17. Christian
Christian
Here I am, arms flung wide open, practically begging hell to claim me.
Every filthy thing I’ve done to Piper in the last forty-eight hours has carved my name into the devil’s guest list, and fuck if I’m not ready to sign that contract in blood.
If life were simple, then what I’m doing with Piper would be unforgivable.
Making your son’s ex-girlfriend scream your name twenty-four hours after their breakup?
Yeah, that’s the kind of shit you don’t come back from.
But life isn’t a clean-cut story of right and wrong.
It’s messy and complicated and painted in every shade of gray you can imagine, and the truth is, I’m not prepared to slam the brakes on whatever path of destruction I’m racing down.
All my life, I’ve tried to build something with Travis.
I’ve tried to be the father he could count on even when he made it damn near impossible.
But he’s a grown man now, putting his hands on women and carrying around this hatred he won’t explain.
It’s buried so deep in his bones that I don’t think he’ll ever let me be a real father to him.
And after what I’ve done with Piper, I might as well take a match to whatever tattered connection we had left.
He’s never going to forgive me, and the messed-up part is that I can’t bring myself to regret it because regretting Piper would mean denying the first thing that’s made me feel alive in years.
Blood or not, Travis sees me as nothing more than an inconvenience—a stubborn bastard he keeps around because he knows I’ve got no one else to leave this place to.
And with Colton and Callan both kid-free, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I could hand the farm to my brothers, but then they’d be in the same position if kids aren’t in their future.
I’m done with that chapter of my life.
The first round of fatherhood left enough scars to last a lifetime.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Travis the way you’re supposed to love your kid, but I can’t stomach the way he treats people, or how he’s turned into a carbon copy of his mother. They’re both toxic as hell, and no amount of wishful thinking is going to change that.
Still, I keep trying. It’s why I drag him up here every December, hoping the mountain air and honest work might trigger even the tiniest spark of pride in this place and maybe help him find the love for it I’d always hoped he’d inherit from me.
But it never does. He’d always rather be anywhere else, leaving me to distract myself by throwing everything I have into the work.
Right now, though, I’m distracted by something else entirely.
I’ve been watching Piper for the past twenty minutes, charming the hell out of this family while their kids debate between trees like it’s life or death.
She kneels down in front of little Dougie Fletcher, whose bottom lip is stuck out because his sister keeps picking trees he thinks are “dumb.” The patience in her voice and the way she helps smooth out their squabble is like watching some kind of kid whisperer work their magic.
“She’s great up here, isn’t she?” Preston drawls, sidling up next to me, his gaze following mine to where Piper’s crouched with the kids. “Got that natural way with people.”
“Yeah,” I murmur. “She does.”
“You know something?” Preston leans against the fence next to me. “When you get to be my age, you start seeing life in these big, defining moments. Like when I was twenty and met Ivy. The woman scared the hell out of me, but damn if I didn’t know right then she was the only girl I’d ever want.”
“Yeah?” I glance his way, brow lifted.
“Her folks hated that some rough-around-the-edges ranch hand was sniffing around their daughter.” He turns to me, those mirrored sunglasses catching the light, his white mustache twitching with a hidden smile under that worn cowboy hat.
“You know what we told everyone who tried keeping us apart? We told them all to go fuck themselves.” A laugh tears out of my chest before I can stop it, and Preston claps me on the back.
“Dead serious. The best thing I ever did was tell that crusty old bastard I was marrying his daughter, whether he liked it or not.”
“You’re a lucky man, Preston.”
I’ve been falling for Piper for months when I should’ve been running in the opposite direction.
Do I think whatever we’re doing is going to end with her feeling anything close to what I do?
Not a chance in hell. I’m just a man in his forties with nothing to offer except maybe thirty good years if luck’s on my side.
She’s got her whole life stretched out in front of her, and it feels cruel to consider staking a claim on that.
But if I can have this slice of her, right here, right now?
If I can carve out this moment—a few days that I’ll remember as the time when I had everything—I’ll take it.
“Not too late for you to tell people to go fuck themselves either.” Preston’s mouth tics like he’s fighting a grin. “Pretty sure she’s already done that part.”
“It’s messy, Pres. Too fucking messy.”
