A Rancher's Bride

by Vivian Arend

  His lips teased the corner of her mouth before drifting across her cheek to her earlobe. “Thank God I get to muss you up now. I couldn’t decide all evening if I wanted to strip you out of that dress, or just lift the skirt and fuck you right then and there.”

  A shudder struck, and another, as he sucked her earlobe into his mouth and all the oxygen in the room vanished. “That might have been awkward in the middle of the dance floor.”

  He hummed, turning her to face the window. The darkness outside turned the glass into a mirror, reflecting their image back as he continued to rock their hips together. The thick length of his erection teased against her.

  “Let’s pretend,” he whispered. “Say you want me.”

  She lifted a hand, using the image before her to help drape it around his neck. The feel of him against her back, a wall of desire.

  Part of the truth spilled out. “Desperately.”

  What she held back was the always and forever parts of the confession, because no way was she messing up something so appallingly beautiful as tonight.

  He kissed her neck. His hands settled firmly on her hips for a second before he gathered the fabric with his fingers, inching her skirt higher as he watched over her shoulder and slowly revealed more of her legs.

  Bit by bit until his fingertips brushed across her thighs, and a strange gasping noise escaped her lips.

  A happy hum rumbled at her back. “So fucking sexy.”

  Oh lordy.

  His hand slid between her legs and cupped her sex, and the noise of approval got louder. “You’re wet, Kelli. I can feel it through your panties.”

  He pressed a finger against the fabric and teased between her folds. White lightning struck as he made deliberate contact with her clit.

  Luke slid one of her shoulder straps off the dress, and the fabric folded in on itself far enough to leave her breast exposed. “God damn. If I’d known you were mostly naked under this, we would’ve left the room hours ago.”

  “Anticipation is part of the fun,” she teased, wiggling her hips a little harder as she reached back to press a hand over his cock. Squeezing the thick length in her hand.

  He pushed aside the gusset of her panties and slid a finger inside. Teasing in and out, just enough sensation to get her body craving more.

  Two fingers, now, a little deeper. Kelli widened her stance, clutching his wrist as he worked.

  His left hand slid across her chest, palm cradling her naked breast. Lifting and squeezing, hands moving in unison until she wanted desperately to strip everything away and use the enormous bed beside them.

  He wouldn’t let her retreat. He pushed two fingers deep then stood motionless, locking her in place as she wiggled. “I need you,” he warned. “Need to put my cock in you.” His fingers pulled out then thrust in again. “Deep inside so you can squeeze the hell out of me.”

  She pushed against him. “Yes.”

  His hands vanished, and she whimpered like a puppy abandoned alone in the barn.

  But he was moving, reaching between them to unzip and pull his cock free. Covering his shaft with a condom and catching hold of her again as he anchored her against his body with his left hand.

  He pulled up the skirt in the back and pushed aside her underwear, and then his cock was at her sex and he was sliding in even as he stared at her face in the reflection before them.

  Oh God, it felt good.

  It felt impossible, his thick length so much more imposing from this angle. He held her high enough her toes barely touched the ground as he bent his knees and thrust the rest of the way in.

  “Luke.” The word shot from her as she clutched his wrist. He left her unable to do anything except experience. Feel.

  Revel in the pleasure he was forcing on her body.

  The reflection was dirty enough to make her wild without even trying. But as he pumped into her, so hard that her breasts bounced, his fingers slid over her until he made contact again with her clit.

  “Look at us,” he ordered. “God damn, look at you. You’re perfection, pushing back as if you can’t get enough of my cock. Like an angel who’s been teasing until the devil has come out to fuck you hard.”

  She moaned, the precipice right there in front of her, between his relentless strokes and the dirty talk.

  “Harder,” she demanded. “Do it.”

  Luke lost it. With a roar, he twisted on the spot and planted her belly down on the bed. Her legs hung toward the floor, her body pressed to the mattress. He put his hand in the middle of her back, pinned her in place and let his hips fly. Faster now, spearing deep, his thickness spreading her, tugging the lips of her sex on every drive.

