Long Hard Road (Crestwood Valley)

19. Madison

It wasn’t that late when we got back to the cabin, but I was tired. It was probably a combination of getting up early, not having enough caffeine, and drinking too many of Ronan’s margaritas that had me yawning and ready to curl up in bed.

Nate admitted that he was tired, too, and we took turns in the bathroom to brush our teeth and get ready for bed. I was surprised to find him lingering in my doorway as I pulled back the covers.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Just waiting to say goodnight.”

“You aren’t staying with me?”

He shrugged. “Thought it would probably be better if I stay in the guest room tonight.”

“Why would that be better? Are you afraid I’m going to take advantage of you?”

“You’re not the one I’m worried about.” He sighed regretfully as I walked over and slid my arms around his waist, locking them behind his back. “I don’t want to rush this with you, Madison. If I get in that bed tonight, I don’t trust myself to take it slow.”

“I trust you,” I said honestly. “Besides, who says I want to take it slow?”

“You deserve a little bit of wooing, angel. I want to take you on an actual date before I have you screaming my name.” He brought one hand up to smooth down my hair. “Will you let me take you to dinner tomorrow night?”

I nodded as my arms tightened around him. “But only if you sleep in my bed tonight. I promise to keep my hands to myself.”

“You need to work on your sales pitch, babe.” He gave me that perfect smile that made me want to melt into a puddle. “Get in bed. I’ll shut off the light and join you.”

“Yay.” I returned his smile and pushed onto my toes to give him a quick kiss. “I didn’t expect you to cave so easily, Sullivan.”

“That’s because you have no idea how much I love to see you smile.” He gave me another kiss and then nudged me toward the bed.

It was my first time sharing a bed with a man and I wasn’t sure about the proper protocol. Nate had made it clear that we wouldn’t be having sex tonight, but did that mean that I couldn’t snuggle into his warmth? Because my body ached to be in his arms again.

I decided to keep my promise to him and not touch him. I curled onto my side and tucked my hands under my head while he settled next to me. “Good night, Nate.”

There was a long pause and more shuffling and then I felt his heat at my back. “Good night, Madison.” His arm came around me and he pulled me flush against his chest. He brushed my hair away from my neck and pressed a soft kiss there. “Sweet dreams.”

The dreams I had that night were far from sweet. They involved Nate doing many naughty things that had me screaming his name over and over. When I woke up before dawn, I was still nestled in his arms. I stayed there, breathing in his scent and memorizing the gentle wave of his breathing. When he murmured my name, my heart responded with a happy thump.

He woke up almost an hour later, groaning softly in my ear. “Sorry.”

“For what?” I asked innocently. We both knew he was apologizing for the giant erection that was pressed to my ass. I rocked my hips backward and he let out another groan.

“Easy, babe. You were torturing me in my dreams but there is no need to do that in reality.” He moved his hand to my breast. “Unless you want me to retaliate.”

“Yes please.” I moved my ass again.

“You aren’t keeping your promise,” he growled, sucking gently on my neck. His fingers found my nipple through the thin shirt I was wearing and he pinched it gently, eliciting a loud gasp from the pleasure that rolled through my body. “Let’s go to Amelia’s for breakfast. My treat.”

“But you’re taking me to dinner tonight for our date.”

“I can only take you out for one meal? Bullshit. I’m buying you breakfast.” His teeth bit gently on my earlobe. “I want to have all my meals with you, Madison.”

He didn’t know how good it felt to hear that. I had missed him so much over the last week and had been sure that our time together was over. Hearing Nate talk about us having a future was an answer to a wish I’d been too afraid to make.

“Not that I don’t love that sentiment, but don’t you have other things you need to be doing? You can’t just drop your life to spend all your time with me.”

“Why not? It’s my life. I should get to do whatever I want with it.” His nose nuzzled into my neck. “The bar is closed again tonight. I was planning to go do some work on the house later. Would you like to come with me?”

“Really?” I rolled onto my back to look at him. “Heck yes I would like to come.”

“Good. I’m putting you to work. How are you with a paintbrush?”

It took us another twenty minutes to finally make it out of bed. We were both content to stay snuggled under the covers talking about nothing important, but hunger eventually gave us the motivation to move.

Amelia’s was busy and the tables were full so we took our breakfast and coffee to go. We ended up eating in Nate’s truck before he drove us back out to the ranch. Only a couple of inches of snow had fallen overnight and the main roads had already been cleared. The sun was shining bright and Nate had my hand wrapped warmly inside his as he hummed along with the song playing on the radio.

