Page 68 of Bound to Him
One of those things was take care of my balls, which were still full. I wanted to drain them into his body in the near future. In keeping with that plan, on the way out of the bedroom door I stopped to rummage lube out of my carry-on. I was arm deep in the bag when it occurred to me Mama must’ve had Daddy bring our things up. The woman was a wonderful menace. I hummed happily as I finally found the lube squished between two tins of colored pencils. I could lose everything else I owned, but I didn’t want to be without the ability to fuck my beautiful husband. If I hurt him, I wanted it to be my choice, and not down to circumstances.
In the hall I stopped at the closet near the guest bathroom and grabbed an abused thick old blanket, slinging it over my shoulder, then took his hand and put a finger to my lips. He smiled at me and shook his head as we crept down the stairs together. Mama was laughing at one of her shows on the TV, and Daddy reclined in his favorite chair, nose buried in a crossword puzzle. We’d almost made it stealthily through the living room to the kitchen when she glanced up and spied us.
“Whatcha doin’, boys?” she asked.
Daddy glanced up and caught my eye. My face heated. “Stargazin’.”
“Oh, your mama and I used to do that, too. My back’s too old for that hard ground now. I prefer a soft bed.”
Mama shushed him and launched a pillow in his direction from her spot on the couch, and he boomed out a laugh. I sighed and nudged Noah along. He didn’t say anything until we had our shoes on and were well out the back door.
Outside I grabbed the bug spray Mama kept on the porch and spritzed him.
“Is that necessary?”
“We’re near the Gulf. Yes,” I said with a laugh.
Noah walked with me in the dark, clutching my hand as we went along the drive. I knew this farm inside and out and didn’t hesitate to take him to my favorite spot. There were two rows of orange trees a bit farther apart than all the others, and that was where I was headed. When we got to the place that would let us have a great view of the sky and enticing whiffs of orange blossoms, I spread out the blanket and plopped down. The shadows of trees on either side of us would’ve been scary if I didn’t know them so well.
“What are we doing?” Noah asked, then stifled a yawn. He went to his knees beside me, and a warmth I hadn’t ever known filled my chest and had my breath catching as he snuggled in close. I put my arm around his shoulders.
“Stargazin’,” I said with a chuckle. I lay back and dragged him down.
He rolled toward me, getting more comfortable, and rested his head on my shoulder. “Wow,” he murmured. The sky above was doing its best to give Texas a good name, a blanket of glowing dots spreading away in every direction.
“See that bright star? That’s the Christmas star,” I said, pointing at the pinkish, gleaming, shining dot.
“It’s Venus,” he said, poking my side.
“It’s a goddamned miracle, and you don’t say anything else in these parts.” I poked him back, and he squeaked, then laughed.
“There’s Orion, I think.” He pointed, and I glanced up, nodding.
“Yep.”
We went on that way for a bit, and it was chilly but nowhere near as cold as it had been when we’d left New Gothenburg, and he burrowed in against my side.
“The stars don’t shine like this anywhere else. Not in New Gothenburg, that’s for sure.”
“No, they don’t. I never realized how many there are.” The awe in his voice had me hugging him tighter. Until just now I hadn’t known how much I’d wanted to bring him here to let him see where I grew up.
“This is fun.”
“I’m not surprised that you sound shocked,” he muttered, almost too low for me to hear.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “No one expects to have fun with me.”
“No more talk like that.” I turned and caught his lips with mine. He felt so good, and his body was warm and hard in all the right places—I palmed his ass—and soft in some damned good ones, too. I’d been planning on dragging him out here to fuck, but when we broke apart he ran a hand along my cheek, and all I wanted to do was knock that horrible, wistful tone out of him. I dragged him on top of me so his back was on my chest, and he laughed. I hugged him around the middle.
“Let’s stay here until we see a shooting star,” I said.
He nestled back against me. “What if we don’t see one?”
I didn’t answer him because not moving ever again was a mighty appealing thought. “Keep your eyes open.”
“Mm,” he said, drowsy and adorable. A wonderful, panicked feeling settled in my chest and I had no idea what to do with it.
