ETHAN (Hot Small Town Alphas Book 1) Read online

  I’m not sure when I fell asleep, opening my eyes to the buzzing of the alarm on my phone, dragging me from the dream.

  Groaning, I roll onto my side to grab the annoying thing, ready to throw it across the room until I remember to look at the clock: 7:30am. It’s time to get up, get ready and start a new chapter with the man I have pined for my whole life.

  Never before had choosing what to wear seemed so daunting. Ethan told me to wear something comfortable to spend the day in.

  I want him to see me as beautiful, not the same girl next door he grew up with. A thought keeps me from reaching for the sexy tank-top hanging next to a pink and rose gold colored plaid shirt and plain white tank. Maybe that’s who he wants. The girl he secretly wanted. But am I that girl anymore?

  Biting my lip, I make a decision, put on the plaid shirt with a pale blue undershirt, blue jeans and black boots. It was the city who changed me to something I’m not. I’m not the girl next door either. If he wants Ryley Dorsey, he’s going to get both sides of her.

  Now dressed, I sneak down the hallway to the bathroom to take in the hot mess that is now my matted hair. It takes me God knows how long to tame the beast and send the rats from my hair to look for new homes. It goes up in a ponytail in the middle of my head, I forgo make-up since I’ve always hated it.

  Nothing more I can do, I guess, I say, leave the bathroom to the stairs, listening to see who started moving around at an early hour.

  In the hallway, on the walls, I see photos of a time when life was more carefree, the word failure meant not being able to catch a chicken running at full speed or getting a D- on a math test. It didn’t mean losing a career you spent most of your life as a young woman trying to build only to have it sending you packing to your Podunk town.

  As a little girl, my father always woke to take care of chopping wood, feed the animals prior to working at the logging mill. Often times he had my little brother helping him to keep the term “idle hands” from meaning anything.

  Mom always stayed behind to prepare breakfast for me and my brother, getting us ready for school, sending us on our way to the bus.

  Those were easier days.

  My mom is still asleep when I make my way downstairs to find my dad already chopping wood for the upcoming evening. The loud thunk, thunk, thunk of the ax against the wood echoes off the woods behind our house.

  I take the time to grab my purse, neglecting my keys since Ethan lives so close.

  Unfortunately, I’m unable to play it to covert thanks to the loud squeaking of the front door.

  “RyRy, where you off to?” My dad calls out.

  His voice doesn’t betray any lingering anger from the night before, which I am thankful for. I sigh, diverting my direction to go speak with him. I should apologize for last night.

  “Dad,” I begin, stopped by a held-up hand.

  “I understand. No apology needed. Doesn’t make what you did okay, but if it helps, I tried to get your mom not to go through with that silly plan.” He smiles the sarcastic smile he used to when mom gossiped at town meetings.

  It did help to know he doesn’t condone my mom’s attempt, though if she hadn’t done what she did, I might not be heading to Ethan’s house.

  Dad gestures his head towards Ethan’s house like he knows what I’m thinking. “Get outta here. He’s a good man. No doubt in my mind he’ll treat you like the lady you are.”

  If it was possible to outshine the sun with an open-mouthed smile, mine would be the one doing it right now as I embrace my dad’s neck.

  I kiss his cheek, turn and head off towards Ethan’s house, my heart a thumping drum with each step I take that draws me closer towards it.

  The maroon front door of the house so familiar presents itself as doorway to something I am excited to step through and be a part of.

  Chapter 6

  Ethan

  Knocking on the front door jars me from the far off place where I woke up, got presentable, and started to cook breakfast and make coffee in preparation of Ryley’s arrival. All night, I stared at the ceiling planning on how the events of the day might end with Ryley in my bed, screaming my name as she came over and over.

  At first, I think myself an ass for what I want to do, kicking myself for putting the physical need plaguing me that caused me to come home and jerk myself off while thinking of the same images I’m thinking now.

