Page 16 of Crossroads

FIFTEEN

I felt like an idiot when I cut my hand. I knew I should have been wearing gloves when I was working on the fence, but I was in a hurry.

Determined to . . . Oh my God, this is embarrassing. But I guess I wanted to show Jasper I could handle farm work on my own.

And then I cut the hell out of my finger, and he had to take care of me, all while looking at me like I’m the world’s most incompetent idiot. And to top it all off, we had to run into the girl of his dreams at the pharmacy.

The way he looked at her . . .

I need to get a grip.

I don’t care how Jasper looks at his future little wifey. I don’t. Just because we made each other come, doesn’t mean I own him. They’re going to make perfect little babies someday, and I’ll be off living my life, traveling and experiencing shit that has nothing to do with money or social status.

This is just a brief moment in time. Something I’ll look back on as that one summer.

But at dinner the other night, when he brought me back from getting the shot—something shifted again. Something I can’t really explain. Sitting at the dinner table with Jasper, my aunt, my uncle, and my cousin—reliving farm-wound war stories. Shit. I don’t even want to think about it.

It’s nothing I’ve experienced before, and I realize it’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to an actual family dinner. I felt loved and cared for. And honestly, the emotions are just eating at me.

It’s gross. And I don’t know how to deal.

My finger has healed because it really wasn’t that bad at all. And even just two days later, I’ve lost the bandage, and there’s barely even a scar. But it’s one hundred degrees at six in the evening, and the day is catching up with me.

I’m wearing gloves and a hot-ass flannel shirt on over my T-shirt and sweating my ass off. I don’t know where Jasper wandered off to, but all I know is I’m hot, sweaty, and dirty, and the pond is looking pretty nice right about now.

I miss swimming.

But I wasn’t kidding that the thought of not being able to see the bottom of the pond freaks me the hell out. But I look around and see a whole lot of nothing, then look back at the glistening water.

Fuck it.

I can do this.

Just long enough to cool down, so I can finish up the rest of the chores before dinner. I kick off the borrowed boots I’ve been wearing and then take off the hot flannel, tossing them to the side.

Then I quickly strip out of the rest of my clothes, putting them all in a pile and walking to the edge of the pond. How does Jasper do this? It is kind of pretty though. The water not totally still, but calm.

I better get in before Kelly shows up. I don’t really need the trauma of my aunt getting an eyeful.

I walk forward, feeling the mud under my feet and the warm water licking at my toes.

Okay, it’s not too bad. The mud is actually pretty soft.

I walk further into the water. It’s warmed from the sun, but a hell of a lot cooler than it is outside, cooling my heated skin as I walk in until I’m waist deep.

It creeps me out, thinking about all the creatures that could be lurking around in the water that I can’t see, but I can’t lie that it feels good too. I sink in further, leaning my head back and soaking up the sun on my face as I dip my hair in the water.

It’s getting longer, but there’s no time for a haircut, and the water feels nice, soaking the strands.

“What the hell are you doing?” I jump and splash, nearly drowning myself before I gain control and look over to where Jasper is standing, looking pretty amused with himself, his arms folded over his chest.

“Going for a swim?” I don’t know why it came out as a question. He’s not really my boss, and I don’t answer to him just because Kelly asked him to show me around the first day I was here.

“That so?” There’s a playfulness to his question, amusement on his handsome face. And I just stare in shock as he removes his boots and then his flannel shirt.

My heart hammers in my chest as I watch him undress. I lick my dry lips when he shoves out of his underwear and jeans. I didn’t get a good look at his dick in the motel, obviously, since we never got out of our jeans, but I can see it now.

Half hard and already long and thick before he walks confidently into the water, wading over to me. “Thought you didn’t swim where you couldn’t see the bottom.”

I swim out a little further, and he follows me. Neither of us can touch here, and we tread water only inches apart. “I don’t.”

“So what changed your mind?” He seems relaxed for him. Almost calm. Far from the shitty mood he was in the other day when I cut my finger.

“It’s hot,” I answer honestly but leave out the part about how peaceful he looked when I saw him swimming. Maybe I wanted to feel that too. We’re not as different as I first thought.

