Chapter Six
With a grunt of exertion, Case tossed the bale of hay into the back of the truck. Hank would drive the load up to the top field and feed the herd there. The winter grazing wasn’t always enough.
Case strode back to the stacked bales and hooked his fingers under the twine of two more bales. The weight felt good in his hands, stretching his muscles. The previous night he’d been at a breaking point, burning to go to Annabelle’s room and take her the way he wanted to, and he’d barely resisted.
This morning he’d left the house early as usual. The mothers had descended on the ranch to collect their offspring, packing up sleeping bags and making trips to the cars with pillows and overnight bags. But he hadn’t seen Annabelle among the crew.
He was afraid he’d scared her off. Taking her that way on the porch—sucking her sweet breasts and fingering her to orgasm? Dammit, he’d lost his head and shown her what a real Dalton man wasn’t.
While he felt remorse for not taking her to someplace more private than the front porch seconds before his aunt and uncle arrived home, he didn’t feel a bit bad for what he’d done. Making Annabelle feel good was one of the highlights of his life.
He tossed two more bales in the back of the truck. From under his hat brim, Hank eyed him.
“Awful edgy this morning, cuz. Kids get to you last night?” He didn’t sound as if he thought that.
Case shook his head. “Kids were fine. Only trouble we had was when Lacey chased the dog into the corner and he peed on the kitchen floor.”
Hank chuckled. “Not bad then. So what has you all worked up this morning?”
Case paused to look at his cousin. “I’m fine.”
“I’ve seen that brand of fine before. You forget that I was once a single guy barely clinging to the edge of control for Charlotte.”
Pushing a breath through his nose, Case turned for the stack of bales again. “Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
“You’re such a shit liar, Case. Always have been. Remember when you told my parents that the dog really knocked the TV down and broke the screen?”
Case grunted. His cousin had to bring up Case’s first and biggest ever told lie. At the time, the Daltons’ dog had been too small to do much more than yip at your ankles.
Ignoring Hank, he carried two more bales to the truck and heaved them into the bed. He slammed the tailgate and stood back. “Should be enough.”
“Yeah, it’s good. But you’re avoiding my question.”
“Nothin’s got me worked up this morning,” Case said.
“Not even a pretty schoolteacher with brown eyes that follow you everywhere you go?”
Case’s heart threw itself at his ribs at the possibility that Annabelle could be as smitten as he was. It was obvious she liked the way he made her feel, enjoyed kissing him. But it couldn’t be more unless she decided to break from teaching and took up at the ranch.
Hell, he could still taste her mouth, feel her wet heat clenching around his fingers…
He met his cousin’s stare. “I’m not ready to talk about it.” He may never be. Especially after she left—Annabelle would be a bruise that would take a long time to heal. It hadn’t only been about touching her last night. It had been seeing her with the kids, pink-cheeked and laughing as she ladled warm cocoa from the crockpot into mugs for each child lined up around the kitchen table.
The way she put her own happy stamp on everything she did made him want to learn everything about her and never let her go.
His throat closed off.
Hank gave him a long look but didn’t say more. He got in the truck and drove across the road that cut through the property. Case went back into the barn and finished his chores. Then he threw himself into working hard the rest of the day to keep his mind from spinning like a twister back to Annabelle.
At one point, he raised his fingers to his nose, hoping to detect the traces of her scent there but they’d been washed away.
He’d skipped lunch and his stomach was gnawing something fierce. By the time he went inside late in the afternoon, the house was in full party-mode. The table was already piled with platters of cookies and paper plates of mini cranberry muffins. He went and snagged two of each. When Aunt Maggie gave him the eye, he grinned around the cookie he’d shoved in his mouth.
“Gotta get cleaned up,” he muttered with crumbs flying.
“Take your crumbs with you, son,” she said, turning back to the eggnog she was preparing in a big punchbowl.
Each year, the neighbors came to visit for an evening, bringing their casseroles and cakes to share. Even a jug or two of moonshine made it to the Daltons’ for Christmas cheer, and last year he’d woken with a good headache to show for the liquor.
On his way to his room, he didn’t run into Annabelle, which was good, because after the strain of not setting eyes on her all day long, he was aching. A deep stab of pain worse than any toothache.
Yeah, he was certain Hank and his other cousins would understand if he confided in them. He just couldn’t voice his feelings, not when he wasn’t sure if he could even utter them to Annabelle.
