Tailwind (Love By Design Book 4) Page 9

  I wore her out, heck I wore myself out. Maybe it wasn’t about the worry over my waning stamina since giving up the dream of playing pro-football and more about the fact that I had never wanted a woman the way I wanted Winnie before. Frankly it scared the shit out of me and brought to mind lots of ideas about permanency when I had no idea where or what Winnie herself saw in this situation. She was here for the summer. A summer that was almost half over. I had events with friends getting married and those things combined with the other tell-tale markers of growing up and settling down didn’t seem to have the same meaning to Winnie as it did to me. I was ready. Clearly she was… somewhere else I wasn’t.

  Her thick hair, inky black lay across the pillows and she reminded me of a black and white photograph. Something my grandmother would have kept framed and up on the wall in her house in Vermont.

  I wished I didn’t have to do this charity fundraiser for my sister. I eyed my tuxedo from the closest still neatly wrapped from the dry cleaner. Dread settled in my stomach along with a cramp. I probably over did things last night pouncing on Winnie like a tiger.

  No sooner did I think then my phone rang with a text message. It was Noah, a friend from high school and an officer at the police department here.

  Noah: Chase – I need you to meet me at the vet office. I have a baby deer whose mother was struck by a car.

  I hated these kinds of calls. Nine times out of ten I had to put the baby animal out of its misery if the mother was dead.

  Chase: I’ll meet you there in 10.

  “Winnie, babe. I gotta get up and get to the animal hospital.” I brushed hair back from her cheek. Half her face was dug deep into the pillows and I doubted she’d remember half of this conversation.

  “Mmm. What?”

  “There’s an injured baby deer my friend is bringing in.”

  She roused herself up on her arms wobbling unsteady with a yawn.

  “Wow, okay. I’m up.”

  “No you’re not, but it’s cute. Stay here and sleep in. I’ll go over to the clinic and take care of this, but I’ll need you to bring me my tux so Kristen doesn’t kill me later.”

  She yawned again and I kissed her forehead getting up off the bed.

  “Sure. Okay.”

  I kissed Winnie thoroughly this time and left her to sink back into the pillows and comforter as she watched me throw clothes on and race out the door. I made it to the clinic in record time unlocking the door and throwing the lights on. Noah was right behind me holding a small wrapped animal.

  “Where’d you find the little guy?”

  “Right off the highway. Poor thing was lying next to its mother bleating out these horrible sounds. She’d been hit and I had to shoot her. Legs were mangled it was awful. This little guy was a mess, but nothing’s broken I can tell.”

  “Alright.”

  I had Noah lay him down on the exam table and unwrap him. He was clearly in shock, dehydrated and newly born with afterbirth still matted in his hair. I checked him over and Noah was right, besides being covered in slim and blood he was a little trooper.

  “Dude, wait until Rooney sees the back of his squad car I was using.” Noah chuckled helping me with the deer. I could only image the mess afterbirth made all over the backseat of a police vehicle.

  “He’ll get over it. He’s a good guy.”

  “You have any idea how much kids scare him?”

  “I’d think any female would scare him. He asked Kristen to marry him.”

  “Good point.” We chuckled and I got the baby deer hooked up to an IV and gave him some medication. I scratched him under his chin and he leaned into my hand. Vulnerable dark eyes looked back at me reminding me of similar eyes I left in my bed nearly an hour ago.

  “I have a volunteer I can call to come in and check on him. My sister owns my ass for this auction tonight.”

  “Sucks to be you, bro.” Noah clapped me on the back and I nodded agreeing. Kristen conned me into quite a few things over the years.

  I washed up at the sink and then brought my files into the room so I could work and watch the little guy for a bit.

  16

  Winnie

  “Wow, that really cool of you to let your boyfriend strut his stuff for an animal charity.” I rolled my eyes at the stranger who fanned herself with the cheap event pamphlet eye fucking Chase from her seat in the auditorium. I wondered if the PTO knew what was really happening under the cover of darkness on their high school stage. All manner of bad moms were salivating like Pavlovian dogs over my man’s tail. Well those bitches could go hump elsewhere. Chase was mine.

  I kept repeating the mantra, “This is all for charity.” Under my breath so I didn’t have to cut someone eying up my pet doctor. Chase looked good in his tux and Kristen looked pleased to be selling him off to the highest bidder. I bet she would have made a good madam back in the day with a brothel of her own. The upside and perhaps the only upside to this night from hell was the animal shelter they were helping would benefit. The director Kiara worked hard putting together an animal therapy program for kids that sounded really cool.

  “You know I hear he got his career ending injury during a blow job in a car and not from football.”

  I turned to give the woman sitting next me a withering stare. It’s like these small town people had no concept of boundaries, none whatsoever.

  “Annnd…this isn’t awkward at all.” I fluffed my ponytail so I wasn’t tempted to punch her. I doubted Chase would find that hilarious the same way I would.

  “Seriously, Becca, you’re making this uncomfortable.” Taylor sat down next to me grinning kindly. I was grateful for a friend, even a new one.

  “What’s her deal?” I asked thumbing in her direction clearly ignoring my own boundaries to keep this peaceable.

