Chapter 17
Lane
Fast or Slow
I had Brynn’s long hair wrapped around my fist like a rope, and I was using it to pull her head back. The arch of her spine as I powered into her from behind was erotic as hell and the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. She was on her hands and knees on the edge of the bed in front of me, panting my name in time to each hard thrust. She had fingerprints on her hips from my other hand holding her in place as I made sure she knew she was mine over and over again. It was a good thing we were no longer sharing this wing of the house with Sutton and Daye, because I was making it my mission in life to make sure her screams and moans could be heard through the thick, wooden walls.
She turned her head on a gasp and looked at me over her shoulder with passion-glazed eyes as I hit the spot inside of her that made her entire body quiver beneath mine. I felt the happy vibrations rock through my cock, and the pleasure made my balls tighten and had the stirrings of my impending orgasm swirling along my spine. Since she was looking at me, I bent over her back and dropped a quick, sloppy kiss on the corner of her open mouth. The move had her giggling, which tightened her sweet, slippery center around the unbelievably hard length of my cock. I spent as much time inside of her as I could since we got back to the ranch. I took my time with her, learning every inch of her body, searching out all her most sensitive and responsive places, but some days all I wanted to do was get inside of her and get us both off as quickly as possible. It was a heady rush making her eyes roll back in her head, and getting her body to go pliant and soft under mine within minutes.
This morning was one of the times we were in a hurry not because we wanted to be, but because we had to be. Cy put me back to work the minute I had my boots back on the ranch. Business was backed up with both Sutton and me being gone, and with Webb taking off to help with Bauer, my older brother was so deep in rebooking and rescheduling rides before the winter, he couldn’t see daylight. While I wanted time to bask in the new relationship glow and to savor the rightness of finally having the only woman I’d wanted to keep forever in my bed every single night, I couldn’t ignore my responsibilities anymore. I was scheduled for three back-to-back, overnight rides and one that would take me through the weekend. I was going to be out on the range with tourists, teaching them how to fish and showing them all the wonders of the Wyoming wilderness, which I typically loved. It was less appealing than it always had been now that I had someone I was so wrapped up in waiting back at the main house for me.
Brynn needed to get up so she could get breakfast going for the guests and take care of packing the lunch I was taking with us to eat down by the river, but I wasn’t done with her until we were both sweaty and satisfied. I wanted her too weak to move when this was over.
I dragged my bristly chin across her smooth shoulder and kissed the top of her spine. Standing back up, I let go of my hold on her hair and moved my hands to either side of her perfectly rounded ass. I loved the way it moved and bounced against my hammering hips. She had the prettiest skin, and it looked so good a little red and slightly marked from my hands and mouth. I slipped my thumbs along the delicate crease in front of me and grinned when she swore under her breath, body jerking in surprise. She was soaked, moisture coating my cock and making every glide in and out slippery and slick. She had to be close, I could feel it. I hoped she was because I wasn’t going to last longer with those noises she was making filling the early morning. I was such a sucker for this woman. The littlest things she did turned me inside out. She was my ultimate weakness. She always had been, but now that I knew exactly what it was that I was missing, I knew she was the one person in the world who could undo me. I also knew that each and every time she forced me to unravel she would put me back together with the utmost care.
She muttered my name and started to move back against my thrusts with more urgency as I dipped my thumbs into that sweet, secret valley and used the pads to gently trace the super sensitive spot hidden there. Brynn wasn’t shy when it came to sex, something that was initially surprising considering all of her negative experiences around the subject in her youth. She was open to most anything, and yes, she liked it when I hurt her just a little bit. She also didn’t question me when I wanted to play with other parts of her besides the glorious spot between the center of her centerfold legs.
“No better way to wake up, Brynn.” I groaned as she rotated her hips in such a way that made me practically swallow my tongue.
“Gives new meaning to rise and shine.” She let out a garbled laugh and let her arms collapse, taking her upper half to the bed and driving my dick even deeper inside of her. I felt her break around me, body tightening and pulsing where we were joined. My dick kicked happily, and I swore it hardened even more as her release triggered mine. My orgasm burned quick and bright. Sending hot sparks of satisfaction popping along my skin. Nothing would ever compare to being inside this woman with nothing between us. It didn’t matter how long it had taken me to get here, it was the place I knew I was meant to be.
I rolled to the side, so I didn’t crush Brynn as I collapsed on the bed beside her. We were both shiny with sweat and covered in the scent of sex and lingering sleep. She blinked heavy eyes, as her slow, satisfied grin imprinted itself on my mind. The way she looked at this moment was going to be one of my favorite memories, one I pulled out when I wondered why someone as special and resilient as she was, tied herself to someone as foolish and scared as me.
“I missed seeing you smile.” I reached out a finger so I could move a piece of hair out of her face. Leaving Denver without Bauer had been incredibly hard for both of us. When she told me that she offered to bring him with us, I couldn’t say I was surprised. She knew the kid for less than a week, but there was so much of her history in his story, it seemed like they were cut from the exact same cloth. She knew him, and he knew her in a way that transcended time. Watching her already fragile heart try and find room for this new pain felt like it was going to kill me. I wanted to make it better for her because that was my job, it always had been, but there was no way to do that.
