Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
ELLE
P arker ran down the hallway with his backpack and duffle bag. “What time’s dad getting here?” he hollered as he ran through the kitchen and dropped his stuff at the door.
“In a few minutes,” I pulled the plug on the sink and dried my hands.
“Do you think he’ll like Griff?” Parker was always worried about other people, and I knew Troy’s liking Griff was weighing on my boy.
“I’m sure he will, but let’s not worry about it.” Parker nodded just as I heard a truck rumble into the yard. Turning I looked through the large window and watched the red one-ton pull to a stop.
“See ya, mom.” He gave me a haphazard hug and ran out the door. Following him out, I had his bags, and I stopped in my tracks as Griff held his hand out to Troy.
“Griffin Harp, it’s nice to officially meet you.” Griff smiled at Troy and put his free arm around Parker’s shoulder.
“Troy Wilson, thank you for keeping them safe. I had no idea there’d been trouble.” He looked sheepishly over at me before he nodded.
“Come winter, if you need somewhere to train inside, just give me a call. The arena at the main ranch is usually open during the week. Filled to the brim with barrel racers on the weekend though.” Griff’s tone was light, and I tossed Parker’s stuff into the back seat of the truck.
“I might take you up on that, thanks. Parker, you ready?” Troy asked, and Parker nodded.
“See you in a few days.” He hugged me and jumped into the truck.
“I’ll bring him back on my way out of town if that works?” Troy turned his full attention to me.
“Yeah, sounds good. Don’t scare the kids too much.”
“Can’t make any promises.” He laughed, said goodbye to Griff, and climbed into the truck. Waving as they drove out of the yard, I was relieved that this entire thing went easier than I’d even hoped.
Once Troy’s truck was gone, Griff wrapped his arm around my waist. “I’m going to work with a horse.” He kissed the side of my head, and I watched him walk away. Should I go after him? Do I want to know what his thoughts were after meeting Troy? Was I making this a way bigger deal than it needed to be?
Dusk settled over the ranch, and for the first time since we’d moved in it felt like home like I belonged. Griff was standing in the round pen, not moving but absolutely on alert with the horse that was in there with him. The horse’s ears were straight up in the air and if they’d been made of metal, I would have believed it.
I pushed open the door and walked down the porch steps. The big red barn loomed against the darkening sky. White trim around the windows and the large sliding door. It was a magnificent sight with the mountains behind it, and I couldn’t help but smile as I grabbed the quilt off the railing of the porch.
Griff’s back was turned to me when I placed my hand on it. I was certain he hadn’t heard me coming, yet when he turned to look at me, his eyes sparkled before darting to the blanket.
What I was about to ask him was blurring every boundary I’d put in place. Even though I didn’t care anymore about the consequences, words escaped me, whisked away by the intensity of his gaze. Want to make out? I signed slowly so he wouldn’t miss what I was asking. The wide grin that followed was all the answer I needed. We’d been practicing using sign language to help Griff correspond with Parker, and he was the most patient man trying to learn this new way of communicating. It amazed me, how eager he was. Although, at this moment, I hoped his hands were eager to learn something entirely new. Because I wanted him to explore all of me, every hill, every valley, and all of the in-between.
Griff groaned. “I need to clean up some.”
“I’ll meet you in the loft,” I whispered as I turned and walked to the open barn door.
This barn was perfection, with eight stalls total, state-of-the-art closure systems for each stall, and instead of a ladder to the loft, there were stairs.
As I got up to the loft, I looked around and found a place by the loft door that looked clean enough for the blanket. Pulling open the door, I gazed out over the house, and stared off into the mountains. Laying out the blanket, my back was facing the stairs but I could see Griff as he strode across the yard to his truck and opened the door. What was he doing? Great. I’d read things into our interactions that weren’t there. Of course, I had, and now, instead of telling me to my face he was leaving. I didn’t know whether to be mad or embarrassed, so I managed to be both. I turned away from the window, unable to watch him actually do it, choosing to stare at the barn wall instead. How were we going to face each other now? I’d just made everything irredeemably awkward by confusing his kindness for attraction.
I crouched down to lift the corners of the blanket and fold it back up, figuring I might as well make myself useful at something other than messing everything up.
“Leaving so soon?”
I nearly toppled over face first into the floor at the sound of his voice but caught myself, sucking in a sharp breath when a loose stalk of hay poked my palm.
