[WS02] Taming Alex (4 page)

“That's wonderful.” She smiled at him. “I bet you really helped them out.”

He nodded. “On the trip…” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “We were halfway
up the coast, heading to a little place outside of Portland. Sam was driving, and
he swerved to avoid a deer. The car spun and went head on into a tree.”

“Oh!” she gasped.

“Sam died on impact.” His heart still hurt when he thought of it. “Terry and I and
Sam’s girlfriend, Julie, ended up with only minor scratches.” His eyes stung when
he thought back at it, seeing his Hercules-like friend that way. “Things changed after
the accident. Terry changed. She became more obsessed. She always wanted to know where
I was, who I was with. At first I put it off as her way of recovering from her brother's
death, but then I logged onto my Facebook account, and she'd posted that we were engaged
to be married.” He shook his head. “So,” he sighed, “I broke it off. I felt terrible,
but I wasn't ready to commit to her.” He shook his head.

He didn't know why it mattered so much what Alex thought of him, but he was holding
his breath until she spoke. Until she told him what she thought of him.

When she reached over and took his hand, he could see the sincere look in her eyes.
“You did the right thing to break things off. I guess that makes two of us.”

“H
ow did she take it?” Alex asked, after a moment of silence.

He shook his head and frowned. “Not good. She posted things online that eventually
caused the firm I was working for to seriously question if they wanted to continue
letting me work there.”

“How horrible. That bitch.” She watched as he smiled and his eyes softened.

“I think she was just misdirected. Losing her only brother like that loosened a few
things in her head. At least I like to think that.”

“And here I was, concerned about breaking it off with Travis.” She shook her head
and felt her stomach sink a little. “It's not that I don't want to hurt him after
what he's put me through.” She shook her head. “I'd like to string him up on the largest
tree downtown by his toenails.” Grant chuckled. “It's just that I know he always seems
to talk his way back into a relationship with me. We've broken up ten times over the
last three years,” she blurted out. “I don't know how he does it. One minute we're
broken up, the next we're back together.” She frowned down at her hands. “I'm afraid
I won't have the strength to stand against him. Especially now that it really matters.”

His hand came up under her chin and pulled her face up until she was looking into
his blue eyes. “Maybe you just haven't had the right reason to stay away.” He leaned
closer to her and her breath caught.

Then his mouth was on hers, and his fingers pulled her closer to him. He smelled like
sweat and saddle leather, and the mixture was intoxicating to her. His skin sent little
tingles everywhere he touched her. His tongue rubbed gently over her lips until she
opened for him, playing the tip of her tongue over his, shyly. Then he tilted her
head more and took the kiss deeper. She moaned and ran her hands up his jeans, playing
her fingers over the muscles she found in his thighs. He pulled her closer until she
was almost sitting on his lap. Trailing kisses down her neck, he pulled open the buttons
on her checkered shirt. She wore a spaghetti strapped tank top underneath. He pushed
her shirt off her shoulders and pulled back and looked at her. Just looked. She'd
never been looked at like that before. Like she was something precious. Something
to be treasured. It made her go warm inside until she wanted him to touch her, everywhere
and quickly.

Then he was kissing her again, and they were falling backwards onto the blanket. Her
shirtfront was opened, allowing him to run his hands over the light material of her
undershirt as he kissed his way down her collarbone. He pushed her shirt up, slowly
letting his fingers walk upward until he cupped her gently. Her head rolled back and
she moaned with delight as his fingers pinched her nipples softly. She arched her
back, trying to get closer, pushing her breast into his hands further. She felt him
smile next to her skin and wrapped her fingers in his hair, pulling him where she
wanted him to be. His hot mouth hovered over her sensitive bud as it puckered through
the soft material. Finally, he dipped his mouth lower, using his tongue to wet the
cotton and sending waves of pleasure pulsing through her entire body. She wrapped
her legs around his hips, pulling him next to her as she felt his desire against her
core.