We drove under the familiar arch and then past the beautiful main house. The roads out here hadn’t been plowed and I had no idea how Nate even knew if he was still driving on the road or across a field. The closer we got to his house, the more my excitement began to build. I wanted to see the house that Nate had built and learn more about him. What did his dream house look like? Would it have a big kitchen to feed all those kids he wanted? Would it have a porch where he could sit and watch those kids play in the yard?

“The house is only about 70% done right now,” he said as he returned a second hand to the steering wheel. He sounded nervous. “We got most of the walls painted and put the floors in last week. I got half of the kitchen cabinets installed and I’m still waiting for the countertops. Most of the rooms still need crown molding and baseboards. I still need to tile the bathrooms.”

“I think it’s so cool that you know how to do all that stuff. How did you learn?”

“My grandfather built the main house and he taught my dad a lot. Dad taught all of us kids. We helped him build a cottage for our mom and some of the barns and maintenance buildings on the property. For a few things he didn’t teach me, I was able to have one of our employees show me. It’s kind of like having a bunch of helpful uncles.”

I envied his relationship with his family and the larger Crestwood community. “It must be nice to have so many people around you to rely upon.”

“I’m very lucky,” he acknowledged. “Could you ever picture yourself living in a place like Crestwood?”

“If you had asked me that two weeks ago, I would’ve laughed. But now… I don’t know.” I looked at the beautiful farmhouse in front of us. “I think this could be a great place to live with the right person.”

I watched his jaw tighten as he failed to hold back a smile. “What do you think of the house?”

We were close enough now that I could start to take in all the details. The exterior was a crisp white with a black roof and black trimmed windows. The windows on the first floor were all large and reflected the snowy surroundings. A large porch wrapped all the way around both sides of the house and it had a beautiful, detailed banister.

“That porch.” I groaned. “I dream about having a porch like that.”

“That’s one of my favorite things too.” He put the truck in Park and turned off the engine. “I’ve already built some rocking chairs and a swing to put out here.”

“Do you make a lot of furniture?”

“Too much,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve got a back-stock of it in one of our barns just waiting for this house to be finished. Whenever I’m not making something for the guest ranch or the bookstore, I’m making something for this house.”

“Wait. Did you make those beautiful bookcases at the front of the store?” I had spent almost as much time studying those shelves as I had shopping for books.

“I gave them to Harp as a gift after she signed the lease. I was so proud of her for following through on starting her own business. She had wanted to own her own bookstore since she was a kid.”

It was official. Nate was the perfect man. He made his little sister incredible bookcases to celebrate her business achievement. “You are a good brother.”

“I had to pay her back for all the care packages she mailed me when I was deployed.” He nodded toward the house. “Want to check out the inside?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay. Wait here.” He jumped out of the truck and bounded quickly over to my side to open the door. “The snow is kind of deep right here. Be careful.”

“Do you always open doors or is this part of your wooing process?” I teased, putting my hands on his shoulders as he lifted me out of the truck and over the deepest part of the snow. He kept his hands on my waist even after my feet were on the ground.

“Both.” His eyes drifted to my lips. “You have a very kissable mouth, Madison.”

“Kissable?” I ran my tongue over my lower lip. “Not fuckable?”

He sucked in a sharp breath. “Based on the dreams I was having last night, I’d say your mouth is incredibly fuckable, angel.”

“My dreams support that assumption.” I pulled myself up to give him a long, deep kiss. Our tongues tangled with urgency until Nate slipped his hands under my ass and hoisted me up. I wrapped my legs around his hips and gave his lower lip a gentle suck before pulling back. “What are you doing?” I gasped when he started walking.

“Carrying you to the house so your feet don’t get wet and cold.” His long strides weren’t at all inhibited by carrying my extra weight.

“Nate. I’m perfectly capable of walking.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean I’m going to let you, though.” He had already reached the porch steps which he scaled effortlessly. When he set me down, my boots touched a dry wooden floor. “If you don’t mind, we need to take our boots off outside so we don’t ruin the floors.”

“No problem.” I lifted a foot and waved it. “I assume you won’t allow me to untie my own laces either.”

“Nope.” He snatched my foot from the air and tugged on the lace.

I giggled and tried to pull my leg back. “I was kidding, Nate.”

One boot was already removed and he gestured for me to lift the other one. “Up.”

“I’m not a horse.”

