16
With Lainey now back from her internship and Emery moving to the ranch, the mornings had settled into a new rhythm. June’s giggles filled the kitchen as Emery helped her scramble eggs, while Levi sat at the table scrolling through messages from his crew on his phone.
Though the daily hustle felt smoother with Emery’s help, Levi’s jaw tightened as another text from one of his ranch hands popped up—questions, delays, excuses. His fingers tapped the table impatiently. Even on the weekends, the work never stopped.
Then his mom’s voice came over the phone, sharp with frustration as she vented about Jess and his wild ways. “I don’t know how he expects to keep getting away with partying like this. He’s got responsibilities, Levi.”
Levi rubbed the bridge of his nose, the weight of it all pressing down hard. “I know, Ma. I’m trying to keep him in line and keep everything afloat here, too.”
But when he looked up at Emery—busy cleaning up after breakfast and chatting easily with June, he forced a tight smile. He didn’t want his stress to spill over on them.
Later that evening, as Emery helped June with flashcards, Levi stepped outside to take a breath. The wide-open fields stretched before him, but the noise in his head was anything but peaceful.
He walked to the fence of the paddock where one of his mares was grazing on some green grass on the fence line.
He ran a hand over her muzzle when she brought her nose to him to sniff out if he brought any treats for her.
He forced some deep breaths of the fresh air and shook it off the best he knew how before he went back inside, determined to keep his temper in check, when Emery caught his eye.
“You, okay?” she asked gently, as he walked into the living room.
She got up from where she had been sitting on the floor doing a puzzle with June and wrapped her arms low around his waist. The smell of her shampoo reached him as he habitually lowered his nose to her hair in her signature messy bun, her waves semi-gathered together and piled on top of her head.
Taking a deep breath, Levi nodded, a little smile breaking through the tension.
“Better now, but sometimes it feels like maybe I'm the babysitter. Like I’m micromanaging a dozen kids instead of ranch hands. Between the crew and my brother, he's a mess... It’s like I’m running a circus. ”
He looked at her, eyes tired but honest. “Sometimes I worry I’m not doing enough… or that I’m losing control. I hate that feeling.”
Emery shifted, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Levi, you don’t have to be perfect. You’re human. And you’ve got me and June here—we want to help.”
He let out a humorless chuckle. “Help, huh?”
Her lips curved into a playful smile. “How about a break tonight? I’m going to switch the laundry and then close up the chicken coop. You just… breathe. Go get a shower, maybe read with June.”
Levi’s tired eyes sparkled with gratitude as he lowered his face closer to her. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Emery stood on her tiptoes and leaned in, resting her forehead against his. “Good. I’m not going anywhere.”
For a long moment, they just stood there, the warmth between them a cover against the day’s chaos.
The sun was starting to dip behind the barn roof when Emery grabbed the egg basket and slipped out the back door, sandals crunching softly over the gravel path.
The air had that late summer weight to it, the kind that made the cotton of her T-shirt stick to her skin and left her thankful for the breeze.
She wasn’t in a hurry; the truth was, she liked the quiet after the mayhem of the day.
The coop door creaked when she opened it, and a few of the hens clucked in mild protest as she stepped inside. The scent of straw and feathers hit her immediately, familiar now in a way that felt strange for someone who used to order lunch from her phone while running between glass-walled meetings.
She was crouching near one of the nesting boxes, carefully collecting eggs, when the door behind her groaned again.
Bootsteps.
She straightened slowly, the awareness of someone’s presence crawling up her spine before she even turned.
“Evenin’, Emery.”
Cole. His voice was slow and grating, like it was trying to settle under her skin.
She stood, adjusting her grip on the basket. “Hi... Didn’t think chicken duty was on your list of work to get done.”
He leaned against the doorframe, one thumb hooked through his belt loop, eyes dragging over her in a way that wasn’t subtle.
“Didn’t figure you for a chore girl,” he said, smirking. “But damn if it don’t look good on you.”
He took a step closer, the shadows of the coop catching in the hollows of his face. He looked like someone who was used to pushing boundaries just to see how far they’d bend .
