I woke as the early rays of dawn streaked in through the cabin window. It had been six days since that first night in the cabin. During the day, we worked at the kennel or on the land. We spent time together most evenings under the excuse that I had to check Matthew’s wounds. After the first couple of nights, when no signs of infection showed, my playing doctor became a playful game, even if the ‘doctor’ suffered a few bruises during treatment. I rubbed my neck where he had left his latest mark. I know it was juvenile, but it made me really feel like I belonged to him.

I tried to move away discreetly so I could go to the bathroom, but Matthew’s muscled arm held fast. Something hard, and it wasn’t difficult to figure out what, pressed against me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he said huskily.

“Bathroom.”

“If you have to. But come right back here.”

I twisted to face him.

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

I leaned in and kissed him. The taste of Matthew’s lips filled my mouth, and he pressed his tongue against my lips, seeking entrance. Our tongues tangled in an erotic duel, and blood rushed through my head and my body, as my desire rose. I trailed my hand from his hip to his thigh and then reached into his boxers to take his cock in my hand. It was thick and long, and I couldn’t close my fingers around the shaft.

Matthew groaned. “You do that so good.”

“I’m just getting started,” I said teasingly.

“Naw,” he said. “I’m just getting started.” With his arms, he flipped me onto my back. He buried his face between my legs and pulled the panties off of my hips. Spreading my pussy lips with his thumbs, He licked along the insides of my lips as he worked his tongue up to my clit. His tongue lashed at the tip of my bud and the underside, causing me to arch my back. I groaned as he continued his assault. He slid two fingers inside me, thrusting gently at first, then harder, as he continued to suck on my clit. I could feel the beginnings of an impending orgasm.

“Shit, I’m going, oh fuck, if you don’t stop—”

Not only did Matthew not stop, but he also seemed like a man on fire. He couldn’t seem to get enough of my pussy in his mouth, and he worked every part of me with his mouth or hands.

But when he used his finger to tease my ass and ran his fingertip around the rim, a jolt of electricity shot through me. He pressed his finger against my anus, and I couldn’t hold back.

I came hard, gushing into Matthew’s mouth, spurt after spurt. He lapped up my juices, and he raised his head, his sexy lips and chin covered in my pussy juices. He stared down at me as I breathed heavily, then his lips curved slowly into a happy grin. I felt his cock, hard as steel pressing against my belly.

I smiled back at him.

“That was incredible.”

“You are incredible. You make me crazy.”

“And that’s my fault.”

“Most definitely.”

I laid my hand on his cock suggestively. “What do you want, Matthew?”

“Truthfully, you,” he said. “Here, sit up.”

He helped me sit at the edge of the bed. He stood in front of me and pulled on his shaft as my eyes took in the scene.

“Fuck,” Matthew said. “You are so damn hot, just watching you gets me off.”

I reached out, but he slapped my hand away.

“Watch,” he ordered. Matthew spit in his hand and worked his cock in hand and worked it from base to head. The head grew purple and swelled.

“Touch yourself, baby. Make yourself come.” I spread my legs, reached down and started rubbing my clit.

“Soon I’m going to have your ass,” Matthew said huskily. “I’m going to put this cock so deep in you, your eyes are going to roll to the back of your head. You’ll scream my name as I fuck you.” I shuddered as I pictured him taking my ass but I was ready to experience anything with this man.

Matthew’s head fell back, and his breaths came rapidly. He moaned as he stroked himself and thought of what it would be like to be inside my ass. He opened his eyes again and stared intently at me, watching me looking at him with absolute lust. This was so hot, I could feel my orgasm stirring as I masturbated in sync with him.

“Open your mouth,” he ordered.

With a sexy smirk, I opened my mouth, and Matthew erupted with a low howl. Cum spattered my tongue and face, and it just seemed to keep spurting. I felt my pussy clench and spasm in response, and I cried out in ecstasy as I came. His knees shook with the force of his orgasm as he watched me, and finally, he rested his hand on my shoulder to steady himself. He dropped to my side breathing heavily.

“Good Lord, woman. Look what you’ve done to me.”

