Page 25

GRAY

“ O zzie… you’re so fucking beautiful.”

And he was. Simply gorgeous, with the rising sun bracketing his body like a halo, making him look ethereal. He rode me like the last ride of a cowboy on a wild stallion, grinding his ass into my groin, then lifting and slamming back down in a rhythm that my heart wouldn’t be able to take much longer.

But fuck…what a way to go.

“Shit.” I ran my hands over his stomach, sinking my fingers into the softness of his body. “I have an angel riding my cock.”

Ozzie’s gasping laugh rang out across the lake. “Am I?” He cupped his chest, pinching the skin and squeezing his nipples. My mouth watered. “Am I your dirty angel, Gray?”

“Yes. So unbelievably filthy.”

“But you love it.” Smack. Smack. The truck rocked and groaned beneath our frantic attempt to hold on to the fleeting morning. We might have decided on a whim to stay by the lake all night, but we couldn’t remain there forever.

Pity.

I grabbed handfuls of Ozzie’s ass, guiding him up and down my length as I punched up with my hips. The sound of our bodies colliding was obscene music not fit for airplay. With every rise and fall of his hips, Ozzie’s hole throbbed around me, driving me closer to the precipice.

“Oh, Gray,” he whimpered my name. “I wish…”

“What?”

“We could stay like this forever.”

I knew exactly what he meant. Here, we wouldn’t have to handle the stress of what other people thought about us and our relationship. No gossip. No disapproving son. No hurting my other son.

But it was next to impossible to consider all that for long when Ozzie was fucking himself on my dick. Sweet fuck. But he rode me so well.

“Yes, baby. Grind on that tip. Yeah, just like that.”

“You love the way I feel taking your cock, Gray?”

“You’re driving me crazy. I’m so fucking close. So close. Come here, baby.” I nudged him forward for a kiss, parted his cheeks, and worked out his hole with my dick. His gasps grew loud until he had to tear his lips away from mine and grab the front panel of the truck bed while I pummeled him.

“Fuck me, Gray! Yes, yes! Fuck that slutty hole!”

I loved how vocal he got, how much he came out of his shell. Back at the ranch, he always buried his face into a pillow to muffle his cries. But out here, he didn’t need to restrain himself. His euphoric cries echoed across the vast expanse of the lake, and I reveled in the wild freedom of it all.

“Harder. Harder. Yes, oh my god, right there, right there. That’s my spot, Gray. Imma come. Oh, my god!” He screamed so loud a flock of birds flew up into the skies, their chirping adding melody to our symphony of desire.

A surge of pleasure tore through me as Ozzie’s muscles clamped down on me, his body taut and shaking with release.

“Yes, baby. That’s it.” I drank in the ecstasy written all over his face.

He came on my chest. The sight of him unraveling pushed me over the edge, and my climax hit me like a tidal wave.

“Ozzie!” I gasped his name as my world exploded into a feeling so intense my eyes watered.

And they would want me to give up this intimacy, this passion I’d never experienced with anyone else but Ozzie?

Ozzie collapsed onto my chest, both of us panting heavily. His skin was hot against mine as we lay there, tangled together amid the groan of springs and love-stained fabric beneath us.

Rocked by gentle postcoital tremors, Ozzie traced lazy circles on my chest. He seemed fixated on the beauty mark on my right pecs. His body relaxing against mine confirmed how far we’d come. When we first started making love, he would roll off me instantly.

“Gray.” He sighed against my neck.

“Hmm?”

“Can’t we just throw a tent over the truck and stay here for the rest of our lives?”

I chuckled. “As much as I work the land, babe, I don’t think I could make clothes out of leaves. But as soon as I learn, sure?”

Ozzie’s smile was lazy as he walked his fingers along the ridge of my collarbone with the lightest touch. “We can make love all day, bathe in the lake, and survive on fish.”

“Of course we can.” I gave in to his fantasy. He always did that—slipped off into fantasyland to avoid facing reality. It was adorable. “We can run away from the world and carve out our little haven right here.”

“There wouldn’t be any more hiding, any more secrets,” Ozzie murmured, his voice wistful. “We’d be free.”

“Free as birds…” I echoed his sentiment, stroking his hair.

We lay in silence, the only sound the soft sigh of the wind. It was easy to lose track of time when we were together like this, when everything else seemed inconsequential in our make-belief world.

But it couldn’t last. As much as we wanted to stay rooted in our little bubble of bliss, we had obligations at home. Responsibilities that couldn’t be ignored or wished away no matter how much we desired it.

Ozzie sighed. “We should go back.”

“I can take the day off…” Though I’d taken the afternoon off yesterday to bring him to the lake. It wasn’t like me to shirk my duties for times of leisure.

