The Taylor Ranch: Cade Read online

  His thrusts were steady and slow to begin with. It suited her fine because she was tense and tight, but then she wanted more. She reached up and ran her fingers over his lips as he moved faster and his thrusts became more urgent.

  Wouldn’t life be wonderful if they could stay like this forever?

  Cade smiled at her. She’d always believed he could read her mind. If only he’d really had that ability he would have known the truth and wouldn’t have been hurt. But then again, he might have tried to stop her.

  April dug her fingertips into his biceps as her pussy began pulling with its own faint heartbeat. The first time they’d made love he’d brought her to climax in record time, and it seemed he hadn’t lost his touch.

  Sinking her fingers deeper into his skin, she raised her butt to meet each of his thrusts, groaning as she did so. The sensation began in her toes, traveling all the way up her calves and thighs, and then to where it mattered the most, her pussy.

  She clung to him, lifting her shoulders off the bed, hugging him as he too found release. He wrapped his arms around her, both of them breathing heavily, hearts pounding so hard, April could hear his as well as her own.

  “That was off the charts,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Way off.”

  They parted and Cade slid out of her, resting his body by her side.

  “Were you joking with me?”

  She thought that maybe he’d forgotten what she’d announced right before they’d made love, but he obviously hadn’t.

  April sat her head down on his shoulder, remembering how they’d laid cuddling and talking after they’d made love that day. Cade would tell her about his dreams for the future, owning a ranch one day just like her father. Giving his mother a better life than the one fate had given her, but then she’d passed away two weeks later. He ran his finger up and down her arm and she realized she hadn’t responded to him.

  “No, I wasn’t messing with you and maybe now you’ll let me tell you what happened.”

  She turned over onto her belly so she could see him. She wanted to look at him when she told him the truth. To see his reaction and hopefully see the relief in his eyes too.

  “You probably know Ben comes from a family with lots of money.”

  He rolled his eyes. She put her hand on his arm.

  “And no, like I told you before that’s not the reason I married him. Dad had run up a lot of debt.”

  “Your dad?”

  April nodded. She’d also found that hard to believe when he’d sat her down and told her just how bad things were.

  “He’d taken a huge hit from his divorce with my mother and never really recovered. He also had lingering legal fees from when he fought the custody battle for me. He didn’t want Mom to take me away and that’s what she was planning to do. I guess it was just to spite him as a last act of bitchiness toward him.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Me neither, but I’m glad he won because I don’t think I could have tolerated living with my mother without my dad being around.”

  “Okay, so what does that have to do with you marrying Parker?”

  “Dad was up to his eyes in debt and was thinking about selling the ranch but times were tough, people weren’t buying, and the bank was about to foreclose on both the ranch and house.”

  “Geez, I had no idea, why didn’t he say something?”

  “You know what a proud man he is. He’d kept all this from me until…”

  She looked down, remembering the horrible evening when her dad called her into the living room and she saw Ben Parker sitting there.

  “Ben had heard about Dad’s dilemma from one of his bank buddies. He’d been to dinner with us couple of times.”

  April hung her head down. Neither she nor her father had any idea what he was planning.

  “He offered to give Dad the money on the condition that I marry him.”

  “Wait a minute, your dad sold you to Parker?”

  April shook her head. “He didn’t want me to do it but I said if I did it then it would only be for two years, he’d clear all of Dad’s debts, and he’d pay for me to continue with my education and after that our business would be concluded and we’d never see one another again.”

  “April, why the hell didn’t you tell me this?”

  “Because that was our deal, no one was to know the real reason.”

  “So Parker saw you, fell in love with you and wanted you, but why did he agree to let you go after just two years?”

  “He didn’t love me, he just needed a cover. People would start asking why he didn’t have a wife. He travels in some big circles and to connect with the people that mattered he needed a trophy wife for a while.”

  “He’s gay?”

  April shook her head. “He’s impotent, and hence the reason he couldn’t even get a woman to date him longer than a few months.”

  “He can’t get it up?”

  She nodded.

  “Maybe that’s the reason he walks like he has a stick up his ass.”

  April smiled. It was true he did have a ‘one of a kind’ gait.

  Cade turned toward her, running his hand along her arm again. “So he never touched you, never was inside you?”

  “He touched me for outward appearances only when we went to functions with business people he wanted to impress or threw dinner parties, but no… our marriage was never consummated. It’s the only reason I went along with it. He’s definitely not my sort of guy.”

  “Oh baby, I can’t tell you how many nights I lay awake, almost throwing up thinking about him making love to you and owning your pussy.”

  “We had a bedroom for the sake of the hired help, but I had a door leading to my own room and that’s where I retreated every night.”

  “Did you ever go crazy?”

  “For sex…sure I did. However, money can buy you the best vibrator in town.”

  Cade burst out laughing. “Well, now, little lady…you won’t be needing one of those things ever again.”

  “Really?”

  She turned over onto her belly and grinned at him.

  “I remember that look,” said Cade.

  “Look?” she asked.

