Page 22 of His Wilde Little (Saddle Up #2)

He was doing it. I didn’t doubt him for a second, he just needed a little push to get going, and then once he was doing it, he still wanted to get off the horse, but he was actively listening to my orders and directing the horse.

His mom had taken hundreds of photos, claiming she didn’t know when the next time she would see her son do this, adding that she doubted he would ever get on the back of another horse again, ad while I had the same thoughts, I didn’t think she had anything to worry about.

If I had any sway, andI had plenty of sway, I was going to make sure that he got back on this horse whether he liked it or not.

Once he was off the horse and his mom was gone, Jace threw his arms around me, and we shared a passionate kiss. He clung to me, squeezing his body around mine.

“I think I’m going to be walking funny for weeks,” he said with a groan.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll make sure to stretch you out real good tonight,” I said, reaching around and giving his ass a squeeze. “That’s a promise.”

“Do I get my gift now?” he asked. The only reason he was doing any of this.

“Not quite yet, you need to learn how to take all this stuff of Mary, and then we should get the other horses back in their stalls. Then, and only once the work is done, can we go back and open that gift.”

It wasn’t an obstacle exactly; it was just a couple of tasks that needed to be completed before we could settle for a while and play.

He unstrapped the hat from under his chin, pulling it off his head to remove an awful case of flat hair. I ruffled my fingers through it. “Come on then,” he said, kissing his forehead. “Let’s get to work.”

Jace was on a mission to get through it all as quickly as possible. And we did get through all the work in record time, which had Jace looking up at me, batting his eyes for those all-important compliments.

“You’re cute,” I told him. “But do you want to get home and have something to eat before I give you the gift?”

He scoffed, shaking his head. “No way, I’m not going to be able to even think about eating until I get my present.” Shaking with excitement, I wanted to bottle the emotion up, not because it needed bottling, but because I wanted to carry that energy around with me everywhere I went.

“Then it looks like you’re getting two gifts,” I told him.

“Two?”

“Well, if you’re not going to go home and eat, I’ll have to make you something myself,” I said. I’d been planning on doing things that allowed for me to take on more of that Daddy caretaker role he’d been leaning into.

His brow furrowed and twitched. “I’m not sure what you mean, because you do not have anything good in to make me. Unless—”

“Unless?”

“Unless you bought something today.”

And there he went, spoiling a fun surprise. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

I had bought some novelty animal shaped spaghetti the stuff in tomato sauce that was only meant for kids who hadn’t developed a proper palette yet, and of course, for littles like Jace.

When we got back to the house, Jace nearly fell out of his boots to get to the present in the living room. He knelt by the box, looking up at me as I took my time to remove my boots.

“Can I open it?” he asked.

“You wanna get yourself in something a bit more comfortable first?” A hint at what the gift might’ve been.

He nodded, giving the top of the box a pat and giggling. “I think I know what it is.”

“Get changed and you’ll find out,” I said, giving his ass a little smack as he rushed by me to get to the bedroom.

It didn’t take Jace long to get dressed in one of the onesies he’d left here. He sat in front of the gift, waiting for permission to open it. I just stared at him as his fingers caressed the sides of the paper wrapping, desperately to tear into it.

“Open it,” I said.

The wooden set and animals all spilled out with the force he tore the paper. I sat back and watched from the sofa. He screamed internally, glowing red at the sight of all the different wooden animals.

“I love it, I love it,” he said. “Oh my god, I love it.” His hands shaking as he plucked two of the animals from the collection and raised them above his head. “How did you know this is what I wanted?”

“I was guided,” I admitted. “But I’m glad you like it.”

“Sore thighs and riding Mary were worth it.” He let out another little squeal.

Watching in awe of his happiness, it had all been worth it. As Jace was obsessing over the playset and toys, I snuck out of the lounge into the kitchen. I wasn’t a whizz in the kitchen, but I could provide for a little. I knew they needed a varied diet, so I made sure to accommodate.

His dinner, at least, the one I was making for him would be catering to the little side I was attempting to coax out little by little.

Each little was different, some liked to involve their partner, some liked to be in their space alone.

Some used it sexually, and others never put their little space into their adult activities.

I was still trying to really figure out where Jace stood with it all.

Spaghetti shapes and small Vienna sausages. It wasn’t a substantial meal by any means. It was paired with an apple juice box. I would’ve added some bread, but I wasn’t allowed to buy bread since he’d told me he wanted to make some fresh.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever received,” he said as I walked into the living room. “I made you something to eat. But you’ll have to come eat at the dining table.”

His eyes widened, glancing from me, back to his new toys. He hauled a bunch of them into his arms and carried them with him to the dining table. I’d also made myself a similar plate to his with the addition of a fried egg on my plate.

“I don’t want you eating too much,” I told him. “Your mom might get suspicious if you’re going home without an appetite.”