“No, we’d only be kidding ourselves that everything is fine.” Ozzie pressed his face into my neck. “Gray, I’m scared for us.”

I stroked his back. “What’s the worst that can happen? Seriously.”

“It doesn’t matter if Carter hates me, but I can’t come between a father and a son. I know how much you wanted to improve your relationship with him.”

“What if it doesn’t ruin our relationship?”

“How can it not? I’m still engaged to your son. We could have waited until I broke the news to him before we got together like this.”

“Are you saying you…regret this? Because people will talk regardless of whether we have waited.”

His body sagged against me. “Honestly, no. How can I regret the happiest moment of my life? Gray, you’re so sweet, and I can’t get enough of you. I’m shameless.”

“Good, because that’s how I’ll always be with you. For now and forever.”

His body went stiff in my arms. Then he rolled off me and sat up. “Forever?”

He sounded devastated. Was it the thought of spending forever with me? I frowned and sat up as well. “Ozzie, isn’t that what you want from us?”

“I do, but…” He stared over the lake, avoiding my eyes.

“But what? Did I have the wrong impression about what this means to you?” I gently took his hand in mine. “Ozzie, I’m asking my wife for a divorce because of you.”

Ozzie flicked his gaze to me. “What?”

“Yes, I am meeting her this weekend to make it official. I need to be with you, but I’m not going to do that while clinging to a hopeless marriage. It’s time to let that part of my life go and—”

“Oh, Gray!” Ozzie threw his arms around me in a tight hug. “I never thought you’d divorce her, and I didn’t want to ask. But I was so scared that you would expect me to be your mistress—mister—whatever it’s called. I’m not cut out for mistressing.”

I squeezed his hip. “Well, I don’t know about that. I think you have exactly what it takes to be a fine mistress, but that’s not what I want for us. My one serious relationship failed years ago. I don’t want that to happen to us, so I’m going to do whatever it takes to make us work.”

Ozzie took my face into his hands and pressed his lips to mine. Then he hugged me again and laughed. “Why are you willing to do all this for me?”

“Are you kidding me? Gotta make a decent man out of you before the world realizes just how much they’ve missed out by overlooking you.”

“People will say I’m with you for your money.”

“Good. Then they can watch me spend it all on you.”

“You’re so full of it.”

But was I? I hadn’t said a word I didn’t mean.

It took us half an hour to clear out the back of the truck and put clothes on, though I did enjoy the sight of Ozzie running naked along the lakeside first. I might have snapped a picture or two of him. How could I not? He was the most relaxed I’d seen him since he arrived in Bristlecone Springs.

I should take him to a nude beach. A nude resort at least so I could have him naked twenty-four seven.

We drove back in a much lighter mood than when we’d left, although Ozzie tensed up the closer we got. He typed away on his phone, frowning.

“Carter finally answered my text,” he said.

“Oh?”

“Said he lost his phone and needed a replacement.”

I grunted. How long did it take someone to get a replacement phone? Money would be the only object, and Carter wasn’t short on that. My stomach churned, and it felt like more than hunger. How could Carter be so carefree and unconcerned about his wedding? He acted strange. Was it possible he didn’t want to go through with the wedding? Why else would he behave with such a complete disregard for Ozzie? Even for him, that was cold. But why would he leave the wedding preparations to Ozzie if he didn’t want to get married?

“I told him he needs to get here so we can talk.” Ozzie breathed out deeply.

“What did he say?”

“Just a thumbs-up emoji. I guess that’s as good as I’m gonna get. I feel pathetic that I ignored all the warning signs about how he treated me.”

“You’re not pathetic. I don’t want to hear you’re calling yourself that. Understand?”

“Okay.”

We drove the rest of the way in silence. When we got to the ranch, the place was already buzzing with activity. I parked in front of the house, then placed a hand on Ozzie’s thigh. Maybe I should tell him about the inheritance.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Actually, I wanted to ask if you get the feeling that Carter doesn’t really—” The front door opened, and a medium-height, slender woman with a short blond bob stepped out. She was wearing a short dress with a flirty hemline and heels that echoed on the wooden porch. Sunlight gleamed off her expensive diamond earrings.

“Gray, isn’t that your…wife?”

“Yes. What the hell is she doing here? I told her I would meet her on the weekend.”

“We should probably get out of the truck.”

“Yeah, right.”

Ozzie jumped out of the truck before I could go around and open the door for him. Instead of walking by my side, he hung back, which felt wrong.

