“Coming!” Rosie yells first, dressed in her pajamas with a stuffed bear tucked under her arm and hair in two braids. “Look, Dad, Juni did my hair!” She swings her head around, the braids whipping around her face. She shows me the little flower clips that have been tucked into her blonde strands, the braids neat and tight. “Do you love them?” She asks.
“They’re beautiful, bug,” I tug one of them, “You look like a flower princess.”
My little girl lights up, “I do!?”
“Of course,” I tap her chin. “Are you ready to go?”
“I’m ready!”
Caleb comes in next, a metal case clasped in his hand. “Can you set up my telescope?” He asks.
“When we get there,” I confirm, “where’s Juni?”
“Here,” She pads out of her bedroom, her long blonde hair bundled into a messy bun on top of her head and in an oversized long-sleeved t-shirt that she has tied up around her waist to show a slither of skin above tight yoga pants. My mouth goes dry as I take her in, staring entirely too hard at the way those pants mold to the muscles of her thighs. She turns to grab a few things from the living room, and I almost burst a blood vessel. Fuck me. The way those pants cling to her ass, tucking up and under the creases of her cheeks…
“Ready,” she turns back to me, and I give myself whiplash turning away.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I feel the heat in my cheeks and jerk my chin for her to go first. Probably not the best idea to have her right in front of me again, but I am not thinking clearly when all I am imagining is my hands on that ass as I move her up and down my cock.
Jesus fucking Christ.
She’d look so fucking pretty riding me.
“Do you have a headache?” She frowns up at me before she reaches forward and smooths her finger between my brows, loosening the crease that’s formed there.
“No,” My voice comes out harsh and rough, but I’m trying really damn hard to will my cock not to get a hard-on at the mere fantasy of having Juni naked and on me.
“What’s wrong?” She asks, slowly bringing her hand away. We have an audience with Caleb and Rosie waiting by the front door. I’d send them out to the truck, but I don’t want them out there alone since we still do not know who was sneaking around the ranch last night.
“I’m okay,” I clear my throat. “We should get going. We don’t want to miss the start.”
Her dark eyes bounce around my face for a second, but then she turns and ushers the kids outside, and I follow, locking up behind me. I get Rosie into her car seat and make sure Caleb is all strapped up before I climb in behind the wheel, Juni slipping in beside me.
It only takes us twenty minutes to get up to the clearing in the mountains, an open meadow where a stream runs through, the water crystal clear and reflecting the moonlight as it flows down the mountain. It falls into a larger river that then goes to the falls that sit on the ranch. It is part of the reason the ranch got its name, fed by the snow that melts off the peaks and the springs.
I pull the truck to a stop in the middle of the clearing and cut the engine and lights. The night is clear, stars blanketing the dark sky like twinkling lights embedded in velvet, and once we step out of the truck, the sound of the mountains reaches my ears. It’s water bubbling over rocks, crickets chirping in long grass as elk move through the surrounding trees. If we are really quiet, we may even spot a few. I’ve of course brought precautions in case we get any other visitors. Bears and wolves move through these parts, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve encountered one.
I get all the blankets laid out in the truck's bed, creating a soft mattress with them and then situate the pillows for people to rest against. “Up we go,” I first lift Rosie and watch her crawl into place, and then Caleb, but neither of them go into the middle like I expect them to. Instead, they stick to the side where Caleb is getting out the equipment for his telescope.
“Need a boost?” I turn to Juni, who is staring up at the stars in awe.
“I’ve got it,” she smiles at me before she hops up into the truck, shuffling to the other edge, which leaves the middle for me. I had hoped for the buffer of my kids between us, but they’re too interested in the stars and the telescope to give me what I want.
With a steadying breath, I join them, coming to sit in the middle before I reach for the telescope Caleb is struggling with. I get all the bits clipped into place and then attach it to the stand, but Caleb does therest, adjusting the lens and angle so he can see what he wants in the sky.
Glancing at Juni, I see she’s made herself comfortable, lying on her back, propped against a bundle of cushions. The stars reflect in her eyes, a gentle smile tilting up her pretty mouth.
“This is incredible,” she whispers as if afraid anything louder might scare the stars away.
I settle beside her, putting my hands behind my head to see what she’s seeing. It never gets old watching the stars like this. I’ve done it since I was a kid, and brought my kids to do it the moment they were old enough to know what they were looking at. My ex never enjoyed coming, got bored too quickly, so she always stayed behind.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars in my life,” she laughs lightly, looking at each visible constellation.
“You don’t get this in the city,” I reply. “Sad place to be when you can’t see the stars.”
“It makes you feel small,” she says, “seeing them like this. There’s so much space up there; we’re really just tiny dots in comparison.”
I turn to trace her features: the delicate slope of her nose, her pouty lips, and the freckles that match the stars above. Sensing my attention, she turns to me, meeting my eyes.
