by Brynn Paulin
“Mind if I take one of the ATVs out there?”
“You’re the boss, Ms. Jorie. You can do what you want.”
“I’m—” I almost told him I wasn’t, but stopped. I kinda was. His wife had been the one to call me about the set schedules. “Thanks,” I told him and headed over to the equipment barn to grab one of the four-wheelers.
I found Nash exactly where Henry had said he’d be. He didn’t look up as I came into the pasture. He knelt beside the fence, rooting around in his toolbox, and as I got closer, I saw he wore wireless earbuds and didn’t hear me. Smiling, I parked beside his vehicle and headed toward him. He jumped when I crouched behind him and my arms went around his waist. Realizing it was me, he quickly turned in my embrace while pulling off his work gloves. His bare hands came up to cup my face as he kissed me. I reached up to pull the headphones from his ears.
“Hey,” I said when we came up for air.
“Hey, baby. I didn’t expect you out here today. When I got back, I was going to call and see if you wanted to go out tonight.”
I smiled against his lips “Yes, I wanted to go out tonight. Or maybe stay in.”
“Don’t want to see anyone?”
“Eh…” I hedged. I wanted to be alone with him, and I didn’t want something screwing it up again. “Everyone’s still pissed at us. Max told me off a few minutes ago. Wouldn’t even tell me where you were.”
“Asshole. Like he’s never kept a secret.”
“I know, but… Well, I guess they do have a right to be angry. It’s true that it affected them, too. I’m sorry I wouldn’t let you tell them.”
He pressed his fingers over my lips. “Hey, enough sorrys. I made that choice, too. You didn’t force me.” His hands moved to cup my face, and his thumbs swept over my cheekbones, the rough pads scraping slightly, the sensation so sensual and arousing. “What brings you out here?”
“I missed you while you were away. I wanted to see you. I…um…also wanted to make sure you knew I wasn’t letting everyone’s reaction sway me. I’m right here with you.”
“Right here with you, too.”
“So we have a date tonight?”
“If something doesn’t sidetrack us again.”
“We haven’t had a lot of luck with that,” I said, remembering our encounter in the truck and trying to forget last night—well, parts of it. Some of last night had been pretty incredible. My thumb rubbed over the back of my ring, my body tingling at his promises.
“Hey, if you want to jump me in my truck again…”
“Shut up,” I laughed, smacking his shoulder.
“But if you did…”
“Nash Davidson, you shut your mouth now.”
“Your mom voice is pretty hot,” he said, grinding his aroused cock against me. “I can’t wait ‘til we have kids.”
Kids? He was already talking kids? “Not happening.”
He sobered. “Never?”
“Not soon.” I needed us to be more solid before then. Maybe…married or, at very least, engaged. I figured that was a while down the road.
He grinned. “Okay. You can practice your hot mom voice on me until then.”
God help me, I giggled. “You’re terrible.”
“But you love me.”
Everything seemed to go still at his words, and I stared at him wide-eyed.
He stiffened and pushed a hand through his hair. “Jorie, I—”
“I do,” I interrupted before he could apologize for his words or try to change them. “I do love you, Nash.”
A slow smile bloomed across his lips. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
His arms went around me. “I love you, too. Hell, I fucking love you so much, baby.”
“Maybe, you can show me tonight? By the way, I won’t need to jump you somewhere. I’m staying over.”
“Yeah? Good.” He laughed. “You can jump me and stay over.”
“I like that idea. So, besides the obvious agenda—”
“Staying naked most of the weekend?”
I rolled my eyes. “Nice as that sounds, you know it’s not happening. You’ve got ranch duties, and we have guests arriving tomorrow morning.”
“Fine,” he sighed, his eyes dancing with humor.
“As I was saying…”
“Mm-hmm?” he muttered, moving against me, his mouth on my neck. I tilted my head to the side, giving him better access as he kissed his way to my ear.
What was I saying?
