CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Cassie
Just when I thought this cowboy couldn’t surprise me anymore, he knocked my socks off when I entered his home.
Where I expected barren and dusty, I found organized and clean.
Where I expected a collection of empty beer bottles, I found a collection of eighties romance novels and board games.
I have told myself a hundred times that getting attached to Haden is dangerous.
I don’t have a life that works with a relationship.
Yet somehow here I am, smack in the middle of my third game of Uno and down to my tank top and leggings.
I lost my socks last game and tried to count my hairclip as a clothing article. Much to my surprise, Haden allowed it.
This smug cowboy smirks over his three cards to my six. He lays yellow three on my yellow five and I look down at my hand. Nothing but green and red, and no threes. Fuck. I pick up and mercifully the card is yellow. A seven. I lay it down. He smirks and puts a blue seven on the pile.
“Ooohhh. That’s Uno, Princess,” he says.
“Whatever. You haven’t won yet,” I bite out.
Haden leans back in his chair. I’ve only called “Uno” twice so he’s still wearing his boxers and a t-shirt.
Screw it. I fake all the confidence in the world as I stand and slide my leggings off over my hips.
Sadly for him I’m wearing the laciest white panties I own, the kind that barely cover my ass cheeks.
If I can’t win fairly, I’ll win by torture.
At least at one point he was attracted to me.
And he’s about to find out that averting those blue eyes is gonna get a whole lot trickier.
“What’s fair is fair,” I mumble as I slide my leggings off. I toss them in his direction and watch as they hit him in the chest. He grits his molars as he swallows. I watch his throat work to swallow. Seeing me in my panties is doing just what I want it to do. Perfect.
I pop my blue three on top of his seven and he looks down at his card. It’s obviously not a seven or blue so he picks up, and then picks up again. I take my turn, then he picks up again before I lay my second-to-last card on the pile.
“Uno,” I singsong smugly. “Off with the shirt.”
I give him the “come hither” sign with my first finger.
Haden smiles and runs his thumb and forefinger over his mustache. “What makes you think it’s gonna be the shirt?” he asks coyly.
I take a sip from the bottle of bourbon on the table between us.
“Top half or bottom. Makes no difference to me,” I bluff. “Ain’t nothing I haven’t seen before.”
He looks pointedly at me and reaches behind his neck to pull his t-shirt off with one hand over his head.
Jesus, he’s a perfect specimen of a man under those clothes.
Even the firelight lets me see him more clearly than when we were together in his truck.
It’s enough to remind me of all that hard muscle and those intensely chiselled abs.
That strong inked chest and thick shoulders.
The arms that had no trouble holding me in place as he fucked me.
“You gonna take your turn or keep staring at me all night?” His face is smug as he asks. Cocky fucker.
“Not sure yet,” I tell him as I look down at my hand. I can’t go, of course. So I draw again, but I still can’t play for the next three draws. Haden leans back in his seat with a smirk, down to his boxers now.
“Looks like we just leveled the playing field,” he says as he folds his hands behind his head like he’s ready to take in a show. “Uno.”
His upper arms flex with the movement. I’m so goddamn wet. This is quite literally the hottest thing I’ve ever done and it’s fucking Uno.
“Just friends?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“Friends,” he affirms with a grin.
I cross my arms over each other and grip the hem of my tank as I look him in the eye and lift it off slowly.
His blue eyes darken the moment my shirt comes off.
My nipples harden to points in the cool air, but my skin feels like it’s on fire.
I let my hair fall down around my shoulders as I toss the tank on the floor.
I lean forward, propping my elbows on the table to hide my breasts behind them.
He starts to chuckle, but I don’t miss the way he takes his plush bottom lip between his teeth as I pick up my next card and lay it on the pile.
I watch as he eyes his card. He can’t play it so he picks one up. I lay one down.
“Uno,” he says putting a card onto mine. “This is game over.”
I narrow my eyes. “You still have one card.”
“Yeah, but you’re about to be naked.” He gestures toward my panties.
