Chapter 25 #2
Bunching my thigh, I let her use me for all she was worth. Watching her rock over my leg and against my body was a sight that could rival any natural wonder. Liquid rushed from her pussy, dampening my pants even more. She turned her head into my chest, her cries muffled against my shirt.
Soon, I thought. Soon she can cry and beg for everything I can give her until her heart’s content.
The urge to give her more than sex hit me like a ton of bricks.
The thought should make me want to run in the opposite direction; instead, all I wanted to do was slide in closer.
Father once told me that the moment he met Mother, she’d wrapped him around her finger and he had no inclination to unwrap himself.
He’d wanted to know everything about her and share all of himself with her.
Was this what he meant? The overwhelming desire—hell, need—to connect so fully with another person until they became a part of you.
Because that’s exactly what I felt in the moment.
My body was strung tight, the need for release almost overwhelming. Except right now was all about Reese. I took her mouth as pleasure consumed her.
Finally, Reese’s breathing evened out, her body relaxing against mine. Breaking the kiss, I brushed her hair back from her face and looked down at her.
Smiling up at me, she winked. “Take me home, Clay Montgomery. I think I still have to satisfy you to make the night worth your while.”
Easing her down, I kept my hands on her waist as she steadied herself.
“I’m all for finding some satisfaction.”
I think, as I guided her out of the bar, satisfaction of a very different kind had already found me.
I pulled in front of Reese’s garage apartment but didn’t cut the engine.
The night had taken a definite downturn, and I had no idea why.
Somewhere between ushering her past a complaining Everleigh, her clearly-aware-of-what-we-were-doing family and friends and the blink-and-you-miss-it drive to the B&B, she’d changed.
Gone was the woman who came apart in my arms, and in her place was one who’d almost turned in on herself.
I wasn’t used to this look from her, and I did not like it.
The urge to slay whatever dragon had caused her melancholy grabbed me by the throat.
She stared straight ahead, not bothering to turn to me when she asked, “You coming up?”
“I don’t have to.” No matter how much I wanted to get her in bed again, I would follow the path she set out. Right now, the attitude in the car felt like she wanted nothing to do with me.
“Changed your mind, huh? I’m not surprised. I can be a little much.” She opened the car door and slid a leg out. “It’s cool.”
I reached over, halting her movement. “I most certainly did not change my mind. What happened at Pour Decisions was only a fucking appetizer, and I’m hungry for the main course.
I’m also not an ass.” At her quirked brow, I amended my words.
“Not a total ass. Something’s wrong, or at least different from what it was ten minutes ago.
” Sliding my hand over hers, I stroked the soft skin of her wrist. “We can talk. If sex isn’t what you want anymore, that’s fine.
” My body hated the thought of not getting inside her, but oddly enough my mind hated the hurt I sensed in Reese more than any physical discomfort I’d suffer.
The idea of her being in pain didn’t sit well with me.
“I do.” The words rushed from her mouth, leaving no doubt about the honesty of her declaration. “But should I? That’s my dilemma.” With a wave of her hand between us, she continued, “Clay, what the fuck are we doing here?”
I stared at her, the glow of the dash glinting off her blonde hair, and wished I had an answer for both of us. At least she had the courage to ask the question.
I knew I should leave.
I also knew I didn’t want to.
“‘Should’ has its place, son, but you need to know when it’s right. Sometimes it’s simply a crutch for being scared.”
Was it fear stopping her or something else? Confusion maybe. Or worry. The list was plentiful because of the situation we found ourselves in. Anything sexual could wait. I wanted her happy again with an urgency I didn’t fully understand.
“We can go upstairs and talk. Figure out where we go from here. What happened at Pour Decisions was probably a little too much.”
Her laughter could only be called derisive, but it felt as if it were more directed at herself.
“I get that a lot.” She nodded and looked up at the sky.
“Not upstairs though. It’s a gorgeous night.
” A slight twinkle came back into her eyes.
Not as much as earlier, and definitely not as bright as I would like, but it was something. “Ever walk in the country at night?”
I let my lips tilt up in a grin. “Can’t say that I have?”
We got out of the car, and I trailed after her to the patio behind the bed and breakfast. Like before on her balcony, only the sounds of the night serenaded us.
She kicked off her heels and grabbed a blanket from one of the lounge chairs.
“Lose the shoes, Montgomery. You need to feel the grass between your toes.” Following her lead, I toed off my shoes and socks, lining them up next to hers.
The sight, the implied intimacy, did something to me, but I shoved it aside. Now was not the time for that.
Stepping onto the grass, the sensation on my feet startled me.
I couldn’t remember ever having been barefoot in the grass before.
Maybe as a child, when we had a house out on Long Island, but even that was so distant I couldn’t call it to mind.
