Chapter 25
BECKHAM
Parker was gone in an instant, cracking my crippling restraint. Seeing Dick’s hand on her arm, her skin white and her fingers trembling, had a different sort of predatory desire overtaking all my senses. It wasn’t only her I was protecting. It was her baby.
I’d never felt so fucking feral in my life. So ready to annihilate everything that could put them in danger. I could have taken Dick and his worthless friend on my own, but Bailey hadn’t hesitated when I split from the group. Wordlessly, we’d chosen our targets.
I was two steps away from slicing Dick’s goddamn fingers off for even daring to brush Parker’s perfect skin when I forcefully shoved all the rage aside.
With all that done, there was only one thought on my mind.
Parker. Parker. Parker.
Bailey nudged his head in the direction of the hall when I gave him a reaffirming look. He had this under control. Dick and his little puppet wouldn’t do shit.
Once I was out the back door, my eyes landed on Parker.
And fuck, she was breathtaking.
Rage, possessiveness, the urge to get another punch in. It all disappeared into the heavy, lovesick air as I took her in.
She paced, booted feet making imprints in the slightly muddied dirt. Inches of snow piled in odd crevices here or there, but the rest was slowly turning to mush. I wouldn’t let her slip, though. Wouldn’t stop her from doing what she needed to do, either.
I slid my hands in my pockets, hiding my aching knuckles. She was worked up and didn’t need the reminder.
Suddenly, she halted her steps, spinning to face me. “What was that?”
I cocked my head to the side, my eyes twin slits of curiosity. “I punched a guy for touching you.”
“Why?” Her bottom lip wobbled slightly, her grip on her emotions dwindling. She could cry, kick, scream. It was all warranted.
“Because he touched you.” I enunciated each word, as if the issue wasn’t clear enough.
“I can take care of myself.”
My hands fell to my sides. “Why are you mad?”
Her mouth opened and closed as if there were a million reasons fighting for first place. “Because I can’t get used to this.” There was disappointment there, but something told me she wasn’t being completely honest.
“Why?”
She shook her head, like the question was ridiculous. “He was drunk and trying to flirt with me. He wouldn’t have…”
“Wouldn’t have what? Hurt you?”
Her glistening eyes lifted to meet mine, but she provided no answer. Even she wasn’t sure if he would have. Fuck, he already had.
“Why do you think I don’t like him, Parker?”
Her lashes fluttered, throat working. “I don’t know. Some drama from when you did rodeo?”
“Because he’s forceful with women.”
Her eyes widened the slightest bit, her body going eerily still.
“When I saw him do it, I always stepped in and stopped it. But I know I didn’t see all of it.
So when I saw his hand on you—” Bile clogged my throat.
“He’s a fuckboy who rides twice as many girls as he does bulls.
He has no good intentions with you, or likely any other woman.
” I swallowed, forcing myself to steady.
“Wyatt’s working on his truck all damn night to get him the hell out of Bell Buckle. ”
“I didn’t know,” Parker admitted quietly.
“You didn’t have to.” Because I’ll always protect you.
The battle between laying out every heart-wrenching emotion I felt for her and not putting too much on her shoulders at once was a torturous one. But it was a war I’d fight every day if it meant she was standing before me.
She shook her head, gaze falling to her muddied boots.
“You get jealous,” she stated. “You protect me like you used to. You go out of your way to bring me my favorite drink, just the way I like it.” Her mouth twisted, a curl sliding out from behind her ear.
“Even after all this time apart”—her head lifted, eyes desperate—“you still want me.”
I waited for her to go on, but when only silence came and charged energy flitted in the five feet separating us, I knew what she was feeling. She didn’t even have to tell me, because that’s how in tune we were with each other. “You’re scared.”
Her lashes fluttered once more, blinking away fresh tears pooling there.
I couldn’t see her cry. Couldn’t feel my heart break with the idea that she might reject me. She had a million reasons to say yes to giving us another chance, but a million more reasons to say no. My mind was too scrambled to come up with pleading words, my adrenaline from the fight waning.
“I’ll wait inside so you can have time to think,” I forced out quietly while turning like the axis of my world was about to fall off-kilter.
But a barely-there whisper had me pausing, my heart rate spiking like in the last crucial seconds in a race.
“Kiss me.”
My head turned, chin nearly touching my shoulder as I wondered if I’d heard her right.
