Page 59 of Eternally Devoted

I clap my hand in his and he yanks, only he must not take account for how wet it is, because he pulls hard. Hard enough that I fly toward him as he falls backward, our bodies colliding on the ground with a wet thud. From above, Juniper’s soft giggle sweeps over us.

“Fuck. Sorry, man,” Sterling says, shaking his head for a second. His strawberry hair is streaked with mud, and some is smeared through the stubble on his chest. Beneath me, his chest presses into mine with each deep breath he takes.

Something hard and thick is pressing against my thigh, and I’m only just now realizing it. And I realize at the same time that Sterling does, his eyes widening in what seems to be embarrassment. He pushes me off, sending me to the dampgrass next to him. Getting to his feet, he dusts himself off and casts me a brief glance. “C’mon, we gotta get those remains.”

I trudge up the hill behind him, smiling. “You got a gun on you?” I ask, chewing the inside of my cheek so I don’t laugh. Sterling’s so private. It’s really kinda fucking hot. He stops, glaring back at me as my lips twitch.

“It was the friction,” he replies, because we both know that was his hard-on pressing against me.

Juniper fills in the silence as we reach the top. “I cleaned up. We’re ready to head to the next site.” She points to the empty drum where she’s stashed the bags, sealing in the deathly stench. “Let’s see if we can get to the oak tree before Hud and the guys come around. Right now, they’re out to pasture.”

I nod, and without discussion, Sterling and I each take a side of the drum, loading it carefully onto the back of Juniper’s ATV before tying it down as best we can.

As I’m collecting my shirt, Juniper, her hands in pink gardening gloves, peels the finger off my filthy shirt and stashes it in a Ziploc bag. “Can’t forget this, or all that,” she says, motioning toward the well, “wasn’t worth it.”

She hops on the ATV after slipping the finger into the drum, and nods toward the property miles away. “Meet you guys at the oak.”

She’s kicking up dust and dirt in a matter of seconds, and when I turn to face Sterling, I find him sitting on the ATV. He pats the back of the seat behind him. “C’mon.”

He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I hop onto the back and loop my arms around his center. My groin slides into his ass, there’s no avoiding that. We’re wet and sticky, but I’m comfortable as he takes off, chasing after Juniper.

The way his body shifts and moves beneath my arms as we take every bump and curve, our bodies pressed together, has me stiff as a nail. Sterling pulls up to the oak tree a few minuteslater, right next to Juni. He kills the engine, and twists over his shoulder to quietly whisper, “Do you have a gun?”

“It’s just the friction.”

“I just saw Hudson and Carl,” she sighs, peering around to make sure no one sees us. “It must already be close to four a.m. if they’re already out.” She chews the inside of her cheek. “I think we have to roll the drum under the porch and hit the oak tree in a little while.”

I nod, still thinking about the way Sterling openly acknowledged he felt my cock against him.

“Wait it out?” Sterling asks. “How long?”

“Just till early afternoon. After three in the afternoon, he’s not out here anymore. He works in his barn or over the creek, at the stable. Then after five, he’s in for the night. Dolly won’t let that man leave the house.” She grips the edge of the drum, once again looking around to make sure the coast is clear.

“All right, well, until then, what?” I ask, stepping in to grab the drum, along with Sterling. We duckwalk it around the back and stash it under the patio as Juniper says, “Let’s go inside. Shower. I’ll make us some food. Let’s just stay here and rest until later, okay?”

Sterling wipes sweat from his forehead. “I’m good with that.” He lifts his arm, playfully taking a sniff. “I could use a shower.”

Juniper steps up the back patio and slides open the door. “I have extra fluffy towels and homemade lavender soap.” Sterling smiles as he walks past her, into the house.

“I bet you do, sweetheart.” The way he gently squeezes her hip as he passes makes her flush, and when I make my way up the porch to her, I can’t help myself.

I touch her cheek and smile. “It’s been a weird few days but the best days I’ve had.”

She wrinkles her nose. “It feels so wrong to agree with you because, you know, the dead bodies. But I feel the same way.”

I nod inside, where Sterling is. “Think he feels the same?”

She grins. “I know he does.”

“Know?” I repeat, sweeping my thumb along her bottom lip. It doesn't even feel strange to freely touch her like this. Looking back, it feels strange that I never could before. Whatever is happening, I hope it never ends. “You sound so sure,” I say, pressing my lips to hers for a short kiss. The first casual, non-sexual kiss. It’s a risk, because we haven’t kissed this way before now but as I stare into her eyes, wide and shining, it’s clear she enjoys it. She’s so sure Sterling wants us the way we clearly want him. How does she know he does? Does he? I hope he does.

“I know Sterling, but don’t worry, you won’t have a single doubt after tonight.” With those words, she winks and drifts through the open door, and I’m left on the patio deck, my cock hard, my chest heaving, wondering what she has up her sleeve.

After taking a minute on the patio to shake off my hard-on, I close the sliding door behind me and turn to find Juniper in the kitchen, an apron covering her dirty clothes.

“Sterling is in the shower. I put his clothes in the wash. I left the washing machine door up so if you want to toss your stuff in, you’ll have clean clothes in less than two hours.” She smiles as she drops a pinch of salt into the bowl she’s currently got trapped to her chest with an arm.

“What do I wear until I shower… and after?” I ask, knowing that Juniper’s biggest sized t-shirt would probably be a skintight crop on me. Wouldn’t even make it over Sterl’s shoulders.

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