Chapter 4

Tyler

Saturday 4.37pm

Shit. Double, fucking triple shit. Either it’s the rum, or her willingness or the fact I’m horny, but I think I just did something I may come to regret.

She’s lying in my arms, breathing hard when I think to ask her something I should have done before I kissed her. “There isn’t a Mr. Foster waiting back in Houston is there?”

Her expression darkens and she can’t meet my eye. “No.”

I pull her tighter and stroke the smooth skin of her shoulder. “But there was?”

She flips on her side and presses a kiss to my chest. “Was. Past tense. And we weren’t married. Not even close. It was just, I dunno. Not even worth a mention.”

I don’t push her. It’s clear someone is lurking in her background, so when she steers the conversation back to me and my relationships, I answer her honestly. “I don’t have time.”

Her lips press together as she props herself up on her elbow. “So, this isn’t typical behavior for you then?”

I frown at her, not sure if she’s serious until in the firelight I see a tiny smile. “Oh, sure. Between mucking out the barn, and spreading manure, that’s pretty much all I do. Find hot women, bring them back to Joel’s fishing cabin.”

She chuckles and blows out a breath like she’s relieved. “For a second there I thought I had you pegged all wrong.”

Her fingers trail over my chest as I frown at her. “How’d you have me pegged?”

She screws up her nose and her eyes flick up to meet mine. “Quiet, broody but simmering under the surface.”

I pull her closer and narrow my eyes. “I don’t simmer.”

Her lips twitch into a half-smile as her hand creeps lower. “Yeah, you do. You’re simmering with pent-up aggression.”

It’s a little too accurate, but I’m not about to spoil the moment, so I try to shrug it off. “That’s part of your job too, is it? Getting in people’s heads?”

She chuckles. “No. That’s all me. But it helps.”

I can almost see the wheels spinning. I can only imagine what’s going on inside her brain.

I don’t know what this is, and considering she’s only here for the weekend, I can’t think for a minute it’s more than a fling for her.

With a sigh, I release her and look at the door. “We should probably get dressed.”

She nods slowly and pulls the sheet around her body covering her incredible breasts. “Could you get in trouble for this?”

There’s no doubt. Liam would be furious. Possibly because she chose me and not him. But she doesn’t need to know that. “Not if we don’t get caught.”

I grab my boxers and jeans and shrug them on and go looking for her clothes.

I should feel guilty about using Joel’s cabin this way. But I don’t. I do feel guilty about having the best sex of my life while Burt is laid up in hospital.

I sit on the edge of the bed and pull my boots back on. She drapes her arms over my shoulders and presses her breasts against my back. “I’ve never done anything this naughty before.”

Her fingers trail upward until she’s scratching her nails through my hair. I close my eyes and enjoy the feel of her warm body against my back.

When she tells me she doesn’t want to get out of bed just yet, I look at the cabin door. “I should really be thinking about getting us out of here. I want to see how Burt is.”

She kisses me back. “What if we hiked up the mountain so we could use my cell?”

I pull her closer and push her hair away from her face. “I’d be breaking health and safety rules. If no one has come by morning, we’ll start walking back to the ranch.”

She chews her lip. “And what do we do until then?”

I don’t need to think too hard on that. “Liam told me to keep you happy. So, I guess I do whatever keeps you happy.”

Zoe pulls a face and shifts so she can wrap her legs around my waist. “Well, in that case, more of what you did with your tongue.”

I kiss her, relishing how she moans in response. With a smile, I pull back. “I think I can manage that.”

She grins at me, hair hanging in waves around her shoulders. “What I really want is a shower.”

A smile grows as I think of where I could take her. “There’s no shower. But there’s a waterfall ten minutes hike from here.”

Her eyes pop. “I’ve never seen a waterfall before.”

I smile. “Well, it’s no Niagara Falls, but the tourists seem to like it.”

She scrunches up her nose. “I’ll bet they like a lot of things around here.”

