CHAPTER 26 #2
I kicked the gelding up into a run, the wind cutting across my cheeks and drying the sweat on my skin.
The land rolled away beneath us in long, gold-green waves, and the fence lines stretched out endlessly until they dissolved against the blue haze of the mountains.
I tracked along the perimeter, checking posts more out of habit than necessity.
There was no one out here but me, and I let myself pretend I could ride and ride until the world fell away under the drum of hooves on dirt.
But it didn’t work. It never did.
The work was supposed to tire me enough to stop thinking so much, but it only emptied me out and made more room for the mess in my head.
I wound up at the far fence line, where our land ran up against June’s property.
As I slowed, I caught sight of two figures in the field beyond.
At first, it was a blur of color and movement, but then June’s wide-brimmed straw hat came into view, and beside her the flash of red hair that could only belong to Blaire.
My hands tightened on the reins, and we slowed as I sat back in the saddle.
I ran my hand down my horse’s neck as he caught his breath and watched them from a distance.
June was showing Blaire something in the fields of strawberries, and Blaire was laughing.
The slight breeze tugged at the loose ends of her hair and tossed them around her face.
I should’ve looked away, let the moment pass, and gone about my business. But I couldn’t.
From here, Blaire was all legs, her skin sun-kissed and golden where it disappeared into those cutoff jean shorts.
My mouth went dry watching her shift her weight, one hip cocked as she listened to June.
The breeze lifted the hem of her worn T-shirt, teasing glimpses of her lower back that made my fingers itch to trace the same path.
She threw her head back laughing, exposing the vulnerable curve of her throat, the same spot I’d tasted last night.
This was the Blaire I remembered; wild and unrestrained, nothing like the polished photos I’d seen of her from Raleigh.
She belonged here, under this infinite sky, as natural and necessary as the sun burning against that endless blue.
I shifted in the saddle and gripped the reins harder, trying to anchor myself against the current pulling me toward her.
June said something that made Blaire laugh, and the sound pooled at the base of my spine.
She moved with a kind of ease that made me ache, like she already belonged here and had been waiting for the rest of us to notice.
But fuck, I noticed.
I rode farther down the fence line, and I tried to soften my expression, to play it casual when they both looked up at me.
But I was almost certain I looked like I wanted to jump the fence and run my hands over every inch of Blaire in plain view of God and anyone else who wanted to watch.
I took a steadying breath and tugged my hat a little lower as June watched me approach with a knowing smirk.
I almost turned the horse around right there, but I squared my shoulders and tipped my hat as I fixed my eyes on June. “Afternoon.”
“Afternoon, Colt,” June replied, her tone even, but her eyes sharp as tacks, flicking from me to Blaire then back again.
Blaire straightened beside her, dusting her hands off on her thighs, and she didn’t look at me, not at first. But I could tell by the set of her jaw and the stubborn press of her lips that she felt me watching her.
“What brings you down this way?” June gave me a quick grin.
“Just checking the fences,” I answered, which was technically true. “How are the house repairs looking today?”
June started talking, but my eyes snagged on Blaire’s. I didn’t hear a word she said after that. I could only focus on the way Blaire was looking at me, and the familiar electricity that was licking up my spine.
I dragged my palm across the stubble on my jaw. “Mind if I borrow Blaire for a minute?” The reins twisted in my grip as I nodded toward the barn. “There’s something I need her help with.”
At the word “borrow,” Blaire’s brows flicked up, but before she could say anything, June shot her a glance.
“Go on, honey,” June said, voice gentle but edged with amusement. “We can finish this later. I needed a sweet tea break anyway.” Then she looked at me, eyes sparkling. “Don’t keep her too long. We’ve got a whole batch of jams to make this afternoon.”
Blaire hesitated, hands still dirty from the strawberry runners, and her gaze flickered between June and me like she was weighing her options. But I saw the flush in her cheeks.
“C’mon,” I said, softer than before, jerking my chin in the direction of the barn.
Blaire climbed over the fence. She didn’t bother walking down to the gate. She hauled herself up and over like she was still sixteen, and I dismounted my horse and fidgeted with the reins as I waited.
