I looked up at her, searching, needing her to say it. She nodded, gave me that soft, unguarded smile that undid me every time.
I unbuttoned her jeans slowly, my fingers clumsy with reverence. She stepped out of them, flushed and glowing, her eyes never leaving mine. I dropped to my knees, my hands gliding up her thighs, brushing the lace of her panties.
She gasped, her head falling back when I kissed her inner thigh. Her skin tasted like sun-warmed honey, ahint of salt clinging to her from the day, and something deeper, like childhood summers and the scent of hayfields after rain, like the first time I ever realized she might be the one. That was home. I hooked my fingers in the elastic and slid them down her legs, watching her every move like she was the last miracle on earth. We moved slowly as if to make this last forever.
She stood there, bare and breathtaking, and I couldn’t look away.
I rose, pulled her close, my hands roaming, memorizing. I kissed her again, lifting her as her legs wrapped around me. She moaned into my mouth, her nails biting into my shoulders as I carried her to the bed.
I laid her down gently, bracing my weight with my elbows, and kissed a path from her lips to her chest. I traced the curve of her breast with my tongue, took one nipple into my mouth, grazed it with my teeth until she arched beneath me.
She cried out, pressing her hips against mine. I moved lower, trailing kisses down her stomach, my hands spreading her thighs. I kissed the inside of her knees,let my breath ghost over her, made her squirm and whimper.
I looked up. She nodded, lips parted, chest rising and falling fast. I kissed her, tasted her, worshiped her with my mouth and hands. Putting fingers inside of her and feeling the tightness around them with my thumb touching her in a way, she let out a sound that made shivers run through me.
She moaned, gripping the sheets, her body trembling as I brought her closer and closer. Her muscles tightened, her breath caught. I didn’t stop, didn’t slow, not until she cried out, her orgasm crashing through her.
I kissed my way up her body, and when she reached for me, guided me, wrapped her legs around my waist, I followed without question.
I slid inside her slowly, savoring every inch. Her warmth, her tightness, it undid me.
We moved together, a rhythm older than us, deeper than memory. Her hips met mine, her nails dug into my back, her breath mingled with mine.
I whispered her name, felt my body coil tight, release building. She cried out, and that did me in.
We came together, loud and lost in each other. I collapsed beside her, heart racing, skin slick with sweat.
She turned to me, eyes soft, lips smiling. I wrapped my arm around her waist, rested my hand on her hip. We lay there, breath syncing, hearts slowing. "I'm home for good Cash." She said softly but with meaning.
The room was quiet except for us. I kissed her hair, traced circles on her skin. She curled closer, fitting into me like a missing piece finally found, and for a heartbeat, I let myself imagine a future, one where this wasn’t just a fleeting night, but the start of something I never thought I’d get back.
She was here. With me.
And for the first time in a long time, I let myself believe it wasn’t just a moment. And my heart was finally happy.
My past was now behind me. This was the beginning.
Chapter twenty-one
Sunsets & Stetsons
Avery
Iwake up to the soft hush of morning light sneaking through the curtains, painting golden streaks across the wood-paneled walls.
Cash's arm is wrapped around my waist, warm and heavy, and his steady breath brushes against the back of my neck like a whispered promise. For a moment, I don’t move. I just lie there, tucked into the warmth of his body, listening to the quiet rhythm of the ranch starting to wake.
Birds chirp outside the window. Somewhere in the distance, a cow moo's, and a horse whinny's from the barn. It’s the kind of peaceful I never knew I craved, the kind that settles deep in your bones and makes you believe, just maybe, you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.
Cash stirs behind me, his hand sliding along my waist to rest low on my belly. “Mornin’, darlin’,” he murmurs, voice still rough with sleep.
I turn just enough to see the lazy smile on his face and press a kiss to his jaw. “Morning.”
He leans in, grabs me, pulls me to him and kisses me properly, slow and lingering, like he’s savoring the start of something real. “You sleep okay?”
“Better than I have in weeks.”
There’s something about waking up here, in this house, in this bed, with him, that makes all the doubts from yesterday feel miles away.
