When my gaze falls between her legs, a moan tears out of me at the gleam of wetness there. She’s dripping, and I’ve hardly even touched her. The tattered shreds of my self control all snap at once, and I bury my face between her thighs. Her hands fist in my hair at the first touch of my tongue. The thunk of her head hitting the ground is drowned out by her gasp of what sounds like a garbled attempt at my name. She tastes like heaven, a little bit of salt from the sweat of the day, and desperation.
It’s exactly what I’ve been craving.
I lose myself in the heat of her, the sweetness soaking my tongue. The grip of her fingers in my hair and the clench of her thighs around my face are all that keeps me anchored, my head spinning with pleasure and need.
“Everett,” she moans, grinding down against my tongue. “Everett, fuck. Everett!”
Her voice pitches up in panic as she shoves me away, and it’s only then that I recognize another voice calling my name from down the trail. I have half a mind to storm out into the center of the path and tell Tony to fuck right off, but I’m still achingly hard, and that’s not really a show I want to be giving. He better have a goddamn good reason to be out here right now. I swear, if he’s just coming to bitch that the tractor’s making weird noises again, I’m going to lose my temper.
Mary and I stare at each other with wide eyes for a moment before Tony calls out for me again. Hearing him closing in sends us both scrambling for our clothes.
The last thing I need is for anyone to know about whatever’s going on between the two of us. I still haven’t even figuredout what to call the blistering attraction that keeps bringing us together, and I don’t want to have to explain it to my damn employees.
I also don’t want to share the sight of her like this with anyone else.
We rush to yank our clothes back on, Mary tossing my shirt over to me. Thankfully, neither of us got wet much past our hips, but there’s still drops of water that make our shirts cling awkwardly as we hurry to dress. It takes a hard tug to hike my jeans up over the still-wet skin of my calves. Mary’s dealing with the same struggle beside me.
Her body is even more irresistible now that I know what she feels like in my hands. I don’t bother trying to keep my eyes off of her, watching the way her breasts move against the fabric of her shirt. The flush on her cheeks has nothing to do with the heat of the day anymore, and it looks so good on her that I almost forget what I’m supposed to be doing.
She giggles at me when she finally gets her jeans up over her hips, and I can’t hold back a grin. I feel like a kid caught staring at my crush, and it makes my face heat in response.
I focus my attention firmly back on buttoning my pants.
Thankfully, we manage to get our clothes back in order just seconds before Tony comes into view. The look on his face is enough to clear my thoughts of any worries about my tryst with Mary.
His face is pale, and he looks about ready to collapse in relief when he sees me. Both he and his horse are panting and sweating heavily.
“Boss, fuck, thank God,” he says. “Al collapsed. We need you back at the barn.”
My mind goes blank with sheer panic.
I don’t hesitate for even a second, moving on autopilot as I turn to the horses. Milky follows my lead easily as I pull her backover to Mary, standing obediently still while I help boost Mary back into the saddle. As soon as she’s settled, I hop up onto my own horse and grab the reins.
I manage to stop myself from taking off as soon as I’m seated, pausing just long enough to bark instructions at Tony.
“Lead Mary back. She can’t ride fast,” I say. “Bill and I will get Al to the hospital.”
Mary is staring at me with wide, worried eyes, and I feel bad that all I can offer her for now is a nod. I don’t plan to let this be the end of it between us, but Al is the closest thing I have to a friend these days. I can’t lose him.
I want more from her, as much as she’s willing to give. All I can do now is hope that she’ll understand me leaving her behind for the moment.
I’ll just have to make it up to her.
MARY
Iwas more than a little flustered on the ride back to the ranch, which I think is fair, all things considered.
Tony seems too worried about Al to have noticed the disheveled state Everett and I were in, but if he did see anything, he kindly keeps his mouth shut. Bill and Everett had already rushed Al to the hospital by the time we made it back to the barn, leaving the day’s tasks to Tony and the other ranch hands.
Tony takes over easily, and he doesn’t offer me a job assignment, so I wander back toward the house.
There’s dirt stuck to my back beneath my shirt, and my panties are clinging uncomfortably to the remaining wetness between my thighs. I want to be worried about Al—he seems like a good guy and I hope he’s not seriously hurt—but I can’t pull my thoughts away from Everett. My face is flushed and my heart still hasn’t settled back into a normal rhythm by the time I make it through the front door of the house.
A shower might help.
If I can just wash the dirt and the river water away, maybe my conflicted desires will slip right down the drain along with the muck. At least I’ll have a chance to catch my breath again.
I wander down the hall toward the guest room in a bit of a daze, my mind still reeling from the feeling of Everett’s hands on me. He’d been hungrier this time, less reserved, and I want to offer myself up to be ravished if he’ll just kiss me like that again.
