Return To Big Sky

by Jade Cary

  “This is very generous,” he said as he wound my hair in his hands.

  “I’m known for my giving nature.” I laved the underside and felt his penis harden and grow inside my mouth.

  “Sometimes it’s better to give than to receive.” His hips twitched as I took him deeper.

  “I’m an excellent gift-giver.” I cupped his sack in my hands and rolled them between my fingers.

  “Here here.”

  “There there?” I asked, pressing lightly behind his balls to stimulate the prostate.

  “You’ve done this before,” he moaned.

  “Never mind.”

  “What was that?”

  I laughed and opened my throat for him. “Yes, I have—a lot,” I said, which came out as an undecipherable hum.

  “Jesus…uh, we’ll come back to that, young lady.”

  I slid my tongue along the underside and returned to his cockhead. “Now, what fun would that be?”

  “Hush, now,” he said, gripping my hair and pumping his hips. I held onto his thighs as he fucked my mouth, his pure dominant lust making me seep from every pore. With a good tug of my hair, he thrust his cock deep and roared his orgasm into my mouth. “Chandler, shit…oh, fuck!” I caressed the ridges and veins along his penis as I swallowed every drop of his elixir. He tasted of vanilla and green grass.

  Jed pulled me to my feet and plundered my mouth, sucking my tongue, nipping my lips, and at last, covering my face, cheeks, neck and shoulders with tender kisses.

  “That was extraordinary. You’re quite good.”

  I wanted to say something pithy, like, ‘It’s not my first time’, but instead, I said, “You are a worthy partner.”

  “Well, I appreciate that.” He held me against his chest until the water grew cool. “Get out of here so I can wash.” He swatted my bottom and steered me toward the exit, and while he made quick use of the hot water that was left, I dried off, taking care with the tender parts. I watched him move, only his upper body visible above the half wall of the shower. Strong and capable and all alpha, Jed Brooks was so far beyond anything I’d ever dreamed. I wanted him for life.

  Of this, I was sure.

  Home, or Something Like It

  I was up with the cock—pun intended. I couldn’t have driven that twenty minutes to the market had Christ and his folks been coming for breakfast, so I rummaged through the cupboards and pulled items out until I had a recipe. Banana pecan pancakes with maple butter awaited my brother when he stumbled out of his room half-dressed.

  “Hey,” he said, eyes wide, surprise on his face.

  “Hey, nothin’. I told you I’d have something special for you.”

  “Wow.” Charlie sat and took a bite. “Wow. Oh, my God. What did you do to these pancakes?”

  “I spat on them and then threw them on the floor of the corral for a while.”

  Charlie’s eyes grew wider. “Nuh uh.”

  I smiled. “You like?”

  “Yeah. I want these for dinner, too.”

  “Talk to your mother.”

  “About what,” said Maria as she came out of the hallway. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” she said, looking down at her son’s plate. “Is there more?”

  “Certainly.” Soon Jed joined and they ate like they’d never seen food.

  “Why are you leaving?” Charlie asked after he couldn’t take another bite. He was fourteen, a boy in so many ways.

  “I have to take care of some things for work, but I’ll be back. A week or so, okay?”

  He nodded.

  “I’ll email you my itinerary so you can put it on your calendar.”

  “Okay,” he whispered.

  I came over and sat next to him. “Don’t worry about that English test today. You’re ready.”

  “Thanks, you know…for your help.”

  “You’re welcome, honey.” Maria silently prodded him to get his things together. I walked them out to the car and hugged Charlie.

  “I’ll see you soon, honey.”

  “Yeah,” he said, about to cry. “See you soon.”

  “I’ll be back in about an hour,” Maria said.

  “I’ll be here.” I leaned into the passenger window.

  “Can I call you?” Charlie asked.

  “Of course. Any time. You have home, work and cell, right?”

  He nodded.