There’s something under his surface, something deep. Something raw. Something he doesn’t show anyone else.

But I see it.

“Sure,” he says, swimming around me. I get lost in watching him.

“Lucy looks good,” I say because I’m an asshole, but it kind of bites me in the ass when I feel that sting of jealousy. The same jealousy I felt when I watched him grab her hand and hold it.

The asshole’s eyes just spark with mirth. “Yeah. She always looks good.”

Fucker.

“So that’s the ultimate goal then?” I ask, swimming around too, lying back a little to float but keeping my ears out of the water.

“What?”

“Get her back. Get married. Buy property and a donkey or whatever.”

He chuckles at that, mimicking my position in the water and floating effortlessly next to me. “It was.”

“Was?” I hate how intrigued I sound. How locked-in I am on his upcoming answer.

He clears his throat and rights himself in the water so he’s treading water again, and I do the same so I can face him, fully aware that we’re both completely naked. “I’m not sure what I want anymore. Maybe she was right about us.”

I don’t like the hope that flickers in my chest at that. I mean, what the hell do I think is going to happen? We had one quick, horny hookup that we didn’t talk about, and now I’m happy because he doesn’t want to get back together with his ex? Make it make sense.

I move closer to him, taking in the lines of his face.

I’ve noticed how good-looking men can be before, but Jasper is on a whole new level.

His jaw is cut, his cheekbones are high, but his face is completely and totally masculine.

His lips are full and red. His nose actually looks like it may have been broken once or twice, but it only adds to his beauty.

I reach out and stroke over his nose with my pointer finger. “Did you break this?”

He lets out a low chuckle. “Twice.”

I smile fondly. “How?”

“First time was in grade school. Football practice. Fucking Jordy wasn’t watching where he was going.

” He doesn’t seem upset though. More like it’s a fond memory.

“Then last year, there was a storm, and I was trying to get one of the horses in the barn before it really hit. But the thunder scared her, and she tossed me off right into the side of a building.”

“You caught yourself with your face?” I laugh.

“Fuck off,” he growls, but there’s no fire in it. We’ve moved to where we can both touch now, but the water is caressing the tops of both of our shoulders. “I’ve had my fair share of farm injuries.”

I think back to dinner and how quickly he shut me down when I asked him to show me his scars after everyone else had done so. I move impossibly close to him, sure that I’m pushing my luck, but I don’t think I could stop it if I tried.

He’s a force.

One I can’t deny.

I lean in, breathing in his scent, earthy and musky from the sweat of hard work and sun. “Show me your scars, Jasper,” I say, looking into those eyes of his, my mouth an inch from his. My voice is a quiet rasp between us as we stare at each other.

He fills the gap, shocking me to my core, his lips crashing against mine and stealing my breath. I gasp into his open mouth, catching on quickly and then kissing him back. The familiar battle is back on, my fingers in his hair and his in mine as we work our way to the shore.

My back hits the wet grass around the edge of the pond, and his big body claims mine, covering me as his mouth works on devouring mine. We’re naked and soaking wet, our hard cocks dragging against each other as I thrust upward, and he pushes down in a heated exchange.

I can’t catch my breath. I don’t want to. I want to live in this moment forever as I tug at his wet hair, my mouth owning his the same way he owns mine.

It’s never been like this before. So intense. So raw. So real. I feel everything everywhere, and I’m greedy because I only want more. “I want to taste you,” I confess.

He groans, the sexy, deep throaty sound bubbling up from his chest. “We can’t do this here,” he says breathlessly, kissing over my mouth and then down my jaw, biting and sucking so hard, it makes my dick throb.

“Where?” I ask, my fingers raking through his hair and then down over the back of his neck.

“Come on,” he says, pulling me up to my feet and tugging me along. I follow willingly, not caring for one second that I’m naked and chasing after him.

He pulls me to the dilapidated old shed near the pond and opens the door, shoving me inside. My back hits the wall, and then I’m blanketed by his large body, his hands in my hair as mine drag over his hard pecs and down over his stomach.

