CHAPTER 16
I rip my shirt over my head and shove out of my jeans.
The scent of her wraps around me, a mix of me thanks to the products she’s been using and something inherently her, something sweet.
It’s a drug that works into my system. The bed is still rumpled from when she was last on it, the pillows askew, the sheets pushed down.
That’s where I go, my cock hard as fucking rock, balls tight.
I wasn’t fucking thinking. I woke up, and she was there, touching me, tracing my face with her soft, delicate fingers. I wanted her closer, and my brain wasn’t processing what a colossal mistake it would be.
Her pussy pressed into my thigh and her hips rolled as she sought her pleasure, my face buried into the side of her neck.
So fucking pretty, but it’s utterly fucking wrong.
Shoving my boxers down, I don’t even bother to get rid of them completely as I wrap my hand around the base of my cock and give it a long, hard stroke.
My teeth snap together as the pleasure zaps down my spine.
I jerk my cock, lying there in the mess of the bed she’s laid in, inhaling the scent of her.
Swiping my thumb over the tip, I gather up the bead of precum, smearing it over the head before I move my hand faster, harder, my other hand curling into the sheets.
I can only imagine what it would feel like to sink into her, how fucking warm and wet she might be. She’d take it all and make such pretty sounds.
“Fuck,” I growl, jaw slackening.
I’d take those nipples into my mouth; play with the piercings I caught a glimpse of through the fabric of her shirt. My hands would explore, squeeze and claim as my cock pounded into her.
My balls draw up tight, the fantasy of her bringing my climax to the surface.
I pump my dick, a groan leaving me as my cock jerks and hot ropes of come hit my stomach. I work myself through it, drawing out every second of it until I’m spent and my cock begins to soften.
My heart pounds behind my ribcage, blood thumping in my ears, and only once I’ve caught my breath do I reach for the box of tissues on the bedside counter to clean myself up.
I won’t dare leave this fucking room tonight, not when my restraint is at a tipping point.
Returning my boxers into place, I grab the sheets and pull them up to my hips, laying back onto the pillows as I stare up at the white ceiling.
The floorboards above me squeak under her weight, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s going to slip her own hand between her legs or is she not as pathetic as me?
It’s only been a damn week and I’m already losing my mind.
She’s with that fucking bull again.
It’s been three days since I walked away from her, and I’ve been avoiding her, not like she’s sought me out either. We’ve eaten separately, me at the mess hall while she ate out on the porch every time I brought her back a plate. It’s not awkward; it’s not anything.
Which is what I wanted, and yet it’s fucking me up. Especially when I watch Chase flirt with her, his grin a mile wide.
“Elena,” My voice is stern, but she barely reacts to it. Lazily, her head rolls to the side where she’s leaning on the fence, the bull right in front of her. Granted, he appears chill right now, but I know this bull. He’ll flip at a moment’s notice. “Get the fuck away from the bull.”
“I have two words for you.” Her smile is sugary sweet as she holds up one finger. “Fuck,” A second finger goes up, “You.”
“Listen here, you little fucking Hellion,” I snap at her, “He will break you.”
Her lashes flutter and a grin goes up. “Do I need to repeat myself?”
I’ve had enough of this. “Don’t fucking cry to me when you get hurt, darlin’.”
“Don’t worry,” She calls to my back. “I’ll cry to Chase.”
A buzzing forms inside my ears, and I curl my fingers into the palms of my hands, so I don’t wrap them around her throat, tug her to me and claim her right here in front of these damn cowboys. They’ll know better than to go near her if I did, but I fucking cannot.
She is no good for me, no good for this ranch. She is to right the wrong her blood created, and that is it.
I head into the stables to retrieve Honey from her stall beside Apollo’s. She’s the only horse that can be next to him; he bullies all the others. He makes a huffing noise when he sees me approaching, his ears pinning back.
“Behave,” I grumble to him, “Not today, Apollo.”
I hear the scuff of his hoof on the ground, his lips pulling back to show his teeth.
As I reach for the lock on Honey’s door, he reaches over his head and nips at my shirtsleeve.
He could have easily got my skin if he had wanted to.
I think he does it when he knows I’m in a mood and wants to push me over the edge.
“I said, not today,” I snap.
He makes a chuffing sound, but I get Honey out without another incident, walking her out to her paddock for the afternoon. I need to go back and get the little devil too, and I just know he’s going to be a pain in the ass today. He has mood swings like this, even with me.
