47. Grace
Chapter 47
Grace
The Alphas don’t waste any time getting started on building a new barn.
The horses and other animals need a home, and you never know with Colorado weather when you’ll need shelter. They’re taking the chance to change some things, though, instead of just making an exact copy of the previous barn.
With the McAllisters out of the way, there’s more room for the rest of us to be successful, and the men are expecting a really great year. A few of the businessmen they work with offered them deals even though they missed the auction, having heard about the McAllisters and what they did to sabotage them.
I’m excited to help with the building of the barn. I’m not an expert on building, obviously, but I’m always happy to help and do whatever I can. There are a lot of things that need to be done that require another pair of hands.
As we predicted, the news about the McAllisters spread like wildfire. Nobody wants anything to do with them, and everyone is eager to help us in any way they can. I’m not surprised that my Alphas have built up such goodwill in the community. They’ve been around here their whole lives, helping people out in ways big and small. My family, obviously, but not just them.
It warms my heart that they get to see all that goodwill returned to them as people turn out to help them with the barn raising. My dad cooks a ton of food and we make a whole party of it, everybody pitching in.
What surprises me is how much people seem to like me as well.
The Alphas tease me and I know that they’re right, I was always far more liked in this town than I realized.
I thought I was a wallflower and that nobody even noticed that I had left town, other than my own family. But as people meet me at the barn raising or as they stop by to help, they all greet me warmly and talk about how nice it is to have me back in town.
I’m shocked. All I can do is smile and thank them and hug them when necessary. I feel like crying sometimes, not with anything bad, just overwhelmed with joy and surprise.
“What’s the plan?” everyone asks me at the barn raising.
“The plan is to raise the barn,” I tell them with a laugh. “Have you seen the blueprints for the expansion that we settled on? There was a lot of arguing over details but I think the men worked it all out in the end. We want to expand the herd, and maybe start focusing more on the horses than we did before, now that Hendrix is back into rodeo riding.”
I don’t talk about what my own plans are. It’s not something I want to think about. Which is silly, because I already know what I’m going to do. I just don’t want to talk to anyone else without talking to my Alphas first. They deserve to be the first ones to know.
But it still is a hell of a shift, to realize that this town was always my home. I just never realized it. And even with the angst and drama that ended up being involved, I don’t regret that I left. I needed to go to New York to appreciate what it would be like to come home. I had to go away so that I could return, and see it all with new eyes.
Although the barn raising does a lot to help bring everything along, it doesn’t get the barn completely finished. In fact, I’m not allowed to see as the men finish up the work on it.
“I’m not even the one who will be doing the most work in the barn!” I tell them as they force me to stay in the house while they go out to work on it every day. “It’s not like you’re doing it for me!”
“How do you know?” Hendrix teases me as they leave.
While they work on finishing the barn, I work on finishing my novel. I’m actually really proud of how it’s shaping up. I think I might send it to my boss.
It’ll soften the blow of things, after all. Or so I hope.
Finally, though, the barn is finished. It only takes a couple weeks, but it still feels like only a moment and like forever at the same time.
“Morning!” Easton greets me from the kitchen as I come down.
He’s made oven-puffed pancakes, topped with fresh strawberries and cream. I grin as I sit down. “Is this a special occasion?”
“It sure is.” Easton serves me and then sits down as the other three come in. “The barn’s finished.”
I jump up and Jesse plants his hands on my shoulders, pushing me back down into the chair. “Whoa, no, eat your breakfast first. The barn will still be there when you finish.”
“You’ve kept me away from it and haven’t let me see it for ages now! You can’t blame me for being impatient.”
“Yes, we can,” Hendrix informs me.
I roll my eyes at their teasing but I do as I’m told. If it’s really so important to them that they make a bit of a production out of it, then that’s fine by me. I just hope that this isn’t motivated by guilt and that they don’t think they have to make this special for me to make up for what I endured. Nothing that the McAllisters did was their fault.
“Oh, did you hear?” Jesse says as we all tuck into breakfast. “They set a date for the McAllister hearing.”
“That’ll be interesting,” Easton says.
“They think they can get it to stick?” Hendrix asks.
“Oh, the arson for sure. The rest of it I don’t know, but you should hear people in town talking about them. Even if they don’t end up in jail, they’ll definitely be run out of town.” Jesse shoots me a wink and a grin.
I never feel safer than when I’m surrounded by my Alphas, but it is nice to know that I don’t ever have to worry about the McAllisters ever again. Not that I’ve worried all too much. The footage that Cade got on his security cameras was damning. And I know my Alphas will always protect me.
My Alphas. I don’t fight thinking of them like that anymore. I know that it’s true.
We finish eating, then the men all insist on us doing the dishes, because they love teasing me—and then finally, finally I’m allowed to see the barn.