“Place runs smoother when you’re around,” he said, voice lower now. “Boss must be real glad to have you stickin’ around.”
There was a pause. Just a beat too long.
“Noticed you’ve been stayin’ over.”
The way he said it felt invasive and insinuating— made her skin prickle.
“I’m doing my job,” she said flatly. “Just like you oughta be.”
Cole stepped back, raising both hands in mock surrender. “Yeah, and I bet you're real good at it. Shit, I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, darlin’. Just talkin’. Shame to waste a pretty face on chicken shit and snotty noses, though.”
With that, he turned and sauntered out, leaving the door half-open behind him.
Emery let out a slow breath she had been holding, her grip still tight around the handle of the basket.
She glanced toward the house, heart still beating a little too fast.
She needed to tell Levi. But maybe not tonight. Not after everything he was already stressed about for today. He had enough on his plate right now.
For now, she just hurried to finish collecting the eggs and shut the coop door behind her as she hurried back to the house.
Levi was nearly asleep, sitting slouched into the couch, his long body stretched out and legs slightly parted, his head tilted against the back cushions like he’d finally surrendered to the weight of the day.
The lamp in the corner gave an amber hue to the room, glowing gently against the dark wood floors, and the low hum of crickets chirping drifted in through the open window.
Emery padded in quietly, barefoot, her eyes softening at the sight of him. There was something about seeing him like this—unguarded and undone—that sent a warm flutter through her chest… and lower.
She slid down beside him slowly, her thigh deliberately brushing along his as she settled in close under his arm that he had draped over the back of the couch. He cracked one eye open, a slow smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
She arranged herself partially across him, her palm gliding over his shirt, fingers tracing the edge of his collarbone down his strong, rigid torso before slipping beneath the cotton to touch skin.
His breath shifted, chest rising a little sharper as she slid her hand down, exploring the slope of muscle.
“You’re tense,” she whispered, her voice breathy.
He didn’t answer, but he didn’t stop her either.
She shifted, straddling fully across his lap.
Her hands returned to his chest, palms splaying against him now and running over his shoulders, kneading and massaging to try to relieve some of his stress with each pass.
Her mouth followed, pressing slow, gentle kisses along his throat, his jaw, his collarbone.
Her breath fanned across the side of his neck as her hands moved down again, this time over his stomach, down to the waistband of his gray sweats.
Levi groaned softly, the sound catching in his throat. One arm came around her waist, and he pulled her closer, tighter—like he needed to feel every part of her against him.
“You keep touchin’ me like that,” he muttered, his voice low and rough, the kind of warning that felt more like a promise. “And I’m gonna forget I’m supposed to be tired.”
Emery smiled against his neck, her lips grazing his warm, stubbled skin just below his jaw. She could feel the tension in his body change, turning molten.
Levi’s mouth found hers in the next second, the kiss slow but deep. His tongue swept against hers with the lazy confidence that sent a shiver down her spine.
The couch creaked beneath them as he shifted, his hands roaming more freely now, gripping her hips and rocking her against him.
Tangled together in the still, quiet room, Emery pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. They were dark, focused, and full of something that made her pulse skip.
“Still think you’re gonna fall asleep on me?” she whispered.
Levi gave her a wicked grin. “Nah, baby… sleep isn't even on the table anymore.”
His arms tightened around her, his hand sliding up the curve of her back with slow, unhurried pressure. Emery’s breath hitched as he lifted his hips and rolled slightly, shifting her beneath him, the weight of his body pressing into hers just enough to make her gasp softly.
Her fingers curled into the hem of his shirt, tugging it higher, letting her palms slide over the muscled stretch of his stomach.
That ignited something in him. His mouth crashed down on hers—no hesitation, no holding back. The kiss was deep and consuming, one hand firm behind her neck while the other slid down her thigh, pulling it up to wrap around his waist, gripping her like he needed her to stay right there under him.
She arched into him, hands exploring the long planes of his back. His lips trailed to her throat, nipping gently at the spot that made her pulse race.
