MrBigStuff-epub Read online

Jefferson smiled, the lights from the truck shining in his eyes. That’s when she finally noticed he was holding something in his hands. And that something looked a lot like rope. He dropped it on the deck beside his feet. “This isn’t camping. This, I believe, is spanking.”

  Oh God. He was taking off his shirt, which was unfair and distracting. She would never get tired of looking at his body. Every ridge, every muscle was a work of art. And out here the view was only for her as he stripped with the high beams putting him in his own spotlight. If Terry the photographer could see him now…

  She licked her lips. “What’s the rope for? And isn’t there some sort of taboo about the best man and maid of honor having sex on the very spot where the bride and groom are getting married?”

  “Not if we don’t tell them. Anyway I’ve been ordered to tear it down tomorrow if they don’t and have them start from scratch. So I think we’re safe.” He reached for his belt and pretended to frown. “Who said anything about having sex?”

  He hadn’t answered her about the rope. It was probably the groom’s, which was definitely another wedding taboo. Caroline didn’t care. She got to her feet and started unbuttoning her cardigan. “You don’t want me?”

  His hands paused on the buttons of his jeans when she slipped out of the lightweight sweater and unhooked her bra. She let the straps slide down her arms and arched her back, giving him a sensual smile to go with the view. “You don’t want to tie me up and bend me over right now? Fuck me out here beneath the stars where no one can hear my screams?”

  She lowered her zipper and toed off her flats before stepping out of her jeans and thong underwear. When she straightened again, she was completely naked, and he was still watching her. Frozen. She moved closer, until she was looking up at him. “You don’t want to spank me and own me, see my ass turn pink until I beg you to let me come? Are you sure? You’ve been waiting for hours.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Caroline,” she corrected with a grin.

  He slid his hands into her hair the way she loved and pulled her up against him. “You definitely want that spanking, don’t you, baby?”

  Her throat went dry. “Oh, yes, Jefferson.”

  His cheeks were flushed, the ice green of his eyes bright in the darkness. “I’m going to use my belt.”

  She shuddered in his arms, so turned on by the idea that her knees turned to Jell-O. They’d been playing together for two weeks, but he’d never spanked her with anything but his hand before.

  “I’m also going to bind your wrists and hang them from that beam above you. I want access to every part of this body you’re offering so sweetly. Would you like that, Caroline?”

  She was glad he was holding her or she might have fallen into a puddle at his feet. He was using that voice. The one he only used when they were together like this. The one she had no choice but to obey. “Very much.”

  “I thought you might.” He kissed her hard, then let her go to gather the rope at his feet.

  Caroline watched him expertly wrap and knot the ropes around her wrists. She focused on breathing when he led her to the center of the raised deck and threw the rope over the beam above her, lifting her arms over her head.

  She couldn’t see anything beyond the small circle of light the headlights created around them. Anything could be out there. Anyone. She was completely vulnerable like this. Exposed.

  I’ll take care of you.

  Jefferson tugged on the rope, stretching her arms until the heels of her feet were barely touching the wood beneath her. “How does that feel, Caroline? It’s not too tight?”

  She shook her head. “It’s good,” she gasped. “Not too tight.”

  He secured the rope and walked around her body until he was in front of her. His jeans were open but still on, his belt dangling from its loops. He reached out to cup her breast, the small mound disappearing in his hot palm. “You’re beautiful. I’ve wanted to do something like this since I watched you in the club.”

  His hands dropped to his belt and he slid it free. Then he gripped both ends in one fist, and the loop of leather made Caroline’s heart race. “Are you ready for your spanking?”

  Yes, please. I need it. I need you. “Yes, Jefferson.”

  He moved until he was beside her, caressing her stomach, her hip with his free hand. Then he slid it down to cup her sex firmly and she whimpered, knowing he would feel how wet she was. How much she wanted this.

  The belt came down across the center of her ass without warning and she shouted at the sharp lashing sting, her back arching and her hips slinging forward into his waiting hand.

