Upper Hand (Cedar Tree Book 5) (12 page)

“You’re a peach, I’ll see you later,” I smile when Arlene turns a glare on me. That woman loves me, almost as much as I love her, and she knows it. Grabbing my purse and coat, I drag my sorry ass to the parking lot in the back where the sound of a giggle has me turning my head. A stacked blonde is standing on the bottom step of the stairs going up to the apartment above the diner, her body hanging against Malachi’s big frame. Katie’s brother-in-law tilts his chin at me before turning his scowling face back to the Barbie around his neck. Seeing as he’s busy, it would be awkward for me to interrupt with questions about Dylan’s place, and I turn back to get into my car. I’ve barely turned the key when a tap on my window startles me. Mal gestures for me to roll down the window.

“Hey, Beth. Sorry about that,” he says in his gravelly voice, looking back to the stairs where the blonde woman still lingers with thunder on her face. “Some unwelcome baggage from a job I did earlier this month that keeps on popping up.”

I can’t help but snort. “There’s a way to avoid that, Mal. Keep it in your pants.”

He chuckles softly at my words, shaking his head.

“Not as bad as you make me out to be, Bethie. If I was up to half of the shit you accuse me of, I’d be worn off to a stump.”

Now I laugh out loud; a sound that apparently carries because I just catch the movement of Blondie stomping off around the side of the building.

“I’ve chased her away I think.”

“Thank you. I didn’t seem to be too successful.” He smiles. “But I stopped you because I wanted to let you know that I got your son’s computer—handed it off to Neil, who’s back in town and at Gus and Emma’s—and I got a couple of guys I know to help me pack up the rest. Most of it is in a storage unit near the airport, I’ve got the key and the paperwork upstairs. I can go grab it now or bring it with me tonight. I assume you’re going to the open house?”

“I was planning to, yes. Just bring it with you. I don’t know how to thank you for doing that, Mal,” I tell him, putting my hand on his arm.

“You kidding? You’ve looked after me since I got here; feeding me and slipping into the apartment to clean when I’m on assignment. Don’t tell me you thought I wouldn’t notice. I notice everything, Beth,” he says with that familiar arrogant tilt to his mouth. Gawd, whatever woman ends up taming him is one lucky bitch. “Oh, and before I forget, I’ll pop by tomorrow to drop some shit off I brought back. Was gonna do it this afternoon but I got...held up.”

“What do you have for me?”

“Didn’t make sense to have little Max’s room packed up and stuck in storage, when he could have it here. Figured he might miss his things.”

Oh yeah, some girl’s going to hit the jackpot with this one.

-

-

“W
ell, that was unexpected,” Beth says, as she takes off her coat and hangs it in the closet by the front door.

We’ve just come home from the clinic’s open house, where I had an awkward reunion with my brother. I’d figured he’d be there. Hell, hard as it is for me to admit, he must’ve worked his ass off getting the place done. Although exactly what his motivation is for being here in the first place, I don’t know. I managed to be civil, at least with Beth around, but when she was chatting with Kendra, Jed approached me wanting to talk.

“I’ve got nothing to say.”

“Maybe so, but I have enough for the both of us.”

That threw me off a bit, because he’s basically running my business, and I’m curious what the fuck he has to tell me, I tell him next week. That I’d be by at the office next week. Guess it was enough because he backed off then.

Then to everyone’s surprise, Joe showed up in a tux and dropped to a knee before Naomi. Certainly caught her off guard, although she got him back when she tackled him to the floor knocking the ring right out of his hand. I chuckle at the memory. But his proposal doesn’t really surprise me. Naomi’s been the one for Joe for years, even when he still had his head up his ass. And Naomi? Let’s just say Joe couldn’t have found a better woman around anyway. Well, with maybe one exception. My eyes flick to Beth.

“The timing was, the sentiment wasn’t.”

“I guess,” she mutters, as she passes me by in the direction of the kitchen. “Want some decaf?”

“Sure.”