“No, you’re not. Horses don’t talk back.” He squatted down and lifted my leg for me, smoothly removing the second boot. “If you are good today, I’ll groom you later tonight.”

With him still squatting in front of me, I couldn’t help but picture him grooming me with his tongue. Nate obviously read the heated look in my eyes because he smirked and ran a hand up my thigh. “Later, babe. Promise.”

Never had a promise made my inner walls clench so tight. For a man who hadn’t wanted my feet to get wet, he had little concern for how he’d just caused me to drench my panties.

He kicked off his own boots and unlocked the door while I let the frigid air cool my cheeks. Nate shoved his keys into his pocket while pushing the door open. “After you, beautiful,” he said as he stepped back so I could enter first.

The problem with Nate was that he was ridiculously sexy without even trying. It made it almost impossible for me to not be filled with naughty thoughts whenever we were together. I told myself that it was just a reflexive response to the man who had given me my first-ever orgasm, but I knew that was a lie. I’d been having these thoughts since the first time I looked into his gray eyes in the café.

“Normally I’d be insisting on showing you the bedroom first,” Nate said, entering right behind me. “But without a bed, it’s not much of a destination.”

“I’m disappointed. I would’ve thought you would be more creative than that.” I yelped when he squeezed the back of my neck.

“You’ll see just how creative I can be tonight.” His hand tucked into the collar of my coat. “Slip this off and I’ll hang it on the banister while we walk around.”

I was happy to shed the winter coat I’d bought after arriving in Crestwood. I wasn’t used to wearing such bulky clothing. Nate hung my coat on the banister first and covered it with his own. I forced myself to stop staring at him and finally noticed the impressive staircase alongside the banister.

“Wow.” I touched the gleaming wooden railing and traced the delicate carving with my fingers. “This is beautiful.”

“Thanks. That took me a long time to get right.” He was eyeing the design critically and missed my stunned look.

“You did this? I knew you were talented, but this is seriously impressive, Nate.” The design curled to form an intricate flower. “I’m awed by you, honey.”

His eyes flew to mine and he blinked twice before his lips curled into one of his perfect smiles. “I know that feeling, angel.”

“Come on. Show me more of your handiwork.” I ran a hand down his arm before lacing our fingers together.

Nate started the tour on the second floor because he said it was the least exciting. That was where all the bedrooms were located. “I built an owner’s suite up here and on the first floor. Figured that it would be good to be close to the kids’ rooms when they are little, but then have a main floor suite for when I’m too old and broken to handle the stairs.”

“You’ve really been thinking ahead.” The stairs exited onto an open landing that gave an overhead view of the first floor.

“This is supposed to be my forever home,” Nate said. “Assuming that a future wife doesn’t absolutely hate it.”

“Nate, promise me you will never marry a woman who hates a house as beautiful as this.” I wouldn’t allow Nate to believe that he deserved anything other than a woman who absolutely adored him and his amazing home.

“You haven’t seen most of the house yet. What if I put mirrors on the bedroom ceiling or a stripper pole in the living room?” Nate’s eyes were sparkling the familiar silver shade that always appeared when he was having a moment of pure enjoyment.

“I don’t see the issue with either of those things. I take a pole dancing class out in LA to help build my core and you can never have too many mirrors in your house.” I was proud of myself for keeping a straight face as I added, “And a mirror on the ceiling would capture your best side when you’re on top.”

Nate’s booming laughter echoed off the walls. “Are you saying that my ass is better than my face?”

“It’s a sexy ass,” I said with a shrug. “And, honestly, your face is a little too perfect. You’re too pretty.”

“You’re one to talk. Have you seen those cheekbones? Or those damn lips I can’t stop dreaming about?” He lifted a hand and traced the shell of my ear. “Even your ears are perfect.”

“Do you have an ear kink, Sullivan?” From the way my body shivered at the touch of his fingers, I had a bit of an ear kink myself.

“I have a Madison kink,” he said easily. “Everything about you turns me on.”

I understood that problem. My obsession with all things Nate-related had the same effect on me. “We better keep going with the tour before we get distracted.”

“Sure.” He took my hand again and began the slow process of showing me his home. It went so slowly because I had to stop and take in every detail. A lot of modern homes had a sterile and boring aesthetic. They all looked like something you could order out of a catalog. Nate’s house didn’t feel that way at all.

The bedrooms were all large and had distinctive features. Two of them had window seats while another had a slanted ceiling with a skylight. One of the rooms had a wall of built-in bookshelves and the main bedroom had a closet that was larger than my bedroom at the cabin.