All thoughts deserting me, I clenched my hands on his shoulders. My core tingled with my need for him.
“I want you to tell me all about what you’ve done over the last two weeks,” he said against my ear. Oh, yeah, that was it. That’s what I’d wanted to talk about. How could he even think when he was doing this to me?
“I did a lot,” I managed. One of my hands slipped up into his hair, knocking away his hat. A moment later, I was on my back, his hips between my thighs as we kept kissing and rubbed together, finding as much satisfaction from each other as possible without getting naked.
He reached between us and flipped open the button of my jeans then pushed his hand inside. I moaned and arch into him as his fingers slipped over my clit.
“You’re so wet,” he breathed.
“For you. I missed you so much.” Our lips met again, feasting as he stroked me. I ran my hand over the rigid line of his cock, dragging appreciative groans from him.
“Yeah, baby,” he rasped against my ear as he finger-fucked me, two digits pulsing in and out, hitting the sweet spot inside me that made electricity spike through me from my core. “Squeeze my fingers with that sweet pussy. I can’t wait to lose myself in it tonight. Lick you until you scream. I can feel how much you like that idea. Give me all that cream. Show me who you belong to.”
As he spoke, claiming me, a third finger pushed in with the first two, and his thumb scored over my clit.
I arched, crying out, “Oh fuck, oh Nash.”
“Give it to me,” he demanded, his drives not slowing, even as my walls clenched tight around him. My climax washed over me suddenly, stealing my vision then my breath as it overwhelmed me, sending me soaring.
He’d stilled, staring down at me when I came back to myself, breathing hard. “That was beautiful,” he said quietly, so reverently.
I shook my head, shoving him off me. Before he could protest, I straddled his thighs, grabbing for his jeans. We couldn’t fuck right here, but the ATVs hid us enough that I could do something else.
His long, thick cock bobbed free when I jerked open his fly and yanked down his underwear to get to it. I’d always wanted to do this, imagined it with Nash. Leaning forward, I swiped my tongue across his tip, lapping away the pre-cum.
“Oh fuck,” he gasped. His hands went into my hair, his head canting back into the grass, his eyes squeezed shut. I would have smiled, if not for the girth slipping into my mouth. I hummed around him, my hand working his base as I moved my mouth up and down his length, sucking and licking as I slowly eased him farther and farther into my mouth.
I gagged a little when he reached my throat, and despite what I’d learned from a bit of porn research this week, there was no way I could take him deeper. Not yet. Instead, I focused on what I could manage. And from the pull of his fingers as he fisted my hair and the sounds coming from his mouth in breathless curses and groans, he was just fine with that. I watched the agonized pleasure on his face, my own arousal building once more.
“Oh fuck. Baby…I’m gonna—” He gasped, unable to finish, and I pressed my free hand into his chest as he started to sit up. I wasn’t stopping. I wanted him. All of him. Taking my silent order, he slammed back onto the ground, holding me in place as he pumped up into my mouth. When his warmth exploded into my mouth, I swallowed frantically, wanting all of him.
I barely caught my breath before he yanked me up his body and slammed his mouth over mine. Rolling me under him, his thighs tangled with mine to keep my legs open. His hand
was in my pants again, bringing me right back to orgasm.
Afterward, we lay beside each other, our limbs still somewhat entwined, our clothes askew. I stared up at the blue sky dotted with small puffy clouds and thought there had never been a better day.
“I love you,” he said against my temple, kissing me.
“Mmm… I love you, too.” I arched, stretching, feeling so happy, so in love and loved. He had work to do, but we both just lay there, basking in each other.
“What were you saying about the office?” I finally asked.
He chuckled, his chest rumbling against my side. I looked over at him, and he pushed the hair out of my face. “When I walked through there, it looked like you did a controlled burn to get rid of everything.”
“Does not,” I laughed. “But I do have a lot to tell you. Will you be out here awhile?”
