Chapter 26 #2
I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry as he walked closer to lean against the rough wood of the pen gate.
“Hi,” I managed and forced myself to take a breath when the word squeaked out.
Though, I instantly regretted the motion because all it did was make me inhale the scent of horse, sweat, and whatever August always wore.
It should have been a strange mix, instead it made me ache. “W-Where did you get the hat?”
He glanced over his shoulder nonchalantly before shrugging. “Found it in the barn. Why?” His grin suddenly became darker, hungrier. “You want to wear it?”
You want to wear it? The truth was, I did. I really fucking did.
As if he could tell that his question had melted my brain — as well as my underwear — August continued speaking like nothing was wrong. “Have you come out to see Tea?”
I nodded, worried what I’d say if I opened my mouth. Probably something I’d regret later, like, No, I came to see you and now I want you to fuck me in the barn.
“Well come on then,” August teased and my eyes flew wide before remembering he couldn’t hear my thoughts. “I know Tea’s missed you.”
“I’m sure you’ve kept her great company.” I cleared my throat as we walked inside and Tea’s ears immediately pricked up. She licked her lips as we approached and I narrowed my eyes on August’s muscled back. “You’ve been giving her treats,” I said, half-accusing and mostly amused.
He chuckled, scratching under Tea’s chin before slipping a mint out of his pocket.
“She’s just such a good girl. She deserves all the treats, don’t you, Tea?
” His voice dropped low and even though I knew he wasn’t saying anything inappropriate, my breasts still tightened in response to the husky quality of his voice.
“Aren’t you cold?” I stepped up next to him and Tea chuffed hot air into my palm as I patted her nose.
August shrugged. “Not really. Lots of lifting, I get warm.”
We fell silent and everything inside of me was screaming that now was the time, that I should tell him what I wanted already — and then Ryder rounded the corner and my lips clamped shut. There was no way that I was going to have a friends with benefits conversation with Ryder lurking around.
“You know, I think I’ll take Tea out for a ride,” I said quickly and August smiled.
“I’ll help you get her saddled,” he said, surprising me. “I’ve been practicing.”
God, I needed to get laid. Everything that came out of his mouth sounded like an innuendo. For now, a bracing ride in the cold would have to do.
Later, I promised myself. You’ll talk to him later.
I was pacing. The floor squeaked under my feet as I walked up and down in front of my bedroom door, hands squeezed tightly together.
By the time I’d got back home from my ride with Tea, my fingers and toes had been numb and my ears had throbbed from the cold. A hot shower had helped, but now I had to make good on my promise to myself to talk to August.
I’d chickened out earlier, seeing him shirtless wearing a cowboy hat had taken me more than a little off-guard. But now, my head was clear, my confidence somewhat renewed, and I could do this.
…So why was I still staring at my bedroom door like a portal to hell lay in wait on the other side?
The front door had closed twenty minutes ago and the hum of the shower had started up in the en-suite connected to the guest room not long after.
August was home. I tried not to think about how good the word sounded in conjunction with his name — home.
And yet, that was how it felt, here together in the pink house on the ranch felt right.
Maybe that was why I hadn’t opened my door yet, too nervous to confront the feelings that had become stronger each day as I fell into routine with August, sharing our mornings and evenings.
Falling asleep knowing he was just down the hall had become an exquisite torture and I’d found myself wondering more than once what might happen if I’d climbed out of bed and knocked on his door.
Except, tonight I wasn’t only wondering. I was doing it.
My hand touched the cool door knob and I gulped before flinging the door open like I was ripping off a band aid.
I’d made sure to wait a few minutes after the hum of the water switched off, not wanting to catch him dripping wet and naked again — or, at least, not until I’d said what I’d needed.
My bare feet were quiet against the hall floor as I rounded the top of the stairs to August’s door, opposite mine and separated by the stairs.
I blew out an unsteady breath and nodded to myself, knowing I was being ridiculous but unable to help the way I felt.
Which was nervous. Really fucking nervous.
I hesitated outside the door before lifting my hand to knock and then freezing, the motion suspended in mid-air when August’s voice rumbled out, hoarse and desperate.
