That Saturday evening, Sullivan felt a shift in his chest, a connection to life, growing in a way he’d never experienced before or expected. Surrounded by the Colorado mountains, with their snowy peaks, he clicked his tongue, sending the horse beneath him cantering forward. He was at Beckett’s workplace, Blackshaw Cattle Farm and Guest Ranch. He’d learned earlier from Mason that family rides were something Clara and Mason did together often, and the Blackshaw family had some good horses they could rent to ride. Ahead of him, Clara and her sisters rode Quarter Horses while Mason was atop a Pinto pony, a black cowboy hat on his head, and Hayes was next to Maisie on a dapple gray stallion. The sun would set within a half hour, and the Colorado sky was showing off with its warm orange and purple hues. When Sullivan got closer to the group, he called to his horse, “Whoa.” The chestnut gelding slowed to a walk next to Beckett.
“Was wondering when we were finally going to get you out for a ride,” Beckett said with a smirk, riding atop a stunning roan mare.
“I’m sure I’ll feel this tomorrow,” Sullivan said, adjusting the reins in his left hand. “It’s been a long time.”
Beckett smirked then gestured ahead. “Things are going well, I see.”
“Better than I hoped,” Sullivan admitted, settling into the quietness around him and the swishing of the long grass against his horse’s leg as they ventured farther into the meadow. “Want to tell me what happened there?” he asked, gesturing toward the woman Beckett couldn’t take his eyes off.
His friend blinked and looked Sullivan’s way. “Amelia is engaged to someone else. Isn’t it pretty clear what happened?”
Sullivan gave an easy shrug. “Probably to some, but I remember our talks about her.” Beckett had been smitten, and he’d done nothing to hide that fact.
The corner of Beckett’s eyes tightened as his gaze returned to Amelia again. “She wanted to see what the world had to offer, so she went to the big city, and I let her go, thinking she’d come back to me.”
“But she didn’t?”
Beckett snorted. “She came back with an idiot for a fiancé.”
Sullivan considered what he’d heard as his horse set a steady pace across the meadow. The scent of warm earth and sunlight became all-consuming. Mason kept trotting ahead, and he’d hear Clara yell after him. The kid was a good cowboy, and Sullivan wondered if that was his future path. “So, that’s where you left things, then?” Sullivan asked, turning his focus back onto Beckett.
Beckett’s gaze slid Sullivan’s way, and he nodded. “She’s happy. Who am I to get in the way of that?”
“Fair point,” Sullivan hedged. “What happens if she’s ever not happy?”
Beckett’s grin turned wicked and determined. “Then, she’ll be mine again.” With a click of his tongue, his horse shot forward at a gallop and then slowed as he settled in next to Amelia, who gave him a smile filled with warmth.
Yeah, maybe they weren’t done just yet.
“Mason, that’s too far ahead,” Clara yelled. Again.
Sullivan squeezed his feet, and his horse broke into a floaty lope, reaching Mason quickly. “Where are you off to?” Sullivan asked.
Mason kicked the pony’s sides, frowning. “He won’t go faster.” The pony practically snarled and gave a little buck.
Sullivan laughed as it jolted Mason out of the saddle. “That’s probably a good thing. Go on over with your aunts, buddy. Need to stay close, all right?”
“Fine,” Mason said, pulling on his rein and giving the pony another kick. The fat animal barely trotted back to the group.
Sullivan made a kissing noise, and his horse shot forward until he slowed him again, settling in next to Clara.
“Thank you for that,” she said with a sweet smile from atop her horse. “Sometimes he forgets horseback riding can be dangerous.”
Sullivan smiled back. “Maybe he needs something that moves faster than a turtle.” When Clara laughed, he added, “He’s a good little cowboy. Is there anything he can’t do?”
She gave a knowing look. “He’s athletic. I wonder who he gets that from.”
Sullivan chuckled with her, rested his hand holding the reins on the horn of the saddle, and breathed in the fresh air. Birds sang and chirped in every direction as shafts of the golden sun lit up the meadow in patches. The others were well ahead of him, and after hearing Mason was athletic and taking the private moment, he said, “We haven’t discussed all this yet, but sports and everything else are expensive, and I owe you child support.”
She shook her head, adamant. “You don’t need—”
“I do. I need to,” he countered.
The sun hit her face just right, bringing out the red hues in her hair. She watched him closely then offered, “All right, then let’s do this; we’ll get in contact with a lawyer and see how much you would have paid. Whatever that amount is, let’s put it into a savings account for him for college. Is that fair?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Makes sense.”
She smiled and exhaled, tipping her head back and soaking up the last couple of hours of daylight. She’d never looked more beautiful as she continued, “We can talk later about financial help going forward once we get everything else figured out.”
He understood. A lot hung in the balance.
