Page 9 of Ropers Can’t Tie Knots (Kissing Ridge Cowboys #3)

Hunter disappears up the stairs, and I watch him go, before finally taking the stairs to my room after I hear his door close.

I know I married Hunter Burke, but if today is any indication, he’s not the man he appears to be.

Turns out the hot dog bar was a great idea. Not only did it make Hunter smile and laugh, but he opened up a little more, and we enjoyed conversation as friends.

I learned a little more about the mysterious man, but it’s time to get to some real talk.

After pouring myself a glass of amaretto on ice and Hunter kicks back with a beer, our easy, friendly conversation screeches to a halt when I turn the talk to business.

“I don’t know how long it will take for you to arrange an appointment with the lawyer, but just tell me when and I’ll shuffle anything I have going on. Really. This needs to get recorded so you can access the funds as soon as possible.”

Hunter swallows his beer and nods. “I appreciate you being so flexible about that. The sooner it’s taken care of, the sooner we can get back to our lives.” He sets his beer on the table and leans forward. “Speaking of our lives, we need to talk about how to conduct ourselves for the next year.”

My heart rate kicks up, and I turn away from him. Another titter-like laugh escapes past my lips. “Is this the part where you ask me to pretend the strange men I find here are just friends?”

Hunter’s dark gaze meets mine. “I don’t bring people here. Ever.” There’s a flicker of something in his eyes that has me swallowing hard .

“Okay…I don’t have to do that either. This is your home, and I’d never be that disrespectful.” Hunter watches me closely and licks his lips after I sip from my glass. My cock aches as my imagination runs wild, dreaming of what his tongue might feel like on my body.

“I don’t think we should risk being seen with other people.” Hunter’s voice is thick and raspy, and my mouth runs dry when I meet his gaze. We stare each other down and the room feels like it just had the air sucked out of it and I realize I haven’t addressed his concern.

“That’s probably wise. Hard to convince people you’re married if you’re out with someone else.”

He leans back again and grabs his beer. His thick fingers wrap around the bottle and I wonder what those fingers would feel like wrapped around my dick.

His throat bobs as he swallows the beverage down, and I think I know where he’s going with this, but he has yet to come out and say it.

When he remains quiet, I decide to take this where I want it.

Where I’ve wanted it since I first saw him on his horse over a year ago.

“I have a proposal.” My voice sounds like I’ve just woken from the longest nap.

Hunter’s gaze shifts to me as I set my drink on the coffee table and move to sit next to him.

Sitting this close to him, I catch his scent.

A mix of horses and fabric softener that shouldn’t be sexy, but somehow still is.

“I can’t go an entire year without sex, Hunter.

Neither can you if I had to guess.” He remains quiet, but shifts slightly on the sofa, and our thighs touch.

“What if we keep it between us? It’s convenient.

We live together already.” My hand slides onto his thigh, and the heat through his pants sears my palm.

A soft breath passes from his lips, and the malty aroma left from his beer makes me want to taste it from his lips. “Casual sex while we’re married.”

He has to want this. There’s no other way this could go.

“No feelings involved, and you sleep in your own bed at night,” he rasps as he shifts towards me. My hand on his thigh drifts upwards and ghosts over the tented fabric in his pants.

“I can do that.” Our chests rise and fall faster than a moment ago, and I lean in closer. “If we’re exclusive, do we need protection?”

He reaches over and tugs at me to come closer. I stand and straddle his lap. God, he’s beautiful, with flecks of gold in his brown eyes I never noticed before. I need him to wreck me…right now. My fingers curl into the soft fabric of his shirt, and his muscles jump under my touch.

“I’m on PrEP and my results are negative. If you’re okay without, so am I.” Hunter’s hands slide to my ass, squeezing me in the rough, urgent way I crave.

My eyes close with a shaky sigh. “Same,” I breathe.

When I open my eyes, Hunter’s gaze is what I imagine a lion sees before it pounces on its prey; dark, dialled in, and hungry.

“You sure about this, counsellor?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

Hunter says nothing else. Instead, he pulls my head to his lips and steals my breath, just like he did in the courthouse. This time he doesn’t restrain himself, and neither do I. We come together like a lightning strike.

His tongue still holds the flavour of his beer, and I suck on it, revelling in the growl that rumbles in his chest .

Hunter’s hands are everywhere at once. My shirt comes off in record time and I’m scrambling to get him naked while still on his lap. His mouth on my neck bites down and I gasp.

“God, I want you,” he growls against my skin, and if I weren’t already sitting, I might melt in a puddle of goo.

“Take it all, Hunter. Whatever you want, I’m here for it.

” My teeth nip at his ear, and his body shivers.

My arms wrap around his neck when he stands, lifting me with him.

He turns us, gently lowering me onto the couch, before yanking my sweats down to my knees in one motion.

My dick plumps under his gaze and his smirk is almost sinister.

