One Last Sunset (The Long Ranch Series Book 1) (10 page)

Practically running for five minutes, finally in the distance she could see a structure. The cabin itself only had four rooms—two bedrooms, a bathroom and kitchen slash living room. Although it had running water, they kept a water cooler there for drinking and cooking. From a distance, she could see the one story home with its small porch. The wood structure needed to be painted, but for being almost a hundred years old it was in good shape.

Sunny and Mel sprinted to the porch, crashing into each other and the door.

“Please say you have the key?” Sunny panted while they stood under the covered porch.

“They lock it?” Melody asked and tried the knob. “Well, that sucks.”

Sunny flopped in an old rocker and laughed. “Not sure how dry we’ll be sitting out here.”

Melody tried pushing up on the windows, but they too were locked tight.

“I’ll be right back.” On a hunch, Mel went around to the bathroom window. With a quick shove, she was able to open it. Pulling herself up she slid quickly through the window slick with the rain and landed with a thud.

* * * *

“Mel,” Sunny called. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” a strained voice grumbled back.

A click sounded and Melody stood in the door like a drowned rat. Her t-shirt clung to her body outlining breasts and a smooth stomach. Taking off his hat, she threw it to the side and sighed. “Does my hair at least still look good?” she asked with a little smirk.

Sunny shook his head and came in right as the hail began.

Now inside, the chills started as he saw gooseflesh erupt on Melody and her teeth started to chatter matching the sound on the old tin roof of the hail coming down.

“I just want to clarify this is not totally selfish on my point,” he began.

Mel looked at him with her arms wrapped around herself. The action was for warmth, only he believed it worked more on him than her. When her chest was pushed together and up. The outline of her dark nipple shown through the thin fabric of both her shirt and bra. “You need to get out of those wet clothes.”

“I’m not the only one.” Her fingers glided over his chest and pushed back his shirt that fell to the floor.

“You’re shivering,” he said as he pulled a throw blanket off the back of the old couch and wrapped it around her. “How about get out of those and hang them up? Any chance there might be clothes here?”

“I doubt it.” She went into one of the bedrooms.

Sunny gazed at the old stone fireplace. Luckily, there were a few logs resting on the hearth. On the table were some old papers so he set up the fireplace and found a long lighter on the mantel. After the paper caught, he heard a few snaps and the logs began to burn with small embers. Having been in the cabin they were dry and ready to burn. Kneeling by the fireplace, he began to warm up a bit.

A door opened and he turned his head to see Melody coming out of the bathroom holding her jeans, t-shirt, and bra. Wrapped around her chest was the small beige blanket falling only to her knees. Her skin was smooth and mocha colored in contrast to her thin covering. Lightening went off, shooting light through the windows, and he once again could see her figure. One leg slightly crossed in front of the other one as she stood with her lips pursed.

Gathering himself, he let out a gust of air and stood. Walking toward her wasn’t the easiest thing with tight wet jeans and a hard on throbbing. “You couldn’t find any clothes?” he asked, swallowing hard as he gathered her wet garments in his hand.

“I didn’t look,” she confessed.

“I’ll hang these on the mantel to dry.” His lips pulsed as he found himself leaning in to inhale her scent. Never again would cool summer rain not remind him of her.

“You hungry?” she breathed and he felt her lips as they moved.

Eat? Well, that was something he could do without a condom. He did owe her. Leaving her hanging like he did. Dropping her clothes to the floor Sunny gathered her into his arms and carried her to the table in the kitchen area. Capturing her lips first, he made his intentions known when he leaned her back on the table.

Gliding down her body to her hip then to her smooth leg, he brought her ankle to his shoulder, then dropped to his knees. Tugging slightly he had her ass at the end of the table. The blanket opened nicely to display a pair of white lace panties hiding dark folds of heaven. Moving closer, he nibbled on her calf, then knee. Only there was an imperfection in her skin on the kneecap. “Did you get hurt?” he asked, lightly kissing the scrape.

“Merely a flesh wound. You know how us cowgirls are.”

“Please tell me,” he purred and kissed the inside of her thigh.

She trembled and he smiled.

Bringing his tongue into play on the sensitive flesh, his hand slid up the other thigh and found her mound. “Why didn’t take off your panties to dry? They appear wet.”

“They weren’t,” she teased and lifted herself up enough to show him dark pools of desire.

“Let me help you with those,” he offered and twisted his fingers in the side of the fabric. Pulling slowly, he unveiled her sex and knew there was no going back. Damn, everything he’d been raised with. She was the part of him he’d been missing. The home, the peace, the love. Even when they were younger, she could keep him level headed. Now he was going to have her, body and soul and for the first time, he wasn’t scared of the prospect.

