18. Shiloh
Shiloh
It’s nearly two in the morning as I finish cleaning up for the night, and it can’t go fast enough because I want to go home.
I can’t hold myself back anymore. After we danced, I realized I can’t force what I’ve felt for weeks to go back in a box.
Am I a little guilty about not being totally honest with him?
Yeah, but … maybe one day I can be. But the likelihood is that I won’t have to.
This has an end date, and I’m ready to take the bull by the horns.
Grabbing my purse, and keys I wave to the guys and nearly run out the door, they’ll lock up when they leave.
I hurry down the steps and round the corner towards the back of the building, and if not for the light in the lot, I would be running back into the bar.
But I know that body anywhere. He’s leaning against my car, and I don’t have to see his face clearly to know my husband waited for me.
“What are you doing?” I ask him.
He stands up and drops his hands, sliding them into his pockets. “I wanted to take my wife home after work.”
I smile walking up to him. “Why?”
He rubs the back of his neck and shrugs. “Felt like I should,” he says.
I don’t hold back and lean into him. “Are you going to follow me home?”
He grabs my hips steading himself before I send us both to the ground.
“How about I drive you and drop you off at work tomorrow,” he says.
I drop my keys back into my purse. “Okay,” I stay staring up into the shadow of the brim of his hat.
He leads the way to his truck across the lot and opens the passenger door for me. My heart thrashes in my chest, my palms are clammy, and I’m excited. This is finally happening.
Ledger drives us silently back to the house, and the tension is pulling so tight I almost put my head out the window like a dog so I can calm down and not jump him like a bitch in heat. Yes, I compared myself to a dog. This is how bad it is.
He pulls into the garage and shuts off the truck.
I look at him, and he turns to me as if we’re silently agreeing this is going to happen.
Then we get out of the truck, and I follow him into the house.
I’m on pins and needles here. I have no idea what to expect, but I’m one breath away from ripping my clothes off and yelling ‘take me’, though I’m not sure how well that will go over.
The moment I shut the door behind me, Ledger grabs my nape and pushes me into the door. The metal bites into my overheated skin. Déjà vu covers me like a blanket only I hope it doesn’t end the same way it did last time.
The laundry room light is still off, and I can’t really see him, short of the soft glow of the kitchen light he leaves on for me when I’m coming in late.
He taps the brim of his hat up and leans into me. His hot breath brushes my lips, sending a shiver over my shoulders.
I wait for him to move, I know what I want, but I want him to cross this bridge with me.
“Shit,” he mumbles and crashes his mouth to mine.
A moan of relief burst from my throat and my knees go weak.
I fully expect him to devour me, like he did last time, but his mouth is tender against mine.
His other hand rests next to my head like he’s trying to control what little restraint he has left as he slowly coaxes my lips open, and I melt.
It’s like our first time. He’s trying to be gentle and considerate.
He tilts his head and I become a puddle at his feet as he moves mine he way he wants.
All I can do is steady myself, gripping the collar of his shirt.
His hand slips from the back to the front of my neck as his thumb and forefinger gently lift my chin giving him more access.
I stand up on my tiptoes leaning into his kiss and he moans into my mouth, making my thighs clench together.
Before I can process the flutter of his tongue against mine, he pulls away burring his nose into my neck, leaving a soft, intentional trail of his lips over my skin.
He takes his hat off, and dips down, moving further over my chest where my tank top dips low.
I whimper at the sensation of his warm lips over my skin and the rasp of his mustache. I don’t want him to stop. I want to know what it feels like to have that mouth all over me.
He hangs his hat on the hook and with one arm lifts me up.
My ankles lock at his back to keep me from falling and he slides his other arm under my ass to steady me.
We barely get to the kitchen before he has me pressed up against the wall and he’s sipping at my lips as if he has all the time in the world, and I’m not about to die from the pressure building between my thighs.
“Ledger, please,” I whine leaning my head back against the wall.
He groans and spins us around, but we only make it to the kitchen counter, where he sits me down and gathers the edge of my top, yanking it over my head.
I grab his face again, loving his lack of urgency because it’s the best foreplay I’ve ever experienced.
Drawing back he stares at me for a moment. His eyes trace over my breasts, and down to my belly button before dragging back up to my gaze.
He nibbles his bottom lip before leaning in, pressing his mouth over the rise of my skin where my bra covers the rest of me while his hands gently squeeze my hips, avoiding my ribs.