  “Oh, she dated Chase briefly and left him when he busted his knee, which was during a game by the way in case you were wondering.”

  “So no nefarious blow jobs.”

  “Nope.”

  “Good to know and thanks.” We bumped shoulders and continued to watch the auction. Guy after guy was led up on stage wearing something suggestive.

  Taylor’s fiancé sported a hardhat and went shirtless. She of course won him after a tense standoff between the girls at the coffee shop who seemed to have pooled their money together.

  A firefighter and cop both sported their uniforms to a bevvy or sighing women.

  The pub owner sported lederhosen and nice legs offering up a steak dinner and a beer tasting.

  There were more but I only had eyes for one.

  Turns out my sexy vet was worth a pretty penny. Even I with my Manhattan trust fund, though recently cut off, I was still outbid. Sexy grandma with the wicked lavender dye job would be taking my man on a dinner date while I curled up with my three fur balls of Satanic decent, rocky road ice cream and Netflix.

  Kristen joined us as the evening was drawing to a close. Her eyes looked excited at all the donations that would be going toward the animal shelter in town and repairing a fence for the dog park.

  “How did you not win my brother tonight?” Kristen checked her clip board while Taylor and I exchanged looks.

  “Well, I left my Valentino purse back home with my good wallet so three hundred dollars was kind of my limit to be fair.” My allowance was still cut off from mom and dad.

  “Ugh and what is Becca doing here? I can’t stand that girl.” Kristen clicked here pen and I had second guesses about whether or not she might stab the girl. If she did, I totally had her back on that one.

  “Tell me how you really feel about her.” I teased. I had no shame egging this on if only to see what a judge’s daughter was really capable of when poked.

  “Oh I’d rather she didn’t. Come on let’s go before she blows her top off and we have to peel Becca from the floor.” Taylor grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the auditorium to stand in the hallway where we could breathe air not tainted with the essence of Jean Naté and Shalimar. />
  Once my nose cleared I thought twice about Chase’s sister left to her own devices.

  “Are you sure we should leave Kristen in there? Alone? With Becca?” I didn’t know Chase’s sister that well, but this seemed like an incident waiting to happen with her twitchy pen fingers.

  “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst?” Shrugging, Taylor had a way of making the inevitable seem not so bad even if it was the apocalypse in nature.

  “Something like that.” We waited a full ten minutes before Chase appeared in the hall carrying his suit in a garment bag over his shoulder. I had hoped he’d still be wearing it, but there was nothing like a good button down Henley and dark jeans to make a girl turn into a pool of goo. I would always love an expensive crisp suit but something down to earth about Chase had me jumping ship to root for the small town boys.

  “Ready to go, ladies?” Chase slipped his arm around my shoulder pulling me in tight. He smelled like a mix of subtle cologne and puppy. It soothed my frayed nerves.

  “Where’s your date stud?”

  “Oh she had to get back to the retirement home before they collected on her insurance.”

  “Pfft. That poor woman. You’re only after her for her money.” I slapped his rock hard chest playfully and he returned the favor by tickling me.

  “Maybe, but I’ll never tell a soul where the money came from.” We’re laughing and I felt lightheaded, giddy even that this man looked at me as though I was something special. It’s nice.

  We walked outside to the parking lot weaving in between cars and waving at friends. I figured we might stop for something at the diner but he seemed in a rush to get out of out there. He popped open the trunk to put his suit and then opened my door waiting for me to slip inside. He shut my door and then got in on his side starting the car up.

  I fiddled with the radio turning it on low and let my fingers tap on my knees. Chase backed out of the spot and drove us back toward his house.

  “So when does date night happen?” I asked with curiosity.

  “Next week actually.”

  “You think she’ll make it that long?”

  Chase shrugged as he continued to play with my hair.

  “She signed a waiver.”

  “Does she have a curfew?”

  “I’ll have her home by nine so she can play bridge with the ladies on her floor. I hear they have a rousing game and bet their hair money for the week each.”

  “Huh.” I bet that’s how his date had the perfect shade of Lilac curls. It was cute and I knew Chase was doing a good thing.

  17

  Chase

  “Come on, Winsome Gray, I’m taking you home.” I cupped my hands around Winnie’s flushed face. Something about tonight and being up on the auction block made me hot for her.

  “Funny, I swear you’ve said that before.” She coyly disengages and we get to my car. She barely buckled herself into the seat when I rounded the side jumping in myself. I took off for my house eager to get her under me in bed.

  Winnie interrupted my thoughts tugging on my arm. “I need to check on the furry trifecta.”

  I hummed thinking about the dogs and slipped my hand over her knee traveling higher to her soft thigh muscle. Those dogs cramped our style sometimes, but that was the downside of being a responsible pet owner. The constant cockblocking. They loved her and they did grow on you after a few slobbers.

  I thought about having her bring them to my house. We could make it work and I treaded lightly with my suggestion.

  “We should see how they react to my cat.”

  “The cat?” She looked at me like what did the cat have to do with any of this?

  “Yes, you could stay over more often if all the animals were in the same place.”

  “But they poop everywhere.”

  “I have a backyard.”

  “They like to sleep on the bed.”

