by Claire Adams
She giggled a little, and that warmth spread from our joined hands to the rest of my body. I didn’t think I could ever get tired of the sound of her laughing.
“I could do just about anything in these sandals,” she replied.
“I’d say ladies first, but seeing how you’re in a dress, I’ll go up and you can follow me.” I let go of her hand and started up the ladder, moving slowly but steadily. The ladder shook some when she started up after me. I got to the top and climbed out onto the slightly angled roof of the barn. I’d spent many a night up here, watching the stars, planning my best schemes, or licking my wounds.
It was my secret place. Always had been. I’d never even invited Lacey up here. It was where I’d come to cry in private after Mama died and where I came to get so drunk I passed out after I lost Daddy. I was lucky I hadn’t fallen right off the roof that night and broken my damned neck.
When Emma reached the top, I helped her climb out onto the roof. She looked around, her lips parted, to take in the view. I couldn’t help myself, not after holding back all week. I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. I hadn’t been able to get the taste of her out of my mouth since last Friday night and had spent the entire week suffering at the loss of that soft sweetness.
I brought her closer, not kissing hard, just enough to taste how sweet she was as that heat built in my body, that burning need for her. She responded by tilting her head back and parting her lips even more, her tongue venturing into my mouth as mine ventured into hers.
I pulled away, nearly breathless already and grinning. “Surprise,” I whispered.
I’d come up here earlier and set out a few blankets and a small cooler with a few beers in it. I sat down on the blanket, and she joined me, so close I could feel the heat rising off her skin.
“I used to come up here as a kid. On a good night, you can see all the stars in the sky from this barn. I’ve never brought anyone else up here. It was my secret place.”
Emma leaned back on her hands and gazed up at the sky. There was still some light at the edges of the clouds close to the horizon, but, over our heads, the clouds were scarce, leaving the stars to twinkle and shine, giving us the best private show nature had to offer. Between the soft breeze and the clear, deep blue sky, I couldn’t have planned it better if I’d had the power to try.
“It’s gorgeous,” she said.
I agreed. But I wasn’t looking at the stars. I was looking at her, that need expanding at my core, my insides dropping into a bottomless well of yearning that was driving me steadily insane the longer I went without the feeling of my hands on her. Without the feeling of her lips on mine. Without the feeling of my fingers sliding over the warm wetness between her legs as I watched her eyes widen with how much she wanted me.
I lay back flat, trying to keep from just grabbing hold of her like a man possessed. My feelings were welling up inside me — all that hot need boiling in the blood racing furiously through my veins — and fit to burst. But the last thing I wanted was to scare her off again. I thanked my lucky stars for the darkness that hid the growing bulge in my pants. I wanted her so bad, I could barely think straight.
“I’m glad you came to dinner tonight,” I whispered.
She looked down at me, her eyes so wide and dark. “I’m glad, too.” Her voice had changed. She scooted closer, her bare knee touching my leg. “I almost didn’t.”
I scrunched my eyebrows together, never breaking eye contact. “Why not?”
She shrugged her tiny shoulders. “I don’t really remember.” Without another word, she slid her leg over my body, sitting down on my lap, the hard shape of my cock nestling right into the heat between her legs. I was too stunned to move. Too stunned to even speak. But she didn’t wait for me. She leaned down and kissed me, her lips on mine better than the whole sky full of stars over our heads.
Chapter Eighteen
Emma
Saturday
I sat up again, ending the kiss. I could feel how hard Pete was, his cock grinding into me through his pants, so I bucked my hips a little to draw an excited gasp from him. I’d told myself not to let anything happen tonight, to just eat my meal and go, but dinner had changed everything.
It was the way he’d talked about his life and his daddy. The passion he had for the farm. The warm look in his eyes whenever he’d glanced at me. I sat through that meal, sharing things I’d never told anyone, coming a little more undone the longer I listened to his deep, sexy voice. I told myself to wait for the perfect opportunity, promising to leave at the end of the night if it never did. But then that perfect moment had presented itself, as if I’d planned it that way from the beginning.
