Page 51 of Dust and Desire
A slow smile spread across his face. “Romance smut?”
Heat flooded my cheeks as I realized what I’d admitted. “I may have been writing some... inspired scenes lately.”
“Inspired by what?” he asked, though his grin suggested he already knew.
“By you, obviously,” I said, rolling my eyes even as my blush deepened. “By us. By everything I wanted to do with you.”
“And did reality live up to the fantasy?”
I tightened my legs around his waist, pulling him closer. “It exceeded it in every possible way.”
He kissed me then, soft and sweet, so different from the desperate hunger of moments before. When we broke apart, he carefully withdrew from me, both of us hissing at the loss of contact. My legs felt unsteady as he set me down, and he kept his hands on my waist to steady me. His cum ran warmly down my thigh.
“Come on,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to my temple. “Let’s get cleaned up and then I’ll reheat that dinner you mentioned.”
“In a minute,” I said, not ready to break the spell of intimacy surrounding us. “I just want to hold you a little longer.”
He smiled, pulling me against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat beneath my palm, still elevated but gradually returning to normal. The storm outside was beginning to calm, the thunder moving farther away, but the rain continued its gentle percussion against the windows.
“I love you,” he whispered into my hair, and I felt the words settle into my bones like a blessing.
“I love you too,” I replied, meaning it with every fiber of my being. “So much it scares me sometimes.”
“Good scary or bad scary?”
I pulled back to meet his gaze. “The best kind of scary. The kind that means everything is about to change.”
His eyes softened, and he traced my cheekbone with his thumb. “Everything already has changed, beautiful. The moment I met you, everything changed.”
The truth of his words hit me like a physical force. He was right of course. Nothing would ever be the same. I’d found something I hadn’t even known I was looking for, something that made all the pain and confusion of my past feel worth it.
And I was never going back.
Chapter 19
Alex
Iwoke up a few minutes before my alarm, the tiny house still dark in the hours before dawn. Outside the window the very edges of the horizon were just starting to show the first signs of gray. I flexed my arms, pulling Dustin tight against me for both warmth and because… well, I fuckinglovedhim.
Somehow, he’d managed to say it first. And honestly, I’d been dying to say it for days now. Still, I couldn’t believe I’d actually gotten up the courage to say it back. Usually I was the kind of guy that ran when people started getting attached. The only time thathadn’thappened was with Nico. But even with Keith… I pulled away. I was glad I did with him though, the crazy bastard.
But with Dustin… things were different. He didn’t make me feel anxious or like it was too fast or like he was going to tie me down. Really, I wanted to stay with him. And I doubted Logan or Caroline would be upset about me staying on for another year if I wanted to. They had nothing but good things to say about me and I liked Sagebrush. Of course, I didn’t expect to settle down when I took the job, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t mind.
The minutes ticked by slowly and eventually I had to pull away from Dustin. I missed his warmth and the sweet smell of his skin immediately. But I didn’t want my alarm to wake him either. He deserved to sleep in after taking my dick so well the night before. And he got me dinner.
How did I get so damn lucky? To think, a wandering cowboy like me ending up with some big-shot city lawyer. I never would’ve guessed. Then again, nothing in my life had really turned out like I expected.
I slipped out of bed as quietly as I could manage, grabbing my jeans from the floor and pulling them on. Dustin stirred slightly but didn’t wake, his dark hair messy against the pillow. God, he was beautiful. Even in sleep, there was something about the sharp angles of his face that made my chest tight with want.
The floorboards creaked softly under my bare feet as I made my way to the kitchen. The coffee maker gurgled to life, filling the small space with that familiar morning sound. I leaned against the counter, watching the sunrise paint the Texas sky in shades of pink and gold through the window. Everything felt right in a way I’d never experienced before. Like maybe, for the first time in my life, I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
The coffee finished brewing and I poured myself a cup, inhaling the rich aroma. I figured I’d sit on the porch for a while, enjoy the morning air before the day got too hot. Maybe Dustin would join me if he woke up before I had to work.
I pushed open the screen door and stepped outside, cup in hand. The morning was perfect. There was a cool breeze, birds singing somewhere in the distance, the smell of grass and earth. Then I saw it.
A small bird lay crumpled on the porch boards near my feet. A sparrow, its neck twisted at an unnatural angle. Fresh blood pooled beneath its tiny body, still wet and dark red. My stomach lurched.
Beside it sat a postcard, the kind you’d find in any gas station tourist rack. The image showed a generic Texas sunset. I bent down,careful not to disturb the bird, and picked up the card with shaking fingers.