  Jefferson groaned. “Damn, that is a pretty sight. Do you want another?”

  She nodded and the belt struck the left cheek of her ass, making her writhe against her rope. “Fuck,” she cried, already overwhelmed with sensation. Her skin was burning, tingling almost painfully.

  She wanted more. “Jefferson.”

  He spanked her again, but this time when the impact sent her toward his hand he slipped two fingers inside her sex, pressing his thumb against her clit as he cupped her. “You are fucking sexy, baby,” he muttered. “I’m not sure I can hold back long enough to give you the spanking you deserve without having a taste. You’re too wet, and I haven’t kissed you in so long.”

  Kissed? But he just—

  Caroline gasped in surprise when he changed position, gripping her thighs and lifting them over his shoulders. The move curved her body upward, her wrists dangling from the rope, her sex pressed against his lips.

  “Don’t come,” he ordered before he buried his face between her legs.

  “Jefferson!” Caroline’s heels dug into his bare back and she rocked her hips against his mouth, unable to control her reaction to his tongue thrusting deep inside her.

  She couldn’t come. Not even when his primal growls were making her clit vibrate and his fingers dug deliciously into her thighs.

  Don’t stop. Fuck me. So good, Jefferson. Take more. Make me come.

  She couldn’t come. “Please. Yes, Oh God, that feels…”

  He tilted her hips up and went deeper, his groans wild, his talented tongue driving her to the brink again and again. When she couldn’t take it anymore he lifted his mouth, his lips shimmering and his breath hot against her thigh. “Now.”

  His tongue filled her again and she came, her muscles tightening around him and her hips moving helplessly against him. She closed her eyes and saw stars. “Yes,” she whispered, lost in the shudders wracking her body.

  He dropped his hands and she heard the sound of tearing. Then he was easing her legs to wrap them around his waist. He gripped her hips and his cock filled her with one deep thrust before her climax could subside.

  “Caroline,” he growled, his hands guiding her in a hard, satisfying rhythm against him. “That’s what I needed. What I always need. God, you feel so good.”

  Her head hadn’t stopped spinning from her last orgasm before she felt the new one building. She reached for it, forcing her heavy lids open so she could look at him.

  He was looking down so she followed his gaze and watched his thick condom-encased erection pumping in and out of her. Stretching her.

  Part of her.

  They came together again and again in the quiet, their soft groans and harsh breathing the only sounds around them. Jefferson’s body was gleaming with exertion and rippling with restraint as he took her higher than she knew she could go.

  Don’t stop. It’s so good, don’t stop. Love it so much. Love you.

  She shouted his name as she came again, feeling as if her body were shattering into a million pieces. Jefferson’s touch was the only thing holding her together.

  When he joined her with his own powerful climax, Caroline knew that nothing for the rest of her life would ever feel as good as this did. As right.

  It wasn’t until she was lying in his arms in bed, still awake as the sun came up, that the truth of that thought hit her. She got out of bed, went to
the bathroom and turned on the shower so he wouldn’t hear her cry.

  Chapter Nine

  Jefferson was pacing the kitchen of the old house, feeling like a trapped animal in a cage. He wanted to break something. Hit something. He wanted to throw Caroline over his shoulder and finally get her alone so he could find out what the hell was going on.

  Five days. It had been five days since he’d been alone with her. After that first night, she’d been a hummingbird, beautiful to watch and impossible to pin down. She’d claimed she was in “wedding mode” and he could plainly see that it was true. But something inside told him it was more than that. And every time he tried to approach her, she gave him a distracted smile, a reasonable excuse, and then she was gone again.

  He’d watched her take the wedding planner to task and organize his entourage with a skill he was forced to admire. Her Bluetooth was forever in her ear as she spoke to caterers and made last minute orders. When she wasn’t on the phone she was in the car. She’d driven into Austin twice to pick up several of Trudy’s California friends as they arrived, and whenever she had a moment to breathe Caroline had been at his sister’s side like a mother hen. Always ready with a tissue and a distraction for the unusually emotional bride.