  “The one that says I’ve been a naughty girl, come and spank me.”

  He gave her ass a light smack. “I love the extra fat you’ve gained on your ass.”

  “Are you saying I’m fat now?”

  “Nope, I’m saying I love the curves you’ve gained.” He ran his fingers over her skin, making her nerve endings pulse. He nibbled on her earlobe as one of his fingers delved between her butt cheeks, quickly finding the entrance of her pussy.

  He teased her, pretending he was going to slip it inside but instead circled it. She set the side of her face down on her upstretched arm and enjoyed the sensation that his teasing was bringing her. Cade kissed her neck, this time pushing his finger inside her.

  “Poor Ben Parker never knew what he was missing,” he whispered in her ear.

  “See, now you feel sorry for him.”

  “Yeah, I do because he’ll never have what I have, not for all the money sitting in his bank account.”

  Cade pulled out his finger and pushed her legs apart, running his hands up and down her thighs until the juices seeped from her.

  “You have the sexiest body in the world. How a guy couldn’t get hard looking at you is beyond me.”

  April grabbed the quilt as Cade slide his cock inside her and began a slow, steady thrust. She closed her eyes, so relieved that she’d finally told Cade the whole story. Things were back as they were. She held the pillow under her face. His thrusts were hard and urgent, bringing her pussy to life. Her shoulders relaxed, wondering if they’d make love every day. Yeah, she’d like that. Her butt muscles seized and she pushed the cheeks together as her orgasm took her so hard she groaned into the pillow. Cade pushed harder inside her, panting and breathing heavily until he too groaned. He pulled out and she turned over. He leaned tow
ard her body and kissed each of her nipples.

  “Mmm, taste like cherries.”

  She laughed. “You are so goofy.”

  She ran her hand down his face, feeling the sweat and stubble.

  “So now that you’re free, what do you think about marrying this goofy cowboy?”

  Chapter Eight

  Cade paced up and down. Why wasn’t anything in life easy?

  “So you never want to marry me?” he asked. He climbed onto the bed, resting his back on the headboard just like April had when she’d told him she wasn’t quite ready for it yet.

  “I didn’t say that, but haven’t you forgotten that I’ve just gotten out of a marriage…?”

  “Hell, that wasn’t a real one so it doesn’t count.”

  She grabbed his hand. “I know but I want a career now.”

  “Baby, you can have one of those along with a husband.”

  “I know that too, but I just want a year or so to be single again. To do things I couldn’t do for the last two years because I had to pretend to be someone’s wife.”

  “A year. You want me to give you a whole year? This cowboy’s not getting any younger. I found three grey hairs when I looked in the mirror this morning.”

  “Wow, three! I think Dad has some hair dye still sitting in the bathroom cabinet that he’d gladly give you.”

  She was mocking him. He loved it when she did that. The dry sense of humor. The way she brought him back down to earth, to reality. He smiled because the least of his worries were three grey hairs. Hell, he loved this woman and he was going to marry her this year, not next.

  “I want babies…children before I’m too old to teach them to ride a horse, or rope a calf.”

  “I want babies too, but not just yet. I saw my parents’ marriage fall to pieces and it’s because my mother wasn’t ready when she married my father.”

  “Your mother was a b…”

  “It’s okay, you can say it…most people in Pine Creek refer to her that way.”

  He squeezed her hand. “I am going to convince you that life is short and we need to get married ASAP.”

  She kissed him and he pulled her onto his lap.

  “Maybe you’ll get pregnant and you’ll have to marry me.”

  He smiled, thinking about making a hole in one of the condoms.

  “That’s a naughty smile on those lips,” she said. “The way it curls up at the ends here.” She touched his lips by his cheeks. “Just what were you thinking?”

  He shook his head.

  “Spill or I’ll tickle you.”

  Hell, she knew he gave in only after one tickle. She had fingers that put a man at a disadvantage.

  “Holes in condoms.”

  “Cade Mallory, don’t even think about it. In fact, sex is off the table now.”

  He knew her better than that. He slid his hand down her belly, into the curls and found her clit.

  “Cade, stop it!” She smacked his hand away.

  “You couldn’t resist me even if your life depended on it.”

  “Okay, you’re right, but just in case you get any crazy ideas I’m going to the doctor’s office and getting a prescription for the Pill.”

  Wow, that meant no more condoms. He liked the sound of that.

  ****

  “So everything’s good between you and Cade again?” asked her father a few weeks later.

  She hadn’t told him about the two of them falling into bed the minute they’d been back in one another’s company. Not that he was a prude or anything, but some things a girl kept all to herself.

  “Yes, I told him everything. I hope you didn’t mind me filling him on the trouble you were having.”

  He covered her hand with his own. Such big hands, rough and calloused, from all the work he did. A lot like Cade. In fact, Cade reminded her a lot of her dad. Strong and tough and a man of principle. Maybe that’s what she loved so much about him.

  “I don’t mind at all. I’m just so sorry that I had to get you involved in my mess.”

  “It was mine too. I wouldn’t have had anywhere to live, no horses to ride if the bank would have repossessed this place.” She smiled at him.