“Naked or not, I could still win. And I’m not giving in.” I tell him defiantly, standing and slipping my panties off. I hear him audibly gulp as I stand completely naked before him. Haden might be getting there, but he doesn’t know me yet. He doesn’t know I never lose.
I take a seat on his wooden chair and cross one leg over the other, as if I’m at a formal dinner.
I squirm a little as his gaze swallows me whole.
I pull all my hair strategically around my shoulders, so it hangs down and covers my nipples.
Long hair for the win. Then I tap my lips as I look directly at him.
Anything to torment him a little more. Though this whole situation is also tormenting me.
I’m practically dripping onto his kitchen chair.
“Your turn,” I hum as I lay down my card. “Oh, and Uno. Now we’re really about to be even.”
Haden stands, his eyes on me, hungry and dark. He’s wearing a look that says I’ve pushed him past the point of playing and I’ve never wanted anything more than to give up on this game and start another one entirely.
He pulls his boxers down and frees his solid cock.
It bobs out and slaps against his lower stomach as he approaches me, gripping himself in his hand.
I whimper with the sight. I can’t help myself.
My eyes are locked in on his cock and his eyes roam in return, taking me in.
The only question waging in my mind isn’t if, it’s who will cave first.
“No, Princess. You’re wrong.” he comes even closer.
“I am?” I ask with a swallow, looking up at him.
“We’re nowhere near even. Because when you look at me like this?” He uses his free thumb to swipe across my bottom lip, pressing it into the corner before he releases it and it bounces back into place. “You fucking own me, and you damn well know it.”
I bite my lip as he reaches down and hoists me up, swiping the cards off the table in the process.
They scatter and hit the floor as I’m planted firmly on his kitchen table, his hands tugging me close by the waist. I look down at the cards, then up at him for all of one second flat with a winning smile.
“So what I’m hearing is … I wi—?”
I don’t even get the words out before his lips are crashing down on mine.
I moan into him but Haden swallows it. He kisses me so deeply that I lose my breath as his hands slide upward though my hair to cradle my head.
He tilts me just perfectly to allow him all the access he wants.
It’s methodical and languid, every swipe of his tongue against mine slow but demanding.
I’m completely helpless as the butterflies that are living in my stomach these days take flight and pure chaos washes over me.
My thighs squeeze together around his waist and I use his shoulders as leverage to pull myself closer.
Haden’s mouth plunders mine like he’s downright desperate for me, like he’s been desperate for me.
His cock slides against me as his strong hands roam over my body, through my hair, over my shoulders, down my back to my waist, up over my breasts. I want more.
I want all of him.
I whimper with the loss of contact as he pulls his lips from mine.
His eyes are glazy and fiercely dark as he looks from my face, over every inch of my naked flesh, then down to my thighs.
Haden parts them further and steps between them as I wait with bated breath for his next move.
He grips his cock and intentionally slides it through my dripping slit as an animalistic groan leaves him.
The sound is a shot directly to my core, as is the way his eyes stay trained to my pussy as his chest rises and falls.
I’d give anything to know what he’s thinking right this second.
“You … goddamn, Cassie. I’m just so fucking out of control with you,” he says gruffly.
I can only whimper in response, before brushing my lips to his, breathing him in.
I take his bottom lip between my teeth and moan.
Haden’s hand comes down and he braces his fingers against my inner thigh as he slides his thumb through my soaking wet pussy.
I shudder under his touch and he groans again, smirking when he feels how drenched I am for him.
“You’re wrong again, Princess,” he says as he lifts his hand and coats my arousal across my bottom lip. I let him and watch as he backs up slightly, looking at me like he just created a work of art.
“I wish you could see what I’m seeing.” He looks down. “Seeing you spread out and downright glistening for me?”
I see the struggle to make a choice in his eyes.
If we obliterate this boundary, where do we go from here?
Haden watches intently as my tongue comes out to wet my bottom lip, causing me to taste myself and breathe out a shaky breath.
He growls in response as he moves forward and takes my lip between his, sucking it gently before releasing me. Haden tips his forehead to mine.
