Riding the High (Silver Pines Ranch Series)

by Paisley Hope

If the mood ever strikes to save a horse and there are no cowboys in sight, don’t worry, darling. The always gorgeous, sometimes moody, sometimes sweet town sheriff will do just fine. (And besides, cowboys don’t carry handcuffs.)

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Ashby.” Cole’s eyes lock onto mine and hold them. “In case you don’t remember, we have a big fucking problem.”

“If you don’t want to be my one-night stand, then it’s a good thing we’re in Vegas. I dare you to marry me, Ginger, so I can properly fucking worship you.”

“They can’t see you out there, Vixen, but they can hear you. Let them hear how much you like my tongue buried in your sweet cunt. Scream my name. Let this whole fucking city know whose wife you are.”

Fuck, I’m so proud of you, Ginger, so determined to take all of me. And you’re going to, Vixen. Every last fucking inch.

Should I be surprised I haven’t followed my own rules? Probably not. When it comes to Cole Ashby, I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything I wouldn’t do.

It’s been there since the summer she kissed me. Since the summer she flipped my world upside down and turned into the only woman I’ve never been able to stop from invading my head, a reminder of the summer I thought about her every goddamn night at Grosvenor. How I never said no to her, how I always compared other girls I knew to her.

Those ten seconds she kissed me fucked me right up and showed me why I could never let myself really ever fall for her. I knew in those ten seconds if I did, I’d never get back up.

Cole tips my head back before bringing his lips down to my neck, kissing me there once, then twice. He moves his mouth to my cheek and dots light kisses along the way to my mouth. His soft lips ignite my entire body, and I clench my thighs together as his lips brush against the corner of mine.

“Every single night is a fight…” he says breathlessly, “every goddamn night since you came here, Ginger.” I have no strength to speak as he continues. “It’s a constant fight for me because all I want to do is leave my room and come to yours.”

“I stop myself because I know if I start kissing you, we’ll see daylight before I’m done.” “Cole…” I whisper, trying to remember how to breathe. “Today just showed me it is time to stop fucking fighting.” His arms wrap around me, and his lips drop to fully capture mine in a kiss I’m not prepared for.

“I don’t want to try anymore. All I want to do is fucking bury myself so deeply inside you that you remember me there every single second. I want you to feel empty without me.”

“We’re all a team.” She hums sleepily. I kiss her forehead and pull the blankets up, tucking her tight. “Me, you, and Daddy,” she continues with a yawn, twisting her fingers back into my hair.

“You look fucking beautiful in my kitchen, Mrs. Ashby,” I whisper, offering another kiss to her palm.

“Ready to find out just how real this is?”

“Being gentle just takes too goddamn long,” he says, looking over my naked form. “Now, I want to taste my wife.” He groans as he moves between my legs.

“Spread these thighs wide, be a good girl and feed me your pussy, Ginger.”

“Ginger. When it comes to you, I don’t forget.” He eases into me further, stretching me, filling me, pulling the last loose stitch I have holding back my control. I completely unravel as he groans and whispers, “I remember every fucking thing.”

“Cole?” she asks, pulling me out of my haze. “Hmmm?” I tip my sweaty forehead to hers. “Did we just officially become best friends close?” she jokes breathlessly. I bend down to kiss her sweet lips. They’re so soft my cock jerks, ready to go again. “I’d say we just became closer than best friends close.” “And that is what exactly?” she asks with the cutest little smile. “You and me close, Vixen, you and me close.”

“You’re a bossy little brat in the morning,” I tell her. The way her eyes feast on the sight of me tells me I’m right and only makes me harder. “You have no idea,” she says, inching closer toward me, taking her bottom lip between her teeth as she slides her own hand down her center. “Spit on your cock and fuck your hand for me, Cole.” Jesus fucking— “Christ, woman,” I say but can’t help but follow her orders.

“Good wives swallow every last drop. Understand?” I say, my voice like gravel.

“Are you trying really hard to make me fall for you or something, Mr. Ashby?” she asks as I pull a fresh pair of boxers from my drawer. I move in the direction of my bathroom, still naked. “Nah, I would never do something like that, Vixen,” I call as I head down the hall, grinning the whole way. Because, right now, I’m just riding this high. And fuck, maybe getting her to fall for me is exactly what I’m trying to do.

