Breathless (Meadowlarks) Read online

  Alex looked at me like I had hurt his feelings. “Actually, Riley, yes.”

  “Well! Why haven't we gone for a ride then?” I asked, pretending to be wounded.

  “He's getting pretty good. Why don't we see if Sadee can babysit a night this week and we'll all go out,” Blaine suggested, and Addison beamed at me.

  “Okay, let's do that.” I smiled, slightly nervous as I hadn’t ridden a horse in over a decade. I don't want to embarrass myself, or heaven forbid, let Alex show me up.

  “Addy, can I still ride Jax?”

  She smiled. “Of course.”

  ***

  On Thursday morning Alex woke me up by spooning his body into mine and slowly pushing down my pajama shorts. He caressed my behind slowly and traveled his hand down in between my legs, rubbing me gently to stimulate and perk up my senses.

  I didn’t open my eyes, but I curled my lips into a smile and let out a soft moan.

  “Hi, babe,” he cooed into my ear, kissing the back of my neck and shoulder.

  “Hi,” I breathed.

  All the nerve endings in my body flipped on like a dashboard full of switches; lights and alarms start blinking and screaming. All systems are a go, please fasten your seat belts. My, oh my, this is a beautiful way to wake up.

  He was all the way inside of me, slowly pulling back and easing right back into my warmth. Alex greedily bit and sucked on my shoulder and moaned huskily. His breath was hot on my skin, and his hand was even hotter on the sensitive flesh of my breast. His other arm cradled my head under my pillow, reaching his hand around and holding my hand in his.

  I pulled his fingers to my face and kissed them lovingly. “I love you,” I moaned, ready to fall apart around him.

  “I love you,” he breathed, between kisses on my skin. “You feel so good, baby. Pull your knees up.”

  I pleased him by doing what he asked and I lifted my knees up to my stomach, the penetration deepened so deliciously by doing this, I almost screamed.

  “Ohhhh, shit,” Alex roared. His girth widening me and pushing even deeper, as if it were even possible. He let go of my breast and reached down to grip my behind, digging his fingers into my skin so hard that it sends me reeling.

  I turned my face into the pillow and let all my lust-filled cries out, heaving and pulsing through a wickedly perfect orgasm.

  “Is there someone I can talk to about getting a wake-up call like this one every morning?” I smiled and rolled over to face him once he pulled slowly out of me.

  He laughed, holding his hands on his heaving chest. “Well, I'll be sure to remember for tomorrow morning.”

  “At least I am all nice and limber for today.” I grinned. “You know I haven't ridden a horse in like, forever, right?”

  Alex laughed softly. “Yeah, this should be good.”

  “Hey! Don't be mean.”

  “I could never be mean to you, I love you.” He crinkled his forehead, making me think I had hurt his feelings somehow.

  “I know, babe. I was kidding.”

  Sadee was already at the house when we arrive, she was sitting outside with Seth, swinging on the bench on the porch.

  “Hey, guys! Hi, Scarlett. Ready for a fun day with me and Seth?” Sadee smiled and reached for Scarlett who crawled up the steps and walked right into her arms. “Addison and Blaine are over there.”

  “I've got my phone on me, if you need me.”

  Alex snorted. “She'll be fine, Ry.”

  I glared at him. “I know.”

  Blaine had four horses saddled by the time we got over to the field. Addison held out the reigns attached to the bridle around Jax's head, I took them nervously and looked at her with my eyebrow raised. “I don't know about this.” I scrunched my nose.

  “You'll be fine! I promise.” She patted my shoulder and walked around Jax's left side to help me up. “Just get up and see how calm he is.”

  I exhaled and looked at Jax; he was freaking huge. They expected me to ride him and not be worried. “Why can't I ride one of those smaller ones?” I asked, pointing to the white horse that was standing next to Blaine.

  “Trust me,” Addison said softly.

  Alex walked up and took my hand. He was leading a big horse of his own, not as big as Jax but it left a huge shadow. “Let's go, baby.”

  “Don't rush a good thing, Alex,” I said, stalling.

