Page 25 of Barn Burner
“Don’t ever change, Brayden. If people don’t know how to take you, that’s on them. If people don’t appreciate you for who you are, then they don’t deserve to be around—wait, why are you smiling like that?”
“Becauseyou,” he replies. “You’re a man of such few words, but when you do speak, your words have so much power. The second you open your mouth, I just want to listen to everything you have to say, and I’ll do anything you tell me to do.”
My lips quirk. “Anything?”
“Anything,” he emphasizes, then pushes against my chest until I’m lying flat on my back. My hat falls behind me as he straddles my waist, knees on either side of my ribs, and holds my wrists above my head. I could easily roll him off, but I’m enjoying seeing him up there.
Especially because it’s the one position we haven’t gotten around to in the bedroom, and I know it’s driving him wild, and he’s desperate for it.
“If I wasn’t so worried about scarring sweet Dakota over there, I’d blow you right on the side of this mountain.”
My cock plumps at his boldness, but instead of acting on it, I decide to tease him. “It’s not a mountain.”
He blows a raspberry. “Pfft. Whatever. A big hill thing surrounded by other big hill things.”
He lets go of one wrist to wave a hand around, then quickly pins my arm back into the grass when I go to grab him.
“That’s a minor detail. All I’m saying is, if things were different… If this was us, I’d do anything you asked of me. You want me to come on trail rides with you, I’d do it. If you asked me to clean out the horse shit, I’d do it. If you wanted to fuck me while a grizzly bear watched, I’d probably question your sanityfor maybe 2.5 seconds, but then I’d drop my pants and bend over.”
“Brayden.” I burst out laughing. “If a grizzly is watching, I don’t think anyone’s dick would be getting hard enough to fuck.”
“Maybe except the grizzly. Wait, do grizzlies get erections?”
I turn to hide my face in my bicep as I laugh, except he lets go of my wrists to place both hands on my face, holding me in place. The tips of his fingers travel up into the hair on my temples, and his expression shifts into something soft.
“I wish things were different, Jesse.”
I swallow hard at his admission, the ache blooming in my chest feeling almost visceral. “Me too.”
He gives me a sad smile, then closes the gap between us. He slants his mouth over mine, tongue teasing the seam of my lips. I open willingly, meeting his tongue with my own as I wrap my arms around his back, splaying my hands to hold him tight to me. Like if I hold him tight enough, then he can’t go.
We lie there in the afternoon sun, sharing a slow, unhurried kiss, until I hear Prince grunt—his telltale sign that he’s bored and wants to move. I nip Brayden’s bottom lip, breaking our kiss, then give his ass a playful smack.
“Okay, the boss has spoken. Time to go.”
“I thought you were the boss,” he says, pushing himself to stand and holding his hand out to me.
“I am, until Prince decides he’s the boss.” I jerk my head toward where my horse is currently staring at us like a petulant child. I pick my hat up off the ground and place it back on my head as I make my way over to him. “Couldn’t wait to be a cockblock, could you?” I murmur to him.
Prince huffs, and if he could, I’m sure he’d be rolling his eyes at me right now.
I slip my foot into the stirrup and hook my leg over to sit in the saddle, and when I glance over to check on Brayden, he’swatching me, head tilted to the side, mouth opened slightly. An expression I’ve seen him on him a few times recently after I’ve wrung him out with orgasms.
“What?” I ask.
“You’re so fucking hot, you know that? Now I’ve gotta ride with a hard-on because the way you just…” He waves his hands around Dakota’s saddle. “Whoosh, and you’re on the horse. And your ass in those fucking jeans? Wait, no. Can you fuck me wearing just chaps one day?”
“Jesus Christ.” I stifle a laugh, rubbing my face with my palm. “Just get in the saddle, Brayden. We’ve gotta head home.”
When we get back to the barn, Cooper is waiting outside for us, a bright smile on his face as we approach. I hop off and lead Prince into the middle of the barn to unsaddle him.
“Hope you’ve been taking care of my girl,” I hear Cooper say to Brayden.
“She’s the best,” Brayden says.
“That she is. She’s yours while you’re here,” he offers, then raises his hand like he’s remembered something. “Oh! The parts place called me earlier. Your water pump should be in tomorrow, so I’ll need a few days to get it fitted and make sure there’s no leaks, then you’ll be good to go.”
My spine stiffens, and something in Brayden’s expression shutters. He glances over to me. A flash of hurt shines in his eyes, but he’s quick to recover, giving Cooper a grateful smile. “Thanks, Cooper, I appreciate it.”