Jesse puts his hands over my eyes while Easton takes one hand and Cade the other, and Hendrix gives me verbal directions where to step so I don’t trip. Unable to see, I’m guided out to the barn area.
I know generally where I am, but I’m still a bit lost as I’m led around. I feel like the barn was supposed to start a little bit ago, but I’m still walking through grass.
“Okay,” Hendrix says as the hands I’m holding stop gently tugging me forward. “You can stop now.”
I stop walking, my hands are dropped, and the hands over my eyes fall away.
I blink as the light floods my eyes again, and it takes me a second to realize what I’m seeing:
A whole entire field of daisies has been planted along the back of the barn, fanning out from it almost like a train on a wedding dress.
“Your daisies got ruined,” Cade says quietly. “We wanted to give you more.”
There’s a trellis built into the back of the barn, so that more plants, like morning glories, can be grown up along the back of it. It’ll look absolutely beautiful.
“I don’t have words,” I admit, choked up. “It’s just so lovely.”
“You like it?” Easton asks.
“Of course I do. I love it.” I take each of their faces in my hands in turn and kiss them, then I think with all my might:
Bond with me. Bite me.
It’s taken a bit of practice to be able to communicate with them in my mind like this. I definitely did it a few times by accident, then wouldn’t be able to do it when I actually wanted to. It was frustrating, but also amusing. Now, it’s as easy as breathing.
I can feel them all react—both in their shocked expressions, but also inside of me, their emotions of joy and surprise rippling through me like an ocean tide.
“Are you sure?” Jesse asks, his voice hoarse.
I nod. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
As if those words were all he was waiting for, he sweeps me into his arms, pulling me close. Cade steps up behind me, and Easton and Hendrix move in on either side.
I lose myself in the kisses and touches of all four of my Alphas. They surround me like the hungry pack they are, taking turns pressing their lips to mine. I’m overwhelmed with the soul-deep certainty that there isn’t anyone else in the world I’d rather be with.
They’re the only ones I want.
As we kiss, each bringing their unique style, I feel their mounting desire and passion welling up inside me like it’s my own. We’re so bonded now that I feel like I’m inside each one of their heads—and I can’t wait to see how that bond deepens when I’ve taken their bites.
Jesse peels me away from Easton’s kiss to hold my face in his hands, his warm hazel eyes staring deeply into mine. A wave of toasted pecan scent floods my nose as he gazes right into my soul. He doesn’t have to say a word for me to know what he wants to say.
I feel it, warm and growing, in my chest.
He kisses me, soft but passionately, before he hands me to Hendrix. It’s almost dizzying being passed around between the four of them like this, their desire and scents flaring and overwhelming all my senses, inside and out. But I can’t get enough, and it seems like they can’t either.
Until Easton scoops me up in his arms lovingly. He pecks a kiss on my forehead and, without a word, leaves the field of daisies to head back toward the ranch house. I see over his shoulder that the others are following us to the house, and I know what’s coming, but part of me still almost can’t believe it.
We stroll into the house and up the stairs to my bedroom where Easton gently lies me down like I’m the most precious, fragile thing he’s ever held. The others crowd in next to him, all four of them staring down at me with the most intense, loving expressions. There’s heat and hunger simmering beneath, just like always, but our connection is deeper now.
I’m overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude. It almost doesn’t feel real that these men, who have taken care of me my entire life, are going to be mine. All mine.
“I’m so lucky I get to call all four of you mine,” I say quietly and delight in the wave of emotion and need that washes over me, radiating off them. Wordlessly, they start tugging off their clothes, peeling their shirts over their heads and throwing them across the room.
Eagerness races through me, and I chew my lip while I watch them undress until all four of them are standing naked and gorgeous in front of me, their cocks already hard and ready. Jesse kneels on the bed first and reaches for the bottom of my shirt.
“We want you to be ours too,” he says as he gives my shirt a pull. The feeling of his knuckles dragging against my bare skin makes me shiver, and when the other three join him, surrounding me and taking off every piece of clothing I’m wearing, I get so turned on that I feel lightheaded.
I whimper at their touches and groan at the feeling of their lips all over my body. Easton puts his hand behind my head and gently lowers me onto my back with my legs sprawled out in front of them. I feel like I’m in some sort of religious ceremony with the reverence they’re showing me, like a goddess they’re worshipping with their hands and mouths.
I close my eyes and lose myself in the sensations blooming all over my body. After all we’ve been through, and the bond we’ve formed, I trust these men with my life. There’s nothing to fear, so I surrender to them completely because I know that no matter what they’re going to take care of me.
