Fencing You In (14 page)

Before they started the movie, Tess checked in on the girls. They were still giggling in bed and Tess had to tell them again that it was time to go to sleep.

During the movie, Tess checked on Jenny and Katie Sue twice more and finally the girls had fallen fast asleep.

Tess flopped on the couch beside Gage. “About time.” She curled up next to him and he put his arm around her shoulders. She tilted her face up to his and he brushed his mouth over hers.

“Is it safe?” he murmured a fraction from her lips.

She smiled. “For a kiss, yes.”

He kissed her long and slow, the kind of kiss that made her dizzy with longing and desire. He didn’t move his hands over her body like she wished he could. She wanted to be with him so badly it made her head spin even more.

Her heart beat faster and her breathing came a little harsher. As they drew apart she stared up at him. “I want to be alone with you,” she said before she realized the words had left her mouth.

He caressed hair from her face. “Can you get a sitter tomorrow?”

She nodded. “My sitter, Glenna, said she’s free in the afternoon.”

“Good.” He kissed her softly then drew away again. “Dinner. My place.”

“I’ll be there,” she said before he kissed her again.

Chapter 21

Tess finished her last bite of the grilled barbeque chicken breast and sighed. “Dinner was wonderful.” She smiled at Gage. “And I only gave you takeout spaghetti last night.”

He put his fork down. “The spaghetti was perfect last night, and the sugar cookies were great.”

Tonight he’d eaten two of the barbeque chicken breasts he’d grilled outside over mesquite wood, two helpings of mashed potatoes, and another couple servings of green beans.

After dinner they worked side-by-side, washing the dishes and putting them in the dish drainer. When they were finished, Gage said, “Beer or wine?”

“I’m more of a wine person,” she said. “What do you have?”

He went to a large pantry and pulled out a couple of bottles. “Looks like I have Sauvignon blanc and Merlot.

“I’ll take the Merlot,” she said.

He put the white wine back in the pantry and took the red to the counter and opened it with a wine bottle opener he picked out of a drawer. He selected a wine glass from a cupboard and she saw that he had a mismatched set of wine glasses. After he filled her glass rather generously, he grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and cracked it open with a bottle opener that had been stuck to the fridge with a magnet.

Nerves made her belly flip-flop as they headed into the living room and sat on the couch. Her short black skirt slid up her thighs and she automatically smoothed it down. She thought about the sexy lingerie she’d worn just for him and she felt more tingles in her belly.

The wine warmed her as she took a sip and it traveled down her throat. Gage sat close to her and took a swig of his beer before setting the bottle down on the coffee table.

He turned so that he was facing her on the couch. “I want you to come with me to one of our family get-togethers.” He took her fingers in his. “You’ve already met my brothers. I want you to meet my mom and dad.”

Tess bit her lower lip before saying, “I don’t know.”

“Your sister will be there.” He smiled and pushed hair from her face. “There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

“Do you take all of your girls to meet your parents?” Tess needed to know the answer.

He shook his head. “You’re the first…in a very long time.” A flicker went through his eyes and she thought she saw a flash of pain.

“She hurt you.” Tess said the words softly.

Gage studied her, as if deciding what to say. “Yeah, she did.”

Tess squeezed his fingers. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t like to.” He pushed his hand through his hair with his free hand. “But we talked about your past. I suppose it’s only fair we talk about mine.”

She searched his gaze. “If you don’t want to…”

He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “I want everything to be out in the open with us.”

She didn’t say anything.

He let out a long breath. “I haven’t talked about Valerie in a long time. Maybe not since…not since things ended between us.”

Tess waited for him to go on.

“I was in love with her and I asked her to marry me.” He shook his head. “She said she wasn’t ready to commit and I understood that. But then she got pregnant.”

A tingling sensation crawled over Tess’s skin. She wasn’t sure why, maybe a premonition.

“I asked her to marry me again.” His throat worked as he swallowed. “Valerie said she wasn’t ready to settle down and she wasn’t ready to be a mother.”

