9781631052323ForeverKindofCowboySullivan (10 page)

After
he stripped off his T-shirt, toed off his boots, and pulled down his jeans, he
headed for the bathroom off to the back of his room. A nice hot shower would do
him good even if he’d taken one this morning. Hot, sticky sweat clung to his
body. The sour smell of beer crinkled his nose as he turned on the water in the
shower.

Once he
had it the right temperature, he dropped his boxers to step under the spray.
The hot water cascaded down his chest, abdomen, and groin washing away the
sweat of the day, not to mention the beer dumped in his lap earlier. He grabbed
the shampoo from the shelf to wash his hair.

Thoughts
traveled precariously to Callie on her knees in front of him like she’d been
when she sucked his cock.
Damn, I don’t
need this right now.
But he couldn’t shake the image this time so he let it
take him. He grabbed the soap from the dish to scrub his body, letting his
imagination run wild with the picture of Callie doing wonderful things to his
cock using her mouth.

He
wrapped his hand around his cock, stroking it up and down with a firm grip.

Her mouth wrapped around the
head as she ran a fingernail around his balls. It felt like heaven and hell at
the same time. She sucked lightly, drawing his balls up tight. Moaning deep in
his throat, the warmth of her mouth scalded him with heat he could hardly stand
to feel. When she licked the length of him, his body shuddered with need. As
she went all the way down his length, pulling the entire thing into her mouth,
he lost control of his desire, squirting cum down her throat in hot spurts.

A groan
escaped him as he slumped against the cool tile wall of the shower, trying
desperately to slow his heart rate as the water washed cum from his abdomen.
Shivers rolled down his back and his legs trembled with weakness. It had been a
long time since he’d had to jack off to get relief from his own desire.
Another thing to chalk up to his need for Callie Lewis.

He shut
the water off before he grabbed a towel from the rack to dry himself. With it
wrapped around his hips, he headed over to put some clean clothes on so he
could talk to his parents.

Letting
out a long sigh, he shrugged on a clean pair of jeans. He really needed to get
Callie out of his thoughts if he planned to do anything but fuck her. She’d
taken up residence in his dreams now, driving him to distraction time and time
again.
Maybe if I fuck
her a few more times, this insatiable need to have her pussy will leave me
alone?

“Yeah,
brilliant thought, genius. If it was that easy, I’d have done it already,” he
said out loud while he pulled on a shirt, socks, and boots.

With a
shake of his head to loosen the thoughts of the disturbing woman, he headed out
to talk with his parents, hoping it would go well and they didn’t get too upset
with him for keeping the finances of the ranch a secret.

The
walk across the ranch yard didn’t take long. A few lights from the other cabins
reflected off the cement walkway leading to the big house. Guests were settling
in for the night, watching television, playing board games or doing family
things. He wanted that someday.

He shrugged
before he pushed open the side door leading into the massive dining room where
they took their meals. The large living room sat to the left with the big,
comfy leather couches in the front of the fireplace. He’d spent many a night in
this room growing up, doing homework, wrestling with his brothers, or hanging
out talking about girls. He smiled. The memories were good ones.

“Mom?”
he called as he headed down the long hallway that led to his parents’ private
quarters.
“Dad?”

“Back
here,” his dad answered from their small living area.
“In the
den.”

When he
came around the corner, he saw his dad sitting in one of the recliners and his
mom at the desk typing away on the computer. “Don’t you do enough work during
the day, Mom? You shouldn’t be on the computer after you leave the office.”

“But I
had one more reservation to look at. Then I’m done. I swear.”

His dad
raised an eyebrow as he shook his head. “She’ll be there for another hour at
least, doing one thing or another.”

“I need
you to take a break for a minute, Mom. I need to talk to you two about
something.”

“Okay.”
She shut down the computer screen and turned her chair around. “Have a seat,
Jeremiah.”

He
wiped his sweaty palms on the thighs of his jeans as he took a chair, turning
it around so he could straddle it.

“What’s
up, son?” his dad asked.

“I have
something to tell you.” He glanced up at the ceiling before facing his parents
again. “I’ve been investing for the ranch.”

“Investing?”
Nina asked.

“Yes.
Stocks, bonds, oil.
Those kinds of things.”