“Ain’t nothing in life worth having that isn’t a little messy. And you don’t owe anybody a damn thing. She sure as hell doesn’t either after what Travis did to her.”
My head snaps up. “She told you?”
“Didn’t need to.” His jaw tightens, and I can hear the disgust in his voice. “Saw it with my own two eyes. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what kind of man puts his hands where they aren’t wanted, especially with the attitude he’s been carrying around his whole life.”
“Jesus, where did I go wrong?”
“You didn’t go wrong, son. You just never got a chance to get it right, and that ain’t on you.” He grips my shoulder, and that touch says more than a thousand words ever could. “We can’t choose our blood, but we sure as shit can choose our happiness.”
Right now, my happiness is wrapped up in a woman half my age with a filthy mouth and the kind of fire that makes me want to burn the whole world down just to keep her warm.
“Speaking of happiness, Savannah made me carrot cake. Don’t tell Ivy—she’s been bugging me about cutting sugar.”
The corner of my mouth tilts. “Your secret’s safe with me. But you better make sure there’s a slice left for me.”
Preston chuckles and starts making his way back to the barn to check on the horses, leaving me alone with my thoughts. But only for a second because I catch a flash of movement, and my entire body comes alive when I spot Piper heading my way.
“Wow, they are some indecisive kids.”
“Did they finally pick a tree?”
“Eventually, although one wanted the biggest one, the mom wanted small and cute, and the other kid didn’t care so long as it was fluffy, whatever the hell that means.” She’s smiling at me, and it’s like the goddamn sun just came out. “Are you okay if I take off soon? I’m working tonight.”
“Do you need a ride?”
“You don’t mind?”
“Course I don’t mind. Besides, if I take you, that means I get to come pick you up, and if I come pick you up, it means I get you back in my bed.”
“You haven’t had enough of me yet, cowboy?”
The truth is, I haven’t even scratched the surface of how much I want her.
Not even close. Because even now, standing here in broad daylight, all I can think about is pressing her down into that fresh powder, spreading those perfect thighs of hers, and burying my face between her legs until she’s writhing and moaning and leaving the dirtiest snow angel this mountain has ever seen.
I step closer, wrapping a strand of her raven hair around my finger as I drop my voice low against her ear.
“Get in the house. Strip from the waist down and bend over the kitchen table. You’ve got five minutes to be bare and ready for me because when I sink into you, I’m not stopping until you’re shaking and so full of my cum it’s dripping down your thighs for the rest of the night.”
The shiver that runs through her body has nothing to do with the cold, and that flush crawling up her neck is all me.
When I spin her toward the house, I watch her walk away, and my cock is already straining against my zipper.
I stare at my phone, counting down every second, and when those five minutes are up, I’m already storming through the front door, making sure to lock it behind me because what’s about to happen is just for us.
“It’s only me, darlin’,” I call out, not wanting the door to startle her.
Savannah and Preston are still kicking around somewhere, and Billy never comes up here because he’s always too tied up with the animals to care what the rest of us are doing. Still, the last thing I want is her worrying that they’re about to walk right in.
My boots scrape across the floor as I round the corner, and there she is—bent over my kitchen table, elbows planted, hands cradling that gorgeous face as she shoots me the smuggest fucking smile.
“If I walk around this table, am I gonna find that pretty pussy on display for me?”
“Why don’t you come see for yourself?”
I drop my hat beside her arms and stalk around behind her. My gaze latches onto her perfect ass, which is just waiting to be spread open so I can bury my face between her thighs and eat her pussy until she’s sobbing my name.
I drop into a crouch, close enough that my breath coasts over her exposed skin. Her pussy actually pulses, and my mouth waters.
“Show me how bad you want it, Piper. Play with that sweet cunt for me. Get it nice and wet.”
I don’t move. I just watch as her hand dips between her thighs.
Two fingers find her clit and start working slow circles that have me hypnotized.
I’ve thought about this—hell, I’ve fantasized about watching her pleasure herself for me—but nothing comes close to seeing her doing it.
I could watch her like this all day. But fuck, I need to be inside her .
I stand, and the clink of my belt as I pull it free makes her fingers stutter, and a whimper escapes her throat.
“I need you, Christian.”