I reached up, brushing under his eye as he’d done for me, melting into his mouth once again as he responded. I was holding his face as seconds later we began to move again, his cock somehow pushing deeper than before, making me gasp aloud. Covering my mouth as if wanting to absorb every sound, he groaned, the sound reverberating as my body responded, tightening around him as I started to come.
‘I never want this to end,’ he breathed against my ear as I cried out, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as the feeling cascaded over me. His own breathing became ragged, pushing harder and harder until he followed.
We lay there, just breathing. He was braced on his arms to stop himself crushing me with his body weight.
‘Jesse,’ I whispered, waiting for him to look up, then bringing his mouth back to mine. We kissed again, even slower than before, a hundred words compressed into a handful. ‘Does this make me your buckle bunny?’
He laughed, shaking his head as he stroked my hair.
‘Only if I’ve won, honey.’
We stared at each other for a moment, knowing the spell was breaking, the threads of life outside winding back around us.
‘Want to go and see if you have?’ I asked as he kissed my forehead before drawing back. Never more thankful for condoms, I pulled my underwear and shorts back up as he leant into the front of the cab and grabbed tissues from the glovebox.
‘Sure you want to go out there again?’ he asked, checking my expression as he cleaned and zipped up.
‘If I can stay with you,’ I admitted, using the rear-view mirror to check the state of my make-up. Thankfully, waterproof everything was my go-to, covered with violent amounts of setting spray. Almost nothing had moved.
He just smiled, reaching over one more time, no hesitation on either side as our lips met again. Fire flared in my core. I knew that in a different setting, we’d be straight back to it.
‘Nuh-uh,’ he half moaned as I gently bit his lip. ‘Next time I want you for hours.’
When we both jumped out of the truck, exchanging sheepish grins as we checked for anyone around us, it felt only right that he took my hand.
I locked my fingers through his, staying as close to his side as possible as we walked back into the rodeo together.
CHAPTER13
HESTIA
My gloves on and stencil applied, Dee was almost vibrating with excitement as she looked down at the guide now on her arm. Nestled within part of her existing sleeve, the horns of the cow skull wove through the end of a snake’s tail above, the blossom cascading down her arm to her elbow.
‘Honey, it’s going to look like I tattooed this drunk if you don’t simmer down,’ I mock-scolded, picking up the tattoo machine, thankful it was the same brand as mine back home.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ Dee laughed as she all but skipped into the chair, startling as the band in the corner started up. We both watched the beginning of their set for a minute, amid the bustle of the Jackson Collective space. It was an open day – throwing the doors of Jackson’s artistic community open to everyone, locals and tourists alike. Artists and creators of every description, from photographers to sculptors, musicians to hatmakers, had set up stands in a huge community hall. The idea was to showcase Jackson’s home-grown talent and invite others, like me, in to demonstrate our passion.
I smiled to myself, realizing that I’d used a very ‘Jesse’ word just then, adjusting my grip and the needle depth slightly as I herded my attention back to the task at hand. A vision of accidentally tattooing Jesse’s face on Dee’s arm crossed my mind and as she turned back to me, I chuckled under my breath.
‘What?’ she asked, smiling as I shook my head.
‘Nothing, just trying to get myself in the zone a little. It’s been . . . almost two months since I last did any work. And this week I’ve been distracted with, well, the rodeo last weekend, and Luci . . .’
‘Therodeo, huh?’ Dee asked after I got started. Within seconds I could feel the muscle memory returning to my fingers, my creative brain locking into the detail. I knew this design would look incredible, especially with the rest of her look. ‘Yeah, I heard a few things about that.’
‘Oh?’ I murmured, feigning innocence.
She paused, as though assessing my expression.
‘It’s a small-town thing, the gossip,’ she explained, careful to keep her voice in line with the volume of the band. I could feel eyes on us now I’d started – people are always curious about the tattooing process. ‘So don’t take it personal that people were yapping about you, but yeah . . . there was some talk. Something about the return of Jackson’s star bull rider, getting an incredible score and then high-tailing it out of the rodeo after a woman.’
‘Huh,’ I replied, raising my eyebrow as I completed the curve of the horns, really starting to get into my groove. ‘He did, did he?’
A quick glance at her face confirmed that she was holding back a laugh.
‘Yeah. Funny thing is, by all accounts a little while later he came striding back in again, holding hands with – and I quote – “some hot goth chick”.’
I snorted.
