Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ivy

I stood at the window of my office, looking in the direction of the barn where I knew Connor was working for the day. I chewed anxiously on my thumbnail as a million thoughts raced through my head.

After that brief run-in with that Dusty guy the night before, the Connor who I'd spent the evening laughing and stuffing my face with, the Connor who had managed to rev me up with every look and touch, never made another appearance.

I'd toyed with the idea of inviting him in for a drink the whole hour-long drive back to Hope Valley, but as soon as he walked me to my back door, he'd issued a curt "goodnight" and disappeared into the carriage house.

I went into my own house and got ready for bed, alone and bereft, surprised I was missing him. When I finally fell asleep, my dreams were full of Connor. Touching me and teasing me the way he was so good at doing. Tasting me.

I woke up with an ache in my core that refused to go away. I'd tried touching myself, even whipping out my vibrator. I got off, but it was barely enough to take the edge off. I felt like I was coming out of my skin, like I was going to lose my mind if I didn't get some relief.

And there was only one person I wanted.

I couldn't deny it anymore. I craved him. I wanted him. I needed him.

Before I knew what was happening, I was driving a UTV toward the barn in search of Connor. He wasn't inside, so I headed toward the pen, stopping briefly to say hi to Gretel. I found out not too long ago that she was pregnant as well, but while I had yet to pop, she was swelling bigger every day.

She let out an unhappy bleat as I patted her head like she was lamenting the pains of pregnancy. "You and me both, sister."

With one last rub to her head, I headed for the round pen where Connor was working that same black horse he'd been in there with the last time I was here. I braced my forearms on the railing and rested my chin on top as I watched him work, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth and biting down to keep from moaning.

He was so goddamn sexy. So sure and confident in what he was doing despite the size and weight the animal had on him. Not only did his confidence turn me on, but so did the gentle way he handled the filly. The low, soothing tone, the words of encouragement and praise. It took me back to our night in the barn and how he kept calling me a good girl, praising me for how well I took his cock.

God, I wanted that again.

I'd gotten his attention at some point, but I was too lost in memory to notice him moving in my direction. A shame, really, because I loved watching that man move.

"Hey, butterfly. Surprised to see you down here."

I licked my lips, suddenly feeling nervous. "H-hi."

He quirked a brow, his eyes growing concerned. "Everything good?"

I nodded a bit too quickly. "Yeah. It's fine. It's just... do you have a few minutes to talk?" Or to strip me bare and fuck me like it was what you were built to do.

He pushed back a step, his eyes searching my face for a few beats. "Sure. Just give me a sec. I can get one of the other guys to take over here."

My nod was much calmer that time, and a second later, he was moving toward the horse, a sharp whistle shooting in the direction of a few of the cowboys who had been sitting on the fence watching Connor work the horse. He waved one of them over, giving the guy instructions I couldn't hear before nodding his head, and started toward the gate. He caught my eye and jerked his chin, silently telling me to follow him.

I did, trailing a few steps behind as he led us into the large tack room. He held the door open, waiting for me to enter before closing it behind me.

I took a moment to take everything in, the buckets of brushes, the bridles hanging from hooks on the walls, the rows of saddles, all cleaned and conditioned, waiting for use. It smelled like leather and dust.

"You sure everything's okay?" he asked again. I dragged my attention to him as he pulled the work gloves off his hands and stuffed them into his back pocket. He braced his hands on his trim hips, giving me his full attention.

"You didn't come by this morning." His brows winged up, befuddlement etched into his expression. I started to ramble, unable to stop myself. "I mean, not that I expected you to or anything. It's just... you usually come by the house in the mornings before you head out here. And you didn't this morning. And after last night..." I strummed my teeth against my bottom lip nervously. "I worried that maybe you weren't okay. After seeing... you know who." Christ, I was talking about them like they were Lord Voldemort. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Since I didn't see you this morning."

He blinked, then a moment later his features cleared of confusion and a sultry, dimpled smile stretched across his face, making my clit pulse.

"Butterfly, did you miss me this mornin'?"

Well, here goes nothing , I thought as I ran my hands down the front of my light gray pencil skirt. "Yes."