My eyebrows raise as she reaches for her shirt, giving me a good view of her back and ass.

She tugs her shirt over her head and flicks her hair out. “Why aren’t you on the brochure with Liam?”

I shake my head and cross the room to the cupboard before answering. “Not my style.”

I find a few cans of food, find the can opener and grab the jerky. “I have as little to do with the tourists as possible. My job is to look after the animals and keep the place running. The guests are a giant pain in my ass.”

I turn, ready to put the food on the table and find her looking me over. “Still, you’d attract a lot of interest.”

I dump the food on the table and check the emergency kit so I can find some candles and water. My gut twists as I try to keep my tone light. “Is that why you came? For Liam?”

I rise and see her shaking her head. “I came because my best friend dared me to.”

“She dared you? That works on you does it?”

She half rolls her eyes. “Not usually, but I was trying to avoid being at home this weekend too.”

That spikes my curiosity. “Oh? Why?”

She shrugs and changes the subject rapidly. “So, we’re all a giant pain in the ass?”

I chuckle as I pile the supplies on the table. “Some of you have asses that don’t belong on a horse.”

I grab her and slide my hands to her ass. “You, on the other hand, have a perfect ass.”

She giggles and puts her arms around my neck. “Likewise. I’m looking forward to seeing more of it.”

I press my mouth to hers, and she responds eagerly until my stomach starts to rumble unpleasantly. She notices and pulls the chair out, and tears open the jerky. “So, you run the ranch, and Liam runs the tourism side of the business?”

I’m not sure I should be talking to her about this, but since we have time to fill, I open a can of stew and push it towards her. “He won’t let me look at the books anymore. Dad had a business manager. Liam let him go a week after the funeral.”

I hand her a spoon and she dips it in the can, a thoughtful look on her face as she chews. “Did he fire anyone else?”

I open my own can and frown at the congealed meal inside. “A few of the hands. Some of the others left after he started focusing more on tourism.”

I swallow a spoonful of cold food and wince. I look up at Zoe, but she’s staring into space, idly eating like she’s trying to figure something out.

We eat in silence, and I think she’s dropped it when she speaks again, her eyes locked on me. “How did he verify he was really your father’s son? Blood test? DNA? Did he say why he showed up so close to when your father died?”

I finish my food and open a bottle of water before I answer. “Are we being investigated?”

She frowns at me. “Sorry. My brain doesn’t have an off switch. But did he?”

I down some water and shrug. “Did he what?”

Her lips press together like she’s annoyed with me. “Prove his identity?”

I sit back in my chair and release a sigh as I try to think back. “I don’t know what he showed Dad. Meg said the blood types confirmed it.”

I slam my mouth shut, cursing myself for opening that door when it has nothing to do with Zoe.

I scramble to move on, but she’s too quick. “Who is Meg?”

I can’t look at her. “Dad’s nurse.”

She sighs heavily. “Sorry. Like I said. I’m nosy by nature, and something seems, I dunno…off.”

I meet her gaze and reach for the rum in the hopes it will chase away the cold spilling through me.

Everything about Liam has always seemed off to me too. But I was hardly going to like the guy, even when he wasn’t being a total tool all the time.

I refill her glass, listening to the patter of the steady rain falling overhead. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Liam has the ranch, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.”

I raise my glass and hope she’ll get the hint. “To your perfect ass.”

She clinks her glass against mine and gives me a wary smile that lets me know she’s not going to let this go anytime soon.

Strangely, it makes me like her even more.

***

Zoe

Saturday 6.25

To stop my brain from conjuring up multiple scenarios about Liam, I start thinking about how to convince Tyler we should hike sooner rather than wait.

I clear my throat. “Here’s what I’m thinking. We tell Liam I took off and you had to follow me. That way you can call the hospital and check on Burt.”

