in days off.
He hadn’t always been that way. When I was younger, we’d spend weekends as a family. Oftentimes, my mother would end up locking herself away in her office and it’d just be me, Lock, and my dad, who’d been a steady, unbendable presence in my life…until he wasn’t.
I loved him. I’d never understand him betraying his marriage vows. It had taken me a long, long time to forgive him for it, but I had.
But where he’d once been my hero, now, he was just a man. Fallible like the rest of us.
Now, he worked too hard to avoid making a new life from the dust of his old one.
We found him in the horse barn, talking to a couple hands who worked on the ranch. As soon as Luca and I entered, he finished up and strode straight to me, his arms open, his smile wide, wrapping me up in a hug that could never be duplicated.
“Dad,” I sighed into his embrace, all my troubles falling away for the fleeting moments he held me. There was nothing better than a hug from my father.
“Sersh, baby.” He pulled back, his hands cupping my shoulders. “You don’t look any different.” He reached for my left hand, examining it closely. “Ah, there’s the difference. You’ve got a big rock around your finger, my girl. What do you know, what do you know.”
I wiggled my hand in his. “I’m still getting used to wearing it.” I kissed his cheek then turned, grabbing Luca’s hand with my free one. “This is Luca. He’s been through the Caleb treatment, so maybe take it easy on him.”
He let out a laugh that was only an echo of the huge, boisterous ones from years ago.
“Luca, welcome to Sugar Brush. Have you been on a ranch before?”
They shook hands as Luca answered. “Thank you for having me. And no, I haven’t, but I’ve heard I’m missing out.”
“I don’t know about that.” Dad chuckled. “From the way I hear it, you’ve been living the high life in Denver. At least until you met my daughter.”
Ah, so he’d done a little research into his new son-in-law. Probably not finding the most flattering pieces of info either.
Luca hooked his arm around my waist. “I lived a very different life before Saoirse, one I’m not ashamed of—though I wish like hell it hadn’t been documented for anyone to read the bits and pieces the press chose to publish.” His fingers curled around my hip, lightly tapping a pattern there. Was he actually nervous? Luca wasn’t one to fidget.
I covered my hand with his. “Thank god no one followed me around in my early twenties. I would hate for all my adventures to be on the internet for anyone to Google.”
Dad raised his hands. “Point taken. No father wants to see his new son-in-law pictured with all kinds of women, but not many fathers have the opportunity to easily take a microscope to their new son-in-law’s past. I’ll take what I learned at face value—it’s in the past, and Saoirse is your present and future.”
“I don’t get a clean slate with many people because of who I am, but I appreciate you giving me one, Connell.” Luca leaned forward. “And don’t worry, Elena has already told me what will happen if I misstep with Saoirse.”
That earned a genuine, belly-deep laugh from my dad and a worried look from me. “What did she say?”
Luca grinned at me. “There was something about pink bats.”
Dad laughed again. “That girl is a gift to the world. Don’t think she’s bluffing, though. She isn’t.”
“I absolutely believed her. It’s fortunate I’ll never hurt Saoirse.”
Dad gave him a long, considering look. “I’ll be honest and tell you I was prepared to be pissed off you married my daughter without getting to know her family first. But there’s something about the two of you together that eases my worries.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m willing to reserve judgment and see how this thing goes.”
Luca gave my side a little shake. “That’s all I ask.”
Dad raised a brow at me. “You still haven’t told your mother?”
“No. I’m hoping I can get away with a FaceTime call.” I held up my crossed fingers. “Think that’ll be enough?”
“Not even close, kid,” he rumbled at me. “Good luck with that.”
I blew out a heavy breath. That was a chat I couldn’t put off much longer but didn’t want to think about, so I changed the subject entirely. “Luca’s never been on a horse.”
Dad’s head swiveled from me to Luca. “Is that true?”
Luca nodded. “It is. Not on purpose. I just haven’t had the opportunity.”
He patted Luca’s shoulder. “We’ll have to rectify that. You can’t be married to a Kelly girl and not be able to chase her down on a horse. Let’s get you saddled up.”