His lips trailed from the top of the little tuft of hair at her waist down to her sex. Taking her pussy into his mouth, he didn’t know which set of lips tasted sweeter. His tongue tingled as it swirled around her clit, then dove into the wetness of her core. Resting his hand on her stomach, he balanced himself. As her essence flowed, he remembered the split to his lip. The sweet sting of pain mixed with the euphoria of pleasuring her caused him to delve deeper. Thrusting his tongue inside her, he tasted the sweetness as she began to wriggle.

“Oh fuck,” she moaned as her fingers clawed at his and she held on as if she were going to die if she released.

With his free hand, he brought his fingers to her opening and let his tongue glide up to her clit. Taking that fully into his mouth, he sucked and slowly glided three fingers inside. The hood of her clit was fully extended and he flicked his tongue. She bucked against his mouth and her flavor became salty. Her pussy clenched his fingers so tight he couldn’t move them, even with a wetness that put the storm outside to shame.

“Sunshine,” she screamed.

He blew on the swollen lips while his fingers found a little bit of give and moved them out and in three more times. Each one had her groaning and pulling his hair. He may be bald at the end of this and he didn’t care one damn bit. His hard on had his balls pulled up to the point it hurt, but it was a good hurt.

“Fuck me, Sunny,” she cried.

He wanted to. So damn bad. He was surprised he hadn’t popped the button and zipper holding back his cock. Instead, he brought his lips back to her pussy and sucked harder. Praying this would satisfy her because as much as he’d like to come inside her, then watch it shine against her skin, he couldn’t. Not without protection. Then again, he didn’t think he could fuck her either way. Melody needed to be cherished. Held. If they slept together, he’d make love to her. Was he even ready for something like that?

“Sunny?” Mel pulled herself back and placed a hand on either side of his face.

He pulled in his lips to gather more of her flavor into his mouth.

“I want you inside me.”

“I can’t,” he said, turning his eyes away. “I want to, so damn bad.”

“Don’t I turn you on?” she asked.

He stood up between her legs. “You tell me,” he growled, taking her hand and placing it on his cock, harder than he’d ever remembered it being. “I’m ready to explode.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“I came to the ranch to build planting boxes. Very little use for a condom, let alone a strip, which is what I think I’ll need with you.”

“Is that all?” she smiled. “I’m sure the bedrooms are stocked.”

“What?”

“The guys come out here for
bible study
.”

Chapter Seven

Sunshine’s lips turned from frustration to kiddish glee. His rough hands grasped Mel’s thighs, then worked up to her hips. Pulling her from the table, he set her on the floor, and she tried to remember how standing worked. Balance after orgasm wasn’t her strong suit. Fortunately, she had a table to brace herself on.

“I’ll ransack the bedroom, how about you find us something to eat,” Sunny suggested. “And we’ll meet in the living room.”

“Not in the bed?”

“I love your family, but I doubt the sheets get changed regularly.”

Mel dropped her eyes down with a smile. First, she hung her clothes along the mantel with Sunny’s shirt. He’d yet to remove his jeans, but she was going to take care that as soon as possible.

The rain hadn’t let up. In fact, they were probably in the height of the storm. Windows rattled as the wind picked up. Mel dug through the fridge and found beer, some wine coolers…for the girls she assumed, and cheese that looked fresh. Next up, were the cupboards. A few packages of
Ritz
—the guys were nothing if not gentlemen—and cans of soup and chili if they got stuck here for too long. In the corner, a CB radio tied into the whole ranch since phones were hit and miss.

Flipping on the radio, she heard the guys talking about getting the cows gathered close to the pens they used during bad weather so they didn’t stampede.

“Anyone seen Sunny?”
Walt’s voice crackled over the radio. Followed by a bunch of nos.
“He doesn’t have a vehicle, does he? Could he of gone to town?”

Melody’s gut tightened as she tried to figure out a way to say he was safe without giving away their location. She was supposed to be at work where they wouldn’t worry about her. Her great uncle had died young in one of these storms and it had been drilled into the family that everyone on the ranch must be accounted for. She groaned. She knew the guys would risk themselves to find Sunshine. It was more important the two of them were safe than her family not know about Sunny and her being alone together.

“Something up?” Sunny asked as he came in the kitchen.

“They’re looking for you.”

“Oh, shit,” he replied, knowing exactly what would happen. “Tell them the truth.”

“You’re busy in an attempt for multiple orgasms, but only because our clothes got wet?”

“Hey guys,” Sunny said into the radio while rolling his eyes.

“Sunny? That you?”
Walt replied.

“Yeah, Melody took out that beat up gator to get some samples for Doc. I couldn’t let her go alone.”

“Where are you?”

