Chapter 23 Stetson #2
“You heard the lady,” Prater calls, swinging open his door and securing the speaker in the bed of the truck. “It’s time to get wet!”
I wave them off and seriously question if Austin is right in the head or just oblivious when he says, “Shall we, princess?”
“I’ll be right there,” Cove mumbles, searching through her bag for something. Austin and the group are out of the car, joining everyone else in seconds. I’m glad Nathaniel stayed back today; I’m positive his presence here would only make things worse.
He and I need to exchange words. I just haven’t had a second to corner him in private. I need to make sure Clay is nowhere to be found, or he’ll for sure impose. And Jules. Fuck. I keep forgetting about her.
She rode with Abigail to the lake, joining us again at the ranch this morning. At this point, I have no interest in seeing her again. And I couldn’t give two shits if she saw Cove and me last night.
My eyes train forward, dialed in on something, but it feels like nothing. I draw a blank, attempting to think through what I just did. “Stetson.” Cove’s soft hand meets my wrist. “You didn’t have to do that.”
I jerk my head. “I did. I want someone to defend you. I’m going to be that person. And this is just the beginning.”
She voices her quickest thought. “I want to be alone with you.”
I reach for Cove’s hand and run my thumb along her wrist, her eyes hypnotized by the motion. “I’m working on it, my love. Our time will come.”
It has to come.
“I think I’m just gonna sit here for a minute.” She holds up her tattered paperback, and I read the words Pride and Prejudice, recognizing the familiar novel right away.
A memory strikes me from years ago, watching my mother from the doorway to her bedroom with her nose in a book.
“My mother used to read. She had a shelf full of old English literature. Romances. Women’s fiction, too.
My pops and I never understood the appeal, but it made her happy. That was all that mattered.”
Cove looks down at the book in her hands as if it’s rescued her from some dark times.
“It’s escapism. A moment to press pause on reality.
These books have been more of a friend to me than some of my own.
Not that Betsy and Kimber aren’t great. They are.
But it’s always comforted me to know that words from decades ago can still hold the same meaning today.
All these years later. It’s remarkable.”
I never thought about it like that. Not sure I’ve thought about literature to that extent at all, actually. Something in me wants to find out more, though.
“I know now isn’t really the time, but I’d love it if you told me more about it. Why you love books so much. Maybe even read one with me.”
A smile brightens her face. “You wanna read books with me, Stet?”
I nod. “Might just make a bookworm out of me.”
Cove’s eyes fall closed just briefly. “Sounds like a dream. The dream.”
“You do realize teasing will get you everywhere, correct?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Cove whispers, eyes trained on body after body flinging from a rope swing into the lake.
Since the moment she removed her dress, I knew every man around me was dead.
Not only is every glorious inch of Cove’s toned body on display, but the nipple rings I’ve, quite frankly, stroked my cock to more times than I can count, protrude from her bikini top like they’re fighting for my attention.
Well, they’ve got it. Along with Austin and Prater’s, too.
From the outside looking in, I’ve only come up behind her to ask a question. To make harmless conversation, if you will. The heat of my words can’t be felt from the lake, or even from the grill Kyle is manning.
Only Cove gets to feel the fervor of my desire for her. My lust and determination to feel her against me again. “You look like the devil wrapped in sin. And to think, city boy over there thinks you’re an obedient daddy’s girl. Tell me how wrong he is.”
Cove lowers her sunglasses from her hair to cover her eyes. Eyes I can almost bet have now glazed over with a flush of desire. “He’s wrong. That’s never been me.”
Keeping myself out of view, I run my knuckle up the center of Cove’s lower back, following the length of her spine until I reach the clasp of her bikini. “All it would take is a flick of my wrist, and everyone here would see your tits. Do you have any idea how predatory that makes me feel, Cove?”
Her breathing picks up. “I can imagine I’d feel the same way about your cock.”
God, she’s perfect. Her bikini is one of those higher-waisted ones that reaches just below her belly button. It’s black and white with a belt at the center, giving off a vintage flair. It’s modest and classy, yet I’ve never seen anything sexier.
Too bad I’d prefer it off of her, instead.
“The only woman I want sucking my cock is you.”
“Who said anything about sucking it, Stetson? That’s quite presumptuous of you.”
I chuckle, sipping my beer in between sentences to appear occupied, yet my mind has never been more chaotic and untethered. “Should I clarify, then?”
“Hmm. Might be a good idea if you want to get lucky.”
Filthy fucking girl.