The tingles became stronger and Tess held her breath.

“I told her I would raise the child. She could do whatever she wanted to with her life.” He looked away from Tess. When his gaze met hers again, he said, “She refused and had an abortion.”

Horror swept through Tess and her eyes widened. “I’m so sorry, Gage.”

He gave a sad smile. “I’ve always wanted children. She couldn’t have done a crueler thing than that.” He sighed. “After that we went our separate ways.”

That was why he didn’t want to get tied down to one woman. He didn’t want to get hurt again, to go through anything like that again.

Tess scooted as close as she could to Gage and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. She felt his need for whatever comfort she could give him.

He held her tightly and for a long time they said nothing.

When they finally drew apart, he caught her face in his hands and kissed her. “Thank you,” he said.

“I’d be happy to go to your family get-together.” She smiled. “I like your brothers.”

“You’ll like my sisters-in-law, too,” he said, smiling in return.

“I bet I will.” And having her sister there would make things even more comfortable. “I’m nervous about meeting your parents, though.”

He laughed. “I guarantee you, there’s nothing to be nervous about when it comes to my mom and dad. They’re great.”

“I’d like to see pictures of your family.” She sat up straighter on the couch. “Do you have a photo album?”

“A digital one.” He got to his feet. “I’ll get my laptop.”

She waited as he went down the hall and then a moment later he reappeared holding a laptop.

He sat beside her again, raised the lid, and opened up a photo program. “My dad scanned in hundreds of photographs from back when our grandparents were young to when we were kids and on to the present. He gave copies to me and my brothers.”

“That’s so good that your dad did that for you all.” Tess watched as he clicked on a folder in the photo program.

“He takes pictures all of the time.” Gage looked at Tess with a grin. “Don’t be surprised if he catches you in a few shots.”

She laughed. “I’ll keep an eye out for him and his camera.”

“These pics are from the time we were kids.” He started clicking through the photos of him and his brothers.

“What great photos.” She smiled. “You and your brothers were cowboys back then, too. Look at those little boots and western hats you wore when you were small.”

“The only thing missing was a Skoal ring on the back pocket,” he said with a teasing smile and she laughed.

He showed her pictures of the five of them fishing on the Mogollon Rim, hunting in the White Mountains, and horseback riding on back trails, as well as working on their parents’ ranch. There were lots of pictures of the boys participating in 4-H activities, and more showing that a couple of them were into rodeo. The youngest McBride brother, Creed, was now a professional world champion bull rider.

His father looked tough and weathered in recent photographs, but a smile was always in his eyes. His mother wore a kind expression.

Gage shut the lid to his laptop. “You’ve got to be tired of looking at all of these pictures.”

“I loved them all.” She met his gaze. “Thank you for showing them to me.”

He slid the laptop onto his coffee table then turned to her. They moved toward each other at the same time, and she found herself in his arms, his mouth on hers.

Their kiss wasn’t gentle. It was powerful, intense, almost frantic. They kissed like they couldn’t get enough of each other, couldn’t get close enough.

She found her hands unbuttoning his shirt, trying to get it off as fast as she could. When she got it unbuttoned, she pulled his shirt out of his jeans before pushing it over his shoulders and he helped her take it off and threw the shirt on the floor. She unbuckled his belt and slid her fingers into his waistband, her fingers skimming the head of his cock.

He kissed her hard and grasped the hem of her blouse and pulled it up over her head, then tossed the blouse aside. “Sexy,” he murmured when he saw the corset she was wearing beneath her blouse and the way it accentuated her cleavage. He drew her to her feet, kissing her as he pushed her skirt over her hips. It fell to the floor and she stepped out of it then kicked off her shoes.

With a groan, he ran his hands from the corset and down over her black panties to the garters and stockings that were now revealed.

“Damn, you look hot.” He brought her up tight against him then caught her by her ass. He raised her and she wrapped her thighs around his hips.

He strode across the living room and down a hall. As he walked she kissed his stubbled jaw, the side of his neck, his throat, his bare chest. She couldn’t get enough of the salty taste of his skin or his masculine scent.