  I took the rest of the morning to clean a little and make a few calls while Jed took care of some ranch business in Dad’s office. He looked good in there. When Maria came home, we sat on the porch with our coffee and a few of the hands came by to wish me farewell.

  When it was time to leave, I hung on to Maria for a long time.

  “You take care, my darling, and return to us soon. Carlos will not sleep until you are back in this house.”

  “I will, just as soon as I take care of business.” When she went inside, Jed walked me to the car.

  “Next time you come, I pick you up, lady,” he said. “No more rentals. I want that extra ninety minutes both ways, and then I want to be able to do this at the airport when I drop you off, in front of everyone.” He took my bottom in his hands and he kissed me, his mouth nipping and licking and plundering until I soaked my panties. His hands felt big and strong on my butt, the dress thin and clingy enough for him to get a good grip.

  “Who do you belong to, baby?”

  “You…Daddy,” I whispered, my lids heavy, my breasts peaked, my core throbbing. From the moment he’d said it first, it had been the most natural thing, not weird or creepy, or having anything remotely to do with my own father and our issues. This was a thing so far removed from any of that I had yet to fully understand it or process it, but there it was. It fit. I couldn’t get it out of my head, let it go, give it up.

  Daddy.

  One side of his mouth turned up and he chuckled. “Sweetheart.” He rubbed his nose against mine, pressed his forehead against mine, ground his hips against mine, wrapped his legs around mine, and there we stood. I wanted to crawl inside him.

  “I love you,” he whispered, eyes closed, hanging on tight.

  “I’m going to miss my plane, honey.”

  “So be it.”

  “Jed.” Forehead to mine, eyes closed, he shook his head. “Jed. Look at me.” He did, and I took his face in my hands. I had no idea it would be this hard. I had no idea that I would arrive in Montana almost two weeks ago to bury my father, and leave in love like you only read about in the best romances. I had no idea that New York would feel to me now as far away as Xanadu.

  “I love you,” I said, and watched his eyes shine. “I have loved you all my life. I wish I’d stayed, wish you had been my first, wish I had more memories of us, the newness, the fresh love when I was young enough to have it sink in deep.”

  “That’s pretty.”

  “Yeah.” Eyes brimming, my hand at the back of his neck, I closed my eyes and leaned into him, not wanting to go and knowing I had to—a sad situation to be in.

  He growled and squeezed me before unhooking himself from me and settling me into the SUV. “Hurry back to me.”

  “I will, honey. I’ll call you.”

  “Love you,” he said as he backed away.

  I kissed the air between us. “Love you, too.”

  The best-laid plans can sometimes buckle underneath you, and the concept of truth usually has something to do with it.

  Truth. My fickle mistress.

  I watched Jed in my rear view until his silhouette faded. As I drove down the dirt road, past the river, the streams, the lakes and the pastures toward the highway and what passed for civilization in Montana, I planned my time in New York, sketching out what would get me back here the quickest. The glow from the set sun still shone above the mountains, but the land was dark. The faint moo of a cow, the celebratory yips of a pack of coyotes announcing a kill, the tap of insects against my windshield were all sounds I’d grown up with. I had missed it. Jed was right. I’d fallen in love, with him and with my home—
again.

  The noise, the blast of dirty air, the constant hum from Madison Avenue was an unwelcome assault after the quiet of Montana. I’d landed on Wednesday and did not stop, getting little sleep as I tried to convince clients I’d be just as available to them from Cameron as I had been from Manhattan.

  “Allison Bailey is Managing Director, Don…yes, I know you’re used to me.” I rolled my eyes at Allison, who sat next to me in the conference room and listened to my conversation with Mr. Trump, Jr. “I understand your concerns, but when was the last time you and I had a face-to-face…dinner doesn’t count, Don. I’ll fly in for dinner with you any time…I’ll fly in for that, too.” I held the phone away from my ear as he spoke. “We can come by tomorrow, sure. We’ll review outstanding projects and we’ll assess then. Would that work? Good. Love to the family. See you then, Don.”