He rocked back, my honesty slamming into him and causing his eyes to widen before the silky chocolate brown darkened and his jaw clenched. His throat worked on a swallow. "Say it again."

I licked my dry lips and looked down at my hands. "I missed you," I said so softly I was sure he barely heard me.

I hadn't even heard him move across the room when he was suddenly in front of me, his fingers pressing beneath my chin, forcing my face up to his. His voice was deep and gravelly as he asked, "You want me right now, baby? Is that what this is about?"

God , I did. I wanted him so damn bad. "Yes," I said on a breathy sigh.

A low, craggy sound worked its way up his throat and broke free right before he dove in, slamming his lips against mine and trapping my yelp of surprise inside my mouth. With one swipe of his tongue, I opened for him, moaning as his tongue dove in and brushed against my own.

"Jesus, Ivy. Do you have any goddamn clue how badly I've wanted you?" He fisted the hair at the nape of my neck and pulled my head back, exposing my throat and dragging his tongue along my sensitive flesh. "Fucking months ," he hissed as one hand wrapped around to grip my ass and the other traveled up my chest. "Since the last time I had you. I wasn't nearly done with you when you ran off on me."

"Connor." That one word came out in a throaty plea.

"Can't tell you the number of times I've beat off to the thought of you." I moaned, wanting him to tell me everything. "All alone in that carriage house, strokin' my dick and wishin' it was you on your knees in front of me, your plump little lips stretched around my cock. He brought his hand to my mouth, dragging the pad of his thumb across my lips before sliding it past. I closed around it, giving it a suck that made him rumble a sound like a purring lion.

"Tell me what you need," he commanded, the playful side of him giving way to the dominant man who knew how to manipulate my body better than anyone else ever had.

"You," I whimpered, lifting up on my toes to get at his mouth. "I need you. Right now." He brought his hand to my breast, cupping it through my top and dragging his damp thumb across my aching nipple.

I let out a cry loud enough it caused him to jerk back. "You okay? Did I hurt you?

"No," I panted, a new flood of arousal soaking my panties. "They're just so sensitive."

That statement set something off in him, and before I knew it, he had me stripped down to nothing but my heels. His eyes were molten as he cupped my breast and lifted it, watching my face as he lowered his own and sucked my nipple between his lips.

I yelped, my hands shooting up to grip his hair in tight fists as the sensation of his mouth sucking on my breast shot straight to my clit. "Oh God. Connor." I whimpered as bolts of lightning shot off between my thighs. He switched between nipples, laving and sucking and nipping with his teeth until I was writhing uncontrollably. I'd never felt anything like this before. My core clenched over and over until my release slammed into me unexpectedly. With only his mouth on my tits, he pushed me over the edge into a climax that made my knees buckle.

I would have gone down if he hadn't wrapped his arms around my waist and kept me standing. He looked at me with wide-eyed wonder. "Did you just...?"

I chewed on the corner of my mouth and nodded. "More," I demanded breathily, reaching between us and cupping his straining dick trapped beneath his pants. "Give me this. I want this fat cock inside me right now."

"Jesus, fuck," he grunted, jerking his hips harder into my hand.

"I want you to stretch me wide open. No preparing my pussy or getting me ready for you."

He took two steps back, that dominant, alpha cowboy standing before me now as he reached behind his neck and whipped his shirt off. His belt buckle clinked as he undid it, and I watched in rapt fascination as he popped the button, lowered the zipper, and reached in to pull his thick, rigid cock free.

"This what you want?" he asked as he stroked his hand upward, gathering the pre-cum at its tip and using it to slick his hand back down.

I stood completely and unabashedly naked before him and nodded.

"Then do as I say. Get down on your knees."

I lowered as gracefully as I could, so turned on I didn't even register the harsh concrete floor abrading my skin. He must have realized then how unforgiving the ground was, because he clucked his tongue and shook his head. "No, that won't do, baby."

I tracked his every step as he moved around the room. First he grabbed a horse blanket from the rack against the back wall. Then he moved over to a hook near the door that had ropes draped across it. He fingered each one like he was testing the fibers before nodding to himself decisively and unlooping one of the ropes.