I watch her puttering around the kitchen, wondering whether I should call her on the strange mood she’s been in since she got home. It’s not even nine-thirty yet, by all accounts early for a Saturday night. What better way to spend it than try and make some headway with this stubborn woman?

“You okay, Beth? You’ve been a bit off since you got home from the diner, is it that time of the month?”

With a clatter the spoon she was holding to scoop coffee grinds drops to the counter. I realize in that moment I probably just fucked up again.

“Say what?”

Damn that woman can look angry.

“I just meant that you seemed a bit off, like you weren’t feeling well or something.” I struggle to recover but once unleashed, there is no escaping the wrath of Beth.

“I’m off and so being a woman it
must
be my time of the month? Un-fucking-believable! You are such a Neanderthal, Clint. What do you call it when a guy is ‘
off,
’ huh? Oh wait, that’s right, men stronger than that, right? Not bothered by ‘
little
’ things that would affect only us ‘
fragile
’ women?” The sarcasm is dripping off, and before I have a chance to throw up a defense, she’s back in action, the coffee spoon clutched in her hand, waving around like a weapon. “For your information, buster, I haven’t had a period since the doctor removed my chicken coop twelve years ago!”

I swear I try to follow what she’s saying, and I think I’m doing okay until she brings up a chicken coop. Confused I shake my head and repeat it back to her.

“Chicken coop?”

For a minute I think the dramatic eye roll is all I’ll get for an answer, when in reality she’s just gathering steam. Fucked up as it may be, it makes me harder than steel to see her all riled up. My cock is straining behind my zipper to the point of serious self-mutilation.

“Oh. Em. Gee. Yes, Clint. Chicken coop. The works. The baby factory. I had a hysterectomy, you baboon!”

Okay, sue me, but all I can think right now is the promise of sliding into her without the barrier of a condom between us. Fuck yeah.

“Tell me I don’t have to explain to you what that is?”

Her hands on her rounded hips in challenge, she stirs the darker side of me. A challenge like that is not wasted on me and before she can blink I am on her. My arms pull her tight into my body, one hand sliding down to clasp that luscious ass and the other one tugging at the damn elastic band in her hair so I can weave my finger through.

Eyes wide and mouth opening in what I assume to be protest, I take away that option, forcing her to swallow her words when I slam my mouth down on hers. Hands that were braced against my chest in rejection, slowly curl to find purchase in my shirt as my mouth eats at hers in a dance for the upper hand.

I win.

Her whimper, along with the moulding of her body to mine, shows me that underneath that bristly fierce creature lives a woman who craves giving up control. Who despite the tight reigns she keeps on her life and everyone in it, secretly wants to let go. The knowledge that I’m able to bring that out in her makes my chest swell with emotion.
Fuck yeah
.

With Beth wedged between my body and the counter, I hold her head in place with my hand tangled in her hair, while the other hand goes exploring. Over her soft hips to the dip of her waist, skimming the slight swell of her stomach I can feel her suck in, to the weight of her breast overflowing my palm. I pull back slightly, leaving my lips barely touching hers and will her eyes to open to mine. I need to see her reaction as I use thumb and forefinger to sharply pinch and tug on her nipple poking through the lace of her bra. The sharp hiss and instant darkening of her chocolate brown eyes tells me enough.

“Bed,” I mumble against her mouth. “I need my mouth on you in the worst possible way, and I’ll end up on my face if we don’t get horizontal right fucking now.”

I shouldn’t be surprised to feel her stiffening up against me, but I’m not about to back off just because she feels insecure.

“I don’t think—“

“Don’t want you to think. Just want you to feel.” Taking in a deep breath I give her a little. “Bean,
please
. Bed.”

Taking a step back I take her hand and hurry as best I can down the hall. Don’t want to chance those damn defenses going up, like I know they will the moment I take my hands off her. The woman runs rings around me everywhere, but in passion she yields.

