Page 18 of Aisle Be The Groom (Bristlecone Springs #1)

OZZIE

I ’d made a wild discovery I had no intention of sharing with the rest of the world. Paradise wasn’t a faraway place in the skies or out in the cosmos somewhere. It was wherever we made it, and mine was lying in the back of a pickup truck with a man who couldn’t keep his hands off me. It was quiet giggles, fiery kisses, and the exchange of whispered secrets until the sky turned into an inky black cloth stitched with stars that seemed to eavesdrop on our intimate conversation.

I turned my head and looked at Gray, who was tucked against my side, his arm around my waist.

“It’s getting late,” I whispered. “Won’t anyone worry?”

He glanced at his phone. “Matty knows we’re out, so he won’t worry unless we don’t come back tonight. Damn, where did the time go? Can’t believe it’s already eleven.”

“You don’t remember?” We’d had sex twice. Twice! And the second time was even better than the first. Would the third time be better too? I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’d never felt more alive in my skin than I did with his hands on me.

He tilted his head. Our eyes met, and awareness crackled between us. Gray shifted, and I parted my legs as he climbed on top of me. He ran a hand up my thigh, his touch scorching against my cool skin. The temperature had dropped since we’d hopped into the truck bed. His shirt I wore didn’t ward off the cold, but his body was like a furnace.

“We’ve been out here too long,” he said. “You’re cold, but I know how to warm you up.”

I twined my arms around his neck, and he lowered his head to kiss me. He pressed closer, and I gasped. His hardness rubbed against my belly.

“Again?” I croaked. “How…”

“I told you, sweetheart. You turn me on.”

How could I deny him? I didn’t. Despite having me twice already, he caressed me frantically as if it was the first time and he couldn’t get enough. Confidence surged inside me as I wound up on my knees with him settled behind me, gripping my hips, his breath hot on the back of my neck.

“Ozzie,” he murmured. “I want to fuck you raw. Do you know your status?”

“Umm, yeah.” Both Carter and I had done premarital screening, and we hadn’t had sex since. Two days later, he’d left for the Caribbean. “I’m safe.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” People might call me stupid, but I did.

“Good.”

He smacked his cock against my opening, then rubbed it over my tender hole. I sucked in a deep breath, impatient to feel him inside me again. This was our night, and I wanted it all.

“Gray,” I whined.

He chuckled. “What is it?”

“You’re playing with me. I want—oh!”

He pushed into me, sliding in to the hilt in one thrust. Whimpering, I released my cheeks and steadied myself with my hands planted on the bed of the truck.

“Fuck, Ozzie.” Gray hissed a sound that ended with a groan as he pulled out and filled me back up quickly. “It’s like I’m under a spell.” He placed a hand on my back, pressing my torso lower. Rising to his haunches with his feet on either side of my hips, he spread my cheeks open and rocked into me. Over and over. Each thrust was stronger than the last.

“Oh!”

“God, baby, you take my cock so well. I love how your ass spills out in my hands.”

“Yes.”

I loved it too. The way he squeezed my cheeks and caressed them.

“Rub your cock for me, Ozzie. Make yourself hard. I want you to come before I breed your hole.”

I spat in my hand and stroked my dick while he pounded inside me. But my cock wouldn’t get more than half-hard before softening again.

“I can’t,” I whispered.

Gray stilled, his cock buried deep inside me. “You want me to stop? I don’t want this to be fun for just me.”

“If you stop, I’ll sit on you and ride you till you give me that cum like you promised.”

“You truly don’t mind?”

“It still feels good, Gray. I just can’t come, and that’s fine. We don’t have to come every time the other does.” I eased off his cock by a few inches and twerked my ass. “Come on. Ride that ass like only a cowboy can.”

“Fuck, that’s my sexy, confident boy.” He cursed under his breath and did exactly what I’d asked. He rode me until my cries echoed in the dark and my knees rubbed raw against the blanket.

I fell forward flat on my stomach to give my knees a break. Gray lay on top of me, thrusting frantically while shoving his hands under my shirt and kissing my neck. His shallow breathing left puffs of hot breath that warmed my skin. His groans, his moans, his grunts punctuated each stroke, and his fingers dug into my flesh as he held on to me.

I tightened my grip on the blanket, the rough texture pressing against my cheek, absorbing my breathless gasps and muffled cries. Gray picked up his pace, going faster and harder, our bodies slapping together with a deliciously wet squelch.

“Gray,” I moaned his name as he expanded within me. From his quickened breaths and the way his pelvis smacked into my ass forcefully with each punch, I knew he was close. His grunts were louder now, more primal, the sound of a man lost to pleasure. Lost in me.

“Come inside me, Gray,” I sobbed. “Please.”

“I am…going to breed that tight hole like you’re mine to be bred.”

