Just when she thought she couldn’t handle another drop of pleasure in her overloaded system, he was shifting up, moving to cover her body, and then driving into her with one long thrust that made her toes curl and her back arch up hard off the bed. The world narrowed. Skin slick, sliding; gasps and moans filled the room. Her ankles locked at his back as he pumped into her deep and fast and her orgasm was sudden and without warning.
That moment was everything. It ripped the air from her lungs and sent her flying apart into a thousand pieces.
Fireworks. She understood that description now in a way she never had before. Her head was spinning and there were little bursts of light shooting behind her closed eyes. Floating, floating, floating in a haze of euphoria that seemed to last for an endless time.
He stiffened, body as tight as a rubber band and then the rush was over. He collapsed next to her, and they sprawled there touching, but neither was up for moving enough to cuddle. The harsh sound of their breathing was the only thing that broke the silence, but the rapid thumping of her heart was almost enough to drown that out.
It was a while before she could finally speak and when she did her throat felt raw. “I feel like we’ve gotten better at this.” The words came out hoarse, and she thought she must have been making a lot more noise than she’d thought in the middle of everything.
“Uh yeah, don’t remember things being this…” he trailed off, struggling to find the words with his scattered brain cells, and after a second, she laughed because she couldn’t think of how to describe it either.
She rolled over on her side wearily and flopped across his chest, boneless. “I’ve got nothing left,” she mumbled. She was as wrung out as if she’d just been on a day-long cattle drive.
“Pretty much done in, too,” he said. His voice was as gravelly as hers and she was grateful for the fact that they had no neighbors. She could only imagine what they would have heard.
She knew she should get up and wash, she always felt gross later when she didn’t, but there wasn’t an ounce of energy left in her. Then she heard a soft snore from Sam and gave up to join him in sleep.
At some point during the night they’d managed to get under the covers, and when she woke in the pale pre-dawn light, she was so comfortable she let herself stay there for the first time. It felt good being held in his arms and she lingered in a half-awake haze enjoying it until his alarm went off.
He groaned and struggled to sit up, but she tightened around him like a koala and pulled him back down until finally neither of them could handle the cheerfully insistent ringing tones. “Gotta get up, Charlie. Work,” he muttered as he tried to escape her grip.
“Noooo,” she protested with a whine stretching out the word. She pulled at him trying to hold on without opening her eyes, but he disentangled himself with a laugh and climbed out of bed.
“It’s tempting, Charlie girl; believe me it’s tempting. But there’s too much to do right now.” He paused, looking down at her and she could feel the heavy presence of that glance. “Glad you stayed though. Real glad.” There was some deep emotion snaking through the simple words. Probably too much to deal with so early in the morning.
She cracked open one eye, squinting at him, and then stuck out her tongue. “Go, go work then and leave me all alone.” She pulled the blankets over her head with a dramatic show that had him laughing.
He dragged the covers back, slapped her bare ass hard, and then strolled off to shower whistling over her yelp.
When he returned from the shower, he had a battered old towel wrapped around his waist. He was worth a good long look and she stretched out to enjoy the show. He had a working man’s physique; lean, tightly muscled, and she wanted to crawl across the bed and lick the drops of water from his tanned skin. His coloring, unlike hers, came from all the hours out in the sun; even his chest and back were tan showing how often he took off his shirt while he was working.
His ass always made her palm itch to smack it because it was so much paler than everything else. She was tempted to go ahead and spank. It would be worth the retaliation just to see a vivid red handprint there. It must have brought a mischievous look to her face when she contemplated getting in trouble so early in the morning because he squinted at the look on her face and shook his head.
“Don’t even try to start something, kiddo. I don’t have the time,” he warned her.
She smirked at him, flipping the blankets back and wiggling enticingly until he had to look away, muttering under his breath about what a brat she was. “Sure, you can’t take one morning off, Sam? Just an hour maybe?”
He took in a deep breath and then shook his head again. “Can’t. You know how it is at this time of year, Charlie.”
But he was tempted and they both knew it. When he whipped off the towel, she could see an erection just beginning to stir. It wouldn’t take much to get him past the point of being willing to walk out of the room. One touch and he’d be all over her and forget about work for a while.
Her thoughts must have been written across her face, because he gave her a dirty look and began yanking his jeans on quickly over still damp skin. The smell of coffee perking wafted in and he left the room, still shirtless, to pour two cups. “Not that you deserve this,” he said dryly as he handed her one.
Her lips tilted in a lopsided grin as she wrapped her hands around the steaming cup. “I’m much easier to deal with when I have coffee though. So, it’s really to your benefit,” she pointed out.
She sipped slowly to avoid burning her mouth and watched as he finished getting dressed. He didn’t bother to comb his hair, just ran his fingers through it to put it in some semblance of order while the coffee cooled just enough to be tolerable and then he gulped it down with a wince. He wasn’t quite rushing but there was definitely some frenzied energy to the way he moved. With a light kiss on her forehead he was out the door, and she was left there with a bemused look on her face.
It was a good way to start the day. There was something so domestic about it, and she wondered what it would be like if every day could begin like this one. It was something to think about later, but for now it felt strange to be there while he was at work, so she reluctantly crawled out of bed and pulled her clothes on from the night before.
Chapter 6
The walk of shame across the ranch in broad daylight didn’t bother her as much as she thought it would. No one seemed to notice her coming from Sam’s house and if they had they didn’t comment on it. Instead she received a few cheerful waves and greetings from the people she passed on the way to her house.
She felt good, better than she had in days and actually had smiles to offer in return. It was nice to be relaxed and happy for a change, but the gloom started to descend when she stepped inside and was hit with the lingering scent of her dad’s tobacco and cologne. His missing presence was a daily ache and she didn’t see that changing any time soon.
She was determined not to let it get her down. After a good night with Sam and for a change they weren’t on the outs, she felt like she deserved to have a pleasant day. A little fun would have been nice, and she had zero responsibility to work her ass off like everyone else would be doing, but her own sense of ethics wouldn’t let her take off into town where she might find some entertainment to amuse her.
She showered and changed into sturdy work clothes. She looked the way she always looked when she was home but standing there in front of the mirror, she struggled with the desire to fix herself up, just a little. Maybe it was just her lighter mood, or maybe it was something, orsomeone, else.
