence finished in time.”
“I understand, but the eastern slope still has enough grass to get them through the season. Leaving the north pasture fallow will improve the soil fertility, and that means better weights next season. We need the cows sorted now so we can divide them into two herds before winter.”
Azer munched his bacon. “If you say so, we can start later today. If I didn't have to slave away on that fence, I could do all kinds of things. I could give the calves their annual vitamin supplement. I could treat the cows for lice. I could…”
Mattox held up his hand. “I have a different job for you this morning. If that goes well, we can ride out this afternoon and plan the round-up. I want those cows rounded up and sorted out by the end of the week.”
Azer's mouth fell open. “The end of the week! You're crazy.”
Mattox arched an eyebrow at him. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Azer lowered his eyes to his plate. “Of course not. If you say so, I'm sure we can do it. All we need is one more decent rider, and we can't do any better than Lyric.”
“Splendid.” Mattox helped himself to another sausage. “I'll show you exactly what I want you to do, and I'll double check you around ten o'clock to make sure you're managing on your own.”
Azer broke into a smile. “Thanks”
Mattox slapped him on the shoulder. “Sure thing. You deserve it.”
Azer ran his gaze around the table. His father and sisters heard every word. His gaze rested on Lyric for a fraction of a moment. His eyes shone and his countenance brightened more than she could remember since he was a little boy. The weight of running the ranch lifted off his shoulders, and he bowed to the new Alpha's authority.
A soft touch drew Lyric's attention away. She found Melody squeezing her hand and whispering in her ear. “I'm so happy for you.”
Lyric couldn't stop her face glowing. “Thanks.”
Melody jerked her head toward the stairs. “What do you say we go up to my room after breakfast? I found the most magnificent dress design you can imagine.”
Lyric stifled laughter. Melody was talking about her wedding—her wedding to Mattox Farrell, the man of her dreams. She never let herself get excited before about a big, beautiful fairy tale wedding to Riskin. A wedding with Mattox? She saw it all now—the dress, the cake, the flowers, the tears.
She was marrying Mattox Farrell, the man she spent last night with, the man who filled her days and nights with passion and promise. She would show the world how much she loved him. She would show the world on the outside what their love looked like on the inside. She would show them more beauty and magic and happiness than they'd ever seen.
For the first time, the sheer joy of her own happiness wiped out everything else. She could ignore her brother falling under the sway of another Alpha. She could forget Riskin lurking around somewhere, waiting to make trouble. She could look past the wrinkles in her father's exhausted face to the pleasure and approval in his eyes. She squeezed Melody's hand. “I can't wait to see it.”
Chapter 17
Mattox leaned back in his chair. “Thank you for breakfast, Melody. That was fantastic.”
She beamed at him. “You certainly did it justice. I swear I don't know where you hide it all.”
“Look at him,” Azer interjected. “I'd say he puts it to good use.”
Mattox pushed his chair back and stood up. “Come on, Azer. Let's get out there.”
Azer tossed his napkin into his plate. “I'm ready when you are.”
Mattox put his arm around Lyric and kissed her on the lips in front of everybody. “I'll be back in a little while. Be ready to ride after lunch.”
Lyric pressed her hands against his cheeks to savor that kiss as long as she could. “I will. You better believe I will.”
Mattox let her go and headed for the door, where he found Rex and Azer waiting for him. Mattox started to walk away when Rex clapped his hand on Azer's shoulder. “I just want to tell you, I'm proud of you, son. You've done a man's job keeping this ranch going the way you have. I couldn't have done it better myself, and you kept the family together when I couldn't.”
Azer started. He fidgeted under his father's hand, but he could only mumble a feeble reply. “That's all right. You don't have to say that.”
“I don't have to say it. I want to say it. I want you to know I've seen what you did. No one could ask you to do a better job.” Rex blinked back tears. “You're ten times the man I am, son. I let you down. I let the whole tr
ibe down, and I'm sorry about that. I can't take back the years I wasted, and I won't insult you by asking you to forgive me. I know you can never forgive what I did to you and your sisters. I can only say I'm proud of you. I wish I could take the credit for raising you to be this kind of man, but you did it all by yourself.”
Azer fought to keep his emotions under control, but his face twitched and his lips trembled. “I'm just glad you're back, Papa. I'm glad you're not…I'm glad nothing happened to you out there. I couldn't live with that.”
Rex laid both hands on his son's shoulders. “I'm back, son, and I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to be anywhere else. I've got too much to live for here. I was a blazed fool to squander this family, and I won't make that mistake again.”
Azer cleared his throat, but he couldn't trust himself to answer.
Rex extended his hand to Mattox. “You're in charge around here now, and I want to be the first to say you won't get any trouble from me. You're marrying my daughter and taking over the ranch. That's the way it should be. I'm entrusting my son to your care. Make sure he gets what he needs. I know I can trust you.”
Mattox shook Rex's hand on it. “I'll take care of him. I'll take care of this family as my own. I just hate to see you two parted. You both deserve as much peace and happiness as I've found in this family. If there's anything I can do to bring you together, I'll do it.”
Rex cast a sidelong glance at Azer. “He's a good man. I wish I could make him happy, but I've only ever caused him pain. Sometimes I think I'm doing him a favor by staying away.”
Mattox murmured in his ear. He spoke the words Azer couldn't bring himself to speak, “Is that why you left when your wife died?”
Rex kept looking at Azer to answer those disembodied questions. “I couldn't face you, son. I couldn't face you when your mother died, and I couldn't face you when I started getting sober, either. You're the hardest thing I ever had to face. I just love you and your sisters so much. I couldn't face the pain. Then when you took over the ranch, I couldn't face the pain I knew I was causing you. You were doing the job I should have done myself. You showed me what a coward and a waste I was. I hated myself. I wished I was dead to make your load lighter.”
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