Rock Me Faster (Licks of Leather #4) - Jenna Jacob Page 0,101
to mine. “Can we come back here and have dessert after breakfast?”
My cock leapt and my heart thundered. “Oh, yeah.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Harmony
Two weeks later
Peering out the window of the limo traversing the twisting hills of Kentucky, I caught sight of my mountain. Butterflies tumbled and swirled low in my belly. It felt like forever since I’d been home.
“There it is,” I said, pointing out the sharp peak to Ross who was sitting beside me holding my hand.
“Wow. That’s a big mountain. There are so many trees.”
“Thank you for doing this for me,” I murmured as I leaned in to kiss his warm lips.
“Thank you for staying with me when we restart the tour next week. I wanted you to see your dad and visit with your family before the crazy starts again.”
“I know. And I love you for it.”
“I love you.” He cupped my nape, held me in place, and snaked his hot, silky tongue into my mouth with a manly groan.
Making love to Ross was nothing short of ah-mazing. And kissing him was a sizzling thrill all its own.
When the limo turned off the main road and began climbing the gravel drive, I slid across the seat and lowered the window. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the sweet scent of pine and grinned while mentally urging the driver to go faster.
Ross eased beside me and threaded his fingers through mine as we reached the general store. As always, the parking lot was full of vehicles bearing out-of-state license plates. Betty, who was on the porch talking to a potential customer about one of the pictures she had painted, lifted her head and locked eyes on me before we both started waving excitedly.
When the limo edged around the big curve and Gaia Garden came into view, I did a double take. The place didn’t look a thing like it had the day I’d left. The ancient travel trailers and weather-worn communal houses were gone. In their place were dozens of brand-new, modern homes. Instead of milky, scratched plexiglass, real glass windows shimmered in the sunlight. Sturdy doors that actually aligned with their frames would undoubtedly keep the cold winter winds at bay.
A dozen men—none of whom I recognized—wearing hard hats and tool belts were feverishly hammering, sawing, and putting up frames for several more homes along the main road.
Dad was standing in the grass, talking to yet another stranger and pointing at the long, electrical lines that connected each house to a tall power pole. It had been erected where the bath houses once stood. The fact that they’d been dismantled told me each dwelling had electricity and indoor plumbing.
The melding of new and old ways sent a bittersweet pang of melancholy wending through me. But when I looked out at the lush vegetables growing in the acre-sized garden and the well-tended fruit trees, the nostalgia of home warmed me to the bone.
“I guess the community decided to upgrade with the extra money you gave Dad.”
“Bodhi told me they’d voted to hire a crew to connect them to the county utilities. I take it the place looks a little different?”
“Not a little, a whole lot. But in a good way…I think.”
Hearing our arrival, or most likely sensing it, Dad turned his head. When our eyes met, a wide grin lit up his face. A split second later, he was racing toward the limo screaming, “Harmony’s home. They’re here, everyone.”
As the limo pulled to a stop, the doors on all the finished houses swung open, and the whole community rushed out to greet us wearing smiles and cheering and waving.
“Welcome home, princess,” Ross murmured as he pressed a kiss to the shell of my ear.
Without waiting for the driver, he reached around me and opened the door. I’d barely swung my legs from the vehicle when Dad bent down and plucked me off the buttery leather. He didn’t even let my feet touch the ground, simply pulled me in tight for a monstrous hug.
“Welcome home, baby girl.” He grinned and kissed my cheek.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the driver unloading our luggage, but lost sight of him when Dad released me and I was swallowed up by my ecstatically happy family.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Ross, leaning against the limo, beefy arms—adorned with the colorful tattoos I’d dragged my tongue over more times than I could count—folded across his wide chest, laughing like a loon.