His boots sounded heavy on the boards behind me, and before I knew it, he had me flipped over, inspecting my hand.
“Changed your mind, I see.” The words popped out of my emotionally charged mouth before I could stop myself.
He tipped his head to the side and furrowed his brow at me his arms tightening around me. “What are you talking about, Elle?”
“Nothing.” I looked around. “It’s so beautiful here,” I whispered because I didn’t want to break the moment anymore than I already had. His being here was already proof enough that I’d misread the truck situation.
“It’s way more beautiful now.” His voice rumbled beside my ear. Turning, we were only inches apart; I worried my lower lip, intentionally drawing his attention to them. His eyes narrowed, but his intent was unclear. Was he going to kiss me?
He sighed, leaning back against a bale. “Is it always this depressing when Parker goes to his dad’s?”
A slight chuckle bubbled out of me, and though I was a bit disappointed that his lips weren’t on mine, the words that came out of his mouth more than made up for it because they were so endearing. Then I noticed his eyes darken and the hint of sadness in them made my heart break a little. This was really his first time having him gone, and the only reason I didn’t feel like my heart was being ripped out was because I was here with Griff. Yet I knew the feeling well. “Every time. I thought it would get easier over the years, but the loneliness never seems to go away.” I shook my head and leaned back against him.
Griff reached up and hooked his thumb under my chin, tipping my head to look at him. He ran his thumb along my lower lip tracing the curve, before he lowered his face to mine. “Maybe this will help,” he said in a hushed tone, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke.
The kiss was warm and soft, just like they had been a few days ago. But this time, we didn’t have to sneak around or pull away from one another. Shifting, I turned to him and set my hands on his legs, feeling the hunger growing between us as I did.
Griff’s arm locked around me as if silently forbidding me to dare to break away from him as his tongue swept into my mouth, and I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped me. Was I so desperate for affection that a simple kiss was the most erotic thing I could remember happening to me in years?
In a single movement Griff grabbed my thigh and pulled me the rest of the way onto his lap until I was straddling him. He’d managed to maneuver me in exactly the way he wanted without even breaking the kiss. The already sizzling intensity between us somehow increased and I was sure with the way he was setting fire to my soul. I’d be reduced to a very satisfied pile of ash by the time he was done with me.
“I know you don’t want to cross a professional line, and I respect that, but in all honesty, we already have,” he mumbled against my lips. “If it comes down to a separation of work and pleasure, I–”
I smiled against his mouth, all too pleased by the sudden outburst of overthinking he was doing at the moment. He had no idea how seen it made me feel or how much more it made me want him. “You what, exactly?”
He pulled back, and I could see the same fire I felt reflected back to me from his eyes. “I–you know what? Fuck it.” He wrapped his arm around my back, flipping us over until my back was on the blanket, and I could feel the outline of his hardness pressed between my thighs. “You’re fired, Elle.” His hand dropped to the hem of my t-shirt before he paused, locking eyes with me.
“What are you waiting for?” I managed to say as I gasped for breath. Griff remained frozen watching me wordlessly for another beat or two.
“For you to tell me you want me.” He reached up and brushed my hair from my face. “You do want me, don’t you, Elle?”
I shook my head, and his face fell immediately, his body instantly rigid against mine.
“I don’t just want you. I need you, Griff,” I breathed out, smirking. Amongst hay bales, with dust particles floating through the air and the night creeping in around us, Griff groaned. “You’ll pay for teasing me like that. You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.”
Suddenly, I wished I’d worn something a little sexier than dirty jeans and a T-shirt.
His long fingers skimmed up my sides and pulled the hem of my shirt up along with them, and I lifted my arms to make it easier for him. Before I knew it, my shirt was off, and it was tossed over my head. A sly grin covered his face as he ran his finger along the cup of the blue sheer lace bra he bought me. “I knew this would look amazing on you, but I'd rather it be on the floor.” I propped myself up on my elbows, and he reached under me, pressing soft kisses along the swell of my breasts as he popped the hooks off the eyes.
His calloused hands dragged the straps off my shoulders. Their roughness against the curve of my shoulder sent goosebumps skittering over my skin. Hands that were so tender at this moment, but I could feel the strength behind them. To look at them you’d never know they could be gentle, and I wanted more.
“You don’t have to be so gentle with me. I won’t break.”