He sat up, shifting me so my crotch rubbed over the stiff shape in his jeans, only harder this time. Moaning, he kissed me again, much deeper than before. I closed my eyes, melting into the heat in his mouth and the feeling of his hips rising to press himself further into me. I rocked harder, increasing that pressure. He moaned into my mouth, his tongue venturing further as his hands dropped to my hips to keep me gliding over his lap.
I pulled at the bottom of his t-shirt, only taking my mouth from his to wrench it over his head. His hands moved to my knees, clutching hard before they traveled up my leg. I dipped my head to kiss him again, more aggressively this time, my tongue pressing into his mouth and toying with his own.
I couldn’t get enough of the taste of him. His hands paused on my thighs, massaging them as that heat inside me grew. My skin tingled at his touch. The itch was back between my legs. And now I that I knew how well he could scratch it, I never wanted him to stop.
I rubbed my sex more firmly against the hard length of his cock. I wanted him out of his pants and on top of me. As he worked his fingers under my dress, I unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. I reached through his boxers to take his firm, warm cock in hand, squeezing a little.
He made the most erotic sound I’d ever heard, a gasping, groaning sound that got me even hotter than I already was. I didn’t understand why I’d even considered denying myself what I so clearly wanted and needed. I closed my fist around his cock and moved my hand up and down slowly, loving how his hips rose and fell to match that teasing motion.
He took me by the back of my neck and brought my lips to his, kissing hard enough to draw the breath from me without putting it back again. I couldn’t breathe, but I kept up that slow pumping motion and didn’t pull away from him. The fingers of his free hand were inches from the pulsing center of all that luscious heat building under my skin.
I slid off of his lap, pulling my fingers and my lips away from him. But I didn’t go far. I reached under my dress and slid off my panties while he watched, breathing heavily, his fingers running over my bare arm.
“Pull your jeans down,” I whispered, trying for a commanding, sultry tone.
He rocked back on his butt and lifted his legs, yanking his jeans down to his knees and freeing that long, gorgeous cock. I didn’t get the chance to appreciate the sight of it sticking straight up in the moonlight before he took me by the arms and pulled me on top of him again.
I locked lips with him, drawing him into a deep, passionate kiss. I lifted up on my knees, hovering over his lap, and reached between my legs for his cock. Taking it by the base, I directed the head to the throbbing heat of my sex. I was so wet already, so prepared to swallow him whole. I sank onto him slowly, my lips parting to let him in. He groaned into my mouth, and his kisses got deeper. His hands found my hips again, pressing me down onto his cock.
Now it was my turn to groan as he entered me completely. I sat down onto his lap, pushing him even further inside me, the tingling turning into sharp stabs of pure pleasure. I rocked my hips, his hands moving onto my ass and squeezing to keep me going, the friction of our crotches rubbing furiously together causing its own pleasurable sensations. Our lips broke apart, both of us breathless as I kept that rough rhythm, jerking my hips hard as I came forward, sinking him into me up to the hilt. I wanted him deeper. I
wanted to explode with the agonizing passion I felt, the nerves firing between my legs and traveling upwards. The way he filled me completely was a luscious sensation — one I didn’t want to end.
“Emma,” he gasped. “Fuck.”
I rode him harder, snapping my hips firmly and wrapping my arms around his neck to steady myself. I could feel the painfully delicious tingling building with every stroke of his cock against my throbbing, soaking wet walls. I went harder, screaming behind clenched teeth, my arms tightening on Pete’s neck as he gasped beneath me, his hands clutching my hips painfully to keep me going as fast as he wanted.
The orgasm exploded warm and prickly between my legs, the sensation clenching my entire body, so hard my cheeks tingled. The tense muscles in my legs released and I sank forward onto him, gasping for breath, the aftereffect of my climax moving through me, making it difficult to do anything but succumb to it and my sudden exhaustion.