“Let me give you some perspective, then.” My voice closes in.
“I want you and only you. That means, if I were to drop my bathing suit right here and let my cock spring free, the only woman whose eyes I want on me are yours. Your eyes as I stroke myself. Your eyes as I grip the tip, a bead of precum dripping onto my hands, only driving me mad with urgency for it to be your pussy it fills.”
“Not even Jules?” Cove whimpers.
“Never again. Only you.”
Her humming has me ready to risk it all. “I want you in my mouth, Stetson.” Fuck. This feels dirty and wrong, but never more right. My family and friends, less than ten feet away, likely assume our conversation is anything but explicit.
How terribly wrong they are…
My eyes search for anything close by. Something, anything that can serve as an excuse to touch her. A picnic table is off to the side, and I spot Cove’s bag sitting on top of it. “Did you put sunscreen on, Cove? You’re looking a little red.”
“Oh, I hardly ever burn—” I put a finger to her lips, stopping her from continuing until she catches on.
“I said, you look red, Cove. Looks like you may need to reapply. Go get your sunscreen for me.”
Her brows rise in understanding. “Oh. Yes. One second.” She moves quickly toward her bag while I pretend to take in the scenery around us to hide my raging hard-on.
Seconds later, with suntan lotion in hand, Cove stands in front of me, searching for direction.
I love how willing she is to let me take the lead.
I’ve always desired to lead a woman and do it well.
Most women think that means giving up their independence.
Not with me. I embrace independence, only wanting to complement their drive with my leadership emotionally and sexually.
A team of independent partners who work hard and fuck harder.
“Let me help you with that. Turn around for me.”
Cove hands me the lotion and gives me her back again. I don’t miss Austin’s eyes on us, wondering what we’re doing. “Cove, come get in,” he calls.
“Just a second. Stetson’s helping me out. I can’t reach,” she laughs, playing off our ache to touch each other with something minuscule. Nothing about us is that.
“I could have done that,” he hollers, taking one step forward to exit the lake and head over here.
I meet Prater’s eyes from afar, and he reads me clearly.
“Dude, they’ve got it. Besides, Stetson won’t get in the water, anyway.
Might break his back or something. Fifty is too damn close to dead, my man. The risk isn’t worth it.”
That seems to appease Austin enough for him to turn around and get back to socializing. But I don’t miss Abbi’s curious eyes on me. She’s been onto my antics with Cove since she arrived, and I know I’m due for a round of questioning.
I’m a grown adult. Much too old to give a damn about what anyone thinks anymore. But Abbi…I care what she thinks. Just not enough to stop right now.
“Watch my family and our friends. Watch them out there laughing and having fun together. Enjoy the view while I touch you, knowing there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than this.
” I squeeze a dollop of lotion in my palm and rub my hands together before placing them on her shoulder blades.
It’s as if Cove’s body comes alive for the first time in ages, a heavy vibration strumming through her.
My hands massage the lotion into her skin, steady and slow.
I make my way down the planes of her back and slip my hands under the string of her bikini top, and the metal clasp keeping it together tempts me to be bad.
“Fuck. I’m only inches away from your tits in my hands, Cove.
Do you think I’m strong enough to resist you?
I can’t fight my needs when it comes to you.
Not when defiling you is what I crave.” My thumb nudges the underside of her breast, teasing her with the potential feeling.
I want to grip them. Squeeze them. Draw each nipple into my mouth and devour them.
“This is too much,” she pants. “Why does something so wrong feel so damn good?”
“Nothing about us is wrong. Nothing at all. It’s only a matter of time before everyone here knows it, too.
” I cover the rest of her back before taking a step further, enough for her to feel my bulging cock at the lowest part of her back.
“Feel how much I want you. So much that I bet I could bury my cock in this ass right here and no one would say anything about it. You know why?”
A slow moan flows from her lips. “Tell me.”
“Because not even your boyfriend over there has managed to claim you the way I already have. You. Are. Mine. That’s why he shuts his mouth and lets a real man decide what’s good for him.
Or in this case, what’s good for me.” I spin her body to face me, and just when I thought my cock couldn’t ache any more, the sight of Cove’s areola slipping out of the tiny fabric has me taking a chance on being caught.
My face meets the side of hers as I whisper into her ear. “Go wait for me at the truck. Pretend you’re looking for something, and I’ll meet you there. Go.”
I’m unrecognizable from the man I was just months ago.
Am I falling in love with Cove Davenport? I think I might be.