Chapter 10 #3
Boone chuckled. “I’ve always considered myself a fair hand at grilling, but Theo puts me to shame with all his gadgets and recipes. It’s nice that they take turns cooking for each other.”
“I guess considering there are seven of them, and they’re all pretty different, it’s amazing how well they get along. Levi’s always said they aren’t just his brothers, but his best friends.”
“Must be nice to have siblings and be close to them.”
“Only child?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yep. My parents didn’t meet and marry until they were well into their thirties, so I was a late-in-life kid.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without my sisters and cousins. We grew up on the farm together, so the guys feel more like brothers to me.”
“You’re a lucky woman, darlin’, because your family is awesome.”
She gave him a huge smile. “They really are,” Mila gushed, “though I have to admit, I’m curious to see how things will change now that they’re falling in love and planning weddings.
Not that the guys won’t still be close. It’s just…
it took some time to get used to Lucy leaving the farm and moving to Philly.
We talk on the phone or FaceTime a few times a week, but I still really miss her. ”
“You think any of the other Storm kids will uproot and move away from Gracemont?”
Mila shook her head. “No. I think Levi moving down into the valley was probably as far as any of the others would ever consider venturing. I sort of expect the rest to follow Theo’s lead, claiming one of the cabins as their own.”
“You okay with that?”
“Absolutely. Taking care of the cabins isn’t my favorite thing. I took it over from Aunt Claire about five years ago, when her sciatica started acting up and she couldn’t clean them anymore. I expected her to take them back once she felt better, but,” Mila shrugged, “she never did.”
“Levi said everyone claimed their role on the farm after they graduated from high school.”
“They did,” Mila confirmed. “Though I was a little slower to chisel out my place because of Grandma’s dementia, and then Granddaddy’s cancer.”
“Was running the kitchens at the winery and brewery your choice?” he asked.
“It was. I love to cook. I’d actually love to expand the menus at both places, offering something more substantial than the appetizers.
I have this idea for signature hot dogs we could sell at the brewery, where we give them all stormy weather names with fun toppings.
And for the winery, I’d love to add gourmet grilled cheeses to the menu, and we could even pair each to a Lightning in a Bottle wine. ”
“Damn. Both those ideas sound delicious.”
“I have a million ideas because, as it stands now, most patrons come for a happy hour drink, share some of the light fare, then they leave to go somewhere else for dinner. If we offered a more substantial menu, they wouldn’t have to leave at all, which would only mean better beer and wine sales.”
“Solid business plan.” Boone wondered why she wasn’t suggesting it to her family.
“My real dream is to someday be able to start my own catering service. Gretchen could offer it as one of the add-ons at the event barn. We anticipate hosting lots of weddings and parties there, and I think it could be a real selling feature if we also made catering available.”
“Why someday?”
Mila shrugged. “There aren’t enough hours in the day right now.”
“Well, then here’s hoping your cousins start snapping up those cabins, so you’ll have more time to do what you really love.” He tapped his wineglass against hers, and they finished their wine.
Boone took her glass, placing them on the side table, so he could wrap his arms around her.
Mila looked over her shoulder curiously. She indicated earlier she didn’t understand his sudden affection, and he wished he could offer her some answer as to what had changed for him.
He’d had plenty of time on the return trip to Gracemont to consider last night’s kiss.
All he knew was that when she’d gotten out of her car with Sadie safely in tow, some cold, dead part of his heart came back to life. Sadie had been terribly upset…and she’d sought out Mila. And Mila had taken care of her. Hell, she’d been taking care of Sadie since the first day they met.
And that was when he admitted the way to his heart wasn’t through his stomach at all. It was through his daughter.
Mila was sweet and giving, and when he watched her and Sadie walk toward the cabin last night, Mila placing a comforting, almost protective hand on his daughter’s shoulder, every so-called “good excuse” for keeping his distance from her no longer felt good enough.
Boone placed a soft kiss on her cheek, then turned her face so he could kiss her lips.
Mila followed his lead, twisting to face him, returning his kiss with a hunger that matched his own. Her hands slid through his hair as he grasped her waist, tugging her until she was straddling his lap.
Her eyes widened briefly when he pulled her more firmly against him, letting her feel the impact she was having on him. His cock was rock hard.
