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It’s the middle of the night when she wakes him, the outline of their bodies illuminated only by light from the half-crescent moon that fights to stream into the most northerly bedroom of the lodge’s first floor. Rip wonders for a moment if morning’s already come, used to being stirred awake by the gentle brush of her lips before the call of dawn as she eases them both into the day with the tender clashing of hips. But this is different to those early starts when she pulls herself on top of him and indulges bodies that are already half-awake; the sky’s darker, black ink only disturbed by a sprinkling of stars, and the usual tease of his beard to rouse him is accompanied by a warm hand burrowed under the waistband of his boxers, starting the slow caress of his cock.
He peels open an eye again, body stirring back to life as he glances at his phone on the side to try and make out what time it is. 12.01. Early enough for them to have only just gone to sleep. But there’s no time to think about it, a subconscious groan making its way out of his throat as Beth strokes and squeezes and brushes her thumb over his tip, lips finding the slope of his neck as the blood in his body is sent to nowhere but his rapidly hardening dick.
“Mm,” He grunts from the back of his throat, sinking back into his pillow and closing his eyes as he enjoys the simple pleasure of feeling her hand wrapped around him. Ever since they started sharing a bed, he’s learnt there’s no point fighting her when she’s intent on fucking him, no matter how many hours its been since they’ve fallen into bed or what time of day it is.
But for a moment she stops, and he’s still only half-awake, lost so quickly in the heavy pull back towards sleep that he doesn’t think twice about letting his body trick him into thinking it really is all a dream. Until the sheets ruffle and the front of his boxers are pulled down and suddenly the hand that’s been stroking him to life is replaced by the hot and wet cavern of her mouth.
“Beth,” He groans, jerked into full consciousness by the pressure of the lips she starts to move up and down on him, “What’re you doin’?” He manages to get out, voice still thick with sleep. She says nothing, just runs her tongue up the underside of his cock, sucking harder like she’s trying to pull a fucking marble from his body and he can’t help but groan louder, throwing his head back and blindly sending his hand under the covers to lace through her hair to keep her right where she is.
His grasp in her blonde mop tightens as she takes him deeper into her throat and he looks at his phone again, just to check it really is only midnight and this isn’t one of those subconscious thoughts he has before he usually wakes up. But it’s not, and he lies back, taking it for what it is as she takes her time, sucking and licking and toying with him with both her mouth and hand until he’s so hard he’s almost pulsing in her mouth.
Only then does she pause, pleased with the start of her work before she presses a kiss to his length and crawls up his body to steal his lips with her own. He kisses her back hard, arms coming up to wrap around her back as she settles on top of him and holds him right where he is, palm to cheek, tongue to tongue.
She mewls into his mouth and with the state she’s already worked him into it, it’s almost enough to have him come right then and there. Because he loves these random fucks, these mornings and evenings and afternoons and nights that seem to come out of nowhere and remind him that the burning desire for each other will never go away. These are the ones that are harder, longer, so intense as they try to prove to the other that they can make them feel more, tease more, come more, until they’re both so spent they have nothing else left to give.
He pulls her flush against him and pushes his hips up, eager to slip inside of her as the tip of his cock finds her wet and wanting, and he moans in the back of his throat, hungry to roll them over so he can start to have his own wicked way with her. But she stops him, legs clenching around his body as a hand is thrown out to push against the beige upholstery of the headboard behind him to keep him right where he is, “Nuh uh,” She whispers, nose hovering over his and lips almost touching, “You lie there,” She murmurs, pressing her mouth against his gently as she rolls her centre over his dick, “And you watch me.”
“Watch you?” He groans as her mouth moves back to his beard, nibbling and kissing down the nape of his neck to his brand, where she grazes the puckered skin with her teeth. She loves this part of him, the part that means he’ll always be here, with her. He watches as she kisses it gently, eyes gazing up through the mop of her fringe and telling him everything words can’t say, before she takes his nipple into her mouth and bites down gently.
He can feel her start to rub herself on top of him, and he’s desperate to be inside of her, trying to nudge into her once, twice, until she reaches between them and takes him into her hand again. She strokes every inch, lips heading lower as she begins to move back down his body and drag the covers with her, “Watch me,” She repeats, looking up at him through those thick lashes as she brushes her lips against his hip, “Happy birthday, baby,” She whispers and then proceeds to send his eyes rolling to the back of his head as she swallows his cock and goes to work with more skill than he has the ability to comprehend.
