Freedom in the Smokies (15 page)

A squeeze around her middle indicated she was spot on. He’d delved around enough in her thoughts to catch her feelings.

“We’re getting cold.” Micah flipped the water back on with his toes. New heat spread through the cool water, warming her skin.

With incredible ease and precision, Micah washed first her and then himself. When they were both clean, he pulled the plug at the bottom of the tub, stood and took her hand to assist her out onto the mat.

Kaitlyn shivered in the cool air for a moment. A huge fluffy towel landed in her arms, and she wrapped herself up against the cold.

Micah dried himself off, hung his towel on the rack and then reached for her. “You haven’t moved.” He smiled and toweled her dry, even wrapping her hair up and wringing it out until it no longer dripped. “Come.”

His naked ass preceded her to the bedroom. Firm muscles she wanted to grab onto and squeeze.

When he reached the bed, he turned toward her. A shit-eating grin spread across his face. “You aren’t blocking, baby. I think you might be worse than me when it comes to sex drive.”

Kaitlyn gasped as a new flush crossed her face and ran down her chest. She wanted him again. She hadn’t believed it was possible to want someone this often this fiercely, but her body had aligned with his so fast and she craved his touch. Everything she’d ever heard about matings was true.

“I don’t mind. I love how open you are and your thoughts are…inspiring. Feel free to hold my ass any time you want. The tighter the better.”

She bit her lip to keep from moaning. How many orgasms had she had in the last day? She’d lost count.

“Come here, baby.” He sobered and reached for her.

She raised an eyebrow.

When she reached his side, he kissed her on the lips and then backed her toward the edge of the bed. “Spread your legs.”

She held her breath as she did so, waiting while he ran his palms over her back and then her butt and thighs. “Wider.”

One word and she nearly came again. He could command anything from her body. It was almost embarrassing.

He chuckled lightly and she moaned.

“I can smell your need.”

“You and your nose,” she chided. “I’m gonna clamp it shut to keep a few secrets to myself.”

Now he laughed. “It’s normal, baby. Newly mated pairs fuck like bunnies. Every couple goes through this for the first few weeks.”

“Weeks?” Her knees shook. She sat on the edge of the bed to keep from falling.

“Give or take. Lie back.” He nodded behind her and she scooted up the bed. His intentions were never as clear as hers seemed to be to him. The bastard blocked better.

Micah climbed up between her thighs and pressed them wide. She let her head flop back onto the mattress.

“Let me take the edge off. Then we need to join the others.”

“The edge?” She nearly choked. “Mic, this is more like a cliff. I’m not sure I’ll ever really be standing on solid ground again.”

As she finished her sentence, he plunged his tongue into her core. When he sucked, she bucked beneath him. His mouth was magic. Her arousal ratcheted up so fast she could only see stars behind her eyelids.

Micah released her pussy and clamped down on her clit, sucking hard enough to make her dizzy with need. She moaned, but her ears couldn’t filter the noise enough to distinguish anything else. When he pushed a finger into her sheath and pressed against her G-spot, she shot off. Her orgasm consumed her. Before it could subside, he built it back up again with his tongue.

She lifted her torso, smashing herself against his mouth, but suddenly he disappeared and her eyes flew open. She was not better by any stretch of the imagination. The edge was worse, if anything.

One moment she’d been bereft of his touch and the next the air rushed out of her lungs as he covered her body with his own and pushed his cock into her pussy to the hilt.

“Fuck, you are tight. No matter how many times I come, you grip the life out of me. I can’t hold back.” His words slipped out between gritted teeth across her neck and ear.

“Don’t hold back.
Move
.” She gripped his ass with both hands and squeezed.

Micah plunged in and out of her as though they’d recently reunited after a long separation. And she bucked toward him just as hard.

Long, deep strokes that filled her insanely brought her to another precipice in seconds. She held on for only a moment, trying to stave off the orgasm, but it was useless. When she crashed over the top, she took him with her. His rigid body as he held himself deep inside told her he was right behind her. He quivered as his cock emptied the last bit of his orgasm against her cervix.

Micah collapsed to one side, graciously not crushing her under his weight.

They didn’t move. She couldn’t. Without a meal or two, she’d never have the strength to carry on in life. She might be stuck in this position for days, unable to lift a finger.

But it was worth it.

Chapter Twelve

Half an hour later, Kaitlyn finally stepped out of the bedroom. They’d had to shower again and she’d forced herself to look anywhere but at her mate to keep from mauling him once more.

Starving, she followed Micah to the kitchen.

“Kaity.” George stood from the dining table and rubbed his palms on his jeans. Was he nervous? She’d never seen the man nervous in her life.

“Everything okay?”

He nodded. “We should talk.”

As far as Kaitlyn was concerned, that was the understatement of the year. Probably even the decade.

Suddenly everyone in the room scattered. Micah’s brothers and their mates all muttered excuses about needing to take care of things in the barn. Enrique insisted he could be of help. Within moments the room was silent. Only Micah’s warm hand on her shoulder indicated anyone remained in the room besides her and George.

Micah cleared his throat. “I’ll let you two talk. Yell if you need me.” His firm grip disappeared and Kaitlyn whipped around to face him.

“Stay.”

“Yes, do,” George said. “There are things Kaity and I need to discuss, but you’re her mate. You should be here.” George sat back down and leaned on the table with his elbows.

Micah pressed Kaitlyn forward, pulled out a chair and seated her before taking the chair next to her. If he hadn’t propelled her forward, she wasn’t entirely sure she could have taken the steps alone. His grip on her thigh as he sat grounded her.

When she allowed her gaze to land fully on George, she found him staring at her intently, brow furrowed.

