Page 75 of From the Ashes

There are tears in his eyes as he slams his mouth down on mine.

How we managedto keep our hands off each other for the remainder of the outing, I’m not sure, but thankfully, Knox brought the boat back to the dock an hour later. Phoenix insisted he was sober enough to drive, and after hearing about some of the awful stuff they’ve seen when responding to car wrecks as first responders, I know he wouldn’t risk driving buzzed or drunk.

Although, his ability to tolerate that much alcohol gives me a pretty good idea of how he’s been handling his stress the last few years, and a fresh wave of guilt slams into me.

On the ride home things are quiet, so I ask if I can turn on the radio, too drained for another big talk if he’s second guessing everything. At this point, I’ve done everything I can. He knows how I feel about him, about us, and that I want us to be a couple. The ball is in his court.

When he gives me the green light, I turn up whatever station is currently playing from his phone, not wanting to take the time to sync it to mine.

Somewhere Down in Texasby Jason Boland is playing. I’m familiar with the song and I tap my foot on the floorboard. Up next isAmarillo by Morningby George Strait, one of my all-time favorites. When a third Texas-themed song pops up, I’m starting to notice the pattern.

“Hey, Phoe?”

“Yeah?” he asks, his eyes never leaving the road.

“Is this entire playlist themed around Texas for a specific reason?”

His eyes slide to me, but he doesn’t turn his head.

“If I say no, would you believe me?”

“No,” I answer honestly.

“If I say yes, are you going to ask me a bunch of annoying follow up questions?”

“Probably,” I reply, grinning like an idiot until he opens his mouth again.

“Then I plead the fifth, and as soon as our asses walk in the front door, I’m going to shove my cock so far in your mouth you can’t ask a single one of them.”

He doesn’t disappoint. Since reuniting at the rodeo, we’ve shared three intimate moments. The first one he stopped before it could really get started, the second one was more about apologies and healing from our past than it was about getting off. Wouldn’t have mattered anyway, since he stopped that moment in its tracks too. And the third encounter had an audience.

When he throws the truck in park in his wide, gravel driveway and we walk up the steps to the front door, there is no reason we can’t take this all the way tonight.

Thank God.

Chapter 32

Phoenix

Once we cross the threshold into the foyer, a torrent of lust and other emotions passes between Walker and I as we tear at each other’s clothes. I momentarily forget about his wrist as I jerk his shirt overhead and it snags on the brace, causing him to cry out.

“Oh shit! Sorry, baby.”

I try to pull it off more gently, but I must have hurt him pretty badly because he’s gone stock still.

Bringing my eyes to his, I’m about to ask how bad it is when he says, “Say that again.”

Confusion paints my brow.

“Say what again?”

“You called me baby, and I liked it.”

A smile splits my face in half as his deep voice fills my ears. Finally allowing myself to lean into whatever this could be, I’mravenousfor him. It’s a little after seven, and although I have to be at the fire station in twelve hours, I still have eleven hours and forty-five minutes that I can devote just to Walker.

Bringing my hands to either side of his neck, I kiss himdeeply, rubbing my bare chest against his every chance I get. Kissing Walker is so much fucking fun. I’m not worried about using too much tongue because the sloppier the kiss is, the louder he groans. He’s not offended if our teeth clash. And if I bite down on his lip, he bites back. His grip is just as firm on me as mine is on him, and except for his wrist, I don’t have to worry about hurting him or my weight crushing him.

The hard muscles beneath my hands contract as I knead my fingers into them, and the bass of his moans has my cock as hard as granite.