by Megan McCoy
“Of course it is. I’ll send Matt out as soon as he’s done.” She smiled, feeling more content than she had in a while. Her family was here. Well, but for Ethan and Meredith. They didn’t have much family. Both their deceased parents were only children. The three of them were all they had, and their significant others. Troy had been one of Ethan’s best friends and Eric had grown to love him like a brother. Now they needed to get to know Matt. He needed to be family, too.
Eric popped the top on his Bud and headed out the back door to wander the yard.
Softly, Liz asked, “Holly, you okay?”
“Of course, I am, why?” Holly kept stirring the sauce.
“Looks like you’ve been crying,” Liz said. “If you want to talk to me…”
Laughing, Holly looked at her, straight in the eye, and said, “Liz, honey, I promise. I’m just fine. Nothing happens without my consent. I choose this life and your brother. I’m really okay.”
“Promise to talk to me if you ever aren’t?” Liz asked.
“I will. You promise to do the same?” Holly looked at her firmly. “We love you and only want the best for you and Ben.”
“I only want the best for Liz and Ben, too,” Matt’s deep voice invaded their space. Liz looked up at her freshly showered man, leaning against the doorframe like she’d seen his dad do. Must be in the genes. Speaking of jeans, she loved that pair on him. Looser than his work jeans, lighter denim, swing low down on his hips. That deep blue t-shirt brought out his dark eyes. Nice, nice, nice.
“Matt!” Holly danced over to him. “I am so glad to see you again! Thank you for taking such good care of my sister.” She tossed herself into his arms and Liz grinned seeing his confusion. Holly was amazing. He acted like he didn’t know what to do with this sprite in his arms, so awkwardly hugged her. She couldn’t help but giggling at his astonishment.
Holly moved away, and Matt said, “She takes good care of me, too.”
Liz moved in between them. “Here’s a beer and Eric is outside doing whatever it is you males all do outside. Dinner will be done in a bit,” Liz said. She handed him his beer and leaned in for a hug, whispering very softly, “I have no underwear on.”
His eyes danced as he whispered back, “me neither.”
Her breath caught and wondered how he thought she was going to be able to finish cooking dinner now. Mean male.
A few minutes later, they all sat down to eat on the deck table. The night was simply too perfect to eat inside. Matt poured everyone an icy beer in frosted mugs while Liz and Holly brought out a huge tomato green pepper salad, along with green chili chicken enchiladas.
Eric looked at the food and asked, “From your garden, Liz?”
“Mostly,” she said. “Some from the kitchen garden Mariah and the girls grow, and Matt butchered the chicken himself.”
“Did you?” Holly’s fork clattered to her plate while her eyes got big.
“Did not,” Matt smiled at her. “Came fresh from the grocery store.”
She picked her fork back up and wrinkled her nose at Liz, “that wasn’t nice.”
“I want chickens,” Liz said, “Matt needs to get the mindset going. “
“You don’t want chickens,” Eric told her. “You can’t housebreak them.”
“I don’t want them in the house! I want them in the yard, in a nice little chicken tractor, with a pretty coop painted yellow to match my favorite roses.” She nodded to the ones on the table. Holly leaned in and inhaled.
“They are lovely,” she said, softly.
“Chickens aren’t,” Matt said, flatly. “They smell, and they’re loud, and someone has to clean up after them.”
“I clean up after you,” Liz teased. “And Ben. How hard could chickens be?”
“Harder,” Matt said, and took a bite of his food. “This is really good, Liz,” he said in too obvious I’m-changing-the-subject tone. “Where is Ben? He not coming for supper?” Matt asked.
“No, they dropped him at Blaze’s. He’ll be back later tonight. He supposedly has some kind of science project due tomorrow that Gabe promised to help him with. I thought he was going after supper though,” Liz said.
“He does have a science project due,” Matt said, “but I think he’s playing that new game he just bought with his buddies, or he really just didn’t want to make small talk with us old people.”
“What do us old people want to do the rest of the evening?” Holly asked.