My father and Luca talked while he gave Luca a lesson on the basics of riding. I spent time with Athena, noting with pleasure how well taken care of she was. I’d have to tell Hannie and Cay they’d been doing an excellent job with my girl.
Even though we asked my dad to join us on a ride around the ranch, he begged off, saying he had too much work to do. We all knew he was trying to give us alone time, which I appreciated. Luca had to be overwhelmed. He was basically a fish out of water here.
This was a lot for a temporary husband to take part in.
We meandered over the acres. Athena was such a sweet girl. She would patiently walk with me all day, never straining to run. That was a good thing, so Dad and I chose our old boy Barney for Luca. Barney didn’t do anything in a hurry anymore, but he liked getting out and going for rides, poking his muzzle at everything he saw along the way.
And goddammit if Luca didn’t look sexy on old Barney. Though it was his first time, there was nothing clumsy about his ride. In his jeans and fitted T-shirt, the low wind ruffling his hair, he looked like a movie cowboy.
I blamed it on spending my formative years on a ranch, but a cowboy would always, always do it for me—even more than a man in a suit. Knowing Luca could pull both off to a T made him doubly dangerous.
We stopped beside the stream that ran through our property and hopped off the horses. Luca rubbed his backside, giving me a frown.
“I don’t know if I should be insulted you gave me a senior citizen horse to ride.”
“Don’t be insulted.” I glanced back at Luca as I started for the stream. “He’s perfect for beginners and gets along well with Athena.”
Luca followed me, standing next to me at the bank of the stream. “It’s gorgeous here.”
I sucked in a lungful of the freshest air in the world. “Yeah. I’m glad you got to see it.”
“Me too.” He knocked his arm into mine. “Do you think you’ll ever live here?”
“Absolutely not. I love it here, but I could never live so far outside a city. Plus, my family—”
“They’re great.”
“Yes, they are. I’m lucky. But they’d also suffocate me with their greatness. I’m better at being me when I have space.”
“I can’t imagine you ever having trouble being yourself.”
“You know what it’s like to be part of a family that’s also a business. Individualism is valued, but it’s hard to grasp when your name means a lot of people’s livelihoods.”
“True. I hadn’t considered you feeling that same pressure.
“We’re no Rossi Motors, but this ranch is a pretty big deal around here.”
“I get that now that I’m here.”
We were quiet a minute, the sounds of the ranch our only soundtrack. But I’d been wondering something since this morning and hadn’t had a chance to ask between the motorcycle ride and hanging with my family. This was the first opportunity, so I seized it.
I rounded to face him. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course. Anything.”
“Where did the condoms in my drawer go?”
I’d thought about packing some for this trip…just in case. But when I’d checked my toy drawer, the box I’d definitely stashed there was gone, the spot where they’d been empty.
Luca shrugged, shoving his fingers through the side of his hair. “Why would I know anything about that?”
“Because you’re the only one who has access to my bedroom.” I poked his arm. “Did you take them, Luca? Did you find yourself needing one and decide to steal them from my drawer? I just can’t imagine why else you’d—”
He caught my hand, using it to tug me against his chest. “Why would I need a condom, Saoirse? I’m not fucking you, which you’re well aware of.”
I let out a huff of breath. “I know you’re not, so I can’t think of any other reason you’d take my condoms other than to use with your hookups.”
“Hookups? What exactly are you accusing me of?”
“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m asking you why you took my condoms.”
“To use with the purported hookups I’m having.” He wrenched his eyes away from me, focusing somewhere far off in the distance. “I told you I wouldn’t do that. I don’t go back on my promises.”
“Okay.” I swallowed hard, taken aback at his adamance. “Then tell me what you did with them.”
His jaw rippled as he clenched and unclenched, but he refused to look at me. “Tossed them.”
My brow dropped. “But…why?”
“Doesn’t matter. You want more, I’ll buy them for you.”
“They’d be for you too, so, sure, I’m up for that. But in the fu—”
His head whipped around, and his hand flew up to cup my throat. “You still want that?”
“Didn’t I make myself clear last night?”
His face closed in on mine, our noses almost brushing. “When you told me you didn’t need me?”
“When I sat in your lap naked and teased you.”
