Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
DARBY
It’s close to midnight when I get back to the ranch, but at least I didn’t have to work through the night. I’ll get a good amount of sleep tonight.
Which is not something I would have said before.
I have never been a good sleeper, thanks to my nightmare of a father, but since I’ve been sleeping with Tucker, I snooze through until morning.
And I know it’s because I feel safe with him.
I feel content, and I know he’d never let anything happen to me.
It’s awesome and scary, all at the same time.
The lights in the cabin are still on when I pull up behind the house near the back door.
Hopefully, Zack is settled in there. I am so embarrassed that I made the hall-pass comment earlier.
But in my defense, I never in a million years would have expected that Zack Prescott was the person ringing the doorbell, and he has been my hall pass since he did a few rom-coms that I fell in love with in my mid-twenties.
The man is sexy. In fact, I think People magazine has named him the sexiest man alive twice.
Because he’s that hot.
And now I find out he’s my man’s best friend, which is mind blowing. I hope I didn’t hurt Tucker’s feelings with the hall-pass comment. Because that’s not cool. I’ll have to talk to him about it.
I’ve just stepped out of my SUV and am about to walk inside when I hear . . . something. An animal noise, like a huff, that has me pausing in my tracks.
Shit. That sounded like a bear.
I turn in a circle, my eyes wide as I try to see better in the dark. At first, I don’t see anything at all, and just when I’m about to run for the door, I see eyes glowing not ten feet away from me.
Oh God.
“Hi.” I lick my lips and slowly inch toward the back door, fumbling in my pocket for my phone without taking my eyes off the bear.
I can’t tell if it’s a black bear or a grizzly because it’s mostly in shadows, but I pray with everything in me to a god I don’t even believe in that this bear doesn’t have babies nearby.
Because if she does, this could turn very bad, very fast.
I glance down quickly to dial Tucker’s number, and he answers on the first ring.
“Hey, Duch—”
“Come out the back door now. Bear.”
“Don’t you fucking move.” His voice is hard, and I can hear him running. “Darby, how far away?”
“Feet,” I whisper, and I can hear the fear in my voice. But before I can say anything else, the back door opens, and I hear Tucker run onto the deck.
“Hey!” He yells, and the bear huffs again. “Get out of here. Go on!”
I back up a few steps, not willing to turn around.
“I’ve got you,” Tucker says calmly. “You can walk up here. I have a rifle trained on her, baby.”
I spin and run up the stairs, and when I’m next to Tucker, I turn to find that the bear hasn’t moved. And then suddenly, two little cubs come bouncing out from under the deck toward their mama, and I let out a gusty breath.
“She would have killed me,” I whisper. “Jesus, I didn’t see them—”
“Shh.” Tucker wraps his free arm around me and kisses my head, then turns back to the bear. “Go on, Mama Bear. Take your babies and go somewhere else.”
He shoots one shot in the air, and the bear turns and runs away, the babies running after her.
Suddenly, the cabin door flies open and Zack comes running out, dressed only in boxer briefs, and I have to bite my lip to keep from gasping.
They gave him the superhero role for a freaking reason.
“What the fucking fuck?” Zack demands.
“Bear,” Tucker says. “She was staring Darby down.”
“Sorry if that woke you,” I add.
“No, she’s not,” Tucker says, and kisses my head. “Go back to bed, Z.”
Zack shakes his head and goes back inside, and Tucker leads me into the house.
“Well, I was tired,” I tell him. “And now I need a drink.”
“How was work?” he asks as he takes down two glasses and pours us each a finger of whiskey.
“Everything ended up okay.” I accept the drink and swig it down all at once, enjoying the way it burns on the way to my stomach. “Then I came home to that. At least she wasn’t a grizzly.”
“Either way, mama bears are not to be fucked with,” he says.
“I didn’t see her. She was in the dark. I heard her, and then I froze and looked around, spotted her. She was warning me. Did I upset you with my hall-pass comment earlier?”
He blinks at the quick change of subject, and then he lets out a laugh and shakes his head.
“Everyone has something to say when it comes to Zack,” he replies with a shrug. “The girls all love him. I’m used to it.”
“No, I am not those girls. I was taken by surprise, that’s all. You’re way hotter than Zack.”
Tucker smirks and reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear. “I know.”
He doesn’t look mad or hurt. He genuinely looks like he thinks it’s funny.
“I want to apologize if I made you feel any kind of way.”
“You didn’t.” He grabs my hand and tugs me to him, wraps his arms around me and kisses me thoroughly, making my knees weak. “But there are no fucking hall passes for either of us, ever.”
“That’s a deal I can live with.” I nibble on his lips and then let out a soft sigh.
“Are you okay, baby?”
“Yeah. I need to be more aware out here. Maybe I should carry bear spray.”
“It’s rare to have bear on the property, but not unheard of,” he confirms. “I’ll have the guys look around tomorrow and make sure she’s moved on.”
I nod and lean into him, lift my lips to his. “Let’s go to bed and get naked.”
“Best idea you’ve had all fucking day.”
“No.” I’m shaking my head, backing away from Tucker, just like I did the bear last night. “I don’t have time for this. I have to go have lunch with my sisters.”
“Not for two hours,” he reminds me. He and Zack have already been to the hospital this morning, and he got home about thirty minutes ago. “We have time for a quick ride. It’s finally warm enough to take the bike out of the garage.”
I eye the motorcycle and continue shaking my head. I know that Tucker loves to ride, but these things scare the shit out of me. “Maybe there are some hobbies that we just have for ourselves, and we don’t have to share them.”
