A Rancher's Desire (9 page)

It was just that simple. He kissed the insides of her thighs, getting as close to her heat as possible before backing away again. A groan left her mouth and made him chuckle darkly. She was more than ready, that he knew but until she asked, he wouldn’t give her what she wanted. For the next few minutes he kept up the play, teasing her until she finally growled and gripped his hair, tugging his head back.

“Julian.”

“Yes?”

“You’re fucking with me.”

He smirked. “Yes.”

She tugged his hair again and his cock jumped. “Stop. It.”

“Ask me for it.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “That’s not gonna happen.”

His grin spread wider. Instead of replying verbally, he leaned down and shoved his tongue as far into her wet canal as he could. Aiyanna’s back hit the stairs, her cries ringing out around them as he fucked her with his mouth. Julian felt the exact moment her climax began. Her breath came out in harsh pants, her thighs clenched around his head and he felt every shudder that passed over her body.
That’s
when he pulled back.

Aiyanna’s eyes opened wide.

“Ask me for it,” Julian stated simply. His cock was so hard it hurt and he had to either free himself or risk permanent zipper marks on his flesh.

“Julian.” Her chest rose and fell with every hard breath.

He pressed another slow lingering kiss to the inside of her right thigh before whispering, “Ask me for it,
Hermosa.
And I promise I’ll give it to you.”

Watching the self battle play out over her features was fun to say the least. She wanted to let go but didn’t know how.

Finally, she softly said, “Please.”

That was enough for him. Julian kicked his jeans and boxers off, positioned himself between her legs and thrust into her with one smooth motion. The warm, wet heat of her pussy greeted him and it felt like pure nirvana. The sensation of her wrapping around his cock made him realize exactly how many an empire had risen and been decimated in one fell swoop because of this special place on a woman’s body.

He could understand how it drove men crazy; how it made them possessive and needy. Because the very thought of another man touching what he now claimed as his had Julian shoving his tongue into her mouth again as he jackhammered his hips; making sure she felt
all
of him, making sure she understood exactly who possessed her body at the moment. Aiyanna gave as good as she got, her hips lifting at every pass to connect with his in a motion that had flesh slapping against flesh.

Julian pushed her legs back into her chest and watched as tears of pleasure crested her lids. Her mouth opened but no sound left except moans and the occasional call of
his
name. And when she came, squeezing his dick hard enough to snap it in two, a gush of warm sticky honey greeting his length, he followed her right over the edge as he tried not to swallow his own tongue.

Chapter Eight

“Lalani, if you knock on my desk again, death shall become you,” Aiyanna growled, not lifting her head from its resting position on her folded arms. Tired, she was so damned tired. Julian had kept her up all night since it was the first time she’d gotten to see him all week. A month later and his house was finally complete. That meant she had plenty of time to work on other projects—which also meant it ate into their time together. Something her cowboy had expressed his displeasure for
clearly
the night before. 

Apparently, taking a retired bull rider for a spin without stretching first was a
bad
idea. No matter how many hot soaks she’d taken, Aiyanna still couldn’t shake the soreness from her
previously
underused muscles.

“Do I get a scythe?” her friend asked with
way
too much morning cheer.

“Didn’t we have this conversation before? Large blades of
any
kind are
never
to be in your possession again. And what happens if I
do
catch you with one?”

Lalani poked out her bottom lip. “You call my ex-parole officer?”

“Precisely. Now why are you in here instead of torturing Dastan or John?”

Lalani leaned back in her chair. “Oh, because we have a code blue.”

Aiyanna’s head snapped up. “You set something on fire again?”

“No! That’s a code
red.”

Frowning, she asked, “Are you sure because I could’ve sworn we—”

“For God’s sake A.J., your
mother
is in the waiting area.”

Aiyanna froze and blinked. “I’m sorry,” she chuckled. “I thought you just said
my
mother is in the waiting area.”

Lalani’s look was sympathetic. “She
is,
sweetheart. And she wants
you.”

She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She’d managed to avoid her mother for almost a month now but Aiyanna knew it could only last for so long. “Okay, how bad do I look?”

“You look like Julian fucked you through the headboard.” Lalani shrugged.

“Wonderful.” She sighed and stood, stretching the tired muscles of her back and shoulders before deciding it was time to face the woman who’d spawned her.

Aiyanna found Evelyn examining their office space with her usual critical look of disapproval. Her mother couldn’t have looked more bored if she were a cat and that was saying
a lot.

“Mama,” she forced fake cheer into her voice. “What’re you doing here? In my office? Around people I have to work with on a daily basis. You haven’t actually
talked
to anyone have you?”

Evelyn looked up and her face quickly twisted into a frown. “You look horrible.”

Aiyanna smiled wide. “You know me. I wake up every day with the goal of looking like shit.”

