Page 74 of Heart & Hope

The homestead comes into view as the tractor bounces along the narrow dirt road. Ruby is on my lap. But this time, her shouldersrise and fall with a depth I’ve not seen from her before. And it may be the blood thundering through my veins right now, or the fact that I’ve been hard since we left the stream, but this cab is alive with electricity.

When I let Red roll into the barn and reduce the throttle to an idle, Ruby’s palm presses over my knuckles. The sensation sends heat through my core. I pull the hat from my head and toss it to the small side seat. Her breath hitches. And I drop my forehead to her back.

“You would do that for me?” she whispers.

Ah, the stupid marriage idea. The real version, that is, not the fake one we are currently sporting.

“In a heartbeat, beautiful.”

She stands and turns. I reach for the ignition. But she catches my hand, lacing our fingers. “Leave it on.”

When I meet her gaze, it’s pure fire. Her breaths are so ragged, her face is flushed, her hair disheveling as she runs a hand through it.

“Rubes . . .”

“No one has ever wanted to do things for me, Reed. Not even the smallest thing. And then you came along. You have changed the entire way I think about family. Lou and your brothers helped, too. Even Harry.”

“Ma sure likes havin’ you around.”

She straddles my lap, lifting her dress, as the hat on her head is plucked off and dropped to the floor. “We really don’t have to talk about your ma right now.”

“No, we don’t. But, Ruby?—”

Her mouth is on mine and her hands crawl through my hair. The raging fire in my core that has been steady for the last half an hour flares to life, sending me impossibly harder.

Ruby moans but pulls back. “So we are clear, I amnotmarrying you, Reed Rawlins. I would never do that to you, you deserve so much better than some arrangement of convenience.”

“Sure thing, baby,” I rasp.

The sucker punch that my gut took with her words rolls away, and I tuck the disappointment and grief away somewhere small and inaccessible, forcing my mind to focus on her movements.

The rational part of my mind knows she is talking about a fake marriage for her job’s sake. But the part of me that adores her with every inch of my soul may never recover.

“God, I am so wet. How do you do that to me?” she utters, leaning her head back with a grind of her hips. My hands snap to her waist, tight.

“Goddamn, baby. Don’t do that.”

She circles her hips despite my hold. “What? This?”

I growl at her, and she giggles. But I nip at her dress, over her nipple that is now a hard peak. I would rip that pretty thing off her body and eat her alive if she gave me half a chance.

“Please, Reed.” She stops moving, hands cupping my face.

I reach under her dress, fingers trailing down the inside of her thighs. Kissing me, she parts her lips. I sweep inside, desperate for her, always. But the kiss is brief. When she breaks away, her legs widen as my fingers trace up her soft skin and into her pant—nope, no panties.Sweet Jesus, Ruby Jane.

“So fucking wet, beautiful.”

“You do that to me.” Her hand slides downward, over my stomach, before finding the hard ridge in my Wranglers. The cab windows are completely fogged up, and we can’t see a thing outside. Too bad if Harry’s waitin’ around. I chuckle at the thought.

“What’s funny?”

“Just thinking of Harry having to wait for us.” A cheeky smile pulls up on her lips and she tugs her dress down over her bare breasts. No bra. How the hell did I miss that, too?

“Making Harry wait make you hotter, baby?” I ask.

“A little.”

I swirl my tongue around her nipple before pulling it into my mouth, sucking hard. She arches into me with a whimper. I slide two fingers through her wet heat. Sweet Jesus, she feels so good. What I wouldn’t give to be buried deep in this woman right now.

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