Val’s world began to dissolve as Griff’s mouth explored hers. In moments, he lifted her off her feet and cradled her against his chest. It seemed so natural to slide her arms around his broad shoulders as he carried her to the door of his room. Resting her head against his neck and jaw, Val closed her eyes as Griff pushed the door open with the toe of his boot. Once inside, he nudged it shut.
Moonlight filtered through the lacy white curtains and moved silently across the colorful quilt that Gus had made decades earlier. Everything seemed so right to Val as Griff gently deposited her on the bed. She sat there as he knelt down and took off her first boot and then her second one.
Looking up as she sat relaxed, her hands resting on the quilt, he said in a whisper, “I’ve always dreamed of undressing you like this,” he whispered, “starting with your boots, and then your socks.” Griff trailed his fingers down her ankles and slid them beneath the tops of her white cotton socks.
Flesh tingly wildly in the wake of his grazing touch, Val said softly, “Let’s dream together, then.”
With the socks dropped to his side, Griff gently explored each of her fine, delicate feet. Her skin was soft as he curved his fingers around each of her heels and then focused on her toes, giving each feathery attention. He heard Val sigh as he slowly moved his hands from her feet up to her exposed ankles. Without a word, he slowly eased the buttons open on her blouse. He began with the top one, his fingers grazing her flesh. A soft gasp from Val made him smile and told him she liked his slow seduction.
“I want to discover you like a flower opening her petals to me,” he said in a thick tone as he guided his hands beneath the blouse and opened it. Val wore a lacy white cotton bra. Removing the blouse from her shoulders, he allowed it to drop beside the bed. Sliding his hands around the bra band, Griff leaned forward to unhook it. Moving his fingers up across her strong, supple back, he slid the straps off her shoulders and the lingerie fell to the floor.
“This is a two-way street,” Val said, her voice husky, and she began to snap open the pearl buttons on his shirt. “If you think I’m just going to sit here…” She laughed breathily as she saw Griff’s very male smile in response. “I’m not.”
In moments, Griff’s shirt had joined the other clothes on the floor. Val playfully moved her fingers through the dark hair across his chest. She felt her breasts contract as his gaze settled them. His masculinity screamed at her and Val continued to explore his taut, hard chest, thick collarbone and heavily muscled shoulders. The sensation of finally getting to touch Griff was utter joy for Val. She closed her eyes as he leaned forward, a predatory look in his green gaze.
The moment his roughened hands curved around her breasts, Val moaned. His mouth took hers. She lost herself within his strength and the scent of Griff as a man. His thumbs moved tantalizingly around her hardening nipples. Arching breathlessly into his hands, Val clung to him. His mouth was commanding and Val moaned with pleasure, lost in the escalating heat bolting downward like lightning and turning into a molten river within her womanly core.
Wanting to love her fully, Griff reluctantly eased from her lips. He stood up and pulled off his boots and jeans. Val caught his hands before they reached his dark blue boxer shorts.
“My turn,” she said, sliding her fingers within the elastic band. His need of her was obvious and she took delight in pulling the fabric off his narrow hips and down his long, well-muscled legs. Griff stood naked before her. Her gaze moved upward and appreciated every inch of his taut, hardened body. She saw his mouth curve sinuously and he took a step forward and in moments, he’d maneuvered her onto the bed, her back pressed into the quilt.
“It’s my turn,” he said, looking deep into her smoldering blue eyes. In moments, he’d unbuttoned her Levi’s and slid his hands beneath the fabric as he explored her waist. She arched into his hands, hunger burning in her gaze. His fingers met silky lingerie and he lingered for a moment, the slick material heightening his need of her. Giving Val a heated look as she moaned and lifted her hips, Griff pulled off her pants. Depositing them beside the bed, he leaned over and placed a series of slow, warm kisses along the low band of her pink lingerie. He heard Val give a little cry, her hands opening and closing frantically against his shoulders. Her breathing was ragged as he purposely and slowly slid the silky material off her hips and down her shapely legs. She was perfect to him as he removed them. Her hips were wide and her curved thighs flowed into an apex that drew his full attention.
Val surprised him as she sat up and gripped him by the shoulders.
Her mouth whispered across his. “My turn…” She guided him to lie on the bed and pushed him down on his back. In one smooth, unbroken motion, Val mounted him. As her strong thighs bracketed his hips, he gave her a fierce look mixed with pleasure. Lifting his hands, he captured her shoulders and pulled her down until their lips met and molded together. Heat exploded throughout Griff as she deliberately dragged her breasts against his chest. She moved suggestively against him and felt heat and moisture explode where they slid hotly against one another.