I wiggle in his hold, wanting everything he can give me and grab the back of his head pulling his hair so I can kiss him again.
He grunts into my mouth and our slow, hungry kiss, turns aggressive. Teeth click, lungs gasp, and his needy moan sends a shot of arousal through me. I can feel it in my toes, I have never…
He cuts off my thought taking control of the kiss again his rough large hands frame my face in holding me captive and I sigh against his lips as he rubs our noses together, kissing me again.
My hands tremble reaching for his shirt, pulling it from his waist and flipping the buttons one at a time.
Ledger stands there, shirt open, toned body he hones daily, on display, and my mouth watering. I drag a hand over his muscular chest, and he twitches under my touch. I dig my nails in a little more, and he groans.
I smile and he chuckles pecking my mouth. We’re both out of breath but I don’t care if I suffocate in him.
I almost beg him to take me to bed but the man seems to read my mind as he picks me up again pressing kisses over my chest and walking us into his room. He stops right over the threshold and stares at me.
“What?” I ask him, breathless.
He gently puts me on my feet but keeps his grip steady on my hips.
“You have no idea how much I’d like to strip you naked and admire every inch of you, but …”
“If you say it’s because I’m a criminal and you’re the Sheriff, or this marriage is just an agreement, I will drop to my knees right now and make you regret those words pouring from your mouth.”
He grins and kisses me.
“That would be great, and part of me wants to say it so I can see that picture. But I want to take you out, Shy. I want to treat you the way you deserve to be treated and buy you dinner, talk to you for more than twenty minutes so I can actually learn more about you and not the people you’ve been around. We have time,” he says.
I sigh leaning my head against his shoulder. “Do we?”
“Look at me,” he says.
I do as he says and tip my head back.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, this can’t last, can it? We have an expiration date. I’m not a fool, but we can get it out of our systems in the time we do have and enjoy it,” I whisper the last words.
He frowns, eyes searching mine as if he doesn’t understand what I said.
“For the first time, I haven’t thought that far. I don’t know what the future looks like or if this is more than need, but I want to give it the chance to find out,” he says.
I jerk back surprised. “You do?”
He huffs. “I wouldn’t have kissed you again if I didn’t intend to.”
“Oh,” I mumble.
Ledger chuckles and draws a hand over my messy hair, pulling me into him. “I like you, Shy, and I hope that’s enough right now,” he says.
I nod in his hold. “It’s more than I expected.”
“Good,” he mumbles.
I tilt my chin, asking for his mouth, and he obliges, skimming his lips over mine before plundering my heart. My breasts rub against his chest, and he sighs, slipping his hand over my backside and squeezing the muscle.
“Are you sure you don’t want to right now?” I ask him.
He nods. “As much as I want to say yes, I want to do this right.”
“But right is what works for us, and I’m already a sure thing, we’re married for Pete’s sake,” I whine.
Ledger grins against my lips. “Look at it this way, we’ve waited this long, what’s one more day? And sometimes the waiting, makes everything better,” he rasps.
I pull back and the look in his eye makes the decision easy. Whatever he’s thinking is worth the wait. I have a feeling it will pay out in spades.
“So does this mean you’re asking me out on a date, Ledger Hayes?”
His hand slides up and down my spine. “Yes I am, Mrs. Hayes.”
“When? I work tomorrow,” I mutter, but if tomorrow was his only day off, I’d call in right now.
“That’s alright I need to go to the ranch in the evening,” he says.
I ignore the odd dip in my stomach.
“I’d ask you to come, but I’m not sure you’re ready to be interrogated by my family because a few of them know we’re more than dance partners.”
I huff and shake off the feeling. “I’m not sure they’d be very happy to have me there, especially if they know.”
He tilts his head. “Hey, that’s not the case. You’re assuming. If I tell them you’re mine, then there’s no room for debate. But I’d like to give us some time to figure that out, married or not.”
He’s right. He might be a great kisser and I’m willing to put money on the fact he’s great in bed, but sex does not make a relationship. I learned that the hard way, and I’m someone who learns their lessons. I don’t repeat them, not anymore.
Ledger grips my ass, pulling me into him, and I roll my lips together, keeping the moan behind them because I can feel exactly how he feels about me.
“Then tell me when our date is,” I command.
He grins. “The day after tomorrow?”
“Perfect,” I breathe and kiss him again.
“Then it’s a date.”