24. Christian #2
“I’d have to have a wife for that,” I said. “Which means you’d have a step-mom. And if we’ve learned anything from those princess movies you force me to watch, step-moms are evil. I’m doing you a favor.”
“That’s a non-answer,” Bree pressed. “You don’t have to have a wife to have a baby.”
I stared at my daughter across the table. “Excuse me, Miss Thirteen going on Thirty . Who taught you to debate?”
“Miss Cass,” she said with a grin.
Cassandra laughed. “I told you, I’m a bad influence on children. You should have known better than to leave them unsupervised around me.”
And just like that, I was back to caveman mode.
I looked up and found my dad and brothers wearing ear-to-ear grins.
“Someone needs to check the fence out by Nate’s house,” Momma said as she walked back in. “Looks like there’s a break in it.”
That was my cue.
I wiped my mouth and stood. “I want clean plates,” I said to Bree and Gracie. “Help Grandma with the dishes.” I tapped Cassandra on her shoulder. “Get up, trouble. You’re coming with me.”
“Why?” she said with her fork halfway to her mouth.
“You just told me I can’t leave you unsupervised. You wanna change my ranch, you gotta fix it first.”
“Fence-mending is not my forte. I’m more of a bridge burner.”
“I’ll go with you,” CJ said, finishing off his beer.
“Nah.” I hit Cassandra with a fiery look. “We’ll handle it. Let’s go.”
Luckily, I was able to march her out of the house without a single argument.
That was, until we got off the porch.
“I’m in heels. I don’t know what crawled up your ass in there, but I’m not walking all the way to their house in heels to watch you fix a fucking fence?—”
Her words turned to a screech as I threw her over my shoulder and marched across the grass.
My boots sunk into the dirt with each step.
Cassandra kicked, nearly stabbing me in the cheek with her shoe. “Put me down, Colossus! What is with this family and kidnapping people?”
I wrapped an arm around her legs to keep her still. “Do you need to be tied up, or will you stop trying to puncture me with a stiletto?”
“I’ll stop when you stop kidnapping me.”
“I asked nicely, and you didn’t come. So, let me be frank. You’re going to come, and I’m not going to ask.”
“Why do I have the feeling you’re not talking about fixing the fence?” she wheezed.
I cut through the grove of trees that shrouded Nate’s house from the rest of the property. The backside of their house edged the fence line on the front side of the ranch.
Sure enough, two of the posts were leaning.
I’d fix it later.
Cassandra was still yammering when I dropped her back on her feet. “What is the fucking matter with you, you giant, impossible, motherfuc?—”
I pushed her up against the fence post and slammed my mouth to hers. Cassandra never saw it coming. I devoured her gasp, kissing her until she was a whimpering, frantic mess. My tongue slid against hers, sealing our desperation. I didn’t want to let her go.
Her breasts flattened against my chest and she arched closer, whimpering as her body begged for more. My cock ached as she rocked back and forth, pressing and teasing me with each shift of her feet.
I wanted her deeper. Longer. I wanted her in every way imaginable.
I wanted her under me and on top of me. But more than that, I wanted her beside me in every way. In every situation. Good or bad.
Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I trusted her.
That was something I couldn’t resist. Rules be damned.
“I thought we were going to have a conversation,” she gasped when we broke apart.”
“You wanna talk?” I rasped as I fisted her hair and yanked her head back.
“I’d like to know why I’m being mauled,” she said as she grappled at my belt, nearly tearing my pants off.
I kissed up her throat. “And I’d like to know why you’re being so fucking hot and cold with me.” I felt her pulse racing beneath my mouth, and sucked on the spot. “Get your shit together, princess. Do you want this or not?”
“Fuck me.”
“With pleasure.” I bit harder, leaving another bright mark. “But you have to decide if you want more than a quick fuck. Because if that’s all you want, this will be the last time.”
She stiffened. “Why?”
I pinned her to the fence post. “Because I like who you are when you’re not in denial.
You give me this soft side of you. The human side of you.
And then you turn it off and push me away when you’re done.
That doesn’t work for me. I will break my rules for you, but not if you’re going to keep playing these games.
” My mouth brushed hers. “So, if you’re going to keep ignoring me, avoiding me, and antagonizing me to get a rise out of me, then this will be your last orgasm. Make your choice.”
“A choice entails an alternative,” she said softly.
“You know what the alternative is, Cass. But if you want me to spell it out for you, I will. I want you to stay here with us. Period. My ‘us’ is not an option. My kids think you’re the greatest thing to walk the fucking earth.
Frankly, so do I. I want to see what you’re like when you’re willing to accept that you have feelings for us .
I know you got your heart broken, but I’m not sorry about that.
I’m glad that shit stain is gone. And as fucked up as the situation is that brought you to me, I’m fucking glad it happened because I like seeing you here every day.
I like walking into the office and seeing you there.
I like watching you try to ride a horse.
You suck at it, by the way. I like finding you with a bowl of ice cream and whiskey after a bad day, and I will always keep it on hand as long as you’re here.
But you have to choose to be here. You want to finish your job and pack up?
I don’t want that, but I’ll respect it.” My forehead rested against hers.