  “You sure you want to do this?” I asked the brilliant architect sitting next to me.

  “This is what you hired me for three years ago. I’ve been waiting for this day.”

  “You’ve been waiting to get me back to Big Sky so you can take over?” I teased.

  “You know what I mean. I’ve learned at your knee since college and I’ve been dying to show you what I can do.”

  “You’ve been showing me since the day you started, honey.”

  “Question should be, do you want to do this? You’re leaving everything you’ve worked for.”

  “I’m not leaving; I’m moving. You, Jake and Manfred have run this place for years, and I’ve watched. I can manage this from across the country. I’ll come in for the big projects and I’ll still sit in on new business proposals.” I sighed. “My dad’s death has left some…some new and unfinished business.”

  “I understand.”

  “Let’s get our clients in here for a meeting and we’ll see how it goes. I’m sure it will be fine.”

  “You said you’d be back in a week.”

  I stood at my living room window overlooking Central Park, a glass of wine in my hand, and an upset teenager on the other end. I’d left Cameron ten days ago. I promised Charlie I’d be back in seven.

  “I know, honey. I’m sorry. If I plan to stay in Montana most of the time, I have to talk to my clients about that.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, it would be like, if I lived in Montana all the time and I suddenly decided to live in New York most of the time. I’d have to talk that over with you, and with Jed and your mom so that you feel okay about it.”

  “I wouldn’t.”

  “Well, some of my clients don’t, either.”

  “What’s a client? No, mama, I’m talking to Chandler…wait…!”

  “Charlie. Hey! Don’t raise your voice to your mom, okay?”

  “She wants me to eat.”

  “Well, then you eat and we’ll talk later. Go on, now.”

  “What’s a client?”

  “It’s like a customer in the food store. You want them to come back to your store again and again, so you have to treat them like they’re important.”

  “Okay. Can I call you after I eat?”

  “Yes, you can, honey. Put Jed on.”

  “Okay, here.”

  “Hey, darlin’,” my man drawled. God in heaven I missed him. I missed his smell, the feel of him, his voice in my ear. His hands.

  “Hi.” I sat in my favorite chair and let all the tension go. Hearing his voice did that to me; watching the sun go down over the park worked wonders, too. “How are you, love?”

  “I’m missing my girl. You sound beat.”

  “I am. I’ve been going non-stop since I touched down.”

  “Well, take it easy, and I’ll take good care of you when you get home.”

  “Oooh. I’d like some detail, please.”

  “Well, I don’t have the details, but I can give you generalities. Lots of sleep and sex and good food and long rides and rolls in the hay will be involved.”

  “Oh, goodie. Can I watch?”

  “You’ll do more than watch, young lady.”

  “Will I, now?”

  “You will be a major participant, and watch how you speak to me. You’re not too old to spank.”

  “So I’ve learned,” I muttered. The beast had the audacity to laugh.

  “So how goes it in the city that never sleeps?” Jed asked.

  “Well, I’m not sleeping.”

  “I don’t want to hear that. Do I need to come out there?”

  “Oh, that would be so lovely.”

  “You won’t think so for long if I find out you’re not taking care of yourself.”

  “You make a wonderful mother hen.”

  “Yeah. So, tell me.”

  “Well, I’m meeting with clients about the idea of handling them from afar.”

  “How’s that going?”

  “Surprisingly well. Even my tougher clients have come around. It means I will have to fly in sometimes on very short notice for meetings, but I don’t anticipate that happening very much. Even better news, I have meetings scheduled all day tomorrow with my experts.”

  “Your experts.”

  “Yes. That is what my staff has taken to calling the plethora of doctors, behaviorists, of both human and non, and educators I have lined up to tell me why this is not such a great idea I had.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “It’s just a lot more than I thought it would be, Jed. I draw buildings and then I build them. What do I know from Aspergers and brain injuries?”