I feel the soft blond hair prickling my palms as I lean in and kiss his firm lips, groaning at the taste of him.

I kiss down over his neck and down to his pecs, dipping my head to tease his nipple and make him hiss. He’s still holding onto my hair, but he doesn’t direct me. It’s all me as I move to kiss down his hard, flat stomach and then drop to my knees on the old wooden shed floor.

I look up at him with lust-filled eyes, and my heart stutters when I see the way he’s looking at me. Pure desire floods his green orbs, and when I lower my gaze, taking in his hard, long, thick cock pointing up at his belly button, flushed red at the tip and leaking precum, I don’t think.

No. I’ve never sucked a cock before, but that’s about to change. I grip his base and dart my tongue out along his slit, getting a taste of the slightly bitter fluid. His body shudders, and his voice sounds a little shaky. “Oh fuck.”

I hear the soft thump of his head hitting the wall of the shed and let go of the nerves trying to take over. I do what I’ve always liked. I suck on the head, using my tongue to tease him and revel in the sounds of soft whimpers coming from him.

I can tell he’s struggling to keep still.

His hands in my hair as he looks down at me on my knees for him.

I thought this would feel demeaning, but all I feel is powerful as I start to stroke him and take more of him into my mouth.

My hand and my mouth work him over and pull the most sinful of sounds from him.

“I’m close. Fuck. I’m close, Emer—” His cock jerks, and I’m hit with a burst of precum. It only makes me suck on him harder.

I’m not ready to deep throat. Let’s be real.

But I’m still determined to make this the best goddamn blowjob he’s ever had in his life.

I find his heavy balls with my hand and cup them gently before rolling them in my hand, still licking and sucking his dick, enjoying every bit of precum he feeds me.

“I’m going to come.” His fingernails dig into my scalp, and my cock juts forward, my balls pulling up tight and aching for release, just hearing his strangled tone.

I want to tell him to do it, but I also don’t want to release him long enough to say the words, so I just continue to work him over until I feel his cock get even stiffer in my mouth. Then jet after jet of cum hits the back of my throat.

It’s not pretty, I’m not going to lie. I gag from the surprise and the sheer amount and cough around his dick that’s still spewing cum. But I lap up every bit of it I can, swallowing it as I work the base of his cock, milking it for every last drop.

His hand slides down to push mine away. “Too much,” he barely manages to say, and I smile as I release him. When I look up at him through tears from choking on his dick, he looks as wrecked as I feel, and then he pulls me up to him, his mouth attacking mine, licking it clean.

My cock is still hard as I thrust against his body, his dick still wet from my mouth.

“Fuck. Good. So good,” I babble, and I feel him grin against my lips before his hand trails down and wraps around my aching shaft, paying particular care to my piercing.

It sends a ripple of pleasure through my entire body when the metal comes in contact with his rough hands.

I can’t wait to feel what he can do with his tongue running over them.

“These are so fucking sexy,” he says in that deep, guttural voice, and I swear I feel his semi-hard cock jerk as he fingers the piercings and then strokes over them.

“Ngh” is all I can manage to say. I think my brain has gone offline.

He strokes me with sure, determined strokes. His mouth absolutely dominating mine as I thrust into his fist. I cry out into his mouth as my cum splashes between our bodies.

His kiss starts to wane, leaving behind soft little pecks over my mouth as I melt into him, my body nearly giving out, now that I’ve had such an intense release.

“We should probably go wash off and then get our chores done.”

“Mm-hmm,” I say, still unable to form actual words. “I will when I can get my legs to move again.” I pull back enough to look into his eyes. “I think you broke me, man.”

“Don’t say that.” His wicked grin is sexy as hell. “I have plans for you.”

“Is that so?”

He kisses me softly again, making my heart tug inside my body, kicking up like it’s the first time it’s ever worked or some shit. “It is.”

He takes my hand, and I follow him out of the shed, being cognizant of anyone else who might be around. Thankfully, I don’t see anyone.

So Jasper, the grumpy, “straight” country boy, has plans for me.

And I, the also fairly grumpy, “straight” city boy, can’t fucking wait to find out what they are.