  It’s been our whole life; does it make what I want wrong? I don’t think so. We’ve both wanted this, said as much and still denied it. Not tonight. Tonight, I make her mine. Every big, mouthwatering inch of her.

  I put down the wooden spoon I’m working with, turn on my bare heel and make my way to the front door to pull it open. What I see kicks me in the stomach the same as she did the previous night.

  Ryley smiles the shy girl smile, reaching behind her ear in her signature nervous gesture. “Hi.”

  Dear God, why did I wait? “Hi. Would you like to come in?”

  She doesn’t hesitate. I let her in, leading her to the kitchen to sit at the wooden table.

  “I made breakfast and fresh coffee. I didn’t know if you would’ve eaten or not.” I prepare her a plate, set it in front of her, taking the opposite side.

  “Thank you,” She says.

  I worry the same awkwardness will linger as it had last night. In a welcome surprise, Ryley starts talking about how much she’s missed the quiet of Buchanan, moving into how things are definitely different in New York. Her last statement involves the majesty of the mountains and the sky and how she’s missed them.

  Wasting no time, I ask, “Why did you come home, Ryley?”

  Please don’t let her hate me, please don’t let her hate me.

  The smile fades to a downturned frown. Her hands form fists around the handle of her coffee and fork. “Because I learned a hard lesson. Please, I don’t want to talk about. I just want to forget.”

  That has to be enough for now. Pushing her won’t get me anywhere. Certainly not where I want to get her tonight.

  “Okay. I’m sorry. It’s just, I don’t like seeing you hurt like this.” I keep my voice understanding and soft.

  Ryley starts to laugh, causing me to tilt my head. “Hurt? Me? Ethan, have you forgotten what I said to you? Why in the world would you want to try and help me for when I’m the one who hurt you?”

  Blind-sided by her words, I blink a couple of times, hoping I can keep this train-wreck from getting worse and back where I wanted. It’s nothing I didn’t expect her to say. She had hurt me when she left.

  “I never blamed you, Ryley.” I speared the scrambled eggs, putting them in my mouth, hearing the gasp across the table. “In fact, I think it’s more my fault than yours. You tried to show me how you felt. I just never acted on it. Truth is,” I swallow a knot. “I thought I was the reason you left in the first place.”

  Wide-eyes misty with tears stare back at me when our gazes meet again. I place my hand on the one strangling her fork.

  “It wasn’t you. Never you, Ethan. You were the only thing I cared about leaving behind in this place.” Ryley’s eyes stream with tears despite the gentle smile. “Knowing you’re willing to give us another chance means more than you can ever know.”

  I stand, lean across the table, pull her forward by our locked fingers and crush our mouths together. The kiss is not gentle. It isn’t sweet, but passionate. Like everything we held back coming back in more force than the tender kiss on the swing.

  This kiss is full of contained lust. It betrays our sexual need of each other. A need I will act on. A need I will use to drive Ryley insane until she flies apart beneath me.

  I release her, my breath a rush of air from my lungs. “We should finish our breakfast.”

  She agrees with breathy “yeah.”

  After breakfast, I take Ryley out to the barn where we proceed to saddle two horses.

  “You remember how to ride, right?” I ask, head kicked in a sarcastic angle.

  Ryley scoffs
through pursed lips, rolling her eyes.

  It relieves me to see her so relaxed around me, the tension of our meeting destroyed by open confession of contained feelings. I decide I don’t care if she tells me what happened in New York as long as I can replace those painful memories with heated pleasurable ones.

  We both mount the horses and take off into the openness of the pasture.

  Ryley’s ponytail whips through the breeze, the light of the sun causing the new subtle lowlights of bright auburn to come out. It takes my breath away to see how shiny and soft it looks.

  I lick my lips at the thought of having my hands tangle in it, pulling her head back to savor the taste of her flesh. My groins battles against the already thin patience rattling around my sexed up brain.

  We both know what we want. I already know this, and I know Ryley does too.

  Kicking my horse into a full on gallop, I catch up with Ryley who laughs.

