24. Ranger
Chapter 24
Ranger
Sarah was a cowboy’s dream dressed in tight bootcut jeans that hugged her ass so tight I thought the denim might be painted on. She wore the necklace I had gifted her and her long dark hair was curled and bound in a pink bow, the tresses draped casually over her shoulder. I wanted badly to wrap my hand around her hair while I buried myself deep inside her. She was so fucking beautiful it almost hurt to take in the sight of her. My cock twitched and my chest ached. I’d been used to the former experience as I’d only ever sought out physical connections with women.
Call it mommy issues or whatever.
But Sarah churned something deep within me and I found myself willingly giving more and more.
“It’s stunning out here.” Her breath clouded in front of her as she walked from her car to the barn entrance. I watched the sway of her hips as she sauntered up to me, her gaze dancing around the pastures on both sides of the barn .
“I’d argue that my view is better.” I winked at her.
Stopping toe-to-toe in front of me, she placed her hands on her hips. “Is that so, cowboy?”
I slid my hand behind her lower back, drawing her closer. Her pink lips parted with a breathy sigh that struck me to my core as I kissed her. She softened into my touch, hiking one leg up around my own so her middle was flush against my thigh. My hand wove through the bottom of her hair, settling just beneath her ponytail. My instinct was to reck it, letting her chestnut strands fall loose from the bow that secured them. But I restrained myself, knowing we’d have plenty of time for things to get wild.
I lost myself in the sweet taste of her lips and how her tongue melded against my own. There was a banging in my chest, not only from my raging heartbeat but from the awakening that only Sarah brought out in me. That zest for life I’d once had, but the world stole from me. It was a kernel of hope that her presence and touch watered into something more.
I could kiss her forever, but I promised her a surprise. Absence filled the space between us as I broke the kiss and let my hand fall from the back of her neck.
“Is it too soon to say that I’ve missed you?” she whispered, eyes bright under the fading sun.
“I don’t think anything is too soon for us.” And it was true. The rational part of me had shriveled into dust when it came to my feelings for her. It didn’t matter that we’d barely had time together. She was mine and that was all that mattered .
She smiled at me and I tucked her under my arm, guiding us through the hall of the barn.
“Did you build the barn?” she asked.
“I like to think I helped a little bit, but the true answer is no. My grandfather built it after the old one burned down from a lightning strike. I probably hammered a nail or two, but it was mostly him and my dad.” I caught the emotion feeling heavy in my chest, but not bearing quite the same weight it usually did when I spoke about my dad.
“The woodwork is incredible.” Her head tilted back against my shoulder as she looked up at the exposed wood beams running along the ceiling.
I shifted my eyes upward to study them as she did. “Yeah, it really is.”
“So, do I get to know what we’re doing today?”
I stopped in front of one of the stalls where my sister’s buckskin mare was peeking her head over the door. “I thought I might take you for a sunset ride along the river. But I have to let you know that I don’t have any one-legged saddles with me, so you might have to ride like a man,” I teased, remembering how she talked about her parents not approving of any unladylike behaviors.
She pinched my side making me pull away in a laugh.
“I can ride perfectly fine with my legs on either side, just so you know.”
My mind flashed with the image of her straddling me while riding my cock and as I took in the flame of her cheeks, I wondered if she might have imagined a similar image .
Sarah cleared her throat and asked, “Which horse do I get to ride?”
I turned to the stall behind me and patted the mare on her forehead. “You get to ride Honey Blossom tonight. She’s gentle and doesn’t like to take her riders on misadventures.”
“Hi, Honey. Aren’t you beautiful?” Sarah crooned as she let the mare smell her before rubbing her hand over her snout. She turned to me, eyes glowing with excitement. “Is she yours?”
“She’s my sister’s.”
“Oh.” Something like worry had her brows crinkling together. “Does she know I’ll be riding her horse?”
I chuckled as Honey Blossom whinnied for Sarah to keep petting her. “Yes, she knows.”
Sarah’s throat worked as she swallowed. “Okay, good. I wouldn’t want to ride her without Callie Rose’s permission.”
I grabbed the lead rope off the hook hanging next to the stall door and latched it onto the mare’s harness. Sarah backed off to the side as I swung open the door and led Honey Blossom to the tack room door.
Sarah watched as I saddled Honey Blossom. “This is actually really great, Ranger. I haven’t ridden in years and I’ve missed it a lot.”
I looked at her over the saddle and said, “I’m glad I could give you something you’ve been missing.”
Emotion flickered in her eyes like a wild flame. I wanted to know what she felt. What she wasn’t saying out loud, but I kept my mouth shut as I led the three of us down to the end of the barn where Hank was already saddled and waiting .
“Oh my gosh, is that a Clydesdale?!” Sarah’s mouth popped open in awe as we rounded the corner and she saw Hank pawing at the ground.
“Sure is.” I steered Honey Blossom towards Hank and let her reins drop over the holding bar.