She wanted him. She wanted him right now. In her fields, on the picnic blanket. She
moved slowly, rubbing her core against his erection. He gasped then moaned and continued
to lap at her nipples. When he pulled her shirt up, exposing her to the warmth of
the day, she sighed. He looked down at her, his hand resting on her flat stomach as
he smiled.

“Beautiful,” he murmured just before dipping his head and setting his tongue to her
bare skin. She reached under his shirt, yanking and pulling until finally he sat up
and tossed it aside, then quickly came back down to where he'd left. He ran his mouth
over every inch of her exposed skin. Her hands traveled over his muscles, his shoulders,
his pecs. Then she leaned up and tasted his heated skin. Salt and sin. She'd never
experienced anything like it. He tasted like a man and felt absolutely wonderful pressing
her down into the blanket.

When her hands reached for the buttons on his jeans, his hands came over hers and
pulled them up and away. She must have made a noise, because he chuckled.

“There's plenty of time. No need to rush,” he said against her belly button. “Let
me just savor you.” He released her hands to run his fingers over her hips, then he
tugged lightly, lowering her jeans until the tops of her white laced panties were
exposed. “Beautiful,” he said again. “Your skin is so soft here.” He ran a finger
lightly over the dip in her hips. “And here.” He crossed her stomach slowly, taking
the time to dip his finger just below her belly button. “I want to touch you, every
inch.” She looked up into his eyes and saw the heat there that matched her own.

“Yes, please.” She reached for his hands, only for him to grip her wrists again. Then
he smiled down at her and shook his head.

“You go too fast.” He laid her hands by her side, then slowly unzipped her jeans,
pulling them lower until they were down by her knees and boots. He shook his head
and chuckled. “Boots are always the problem. We'll leave them on for now.” She wanted
to object, but he'd dipped his head again and was running his mouth where his fingers
had just been. Her hands went into his hair again, enjoying the soft curls she felt
there. When his mouth dipped lower and hovered just above her panties, she thought
she'd go crazy from wanting. Travis had never, could have never, brought her to such
want before. Looking down at Grant's head, she smiled. Grant was not Travis, the only
man she'd ever been with like this before. Grant wouldn't be the selfish lover Travis
had always been, never bringing her to a point of enjoyment before he took his own.

Grant pulled her panties to the side and set his tongue on her sensitive skin, causing
her shoulders to bolt up from the blanket, her hands fisted in his hair as he lapped
at her, using his mouth and tongue to spread her sensitive skin. His hands gripped
her hips, holding her still while he repeated the motion over and over until she closed
her eyes and screamed with her release.

Alexis lay there, looking at the sky through the thick cover of leaves on the branches
above her and realized that she'd had her very first orgasm. Why, oh, why hadn't she
done this years ago? She knew the answer as soon as her mind had asked the question.
Travis.

Then blue eyes came to hover over her and she smiled as Grant looked down into her
face. “Do you think that was distracting enough?”

She smiled even more and pulled him down towards her. “I'm not sure. Maybe you better
finish the job.”

He chuckled. “Next time. I think it's about time I got back. I've got to unload all
this hay tonight.” He helped her pull her pants back into place, but before he allowed
her to pull her shirt back down, he ran his fingers over her soft skin one last time.
“Beautiful.” He smiled at her.

She watched him put his shirt back on and thought the same thing about him. Next time,
she thought. She was going to make sure there was a next time, and that meant dealing
with Travis once and for all.

When they rode up the barn a little under an hour later, she was so relaxed she almost
didn't see the blue truck parked in front of her car. When she noticed Travis sitting
behind the wheel, her shoulders straightened and she felt a sharp pain in the left
side of her temple. She knew she needed to deal with him, but she'd hoped to do it
later that week.

“What me to stick around?” Grant whispered as he helped her off the horse. She shook
her head, and he nodded his head at Travis as he approached.

“Hey there, Grant.” Travis walked over and planted a kiss on her mouth. She hadn't
had any time to dodge it, and when she'd turned her head, he'd still gotten half of
her lips. He tasted like cigarettes and beer.
She pushed him away and handed the horse reins to Grant, who walked the horses into
the barn.