He frowns hard. And I’m sure I see a smile in the low light. “There’s still a potential lawsuit if you get hurt. And traipsing up the mountain in the dark is a recipe for disaster. I can keep trying the ranch using the radio. But Liam isn’t in the office that much.”

I exhale slowly and sip my drink, looking at the fireplace. “Still, I know how it feels. My dad had a heart attack a few years back. Sitting at home waiting for news was excruciating.”

I chance a look at him and find him nodding. “You’re close to your folks?”

I shake my head. “Not really. Dad’s a lawyer, most of my memories of him are him telling me to be quiet and leave him to work. Mom’s a teacher, so she spent most of my childhood looking after everyone’s else kids. I lived at my best friend’s house. Molly’s mom was more of a mother to me than my own.”

I hate it that it still stings to admit that. And I’m a little surprised I told him. Usually when people ask, I’m not as honest.

I take another sip. “What about you? Is your mother around?”

He looks at his drink as he answers. “She died when I was four. Breast cancer. Dad wasn’t close to his family, so he was all the family I had.”

I swallow, not sure if I’ve just opened up a can of worms. There doesn’t seem to be anything I can possibly say that won’t sound trite. So, I just get off my chair and climb on his lap.

His arms encircle me and I kiss him softly. His hands travel down my spine until he’s gripping my waist.

My skin rises at his touch and it’s bizarre I’m thinking about him growing up with no mother while I was at Molly’s house wondering when mine would come get me.

I stay on his lap, kissing him, our tongues colliding until I’m no longer sure if I’m trying to comfort him or comfort me.

He decides for me when he slides his hands under my shirt. His palms gently caressing my breasts until my nipples are growing hard and I’m getting turned on.

With a grunt, and me still attached to him, he rises to his feet, kissing me as he spins so I’m pressed against the cabin wall.

His kisses increase as I fumble with his jeans. When his cock is in my hand, and I know he’s ready, I slide him inside me.

I grab his shoulders and cling to him as he starts to thrust hard until my back is banging against the wall and an explosive orgasm is rippling through my body.

I come gasping and barely have time to recover before he takes me back to bed.

We collapse, arms and legs tangling together, his cock slips out and I curse, and scramble to push his jeans further down so I can ride him.

I slide his cock in me, moaning as pleasure takes hold of me. I wrench my shirt off my head and lean forward so I can brace myself.

Nipples brushing against his chest, he grabs my ass and pulls me closer. His hands run the length of me and he alternates between fevered exclamations of how beautiful I am to how good I feel.

I rock back and forth, rubbing myself against him until I feel an orgasm claim my body.

I come screaming, guttural, wild, primal, and desperate for him to take me hard.

I climb off him, panting with need, and am overjoyed when he immediately commands me to get on all fours.

“I’m going to make you come till you beg me to stop,” he growls.

I drop to my elbows, spreading my legs as wide as I can so he can slip his cock inside me.

True to his word, he pounds me until I forget who I am, and start to talk dirty for the first time in my life. “Fuck me. Fuck me harder.”

His hands grab my waist, and he obliges by pounding me so hard, I’m screaming in pleasure in seconds.

Instead of finishing himself, he waits till I’m recovering then pulls out and grabs me roughly, flipping me over on my back.

With a grin that can only be described as wicked, he gets between my legs, pushes them apart and starts licking until I’m gripping his head and coming in his mouth.

He doesn’t stop; he keeps making me come, over and over again, delicious waves of pleasure, rising and falling until I’ve lost count and I’m dizzy. “Stop. Stop.”

His fingers slide inside me as he kisses my inner thighs. “Are you begging me?”

He slides his fingers in and out until I’m desperate for the real thing. “Yes. I’m begging. I want your cock. Now.”

With a chuckle, he removes his fingers and slowly makes his way up my fevered body until his weight is pressed against me and he’s sliding inside.

I wrap my legs around him, scratching my nails down his back as he pumps me harder and faster until he’s releasing inside me.

