To Claim a Wilde (Wilde In Wyoming Book 6) (13 page)

Chapter 16

“W
ell...how do I look?” Naomi performed a perfect pirouette for her parents, holding the ends of her gown out with both hands, one leg extended, posing for full effect.

“Aww, look at my baby girl. You look stunning, sweetheart!”

As soon as she came into the living area, both of her parents were there, as she knew they would be, sitting on the sofa together, talking and watching television nonchalantly.

But Naomi knew the real deal; they were not only waiting for her to come out so they could ooh and aah over her, but also they were waiting for Canton to arrive and pick her up for the evening event. Particularly her father, she knew.

Naomi was the slightest bit nervous about her dad’s meeting Canton. She was nervous for two distinct reasons, each reason associated with each man.

For Canton, she had no clue how he would act around her father, what he would say. She doubted he would mention their arrangement, no way on earth! In fact, she had all but forgotten their agreement. She was confident he felt the same.

No, she was worried for a whole different reason. Ever since the day she’d gone to his job, their relationship seemed to have grown. Although it had only been less than a week, she felt the changes. The nuances small, but easy for her to see and feel.

Which was the other reason she was nervous about Canton coming. Although they’d been inseparable as much as possible, being in the other’s company from the moment she’d come back to town, Canton had yet to really come into contact with or formally be introduced to her parents.

He’d come by one day to surprise her and take her out on one of the Wilde oil rigs. The drive was long, so her mother had packed them a snack. Embarrassed the slightest bit, she’d opened her mouth to tell her mother they were fine. And promptly shut it when Canton greedily rubbed his hands together like a villain in a cheesy action film and thanked her.

With a laugh, his mother had smiled, hugely, the light lines that scored her mouth only making her prettier.

Just like that, Canton had gotten her blessing.

Her mother had given him her approval silently, winking at Naomi as she walked out the door with him, hand in hand. When she mouthed “Ooh, yes, ma’am!” Naomi tried to quell her giggle. Whenever her mother liked something or someone...anything really, her standard reply was a drawn out, “Ooh, yes, ma’am!”

Her father had been out on his land working and had missed Canton’s visit. But Naomi doubted Canton would get his approval so easily. Not only because she was his only child, but she worried that her father would be embarrassed because of their financial situation.

She hadn’t really discussed anything further with her parents, only assured them that all was going to be okay.

For the first time in a long time, she believed that herself.

“Baby, you look absolutely beautiful.” Her father spoke and she turned toward him; her big grin faltered at the look in his light gray eyes.

Because she had her mother’s dark-toned complexion, most people would automatically say she favored her mother, but in actuality, it was her father Naomi resembled more.

One of things she’d definitely inherited from her father was the way he’d frown and bite on his bottom lip when he was either lost in thought or worrying.

Right now he was biting on his lip so hard, she thought he’d chew it off.

He turned to her mother. “Baby, would you mind getting me a refill on my drink? I want to talk to Ne Ne,” he said, and her mother nodded her head and placed a hand over Dean McBride’s lightly tanned brown hand and squeezed.

“Of course, darling. In fact, if it can wait a second, I think I left something in the bedroom. I’m going to grab it real quick.” He nodded, and with a wink she left Naomi and her father alone.

“Dad?” she asked, her frown mirroring his. He smiled and held out a hand to his daughter for her to take.

“Baby, come and sit down for a minute. I need to tell you something. Something that’s long overdue,” he began and a ball of anxiety pitted her stomach.

“It’s not all that bad. Get that nauseous look off your face, baby girl,” he replied gruffly, kissing her cheek as she sat down near him on the sofa.

“What is it, Daddy?” she asked, staring into her father’s light gray eyes. Despite his assurance, worry and fear were beginning to make her sick.

“It’s about the money. Where it went, and why we couldn’t pay our taxes,” he began. “Your mother and I started saving up for your college the minute you were born. We never told you that, because, well, by the time we needed the money to send you to school, we had already used it.”

She frowned, not saying a word, just listening to her father’s heavy words.