He palmed one of my breasts. “Patience.” He tutted and leaned down to take my tight nipple into his mouth. “Let me appreciate your perfection exactly how it deserves to be.” Shivers ran across my body, and I could feel the lust blooming at the apex of my thighs.
Running my hand through his long hair, I let my head fall back, relishing in the warmth of his tongue as it teased and flicked at me. But I wanted to feel the heat of his body against mine. My hands fell from hair to collar and pulled his plaid shirt apart, the snaps popping open, unveiling his hard chest enough that I could press my hands to it in the space between us. The dark hair on his chest tickled my palms before I slid my hands further down to his stomach where I toyed with his belt buckle.
Griff pulled away from me, and got rid of his shirt, before he reached for the button on my jeans. “We are both wearing far too many clothes.” With one forceful tug, my jeans were around my knees and then off my feet.
“What happened to patience?” I taunted.
He knelt back and opened his belt buckle. “You’re not playing fair, and you know it.” The man was so big, even on his knees he towered over me, and it awakened in me a delicious vulnerability that I hadn’t felt in years. The way I craved this man with every fiber of my being consumed me, and I, in turn, wanted nothing more than to be consumed by him. “I just hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
He pulled his belt from the loops of his jeans. The buckle made a thud as it hit the floor, and Griff lowered his jeans, and slipped out of them as he lowered his boxer briefs, his eyes watching me intently as he revealed himself to me. When my gaze dropped, my mouth suddenly went dry, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him, and there was a whole lot of him, indeed. I swallowed hard, and he chuckled, scooting closer to me. “Cat got your tongue, baby?”
I opened my mouth to respond.
“That’s okay. You don’t need to say a word as long as you can still moan for me.” Griff dragged his finger over my clit, watching me intently as my hips lifted in response to him, desperate and needy for more. “Oh, and I’m going to need you to come for me.” He slipped his fingers down and through my growing wetness before pushing two inside.
“Oh.” I cried out at the feeling of penetration.
He worked his finger in and out of me, hooking them in a come hither motion, brushing against the most sensitive part of my inside. “Can you do that for me?”
“Y-yes,” I choked out between a gasp and a moan.
“Good girl.” His hand stilled. “But there’s one more condition.” I wanted to beg him to keep going and tell him that no matter his request, he could have it as long as he didn’t dare stop again.
“What is it?”
I wasn’t ready for him to lay on his stomach, nor did I expect to feel his warm breath dance between my legs in response to my question. “You’re going to come on my face.” With that said, his fingers were back in action as he dragged his tongue through my slit. My hands shot down, gripping his hair. “Griff, oh my god.” I squirmed, moaning as I pushed my hips toward him greedily. I wanted more. More of his fingers inside me and more of his expert tongue swirling over my clit. He pulled his fingers out to make way for his tongue to press inside me. A low rumble vibrated against me while his tongue probed my depths, kissing them equally as passionately as he had my mouth. His hand moved to grip my thigh, squeezing it tight for leverage, giving me a hint of the show of strength I’d been craving from him. He buried his face so deep in me that I was certain he couldn’t breathe. His commitment to smothering himself in me was a testament to how badly he wanted me to do as he asked and come undone while his mouth explored between my thighs. When he came up for air, he exhaled the words, “Damn. I’d die happy with the taste of you on my lips.”
In the very next moment, his tongue found its way back to my clit, his fingers were back inside me, but this time I was certain by the way I stretched around them, he’d snuck a third one in, filling me even more than he had before. My body shuddered against him, his relentless tongue teasing and flicking me ever closer to the release that swelled inside me and begged to be set free. “Oh, oh.” I couldn’t process the feeling. There were no words for the heat that flowed through me.
His free arm stretched up to roll my nipple between his finger and thumb. I knew that would be my undoing. “I can’t. This is too much.” With both his hands and tongue devoted to me, I ran my fingers through his dark brown hair, pulling the strands to press his face into me in preparation to lose all control against it like he commanded. My body transformed into a supernova of bliss that stole my breath as it burst through every part of me, rendering my thoughts luminescent before they scattered in a billion different directions. Trying to catch my breath, my brain was fuzzy, the tension melting away as I flopped back onto the blanket
Laying between the sweet smell of the hay and the press of his body as he moved to hover over me, I wasn’t sure if the goosebumps flitting across my skin were from the crisp night air or the way that Griff looked at me. His eyes blazed with a primal need as he claimed my mouth again, offering me a taste of myself from his lips and tongue. There was nothing gentle about his kiss. The man’s mouth moved over mine like there was no question who I belonged to now. He was silently staking his claim, and I was submitting to anything that brought me closer to him.
