Chapter 25
Wilder
I woke up still tangled in Asher.
The first thing I noticed, was how damn warm he ran—hotter than he had any right to be, reminding me of those old rubber water bottles my mama used to tuck under my blankets during those rare cold snaps when I was a kid.
The second was his leg slung heavy over my hip, pinning me in place, an arm sprawled across my chest and tucked tight around my waist. My heart stammered a beat, letting the weight of him sink against me as he slept soundly.
His hold on me was possessive, like the way I’d been last night—hell, like I’d been every damn time I got close enough to touch him. Something took over my brain in those moments, a need to claim him in each and every way I could, no matter how obvious the marks I left behind were.
Thinking back, there was never a time before where I’d felt like this. Never a moment where I’d experienced such a bone deep demand to keep someone. I’d had plenty of people warm my bed over the years, and none of them affected me quite like this.
What did that say about Asher?
What did that say about me?
I drifted my fingers up the line of his spine, slow and careful so I didn’t wake him.
I traced the soft ridges under his skin, all the way up to where he’d nuzzled his face right under my chin.
His nose pressed to the side of my throat, warm exhales a steady rhythm that brought my heart rate back down with each one.
Funny how he always managed to do that—set me off until nothing made sense and then ground me quickly after.
If I had it my way, we’d be waking up like this every damn day.
I glanced over at the faint light coming in from my window; it was barely creeping over top of the curtains.
Still too early for the rest of the ranch to be up and moving, meaning we had a little time left. Not enough like I wanted, but then again, I didn’t think any amount of minutes or hours spent curled up like this would give me the kind of fix I was craving.
Truth be told, I didn’t mean for us to fall asleep in the first place.
I figured once the worst of our delirium had been burned out of us, I’d help him sneak back downstairs and out the side door, force myself to watch him go as he made his way back up to the bunkhouse while pretending it was easy to ignore the dull ache left in my chest once I finally shut that porch light off and made my way up to an empty bed that smelled just like him.
It would’ve been the smart thing to do. That was how it should’ve gone.
Instead, when he’d slowly drifted off, I’d pulled him closer without thinking. Buried my nose in the curly ends of his hair and let that lull me into a dreamless sleep.
Now he was going to have a hell of a time getting back up to the bunkhouse without anyone catching him walking in through the front door. And if they did, it’d be all my fault.
I should wake him...
I brushed my fingers along the back of his neck, twisting the ends of his hair around my finger.
If I was real honest with myself, this might’ve been the first moment of peace I’d had in almost two years.
Since my father died, rest never came easy.
No matter how much I needed it or my body begged for it, my mind loved to race with all the things I should’ve been doing instead—going to bed later, waking up earlier, punching in for the day and getting a jumpstart on chores before the operations side of things pulled me back to my office and forced me to sit behind a desk for too many more hours than I cared for.
I wasn’t ready to let go of this yet; throw us both back into another day’s worth of hustling until we dragged ourselves back to our own separate beds to start all over again tomorrow.
When would be the next time we saw each other again like this?
If I could let myself have this one selfish moment—
A soft, sleepy noise rumbled against my throat, caught between a sigh and a groan.
Asher shifted against me, his arm dragging across my chest like dead weight before it moved up near my head.
His fingers found their way into my hair, tangling around the short ends lazily.
He gave them a gentle tug and let out another long, shuddering exhale before rubbing his cheek along my shoulder.
I huffed out a soft laugh, the sound getting lost in the crown of that thick, unruly hair of his.
“Mornin’,” I murmured.
All I got in return was another one of those drawn out groans.
I allowed the hand that wasn’t cupping the back of his head to wander down to his lower back, slipping it over the curve of his ass to give it a firm squeeze.
He finally peeled himself away from me, just enough to lift his head and blink around the room, squinting at the light over by the window.
His face was flushed from sleep, eyes still heavy with it.
His hair was mussed from my fingers combing through it while those soft lips of his were pursed and a little swollen from me sucking on them right before we’d both fallen asleep.
It hit me like a sucker punch right to the gut seeing him like this. He was so damn pretty.
