Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Maisey
Three Weeks Later…
It didn’t take long for ranch life to stop feeling temporary.
In fact, it was all too easy for Rock Creek Ranch to start feeling like home and for me to fall into the rhythm of waking up with the sunrise or with Travis’s hands reaching for me, pulling me into his hard chest and his even harder dick.
Morning sex wasn’t something I’d ever enjoyed.
Until now.
Then again, I’ve never enjoyed any sex the way I did with Travis. Somehow, over the last few weeks, I’d become completely insatiable. A detail that seemed to suit him just fine, because my cowboy’s desire for me only seemed to grow stronger every day.
While Travis was busy with ranch work, I spent my days painting and applying for big girl jobs. Truthfully, the more time that went on, the fewer jobs I applied for and the more time I spent painting.
But it wasn’t entirely my fault. The number of jobs out there that a recent art history major was actually qualified for was dismally few and far between.
Besides, the amount of inspiration I was surrounded by couldn’t be ignored. My fingers itched to pick up my brushes every day and bring the landscape around me to life with my watercolors.
We’d sent for all of my things, which didn’t amount to much. But I did get my art supplies, and that’s all I really cared about.
Travis had cleared a little corner in our tiny cabin for all my things, but I moved them outside as much as I could.
Sometimes, I stayed on the porch; the endless views right out our door were unbelievable.
But as time went on, I moved around and even went down to the corral where I started painting my sexy cowboy husband astride Valero.
The way he handled the huge stallion with so much ease and confidence was awe-inspiring and an incredible turn-on.
Especially when he looked over at me, watching him, and gave me a look that told me exactly how he planned to handle me the moment we were alone.
I still couldn’t believe this was my life.
For now.
I tried not to think about the ticking clock on our marriage.
And for the most part, I could put it out of my mind.
Even when the officials from the contest surprised us with random video calls to check up on us.
Judging by their reactions when we told them we weren’t getting the annulment the morning after our nuptials, it seemed they were more than a little bit surprised we planned on earning our prize money.
They’d completely underestimated my financial desperation.
Or the fact that my new husband was a beast in bed and being married to him was definitely not a hardship.
Still, I knew our time together couldn’t last forever, and I planned on making the most of every moment we did have.
The phone call from my dad earlier had been another reminder of that ticking clock.
It was far from the first conversation we’d had about the whole situation, but it didn’t seem to matter how many times I tried to explain that not only was the wedding not my fault, but that it was actually going to be a very good thing for me financially since after it was all over, I’d be able to pay off my student loans and still have a bit of breathing room; he still thought I’d lost my mind.
And of course, like any good father, he was concerned about his daughter living with a virtual stranger in the middle of nowhere. Travis hopped on a few video calls with me in that first week, and that helped him see that Travis really was a good guy.
There’d been a lot of initial pushback about the fact that I wasn’t coming back for Patty’s wedding, but when I’d made it clear that I wasn’t leaving the ranch, they didn’t have a choice but to let it go.
The phone call earlier today was to tell me all about Patty and Carter’s wedding.
I’d pretended to listen, but truthfully, I didn’t care.
In fact, the more time that passed, the more I actually started to feel a little bit bad for Patty and the fact that she was signing up for a lifetime of shitty sex with Carter.
Okay, I didn’t really feel bad. Karma’s a bitch.
At the ranch, my company was much better.
Kali and Anna had quickly become friends, and I loved watching the dynamic between Travis and the Thorne brothers.
But as much as I loved spending time with the others and getting to know Kali and Anna, our evenings alone in our cabin were my favorite times.
Talking on the porch over a glass of wine or relaxing in front of the fireplace on the cooler nights, just being with Travis felt good.
Like tonight. The rain we’d been expecting for the last few days is falling outside, and we’re cozy inside.
Travis is kicked back against the headboard, shirtless, his jeans unbuttoned just enough to tease. His arms are crossed behind his head as he watches me puttering around by my easel.