Distant in time and memory. Happy childhood days seemed like they happened to another person.
Right now, that person wasn’t here. They weren’t walking next to Reese, watching as she tipped her head back in the moonlight.
We crossed the yard to where the elevation rose, allowing a view of the vineyards below but obscuring the house behind us.
Reese spread out the blanket and sank down, stretching her legs out in front of her and leaning back on her hands.
“Join me.”
Lowering myself, I copied her pose, watching the moonlight cast its glow on the mountains and the vines.
These mountains held not only beauty, but a level of peace I’d never experienced before.
My life was a hectic mess, from dealing with Reginald to starting up new ventures.
I rarely slowed down and never stopped. Henley Falls was one long slowdown, one that felt right.
After being here for only a short time, it was easy to see the appeal of the area.
A retreat-like resort, where guests could relax and let themselves be, would fit in perfectly.
“I’ve always loved this spot. It has a little of everything, mountains, vines, the creek in the distance.
It’s where Gramps proposed to Grams, so maybe that had something to do with my love for it too.
Sometimes I’d come out here and hide if I was upset about something or mad at my brothers, but Gramps would always find me.
I assumed my parents knew where I went, but they never bothered me out here. Only Gramps would come.”
I let her talk, realizing she was sharing something with me that told me more than any plan about her dreams could have. This was the heart of her. I didn’t understand exactly why she wanted to give me this information, but I wasn’t about to ignore the gift.
“Surprisingly, I could go to him with anything: boys, school, my brothers, you name it. But this spot? This was where I let out my pain at whatever went wrong.” She leaned forward and snagged a blade of grass from the ground, worrying it between her fingers.
“‘Reese,’ he’d say, ‘these are the little things in life even though they feel big now. You’re not gonna remember them in a week or a month, but you come to me and I’ll take them on for you.
Then you’ll know you can come to me with the things that mean the most to you. ’”
Lying back, she looked up at the stars, while I looked at her. Gorgeous and petite, she practically glowed in the moonlight, but it was the look in her eyes that called to me. Pain and heartbreak, a longing for something that she couldn’t get back.
“Do you know how many times people have told me I’m too much? Or a lot?”
The sudden change of topics startled me. “I heard that a few times tonight.” The words had rubbed me the wrong way because they’d come out negative. Like her personality couldn’t be handled, which was a load of shit. I handled it just fine.
“And those two ladies when I came offstage. They’ve known me since grade school.
Then Lo said it. Everyone fucking says it.
All the damn time. Even you.” She smacked her hand on the soft earth below us and glared my way.
“Sure, you may have couched it in prep school, fancy, rich boy speak, but it was the same thing and we both know it.”
I couldn’t disagree with her, even though I wanted to.
At the time I had meant it because I didn’t know her yet.
Do you really know her now? Sex and a few orgasms don’t exactly mean you know her.
I felt like I did. The better question was, did I want to know her?
The answer to that was a resounding yes, even if I shouldn’t.
“You know who never did? Gramps. Never once did he say it.”
Because he knew her, he understood her.
The need to be the person who understood her now was frankly startling and more than a little unnerving.
“My dreams for this place are ambitious, and all the parentals have let me know it. ‘They’re too much’ and even if they don’t say the words I hear ‘just like you are, Reese.’ What if Gramps would have said it now too?
What if the thing that means the most to me is what he finally would have said no to? ”
She hastily brushed at the tear escaping the corner of her eye, as if she didn’t want me to notice it. Or she didn’t want to acknowledge it herself.
I was rarely at a loss for words. From elite social settings to high-dollar business negotiations, I knew what to say and when to be quiet.
When to let others talk themselves into a mess or out of a deal.
It’s what made me great in business. It also sort of made me shit at relationships because it was a hell of a lot easier to stay silent and get out of a situation I never wanted to be part of in the first place.
Right now, I wanted to say the right thing, but I had no idea what it was.
So, I went with what my gut told me.
“I don’t think that’s possible.” Reese’s Gramps sounds like a man I would have liked to meet.
“It’s big, and it’s a lot,” I winced as she glared my way.
“I said it, Reese. Not you. You are not too much.” Her eye roll told me she didn’t believe my words.
A few days ago, I wouldn’t have believed them either, but Reese’s brand of too much was growing on me.
I’d miss it when I went back to New York.
Alone.
The thought didn’t settle well with me, but I couldn’t consider it right now. Now, this moment was all about the woman lying next to me, being more vulnerable than I expected.
“You’ll get your dream, I promise.”
Getting control of Montgomery was about something more than my family and our legacy right now. It meant I could ensure the beauty by my side got whatever she needed, and in that moment, that meant everything to me.
She sat up and surprised me by resting her head on my shoulder.
“Funny thing about dreams, sometimes they get a little scary when they’re within your grasp.”