Chapter 6 Ryder
Ryder
“Oh fuck…” I groaned, staring after Connor as he rode back toward the barn. “Fuck, fuck, fuck…”
The words were almost a moan as they left my lips.
I reached down, palming my rock-hard cock through my jeans.
Goddamn that man did something to me, something I didn’t understand.
I wanted him to chase me, to be driven so mad that he couldn’t help but fuck me right there for God and everyone to see.
But no matter what I did, I couldn’t get him to take the bait. Not a goddamn thing seemed to work.
And it was driving me fucking wild.
Before I could reason with myself, I was back on the ATV, heading away from the house to the closest wood line.
The vibrations of the machine between my legs did nothing to quell the heat pooling there.
It only took thirty seconds before I was surrounded by trees, but it was too long to wait.
The moment I was inside the woods I hopped off the ATV, unzipped my pants, and released my aching cock.
I spit into my palm and gripped myself, leaning my shoulder against a thick pine tree.
God, I was so fucking hard it hurt. I closed my eyes and immediately saw him, Connor, with those skilled hands working the rope, the complete control in every movement.
The confidence in his body as he sat astride that horse.
“Fuck,” I whispered, stroking myself faster.
My free hand slid down the back of my jeans. I wiggled them lower on my hips and pressed a finger against my hole, teasing myself. The dry friction burned a little, but I didn’t care. I needed something inside me, needed to feel filled while I imagined what Connor could do to me.
What would those calloused hands feel like against my skin? How would that rope feel wrapped around my wrists, my chest, my thighs? I pushed my finger deeper inside myself, gasping at the intrusion. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.
I worked my cock harder, pre-cum slicking the way as I thought about Connor pulling me into a barn stall, throwing me against the wall.
In my mind, he was furious, having finally pushed past his breaking point by my teasing.
He’d pin my wrists above my head with one hand while the other tore open my shirt, exposing my chest to his hungry mouth.
“Please,” I whimpered to the empty forest, adding a second finger inside myself.
I imagined him spinning me around, bending me over a hay bale.
He’d use that rope to bind my hands behind my back, leaving me helpless while he yanked my jeans down just enough to expose my ass.
He wouldn’t prep me gently. That wasn’t his style.
Instead, he’d spit on his fingers and push them inside me roughly, just like I was doing to myself now.
My legs trembled as I fucked myself on my fingers, my other hand a blur on my cock. The fantasy grew more intense. I could hear Connor’s voice in my ear, gruff and demanding as he lined himself up against me.
“This what you wanted, boy?” Fantasy-Connor growled. “This what you’ve been begging for?”
“Yes,” I moaned out loud, not caring if someone heard me. “God, yes.”
In my mind, he pushed into me in one brutal thrust, stretching me open, filling me completely. I curled my fingers inside myself, searching for that spot that would send me over the edge. When I found it, my whole body jolted with pleasure.
I stroked faster, imagining Connor’s hands gripping my hips hard enough to bruise as he fucked me without mercy, each thrust punishing me for all my teasing. He’d pull my head back by my hair, force me to arch my back for him, make me take every inch.
“Connor,” I gasped, feeling my orgasm building. “Fuck me... please... harder...”
The fantasy shifted. Now Connor was flipping me over, looking me in the eye as he pushed back inside me. In this moment, he wasn’t the convict, and I wasn’t the boss’s son. We were just two men consumed by need. He’d look into my eyes, all that hardness softening just for a moment as he claimed me.
My whole body tensed as I hit the edge. “Fuck!” I cried out, my cum shooting across the forest floor as I worked myself through one of the most intense orgasms I’d ever experienced. My fingers were still buried inside me as I pulsed around them, imagining they belonged to Connor.
As the waves of pleasure subsided, I sagged against the tree, breathing hard.
Reality slowly filtered back in—the sound of birds, the rustle of leaves, the sticky mess on my hand and the dirt.
I pulled my fingers free with a wince and tucked myself back into my jeans, suddenly feeling exposed despite being alone.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered, running my clean hand through my hair.
This man was going to be the death of me.
No one had ever affected me like this before, not even the guys with the reddest of flags.
There was something about Connor that drew me in.
I couldn’t get enough of his resistance, his control, and the way he saw through my bullshit.
It was turning me on more than I thought possible.
I licked the cum from my hand before heading back to the ATV, wishing it was Connor’s and not my own.
As I rode back toward the house, I couldn’t help but smile.
Connor thought rejecting me would make me back off?
Fat chance. He’d just made the game that much more interesting. And I always did love a challenge.
The thing was, I could see it in his eyes. He wanted me just as badly as I wanted him. He was just afraid of the consequences. But everyone had a breaking point. I just needed to find his.
And I was very, very good at finding breaking points.
Back at the house, I found Dad in his office, going through the monthly finances. I knocked on the open door, trying to look casual despite the fact I’d just jerked off in the woods fantasizing about one of our ex-cons.
“Hey,” I said, leaning against the doorframe. “How’s it looking?”
Dad glanced up from his paperwork, his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. “Better than last month. Cattle prices are up.” He studied me for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Your face is flushed. You been running?”
I shrugged, hoping he couldn’t read guilt on my face. “Just rode the ATV pretty hard. Went to check on the vaccination crew.”
“And?”
“Larry says they’re all done. That new guy, Connor, is pretty handy with a rope. Caught all the calves they couldn’t get to before.”
Dad grunted, returning to his paperwork. “Good. About time we got someone useful. Most of these boys can barely tell a cow from a horse when they first get here.”
I lingered in the doorway, not sure why I was even telling him this. Maybe part of me wanted to talk about Connor, to say his name out loud, to make him real outside of my own obsessive thoughts.
