A Diamond in the Dark (6 page)

She got out of the tub and grabbed a towel. As she was drying off, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and wondered what a girl had to do to get herself off. Because these days, nothing was working for her. And that had been the closest she’d been in like forever. But no, just as she was getting to the good stuff, Ax had to play big brother. Fuck it, or her, she just needed to be...well, fucked.

Finishing her after-bath routine, Tia grabbed the small robe hanging on the back of the door, tying it at the waist as she headed out of the bathroom.

“Sorry. Bathroom’s free now if you want it.”

* * * *

“I was going to order some food before I got in. Do you want anything?” Ax asked with his back to her. He was trying to will his cock down. A cock that had risen to the occasion. She’d just walked out of the bathroom, smelling sweetly of strawberry and honey. She was wearing a short robe, and from the flash of cleavage he’d gotten, she had nothing on underneath it.

“Sure, I could go for a steak, medium well. Baked potato with all the fixings, and a garden salad.” She paused for a second. “Oh, and get me a slice of pecan pie too, if they have it, extra whipped cream on the side.”

She sure did enjoy her food and had no trouble eating whatever she wanted. It was one of the things he’d always loved about her. It didn’t matter to Tia who was around to see her indulging in a good meal. They’d had a cookout last summer and she had dug into a plate of ribs with as much gusto as any of the men there. She had sauce all over her face, and when someone had pointed it out, she had simply picked up the nearest napkin, wiped her mouth off, and kept on eating.

After he called room service and placed their order, he went to take a shower. He spent a little more time than necessary cleaning his cock, and when everything was as it should be, which was his cock resting against his leg rather than tapping at his stomach, he walked out in a pair of cut-off sweats, which he’d had to go hunt up. After Jack told him to bring Tia with him, he figured his normal state of sleepwear—naked—wouldn’t be appropriate.

Tia had dressed while he was in the shower and was now sitting on the couch in a pair of stretch cotton short-shorts and another cut-off tank. Well, so much for spending some extra time in the shower, because it seemed to have been a waste of time. In the back of his mind he was actually a little pleased with his body. He hadn’t had such a quick recovery time since he was a teenager.

Their food arrived, and after a very uncomfortable dinner, which he spent trying not to see down her top, he started to pull out the sofa bed to sleep on.

“You take the bed, Ax. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“No, that’s fine. You take the bed, it’ll be more comfy.”

“That’s why I’ll take the sofa. It’s shorter than the bed, silly. Seeing as I’m only five two and you’re over six foot, it would be stupid for you to sleep on it.” She grabbed the extra sheets to help make it up.

“Well, I’m going to hit the hay then, if you’re sure? I gotta be at the auctions early tomorrow.”

“That’s fine, Ax. I have an appointment in the morning and need to be up early too.”

“What’s the appointment for?” Axton was curious, she hadn’t really told him what she was doing in Houston. He had intended to bring the subject back up, but he’d forgotten.

“If everything goes well in the meeting, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow night,” she said, kissing him on the cheek and climbing into bed.

“Night, Tia.”

Chapter 4

Axton was having another dream. Tia had her head resting on his arm, and he could smell her hair. Strawberries mixed with honey was becoming one of his favorite scents. Her plush ass was rubbing against his morning wood, and his hands were full of her soft breasts. Her nipples were starting to get hard against his palms, so he gave them a little squeeze at the same time as he ground his cock into her ass. If she kept wiggling like that, he was going to go off before they got to the good part. He must be turning into a romantic, because Beethoven’s overture was playing in the background.

Running his hand down her supple tummy, he found the edge of her shorts. Sliding his fingers under the elastic, he had just started to slip his hand further south, looking for her inner warmth, when Beethoven began again. It seemed to be getting louder. The next minute he was flat on his back with Tia trying to climb over the top of him to get to the ringing phone.

“Ax, you gotta move. You’re lying on my hair.”

Well shit, that obviously wasn’t a dream.
He tried to untangle himself from her hair as she reached over and answered the phone. Hang on, what the fuck was she doing in bed with him? After double-checking that he hadn’t climbed onto the sofa with her, it was confirmed. She had somehow ended up in bed with him.