“We trust
you to do what is best for the ranch, Jeremiah. That’s why you are in charge of
the finances.”

He blew
out the breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding until then.

“Exactly
what are you saying?”

“There
is enough money in the ranch account for you to close down and retire if you
wanted to.”

“Just
how much are we talking about?” James tapped his foot on the floor, a sure sign
of concentration on his part.

“There
is five million in the ranch account.”

“Five
million?”
Nina’s shocked face almost made him laugh. What would she say when she found
out how much he’d
amassed
in his own account?

“You
said five million, Jeremiah?” His father stopped tapping.

“Yes.”

“You’ve
invested enough of our money to make five million for the ranch and you think
we’d be mad? My God, son, that’s fantastic!” James jumped to his feet and
dragged Jeremiah to his feet for a hug. He slapped him on the back with a
laugh. “You’ve done well, son.”

“I
shouldn’t tell you how much I have in my own account.”

“More
than what is in ours?” his mother asked, surprise written in her eyes.

“Yes.
My account has
double
that amount.”

“Why
the hell are you still working for us then? Not that I want to lose you as our
financial person especially knowing you’ve managed to make us rich, but you
could do so much with your own. Your future is secure.”

“I
know, but I don’t know if it’s enough.”

“Why
not?”
Nina
dabbed at her eyes as a lone tear trickled down her face.

Why was
she crying? He hoped she was happy for all of them, but he couldn’t be sure.
Nina didn’t cry much. He could remember a handful of times during his entire
life. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

Sobs
shook her shoulders. “I’m so happy. I worry about this place from month to
month. You’ve taken a huge load off our shoulders, Jeremiah. You have no idea how
relieved I am.” She wiped at her face. “Now back to why you don’t think you
have enough money.”

“I
think I do, but then I want so many things to be perfect before I worry about
taking on a wife and kids. You know?”

“Is
there someone specific you are thinking about marrying?”

“No,
but I think about it a lot. When I find the right girl, I want to be able to
provide for her and our children for the rest of their lives.” He held up his
hand when his mother went to say something else. “Not that I had a bad childhood.
You and Dad provided for us more than we ever wanted, but I want my kids to be
able to go to college and not have to pay for it. I want to be able to help
them start a business if they want to. I want my wife to not have to work if
she doesn’t want to. That kind of stuff is important to me.”

“Son,
if you’ve found someone you want to marry, what you are holding out for won’t
be so important.”

“I
don’t think so, Mom.” He wiped his hands on his jeans again.

“Is
there something else?”

“I feel
kind of stupid.”

“Why?”

“You
know I took Callie Lewis out.”

“Yes. I
trust you had a good time?”

“Well,
not so much. She tried acting all weird. Like some of the other girls I’d been
out with. It wasn’t right. I told her she needed to be herself. We spent the
evening watching movies and eating popcorn.”

“Sounds
like a nice date.”

“It
was. Then we were supposed to have a date the following evening, but I screwed
up. You remember telling me to call her?”

“Yes.”

“Well,
I forgot. She was pissed I stood her up.”

“I
don’t blame her.”

He
raked his fingers through his hair before putting his hat back on his head. “I
don’t either. I went to the bar to apologize, but she shut me down.”

“Again,
I don’t blame her.”

“I
know. I fucked up. I wanted to make amends. She got pretty wasted that night.
Did some things I’m sure she wasn’t proud of. Anyway, she said she was dating
someone. I checked it out when they met at the bar. I did something stupid
again.”

“And?”

“I
hauled her over my
shoulder,
brought her back here and
we had sex.”

His
father’s eyebrow shot up, but his dad didn’t say a word.

“I
know. Not good, but it happened. Anyway, we kind of argued about what I wanted
in life. How I wasn’t ready for a relationship. We agreed to start dating other
people, but the plan has backfired on me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.
She’s having a blast while I’m
miserable. I’ve tried dating other women, but they aren’t measuring up to her.”

“Sounds
like you have an infatuation with Callie Lewis,” his father replied, coming
into the conversation for the first time. “Are you sure you aren’t halfway in
love with her?”

“No
way, Dad.
I
can’t be.”

