She whimpered when his tongue rubbed between her pussy lips and connected with her clit. Then he followed the slit to the very heart of her, burrowing his tongue inside completely. So completely she had no idea how he breathed.
Kyle feasted on her pussy. Growling against her tender flesh. His mouth was in constant motion as he drove her higher. Making her thrash and moan. Making her beg.
Finally he focused his oral attention on that bundle of nerves. Quick tongue flicks morphed into rhythmic sucking when she reached the tipping point. She exploded against his mouth. Her cunt throbbed as she gasped through every body-shaking pulse.
He brought her down from that stunning sexual high with soft smooches, tender nuzzles, and gentle sweeps of his hands.
Celia fell back on the table harder than she’d intended and her head made a hard clunk when it hit. She barely felt it, as she was still floating in an orgasmic haze.
But Kyle loomed over her immediately. “Baby, you okay?”
“Uh-huh. Well, ah, no.” She laughed and knew it sounded slightly hysterical. “You scrambled my brain. I don’t know which end is up.”
“Luckily I do.” He placed his mouth above her belly button and sucked hard. Hard enough to leave a love bruise. “It’s this way.” He’d already ditched his sweatpants and sported an impressive erection. Before she could comment on it, he started kissing her neck. “Hold on to me as you climb off the table.”
She expected he’d take her to bed, but he merely flipped the chair around, sat, and latched onto her hips, pulling her backward. “Stay facing out. Take off that shirt so I can touch you.”
His commanding voice was in direct opposition to the calming stroke of his thumbs over the curve of her ass. If she’d thought she was done being turned on by this man tonight, she was mistaken. Once again he had her heart racing and her body softening for his possession.
She scooted back and dropped onto his thighs. He guided all that male hardness inside her and she groaned.
“I know. It feels so damn good.” He nuzzled her nape. “Right when I shove my cock into you I wanna fuck you like a madman. But when I feel your pussy so tight and warm and wet around me? I wanna stay all up in you for as long as possible without moving. It’s been so long. I’ve finally got what I’ve wanted with you and I don’t want to rush it.”
“Kyle—”
“Don’t. Move.”
She wrapped her right arm behind his head to clutch his neck. He kept both his hands on her hips, his face against her nape.
They breathed together, their bodies connected but at rest.
His legs were damp with sweat against the backs of her thighs. His every exhalation was a caress on her skin.
“Such sweet obedience,” he whispered. “Move on me. Nice and slow. You’re awful damn good at a gallop but I wanna keep this at an easy trot.”
“How did you know horse analogies turn me on?” Hooking her heels on the bottom rungs on the chair legs gave her some stability and some leverage as she started to move.
He laughed. “Lucky guess.” He pulled her body to counter his upward thrusts. Measured thrusts. Nothing fast and furious.
Yet.
Kyle’s mouth was everywhere. On the side of her throat. On her ear. Cruising the slope of her shoulder. Bombarding her senses. All while that thick shaft moved inside her.
“Let’s kick up the pace.”
Celia wasn’t sure she could come like this, but she didn’t care. This was glorious. Naked and sweat-soaked in their kitchen and their bodies slapping together, his harsh breathing in her ear.
“Celia,” he panted. “Jesus, woman. What you do to me.” He grunted, shoved deep one last time and his seed filled her.
In the aftermath of such explosive loving, Celia hoped she could satisfy his sexual demands. Such passion existed in this man.
Don’t get addicted to his skills because this is temporary, remember? Remind him, remind yourself to enjoy it while it lasts.
His mouth brushed her ear. “Thank you.”
“I have a feeling these next six months are gonna be awesome.”
“Yeah. I might even learn to like strawberries.”
Chapter Eight
Country tunes played through her iPod speakers. Celia tried to concentrate on repairing the nail holes in the living room wall, but she kept sneaking glances at Kyle. Doing husbandly house stuff. In their house. In his faded, baggy jeans and a long-sleeved long john shirt that matched his green eyes. He’d pulled the sleeves up to his elbows, revealing her obsession: his forearms. An AFR ball cap sat on his head, laced-up leather work boots on his feet. He softly whistled off-key as he lightly sanded the shelves.
The man absolutely rocked her world in so many ways.
He’d woken her with insistent kisses, whispering in that raspy morning voice about how much he needed her. Her body heated at the sound of his voice. Moistened in response to his demands and amazingly thorough caresses. He’d taken her with tenderness as soothing as it was arousing. She loved that he let her see that needy side of him.
As soon as they finished the chores, Kyle joined her in the shower, fucking her mindless. Pressing her against the tiled walls as he took her from behind, he wrapped her braid around his fist, pulling to the slight edge of pain. She’d come so hard she’d screamed. Then he warned her he’d fuck her at least twice more before the day ended.
He’d smirked at her during lunch, but he’d only kissed her and played a little grab ass before they’d started prepping the living room for paint. A necessity before anything else, since on a whim he’d taken her to town and they’d ordered carpet and a new flat-screen TV.
