22. Ramona #2
“I’m fine. He apparently needed to check whether my reasons for saying no were good enough.” I take a sip, then set the glass down when I notice Julius watching the man. “I handled it.”
“I saw you.” He turns back toward me, resting his hands on the counter. “I was coming over before you told me not to.”
“You looked ready to drag the stool out from under him.” I angle my knee toward his, trying to catch his eye.
“I wasn’t enjoying the conversation from where I stood.” His mouth tightens before he looks at my hand. “What did he say after you pointed me out?”
“He noticed I wasn’t wearing a ring.” I leave my fingers against the counter instead of hiding them in my lap.
Julius looks down for a moment. When he lifts his eyes, he keeps them on mine.
“You shouldn’t have had to explain yourself.” He shifts closer without touching me. “You’d already told him.”
“I thought that part was clear, too.” I let out a breath and put my hand over his. “I’m glad you let me deal with it.”
“I wanted to come over.” He turns his palm beneath mine, his fingers warm as they close around my hand. “But you looked straight at me and told me not to. I listened.”
I lean my shoulder against his arm. He stays still until I settle, then kisses the side of my head.
“I chose to come with you tonight.” I look up at him. “You don’t need to prove that to anybody in here.”
“I know.” He brushes his thumb over my fingers, careful around the bare place where my ring used to sit. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“You jealous?” I nudge his knee with mine.
“Yeah.” He turns his glass. “I was trying not to be an asshole about it.”
“You did okay.”
“I did okay.” He finally looks at me. “It wasn’t easy.”
I keep my hand in his while I reach for my drink. He turns toward me when I speak again, leaving the man down the bar to finish his evening without either of us watching.
***
I give Julius the keys in the parking lot. He opens my door first, waiting while I get settled before walking around the hood.
The radio comes on when he starts the engine. I turn it down.
“I don’t want to go back to the cottage yet.” I rest my hand near his on the seat.
He looks at me without putting the truck in gear.
“We don’t have to.” His fingers close around mine. “Where would you like to go?”
I take a small key from my pocket.
“The horse trailer by the old show pen.” I turn it in my palm. “I asked if it was being used. It isn’t.”
His eyes move from the key to my face.
“You planned this?” He stays turned toward me, his hand warm beneath mine.
“I planned to have the option.” I put the key away. “I didn’t promise myself I’d use it.”
“What made you decide?” He asks quietly enough that I have to look at him.
“You’ve been with me all night.” I rub my thumb along his finger. “I didn’t have to keep asking you to come back.”
He lifts my hand to his mouth, and I let him hold it there for a moment before he begins driving.
***
The trailer has fresh bedding because I asked for it. I checked the little heater myself before leaving the ranch, and it’s still running when Julius follows me inside.
He looks at the made bed, then back at me.
“You could have picked a hotel with more room.” He rests his hand against the cupboard he nearly hits with his shoulder.
“You would’ve booked the whole floor.” I put the key beside the sink.
“I would’ve booked the room next door so nobody complained about the noise.” His mouth starts to curve.
I laugh before catching his shirt.
“You’re very confident.” I bring him closer, keeping my eyes on his.
“I’ve been thinking about kissing you since the pool table.” He brushes my hair behind my ear.
I rise onto my toes and kiss him first, catching his shirt when he starts to pull away. He reaches behind him to close the door without letting go of my waist.
His phone knocks against his keys when he sets them on the counter. The screen stays dark. He leaves both there and turns back before I have to ask.
“Come here.” I draw him closer by his shirt, but he stops when my back touches the cupboard.
“You’ve got a handle behind you.” He slips his palm between it and my waist, then moves us sideways so the wood is not digging into me.
I laugh against his mouth.
“You’re thinking very clearly.” I work the first button loose while he watches my fingers.
“I’m trying to avoid explaining a bruise tomorrow.” He brushes my hair away from my face. “You’ll blame the whole thing on me.”
“You’re the only other person here.” I undo another button, then look up when he catches my hand.
“Slow down a second.” He brings my knuckles to his mouth. His eyes stay on mine the whole time.
I stop pulling at his shirt. His thumb moves over my fingers while I wait for him to say more. His hand is bare where his ring used to be. I feel that against my skin and I hate how much it still does to me.
“What is it?” I search his face.
“I want to kiss you without you fighting a button.” He releases my hand and finishes undoing it himself.