  Finally, after I took a few more seconds to size up the horse, I realize I was not going to convince them to let me pick a different one. I reached up and grabbed the saddle horn, put my leg in the stirrup and pulled myself up onto Jax's back.

  He didn’t move, it was amazing, and I instantly felt relieved.

  “See, told ya.” Addison grinned.

  “Let's do this, Cole.” I said, pretending to have some balls.

  I really hated being wrong, but this time it was worth it. Jax was the perfect horse for me to ride today, he kept a steady pace and I felt at ease with him. It was hard to concentrate some of the time though, Alex would ride on his horse in front of me and all I could stare at was him. He looked so freaking hot on that animal I had to shift in my saddle a few times. I think that man will make my thighs clench until the day I die.

  He turned to smile at me and I melted in his eyes, they were full of promise and hope, and so much love.

  “Damn, you look so sexy right now,” Alex said when I caught up to him. “I’m jealous of Jax.”

  “Alex!” Addison gaped at her brother.

  “What? Like Blaine's so innocent,” he snorted.

  Blaine shrugged and smiled. “What can I say? Nothin' sexier than a hot woman riding a horse.”

  “Dude, I can think of a few things...” Alex trailed off, smiling deviously to himself.

  “For a moment I was thinking you were turning into a nice country boy,” Addison said, shaking her head at her brother.

  “Oh, Addy, country boys aren't always nice,” Blaine said in a deeply seductive voice. “You know that.”

  “Okay, enough of the dirty talk while I’m trying to concentrate on not falling off this horse,” I said, laughing.

  Alex laughed. “Baby, you can multitask really well, don't you remember that time—”

  “Alex!” I hissed. I swear sometimes he loves to see me all riled up.

  ***

  My body was going to hate me after making it endure a two hour horseback ride. When we got back to the farm, I slowly slid off Jax's back and when my feet touched the ground it felt like thousands of tiny shards of glass were impaling me. Oh man, that was painful. I was walking like I had ridden a barrel or something, knees wide and I must look like a complete idiot.

  “Awe, Ry. You okay babe?” Addison giggled and rubbed my back when I leaned down and put my hands on my knees.

  “I'm good. But, I'm gonna need a long soak in the tub after this!”

  She laughed and took Jax's reigns from my hands. “I'll take him. You want to see how the kids are doing?”

  “Gladly.”

  “There's mommy, Scar!” Sadee said to Scarlett, who was sitting on a blanket on the front yard, eating apple slices. “How was the ride, Riley?”

  “Oh, girl...it was good. I am crazy sore though,” I said, smiling. I plopped down on the blanket and fell back to sprawl out on the ground.

  Scarlett sat closer to me and offered me a half-eaten apple, I took it and popped it in my mouth. “Thanks, baby.”

  “Riley, there was someone here looking for you about half an hour ago,” Sadee said.

  I turned my face to look at her. “Who?”

  “I don't know, he didn't say. He just asked if Riley Harrison was here and I said yes, but you were out on a ride.”

  “He?”

  “Yeah, he was nice looking. I mean, really nice looking. Tall with a shaved head.”

  My stomach dropped out of my body...there was no way it was him.

  No. Freaking. Way...

  Was there?

  “Sadee, did you see what he was driving?
” I asked, trying not to look freaked the hell out.

  “Umm, I think it was a Mercedes. A red one,” she shrugged. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, sweetie. I'm good. Just not sure who it would be, especially since I don't know anyone here.”

  I don’t speak about it again with her, but as soon as I could steal a minute with Addison I was going to have a freaking meltdown.

  ***

  The entire drive into town was agonizing for me. Once again after babysitting, Addison drove Sadee into town, this time to her home instead of work. As soon as Sadee got out of the backseat and closed the door, I didn’t let Addison even shift her car into reverse before I exploded.

  “I think Dane was at the house today!” I said, rushing my words out of my mouth.

  She turned to me and her eyes widened. “What do you mean at the house? My house? How do you know?”

  I told her about what Sadee said, and how I was positive the person she described was Dane. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around why he would be in Wyoming, and why he would show up looking for me.

  “Can you call him? Maybe find out if it really was him?”