He sighed and nodded. “Kids. They ripped up the field over there,” he pointed, generally to our left, “and jacked up the fence. Thing is, I can tell they were trying to be careful so none of my stock escaped out onto the highway. I don’t know… It looks like they were having some sort of party, took down the fence to get their vehicles in here, but were careful to put it back in place as best they could.”
“Seems like a lot of work for a field party. There are other more accessible places.”
“Who knows what they were thinking? I’m not going to file a complaint with the sheriff, but I alerted him. He’s planning to drive past a few times at night to make sure they’re not out here again. God knows what they’re doing. I don’t want minors doing drugs, drinking or some other shit on our property. That’s a liability we don’t need, and for that matter, I don’t want to keep fixing the fences.”
“Got an extra pair of work gloves? I can help you.”
He kissed my forehead one more time then leapt to his feet and fixed his jeans. “Ah, the city girl fixing a fence. I don’t know about that.”
I stood, as well, gathering myself, still feeling a little weak and tingly from the orgasms. “Hey! I remember how to do it. Take the girl out of the country but can’t take the country out of the girl.”
“I think it’s the other way around. Take the girl out of the city but can’t take the city out of the girl.”
“Whatever. Got gloves or not?”
He laughed, tossing me a pair from the ATV storage then handing me the wire cutters.
Going on my toes, I pressed against his back before he could walk away. “For the record,” I whispered in his ear, “I like when you put a little country in this city girl.”
“Baby, there ain’t nothing little about it.”
Chapter Eight
~ Jorie ~
“You’re a pretty good cook,” Nash commented around his last bite of lasagna. We’d ended up staying in rather than attempting to go out. Neither of us wanted to be social, and I’d argued we shouldn’t waste time driving over to Fredericksburg when I could just make something here. I halfway believed Nash wanted to see how I’d manage. The last time I’d cooked for him, years ago, we’d ended up with grilled cheese à la charcoal, served with tater tots that had been cold in the middle.
“It’s limited. Very limited,” I confessed. “No one’s allowed me in their kitchen to practice. And I had to call Gran a few times. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it, though. I like cooking in your kitchen.” I didn’t tell him I’d tried to ask Missy for help, but she’d ignored my call, sending me directly to voicemail.
Nash looked as if he wanted to say something, but was holding it in.
“What?” I asked.
“You can cook here anytime you like. Consider it your kitchen. Hell, you can move in if you want. I’d sure like that.”
Wasn’t it too soon for that?
“Nash,” I said, ready to hedge around the subject for now.
“You in my bed every night, waking up together every morning, working together to build the ranch and our business, making babies together—”
I stared at him, unsure whether the butterflies in my middle were excitement or my ongoing fear of going too fast. Probably the latter, and it was beginning to annoy me. More and more, I wanted what he wanted. I wanted him. Us together. “That…sounds a lot like…marriage,” I said, hesitant to throw that out there.
Hadn’t he been talking babies earlier, though?
He shrugged. “You’re mine. I’m yours. Admit it. We both know it. We have for a long time. That’s where we’re headed. That’s where we’d be if we hadn’t gone and screwed things up five years ago.”
“But I just got back. We just got back together.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want exactly that life, being with him, being his completely, living here with him. I was just scared. Two weeks ago, I hadn’t intended to stay in Mason, let alone see him. Now, he was basically asking me to move in.
“Nash, I love you, but…can we just have tonight, enjoy each other and not put too much pressure on ourselves?”
He nodded, trying to look congenial, but I saw the sadness he hid.
“Hey,” I said. “I’m not saying no to our future. I’m not.”
“I know. I’m rushing you, and I told myself I wouldn’t. It’s just that I think about you all the time. I want you all the time. Even before you came back, I pretended like everything was okay, that I was forgetting about you, but you were on my mind every day. I wanted you back. Right here where you belong. At my side. Making a life with me. With my schedule now and all the work on the ranch, having you here would make it easier for us to see each other. Hell, the past two weeks proved how hard it is for us to get together. But I’ll wait however long you need. I just need you to know what I’m feeling and where I stand. No secrets. This isn’t new or fast for me. I knew five years ago. That hasn’t changed.”
