Head Over Hooves: Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, page 9
She let her head drop back onto his shoulder and she pulled in a deep breath.
Maybe this is all just a dream. Maybe she was hallucinating. She didn't care. At this moment she was going to wrap herself in this fantasy and ride it out for all it was worth.
His big, hot hand stroked over her belly and then into her pants and silk panties. He ran the pad of his middle finger over her cleft a few times, gently, just teasing and tempting. Then his clearly knowledgeable fingers easily found her clit and he circled there for a moment.
She was hot and wet and already on edge, and she pressed into his hand with a ragged moan that almost sounded like a sob.
He slid his middle finger lower through the slick folds and then teased the tip of his finger into her entrance.
“Yes,” she begged hoarsely.
“I've got you,” he promised roughly against her ear. “I've got you. Just let me take care of you.”
She moved a foot so that her thighs were further apart but that didn’t feel like enough. She lifted one foot up to the wooden slat on the bottom of the stall.
“That's my girl,” he praised. Then he slipped his whole finger inside her as his thumb circled over her clit.
Yes. She cried out. It'd been a long time since another human had touched her there.
His finger was thick and long, though certainly not the size of her favorite vibrator. Even when he added the second finger. Still, he could do things plastic couldn't. He thrust in and out slowly at first then picked up the pace, curling his finger just right to rub over that magical spot that made swirls of pleasure start rotating in her core and spreading out. Then he pressed harder into her clit, circling faster and said against her ear, “I’ve got you, Rory.”
It was, stupidly, the words that sent her over the edge.
Not that his hands and fingers weren’t amazing. But having someone else focused on what she needed and her pleasure was the ultimate fantasy.
He circled her clit and thrust into her one more time and she came apart, crying out as an orgasm rolled over her. She felt tension and worry and regret flood out of her as well.
She clung to the feeling for several seconds. She absorbed the feel of the big, hot body behind her, the arms wrapped around her, the hand and fingers in that most private place, the hot breath against her neck, the heart pounding against her shoulder blade.
Then she finally sucked in a deep breath and slumped forward. Drew's hands were there on her hips to hold her up as she took a few moments to gather herself.
She wasn't even undressed. So she simply pulled her bra cups back up over her breasts and turned in his arms. His hands stayed on his hips as he studied her, waiting for her to speak first.
There was really only one thing she could say. She gave him a soft smile. “Thank you.”
He gave her a sexy half smile and said, “Absolutely my pleasure.”
“Are you sure that's all you want to do?”
He nodded. “It may sound strange, but that was highly satisfying.”
She nodded. “That does sound a little strange.”
“To me too.” He gave her a grin. “But I mean it.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and studied him for several more seconds. Then finally she nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay. You need to get home. When you get there, you need to eat something, and take a shower, and go to bed. What time is your first appointment tomorrow?”
She looked at him with what she was sure was a puzzled expression. No one ever worried about her and her habits and routines. “I don't have anyone coming in until one.”
“Okay, good. Sleep late. And have more for breakfast than coffee.”
Her eyes widened. She definitely didn't have people worry about what she ate. “How did you know that sometimes I only have coffee?”
He shook his head. “I'm not sure. But you kinda strike me as the type to worry about what you're doing for other people more than you worry about yourself.”
How did he know that? She nodded. “I do that. Because it matters to me that other people are taken care of.”
He lifted a brow. “I think that's probably true, but I think you're also worried about other people liking you.”
“You don't think people like me?”
“I think other people like you a lot. And I don't think that you have to try to make them like you. But I think that you think you do.” He lifted a hand and brushed her hair back from her face. “And I have no idea why I'm suddenly playing psychologist. It's really not like me.”
Well, he was good at it. She wasn’t going to tell him that, but he'd hit the nail on the head.
It came from her father and how he'd screwed her up psychologically, of course. She'd obviously spent years wondering why she hadn't been enough for him. Why their home and family hadn't been enough. Why he’d had to go out seeking more and wanting more than he could have at home with them.
“Okay, then I guess I'm heading home.”
“Okay. And you’ll call me when you get there.” He didn’t phrase that as a question.
She laughed. “Really?”
He shrugged. “Really. I want to be sure you get there and I would like to know that you really are eating something and then going straight to bed.”
“Why don't you just walk me home?”
“Are you within walking distance?”
“Well, not exactly. We’d have to drive. But you can come with me and make sure that I eat and shower and get to bed.”
He shook his head slowly. “See, the fact that I want to do that more than I want to do anything else, means I shouldn't. I can't sleep with you tonight, Rory.”
The way he said her name, combined with the way he was looking at her, made her stomach flip. In a very good way.
“And if I come home with you, I’d like to think I’m a good enough guy to resist, but…” He brushed a hair back from her face again, but surely there wasn’t another one there. “I’m not at all sure that’s true.”
“If we sleep together tonight, you’re going to worry that it's because of everything else that's going on with me right now,” she said.
He nodded. “Exactly.”