He shudders and collapses on top of me, before he rolls off, rubbing his jaw. “Thank fuck you told me to stop. I’ve got a cramp.”

I start to laugh, and he joins me until we’re both laughing like maniacs. When I can finally control myself, I turn on my side and grin at him. “You’re kind of a stud; you know that?”

He chuckles. “Hardly.”

I move to argue he's too modest when he gestures to his back. “What you do to me?”

I frown as he turns around and see my nails have left scratches down his back, and I’ve drawn blood.

He flips on his back and I make an ‘I’m sorry’ face. “I got a little carried away.”

I snuggle in closer and he places a hand on my hip and kisses me. “You can scratch my back up any time you want…Wild cat.”

My eyes pop at the nickname. “Wild cat?”

His lip curls. “Yeah. You look tame, but you’re not.”

I narrow my eyes. “And I suppose you’re just the man to tame me?”

He doesn’t answer for a minute, but emotion flickers across his face. “Why would I want to tame you?”

It’s not the answer I expected, but it makes me feel like doing something even naughtier, even wilder than scratching his back.

I run my fingers over his chest and near purr the words. “Can we go to the waterfall?”

***

Tyler

Saturday 8.35pm

She kisses me again and gently digs her nails into my bare ass, and I nearly agree to take her to the waterfall.

“It’s too dark now. And we don’t have the right gear. I can take you tomorrow morning.”

Her face falls and her lip protrudes slightly. “Oh. Sorry. Guess I wanted to do something reckless.”

She slaps my ass gently. “This is the most fun I’ve had in years. And if Liam shows up…”

Her voice trails off but I know what she’s saying. She doesn’t know it, but it’s been a shit year. Zoe is the brightest spot in a series of dark events I’d rather not dwell on.

I nudge her shoulder. “I’ll get dressed and go try the ranch again. See if Liam’s coming tonight.”

She flips on her side and sighs. “And if he isn’t?”

She looks so hopeful; I’m torn between wanting to stay here and spend the night with her and wanting to know how Burt is. “I’ll figure something out.”

Her pout disappears. “You better. You’re supposed to be making me happy, remember?”

I chuckle as I sit up and tug my jeans on. “I intend to. And I will.”

I move to get off the bed but she grabs my arm. I twist, jeans half up my legs as she frowns at me. “For how long?”

My heart starts to beat a little too fast. Whatever this is, it’s been causal and fun. Right up until now. I clear my throat and shift away from her so I can tug my jeans over my ass. “For as long as I have you.”

It’s the only answer I can think to give. But when her expression shifts to pained, I know it wasn’t what she wanted me to say.

I dress as quickly as I can and find her doing the same. When she’s dressed and I’m still hunting around for one of my socks, I notice she’s waiting by the door. “Okay if I come too?”

I forget about my socks and pull my boots on over my bare feet.

She doesn’t wait for an answer, just opens the door, so I have to scramble to grab a flashlight from the emergency kit so I can join her. It’s pitch black outside and my shotgun is still in the UTV.

I take her hand and listen for a minute to make sure nothing is lurking before I shine the light to where the UTV slid after it got stuck.

When I don’t see or hear anything but the water lapping against the shore, I tug her upward.

She releases my hand and I shine the flashlight on the passenger door and wait for her to climb in.

I check the area again, and haul myself inside, closing the door behind me. I switch the lights on and reach for the shotgun I left jammed under the seat.

Zoe’s eyes widen as I hand her the flashlight. “Are we safe out here?”

I grab the radio and try not to freak her out. “Just stay close to me.”

Instead of explaining about bears, coyotes, and wolves, I try the ranch and hope like hell someone picks up.

“Come in, Laughing Cat.”

For a couple seconds, I get nothing but static. When I do get a reply, but not from who I expected. “This is Crazy Joe. What’s your 20 T-Bone?”

I chuckle, causing Zoe to frown. “It’s a neighbor. Old friend of mine. He might know what happened to Burt.”