“Let’s go to the lake and paddle boat,” Liz suggested. “Matt’s been promising to take me, but he’s always too busy.”
“Hey,” he protested.
“True fact,” she told him.
He shrugged, semi agreeably, she thought. “Okay. Eric and I can go up and get the golf cart and we can take it down there. How’s that sound?”
“How about you and Eric put away the leftovers while Holly and I go get the golf cart,” she countered.
“How about we all put away the leftovers and clean the kitchen and then go get the golf cart together,” Holly chimed in.
“You girls really want to walk to the barn in those shoes?” Eric asked.
“Yeah, no. You guys go get the cart and bring our chariot to us,” Liz caved. Apparently the boys wanted to talk about something, or be alone or something. They just better not be talking about her.
* * *
But apparently they were, because three hours later as she and Matt got ready for bed, he asked her too causally, “Did you like paddle boating?”
“I did! I’ve never been before, and it was so much fun. You need to make some time to take me again please.” She grabbed the long t-shirt she liked to sleep in, throwing it on the bed to put on.
“I’ll try to. Did you want to move in with your brother?” Matt said, pulling off his boots and socks.
“What the ever loving fuck did you just ask me,” she said, too dumbfounded to clean up her mouth.
“You heard me and watch how you speak,” he said, dropping his pants. Yes, he had been going commando. Well, so had she. Kicking off her sandals, and reaching behind her back for the zipper, she dropped her sundress to the ground and stood there, and naked and glaring.
He pulled his shirt off over his head.
Fine, they were both naked but the key here was she could tell he was turned on and he could tell nothing about her. Hard nipples could very well be just a chill. She had the advantage and she was pissed, more than irritated.
“Did Eric say he wanted me to come live with him or did you ask him to take me off your hands? I’m seriously, really, the one you need to talk to about that, not my brother.” She put her hands on her hips and glared more. “If you aren’t enough of a man to say you don’t want me, that would be a really good thing to confess to, right now. I know what happens to me when I lie by omission. Fess up boy. Now. You want me or you don’t.”
Matt looked down at his protrusion and then looked up at her and smiled, “Oh, I sure do want you.”
“Well, sex is one thing, and wanting me forever is something else. Why did you ask me if I wanted to go live with my brother? Done with me? Tired of me? I can go tomorrow if that’s the case,” she really wanted some of that now rock-hard hard on, but wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of looking at it. He could. All he wanted.
“I never said that. I just asked you a simple question,” he said, patiently and reached down to stroke himself. Peeking down, despite her best efforts, she wanted to taste that so badly.
But.
She was not going to. She was going to find out if the man really wanted her or not. She was tired of this limbo of living together. She didn’t like it. If he wanted an old-fashioned domestic discipline relationship, then he by golly needed to step up and make things official. Or cut her some slack.
Her brain ran faster than his dad’s black horse did. Where would she go? She wasn’t changing Ben’s school again, so she’d have to move to town. They surely had apartments somewhere close to her work and hi
s school, she’d have to look.
“You asked me to move out. That’s what I heard,” she said and stomped her foot.
“I didn’t ask you that. Eric told me if you ever wanted to leave, his house was always open for you. I had to think that you were asking him about moving back in with him,” he said, and she could tell he was watching her breasts move. Usually she was a bit shying naked, with her stretch marks and mom body. Today, she was too mad to care. Or upset. Or. She didn’t know.
“Well, I wasn’t,” she said, ramping up the pissed off. “I’m a big girl, and I’m not running home to my big brother even if you do kick me out. I can support me and Ben. I’ve done it before and I can do it again.” Flipping her dark hair from her face, she narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “I just need to know if you want me gone.”
Matt sighed heavily and removed his hand from his still hard cock. “I never said that. Not once.”
“You haven’t said you want me here either,” she said, taking a step forward. Let’s have this out, she thought. What could be a better time than now? “I’m female. Females need words.”
“I give you words,” he said. “I asked you to move in here. I tell you I love you.”