“Well, to be honest we didn’t use it for ourselves, or you. We used it to help the Carsons,” he said, mentioning a family she’d grown up with in their community. “Around the time a lot of folks were losing their shirts, we were still holding on. Some of our friends weren’t so lucky. The Carsons were one of them. Well, they lost the lien on their house to that company, the one that’s been sneaking around buying up the land ’round here. That Rolling Hills,” he said, spitting the name out.

Naomi wasn’t surprised at anything her father was telling her. He went on to say that he’d lent money to the family to try to pay back the tax lien, but it hadn’t been enough in the end.

Not only had the Carsons lost their small ranch, they’d lost all of their money, along with the money the McBrides had lent them, and were unable to pay it back in time for Naomi to go to college.

“Daddy, I don’t understand. How did you and Momma pay for my school, then?” Confused light brown eyes met saddened gray eyes. Without a word she understood; it was all there for her to see.

Her parents hadn’t been able to afford to send her to school, and despite the scholarships, there had been a large amount they needed to pay. Medical school wasn’t cheap. But she hadn’t known. Although they never discussed it with her, she’d always assumed they had a college fund for her.

“We got out a loan. The next year, and a few years after that, well, the money got leaner, and we missed a few payments on the taxes. And, well...” He allowed his sentence to dangle, but there was no need for him to say anything more. Naomi easily filled in the rest.

“Oh, Daddy...why didn’t you tell me?” she asked and reached out her arms to hug her father, love and understanding making tears burn her eyes.

The sacrifices her parents made for her, the love they shared, was something she would always cherish.

“It’s all going to be okay, Dad, wait and see. We got this,” she said.

“Yeah, we got this, baby girl,” he replied. She laughed through the burn of tears when he offered his closed hand for a fist bump.

She grabbed him and hugged him, pouring all the love she had for her father into her tight embrace.

* * *

When Canton arrived at her parents’ home to pick her up, she proudly introduced her father to him.

She could barely keep her eyes off her man; he was so fine, so resplendent in his tux, she felt everything feminine in her leap, jump and tingle at the sight of him.

His tux fit him as though it had been custom-made.

Actually, she realized it was. Tall and broad-shouldered, he was the epitome of what a man should look like wearing a tuxedo. The expensive fabric fell perfectly on his lean, muscular form; the nontraditional black shirt he wore beneath it was a perfect foil against his light-colored hair and eyes.

She noted her mother’s smile and blushed, caught staring at Canton as though he was the last drumstick at a Thanksgiving meal.

And just as expected, each man sized up the other; Canton because he knew the love the small family held for one another was strong. He knew that if Dean McBride didn’t think he was worthy of his only child’s love, he’d have a hell of a time taking their relationship to the next level.

As far as Naomi’s father, he scrutinized Canton, grilled him on what his family was doing, how they were helping the community, and barely, just barely, refrained from asking what Naomi knew was burning a hole in his tongue to ask.

The same question all of their neighbors wanted to know...what were the Wildes’ plans with Rolling Hills?

The fact that he refrained from asking point-blank was a relief to Naomi. Finally the two left and he escorted her to his vehicle. Expecting the truck, she was surprised to see the low-slung, late-model silver Jaguar in her parents’ driveway.

Naomi knew her parents were watching them from the window of the den.

She knew Canton was just as aware of their regard.

He opened the door for her. Before he helped her into the low vehicle, he turned her into his arms.

“God, woman, could you be any more beautiful? You are the beginning to my end,” he told her, a catch in his voice as his gaze roamed her face. She gasped at the incredible words, a wealth of emotion springing forth, catching her off guard.

Before she could think of a suitable retort, he kissed her as though he would never see her again. The kiss was a statement to her parents.

She felt it, knew exactly what statement her Wilde man was giving.

When he released her, she tried as hard as she could to keep the smile from her face. To no avail.

“Are you ready to knock ’em dead, baby?” he asked, chuckling when she could only mutely nod her head up and down, still reeling from the romantic words he had spoken to her moments before.

* * *

The moment they entered the ballroom at the Grand Hyatt, the place where the cocktail party was being held, Naomi felt nauseous.

It wasn’t the grandness of the event or that she felt as though she didn’t belong. Instead, it was the man who’d rushed to greet them as soon as they’d entered: Cyrus White.

Immediately he’d begun fawning over Canton, barely listening as he introduced Naomi, in such a rush to “speak to my Wilde man.”

