His mouth hovers over mine, stopping fractions of a centimetre short. “The kissing ban needs to end.”
“Mhm.” My brain may be screamingkiss him, but my body’s moving in slow motion. His close proximity has me paralyzed, wrought with overwhelming emotion and need.
“It was a stupid fucking rule to begin with.” Slow and with attention to detail, his lips brush mine like watercolour, further blurring the harsh lines—the boundaries I was sure we needed.
“Agr—” Before I can get it out, he swallows the word with a passionate, knee-buckling kiss. A soft moan escapes my throat and his fingers tighten against my back. It’s nothing similar to the awkward kiss on the rodeo dance floor. Or the torrid, rough kiss on the car hood. This time, it’s full of care—a kiss we’ve been envisioning, waiting too long for. Tonight, we’re both committed to doing this moment right.
27
Cassidy
His free hand slides past my ear and tangles in my unkempt waves. Cradling the back of my skull, he holds me close enough there isn’t room to take a full breath. And he’s kissing me like I’m his sole source of oxygen.
The hair at the nape of his neck is soft under my fingertips. As is the skin under his shirt, when I slip my hands underneath it to stroke his stomach. His groan catches in his throat, and his hips grind into me. I’m pulled closer by strong hands on my ass until his thigh is tight between mine. Pressing into me with each gentle rock of my hips, but not giving quite enough friction to satisfy my craving.
By the time we break apart, my fingers are beet red from the cold and my lips tingle. The buzzing, roof-mounted space heater isn’t doing nearly enough to keep my extremities from turning into popsicles. And I’m numb down to the bone—except for the fire deep in my core, which is telling me to fuck Chase in the barn and worry about frostbite later.
“Sweetheart, we should get out of here. You’re shaking like a leaf, and your teeth are chattering.” His hands vigorously rub my arms and shoulders, lips pressing softly on my forehead.
I don’t want to go home. More than anything, I want to stay here. Hell, I’ll even sleep in his Boy Scout Camp bunkhouse if it means not leaving him. “C-can I stay with you? I’m tired and it’s a long drive and the roads are—”
“Obviously you’re staying here.” He smiles, then kisses the cold tip of my nose. “Even if things hadn’t gone the way they did just now, there’s no way in hell I’d be letting you drive home tonight.”
“Yeah, right. Where would I sleep? I don’t have the heart to kick Denny out of his top bunk.”
Chase laughs, keeping a tight grip on my waist as we move toward the barn door, practically joined at the hip.
“You realize we all have separate bedrooms… with normal beds, right?”
“Damn, that’s boring.” My tongue catches between my front teeth in a cheeky grin. “Bunch of hot guys all sharing a room sounds more fun… moreerotic. I’d pay good money to see that. In fact… think we can convince the guys to make some videos for the internet? We’re sitting on a gold mine here.”
“Jesus, woman. A month without a good dicking and this is the sick shit you think about?”
“Gooddicking is a bold statement.” I shrug impishly, then shriek as he grabs my shoulders and pushes me up against the barn door. Even through my winter coat, the cold wood chills me to the bone. His hands move to either side of my head, caging me in. His predatory gaze pinning me in place. And that only makes me want to tease him more. He’s worried I’ll view him as violent or mean or aggressive. But Iwantthe fire in his eyes and tick in his jaw. If I weren’t pregnant, I’d run just to see if he’d make chase. Find out what happens once he catches me.
A frozen breeze flutters through the crack in the door, making even Chase’s body tense. “We should get you somewhere warm.”
“I think I’d rather stay here, frozen and catching wafts of horse shit, over finding out what your bunkhouse looks and smells like.”
“The girls keep it clean, actually. But, anyway, I want you to myself tonight. Cecily’s old cabin is empty. It might not be much warmer thanhere, but I’ll start a fire.” He grabs my hand and flicks off the barn lights, pulling my hood up over my head before tugging me into the snowy night.
It’s so cold, the air feels frozen in place. A stillness has settled over the ranch—the sharp crunching of our feet down the compact pathway the only noise. I thought my world was the only one tipped upside down tonight, but a light snow is falling as if the universe flipped Earth like a snow globe. Swirling, dancing, meandering snowflakes float through the air like specks of glitter before settling on our heads and coats, gathering in clusters on the frozen ends of my hair.
“I’m just gonna grab an armload of firewood,” he says as we approach a towering pile of split timber. Hesitantly letting go of my hand, he begins to pile wood into his arms.
“Let me help.” I follow suit before he can argue, grabbing as many pieces as I can, afraid I’ll drop them because I can’t feel a single thing. Whether the numbness is from the cold or the emotions surging through me, I’m unsure.
Arms loaded, our steps fall perfectly in time as we continue past our vehicles, past bunkhouses, to a small log cabin. Chase steps ahead to clear snow from the porch steps with a sweeping foot movement. Then he swings open the door and leads me inside.
He was right. It’s not much warmer than the barn. Not that it would matter—I’m frozen inside and out. It’s game over for me. I’ll thaw when spring comes. Though it’s not warm, the small one-room cabin has the potential to be cozy.
“Get comfy.” Chase holds a steady grip on my shoulders and sits me down onto a vintage, well-loved couch. Evidently aware I’m too cold to do so myself, he snags a thick wool blanket from a basket on the floor and wraps it around me. “I’ll get the fire going and it’ll be warm in here shortly.”
Within minutes, there are vibrant flames dancing in the stone fireplace, casting an orange glow over the small room. He turns to me with a proud smile, his shoulders sitting a tiny bit taller than they were inthe barn. “If we’re lucky, the heat tape on the pipes is working—which means running water. We could take a bath and warm up?”
Warming up and easing my aching joints in a bath sounds like a dream. Being naked with Chase does not. Regardless of how badly I want him to kiss me, touch me, and chase me through a wooded forest, then fuck me against a tree… He hasn’t seen my body in a month. In normal life, that would mean absolutely nothing. A month during pregnancy—especially third trimester—is an entirely different story.
“Oh, no. I can’t have hot baths.”Good cover up.