I stepped onto the porch, steeling my nerves. “Emma, what a surprise. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

She fanned off my concern with a wave of her hand. “It was a last-minute decision, and Matty came for me. He explained Ozzie had never gone camping, so you both spent the night out in the wild. Not that I’d ever figured out what was so great about nature. Look, the poor boy’s red from the insect bites.”

Ozzie’s face turned a deeper shade of crimson under her scrutiny, and the tips of his ears glowed brightly. I was the giant sucker who had left him with love bites, but I wasn’t going to correct her.

Wait, did she say that Matty covered for us? Maybe there was hope yet.

“Mrs. Magnuson.” Ozzie forced a smile to his lips. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

“Well, dear, Carter had some concerns about the wedding preparations, so I promised him I would help you.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to go through all that trouble.” In seconds, Ozzie’s face had turned pale, and worry lines popped up in a furrow between his brows.

“I’m happy to do it, dear. Only the best ceremony for my son.”

“Emma, we can talk about weddings later. Why don’t you let Ozzie take a shower and change? Then you can talk about weddings.”

“That sounds like a good idea. I didn’t want to say anything”—she sniffed, pulling a face—“but it smells like you two have been swimming in that disgusting lake.”

“I’ll go take a shower, then.” Ozzie dashed into the house and mouthed over his shoulder, “Thank you.”

“Emma, what are you really doing here?” I asked.

She lifted one delicate shoulder. “I thought this was also my home.”

“You know what I mean. You hate it here.”

“I do, but my son intends to get married here, plus you wanted to talk. Seems like an excellent opportunity for us to do just that.”

“Can I at least take a shower too?”

“Of course. I’m not going anywhere, and it’ll give me a chance to refamiliarize myself with this place. I’d forgotten how huge the ranch was.”

“I’ll meet you in my office in half an hour.”

My head was swimming as I climbed the stairs. As much as I wanted to go after Ozzie and check on him, I forced myself to go to my bedroom. With Emma around, we had to be extra careful. Carter should be the first to know about us. There was nothing worse than him finding out last. That would crush him.

I stripped off my clothes and entered the shower. The hot water was a welcome relief to clear my head. I stood under the spray, letting the water sluice down my body. What could I do next? With Emma keen to organize a wedding that neither of us wanted, it felt like time was running out.

I turned off the shower, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around my waist tightly. When my teeth were clean, I walked back into the bedroom. What the fuck? Emma sat on my bed, one leg over the other. “You really haven’t changed much over the years, have you?”

“You know me. Practical to the end. The furniture is sturdy, so I kept it.”

She sighed. “That right there is the real reason we never worked out, Gray. You’re predictable and unadventurous.”

“So you snuck into my bedroom to insult me?”

“For someone else, it might be an insult, but not for you. You like being that way. I could never change you.”

“Just as I couldn’t change you. I’d say we both had a good life, considering.”

“We did.” She rose to her feet and pressed a hand to my cheek. “But it’s time to end it now, isn’t it?”

“It ended a long time ago, Emma. Now we have to make it official.”

“My only question is why now? You were happy to keep things the way they were.”

I stared out the window overlooking the ranch.

“You’ve met someone, haven’t you?”

“What?”

“Come on, Gray. Don’t pretend with me. Why, after so many years, would you ask for a divorce now? That is what you want, isn’t it?”

“Yes. And yes, I’ve met someone.”

“Where?”

“That’s not important. Our children are grown now. We don’t need to have this back-and-forth.”

“What if I tell you I’ll fight you for half of everything you have?”

My chest tightened at the veiled threat, but I forced a calm smile. “You can have it all but the ranch. That’s a legacy that must remain in this family.”

“You must love her very much if you go this far for her.” She took a step back. “You know, Gray, if you cared about me half as much as you care for that land, we would still be together.”

“No, Emma. We both know that’s not true. We are too incompatible. Frankly, I don’t even know if we would have been friends had we met now.”

“Deep down, I know you’re right. You don’t have to worry, Gray. I don’t want your ranch, and I don’t plan to make things difficult for you. You’ll always be my boys’ father.”

My shoulders dropped, and I let out a sigh. “Thank you, Emma.”

“Now that we’ve cleared the air, what do you think about that Ozzie for Carter? Is it just me, or do you think they’re unsuitable as well?”

My mouth bobbed open, but no words came out. What could I say? I didn’t want to talk down how special Ozzie was, but neither did I want to talk him up either. Not when I wanted him for myself.

“Emma, don’t interfere. They’re grown and can handle their own affairs.”

“All right, fine. I won’t be the one to cause a ruckus over the wedding. I’ll take over the wedding arrangements.”

“You should let Ozzie handle it. He’s very capable.”

“I’m sure he is, but as the mother of the groom, I can ensure their wedding gets talked about for years, even if I predict a divorce in their future.”