  “We can train them to stay outside the door.”

  “Why is this becoming an issue, Chase?”

  “Because I like you Winsome.”

  “Oh.” She had nothing to come back from with that.

  “Yeah, Oh.”

  I pulled my car into the driveway and hopped out before she could open her door. I help her out and she skirts around me before the front door unlocking it. I put my hand on the door frame and one arm around her waist pulling her flush against my body.

  “Chase?” Her voice softened and the key stayed still in the lock.

  “Just think about it.” I said dropping a kiss on her neck sucking the skin until it smarted.

  “Thinking. I’m thinking.” She wiggled free and I let her.

  The dogs bark and jump all here vying for my attention. We saw them less than two hours ago but they were needy and attention starved. I let them out into the backyard where they run like maniacs sniffing and pissing on everything. A good tem minutes later and they come bounding back in exhausted and laying down.

  Winnie locked her aunt’s house and came home with me, finally.

  “I wanted you all night.” I directed her into the bedroom and started stripping her clothes off the second we got inside.

  Her hand reached up behind her to hold my shirtless chest to her back. “Mmm, I missed you too. Too bad Grandma won.” She teased as my hands make a mad decent to the hem of her dress pulling it up and over her head.

  “Get naked.” I demanded. She complied by unhooking her bra as my fingers hooked her panties pulling them down her legs roughly.

  She crawled on the bed to get away but I grabbed her foot catching her. I pulled until she’s flat on her tummy.

  “Come here.” Winnie half turned and crooked her finger at me. My eyes narrowed and followed her every movement.

  “Yeah, you don’t get to be in charge tonight.” I take a condom from the nightstand and rip it open with my teeth. I sheath my dick quickly pumping the thick jutting rod in my hand. Winnie’s eyes go wide and I kneed her thighs apart to make room for my body. My hand gripped her hip and my fingers trail between her silky soft legs teasing her. I run a single digit between her plump folds and spread her gathering wetness over her clit. I line myself up to her opening and thrust in a singular effort. I bottom out with my balls hitting her ass and her moans panting and filling the room.

  “I think I like you in charge.”

  “Yeah?” I let my arms rest on either side of her head pumping my dick deeper. Her back arches and I keep my eyes locked on hers with each pound pushing her deeper into the sheets.

  “Don’t stop.” Her head tossed back and forth and I revel in taking her.

  “I won’t stop, Win.” Her arms curl around my forearms that brace me over her body. She arches into me to get as close as possible. I keep up the pace and slowdown when she tries valiantly to climb up my body wrapping her ankles around my hips.

  “I want more.”

  “I want slow.”

  “I want now.”

  “Now?” I asked.

  “Now.” She panted desire clouding her dark eyes over as her teeth bit her bottom lip letting the skin bruise.

  “Now.” I groan pounding in and out of her willing body until we’re spent and covered in slick sweat in the dark.

  “Oh wow.” Winnie giggled covering her face with her arms.

  I rolled off her doing the same to catch my breath. That was amazing. Winnie liked my take charge attitude and I liked giving it to her. I wholeheartedly agreed with her assessment of wow… right up until I looked down at the missing condom on my dick.

  “Uh, Winn…” I wasn’t sure what to tell her or how. A simple, hey babe, the condom has gone buck wild and walked off did not seem like the right answer to her already anxious self.

  18

  Winnie

  “Shit. I think the condom broke.” Chase stopped pulling back from me looking concerned because I must have lost all the color in my face.

  “Uh, it’s either broken or not broken. There’s no grey area on this one.” I worried
my bottom lip between my teeth.

  “You’re right.” He said.

  “Phew, so it’s fine.”

  “No, it’s missing.”

  “No, no, no, that’s not me being right, Chase.” He takes a deep breath and pushes me on my back, my head fluffing the pillow under my head with a thump.

  “Okay, let me check.” His palms spread my thighs open wide and I scoot back on the bed bumping my head on the headboard.

  “Oww.” I’m rubbing my head and pushing his oaf body back.

  “Don’t move.”

  “Get out of my lady business.” I pointed my finger at him. I hated going to the doctor once a year so there was no way I was about to let Chase get all friendly with my cooter in a clinical way. That was a sure fire way to take the sexiness out of our relationship.

  “Win, let me check for the rest of the condom.”

  “Oh so now you’re a doctor?” I asked incredulously. This was ridiculous.

  He rolled his eyes.

  “Actually.” He held up his finger and I had the urge to bite it off. His finger, not his dick, though maybe the condom wouldn’t be in pieces had I been giving him head instead of our rough monkey love.

  “You’re a veterinarian, not a gynecologist.”

  He smiled and put his head down on my stomach shaking.

  “Chase Calloway, I will castrate you if you’re laughing at me.”

  He muffled his chuckles but the fucker was definitely laughing and not in the laughing with you kind of way.

  “Thanks for the clarification, but I still went to medical school.”

  “Uh, for horses and chickens.” I rolled my eyes.

  He shakes out another laugh.

  “Don’t forget puppies and kitties.”

  He crawled up next to me huffing. A smile parted his lips but I didn’t feel relieved. I felt a terrifying shock.