“Yeah, seeing you like this, I think it’s pretty clear, I’m the winner here,” he whispers.
Oh my God, this man.
“Please …” I beg, as our breathing slows to an even sync. “One more night …”
“Cassie …” He draws it out, and my name on his lips sings to my soul.
“Haden …” I mimic, trailing off in a moan until I feel it, the moment his decision is made.
“Fuck it, you already know how weak I am for you, don’t you, Cass?
” He loses his words as he lowers me onto my back, kissing me hungrily.
He swallows every needy sound I make as our lips part fully and his tongue meets mine.
My hands move to his hair, as muscle memory takes over, and I wrap my legs around his waist and moan again.
His cock pulses as it slides through my slit, and I can physically feel him growing harder by the second as he moves against me.
“Fucking Christ … I’m powerless …”
“It’s not your fault,” I pant out. “Hottest. Game. Of. Uno … ever.”
“Fuck, yeah.”
I feel as though I’m having an out-of-body experience as Haden teases his cock between my lips, our bodies begging to become one.
I don’t know how long we kiss for but I never want it to end.
Haden’s hands never stop moving, never stop touching me, as if he simply can’t get enough.
I take in shallow breaths when his lips move to my throat, my collarbone, and then trail down my shoulders.
His cock continues its slide through my soaking centre.
He’s so solid, and as big as I remember. Big enough to ruin me.
Haden plucks at my nipple with his teeth and my pussy throbs. I squeeze my legs around him harder in search of friction, and shudder.
“More,” I demand, never having felt as confident in my own skin as I do right now.
“You like that?” he asks, biting again, his pinch a little harder this time.
“Yes,” I say breathlessly.
My back arches and I cry out as his tongue flicks lightly. Another pulse to my aching clit. Every nerve ending in my body is electric and tense with his touch.
“Fuck … why do I want you so badly?” I ask him without thinking.
He moves to my other nipple and I feel him stiffen further. I moan loudly when Haden slides his cock up against me once more and grips my hips so tight I cry.
“Fuuuuck Cassie,” he groans desperately into me, panting and gripping my hips tight as hot ropes of come hit my pussy, my stomach and my thighs before he’s even made his way inside me.
Haden isn’t even a little fazed as he slides his still-hard cock against my pussy, through the mix of my arousal and his come.
“Fucking Christ,” he says with a smirk. “If it’s not clear enough by now, I want you more.”
I look down to his come coating me and then kiss him, a huge grin on my face.
“And I never lose,” I tell him with a laugh.
Haden lays a tight, playful slap to my ass. “Brat,” he mutters into my neck.
“Should I write about that one, Cowboy?”
He chuckles as he reaches over for a clean dish towel to clean me up.
“I’ll give it to you. That was a first but”—his eyes find mine as he tosses the towel down, and I see that the playfulness is gone—“I’m nowhere near done with you. I’m fucking desperate to eat. And Cass? This is where you’re gonna wanna take notes.”
Haden drops to his knees and wraps his arms around my thighs, yanking my ass to the edge of the table. I part wider for him, and he grips my calves as he takes in how wet I am for him. The gentle slide of his hands up and down my thighs is sensory overload.
“Your pussy is begging for my tongue,” he muses, nipping my inner thigh. I swear to God I hear him whimper as I inch even closer to his mouth. So close.
“I want your words, baby,” he demands as I look down at him with fire in my eyes.
“Haden, I might fucking die if you don’t put your mouth on me right this second,” I tell him as clearly as I can.
He grins up at me from between my thighs, his muscles straining, his hair a perfect mess. Jesus, he’s a beautiful sight there.
This is how it’s supposed to be. This vibrant connection that pulls us together in every way.
Even when we’re sitting across from each other on the porch or riding side by side on the trail, I want Haden in a way I’ve never wanted a man before.
I know in this very second that, after I give myself to him like this, there’s no going back.
I barely have time to register what’s happening as he drops a light series of kisses to my clit.
My knuckles whiten as I grip the sides of the table and I brace myself.
Haden Westbrook is going to fucking ruin me.