Chapter 33
“I ’m yet to be convinced that this isn’t a scheme to dump my body over a cliff. I swear I was only joking all those times I teased you about the ‘stache. I haven’t got any money to give you, but I’m prepared to be extra slutty if you agree to spare my life?”
Beau’s deep chuckle drifts my way like a melody on the evening air, mingling with the sounds of horse hooves against the dirt trail and their gentle snorts as we climb higher into the hills overlooking the ranch.
“How’s that inner control freak handling a little adventure?” he calls back over his shoulder.
“Frankly, quite terrible. She wants to know where we’re going and what the hell we’re doing riding horses all the way out here when it’s going to be dark soon.”
“What if I promise her I’ll kiss it and make it all better?” Turning in his saddle, Beau catches me blatantly staring at his ass. Well, if he didn’t want me to drool over him in a pair of wranglers at every opportunity, then he really should know better than to ride a horse in front of me by now.
He’s every inch the picture of relaxation. Reins held loose in one hand, the other rested on his jean-clad thigh. From the faded cap to the way the cotton of his t-shirt stretches across his shoulders, down to his worn boots, he looks like a cowboy destined to be among these mountains day in and day out. Beau is so achingly sexy in the waning daylight, it lures me into a fantasy of wanting to forget myself entirely and beg to stay here for a lifetime.
It’s the most unimaginable prospect, for someone as ambitious as I’ve always been, the thought of days spent doing exactly this—riding horses and counting the first stars as they appear one by one in the pink-tinted sky overhead—feels like something a version of me has been wanting and never realized it until now.
Then, there’s the other side of me. The hustler. The woman with a business to grow and a client portfolio to expand.
She doesn’t know what to make of any of this, because nothing could have prepared me for the way Beau Heartford has blindsided me with his quiet charm and rugged appeal.
This cowboy was certainly not in my five-year business plan.
Goldie is an absolute sweetheart to me, allowing my amateur horse skills to be mighty relaxed, considering that I’m tethered behind Beau and don’t have to do anything more than avoid slipping sideways out of this saddle. As long as I can cling on and handle the unfamiliar burn in my thighs from using muscles I didn’t know were there, the beautiful horse beneath me is the one doing all the work, really.
We keep climbing higher and eventually reach a clearing with a sweeping view over the ranch below. Instantly, something giddy makes itself known—a certain feeling about coming here raises its head. Beau obviously had this location in mind, and I wonder how often he has spent time in this particular spot with Mist. Both man and horse appear to be perfectly in sync, pulling up to a halt beside a couple of large conifers as if this is a well-trodden path for the two of them.
He swings out of his saddle in a practiced move that yet again causes my ovaries to sigh. Coming around to stand beside me, he gives Goldie’s neck a pat and shares a soft murmur of praise with her as he does so.
“Are you sure you’re not bringing me out here as a sacrifice to appease the mountain hillbillies?” I narrow my eyes at him. “They won’t want me. I’m certainly not virginal, and I’m far too opinionated to be considered a peace offering.”
Beau shakes his head and takes the reins from my hands. “No. I think I’m stuck with you.”
“Can you please tell me what we’re doing out here now?”
He taps my thigh, gesturing for me to turn in the saddle so he can help me down. I hoist my leg over in a far less smooth motion than he just demonstrated. Each glide of his heavy palm up my waist and indentation of his fingers feels like the kind of caress I’m going to be chasing forever more. Having Beau’s steady hands to help me to the ground feels like the taste of something I’ve been forging my way forward without. Now? He’s shown me a glimpse of what it’s like to have someone who so effortlessly provides a solid foundation to rely on.
As he sets me on my feet, I’m pressed between his broad chest and the horse at my back. Scents of masculinity and leather mingle with the tinge of sweet hay that follows Goldie around wherever she goes. Truth be told, it all makes me more than a little giddy.
Beau doesn’t take his hands off me, just lets his thumbs glide up and down while bracketing my rib cage. With each slow stroke, I feel like my tank and thin sweater are going to incinerate and flutter away in little puffs of ash. There’s a heartbeat pulsing in my clit after only a few seconds of having Beau’s undivided attention, and I’m already devastated that activities of horseback nature don’t allow for flirty little sundresses. The kind of mid-thigh temptation I could widen my legs ever so slightly while wearing and encourage him to slip his hand beneath. I’d be very interested in a scenario where he pushes a thick digit or two inside and fingers me while we stand here against a backdrop of mountains and the tiniest sliver of the moon hanging low in the late evening sky.