Naomi barely, just barely, suppressed a shudder.

She frowned at his choice of words, caught Canton’s glance and saw his reaction as well. Good. It wasn’t just her. Cyrus White was definitely acting too familiar with Canton.

She placed a faux smile on her face and when Canton grabbed her hand, placing it within his big warm clasp, and winked down at her, all of Naomi’s irritation vanished as though it never were. The connection with him was so real. Just like her family, she felt deep down in her soul that he had her back.

She grinned up at him and giggled a little when her wink made him stumble. He leaned down, brushed his mouth against the side of her ear—sending goose bumps over her skin in the process—and threatened her.

“If you insist on teasing me, be warned, you’ll give me no choice but to find a dark corner somewhere and show you what happens when big girls wanna act like little girls...and tease big boys.”

This time it was her turn to stumble just the slightest bit, at both the hot warning and the subtle swat on her backside he gave her. He gave her a concerned, angelic smile and helped her stay steady on her feet, asking if she was okay for those listening, the look in his bright blue eyes anything but saintly.

Chapter 17

N
aomi moaned into his mouth and drew in a sharp gasp when he shoved her gown down her shoulders, slipping it down farther until it pooled at her ankles, revealing her tiny panties and lacy bra before his hot gaze.

They had barely made it inside his house before they were all over each other.

Naomi had never been so glad for a keyless entry system than she was that night. It allowed him to open the door with a remote device even as he rolled into his own private entry to the Wilde mansion.

He swiftly, expertly parked his car in the attached garage, which also would lead them directly to his own private living quarters, something each of his siblings had in the Wilde mansion as well.

Grabbing and kissing each other, Naomi wanted him just as naked as he wanted her, and just as quickly.

She was so impatient to feel him, to lose herself in his embrace, that she nearly tore the pearl buttons off what had to be a very,
very
expensive tux.

Before she could stop him—had she wanted to—he’d released her mouth and trailed a line down her body with his tongue, leaving a fiery, scorching wet path in his wake.

He was crouched down low in front of her.

He lifted one foot and then the other from the confines of her dress and she stood over him wearing nothing but her underwear and stilettos.

He kept his eyes trained on hers as one big hand came out to cover her mound beneath the silk of her bikini panties.

His long, thick forefinger feathered back and forth over the front of the silk, and she nearly came from the look in his bright blue eyes; the clarity of his intent was obvious even before he acted out the wicked promise within them.

“I’ve been wanting to taste you all night.”

His words were hot, direct, and Naomi groaned when she felt the heat of his mouth over the silk of her panties.

* * *

Canton had never been so damn hot for a woman as he now was with Naomi.

Neither had he ever felt the kind of love for a woman that he did for her. He’d known it the first moment he laid eyes on her. He hadn’t told her yet, but he planned on making up for that, and more.

Thinking of the small box inside his dresser drawer brought a growl of possession. She was his.

After tonight, he planned on telling her everything...and then proposing.

But now, he planned on making love to her properly. Seal the deal so there were no more questions about who she belonged to.

He leaned into her, inhaling her unique intoxicating feminine scent, burying his entire face in her heat. He could probably smell her like this and come, she was so damn intoxicating to him.

The entire night, he’d been unable to concentrate on anything or anyone but her.

A part of him knew his focus should be on the task at hand, that he should have been interacting with the Rolling Hills crew with more attentiveness; he and his brothers had to make a decision regarding Rolling Hills soon.

If nothing else, he’d learned tonight that his instincts were right; there was definitely something wrong with Cyrus White more than ever. The little man left a sour taste in his mouth.

But that was something he’d have to discuss with Tiber as soon as he brother returned home. For now, his mind, his attention, his everything was only on the woman in front of him.

He thumbed her panties aside, hearing but ignoring her sweet little gasp as his gaze centered on her pretty feminine spot.

Canton leaned in and licked her across the seam, leaving the silk damp.

“Canton,”
she groaned, bucking against him. “Come on!” she moaned, laughing breathlessly.

“That’s exactly what I plan on making you do...” he replied, laughing low, rough, a masculine sound of appreciation when her knees buckled and again she called out his name.

He would have allowed her to join him on the floor and eat her out right there...but he wanted to feel her buck against him as he loved her in this position.