When Honey is secure in her field, I head back to Apollo, coming to a stop a safe distance from his door. His dark eyes hold me where I stand, those ears still pinned.
“You have to go out,” I grumble at him. “You can’t stay in there and rot.”
As if he understands exactly what I am saying, he turns in his stall, showing me his hind.
“You’re as bad as she is.” I shake my head, reaching for the gate.
Where he would attempt to kick the others, I do trust him enough not to kick me, but there’s a moment every time I do this that this could be the day.
I’d like to think I’m a hard man, brave even, but a little fear injects itself into me when that gate first opens.
When I don’t get a hoof to the chest or head, I head into the stall, running my hand down the Blue Roan’s flank, his muscles quivering with the touch and hook him up to the halter and lead rope so I can guide him out into the field with Honey.
He dawdles behind me, the walk taking twice as long as it should do, but then he sees something he wants and speeds up enough, it catches me off guard and I almost fall on my fucking face.
“What got up your ass!?” I snap at him, tugging on the lead rope to try and redirect him, but it’s Apollo; he’s stubborn as fuck.
A moment later, and I know exactly what he’s spotted.
“Hey!” Elena cries as he grabs hold of her shirt and gives it a tug. “What was that for?” I glance around Apollo to see her hands on her hips, her eyes glaring at the horse that towers above her, her head doesn’t even come over his back.
“Apollo,” I tug on the rein, but he’s solid, attention locked on the little Hellion.
He dips his head, turning it toward her, and everything in him seems to… settle.
He softens, and I watch in somewhat fascination as he leans his forehead to her shoulder and lets out a long sigh.
“Oh,” Elena blinks a few times, lifting her hands to frame the horse’s face, thumbs circling on his jaw.
I’m stunned silent. I knew he liked her, but I didn’t realize he liked her this much.
I haven’t seen him this soft with anyone but my late father.
Curiosity has me handing her the rope, which she takes with a frown, dropping one hand off his face to wrap her fingers around the rope.
“What’s this for?”
“Take him over there,” I point to where Honey is secured in the pasture.
“Okay, but why?”
“Color me curious,” I shrug.
She pouts but then sighs and does as I ask, turning to head toward the gate where she can let Apollo through. At her side, the bull walks with her, and behind her, Apollo follows. Judge comes galloping toward her too, and honestly, I could fucking laugh.
This woman, this dangerous mafia heiress, has all my damn animals fawning.
“I’m not Snow fucking White,” I hear her mumble, the words not directed at any one of them in particular. “I’m more evil queen. I think you’ve got the wrong girl.”
It’s obvious she’s talking to the three animals following her every move.
“I’ll be fucking damned,” Chase lifts his hat and wipes at the sweat on his brow as he comes to a stop beside me, the keys to the ATV in his hand.
“Tell me about it.” She unlocks the gate and guides Apollo through, Judge sitting down to wait for her. When she’s on the other side, he allows her to unhook the rope and after lingering for a moment, he turns and casually walks toward where Honey is grazing on the brow of a small hill.
“She may just save his life if that continues,” Chase comments, still watching her as she lets herself out the pasture and then turns back to watch the Blue Roan, her hand idly scratching between Judge’s ears when he shoves his head beneath her fingers.
“Yeah,” I agree. May just save mine too.
The thought takes me by surprise, and it has unease working through me. I lift a hand to rub at the back of my neck just as Ralph lets out a long bellow, drawing Elena’s attention back in this direction.
Her eyes catch mine before flicking to where my arm is raised, the muscles stretching the cuffs of my white tee that’s no longer white thanks to the grime coated on it from working the ranch all day.
Chase whistles and chuckles, “Tellin’ you now boss, if she looked at me like that…”
He leaves the rest of the sentence hanging, but I get his drift and immediately slap him upside the head, knocking the hat off.
He just laughs and bends to pick it up, his chuckle shaking his shoulders still when he gets into the ATV to do his rounds.
I return my attention back to Elena, watching her walk toward me.
She’s in a pair of tight jeans today, a blue pin-striped shirt tucked into her pants and sneakers, and the jeans do nothing to help my restraint.
They mold to the shape of her hips and thighs, her long black hair braided down her back with wispy strands that frame her face.
No hat today, and her cheeks are a little pink because of it, the sun having kissed her there.
My blood heats at the way her hips sway, the way her hair moves with the light summer breeze and her tongue darts out to wet her plump bottom lip.
“Careful, cowboy.” She drops her tone as she walks by me, skirting her fingers along my chest as she goes, “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll start to think you do like me after all.”