23. Grayson
TWENTY-THREE
Grayson
T he familiar sound of an ATV engine breaks through the quiet, but I don’t let it deter me from my task.
After spending my morning in the office getting more and more frustrated with the negotiations for a piece of the Evergreen land, I packed up for the day and came out here.
I’m working on a fence line, one that keeps getting damaged, and I suspect not by the wildlife.
I’ll get someone to go into town and grab an outdoor camera setup to see if we can’t catch whoever is behind the damage. I suspect it’s tourists veering off the natural trails and not having the sense to put two and two together when they come to a barrier. It wouldn’t be the first time.
The ATV pulls to a stop next to mine. They kill the engine, and I expect whoever it is to come over. I wait, continuing to hammer in the post, my body covered in sweat and my muscles aching from the work.
When I’m satisfied that the post is in place, I lift off my hat and wipe my brow with the back of my hand as I admire my work.
It’s cooler today, but that doesn’t make the manual labor any easier. Turning toward the vehicles, I’m ready to call out Wyatt or Kade for sitting on their ass and watching me work, but instead, I look like a fool, my mouth going slack at the sight before me.
Avery’s sitting in the vehicle, a Stetson on her head, dressed in a white T-shirt and denim shorts that make her long legs look endless, with one cowboy-boot-clad foot resting on the dashboard.
She’s watching me, her gaze intent, a fluttering of desire barely hidden in the depths.
I’m suddenly aware of my bare chest and just how badly I need to shower.
Clearing my throat, I drop my gaze to the ground before lifting it and meeting hers. “I, uh, didn’t know you were coming out today.”
Her lips twitch with something close to a smile before she presses them together. It’s been a week since our date, and we’ve found ourselves spending time together every day since, so it’s not unexpected that she would be here. I just thought I’d have the chance to look a little more presentable.
“I wanted to surprise you,” she replies, pulling the ends of her hair through her fingers. “I hope that’s okay?”
My chest tightens. Nobody’s ever looked at me the way she’s staring at me now, like she’d cross half the country just to see me.
The thought that she’d do that, given everything that’s happened in our past fills me with elation, but it’s quickly followed by a sense of caution.
I need to remember that what we have is only temporary, no matter how much I wish that wasn’t the case.
Inhaling slowly, I will my hands to stay by my sides, but it’s no use.
Dropping the post driver on the ground, I walk over to her, watching as she climbs from the vehicle. She reaches for me at the same time that I reach for her, my hands cupping her face and tilting it back until her head is angled perfectly.
Slowly, I lean closer until our mouths are barely touching and whisper, “Darlin’, that’s more than okay.” It’s a struggle to keep my body under control, the need to claim her fighting to burst free.
Avery inhales shakily, her eyes searching mine before they flutter closed, and I consume her.
The first taste of her is the perfect mix of sweetness and wildness, and I wonder if I’ll ruin it all by wanting her too much.
But then she grabs my hips a little tighter and sighs against my mouth like she’s found peace, and every scrap of restraint I had disappears.
We move quickly, both hungry for the other, uncaring of the vast openness of the field we’re in. We’re miles from the house, and nobody is likely to come around now.
I lift Ave into my arms and walk to my truck. She clings to me, and for a moment, it feels like nothing else exists in the world but the feel of her body wrapped around me and the weight of her in my arms.
Tightening my hold, I blindly search the bed of my truck for a blanket. My fingers touch the cotton material, and if my mouth wasn’t preoccupied, I’d have let out a holler of relief.
Neither of us are willing to come up for air. After all, who needs to breathe when you have the love of your life in your arms and they are feeding on your soul?
I stalk in the direction I think the clearing is in. I’ve been out here often enough to know this land like the back of my hand, and so my lack of sight doesn’t stop me. At this point, nothing will, unless Avery doesn’t want this.
It’s only when we reach the mowed patch in the middle of the field that I set Avery down. She looks love drunk, her eyes heady as she stumbles back. I imagine I look the same, our chests rising and falling as our labored breathing mingles between us.
She blinks, looking around her as she lifts a hand to her swollen lips. I could look at her all day; she’s beautiful, and I can’t quite believe I get to have her. Even if it’s only for a short time. Don’t fuck it up, Gray.
Shaking out the blanket, I drop to my knees, taking hold of Avery’s hips and pulling her closer. She drags her fingers through my hair, pulling on the strands lightly and forcing my head back.
Avery licks her lips and stares into my soul with her emerald eyes. “I’m glad I came out.” Her voice is raw and filled with desire.
Her words soothe something in me, something I can’t quite name.
Fisting her T-shirt, I lift it above her navel, dusting kisses across the exposed, warm, toned skin. Avery’s fingers loosen in my hair, and she moans, a soft, needy sound escaping her.
“I’m glad you came out too,” I whisper, my fingers making light work of her denim shorts. I push them down her thighs, and she steps out of them, kicking them to the side of the blanket.