We pass by her room and head straight for the master, where I sit on the side of the bed, pulling her body between my wide spread legs. I haven’t had a chance to take her in with her gorgeous wavy hair down and take my time doing it now.

Uncomfortable under my intense scrutiny, as I let my eyes slide down the length of her body slowly, her hands start fiddling with the hem of her shirt by her sides.

“You know, I should—“

I can hear the uncertainty in her voice which pisses me off. For all her spark and fire, she shouldn’t be anything but proud for all she is, instead of shrinking before my eyes.

“Eyes on mine,” I interrupt her a bit curtly, waiting to have her attention. “Don’t look away.”

Without looking away, my fingers slowly start unbuttoning her top, starting at the bottom. Every time she makes to look away all it takes is a small sound or movement from me to have her attention back. I don’t want her looking at what my hands are doing, I want her to feel what I see. Button after button slips free until the last one. My eyes still firmly fixed on hers, I carefully spread her shirt wide open and lean forward to run my tongue from the waistband of her jeans all the way up to the edge of her bra, dipping into her bellybutton on the way.

“Your taste is incredible, I don’t think I’d ever need another meal if I could have my mouth on your body all day,” I mumble with my lips on her stomach. She feels and smells amazing, and I want to see to confirm what I already know—that she is beautiful. Feeling a little bit like I’m charming a feral animal, my eyes let go of hers and drop down to where her gorgeous, soft tits are almost spilling from the cups and lower to the creamy white soft flesh of her belly.
Dayum
.

“Gorgeous...”

Her sharp intake of breath has me raise my eyes again. “You are, you know that? It doesn’t really matter how hard you try to hide it with your ponytails and plain clothes—you can’t camouflage this kind of beauty. Nor should you.”

I grab her hips firmly in my hands to hold her in place.

“Now take off your bra,” I say, my voice with a hard edge now.

Instinctively Beth’s hands shoot up to cover her breasts and fire returns to her eyes making me smile.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” she challenges, but all I do is look at her without saying a word. A couple of minutes, not even, and I can see her determination wavering until finally she drops her hands away and reaches behind her to unhook her bra. Her breathing, high and shallow, is telling of anxious anticipation. The waiting for what is to come next and it’s that sound I love. The sound of promises of things to come. The sound of the tender beginnings of trust. The sweet, sweet sound of letting go.

The moment the cups of the lace confection falls away from her heavy, slightly sagging breasts, my hungry mouth and hands are there; kneading and lifting, sucking and nipping, groaning into her flesh until I feel the sting of her hands scratching my head.
Yessss
. This is what I hoped to find. I bury my face in her soft tits, her heart racing under my ear and her fingers massaging my skull. Fucking bliss, and I haven’t even been inside her body yet.

With my hands back on her hips, I move her back a little so I can maneuver her to sit on the bed beside me, her hands slide from my head and her mouth-watering tits sway with the movement. All it takes is a nudge to her shoulder to have her on her back on the mattress, and I lean in over her body, finding her mouth with mine in a possessive kiss. Not an easy task to get her jeans undone and down her hips with one hand, while the other holds her head in place by the hair, and I have to release her mouth to finish the job. Her creamy soft body is splayed out on the bed and momentarily has the breath stuck in my throat. Everything I fucking dreamed of is right here in full display. Cotton, waist high panties in stark contrast with the seductive Victoria’s Secret bra I just had her take off, symbolizing everything that is Beth to me. Her tempting dark Gypsy beauty paired with the simple, undemanding but hard-working woman underneath. The combination as alluring as the lingerie she wears. 

I don’t notice the smile on my face until she starts rolling away.

“Where do you think you’re going?” My voice comes out in a growl, pushing her shoulder back down in the mattress, and pinning her with my body.

“I don’t particularly like being the butt of your inside joke, you asshat!” she spits, her fight only serving to make me harder, if that’s even possible. Without hesitation I slip my hand under the elastic of her panties and without stopping to play with the surprisingly soft hair on her mound, my fingers dip firmly into her wetness.