Lalani elbowed her and Aiyanna cleared her throat. “So...what brings you here? To the one place I thought I could escape your clutches?”

Lalani bumped her again. “I mean claws.”

Another elbow. “I meant
talons.”

At that point, her best friend simply gave up and walked away. Aiyanna thought she was being unreasonable.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. “I came to take you to lunch.”

“Oh,” Aiyanna said with as little enthusiasm as possible. “Why?”

“Because it’s what mothers do for their daughters.”

Aiyanna laughed so hard tears crested her eyes. She stopped when she noticed Evelyn hadn’t joined in. “Oh...you’re serious?”

“Get your things, Aiyanna. I’ll be downstairs waiting.” Then she turned on her heels and marched out, back straight. Aiyanna briefly wondered how big the stick her mother had shoved up her ass was.

“So,” Lalani reappeared. “What’d she want?”

“To take me to lunch.”

“Oh.” Her friend sounded as excited as she had. “Why?”

“Because apparently that’s what mothers do for their daughters.” Aiyanna answered, looking at Lalani.

All it took was that split second for their eyes to meet before they were both leaning over and gasping for breath, trying desperately to stop laughing.

“Lani, you should’ve seen her face! She was
so
serious!”

“Oh my God, I can’t take it...please...”

“Then she did the drill Sergeant march outta here!”

Lalani shook her head, wiped tears from her eyes and imitated said march all the way back to her own office.

When Dastan found Aiyanna laid out on the waiting room couch, close to blacking out from laughing so hard she hurt, he simply shook his head and kept on going.

Aiyanna stared down at the menu in her hands before looking up at the waiter. “I’ll have the—”

“Caesar salad, low fat dressing,” Evelyn interrupted.

The waiter looked from her to her mother. Aiyanna grinned wide as she stared at the control freak sitting across from her. “As a matter of fact, I
will
have the Caesar salad.” Evelyn looked pleasantly surprised until Aiyanna added, “With the fried chicken strips on top. Also, I’d like the T-bone with a fully loaded baked potato and a long neck.” With a satisfied sigh, she handed over her menu, never once taking her eyes off Evelyn.

“No matter what I do—”

“You’ll never be able to change me,” Aiyanna finished with a smirk. “So do us both a favor and stop trying already, okay?”

Her mother sat back after ordering, folding her arms across her chest. “I only want what’s best for you.”

Aiyanna mimicked the action. “No, Mama. You want what’s best for
you
and somehow having a daughter who isn’t the perfect size two, does what you deem
man’s work,
and hasn’t popped out a litter of babies yet makes you a failure.” She shook her head. “It’s sad.”

The pearl clutching didn’t take long to appear. “Aiyanna Jordyn, I am—”

“Selfish, unaccepting, controlling, manipulative and will
never
be satisfied with me. So let’s stop pretending that if I turned into your perfect little angel
right now
you’d be happy.” She leaned into the table and tapped a finger onto the hardwood. “The fact of the matter is Mama, somewhere in that bottomless pit you call a heart, I know there’s some form of affection or pride for me. How could there not be? Despite my size I’m still confident, beautiful,” her voice dropped with a smile, “and apparently
sexy.
I have three degrees, my own business and the home I currently live in, I built with my own two hands. So stop looking at me as if I’m a disappointment to
you
and not that warped sense of self worth that was instilled at your debutante balls and country club meetings when Nana wasn’t on you about your poise and etiquette.”

Aiyanna sat back again. “And start appreciating that your child hasn’t devoted all her time to trying to be perfect in a world that
thrives
on imperfections; that I haven’t spent every waking moment planning on trapping a doctor or depending on a man just to get through the day. Take a second and
really
consider that despite every attempt to engineer me into a pretty little princess, I still hold true to myself and I wake up every single day fulfilled and happy. If anything, you should be
proud
of that accomplishment because in your own very strange way, you made me who I am.”

Evelyn didn’t say anything for a long time. Her smile was small, a little sad. “Guess I’m not perfect either, huh?”

Aiyanna’s lips curved up at the corners. She reached across the table to briefly squeeze her mother’s hand. “No, but for every time you got on my last damn nerve, made me want to scream and cuss and act a fool, made me want to run away and never look back—it made me stronger. We may not be best friends Mama, but because of you I know I can handle
anything
thrown at me.”

And just like that, Evelyn’s haughty look was back. “Yes...well that was my intent; to make you stronger.”

Aiyanna chuckled. “I’m sure it was.”

“A.J.?”

She looked up at her mother, having not heard the nickname leave Evelyn’s lips in a
long
time. Maybe she would share something intensely profound, maybe they’d mend fences. “Yes?”

Evelyn looked around for a bit before leaning into the table and whispering, “Share your steak with me?”

Or
maybe she’d have to fight the woman who spawned her for her own food.