* * * * *
Annabelle had brought only one dress with her, and the Daltons’ shindig didn’t seem to be the dress-up kind of affair. Still, she’d wanted to wear something besides jeans or leggings, so she’d slipped on the simple black knit dress and added a red plaid top over it, knotting it at the waist. With a chunky, sparkly necklace at her throat, she felt festive.
Okay, who was she kidding? She’d dressed this way with Case in mind. When packing back in Illinois, she hadn’t given thought to looking pretty for anybody but herself, and now…
From her perch by the stairs, she scanned the main floor of the house. Bodies stood, sat, sprawled, all talking and having a good old time.
All the dark-haired men in attendance were Daltons. Without their hats, they all started to blend together. But she knew none of them were Case.
Two kids sneaked by, heading toward the stairs. She caught Hank Jr.’s shoulder. He turned to look up at her, face twisted at getting caught.
“I thought your momma said no kids upstairs tonight.”
“But Aunt Annabelle, it’s so crowded. Ames and I were just going to sit and look at trading cards.” He held out a thick stack on his hand and gave her an imploring stare.
Annabelle understood the need to escape a crowded room—that was how she’d ended up in the corner by the stairs. And she knew Hank Jr. was a kindred spirit.
Unable to resist those big Dalton-blue eyes—or the fact he’d called her Aunt Annabelle—she nodded. “Don’t tell your momma. And behave up there.”
He bobbed his head and took off running up the stairs two at a time with his buddy Ames on his tail.
Feeling a warm spot in her chest where the boy now resided, she touched her breastbone. She glanced up and went still. That heat inside her swelled, spread.
Case was staring at her.
Across the room from ten paces away, he looked larger than life, appearing to take up the space of two men. Hatless, his hair lay thick and too long around his ears. And he was also wearing red plaid.
Their gazes locked and a grin spread across his rugged features. Her heart gave a hiccup as he took a step toward her, and then another.
The pull of his jeans across muscled thighs shouldn’t send a girl into such a tizzy, but damn if she could take a full breath. And the way he looked at her, like he’d eat her up and lick his lips afterward… Well, she realized her panties were no match for Case Dalton.
As he drew up in front of her, he skimmed his fingers over the sleeve of her shirt. She felt that caress through the cloth and deep into her bones.
“Seems we match tonight.”
She smiled. “Great minds, I guess.”
“Was the only red shirt I own, to be honest.” He scoped out her outfit, his gaze lingering around her bare thighs for too long before returning to her face. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
The endearment cut straight to her heart. After being in his arms on the porch the previous night, played like a fine instrument by those long, callused fingers of his, she’d become far too aware of the pulsing of her heart when she thought of Case.
He was everything she’d want in a man—if he was an Illinois resident. But how could they ever keep up a long-distance relationship?
While all these depressing thoughts filled her head, he caught her by the elbow. “C’mon, let’s get some eggnog. Aunt Maggie’s isn’t to be missed—it’s famous in these parts and mostly the reason all the neighbors come.”
“I didn’t know Paradise Valley had this many people living here.” The crush of people in the kitchen made it hard for them to sneak through to the punchbowl, but Case confidently used his big shoulders to clear the way.
“Many come from town. Church folks and friends of friends who’ve heard the Daltons throw the best Christmas party. Now, I hope you like eggnog.”
She stared at the punchbowl, a cut-glass throwback filled with creamy liquid and flecked with spices. “A little bit, yes. I’ve never had anything but the kind from a jug in the store, though.”
He lifted a glass and put it into her hand. Then he bent and fumbled under the green tablecloth, coming out with a bottle of rum. He gave her a mischievous grin before upending the bottle into the bowl.
“Case!” She elbowed him, but he didn’t stop pouring until most of the bottle was empty.
“You didn’t tell on Hank Jr.—you won’t tell on me.”
“Oh Lord, you saw that?”
He threw her a grin and grabbed the big ladle and mixed the eggnog, now heavily spiked with rum.
“Your aunt’s going to know it was you.”
“Nah, she’s got five sons. Could be any of them.”
“You’re going on the naughty list this year.”
He pivoted to stare deep into her eyes. “I sure hope so, as long as your name’s under mine. You’re an accomplice now, Annabelle.” He ladled the drink into the cup she held and then some into his own.
Not bothering to stow away the rum bottle again, he led her away from the table. They stood together, holding their cups.
“Why do I feel like we’re playing a college drinking game?”
“Never been to college, but we are. On three, we drink. Ready?” His eyes danced over the rim of his red cup.
She nodded, her smile hidden by her own cup. “One, two, three.”