“There’s your choice, princess. It’s us or nothing. ”
Her jaw clenched, setting angrily as her voice trembled. “That’s not fair.”
“I didn’t say it was fair. I said you had to make a choice.”
For a moment, tears glimmered in her eyes. They shone like brilliant stars in the night sky. She blinked, staring into the expanse of the universe. “So, this is what you’re like when you’re angry.”
“I’m not angry.” I started at her blouse, unfastening the three buttons that held the silky neckline closed. I pushed the sides of fabric apart until the tops of her breasts were exposed.
“You’re angry that I’m not giving you what you want,” she whispered.
Her trousers were next. It was another pair of those soft, flowy pants that tied at the waist. “I’m not angry at you, Cass.
I’m disappointed.” I yanked on the sash, ripping the bow out of the loops.
“Pretending like you don’t care doesn’t keep you from getting hurt.
” I gritted my teeth. “Hands behind you.”
Her eyes darted left toward the house.
“I didn’t tell you to see if someone was coming. I told you to put your hands behind that goddamn fence post.”
She lifted her chin as she clasped her hands behind the post. I grabbed her wrists and quickly tied them together with the sash. She jerked, her eyes flashing with surprise when it wasn’t loose enough for her to escape.
I pulled the hat off of my head and dropped it on top of her pretty hair.
“I thought I wasn’t supposed to mess with your hat. Pretty sure that means I shouldn’t wear it,” she sassed.
I gripped her jaw in my palm. “You wanna be mine? You put that hat on.”
And with that, I pushed her trousers off of her hips and dropped to my knees.
Cassandra fought against the fence post as I worked the pants off of her ankles, tore her panties off of her hips, and threw her leg over my shoulder.
“Christian—” she gasped as I parted her dripping sex with my fingers. It was the softest shade of pink. Her sex was warm and swollen with arousal as I lapped at her clit.
A bite of cool air made us both stop and shiver.
“All you get is this orgasm, Cassandra.” I slid two fingers inside of her, crooking them and slowly stroking.
The fence creaked as she went weak in the knees.
“That’s all you want anyway, right?” I circled her clit with my tongue. “You use all that bravado with everyone else. Ripping them a new one and putting them in their place. You’re not willing to use it to fight for yourself. For what you want.”
“Christian, please?—”
I cupped her ass in my hand as I devoured her. She swore at the sky. She pleaded to me, to deities, to anything with ears. She pulled and pulled against that damn fence post.
I didn’t let up.
Maybe I was out of my goddamn mind. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. She hated this ranch. She didn’t like kids. She despised nearly everything about my way of life.
And yet she was perfect for it.
I saw it every time I looked at her.
Cassandra had an unmatched strength. She was confident in ways I had never seen. She had a stubborn streak that supported that confidence. She was protective. She never took “no” for an answer when she wanted a “yes.” She was wildly arrogant, brash, and abrasive.
And every bit of me loved her for it.
Her breasts nearly spilled out of her bra as she thrashed against the post. Blonde tresses flung recklessly in every direction.
“Make me come,” she whispered as she pushed her hips out, desperately seeking my mouth and hands.
My hair was spilling out of the bun I tied it in. My beard was damp with her arousal. The taste of her coated my tongue.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
Her breathing turned frantic.
Silence.
A gasp.
Then the explosion.
She whimpered, her thighs quivering as she shattered. Cassandra threw her head back, letting out a string of muttered profanities so loud it was probably heard at the bunkhouse. I didn’t let up, lapping at her cunt until she was begging me to stop and pushing me away with her foot.
Without a word, I dried her thighs and pussy with her torn panties, then helped her back into her pants. She stood still as I silently untied her wrists and threaded the sash back through her belt loops.
Cassandra rubbed the red marks circling her skin as I buttoned her blouse.
My hat teetered backward on her head when she looked up at me regretfully.
I plucked my hat off of her head and put it back on. “Why do you look sad?” I cupped her cheek. “You got what you wanted.”
I was waiting for her to say it.
To say it wasn’t everything she wanted.
I was waiting for her to admit to being stubborn because it was safe.
But she didn’t.
The corner of her mouth trembled. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not the kind of person you should be involved with.” She swallowed, strengthening her resolve. “I won’t change.”
“I’m not asking you to.” I ran my hand down my beard. “I just want you to be honest with yourself. With me.”
“I am,” she shot back.
“No,” I barked, cutting her off. “If you were honest, you wouldn’t be so fucking wishy-washy—wanting me and then pushing me away.
I’m done with that. If you were honest, you’d admit you’re miserable doing what you’re doing.
But that’s on you. If you want to be miserable, then be my guest. You want so badly to be right that you can’t even tolerate the thought that maybe , just fucking maybe you and I could have something good.
So yeah. I’m asking for it, Cass. Because I’m not a coward. ”
The last sentence hit her like a shot.
The fence post creaked and let out a groan as it tipped, cracked, and fell into the grass.
Neither of us flinched.
So much for playing for money. I was leaving the table with empty pockets.
We walked back to the house in silence and found the rest of my family cleaning up from dinner.
CJ smirked when he saw us. “How’s that fence?”
Cassandra flipped him off.
I trudged in behind her, angrier than when I had left. “I’ll fix it in the morning.”