“Kyle? Do you think there’s a Sawzall in the garage?”
His back stiffened, as she knew it would. She withheld a snicker.
“Why in the hell do you need a Sawzall?”
“To fix something.”
“The thought of you holding a power tool scares the crap outta me.”
“I know.” She laughed. “I’m thinking if we cut out this portion of the shelving”—she pointed to the center section—“we could put the TV here, and arrange the furniture to face this direction, to improve the flow of the room. That way, no one would walk in front of the TV and we’d save floor space.”
Kyle scratched his chin, studying the wall. “There is an outlet over here. We could get a stand for the TV instead of hanging it from the wall. Might have to shore up the base shelf with an extra piece of plywood. We’ve already gotta paint the whole damn thing…. So, yeah. That’d work.”
Celia was surprised that he’d agreed so easily. Her brothers had always dismissed her suggestions to them without consideration.
He faced her. “What?”
“Thank you for not calling it a stupid idea.”
“Hey.” He set a gloved hand on her cheek. “I ain’t gonna argue with you just to argue, Cele. We’re past that, aren’t we?”
“Yes.”
“Good. But, darlin’, no way in hell am I letting you run the Sawzall.”
He clamped his hand on her butt as he kissed her. He would’ve made good on his earlier promise if not for the sound of tires spinning up the driveway and two short honks.
They broke apart and peered out the picture window.
Not Josh’s truck as she expected, but Lainie’s car.
Her stomach cartwheeled.
Lainie exited the driver’s side and opened the rear door as Harper climbed out of the passenger’s side and her husband, Bran, from the rear.
She and Kyle looked at each other, then back at the people making their way up to the porch.
“Appears we have company,” Kyle remarked.
“Is it awful to say I’m glad it’s not Hank or Abe?”
“No, kitten, it’s not. I’m relieved too.”
Kyle held her hand as they opened the door, showing her—and their guests—a united front. “Come on in.”
Harper made a beeline for Celia. “Omigod, Celia, congratu
lations!”
Celia caught Kyle’s eye and smiled, before hugging her friend back.
Then Harper whapped her on the arm. “I cannot believe you didn’t tell me! You were my maid of honor, for crying out loud. I at least deserved a phone call, especially since no one had a clue you and Kyle were involved.”
“And we got such a fantastic reaction when we did tell folks,” Kyle said dryly.
Harper hugged Kyle too. “I’m thrilled for you both. Thrilled to the bottom of my heart. And as much as I’d like to claim I saw this one coming, I didn’t. Not at all.”
“The wild child’s been tamed, eh?” Bran blocked Celia’s stomach punch and laughed. “Not completely tamed, I see.” He thrust out his hand to Kyle. “Congrats, man. I gotta say I wasn’t nearly as surprised by this as some people. But I’ve been watchin’ sparks flying between you two for years. Figured there had to be fire under there somewhere.”
A whimper sounded and Celia whirled around to face Lainie, holding Brianna. A teary-eyed Lainie passed her daughter to Harper and practically threw herself at Celia. Celia just awkwardly patted her on the back while Harper, Brianna, and Bran disappeared into the kitchen.
Lainie stepped back and took both Celia’s hands in hers. “Congratulations. I’m so happy for both of you.” Lainie looked at Kyle. “Thrilled to my toes that two of my favorite people in the world found each other. Please believe that. And when I heard what Hank said, how he reacted to this news…” She shook her head.
Kyle moved in behind Celia and set his hands on her shoulders. “Thank you, Lainie. I—we—appreciate you coming here. But your husband is an asshole.”
“Everyone has railed on Hank and Abe for how they mishandled the situation.” Lainie’s eyes were still leaking tears. “I won’t apologize for Hank, Celia. That’s his responsibility. But I had to come and tell you that I don’t feel that way. I know deep inside Hank doesn’t either; it just caught him and Abe off guard.”
“We understand that,” Kyle said. “But I’m not letting either one of them near my wife. She deserves better treatment and respect from her brothers. She always has and we both know it.”
Lainie nodded. “They were totally unprepared for the backlash. Evidently Janie heard the tail end of your conversation and she couldn’t waddle outside fast enough to stop it before it reached the point it did. Her pregnancy hormones took over. She was so incensed she punched Abe in the stomach and took a swing at Hank. Then she called me, so hysterical that I thought she was going into labor, so I hauled ass over there. That’s when they told me what’d happened. What they’d said. I lost my mind on them. I was upset, which upset Brianna, and Janie was still yelling…so they had to deal with all three of us. And then Eli showed up.”
Celia frowned. “Eli? Really?”
“You know how Eli is always so reserved? He lit into Hank and Abe, angry like I’d never seen. He’s the one who told them about Marshall Townsend, Kyle.”
“I didn’t expect Eli would do that.”
