Page 64 of Live, Ranch, Love

Suddenly, he starts searching and scrambling along the shelves around us, then hooks down a pretty expensive bottle of whiskey. He cocks his head to usher me out of the stock room and towards the bar, where he grabs two tumblers and fills them.

And he’s smirking the whole time.

He nudges one of the tumblers towards me and picks up the other. “To celebrate you finally letting yourself have what you want.”

“What do you mean?” I scoff, eventually clinking my glass against Duke’s, where he’s been holding it out, waiting.

Chuckling, Duke sips his whiskey, a blissed-out look passing over him as he savours the taste. He sets the glass down and leans against the bar. “It means, ever since Holly left, you’ve had it in your head that you don’t deserve good things. It’s like you completely forgot what your tattoo meant. And I sure as hell didn’t let you convince me to get that wolf on my shoulder so you could forget all about the point of us having those tattoos.”

Right—I take a long drink of my whiskey to let Duke’s words settle in—because I’m happiest when I’m not caged.

Like right now, when I’ve finally stopped suppressing my feelings and let myself indulge in the sweet honey that is Aurora Jones. And good God, did she taste phenomenal.

So much so, I might genuinely be addicted. I check my watch, wondering how long it’s been since I last touched her. Last ran my tongue over her golden, freckled skin—

“And Aurora? She’s definitely good for you. You seem, I don’t know…” Duke shrugs, pondering over his drink as he swirls the tumbler. “Lighter around her.”

Lighter.

I couldn’t count the amount of times Aurora’s had me smiling and laughing, even if a lot of that laughter is directed at her and the silly things she comes out with sometimes. Without Aurora, I wouldn’t have thrown away and burned all the clothes that reminded me of Holly. That reminded me of the man I always thought I should’ve been, but now realise would’ve just made me a desperately unhappy man who could never be his true self.

Without Aurora, I wouldn’t be letting myself indulge in midday lake swimming sessions, care-free horse rides, or even goddamn morning yoga under the sunrise.

Lighter might just be the perfect word to describe how she makes my life feel. And brighter, there’s a whole lot more sunlight when she’s around, that’s for sure.

“I think that’s the most you’ve ever said in one go,” I tease, trying to pretend that his words haven’t hit me so hard.

“Yeah, well, someone had to say it, and I am your oldest friend, so it should probably be me.” Duke grins, finishes off his drink, and slaps a hand on the bar, the bang echoing through the empty haunt. “Besides, we all know Sawyer and Wolfman are just going to ask you weirdly intimate things when they find out—like what noises she makes. One of us has to be mature.”

I almost spit the whiskey back in the glass. Note to self—don’t tell Sawyer and Wolfman about Aurora.

Duke claps me on the shoulder as I down the last of my drink, relishing in the whiskey’s smoky undertones. “Now, let’s finish off this delivery so you can get back to your girl.”

twenty-six

Aurora

“Ithink that’s the fourth time you’ve counted those reins, you know?” Wyatt’s voice startles me. I whip around to find him with his arms crossed, leaning against the open door to the stables, a stupid smirk plastered across his face.

My body tightens at the sight of him—the way the golden sun lights him up from behind, emphasising the solid lines of his muscled torso and thighs, clad in dark jeans and a white T-shirt. He’s got that cowboy hat on again which casts shadows over the mischievous sparkle of his midnight eyes.

It’s been all but a few hours since he left this morning to go help Duke. Yet, the way my body is begging for him, my core already ablaze with the memory of how he made me finish twice this morning, is like I haven’t seen him in weeks. I don’t remember ever feeling this turned on before. I’d thought the same even before anything had happened between us, but now I know how incredible it feels when we’re together—my arousal is in overdrive.

“I’m just making sure we have everything before everyone turns up tomorrow,” I state, propping the reins in my hand back on the hook with the others. I throw my hands to my hips. “How long have you been watching me?”

“Quite a while.” Wyatt shrugs, glances tracking down my body and up again, leaving heat in their wake. “You see, now that I know what you look like without clothes on, it’s even more fun to watch you.”

I perk a brow, trying to pretend I’m not racked with heat at the reminder of our hot, bare bodies together. “So, you were just imagining me naked then?”

Wyatt’s lips curve, dimples flashing. Dark eyes lock onto mine. “Oh, Princess, I’ve been imagining you naked all morning.”

“Oh my,” I inhale sharply, almost forgetting to breathe out again. The way he says Princess immediately gives me flashbacks to him using that name whilst he was thrusting into me from behind this morning, fingers digging into my hips.

I am aching between my thighs.

Trying to snap myself out of his spell, I wipe my forehead and let out a chuckle at what has unfolded in the last twenty four hours. “God, this is so strange.”

“Hmm?” Wyatt pushes off the door frame and stalks towards me, one corner of his mouth still hooked up. He knows exactly what he does to me.

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