“I like watching you work.”
I turn, brush in hand.
“Especially when you’re not wearing anything but my shirt,” he continues, his eyes narrowing with need. I know what’s coming next.
He’s going to command me to go to him. I love it when he’s just a little bit bossy, especially because I know it means I’m going to come. Hard.
For over two weeks, he’s been giving me my cowboy education, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it, but tonight I’m the one holding the reins.
Before he can take the lead, I put my brush down and saunter toward him, his oversized shirt slipping over one of my bare shoulders.
“Maisey,” he drawls, his voice rough. “You’ve got that look, sweetheart. What’s going on in that pretty little head?”
I don’t answer with words. Instead, I climb onto the bed, straddling his massive thighs, my hips burning a little with the stretch, and lean in to nip at his stubble-covered jaw.
His hands come to my hips; his instincts to take control are deeply ingrained.
“Not tonight, cowboy.” I slap his hands away. “It’s my turn.”
His eyes flash. “Is that right?”
Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I nod before I slide down his body and pull the zipper on his jeans all the way down so I can tug them open.
He’s already thick, hard, and straining against the confines of the denim when I free his massive cock.
His groan is visceral when I wrap my hand around his girth. Hot, velvet steel.
Heat pools between my legs in anticipation of taking him, and I’m instantly dripping with need.
But first…
I tighten my grip and stroke the length of him, making him groan, his head tipping back.
I take my time, moving my hand slowly and firmly. I’ve learned his tells. The small ways his body responds to my touch. The flex in his abs, the hitch in his breath, and my favorite, the way he groans.
Then I lean in, swirling my tongue around his thick tip, tasting the saltiness of his desire.
“Fuck, sweetheart,” he rasps, fingers threading into my hair. He’s holding himself back from taking the lead. He’s letting me have this.
Emboldened, I take him deeper, hollowing my cheeks and sucking hard.
His hips buck involuntarily, and a thrill shoots through me at the power I have over my cowboy. This is what he’s taught me—exactly how to unravel him.
And it feels amazing.
I bob my head, taking more. And then even more, using my hand to stroke what my throat can’t take.
Wet sounds fill the room, mixing with his low curses and the crackle of the fire.
“Jesus, Maisey. Where’d you learn to—” He cuts off with a growl when I hum around his cock, the vibration making his thighs tense.
I pull back, just enough to look up into his eyes as I drive him crazy.
“Goddamn, I love this side of you,” he groans, barely holding on to control. “Confident. Sexy. Mine.”
The praise hits like lightning. I dive back in, taking him deeper until his massive cock hits the back of my throat, and I’m seeing stars as I move faster, fucking him with my mouth until he’s panting. His fingers tighten in my hair. “Shit—Maisey. I’m gonna—”
I don’t stop.
He comes with a guttural moan, pulsing hot and powerful streams down my throat. I swallow every drop, holding his gaze the entire time, letting him see how much I love it.
When he’s spent, I crawl back up him, kissing my way over his chest, his neck, his mouth. He tastes himself on my tongue and groans.
His hands grip my hips as he tries to flip me over, but just as quickly, I push him back down.
“My turn to ride, cowboy.”
He grins, wicked and wrecked. “Yes, ma’am.”
I straddle him again, my pussy completely soaked and dripping for him as I line up with the head of his cock. He’s already hardening again. Insatiable man.
Sinking down slowly, inch by massive inch, I gasp at the stretch he gives me. The fullness of taking all of him.
“Look at you,” he murmurs. His hands tug at the few remaining buttons of my shirt, exposing my breasts so he can cup and squeeze them, using his thumbs to pull my nipples into hard peaks. “Taking me like you were made just for me.”
He pulls more moans out of me as I start rocking my hips, grinding down hard until he hits that spot inside me that makes stars burst behind my eyes.
I force my eyes open, needing to see him, and the look of pure desire I see reflected at me makes my confidence surge.