She glanced his way again and added, “I think the biggest thing to work out is the logistics. I mean, are you even set up for him to visit you in Boston?”
“I’ve got a condo.” The space was set up for a busy bachelor. He had no backyard. No play gym. “It’s not exactly kid-friendly, but I can move.”
“Really?” she asked, brows lifted. “You’re going to move, just like that?”
“Without a doubt,” he said, adamant. “I’ll do what Mason needs.”
Slight hesitation crossed her face, erasing the gentle peace he’d witnessed a moment ago. “While I appreciate everything you’re doing and plan to do going forward, I know this is a lot. Mason changed my life in huge ways when he came into the picture, and I had months to get ready for him. I can only imagine how jarring this all is.” She stopped her horse, and he pulled on his reins too as she added, “So, I want you to understand that it’s okay if we take two steps forward, one step back. We don’t need to rush anything. We need to let Mason get to know you, and you get to know him. For now, when you go back to Boston, we can FaceTime or Zoom. Maybe I can fly out with him and we can come to a game. Once the season is over, you can find a place and get settled. And if Mason wants to, he can come out for a visit. Okay?”
Yeah, he liked that idea, but… “What if I decide not to leave River Rock?”
“That’s silly,” she said with a snort. “What are you going to do, retire from baseball?”
“It is one option,” he told her.
She rolled her eyes as her horse started walking again. “Again, that’s silly.”
His horse quickly caught up. “Why is it silly?”
A big cloud drifted overhead, shadowing Clara as she said, “Because playing baseball is your dream, and you’re damn good at it.”
He considered, and the thought of leaving baseball gutted him. But at the same time, things had changed. He didn’t feel like the guy he’d been before the suspension. “But dreams change, people change.”
“Don’t do that,” she snapped, stopping her horse once more. Her firm gaze met his. “The greatest thing you could ever teach Mason is that living your passion and following your dreams is important. We can make this work. Sure, it might take a little wrangling to figure out the logistics, but please, don’t for one second think I would want you to walk away from baseball. In fact, that would break my heart. Baseball is in your soul. You retire when you’re ready, not because of us. I won’t have that. All right?”
Damn, he loved when she told things straight. It reminded him she wasn’t a young twenty-one-year-old woman anymore. She was twenty-eight and had her shit together. He liked that. Hell, he respected and envied that. “All right,” he said, before watching as she trotted off toward Mason.
Sullivan’s gaze fell to Amelia and Beckett, and seeing his friend’s longing for her made things very clear. He didn’t want to be longing for Clara. He wanted to be with Clara. He’d made the mistakes in the past, but then and there, he promised himself that he wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.
Long after the ride was over, and with Mason tucked away in bed and sound asleep, Clara stripped off her clothes, tossing them into the laundry hamper in the closet. Amelia had decided to go into the city for the night and was sleeping over at Luka’s, so Clara embraced a side of herself that rarely came out to play. She turned the mama-mode switch off and settled into the naked skin of a woman needing some hot pleasure. She clicked the lock on her bedroom closed and then turned her attention to the shower, where Sullivan was washing off from the long ride. Heat and desire flooded her as she moved into the bathroom, her nipples puckering in anticipation. Years back, she’d been more reserved, shy. She wasn’t that twenty-one-year-old woman anymore. She knew what she wanted, and the gorgeous sculpted-to-pure-perfection man behind the shower curtain was exactly who she wanted. “Sullivan,” she called, not wanting to scare him.
“Be done in a minute,” he answered.
Yeah, not good enough for her. She pulled the shower curtain aside and got a good look at Sullivan Keene soaking wet, partly covered in soap. His muscular physique was in tip-top shape, his skin a gorgeous golden, and an impressively thick cock was growing harder with every second that he watched her.
He made a low noise in the back of his throat, scanning over her naked flesh. Then he arched an eyebrow. “Well, now, that’s the look of a woman who wants something.”
“I’ll start with your mouth,” she said, climbing into the shower and closing the curtain behind her.
He grinned, his damp hair falling over his brow. “Bossy, huh?”
“Not bossy,” she corrected. “Horny.”
His gaze roamed over her parted lips before his heated stare returned to hers. “Best I see to that, then.” He slid an arm around her and pulling her under the shower’s head. His gaze followed the water sliding down her chest, and he slid his hand lower against the small of her back, pulling her up against his erection.
She moaned her response. Passion and lust burned between them as his lips met hers and his kiss took her far away from there. Desperation overwhelmed her as she dragged her hands over his strong shoulders and down his biceps. Soon, he turned her around, her back to his chest. His hands explored her breasts, massaging, squeezing, tweaking her nipples, while his mouth continued to play on her neck. She wiggled against him, needing him, overwhelmed by the strength of him.
Hot and done with teasing, she turned around and pushed a little, sending him walking backward. His thick cock became her whole focus, and she indulged herself, lowering to her knees, never taking her eyes off his.