“Do you have a lot of clothes?” I teased.

“It’s not for me. This is a foundational element in case I ever manage to convince some woman to move in with me.” He pointed to a row of shoe cubbies. “That will be my main selling point.”

He had to be insane if he didn’t realize that he was the main selling point. Everything about Nate screamed husband-potential. “Why did you decide to give every bedroom its own bathroom?”

“All of us kids had to share two bathrooms growing up. It was manageable, but I think it would’ve been a lot more difficult if Harper hadn’t been the only girl.” He smiled shyly at me. “Since I’m hoping to have a few little girls someday, I wanted to be prepared.”

Nate Sullivan was quite a man to have already started spoiling his daughters before they were even a possibility. And damn if I didn’t want to be the woman to give him those little girls. The woman whose shoes would fill those cubbies and who would get to fall asleep with him every night in that beautiful bedroom.

“You alright?” Nate asked, noticing that I had disappeared into fantasy land.

“Yeah. I’m great.”

“You were thinking about how good all your fancy clothes would look in this closet, weren’t you?” His look was far too knowing. How did a man that I had known for less than two weeks know how to read me so well?

“I was thinking I want to see the kitchen. Because there is no way you can top this closet.” It was a lame attempt to pretend he didn’t have me pegged.

The downstairs was even more impressive because the rooms were closer to being done. The dining room walls were painted a deep green with the lower half covered in an eggshell wainscoting. It was simple and elegant. I could easily picture a family dinner at one of Nate’s amazing dining sets underneath a classic chandelier.

The living room had a wood-burning fireplace with a mantle above it that would be perfect for hanging kids’ stockings. The large window facing the pond would be the perfect place for a Christmas tree. When I accidentally said that out loud, Nate smiled and nodded.

One of our last stops was the kitchen. It was the largest room in the house because it had another space for a table and chairs.

“For lazy Sunday breakfasts and weekday family dinners,” he said when he explained why he’d planned two spaces for eating. “The dining room would just be for special occasions.”

“These cabinets are incredible,” I said, running a hand over one of the mahogany doors. “I know people are really into white cabinets these days, but I love the rich wood look.”

“Me too.” Nate tapped a hand on one of the cabinets. “I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted so I just built them myself.”

“Is it hard to be so damn good at everything?” I asked in mild exasperation.

“Babe, you don’t even know how good I am at some things.” His eyes drifted to the large island behind me. It had the only flat surface in the room. “Being in this kitchen is making me hungry.”

“Should we go get food?”

He stepped toward me, hands gliding over my hips. “No.” Then his mouth covered mine in an urgency of heat and wetness. His tongue prodded my lips apart and slipped inside like it was claiming my mouth as its own. I could taste the lingering sweetness from the pastry we had shared from Amelia’s.

When he started backing me toward the island, his kiss turned more playful. He sucked on my lower lip and took a tiny nibble that made my core clench. His hands had slipped under my shirt and his fingers played with the waistband of my leggings.

“I want to taste you, angel.” His lips were lightly grazing mine as he spoke. “All of you.”

My eyes widened as he looked at me for permission. “Okay,” I whispered.

“I have a feeling my first feast in this kitchen will always be my favorite.” His smile was wicked as he gave me one last kiss before slowly inching down my pants. When he got them past my butt, he hoisted me onto the island. “Lay back, babe,” he said, eyes darkened by desire.

The granite countertop was cold against my skin. I kept myself propped up on my elbows because I couldn’t take my eyes off Nate as he pressed gentle kisses to my hipbone. Then he resumed removing my pants until they were tossed to the floor. He started trailing kisses up the inside of my thigh. His hand moved up my other thigh, all the way to my pink panties. His thumb stroked slowly over the fabric and he murmured softly against my thigh.

“You’re not nearly wet enough, babe.”

“Sorry,” I squeaked.

His chuckle was warm against my skin. “Don’t be sorry. I like a challenge.”

Before I knew what was happening, he yanked my underwear away and pulled my bottom to the edge of the countertop.

“Spread your legs for me, angel.” He nudged my knees with his hands. I was frozen, equally horrified and delighted by his request. Only my gynecologist had ever been up close and personal with that part of my body. What if Nate didn’t like what he was about to see?

When he saw the conflicting emotions in my eyes, he leaned over me and kissed me gently on the lips. “Get out of your head, Madison. Just enjoy this. I know I’m going to.”