  “I don't have his number, I mean, I’m sure it wouldn't be hard to find...”

  “Don't say anything to Alex just yet, Riley. He'll freak out, with good reason. Dane's bad news,” Addison suggested, gripping her steering wheel tightly.

  I exhaled through pursed lips, and looked out the window as we drove back down Porter Road. She dropped Scarlett and me off at home, as Isaac's bus would be here any minute.

  “We'll get to the bottom of this, don't stress. Promise?”

  I forced a smile. “Promise.”

  As soon as I got in the door, I tucked a sleeping Scarlett into her bed and ran into the kitchen to find the envelope that Dane's latest check came in. My hands scrambled through the mail on the counter and when I came across the opened white envelope I froze.

  My fingertips traced along the black ink on the paper, outlining my name and address. In the corner Dane's name and a P.O. Box in Augusta was the location of return.

  “Thank you, Alex,” I whispered, smiling that he opened this before I did, saving it from its impending doom.

  Inside the envelope was a folded piece of paper, and inside that was this month's support check for Isaac. I tilted the paper and let the check slide out into my hand. That's all I had ever done in the past, never opened the paper, never read what he had written. If he had written anything at all, for all I knew it could just be a statement of payments made.

  “Oh, Dane. You arrogant son of a bitch,” I hissed. “There's no way any of that's going to happen.”

  I crumpled the paper, throwing it on the counter.

  Oh, shit...

  Did Alex read that when he opened the mail?

  “Hi, mom!”

  I turned and saw my son coming through the door after the bus dropped him off from school. His smile was exactly what I needed to see, I smiled back at him and held my arms out.

  “Hi, baby. How was school?” I hugged him, smelling his hair and kissing his cheek. Which he hated, but I do it anyway. He always squirms and wipes any trace of my lips from his face, a typical boy.

  “Do you have any homework?” I asked.

  Isaac rooted through his backpack and pulled out a yellow piece of paper. “Field trip! Sign it, mom, please!”

  I took the paper, scanning it thoroughly. “Wow! They want to take the class to Yellowstone, that's awesome, baby.”

  “Well, can I go?”

  “Of course you can. Pass me that pen,” I asked, giving him a big smile.

  ***

  I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned, my body mimicking my brain. It was flipping around like a fish out of water; I didn’t know what to do about Dane. I was too chicken to ask Alex when he got home tonight if he had read the letter or not, and I was taking Addison's advice and not telling him about the mysterious visitor just yet.

  But, I felt so guilty. Alex was my partner, we were supposed to be in this together—all in. If he kept something like this from me I would lose my freaking mind in an instant, probably carrying the grudge around like a weighted ball on a chain.

  His breathing was soft and his lips were curled into a sexy smirk. I wondered what he was dreaming about; if he was dreaming of me. My fingers slowly reached up and I held my breath when I let them ease into his hair, feeling the soft tendrils on the tips and between each finger. I loved this man so much, I really couldn’t picture my life without him in it. My lips kissed Alex's forehead and I slowly climbed out of bed, leaving him sleeping peaceful and alone.

  Dane answered my call in two rings. His phone number was on the letterhead of the paper, just like he said it would be. Right underneath a logo with DS Industries printed in bold letters.

  “Hello, Riley,” he said, slyly.

  “Dane, what are you doing in Wyoming?”

  “How did you know it was me? I didn't say who I was,” Dane asked in a low, raspy voice.

  I swallowed, willing myself to stay strong. “The girl you spoke to described you to a tee.”

  “Oh, did she? Speaking of girls, your daughter is as beautiful as you are.”

  I inhaled and held it in until it hurt. “Don't come near my family again.”

  “Awe, don't be mean. A member of your family is also my family, that gives me some sort of right, doesn't it?”

  “Isaac is nothing to you, Dane. You made that quite clear when I was pregnant with him.” I was livid then, and it took so much of my being to keep quiet. I wanted to shriek into the phone, but I knew it would wake everyone in the house.

  Instead, I tip-toed outside and stood on the porch.

