“I wish…” He trailed off, and I waited. I could sense him gathering the words up like a stack of pebbles, ready to fling out into the world. “I wish that you were here for longer.”
And maybe with someone else that might have felt like the start of a guilt trip, but that wasn’t Cash. He wasn’t asking me to commit to anything. He was just being honest about his feelings. He was enjoying what we were doing as much as I was, and hewasn’t ready for it to end. Neither was I, and I found myself shying away from the thought.
“I know. But I’m not going anywhere yet. We still have weeks.” I kissed his shoulder again and slipped my hand under the hem of his shirt, touching bare skin. Cash gave a pleased hum. Then he leaned forward and carefully placed his Transformer to one side and squirmed until he was facing me, giving me a hesitant smile. “Maybe we should make the most of the time we have.”
He leaned forward and kissed me. His lips were soft and he tasted of apple pie and cinnamon when I pressed my tongue into his mouth. He gave another hum, except it was almost a moan this time. Then he pulled me closer so our bodies were aligned and started to move against me in a slow, rhythmic grind.
I found myself matching his rhythm, one hand cupping his ass to hold him in place as we rocked against each other. Our kisses grew more urgent and it wasn’t long before my erection was pressing uncomfortably against the front of my jeans. I reached down between us to unbutton them, pausing long enough to ask, “You good with this?”
Cash cupped a hand around the obvious bulge in the front of his jeans and grinned. “What do you think?”
I laughed softly. I loved seeing this unfiltered, snarky side of him. “I think I’d like to take care of that, if you’ll let me.”
And then I rolled over and slipped off the couch and onto my knees in front of him, waiting for his response.
Cash’s eyes grew wide, and then his grin widened and he sat up, fumbling with the zipper on his jeans in his haste to yank it down. I took that as a yes.
Once his zipper was open, I fished his hard dick out of his underwear. I wrapped a hand around it and stroked once before taking him in my mouth. Cash sucked in a sharp breath when I ran my tongue along his shaft, and a low groan escaped him.The sound was addictive, and I wanted to hear it again. I set up a slow, steady rhythm, teasing the head with my tongue as I sucked him off, and I loved the way his breath hitched when I swallowed around him. His fingers ended up tangled in my hair, like he couldn’t stop himself from touching me—just like I couldn’t stop touching him, or thinking about him, or wanting to make every remaining day I spent with him special.
I reached up and cupped his balls, rolling them in my palm, and Cash’s dick spurted precum, the taste flooding my mouth. I inhaled the scent of him, sharp and musky, letting it fill my senses before I sped up my movements, bobbing my head up and down.
I teased him like that, dragging my tongue along his length until a light tremor ran through his body, letting me know he was close. His breath came in quick gasps, and the muscles in his thighs tensed under my hand. When I tugged gently on his balls, Cash made a startled noise and his grip on my hair tightened as he thrust forward into my mouth and came down my throat.
It had been a while since I’d given a blow job, but I didn’t remember it ever being this satisfying. I swallowed around the length of Cash’s cock as he came, then worked him through his orgasm with soft kisses until he was squirming. His chest heaved, and I pulled off and gazed up at him. His cheeks were stained with color and his eyes were as bright as his smile, and warmth filled me at the knowledge that I’d made him look like that.
Taking Cash apart was becoming my new favorite thing.
I shoved a hand down the front of my jeans and jerked myself off quickly, too impatient for anything else, and it only took three or four strokes before a low groan escaped me and I was coming as well, spilling over my knuckles.
I used the hem of my tee to clean my hand, then rested my head against Cash’s bare thigh, more relaxed than I couldremember being in a long time. I was drifting toward sleep when I was interrupted by Dog standing in front of us, whining desperately.
“Do you need to go out?” Cash asked him. Dog whined again. “I’ll take him.”
“I’ll come.” I gave him a lazy smile. “And then bed?”
He grinned and helped me to my feet, and once we’d taken care of Dog and fed the kittens, we went upstairs and I led Cash by the hand into my room. We got into bed, where I rested my head on Cash’s chest in a reversal of our usual positions, and Cash played idly with my hair. He ran his fingers through the strands and traced lazy patterns on the nape of my neck, and it was perfect. I remembered how he’d flinched at my touch when we first met and reflected on what a difference a couple of weeks had made.
But then, Cash was different now too. In the short time I’d known him, I’d seen a change in him as he’d gotten more confident. I was glad he was coming out of his shell and I liked to think I had something to do with that, but at the same time, I envied him. How was it that Cash was managing to get his shit together but I still had days when I struggled to know what the fuck I was doing with my life?
And that was the real issue—what the fuckwasI doing with my life?
Was I really going to leave Goose Run, where I was, if not happy, at least less miserable, and go back to Cincinnati, to an empty apartment and a job that was slowly crushing my soul? Even thinking about it made my stomach drop.
Cash wasn’t the only one who wished we had more time.
As Cash’s soothing touches had me drifting toward sleep, I found myself wondering if there was any way to keep what I had here—and if I’d be brave enough to take that leap if there was. I thought again of Uncle Jim’s offer to sell me the practice. He’dmade it so casually that at the time I’d assumed he was joking, but maybe he’d meant it?
When the phone rang at two in the morning and I drove out to Trent Lee’s farm, I was still pondering the question. Things were going well for me in Goose Run. If I stayed, was it possible they’d get even better?
So of course, right when I got my hopes up, everything turned to shit.
CHAPTER 16
CASH
Just before dawn I heard the sound of the clinic’s old truck, and headlights hit the front windows of the clinic. I smiled through my yawn and carried the kittens back into the kennel room. They were almost big enough now that they didn’t need overnight feeding anymore—though I wasn’t sure they’d like to hear that news—and could move onto solid food. I put them in the cage, latched the door shut, and stepped outside into the hallway.
I’d thought it would be dark again, that Mason would have gotten out of the truck by now and turned the lights off, but everything was still lit up.
