Herd That (The Valentine Boys 1)

Chapter 22You are not my brand of cattle.

-Codie to Darby

Codie

I sat stiffly in my seat, wondering if we were ever going to make it home for me to jump my man’s bones.

He was driving way too slowly.

Much slower than normal, and I had a feeling it was due to me pressing him for the words.

Words that I somehow knew he meant without me having to second guess, or think about whether he meant them or not.

I’d always had to be aware of others. Of how and what they thought about me.

Whether I thought they were being sincere, or whether they were just putting on a front so that they could make it seem like they cared when they really didn’t.

But with Ace?

I never once, not one single time, doubted him.

I knew without a single ounce of doubt that he loved me.

He’d said the words. He’d meant them.

“Anyway,” Ace said as he took the last turn that would lead to his driveway. “Back to what I was saying about Todd.” He pulled into the gravel drive and I lost what he said next.

Mostly because I was unbuckling my seatbelt and crawling over the center console toward him.

On my way, I’d shed my shoes and t-shirt.

By the time I crawled into his lap, he was stopped—for the most part.

The truck was still rocking, but he was also shedding his seatbelt, t-shirt, and undershirt.

I started tackling his jeans, and it was only as I was straddling him and working his cock out of his pants that I realized I still had my pants on.

“Shit,” I muttered, rolling over sideways so that I could work the button on my pants and shimmy them down my hips.

Ace helped me, yanking them off and tossing them across the cab of the truck.

They hit the side door with a thunk, and I realized that I’d still had my phone in my back pocket.

Oops.

“Get on top of me already,” Ace growled, pulling me back down.

“But my panties…”

Those were ripped from my body in the next second, and I gasped.

“I just bought those!” I murmured. “They were so comfortable!”

“I’ll buy you some more,” he grumbled as he pulled me astride him and lined his cock up with my entrance.

There was no more talking after that.

Only the rocking of the truck as I rode him hard.

It was only as I was coming down from my orgasm, and that he was still pulsing inside of me, that I realized that we were in the middle of the driveway, likely in plain sight of the main house.

Any of his brothers could’ve seen.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, pressing my lips to his bearded cheek.

He tightened his arms around me, then ground himself up, giving off one final lurch inside of me, causing me to moan in reaction.

“Don’t apologize,” he grumbled. “That was the best sex we’ve ever had.”

I agreed.

It had been superb.

The best? Maybe.

Then again, anything that had to do with this man was earth-shattering.

I pressed my forehead against his and blew out a shaky breath.

“Loving you kind of scares me,” I told him. “The idea that one day you might stop, shakes me to my core.”

His arms tightened around me until the point of pain.

“It scares me that you’re willing to take a chance on me even with knowing what my father did to my mother,” he countered. “His tainted blood runs through my veins. I look just like him. What if one day…”

I pressed my lips to his, knowing exactly what he was thinking without him having to voice it.

“Ace.” I pulled back, staring into his beautiful eyes. “You’re not your father.”

His eyes closed, and a breath escaped from his lungs, brushing over my face.

“I’m fucking scared still,” he mumbled. “What if something happens? What if you leave me? What if I lose you?”

I brought my hands up to cup his face. “You’re never going to lose me. I’m going to be right here, forever, and it’s going to take a divine act of God—like death—to get me to ever leave your side.”

His forehead dropped down to rest on my shoulder.

“I want kids,” he informed me. “But I still hear my sister and brothers’ screams in my nightmares.”

The fact that he was having nightmares made me want to cry.

Hell, who was I kidding?

I was crying.

“Are you saying you want babies with me?” I teased.

He growled out a laugh. “Lots of babies. At least six.”

My head shot up, and I stared at him incredulously. “You what?”

“Six,” he repeated, knowing I’d heard him correctly the first time.

I shook my head. “I don’t know… how about two?”

“Four,” he countered.

I bit my lip. “Three?” I squeaked.

He started to laugh. “How about we go with three, and when the time comes, I have the option to convince you to have more?”

I sighed. “I guess that’s understandable.”

He leaned over then, dropping the ashtray down and reaching inside.