His eyes bounce between my mouth and my chest, and I suspect we might be thinking much the same kind of horny thoughts as one another.
“You look hungry, cowboy.” I drag my teeth over my bottom lip. “Maybe it’s you I should be afraid of. Maybe it’s you who wants to eat me alive out here in the wilderness?”
A wicked look flashes in his eyes, like a spark of a storm forming on the horizon out at sea. “Baby, all you ever have to do is ask.” Then he raises one hand to swipe his thumb over my bottom lip, slowly tugging it out from beneath my biting hold. “But first, you gotta work for it.” Creases form at the corner of his eyes and this man looks like the dictionary definition of temptation where I’m concerned.
I swallow and push at his stupidly toned stomach. “I’ve clearly done my job too well , and taught you too many tricks, Heartford.”
Beau hits me with one of those lopsided grins that makes my thighs clench, then moves away, leaving me swaying ever so slightly. “Help me unpack, trouble.” After leading Goldie to follow after him and hitching the horses, he casually tosses words over his shoulder. I float over to his side where he begins to unpack from the saddle bags, handing me a collapsible tripod and his camera bag, before gesturing with his chin toward a grassy area in the clearing.
“We’ll set up over there.”
“It seems a bit dark for taking nudes.” I tilt my head at him and then promptly squeal as I evade his swat in the direction of my ass.
“While I know you love to be the star attraction, baby, I’m gonna teach you to take some photos of the night sky. We should be able to see the Milky Way with tonight’s forecast.”
My heart does a little flutter when I look back and see Beau walking toward me with an armful of rolled-up blankets and a thermos. This looks an awful lot like a date, and while we haven’t exactly talked about anything relating to being together— beyond the way we can’t seem to stay apart even when we know we are supposed to—I’m caught off-guard by the sneaky preplanning this man has put into our evening.
“Looks like you intend to be out here all night.” I clear my throat and crouch to set everything down like I’m carrying a baby bird. Without a doubt, Beau’s camera is very expensive compared to my second-hand model, which was all I could afford at the time, but it does everything I need it to.
“Taking it slow always produces the best results where the stars are concerned.” He busies himself setting out the blankets and I’m worried he’ll be able to hear my heart pounding in amongst the stillness of the night air. Sex is far too easy with Beau. Flirtation and fooling around are effortless where he’s concerned. But this? I’m not sure my heart can handle knowing he’s gone to these lengths to bring me out here like this, when he could have easily spent the evening taking photos by himself, like he usually does.
Not when I already know I’m leaving.
Before I can fully descend into a flaming tailspin and spiral to crash in a heap of emotional confusion, he’s beside me, crouched down to set up the tripod and camera with practiced hands.
I was right. Seeing Beau handle a camera while oozing smooth confidence in every tiny action is unbearably sexy. He renders me more than a little weak at the knees while his veined hands and corded forearms flick buttons and manually adjust settings, before fixing the camera in place on the tripod.
Jesus, there is something so hot about a capable man.
“Now we wait.” He tilts his head to look up, flicking his eyes from mine to the skies overhead, then back to capture me. I don’t know if I’ve been properly breathing this entire time.
“You don’t need to look through the lens?”
Beau shakes his head and shows me his phone screen. “Best not to touch the gear. It needs to hold steady, otherwise you just end up with a blurry mess. I use a remote to control the shutter.”
“Of course. He’s got a fancy cock, and a fancy camera. No wonder you were oh, so comfortable having control of my wearable, if this is what you spend your nights doing.” I roll my lips together.
That drags one of those low, rumbly laughs out of him that manages to turn my insides to liquid each time I hear it.
“Come here.” He stands up and hooks the belt loops on my jeans, tugging me into him with a move that leaves me fighting back the urge to let out a slutty little noise of need. “I’ll let you play with my fancy camera, and if you’re really well-behaved, you might earn the other piece of equipment I’ve packed for you.”
Licking my lips, I wrap my arms around his back and tilt my chin to look up at him, allowing my body to go a little boneless as I sink against his frame. God, I love how it feels to be pressed up against all that strength and warmth. “Consider me highly motivated and dedicated to the task at hand, boss.” I let myself rub against his groin and savor the groan he lets out in response.
“Christ. I promised myself I’d be good and not try to get you naked within five minutes, and you’re making that fucking impossible, you know?”
