Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
HUDSON
N ever before in my life has following Harry’s orders been so goddamn hard. Don’t get involved with Addy. Simple enough order. The concept is solid. But the reality of that is so much harder. As is my cock. It’s aching, it’s so fucking hard.
Some things are worth Harry’s wrath. If I wasn’t sure about Addy’s feelings for me before, now they are crystal clear and driving me to the brink. Not one woman has ever had this effect on me before. Not a single one. Not even Jemma.
Her hands trail down my neck. It’s taking every ounce of willpower I have to stick to kissing this gorgeous woman. It’s like torture, beautiful fucking torture, only kissing her. But over hell’s warmed-up body am I going any faster than she wants to. I drop my hands to her waist, and she moans. If she keeps making those sweet-as-fuck little noises, I’m likely to explode in my pants.
When I hear the first call of a night bird, I push her away a little. Her eyes are warm, all browns and golds. Stunning. Her lips are swollen from kissing me. And I can’t even stop it when my mind goes to those elegant lips wrapped around my cock. Fuck.
“We should start a fire before it’s dark, Addy.”
“I thought that’s what we were doing.”
I laugh. She’s not wrong.
“One with actual fire to keep us warm.”
She raises an eyebrow. I kiss her lips briefly, and she pushes off my lap and jumps down from the tailgate. I follow her, and Charlie trots beside us. “Grab anything dry enough to burn.”
“Sure.”
I bundle up wood in my arms as I go, and Addy does the same. When we both have a load, we head back to the truck, dumping it by the back wheel. I start building a fire a few feet from the tailgate. We will need it close to keep warm overnight.
“What’s for dinner?” she asks.
“Ah, you will have to wait and see.”
“Please don’t tell me we have to catch our own?”
I holler a laugh and her cheeks turn pink. “No, sweet girl, no having to catch your own dinner tonight.”
Her blush deepens. Sweet girl is a nice color on her. I could watch those pretty eyes and make her blush all night, if she’d let me.
I light the fire and stay stoking it for a while before jumping up into the back of the truck. I brought a picnic basket with dinner and some breakfast, a double swag tent, and some clothes. Addy wanders around, Charlie by her side. He’s got it worse than me, poor little guy. She chatters away to him as I set up the bedding and organize the picnic dinner.
The cooler bag I have has wine, beers, and whiskey in an ice slurry. Picking out a beer for me and the bottle of wine for Addy, I double-check I have everything before hopping down to find her. I follow the sound of her voice.
And when I finally find her under a low-hanging tree branch, I stop, not wanting to disturb her. Eyes closed and head resting against the trunk of the tree, she is sitting on the grass, Charlie in her lap. Her curls flick around her shoulders in the breeze.
Something snaps in my chest. This woman is beautiful, inside and out. Brave as fuck and more determined than my stubborn, hard-headed father. She’s incredible. Charlie pops up from her lap and she opens her eyes. A gorgeous smile blooms over her face. I walk to where she sits and she tilts her face up at me, her smile deepening. “Hey.”
“Hi.” I study her face with an ache in my chest as I take in her freckle-dusted cheeks, soft pink lips, and stunning brown eyes that are now searching mine. “Hungry?”
She holds a hand up and I take it in mine. It feels right. Like the answer to an ageless question that only she and I know. A perfect fit. She pushes to her feet, and I pull her into me, sinking my face into her hair. “God, Addy.”
She chuckles. Her hands slide between us and to the opening of my shirt before her soft fingers grip my jaw. I push back a little and claim her mouth. One way or another, this is going to be a long night. She opens her mouth and I plunge in, tasting everything she is willing to offer me.
How the hell did I ever live without this? Without her. Charlie barks, and we pull apart. He is barking at the fire. Running circles around it. Yapping like an excited little kid.
“Come on, we have some dinner to eat,” I rasp.
She nods and follows when I lead her by the hand back to the truck. Charlie sits, watching the flames flicker and crackle, head tilting when an ember hisses and flies into the sky from the fire.
“After you, Howard.” I extend a hand to the blankets on the truck bed, and she climbs up and makes herself comfortable on one side of the spread of food Ma sent with us.
“This is wonderful, Hudson. Thank you.”
“Anytime, Howard. And if I remember, you earned this. I didn’t do much.”
She shakes her head and pops the cork on the wine bottle. “You want some?”
“Nah, I’m a whiskey man.”
“But there are beers here.”
“Yeah, nice for a change.”
Plus, I don’t want to end up wasted and miss a second of Adeline Howard in the great outdoors.
“I’m starving,” she says. I climb onto the blanket and pull off my boots and drop them onto the tailgate. She does the same and tucks her legs underneath her. She takes a sip of the cold wine in the plastic tumbler I brought along for her and sighs.
“What ya thinking about, Addy?”
“Everything”—she takes another sip—“and nothing.”
I chuckle and crack the top off my beer. It’s cold and refreshing, and I take a long mouthful. The work of my very enthusiastic mother lays between us. Entrées, meat on sticks, cheese, and two covered dishes with her famous Irish stew and mashed potatoes and veggies. I grab a meatball on a stick and pluck it from its stick with my teeth. Addy nibbles on the cheese and chopped-up carrot, celery, and cucumber.
“When do you find time to work on your house?” Addy’s gaze is homed in on the house across the vista.
“Weekends and some afternoons.”
“But that’s when I’m here. Hudson, am I taking up your free time?”
Free time, on a ranch? Yeah right. “Nope.”
She tilts her head, as if she doesn’t believe me.
“I swear, I still work on it.”
“Can I help you?”
“You want to help me build a house?”
“If you’ll let me.”
“You got any carpentry experience, Howard?”
She laughs and takes a sip. “Not really. But what I lack in skill, I can make up for with enthusiasm and work ethic.”