“God, Em,” he groaned against her skin. “How are you real? You feel like something I dreamed up.”
She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled his mouth back to hers, whispering between kisses. “I’ve never felt more real than I do with you.”
His eyes locked onto hers, heated and fierce, as if he wanted to pour everything into this moment.
Intentionally, his hands moving with purpose, exploring, claiming, reminding her that she was his, here and now, in every imaginable way.
Levi’s hands slipped beneath her shirt and under her back, sliding up the length of her spine with a gentle drag that made her arch into him, her breath catching against his mouth.
The fabric bunched as he pushed it higher, breaking the kiss only long enough to lift her and pull it over her head before tossing it aside.
His eyes dancing as they swept over her, his gaze was slow and reverent. “You’re so damn beautiful, I can’t believe I get to have you like this,” he said, voice rough and full of heat.
Emery didn’t answer; she just reached for him, tugging at his shirt with hurried hands, desperate to feel his skin against her own.
He reached behind his head, grabbed his shirt by the collar, and in one easy motion, it was gone.
Her palms roamed over his chest, his shoulders, his sides—like she wanted to commit to memory every inch of him.
He groaned as she pulled him down to her again, their bodies fitting perfectly. His hand trailed down her side, fingers dipping beneath the waistband of her shorts with a teasing slowness that made her hips lift toward him involuntarily.
Her head tipped back as he kissed down the column of her throat, across her collarbone, and lower still. His hands moved with purpose now, peeling away the last of the fabric between them.
“Levi,” she gasped, her voice barely more than a breath, full of want.
He met her eyes then, hovering just above her, both of them flushed and breathless. “Tell me what you want,” he whispered. “Tell me you want me.”
She framed his face, her thumb brushing his cheek. “I need you,” she said, voice steady. “I need you now.”
He pulled back and looked at her beneath him. “Let’s go upstairs. I don’t have a condom down here.”
She didn’t want to wait. “I’m on birth control, and I’m clean. I’m good without it, if you are?”
“I’m absolutely good without,” he offered, fisting his cock and giving it a couple of firm strokes, loving the way she watched.
“I’m gonna give this to you, but first, I wanna taste you.
” He lowered himself to kiss along her hip and across the soft skin of her belly until he made his way between her thighs.
“Levi—” she begged, squirming beneath him and raising her hips, unable to wait any longer. He gave a chuckle that turned into a deep hum as his tongue expertly parted her lips, guiding her knees and opening her further as he directed her legs to rest over his shoulders.
“Holy fuck.” Emery’s thoughts spun. She knew the man had perfect lips, and knew he could kiss, but damn, his tongue…
she hissed as he inserted two fingers inside her, never breaking pace with the way he ate her, like a man who’d just been served his last meal.
It’d been less than sixty seconds, and she was about to come undone.
It became impossible to contain her moans as he began to hum with his own enjoyment of knowing the reaction she had to him.
He fluttered his tongue over her clit, still working his fingers.
She tossed her head back, and with a gasp, her whole body began to quake.
Her ears were ringing, her legs still over his shoulders as her heels dug into his muscled back, her hands diving for his hair and pulling hard enough to make him break contact so she could catch her breath.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he said, “You’re so fucking sexy,” as he dropped his forehead to hers.
She tilted her chin up to kiss him, not caring that her taste was still on his lips. He didn’t waste any time before he slid inside of her slowly, savoring every inch and letting her adjust to his size.
With one knee buried in the couch and the other foot planted on the floor, he deepened his angle, and each thrust became more intense.
His pace quickened as the sound of their bodies coming together mixed with their breaths.
Her body still sensitive from the last orgasm he’d just given her it didn’t take much more to get her there again, this time in unison with him.
He came with a low growl in her ear as he tensed and then went lax, draping nearly his full weight over her body. “Fuck, baby. I could stay here just like this all night; that was incredible.”
Eventually, Levi stood to slip his sweats back on, gathering Emery in his arms and heading up the stairs to his room, making a pit stop in the bathroom to get cleaned up before crawling under the blankets and falling asleep twisted up in each other's arms.