He couldn’t even escape, because at present she was perched half on top of him talking on the phone, and he was still tangled in her freakin’ hair. Closing his eyes, he tried to will his cock back to sleep so when he was finally untangled from her hair, he would be able to stand up without having a flagpole pointing from his body.

* * * *

Tia had been having the best night’s sleep she’d had in weeks. Her body was just beginning to get that warm, wet feeling when her phone started to ring.

Jumping up with a fright, thinking she might have slept in and missed her appointment, she scrambled—well, tried to scramble—over the top of Ax to get to her phone. Stupid hotel only had a charger on one side of the bed. And seeing as she hadn’t braided her hair last night, it seemed to have wound itself around Axton. Reaching as far over him as she could, which put her halfway on top of him, she was finally able to grab the phone.

“Hello.”

“Hi, baby girl.”

“Oh, hey Luke. What time is it?” She couldn’t find the clock anywhere, but as she really couldn’t move her head too much, it was probably on the other side of the bed.

“It’s just after six.”

Relief filled Tia at the knowledge she hadn’t slept in.

“I was just calling to wish you luck today, not that you need it. If I was as smart as you, I would have been a vet years ago instead of just getting my license last year.”

Tia smiled at that. Luke was plenty smart. He was a large animal vet, which was one of the reasons she had told him about her studies, seeing as how they would be working in similar fields and all. Apart from working on the family ranch, Luke also worked for one of the vets a town over from Lewisville.

“You know you’ll have your own practice soon, so I don’t want to hear any of that ‘not smart’ crap. But thanks for the luck. I’ll give you a call tomorrow and let you know how it went.”

“Have you told Dad yet?”

She could hear the frustration in his voice. It had been a topic of debate between the two of them for the last few years. He couldn’t understand why she hadn’t told everyone about her studies. As she kept pointing out to him, she didn’t need the added pressure of them all knowing.

“No, but everyone will know in a couple of days. Y’all be either consoling me or telling me to stop smiling so my face won’t freeze that way.” She laughed.

“It’ll be the latter, baby girl. Now get that sexy ass out of bed. Have a big breakfast, and go and whip some professor’s ass. Love you.”

“Love you too.” She disconnected the call and put her phone back on the table, looking down at Ax.

“What are you doing in my bed? And would you, for the love of God, get me out of your hair?”

Tia slumped back down on his chest, giggling like a schoolgirl. Once she calmed down a little, she opened her eyes to look at Axton.

“Okay, maybe that came out a little wrong, but could you please free me from your hair? It seems to have taken on a life of its own and is trying to constrict me,” he said with a playful pout on his face.

Yeah, her hair was
long
. At present it reached her ass. Apart from the occasional headache when she wore it up, it was worth the time and effort it took to take care of it. She had tried cutting it a few times, but with her hair being neither curly or straight it had turned into a frizzy mass, making her look like a Troll Doll. The one thing she loved about it was the color, a black that was almost blue, a gift from her father’s Native American heritage. Her father had died in a motorcycle accident when she was two, and she barely remembered him, but the memories she did have were good ones. It was after his death that her and her mama had moved from California to Texas and began working for the McGraettys.

“Well, mister drama queen, if you would kindly roll to your left you would free
my
hair that you have been using as your own personal silk sheets.” She managed to say all this with a straight face, despite the look that appeared on his when he realized that he was the one lying on her hair. But she did break into a smile when he made a huffing noise.

He grabbed her in his arms and rolled to his left. With a quick peck to her forehead, he sat up. Tia could only lay there, because she’d finally had Ax on top of her. Okay, it might have been innocent, but hey, she would take every little thing she could and bank it.

“So, Tabbitha, mind telling me what you’re doing in bed with me?”

He was obviously not a morning person, given he’d used her first name. That was usually reserved for Leonie, who always used her first name because apparently she thought it was beautiful. Or for when someone was pissed at her.

“Well, for a five-star hotel, their sofa bed fucking sucked.”

