Chapter 9 Diamond #2
Rhett didn’t even kick his jeans all the way off. They’re still puddled around his ankles. It’s kinda thrilling to know he wants me so badly he couldn’t be bothered to get completely naked.
His thumb slides over my tip, gliding through the pool of pre-cum I’m leaking for him.
“I can’t wait.” I take this hand away and spit in his palm before guiding him to wrap us together. “I need it, Rhett. Fuck…”
He doesn’t disappoint.
Rhett buries his face into my neck. He nips and kisses with ragged breaths as his hand jerks us off. My hands roam his body and memorize the coarse chest hair and firm body. The scent of rain-damp clothes and arousal, and something that’s uniquely Rhett.
“Fuck…baby…” he gasps and tenses against me as the warmth of his release spills into his fist. He doesn’t stop, pressing me closer with his lips on my ear. “Come for me, sweetheart. I want to hear how much you love this.”
Okay. So, nobody has ever made me come on demand, and yet I’m doing it before he’s even finished his sentence and babbling nonsense the entire time. His lips smile against my skin, and I wish I had the energy to tell him not to be so smug.
“I think I saw Jesus,” I mumble and slump against him.
He chuckles softly and kisses my temple. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“I need to sit down.”
He backs me up, almost tripping on the pants still at his ankles, until I hit the edge of the bed, and he guides me down. “Are you okay?”
Again, his gaze fills with concern.
“Yeah, cowboy. You just rocked my world, is all, and I’m woozy.”
He rummages through a pile of laundry on the floor, and after wiping himself down, he wipes up the mess that’s mainly on my stomach.
His finger stops at the faded scar on my groin. I have little body hair since chemo and losing a testicle to cancer, so there isn’t anything but a little peach fuzz over the scar. It’s no longer the angry red it was at the beginning, but it’s still there as a reminder.
His gaze meets mine, and instantly, I know he knows what the scar is from without me elaborating. He bends and feathers his lips over the area in a soft kiss before straightening.
My heart lodges in my throat at such a tender act. Most men don’t say a thing, if they even notice. But Rhett more than noticed. He acknowledged it, and my heart might have stopped beating.
“Diamond…do you…Is this going to be a problem with the group?”
Okay, not what I thought he’d ask. Perhaps my face conveys concern and not the complete adoration he deserves for just being so damn good. However, he raises an important question.
“What? Do you think the guys are going to give you a hard time because we had sex?”
He tenses and shifts away like I said the wrong thing.
“Is that what it is? Just a one-time thing?” Rhett says in a voice so low I have to strain to hear him.
Lord, this man. He couldn’t be harder to understand if he spoke a different language.
“No. I’d prefer if it wasn’t.” He huffs a sigh and finally sits next to me.
Tater stands and moves around her bed with a groan.
It draws Rhett’s attention, and with a hand, I guide his face back to look at me.
“I think I’ve made it obvious that I’m into you.
But I’ll go along with whatever makes you comfortable.
The guys know I live my life my way and would do nothing to upset our group. ”
“I’m not sure what I want. It’s…” he laughs again, but not with humour. “It’s not you, it’s me. I have…I’m complicated.”
“You know I don’t mind complicated.”
He kisses me again. Like he wants to shut me up and stop us from talking about anything too deep. When he pulls away, his brows knit in thought, and I smooth them with a fingertip.
“I should go if you’re thinking so hard about it. Thank you for the most amazing day. I hope we can do it again sometime.” I wiggle my eyebrows. “All of it.”
“Yeah. Thank you.” He clears his throat. “Do you want to leave Cherry here? I don’t mind bringing her back to you tomorrow when it’s dry.”
That’s my cue to find some dry clothes and get out of here before he overthinks even more.
“Actually, I board her about twenty minutes from town. Hunter has offered me a stall here plenty of times, but…” I steal another quick kiss. “Could you lend me some dry clothes?”
“Oh. Sorry.” He stands and walks to his dresser, opening a few drawers to find things. He’s completely bare-assed, and I admire the view. The man is fucking fine and clearly not ready for my level of awesomeness yet.
But I can wait.
He passes me a shirt, sleep pants and boxers. “I don’t know if you want to go commando, but there’s underwear, just in case.”
I toss them back at him and pull on the too-big pants, drawing the strings extra tight so they stay up. “Nah. Then, when I return your pants, you can know my naked ass was in them.”
He rolls his eyes, but he likes it. Once dressed in his clothes and Rhett in dry clothes of his own, we head back outside. In the barn, I say goodbye to Cherry and promise her I’ll see her again soon.
Cherry and Wilbur are already canoodling over the stall doors, and it’s far too cute to see my horse smitten with Rhett’s. More signs of karma or some shit like that.
“I’ll take care of her tonight. Any day, really, while she’s here. Then you don’t need to worry about that. I know you work early in the morning…”
Oh, I know he’ll look after Cherry. Like he took care of Tater today and even me. He has a good heart, but I have to ask, “Who takes care of you, Rhett?”
He stares at me so long—those dark lashes and deep eyes are still so beautiful when he’s at war inside—I think he won’t answer. But he does, and he breaks my heart with a single statement.