That was fair. And he was being a really good guy. She needed to let him off the hook. “You really are a nice guy, Drew.”
He actually rolled his eyes at that. And sighed. “Yes, I know.”
She laughed, then lifted on tiptoe and pressed a kiss against his cheek. “That's a good thing. Since coming to Autre, I’ve been around a lot of good guys, but none of them are—” She abruptly stopped. Wow. She’d almost said mine.
None of them are mine.
No, none of the good guys in Autre were hers. But neither was Drew.
He lifted a brow.
“None of them have done that to me,” she said, tipped her head toward the stall next to them. That was totally true.
His gaze heated. “I’m really fucking glad to hear that. And see, that makes me not such a great guy.”
“It does?”
“I shouldn’t be possessive about a woman who I just met and who deserves to have men falling at her feet and worshipping her. You deserve to feel good and have people wanting to make you feel good all the time.”
She smiled. How could she not like a guy who said stuff like that? She kind of liked the idea that Drew might feel a little possessive of her.
And that could be trouble.
“I don’t know,” she told him. “Still seems like you’re a good guy.”
“Dammit.”
She could delve into that like crazy. She wanted to know all about him. Everything about him.
So instead of going into all of that, she turned on her heel and started to step past him and head out the of barn. But one thing made her turned back. “Hey, earlier when you just turned and walked away. What was that about?”
Drew shoved his hands into his front pockets, then took a deep breath and blew it out before answering. “Because I absolutely did not want to walk away. At all. Maybe ever.”
Her stomach somersaulted again, a much bigger flip this time and her brain said, oh, hell.
So, instead of getting into any more of that, she just nodded, then did the same thing by turning on her heel and walking away from him this time.
But as soon as she was inside her house and in her kitchen, she called him.
“I'm home and making a sandwich.”
“Good. What kind?”
With some distance from him, she felt a little more rational. Like a sandwich was a good idea. And that staying up all night doing dirty things to Drew Ryan was maybe not the best call. Tonight. Only for tonight, though.
His question made her smile and feel warm now. “Peanut butter and jelly. It's fast and always good any time of day.”
“Good choice. I approve.”
“Where are you right now?” she asked as she pulled bread, peanut butter, and jelly together on the counter.
“In my room at Mitch and Paige’s.”
She knew where Mitch and Paige lived, but she'd never been inside, so the bedroom she conjured as she thought about Drew was purely made up. Not that it mattered. “What are you doing?”
She started spreading peanut butter on the bread, only half her mind on her task. Or less than half her mind. She was definitely thinking about Drew, and what they’d just done in the barn. Or what he’d just done. And what she would really like to do to him the next time she saw him.
He was right to have sent her home alone. She was not at her best mentally, emotionally, or physically. But her desire for this man hadn't started with her exhaustion in the barn and she didn't see it dissipating.
Still, it would be nice to assure him of that the next time she saw him.
“I'm just lying on the bed. Wanting to make sure you're safe and sound before I fall asleep.”
“What are you wearing?” she asked with a little smile as she added jelly to her sandwich.
His soft chuckle caused goosebumps to trip down her arm even over the phone.
“Nah. We’re not doing that tonight, Rory.”
Something about the way he said her name filled her with happiness and lust at the same time.
She couldn't remember a guy ever doing that to her before. She’d certainly wanted guys in the past. Been turned on. Been even a little wanton, if she was honest. And she'd dated guys she liked, of course. She'd been friends with guys, for that matter. But the combination of all of those things that she felt with Drew was unique.
“Okay, then I guess I won't get frisky with this peanut butter.”
He gave a little half-groan half-laugh. “No. Eat the sandwich. Then take a hot shower.”
She took a bite and chewed. “Is that your not-so-subtle way of telling me I didn't smell like peppermint ice cream a little bit ago?”
He paused, then cleared his throat, then said in a husky voice that made her whole body say let’s freaking go to Iowa!, he told her, “I wanted to put my mouth on every single fucking inch of you. Does that answer your question?”
She sucked in a little breath and nodded. Then remembered she was on the phone. “Yeah. I guess it does.”
“Good. Keep eating on your way up to the shower.”
“Are we going to talk on the phone while I shower?”
“It's probably going to kill me to know that you're in the shower and to hear the water running and imagine what you're doing, but yeah, I want to keep the phone on.”
“This isn’t really phone sex, but it feels really intimate.” She started for the stairs.
“I know.”
She could have been imagining it since they were on the phone, but he sounded a little puzzled by the whole thing too.
“Why do you feel like you need to hear me shower? You think I need a babysitter?”
“Actually, I think that you take care of yourself pretty well, except when you’re really stressed about a big project. And I think you’ve been doing it for a long time. Probably since you were about sixteen and your world fell apart. I guess I want to let you know that there's someone here for you. I want to be the one who you know cares even if you are doing nothing more than eating peanut butter and jelly and taking a quick shower before bed. I want you to feel connected with somebody.” He paused. “And I want that somebody to be me.”