“Sienna,” he groaned and I bit my lip to hold back my gasp. The way he’d said it… It sounded a bit like—
The door was ajar just slightly where it likely hadn’t closed properly when August had come in. They had a tendency to bounce and miss the jam unless you gave them an extra nudge, but August’s error was my gain as I peeked through the slither of space into the room beyond.
Warmth cascaded over the walls in a golden glow from the bedside lamp August had turned on, steam from the shower still eddying in the air in thick swirls that did nothing to hide August’s form on the edge of the bed.
His thighs were spread wide, the white towel he’d probably had wrapped around his waist now fallen open and forgotten against the muscled sides of his legs.
His chest heaved as he sucked in a breath, a few stray beads of water rolling down his chest until they met the place where his hand fisted his cock.
Quietly, barely daring to breathe, I opened the door a little further.
August’s eyes were shut, his jaw tight and lips parted as his hand moved in slow, strong strokes along his length.
The red of his hair had darkened almost to black from the shower and fell messily across his face as he tilted his head back, another rough moan leaving his lips and sending goosebumps across my skin.
The muscles in his thighs flexed as his hips shifted, the smooth way they rolled and jerked up into his palm making my heart race, and I licked my lips as a bead of moisture formed at his tip.
My name fell from his mouth in a gasp and for a second I thought I was caught, but his eyes stayed closed as he rode the pleasure he gave himself.
My fingers crept below my waist band as I watched him, unable to stop myself from imagining what he was thinking that had him moaning my name like that.
The first touch of my fingers to the throbbing bud of my clit made me stiffen, need pulsing through me so strongly that I wasn’t surprised to feel the rush of wetness between my legs as I widened my stance.
I drank him in, loving the way he moved, the soft gasps he made in time with the twitch of his dick against his palm.
There was a light dusting of hair on his chest and I followed the happy trail from below his waist and up, lingering on the collarbones I’d admired before when he’d sent me a photo in bed.
He swallowed hard, the strong column of his throat enticing in a way I’d never felt before, and I raised my eyes further, over his full mouth and straight nose, to the dark brown eyes that burned into me with surprise and then a desire that practically burned me where I stood.
I’d thought I’d feel embarrassed to be caught watching him, instead I was eager to see what he did next.
He didn’t disappoint. His eyes dropped to where my own hand moved beneath my pajama bottoms and darkened as he growled, “Come here.”
I obeyed, the hungry look on his face making my heart pound as he reached out and dragged me against him as soon as I was in touching distance, placing me between his hard thighs. His hands were warm against my ass as he palmed one cheek and then spanked it lightly.
“How long were you watching me?” he rasped, even as his eyes repeatedly dropped to my mouth with an intensity that was barely checked.
“A few minutes,” I admitted and inhaled sharply when he spanked me again.
“Did you like what you saw?”
I nodded and his smirk was dangerous, like he intended to capitalize on my response.
Then there were no more words.
August’s hands moved up my body, threading themselves through my hair as he brought his mouth to mine. It was a kiss that devoured, his tongue coaxing mine into a rhythm that made me gasp against him as he caught my bottom lip and sucked gently until I whimpered.
He pulled back abruptly and I blinked, confused at the sudden change when he stood and nudged me until I was sitting where he had been. “Let me see you,” he said, voice rough. “Show me what you were doing to yourself while you watched me.”
For once, I didn’t pause or question if this was a stupid idea, I just lifted my hips and kicked off my pajama bottoms followed closely by my top. The cool air hit me and I shivered, nipples tightening, and I knew he’d noticed when his lips parted and his pupils blew wide.
“Show me,” he repeated and I shuffled back until I was in the middle of the bed.
His palm cupped the outside of my knee, coaxing my thighs open until I was spread out for him, the evidence of my arousal glistening in the light.
August lifted my hand and placed it below my stomach, hovering over me before he leaned back on his legs to watch my hand’s descent.
His cock twitched against his stomach at the first press of my fingers to my clit and his hand wrapped around his base when I splayed my folds wide to push in two fingers while he watched intently.