A groan rumbled through his chest, the vibration heightening her need for him. As his hands caught and captured her breasts, she released the wild, untamed woman inside. In seconds, he gently teethed first one nipple and then the other. Concentric waves of heat and tingling riddled Val and she gasped. Her fingers dug reflexively into his thick, bunched shoulder muscles as he tasted and suckled her. Everything disappeared except Griff’s roughened breathing, his moist breath ragged against her flesh, his hands and mouth worshipping her.
Moving her hips suggestively across him, Val pulled him within her confines. Capturing him brought heat and pressure deep within her core and she gave a cry of raw gratification. She felt him tense, stiffen and an animal-like sound vibrated through his entire body. The primal sound goaded her on, her cheek sliding against his stubbled one, breath exploding in gasps, hips emulating a powerful ride on a stallion. Her mass of her silky hair swept across his face as she seized his mouth with wanton fierceness. Heat roared through her slick body riding rhythmically in sync with his.
She was a full partner with him, giving, taking, loving and pleasuring. Lifting his hips, Griff drove even more deeply into her. For a moment, she tensed, and then she lifted away from his chest and placed her hands on either side of his head. Griff saw an incredible glow of satisfaction wreathing her face. Her lips were parted and wet as he slid his hands from her shoulders down her long torso to settle around her hips. He trapped and moved her even faster and deeper than before. Like a volcano holding red-hot lava deep within them, the orgasm simultaneously erupted between them. Griff felt himself spinning off into space, nearly losing consciousness as they bathed one another with their love. He heard Val utter a sharpened cry and then tense like a bow that had been pulled too tight. Her fingers dug convulsively into his taut chest.
For moments out of time, that still point where nothing existed for Val except Griff, his scent, his male body locked within hers and his teasing mouth, orbited her blown senses. She floated out of body and yet felt the vibrant, white-hot lava exploding again and again throughout her lower body. Seconds reeled into golden colors exploding behind her tightly shut lids. Breath coming in sobs, Val dug her fingers frantically into his thick, hardened chest muscles. For a moment they were fused in the molten luminosity of their frantic love. Her heart blossomed fiercely as the heat lessened within her. Val felt a pleasant exhaustion stealing through her body. She relaxed against Griff’s damp flesh, his chest heaving with exertion as Val nuzzled her cheek against his jaw. Instantly, his strong arms slid around her naked body, holding her tightly, holding her forever.
* * *
VAL LOST TRACK OF HOW LONG SHE SLEPT. When she first awoke, she realized her naked form was pressed against the hard lines of Griff’s body beneath the covers. Dawn was creeping up on the horizon, the first hints of light seeping in beneath th
e closed bedroom door. Griff stirred. Val smiled, nuzzled his stubbled jaw and kissed his cheek. His eyes slowly opened and a tender smile pulled at her mouth as she eased up on her elbow, her hand falling across his uncombed hair. Griff’s beard was dark and it gave him the look of the warrior she knew he really was. Meeting his unfocused green eyes, she leaned down and cherished his mouth with her lips.
Val wasn’t disappointed as his arm came up and his fingers moved across her naked back, trailing up her spine and cupping her shoulder. Licking his lower lip with her tongue, she whispered, “I love you Griff McPherson. I’ve never been happier than this moment.”
Val’s husky words aroused his waking state. Her body was warm against his, her smile soft and tremulous. Reaching up, Griff framed her face and looked deeply into her glistening eyes. “I love you…I should have told you there at the lake when you kissed me.” He slid his hand across her jaw, worshipping her natural beauty and trusting expression. “I want to wake up every morning just like this, Val. With you.” Leaning upward, he pressed his mouth lightly against hers. He said in a whisper, “Marry me? Be my wife? My partner? My best friend?”
Heart pounding with unparalleled joy, Val closed her eyes and glided her mouth against his. “Yes, to all your questions. With you Griff…only with you.”
* * *
GUS WAS BUSY IN THE KITCHEN MAKING breakfast when they came down the stairs together. She was leaning over the stove scrambling a bunch of eggs with bacon bits and cheddar cheese in the huge iron skillet. Looking up, Gus grinned wickedly.
“You two youngsters got something to share with me, I hope?”
Val grinned and looked over at Griff. “We do. How did you know?”
Gus cackled. “I might be old, but I ain’t blind, deaf or dumb. You two are probably hungrier than two bobcats this morning.”