  The mattress bounced, and his fingers clutched her hips hard enough to keep her right where she needed to be as an orgasm rolled in and swept her away.

  “Luke…”

  He slammed against her, body covering her like a stallion over a mare as he put his mouth against her neck and damn near bit down.

  Aftershocks continued to roll as he came. His cock jerked within her. The fabric of his pants rubbed her naked thighs. Their bodies rocked, breathing erratic. For long minutes after they were done the mattress kept shaking.

  He released part of his weight, trapping her, as if he were imprinting himself on her.

  Meanwhile, Kelli was storing up every possible memory. At some point magical moments always came to an end, but until the final second she wasn’t letting any of it go unappreciated.

  “That was damn dirty, and very much appreciated,” she whispered.

  Luke chuckled, lifting far enough to press a kiss to the back of her neck before rolling away and disengaging. “You look thoroughly debauched for a debutante.”

  She was too boneless to move. “If that’s a job perk, I might have to look into future opportunities more thoroughly.”

  He trailed his fingers up her thigh, teasing her wet sex. “I’m willing to practice my debauching,” he told her. “Just to make sure you have the right skill set. But I’m pretty sure you’ll be a superstar no matter what you do.”

  She forced herself away from his enticing fingers. Rolling on her side she pulled her legs under her. He sat on the edge of the bed and stared, seemingly uncaring that he was completely dressed except for his cock hanging out the open zipper of his dress pants.

  And as impressive as that part of him was, his cock was no longer what she was looking at anyway. It was his face—his eyes and the contented expression there. Those were things she wanted to memorize. Those were the things she would to miss.

  He caught her fingers in his and lifted them to his mouth. “Shower with me?”

  Another thing Cinderella would have never turned down. “Start the water, I’ll be there in a minute.”

  He leaned over the bed and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, standing and walking away, his perfect ass shifting under his trousers.

  Kelli lay in the moonlight, her heart pounding, while euphoria still blazed through her system. In the midst of that perfection, she searched for the next path she needed to follow. The one that would allow her to retreat, to find safety and a solid place to stand.

  The magic had lasted longer than one night, but it was beginning to fade. Soon enough it would be back to Silver Stone and the ordinary, everyday magic they made there.

  And Kelli was fine with that. Really, she was. She was glad she’d got to experience for a brief while something far beyond the dreams of a runaway.

  She stood and peered at her reflection one last time. A princess? A debutante? The woman before her lifted a hand to her tumbled hair and smiled softly. As Kelli slipped out of the borrowed dress, she said goodbye to the borrowed persona in the mirror.

  It was okay. Kelli James, head ranch hand at Silver Stone, was an all-right woman, with a kick-ass set of skills and a whole lot of friends.

  The only thing she wouldn’t have was Luke Stone.

  Not after tonight.

  The breakfast room was full of people. Som
e hurrying in to grab a final cup of coffee before rushing to the airport. Some moving slower—those who hadn’t as much distance to travel, or later flights.

  Everyone took an opportunity to say farewell and double-check contact information.

  Jack slapped his hand on Luke’s shoulder a couple times before squeezing tightly, his bright smile one hundred percent sincere. “You’ll hear from me before too long,” the man promised, “but I’m pretty sure the girls will be the ones to tell us when and where we’ll meet next.”

  Luke caught him by the hand and gave it an extra squeeze. “Appreciate that, man. And thanks for the shared suite, and for taking such good care of Kelli. Both you and Diane.”

  “Hey, she’s easy to be around. As are you.” Jack motioned with his head. “Diane, honey. We need to move.”

  Diane gave Kelli a big hug then shook her finger in Kelli’s face.

  Kelli smiled, but she looked a little sad. She was once again clad head to toe in denim, her braids back in place, boots on her feet.