“Baby, I want to feel all of you, experience all, not just—” Her moan echoed off the walls and he grinned against her mons.

He separated the lips of her vagina. “You will. Eventually,” he promised, before licking her between her hot, wet folds.

“What are you doing to me, baby?” she moaned, her hands reaching out to grasp his head; not to push him away, but to hold him steady, right where his baby wanted him to be, as he licked, stroked and loved her, intimately giving her what she needed, what she wanted and deserved.

He loved her so much he ached with desire. He could spend a lifetime on his knees giving his woman pleasure if that’s what she wanted.

He took his time with her, licking her, fingering and caressing her until she grew so weak her knees would no longer support her standing.

He allowed her to fall to the floor, following her, his big body hovering between her legs. He lifted them, placed them over his arms and leaned back into her.

Canton took the end of his tongue and laved her tight little bud over and over until he knew she was seconds from exploding.

Then stopped.

“Nooooo!” she groaned, head tossing on the soft rug, and he suckled her, his pursed lips against the hub of her core.

“I’m going to take care of you, baby. I’ll always take care of you. You believe me, you trust me, don’t you?”

* * *

Naomi was robbed of speech; never before had she been to this level, this height of arousal.

When she nodded her assent, again he catered to her, licking her, stroking into her heat, until she felt like a bomb ready to explode. She begged him. Pleaded with him to let her come this time.

She nearly wept with pleasure when he appeared to give her what she so desperately needed. As he licked and stroked her, he added a finger inside her clenching core, thrusting it in and out, preparing her for his shaft, knowing he wouldn’t be able to last long, that he needed to be balls-deep inside her.

This would be their first time in a long time having full penetration. He remembered how small she was seven years ago, how he’d had to prepare her. As he pumped his fingers in and out of her, his hooded gaze watching as she writhed on the floor beneath him, he felt his cock harden to granite, as he realized that although seven years had passed, she was still hot, wet...and tight.

Just when he knew she was about to release, he shifted and moved over her. With deft precision, he removed the condom he’d hastily grabbed and sheathed his erection. In one long, hot glide, he impaled her with his cock.

She screamed the minute he slid all the way in, but he didn’t stop. Beyond his rational mind, Canton lost control.

It had been so damn long since he’d felt her, so long since he’d felt a fraction of what he felt for her with any other woman. The pleasure was so intense, it was nearly blinding.

He groaned when he felt her hands, hesitant at first before they grew bolder, grip the edge of his cheeks, digging into them, before one hand slid down and cupped his balls.

Canton stiffened when her nails scored his back at the same time she played with his testicles.

He knew she was innocent. Just as innocent as the day he’d first met her, but the way she was playing him, she was giving him more pleasure than women with ten times her knowledge ever had.

Sweat poured from him, landing on the hollow of her tummy as he stroked inside her heat.

“How do you—” He couldn’t complete the question. At that moment she squeezed, lightly, on his sac and he felt his orgasm swallow his questions.

He gave in to it, but he wasn’t going alone.

He grabbed her hips, brought her up to meet his thrusts and slammed into her hot, welcoming heat with a ferociousness that would not be denied. He spread her legs as far apart as they could go, and leveled one leg up to get at a better angle to feed her more of his cock.

“Oh, baby, it’s good...sooo good,” she cried, weeping with the strength of her emotions, accepting, welcoming the power of his trusts.

When she met his thrusts one final time, he exploded, detonated, on the spot. His orgasm swept her up along with him as he came and came and came...coming for so long and so hard, he felt weak, but full. Depleted but powerful as he held on to the woman he loved more than he thought possible to ever love.

As she milked the last of his seed and he was nearly spent, he yelled, “I love you, Naomi!”

With a cry of acceptance, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave in to her own release.

“Yes! I love you, Canton, I love you I love you I love
youuuu
.” The litany rolled off her tongue as waves of pleasure and release crashed into them, leaving them both weak and completely satisfied.

After their bodies had cooled, he lifted her from the floor and carried his beautiful burden with him on to the bed.

* * *

Naomi woke to feel Canton’s big, hard body spooning her, her bottom lying close to his shaft...as he played with her.

She moaned, releasing a long sigh, opening her legs to give his talented fingers better access.

