Stepbrother Master (12 page)

My spark of excitement burst into a full-blown glow.
This is really happening
, I realized—
and this is exactly where I'm meant to be
. If I had known more about juvenile law, I might have spotted this job opportunity even without Griff's hint. These girls needed me more than the D.C. students. It would be a lot easier for Lincoln High School to find a qualified replacement than for Oak Creek to find … anybody at all. And if working here let me stay with Ford, then that was just icing on the cake. I wanted to jump up and down, kiss the ever-loving daylights out of Ford, but instead I replied coolly, “I’d love the position, and I can start whenever you need me.”

Ford’s fingers twined with mine as he guided the truck along the long stretch of two-lane road back to the ranch. Sheer, unbridled contentment bloomed within me. Everything was falling into place. I’d dreaded everything about this summer, but it had given me the most amazing opportunities—the man and the job. Reflexively, I squeezed Ford's hand, and he glanced over at me, grinning.

“You happy, sweetheart?”

“Happy? That’s not even the right word for what I’m feeling,” I replied.

“We’ll need to get your stuff moved out here. Make sure you’ve got a vehicle that’s up to the drive in the winter.”

His words conjured up a picture of a moving truck parked in front of the ranch, with men unloading all of the boxes that were currently waiting to be packed in my small Stanford apartment before I headed for D.C. I pictured Mom and Russ standing on the front porch, jaws dropped, wondering what the hell was going on.

Some of that contentment faded away, but I gripped Ford’s hand harder.
No, we’ll figure this out
. “Ford,” I started softly. “How are we going to tell our parents about us?”

He looked at me for a second before his eyes focused on the road again. “We’re just going to tell them. Straight out. No games. I’m in love with you, and you’re in love with me, and we’re going to be together. The labels don’t matter; it’s what we feel for each other that does. If they have a problem with it, we can discuss it like adults, and that’s the end of it.” His thumb stroked the back of my hand as he delivered his speech.

We were driving down a deserted country highway, and
now
was when the man decided to tell me that he was in love with me.

“Pull over.”

Ford’s head jerked in my direction. “What? What’s wrong?” he asked, but he was already decelerating.              

“Just do it. Pull over.”

I was already unbuckling my seatbelt as Ford guided the truck to the side of the road and threw it into park.
Thank God for bench seats
, I thought. I slid over to the middle, pushed Ford’s arms down, and threw one leg over his hips to straddle him.

“What did I do to deserve this?” he asked, hands lowering to my shoulders.

“Who decides to tell a woman he’s in love with her while he’s flying down a back country road at sixty miles per hour? That’s the real question.” I tried to sound stern, but I was smiling too broadly to pull off anything but insanely happy.

Ford’s smile stretched across his face in a mirror of my own. “Like you hadn’t figured that already yourself,” he murmured, lips lowering toward mine.

I lifted my hand, forestalling his kiss—something I could hardly believe I was doing … but just this once. “Say it again.”

The spark in his eyes flared. “I love you, Emma. So fucking much.”

I dropped my finger. “I love you too, Ford. Now kiss me.”

He did. His head tilted, lips claiming mine, tongue diving inside to taste me. I wanted him to possess every inch of me—and not just with his tongue. My hands skated down his chest, finding the button on his jeans, and I tugged. Only once my hand was inside and wrapping around his thick, hard cock did Ford pull his mouth from mine.

“You do realize that we’re on the side of a public road, right?”

I looked out the window, not releasing my grip, and surveyed the long stretch of empty asphalt.
Tinted windows. Haven’t seen a car in twenty minutes. I’m feeling lucky because this amazing, gorgeous man loves me
.

Cutting my eyes to Ford, who bucked into my grip as I stroked and teased his length, I asked, “What’s the worst that happens if we get caught?”

His grin was quick. “Feeling kind of crazy?”

“Feeling lucky in love,” I corrected.

“Fuck it, then.”

“Fuck
me
, you mean.”

“Sassy thing.” His hands skimmed up my legs and I thanked whoever was listening upstairs that I’d had the foresight to wear a skirt to my impromptu interview. When Ford hit my panties, he sighed. “I told you no more panties.”

“It was a job interview,” I said, exasperated.

He pouted. Dear God, a Dom and all, and he fucking
pouted
. The image of his full lips turning down had my ovaries melting. When his fingers drifted over the front of my panties, he groaned.

“Wet for me every damn time.” Two fingers slipped inside and it was my turn to moan. My nipples puckered against the lace of my bra and suddenly my idea for a quick roadside romp seemed a little less awesome because I wanted to be naked and spread out on his bed. Then he moved his fingers, and I forgot to care about anything but how he felt inside me.
Damn
, but the feel of him—any part of him—never failed to send shivers racing across every single inch of my skin.

Ford bunched my skirt around my waist, gripped my hips, pulled me forward, positioning me against the head of his cock. And then he froze.

“
Shit
. Condom.”

“I’m good if you are.”

His eyes rose to mine. “You sure, Emma?”

“I’m clean. And there’s nothing I’d like more than to have you with nothing between us.” Ford’s hips bucked against me. “I want your arms around me, sweetheart.”

Looping my arms around his neck, I pressed my forehead to his, and Ford lowered me onto his cock inch by delicious inch. Fucking hell. I wondered if I’d ever get used to his size.

My body surrendered to his, and I savored the exquisite fullness. Even after the many times we’d been together, he was still almost bigger than I could handle—but believe me, I loved the challenge. When he began to thrust up, I slowly lifted and lowered myself, meeting his every stroke as I stared into his eyes. His hands left mine to bury in my hair and pull my face to his, our lips colliding again, unable to get enough of each other.

My inner muscles clenched tighter with each thrust. My orgasm was building, about to snap through me.