His hand dropped, and he stomped a pace or two away. “Fuck.” His hands came up, clasping behind his head.
While he dealt with his existential crisis, I plopped on the ground, took my shoes and socks off, and waded into the stream. At this section, it only came up to my lower calves, but the cool, gently bubbling water was the refreshment I needed. Bending at the waist, I trailed my fingers over the surface, watching small fish wiggle along with the current.
The next thing I knew, my arms were in Luca’s grip, and my body was being tugged into his. He stared at me for a moment, suspended in time, then his mouth covered mine.
I whimpered in surprise, and that was all the opening he needed to sweep his tongue deep into my mouth, curling around, injecting his taste into me. And he tasted good. Fresh, clean, wanting. I licked at him, remembering all the details of our first night together.
That turned into my laughing against his lips.
He pulled back. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. I’m just thinking what it would be like to tell the girl I was when we first met that within two months, she’d be married to you.”
“Would that girl have run if she knew?”
I nipped at his bottom lip. “I don’t think so. You’re not so bad to be married to.”
He palmed my ass, jerking me against him. “I wish I’d had a warning. You’re an absolute nightmare.”
“Hey, asshole, that’s not nice.”
He took my chin in his other hand, staring at me with dark, hard eyes. “My condo smells like you now, so half the time when I’m home, I’m hard. The other half, I’m finding relief by fucking my hand to my memories of you. Do you think I enjoy being a slave to my body’s infatuation with you? It’s infuriating.”
“I have no idea, Luca. I barely ever see you, so I don’t know what you enjoy or how you feel. If this is the reason you’re rarely home, then why don’t you do something about it?”
He slipped his fingers into the back of my hair, fisting thick strands hard enough to tip my head back, then his mouth covered mine again. His tongue was a whip, lashing between my lips with anger and frustration, making me moan and my knees weak. He kneaded my ass with bruising strength, keeping my belly flush with the thick bulge pressing behind his zipper.
Rocking into me, licking me, squeezing my flesh, we made out with our feet in the stream, our horses grazing nearby, ranch life going on around us. If I thought about it too much, it would have been surreal, but Luca had stolen my ability to latch on to anything cognizant.
God, this man could kiss.
I slipped my hands up the back of his shirt, spreading wide over his warm, smooth skin, and felt my bones melting. I let it happen too, knowing he had me. My knees could have given out, and Luca would have held me upright.
His lips trailed down my throat, sucking and licking. There was nothing gentle about the way he tasted me. This man was taking out the frustration he’d been living with in silence, and every inch of my skin he could reach was his target.
His mouth latched on to the crook of my neck, all teeth and tongue and lips. My toes curled into the bed of the stream, eyes rolling back. Oh god, this was definitely going to leave a mark.
“Luca,” I panted, raking my nails into the muscles along his spine. “I can’t go back to my dad’s house with a hickey.”
It took him a few seconds to ease up, his lips ghosting over my throat. “Pretty sure it’s too late for that. I would imagine it’s not the first time.”
“What are you talking about? I was always a good girl.”
He slowly raised his head, and I got a good look at his blown-out pupils. “Nothing bad about a husband and wife making out in a stream.”
I shoved him gently, but he kept his hold on me. “Says the man who doesn’t have to face down his father with a hickey.”
Releasing my hair, he carefully pulled it forward so it draped over my shoulders. “There. Now the evidence is hidden. Only you and I know it’s there.”
“Thank you.” I trailed my fingers down his back and brought them to his sides, hooking into his belt loops. “I think we should head back.”
His gaze dropped to the sliver of space between us. “I’m going to need a few minutes before I can get back on that horse. Can you get out of my eyesight?”
A laugh burst out of me. “Oh shit. I guess riding Barney won’t be too comfortable with an erection.”
He shuddered, slamming his eyes shut. “Jesus, Saoirse. Don’t say erection. Don’t even acknowledge my cock’s existence. I’m already burning up here. I don’t need you to fan the flames.”
“All right.” I removed my hands from his waist and tried to take a step back, but he was still very much holding my ass. “You might need to let go of me too, Luca.”
He gave my butt another hard squeeze, followed by a quick, sharp slap. “Get out of here.”