“It just got worse. Tanna called to ream my husband. So did Devin, who snapped at them both to grow the fuck up, be happy and thankful that Kyle, one of the greatest guys he knows, ended up with Celia. Then Fletch called because Eli was pissed off enough to share with him what the Lawson brothers had done.” Lainie lowered her voice. “We decided to wait a few days before dropping by. Janie would’ve come too, but she’s about to pop.”
Celia let go of Lainie’s hands. “I’m glad you’re here. But to be honest, I don’t wanna talk about my brothers anymore, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I wanna see my darlin’ niece.”
Harper and Bran returned with Brianna, who said, “Mamamamamama,” and tried to throw herself out of Harper’s arms.
“Come here, kiddo, and say hi to your auntie Celia and your uncle Kyle.”
Kyle said, “Whoa. That sounds weird.”
Celia held her hands out for Brianna, but she shook her head and buried her face in Lainie’s neck.
“So, Kyle, you gonna show me your place and tell me how the hell you ended up with it?” Bran asked.
“Sure. We’ll both need a beer. Maybe a lot of beer.” Kyle kissed Celia on the cheek before he and Bran went outside.
“I’m ready for the tour,” Harper said.
Lainie shifted Brianna. “She’s about to fall asleep. Got any place I can sit down?”
“Just the kitchen. The living room furniture was nasty. We’re repainting and stuff before the new carpet and furniture come next week.”
“I’ll catch up with you guys in a minute.”
“I’m dying to hear about you and Kyle,” Harper said after Lainie went into the kitchen.
Celia gave her the short version of their courtship and marriage because that’s all there was.
Harper shook her head. “No wonder I hadn’t heard from you. I thought you were mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad at you?”
“I don’t know. It seems ever since I married Bran you’ve been distant.”
“Just because of distance, Harper.” Celia dropped her voice. “Family stuff has been dogging me for a lot longer than this last blowup. You know that. And you and Bran were newlyweds. You didn’t want me crashing at your new house and dragging you to Buckeye Joe’s to get your drink on.”
“You don’t have to be knocking back a beer next to me in person to talk to me, Cele.”
“True. But it is more fun.” She grinned. “I’ll take you on the nickel tour.”
Harper got a huge kick out of hearing Kyle’s reaction to the two pink bathrooms.
Lainie entered the bedroom with a sleeping Brianna. She laid her on her back in the middle of the bed and they all tiptoed out. “She’s down for at least a half hour.”
“You guys want a beer or coffee or something?”
“I’d love a cup of tea,” Harper said.
Celia hadn’t played hostess before. She didn’t have any dessert-type thing to serve with the coffee, which would probably get her kicked out of the ranch-wives club.
Tea in hand, Harper tugged her into the living room. “Tell me what you’ve got planned for this space.”
Feeling a little shy, because she had no decorating expertise, Celia showed the paint colors. Talked about the furniture. The carpet. Rearranging the space. “Kyle didn’t want anything too girly.”
Lainie and Harper exchanged a smug look.
“What?”
“Ignore him. Especially since you already have two pink bathrooms. Put whatever colors or patterns in here you want.”
Celia couldn’t tell them she probably wouldn’t be sticking around and didn’t want to saddle him with stuff he hated.
Yeah, that’s why you picked everything you like. Because you can’t wait to leave it behind. For Kyle’s next wife.
“Speaking of bathrooms…Lainie, could I convince you to take out these stitches?”
“What happened?”
“Run-in with a rogue steer. The doc in Vegas said to leave ’em in a week, so do you mind? Bein’s you’re a medical professional and all?”
“If I don’t do it, you’ll do it yourself, won’t you?”
“Probably. They itch like hell.”
“Come on.”
Celia couldn’t help but stare at the angry red mark. Good thing they hadn’t taken wedding pictures with the Bride of Frankenstein scar.
Lainie looped her arm through Celia’s as they walked back to the kitchen. “You’re really done with barrel racing and Kyle’s giving up bull riding?”
“It wasn’t a hard choice—we’ve both been disillusioned in the last year. We were just talking about how happy we are not to be hitting the blacktop.” She looked at Lainie. “I think Tanna’s getting to that point too. Although she’s winning, she’s tired of competing. She’s ready to settle down, but she’ll never come out and say it.”
“It’s not PC to admit the appeal of home and hearth, is it?” Lainie asked.
Ce
lia shook her head. “I find it interesting that the girls Harper and I went to high school with, who were lucky enough to attend college, got married right after college graduation. They became housewives and mothers without ever holding down a real job.” Her gaze moved between Lainie and Harper. “Both of you guys have jobs outside being ranch wives.”
Harper’s eyes turned thoughtful. “Are you afraid you’ll get bored being Kyle’s wife?”
Never. “No. But what if I need something else?” Celia had to stop and think. Was she addressing this now and laying the groundwork for their inevitable divorce? So Harper and Lainie could say they saw it coming