  “Finally! I wondered if you planned on staying back there the whole time!” She says. “Bet you can’t beat us to the tree-line!” She whips the reins, yelling “hyah!”

  Oh, it’s on. I do the same and soon we vie for the leading position.

  The moment feels free. It feels like the passionate kiss at the breakfast table. Like we always were supposed to be this way with one another. Like the past or what happened in New York no longer affects us.

  Ryley stops her horse at the line first. She throws both fisted arms into the air. “Yes! I won!”

  I stop my horse next to her, breathing hard like I’d been the one running. “Yeah. Guess you did.”

  We both stop talking to stare into each other’s eyes. It doesn’t last long before I lean into Ryley’s space to take her lips, spearing my tongue into her mouth, pushing the kiss from earlier further into the realm of a promise. She’s mine. All mine.

  Chapter 7

  Ryley

  Staring into Ethan’s eyes, it becomes clear to what is fixing to happen. The saddle keeps me from drawing my legs together in an attempt to quell the wet heat forming there.

  When Ethan kisses me, my hands find his hair as his tongue claims my mouth like a starving man. Jesus, it’s so soft and full. Just like his lips.

  His taste is wild and musky like the mountain town we both call home. But there’s something more. A carnal desire that invades me with each tussle of our tongues.

  Beneath me, the shifting of the horse breaks the force of the hold now claiming both of us. My eyes meet Ethan’s darkened, lust-filled pools.

  No words are exchanged as we drop from the saddles to the ground where I take Ethan’s hand, leading him farther into the thick trees.

  What I plan to do might shock my parents, but I know Ethan is thinking the same. He lets me lead him into the woods until the horses fall out of sight.

  It’s like a fantasy I read in one of my novels. He pulls me close, brushing his knuckles across my face to rest his hand on my neck. Gentle caresses of his thumb over my cheekbone lulls me deeper into the spell being weaved between us.

  My hands wrap around his thick neck while his free hand moves down my side to my hip. God, please let him go down. Please let him touch me.

  As though he knows what I’m thinking, Ethan’s hands move from where they are to the button of my jeans. He makes quick work of it and my zipper, reaching his large hand towards my clit.

  “Ah.” I gasp.

  “You like that,” He says with a wanting smile, directing a thick finger down my wet crease. It finds my swelling opening where it swirls in a torturous tease before being inserted inside me.

  “Ethan, oh God, yes.” My fingers grip his shirt.

  The onslaught continues. Ethan’s finger pumps in and out of me, making standing harder the closer I get to the edge. His thumb goes to work on my clit, rotating in slow circles, forcing a whimper from me.

  This is what I wanted. What I needed to make it all better. “Ethan, please.” My hand cups his erection, finding it hard and – Jesus, he’s huge.

  Heated words murmur into my ear. “What is it, sweetheart? Tell me what you want. What you need.”

  Can he read my mind? I wonder. The thoughts don’t last long when I’m hoisted onto Ethan’s waist and carried across to lie on the ground. It’s cold from the night’s rain and a bit damp, though neither of us seem to care.

  “Let me get these off.” Ethan’s words are a rush of air. He makes quick work of my boots, shirts, jeans and panties, leaving me naked and a bit self-conscious. He hisses through clenched teeth. “Oh baby, you’re beyond beautiful.”

  My heart thunders, taking the blood from my head the longer his eyes linger on me. Our lips in a gentle kiss.

  “Let me help you heal, baby girl,” Ethan says.

  Heat rushes over my cheeks at the possession in his eyes and reassurance in his voice. Large hands maneuver over my sides as Ethan lowers his mouth to my nipple. A combination of sucking, teasing with the tip of his tongue and the heat of his breath turns it into a red pebble. He moves to the other breast to repeat the agonizingly delicious actions.

  “Ethan, that feels so – God!” His fingers find my opening, two this time and begin moving. I can’t stop my back arching or the moving of my hips to push him deeper inside me. Inside me. I want him inside me.