They drank. The sweet, spicy notes of the drink flooded her tongue and she moaned as the stronger rum hit the back of her throat. She wasn’t a drinker, hadn’t even enjoyed it during those college drinking games. But sharing the moment with Case made her appreciate the flavors more.
After finishing the cup, she also realized she was one hell of a lightweight. The alcohol was already hitting her system. Case took the cup from her and came back with another.
This time he drew her to stand in a doorway, and when she finished her second cup of rum with a hint of eggnog, she found herself standing under the mistletoe.
Case lowered his cup, eyes burning into her. She had a pleasant buzz going in her skull and didn’t care much about who was around them at that moment.
She threw her free arm around his neck, went on tiptoe and kissed him. Right in front of the Daltons and all of Paradise Valley.
He hitched her against him one-handedly, flattening his palm on her spine to draw their hips together until they bumped. Need raced through her and she wiggled closer.
A gagging noise sounded, and she broke free of the kiss to see one of the little kids with his mouth open and a finger jabbed between his teeth, acting as though he was going to puke from seeing grownups kiss.
Case’s chest rumbled with an amused laugh and he caught Annabelle’s hand and drew her out of the doorway. They kept on going through the crowd to the front door and into the cold night.
People were congregated on the porch as well, two old guys shooting the breeze. They only glanced at her and Case when they walked down the steps and crossed the yard. At his truck, Case took the eggnog she was still holding and set both their cups on the hood of the truck parked next to them.
“Get in. I want to show you something.”
She eyed him. “You’re capable of driving after that eggnog?”
He chuckled. “Sweetheart, it takes a lot more than two small cups of eggnog to knock a man of my size on his ass. Want to see me walk a straight line?”
While her own head was slightly foggy from alcohol consumption, she believed him. She got into the truck and he closed the passenger’s door behind her.
Inside, he said, “No need for your seatbelt. We’re just driving out across the field a ways.”
The complete silence of the truck was startling in juxtaposition to the noise inside the house. Quiet swelled in her ears, almost ringing.
The moonlight guided their path and Case didn’t even bother to turn on his headlights. As they rolled across the silver-blue field, she shivered but not from cold.
From anticipation.
She wasn’t so buzzed that she didn’t know what she was doing—and she wanted to give herself to Case Dalton. Tonight, under the stars of the big Texas sky.
When he stopped and cut the engine, his eyes glittered black in the darkness. “Sweetheart, I can’t stop thinking about what we did last night.”
“Me either,” she said, breathless.
His throat worked as he swallowed. Then he reached for the door handle and got out. She watched him circle the front of the truck to her door and when he opened it, she fell into his arms.
He gathered her against his big, hard, warm body. In one move, he lowered his mouth to hers and lifted her.
Carrying her to the bed of the truck, never releasing her mouth as he popped the tailgate. He set her on the edge and instead of her bare thighs meeting cold metal as she’d expected, she found herself seated on a thick quilt.
“You planned this, Case Dalton.” Her tone didn’t come out as school-teachery as she’d planned. More of a compliment.
He made a low humming noise and then tipped his head back to look at the sky. “What more beautiful of a setting to claim a beautiful woman?”
Claim? The word stabbed her in all the right places, and she burned for more—more pleasure, more stolen moments. More sweet-talk.
He rested his hands on her waist and dragged her back into the bed of the truck and a waiting pile of pillows. The comfort surprised her, but his big body pressing her down shocked her.
A spasm between her thighs had her grabbing at him. Hauling him down, she took his mouth in a deep, tongue-swirling kiss that left them both moaning. This time nobody needed to stay quiet, and their combined sounds only fueled her need.
She hooked her ankles around his back and tugged him down to nestle between her splayed thighs. When his hard bulge met the thin barrier of her panties, she rocked upward.
“Hell, sweetheart, you keep that up and I can’t last.” He stared down at her, his mouth a twist of pleasure as he ground his erection into her pussy.
“I hope you’ve got condoms hidden among these pillows.”
He nodded, breathing rough. “I’m prepared. I just need to know one thing.”
She cradled his jaw, searching his eyes and memorizing the shadows and moonlight playing along his handsome features. “What’s that?”
“Are you sure you want this?”
“It’s going to make it harder to leave, but yes. I don’t want to let the opportunity slip away.”
He gave a jerky nod and kissed her again, this time pulling guttural moans from her. He palmed her breasts and managed to strip away her plaid shirt. She worked the buttons of his too, but she wasn’t so lucky. Whether it was the alcohol haze or first-time jitters, she couldn’t seem to bare his chest to her hands fast enough.