  “Guess that’s the problem when a man has a beautiful daughter and money problems… men want to use her to show off to the world and their friends.”

  “I’m just glad he’s out of our lives and we can continue as we were.”

  “And you and Cade, wedding bells, maybe?”

  “He asked, but I turned him down.”

  “Honey, no, you shouldn’t have done that. You love him.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I want some time just to be April Dubois again.”

  “Geez, now I feel even worse.”

  “You don’t have to. The last few years have taught me a lot about life, marriage, relationships, and what I want.”

  “But I always thought you wanted Cade.”

  “I did and I still do, but I think if I’d married him before Ben strolled into our lives, well, I might have wondered what if I would have gone to college, what if I had a career.”

  Her father’s Adam’s apple bounced up and down. Maybe that had been too raw because it had sounded like her mother’s excuse for running off like she had. He patted her on the hand again.

  “I think that’s very wise. Maybe I shouldn’t have swept your mother off her feet like I did. Maybe we should have taken things slower. Even waited a little longer until we had a baby. Not that I ever regret you coming into our lives. So you turned him down, but I hope the two of you are at least dating.”

  “Dating…which reminds me, he said to meet him at noon between the properties because there’s something he wants to show me,” said April, standing and checking her watch.

  ****

  How could a woman resist this? He stepped back and looked at the table he’d set. Tablecloth, china plates, none of the paper variety, wine glasses, and best of all, a bunch of April’s favorite flowers. She’d soon weaken and say yes to his proposal.

  He heard someone approaching and turned around to see April heading his way. She had the biggest smile on her face. It was already working.

  “Is this for me?” she asked.

  “Hell no, I have another woman coming along to dine with me and just wanted your opinion.”

  “Wouldn’t happen to be Jenine, would it? Strange how she likes the very same flowers as I do.”

  April picked them up and put the carnations right up to her nose.

  “Are you ready to eat, Mademoiselle Dubois?”

  “I’m starving, but you do know that heavy rain is forecast?”

  “No problem, because I have a back-up plan.”

  He pulled out the chair and she sat. Cade opened up the cooler and removed a bottle of wine and then took out a quiche and tossed salad.

  “Don’t tell me you made the quiche?” asked April.

  “Yep, been rolling pastry all morning.”

  “Liar.”

  He laughed. “Okay, Eloise made it for me. Would it impress you more if I had made it myself?”

  “Nope, because it probably would have been awful and I love Eloise’s cooking.”

  “Speaking of, she also thinks it’s a good idea that the two of us get married very soon. She’s even offered to do the catering for free.”

  “Really, and from one of the few single ladies over fifty in Pine Creek.”

  “Guess she knows what you’d be missing.”

  “I want to marry you, Cade, but just not yet.”

  “We’ll see.” He winked at her.

  They began eating and Cade poured her a glass of wine.

  “You remembered my favorite. And thank you for going to all this trouble.”

  “I’m trying to woo you.”

  Woo, they both said at the same time and laughed.

  Cade took his first bite of quiche when he felt rain on his cheek and then heard a crack of thunder.

  “Do you think we should be under this
tree in a storm?” asked April.

  “Nope, you’re probably right. Let’s grab everything and head to the barn over there, which by the way is my back-up plan.”

  Cade slipped everything back into the cooler while April picked up the flowers and wine bottle and they both made a mad dash for the barn.

  Once inside, the rain fell harder and a clap of thunder sounded directly overhead.

  “Let’s set everything over there by that that bale of hay,” said Cade.

  When everything was set up again, they both leaned up against the wood paneling and finished off their meal. Beads of water slid down the window pane and thunder struck overhead again.

  “Is that Bert Taylor’s old tractor?” asked April. She pointed to the other end of the barn where the almost antique-looking vehicle sat collecting dust.

  “Sure is, but now it’s mine.”

  “I remember him driving around on it when I was kid. His children used to sit on his lap and he’d give them rides around the ranch.”

  “I’m thinking of cleaning it up and getting it running again,” said Cade. “I found another tractor in the barn down by the lake too. Did I tell you I’m going to pull that one down so I can have more grazing ground and buy more cattle?”

  “You are going to be bigger than dad’s ranch soon.”

  He touched her on the nose. “We’ll all be one big ranch once you and I get married.”

  She leaned on his shoulder. “I’m going to get some brochures from the university law school in Missoula. You want to come with me?”

  “Law school?” asked Cade.

  “Yep, I think it’s what I want to do.”

  “You do know that lawyers can be wives too.”

  “I do…so are you coming along or not?”

  “Sure, and why don’t we go on one of those art crawl evenings to all the galleries? Just to show you this cowboy has cultural and artistic leanings.”

  “As well as being such a romantic.”

  She handed him the empty plate and he placed it in the cooler. “That was wonderful… the wine has made me sort of sleepy.”

  April rested her head on his shoulder and Cade slipped his arm around her. She looked up at him.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “That I’m so lucky to have a second chance with the woman who drives me crazy.”