  He was so busy staring he nearly fell over when Diane wrapped her arms around him and gave him an enthusiastic hug.

  “We’ll be in touch,” she promised. Then she lowered her voice. “My girl’s got something on her mind, but she won’t tell me what. Take care of her, okay?”

  “That was the plan,” he promised.

  There was a rush, and then the foyer quieted. He turned to Kelli, who had just finished saying goodbye to Mrs. Petrie, and now stood before the massive fireplace in the waiting area, staring into the flames.

  Luke tugged on one of Kelli’s braids to get her attention. “We should hit the road too,” he told her. “It’s clear now, but you never know when that pressure system is going to move in.”

  Kelli nodded. “I’m ready.”

  She climbed into cab, dropping into the passenger seat and putting her travel bag on the seat between them. When she hauled out some paperwork and began going through it, he chuckled then left her to it.

  It had been a long week, and he hadn’t given her much space to herself.

  Luke turned on some music and relaxed, enjoying the easy drive back to the ranch. He worked through a few mental checklists, but even as he did, contentment stole in. Their time at the gala had been a complete success.

  His mistake had turned out to be pretty much the best thing he’d ever done.

  Tomorrow. Tomorrow they’d sit down and make a joint list of everyone they should follow up with via an email or phone call, but for the next twelve hours he would get them home, have a hot shower then fall into bed. Somewhere in there they would offer the family a hopeful news update, but definitely a shower and bed were first priorities.

  Maybe he’d drive straight to his house. They’d have to grab Kelli’s things out of her bunk room, but it didn’t have to be done right away. No reason why he couldn’t throw all their dirty stuff in the laundry at his place.

  He looked forward to seeing her in one of his shirts, wandering around his house. Although there was a certain charm to her Spiderman pyjamas.

  When they hit the outskirts of Heart Falls, Kelli folded up the work in her lap and packed it away, glancing at him. “Stop at the dry cleaners, please. I should drop off Hanna’s dress.”

  He was a breath away from offering to buy her a duplicate, but something about her face warned him she was too tired for teasing. “Good idea. I’ll drop off the things Josiah lent me.”

  A few minutes later they were back on the road and nearly home.

  Kelli twisted toward him with a little of her old enthusiasm back. “Thank you for everything. I really think it went well. Everyone thought Silver Stone sounded fantastic, and I bet the orders are going to start coming in.”

  He reached around the bag on the seat between them and caught her fingers, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “Everyone thought you were fantastic. Told you they’d love you.”

  She made a rude noise. “Yeah, well, it turned out better than I expected, but it’s not the kind of setting I want to be in on a regular basis.” He was just about to ask if there was anything she absolutely needed from her room when she pointed at the house. “Everyone’s here. Did something happen?”

  He let go of her hand, suddenly concerned. There were a whole lot of trucks parked outside the house. “Oh my God, what if something’s wrong with Tamara?”

  They were only a minute away from the house, but Kelli was already texting.

  Tension rose as he pulled into the open space beside Walker’s truck, releasing as she breathed a sigh of relief. “Tamara’s fine. God, but I’m going to kill her, though.”

  “What’s going on?”

  Kelli pushed open her door, still reading her phone. “She says it’s a family meeting. They’ve been waiting for you.”

  Fear was replaced with annoyance. “Would have been nice if they could have sent me a heads-up this morning,” he grumbled.

  He headed toward the back door, pausing after two steps when he realized Kelli wasn’t with him. He pivoted to find her marching resolutely down the snowy road, suitcase in hand.

  “Hey. Where’re you going?”

  She stopped, her shoulders visibly stiff even from this distance. “To unpack.”

  Something was definitely wrong. “You need to come.”

  Her face tightened. “Luke, it’s a family meeting. Go. They’re waiting for you.”

  Something snapped. He stomped across the snow to her side and grabbed hold of the suitcase, jerking it from her hand. “What the hell is wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I told you, I need to get unpacked, have a shower and get to work.”

