Chapter 24
Riley
Me:
I need advice.
Willa:
From me?
Me:
Please.
Willa:
What is it?
Me:
I think I’m in love.
Well, that’s dramatic. I’m not in love. Maybe? But most likely not. These stupid butterflies in my stomach are not that, right? Maybe just a stomach bug.
Willa:
Congratulations, that’s usually a good thing.
Me:
I’m not supposed to want this man, though.
Willa:
okaaaay. Is he married?
Me:
No.
Not anymore, at least.
Willa:
Are you related?
Me:
Ew, no.
Willa:
Does he work at the ranch?
I don’t reply. I can’t. If I do, it’ll be a lie.
Willa:
RILEY
Me:
Don’t all caps me. He’s not a counselor, so no worries in that department.
Willa:
Please tell me you’re not falling in love with the new ranch hand.
Why does she have to be so perceptive all the time?
Me:
Just tell me what to do and how to fix it.
Willa:
Do not fall in love with him.
Me:
That’s not helping.
Willa:
Riley, I gotta go. Figure it out, but please, maybe keep some distance from him.
Me:
Fine. Love you, mean it, bye.
Willa:
love you too
“Ugh!” I throw myself onto the bed, pillow over my head, completely agonizing over this man. I’ve kept my distance for almost two whole days. I didn’t want to get up yesterday after waking up in an empty bed with just the ghost of Dom’s touch. And the pain. Everywhere.
I’ve never been this deliciously sore before.
I’ve had great sex before, but that was something else.
He was so rough and controlled at the same time, driving me over the edge multiple times before he got any himself.
I was elated, confused, and sated. And yesterday, all three of those were like a tornado—swirling everywhere.
I kept my distance, sleeping as much as possible and taking the longest bath known to man, soaking my aching body and soothing more than that. I really thought once was going to be enough after I spent all day yesterday happy it happened, but today has been a completely different story.
Today, I want to find Dom and make him fuck me again. I want to come on his hands. I want to hear the grunts he gave me all over again. Those were different, as if he was holding back. Each praise he gave rolled over my entire body like a gentle summer breeze wrapping me up. I was in heaven.
And I want more.
But we said once.
I took the day off too. I checked on the order, which is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and posted a few things on social media about the ranch and the camp.
Lilly doesn’t have a lot of different platforms, and I think, in this day and age, when the market is saturated and competition is everywhere, we need to be.
So if that means seven accounts across different apps, so be it.
I don’t want to tell her. I want to wait until I have concrete proof, but still, I’m excited.
After that, I painted. For hours. And here I am, currently in front of the wall I started a few days ago, adding details to it to try to keep my mind occupied on anything but the grumpy neighbor.
I touch my lips, remembering the way he kissed me. So many different kisses, and all perfect. I felt cherished like never before, and I want more.
It’s raining again tonight, and Dom’s truck is in the driveway.
Would it be terrible for me to just show up and beg him to take me again?
It’s in moments like these I miss having friends.
Good friends, not the girls I met in college who I never clicked with.
I miss real connection, like the one I had with Saylor.
I fucked that up, though, like most precious things in my life.
Ugh. One thing at a time, Riley.
Fix the ranch, then your relationship with Lilly. Then you can think about Saylor.
Right now, the focus should be on those, not on Dom.
The knock on my door startles me. I swear, if Lilly’s here on business, I will scream at her. That girl needs to rest.
I pull the door open, my smile falling as soon as I see Dom on the other side. A very torn, water dripping from his hair and soaking his shirt Dom.
“Dom?” I ask, as if I don’t know exactly who’s in front of me.
He keeps his hand on the doorframe, his eyes everywhere but on mine. He’s muttering something under his breath, but he shakes his head and stops.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” he replies immediately. “I’m so far from okay.”
“Okay, come on in. How can I help? Tea? Coffee? Water? Tequila? Beer? I don’t have any, but I can grab one from your cabin. Come on, I have towels.” I pull at his hand, but it doesn’t budge.
“That's the thing, Riley. I want nothing more than to come in, but I can’t.” He shakes his head.
“I shouldn’t.” He clears his throat, his eyes finally finding mine, and holy shit, I don’t even know if there’s a name for the way his obsidian eyes look right now.
He seems desperate, hurt, and a little hungry. I can’t put my finger on it.