Griff felt heat in his cheeks as he released Val. She went over to the stove, hugged her grandmother and then proceeded to help her with the cooking. The elder’s eyes glittered with humor and he saw the smile widen across her mouth. “We wouldn’t want to hide good news from you, Miss Gus,” he said, stepping into the kitchen.
Gus emptied the hefty amount of scrambled eggs into a bright red ceramic bowl. “I ’spect that’s so, Griff. Go sit down, son.”
Griff waited until Gus washed her hands at the sink and then wiped them dry on the green-and-white-checked apron she wore. Pulling out the chair, he helped her sit down at the head of the table. In the meantime, Val poured coffee into three mugs and brought them over. Griff pulled out Val’s chair and then sat down opposite her.
“Well,” Gus murmured, a very pleased look on her wrinkled face. “This is a celebration breakfast?”
Val laughed a little. “It is, Gus.” She shared a warm look with Griff.
“Miss Gus, we would like your blessing,” Griff began. His voice went off-key. “I’ve loved Val, I think, from the first time I ever saw her. And over the months, I’ve realized she’s the woman I want to go through my life with.” He reached over and gripped Gus’s hand. “Will you bless our marriage?”
Tears glimmered in the elder’s eyes. She wiped them away, gave Val a glowing look of love, and then squeezed Griff’s hand. “I was hopin’ this would happen. From the moment I ever saw you two together, I knew.”
“Knew what?” Val asked, tilting her head.
“Knew that you were right for one another.” Gus waved her hand. “Oh, I knew it could take you two some time to figure it out, but eventually, I felt you would.”
Griff felt relief. He passed the bowl of scrambled eggs to Gus. “You knew all along?”
Gus spooned some eggs onto her plate. “Yep, I surely did!” She eyed them fiercely and said, “I was beside myself! When I met my husband, I knew the instant I laid eyes on him, he was the right man for me. You two sure took your sweet time. I just had to be patient and wait until you two figured it out.”
Sipping his coffee, Griff felt giddy. The warmth at the table, the joy in the women’s eyes, served only to make him happier. Setting the cup down, he said, “Then, we want you to know that we’d like to get wed near Christmas time. I’d like my brother, Slade, to be my best man.”
“And I hope Jordana will be my matron of honor,” Val added. “And more than anything, I want you to give me away, Gus. We want this to be a family affair. What do you think?” Val saw her grandmother’s face go tender and her eyes fill with tears. Reaching out, she touched her small shoulder. For as tough and strong as Gus had been all her life, in this moment she was like putty. Gus nodded, sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“It sounds perfect to me. But I warn you, the whole town will show up!” She shook her finger at them. “And if you’re wise, you’ll rent the armory in town because, trust me, half of the population will want to cheer you two on in marriage.”
Griff grinned as he looked across the table at Val. Her cheeks were pink, flushed from the love they had made before rising to join Gus for breakfast. The gleam in Val’s eyes, the love she had for him, made him feel as if he could do anything in life with her at his side. “Okay, can we entrust the ceremony and details to you, Miss Gus?”
“Really? You’d like me to handle that?” Gus asked, surprised by the offer.
“Why not?” Val said. “Griff and I have a lot to finish out here at the ranch before the snow starts flying by mid-September. We need someone like you, Gus. We trust you and know you’ll make great choices.”
Gus beamed. “I won’t let you down, honey.” She patted Val’s hand. She turned to Griff. “I’ll make sure your wedding is one you’ll never forget. I know the people who really want to be there to see you get hitched. It will be a beautiful ceremony.”
“But,” Griff cautioned gently, “there will be a budget.”
Gus gave an indulgent chuckle. “I’m good at budgets, not to worry.”
They all shared a laugh. If it hadn’t been for Gus and her budgeting and business savvy, the Bar H would no longer exist. And for the first time, Val was glad it did. This was her home. This was where her family was. The teasing between Gus and the man she was going to marry made her heart swell. Val knew her grandmother loved Griff. Not only that, Gus respected him because he was a hard worker, a man of his word and he was a Wyoming wrangler. Gus had admiration in her gaze as she smiled over at Griff. It was important to Val that Gus like the man she fell in love with. Clearly, she did. And now, Griff had a grandmother and Val knew how important getting his family back together was to him. Despite all the ups and downs, their love had taken root and grown. There would be hard, tough days ahead, but Val knew Griff had Wyoming grit and would see it through with her. They were a team. And they would love one another—forever.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781459233195
Copyright © 2012 by Nauman Living Trust
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The Wrangler Page 31