Second Chances (23 page)

She needed them; needed to trust them and believe that she was safe with them.
Since she’d come to the ranch the calls had stopped and she no longer felt as though someone was watching her. Lucien didn’t know where she was, she was almost certain of it. She would just have to have faith in Matt and Mason, and their faith that Grey would come around. She hoped.

“Daddy, Matt?” Con called again as he passed through the kitchen
, obviously still searching for the man that was wrapped around her, making her blood boil.

“Say yes, darlin’. I need you.”
Matt’s arms constricted around her, pulling her against his work-hardened frame. “If you don’t say yes, Con’s gonna’ find us makin’ out in here. I’m not lettin’ you go until you agree,” he chuckled.

Claira nod
ded quickly, afraid that Con would hear her frantic voice if she tried to speak. With one more fierce but quick kiss, Matt left her in the dark pantry, her heart still beating a mile a minute.

An hour later she snuck out to the barn, the light within calling to her to join her new lover, or lovers. Would Matt ask Mason to join them, too? God she hoped so. It felt like a lifetime since she had felt Mason’s passion envelop her in a cocoon that only he could spin around her senses.

When
the heavy barn door closed behind her she peered down the lane between the stalls to the far end of the barn. It was dark. She couldn’t see if anyone was there.

“Matt?”
She called out and waited but didn’t hear anything except the rustling of a few of the horses and the faint sound of a slow, country song playing from somewhere at the darkened end of the barn.

They’re
not here.
Had they changed their minds? No. The boys had been particularly rambunctious tonight. They were probably just reading an extra story to get them settled.

A shuffling noise
from one of the stalls caught her attention and she heard one of the puppies snarl. Such a fierce sound from such a small, innocent creature made her giggle. “What a little bully you are.” She peeked over the stall door just in time to see the little, black fur ball pounce on one of its unsuspecting siblings.

“He’s the alpha.
”

Claira jumped back from the stall, her gasp echoing through the dank, cool air in the barn that suddenly wrapped itself around her. “Grey, you scared me.” She noticed the still, somber expression on his face and hugged her arms around herself instinctually to keep out the chill of his glare.

“So I gathered.” Grey’s insides churned as he looked at the petite, slip of a woman that had turned him inside out. The tight denim skirt, which was so unlike the flowing skirts she normally wore, hugged her hips like a glove, making his dick rise to attention, again. God, he’d just jerked off in a fucking horse stall not twenty minutes ago to rid himself of the constant need for her, and his cock still hadn’t gotten the message.

He’d made up his mind.
He wasn’t going down this road again. Seeing Claira cooking in Sarah’s kitchen every goddamn day was pure torture. Between the ache in his chest and constant throbbing in his groin he’d been ready to pull his hair out by the time he’d finished the unbelievably delicious dinner. Something had to give. He’d have to be a masochist to keep her here. A masochist he was not.

He’d talked to his Cousin Frank and the ren
tal house wasn’t anywhere near cleaned up and repaired enough for her to return there. He’d called the Sheriff every day and there hadn’t been any progress on either finding out who was stalking Claira, or who’d butchered his cattle. He couldn’t just abandon her until he knew what the hell was going on. An unknown, twisted part of him didn’t want her to leave. Okay, so he knew which part that was, but it didn’t change anything. Maybe he was a masochist.

Claira saw the ghost in Grey’s eyes and knew
at that moment his brothers’ plans for them all would never work. Her heart broke a little at the thought of leaving them, but leaving was the right thing to do. The past week had shown her what a dynamic family they were. Car and Con would never want for a thing and the love that flowed between them all was something she could only dream of sharing one day. Their family was a tight unit she would never fit into no matter how much Matt and Mason wanted her. Without Grey the entire idea was hopeless.