“You?” I laughed.

Matthew smiled heatedly. “I like my cum on you like that.” He leaned in and kissed me on the lips.

Parker stood and shook himself and whined.

“He’s got some timing,” I griped, not ready to stop.

“Oh yeah, he does. Okay, buddy. I’ll take you for a walk. Want to come, baby?”

“I already have,” I said with a smirk.

“Funny,” Matthew remarked.

Matthew went to the bathroom, ran the water and brought back a washcloth. He wiped his cum from my face and body.

“I can do that,” I protested.

“But I want to do it.” He swiped a bead of cum onto his fingers from my chest and put it to my lips.

“Suck that,” he said with an evil glint in his eye.

Parker whined again.

“Okay, buddy,” Matthew said.

“No rest for the wicked,” I said. Sticking out my tongue, I licked Matthew’s jizz from his finger, then sucked it into my mouth.

“Keep that up,” Matthew growled, “and Parker might have an unfortunate accident on the rug.”

“We can’t have that,” I agreed.

After breakfast, I sat back in my chair in the kennel office and sighed as I listened to Matthew work in the kennel. It was great having a partner that shared my work, and for the first time, I seriously contemplated a life with him. It was too soon, I knew it. But when I looked at Matthew, my heart swelled, and I knew that if I wasn’t in love yet, I was fast falling for Matthew Rees. But he didn’t say it, and I didn’t say those words, and we didn’t talk about the future. And since we didn’t that meant that he was only staying until grandma was well enough to start work again.

I was glad that my grandmother seemed to be doing better. I had brought her to physical therapy three times already, and her mobility showed signs of improvement.

But what I didn’t tell Matthew was that the doctor had said that she did have osteoporosis and that any fall was dangerous for her. The doctor started her on bone strengthening medicine and stressed the importance of continuing exercise. But regaining bone mass was a long-term proposition, and most days I found myself urging her to slow down and not push herself so hard. I seriously didn’t know if my grandmother could work the kennel again.

“Would that be so bad?” I asked myself. “Keep Matthew here and build a life?” No, of course not. In my heart of hearts, that’s what I wanted. I just didn’t know what Matthew wanted.

But aside from worries about grandma’s health, things were going great. I hadn’t heard a thing from Randy, which was a relief, and I was enjoying my time with Matthew, getting to really know him. He was fun to be around both at work and under the sheets. I was finally living for me, and it felt amazing.

“Hey,” Matthew said. “What do we have for a hungry man for lunch around here?”

“Pie,” I said with a smile.

“I know for a fact that your grandmother has not made any pie for several days.”

“That’s not the kind of pie I was talking about.”

“I know what kind of pie you’re talking about,” Matthew said with a growl. He swooped in and kissed me roughly on the mouth.

“Hey, what did we say about harassing the boss at work?”

“Sexual harassment doesn’t work that way. It has to be from the top down.”

“And who’s the top, eh?”

“That can change, any time you like. I’m a versatile man.”

“Damn, you keep talking like that, and I will have to sexually harass you.”

“You should, you know.”

“Not now. I have to go into town and pick up supplies.”

“No lunch? I thought the food was part of the deal here. You’re falling down on the job, boss.”

“Oh, you’d like me to fall down, on my knees, but it’s not happening here and now.”

“Yeah,” Matthew said with a grin, “when you serve some pie you will. But that does nothing for my nutritional requirements now.”

“Then come with me to pick up the animal food order, and we’ll get lunch. We’ll just lock up the kennel for the time being.”

“Now, that sounds like a plan. Let’s go. Parker, come!”

Parker trotted to Matthew’s side, and he clipped Parker’s lead to his collar. But as he did so, Parker nuzzled my knee.

“Watch out. He’s looking for cookies.”

“What? Your dog doesn’t love me?”

“He loves your cookies. Bad Parker. Don’t beg.”

Parker pinned back his ears at the reprimand, but he glanced back at me with a hopeful look.

“Sorry, bud, your daddy nixed that idea. Take it up with him.”