“Boone.”
He stopped her from saying more because he wasn’t interested in talking right now. He’d turned a corner, though whether for now or for good, he couldn’t say. His physical needs were drowning out every voice of reason, and he let them. Let them take over.
Kissing her again, he cupped her ass, taking advantage of her gasp to push his tongue in to find hers.
Mila mewled as he caressed her ass, then slipped his hands under her sweater, unhooking her bra.
“I’m going to lay you down on this couch and take you, darlin’,” he said. “If you don’t want that, you need to say so now.”
“I want that so much,” she said, her lips tickling his throat as she spoke.
“Good girl,” he said, praising her, loving the way her pupils dilated whenever he called her that. Reaching for the hem of her sweater, he pulled it over her head, her bra going next, both articles of clothing tossed to the floor.
Boone growled low in his throat as he looked at her gorgeous tits. “So beautiful,” he murmured.
Mila’s head flew back when he took one of her tight nipples into his mouth, sucking on it until she moaned with pleasure…and maybe a little bit of pain.
Her hands clung to his shoulders, her fingers fisting the material of his shirt.
“More,” she gasped.
Boone pinched her nipples, loving the way her back arched and her eyes closed.
She was responsive and more uninhibited than he’d expected.
While he wouldn’t call Mila shy, she was definitely one of the quieter Storms, more reserved and soft-spoken.
Of course, it was probably hard to be seen when constantly in the company of Theo, Maverick, and Remi, who seemed to draw every eye with their larger-than-life personalities.
This Mila wasn’t holding back anything, and he was here for it.
Pinching her nipples again, he tugged on them until her eyes—and her mouth—flew open. Her breathing was already ragged.
“It…feels…” she panted.
She didn’t—or couldn’t—say more, but Boone didn’t need her words because everything Mila felt was written all over her gorgeous face, her expressive eyes screaming her needs.
He continued to play with her tits, sucking, pinching, nipping, squeezing. He could spend hours with her breasts and never get enough.
Mila’s fingers were fisted tight in his hair, pulling it. Not that he cared.
Cupping both breasts, he placed a soft kiss on the tip of each nipple, then leaned back, studying her face, waiting until that moment…
It took a minute or so for her vision to clear and her brain to catch up, letting her know he’d stopped touching her.
“That…was…” Once again, she paused, then shook her head. “I swear to God I know more words than I’m managing to say.”
Boone chuckled, lifting her off his lap despite her clinging, desperate to remain right where she was.
“Stop fighting me, darlin’. Go where I put you.”
“But—”
“Don’t question me, either.”
Ordinarily, Boone tempered his tone, held back his gruffer, more demanding nature.
He’d only ever truly let that side show with Lena, who’d enjoyed his rough bedroom play.
With his last two lovers, he’d locked the dominant away, keeping things painfully vanilla.
Not because those women couldn’t handle a stronger touch.
Hell, they might have even preferred it.
But Boone hadn’t wanted to go there with them. He hadn’t lied to Mila. Those lovers were there to scratch an itch, and stretching things beyond missionary and doggie felt too…personal. And since personal wasn’t something he’d been looking for, he held back.
That wouldn’t be possible with Mila. Because her submissiveness was so innate, so true, so real.
Lena may have liked their bedroom games, but to her, that was all they were.
Games. She assumed her role because it turned her on, but she could have just as easily flipped and played the dominant, as well.
However, this wasn’t a game or a role to him. His dominance was a deeply ingrained part of who he was, and he’d hidden it away for far too long.
Mila wouldn’t let him do that. Not because she’d make demands verbally but because her nature called to his, and like opposing magnets, whenever they got too close, they were going to snap together. Hard.
She stopped struggling, letting him help her to her feet. She reached for him, but he gripped her wrists and placed them at her sides. “Keep them there.”
He kept a strong hand on her elbow until she was steady, then he tugged on the drawstring of the pants he’d loaned her.
Mila had rolled them several times to keep them up, but they’d come loose when she was straddling his lap, so it was a simple matter of untying the knot and shoving them down.
They fell to her feet in a heap, and she stepped out of them.
That pretty flush on her cheeks didn’t stop with her face, slowly creeping down her slender neck to her chest. She wasn’t seeking to cover herself, and he was amazed by and proud of her courage.