  “Inside me,” I say. Not loud enough apparently because Ethan asks me to repeat myself.

  I do, the words igniting a grin.

  Ethan rises to his knees. The loss of his fingers disappointing though welcome considering what is revealed to me once he strips himself down to nothing but what he’s born with.

  Broad muscles, hard from the work on his father’s ranch and a large amount of working out – has to be – meets my eyes, making me nip my lower lip. I let my eyes venture down his body to the perfectly shaped abs to his treasure trail.

  My eyes widen at the size of the cock thrusting its way my direction. It makes Ethan’s grin become an all-out smile.

  “Something wrong?” He asks.

  I shake my head, discarding any doubt I might be able to handle the monster staring back at me. None of the men in the city had cocks that huge!

  Ethan lowers back to his knees, rubbing his cock. Our eyes find one another.

  Am I really doing this? Is this really happening? I pull him down to kiss him. “I want it in me. Claim me, Ethan.”

  I don’t need to ask again when I feel Ethan’s tip teasing my throbbing, wet vagina.

  “Ready?” He asks.

  “Yes. More than ready.”

  His entry brings about a wince as my small opening struggles to stretch in accommodation. Another whimper escapes me at the mix of pain and pleasure invading me.

  “It’s okay, baby girl.” Ethan cradles me with one his strong arms, the other propping us up. “I’m almost all the way inside you.” His eyes look skyward. “God, you feel so damn good. So tight.”

  Ethan bottoms out, staying inside me while he ravages my mouth with another starving-man kiss. “I’m going to move now. Breathe.”

  Breathe? Hell, I can’t think. It becomes worse when he starts slowly moving his hips, pulling that thick shaft from me only to shove it back in.

  Whimpers turn to gasps to shouts when Ethan bites down on my collar bone, picking up his rhythm. It feels like my insides will get pulled out with how hard my muscles grip him with each retreat.

  My legs wrap around his waist. “Harder. Take me.”

  I guess that’s what he wanted because he got faster and deeper, bringing out a sting from somewhere inside me. I ignore it, using his waist to move my hips into him, pushing him further.

  Everything around us disappears into the background.

  Ethan’s thumb pets my clit, aiding me to go over the dreaded edge. I shout his name when I come, the muscles inside me gripping him.

  A few thrusts later and he joins me, pushing inside as deep as he can get, sending his seed into my womb. I didn’t care. I wanted him, all of him inside me.

  In this m
oment, everything was right.

  I was his and he was finally mine.

  Chapter 8

  Ethan

  After we arrive home, following our heated sex in the woods, I make quick work of putting the horses and saddles away, haul Ryley onto my hips and take her up to my bedroom.

  We strip one another, drop to the bed and entangle under the sheets. I want her beside me each and every night, for the rest of our lives. I want to fill her belly with my child.

  My cock finds her opening and I waste no time in filling it, savoring each pleasurable sound escaping her beautiful mouth. I know once I have my ring on her finger, I plan to fill her mouth with my cum too. Something inside me thinks she won’t mind.

  She scowls at me when my cock withdraws. The time in the woods was to show her how much I loved her. How I’m the only one who can satisfy her hungry pussy. I don’t want this to end yet, not this time.

  With a smirk, I lower my face between her legs. She watches with a crooked brow.

  Using my tongue, I lap up the delicious nectar of her, savoring each drop of fluid coming from her.

  “Ethan,” she says on a moan, her fingers in my hair.

  My tongue goes deeper. The heat of her makes me shiver with anticipation.

  “Ethan, for God’s sake.” I look up at her to see her stretching her arms above her head.

  Not yet, sweetheart. I want to see you lose your goddamn mind.

  I’d had sex before. Hell, at 34 I better not be a virgin, but none of it brought me as much satisfaction as it did with Ryley. She felt right. Her body formed perfectly into mine like it was made for me.

  Velvet muscles squeeze my invading tongue. Her thick thighs wrap around my shoulders, the heels of her feet settling between my shoulder blades. She’s on the edge. Just a little more.