* * *

“I could wake up like this for the rest of my life.”

At his words, her hands stilled on top of his, which lay on her belly. Seconds later she went back to her light, feathery strokes.

She didn’t know if she’d ever felt this relaxed, this good in her life.

To say Canton was an extraordinary lover was putting it mildly. What he did to her body, how he made her feel both in and out of bed, was something she’d never felt before.

For a moment, fear and anxiety filled her mind. He’d said he loved her, but had that been in the heat of the moment? Could he really love her a fraction of the amount she loved him? she wondered.

When he lifted her bottom, and slowly, so slowly she felt every hot inch of him glide into her body, all thoughts and insecurities vanished. For now, this was what she wanted. What she craved.

Languidly, his strokes even, slow, he made love to her. Naomi reached an arm back and up, bringing his mouth close to hers; she kissed him, the position allowing only the corners of their mouths to touch, the tips of their tongues to meet and play as he stroked into her heat.

Unlike their first, more frantic coupling, there was a difference this time. Her body was still on fire for his, and she knew from the rock-hard sensation of his cock and the tight feel of his sac tapping against her seam that Canton felt the same. But this time, they were able to slow the pace, as though by mutual agreement. They were able to draw out their lovemaking...marinate in it.

“Hmm,” she moaned when he pressed the palm of his hand on top of her mons and pushed.

“You like that?” he asked, and she could only nod her head.

“Good,” he replied with a harsh laugh. “Because I want to make you feel good, just like this, for the rest of your life.”

Again, he alluded to them being something more, and Naomi allowed her eyes to close and imagined...

His strokes continued, becoming more demanding, more urgent. Soon, she felt her belly tighten in the pleasure/painful way it did when she was on the precipice of release.

She squeezed her legs together around his cock, keeping the tether tight, and her movements began to match his, growing in excitement she bucked against him, and within moments he’d given her what she needed.

This time Canton came at the same time as Naomi; his thrusts strong, hard, sure he leveled into her giving her all that he could, all that he had within him. His love for her, as his seed, bursting from him as he came, giving her what he’d never given another woman; allowing her to claim him as he was claiming her.

* * *

When Naomi woke, it was to find Canton next to her, with his big, beautiful, naked and
incredibly
sexy body sprawled out, a contented look on his face.

As hot as he was, as much as she loved him... Naomi knew she couldn’t handle another round. Not until she’d had a long, long soak, she thought.

She smiled softly, thinking of how many times they’d made love and how many times he’d told her he loved her.

Her life had never been so complete.

Not only did she have the man of her dreams, but she also would be helping her parents. One thing she was sure of if nothing else after being around Cyrus White, the man would do anything to win Canton’s approval and to get the Wildes on board with Rolling Hills.

She doubted they’d overly protest the Wildes’ bailing her parents out. With her help, her family would pay the Wildes back. She loved him, and knew that part was going to be tricky, his being okay with the repayment.

She smiled down at his sexy sleeping form.

But she’d find ways to make sure he was okay with it.

Gingerly, not wanting to wake him, she eased from the bed. A quick trip into his adjoining bathroom to use the facilities and she was washing her hands. Glancing at the mirror, she grimaced, placing a hand to her rat’s nest of a hairdo. She quickly finger-combed her curly tresses and with efficiency from years of practice pulled the mass of hair into one single braid, the ends landing with a thud in the middle of her back.

“Well, that’s about as good as it’s going to get,” she said.

Quietly she walked around, glancing at Canton only to see he was still knocked out. With a little grin, realizing she’d put that man to sleep, she tiptoed out and left the room.

She’d been to his home more than once, and allowed instinct to guide her to the kitchen, hoping she wouldn’t meet anyone on the way there. Lucky for her, no one was.

She opened the beautiful oversize refrigerator. Had she not been in his kitchen before and not known it, she might have mistaken the refrigerator for a cabinet, as its doors matched those of the equally gorgeous redwood paneling on the floor-to-ceiling cabinets throughout the kitchen.

Naomi was in the process of grabbing the orange juice when a small
ding
caught her attention.

Frowning, she spun around, trying to locate the sound until she realized it was a phone and shrugged.

Now she needed a glass...hmm, she thought. Which cabinet would she find one in?