“I feel it, too,” I admitted. “I just don’t want to rush things and have us regret it later.”
“The only thing I’d regret is not having you.”
“Let’s start with having tonight.”
He nodded then got up and took his plate to the sink. He kept his back to me as he rinsed it and placed it in the dishwasher, but I saw the obvious tension in his shoulders. Finished, I brought my plate to the sink. He took it from me in silence, and I turned to take care of the leftovers.
I’d just put the lasagna in the fridge when his arms came around me. “I don’t want to fight,” he said quietly.
“Neither do I,” I whispered, leaning back into him.
“Want to go cuddle on the porch?”
“Cuddle?” I asked, tilting my head back so I could see his face.
He smirked. “Make out?”
“Maybe. Back porch?” I didn’t want to deal with anyone. I just wanted to be with Nash.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Taking my hand, he led me outside then dropped into the oversized rattan chair with a thickly cushioned seat. He pulled me into his lap then kicked up his feet on the matching ottoman. I snuggled into his chest as we watched the fireflies blinking across the backyard. The silence of night surrounded us, broken only by the low hum of nature singing and the sounds from the nearby cows.
“I love it here,” I whispered, wanting to be as quiet as the evening enclosing us.
“I love you here, too,” he replied, his arms tightening as he nuzzled into my shoulder. One hand traveled up to cup my breast as he kissed my neck, and I let out a sigh of deep pleasure. Turning, I covered his lips with mine, my awareness falling into him. For long minutes we kissed, neither of us trying to push things much further, rather just enjoying this time together and knowing there would be more later. Savoring these simple moments with one another.
“I enjoyed working with you this morning,” I said, moving my lips along his lightly stubbled jawline. “Not that I want to be a cowboy or anything, but…it was fun. Spending time with you like that again.”
Nash chuckled. “Just don’t try to give me back the paperwork.”
“Deal.” We quieted, and I turned so we could
both look over the yard again. I leaned back against his chest while he rested his chin on one of my shoulders. His hands slowly wandered my torso, and I arched into his touch. “I’ve made a lot of progress the past two week.”
“So I’ve heard. Some of the guys have mentioned things, as has Missy—when she was talking to me, that is.”
“How long do you think they’ll hold out?”
I felt him shrug, and his palms settled on my thighs. “Not long. I know Dustin understands, so that’s a foot in the door with him on our side. Max has never been able to hold a grudge, and I know he and Missy are truly glad you’re back, and we’re together. I apologized to both of them.”
“Me, too. Well, not directly. I left a message on Missy’s phone. Max is avoiding me. I left him a tin of cookies and a note this afternoon.”
“There are cookies? Did you make your peanut butter cookies?”
I might burn grilled cheese, but cookies? I could bake the hell out of those. “I baked them for Max.”
“Are you kidding? You didn’t leave any for me? What kind of girlfriend are you?”
I giggled, having expected that reaction. “There might be a few in a plastic container in the pantry.”
“A few?”
“A few dozen.”
He hugged me. “I love you.”
“I know.” I snuggled back into him, crossing my arms over his where they lingered around my waist.
In the distance, the clouds erupted into light. A few minutes later, two wicked forks of sizzled across the sky, close enough to lift the hair on our bodies.
“Damn it,” Nash whispered. “The storm was supposed to go south. Looks to hit us straight on.”
“Do you have to go?”
Tension strung through his body behind me. “No.”
We remained there, watching it grow closer. Even as he nuzzled along my neck, he didn’t relax an iota, and I was pretty sure he kept his eyes on the incoming clouds.
“You sure?” I asked.
He sighed. “I promised to give you tonight and that nothing would hijack us.”