“That button had it coming.” I slide my palms under the open shirt, and his smile disappears the second I touch his bare waist.
I like seeing that happen. I move my hands higher and watch him take a breath before he bends toward me.
His mouth meets mine slowly, but I catch the back of his neck and keep him close. He kisses me again without drawing away, his hand firm against my back while I lean into him. When I finally turn my face to breathe, he follows to my cheek.
“You can let me do a little of the work.” He brushes his lips under my ear.
“I’m enjoying my part.” I tighten my fingers in his hair, then lose my grip when he kisses my neck.
He pauses there, and I feel his smile against my skin.
“Is that right?” He lifts his head far enough to see my face.
“You’re getting smug.” I try to pull him back, but he catches both my hands and holds them gently against his chest.
“Tell me if you want me to stop.” His thumbs move over my wrists while he waits.
I can feel his heart under my palms. I know that beat. I’ve slept next to it and I’ve packed a bag while it was still in the other room.
“I want you to stop talking.” I lean forward and kiss him before he can answer.
He laughs into it, then lets my hands go so I can draw his shirt off his shoulders. It catches at one wrist, and he has to reach behind himself to get free, and I start laughing too.
“Very smooth, Wyatt.” I drop the shirt onto the chair beside us.
“You picked the smallest room on the ranch.” He puts his hands at my waist, but he doesn’t walk me to the bed. He turns me instead, until my back is against the cupboard again, this time with space. “Stay there.”
It isn’t sharp, and it isn’t a question either.
I look at him. He looks back. Then he kisses me, and the first one was only the start.
His mouth is open on mine, slow at first, then not.
I make a sound into the kiss and he answers it without pulling away.
One hand stays at my jaw so I can’t chase him or hide.
I have to take it. When he breaks the kiss, he doesn’t go far.
“You with me?” He keeps his forehead close to mine.
“Yes, I’m with you.” I keep my eyes on his.
“Good.” His thumb traces my lower lip. “Keep looking at me.”
He kisses me again, harder this time. I fist his belt and he lets me for a second, then takes my wrists and sets them against the cupboard on either side of me. He isn’t pinning me, only placing me.
“Leave them.” He waits until I do.
He works my shirt up and off, and puts his palms on my ribs.
He kisses the place his hands were. When he gets my jeans open, he doesn’t rush that either.
He looks at my face the whole time he eases them down my hips, then my thighs.
I have to step out. He steadies my ankle with one hand so I don’t hop around.
“You’re being careful.” I watch his mouth.
“I’m being mean.” He glances up from the floor. “You just haven’t noticed yet.”
He leaves my jeans around one boot and doesn’t bother with the rest. He stands and kisses me until my mouth is wet and I’m breathing through it.
Then he goes down, but not all at once. His mouth hits my stomach first, then lower, and then he hooks one of my legs over his shoulder and looks up at me before he does anything else.
“Julius, I…”
“I said look at me.” He waits.
I do. He holds that, and then he puts his mouth on me.
He’s slow about it on purpose. I feel every pass of his tongue. He finds my clit and stays there, firm enough that my standing leg starts to shake. When I try to tip my head back, he stops, and stays stopped.
“Ramona.” He’s still looking at me. His mouth is wet. He doesn’t look hurried at all. “Don’t hide.”
I swallow and nod.
He goes back. This time he doesn’t let me get used to it. He teases around the place I want him until my fingers scrape the cupboard. When I try to roll my hips, his hand lands on my stomach and holds me still.
“I know.” He says it against me. “Not yet.”
“Julius, please.” My voice comes out rough already.
“I heard you.” He kisses the inside of my thigh and takes his time about it.
He gives me more, but not enough, then enough that my breath breaks, and he eases off again.
“Please, Julius.” I keep my eyes on him because I know he’ll stop if I don’t.
“Say that again.” He doesn’t smile this time.
“Please. Fuck. Please.”
He puts his mouth back on me and stops playing.
Two fingers, slow, and his tongue right where I’ve been trying to get him.
I come standing up, one heel digging into his back, both hands still on the cupboard because he told me to leave them.
I don’t close my eyes. He doesn’t let me.
He works me through it until my standing knee buckles and he has to catch my hip.
He stands and kisses me with the taste of me still on his mouth. I make a small sound and he swallows it.
“Bed.” He says it against my lips. “Before you fall.”
I sit, but I keep hold of his hand. He looks down at me while I guide him closer, and the smile leaves my mouth before I can hide it.