“I don't like that guy sniffin' after you. What's he doing here anyway?” Travis pulled
her a few steps away, towards the back of Grant's truck.

“Loading up hay.” She nodded towards the truck.

“Well, men who work for you shouldn't have their hands all over you. It's not right.
You're my fiancée after all.”

She took a step away from him. “No, I'm not. Not anymore. Especially not after what
you and Savannah did in your truck on my birthday.”

She watched his eyes open wide, like he was shocked. The thought of Travis and Savannah
making out turned her stomach. How long had it been going on?

“Listen…” He took her arm and pulled her to the back of the barn where no one would
see or hear them. “I was drunk, you know that. After you walked away, Savannah came
up and started attacking me. I didn't mean to sleep with her.”

She gasped. “You actually slept with her?” Her voice had risen to a high pitch. “You
slept with her on my birthday?” She reached down and removed the ring from her finger
and tossed it at his chest. “Goodbye, Travis. I don't want to talk to you or see you
on my property again. If I do, I'll shoot your sorry ass.” She turned and walked into
the house, shaking the entire way up to her room, where she slammed the door and sat
quietly on her bed. For the first couple minutes, her mind was blank as she listened
to Travis' truck drive away. Then she released the breath she'd been holding and felt
free. For the first time in years, she felt free. She'd never thought of their relationship
as a burden before, but somehow, spending the last few hours with Grant had forced
her to open her eyes to the possibilities that were out there. Not just physically.
Knowing what Grant had gone through in Boston really helped her put things into perspective.

She didn't need Travis. She didn't need any man. Sure, she enjoyed having one on her
arm, but the thought of getting into another relationship like she'd had with Travis
didn't seem appealing to her. She was going to live her life, do what she wanted for
once.

Looking around the room, she realized she didn't know exactly what that was. She'd
been dating Travis since a week after her seventeenth birthday. He was the only man
she'd let touch her, until today. Her mind turned and an image of Grant's head as
he pleased her appeared in her mind. She blushed, her cheeks heating, and she felt
herself melt and get wet thinking about what he'd done. Travis had never done anything
like that. Oh, she'd known it was possible, since her friends had talked openly about
their relationships, but she'd never had it done to her before.

Thinking about it, she realized there was a lot she hadn't experienced before. Maybe
Grant was the right man to show her everything that she'd been missing? After all,
there was no fear of her falling in love with him, since she'd always think of him
as the good guy, and everyone in town knew that there was no way she would ever fall
for anyone that pure.

Grant cussed in the empty barn for the tenth time. Sweat dripped down every inch of
his body and every muscle in his body ached. His jeans were completely covered in
sweat, dust, and hay. He looked down at the animals watching him from the main floor
in his barn and laughed. They actually looked concerned for him.

“Don't worry, guys, I'll have this unloaded today.” He got back to hauling the bundles
up the ladder stairs and wondered why he hadn't hired someone to help him unload it
all. Not only had he spent the last two days doing his normal chores around the large
place, but he'd spent as much time as he could hauling the hay up a dozen rickety
stairs to his loft.

The last two days had been hell not only on his body; his mind refused to stop focusing
on the picnic with Alex. He couldn't stop thinking about her sweet taste on his tongue.
It had taken all his willpower to stop that day, under the tree.

He knew she was just getting over a hard breakup and didn't want her to use him. Like
he'd used her. Hell. He cussed at himself. He'd done what he'd done for a purpose.
So she would know how good it could be. To show her what it could be like. He'd wanted
to take her then and there, but something inside had stopped him. She wasn't ready.
He knew it.

In the end, it took him a hundred times longer to unload the truck then it had to
load it, because he kept stopping and thinking about her. By the time he walked into
his house on the third night, all he could think about was a shower and his bed. When
he walked inside, he saw the little red light flashing on his answering machine, which
made him realize he hadn't stopped in town to purchase a new cell phone. Since he
was enjoying hiding from the world, he didn't mind just having the home line and an
old-fashioned answering machine.