“Hey, come here.”
I shake my head again, and Tucker narrows his eyes.
“Now, Duchess.”
With a sigh, I cross to him, but rather than pull me closer to the bike, he frames my face and kisses my forehead.
“Talk to me, beautiful girl. Why does this scare you?”
“It’s not safe.”
His brows lower. “Says who?”
“Says all the people who die in motorcycle accidents every year.”
Tucker nods slowly and then kisses my lips softly.
“I’m not reckless, baby. For today, I just wanted to take you on the access roads around the ranch, but if I ever take you on the highway, we’ll be in helmets and leathers.
I won’t ever take the chance that you could be hurt. And I’ve never gotten in an accident.”
“I know I sound silly—”
“No, you sound cautious.”
“—but I had a friend who died on a bike in high school, and it was so horrible.”
“Brian Crawley?”
I gasp in surprise. “You knew him?”
Tucker nods grimly. “Silver Springs is only thirty minutes down the road from Bitterroot Valley, and I played ball against Brian. He was a good guy, and that accident was tragic. But it was an accident, and he was going too fast, and it had rained. There were a host of reasons why it happened, baby.”
I bite my lip and look over at the motorcycle. It’s all chrome and black and it’s sexy.
“I won’t ever make you do anything you don’t want to do,” he says as he peppers kisses on my head. “If this is a hard limit for you, I respect it. But I’d love to feel you pressed up against me on the back of my bike.”
“Just around the property today?”
His eyes flare when I look up at him, and he nods. “Yes, but only if you’re sure.”
I swallow hard and nod. “I’m sure. Let’s do it.”
He kisses me hard, and then shows me how to sit and where to put my feet, and before long, I’m wrapped around his back, my cheek pressed to his spine, and he pulls off down the driveway. Before we reach the highway, he turns on a dirt road.
“I learned to shoot a rifle in this pasture,” he says, pointing to the left. “My dad would set up targets, and we’d all shoot out here. The ground isn’t great for grazing, so we don’t use it for cattle.”
I settle against him, let my hand roam up and down his stomach, and then he grabs onto my hand, kisses it, and lays it flat on his abdomen.
“Don’t distract me, Duchess.”
“I’m wrapped around you. If I have to be distracted, so do you.”
“Your tits and your pussy are pressed against me. Trust me, I’m fucking distracted.”
Good.
His hand comes back and grips onto my thigh, pulling me closer to him, and that touch combined with the rumble of the bike beneath me has my core aching.
I wonder if we’ll have time for a quickie when we get back?
“There used to be a barn out here,” Tucker says, pointing to the right after we take a turn. “But it got torn down. It was more than a hundred years old. Dad used some of the wood for the floor of the cabin.”
“The floor out there is beautiful,” I say, and he nods in agreement.
We’re not going too fast. Just fast enough that there’s a light breeze blowing around us, and it honestly feels really good. I like how strong Tucker is and how he commands the motorcycle. He makes it look effortless, even with me on it.
It takes less than an hour to make the loop around the property, and once we’re back in the garage and I’ve hopped off, Tucker doesn’t move. He just stares at me for a moment. The heat in those green eyes makes my already-aching core tighten with need. Jesus, I want him.
“Take your pants off and get the fuck up here.”
My eyebrows climb in surprise at the gruff tone in his voice. “What?”
“You heard me.”
I glance around, but no one is here, so I toe my shoes off, and then my jeans and underwear follow, and Tucker grabs me by the waist and lifts me onto the bike as if I weigh nothing at all, facing him, straddling him, with my back pressed against the gas tank.
His eyes move from my face, down my torso still covered with a T-shirt, to my exposed pussy, and he licks his bottom lip in anticipation.
“Now what?” I whisper, and his eyes flick back to me.
“Take me out.”
Without hesitation, my hands dive for his jeans, and when I get them undone, I reach in his underwear and find him already so hot and hard, his skin like velvet, that I can’t help but give him a few firm strokes before I lead him to my already wet slit and drag him through the wetness, loving it when his jaw clenches.
“Did riding on my bike make you this wet, Duchess?”
“Being anywhere in your vicinity makes me wet, Hotshot. But yeah, it was way sexier than I was expecting.” With his hands still on my waist, he lifts me and then lowers my pussy onto his shaft, making us both groan.
“I never want to ride without you as my backpack ever fucking again, do you understand?”
“Oh God.”
I’m leaned back, one foot braced on his shoulder for leverage, as he moves and fucks me hard and fast, stretching me so much that I know I’m going to ache with it later.
His fingers dig into my hips, and his muscles are strained with need, those green eyes boring into mine as he fucks me relentlessly.
“You’re so fucking everything, Darby,” he growls. “And I want you to fucking come on my bike. Fuck, you feel good wrapped around my cock like this.”
“Tucker.” I can’t hold the orgasm back, and I don’t want to. I tighten around him, and my back arches as I come so fucking hard that I see stars, my entire body pulsing from it.
“That’s right. God, yes. Fuuuuuck.” He follows me over, pushing up into me, coming inside me, and then we stay like this, staring at each other as we fight to catch our breath.
“You’re the sexiest fucking woman,” he growls as his hand comes up to cup my cheek. “Tell me this wasn’t the only ride you’ll take with me.”
“I don’t think there’s much I wouldn’t do for you,” I confess softly and watch his eyes widen with both surprise and pleasure. “I’ll ride with you again, Hotshot.”