  The air was cool and it soothed my heated skin, the moon was a just a sliver in the dark night sky. I leaned against a wooden beam holding up the roof over the porch, sighing to myself quietly.

  “Let's not rehash the past, Riley. Why don't you come and see me?” Dane asked, in a tone that made my body betray my heart by fluttering my stomach. “I’m hard just looking at you.”

  I almost dropped the phone when my brain registered what he had just said to me. I breathed rapidly, looking all around me, expecting to see him lurking there in the darkness. Instead, there was a quick flash of headlights on the road, right at the edge of the property, signalling me to where Dane was parked.

  “You are such a creep, Dane. What are you doing?” I hissed. I was infuriated that he had come to my home.

  “That's right baby, show those teeth,” he said. “All I want to do is talk to you, what's the harm in that?”

  “How about you could have picked up the phone to do that?”

  “Come here, just for a sec.”

  I was such an idiot, damn it. They made scary moves that started out like that; beautiful girl walked outside in the middle of the night, enticed by some raving lunatic on the other end of her phone. I had seen enough TV to know this can only end in one of two ways: as a horror flick, or a porno.

  “Oh shit, Riley...” I breathed, scolding myself as I step down off the porch. “I am not getting in the car with you, Dane. You walk to me.”

  As I slowly made my way down the driveway, I cautiously turned to see if there are any lights on in the house, only the small light in the kitchen illuminated and I let out a sigh of relief.

  The interior light of—sure enough—a red Mercedes, shone and I saw Dane get out of the car. I could tell from this distance that he had dressed with the intent of driving me completely crazy. The closer he got the more I was starting to really question my sanity, I probably should just turn and run back inside. Lock the door behind me, and pray this big and bad wolf doesn't blow my freaking house down.

  Dane walked up to me, the moonlight graciously giving me full view of him. He was wearing jeans and a tight white t-shirt underneath a black suit jacket.

  Oh, shiiiit.

  His eyes were even more menacing in the light of the night sky, they pierced me as he gazed
on me, like he had some sort of secret ability. I took two steps back when he got too close for comfort, and he smirked. “Well, the country life really is becoming of you, Riley. You look even more gorgeous right now than you did at The Club.” He grinned, and narrowed his eyes.

  “You wanted to talk, so talk,” I bit out, crossing my arms protectively on my chest.

  Dane rushed me and wrapped his strong arms around me, forcing me to stay entwined in him, unable to move. His mouth assaulted my lips, totally devouring me and I cried out against his mouth. I didn’t want that, I haven't wanted that in a very long time.

  When he finally released me from his onslaught, but kept his arms on me, I glared at him. My chest heaved now that I was finally able to breathe again.

  “Don't touch me, let me go!” I hissed, wriggling in the stockade of his arms. “I am going to scream in two seconds if you don't, and Alex will be out to find me.”

  “Oh baby, you think that little shit's got anything on me?” Dane laughed. “Don't fight me. Let me in.”

  I gaped. “I'm not letting you into anything! Not me, not my house!”

  He laughed again. “So quick to assume...I don't want in your house.”

  Dane's body was pressed so hard against me that I could feel the impressive length of the tantalizing ridge formed in his jeans. The thought of that perfect mixture of hard and soft in my hands again, in my mouth, and into the depths of my body made me want to do very bad things...

  I struggled and finally he let me go, but he kept his hands on my arms, holding me in place. I pushed away from his hands and when he attempted to grab me again I slapped his face, my hand prickling from the tingle of the forcefulness.

  He turned his face back to me, and I knew I should start running for my life, his eyes flared so wide they almost didn’t look real.

  I backed up a few feet, and surprisingly he didn’t follow me.

  Just run, Riley, you idiot!

  “Go, Dane. Please,” I pleaded.

  “Guess I deserved that.” He smiled. “After everything...”

  “Go,” I said, softly.

  He turned to leave, but stopped in his tracks and looked back at me. Dane narrowed his eyes and slowly licked his bottom lip, his tongue gently cascading over his soft flesh. “Tell me one thing,” he said, his voice raspy and low. “Tell me how it made you feel when I didn't want you anymore.”