His master bedroom was huge with a king-sized bed in the center. He carried her to the foot of the bed and set her on her feet. He toed off his boots and kicked them aside before removing each of his socks.

She’d already undone his belt and the button on his jeans so now she unzipped them and jerked the jeans over his hips. Again she went down on her knees as she pushed them to the floor and brought his boxer briefs with them, and then he stepped out of them.

With appreciation she grasped his cock, remembering how it had felt inside her and wanting to feel him again. She looked up the expanse of his body, the hard, muscular thighs, the hard plane of his abs, and his powerful chest.

He reached for her but she shook her head.

“Not yet,” she said before licking the head of his cock and tasting the droplet of semen there.

He groaned as she slid him into her mouth. He was so big and hard, and much too long for her to take him all. But she brought him to the back of her throat as she sucked his length. She grasped his cock with one hand while she gripped his balls in her other.

She hummed her pleasure and from the hiss of his breath she knew he could feel the vibration through his cock. He slipped his fingers into her hair, brushing it away from her face and holding the back of her head as she moved her mouth up and down his erection.

“Damn, Tess.” He sounded nearly out of breath. “Maybe you’d better stop. I’m too close to coming.”

Disappointed, she let him slip out of her mouth, his cock glistening with moisture. She loved doing that for him.

He brought her to her feet and cupped her breasts in his hands through the corset before jerking the front of the corset down.

Her breasts spilled out and she barely found her voice as he rubbed his thumbs over the hard nubs. She felt almost shy, but she knew he was the one who could make her fantasies come true.

“I want kinky.” Heat rushed to her face as he raised his eyebrows. “I’ve always wanted to experiment,” she managed to say. “To play.”

A mouthwatering grin curved the corner of his mouth. “My specialty.”

It was her turn to raise her eyebrows. “You’re into kink?”

“I like play.” He leaned over and grasped his jeans then pulled the belt out of the loops.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the belt. He grabbed her hard and jerked her to him.

“Do you want it rough?” He grasped a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back.

Her eyes watered but she loved it. “Yes.” She swallowed. “I want it rough.”

He pinched one of her nipples hard while holding onto her hair and she gasped. Then he released her hair, took her by her upper arm, and brought her with him to the bed. He pulled the covers down to the foot of the bed then picked her up and set her in the middle of the mattress.

The next thing she knew he had taken his belt, wrapped it around her wrists, and secured them to the headboard. She tugged and found she couldn’t move them. Her heart raced faster.

Wild sensations shot through her belly as he grabbed one leg, and then her other, and unfastened the garters. He pulled off her panties and tossed them aside. She squirmed with desire as he slid down the stocking of her right leg then slipped the silky stocking over her foot.

“Now you’re mine,” he said with a wicked grin. “You can’t get away from me.”

When he grabbed her ankle, she started struggling, fighting him, the erotic play turning her on even more. He kept hold of her ankle and tied the stocking around it and secured it to a bedpost. He went to her other leg and she fought him even more as he slid off the remaining stocking. He easily grasped her left ankle and tied it to the bedpost, spreading her wide to his gaze.

She felt helpless but on fire at the same time. He moved away from the bed and went to his bureau and opened a drawer. He took out what looked like an old white T-shirt and a ripping sound met her ears as he tore it into strips. He tossed what was left of the shirt onto the floor then carried three strips back to her.

After he eased onto the mattress, he straddled her chest, looked down at her, and studied her eyes. “You’re gorgeous, Tess. I love seeing you like this. I love having control of you.”

He held her gaze as he put his cock to her lips and she pressed her lips shut and shook her head, as if she didn’t want him.

“You’re going to suck me.” He said the words like a command. He grabbed a handful of her hair, keeping her from shaking her head, and forced himself inside the warm of her mouth. He started moving in and out, not pushing himself too far, but far enough that her eyes watered. “That’s it, baby.” He pumped his hips a few more times then drew his glistening cock from her mouth.