I’m rock hard, my stomach tensed with the effort it takes not to lose control. I could ravage her right now, but as much as I want to let go and claim her, I also want to savor this moment. We haven’t touched each other since the night of the rodeo, and that feels like an eternity ago.
Avery joins me on the blanket, and it takes everything to keep my disappointment at no longer being able to kneel before her internal as I remove every scrap of her clothing. I’d want to undress and kiss every inch of her as I did.
The idea is short-lived when she reaches for my belt, unbuckling it before throwing it in the same direction as her shorts, her need for me matching mine for her.
Looking up at me from under her lashes, she undoes my jeans as she says, “Gray, it’s been nearly two weeks, I need you and I need you now.”
Before I can even process what she’s said, Avery’s hand is wrapped around my hard cock. She pushes my jeans and boxers down my thighs as far as they will go with her free hand, stroking me as she watches.
I close my eyes, exhaling slowly. Fuck, I could come right now, and I’m not even inside her yet. Her touch is like heaven on earth, and it’s taking everything I possess not to explode into a million pieces.
Wrapping a hand around her wrist, I pull Avery off my cock, desperate to rein in my arousal. It’s only when she’s no longer touching me that I dare to open my eyes. She has a knowing look on her face, a smirk pulling at her mouth, like she knows exactly what power she has over me.
“I should wipe that look off your face, Ave,” I growl. “I should punish you for pushing me so close to the edge.”
She bites down on her bottom lip, fluttering her lashes at me, feigning innocence. “Yeah? I could think of a million ways for you to ‘punish’ me, baby.”
Releasing her wrist, I slide a hand around her throat and pull her into me. Our mouths crash together, but she doesn’t fight me, because we both know what comes next; the euphoria we get to experience. It’s rough and desperate, our tongues clashing as we feed off each other.
We part when our mouths are bruised. I can’t take it anymore. The need to claim her is all that I can focus on.
“Get on your hands and knees,” I command, barely recognizing my own voice.
Without hesitation, Avery does as I say, moving until her perfect ass is in front of me. The tiniest G-string I’ve ever seen covers her pussy, the white fabric damp with her arousal.
I grip the sides, ripping her underwear from her body.
She releases a startled whimper, and I freeze, wondering if I’ve gone too far, been too rough.
But then she arches her back and pushes her ass back into my crotch, and any hesitation I had is gone.
“I want you, Gray. Please don’t hold back,” she pants, her voice ragged.
Jesus, she’s perfect. She always has been.
Her slick juices cover my cock as we move together. My tip slides through her wet folds, and she moans, both of us lost in the feel of the other.
On autopilot, I position myself at her entrance and push forward, suddenly enveloped in her wet warmth. Her pussy pulses around me, sucking me further in until there’s nowhere else to go.
I hold still for a moment, gripping her hips as I try to claw back some semblance of control. It’s only when I’m certain that I won’t combust that I move. My thrusts are slow and methodical, my attention rooted on the image before me as I slide in and out of her perfection, covered in her.
Avery rests her head on the blanket, mewls of satisfaction spilling from her lips. I grunt, picking up my pace. I feel like a horny teenager . Everything she’s doing, her pure existence, is turning me on.
“Sunshine,” I groan, my vision blurring at the edges as my balls tighten. “I’m going to come.”
She reaches between her legs, rubbing her clit as she moans. “Yes, just a little more, baby, please.”
It’s her plea for more that forces me into action. I pound into her, my movements feral and like an untamed animal. Avery spasms around me, her walls clenching like a vise as she comes undone. She cries out, turning her face into the blanket to muffle the sound.
I don’t have time to decide where I’ll spill my release. The sweetest oblivion comes for me like a freight train, stealing my breath and clearing my mind of any thought. My cum fills her, seeping out of her pussy as I still inside of her. Fuck me .
Collapsing onto the blanket beside Avery, I throw an arm over my eyes and blow out a breath. I’m spent, my body weak, covered in sweat.
She snuggles in beside me, before pushing away and exclaiming, “Eww, Gray. You’re soaked.”
Laughter flows from me, the sound almost foreign to my ears as I reach for her. She rolls away, a grin that I’m certain matches my own splitting her face in two. “Come here, I just wanna cuddle.”
Avery stands, grabbing her discarded clothes and holding them to her chest. “We can do that when you’re less—” She waves a hand in my direction. “Let’s go clean off in the creek.”
She doesn’t have to ask me twice .
As I follow her through the meadow, the grass rustling around us in the light breeze, I’m struck by how many nights I’ve laid awake picturing her beside me.
My wildest dreams couldn’t come close to how it feels having her back.
They couldn’t touch her . And even though what we have is temporary, I feel like this is the perfect way to heal my heart, so that when she’s gone, I can finally move on.
I ignore the twinge in my chest at the thought of spending the rest of my life with somebody else and force myself to focus on the present and the woman in front of me. We might not get the ‘forever’ that teenage me thought we would, but there’s nothing to stop us from having the here and now.