She hesitated, eyes searching mine as she approached, but I just smiled and started walking.
Her hand grazed over mine as she caught up to me, the heat from her fingertips sending a jolt straight to my cock.
I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached, fighting the urge to pin her to the nearest fence post. One step closer, and I’d catch her scent that had kept me hard and aching half the night.
But June was still watching from the field, her knowing eyes burning holes in our backs even as she pretended to look elsewhere.
We walked side by side up the path toward the barn. Her gait was quick, almost angry, like she was trying to outpace something that was chasing her. I kept my hands to myself, even though every instinct screamed to reach out and touch her again.
The barn was maybe a hundred yards up the hill, and the walk there felt twice as long, every step brimming with the tension we’d left unresolved the night before. Neither of us spoke until we were almost at the doors, and the silence felt loaded with all the things we weren’t saying.
I tied off my horse and opened the barn door, letting the warm, sweet scent of hay and leather roll out in a wave, and gestured her inside. She ducked under my arm, eyes darting everywhere except at me, and then stood in the aisle with her hands on her hips.
“Did you actually need something?” she asked.
I laughed, pulling the door almost closed. “I needed to see you.”
She snorted, but her eyes softened a little. “You could have texted me or waited until I got home tonight.”
Home.
The word caught me off guard and stole my breath.
“I couldn’t wait,” I said honestly, and she rolled her eyes as I stepped closer.
I worried she could see my pulse hammering in my neck, see how desperate I was for her, but I couldn’t stand another minute of not being where she was.
At first, neither of us moved. Then, with a sigh that sounded like surrender, Blaire reached up and grabbed me by the collar before she pulled me down to her mouth.
Her lips met mine, then the kiss turned hard and demanding.
The barn dissolved around us, hay and dust and daylight burning away as my hands were in her hair and on her waist. They were everywhere at once, but it still wasn’t enough.
I backed her up against the wooden beam, hands braced on either side of her head, close enough to feel the heat radiating from her skin but not touching her.
She arched toward me, a silent plea in the curve of her body, and I held myself still, savoring the exquisite torture of watching her.
I held still just to watch her breathe and pretend I’d never lost this.
When her fingers finally dug into my shoulders through the thin cotton of my shirt, dragging me those last impossible inches against her, the sound that escaped my throat wasn’t human.
If this was what casual felt like, I’d let it kill me.
“Colt,” she panted my name. “You’re going to get me in trouble.”
“You are trouble,” I answered and kissed her again, softer this time, savoring the taste of her. My heart hammered against my ribs as her body melted into mine, and I fought the urge to whisper things I couldn’t take back.
The barn was empty except for the horses, and the sound of their shifting weight and gentle snuffling was the only witness to the way she pulled me closer.
Her fingers burned a trail up the back of my neck, nails dragging against my skin as she pulled my hat from my head and twisted it in her hands.
She looked up at me through half-lidded eyes as she pressed her shoulders into the beam.
Her tongue darted out over her bottom lip, leaving it glistening in the dim light.
I dug my fingers into her hips, yanking them against me with enough force to draw a gasp from her mouth.
“Do you cowboys still have the stupid hat rule?” she whispered, her voice rough with want.
She was taunting me with it, daring me to take the bait.
I braced my hand on the beam behind her, crowding her space until she had nowhere to go, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she twisted my hat between her fingers, and fuck, I could smell the hint of strawberries on her skin.
“You know damn well we do.” I leaned in till my nose grazed her cheek.
Her chest heaved against mine with each ragged breath, her heartbeat hammering against my own. I slid my calloused hands back to her hips, then dragged them slowly upward until my thumbs found that strip of bare skin above her shorts.
“Remind me how it goes,” she whispered as she placed my hat on her head, the brim casting shadows on her flushed face. “Something about if you wear the hat, you ride the cowboy?”
In one fluid motion, I gripped her thighs and hoisted her up, pinning her hard against the beam.
Her legs wrapped around me, and she moaned as I pressed every inch of myself against her.
I was hard as hell, had been since the second I’d seen her in the field, and the ache of it was only getting worse.