“Don’t swear. And what was wrong with the bed?”

Instead of saying anything Tia turned her back to Ax, then lifted her shirt up to her shoulders, showing him what she meant.

* * * *

“What the fuck happened there?” Momentarily distracted by her pulling her shirt up, it had taken Ax a second to see the big scratch running from the top of her shoulder to almost her hipbone. He winced when he saw there was dried blood in a few places.

“Don’t swear,” she said, smiling over her shoulder at him. “And that is one wicked scratch I got when I rolled over in that stupid sofa bed. A flipping spring popped through,” she replied as she got off the bed. “So instead of sleeping on the floor, I got into bed with you. Didn’t really think it would be that big a deal though.”

“Shit, Tia. No, it’s fine. A bit of a shock as I wasn’t expecting it, but fine.” Didn’t he feel like an ass? At least he was staying true to form. Here he was angry at her because he had been feeling her up, when she was the one that had been hurt. “I’ll see if housekeeping can change it out today.”

“Thanks. I’m going to order breakfast, then jump in the shower. You want me to get you something?”

“Yeah, that would be great. I need to head out in about an hour. Do you need a lift anywhere?”

“Nah, I’m good. I booked a cab last night when we got in. But if you’re free by about lunch could you pick me up?”

“Call me and see. I don’t know if I’m going to buy anything at this auction. I just really want to go and check out a few of the mares. So if I’m not buying, I should be done by then.”

* * * *

It took her just under two hours to get ready for one of the most important meetings of her life. Every nerve in her body had its own little butterfly attached and each one was doing a nervous dance, threatening to cause her breakfast to reenter her mouth.

Tia walked into the building she had been assigned to present her dissertation. She was wearing a tight, high-waisted, pinstriped, knee length skirt and a tucked-in, sleeveless, navy inspired shirt. She’d forgone the little waistcoat. It was just too damn hot. She was also rocking a pair of five-inch black and white vintage style shoes. Her outfit was kick-ass. Now she just had to try and muster the same attitude.

Knocking on the door, she held her head high and took a cleansing breath.

* * * *

Three and a half hours later, she’d nailed it. It would still be a few weeks before she got her actual certification, but everyone on the panel had shook her hand and said, “Congratulations, Doctor Teeford.”

Excited didn’t cover it. Ecstatic, overjoyed, relieved, and maybe a tiny bit of fear were all vying for the top position in her emotional pool. With a bounce in her step she pretty much ran out the doors, clutching the phone to her ear, checking to see if Ax was free to pick her up. She hoped he could, because she felt an overwhelming urge to share her news with him.

“Hey, are you able to pick me up?”

“Sure. Where are you?” The sound of a car honking in the background told her he had already left the auction yards.

“The University of Houston.”

“What… Never mind. I’m about five minutes away. See you in a few.”

By the time she had made it across the quad Axton’s truck was already there.

“Are you enrolling?” he asked as he pulled away from the university.

Tia couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t that the question was funny, it was a sign of relief. She was done. She’d worked her butt off for years, and her dream had just been achieved.

Axton’s sharp “
Tia
” stopped her laughter.

“Yes?”

“Is that a yes, you’re enrolling?”

“No. I didn’t want to tell y’all until I was done. There will be no more meetings or research assignments for me. Pull over for a minute, Ax.” Excitement won out, and she couldn’t wait to tell him her good news.

He pulled over to the side of the road and turned to look at her. She held her hand out to him. He might think it was odd that she wanted to shake his hand, but she needed to touch him, share her first introduction as a doctor with
him
. When Axton’s calloused hand encompassed hers, a shiver of both happiness and arousal shot through her system with such speed it stole her breath. Calming her desire for more of his touch, she squeezed his hand, added a little shake, and introduced her new self.

“Howdy, I’d like to introduce myself. I am Doctor Tabbitha Tattiana Tia Teeford,” she said with a giggle. Seriously? When had she become a giggler? And why did Axton look like he was in pain?

“Okay. What have you been smoking? You’re not making any sense.”