Page 54 of When It Burns

No complaints here.

“Come on, Cowboy,” I say, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the large Ferris wheel in the center of the fairgrounds. There is no one in line, so we walk straight to the front while the employee checks our wristbands before pointing to the mostly enclosed passenger car. I walk in and take a seat while Theo says something to the employee before making his way towards me.

He sits beside me and pulls the door closed before nodding at the employee he just spoke with. The Ferris wheel begins its slow ascent, and I lean against Theo without taking my eyes off the view. From this vantage point, it feels like I can see all of Springside. After a minute, I look over at Theo, expecting him to be admiring the view the same way I am. But instead, he’s staring at me with a look of unrestrained passion in his eyes. At the same time, the Ferris wheel creaks to a slow stop. My eyes widen as I start to panic.

“Oh my God, are we stuck?” I ask, but before I can get another word out, Theo lets out a low laugh.

“No, Sunshine,” he murmurs. “I paid the guy to give us five minutes up here alone. Any suggestions as to what we should do?”

My breath catches in my throat as he teases his hand up my leg. “Nope, but I’m guessing you have something in mind, Chief Johnson.”

“Hmm yeah, I have a few ideas. But the windows are open so unless you want everyone to hear, you’re gonna have to be quiet,” Theo says, his voice dropping to a whisper.

“Yes sir,” I say without thought just before Theo pulls me into his lap and wraps his hand around my throat. He kisses me hard, and I let out a low moan as I grind against him.

“Damn, baby,” he groans as he pulls back to kiss and suck down my neck.

I am lost in desire when suddenly I feel his hand trace up the inside of my thigh. He slides inside my shorts and I bite back a moan as he slips one finger tip inside my panties. He teases me for a moment before pushing the rest of his finger inside me as I let out a whimper.

“Quiet, Miss Tyler. You don’t want anyone else to hear how good I make you feel do you?” he mutters and I feel myself tighten at the reminder that we aren’t really alone.

“Ride my hand, Sunshine. I want you to come for me,” he whispers, before nipping at the sensitive skin on my neck. My movements become frantic as I chase my orgasm, rocking my hips hard against his hand.

I feel the pleasure building as I whisper, “So damn good, Theo,” and with that, I come hard on his fingers.

“Oh my God!” I groan as I grind against him, riding out my orgasm.

Effectively satisfied, I pull back and drop a kiss on his cheek before reaching for him.

I run my hand over his hard cock through his jeans teasing him. I reach for the button on his jeans, but Theo shakes his head at me, “No, baby. Tonight was about you. You can make it up to me tomorrow. Now come here and let me hold you.”

I reclaim my seat beside him, and he wraps his arm around me pulling me close.

I brush a hand through my tousled hair, trying to gather myself as the Ferris wheel starts to move again. “Do I look okay?” I ask, worried my appearance is going to tip everyone off as to what we were just doing.

“You look perfect, Sunshine, because you look like you’re mine.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

THEO

Sunday morning comes and I can barely keep myself from grinning as I think about Caroline’s face of shock when I teased her on the Ferris wheel. I have a few hours until she comes over to help me around the farm, and I am having a hard time focusing on anything else.

I throw on my hat and grab my gloves, heading to examine the fenceline at the back of the pasture before she gets here. As soon as I open the gate, several of the horses come running towards me. I scratch each of their heads and look out to the open grass where Petunia is glaring at me. I tried to pet her yesterday, thinking if I brought her enough treats we could be friends. Instead, she almost bit my hand off taking the treat and then tried to charge at me in retaliation for daring to enter her pasture. Clearly, she still isn’t over it. And to think, this time last week I thought Hannah had it rough with Leroy.

Ignoring my jackass’s attitude, I continue toward the back of the pasture. Checking my phone, I decide to call Michael and check on him as I walk. We talked briefly yesterday morning before the animals arrived, but I wanted to make sure he didn’t feel like he was on his own in all this shit.

I dial the number and wait for him to pick up. After a few rings, I hear the sound of the call connecting before he says, “Hey, Chief. How are you?”

“Pretty good, kid. You holding up okay?” I ask, using my shoulder to keep my phone pressed to my ear so that I can open the gate.

“Yeah, the Chambers are really nice. Mr. Blake and Mrs. Kelsey took me to get some new clothes yesterday. From a real store. I haven’t ever had anything that didn’t come from Goodwill or one of the church care closets. I tried to tell them I didn’t need it, but they did it anyway,” he says, and it’s hard to believe that the boy on the phone is the same kid that wreaked havoc in Caroline’s classroom last week.

“That’s cool. Did they get everything worked out with the school?” I ask as I put on my work gloves.

“Yeah. Even though it’s the weekend Mrs. Belle called Mr. Hale and explained everything. He said we would handle the logistics on Monday, and while I’ll still have some consequences, I can return to school. I know I screwed the whole thing up, so I’m just glad they’re letting me come back. I just hope Miss Caroline can forgive me,” Michael explains, sounding embarrassed about his actions.

“Well, I can’t speak for her, Michael, but as someone who has also treated Miss Caroline unfairly, I’ll just say, treat her the way she deserves. And don’t ever let me catch you trying to intimidate her again, got it?” I say sternly.

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