Page 43 of Smut Lovers

Chapter Five

Briggs

M oorely’s enormous dog continued to glare at me, its ears pricked toward me at full attention. Despite my usual love of dogs, my stomach twisted in a fit of nerves. I knew Moorely meant what she said about the dog attacking.

“I guess I can let you hang out a while longer, but then leave my property.” Moorely turned away from me.

“Wait.” I’d been looking for this damn frustrating woman all week and not found her. Now she was right in front of me. Even with her fearsome guard dog, I didn’t want to let this opportunity go so quickly.

She paused, her back still to me. Worse, her dog still stared me down. She hadn’t called the beast off yet. That was enough to hold me still where I stood.

“Will you stargaze with me?” God, I sounded pathetic.

The damnable woman still didn’t move.

“Please? I’ve got some beer.”

“I don’t drink.” Moorely finally turned around. She’d moved far enough away that I couldn’t read her expression.

“Oh. Well, we could talk.”

“Talk? We never talk. You ignore me. Always have.” Something in her tone tugged at my heart. Like the fact wounded her. It was hard to read her body language as she remained where she stood several feet away, almost perfectly still.

“I—”

“And you just said you came out here to get away from people. I’m a people.”

I couldn’t help my chuckle at the way she’d worded it. “You are a people, that’s true.”

“Then I’ll leave you to it.”

“No.” I took a step forward. A deep growl stopped me short. “Moorely.”

“Varte.”

“What?”

“That was meant for Scully.” Moorely’s breath gushed out in a deep sigh. “What do you want, Briggs?”

“Just to talk.” I waited for a response, but she held her silence. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough. I thought over her saying I ignored her and always had. “Sorry you think I was ignoring you, but you were Aspen’s little sister.”

“And I still am.”

“And therefore, you sort of don’t like me.”

A mutter carried on the still night air. One that sounded suspiciously like ‘that’s what you think.’ That helped bolster my mood. Did she like me?

I shook off the wondering. “It gets tiresome being treated like a golden boy. You don’t treat me like that. You threaten to sic your dog on me.”

Amazingly, a chuckle carried on the air. “I only do what you’ve earned.”

“Maybe I can earn something better than an attack dog.”

“It’s just me here. I’m not sure that counts.”

“You’re enough.” I squashed the fleeting flash of embarrassment over the cheesiness of the line. “Clearly, I upset you somewhere along the line. I’d like a chance to make it up.”

“Why? You’re leaving in a couple of days, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but I’d like to leave on good terms. I hope to visit home a lot more often.”

She hummed, but a quick whistle called the dog away from him. “My house is over there. I’ve got comfortable chairs, but BYOB.”

“I’ll grab it and follow you.” I had no qualms about leaving Aspen’s ATV where it was.

This was private land and if Moorely had heard me coming, I’d hear someone driving off.

I snatched the keys and cooler, then jogged back toward Moorely.

She hadn’t waited for me, and I caught up to her on the next hill.

Moorely didn’t attempt any conversation all the way to her place. She gestured to encompass the entire small building. “My place.”

I took in the home quickly, mostly because it seemed smaller than the camper my parents had years ago. “How do you and that dog both fit in there?”

“It’s not that small, you ass. Besides, it’s laid out really well. The only thing I don’t have room for is books. So, it’s this.” She tapped an e-reader on the table. “Best way to get all the books I want with zero space.”

“You like to read, eh?” The deck was so small that with her, the dog, and I together, there was barely room to move. “What kind of books?”

“Almost anything in fiction. Although horror isn’t my favorite, I’ve read one or two. I’ve read some autobiographies and self-help books, but I avoid most of the rest of non-fiction.”

“What’s your favorite genre?”

“Oh, no. I can’t pick that anymore than I could pick a favorite book.

It’s all about the mood I’m in. I go with whatever feels right at the time and at the time that is my favorite genre.

Then the next day, I might be in the mood for something completely different.

” The joy in her tone carried on her features.

The soft smile she wore made her the prettiest I’d ever seen.

I moved to step closer right as the dog turned. The world tilted the second Scully’s haunches knocked me off balance.

“Oh, Briggs !” Moorely squealed. Her warm hand grasped mine far too late. In the excitement, Scully turned as well, barking under her master’s yell.

I swear the fall happened in slow motion. My weight pulled on Moorely. The panic of Scully nudged her, and we both went down. Somehow, I used her momentum to pull her into me right as my back hit the rocky dirt of her yard. Sharp flashpoints of pain scattered across my back. “Fuck me.”

Moorely’s entire body trembled in my arms.

“Jesus. Are you okay, Mo?”

A loud braying laugh escaped the woman. The trembling was laughter. That fiend. She hiccupped, trying to fend off Scully, who’d come to check on her. In between gulps of air, she managed a few words. “You. Should. Have. Seen. Your. Face.”

“Found that funny, did you?”

“S-sorry.” She braced one arm on my chest, brushing away her dog some more. “Nein, Scully. Nein. Platz. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“My back is a little the worse for wear, but I’ve hit the boards harder and with a much burlier person throwing me into them.” I set my hands on her shoulders, keenly aware of every inch of her body pressed on top of mine.

Moorely gulped a few more breaths, growing still. Her gaze fell to me and even in the dark I could see her cheeks grow dark. “Um. I should...uh.”

“Should you?” One gentle tug pulled her closer to me. I didn’t pull her all the way in, not yet. Much as I wanted to. “Or, we could…”

“Randall.” She whispered my given name. The low, husky tone was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard. I’d always hated my name until this moment when I heard it on her lips.

“Moorely.” Our breath mingled as close as she’d gotten.

Her eyes hooded, lips pouted just enough to make me want to nibble on them.

I wanted to tug her into it, but I needed her to have an out.

Until this moment, I thought she hated me.

Still, I let my hand slide down to her ass, cupping it.

“You’re fucking beautiful, you know that? ”

“I’m what?” That got her staring at me directly.

“Beautiful.”

“You mean that?”

“Yes.”

She crushed her lips to mine then. Her taste was sweeter than I’d imagined, like strawberries and honey. At her moan, my tongue stroked in. God, she felt so good. Warm and soft, but her responding search of my mouth had its own demanding strength.

Moorely lapped me up like she wanted to take all of me, and fuck if I wasn’t ready to give it to her. I clutched her to me, moving to sit. Her legs swung around to wrap around my waist, settling her warmth right against my dick. I groaned. I needed more of her.

Scully whined, her nose burrowing between us until Moorely gasped, yanking back. Her lips were swollen, cheeks flushed. “I’m…sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I pulled her close again. “If it wasn’t for your damn dog, I might have fucked you right here on the ground.”

“I—you—what?”

“You got a bed in that tiny home of yours?”

“Yes.”

“Should we go in?”

“You mean that?” Her hips moved a bit, the friction against my erection a sweet torture.

“You tell me. I know you can feel that.”

“Well, fuck me.”

“I intend to.”