I took a deep breath and nodded while letting it out slowly. Then I slowly parted my legs and Nate moved his body between them before slowly sinking to his knees. He took each leg and draped them over his shoulders, pressing more kisses to the insides of my thighs.

When his eyes finally settled on my throbbing core, he pulled in a ragged breath. “You are so beautiful, angel. Perfect.” He stroked a finger through my slick folds and I groaned in pleasure. His finger circled my clit while his eyes locked onto mine. Then, without breaking eye contact, he licked the length of my slit and let out a loud moan of pleasure. “Fuck, babe. You taste incredible.”

He pressed a kiss right over my clit and then sucked it gently. My hips bucked off the table. Nate placed his arm over my pelvis to hold me in place while he did exactly what he promised to do. He feasted on me.

He alternated between languid licks and hurried flicks of his tongue. His lips closed over me in hungry pulls that had me moaning his name. As the heat between my legs became unbearable, my inner walls began to pulse and I was wetter than I had ever been. Nate could sense that I was close to release and slammed two fingers inside me, curling them into the perfect spot while sucking my clit hard and flicking it with the tip of his tongue. My orgasm reached its crescendo with an urgent pulse around his fingers and a loud cry of his name as my legs shuddered violently and my vision went white at the edges.

Nate drew out the pleasure with more strokes of my inner walls as his tongue lapped at the arousal coating my skin.

“That was…” I was panting and my heart raced. “You are incredible.”

He looked up at me, head still between my legs. His smirk was complete wickedness as he slowly drew his tongue from my entrance to my clit, sending one last violent shudder through my body. “I was right. This will always be my favorite meal.”

I was boneless as he extricated himself from my legs, slowly removing them from his shoulders, and then pulled me up. I looped my legs around his hips and pushed myself against the hard bulge in his jeans. “Don’t you want to take care of that?” I asked.

“Not right now.” He kissed me hard, letting his tongue tangle with mine. I tasted myself on his tongue. “When I finally bury myself in your pussy, I’m going to need a few days to stay there,” he said, mouth still pushed against mine.

“I used to feel silly for never having done that with a man,” I admitted, focusing my eyes on his lips because I was too embarrassed to look into his eyes as I made my confession. “But now I’m really glad I waited. You were worth the wait, honey.”

His hard swallow was audible. “I like it when you call me that.”

“I like calling you that.” I probably should’ve been a little uncomfortable with my bare ass on his countertop, my arousal coating the front of his jeans, but I wasn’t. Nate made me feel like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

He held me for another minute and then bent to grab my underwear and pants while I slid from the countertop and tried not to look too silly standing in the middle of his kitchen doing an impression of Winnie the Pooh. Nate sensed that I was feeling awkward and looked away while I redressed.

“There are still a couple of rooms down here we haven’t seen, but I think we should wait. They aren’t even close to being done yet.” He finally turned back around when I touched his arm. “Do you want to see the barn where I store all the furniture I make?”

“Absolutely.” I could only imagine how many cool things Nate had built. “Would you consider adding me to your customer list? I would love to have a Nate Sullivan original.”

“What do you want me to build you?”

“Hm. Can I wait and see what you’ve already built? That might give me some inspiration.” I wouldn’t mind a beautiful table like he’d built for his dad. But those bookcases he’d built for Harper were beautiful and functional. I had mountains of books that needed a home.

Nate locked up the house and we rode in his truck back in the direction of the main house. When he reached the spot where another truck was parked, he slowed. “Do you mind if we stop for a minute? It’s almost time for Dad to leave for his weekly community organizer meeting and I’d like to clean the snow off his truck so he doesn’t have to do it.”

I obviously had no objection to Nate being a good son. I did have some concern that his level of perfection was too good to be real. A man who let a woman orgasm on his tongue without demanding anything in return, who then insisted on stopping to clear snow from his father’s truck, was not the kind of man I had ever known to exist in real life.

Nate had just finished when Tom strolled out of the house. Through the window, I could hear him give Nate a half-hearted lecture about how he was old but not dead and could still clear off his truck. Nate replied with a comment about trying to impress me and that seemed to appease Tom because he smiled and waved at me before slapping Nate on the back.

When Nate got back in the truck, his cheeks were red from the cold and his eyes were shining like silver coins. The smile he gave me was the most perfect one yet and it made my heart flutter. I knew in that moment that I wasn’t just having fun with my hot neighbor. I was falling head over damn heels for him.