Jace didn’t take any of the words in, just nodding and smacking his lips.

“It’s been forever since I had spaghetti shapes.

Oh my god, they’re my favorite ones as well.

The wildlife ones!” He began rummaging around on the plate with a spoon and fork to try and separate the shapes to figure out which animals were there.

After all the stress today had brought him and the vomiting earlier, it was nice to see him in a state of relaxation now. It was almost like everything earlier hadn’t happened, all that commotion had dripped away, leaving behind a big, smiley-faced Jace.

He devoured his food, leaving behind an orange stain ring around his mouth. I reached out with napkin tissues, wiping it for him. He leaned into my touch, rubbing his face against the napkin and then smiling when I pulled away.

“You’re adorable,” I told him.

“How adorable?” he asked, tilting his head and blinking with those big eyes. “You gotta tell me how adorable you think I am.”

“On a scale of what?”

He looked around and his eyes settled on the animals in front of his plate. “Between like a baby chicken and a baby pig.”

“Well, that’s tough, piglets are adorable, but so are chicks,” I said. “I think I’d probably say somewhere in between, that’s where you fit in, all sweet and stuff.”

Jace giggled. “I’ll take it.”

“Are you happy with the present?”

“So happy, I’m kinda glad you didn’t let me come with you now. As much as I’m not a fan of surprises, this one was actually not bad.”

“And by not bad, you mean absolutely incredible, right?”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

I reached out and took his hand, pulling it to my mouth, I gave it a kiss.

“Good, I don’t know what I’d do if you already had it or hated it.

” He still had another huge surprise to come when the alpacas arrived, although his mother would take credit for those since she had wanted to get him something as well for all the work he’d done.

Slowly, sitting at the table, the playful life in Jace’s eyes vanished and he sighed. “I’ll probably have to head off soon, but I’ll be back tonight. You made other promises to me.”

“It’ll give me time to shower and put some fresh bedding on,” I told him. “But I expect you here before I got to bed, otherwise I don’t know what I’ll do. Maybe just cuddle up to that pillow you’ve been hogging.”

He continued to giggle. “I’ll try and come over sooner, tell my folks that I promised I’d make you bread, and that’s not a lie, plus, they’re usually in bed early anyway. The only people who will question it are Olivia and Max, although Max is probably glued to his phone.”

I’d met Max only a handful of times, he didn’t do anything to help, but he was still in school, and we already had one of his siblings interfering with us, we didn’t need a second who could potentially blow the top off this secret relationship. Even if, maybe, I wanted it to be out there.

Jace left shortly after in his regular clothes, promising he’d be right back over.

And while it was nice spending time with him all day, it was also nice to have this time alone.

I’d always lived a pretty solitary existence.

My parents had a huge family back in Mexico, but I’d never visited them, I was always put to work from the moment I had free time, and then, that hyper independence struck me, and I left home, worked my way through a couple smaller ranches, learned to wrangle animals and ride horses.

I sat out on the small porch, watching the sun go down and make the orange trees look even more magical.

Vermont was no Texas, sometimes it felt like I was in an alien world surrounded by all the greenery.

It was nice to have fresh air and cool breezes whip around me at all times, but part of me missed the scorched ground, cracking in places, and the small dust storms that would cake my boots.

Now it was just dirt from the soggy earth.

There was a moment, while sitting outside where I thought about how the world was so big, yet so small.

To have come from somewhere in the south where I’d only been able to see the hardened earth, to now, in the same country, seeing much more than that with the green space.

It was a miracle almost that I was living at the same time as well of this, and to make it all the more better, I was also living at the same time of being able to meet Jace and there was nothing greater than finding someone who I meshed with on such a level that I couldn’t help thinking about him constantly.

It was almost completely dark out, except for the light above on the porch, the same one that would’ve been there in Texas for all the gnat and mosquitos. Jace was sneaking over, not that he had to sneak, I already knew his folks were in bed or preoccupied.

He carried. a large bag on his back and walked over, stomping through up worn dirt path. As he got closer, the light illuminated the biggest smile on his face, and it also revealed a blanket bundled up beneath his arms.

“I’m ready for the sleepover,” he said. “And a little fun.”

I stood, my knees cracking from being sat for a while. “Come on then, I wanna say we have all night, but we both know that isn’t true.”

Since we were both early risers, we had to get some of the fun stuff out of the way sooner so that we didn’t collapse on top of each other and fall asleep before the grant climax of it all. Not that Jace would allow sleep until either of us had finished.

“You’re practically moving in,” I said to him.

“Don’t’ forget, this place would’ve been mine.

” I don’t think I’d forget that he’d told me it several times before this whole thing started with each other.

Him telling me he wanted this place, and he deserved it, but in reality, I think he just wanted to live with me.

That made the most sense given how much he liked to curl up beside me.