But after receiving a reprimand, Parker didn’t push his luck. He trotted quietly by Matthew’s side. We all climbed into my car, with Parker climbing into the back seat of the without a fuss.

“What are we hitting first?”

“Hertford’s Feed and Grain.”

“Awesome. I’ve never been to a feed and grain store before.”

“That’s because you’re culturally deprived.”

“Any society that serves grits is culturally warped.”

“Now, don’t go dissing grits. Them’s good eating,” I twanged in my mountain accent.

“I’ve had MRE’s that tasted better.”

“That was just the salt content in them. Jesus, were they trying to give you hypertension?”

“What would you know about the salt content of a MRE?”

“I looked it up online. I wanted to see why you were so salty, and I found out.”

“Salty? In the desert, we needed salt to retain water.”

“Seems like they overdosed you. Anyway, we need to school that palate of yours. For instance, have you had sweet potato pie?”

“No. But I know a hot potato when I see her.”

I chuckled. This easy back and forth was the best thing about spending time with Matthew. We would go on into silly tangents and end up laughing. I’d never had this much fun with anyone else.

We swung into Hertford’s, and I checked my watch. I’d just made my time slot for pickup at the door, so I parked my truck there.

“Come on. I show you the finer parts of a feed and seed store.”

The three of us walked into Hertford’s. Old man Hertford sat sleepily behind the counter.

“Hello, Mr. Hertford.”

“Hello, Meleyna. And who is that with you?”

Matthew stuck out his hand. “Matthew Rees, sir. I’m helping out at the kennel until Mrs. Harris gets back to full strength.”

“Nice to meet you, though we don’t allow dogs in here.”

“He’s a service dog, Mr. Hertford,” I explained.

“Ah, yes. Sorry. My old eyes aren’t so good now. Your order is ready for you on a cart in the usual place.”

“Thanks, Mr. Hertford.” I motioned for Matthew to follow me to the hallway where the store owner left my order of several sacks of different animal food and other supplies on a flat truck.

“This is where he leaves the orders for pickup.”

“Lots of cleaning supplies here,” Matthew said.

“Because you haven’t met a cleaning chore you didn’t like.”

“Just trying to be helpful.”

“Let’s load up then we can go to lunch. I know a wonderful place that serves grits.”

“Good, because I’m weak for lack of food.”

When we were outside, I opened the trunk of the vehicle and Matthew carried a sack from the flat truck.

“Poor guy. I can see how wasted you’ve become.”

The crunch of gravel should have alerted me, but I was too busy waiting for Matthew to launch his latest retort to be aware of anything else.

“Hey, Meleyna.”

The words coincided with Matthew’s grin dropping from his face. I turned to the speaker of those words as Randy Barker got out of his police cruiser.

“Hello, Randy,” I said, turning my head back to my work.

“Haven’t heard from you.”

Really? Randy expected me to call him?

“Been busy, Randy,” I said. “And I’m sure you’ve been busy with Cherie and your own life I assume.”

“Cherie and I broke up. She just went crazy on me after you left. I couldn’t stay with a woman like that.”

“Sorry to hear.”

Matthew hefted another bag to me with his face set stonily in a neutral expression. Parker circled around him, butting his muzzle against Matthew’s knee.

“I was thinking we could get together sometime and talk.”

“Don’t think so, Randy.”

“Why?”

Matthew kept his eyes on Randy as he lined up the cleaning supplies on the trunk, and I moved them into the car.

“I’ve moved on.”

Matthew handed the last bottle of cleaning supplies to me.

“With that loser?” Randy pointed to Matthew.

Matthew’s face grew dark, his eyes still on Randy, and Parker was going crazy now trying to get his master’s attention.

“It’s none of your business, you hear me?”

Randy took quick steps to close the distance between us. Matthew, at the urging of Parker, took a few steps backward, but his jaw was clenched tight.

“And I’ve told you. Anything you do is my business.”

“Not anymore. Come on, Matthew. Let’s head out of here.”

But before I could move, Randy yanked on my arm and spun me toward him.

“Hey!” Matthew said.

“Get your fucking hands off me, Randy.”

