Page 44 of The Runaway and the Rugged (Dusty Meadows #1)

GARTH

Six months later

“ I thought you said we were going to wait to have sex?” Emelia groaned as our hips shifted together as one. Each slow trot Ella made brought me in even closer and more snug against Emelia’s perfect ass.

It was like I was fuckin’ her without actually fuckin’ her.

“We are,” I groaned, momentarily kickin’ myself for the bullshit rule I created when she had fallen in a horse stall the other day.

Her ankle and hip had taken the brunt of the damage and I made the decision of no sex for at least a week, but I only had so much restraint.

Especially when she was grabbin’ and rubbin’ up on me, forcing me to rethink our arrangement.

“Then why are you hard?” The breathlessness in her voice made my cock twitch.

“My cock is in a permanent state of hardness around you, Outlaw.”

She laughed.

“You know I’m basically all healed up, right? Just a small bruise on my hip.”

Fuck. I knew what she was doin’. This little vixen was tryin’ to get one over on me, but I’d already seen her bruises today and they were anything but small.

“You might not be able to hold on to my hips, but you could hold on to me somewhere else.” Her voice was filled with a wicked promise, like she was tellin’ me rather than askin’.

With another slow, leisurely roll, I brought my palm down onto her thigh.

If I learned one thing from bein’ with this woman, it’s that ridin’ double with her in front is a sure way to get her all hot and bothered.

“Yeah? And where should I hold on then, baby?” I squeezed her legs, triggering a low, bewitching moan that went straight to my cock.

“Anywhere,” she whispered, neck arching, ass shimmying over my crotch. “I’m sure you can think of a way, Garth.”

I could think of plenty, but I wasn’t tryin’ for more bruises.

“You that hard up, Outlaw?” I teased, dropping my face into the crook of her neck to nibble on her ear.

She groaned in annoyance.

“I’m ovulating and your arms look hot as fuck right now, so yes, to answer your question, I am hard up.”

Fuck.

She rendered me silent, not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I was seconds from hoppin’ off Ella and draggin’ Emelia to the nearest flat surface to bend her over on.

Thankfully, only moments later we were entering the stable.

Once settled inside Ella’s stall, I dismounted with quick movements before reachin’ for Emelia, but she swiftly nudged me away.

She was damn proud of herself when she learned how to dismount from a horse, and from now on, she had to do it every time. I missed bein’ able to lift her off the saddle, holdin’ her close, but watchin’ as her denim-clad legs swung over with ease made me fuckin’ feral.

After climbing down, Emelia walked out the stall and headed toward the stable door.

“Where you goin’?” I made a quick check of Ella’s stall and chased after Emelia. She appeared to be on a mission, but halted when I spoke.

“Getting away from you.” She frowned as a slight huff escaped from her mouth.

The fuck?

“Why?”

Planting her hands onto her hips, she gave me a no-nonsense scowl.

“Because!” she shouted. “Look at you! All hot and sweaty, and you trimmed your mustache this morning.”

Her face was tinged with a rosy hue.

“What’s me trimmin’ my mustache got to do with anything?” I asked with a chuckle.

She huffed.

“Because it’s the perfect length and you know how much I love it, especially when you… you know…”

I smirked.

Yeah, I know what you like, Outlaw.

That’s why I trimmed it as often as I did.

“I want you to fuck me, Garth. I want it every day, because how can I not? And right now, you’re telling me I have to wait, and it’s really hard to do whenever you look like…

that.” She waved her hand in the direction of my body and before I knew it, I closed the space between us and shoved her gently against the wall behind her.

“You want me to fuck you?” I asked, then roughly unbuttoned her pants before yanking down her zipper.

She whimpered a half-assed “Yes.”

“Tell me why I should even though you ain’t been listenin’ to one single damn word I’ve been sayin’ about you bein’ hurt.”

Her pink panties were visible and with a tug of her pants, I shoved my hand inside and found her slick heat.

“Oh hell.” Her head fell back as her eyes rolled. “Please…” she begged as I worked her clit over with small, firm circles.

“Tell me why, baby,” I ordered once more, this time with my mouth lapping at the skin on her neck and shoulder.

A string of moans and curses slipped past her lips.

“Because—because you love me,” she whimpered. “Because you want me just as bad as I want you and it’s impossible for you to say no to me.”

Well, fuck, she did have me there. It was impossible tellin’ this woman no, and finally, giving in and lettin’ her have her way, I pulled my hand out from inside her panties.

“You’re right, I can’t say no to you. Don’t think I’ll ever be able to,” I grunted while making quick work of my buckle and jeans before yanking them down. “Now hands on the wall, and let me fuck you.”

After our steamy session in the stable, we raced back home to shower before we had to pick up Grace from school. When Emelia was busy getting ready, a text popped up onto her phone from Clarke.

Clarke: I don't want you to freak out, but I’m in the hospital with a broken collarbone…

Christ.

The woman was a walking adrenaline rush. Even I wasn’t built fearless like that, but Clarke, from everything I’ve been told and heard, was born for thrills.

Promptly, Emelia was stepping out of the bathroom, dressed in one of my favorite flowy dresses that she wore and her hair curled to perfection.

“Did my phone go off? I thought I heard it from the bathroom,” she asked.

“Yeah, it was Clarke.” I nodded, hopin’ the news wouldn’t scare her.

“What does she want?”

Instead of responding, I handed over her phone. Once her eyes connected with the screen, they damn near popped from their sockets.

“Oh my god, she broke her collarbone.” She shook her head and dropped down onto the bed beside me.

“I have a feelin’ in ain’t anything new havin’ shit like that happen to her.”

She nodded. “She holds the title between us for having the most broken bones,” she confessed, but her expression had soon shifted.

“She’ll be okay. Like I said, this isn’t the first time she’s broken a bone like this. And I can almost guarantee it’ll happen again.” I didn’t exactly sound the most reassuring, but I wasn’t a liar.

“I know she will, I just worry about her sometimes, you know?”

She was the most caring, genuine person I knew and I could already sense her need to go to her friend just to make sure she was okay.

“I know, baby, and that’s what I love most about you.”

“Enough to marry me one day?” she asked shyly with a hint of hope in her tone.

“Enough to marry you now,” I confessed, my voice low and steady, and I leaned in close. Our lips nearly touched, brushing slightly against one another’s until I slowly pulled away.

“I’ll be waiting, cowboy.”

I chuckled.

You won’t have to for long, Outlaw.

The End