“You like what you see, cowboy?”
“Fuck yes.” His hands grip my ass, guiding but not controlling. “Ride me hard, Maisey.”
I do. Faster, deeper, chasing the edge that he’s taught me to crave in only a few short weeks with him.
What would the rest of my life be like?
I don’t have time to let the thought sink in. Travis’s thumb finds my clit, rubbing in tighter and tighter circles until I shatter, clenching around him, crying out his name.
He flips us over, pulls my legs up over his shoulders, and thrusts deep. Once. Twice. And then he, too, is coming apart with a roar muffled against my neck.
We collapse together, tangled and sated.
For now.
Travis
I leave her sleeping.
Not because I want to spend any time away from her. I don’t. But if I stay wrapped up next to her, sleeping so peacefully as if she’s exactly where she belongs, her hair wild on the pillow, her mouth parted in satisfied sleep, I won’t be able to think straight.
And I need to do some thinking. A lot of it.
We’re more than halfway through this marriage. It hurts to even think of it that way since, from day one, it felt real to me.
It felt permanent.
And with every day that passes, it only feels more and more like forever.
I pull on my jeans as quietly as I can, grab my boots, and slip out onto the porch into the cool night air. The stars are putting on a show, the way they always do out here.
Usually, I find the night sky meditative. But tonight, it only makes me more restless.
The barn door creaks as I step inside. The familiar smells wrap around me, the animals shifting in their stalls. Solid and real. This is my life.
It’s not hers.
What should be steadying and grounding is only another reminder that Maisey isn’t here to stay.
The truth has been sitting heavy in my chest for days and only growing louder every time she laughs in my kitchen or curls into me at night like it’s second nature.
Footsteps sound behind me.
“Why am I not surprised to find you out here?”
I glance over my shoulder. Wyatt stands in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, looking like he just rolled out of bed.
“Did I wake you?”
He snorts. “There’s no such thing as sleeping with a baby. This is the third time I’ve been up so far, and the night is young.” He runs a hand through his rumpled hair. “I figured I’d check on the horses since I was up. But I guess I’ll check on you, too.”
We stand there for a moment in silence.
My friends are observant. They’ve seen it. The way I’ve completely fallen for my wife, even though it’s supposed to be temporary.
“She seems happy here,” Wyatt says after a moment. “She fits.”
“That’s the problem.” I blow out a breath. “She isn’t supposed to fit here.”
“Trav, don’t—”
“Don’t what?” I challenge him. “Speak the truth? ’Cause that’s what it is, man.
” I shake my head and turn to Pico, giving the horse a gentle scratch.
In the last few weeks, she’s become Maisey’s horse.
The two of them are getting on perfectly, as if Maisey has spent her whole life on a horse instead of only a few weeks.
She’s a natural. “She has a life in the city,” I tell Wyatt.
“Our marriage, it isn’t supposed to be real, remember. ”
“But it is.”
I shake my head. It’s too dangerous to let myself entertain that thought.
“I don’t want it to end,” I admit, the words slipping out before I can stop them.
Wyatt studies me for a long moment. Then he smiles knowingly. “Then why are you acting like it has to?”
“She’s got plans,” I say, thinking back to all the discussions we’ve had over the last few weeks. She’s so passionate about art and incredibly talented, too. Rock Creek is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and there’s definitely no such thing as an art scene. “Things she wants out of life.”
“And?”
“I won’t be the reason she gives it up.”
Wyatt nods slowly. “Nobody’s saying you will be,” he says. “That’s the funny thing about choosing someone, Travis. From the outside, it might look like a sacrifice. But on the inside? It feels like purpose.”
That hits hard.
He claps his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “Think about it, Trav. It doesn’t matter how it began. The only thing that matters now is how it ends.”
Wyatt heads back to the house, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I spend a few more minutes with the animals before heading outside again.
This time, when I look up at the stars, I take a deep breath and, for the first time, let myself really consider what if.