“Fuck…” he whispers before bending to nip my thigh. “You hide all this under those fancy suits, counsellor. That’s a shame.” Hunter’s mouth is hot and fucking perfect as he covers as much skin as he can before licking a line up my cock.

“Ahh…” My hips try to punch up, but he holds me down with a firm hand and an unspoken command to stay still. It’s wild and hot, but I don’t move. Even when he laps at my balls with a talented tongue and teases my hole with a tap of his thumb.

“I want to see you,” I rasp. “For fuck’s sake, take off your pants and let me see all of you, cowboy.”

Hunter pauses and for one horrible minute, I think he’ll change his mind and leave me here hard and horny, but he doesn’t. Instead, he stands at my head and quirks an eyebrow as he looks down at me.

Scrambling up, my legs get twisted in my pants that are still at my ankles, and I work at kicking them off with my feet while yanking at Hunter’s pants. He laughs, a quiet little huff. I wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t bent to pull my pants off the final ankle .

There’s just something about that moment, that action specifically, that claws into me. I don’t have more time to think about it because he’s tapping his dick against my lips and I’m stretching open to swallow him with unbridled want.

He’s heavy on my tongue, and I groan around him. I might be over-eager, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

“Yeah, counsellor. That’s it.” He groans when I work him deeper into my throat. “I knew your lips would look pretty around my dick.” His fingers curl into my hair, scratching my scalp, and I push forward to bury my nose against his skin.

“Fuck, Gabe…” Hunter drops his head back, losing himself to my mouth. I’m sloppy, gagging and drooling like it’s my first time, but I’m so out of my mind with lust for this man that I don’t care how I perform. I just want him to want this as much as I do.

“Flip around, counsellor,” Hunter commands, and I instantly do as he asks, even though I didn’t have nearly enough time with his dick in my mouth.

Gripping the back of the couch, I spread my legs and drop my head when his hands smooth across my ass.

“Everything about you is fucking refined, Gabe. This ass. Your mouth.”

The moment his lips touch the small of my back and move south, my hands move to spread myself open for him. “I’m not refined. I’m horny and I’ll beg if I have to.”

There’s that quiet laugh again as his breath puffs across my skin and I screw my eyes shut when he buries his face in my ass.

“Hunter…oh god…” I can’t really find any words because there are none. Hunter rims me so fucking good that I can only push back into him as a silent plea for more .

When he pulls his mouth away, I don’t have time to complain because his cock is there almost immediately and my fingers scratch along the fabric of the couch, searching for purchase as he pushes his way in.

It’s not soft, slow, or romantic. This isn’t two people having tender, wedding-night sex in the throes of hearts and flowers.

It’s all-consuming lust; hard, rough, and exactly what I want right now.

“I’m not made of glass, Hunter,” I pant. “Don’t hold back.”

He curses under his breath and slams the rest of the way into me. The slap of his thighs against mine echoes around me while I cry out and struggle to breathe. His body blankets mine as he pulls me back to him, and I anchor myself by grabbing his forearm.

“Tell me if it’s too much.” He whispers in my ear. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes. Don’t stop.”

He’s not taking it slow or easy. He’s fucking me like I almost begged him for, and I’m boneless in his arms.

“Jerk yourself, counsellor. I want to feel you squeeze my cock while you come.”

“Not…gonna…take long,” I pant and do as he says.

Hunter doesn’t relent. It’s like we’re two animals in heat, unable to do anything else except fuck.

Harsh breaths and dirty moans accompany the slapping of skin.

Sweat beads on my forehead, and I’m hovering in a state of bliss that I never want to end.

Hunter’s lips brush next to my ear. “C’mon, baby.

Let me see you unravel.” What is it about his voice that flips all my switches?

My body tenses, and I spill over into my fist with a long moan, dragging out the orgasm high for as long as I can.

Hunter’s rhythm falters before he pulls out and shoves me forward.

Hands dangling over the back of the couch, I crane my head back and watch him as he unloads across my ass with a filthy moan that I know I’ll want to hear again and again. His chest heaves and glistens with a sheen of sweat that brings a smirk to my lips.

“Looks like I made you work for it.”

Hunter laughs. It’s a breathless laugh as he works to return his breathing to normal. “Nothing I can’t handle.” He hands me a shirt from the floor to wipe my hand with. “You good?” With another article of discarded clothing, he wipes my ass off and gives it an appreciative slap.

“This whole casual sex thing will work just fine, Gabe. I’m going to shower and probably fall asleep. See you in the morning.”

Just like that, he leaves me naked in the living room and smelling like cum. I pad to the small half bath to clean up while I wait for him to finish in the shower and look at myself in the mirror.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for asking, at least.” My skin still has the flushed pink of sex, and my knees are red from the friction on the couch. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” I say to my reflection. “He doesn’t want more. It’s best to remember that.”