Anything to get me to Eve.
Hell, the thought of seeing her again sent a zing to my groin. I hardened instantly. Months without her… It may as well have been a lifetime of purgatory. And if I was finally getting to see the woman I had craved for so long, then a shower was the first order of the day.
Tepid water traced patterns on my back as I fisted my cock, recalling the feel of Eve pressed against me the last time I heldher in Texas. How she’d knelt for me, engulfed my cock in her hot little mouth. My groan filled the bathroom that refused to steam as I leaned one hand on the cold tiles, willing myself to make the fantasy to last, but as always the thought of her brought me straight to the edge. I gripped myself tighter, forcing my orgasm back and flipped the visual to the one night we’d had at Red Hart, back in the cabin she’d given me there. Well away from the big house, we’d taken our time together. She’d knelt for me then, too, her hands gripping the bed head as I lined up behind her and sank into her heat.
Eve’s instant submission, never letting go of that bedrail even as I fucked her, pulling orgasm after orgasm from her body as she shattered for me, had been the most stunning experience of my life. I’d fallen for her hard then, hell, before that even. But feeling her push contract around my cock as she gushed for me, was too much. I spilled my seed inside her as she tipped her head back onto my shoulder and collapsed for me into my arms.
The fantasy splintered as my reality caught up with me. I came on my hand with a roar, the cold room and tepid water run cool my only companion as the memory of her warm, clenching pussy faded. I hissed through my pleasure, washed away by the poor water flow as I came back to the rented bathroom with only myself and a year old memory in it.
By the time I walked out of the room clutching a fresh travel mug of burnt, instant coffee, the sun had set fire to the sky in a blaze of gold. Mercifully, the parking lot outside the motel rooms was empty.No Black Hill Boy in sight.I handed back my key, glad to get on the road, though I couldn’t help but stare at the damage done to my truck the night before. The old animosity festered, too many bad memories replacing good ones of my time with Eve last time I was in Montana.
Forcing the thoughts aside, I concentrated on the job at hand. If I let myself slip now, I'd never reach her. Lightsnowfall had covered the blacktop overnight. I contemplated snow chains as a thought niggled somewhere at the back of my mind. Foregoing them after judging the amount of slush on the roadside edging to the middle, I started my truck and turned onto the blessedly empty road, though I knew traffic would increase as the day wore on.
Jason Aldean’sGot What I Gotfilled the cab of my truck as I hit the cruise control, leaning back in the seat that fit me to perfection. My mind shifted back to my earlier thoughts, without the bitter tang to them.
Everything had always come back to Eve for me. For the last year while I tied up the ends of my mentor, Sam Bernie’s murder. But my time hadn't just been consumed with closing up that case. I’d also set up the unit I’d headed to run more autonomously, though I knew Ethan had his head in the right space to support Andy. For a time I’d thought he would succeed me, had planned on it. But the same man who haunted Eve had ruined more than one life, my deputy and best friend high on the list. Ethan returned to duty but not in the active line of fire, preferring to drive a desk from now on.
I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as the song ended and flicked over to something else I didn’t recognize. Eve had seemed so happy—her usual self—when I initially spoke to her, but her mood slipped so fast that I wondered if she hadn't been covering up for far more than I thought. Running the ranch had always been in her. She loved the land she inherited with her twin, Travis, that had been in their family for generations, and she took a solid degree of personal pride in bettering the property, the brand, and the people who worked there.
And Christmas at Eve’s table was always a treat.
That woman could cook to feed a table of ravenous men akin to an army while also giving the ranch hands she hired a home that was so much more than simply a place to hang their hat.Most of them adored her, though some did a little more than that. My mouth turned down at the thought of her body bruised and scarred at the hands of a madman I’d dispatched back to Texas.
Maybe he had left his mark too well on my girl.
The image of Red Hart’s Christmas filled big house dissipated with the tainted memory. Hell, maybe Peirce was right and I was chasing a dream. I turned up the radio with clenched teeth, immersing myself in music and the countryside that ranged from gold-tipped grazing lands to snow covered pine forests that stretched over endless mountains.
White Cap came up faster than I expected, though when I checked my watch. My distraction was complete. The timing was right; I’d zoned out over the last few hours, immersed in the memory of Eve, my fantasy of this morning. My fears of what I’d find when I turned up at her door.
If she’d want me there at all.
Nice moves, Archer. You get the girl back in just a few hours.
I was well out of practice in flirting, too straight down the line of most women. Eve, however, never objected to my style. My heart slammed painfully into my chest as I got out of my truck, tipping my hat to a pair of older ladies laden with Christmas shopping.
White Cap looked just the way it had the last time I had seen it. A tidy row of shops lined the street either side leading to the mountain habitually capped with snow year round that framed the small town with a general population of three thousand. That swelled during the holiday season, and that today, the micro floating tourist migratory population was out in force.
Parking was at a premium, but I managed to score a spot just outside the coffee shop that Eve favored for her Christmas goods. I pushed the door to Beanie’s open and was hit with a heady combination of coffee and gingerbread spices.Apparently, White Cap’s premium—and only—coffee shop had taken its service up a level.
Combined with the heat Suzy must have been pumping into the place and the general lack of oxygen from the amount of people stuffed into the popular shop, my head had begun to spin by the time I made it to the first table.
I searched the heads for her grey streaks, locating Eve’s best friend at the cash register. A mile long line stood out in front of her. While I figured out the best approach without screaming over the chatter that bounced off the walls in a cacophony of conversation, Suzy did the job for me.
The shop owner handed her customer over to the barista next to her and slipped out from behind the counter, her arms already raised for a hug.
“Archer! Eve called to say you’d be in. Don’t you look fine?” Suzy stepped back, patting at my jacket I’d made the mistake of wearing into the shop, expecting the inside of Beanies to be as cool as the street. “You must be roasting in that thing. Now. I need to feed you before you head off. Strict instructions from the lady herself, but I won’t let you leave without food enough to feed the ranch, and you know it.” She fixed me with a stern eye, as though I offered to put up a fight.
“It’s good to be back, Ma’am.”
I tucked my hat beneath my arm, running a hand through my dark red hair. A few silver streaks worked their way through the colored ones. Though I wasn’t by any means vain about it, the fact that Eve was a good ten years younger than me slammed me once again. Sweat prickled my back, but I hadn’t planned on staying at Beanie’s for too long, anxious as I was to get back on the road.
Suzy hummed as she loaded her arms with goods, yelling orders to the ether.
I took the opportunity to look around, spotting a collection of carved gems and hand painted local arts on the back shelves. “You’ve expanded since I was here last.”
“That I have.” Suzy wound her way between patrons, yanking a stool out from beneath a bench that bordered on a brand new planked wooden bar. “And it’s brought in plenty more customers.”
“Half the town must be here,” I agreed, nodding to the lunch combo she rattled off.
