by Summers, MJ
"Yeah," he smirked, "Look who's speechless now."
"I am going to remember that for the rest of my life," she said, holding his face in her hands.
"Me too. I'm pretty sure you're the sexiest woman on the planet," he said, kissing her neck. "But I still can't decide about the whipping cream. I definitely prefer how you taste, but I'll have to run more tests to determine which is actually sweeter."
"Of course. I'll make sure the fridge remains stocked for your experiment."
"I'm sure you will."
They lay back down on the blanket, bodies intertwined, under the warmth of the sun. It was a quiet and beautiful spot, and it felt at that moment as though no one and nothing else existed. They kissed and cuddled for a long time, feeling completely in love and satisfied.
Cole gave her a lingering kiss, "You're it for me Claire. I am done looking. You're the only woman I want to be with for the rest of my life."
Claire kissed him back, "I knew being a lusty chef would pay off someday."
Cole narrowed his hazel eyes at her, "I'm serious. I won't ever stop being in love with you."
"I'm going to love you forever too," Claire said. "And it fucking terrifies me."
"I come from a long line of people who live happily ever after, and I know we're going to be fine. Nothing is going to happen to us, Claire. I promise."
"I believe you, Cole," she said, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead to his.
They lay there together for a while longer before the sky started to cloud over, making it feel suddenly chilly.
"We'd better get going," Cole said, getting up, "I don't like the look of those clouds."
"Yikes! Where did those come from?" Claire said looking at the sky. Over the mountain top, a huge mass of black clouds were moving slowly in their direction.
They quickly got dressed and packed up. Claire took one last look around, "I don't ever want to leave this moment. This day has been perfection. Thank you for bringing me here, Cole."
"Thank you for coming with me. I wish we could stay longer too. Let's promise each other to come back again soon, okay?" he said, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his body to hers.
"Deal," she said smiling at him, "It can be our secret hideaway from the world."
Chapter 55
They held each other in a warm embrace, kissing tenderly. A clap of thunder made them pull away from each other. Cole helped Claire hoist herself onto Nellie, then he mounted up and started down the trail.
Claire looked over her shoulder at their beautiful spot, one last time, feeling a sense of sadness closing in with the black clouds.
"Cole?" she said, "Let's soak in the hot tub after supper and then make love, okay?"
Cole turned to look at her, "You okay, Gorgeous? You seem sad."
"I am a bit sad. This has just been so amazing. I want something to look forward to."
"This is just the beginning, Claire, we have our whole lives to look forward to."
They picked up the pace as they descended the steeper switchback part of the trail. Cole looked behind them at the sky, feeling concerned as he saw the black clouds rolling quickly behind them.
"Sorry, babe. We're going to have to hustle to stay ahead of this storm. I didn't bring any rain gear," Cole called back. "Can you keep up if I go faster? I don't want to push you to ride quicker than you are comfortable."
"I can do it, Cole. Let's go!" Claire called to him.
Cole gave Dudley a little kick to get him moving. Claire did the same and was surprised at how nervous she felt. The combination of the speed and the steep angle of the trail felt out of control for her, but she didn't want to slow them down. She held on tight with her legs and tried to lean back a bit in her saddle.
"If we start seeing any lightning strikes or if that thunder gets closer, we'll have to find a low patch of trees and dismount, then get all the all the gear off the horses. The metal on their bridles could attract lightening."
Claire looked at him with wide eyes.
"It's okay, Claire, I've made it through much worse storms than this. I won't let anything happen to you."
Claire nodded her head at him, taking comfort in his confidence.
He continued leading them quickly down the path as the rain started to fall on them. As the large drops of water hit Claire's face, she muttered, "Shit that's cold!"
A moment later, the rain started to pour down so hard it was becoming hard to see in front of them. Claire was wishing she had worn her cowboy hat instead of worrying about hat hair; between the rain and her mascara, her eyes were starting to sting. She was soaked through to her bra by now and was starting to shiver. She looked ahead at Cole, in his cowboy hat as he guided Dudley down the path with an expert touch.
They were just reaching the steepest part of the path when Cole stopped and turned to Claire, calling back, "This part is going to be a bit tough! It's steep and now that it's wet, it will be slippery. Let me go ahead a ways so Nellie can have a better view of the path. Don't pull tight on her reigns, she needs to move her head to keep her balance. You'll want to lean back but don't. It makes it hard for her to move her hindquarters, she'll need all the help she can get. Try to sit up straight - concentrate on keeping your body lined up with the trees - they grow straight, okay?"
Claire nodded, looking worried.
"You're doing great, Claire. Really great. We'll be through the worst of it in a few minutes. Trust Nellie, she's a good horse," He nodded at her and then turned ahead.