He slipped his fingers into her hair, and she closed her eyes at the extreme tenderness the action brought out of her. Sex was always tangled up with emotions for her, but this… this was more.
She choked back a sigh and concentrated harder on those buttons. When she had his shirt open, she pressed her hands against the warm steel of his chest. “You’re beautiful,” she grated out.
His eyes closed on her words. When he opened them, he smiled. “You’re perfect.”
In a flurry, they undressed each other. Seeing his body for the first time stunned the words right out of her mouth—he was freakin’ glorious. Chiseled abs that tapered down to a thatch of trim dark hair cradling a long, thick cock. She wet her lips, and he groaned.
“If you do that again—” he started.
She did.
A growl erupted from him. “C’mere, you little vixen.” He flipped into the quilts, settling her on top of him, straddling him.
The initial touch of her wet, primed pussy against his erection made her toss her head back with bliss. She circled her hips, grinding on him.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Hell, you’re so gorgeous it’s going to break my heart.” He dug his fingers into her hips, holding her in place.
In a heartbeat, she realized they were about to consummate something much bigger than attraction. This was no fairytale Christmas fling—it was a real relationship budding between them.
And soon she’d walk away.
She leaned over and kissed him, tasting passion and barely-harnessed control. With his fingers tormenting her nipples into hard peaks, she didn’t have much restraint either. She wanted to beg for one of those condoms.
“I want you so bad,” she whispered against his mouth.
“I want to go slow. Dammit, I can’t.”
He flipped her again. For a second, she thought he might don a condom and take her in the next heartbeat. Instead, he dove between her thighs and sank his tongue into her slick heat.
Shivers ran up and down her body and her inner thigh muscles quaked as he lapped her from bottom to top, circling her clit with precise flicks of his tongue that would have her screaming in seconds.
She twisted his hair in her fist and one into the quilts at her side. Need stole all thought as he pleasured her. When he’d sink into her pussy again, she’d moan and he’d answer with a growl that vibrated clear to her soul.
“Please, Case. Let me come.” She pushed her hips upward to meet his tongue.
“There’s no “Silent Night” in this truck. Let me know you like it, sweetheart.”
With each throaty noise she made, both of them were spurred on. She shook in his hold as he danced his tongue up and down her pussy. A spear of ecstasy ripped her breath away, and she gulped off a cry as waves of release pounded her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and let herself be carried away by the pleasure, but as soon as he lifted his head and ran his tongue over his lips, she was ready for more.
She dragged him upward, loving the feel of his strength moving over her, ready to feel it moving inside her.
Sure enough, he’d hidden condoms under the quilt. He tore one open and slid it into place with a few quick jerks of his wrist. When she stared at his thick erection aimed at her pussy, she couldn’t hold back another second.
“Come to me, Case. I want this—I want you.”
He didn’t hesitate. He braced himself over her, the swollen head pressing against her folds. Looking into her eyes, he joined them. Sinking to the root, buried in her. Stretching her so good.
She let out a cry, and he bit into her lower lip lightly.
“Don’t move a second. Oh hell, don’t move.” His gritty tone dragged her to the surface for air, and she stilled.
The rum had worn off somewhere between that first kiss and his tongue magic, and now she couldn’t even lie to herself and say she’d drunk too much.
She wanted Case—and everything that meant having him.
The ranch, Texas. Heck, what did she have back in Illinois other than her classroom? Surely not the past two terrible Christmases with more promised to come. She was lonely, he was amazing. How many more reasons did she need?
He tensed as if biting back his own release, and she watched the pleasure and struggle play over his face. Reaching up, she skimmed her fingers over his rough, angled jaw.
“Don’t hold back with me,” she whispered.
And he began to move.
As he withdrew and then plunged into her again, she wrapped her arms and legs around his big body. Their mouths collided with a sweet passion that raised an ache inside her.
Need spiraled out of control as he sank into her five times, ten. When he gave an animalistic growl, her body answered with a tightening—a deep flutter.
In a blinding burst, she came and felt him follow. His muscles working over her as he drove them both to the finish.
She didn’t know how long it took them to recover—time had no meaning out here. When he rolled off and flipped a quilt over both of them, she snuggled against his chest and stared up at the stars.
His voice came to her, deep and soft. “We only have a few days left together. I want to make the most of them with you.”
She curled against him and nodded. Then his lips found hers and she was lost all over again.