“Why
not?
You’ve
known her for a long time. You’ve been friends for a long while and now you’re
lovers or were anyway. How is it hard to come around to being in love with her?”

Jeremiah
jumped to his feet, pacing back and forth a couple of times in front of his
parents. This was crazy. He couldn’t be in love with Callie. In lust, yes, but
in love, no. Not possible.
Why not?
It can’t happen like this. He liked her a lot and they were pretty good in bed
together, but in love? “I like her.”

“I’m
sure you do.”

“We
were pretty good in bed together.”

“You’ve
had that before, though. You’ve had a pretty active sex life for quite a
while.”

He
didn’t like talking sex with his parents, but yeah, they were right. Good
together in bed didn’t make for a healthy relationship.

“What
is it about Callie that makes her so different to you?”

“I’m
not sure. She gets me. She knows me. She’s not afraid of the angry me,
the me
who kids around, or the me who shows off.”

“Does
she know about your money in the bank?”

“No.”

“Then
you know she’s not after you for your money.”

“She’s
not after me at all, Mom. She seems indifferent to being with me now, much to
the detriment of my ego.” He raked his fingers through his hair before putting
his hat back on his head. “Fuck.”

“Is it
the fact she doesn’t act like she wants you that has you attracted to her? You
know, the want what you can’t have scenario?”

“I
don’t think so. I mean, I like her. She’s funny, smart, kind, gorgeous, good
with kids, helpful to other people even if it means she loses something in the
end.”

“Well,
I think you should continue to stay away from her. Clearly, she’s not the girl
for you.” The smirk on his mother’s face told him she was kidding, but the
thought of not seeing her made him sick to his stomach. “Oh, and watch your
language, mister. We don’t talk with such dirty mouths around here.”

“Sorry.
I’m upset right now and my mouth gets away from me.”

“Well, see
that you curb it a bit.”

“Yes,
ma’am.”

Chapter Nine

Callie
watched Jeremiah leave with a heavy heart as Craig continued to kiss her neck
from behind. The disinterest she felt in having the other man even touch her
crowded her heart. She didn’t want Craig. She didn’t want any other man but
Jeremiah. He was driving her nuts with his behavior though. First he didn’t
want her, then he got pissed because she was with someone else, then he did
want her.
What the hell?

“
Yo
, Callie?”

“Sorry.”

“It’s
been a long time since I’ve been with a girl who didn’t want to be with me.”

“It’s
not that.”

He
tipped his head in the direction of the door. “Jeremiah?” he asked, moving
around so he could look into her eyes.

“Yeah.”
She dropped her gaze to the
tips of his boots. Disappointment raced through her. She didn’t use people, but
this felt like she’d been using the men she’d been out with since Jeremiah’s
statement about dating other people. She didn’t want anyone but him. How in the
heck did she convince him they belong together? “I’m sorry. I’ve been a really
bad person this week. I don’t normally do this kind of thing, but…”

“It’s
okay. We can be friends.”

“Thanks,
Craig.”

“Sure.”
He trailed his fingers down her cheek. “Do you want another beer?”

“That
would be great. Thanks.”

She
watched him walk toward the bar, stopping every few feet to talk to someone or
another. Craig was a pretty popular guy in Bandera, a great catch, so why
couldn’t she get into someone like him and not the guy who didn’t want her?

“You
know he wants you as much as you want him, right?” Joey whispered in her ear
from behind.

Startled,
she swung around, almost hitting his shoulder with her nose. “Sorry. What did
you say?”

“Jeremiah.
He’s being stubborn, but he
wants you as much as you want him.”

“How do
you know?” she asked, leaning on the pool table.

“I’ve
seen the way he watches you. When he took you out of the bar a few weeks ago,
he almost had steam coming out of his ears watching you with Brad.”

“Then
why doesn’t he just give in?”

“Because
he’s a Young.
We don’t do anything the easy way. And love? That’s the worst one of all for us
to admit.”

“You’re
one to talk, Joey. You don’t have a girlfriend either.”

“No,
but I’m always looking. I’m a little young to be settling down yet.”

“No,
you aren’t. You aren’t that much younger than me.”

“Maybe
I’ll be
your
boyfriend.” He waggled
his eyebrows. “You know, I’m better than Jeremiah in the sack.”