“The cabin, the gator died not far from here, but the rain hit us.”

“
We’re in a thunderstorm warning for the next hour or so. Will you two be okay?”

“We’ll manage.” Sunny smirked at Mel and softly brushed his finger against her bare shoulder. “Mel found us some food. Guess my lunch break will be a bit long.”

“Sounds good, I’ll send Clay to pick you up when it’s clear.”

“Ten-four, we’ll keep the radio on if anything changes.”

Walt went back to checking in with others around the ranch.

Sunny leaned against the counter.

It was then Melody noticed Sunny had ditched his boots and jeans in lieu of a towel, currently wrapped around his waist and tucked tight at the side of his hip. She ran her fingers down the ridges on his belly until she found the hip divot. Unlike his hands, his skin was smooth, tanned, and with just a small strip of hair from his belly button under his towel.

“They know we’re together,” Sunshine said as he rested his hand on her hip.

“We have at least an hour before they get here.” Melody tilted her head to the side and tugged on the towel. It fell down and pooled at their toes. The gasp that escaped Mel’s lips made her face heat up.

“You strip me, then act surprised that I’m naked?”

“That wasn’t what surprised me.”

“I told you my problem wasn’t a lack of wanting.”

Melody saw the long shaft staring straight at her, thick and swollen with a girth. She should’ve guessed. He must have been in pain trapped in those jeans. “I see that.”

“You know what I see?” he asked as his eyes found hers.

She lost the ability to look away from those deep blue pools.

The pad of his thumb stroked her lower lip. “I see the most delicious woman I’ve ever seen. With a mind sharp enough to keep me on my toes for decades, a kiss which makes me forget the rest of the world, and a body…” Sunny blew out a breath as he embraced Melody.

His fingers tickled along the top the blanket making her nipples harden against the rough fabric. Tracing the outline of her breasts, he had her biting her lips.

“Now, I wonder, what could we do with that hour?” He smiled and released the little tuck holding the blanket tight to her body.

“Something tells me we’ll figure it out.”

* * * *

“I promise, Tina. I’ll get your garden done tomorrow before lunch,” Sunny assured the Spelman grad who wanted to get her winter plants in the ground. Or his planters since the soil wouldn’t grow anything. He’d been able to get one of the boxes completed after being ‘rescued’ by Clayton.

Tina Long had a calm demeanor in contrast to Walt who seemed to feel he had the weight of the whole ranch on his shoulders. The petite woman couldn’t be more than five one, with shoulder length hair usually corralled into some sort of binder to control her curls. With skin the color of dark honey and eyes to match she stood out among the Longs.

The three children she’d bore took on their father’s coloring with her eyes. Dark and light with personalities that didn’t match either parent. Vanessa, or Nessa, was the most boisterous of the bunch. Currently, she was using Sunny as a jungle gym. Climbing up his back and demanding rides.

“Walt was supposed to build it for the last six months. If you get it done before next spring, I’ll be happy. Besides, this weather came out of nowhere,” Tina replied with understanding eyes. “I’m just glad you went with Mellie. If she got stuck out there alone, the boys would have never forgiven themselves. What was she doing out there anyway?”

“Something to do with cattle around here. Doc’s had some sick ones.”

“Walt didn’t say anything. Nessa,” she scolded her daughter. “Uncle Sunny and I are talking.”

“Wanna ride,” she cried a little bit too close to Sunny’s ear. “Unc Sun, pleeeeeessssee…”

“I told Walt to just buy her a pony and get it over with.” Tina grabbed the toddler from Sunshine’s back and placed her on the ground. “Junior, come get your sister please before I sell her to a band of gypsies.”

The oldest of Tina’s children came out of the house to the porch with a snap to the screen door. At only six Sunny could already see the Long genes taking hold. He grumbled a bit, but tugged the three year old out of the room.

“Did Walt say if they needed any help with the cattle?” Sunny asked while looking out toward the main barn. Storms can cause all sorts of problems.

“I haven’t heard from him since he went out to check on the herd.” Tina waved Sunny inside and he followed. “I thought you couldn’t help with that type of stuff?”

“Shouldn’t would be a better way to explain it. Let’s just say running to the cabin had me relearning how to breathe. It’s not like you can just wrap me in plaster of Paris and call it day.”

“Stubborn ass just like the rest. Now you’re stayin’ at your mama’s.”

“Right now, yes.” Sunny ran his hands under the water in the kitchen sink and used the scrub brush to clean under his nails.

“Do you have a truck to get back out here?”

“No ma’am.”

“If I remember correctly, your daddy and you didn’t get along when you were younger. That changed?”

“Not really.”

“Why don’t you stay with MeMaw? I know she’d love the company and then you could just take a gator that works and come back and forth.”