“Nobody but me. It’s easier that way.” He picks up my bag with the leftovers of our picnic and steers me towards my Jeep.
“Go home, darlin’. I’ll see you soon.”
Rhett opens the door to my Jeep, leaving me no choice but to climb inside. He hands me my bag, closes the door gently, and steps away.
The rain has stopped, but the grey of the storm still covers the sky.
Rhett calls Tater, and she runs through the yard, splashing through puddles without a care, and I laugh in the Jeep as he scoops her up and shakes his head.
He tries to scold her, but he’s smiling at her as he carries her muddy body next to him.
He waves before going back inside. With a heavy sigh, I turn my Jeep around in the yard and head for home.
It was a good day. I can’t deny that.
But I’m unsure if he’ll let us have another one despite what he said.
What is he hiding that he won’t let someone in?
“Why is your horse still at Hunter’s?”
Levi corners me in the back at The Thirsty Cow as I lift a tray of brownies from the oven. I’d told him I was going on a ride with Rhett and nothing since. That probably makes me a bad friend, but I needed time to process what happened without having Levi grill me.
“Because he’s offered me a space there plenty of times and I’ve said no.”
“But…” He motions for me to continue and reaches for a brownie I’ve just cut and placed on a cooling rack.
“You’ll burn your face off, Levi.”
“Worth it.” He bites into the brownie, shaking it around in his mouth as he makes noises about it being hot.
“I’m sure your tongue appreciates losing a layer.”
“You’re procrastinating. Tell me about Rhett, the broody bronc rider. Did you get sexy?” He waggles his eyebrows, and I roll my eyes in response.
“I’m always sexy. You know this.” I know that’s not what he was asking, and I’m conflicted about sharing information with him about Rhett. But I need to talk to someone. With a huff, I drop the knife and lean against the table. “Do not breathe a word of this.”
He makes the sign of the cross and places his hand over his heart. “You know I’d never.”
I know he wouldn’t share, but I don’t normally share this kind of thing with anyone. Best friend or not.
“We had an amazing trail ride, it rained on us, and then…holy fuck, Levi, it was hot and intense.”
“You were naked in the rain?” He sighs. “That is so romantic.”
“Well, not exactly. We were soaked from the rain, and things escalated. Without spilling everything, it was the best damn orgasm of my life.”
“Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“You and me both. He’s just so…” I don’t know the right word, so I use the one Rhett used. “Complicated.”
“Oh. I don’t like how that sounds. What are you gonna do?”
The oven timer rings, and this time I remove a tray of cookies with a stern glare at Levi to not touch while I transfer them to cool.
“We didn’t make any plans. I think he was in a post-sex haze, to be honest.”
“As he should be.” Levi nods before heading to the staff fridge and stuffs a five-dollar bill into the jar next to it.
I don’t expect my staff to contribute to the snack fund.
I provide the jar so they don’t feel guilty, and if they want to, they can drop money in.
I empty it once a month and donate it to the local cancer support centre, but nobody but me needs to know that.
“The bronc riders are arriving this week, and he said he’d be busy. I was going to wait.” Well, he didn’t actually say that, but I already know that’s happening. Cowboys share about work and rodeos all the time.
“Wait for what, Dee? After the first wave of broncs, he’s likely away at a rodeo, then it’s back to the facility. He’s always going to be busy. If you want him, you’re going to have to go get him. Make something work.”
He’s right. Rhett is into me. That was obvious, and I already have our wedding planned. Assuming he approves of a small affair in an orchard, that is. It seems silly for me to just stand back and wait when he clearly needs a little push to accept we’d be amazing together.
Cocking my head, I smile at my best friend. “When did you get so smart?”
“I’ve always been smart.” Levi grins, and we both laugh.
“You are. So you think I should go over to the training facility?”
“He’ll be there late. Just saying.” He swipes a cookie and evades my swatting hand. “Don’t give up just because he did the whole ‘it’s complicated’ line. I bet there’s more to him. Remember…you asked the universe for him. Don’t waste it.”
With a wave, he’s out of the kitchen and off to his training with Hunter. I return to my baking duties, lost in thought over his words and Rhett.
What makes Rhett complicated? I’m not exactly a walk in the park. I’m anxious when I get a cold, and I constantly need reassurances that I’m still attractive with one less nut. I don’t like plain coffee, and I hate it when things don’t match.
I can be a lot for some people, and sometimes that makes me withdraw even though I don’t want to. Well, sometimes I do, but not with Rhett. Something happened in his room that day that was far more electric than any encounter I’ve had.
He brought me to my knees. Not physically, although that will come, I’m sure. No, he showed me a man who constantly gives and perhaps isn’t used to taking.
Rhett needs me to lead and give him more than he’s used to. It’s not complicated. I refuse to believe that. We all crave someone to love us. Not even Levi knows the depth of my longing to just have someone to love me until their last breath and not break my heart.
“You okay, boss?”
When did Morgan come in?
“Of course I am.”
“Those bananas will be soup if you mash them anymore.”
Looking in the bowl, I wince at the mess of banana guts.
“Lost in thought, I guess.”
They take the tray of cooled cookies out front and leave me alone again.
I do some of my best thinking when I’m baking.
And with a smile on my face, I think I just had my greatest idea ever.