My lips curve. “Shame I can’t add that sort of talent to my resume.”
I’m tumbled down onto the blankets before I have time to protest being manhandled, and Beau doesn’t give me any choice but to follow his demands. Strong, guiding touches move me to lie tucked against his chest under the crook of his arm, and he brings up the controller for the camera on his phone so we can both see.
I shamelessly nuzzle into his side, stealing a deep inhale of his scent as he taps a couple of different settings on the display.
“Each shot is usually about thirty seconds for the best result.” He tucks me closer, gluing me to his side—as if he can’t stand the idea of there being any fraction of space between our bodies. “Gives enough time for the camera to capture the light, but doesn’t start to get blurred with the earth spinning.”
“ Hmm . We really are just floating on a rock in space, aren’t we? Wonder if we’ll spot any aliens?”
“Well, I know there’s no place in the universe I’d rather be than right here. So I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever is out there flocks this way.” He says it with a low voice that extends right through every cell in my body. A hook digs in behind my ribs, pulling me further into the depths of this man.
I don’t want to look at the deeper meaning behind that admission. This is Beau’s escape, his private little slice of paradise. It’s not because I’m here with him.
“Here.” He shows me what to do. “Use that to select your point of focus, then tap when you want to take the photo.”
It’s hypnotic as I follow his instructions, then lie watching the image, waiting with bated breath as the shutter clicks on the tripod set up. Quietly counting the heartbeats until the sound comes again and the image preview shows a carpet of stars set against a dark, jagged outline of the mountain tops surrounding Crimson Ridge.
“There are so many more than you can see just looking with the naked eye.” I let my attention flicker over the photo. There seems to be an endless array, hundreds of thousands of pinpricks of starlight glittering back from the screen.
Beau makes a quiet noise of agreement from somewhere deep inside his chest, and I feel him nod above me.
“Take as many as you like. We’ve got a while to wait yet ‘til the best part of the show.”
We lie together in silence as I poke at different locations, choosing some of the brightest stars to try focusing on, letting each slow-motion whir of the camera fill the quiet.
There’s something lulling about it. Beau wasn’t joking when he said everything about this process moves at a slow pace. Between the length of time it takes for each photo to form and the stillness of the evening, it feels like time slips into a zone where it has no meaning.
“It must be a relief coming up here,” I murmur after playing with the camera for a while.
“Not exactly. You see, ever since the day I helped out a stranger… and lost my bag to them in the process… I’m usually trying to concentrate on taking photos. And instead, I’m stuck thinking about this girl. Now I’ve got her in my arms, and I’m struggling to believe it’s not all a dream.”
Pushing up onto my elbow, I give him an arched eyebrow. “You don’t think I’m real?” I have to focus every ounce of attention away from the fact Beau just casually mentioned thinking about me as much as I’ve been unable to stop thinking about him since our first meeting.
Consider me an unmitigated slut for being in the spotlight of his mind’s eye. If there’s anything I know by now about being the object of his unwavering obsession, it’s that I’m greedy for having his focus on me.
“Ask me anything, and I’ll show you I’m real enough.” I wet my bottom lip, heart zooming around inside my chest. “As long as you give me an answer to a question in return… oh, and a piece of clothing.” I flutter my eyelashes at him through the darkness.
“This is much more interesting than having to sit out here in the dark all alone.” His smirk is evident in his tone as he readjusts himself to lie back with both hands resting beneath his head. When he gazes up at me, there’s a faint quirk playing over his mouth that I can make out through the shadows.
“Did you always know you wanted to run rings around everyone and start your own business?”
“Isn’t that every eldest daughter? Trying to carry everything and be perfect at all times?”
“No answering questions with more questions.” He clicks his tongue. “Boots. Off.”
I huff and roll my eyes, even if he can’t see the full extent of my expression. Shifting my weight, I slip my boots off and toss them aside.
“Fine. My sisters are the bit of good that my parents can look at, but I could never shake that feeling that I’m always the reminder of a bad time. The product of a crappy relationship that my mom had escaped. I always felt like the outsider to their bubble who was going to get cast aside for being too much to handle. So I always knew I wanted to do something for myself, to take care of myself.” I chew the inside of my cheek, heat flushing up my chest at how vulnerable it feels to admit that out loud. “Besides, I got fired from my first three jobs out of high school for questioning too many things, so I figured out kinda early on I was virtually unemployable.”
Beau adjusts himself to bend one knee while he lies back, listening to my confession, and looks every inch the cowboy heartthrob sent to destroy me.