“You need something else?” Dad asked without looking up.
“No, sir.” I pushed off from the doorframe. “Just letting you know how things are going.”
As I turned to leave, Dad’s voice stopped me. “Ryder.”
“Yeah?”
“Stay away from that Connor fellow.”
My blood ran cold. “What?”
Dad finally looked up, his expression unreadable. “I’ve seen you trying to be friends with him. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
I forced a laugh that sounded hollow even to my own ears. Crisis narrowly averted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not blind, boy.” He removed his glasses, setting them on the desk with deliberate care. “These men aren’t your friends. They’re not here for you to socialize with. They’re here to work and get their lives straight.”
“I know that,” I said, my jaw tightening. Even though he wasn’t seeing the whole truth, it was still annoying. “I’m just doing my job, keeping an eye on them.”
“See that you do.” Dad’s tone made it clear the conversation was over.
“I understand you like hanging out with your college buddies, but college is over and it’s time to grow up.
Real men, men like us, run successful ranches.
We make friends to grow the business, not to enjoy.
And the only thing an ex-con has to offer someone like us is trouble or cheap labor.
” He paused for a moment, still looking at his paperwork.
“The only thing you should be searching for right now is a suitable wife.”
I couldn’t help the bitter laugh that escaped my throat. “A suitable wife? Dad, I’m twenty-two. I’m not looking to settle down yet.”
“And when will you be ready?” he countered, finally looking up at me with those steely eyes. “This ranch needs stability. It needs a future. Your mother and I were married at nineteen.”
“Times have changed,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. The conversation was veering dangerously close to territory I wasn’t prepared to navigate. Not now. Not with the lingering sensation of my fingers still inside me and Connor’s name on my lips.
“Some things never change,” Dad replied, his voice softening just a fraction. “Family is family. Legacy is legacy. I built this place for you to inherit, but I need to know you’re going to take it seriously.”
I swallowed hard, guilt mixing with resentment in my chest. “I do take it seriously.”
“Then act like it.” He put his glasses back on, effectively dismissing me. “The Wesley girl’s been asking about you. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, and her family has a big ranch. She’d know how to help you with this place, how to run it right.”
My stomach turned at the thought. Heather Wesley was perfectly nice, but the idea of marrying her… of marrying any woman, made me feel physically ill.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I lied, backing out of the doorway. “I’ve got chores to finish.”
I escaped before he could say anything else, my earlier arousal completely replaced by a cold knot of dread.
This wasn’t the first time Dad had brought up marriage, but he was getting more insistent lately.
At some point, I’d have to either come clean or play along.
Neither option seemed particularly appealing.
And I was surprised he was offering up Heather Wesley at all.
From what I heard, the Wesley ranch was in a bad way.
Rumors in town claimed it might not last the year.
Then again, my father wasn’t the kind to keep up on that sort of thing.
I headed toward the barn, needing to be busy, to move, to do anything that would keep my mind off both Connor and my father’s expectations. But as I rounded the corner, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Connor was there, unsaddling his horse, his back to me. His shirt clung to him with sweat, outlining the muscles that moved beneath the fabric as he worked. My mouth went dry instantly, all thoughts of my father’s disapproval evaporating like morning dew.
I should have turned around. I should have walked away. Instead, I stepped into the barn, the hay crunching beneath my boots.
Connor tensed, his shoulders squaring as he sensed my presence. He didn’t turn around.
“Need something?” he asked, his voice gruff and dismissive.
“Just checking on the horses,” I replied, trying to sound casual as I moved closer. “How’d she handle for you today?”
“Fine.” He continued working, refusing to look at me.
I leaned against the stall door, watching him for a long moment. “So… how come you ended up in prison in the first place?”
“Because I got caught.”
I couldn’t stifle my chuckle. “Honestly, that might be one of the best answers I’ve heard so far. But really, what happened? What did you do?”
Connor sighed, accepting the fact that I wasn’t going to go away. “Not that it’s any of your damn business,” he grunted. “But I got caught selling meth in Billings.”
“Meth?” I shook my head. “That’s some nasty shit.”
“I know,” Connor replied. “That’s why I never did any. I just sold it.”
“But you still sold something that ruins lives,” I pointed out, taking a step closer. “Doesn’t seem like your style.”
He finally looked at me, his dark eyes flashing with something dangerous. “Tell me something. Have you ever had to wonder where you next meal is coming from?”
I thought for a moment. “No, I guess not.”
“And have you always had a roof over your head?”
“I grew up here—”
“And were you, at the age of sixteen, giving dealers blowjobs in back alleys just so you could eat for the first time in two weeks?”
I stood there, frozen in my tracks. I didn’t know how to respond.
“I didn’t think so,” Connor grunted, turning away from me again. “So next time you want to stand there and assume you know something about my style or anything about me, you can go fuck yourself.”
“Connor…” I said. “I didn’t mean—”
“Hey Connor!” Larry’s voice called from outside. “We could use some help out here if you can spare a hand!”
He turned around, heading for the door, his eyes fixed dead ahead.
There wasn’t the same tension in his shoulders that I was used to when I teased him.
This was pure anger. Clearly, I’d made a mistake and a big one.
I watched him disappear into the sunlight as I stood there, trying to figure out what I could possibly do to make it better.
Up until that moment I thought I knew what kind of man I was dealing with. But now I wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t dangerous, I wasn’t worried about that. He was more like a junkyard dog that had only known starvation and pain his entire life, and that didn’t trust anything or anyone.
And honestly? I couldn’t blame him for that. Not after what I’d just heard. However, I wasn’t usually the type to let that sort of thing get to me. But there was something about Connor, something beyond the games and the flirtation that made me want to get closer to him.
I just wished I understood what the hell it was.