  Two days ago she’d sent John to stay with Jefferson, Diego and Manly here at the old place so all the women could congregate around the bride. The Bachelor House, as Diego had taken to calling it, was a gloomy and miserable place full of men who’d been denied the women they wanted and a full recycling bin of empty beer bottles.

  Jefferson was a selfish bastard. His sister and his oldest friend were getting married today and all he could think about was getting Caroline back into his bed. Getting her to admit there was something wrong so he could fix it. He’d seen her every day but with the distance she’d put between them, she may as well have been in California.

  “Calm down, John,” he heard Diego laughing upstairs. “If you strangle yourself before the wedding Trudy will kill us all.”

  “You mean Caroline will,” Manly countered, stomping down the stairs behind the others. “That woman is…she has.... And I thought Glory was scary.”

  “That means he likes what he’s seen of your wife’s maid of honor,” Diego chuckled. “And so do I.”

  What the hell did that mean? Jefferson’s fists clenched. He’d warned them away from her the last time Caroline came to visit, and he was more than willing to remind them how off limits she was.

  John came into view and strode toward Jefferson, holding his tie. “A little help, Junior? These two apparently can’t tie a shoe.”

  Diego was behind him shaking his shaved head, but his dark eyes were laughing. “I thought you were the rope expert, boss. We’ve all seen your work before. A tie only has one tiny knot.”

  Jefferson reached for John’s tie and slid it under the groom’s collar. “Diego has a point. What’s the problem?”

  “My hands are shaking,” John muttered. “If Caroline hadn’t exiled me here, Trudy could have tied this perfectly. And I could have made her that tea she likes. I should call and remind her to take her vitamins. She keeps forgetting.”

  Poor John. Finding out Trudy was pregnant had really done a number on the guy. Hell, it had thrown Jefferson for a loop as well. A baby. A niece or a nephew that he could teach to sit a horse and swim and jump off the barn when their mother wasn’t looking. Children on the land again. Old Margery would cry when she heard the news.

  “If she’s feeling queasy, Caroline will take care of her,” Jefferson assured him. “She’s been taking care of everything all week. Besides, it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

  “He saw her last night.” Diego leaned against the counter, watching them. “Half the town saw her. Those who weren’t staring at her kinky West Coast friends, that is.”

  Caroline had convinced the owners of Frank’s diner to close down for a private party. A coed bachelor party where Caroline and the friends Jefferson had seen play her at the club, Dawn and Casey, introduced La Grange to a whole new world of sin.

  It was more innocent than it could have been, he knew. The party favors had been risqué and they’d had a short rope demo in honor of the happy couple, but everyone present seemed to have a good time. Even Sandy from Just Curl Up was there, laughing and threatening to handcuff every man in sight.

  Everyone except for Jefferson. He’d thought the party would give him a chance to get Caroline alone and talk to her. Or to have a little demo of his own in case she’d forgotten how explosive the chemistry between them was. The damn woman never stood still long enough, and when he’d asked to talk, she’d miraculously been called away to save Big John from Dawn’s heart-shaped paddle.

  “Trudy had fun.” John smiled at Diego and distracted Jefferson from his grim musings. “I was glad so many people showed up and stuck around. They seemed to enjoy themselves. La Grange isn’t as backward as she thinks.”

  “Oh yes it is.” Jefferson finished tying John’s tie. “But you keep telling yourself that, buddy. You’re all set.”

  “Look at that, Manly,” Diego praised. “Jefferson is good at tying knots as well. Another rope man. Personally I’m more of a hands-on kind of guy, but women seem to like it, right? We should take lessons.”

  “Shut up, asshole.” The tall, blond Manly, who’d been named for his resemblance to a character from Little House on the Prairie, sent Diego a speaking look.

  Jefferson studied them suspiciously. “I’m missing something.”

  John fiddled with his tie and glanced around at Manly, obviously unaware of the exchange. “Is it straight?”