No matter how attracted she was to him, she knew Grey would never accept her, love her, as he once loved Sarah.
She was doing nothing but hurting him. She wished she could reach out and comfort him somehow. He needed to know that she wasn’t a threat to him or his family. She couldn’t stay and torture him any longer. All the things, the feelings she had resolved within herself no more than a few hours ago in Matt’s comforting arms, suddenly became so small and unimportant. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t, come between Grey and his family.

“I…I should go.” Claira stroked her arms to ward off the chill that had now invaded her bones and turned to leave him to his ghosts. She would find someplace else to stay. Maybe it was
time to move on. She wasn’t sure she wanted to keep working at a small, private school that stifled the personalities of children the way Grassland Academy did. Other then the three beautiful McLendon brothers, well, Matt and Mason anyway, her temporary job, which was now officially over, was all that held her here.

“Don’t go.” Grey’s voice was as rough as sandpaper and flitte
red up Claira’s spine as she turned back to face him.

Grey took a step in her direction but froze as she took a step back. Was she afraid of him? “We…” Grey’s voice hitched and he cleared his throat. “Claira
, we need to talk.”

Claira shook her head
, pulled her arms tighter around herself, hoping it would keep her wayward emotions from overwhelming her resolve. “That’s not necessary, Grey. I see the pain I’m causing. I’ll leave first thing in the morning, af…after I say goodbye to Con and Car, if that’s…” she swallowed back the tight knot in her throat, nearly choking on it. “if that’s alright with you.”

Grey heard the pain in her words, saw the sadness and fear in her big brown eyes. He’d never understood the saying q
uite as clearly as he did at that moment, but wild horses could not have kept him from her, not even ghostly ones. Before he had completed the thought, his feet had taken the half dozen steps toward her and his whole body folded around her tiny frame. “I don’t want you to go.”

Claira fought the unyielding need to melt against him. He felt so strong and warm. His clean, woodsy scent filled her senses. Mixed with the musty smell of the ba
rn, she knew she would never forget it. No matter where she ended up, she would never forget Grey and his brothers.

“But…
you don’t want me to stay, either.” When he didn’t respond she clenched the back of his shirt into her fists and took one last long, deep breath to pocket away a little more of his scent for her memories. She finally released him and backed away from his embrace. Swallowing back another sob, she forced herself to look up into his sparkling green eyes and cradled his chiseled face in her hands. “You’re a good man, Grey McLendon. I have a feeling you don’t believe that, but you are. Thank you for allowing me even this short time with your amazing family.”

She
flinched at his touch when he brought his hands up and wrapped his long fingers around her wrists, holding her hands to his cheeks. She didn’t think she could stand another moment of the brokenness she saw in his eyes or the feel of him against her skin.

When she released him a
nd turned to leave, his grip tightened ever so gently around her wrists. “Don’t go,” Grey choked out, holding her there.

Claira’s heartbeat filled her ears and her chest felt as though it would b
urst from aching. God, she had to breathe. She had to go. “Please let me go. There’s nothing more to say.”

“Just wait a minute. Please.” Grey firmed his grip on her wrist and threw his head back, taking in a deep,
shuddering breath. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing. He just knew he couldn’t let her walk out of their lives.

“Please, let me go, Grey.” Claira twisted her wrist against his grip but he wouldn’t release her.

She was nearing the point of panic when his big hands left her wrists and she found herself crushed against his chest, enveloped in his strong arms. Grey growled as he reached out and pulled her into his embrace and captured her lips in a searing kiss that stole her wits and her breath. His hand smoothed a path up her spine and burrowed under her hair at the nape of her neck, stroking her scalp with such tenderness it nearly made her knees buckle. When she swayed in his arms he groaned and loosened his steel grip around her, his hands stroking up and down her back and arms. The empty chill that had invaded her bones vanished within seconds, replaced by a warm, languid feeling that she’d never experienced before. Her head lolled against his chest, her thoughts drifting along a whispering current of surrender. How could such a guarded man possess such commanding passion and gentleness?

He pulled awa
y a little, taking her chin and tilting her face up toward his. When she opened her eyes and saw the raw need in the emerald depths of his eyes her womb contracted.

