“Four months,” he repeated, his fingers tracing patterns on my palm. “We can be careful for four months.”
I looked at him, this beautiful young man who’d defied his father, who was still wearing my cock ring under his clothes, who’d knelt for me without hesitation. The thought of walking away from him now seemed impossible. But the thought of returning to prison was unbearable.
“We’ll have to set some rules,” I said finally. “No meeting at the ranch. No contact when your father might see. No taking chances.”
Ryder nodded eagerly. “I can do that. I’ll be so good, Connor. I promise.”
There it was again, that earnest desire to please that made something primal stir inside me. He’d called me ‘sir’ earlier, hadsubmitted to me so beautifully. And now he was promising to be good, to follow my rules. What more could I ask for?
“And we can only meet on my days off. No more mid-week meetings like this.” I let my hand drift up his thigh, thumb brushing over his groin. “Even if they are a lot of fun.”
“O-Okay,” Ryder sighed, clearly not thrilled about how limited our together time would be. “I can do that. It sucks, but I want you to trust me. I want to be good for you, sir.”
There was that word again, the one that sent electricity buzzing through my cock. I leaned in close, pulling him into a kiss once more. This time I held him in place by his jaw, my tongue forcing its way into his mouth. He moaned against me, turning to jelly in my fingers. God it was intoxicating the way he submitted to me.
“Good boy,” I muttered against his lips, feeling him melt against me. “Good boy.”
Chapter 17
Ryder
“Good morning,” Evelyn called when I came downstairs to breakfast. It was well past nine and the rest of the ranch had been up for hours. “Long night?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” I grumbled, plopping down at the table and pressing my forehead against the cool wood.
“Connor didn’t stay that late,” she replied, placing a cup of coffee in front of me. “I half expected him to stay the night.”
I shook my head. “He had to work this mornin’. We don’t want my dad to know.” I paused, lifting my gaze to Evelyn. “You won’t tell him, will you?”
“It ain’t none of my business to be tellin’ Pete McGrath anythin’ about anyone.” She gave me a soft smile, patting my shoulder. “You’re secret’s safe with me.”
“Thanks, Evelyn.”
She walked over to the oven, firing up one of the burners. “So, what kept you up all night if it wasn’t Connor?”
“It was Connor. Just not like…that.” I wasn’t sure how much Evelyn really wanted to know about that side of things. “But I was thinking about him. About what we’re doing and how much it’s putting him at risk.”
I watched Evelyn’s face for any sign of judgment, but she just nodded thoughtfully as she cracked eggs into a pan.
“It’s a dangerous game,” she said finally, her voice gentle but serious. “But I suspect you already know that.”
“I do.” I wrapped my hands around the coffee mug, drawing comfort from its warmth. “Four months. That’s how long until his parole is up. Then he’s free to do whatever he wants without worrying about Dad sending him back to prison.”
“And what about you?” Evelyn asked, sliding a plate of eggs and toast in front of me. “What happens when he’s free to go wherever he pleases?”
The question hit harder than I expected. I hadn’t allowed myself to think that far ahead. What if Connor decided to leave Hell Creek once he was free? What if all of whatever we had between us was just something to pass the time until he could start his real life somewhere else? What if I was just the post-prison rebound guy?
“I don’t know,” I admitted, pushing the eggs around my plate. “He talked about wanting to go somewhere quiet. Somewhere nobody knows his name or his past.”
Evelyn leaned against the counter, arms crossed over her chest. “And how would you feel about that?”
“Terrible,” I whispered, finally admitting it to myself. “I know it’s crazy. We’ve only known each other a couple months, and most of that time I spent being an insufferable brat. But I...” I trailed off, unable to say the words that were forming in my heart.
“You care about him,” Evelyn finished for me.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “More than I should.”
“The heart doesn’t know ‘should’ from ‘shouldn’t,’” she said with a soft smile. “It just knows what it wants.”