  Diego laughed until Manly turned beet red. “It is,” he finally responded, glaring at his shorter friend again. “What is your problem?”

  “I’m sorry, that tickled me.” Diego came up to pat John on the shoulder. “Glory tells me we’re expected to help walk people to their chairs, and I wouldn’t want to give her another reason to get bent out of shape so we’d better be going. We’ll see you soon, boss.”

  Manly shook his hand. “You’re a lucky man. Congratulations.”

  John thanked him and watched them disappear through the kitchen door. “There’s something going on there. I think Diego is finally losing his patience.”

  Jefferson could relate. “With our little beekeeper? Manly was touchier than usual too. Who can blame them? She’s teased them long enough, don’t you think?” He shrugged. “Then again, Diego has Manly to play with, so this little game could go on indefinitely. We’ll worry about them later. Right now, we’ve got to get you ready for your bride.”

  John pulled a chair out from the dining table and sat down heavily. “My bride.”

  “You waited for her long enough.” Jefferson reached for a bottle of whiskey and poured them each a shot. Then he held up his shot glass and waited for John to do the same. “To John and Trudy—the exceptions to the rule.”

  After they both tossed back the shots, he sat down at the table and John took the bottle from his hand. “You going to tell me about what’s going on between you and Caroline?”

  “I wouldn’t be much of a best man if I did. Besides, since we got here there hasn’t been that much to tell.”

  John ran a hand through his dark blond hair and sighed. “I know that look. And I know you. You’ve been different ever since you got back. Are you upset about the house? Is it just Caroline or…?”

  “I’m not upset about the house.” It was a roof and four walls. And he’d had the strangest feeling since he came home that it was no longer his. Stranger still, it didn’t bother him at all.

  He was different. His experience on the show, his time with Jennifer, had changed him. Shown him what he was really made of and who he wanted to be. He and John were different. He was impulsive where John was steady. John’s power was quiet and Jefferson certainly wasn’t that. But they’d both been sitting in this kitchen for years doing the same thing. Waiting. Even if it was for different reason
s.

  John had waited for years for Trudy—in part because Jefferson had asked him to give her space, it was true, but he’d never given up. Jefferson had been waiting too, but not for any one thing. He’d been waiting for his mother to come back, for his father to heal, for his sister to find her way. Even with Troublemaker he’d been content to let John take the lead. He’d been content not to take the reins of his own life.

  It wasn’t something he could be content with now.

  And then there was Caroline. Hell, Caroline— “There’s nothing just about Caroline. She’s one hell of a woman.”

  His woman.

  Not yet. He’d done his best to make her his, to claim her in a way even she couldn’t deny, but she was just as stubborn as he was. She was trying to push him away and he wasn’t sure how to stop it from happening.

  Maybe their time together hadn’t meant as much to her. The weeks of intimacy and exploration might not have been as potent as it had been for him. He couldn’t make her feel what he was feeling. If he tried, he might end up like his father, spending the rest of his life loving a woman who didn’t feel the same.

  “What happened a few weeks ago, then? Can you tell me that? Trudy tried to hide it, but she was really worried about you.”

  Jefferson ran a hand over his face, considering. “I suppose you should know. We haven’t told Trudy because I’m not going to spoil the wedding and now, with the baby… Anyway, it’s about Jennifer.”

  Jefferson gave him the short version, downplaying his own heartbreak, and John banged his fist on the table in frustrated anger. “You don’t think she’ll show up for the wedding, do you? Would she do that to Trudy?”

  “No, I don’t.” He shook his head. “She knows she can’t get what she wants from us, and I find it hard to believe she’ll ever come back to this town for anything less than a sure thing.”

  John frowned. “We? Does Caroline know?”

  “She found me. She already knew about Jennifer from Trudy, so yeah. She knows.”

  When he’d told her everything that had happened, she’d spent the night taking care of him. She’d taken off his clothes and climbed into her bed with him, holding him for hours. When he’d reached for her in the night she’d come willingly, almost lovingly. It healed the ache in his heart more than she would ever know.