I swallowed down the thick lump of lust that had formed in my throat. "What's that for?"

He winked and my clit tingled. "You'll see. Now put this under your knees."

I took the blanket and placed it on the ground, the softness a massive improvement as I kneeled on it.

He came to stand in front of me, his cock still protruding from his jeans and making my mouth water. "Hands," he commanded on a grunt.

I lifted my wrists, unsure what was about to happen, but trusting him enough to go with it without worry. I sucked in a breath as he whipped the surprisingly soft rope around my wrists, binding them together in an intricate knot I wouldn't be able to get out of no matter how hard I tried. He took the long length that he'd left free and stretched it up above my head, creating another impressive knot that fingers the size of his shouldn't have been able to make with such ease, then he looped it around a hook high on the wall.

"What—" I gave my wrists a testing jerk, the knots holding strong.

Connor walked around me, coming to stand in front of me and running a gentle hand down my hair. "You trust me, butterfly?"

I swallowed and gave him a nod. "Y-yes."

"Good girl." And there it was, that praise that had my pussy weeping.

He moved behind me, and I heard the shuffling of his boots and the clinking of his belt as he shoved his jeans lower. I didn't look back to see what he was doing, but I felt the heat of his body at my back just before his hand slid down my ribs and caressed my right hip. "Lean forward a bit, baby. Just enough to pull the rope tight. I won't let you fall."

I did as he instructed, my heart hammering inside my chest as I hinged forward at the waist. My arms stayed stretched above my head, catching me mid-lead so my chest was nearly parallel with the floor. It was a position that wouldn't take long to start to hurt, but before I could worry, Connor looped my hair around his fist and used it to pull my head back, holding me stationary and taking some of the pressure off my arms. He was using my hair like the reins for a horse. It felt dirty and depraved and I was so fucking turned on thinking about what we looked like.

I could feel my arousal dripping down my inner thighs, and I knew I was so worked up that he was going to be able to slide inside me easily.

He notched the head of his cock into place, nudging the first half-inch inside me. "You ready to be fucked hard and raw, baby?"

"Please, Connor," I begged. "Do it now."

His hips bucked forward and he drove himself inside me to the hilt, letting out a string of curses as I cried at the invasion, the pain barely registering before it gave way to pleasure so intense I couldn't breathe. He stretched me so perfectly, better than any other man had before.

"Fuck yeah," he grunted as he began riding me hard, those magical hips of his moving against me like they did when he was up on that bull. "Fuck, if you could see how well your pussy's stretching for me right now." He pounded into me, grunting with each forward thrust into my tight heat.

I could already feel another release building, this one threatening to be absolutely devastating. "Christ, you're such a good girl, letting me tie you up like this and fuck you hard."

"Don't stop," I pleaded, gasping for breath as the pressure inside me built. "Please, don't stop Connor. I'm close."

"So goddamn perfect for me," he growled, his fist tightening in my hair. I twisted my hands and gripped the length of rope, desperately needing something to hold on to. "You gonna take my cum, baby? You gonna beg me for it while I fill you up?"

"Yes, please!" I cried. "I need it. Give it to me."

"You first," he gritted out. Then he brought the hand that had been gripping my hip up and brought it down on my ass with a loud crack. The searing pain of his hand slapping my ass hard enough to leave a mark was all I needed to explode. A million nuclear missiles detonated inside me. I started to scream so loud Connor had to lean over my back and clamp his hand over my mouth to muffle the noises I couldn't possibly control on my own.

"Fuck, your pussy's grippin' me so goddamn hard, I can't. Can't hold back."

I clenched myself around him, forcing him to let go and join me. We came together in the middle of the tack room, my own climax so intense I swore there were a few seconds when I blacked out.

"Fuck," he gasped, bending over my back and pressing kisses to my shoulder as he worked the knot and loosened the rope around my wrists. His arm banded around my waist before I could faceplant on the floor, lifting me so my back was flush with his chest. His dick continued to jerk inside me, the hot ropes of cum coating my walls as his lips dragged along my skin. " Fuck , Ivy. I've missed you, baby."

All I could think was that I had missed him too. Terribly. And that was a huge problem.