“No.” I give him the truth again.
“Why not?”
“Couldn’t get there,” I wet my lips, “I tried.”
“And yet you were so ready to come all over my thigh,” He muses.
Fuck. What the fuck is going on? I feel powerlessas warmth spreads through me, an ache blooming between my legs. I’ve allowed no man to take the power from me, but I’m willingly giving it away.
“I was,” I admit.
His thumb presses in a little harder, the bite of pain tilting my head back further. He leans in, and for just a second it feels as if he might kiss me, but then he drops lower, and he runs his nose up the column of my throat. I press my thighs together, my knees threatening to buckle.
The coarse hair of his beard scratches at the sensitive skin, the pulse point in my neck pounding against the pad of his thumb.
“I can feel how needy you are,” He rasps, lips pressed to my neck, breath warm.
“Knox,” There’s a tremble to my voice, and he’s right, I feel fuckingdesperate.
“Would you beg?” He asks, “Or take what I give silently?”
“Fuck,” I moan.
His chuckle sets my blood on fire, and my pussy throbs, clenching around nothing.
But then he pulls away, dipping his eyes down me, lingering where my thighs press together tightly.
“Since you’re not jealous,” He steps away, leaving me using the wall for support, “I’m just going to head back out and check on Ralph.”
“Knox,” I growl. He is not about to leave me hangingagain.
“Sleep well, Elena.”
CHAPTER 18
Iwant to blame the coyote attack for what just happened, but I know better. I want Elena De Luca. History and present be damned.
I want her body, her mouth; I want her snark and her bite.I want her.
But the fucking lies are stopping me.
Letting them go isn’t an option, even if the lies are to her own detriment. The lies about her pain, the lies about her jealousy. These are small, but they fall too easily for her. How the fuck am I supposed to trust her? Trust her word in helping me get Carter Cattle Ranch back to where it belongs? Trust that she won’t stab me in the back like her father stabbed my own father.
The humid air presses down onto me as I head to the paddock where Everly has Ralph harnessed as she dresses his wounds caused by the coyotes. I’ll never tell her in case it fuels her incessant need to baby this bull, but from where I stood it did look like Ralph was trying to protect Elena.
He doesn’t appear happy where he is, not with the heavy breaths he’s puffing out of his nose.
“Is he good?” I ask, hopping the fence to get a better look.
“For what he went through?” Everly says, “He’s perfect. The lacerations weren’t as deep as they looked. Once they’re healed up, he’ll be as good as new.”
“Good,” I push my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “That’s good.”
“Is he being a pain again?” Everly rights herself to stand now that she’s finished and looks at me directly. “Is that why you have him in isolation?”
“Nothing we haven’t dealt with before.” I tell her, “We’ll move him back with the herd once we complete the drive at the end of the week.”
“That makes sense,” She says softly, stepping around Ralph to release him from his harness. We don’t stick around to see what kind of mood he is in, and both hop the fence to remove ourselves from his orbit. He’s hurting and pissed, and that’s a deal combination.