“Birthday?” He grasps her hair in his fingers again, “Beth, it ain’t my–”
“Yes it is,” She pauses, running her hands up his thighs as he looks down at her again, “We fucking picked it, September 28th,” She purses her lips, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as realisation dawns on his face, “Now you gonna shut up and let me blow you, or keep fightin’ me?”
He swallows, no words able to form as the sight of her between his legs with her mouth parted right next to his dick all he can think about. “Enjoy it,” She murmurs, kissing his hardness as her eyes meet his, “I know I will,” She manages to add, before she takes him back into her mouth and begins to work her lips up and down.
He does just that, laying back and enjoying the simple pleasure she’s intent on giving him. There’s nothing else like it, and he shifts between sweeping her hair out of her face so that he can watch her and throwing his head back as he tries to fight off the edge of the mountain he can feel moving ever closer. And then she starts to do that thing with her tongue that she knows he loves, and for a moment he thinks about letting it all end right here, until he remembers what it’s like to be inside of her, and suddenly he knows he can have even more.
“Beth,” He somehow finds the will power to get her to stop, voice heavy with desire, “Not like this,” He mumbles and she grins, because she knows she’s done a fucking good job by the glazed look in his eyes and the way his dick’s about to jump out of it’s skin, and whilst she’d love to finish him off right there, who’s she to deny the birthday boy exactly what he wants.
She runs her fingers back up his legs, across his stomach and up to his chest as her lips follow in a slow, tortuous path. He can only take it for so long, desperate to feel her under his hands as he grabs her under her arms and hoists her up on top of him. “Patience,” She teases him, a smile growing on her face as she strokes her thumb down over the hairs on his chin.
“Oh I’ve been patient, darlin’,” He mumbles as her forehead drops to his, the usual blue of his eyes now ebony with a thirst only she can quench. It’s a gift she’s intent on giving, hand moving between them to take hold of his cock and run it across her lips.
“That so?” She gasps as he pushes against her, almost slipping inside.
“So,” He groans, grabbing hold of her hips to give them what he knows they both want. She can’t quiet her moan, the glorious feel of him stretching her never something she’ll get over as she sinks down and takes him as deep as she can. He savours it too, watching her face intently as she comes back to him, before she sits up and pushes her hands against his chest.
“How do you want me?” She teases him, running her fingers up over her breasts, “You can have me any way you want.”
“Just like this,” He murmurs, grasping at her hips as she starts to roll them back and forth so slowly it’s almost torture. She bites her bottom lip, tugging it between her teeth as she moans her quiet acquiescence and begins to ride him like every eight seconds is really eight minutes; it’s a roll of her curving body, another twist to the coil that’s tightening with every rise and fall of her figure, an unending fight to not let the tsunami of gratification flood his nerve endings.
She’s the perfect woman and he knows it, hands moving to touch every inch of the skin he gets to call his own as she worships the electricity circulating between them, “Beth,” He groans, unable to stop himself as he reaches up to cup her breasts, thumbs circling the pebbled nipples she pushes in his direction as she tosses her head back.
Her hands come up to rest on top of his, increasing her pace on top of him as she fucks him like it’s the last thing she’s ever going to do on this earth. And he feels the stirrings again, temptation whispering to chase his own release until he watches her face again, studies the way she’s scrunching her eyes up, and parting her mouth, and he’s suddenly desperate to watch her come all around him. So he sits up, fingers lacing through her hair to encourage her lips down to his as he begins to push up inside her too, their hips clashing together like some magnetic dance that only they know.
“Rip,” She gasps quietly, burying her head against his neck as their bodies crash over and over, “No…”
“No?” His chuckle’s a low rumble in his chest, holding her against him as he rolls her onto her back and settles on top of her.
“No,” She repeats, her breath leaving her body with each slow and deep thrust inside of her, “It’s for you,” She tries as he pushes a leg back and finds her left breast with his mouth.
“Is for me,” He murmurs against the flesh, biting the swell before kissing the same spot gently, “This right here…” His thumb finds her center, those perfect circles beginning to swirl and she could fucking kill him for making her come first when this is supposed to be all about him, but there’s not much she can do when he twists her into a knot so tight she has no choice but to snap, “Is for me.”
She moans loudly, and he’d usually care more about waking someone else in the house but not right now. Not when she’s squeezing around him like a vice, mouth wide open and head pushed back into the rumpled up covers as she tries to push every other part of her body up to touch his. She hunts for him blindly, desperate to kiss him as she rides out the waves of pleasure and when he thinks she can take it, he starts to fuck her into the mattress all over again, swallowing her moans as her hips rise to meet his.
“That wasn’t fair,” She gasps when they pull apart, tugging on the curls on the nape of his neck to force his head back.