His head snapped back. “I need you,” he growled. “Now.”
I ran my hand over his cheek. “Then take me, cowboy.” He reached over to his jeans and dug through his pocket untilI heard the crinkle of a package. We hadn’t discussed wearing a condom, but it dawned on me that it must have been what he’d gone to his truck for earlier, and it turned me on even more that he had taken the initiative to come prepared. He sat back on his heels, and I watched him unroll it over his cock.
“Can I ask you for one thing?” I whispered as he moved over top of me again.
“Anything.” He ran his hand down my side and let it rest on my hip.
“Don’t be a gentleman. I know you want to be, but I need to be possessed by you.”
He raised a brow at me, and I let my gaze drift from him, and I stared at the waning pink light in the sky as I worried that maybe I should have kept my mouth shut and just let him do whatever he was preparing to do.
He cupped my chin, forcing me to look at him again. “Never be afraid to ask me for what you want. Did I have every intention of taking it easy on you tonight? Yes, I did, but I much prefer this.”
He reached between us, pressed his cock between my legs, and drilled into me with so much force I cried out at the intrusion that not even three of his thick fingers could have prepared me for. “I’m going to fuck you so hard the stars in the sky won’t be the only stars you see tonight,” he said into my ear as he pulled out and rammed himself back into me.
He pulled all the way out, and I whimpered at the emptiness. “Get on your knees.” I did as I was told, and he laid back on the blanket. “Now, slowly sink down onto me. I want you to feel every inch.” The feeling of gradually being filled by this man was overwhelming, and just when I thought I was full enough, he filled me more. My eyes shut, my body tingling, as every sense heightened to the point where it was almost too much when I bottomed out at the base of his cock and stopped to give myself a moment to adjust to how thoroughly he filled me now that he’d allowed me some control. “Woman, ride.” He clamped his large hands on my hips and dug his fingers into me, steadying me as I repositioned myself.
The lust in his voice was almost enough to make me come again on the spot. I did as he said, moved my hips slowly at first, as I got used to him in me, and found a rhythm. Griff let his hands roam my body, swiping my clit, kneading my breasts, pinching my nipples. "You're so wet, fuuuck, and so greedy for my cock, aren’t you?" I was on the edge of combusting listening to his filthy mouth.
“Faster, Chanelle.” He growled, laying back on the pillow. My heart fluttered at him using my full name in this moment. He was claiming me. Not the me I showed everyone but the real me. I corrected everyone all the time but didn’t have the slightest urge to correct him. Griff moved his hands back to my hips and moved me how he needed to, and I kept up with the pace.
Riding faster, the heat built in me, and I grabbed his arms, “Griff, I’m, oh god.” My legs shook violently, threatening to give out, before he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him, holding me tight as he took over power from the bottom and rutted into me again and again until the stars he promised me threatened to cloud my vision for the second time in a night and I moaned clamping around him. Griff reached between us and rubbed my clit.
“Don’t fight it. Come for me again. I want that delicious pussy of yours to come all over my cock,” he whispered in my ear. Each thrust brought me closer and closer to losing all control. I cried out into the night, my walls spasming around him, and the only thing that mattered was this moment between him and me. The way Griff bore into me, groaned, and came deep in me while another orgasm wracked my body before I collapsed on him, weak but beyond satisfied with his strong arms wrapped around me, and he sighed contentedly.
“You’re a good listener.” He whispered in my ear.
“Well, you’re not. I said take me, not break me, cowboy.” I laughed, and he rolled me over so I was under him again. My body weak from the two earth-shattering orgasms he’d given me. He stared at me like he could see into my soul.
“You asked me not to be gentle, Elle. I can’t help what you brought out in me. We might not have many firsts together as lovers, but the way we are together, I’d venture to guess, is just as much one for you as it is for me.” Our lips met, and he worked his tongue into my mouth. He was right. This was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. There was possessiveness, passion, and pleasure, tongues waging a war with one another. His kiss and the way he made love was pure dominating power and I knew I’d never get enough.