Well, in the spirit of keeping things platonic so we don’t ruin our friendship, on a scale of one to ten, with one being a responsible adult and ten being a total fucking slut for Cole Ashby, I’m sitting at about a one hundred and one.

From this second forward, there’s no one but her. I’ll never forget the first time in my entire life that I made love to Ginger Danforth Ashby under a waterfall.

“Do you trust me? Or is authority on the tip of your tongue, sheriff?” I ask him, grinding against his rock-hard cock. “In this situation? Not a fucking chance, but I don’t use safe words when it comes to sex, Vixen. Do your best,” he answers as I grin. He asked for it. I take both his hands and pin them, outstretched, to his sides. I wrap one cuff around his wrist and lock it in place, tight.

“My dirty husband likes to be fucked and toyed with?” I ask. Something about my words sends him over the edge. He pulls the wand from me, and I hiss at its loss. He tosses it onto the bed and grips my hair, sliding his other hand around to pull me up by my throat. My back is flush against his front, and I turn my face to meet his in messy, urgent kisses. “Call me your husband again,” he orders. “Will my husband make me come, please?”

“Fucking mine,” he growls as he grows inside me. “My wife.”

“I said, Ginger Lily Ashby. This letter, it’s you,” Cole says. “You turned my world upside down when you kissed me that summer. I spent the whole time at Grosvenor thinking about you, telling myself why it could never be.” He nips his lips along my shoulder; and I whimper at the contact. “Ogni momento solo una volta. Each moment only once,” he purrs.

“It’s been you for so fucking long, Ginger…you’re the baseline I compared every woman to. You’re the one I sought. I sought your attention, your sass, your fucking beautiful smile. Always.”

“That day is now,” he tells me. “You are mine, Vixen.” His kiss sears his words like the brand at his side. “That real enough for you?” “Yes,” I whisper. “It’s always been you, Ginger,” he mutters into my lips. “And I have no fucking clue what to do about that. Besides maybe keep you.”

“Rachel’s daddy got married, and now she has a new mommy.” She mentions her little friend from school. “You could get married to Ginger, and then she’d be my new mommy.”

“Fuck, I love you. I have loved you for so goddamn long,” I tell her without thought as I fuck into her perfect pussy on my desk.

“I love you, Cole. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved,” she says between kisses, and I’m free-falling, spilling into her hard and fast. I growl her name into her lips as my cock empties, fighting to stay in the moment as I come, because we’re so in sync, so perfect, and, right now, I know there isn’t a hurdle I can’t overcome with her by my side.

“I’ve wanted to tell you this for weeks,” I say. “I don’t want you to leave at the end of the summer, Ginger, I want you to stay, but I can’t ask you to stay. Us together…with Mabes. This is a lot for you…”

“Stop right there, Mr. Ashby,” she says. “We can talk about the semantics later. But if you think for one second I went into this lightly, not realizing that you and Mabel were a package deal? You’re dead wrong. I love everything about that little girl. And besides, we’re a team. Remember?”

“Do you love my dad?” she says bluntly. Cole almost chokes on his iced tea from the other side of the table. I look at Cole. “Yes, I do, very much.” Mabel smiles, looking genuinely thrilled. “My dad loves you too,” she says, matter-of-factly.

“I never thought I’d be lucky enough to end up here on my knees before you, Ginger, but I know without a doubt that when my lungs pull in their last breath, my final thoughts will be of you and our family. Thing is, it’s always been you, and it always will be. So what do you say, baby? Will you do me the incredible honor of being my PIC forever?” he says. “Will you marry me?” “Yes!” I cry as he stands and lifts me up, crushing his lips to mine. “It’s always been you too, Cole,” I whisper. He covers the mic and leans in. “Let’s make this marriage official,” he says softly into my ear, sending goose bumps down my spine.

“Will you be my mommy in my heart?” she says, and I pull her closer. “Of course I will. Daddy’s girls?” I ask, tears streaming down my cheeks. She nods, beaming, and when Cole picks her up and kisses me, I feel it. The peace I’ve been searching for. The place I’m meant to be, with my very best friend.