He grunts, enjoying the pressure, “You told me it was how I wanted you,” He reminds her as she wraps her legs around his waist and he nuzzles her nose with his, “Wanted you to come for me.”
She forces him onto his back, pushing with all her might so that she can sit plum on top of him and make him her prisoner again, “You’re fucking the plan.”
“I’m fuckin’ you.”
She leans down to kiss him, her hair falling around them like their own cloak of privacy from anything that dares try and interrupt. And she pins his hands down next to them, a coy look on her face as she tilts her head to the side and whispers, “I’m supposed to be fucking you.”
He grins, “Think you are, darlin’.”
“Not if you keep doing that.”
“Thought it was my birthday?”
“Your birthday,” She murmurs, voice low as her fingers trail up through his chest hair, teasing the hairs on his chin as he looks up at her with those twinkling eyes that never seem to empty of devotion for her. He has no idea what’s coming. “I’m gonna fuck you now until you don’t know what day it is.”
She’s not wrong, he thinks later that morning as he walks up towards the lodge, running on little more than an hour’s sleep and four cups of coffee. He’s barked out orders that would’ve made more sense to a cowboy in Texarkana than the Yellowstone, and almost sent pairs off towards a pasture a wolf and her cubs have been spotted in three times over the past week. Given the haze he’s in, he’s not sure any more caffeine can sort him out after a night fucking his wife for longer than he can currently remember, but a helping of breakfast that’s been leftover from the early shift might do.
He steps through the front door, placing the gun he’d been carrying in its rightful place before heading towards the dining room to see what scraps have been left behind after his first helping at the break of dawn. Knowing Gator, the food will have just kept coming out, and it hadn’t taken him long to realise since living here that the best stuff was reserved for whenever John Dutton decided to head down the stairs. As he heads for the dining room, following the scent of freshly baked biscuits, he’ll take anything.
“Morning, baby,” Beth spots him straight away, looking decidedly fresher than how he’d left her a few hours ago with sweat-drenched hair, mussed into the pillow atop a fully spent body. “Come eat,” She beckons him over, and he knows the deliberately innocent look on her face that she sends his way spells trouble.
“You look tired, Rip,” John says as he looks up from the paper in his hands to take in his Ranch Manager.
He can see Beth fight a smirk as he sits down beside her, and pinches her thigh under the table to warn her to keep her mouth shut, “Mornin’, Sir,” He murmurs, placing his hat down on the table, “Early start.”
“Yeah, well when the days start getting easy big fella’, that’s when you start worrying.”
Rip says nothing, reaching for the bowl of biscuits that have been placed in the middle. He’s too tired to think of the right thing to say, desperate now for more coffee and some food to get him through this conversation.
“You’re working him too hard, Daddy,” Beth starts, taking a bite of the melon on her plate, “Why haven’t cowboys ever heard of sleeping in?”
“Cowboys don’t sleep in, sweetheart. If they’re tired, they go to bed earlier.”
She scoffs, a mischievous glint in her eye and Rip’s slightly terrified about what she’s going to say, unable to take another bite as he watches her look at him with those raised eyebrows and pouting lips that were only a few hours ago wrapped around his co– “Can’t go to bed early tonight,” She stops his mind from going any further, stroking his thigh under the table as John puts his paper down.
“Then there’s your answer, honey. He’s not getting enough sleep.”
“We’re newlyweds, Daddy. Not sure we’re supposed to sleep much anyway.”
“Jesus Christ, Beth,” He rolls his eyes, sliding out of his chair, “I don’t need to hear this at this time in the morning. You two…” He waves a hand in their direction, heading for the door as he tries to find the words. Nothing comes. “Ah,” He shakes his head, deciding it’s safer right now to leave them to it and enjoy his next cup of coffee down with Lloyd and the wranglers watching them warm some horses up.
“Beth…” Rip starts, glancing up to make sure John’s really gone as she cups the back of his head and leans over to push her lips against his cheek.
“Happy birthday, baby,” She mumbles against his beard, fingers squeezing his thigh as she indulges him in affection usually reserved for the privacy of their bedroom.
“Beth, your father don’t know about this and I don’t want him to.”
“I know, baby,” She coos, “Why’d you think I sent him packing?”
He grunts from the back of his throat before he rubs his eyes, turning to look at her with a knowing smile, “Gettin’ old,” He mumbles quietly, “Can’t keep up with ya all night.”
She cups his cheek, a grin on her own face, “Think you kept up pretty good,” She teases him, leaning in to give him a gentle kiss, “You just wait for later.”