I’m so lost in my head, trying to read him, that I almost miss when he says, “I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t want you, but I must like forbidden things, because I can’t seem to stay away. I’m going mad, and it’s been less than two days.”
I gasp. So many feelings and multiple words. The honesty behind his tone. All of it.
“What are you saying?” I ask.
“I can’t get you out of my fucking mind.” He shakes his head, fighting something we both want. A droplet of water lands on my lip as his eyes squeeze tight, and he swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Once wasn’t enough, and I want more.”
I take a step forward, getting all up in his space, holding his soaked shirt between my fingers and willing him to look at me. “There’s no need to torment yourself when I want the same thing,” I whisper.
His jaw tightens before he lets out a breath. “I can’t give you more than tonight.”
He said that two nights ago, but whatever. “We both are adults with needs. There’s no reason to make this complicated. I promise.” I trace his full bottom lip with my thumb, taking his face in my hand. “Kiss me, Dom,” I say, giving him permission without making him ask for it again.
I rise to my tiptoes, his minty breath caressing my nose as I whisper against his lips, “Kiss me. Take what you want.”
He hoists me up, wrapping me tightly against his solid wall of a chest, crashing his lips to mine.
The sounds we make are instantly indecent, and the way my pebbled nipples touch his wet skin, even more so.
He walks us in, shutting the door behind him, leading us back to my bedroom.
I don’t have to look or let go of his expert lips to know that’s where we’re heading.
He tosses me on my bed, his eyes practically eating me alive, but I want to see him. “Strip for me, Dom.”
He looks pained, and it breaks my heart a little.
I don’t want him to do this just because I want to, even if he was the one who came here.
I want him to do this because he can’t stop thinking about me and the other night.
I want him to mean it. I want him to tell me he couldn’t sleep without dreaming about how perfectly we fit in each other's arms, just like me.
I want him to choose me. I want to be enough. But this, I can’t do.
“You know what? Why don’t you just go home? Clearly, you don’t want this, and you just had a second of weakness.” I stand, but I can’t get past this mountain of a man. He holds my wrist, looking down at me before bringing my hand to touch his hard length.
“Does this feel like I don’t want this?”
“Then why do you look like the sight of me might make you sick?”
He turns, holding my face this time. “Do you think I want to want you this badly? Do you think I want to stay up all night thinking about my hot young neighbor who’s driving me wild?”
I snort, and he cocks an eyebrow. “Sorry. Me? Driving you wild? Please.”
“I owe so much to your family and this place. I didn’t want to disrespect it by falling into bed with the youngest sister.”
He owes my family things? The hell? Also, it always boils down to this. The little sister. Baby Riley. Not trusting that I know what I’m doing and that I am a goddamn adult.
“If age wasn’t a thing. If I was thirty something like you, would you still be fighting this?”
He considers it for a second before saying, “Fuck, I don’t know.”
“If you and I would have met that day we did and then gone out for drinks and one thing led to another, would you be fighting this?”
He shakes his head.
“Then forget about the damn ranch, responsibilities, or whatever other bullshit you think will keep us from enjoying ourselves another night. We’re both single, consenting adults. Just do what you want to do.”
“Riley,” he mutters.
“Everyone treats me like I’m not enough, or like I don’t know what I’m doing.” I lock my eyes with his. I want him to see how much I mean it. “I like that you never do. Please don’t start now.”
His eyebrows relax, and his shoulders drop. “You are capable of so much, and you’re more than enough,” he adds.
I drag my hands to his shirt, tugging it up and lifting. “Then prove it to me.” He gets the hint and takes it off all the way.
Dom breathes out before tossing me back on the bed. He reaches around, going straight to the drawer where I told him the condoms were, and tries to get onto bed, but I push him back with the tip of my toe. “Oh, no, no. I said strip. Please.”
His eyes narrow, but he does as I ask, taking off the sweatpants that leave very little to the imagination. Mental note to ask Dom to wear sweatpants more often.
“Your turn,” he says. But unlike him, I don’t have a lot to remove, just my oversized shirt— I’m completely naked underneath.
There’s no time to think about that, because what the hell was I thinking when I asked him to strip?
This man is built to perfection. Wide stance, broad shoulders with arms that tell no lies.
He’s not cut and fit like a model or a gym bro; no, he’s sturdy, as he seems to be anchored to the floor.