“Kiss me, Beckham. Please.”
There was no stopping me as my body swiveled and I raced for her like I couldn’t breathe until my next breath was with her lips on mine.
Those five steps were the longest, most tantalizing distance a man had ever walked.
My feet planted on either side of hers, my hands cupping her cheeks and tilting her head at the perfect angle.
My lips crashed to hers, the universe exploding into a million stars at the sheer force of it.
She tasted like rainy summer nights, winters on the ranch, and home.
My home.
My Parker.
Our mouths worked overtime, trying to make up for the years spent apart. For the weeks spent craving. For the stolen glances and dreaming of each other’s taste.
Her hands fisted in my shirt over my chest, tugging me impossibly closer.
Our bodies were flush to one another as my hands slid into her hair, trying to memorize every part of her while I had her.
The past merged with the present, every stolen kiss from our childhood zipping through me like a live wire as I met her stroke for stroke.
Our tongues danced, teeth clashing and breaths clouding.
I could taste her for a million years and still never be satisfied. With her, I always craved more. With her, I could drown and never wish to come back up for air. With her, I was whole.
Her hands slid up my neck, tiny icicles gliding over the inferno I’d turned into. I sucked in a breath, forcing our lips apart.
My forehead fell to hers as I covered her hands with mine. “Your hands are frozen.”
“I don’t care,” she admitted breathlessly, trying to inch forward and kiss me again.
“I do.” I held our hands between our chests as we tried to catch our breath—and maybe our sanity. “We can go inside.”
She shook her head like she was afraid that if we did, this dream would cease to exist. But then her hands quickly unwound from my own, and she set them on my ribs.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I pleaded, desperation and a hint of fear coating my words.
“We broke the rules.”
I nearly groaned. She and these rules would be the death of me. “We’re still doing that?”
She narrowed her eyes on me, and I almost laughed. Parker, clearly worked up and fighting her desires, was adorable when provoked. “Yes, we’re still doing that.”
“How many more do we have to break?” My tongue lapped out at her puffy lower lip.
Her chin tilted up, a heavy, wanton breath escaping her. “One.”
“Which one is that?” I murmured, lips and mustache ghosting over her cheek until my mouth hovered over her earlobe.
“No sex.” She barely managed to get the two words out as her eyelids shut.
I nipped her ear, a small moan building in her throat. “I can take care of that.”
She shook her head, the movement barely there. “Beck.”
“Park.”
Goosebumps rose up her neck as I kissed that precious spot beneath her ear.
“You’re distracting me,” she whined, but it didn’t sound like the fact bothered her.
“From?” The one word was a hum as my tongue tasted her sweet skin.
“The fact that you punched a guy and threatened his life over me.”
“You’re the one who asked me to kiss you,” I reminded her, making my way down to the crook of her neck and shoulder. I cupped the back of her head, tugging her hair slightly to give me more access.
She groaned, knowing I was right.
Forcing myself to stop tasting her, I straightened, looking down at her.
“Does this mean we can kiss whenever we want now?”
She frowned, though amusement danced in her eyes. “No public displays of affection, remember?”
I glanced both ways. “Too late. We’re kind of in public. And if I remember correctly, we were in public on my parents’ porch, too.”
Her nose scrunched as she fought the smile trying to bloom. “You’re such a rule breaker, Beckham Bronson.”
“I’d break every damn one of them if it means I can have you.”
She stepped back with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “What a bad boy.”
I smirked. My dick twitched. “I can show you bad, Park. Just ask.”
She rolled her eyes, and I couldn’t help it as my gaze coasted down her body.
“You’re a tease, Parker Summerhill.”
She clasped her hands behind her back, a picture of pure innocence. But she knew what she was doing. “You always loved a chase.”
She gave me her sweetest little smile before she sauntered toward the end of the alley. Once there, she spun on her heel to face me. “Coming?”
She didn’t have to ask me twice. I’d follow that woman wherever she pleased.
I joined her, the two of us walking side by side around the building to my truck in the parking lot. It was impossible not to let my fingers brush her as I buckled her in, to keep my hand off her thigh on the way home, and for me not to kiss her goodnight before she disappeared into her bedroom.
And even more impossible not to stroke my cock to the memory of her lips on mine once I was in the privacy of my bedroom.
I was so fucking gone for her.