“Jeans,” he says in a low command, and heat rushes to pool between my legs.
“That was only one answer.” Despite my protest, my fingers are itching to pop my button and tear my clothes off for him. I also love that he’s not making a big deal out of this. It feels so effortless to share pieces of me I’ve never told anyone before, and I don’t know how to rationalize that inside my mind.
“Ah, but this is what happens when you don’t follow the rules. Lose the pants, pretty girl.”
Damn him for the way his voice always dips into that lower octave when he calls me that. It’s like he’s speaking directly to my pussy, and I become far too pliant at his instruction.
“Who’s being bossy now?” Getting to my feet, I turn around and take my sweet time. Ever so slowly, I flick the button, then let the zipper fall with a hum that cuts across the quiet, before hooking my thumbs and shimmying the waistband down to slip over the lower curve of my ass.
The entire time, I feel Beau’s eyes drilling into me with wild ferocity.
When I bend at the waist to lower them further, I take the opportunity to glance back and fully indulge my own rampant arousal. To my sheer pulse-thumping delight, Beau has one hand palming himself through his jeans, and I can see the way he cups his erection.
“You don’t play fair.” His tone is full of raspy need.
“And you wouldn’t want me to, either.” I give him a little smirk before bending right down to touch my toes, and he lets out a deep groan.
“I have more dreams than I should admit to about that ass.”
When I turn back around and make a show of letting the material fall from my fingers with a soft thud to join my boots and socks, he’s shifting his hips. It sends a shiver racing down to my toes with excitement at how much he enjoys my body.
“If you’re a very good boy, I might even let you fuck me there later.” Unable to resist, I climb to straddle his groin, and the feel of him is so intoxicating against my delicate skin. The roughness of his jeans, the hardness of his cock pressing beneath me, how his calloused fingers immediately settle on the outside of my thighs as if that’s the only place they should ever belong.
“Fuck,” he grunts, and I bite back the way it feels particularly satisfying to unravel his composure with a single mention of messing around with my ass.
“Ok, hot stuff. My turn for the deep dive into your psyche.” I run my palms under his shirt, feeling the heat of his skin and dusting of hair over his lower stomach. “When did wedded bliss first start falling apart?”
Beau squeezes my thighs for a moment, and I’m chewing the inside of my cheek as I let him mull his words.
“Two years,” he says quietly. “Maybe even quicker than that. I feel like I blocked so much of it out. But definitely, by two years in, we effectively started living separate lives in different cities all the time. Although, I knew something was off after only a few months. Once we’d done the legal marriage stuff, it was like she turned into an unrecognizable person. But I was so busy with training and competing I willingly turned a blind eye.”
Beau glides his palms up and down my skin and exhales a long breath. “Now I know Mandy well enough to know that the woman I dated in a whirlwind and stood at the altar waiting for was a sham. The charming, sweet, adoring persona she’s good at putting on isn’t who she is. That was the bait, and I fell for it.”
“Thank you for telling me.” Letting my fingers curl against his torso, I flash a small smile. “May I have your shirt, please?”
Beau heaves himself to sit up and flips his cap off, before reaching behind to drag the shirt over his head in one fluid motion.
I swipe it out of his hands before he can toss it aside, bundling it up and pressing my nose into the warm scent the fabric carries. Well aware that this is dangerous territory—to be lingering in a needy little bubble of wanting every little detail of him.
“Your family has always supported you? No matter who you dated?” he asks softly. There’s a hint of concern evident in that question, which makes me smile into the fabric coated in his scent because I can already hear his willingness to leap to my defense against anyone, no matter who.
My inability to stop feeling giddy over this man is once again a massive issue because he’s not being that guy . The jealous asshole, or the insecure idiot, where my attraction to women is concerned.
Nodding quickly, I hum in agreement. “Always. They’re fiercely supportive, and never once made me feel like my queerness wasn’t completely normal. But I always feel like there’s subtle pressure there, not related to my sexuality, but for me to bring home Mr. or Miss Perfect. The standard is set so high by my parents, and I’m forever raising that bar for myself seeing their relationship, whether I consciously realize I’m doing it or not.”
Beau’s gaze holds me through the darkness as he starts slowly hooking my top. A shudder roams freely through my limbs as he lifts it up my stomach, grazing my skin with his knuckles, setting every inch of my body alight just for him.
“Well, they’re correct. You only deserve perfection, baby.”