A line of hair leads a path to his impressive length, and I’d like nothing more than to lick it right now, in between rock solid and taut thighs.
“Are you done gawking?” he asks, a smirk on his face. I love how much more relaxed he seems. Maybe it’s being around me, or the fact that he’s about to get laid again, but here in my room, completely naked in front of me, Dom seems almost happy.
“Not even a little bit. Why don’t you do a little spin so I can take a good look at that ass, yeah?”
He chuckles but does as I say.
Sweet baby Jesus. This man has two dimples right above his perfect, sculpted ass. He finishes his spin, smiling bigger now as my mouth stays open.
“Close your mouth, or I’ll fill it up with something instead.”
“Please,” I practically beg, his eyes dancing with mischief.
“You wanna suck my cock, Firefly?”
I get off the bed, dropping to my knees in front of him. “I would like to choke on it, actually.”
He fights back a laugh or a groan or both, I’m not sure, but what’s important is that he takes a simple step, putting his hard dick right in front of me.
He pumps it a few times, making me salivate.
“Abre la boca, Riley,” he commands. I’ve never been more thankful I learned high school Spanish until this exact moment.
I may not be able to understand everything, but this, I know.
I smile before doing as he says, parting my lips and opening wide before tracing the tip of his dick with my tongue.
“Fuck,” he groans. I take over the base, swapping his hand with mine, and swirl my tongue around him again. I look up, right at him, as I let my mouth cover the tip first, slowly dragging his dick into my mouth. I hum around him in satisfaction, his dick twitching in my mouth in response.
I go as deep as I can, careful not to overdo it too quickly, or I won’t be able to keep going.
I continue dragging my mouth up and down, slowly, deliberately swirling my tongue around it as my hands let go of his dick, roam up his thigh, and hold his ass.
I dig my fingernails into the middle of his glutes, making him groan again.
He slowly trails his fingers over my neck, tangling in my hair, dragging it up and holding it in his fist. I want him to see how much I want this so I don’t drop his gaze, finding the same thing I hope he sees in mine: want, fire, desire.
I go down farther, gripping his ass tighter as he pulls my hair, and I moan. “You like that, huh? Choking on my cock, Firefly?”
I moan around him again, taking him deeper, if that’s even possible. A tear breaks free from my eye, roaming down my cheek as saliva spills from the side of my mouth.
He groans. “You’re fucking perfecta. You should see how pretty you look with your mouth full of my cock.”
I hum this time, dragging my teeth with me, before hitting the back of my throat with the tip of his dick.
“Cono,” he rasps. I love how he’s letting go of his self-control, and it slips in tiny moments with words like this.
I taste precum on the back of my throat, but I don’t stop. I keep sucking, moaning, taking him in. I bring a hand to his, still in my hair, and squeeze it, letting him know exactly what I want. He takes the hint and pulls my hair, eliciting another moan from me.
“If you don’t want me to shoot my cum down your pretty throat, you’re gonna need to stop.”
Oh, fucking challenge accepted. I suck harder this time, letting him take control of my head.
He drives in harder and harder, tears falling down my face as I realize the wetness I feel between my thighs has nothing to do with my tears and everything to do with how turned on I am.
I take him deeper, making him groan, stilling his hand as warm liquid hits the back of my throat.
I let go, sliding his dick out of my mouth and pumping it with my hand instead, spilling his cum all over my chest.
Once he’s done, only a few drops left on the tip of his dick, I dart my tongue out and lick him clean.
He shakes his head, roaming my torso with his eyes. “If you didn’t want to swallow, you could’ve stopped,” he says.
I shake my head. “And miss seeing how hot you look when you come? No, thank you.”
He lifts me to my feet, tossing me back on the bed. “I can grab a towel, I just needed to breathe. Sorry I made a mess,” I add. I didn’t think this through, but it's too late now.
He climbs on the bed with me, shaking his head before bringing his tongue down to lick the first drop of cum off my chest. “I don’t need a towel,” he adds
How on Earth does he keep getting hotter?
He traces my body with his tongue, licking every drop of cum off me, paying extra attention to my breasts, making me squeeze my thighs, trying to find some friction.
I don’t need to do it for long, because in no time, he’s finger fucking me instead, taking me to the highest high before I can protest.
I guess we didn’t need a condom after all.