“I just want to know he’s okay. I want to make sure he’s not alone and that he’s getting everything he needs. You didn’t see him with his brother, Lane. They’re just kids. They have no idea what they’re doing.”
She mentioned more than once she was worried Bauer was going to turn to hustling again if money got tight. To combat that possibility, she sent him a loaded Visa gift card once a week with a handwritten letter, telling him to use it for whatever he and Mikey might need. She was pretty sure Bauer was handing the cards over to his brother, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was stuck in an endless cycle, just like she was with her mother and sister. Luckily, Opal was turning eighteen in a few months, and my girl wouldn’t have to worry about paying for her sister’s wellbeing anymore. As soon as the younger Fox was of age, she was coming to live with us on the ranch until she started college in the fall. Opal had gotten a full ride to the University of Wyoming, so she was well on her way to freedom, relatively unscathed thanks to her older sister’s sacrifice and the generosity of Boyd Warner. Brynn was counting down the days till she no longer had to engage with her mother and her painful past in any way.
Since coming home, the sisters were spending a lot of time together. They were always close, and Opal wasn’t a stranger by any means, but I silently wondered if Brynn was trying to fill the void left behind when Bauer refused to let her save him.
“I think Bauer and even Mikey know more than most kids their age. You’re doing what you can, Brynn. You can’t force him to accept your help, all you can do is let him know that you are there and not going anywhere. I’m proud of you. You gave that kid something no one else ever did…you gave him hope. You changed his life forever. Because of you, he now knows what he could have if he’s willing to reach for it and that is a very powerful incentive for him to continue to make good choices.” I rubbed my hands over my face and rolled so I could prop myself on my elbow. “I need to shower and get down to the barn so I can get the horses ready.”
I pulled her to her feet and guided her into the shower with me. I loved the way she looked as the water turned her hair dark and her skin into a slick honey-colored surface. Normally I would take advantage of her being naked and soft from our previous round of sex, but there was no time. All I could do was kiss her as she soaped me up and scrubbed me down. I returned the favor, lingering longer than I should have on her breasts and between her legs, after all, I was only human, and I’d wasted too much time pushing her away instead of pulling her close.
I was watching Brynn braid her hair when her eyes met mine in the mirror. “You know that Cy asked Jack to help out with a couple of the rides to get all the canceled trips caught up. There’s a good chance you’re going to run into him sometime this week.”
I wandered over to where she was sitting so I could bend down and drop a kiss on the top of her head. I knew Jack was still a sore subject with her. As soon as we got back to the ranch, she’d gone over to Ten’s property to properly apologize for the disastrous way she handled the proposal. She wanted to mend fences the best she could, but Jack told her that she should never have led him on. He accused her of being in love with someone else the entire time they were together, a charge she couldn’t refute. He made her feel like crap and sent her back to me in tears. Cy had to physically restrain me. Everything inside of me was screaming that I had to hurt the person who caused her any kind of pain. I was ready to throw down, ready to defend her honor even though I was still healing from the knife wound and rocking over fifty stitches on my side.
My older brother pointed out that the reason Brynn and I went our separate ways so long ago was because I tried to fight her battles for her instead of standing by her and helping her battle through them. She was more than capable of handling not only Jack but anyone else who dared to question her motivations or the fact that the two of us belonged together. My older brother talked me off the ledge like he always did, and then informed me that Jack was sticking around despite having his heart broken and losing his woman to another man. In Cy’s eyes that said something about the other man’s character. I thought it made him annoying and problematic, but I was willing to look the other way when we had to work with one another.
“I’m not scared of Jack.” I squeezed her shoulders and slapped my Stetson over my dark hair. The black strands were getting a little long and shaggy, but I liked the way Brynn tugged on them when she kissed me, so I was in no rush to cut it.
“I know you aren’t scared of him, but I don’t think you realize how badly I hurt him and how much being around you is going to suck for him. Remember, you stopped talking to me and couldn’t even look at me for years when I turned down your proposal, and you didn’t even love me. Keep those memories in mind if he tries to push your buttons, Lane.” Strain made her voice raspy and thick. “I don’t want to be the reason two good men go after one another.”
It was something she was clearly worried about, so I nodded and gave her my best reassuring grin. “You're wrong, I did love you, I was too scared to admit it back then. I’m not now. I love you, Brynn, and I know what it’s like to lose you. I’ll be good.” As long as he didn’t talk shit about her, I would be a perfect gentleman. If he said so much as one disparaging word about the woman who was the center of my life, I would make no promises, other than the one where I would rip his tongue out and choke him with it.
She gave me a knowing look as I followed her down the hallway to the massive kitchen that served as the heart of the house as well as the starting point for most of our guests. Cy and Leo were already getting ready for their rides today. My older brother had grown up in a saddle the same way Sutton and I had, but he much preferred sitting behind a desk. The fact he was dressed to be out on the trail was a testament to how busy we were.