His hands ventured further underneath my dress, pushing it free of my hips. His fingers found the back of my bra and unfastened it while I continued to catch my breath, my hot mouth on his bare shoulder. His fingers rubbed over my nipples, the callouses scratching the tips. I gasped and sucked harder on his shoulder. I swore I could taste the sunshine on his skin. He was warm and salty from sitting outside. I never wanted to take my mouth off of him.
He wrapped his arm around my back and twisted his body, bringing me up and around quickly. I cleaved to him as he set me gently onto my back on the blanket, my knees on either side of his hips. He leaned over onto me, the slick head of his cock pressing into my sex. I lifted my hips in invitation, staring up at him, my breaths coming short and jagged.
“I want you,” I whispered, reaching for him. I locked my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. But he balanced onto his elbows, keeping himself from entering me just yet. He reached for his cock, rubbing it up and down my moist lips, drawing tortured moans from me. “Stop teasing.”
He laughed and pressed himself into me a little more, my lips parting only slightly. He was driving me out of my mind.
I grabbed his ass and pulled. My hungry sex swallowed a single inch of him. But I wanted so much more — I wanted everything.
He thrust his hips, entering me all at once.
“Yes!” I cried out, throwing my head back and tilting my hips, wanting him as deep as I could get him. He drew himself in and out of me, burying himself up to the hilt only to slide almost all the way out. I growled his name, my hands closing over his ass cheeks, urging him to go harder.
He went harder, pushing deep inside me, the pleasure blooming from the delicate nerves between my legs and running upwards, hardening my nipples and tingling over my skin. He dropped his head, his hot breath moving over my ears as he grunted with each thrust.
My body was wound tightly. I arched my back, our slick bodies moving over each other, and wrapped my legs around him. That delicious pressure was building up inside me again, tipping me slowly over the edge.
“I’m coming,” he whispered — and that did it. My own climax clenched in a flood of lusciously sweet agony. I gasped, breathless, raking my nails over his back as he growled into my ear.
He thrust into me, filling me completely with his final, deep grunt rumbling in his chest.
We melted together, my loose muscles relaxing onto the blanket while Pete’s relaxed on me, his entire body going slack. We caught our breath, chests moving against each other, racing hearts slowing to natural more rhythms.
He rolled off of me, dislodging himself. I moaned again, satisfied, and let my legs slide down onto the blanket. I stared up at the stars, the gentle breeze licking the sweat from my body.
He turned to press a kiss to my cheek. “I’ve never had this much fun up here.”
I giggled, still a little breathless. I smoothed my dress over my hips and legs. “It’s been over a year since I was with someone.”
He nuzzled my neck, the tip of his straight nose rubbing my over my skin. “You can stay the night tonight. There’s room in my bed for two.”
“I can’t,” I said, the words rushing out before I could think better of them. “I have to get back home.”
His lips moved over my neck to respond, the words hot and moist. “Are you sure?”
I wasn’t, actually, but I’d said it — and I was stubborn. “I should go home. Thank you for dinner. And dessert.”
He lifted his head, and we kissed again, slowly and sweetly. His soft lips and tongue in my mouth were stirring up those warm, prickly feelings between my legs.
We dressed and went down the ladder. As soon as my feet hit the floor of the barn, I regretted coming down from the roof. But I let Pete walk me to my car. I kissed him again, on my tiptoes. Then I climbed into my car and drove away.
Chapter Nineteen
Pete
Monday
Early morning found me on the porch, waiting for Emma to arrive. Lacey got there first, which didn’t happen often. She walked over to join me on the porch, her cowboy low on her head.
“Morning,” she grumbled. She got up early in order to put in a full day’s work, but she’d never been a morning person.
“Howdy, Lace.”
She sank into her seat. “You and Emma seem to be getting along well.”