“Later?” He swallows, worry sinking in, “Beth, I told you I don’t need to celebrate no birthday. I got you an’ that’s all I need each year.”
“Tough shit, buddy,” She sits back, watching as she sees the nerves scamper to the edges of his eyes, “I got years to make up for.”
“You made up for ‘em last night, darlin’.”
“I taught you a lesson last night,” She stands, leaning down to press another kiss to his cheek, “You should get some sleep.”
“Beth…” He watches as she heads for the door, following her father’s exit route with that look of sheer determination on her face that has him knowing there’s really nothing he can say to change whatever she’s decided on for the day.
“I’ll come pick ya up later,” She winks at him, “Don’t be late.”
He’s wondering what late means as he strolls through the barn, chaps thrown over his shoulder after an afternoon of watching the wranglers break colts and yelling at Jimmy to sort out his fucking reins and saddle once again. It’s been easy work for once, handing out horses and saving his own tired body from having to do anything but stand there under clear blue skies and the early fall sun, watching as wildlings slowly learn how to bow to their new masters.
He’s thought about Beth all day, that wicked smile as she’d sashayed out of the dining room imprinted in his mind like the dust kicked up by her speeding Mercedes as she’d headed off to… somewhere. The unknown of it all makes him uneasy. God he loves her, but she’s like a dog with a fucking bone once she gets an idea and the thought of doing anything big to celebrate his so-called birthday that she's insisting on following through on is like asking him to take in a stray healer and find the joy in training it to be useful. Last night was more than enough to make him feel like it was his birthday for the next fucking decade, let alone year.
But he doesn’t have to wait long to find out, because she’s there, leaning against a hitching post in some sheath-like dress that has his jeans tightening and mouth rapidly drying as he walks out. She smiles when she sees him, taking one last drag of her cigarette before flicking it onto the floor and crossing her arms over her chest. Her breasts almost spill out, and he has to remind himself it’s rude to stare as she finally opens her mouth; “You ready?” She asks, that tease still in her eyes. But he has no idea what she’s talking about, because there’s only his truck in sight and he can’t go anywhere before he washes the smell of this afternoon off himself.
“Baby, I ain’t ready for anythin’,” He starts, heading for the car, “I gotta go shower and change.”
She watches with a smile growing on her lips, shaking her head a little before she strolls over to where he’s stopped on the gravel and is now looking at her expectantly. She grabs his chin with her thumb and finger, pulling his head down to hers to press a hard kiss against his lips. He’s so sensitive when he’s tired, but she’ll indulge him if it makes him happy.
“I like when you smell like this,” Her eyes flash up at him, and he has to glance away to regain his balance.
“I smell like horse, darlin’.”
“No,” She kisses him again, a hand slipping into the back pocket of his jeans, “You smell like hard work. Let’s go.”
“Where we going?”
“Can’t tell ya.”
“Then how am I gonna know where to drive?”
“I’m driving,” She pats his belly, stepping round him and heading for the car that’s been dwarfed by his own, the body of it hidden by the way she’s parked it in her haste to come and find him, “Let’s go,” She yells again, nodding towards the dark Mercedes, before she climbs into the driver’s seat and revs the engine.
He dumps his chaps in the truck and does as he’s told, the door barely closing before she’s pressing down on the accelerator to reverse out and sends him almost flying forward into the dash, “Put your seatbelt on, baby,” She tells him, and if she didn’t have that look in her eye that tells him she knows just how ridiculous she sounds, he’d have considered jumping out of the damn thing before they left the Yellowstone. The long gravel drive passes quickly, and he waits in anticipation to see which way she turns out of the gates, hoping it’s not towards Bozeman and all those transplants he really doesn’t want to have to share any space with tonight. But she doesn’t, and when she reaches for his hand to curl her fingers around his own, he finally starts to ease up.
“How was your day, dear?” She teases, yanking her hand away when he pinches her playfully.
“When you tell me where we’re goin’ it’ll get a hell of a lot better. I don’t want no people around, Beth, or no big deal made of this.”
“You know a birthday’s supposed to be all about you, baby, don’t you?”
“I know,” He grunts, glancing out of the window, “But it don’t matter to me, Beth. Never has and it never will.”
“How’d you know if you haven’t had one?”
“Seen enough of the wranglers havin' to deal with the consequences of a birthday the next day to know I ain’t missin’ out on much.”
“What?” The tease is back as both hands go onto the wheel and she shuffles in her seat, “They get fucked by their wife for hours and then have to get through the day to be able to do it all over again?”