“Can I pet him?” she asked, walking over to him with slow steps.
“Of course. But I have to tell you, he’s quite the ladies’ man. I can’t be held responsible if he steals your heart.”
Sarah rolled her eyes at me over her shoulder before shifting her attention back to Hank who was more than happy that she was giving him scratches along his neck. Hank curled his head around and tried to grasp her ponytail with his lips which sent Sarah into a fit of giggles. “Quite the ladies’ man indeed.”
She stepped towards me and said with a smirk, “I don’t know if I have room in my heart for both of you. I might have to make a difficult choice.”
I grasped her middle and lifted her until her legs were wrapped firmly around me, arms dangling over my shoulders. “Is that so?” I nipped at her neck and I felt her legs tighten around me.
“Mhm,” she mused, burying her face in the crook of my neck.
“Then I better show him up.”
She leaned back, and even though she had her legs around my waist, she still wasn’t eye-to-eye with me. That didn’t stop her from scooting up and planting a kiss on my cheek .
“Depriving me of a proper kiss? You’re killing me, sugar.”
“Kisses are earned, cowboy. If you want one, you’re going to have to give me a good time.”
My laugh came out raspy as I fought against all the images floating around in my mind of just how much of a good time I wanted to show this woman.
“That can be arranged.” She didn’t take her eyes off me as I walked us the few steps to where Honey Blossom stood patiently. “Ready?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she replied before she loosened the hold of her legs around my waist and I guided her right leg into the stirrup. She swung her other leg over the saddle and settled in.
“Here’s her reins. Do you need a quick refresher course or are you good?” I kept my hand on her thigh as she adjusted her seat.
“Does she lead with a command or just reins?”
“Just reins for this old girl. Wherever you want to go, just guide her. And she responds well to heel pressure, so no need to kick.”
“Okay, great.”
“You look good up there.”
“I know.” She shot me a wink as she directed Honey Blossom to back away from the barn and toward the trailhead.
I rose into the saddle myself and leaned over Hank’s long black neck and whispered, “I think we’re in deep trouble with this one, boy.”
The sun cast shades of purple, red, and orange across the evening sky as Sarah and I rode side-by-side along the river. She didn’t stop smiling the entire ride and her joy brought a lightness to my chest that reminded me of times before I went away.
“Did your parents like to ride?” The question came out of nowhere, but it didn’t jostle me the same way it would have coming from someone other than Sarah. With her, everything felt easier. Like I could let my guard down and take a deep breath.
“They both rode a lot, but it was my mom who really enjoyed it. My dad found it as a necessity to keep the ranch going in between deployments.”
“That seems like a lot of work on him. Being in the military and trying to keep a ranch going.”
I looked out toward the river that ran through most of our property. “It was. He’s definitely where I got my work ethic from. But he knew how to have a good time too. Every week that he was home, he’d come up with some ridiculous game for all of us to play. It usually involved some kind of obstacle course that Callie Rose and I had to run through. During the summers we’d always have slip ’n slide races.”
I laughed to myself thinking back on those days. “One time, when we were really little—Callie Rose had barely started walking—he created an obstacle course in the yard and he and my mom raced us in wheelbarrows until they were both dog tired and my belly hurt from laughing so much.”
Sarah’s eyes were glassy, smile serene as she said, “That sounds like a magical childhood.”
“It was,” I rasped, wishing that I could relive some of those years when my parents were happy and all felt right in the world.
We rode on for a few minutes in silence.
“Did your parents do anything like that with you and your brother?” I asked, carefully.
She huffed, “No. Their idea of fun was putting us in as many extra-curricular activities as possible. Most that neither one of us wanted to do.”
It was wild that we came from two different worlds and somehow both experienced pain where our families were concerned. Before my parents left us, they’d gifted Callie Rose and me with love and acceptance. Sarah might have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but her childhood home seemed void of the most important thing.
“I’m sorry they didn’t give you more.”
She knew what more meant as she solemnly replied, “Me too.”
Her gaze turned west where the sun was sinking behind the distant mountains. “You know, I’ve always wanted land like this. A place where I can run wild and free without anyone to tell me I’m doing something wrong. Somewhere I can just be me .”
She was so beautiful at that moment, her body limned with the bright hue of the setting sun. If I knew better, I’d say she was an angel sent straight from the heavens. Breaking through every icy barrier I’d put around my heart with a simple look or smile.
“You can have it all, Sarah,” I whispered and she turned to look at me.
“What?” Her voice was soft.
I wished I could capture it and hold onto it forever. How the loose strands of her hair fell in gentle curls framing her face. The cute bow shape her lips made when she was at ease. And how her eyes shone with curious wonder at all the world had to offer. I wanted to give her the world. I wanted to give her everything.
“My land. My sunsets and sunrises. Anything I have that would make you smile. Hell, I’d give you the air in my lungs and the last beat of my heart if it meant I could die with you looking at me like that. You can have it all.”