Easton moves to the bottom of the bed, taking one of my feet in his hands and massaging it. His fingers dig into the sole, forcing a groan out of me that gets stolen when Jesse puts his mouth on mine. Cade takes one of my hardened nipples in his mouth, twisting his tongue around it and flicking the other with his thumb. My clit throbs from all the simultaneous stimulation, and Hendrix must notice because he parts my legs farther to climb between them and flood me with a wave of his hot breath against it.
“I’m ready. Please, take me. Make me yours,” I gasp when Jesse pulls his mouth away from mine. Cade moves off my nipple to my mouth, his tongue dancing across my lips.
“You never need to beg. There’s not a single thing that any of us could ever deny you, sugar,” he whispers and flashes a wink at me, which only makes me want him and the others more. My heart swells as I pull him closer, and the other guys move out of the way so he can settle between my legs, his cock already brushing against my soaked folds.
Cade’s smiling face hovers over mine, and I reach up to rest my hands on his cheeks as he starts to push into me. His gaze never breaks from mine, not even when my eyes flutter as he opens me up. I let out the breath I’m holding when he’s all the way inside me and find Cade smiling down at me.
“You’re perfect, sugar,” he says, and leans forward to place a soft kiss on my forehead. It’s a tender side of him I don’t see very often, which makes me appreciate it even more. Not that I ever doubted it, but seeing this softness from him makes me believe his feelings for me are deep and real.
I wrap my legs around him, pulling him closer, deeper. There’s no such thing as too close now. Cade’s smile deepens, and he rocks his hips slowly backward, then forward again, gently loosening me up and getting me ready for what’s to come. A little groan leaks out of my mouth.
“Yes, please. Just like that.”
Cade reaches up to thumb my cheek. “I told you already, you don’t have to beg. I’ll give you anything you want.”
“Then give me this. Make me yours forever. That’s what I want.”
Cade pauses his easy thrusting to stare into my eyes. Something flames behind his, and I realize the gentleness he was showing me has been consumed by desire. He falls forward onto me, shoving his hands under my body and wrapping his arms around me. His mouth rests on my shoulder by my ear, his beard tickling me in an incredibly arousing way.
“Like this?” he asks as he takes a sharp thrust into me, making me cry out. My hands rub and rake at his back.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Then hold on tight, sugar.” He drives into me again, hitting my g-spot with the head of his cock, and I melt beneath him. I see around his shoulder that the others are watching hungrily, but they know they’re going to get their turn, so they hold back and let Cade work his brand of magic on me.
His trademark gruffness returns as he gears up, taking deep, driving thrusts in and out of me. I drink in the sweetness of his sun-darkened skin as a thin layer of sweat starts to bead on his shoulders, and I can’t stop myself from licking it away. He tastes exactly the way he smells, like fresh, warm, melting chocolate chips.
“You like that?” Cade murmurs in my ear as my tongue dances across his shoulder. He pushes himself up onto his knees, hiking my body up at an angle along with him, but keeps me clutched against his chest and drives downward into me. It only takes a few strokes like this for an orgasm to start building low inside me
“I love it,” I admit through a moan. “You’re getting me close already.”
“Good. I want to see you come while I claim you.” A shiver runs across my skin at the thought because I can’t wait for it either. “Tell me when you’re there.”
“Okay,” I say with a weak nod, barely able to concentrate over the pleasure he’s giving me. I wrap my arms around his neck to brace myself and give in to the intense feeling of his cock driving in and out of me.
I’ll never get tired of this, not for the rest of my life.
The tingle that started in my core grows with each of his desperate thrusts until I’m dancing on the edge, my eyes fluttering toward the back of my head. I squeeze Cade with my legs. “Here it comes. Take me.”
“I love you, Grace. You’re mine now.” Cade draws back, his mouth open, and a thrill shocks through me. A beat later, just as I’m tipping into orgasm, his teeth clamp down on the tender skin between my neck and shoulder. I scream in surprise and arousal at the feeling. He’s broken the skin, but it doesn’t hurt.
He keeps biting me as he fucks me through my orgasm, muttering muffled words that I can’t comprehend. I’m on another plane, in another place completely. But when Cade stiffens on top of me and I feel his warmth flood me, followed by his expanding knot growing inside me, I know he’s given me what I wanted all along.
I’m his now. Forever. And the soaring I feel in my chest at the thought almost drowns out the warm glow I feel in the rest of my body.
Cade gently releases my neck from his bite, licks his lips, and smiles at me. “Was I too rough?”
“Not at all. It was amazing. Perfect.”
“Good, I’m glad. Because so are you.” He brings his lips down on mine, gently touching them at first before parting them. I taste the metallic hints of my blood on his tongue, and it sends another rush through me. We stay locked together like this, kissing and touching each other lovingly, until eventually Cade’s knot deflates. He slips out of me slowly and carefully, and as he does, Easton gently takes my face in one hand and turns it toward him to kiss me.