She didn’t waste time getting around to what was on her mind if she had something to tell you. It was one of the best things about her. And, one of the worst.
“I reckon we are.” I couldn’t have been happier with the way things had gone over the last two weeks. Emma and I had gone to breakfast every morning, always sitting with the old timers and playing the numbers game. We went out a few nights a week, too. She wouldn’t come inside on work nights, but that didn’t stop me from kissing her as deeply as I could before she drove off in the direction of her little house a few miles away.
“I like seeing you happy like this,” Lacey said. “Even if it does mean putting up with you grinning like a moron all day every day.”
I chuckled at that, grinning like the moron she’d just called me.
“Has Emma brought me up much?”
I looked over at her. The sun wasn’t due to come up for a good hour, but there was enough light to see how serious she was, her brown eyes fixed on my blue ones and lips pressed nearly flat. She’d taken her hat off and set it on the floor next to old Riley. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight braid to keep it out of her face.
“She mentions how easy the two of you work together, if that’s what you mean,” I said.
“It isn’t.” She narrowed her eyes the way she did when I got to acting thick. “Has she brought up how strange it is that I’m always around?”
I frowned, my eyebrows trying hard to meet each other above my nose. “What?”
“Goddamn it, Pete,” she said, exasperated. “Has she questioned why we’re so close to each other?”
“Why would she do that?”
Lacey’s face tightened, and she looked even more disappointed in me. “She will at some point. It’ll become an issue.”
“I don’t see why that has to be.”
“She’s your new girlfriend, and here I am, hanging around the ranch and just a little too close to you. I just want to make sure you’re sensitive to how much that’s going to bother Emma in the very near future.” Her face relaxed a little, but she didn’t get any less serious. “Not that I blame her. Things between us are confusing to outsiders. Shit, even people we’ve known for years.”
I shook my head as I sat back in my seat. “Emma ain’t like that. She likes you and knows you’re like a sister to me.”
“I hope that’s true, Pete. I really do.” She swung her head around to meet my eyes again. “But I doubt it.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. If Lacey said it would be a problem, I was inclined to believe her. I didn’t know shit about women, really. Mama died before I could really pay attention to how she took things, and the handful of girlfriends I had in high school
and after hadn’t stuck around long enough to let me even begin to solve the puzzles they were to me.
Emma was completely different from anyone I’d ever met, man or woman. She was letting me in a little at a time, but there was still so much about her I didn’t know. I wanted her in my life — but I wanted Lacey in it, too. It hadn’t occurred to me that this might not be realistic. I didn’t like the thought of losing one of them, especially considering they were no threat to each other.
Emma’s little blue car pulled off of the main road and drove up the driveway, her lights cutting a path in the dirt ahead of her. I got up to meet her.
“Morning,” she said, smiling as she climbed out of her car. She had on her regular outfit — jeans, cotton short-sleeved shirt, and dusty old boots — but, damn, did she make it look good.
“Morning.” I was grinning like the happy fool Lacey’d just called me. “I came to escort you to the barn, Ms. Flowers.”
She swung her car door shut, and we walked side by side to the barn. I wanted to take her hand, but she’d made it clear that work was work and we needed to keep things professional between us. No kissing, hugging, puppy eyes, or hand holding during work hours. But I could do what I wanted afterward. Or at least, as much as she’d let me.
I slid open the barn door and stepped back to let her go in first. The horses stuck their heads out of their stalls, eager to get Emma’s attention. The damned things loved her more than they did me, and I’d been around some of them for years. She reached to scratch the Appaloosa behind her ears. The horse whinnied softly, pleased with the attention.
I watched her murmuring to Dusty, unable to wipe the smile from my face that seemed permanently planted there since our barbecue and steamy night on the barn roof. Looking at her made it difficult to keep my hands off her. But she’d taken to sticking around after our working hours were done and having dinner with me. On some nights she went straight back to her little house after. On others, we took a little roll in the hay before she drove off for the evening.