She
laughed and shook her head. “Joey, you are so full of shit, your eyes are brown.”

“Why,
yes they are.” He laughed along with her as he drew her into a hug. “He’ll come
around.”

With
her arms wrapped around him, she hugged him tight, hoping he was right. “I hope
so, Joey. I wish I knew what to do to make him see me as the woman for him.”

“He
will.”

Craig
brought her back her beer finally. “Are you
makin
’ a
move on my girl, Young?”

“Nope,
but she ain’t your girl.”

“She is
tonight.”

“She
belongs to my brother.”

“Well,
he hasn’t figured out what the hell he’s missing yet, so for tonight she’s
mine.”

Joey’s
eyes narrowed and Callie thought the two men would fight if she didn’t do
something quickly. She stepped between them, putting a hand on each of their
chests. Joey and Craig were close to the same height, but towered over her by
at least several inches. She didn’t care. She wouldn’t have them fighting over
something that wasn’t their concern.
“Easy, boys.
This
isn’t your fight. You’re both right, but tonight I’m here with Craig. He’s
being a perfect gentleman, Joey, so calm down.
Nothing worth
fightin
’ over here.”

“But—”

“Nothing,
Joe.” She stepped in front of him and put both hands on his shoulders. “Stop
and listen to me. What’s between me and Jeremiah is just that, between the two
of us. I know you love your brother and want to see him happy. I get that, but
fighting other men over me isn’t going to change the situation.”

“You
should be with him.”

“I know
that. So does Craig, but he also saw Jeremiah walk out of here without a
backward
glance.
”

“I saw
your conversation with Jeremiah. Neither of you looked happy.”

“We
weren’t. He was trying to tell me who I could see and who I couldn’t after he
told me to date other people. I’m doing what he asked. I’m sorry if he doesn’t
like it.”

“He’s
being an idiot.”

“I know
this and so do you. So does a lot of people in this bar, but he has to come to
the same conclusion before he’ll change the way things are. For now, we live
with what he has decreed.”

“You
are too good for him.”

“Thank
you.” She put a hand on his cheek. “You’d make a great brother-in-law.”

“When
he finally figures out what he’s missing, maybe, until then I’m on your side of
this fight. I’ll do what I have to so you two can be together.”

“I
appreciate your support.
Really.”
She stood on her
tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Now what do we have to do to find you a
girl?”

“No,
no. Not me.”

“Oh,
yes.” She glanced around the bar, but didn’t see anyone she thought would fit
the tough as nails cowboy in front of her. The man rode horses for a living,
bucking and kicking horses. She was amazed he still seemed to be in one piece.

“Forget
it, Callie. I don’t need one woman. I need a few.”

“Well,
I don’t see anyone here good enough for you. I’ll keep my eye out though.” When
she glanced back to the bar, she saw a dark-haired woman talking with her hands
to some guy sitting on a bar stool.
Wow.
I wonder what that’s all
about?

“I’ll
leave you to your
date
, but I’ll keep
an eye out for you too.”

“Thanks.”
She watched Joey walk toward the bar and take a seat next to the woman she’d
seen a little bit ago and then turned to talk to Jackson who had one hand
wrapped around the waist of some leggy blonde. Leave it to the Young brothers
to have women hanging all over them. “I’m sorry about that, Craig. You know how
those guys are.”

“Yeah,
I know. I’ve had a run-in with one or two of them before.” He picked up the
pool cue. “Shall we play another game or two while we waste a few hours here at
the good old Dusty Boot?”

For the
next few hours she drank, laughed, shot pool, threw some darts and generally
had a good time. She didn’t think of Jeremiah more than a million times during
the time period, or so she thought.

She
found she really liked Craig as a friend. If she hadn’t been in love with
Jeremiah, things would have been a lot easier, but alas, she was, and she would
have to deal with it.

* * *
*

Jeremiah
stared at the computer screen in his cabin. He did his own trading with stocks
on his own computer so he didn’t mix business with personal stuff. Soft country
music played in the background while he watched the numbers change and blur. He
squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing them with his fingers to try to bring
everything back into focus. He really needed to see an eye doctor, he figured.
These episodes of blurry vision were getting more frequent. Not that anyone in
his family had vision problems, but there was always one.