Liz dropped her voice. Whispering, she said, “You can’t say forever. I feel very insecure.”
Matt stared at her, and she couldn’t figure out what he was feeling or thinking and suddenly felt naked. Reaching to the bed, she grabbed the comforter and covered herself.
He reached over and pulled the comforter off her. “No hiding from me.”
She grabbed it back. “I will, if I want!” Even mad, that made her want to giggle. So childish. But she wrapped the comforter around her tighter and glared at him.
“No.” He, naked he, grabbed the edge of the comforter again and began pulling. “I said no covers.”
“I said, yes covers. You aren’t the boss of me!” She tucked an edge in and kept backing away as he wrapped his hand in fabric.
“I am not the boss of you, most of the time, but I am right now,” he yanked hard and pulled her almost off her feet, as the comforter fell, but caught her in his arms. She didn’t want to want to be there. She wanted to pull away and stomp her foot and hiss like a snake. But it felt too good there, in his arms, against his body, and against her will, she felt herself soften.
“I don’t want you to feel insecure,” he said, and she looked up at him.
“Believe me, it’s the last thing I want, too,” she said, softly, fighting back tears. “But I do and I don’t know what to do about it. Especially when you say things like, hey babe, want to move in with your brother? That just makes me,” her voice broke on a sob.
Matt, obviously frustrated, said, too sternly, she thought, “I only needed to know your thoughts on it, because it was mentioned. How was I to know what you were thinking unless I asked? Females always want words and communication, till they get it or hear something they don’t want to hear.”
“Don’t yell at me,” she looked at him, uncertainly. She did not like the way tonight was going one little bit.
“I’m not yelling,” he said, then let go of her, and walked to where he had dropped his pants, pulling them back on. Grabbing the comforter again, she wrapped it tightly around herself and watched him step into his boots, too. Damn. Now what?
“Are you leaving me?” she asked nervously.
“I’m taking a quick break, we both need a break to think,” he walked back over, fisted hear hair, and picked her face up in his other hand, and stared in her eyes, “but I will be back. Be here when I am. Think on what you want.”
Liz didn’t move, didn’t even bother to answer. He was leaving, no matter what he said, and there was nothing she could do about it.
* * *
Holly and Eric cuddled in the rowboat and she looked up at the stars. “This is the prettiest place, isn’t it?”
Eric kissed the top of her head. “This is the prettiest thing, I think.”
“You like my hair?” she teased.
“Love your hair, and everything else,” he replied and she sat back happily, in his arms.
“You’re being mushy tonight, think you are getting some, do you?”
“I have a sure thing. I don’t have to wonder or think,” he tickled her side, making her giggle and squirm, happily, despite her sore bottom, she just felt better.
“Do you think Liz is really happy?” she asked him.
“I hope so. Told Matt she was always welcome to come home to us, if things didn’t work out,” he said.
“You said that to Matt?” She turned to look at him.
“I did. Why? Do you think that was wrong?”
“Well. Duh,” she said, knowing that was his least favorite word.
“Watch the attitude,” he said, mildly. “Why do you think it was wrong?”
“I know it was wrong. How would you like it if my brother snuck in and told you I was welcome to move in with him if we didn’t work out?” She tried to watch her tone, but she really wanted to roll her eyes via her voice.
“I’d think he was a good brother, being concerned about you,” Eric said.
“No, you wouldn’t. You’d think I’d told him there was something wrong in our relationship and something was going on,” she said. “Think about it. ‘Hey, brother-in-law. I’d like to take your woman off your hands. Just say the word.’ I mean, seriously?”
“That’s not the same thing,” he protested. “You belong to me. That tat on your ass says so.”
“Still can’t believe you talked me into that,” she grumbled. “What’s my next husband going to think?”
“That you are mine and always will be,” he said smugly. “And no one can take you away.”
“Do you think that maybe Matt thought you were trying to take his woman away, or that she mentioned to you she wanted away,” Holly said, as gently as she could.