I don’t explain any further, just depress the com button. “I’m at Joel’s cabin. Waiting on a tractor to move a tree. Any news on Burt? Over.”

I hold my breath as I wait for him to come back to me. “He’s been taken to Silver Falls. Looks like he’ll be out of action for a while. You need a hand? Over.”

I release the button and look at Zoe. “If I asked he’d come get us out. You want me to ask him and not bother with Liam?”

She swallows and her voice comes out throaty. “Not really. But I understand you want to go.”

I don’t want to go. I want to stay here. I want to fuck her every which way I can while I have the chance to.

I want to take her to the waterfall and strip off all her clothes and kiss every part of her body.

With my eyes locked on hers, I press the button down. “Negative. We’ll wait on Laughing Cat. Over.”

Zoe’s lips curl into a coy smile as Joe comes back and tells me he’ll catch up with me later.

She slides along the seat and coils her fingers into my hair. “Is it terrible I want to stay here and have as much hot sex as possible?”

I growl low and slide my hand over her leg until I’m tugging at her jeans. “Not as terrible as me wanting to.”

Her legs open and she unbuttons the top of her jeans. All the blood rushes to my cock as my hand slides inside her panties. She moans and arches her back, accenting her full breasts.

I shift closer, sliding a finger inside her, groaning at how wet she already is.

When she’s moaning loud, and my cock is rock hard and coated in jizz, she leans over and undoes my jeans, her breathing is rapid as she looks up at me. “Fuck, I love your cock.”

I remove my hand and put my arm around her as she puts my cock in her mouth and starts to suck.

Her mouth is wet, warm and I’m so fucking into it, I don’t notice the first time Liam’s voice crackles over the line.

Zoe’s lips around still around cock, I pick it up as I try to keep my voice under control. “Come in,” I manage.

Zoe looks up at me, but doesn’t stop sucking, just opens her mouth wider and slides my entire shaft into her mouth.

I take my finger off the button. “I’m going to fuck you so hard. I’m going to make you beg again.”

I’m nearly out of my head when she looks up at me and licks my tip, sucking the jizz off and groaning.

If this is a game to her, I no longer care. I no longer care about Liam showing up; my brain isn’t functioning. My brain is screaming at me that an incredibly hot woman is giving me head while my asshole brother is waiting.

“Are you coming?” I rasp to him.

Zoe’s eyes meet mine and she takes my cock out of her mouth long enough to speak. “Get rid of him so I can.”

I don’t even hear everything Liam says. But the second I hear the words confirming that he’s not coming tonight. I don’t even answer him, I just toss the radio on the dash.

“Get your ass inside,” I growl.

She swipes her lips, and slowly pulls back, lust making her breathing rapid.

When she opens the door and grabs the flashlight, I nearly slide on my ass in my haste to get her back to the cabin.

I drag her inside, and ram her against the wall, kissing her, near inhaling her, as her hands yank my jeans down past my throbbing cock.

I throw her on the bed, and she pants when she jerks off her shirt, wriggles out of her jeans until she’s lying her in bra and panties.

And when she crawls over the bed and looks up at me with those incredible dark eyes, and she places those full lips around my cock again, I think my head is going to explode.

I let her suck and lick me until I know I’m going to come if she carries on, so I tug her back. “What’s your record?”

She frowns at me, eyes glazed as she shakes her head. “What?”

I run my fingers through her hair. “How many times has a guy made you come in one night?”

Her eyes widen and she laughs. “I don’t know. But you currently hold it. Easily.”

Pride surges through me as I push her backward. “This round we’re going for a record. Then when you beg me to, I’m going to fuck you so hard you won’t ever want another man ever again.”

Her mouth slackens, and she looks set to protest, but if I’m doing this, if this is the one night I get with her, I’m going to set a benchmark no man will ever reach.

This might be my only shot. She might not ever come back this way again.

Maybe if I can give her enough reasons, she might come back for an entirely different riding experience.