Two
fingers on his right hand tingled like they were going to sleep. He rubbed them
with his left to bring the feeling back into them. Things like this had been
happening more and more, he noticed recently. He probably needed to see the
family doctor. After all, it had been several years since he’d had a physical,
probably the last year of high school so he could run track. Cross country
running was the only sport he’d done in high school. Running long distance gave
him time to think, lots of time to think.

The
numbers are the screen came back into focus. He was doing well. His bank
account was steadily increasing as well as the family finances. Complaining at
all didn’t seem right. He smiled as he flipped off the computer to head to bed.
It was midnight and he had to be up early for cowboy call as he named it. He
had wrangler duties tomorrow and Joey wanted his help breaking a new mare he’d
recently purchased. The duties on a ranch never ceased.

After
his talk with his parents, he’d headed back out to his cabin for some me time.
He didn’t get enough of it with a large family. Tonight he wanted to veg out in
front of the television and
not
think
about Callie Lewis.

He
shook his head to dislodge the thoughts of her, but it was difficult since he’d
fucked her hard over the side of his bed. Those images wouldn’t leave him
alone.

A sigh
escaped his lips as he climbed to his feet. Dizziness swamped his head for a
moment as he grabbed the back of his chair for balance. These symptoms were
coming more frequently. A doctor’s visit needed to happen soon. This wasn’t
normal for a twenty-eight-year-old guy. He’d make an appointment tomorrow,
well, today when he woke up.

After
checking the time again, he decided to hit the bed. His duties required him to
be up by seven in the morning for breakfast and rides, then working with Joey
on the horse. Maybe he’d throw some hay tomorrow or something to work off some
of this frustration he felt. Couldn’t hurt, right?

He
stripped off his jeans, tossed his T-shirt over the back of the chair and then
climbed under the cool sheets. Lucky for them, they had air-conditioning in all
the cabins. He’d die in the summer heat without it even though fall was in the
air. He liked to sleep with a very cold room. The moment his head hit the
pillow, he drifted off to sleep as dreams clouded his thoughts, dreams of
Callie.

She walked in through the door
of his cabin wearing a silky blouse and short shorts. Her tanned legs went on
forever as she strolled toward him with a smile on her lips.
“Jeremiah.”

“Callie. What are you doing
here?”

“I came because I want you.”

“Want me?”

“Bad, cowboy.”

“Come closer.”

She straddled his legs, bringing
her pussy into warm contact with his bulging erection. Lord, he wanted her too.
More than his next breath.
More than
food or water.
More than anything.

He trailed his fingers down her
cheek until he reached her red lips. She nipped at the pads of his fingers with
her teeth, sending shivers down his spine. His cock throbbed behind the fly of
his jeans. She knew what to do to drive him crazy.

With a tug on the hem of his
T-shirt, she pulled it over his head, dropping the soft cotton to the floor
beside the chair. Her fingernails raked across his chest until she reached his
nipples. The sting of her sharp nails made his skin bust out in goose bumps.

“Do you like a little pain with
your pleasure, Jeremiah?”

“Maybe.”

She scooted back on his knees
enough where she could reach his chest with her mouth. Her teeth sank into the
right nipple, sending pain and pleasure shooting straight to his balls. When
she sucked it between her lips, he almost came in his jeans. God, she was good.

“I’m going to suck you dry,
cowboy.”

She shimmied off his lap before
she grabbed his belt buckle to undo it. His jeans came next with a tug of her
hands at his hips. He raised his ass high enough she could work the stiff
material down his thighs to the tops of his boots. She didn’t worry about
getting them completely off as she dove into giving him pleasure with her
mouth. The slick feeling of her tongue as it danced down his cock pulled a deep
growl from his throat. He didn’t know how she got so good with her wicked
tongue, but he loved it. Her fingers worked his balls into
a
frenzy
as she continued to lick, suck and deep throat his cock.

As his balls drew up in the
impending climax of his desire, he pulled her off his cock, pushed her shorts
to the floor and forced her to straddle his lap. When he sank balls deep into
her pussy, his whole world narrowed to the feel of being deep inside her.

Hot wetness surrounded him. The
ridges of her vagina caressed him as she slowly rode him.