  “Really?”

  Kelli looked confused. “Does that sound off?”

  “Very fucking off.”

  Before he could read her the riot act or grab her by the shoulder to shake some sense into her, his name rang out.

  They both twirled toward the house where Caleb stood on the back porch. “Hey. Sorry I didn’t give you more warning, but it’s the only time we could get everybody together. Get up here, we need to talk.”

  It wasn’t as if Luke could complain. Not after having been gone for a week, but talk about shitty timing.

  He stuck his hand in the air to acknowledge he’d heard. “Be right there.”

  “You too, Kelli,” Caleb added.

  This command made Kelli wilt like a bouquet of daisies left too long in the hot sun. “You sure?” she asked.

  Caleb had already turned and headed into the house. Kelli let out a heavy sigh before pushing past Luke and marching toward the house.

  He followed after her, holding his tongue. But inside he was wrestling to make sense of the past five minutes.

  What the hell had gone wrong?

  16

  It was the farthest thing from a clean getaway that could have happened.

  Kelli walked through the mudroom door, stopping far enough to one side of the entrance to allow Luke to step in as well. Then she realized that was a mistake, because instead of taking off his stuff and heading to join the rest of the family, he stayed beside her, glaring as if he wanted to pick up the conversation she’d been attempting to avoid outside.

  She turned her back and slid off her boots, making tracks to a spot closer to Tamara. She stole a cookie off the island as she passed, taking a bite and hoping the calorie rush would give her the energy to get through this chaos.

  It was supposed to have been simple. She was supposed to have been able to walk away.

  Tamara looked her over and nodded briskly. “The holiday did you good.”

  Kelli opened her mouth then closed it. She glanced at Luke who had just stood after pulling off his boots. He appeared to be one second away from bursting into rain like a storm cloud.

  Definitely not the direction she needed to face. She forced a smile and nodded briskly. “I think it was a success. But what’s going on?”

  Caleb stood, stepping in front of the fireplace. He took his time glanci
ng over the family gathered, which along with Luke included Tamara, Walker and Ivy, and Dustin, who was perched on the back of the couch.

  Ashton was there as well, which made Kelli feel a little better instead of being the only non-Stone person in the room.

  Luke came and stood beside Kelli, but he folded his arms instead of touching her. She stared at Caleb, working hard to keep from bouncing on her toes.

  “I’m glad things went well, and we want to hear all about it, but Tamara and I were talking and realized we need to get things out on the table sooner than later. You all know we’ve been fighting to get the red off our ledger. It wouldn’t take much, but the truth is, it won’t take much to send us the other direction, either.”

  “Is it really that dire?” Ivy asked, her fingers tangled in Walker’s where they sat at the very edge of the room.

  “Possibly. Like I said, it could go either way. The thing is, some of the measures we can take start us down new paths, and some of those need to happen as early as this spring.” Caleb shuffled to the right, reaching down to accept the hand Tamara had extended him. As if he was drawing strength from the contact.

  He turned back to his family. “I know we all love Silver Stone, but we need to do what’s responsible for the whole family. For all of us, and that means at the end we’re all happy with the new direction, if possible.”

  “Can’t live your life by committee,” Ashton said bluntly. “And you can rarely make a whole group of people happy when you’re changing things up.”

  “Agreed,” Walker said. “But let’s lay out what our options are, and we’ll take it from there.”

  Caleb nodded. “Just so you know, Tamara and I talked to Ginny. She shared a few ideas, but she knows what’s going on.”

  “Is she planning on coming back early and getting the CSA gardens running?” Dustin asked. “Because, if we’re short on money, I don’t mind working double time to make sure we get that going.”

  Caleb nodded. “Ginny offered, but she’s in the middle of an incredible opportunity. If she cancels out of her journeyman experience now, she’ll never get another chance. I don’t want that for her.”