Hungry eyes met hers as he dragged his thumb across her lips, arching an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted my mouth, Slugger?”
“I’ve changed my mind,” she said, running her fingers up his smooth six-pack until she wrapped her hand around the hard length of him. His low groan rippled across her. “I want this so much more.” Desperate to taste him, to see his gaze smolder from the pleasure she gave, she took him deep into her mouth. With the warm water splashing around them, she licked and swirled and played with him until she felt his legs tremble, saw the hunger deepen in his expression, and heard his rough growl. Only then did she close her eyes, focusing entirely on his pleasure, stroking him until his groans vibrated through her.
She felt him stiffen, nearly finish, but then she was in his arms. He turned off the shower and carried her to the bed, and she bounced on the mattress as he laid her out. He grinned wickedly—a smile that damn near stopped her heart—as he slid between her thighs.
“You’re not allowed to have all the fun.” At the first contact of his tongue against her needy flesh, she grabbed a fistful of bedsheets and arched up into the pleasure. His tongue was gentle and wet and warm, and each teasingly light stroke made her want more. Need more.
Reading her just right, his finger slid over her clit and stroked in lazy circles before gingerly moving down her folds until he entered her. She moaned greedily, shifting her hips against him and riding his fingers, desperate for more.
“Don’t worry, Slugger,” he said, pressing a soft kiss against her inner thigh. “I’ll get you there.”
Her heady moan was her only reply.
One finger soon became two, and those teasingly light strokes of his tongue heightening her pleasure, turning it into something else entirely. His fingers pumped now, his mouth sucking and flicking, and she moaned and wiggled into the pleasure, kept in place only by his arm pinning her. Building and building, until all that pleasure stormed in, taking her far away from there.
She vaguely remembered him flipping her onto her knees that barely supported her before she felt the latex between them. But then she became lost as he entered her and moved slowly at first. He pressed against her back, sending her bottom into the air. His dominating fingers gripped her hips, and she pushed back against him. She felt all of him and knew he felt all of her too. Soon, he began rocking into her. Hard. Fast. He gave no misunderstanding that he was wild for her. As he pounded into her, she hung on for the ride. And it was a great fucking ride.
His hands were everywhere, stroking, seducing, commanding her. Somewhere in the pleasure, a new sensation rose, one she grabbed onto and never wanted to let go. Here, in the strength of his arms, she let go. Completely. His strength became all-consuming, and she melted into his addictive pleasure.
Then he went even harder. Skin slapping rhythmically against skin. The scent of their sex filling her senses. It became too much—so good she couldn’t hold onto it anymore.
She came first, with her scream muffled in the pillow and her toes curled from the pleasure, and he followed behind with a strained groan. They fell apart together, tangled into each other, and she settled into the crook of his shoulder, both of them breathless and sweaty. She shut her eyes and let her mind relax, wondering if she could bottle up a moment and keep it forever. Because if she could, she would pick this moment, this quietness sliding over her. This peace and happiness.
Sullivan finally broke the silence. “I could get used to this.”
“Cuddling?” Clara asked with a laugh.
“Yes,” he said, seriously, stroking his fingers through her hair.
She leaned up to look at him, finding his eyes closed, a peaceful expression on his face. “You haven’t cuddled in a while?”
He peeked open an eye and gave a soft smile. “No, not like this.”
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest, and she smiled in return. “Well, you’re not alone there. I can’t remember the last time I cuddled with anyone.” Yeah, she could. It had happened seven years ago, with him.
He continued to stroke her hair. “You were never serious with anyone after me?”
“No,” she answered before she wondered if maybe she shouldn’t have.
His reply came just as quickly, settling her worries. “Me neither.”
The loaded statement hung in the air between them, and Clara felt his arm tightening around her. “It’s not like I didn’t want to find anything serious,” she explained. “I just didn’t have the time for it.”
His hand froze. “Was there anyone at all?”
“Of course, just nothing serious. I had my fun when I could, but kept things casual. Just made things easier where it came to Mason. What about you? Were the tabloids always wrong about your love life?”
“In that regard, they were always right,” he muttered sleepily. “And like I told you before, for me, women were a distraction, an escape. I never made any promises.”
A long moment passed between them, a thousand unsaid things spiraling in the air between them. Until one thought stood out that she couldn’t push away. “Do you think that’s weird?” Clara asked, putting a voice to her worries. “That neither of us really moved on?”
“No.” He slid over her until he hovered above her, his damp hair curtaining his face. “And you know why?”
She became lost in his steady gaze as she slid her hands over his strong shoulders, down his flexed biceps, feeling him shiver under her touch. “Why?”
He dropped his mouth to hers. “Because we weren’t done yet.”
“No, I guess we weren’t,” she whispered against his lips, and then she let him claim her again.