Page 58 of Take Me Away, Cowboy

“Paige,” her brother whispered. “This is the best news ever. Are you almost home? I’m coming over.”

Paige smiled, her hand now less-than-discreetly on top of Owen’s pants, her thumb rubbing the place that rose beneath his jeans.

“Not right now. I’m heading home to rest,” she eked out through a grin as wide as the road stretched before them.

“Did Mom and Dad take you?” he asked.

“Um, no. I called you but you didn’t answer, and I didn’t want to put Mom through it if it didn’t work out the way it did.”

“Did you drive yourself then? Paige, you know you aren’t supposed to. It isn’t safe—”

“I didn’t. I know better. Especially after our fight,” she told him, half-teasing.

She and Brad had “gone to the mattresses” as her father called it, over Julia per usual. This time the fight had spun out of control when Paige said she’d seen Brad’s girlfriend out with his best friend in a decidedly not-friendly way.

Then Brad had topped off the row with him telling her she wasn’t well enough to travel—and maybe never would be again. It was a doozy of an argument, but she’d put it from her mind when she got the phone call from Dr. Metcalf. Now that she was healthy, it was ancient history as far as she was concerned.

“Owen took me,” she added finally, her attempt at keeping her voice even at this last admission failing. She slid his zipper down and inserted her hand between his boxer briefs and the soft skin beneath it. There was no sound, but Paige felt Owen’s breath hitch in his chest.

“Oh. I see.” Paige’s cheeks grew hot. Brad fully understood why he couldn’t come over. “I’ll keep trying Mom and Dad, then. And Paige, I’m sorry. For everything before. I’ll ask Julia when she gets home,” he said.

She nodded again, unable to get the words she wanted to say to him past her chest.

“Enjoy yourrest, little sis. But be prepared for family dinner tomorrow night.” She could practically hear his smile through the phone.

“Deal,” she answered, this time hanging up first. At a stoplight, she gazed into Owen’s dark gold eyes. He looked like he might devour her on the spot, and the pool of moisture in her panties said she would let him, and enjoy it.

As they neared her parents’ house, Paige’s pulse spiked. It wasn’t the first time she’d taken part in this particular rodeo, nor was it the first time she’d ridden this particular bronco, but she couldn’t help the nerves bubbling inside her. They were held back only by the remains of the dam that threatened to dissolve in a pile of rubble at her feet. It couldn’t break apart yet, though. It was all that held her upright.

“I need a minute at my house before you come over.”

Owen took his eyes off the road for just long enough to undress her with his gaze. “You have enough time for me to drop my truck off at home and sprint to your door. Not a second more.”

Paige giggled. “Perfect.”

They pulled up to her door, Owen put the truck in park, and with a terse smile on his lips, zipped up his jeans. Paige bit her lip, marveling at the hard-on he was able to conceal. That was no small feat.

Owen came around to Paige’s door, helped her to her apartment, and pulled her in for a kiss before she could say a word. His tongue slipped inside her mouth, exploring her as his mouth moved over hers. His hand slid up her T-shirt, his fingers pinching her now-hard bud, cupping her unadorned breast with a soft squeeze.

She’d not worn a bra since she’d been home, a liability and gift since she’d met Owen.

“You have about seventy-five seconds,” he growled in her ear. A flood of moisture pooled in her panties and she nodded, again rendered speechless. Unlocking her door, she all but ran up the stairs.

Once inside, she turned on the shower and stepped in before the water was even hot, relishing as the frigid drops cooled her flushed skin. She let the water run over her body and, putting a small amount of soap in her hands, she rubbed clean the parts she wanted Owen’s mouth on.

She thought she heard the door, but it had only been half a minute, so she had to be hearing things.

Putting her head back in the water, the now-warm water slid over her breasts where Owen’s hands had just been. The shower door opened just as she went to shut off the water. Her eyes shot open to a naked Owen stepping in to join her, eyes trailing her body like a lion locked in on its prey. She shivered despite the heat.

“You’re making this too easy,” he told her. “I should have to work for this.”

She took in the way his chest muscles formed a “W,” then the rock-hard abs that sat just above the deep V that led to his shaft—a perfect, hard specimen. It made her mouth water imagining putting her lips on it, taking all of him in her mouth. God, this man was perfectly built. She could keep traveling the world and never find another so suited for her.

He knelt at her feet, his hands around her ankles, pulling them apart until a foot wedged against each wall. Paige’s breath hitched in her chest. She braced herself against the walls of the too-small shower, grateful now for the way it forced Owen close to her.

“I guess I’ll have to find another way to pay my dues,” he whispered, sliding his tongue along her opening until he found the part of her that pulsed, craving him and his eager mouth. She gasped as he swirled his tongue along her slit, coming back again and again to her jewel, sucking and nibbling at her until she worried she might pass out.

Just before she cried out for him to stop, that she was already close to coming, he moved up her stomach, kissing her body every place the water touched, drinking it off her skin.

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