“I bet you would.” I stare at her. This woman who has buried her way into my heart. As much as I hate to admit it, Reed may be right. But how do I keep Addy and carry out Harry’s orders? Right now, it feels like it has to be one or the other. Maybe for tonight, we can just be Addy and Hudson.
Not vet and client. Not coach and rider. Not boss and employee—well, almost, at any rate. And what happens when her six months are up? She goes back to the city and drags my heart along behind her like some banged-up tin can.
It’s too much. I take another pull of beer and shove a meatball into my mouth before my mind can make me say something stupid. Or my heart cracks all over my face.
“You okay, Rawlins? You went quiet there.”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” But my voice betrays me, raspy and shot through. I clear my throat. “What are your plans after your time is up in Montana?”
“I don’t know yet.” Her focus drops to the food between us. “I was hoping Justin would extend my contract. But I’m not exactly his favorite employee.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m off equine for another month.”
“What the hell? That’s what you moved here for.”
“Yeah, I was kind of annoyed when he told me, but I don’t know, maybe I should be doing other things.”
“Is he—Did he, I mean. Hit on you?”
She huffs a strained laugh.
That fucking asshole.
“Not directly, I guess.”
My grip around the beer tightens. “Addy, you tell me if that little shit bothers you.”
“I don’t need you to ride in and save the day, Rawlins.”
“No?”
“No, but you could send Harry?” She loses her shit, doubling over laughing, and I pluck a piece of cheese and toss it at her. She squeals and grabs a carrot stick and pegs it at my head. It bounces off my forehead and she is crippled by laughter.
It’s the most amazing thing I have ever heard.
When Addy has finally recovered from her own joke, she clears her throat and sips her wine. “On a more serious note, tell me more about this roundup. About you. About everything I missed the past thirty-four years.”
“Which part do you want first?”
“You, definitely you.”
“Alright . . .”
She holds a hand up. “Actually, start when you graduated high school.”
“This is gonna take a while, Howard. We should make ourselves comfortable.”
“Agreed.” She shifts the food, and I pack up the drinks. Supper can wait. When we have space on the blanket, I lay back, folding my hands under my head, and she lies beside me. Her hair fans out around her head and shoulders as she scans the sky. The first stars pop through the hazy grey of the sky.
“After high school, Ma insisted I do a trade. I’m not really one for career paths, but I had always loved building things with my hands, so I signed up for a carpentry apprenticeship. That took four years. Then I worked for a company building houses for around eight years. I enjoyed it but living out here and traveling every day got old, so I eventually quit and worked the ranch full time. Started breeding quarter horses about a year later, when I was desperate for something a little less Harry-intensive, you know. Horses, as much as he works with them and likes the extra income they make, were never his thing. So, I sunk my spare time into getting my herd started.” I hesitate on the next part. “Then, I started building the house.”
“Why?”
I guess there is no getting around it. “I needed something to occupy my mind. I told you that part.”
“You did, but why, Hudson?” She pops up onto one elbow, her face resting on her palm.
“Jemma and I met when I was with the building company. She was one of the clients’ daughters. Was my first real girlfriend. We were together for almost three years when she left for the city.”
Addy’s gaze drops to my chest, and she swallows.
“I was pretty broke up after that, after her.”
Even now, the sentiment still hurts even though I got over the girl. And now, with my heart bleeding all over my sleeve, I roll on my side and prop my head on my palm, imitating Addy. “What about you, Addy?”
Her finger traces the pattern on the blanket between us.
“Adam.”
“The guy who still texts you?” My brows lower, and my gut flips, like it has fucking permission.
“Yeah, that Adam. We were together during the last half of our internship. But he was always doing stuff like going out with other girls, telling me they were friends hanging out and stuff, but Ruby, she saw them. They were definitely not his friends. I tried to break up with him a few times. A few times, he convinced me I was being paranoid. And then when my time was up at the internship, I decided to move. That would be the best way to make my decision about everything. And I was hoping that he would take the hint, you know. Like moving hundreds of miles away from someone would be the breaking-off point. But he still texts. I don’t want any part of whatever it was that we had. Being strung along while he did whatever...”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Howard.”
It takes her a while to look at me. “I’m not, Hudson. It led me here.”
Her hand brushes my jaw. Fuck. I let my eyes fall shut. Her lips press to my forehead. “Sorry to bring down the mood, Huddy.”
Opening my eyes, I grab her wrist and press it to my lips. “Nope. Don’t ever be sorry for explaining yourself, sweet girl.”
“God, Hudson, when you?—”
A blush covers her face. I smile against her wrist. “When I do what, sweet girl?”
Her breathing shallows out. Those gorgeous breasts heave with every breath.
“Addy,” I rasp.
“Uh-huh?”
“I really, really want to kiss you.”
“What on earth are you waiting for?”
I sit up and pull her over my lap. My cock digs into her center. Her very wet center.
Sweet Jesus.
I smash my mouth to hers and she palms my shoulders before her hands grip the hem of my t-shirt. “Can I?”
“I am all yours,” I breathe.
Her face breaks a little. “Good.”
She lifts my shirt off and tosses it onto the blanket. She stills a little, running a finger over my chest, from my collarbone to my breastbone and down the center of my stomach until she hits my jeans. My cock twitches with the movement. Then I still, leaning my head back, and groan.
“What? What is it?”
“I didn’t bring a condom, Howard. This was supposed to be a friends-celebrating-a-milestone kind of camping trip.”
“Oh.”
“I have a better idea. Hold tight.” She squeals as I grab her ass and pull her into me. I may not be able to bring her to climax with my cock, but there are other ways to worship this gorgeous woman.
And I am going to take my fucking time.