His sassy bride-to-be was a born and bred city girl, but she had taken to ranch life like a duck to water. She left the boardroom and never looked back. From the minute she committed to Cy, she was all in, meaning all of us had taken turns teaching her what she needed to know to be a fully invested part of the business Cy built from the ground up to save our ranch. She was dressed to take her own group on a ride, and she looked cute as hell in a tilted straw cowboy hat sitting on top of her twin pigtails. She was the perfect match for my brother's chilly and reserved demeanor. I loved having her around, and I loved how readily she accepted Brynn and me as a couple.
Cy was more reserved. He knew all about the challenges we would face when we decided to be together with the muddied history between us. He was also worried about what would happen if we couldn’t make it work. Brynn was an integral part of the ranch and the retreat business. She was the one who made this remote property feel like home for our guests from all over the world. Cy wanted both of us to be happy, but he didn’t want his family fractured. I tried to reassure him that Brynn and I were going to make this thing between us last forever, but we both knew that was a vow I had no control over. Anything could happen, and Brynn and I may very well fall apart. All I could do was work my ass off to make sure that didn’t happen.
I kissed Brynn and gave Leo a good morning squeeze. I exchanged a rushed greeting with Cy as I hurried out the door to get ready for the day. The barn was already buzzing with activity. Webb had a family mounted up and was getting ready to ride them off into the mountains. We exchanged a friendly fist bump, and I shook my head when he asked if Brynn had heard from Bauer recently. He seemed as worried about the kid as we were.
Jack was in the corral surrounded by a group of horses. He turned back when he saw me enter the enclosure. Luckily there weren’t any guests nearby to witness the tension between the two of us. It would have made for an awkward start to their adventure and with all the new competition cropping up at the neighboring ranches that wouldn’t be good for business.
I brushed my horse down and spoke softly to her. She was going to work hard over the next week and needed some calm before the storm. I was snapping her bridle into place and rubbing down her strong neck when I felt a furious glare burning into the back of my head. Turning, I used a finger to tip the brim of my cowboy hat back and meet Jack’s angry eyes.
We were dressed almost identically. His hat was tan where mine was dark gray. We both wore jeans, boots and thermal shirts under open flannels. Mine was black, his was white, which I guess was kind of fitting. I could see how I was the bad guy in his eyes. I stole his girl, even though she had been mine all along.
“Thanks for helping out. We all really appreciate it.” I kept my eyes on his so there was no missing the unchecked dislike flooding his gaze.
“Ten asked me to do it. I respect the hell out of that woman, and I like my job. I didn’t want to disappoint her. You, I owe nothing.” He crossed his arms over his chest and continued to glare at me.
I sighed and used my forearm to wipe the sweat that had collected on my forehead. “You’re right. You don’t owe me anything, and I don’t owe you a damn thing either. I’m sorry you got hurt while Brynn and I were trying to figure our shit out. It’s not cool, but it can’t be undone either. If you’re gonna stick around, you need to get used to the way things are now, hell, the way they’ve always been. I was just too stupid to see it. We’re a pretty tight-knit group, so you’re gonna see us together, and you’re going to have to watch her love someone who isn’t you. I get that it sucks, and it’s not what you wanted, but it is what it is.”
He growled low in his throat and took a threatening step toward me which made the horse at my back twitch nervously.
“I wanted her the first minute I saw her. I could tell she was special, that she was good and kind, that she was made for this kind of life. I would have given her everything, and I never would have asked her to jump through hoops. You don’t deserve her.” He spat the last words out but fell back a step when my horse let out a high-pitched whinny and stamped her front hoof.
Her horseshoe tapped the dirt in aggravation as I sighed and reached up to try and soothe her. My voice was calm and steady when I replied, even though my insides were raging and roaring to go toe to toe with the heartbroken cowboy. “You’re right, I don’t, but that never stopped her from picking me. I’m going to marry her one day.”
Jack snorted and tossed back his head with an ugly laugh. “Good luck with that, Warner. She doesn’t want a ring.” The bite of her rejection obviously still stung. I knew that feeling intimately and understood his candor and his bitterness.
I nodded in agreement. “You’re right she doesn’t want one, but she does want to give someone one, so when she asks me to marry her, I’m going to say yes and then I’m going to spend the rest of my life making up for lost time. It’s been me and Brynn from the beginning, and it’s going to be me and her at the end. It’s the middle that got all screwed up because I couldn’t recognize a good thing when I had it.”
Jack watched me for a minute before grunting and taking another step away as he turned to face his mount.
“You better hold onto the good thing you got, Warner. If you don’t, someone else will be waiting in the wings to snatch it up. Because if you fail this time, there won’t be another second chance.” I knew that. I was the only Warner who was going to get love right the first time around. I had to be because my first love was also my forever love… and I knew now that I was hers.
I didn’t need to tell him I was never going to let Brynn go again because we both knew I wasn’t that stupid. She was mine. We belonged together, and that was the way it was always supposed to be. She was nothing like my mother, she loved this ranch, and she loved me.
She wasn’t going anywhere, and I would make sure I gave her a new reason to stay with me every single day.