Rory stopped at the top of her stairs.
Holy shit.
That was, no doubt about it, the best thing anyone had ever said to her.
Several seconds stretched by but Drew didn't seem to feel the need to fill the silence. Maybe he knew she needed to process all of that. Or maybe he knew that she was just letting it soak into her like the warmth from a fire when she'd come in from a cold rainy night.
Finally, she said, “Would it be okay if I called you once in a while when you're back in Iowa?”
He let out a breath. “Any time. Day or night.”
She smiled. “I’m going to take you up on that.”
And for the first time she thought that maybe she'd been wrong about not being able to trust people who weren't around all the time. It seemed that Drew Ryan was potentially an exception to a number of rules.
“Are you getting in the shower?”
Suddenly feeling a shot of mischief to go along with the happiness he'd sent fizzing through her veins, she smiled. “There's definitely something about your deep voice rumbling in my ear that makes me want to take my clothes off, I’ll tell you that much.”
He gave a little groan. “Yeah, this is going to kill me a little bit, isn’t it?”
“We could hang up.”
“No. I'd rather be hard as a rock and connected to you than comfortable and not.”
“That probably shouldn't sound sweet, but it did.”
He chuckled softly.
She hit this button for speaker and set the phone on the counter. Then she started stripping.
“We should've made this a video call,” she said as she stepped out of her panties.
“Yeah, maybe we should have.” His voice was especially gruff now.
“Maybe you should take your clothes off too.” There was a long pause. Then she was ninety-nine percent sure she heard rustling. She grinned. “Are you doing it?”
“Yeah.”
Heat swirled through her body. “Oh my God. That's hot.”
“You think so?” He actually sounded slightly hesitant.
“Knowing that you're going to be touching yourself while I'm in the shower and we’re on the phone together? Yeah.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “You are going to touch yourself, aren’t you?”
“I already am.”
The heat in her belly shot straight between her legs. “I’m not going to be able to keep from touching myself. Though, I really preferred how you did it.”
His groan was not as soft this time. “Rory.”
“I'm just starting to think that maybe a long-distance thing with regular phone calls could be kind of fun.”
“Get in the shower. Get wet.”
“I'm already wet.”
“Rory.” Now he sounded like he was saying her name through gritted teeth.
She giggled, which a few hours ago she would not have thought possible.
She started the water, then turned on the shower and stepped into the tub. Her bathroom wasn't large, and she was sure that the phone was close enough that he could hear the water running. They didn’t need to talk through this part probably.
Rory closed her eyes as the hot water ran over her body and imagined Drew lying on a big king bed on white sheets, his sun-tanned skin and hard muscles standing out in sharp contrast. She imagined one of the huge hands that touched her so expertly, wrapped around the hard cock she'd felt pressing into her back. She soaped her body, paying extra attention to her nipples and between her legs. Then she dropped the soap and let her fingers continue working over her clit. It was still sensitive from Drew’s fingers and she imagined that it was his hand back in place. It didn't take her long to take herself up and over the edge again and as she thought about coming quietly, she discarded that idea immediately and cried out his name so that he could hear her over the phone.
She braced a hand on the shower wall and sucked in deep breaths as the water continued to rain over her. Then she heard his voice call out her name and she smiled even as heat cascaded through her.
She shut the water off and reached for the towel drying off and wrapping herself in the soft yellow terrycloth before reaching for the phone.
“I'm done,” she said softly.
“Yeah, me too.” He sounded a little breathless.
“I think the next time we do that, it's definitely a video call,” she told him.
“I'm in.”
Grinning, she made her way into her bedroom. She laid the phone on the bed as she pulled on her pajamas and slid between the sheets. “Okay, I'm in bed.”
“Okay, good night,” he said huskily.
“Wait.” She couldn’t stand the idea of letting him go just yet. Or maybe ever. But she quickly pushed that thought aside. This wasn't an “ever” situation and she needed to get a grip. Still, she didn't want to hang up yet. “Talk to me ’til I fall asleep.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Tell me about your childhood. Tell me about Appleby. And your parents and your farm, and everything.”
“You really want to know about all that?”
She really did. “You know all about me. Tell me about your mom and dad. And your brother you run the farm with.”
“Really pretty normal childhood,” he started. “It was just me and my brother, Dallas. But we had a bunch of cousins to grow up with that felt like siblings. Justin is just the one who wanted to go into business with us.
“We grew up climbing trees, playing outside, getting dirty, driving tractors and four wheelers. I've always loved animals and knew I wanted to work with them. I just always assumed that meant farming.”
Rory smiled and snuggled into her pillow, pulling her comforter up. This was an amazing way to fall asleep. “Keep going,” she told him softly.
“My mom’s a teacher, so she was always home after school with us and on weekends and holidays and in the summer. My dad farmed and when we were ready to take the farm over, he and mom moved into town and he started doing ag insurance. He still comes out and drives around the farm and will get on the tractor once in a while because he misses it, but he's really left it mostly to us.”
