Against Me (Cedar Tree Book 3) (18 page)

"Won't take much, little one. Your mouth feels amazing on me," I grunt out. Unable to hold back my hips start surging forward, fucking her mouth, and when she swallows on the tip of my cock all control slips away. I struggle not to pound out my release and her hand wrapped around the base of my shaft is the only thing protecting her from my cock being buried balls deep down her throat. Her other hand anchors on my hip, both encouraging my movements and holding me back from going to deep.

"Fuuuck, Katie!" I bellow as I try pulling out. I feel my balls drawing up tight and my orgasm surging through me, but she sucks me deep without spilling one drop.

"Morning!" Beth greets us as we enter the diner. "Early lunch or late breakfast?"

Katie snorts when I say, "Had a late start."

We had moved our activities from the shower to the bed after Katie gave me that earth shattering blow job, and I was surprised to find myself ready to go almost immediately again. Maybe it's the years of drought, or maybe it's just Katie, but I'm insatiable around her.

"How's the house coming along?" Beth inquires. "That Neanderthal of a contractor, Clint, comes in regularly, but he rarely does more than grunt at me. What an ass. Good thing he does good work, at least he did on the diner."

Beth hands us menus as soon as we take our seats.

"We haven't actually been to see it. Plan is to go after breakfast."

"I had no idea you felt so strongly about Clint, Beth?" Katie teases, "Not that I haven't had my run-in with him, but after our initial clash, I've actually found him to be not too bad."

"For all his looks, he has the personality of a primate," Beth returns through tight lips. "Anywho, coffee?"

After she pours us a cup and we put in our orders, she goes to check on her other tables.

"Interesting," Katie observes, looking after her, and I agree. Methinks the lady doth protests too much.

When she comes back with our breakfast, I ask how things have been at the diner.

"Actually, pretty busy. We're getting a lot of 'new' regulars from the Cortez area coming in since the re-opening. This past week we've had another few new faces, although only one less friendly. On Tuesday he was downright rude. He just wanted a coffee and must've sat at that window table for about two hours straight. Every time Julie or I would check to see if he wanted something else, he'd just glare until we walked away. The next time was over the dinner rush on Thursday and at that time at least he ordered a burger, although he hardly ate a thing. Sat at the same damn table though."

Katie throws me a look, obviously having similar thoughts.

"Other than that he was rude, did anything stand out about him?" I ask Beth calmly. She puts her hand on her hip and tilts her head when she looks at me.

"Something going on? I can't help noticing the gathering of the GFI team. First Katie here moves down, then you take off and Neil comes down, following Katie around like a puppy. Now you're back, but I haven't seen Gus in a while and Arlene mentioned something in passing about a fire at your parents?"

Should've known nothing much would go unnoticed or stay quiet here for long. So I give her as much as I'm comfortable with. "Yes, we're working a case that may draw some unwanted interest to Cedar Tree, which is why I'm kinda interested in any new faces."

"Oh, wow. Well, I can tell you the first time he was well dressed, shoes polished, creased slacks and an earring in his right ear. Brown eyes and clean-shaven, I'd say about thirty-five years to forty years old and likely Hispanic from his coloring and his initial order for coffee. Not married that I can recall, at least he wasn't wearing a ring and it didn't look like he'd worn one for any length of time. The second time he was more casually dressed, jeans, work boots and had I not seem him dressed up before, I would've pegged him for a working man because he appeared to have some kind of injury on his hand. It was bandaged up. Curiously, this time I couldn't detect an accent but I'm sure it was the same guy. You think that is significant?"

My mouth is literally hanging open. This woman is amazing. She had pretty complete descriptions for both times the man was in. I see Katie with the same stunned look on her face I must be wearing.

"Wow, that is quite the party trick, Beth," Katie manages, "why the hell aren't you working for GFI yet?"

Beth lets out a bark of laughter, "You kidding me? Arlene can barely handle me, what makes you think Gus can?"

"Got a point there," I agree, surprised and impressed by Beth's observation skills. "If I leave you my phone number, you think you can shoot me a text or give me a call if you see anyone else who seems out of place?"

Big grin on her face, she answers, "Abso-fucking-lutely! This is so cool. Wait 'til I tell my son."

"Yeah, perhaps keep the whole investigation bit to yourself for now, okay? I don't want to alert everyone."

The barn is not the quiet place it was before; trucks and piles of building materials are littering the front drive and it's clear activity is at a high level when we drive up. Both barn doors in the front are open and a crew is busy installing massive curved windows in the openings. It looks fantastic. When we get out of the truck Clint, who must've seen us coming up the drive, comes out to greet us.

"You came at a perfect time. Big glass doors in the back went in this morning and we're just doing these ones now. Floors were finished yesterday and we can finish cabinetry in the kitchen as soon as the window is placed. Top cabinets are in, and we were waiting for the flooring to go down for the bottom ones. Give us another day or two and the downstairs will be habitable."

"That's great, man," I tell Clint. I've been eager to be able to do some of the detailing and renovations myself, but with this case blowing up, plus Katie in Cedar Tree a little sooner than anticipated and no chance in hell I'd leave her alone anywhere, I'm glad Clint has gotten this far and made it liveable.