Cole could tell she was scared by the lack of smart ass comments coming out of her mouth. He wanted to get her the hell off that mountain and away from the storm. He felt stupid for not bringing rain gear and was regretting bringing her up there in the first place. It was his job to keep her safe and at this moment he felt like he had failed miserably.
Dudley started sliding a bit, losing his footing, lowering his hindquarters to the ground for balance. Cole relaxed his body, trying to calm himself and let Dudley find his feet again, "You're okay, buddy," he said in a low tone.
When they got to a flatter part of the trail, Cole stopped and turned to check on Claire. She was a long way back, looking terrified and stiff as she rode down. Nellie started to slide at the same spot that Dudley had. Claire pulled her body back hard and lost her balance, falling off, her body sliding off the trail out of sight. She hit the mud hard and kept sliding.
"Shit!" Cole exclaimed, dismounting in one quick move. He whipped Dudley's reigns around a nearby tree and hoisted himself quickly back up the hill along the side of the trail toward Nellie, giving her room to manoeuvre. As she slid past him, he hopped out of the way behind a tree. He couldn't see Claire and panic set in as he realized he had no idea how steep the embankment was.
"Claire!?!" he yelled, "Claire!! Can you hear me?" Shit. Shit. Shit. You have to be okay, Claire. He ran to the spot where she fell off the path and started scrambling down, sliding part way. His heart stopped when he saw her laying on the ground below motionless. Oh fuck, I've killed her.
Suddenly he saw her lift her head and sit up. Claire turned to look up at him as he approached. She was drenched with rain and covered in mud from head to toe. His heart twisted at the sight of her, soaked and cold and trying not to cry.
"Oh shit, Claire. Are you all right?" he asked, crouching in front of her and wrapping her in his arms.
She looked up at him, blinking fast, "I'm fine. I think I'll have a nasty bruise on my right butt cheek though."
"I am so fucking sorry, Claire. I never should have brought you up here. I could have got you killed," he said, his voice thick with emotion as he pressed her to him.
"Are you kidding me? Up until the last few minutes, this has been the most romantic day of my life. I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe the whole falling off the horse thing, but that's it," she replied, lifting her face up to meet his. Just then a loud clap of thunder overhead caused them both to flinch a little.
"We should get out
of here. Can you walk?" Cole asked, rising to his feet and pulling her up with him.
"I'm okay. I can't wait to get into that hot tub though!"
Cole climbed up the hill with Claire in front of him so he could catch her if she started to slide. Just as they got up to the trail again, another clap of thunder boomed. Cole turned his head in time to see Nellie taking off down the mountainside at breakneck speed.
"Looks like we're going to have to share a horse," Cole said.
"Will she be able to get home?" Claire asked.
"Yup, she's heading there right now," he answered. He was touched by her concern for her horse rather than thinking about her own comfort. He smoothed her hair with both hands and then turned her chin up to face him, "You had me worried there when you fell. I need to take better care of you than this."
Claire sighed and then gave him a thoughtful look, "This isn't your fault, Cole. You do take care of me," she replied, swiping her finger over his nose, depositing some mud in the process. "I bet I look pretty though with mud all over me and make-up running down my face."
"You look beautiful," Cole said, "in a really dirty way."
He wiped his hands on his shirt and then tried to wipe the make-up off under her eyes, spreading it around instead.
"Oh. Shit. I should not have done that," he said with wide eyes, covering his mouth with one hand and trying not to laugh.
"My mascara is all over my cheeks now isn't it?" she said looking annoyed.
"I had no idea you had so much on. It's just...everywhere," he said stifling another bout of laughter. Recovering quickly, he said, "You still look hot though."
He stood and took her hand and started down the trail to Dudley, who was waiting in a small clearing below them. Cole looked over at her, suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude that Claire was okay. He kissed her, getting mud on his face and losing his balance at the same time. He brought her down with him as he fell but caught her at the last second so she landed on his lap as they slid down the hill a few feet. He dug his heels into the mud to stop them. They sat for a moment staring at each other in the rain. Claire lifted her hand to his jaw, holding his face still so she could plant a hungry kiss on him.
When she lifted her face off, she smiled, "Looks like I rubbed off on you. Now you're as dirty as me," They helped each other get up, laughing a little.
"Now I know I have to marry you," he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in to him tight, "You're the only woman in the world who would find this funny. Most women would be really upset or angry right now." He gave her an adoring smile and kissed her hard.
"I'll marry you on one condition," she said, "that you lend me your hat until it stops raining. All this makeup in my eyes is stinging like crazy."
"My hat?" he replied, and then he shook his head, "Forget it. That's a deal breaker."
Then he turned his eyes up as though he was considering her offer, "On second thought, you do give award-winning blow jobs, you also are really bendy and you can cook..." he said, taking his hat off and placing it on her head.