  “Nothing. That’s what the experts are for. Don’t let anyone talk you out of this.”

  “I’m not, but it won’t happen over night.”

  “No, it won’t. And as long as you stay okay with that, it’ll get done in its own time.”

  “Yes. I love you, Ranch Hand. I miss you like a person possessed.”

  “Miss you, too, baby,” he whispered. “When are you coming home?”

  “A few days.”

  “Flight booked yet?”

  “No.”

  “Get it booked, Chan. We all want you home.”

  “I know, bossy.”

  “Please?”

  “That’s better.”

  “Call when you have your flight.”

  “I will. I have to give Charlie my itinerary. It’s like I have two Dutch Uncles.”

  “You have a brother and a lover, both of whom adore you.”

  “Gotcha, Chief.”

  “See you soon, babe.”

  A few days later, I called Jed again.

  “My surveyors came back to me with an aerial view and an updated topo map but it’s not the same as the one I have. I don’t think I have the right one,” I said.

  “I had the Bureau of Land Management send it to you. I spoke to them personally.”

  “I know. I think they sent the wrong one. Look, as soon as we hang up I’m booking a flight home for Monday. I’ll arrange for my surveyors to meet us where I think we should build and we’ll see if we can’t get a proper topo map of that area before that. I’ve got to know if I can get water into a well, and septic in the ground—specifically in that forty acre parcel near the river where I want the main building. If not, we have to rethink.”

  “I get it, and I’m here, darlin’. Get that pretty ass home. I miss you.”

  “On my way.”

  Land was a matter of public record, and while BLM could get me the information, I believed I’d find more, and find it quicker, on my own. I went to the New York Public Library, where one could find just about anything.

  Seventy-five thousand acres was a lot. On paper, it was monumental. I’d never seen my home, my land, from such a perspective, and I gained a new appreciation of what my father, and my grandfather before him, amassed over eighty-plus years. It showed exactly how much of the Madison flowed through our land, and how much of the property was part of a mountain range. I could see where the house was located, and where the irrigated fields lay. I searched for a hydrogeology tomograp
hy map with no success. I made a note to speak with Jed about getting a hydrogeologist on site to evaluate water table and aquifer accessibility.

  I spent the rest of the day researching fetal strokes, Aspergers, equine therapy and related experts in the field. I was determined to leave no stone unturned. I left the library, grabbed something to eat at the deli, and snuck my food back in, finding myself a nice, dark alcove in the research section. As I ate my pastrami, I searched countless articles on microfiche for some history pertaining to my grandfather, William Wynthorp Asher, and his humble beginnings. I did not find much besides what I already knew. I was curious about my father; how he got so good at the business of raising horses and growing good crops. I read until a pinched and sour man found me and told me the library was closing.

  I vowed to return the next day.

  “My flight is booked. I’ll see you in three days.”

  Charlie sighed dramatically. “I’ll be in school.”

  “I’ll pick you up. Would that be okay?”

  “You will?”

  “Of course. Ice cream on the way home?”

  “Yes. Yes. His name is Wind Dancer. How’s that?”

  “Whose name is Wind Dancer?”

  “The Azteca.”

  “Ah.” I sat in my office with my shoes off and my feet up on a glass coffee table, the view out my window cloudy and gray. “The Azteca.”

  “Is that okay?”

  “Sure, honey. He’s yours, but we still have work to do. He isn’t ready to ride yet.”

  “I know. I’m careful. He let me pet him.”

  I sat up. “Excuse me?”

  “He let me pet him, soon as I told him he was mine.”

  “When? When did you pet him?”

  “Every day. Hey, when are you coming?”

  “Three days. Every day you pet him?”

  “Uh huh. I sit on the corral fence and…”

  Fuck. “Charlie, you what?”

  “I sit on the…the fence, and…and he comes over. I…I talk to him, and I pet him and give him apples, like you did. I saw you.”

  “And he lets you feed him? And pet him?”