"Can we see?" Katie wants to know eagerly looking around.

"Yeah sure, just keep an eye on the crap on the floor. Don't want you to spring a leak," he says with a wink for Katie.

Entering through what is now the front door, beside the big new window that the guys now have shimmed into place, I get my first glimpse of the dream I've been carrying in my mind for years. A huge open space with light streaming in from both sides, exposed beams now all cleaned and stained high above and a rustic large tiled new floor that is hiding a coiled heating system on the ground. I am pleased to see the large stone fireplace built centred on the long wall on the left with it's chimney exposed mostly on the inside going straight up, the height of the barn.

"I can't believe you got that in already," I tell Clint. "Wouldn't have thought that could be done so fast."

"We were lucky, I wanted the base laid so the floor could go in, but when the sub came here with his crew and saw he had no additional floors to break through but could go straight up to the roof on this side, he decided to finish right away. Works better for us, one less contractor under foot while we finish up the kitchen.

Katie is moving around the space taking everything in trying to avoid the odd stack of building materials left out. I walk up to her just as she opens one of the few doors this house will have and goes into the space beyond.

"What's this?" She eyes the medium sized empty space with one large window and a connecting door to an ensuite bathroom.

"A spare bedroom or eventually a den, once the upstairs is done and the elevator is in."

"Is that what the space in the wall at the base of the stairs is for?"

"Yup," Clint says from behind me having followed us into the room. "Come see the kitchen."

The space is bright with light coming in from the new sliding doors on the back of the barn and a corner of windows in the kitchen itself. The top cabinets are hanging, giving a rough idea of what the layout will be once finished. All the doors have been stained to match the dark beams in the ceiling but are still missing hardware. Something I wanted to save until last to order, hoping Katie might want to weigh in on that. I look at her and a deep satisfaction fills me. She seems excited and is beaming from ear to ear when she turns to me.

"This is fantastic! I mean, I've looked at the plans and all, and I have a pretty decent imagination but to see it all come together like this. It's so much better than I thought."

We chat with Clint about a few more things before getting out of their way. At the door, Clint stops us. "Do you know who a big ratty dog belongs to? Damn thing keeps showing up early in the morning when I drive up, but every time I try to approach him he takes off."

Katie's face lights up her face at the mention of the ugly mutt.

"I'm thinking he's waiting for Katie. She's suckered him in," I tell Clint with a smile.

T
he next few days were spent picking up bits and pieces of hardware for the kitchen and downstairs bathroom in Cortez, usually coupled with my visits to see Kendra for my therapy, and one trip into Durango to look for some furniture. Most of the shopping was done online though, and I was secretly tickled that Caleb asked me to take the lead on this. Initially I resisted, telling him it wasn't my place to furnish his house, but there was no way Caleb could be swayed from this. What finally persuaded me was the argument that he had no idea when it came to furnishing or decorating since he had mostly rented furnished before. As much as I dislike shopping for clothes and such, given the blank canvass of such a great space to fill was too much fun to resist.

This morning I'm scheduled for another session with Kendra in Cortez. Things are really starting to progress, I can tell. Each time she's done with me, I can feel more strength in my legs and she seems sure it won't be long before my brain kicks in and remembers the necessary impulses to put one foot in front of the other automatically. I'm driving myself, which I still get excited about. It's such a feeling of independence to be able to get yourself from A to B without needing help and for a change, Caleb is my passenger, although grudgingly so. With him home I'd hardly had a chance to use my car so this morning I put my foot down. He still wouldn't let me go alone.

"I've gotta be in Cortez anyway, I can drop you off at the clinic, go meet up with Joe and be back to pick you up," he tries to convince me but I'm not that easy.

"Or
I
can drive, drop
you
off at the sheriff's office, and pick you up when you're done. Likelihood is I'll be done before you are, and I'd rather not sit around the clinic waiting for you. Gus is going to be there as well, right? So if you're done earlier, you can always hitch a ride with him."

"I don't want you on the road alone, Katie."

"Oh please - I'll be driving in broad daylight in a busy town and I'm carrying. Seriously?"

That draws an unhappy growl from Caleb, who seems torn between not wanting to insult my abilities and his need to protect me. Kinda sweet.

"Fine, but if you do leave early, make sure to call or text me before you head back home, and I'll let you know if I'm gonna be longer."

I try really hard not to gloat when I get behind the wheel, showing him how I'm able to manage by myself, when he tries to do the usual; picking me up and dropping me where he wants me. Still grumbling he folds himself in the much smaller cab of the Rav.

"Should've gotten you a decent sized truck." That made me laugh out loud.

"That would kinda defeat the purpose, don't you think? I'd never be able to hoist myself up into anything higher than this. Besides, I love this little SUV, and you're not touching it."

A smile twitches at the corner of his mouth when he leans over, grabs me by the back of my head and pulls me to his mouth for a panty-melting kiss.

"Love you. Love the feisty you," he mumbles against my lips, but when I open my mouth to say something in response he swallows my words with another kiss. When he finally pulls back he taps a finger to my nose and jokes, "You're making me late, woman. Let's go."

When I drop Caleb off at the sheriff's office, he comes around the car and motions for me to roll the window down.