He grunts involuntarily, memories of the way she’d twisted her body around his in the middle of the night still vividly fresh. He knows he should let it go and just enjoy what she has planned, but his idea of a perfect night is with Beth alone, lost under some big sky somewhere, where it feels like no one but them exists for just long enough to believe it to be so.
“Just don’t want no fuss, that’s all,” He murmurs quietly, hoping she knows he’s grateful for the effort despite the fight he’s putting up.
“I know, baby,” She promises, reaching out to lace their hand together again, “But this one’s just for us.”
He takes it for what it is and sighs, sitting back as they speed along the highway and watching the road they’re on bend in a familiar direction, swooping left and then right as it curves around the mountain before descending into the valley on the other side of the jagged peak they’ve just crossed. It’s a trusty sight that greets them, the signs of the Yellowstone Park welcoming visitors no matter what, and his heart begins to race a little as she takes a familiar turning, easing down roads less travelled as they slip further into the park and away from civilization.
The familiar clearing appears again and she crawls forward until she’s happy, turning the engine off and dimming the headlights. It's quiet, even the animals not out for their nightly ritual yet and when she looks over at Rip, he's simply taking in the landscape in front of them, rough and thick grass providing perfect territory for wolves to hunt and elk to hide in a game of cat and mouse that usually ends up with supper eaten on display.
“Figured we could make out and watch some wolves kill an elk before I blow ya again,” She reaches over to cup his cheek, bringing his lips down onto hers as she kisses him tenderly, “Might let you fuck me on the hood this time too,” She mumbles against his mouth, and he almost laughs, because she’s so fucking crazy and so fucking perfect he doesn’t know how he ever managed to think he could live this life without her.
“Oh yeah?” He grins, watching as she leans into the back to pull out a bottle of whiskey for them to share.
“Cars going back soon, gotta fully christen it before we lose the chance,” She mutters, handing him the liquor to take a pull, “Besides,” She waits for him to finish and then takes a gulp herself, eyes burning into his as the whiskey warms her throat, “They’re about to start the show.”
“Mmm,” He leans over to kiss her again, nice and slow as the leftover alcohol on their tongues mixes together, “You’re the perfect woman,” He mumbles, blindly trying to find the lever to send his chair back so that he can pull her over onto his lap.
“Brought dinner too,” She teases him as she moves to straddle him, hitching her dress up so that she can feel him between her thighs. It's a welcome heat, a tease of what's to come as she grinds against him slowly.
“Oh yeah?” He asks distractedly, hands going to he waist as his lips begin to nibble on that sensitive spot behind her ear.
She tosses his hat into the back, leaning over him to grab the skillet she watched Gator prepare with a watchful eye that evening. The poor man had never seen her so insistent on following a recipe perfectly, tossing together flour and cinnamon, and eggs and blueberries with constant corrections from her and notes on how he was doing it wrong. She was sure he was convinced it was going to be a disaster, but perfect didn’t matter. Not to them.
“What you got?” He asks again, waiting for her to shimmy back with the thing in her hands.
“Cobbler,” She grins, taking the foil off. It’s still warm - just - and she hands him a fork, looking expectantly at him to dig in, “Our cobbler,” She reminds him, and he chuckles, nodding at her before he encourages her to turn around in his lap and watch the show about to be put on by their four-legged friends not too far away.
“I ain’t forgettin’ that.”
“Kinda like a birthday cake.”
“Yeah,” He takes a bite when she holds it up for him, “Guess it kinda is.”
“And this is kinda like a party.”
“Where are all the guests?”
“Out there,” She nods as an elk begins to run through the clearing, quickly taken down as a pack of grey-haired wolves emerge from all sides to enjoy the feast. “And when they go, we’ve got the after party starting right here.”
“Mmm…” He groans, feeling her press herself back against his jeans. He wonders if this is the point where he suggests they just skip the main event and head straight to that, but he holds back, wanting her to know he appreciates her and everything this is. And so they watch the wolves, and drink whiskey, and make out in the car as the temperature outside drops and the last scraps of dinner are devoured by the hungry showmen a couple of hundred meters away in front of them.
They hardly notice when they’re done, until Beth looks up, determined to have her way for the day one last time as she drags Rip out of the car and pushes him onto the bonnet. “Fucking in the park with the wolves, baby,” She starts, climbing up to settle on top of him, “There’s no better birthday than that.”
He feels her take him inside her, sees the light of the moon catch the wedding ring that shimmers under a sky full of stars. No, he thinks as she begins to move up and down, fucking him into the next day with soft hands and tender kisses, there’s nowhere else that would be a better place to celebrate than right here.