“What time is it?” he mumbled, voice rough and scratchy.
“Still early,” I murmured, letting my thumb wander over the side of his cheek, tracing the faint dusting of freckles the sun had kissed across his skin. “We need to get moving soon, though.”
Asher gave me the tiniest nod, but instead of actually sitting up, he just let his head fall right back down onto my chest, settling in like he belonged there.
He does, that little voice in my head argued.
I let out another low laugh. “Laken told me once you were a nightmare to get up in the morning. Didn’t think it was possible with how many times I’d caught you out at the back paddock with Pelly before the sun came up.”
His lips quirked against my chest. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about...”
“I think I’m beginning to suspect that he actually might.”
A sharp burst of warm air tickled my chest when he laughed.
It was far too easy to imagine this being a permanent thing, waking up to him tangled around me every morning, rubbing the sleep from those big brown eyes before both us were forced to drag ourselves out of bed and part ways for the rest of the day.
Maybe that would come in time. I hoped it did, at least. For now, I, unfortunately, had to be practical.
Reluctantly, I squeezed his ass cheek again, shifting my hips up into his to move him. “Come on.”
When he refused, I rolled him over gently onto his back, easing myself up so I could slip the covers off of my body.
He made a quiet noise of protest at the loss when I stood, rolling onto his side with one arm stretching out to grab at the empty space. His cheek pressed into my pillow, eyes closing as he breathed me in deep.
The sight damn near killed me.
What would happen if I said ‘fuck it’ and let the chores pile up?
Let Sully and the others run the ranch without me for a day?
I knew the answer to that already, unfortunately.
Sully would start poking around, wondering why we’d both vanished without a word. He’d already been suspicious over Christmas, accusing me of having a tighter bond with Asher than I cared to admit.
I didn’t need to give him any more ammunition than he already had. Lectures were one thing when he had no idea what was going on. If he caught us getting too close, there was no doubt in my mind he’d try to force me to send Asher home.
Fucking our ranch hands isn’t how we run a business, Wilder, would be the exact words that would come spitting out of his mouth.
I stood at the edge of the bed watching him for a moment longer, my fingers itching to reach back out and smooth down his body one more time.
“I’ll give you five more minutes,” I said quietly.
He hummed something that sounded vaguely like agreement, his face relaxing the minute I leaned over and ran my finger gently between his brows, tracing down the ridge of his nose.
Before I could convince myself to actually follow through with that dark desire to shove off my responsibilities, I grabbed a pair of sweats from my dresser and pulled them on before slipping out of the room.
The house was still quiet, broken only with the sound of the creaking floorboards under my feet as I descended down the hall and stairs to the main floor.
A slight chill clung to the air closest to the front door, brought in by whatever cold front had settled overnight.
It had me rolling my shoulders back, wincing at the slight click my joints gave.
Sneaking Asher out of here would have to be all about divine timing.
Given the hour, I still had another twenty minutes before my Mama was making her way down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
Plenty of time to put on the pot for her and head back upstairs to wrestle Asher out of bed and out the door.
Unless he actually fought me on staying in bed all morning—something I was beginning to suspect now that I thought about how cozy he looked curled up on my side. Cutting things down this soon before my Mama was supposed to get up would have me looking at about only a five minute buffer window...
I could always carry him. Dress him and then throw him over my shoulder, taking him back up to the bunkhouse that way. As long as I put the pot on, my Mama wouldn’t bat an eye. She’d probably assume I started out earlier than usual.
As long as I stuck to the back parts of the property and came in through the kitchen before Hazel usually started breakfast, I could get Asher up to his room without anyone seeing us. He could sleep on my shoulder on the walk up for all I cared.
Tempting...
Very, very tempting.
Hell, I’d take any excuse to hold onto him for just a little bit longer.
The scent of brewing coffee had me pausing as I rounded the table coming into the dining room, raising a brow.
Mama usually wasn’t up this early.
The sound of something sizzling low and steady from the kitchen had me shuffling through the doorway, stopping short at seeing the man I least expected to be taking up space in front of my stove.
Sully.
Fuck.