Ford’s grip in my hair tightened and he pulled away from my mouth. “Love you, Emma. Fuck. I’m going to come. You with me, sweetheart?”

“Yes. Now.”

What I’d expected to be a hurried fucking in the front seat of a truck turned into an almost perfectly choreographed symphony of movement and reactions. When I stared into Ford’s eyes, wild with pleasure, my orgasm about to wash over me—it was one of the most beautiful moments I’d ever experienced.

* * *

There were a few downsides to sex in a car—like the cleanup—but given my post-orgasm glow … I had a difficult time caring. But with every mile closer that we came to the ranch, my apprehension inched up a little higher.

“Exactly how are we going to tell them?” I asked.

Once again, my hand was twined within Ford’s strong, sure grip. When a man had a grip like that, I was beginning to realize, he could grab your hand and you would follow him anywhere.

“We’re just going to tell them. No bullshit. No excuses. No apologies. We’re adults. We’re also lucky in that our parents both genuinely want us to be happy.” He cut his eyes to me before looking back to the road. “I don’t think it'll be as big of a production as you’re imagining, sweetheart.”

“It’s just so … I don’t know. Awkward?”

“Put yourself in their shoes. How awkward was it for your mother to come to you and tell you she was getting married again? How do you think she felt? And my father? To come home and tell me he’d fallen in love with a woman in the space of a week? Awkward, for sure—but do you think for a minute they let that awkwardness deter them from being together?”

Okay, the man had a valid point. “So we just go in and tell them.” My apprehension was draining away in the face of Ford’s confidence. “And if they freak out?”

He threw me a devastating smile. “We deal with it. You’re mine, Emma. No freak-out, parental or otherwise, is going to keep us from being together. Have a little faith, okay?”

I sucked in a breath. I could do faith. I could do a lot of things with Ford at my side. Or behind me. Or below me. Or on top of me. A smile flirted with the corners of my mouth.

“Dammit, Emma. Don’t make me take you out to the barn first to spank your ass red so you’ll behave.”

“I’m not sure if that was supposed to be a threat … but you’re definitely missing the mark.”

His rich laugh filled the truck’s cab, along with something that sounded a lot like, “At least I know what we’ll be doing after.”

When we pulled up in front of the garage, Ford put the truck in park and told me to hold on. I waited while he came around to my side and opened my door. He lifted me down from the truck and set me on my feet.

“Don’t worry, Emma, we’ve got this.”

I nodded. “You’re right. We’ve got this.”

Once again, I gripped his hand, and felt like, together, we could take on the world.

* * *

I stepped into the kitchen, my body still feeling the crushing grip of Mom and Russ’s hugs. To say that things had gone better than expected was a mild understatement. The horrified looks and accusatory challenges? Completely absent. The happy smiles and congratulations? Genuine and plentiful. I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to wipe off my own smile for days.

Until Celeste stepped out of the pantry holding a canvas grocery sack, and a sour expression immediately twisted her features at the sight of me.

No. Just no
. Montana might be the West, but it wasn't the Wild West, and this ranch was, in fact, big enough for the both of us. The time had come to bury the hatchet. And not in Celeste’s back.

I refused to let my smile falter as her eyes narrowed. “You don’t have to look so smug. Although, I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re probably willing to do whatever—”

I held up a hand. “Enough, Celeste. Just—enough. I’m done doing whatever this is that we’ve been doing.” Her mouth snapped shut, so I took that as my perfect opportunity to continue. “I’m staying here on the ranch. For good. Our parents know that I’m seeing Ford. They’re totally fine with it. So, you don’t have to like me, but we’re going to have to figure out how to get along.”

Celeste stiffened. “Then fire me. That’s what you want to do, isn’t it?”

I shook my head. “No. You have a place here as long as you want one. You’ve made this your home, too, and it’s certainly not my intent to push you out. I just want to make sure we’re clear that Ford isn’t an option.”             

I expected a catty response, but what I got was something totally different: laughter. Celeste’s shoulders shook as she wrapped one arm around herself and lifted the other to her face. “I don’t even want Ford.
God,
I’m such an idiot. I thought … just maybe … if I could get him to notice me, I’d never have to worry again. But Mac had to go and ruin
everything
!”

Okay, now I was completely lost. “Mac?”

Celeste lifted her face from her hands. “You can’t choose who you fall for … even when you should know better.” Shaking her head, she added, “I told myself I’d never fall for a cowboy, but he just worked his way into my heart, and now there’s no getting him out.”

My brain whirled to catch up.
Celeste and Mac?
Since when?
What the hell?

She pushed up from the table, once again gathering the canvas grocery bag. Celeste caught my confused stare.

              “I’m taking care of him while he’s laid up at Griff’s. Griff is going to visit his nephew, so Mac and I can have a little time to ourselves—not that much’ll be going on with his leg busted up.” Her smile softened. “But it’ll be nice to have some time alone. Give us a chance to talk about what’s next.” With that, she strolled out of the kitchen, a wistful look on her face. The backdoor shut with a quiet click, just before Ford’s voice filled the otherwise empty kitchen.

“She still giving you a hard time?”

“No.”

I rose and turned toward him. I loved not having to look over my shoulder—or his—to see who might be watching. I loved knowing that I could cross the kitchen and wrap my arms around him, and squeeze his tight butt without repercussions—at least, none that I wasn’t completely thrilled to experience. So I did exactly that.

Ford threaded his fingers through my hair and tilted my face toward his. “You’re sure everything’s okay.”

I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, lifting up onto my tiptoes while pulling his face down toward mine. “So much better than okay. Absolutely perfect,” I whispered, before pressing my lips to his. Ford’s hand cupped the back of my head, and we didn’t speak for a long, long time after that.