“I know I haven’t always been a fountain of information for you, and I have my reasons, but I need you to understand how important it is for you to return to California and take over the farm.”

“Why?”

“You’re the heir.”

“Am I?” she questioned.

George narrowed his gaze. “Of course. Who else would be?”

Kaitlyn opened her mouth and then licked her lips. “You?”

George flinched, his head jerking back a few inches while he stared at her. He didn’t open his mouth to comment.

It was time to face this man head on, and any demons that might come out with the confrontation would have to be dealt with. “You
are
my father, aren’t you?”

George sucked in a deep breath and then sighed. “Is that what you’ve always thought?”

Kaitlyn nodded. She bit her top lip between her teeth and held it.

The only father figure she’d ever had shook his head slowly, nearly crushing her dreams. “I’m sorry, Kaity. If I’d known… If I’d realized you thought that…” He glanced around the room as though searching for the words he needed in each corner. “If I’ve done anything to perpetuate that belief over the years, I’m so sorry. It was not my intention. I only wanted to be whatever you needed me to be toward you… I hate thinking you spent all these years believing I was your missing link.”

“Why then? Why did you take me under your wing and treat me with such kindness? A random stranger? The bastard child of your employer’s runaway daughter? What loyalty did you feel toward me?”

George closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again, leaned forward and gazed directly into Kaitlyn’s eyes. “Sweetie, I’m your grandfather.”

Kaitlyn’s mouth fell open and she gasped. She sucked in a breath and tried to absorb that detail. “You…” She couldn’t even formulate a sentence or a question.

George’s face remained impassive. He waited while she stared at him.

“Grandmother?” The word came out on a whisper. This kind man who’d taken her under his wing and practically raised her had…had…

He nodded. “She wasn’t always like the woman you knew. When I met her, she was fun-loving, kind-hearted, warm…”

“Margaret Winston?”

George smiled. “Don’t look so surprised. I loved that woman with all my heart…in the beginning at least.”

“But…”

Thank God Micah was beside her. His grip on her thigh kept her from floating away, because surely she was dreaming.

“I came to the Winston Estate when I was eighteen. I was fresh and naïve and the world was my oyster. The only things I cared about were horses, and I thought I’d struck gold when I got hired to work there. Your grandmother was younger than her years at the time. She was ten years my senior, but looked so young and carefree. Her parents were quite strict and she’d had very little experience in the world.

“She started hanging around me while I worked. She had a crush on me. I knew it.” George smiled. His gaze wandered toward the ceiling as he told the story. “I put her off for several months, but she pursued me hard, relentlessly. She was gorgeous…” He shook the memory away.

“And?” Kaitlyn leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table. Micah centered her with a hand on her leg.

“We had an affair. I guess you could call it an affair. It wasn’t as though either of us was attached to someone else, but it still seemed…clandestine. As soon as I relented, she was unstoppable. I knew it was a bad idea. I was so young. But I should have known better.”

“She got pregnant…”

George lowered his head. “Yes.” Silence filled the room for a moment before he continued. He lifted his gaze to Kaitlyn. “I want you to understand. I did everything in my power to make things right. I begged her to marry me. I pleaded with her night and day to let me take responsibility. She refused. If it had been within her means, I believe she would have aborted your mother. But that wasn’t a choice. Thank God.

“She wanted me to leave. I refused. We fought. Constantly. She changed. Overnight. She was never the same. She hardened. She didn’t want that baby. We finally came to an agreement when I threatened to tell her parents about us. She agreed never to rat me out as the father and let me stay on at the farm if I agreed never to tell a soul either.

“It was the only way I could remain in your mother’s life. If I’d gone to Margaret’s parents, they would have fired me on the spot for sure, and I’d never have even seen my own daughter. Her parents would have sent her away if they’d known sooner. They’d have forced her to put Maggie up for adoption. Instead, she hid the pregnancy for months until it was too late and everyone knew she was with child.

“Part of me knew I should have let her put Maggie up for adoption. She’d have led a far better life. But I was selfish. I wanted to see Maggie any way I could. And…I like to think on some level she knew. I loved your mother. I spent hours and hours with her on the farm. She was the light of my life…”

Kaitlyn swallowed the lump growing larger in her throat. “What happened?”

George shook his head. “I don’t know. One day she was gone.”

Kaitlyn froze.
He doesn’t know? Oh God.
She wasn’t going to get the answers she needed from him. Not only was he not her father as she’d suspected, but he was completely unaware of who was. For years she’d secretly counted on this man to have all the answers—if only she could conjure up the nerve to ask the questions.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could give you what you need. Until your mother died, I never had any idea where she was or that she’d had a child. I broke down in tears the day I heard the news. Mixed emotions. The loss of my only child combined with the knowledge that I had a granddaughter. I was elated to have you.

“Selfish again.” He shook his head. “That was no environment for a child. Your grandmother was harsher. She forced the same promise from me when you arrived as she had when your mother was born. The woman was as stubborn as a mule. She couldn’t bear the idea of anyone ever finding out about us. Even with both her parents dead, she couldn’t do it.

“She never recovered from our liaison. I have no idea why. I tried many times over the years to reach her—the real Margaret Winston that got buried deep inside when she got pregnant. But I failed. Even after her parents were long gone, she never saw reason.

“She never fired me, however. In fact, I worked my way up the ladder at that farm until I became the foreman, but all her dealings with me were strictly professional.

“I think when she saw you, it took her back twenty years and she hated you as much as she hated your mother for disrupting her life. I’m sorry for my part in that. I love you. I hope you know that. And I did everything I could to make your life better. I hope some part of you felt loved and cherished…at least by me…” His voice trailed off.