He buried his face in the curve of my shoulder and neck. He tensed on top of me and, with a final thrust that left me gasping, spilled his heat within me. His cry of release was muffled against my skin, his body shuddering heavily as he rode out his high.

“Oh my god, Ozzie.” He blew hard, his heart pounding against my back. “How am I going to keep my hands off you now?”

Maybe he doesn’t have to.

Maybe we’re already playing with fire.

As long as we don’t get burned, right?

“I’m sorry.” Gray rolled off to the side.

Confused at his sudden apology, I sat up, clenching my ass so I didn’t lose his cum. When I was in bed tonight, I wanted to feel him inside me still.

“For what?” I shifted closer to him and touched his back. Right where his tattoos of his kids’ names were. I brushed my fingers over Carter’s name and waited for regret…but nothing. I placed my head on Gray’s shoulder. When he didn’t shove me away, I relaxed against him.

Gray pulled me closer to his side and wrapped an arm around my waist. For a long time, we sat in silence. What was going through his mind? I might be the one engaged to Carter, but Gray was Carter’s father. From the way he talked about his boys, he loved them. What turmoil he must be feeling.

I took Gray’s hand and twined our fingers together. Why was being with him so easy when our relationship could only be classified as messy?

“You forgot to propose to me,” I said, trying to recapture the earlier lightness of our pretend game.

A few seconds passed. Then he chuckled. “You’re right.” He picked up his pants and searched in one of the pockets. Taking my hand in his, he slid something onto my finger. “I didn’t have much time to make this, but I thought the gesture might make you happy. Ozzie, marry me.”

Only having heard the words did I realize how close to the fire we were to being burned. He’d just dangled me over the open flames. I brought my hand up and inspected the object he’d slipped onto my finger. In the dim moonlight, it looked like a type of cord he’d twisted together to form a ring.

“When did you have time to make this?” I whispered.

“When I was with Lawson and you were with Opie.”

“B-b-but it’s a fake proposal. You didn’t have to go to this extreme.”

Gray cupped my cheek and planted his lips on mine in a soft kiss. “That’s why I like you, Ozzie. You’re genuine. Only you would think me making a ring out of twine is going to the extreme.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but Gray placed his finger on my lips and smiled. “You don’t have to give me an answer now. How about you think about it?”

I blinked, heart racing. Why did this feel real? My brain scrambled to figure out where pretense ended and real feelings began.

I closed my hand over the makeshift ring, the edges rough against my palm. Gray was already up and putting his clothes back on. The moment was shattered. What was I thinking? Of course he meant the whole thing as an extension of our game. Except I didn’t like this part of the game. It felt way too real, way too close to what I had been dreaming for years.

But I’m already engaged, so why did I feel a moment of happiness when Gray asked me too?

“We’ve really been away for too long, Oz,” he said. “Let’s get our things together and head out.”

Reluctantly, I gave him his shirt. Gray hopped from the truck to finish buttoning up himself. I grabbed my clothes and followed his lead, feeling his eyes on me, watching my every move. When I shuffled to the edge of the truck, he put my boots on for me and helped me down, but he didn’t let me go. Gray pulled me into his body and wrapped his arms around me.

He sighed and dropped his arms. What was going through his mind? Would he tell me if I asked?

“Sit in the truck. I’ll pack all this up.”

“I should help, since I contributed to the mess.”

“I can handle it.”

“But—”

“Oz. Let me handle it.”

In other words, he wanted to be alone. Swallowing, I walked to the front of the truck and climbed in the passenger seat. The twine ring sat heavily on my finger. I turned it around and around, studying it in the pale moonlight. It was simple and rough, yet more meaningful than anything I’d ever received. Even my expensive engagement ring.

Oh god, I hate the hideous thing Carter had bought me. The diamond was too big, and it overshadowed the band. Why was I only admitting it to myself now?

Gray had a way of forcing me to face the truth.

I stared out the window at the moon when Gray slipped into the driver’s seat. We both smelled of sex and sweat. As we drove back to the ranch, he kept the window down. Had the scent bothered him?

As we traversed the barren land in the dark, it was easy to think we were the only two people in the world. The closer we got to the ranch, the more my leg bounced and my chest tightened. Why did we have to go back? Why couldn’t we run away somewhere no one knew us? We could pretend he didn’t have a son, and I didn’t have a fiancé. But pretense was what led us here in the first place. What good was pretending?

I inched my hand over and placed it on Gray’s thigh. Please reject my touch. If he did, I would have no reason to cling to him. Everything that had happened on the overhang would be in the past. An illusion even. We could pretend it never happened.

Seconds ticked into minutes. My heart bled, and tears burned my eyes. He wasn’t rejecting me, but he wasn’t exactly encouraging either. I removed my hand, but Gray grabbed it and returned it to his thigh. He kept it there with his on top of mine. I stared at his profile, but he didn’t turn his head once. He didn’t need to. His hand on me told me everything I needed to know.

He was no more ready for this to end than I was.