They started down the hill, this time sliding a little and staying on their feet. When they reached the clearing, Cole looked over at her, "That's a contract you know. You agreed to marry me if I gave you the hat. That's a binding verbal agreement."
"I'm okay with that. You are super sexy and built and smart and when you aren't trying to kill me on dangerous trail rides, you take pretty good care of me," she said, giving him a grin. "I also love how you eat strawberries and whipping cream. I have never seen anyone do that before. If you agree to keep eating them like that, I'll definitely marry you."
"You can't keep adding stipulations. You agreed to marry me if I lent you the hat. The deal is made, Gorgeous," he said, slapping her on the ass. "I'm going to keep eating strawberries and whipping cream out of your tight little pussy, but only because I like it."
She reached up with her mouth and gently bit his bottom lip, "Even better."
They reluctantly pulled away from each other and walked over to Dudley, Cole untied his reigns and swung himself up into his saddle.
"Sorry Dudley," Claire said, petting his side, "I bet you are tired and now we're asking you to give us both a ride."
Cole smiled down at her and moved his foot out of the stirrup, making room for her to hoist herself up. He grabbed her hand and pulled as she swung her leg over, securing her in front of him on the saddle. Their bodies were pressed together as they rode. Claire lifted off his hat and reached behind her to prop it back on his head, then rested her head against his shoulder, "We can share."
Cole held her tight as they rode in the rain to the bottom of the mountain together. Claire felt her back warming with the heat off his body; she felt safe and was slightly dizzy with love. The rain let up as they crossed the meadow and soon the sun came out again. Cole took his hat off and held it in one hand on his thigh to let it dry out. He held the reigns in the other hand that was firmly wrapped around Claire's waist. He gently ran his nose along her neck and then planted soft kisses along her neck.
Claire sighed happily, "Mmmm," she murmured, "You keep doing that and I'm going to make you take me straight to bed instead of eating supper."
"I had a big lunch. I can wait."
"You also had a lot of sex already today."
"When I'm around you, everything else can wait. Food and sleep have never mattered less."
Claire turned her head to face him, letting her mouth hover over his. Each time he moved towards her, she pulled back a bit, changing the angle of her face slightly. He chased her with his mouth over and over, finally groaning in frustration. A wicked little grin spread across her face as she finally let him catch her. He kissed her greedily, thrusting his tongue into her open mouth.
When he stopped and pulled back, he looked at her, "I love you, Claire. I didn't know it was possible to love someone this much."
Claire leaned into him, "It's amazing, isn't it?"
A few minutes later, the ranch came into view. The sight was beautiful with the late day sun shimmering off the lake. The world smelled fresh and new. They were both completely content as they rode through the gates.
When they reached the barn, Cole climbed off Dudley and then put his hands on Claire's waist, lifting her down carefully. They could hear some rustling in the barn and they looked in to find Ben saddling up his horse frantically.
"Ben, what's wrong?" Cole asked.
Ben turned and when he saw the pair he let out a breath of relief, "Thank Christ you two are okay. Nellie got back here a few minutes ago. I figured Claire must have gotten thrown."
He paused for a moment taking in the sight of them, covered with mud. "Looks like Cole took you up the mountain," he said to Claire.
"He did," she said, smiling up at him, "It was quite the date."
He walked over and took Dudley's reigns from Cole, "I'm just glad you two are all right. You go have a shower and get warmed up. I'll take care of old Dudley here."
"Thanks, bro," Cole smiled, wrapping his arm around Claire's shoulder lazily.
"Let's go get back in the shower," he said in a low voice. They walked out of the barn and Claire lifted her hand up to hold his and put her other arm around his waist. He gave her hand a little squeeze and lifted it up to his lips.
Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. Claire stopped and looked up to see what he was staring at. In front of them was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. She had long, perfectly straight black hair and was wearing a flirty short dress that showed off her incredibly curvy body and tiny waist. Her tanned legs went on for miles until they reached her strappy red high heels. On her hip was a baby, sitting up, holding her dress in his tiny hand. He had sandy blonde hair and a big smile on his little face.
The woman's eyes flicked over Claire with an instant of jealous rage. She recovered quickly, giving Cole a sultry smile, "Meu amor, I want you to meet your son, Tomas Cole Ferreira."
Part Two - She Leaves
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 1
November
Claire sat in her seat with her head pressed against the window. It was dark outside and a soft rain fell on the plane as the last of the passengers finished boarding. She waited impatiently for the bright lights to be turned off to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks. Although the air was hot and stale in that way that airplanes are before take off, Claire pulled her dark gray cardigan tighter around her. People were getting settled into their seats, taking off their coats and stowing their bags, chatting happily. Claire was completely disconnected from her surrounding, wishing she could just melt into the seat and disappear.