“You’re not leaving
,” he growled as he crushed his lips to hers in another bruising kiss, his tongue invading her soul. Her mewling whimper set a fever loose in his blood that burned up every other thought but her. Her rich taste, her hot mouth, her soft skin and sweet smelling aroma that was only Claira filled every pore of his being. He had to have her.
Now
.

Buttons flew in every direction as he ripped her shirt open from top to bottom.
He groaned when his knuckles grazed her bare nipples.
No bra!
How had he not noticed that before? When she reached up and began to unbutton his own shirt he stilled her hands, his long fingers imprisoning her wrists in a firm grip. With a growl he lowered her hands and pinned them behind her back. “Leave them there.”

When she opened her mouth to protest he filled it again with another invading kiss. If she so much as touched him he’d go off like a roman candle on the fourth of July.
After nearly six years of emotionally forced abstinence, he wasn’t about to fire his load into his pants. He wanted to be buried to the hilt inside her. Needed it like he needed air to breathe.

Her hands crept up the back up his neck and
he growled again. Pulling her arms from around his neck, he pushed her torn shirt over her shoulders and down her arms, tying the thin fabric in a sloppy knot around her wrists.

“Grey, I need….” Claira struggled to free her hands and Grey laid his forefinger over her lips to silence her protests.

“I know what you need, baby bird.” He leaned down and nuzzled her ear, nipping lightly on her lobe.
So tiny and soft.
“I’ll let you touch me all you want once I’m buried so deep inside you, you can taste me. Not one moment sooner.”

Claira’s breath hitched in her chest a
t his bold words. Grey dipped a hand beneath the hem of the short, little skirt that had driven him crazy all night and went straight to the thin layer of soft curls that covered her core.
No Panties!
God, he wouldn’t survive this. His finger slipped over her clit and slid unimpeded through her slick folds.
Fuck!
“You’re soaked.”

Claira whimpered as he slowly pulled his finger back and circled her clit. She was dying by degrees in his
arms. She needed to touch him.

Without warning Grey crushed her to him and pushed his way to the blanket covered bed of fresh hay Matt had set up for them just before dinner
. Before she could right the spinning room his heavy weight pinned her beneath him. His mouth covered hers in another scorching kiss and his penis nudged at her opening. Her legs wrapped around his hips and her heels dug into his backside, pulling him into her in one long thrust.

Grey couldn’t contain the near animalistic need that roared through his veins.
Mine! Ours!
She was theirs and he would make sure she’d never doubt it again. Something snapped loose inside his chest when he felt her body bow and arch beneath his. Her hot, tight pussy hugged his cock in an embrace that forever bonded him to her. Nothing had ever felt more right, more real than having her in his arms as he buried himself deep inside her. Yet, something was missing. His brothers. He knew now that he’d been wrong to deny his need for her. They all needed her.

Claira moaned, bringing him back to her. Her shoulders shrugged and she seemed to struggle beneath him.
Her shirt!
She’d blown his mind and he’d completely forgotten his promise to remove her bindings. “I’ve got you, baby bird.” He rolled them a little to the side then pulled the knot lose, freeing her hands. “Touch me, Claira.” He tucked his forearms beneath her shoulders and buried his hands in her hair. With a firm grip, he pulled her head back and thrust his tongue into her hot mouth as he buried his cock in her pussy over and over. He swallowed her whimpers of pleasure, biting and licking at her supple lips until his lungs screamed for air.

“
Grey. I need you. Please…” Sweat dripped from Grey’s chin. She licked the salty offering from his skin as her hands roamed down his broad shoulders, curling around his muscular biceps.
When had he removed his shirt?
She didn’t remember or care. The rasp of his bare chest against her sensitive nipples added another sensual layer to her torturous need. More sweat glued them together, her skirt pushed up to her waist the only barrier between them. Her heart pounded inside her chest, a newly familiar heat coiling in her lower belly. She was close. So close.