“Fuck I will. What—?”

He pushed aside my collar to see the hickey on my neck. Randy’s eyes grew wide.

“What the hell?” he spit.

“I said, let me go!”

“You didn’t—with him?” Randy pointed a finger at Matthew, who just stared back at him.

“And I said, it’s none of your business.”

“And I told you, everything you do is my business.”

I twisted, trying to dislodge the meaty hand from my arm, but I couldn’t make Randy budge. Randy twisted and trapped me against the edge of the car, oblivious to the storm raging in Matthew as he wrestled for self-control.

“You’re going to tell this piece of trash to get out of town,” Randy said menacingly.

“Hey, muthafucker!” Matthew said rushing toward him. “Get your hands off her now!”

Randy suddenly let go of my arm to turn to face the oncoming ex-soldier. I grew very afraid then because I’d never seen that expression on Matthew’s face—the one that said he could kill.

“I’ll put my hands on her when I want to,” Randy jeered. “I’ve had my hands all over since we were teenagers. Yeah. She was sweet then. And she was so willing.”

“Shut up you bastard!” I shouted.

Randy scoffed. “So, you put out for anyone? How many men have you fucked, Meleyna? Did you fuck anyone else while we were together? I thought I was your first and only.”

Randy’s face was red, and he was shaking with rage, but Matthew was just as angered. I saw Matthew move toward Randy, but I was trapped and couldn’t stop what happened next.

“That’s it. Get away from her,” Matthew said. And he pushed Randy away from me in one hard shove.

The sheriff’s staggered back.

“You fucking asshole,” he spit. And he moved at Matthew.

Parker rushed between them barking furiously, and Matthew was forced to pay attention to his dog. A look of horror came over his face as he saw how distressed Parker was. He immediately dropped to one knee and put his arms around Parker’s neck.

“Sorry, boy,” he said burying his head in Parker’s neck.

“Put your hands behind your back,” ordered Randy.

“What!” I said in disbelief.

“I’m taking him in. Assaulting a police officer.”

“You can’t be serious,” I said angrily. “You started this mess because you can’t have me and can’t stand the fact that I finally moved on!”

“The man,” Randy growled, “needs to learn to keep his hands to himself. Get up, you.”

“Don’t do this,” I pleaded.

Matthew looked at Randy with utter hate in his eyes, but he stood and put his hands behind his back. Parker leaned against Matthew.

“Sit, Parker,” Matthew said. “Don’t move.”

Parker obeyed but kept a watchful eye on the sheriff as he clipped the handcuffs on Matthew’s wrist. Randy’s lips curled into a twisted smile as he tightened the cuffs. Then he methodically checked his pockets and patted him down. Matthew just stood there, stoned faced and unflinching.

At that moment, when I witnessed the sick pleasure Randy enjoyed in putting down his rival, the universe shifted. All that had gone on between Randy Barker and me in the past lost its romantic sheen and magnetic draw. Where once what I felt for Randy made perfect sense, now it made no sense at all. Like chains dropping off my body, I lost all feelings of affection for Randy Barker. Friendship and all. He was dead to me.

“Take the dog,” Randy said to me harshly.

“No,” Matthew said. “He’s my service dog. The ADA says that wherever I go, he goes. Unless you want to break Federal law.”

“Federal law doesn’t allow for this, so you’ll just have to get along without your doggie friend.”

“Randy,” I said in a final appeal. “Please don’t do this.”

“Take the dog, Meleyna, or I’ll take him to the pound,” Randy ordered.

Reluctantly I took Parker’s lead. “I’ll take good care of him.”

Matthew just nodded, but then stared ahead with his jaw tight.

With a sinking heart, I watched Matthew get into the back of the cruiser, and Randy shut the door.

Randy glanced at me. “This is just the beginning for your boy, here. I’m going to throw the book at him.”

“You do that, Randy, and you’ll never see me again.”

“Yeah,” Randy said. “I figured that out already.” He got into his cruiser and slammed the door shut. Parker strained against his leash whimpering as the cruiser took Matthew away. And there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do about any of it.