“No!” Eric reacted. “No, I was just…” his voice trailed away. “Maybe he did think that. I was just trying to help, be a good brother.”
Settling back in his arms, she said, “You know you are a good brother, but that was kind of a dick thing to say.”
“Didn’t mean it to be,” he said, and then added, almost absently, “Watch your mouth.”
Holly smiled. She liked it when he was all bossy even when he wasn’t focusing on it. She didn’t know why. She just knew she liked it. Made her feel safe and happy, which was odd but just was. Nothing she tried hard to understand, just like she didn’t try to understand why, if he didn’t spank her for a while, she began to crave it. She didn’t want a spanking, because he really spanked way too hard. Then again, she needed him to do it. Luckily he understood everything about her needs but never grasped that he spanked too hard. Why not? She didn’t understand that either. She’d told him in small words that she knew he comprehended, that he did. He always told her that he knew what she could handle, and more importantly, what she needed.
She didn’t need spanked quite that hard. True fact.
“Well, what’s done is done. Not sure there is much of anything you can do about it, now. Just don’t try telling other men they can’t handle their women. Unless they really can’t, and please, just don’t offer to take them away out of the goodness of your heart, okay?” She sighed happily and looked up at the stars. “I love it here.”
“Me, too, and love you,” he kissed the top of her head. “Do you think Matt’s going to ask Liz to marry him?”
“I think so. I hope so. I know marriage is what she wants,” Holly said. “I love being married to you, and I know she’s wanting that security and happiness, too.”
“Yeah. Can’t blame her. She and Ben have had a lot of insecurity over the years. Hope it happens for her.”
* * *
Voices carry over the water, and Matt, who had overheard it all, headed back toward his cabin, and his woman. He had stashed his mom’s ring in his dresser drawer earlier. There was a finger it would fit perfectly on
.
With Liz by his side, he knew they could figure out their future, here, there, wherever together.
Yes, together, they could solve the dilemma.
The End
Megan McCoy
Megan McCoy lives in the heartland of America, surrounded by corn, soybean fields and hot guys on tractors. At home, she's raising kids, Chinese Cresteds, and poodles, training them all with a tender hand and heart, while saving her sternness for the alpha males in her books. Getting up at three in the morning to write leaves her time for a few hobbies - gardening, canning, bike riding, bread baking and taking in strays.
Visit her website at: www.meganmccoy.com
Facebook: meganmccoybooks
Twitter: @meganmccoybooks
Don’t miss these exciting books by Megan McCoy and Blushing Books!
The Dilemma
Two Weeks of Joy
An Old-Fashioned Relationship
Hard Wired Desires
A City Girl’s Choice
EBook Offer
WOULD YOU LIKE A FREE SPANKING STORY EVERY MONTH?
At http://www.blushingbooks.com, we provide our visitors with a free eBook every single month! That's right, every month we choose an eBook to give to our customers at no charge, both to show our gratitude for your business and to provide a sample of the content we offer.
Can you read this free eBook on your Kindle? Yes! Once you’re logged onto our site, it’s easy to send a book right to your Kindle.
Can you read it on your iPad? Yes! Your Kobo? Yes! Your Nook? YES!
We provide all of our books on BlushingBooks.com in several formats so that you can read our stories on virtually any reader! Membership at BlushingBooks.com is free, so sign up today and get your free story right now!
DO YOU NEED A TRIP TO THE WOODSHED?
Since 1999, Bethany's Woodshed has been publishing the best romantic and erotic BDSM and spanking fiction on the Internet. Before there were eBooks, there was Bethany's! More than a decade later, The Woodshed is Blushing Books exclusive preview site, and it is still going strong delivering the best, original stories - now with two updates a week. We guarantee at least 40,000 words of brand new, professionally written stories each week by all your favorite Authors, plus at least 20 completed books when you join. Carolyn Faulkner, Maren Smith, Starla Kaye, Paige Tyler, Joannie Kay, Abigail Webster, Alta Hensley, Allison West, Melinda Barron, Courage Knight, Loki Renard ... they're all here, plus many more.