“MeMaw?” Sunny asked while drying his hands.

“I’d have you stay here, but until I kick the youngest brother out I have a full house. Or you could stay at the cabin. Clay wanted it fixed up. Are you working for the money or the excuse to not be in the house?”

Sunny ran his hand through his hair and rocked back on the heels of his boots. “Nothing gets past you does it?”

“I remember when Luce was sick.” Tina walked to the table and poured two glasses of lemonade. “You saved us, the guys couldn’t handle it, but I think part of you being here was because how she was and your family wasn’t.”

“She was a wonderful lady.” Sunny confessed and placed the cooled glass on his neck before taking a salutatory swig.

“Hard shoes to fill, believe me.”

“I think you’re doing pretty good.”

The screen door snapped back. “Please, Tina sucks,” Clayton said as he entered the kitchen. “Don’t you?” he continued to tease like everyone’s favorite little brother.

“So that will be two shakes of rat poison on your chicken today?” Tina snapped back.

Clayton repeated the action of hand scrubbing they’d both learned as children from Luce. “Can I have it on my biscuits?” he teased, looking over his shoulder at Tina. “Something about the melted butter and rat poison reminds me of when I was young and your husband wanted to get rid of the competition.”

Clay was the tallest of all the Long’s. At six three and built like a brick shithouse, everyone thought he’d be a shoe in for the NFL. No one ever considered the coddling he got as a child would make him soft as baby shit. Mercifully, for Sunny, Clay toughened up after multiple ass whoopings. Too bad, he’d been in high school when his brothers had been away at college and it had been too late.

“He did chase JT away.” Tina smiled. “One down.”

“He didn’t chase JT away…JT ran toward—” Sunny elbowed Clay in the gut and he gasped. “Where’s the love, man? I saved your ass the other day.”

“I swear you guys gossip like a pack of hens,” Tina scolded and passed Clay plates. “Set the table.”

“Didn’t you give birth, so I wouldn’t have to do this anymore?”

“No,” Tina replied plainly, then turned to Sunny. “You’re staying for dinner, right?” Although this was a question, only a fool wouldn’t assume it was an order. Tina may be little, but she filled Luce’s shoes as if she too had been five ten and two fifty.

“Yes ma’am,” he said. “It’d be better than sittin’ on your stoop waiting on my dad.”

Supper at the Long’s hadn’t changed with the generational shift. Laughter and discussions on the day filled the room. The youngest Long, Quentin, was new to solid food and the star of the meal in his high chair.

During the meal, Sunshine couldn’t keep his mind from thoughts of Melody. The taste of her skin, the feel of her body and the smell of her hair. Never feeling out of place at the Long Ranch had always been the best part of coming there, but would it be the same if he attempted the transition from everyone’s favorite brother from another mother to actual brother? Tina had fell into the family without a hitch, but he had history. The guys knew about him. He didn’t have a degree or a spotless past. There was also his glaring melanin deficiency to consider.

“I think Sunny should stay with MeMaw,” Tina announced at the table.

“Have you asked her?” Clevon asked as his forehead furrowed. He had a commanding presence at the head of the table.

“Well, I don’t have room here, the only other option is Clayton pay him to fix up the cabin.”

“He wouldn’t have to pay,” Sunny spoke up. “Just staying there would be great.”

“Um…” Clayton looked at Sunny, then to Walt who gave a knowing smirk. “See, that cabin…”

“Is empty.” Tina scowled. “You want to move out there and in the few times a week you go out there you don’t get much work done. Sunshine on the other hand might be more motivated. Especially, since he’d be getting paid and have all day to work.”

“Again…” Sunny began, only to have Tina’s hand go up and he knew to shut it.

“The sooner that cabin is livable. Then why would you stick Sunny there?” Clayton asked.

“Sunny doesn’t have a stick up his…” Her head turned to the side to see Vanessa and Junior staring at her. “You’re right Clay, how about you move out there and Sunny can stay here.”

A horn honked as a flash from headlights cut through the windows.

“I better go.” Sunny got up and cleared his place. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Wait,” Walter called as Sunny was half out the door. Another loud beep echoed through the air. “You can move in tomorrow. Clay will run you by the grocery store before he brings you out. Tina’s right, how about you fix it up and make it pretty for the princess here.”

* * * *

Mel sat staring at the fax machine all day. With little to do until the next round of vaccines, the clinic had gone from too much work to zilch, in less than twenty four hours. She had to respect Doc’s reason for putting the moratorium on the all procedures until this was solved. She just wished she were back at Texas Tech where the equipment needed to run the tests would have taken her a few hours instead of waiting on others. She hated depending on others when she was just as capable to perform the task. At least when the equipment was there.