Page 50 of The Outlaw and the Heir

That was something coming from him and was about as bold as he got right now. If I didn't know any better, the man was prepared to strip me right there and take me over the counter. He was certainly doing a damn fine job of making me feel like I was already naked under the intensity of his stare.

"And here I thought you had the proper measure of me," I said, letting the back of my hand slide up his inner thigh gently until I reached his groin. My fingers brushed against something familiar and half-hard pressed into my skin. I wrapped my hand around his member and gently squeezed, enjoying the way his face tightened at the touch. "I'malwaysfeeling bold."

"So it seems," he said, letting his gaze linger on mine a moment longer before pushing himself away. I let my hand fall from his member with reluctance, comforted by the knowledge that what had once been half-hard had become fully hard under my touch in a matter of seconds. It seemed I didn't need to worry whether I’d gone too far with him at the river. "And I'll trust you'll keep your mouth shut...and don't be smart, you know what I mean?"

"As if I'm going to throw away another chance, or another dozen chances for that matter, with you," I chuckled, leaning back against the counter and not caring that he could probably see I was also hard. In fact, I wanted him to know I was as turned on as he was.

"Smart," he said, walking toward the door. "Let's see how things go."

"Let's," I agreed, watching his ass as he left and wondering just what was in store for me in the coming days.

I hadn't expected to unleash a new side of him, but I certainly wasn't going to argue against it. If we went farther than we did today, I expected to have a good time. He wasn't that skilled, which made sense, considering he had such limited experience. That didn't change his enthusiasm or how he easily slipped intoenjoying himself with seemingly no problem, which was rare for someone who lived as secretly as he did and had so little experience.

Maybe being on this ranch wasn't going to be a total problem for me.

AMBROSE

"Phew," I breathed, pulling a rag from my back pocket and wiping my forehead clean of sweat. "I think that will just about cover it."

The eternally unhappy man, whose name I still hadn't learned, looked at me. “Ya sure ya don't wanna start pickin' over every detail again?"

"If you're gonna do something, you make sure it's done right before you finish. Otherwise, it's invitin' trouble somewhere down the road," I told him, unbothered by his attitude. A bad attitude in a worker was generally okay so long as they didn't slack off. To his credit, he was a decent worker for someone from a gang, someone I expected wouldn't have much of a work ethic. He wasn't quite as good as his silent companion, but he was good all the same. "You two can go. You've done enough today."

"Won't hear me complainin'," he grumbled.

"That would be a first," I told him without thinking.

He scowled at me. “You've been around that mouthy bastard too much."

I frowned. “I don't need your opinions on what I’m doin', alright? Now go get some food."

I had to admit Samuel seemed to be rubbing off on me because that was exactly what he would say. The thing was, I was doing my best not to spend too much time with him. It was probably stupid to be worried that people might grow suspicious since I was still supposed to be in charge of his sentence, but I still couldn't shake the fear.

It didn't help that since we'd had our fun a couple of weeks ago, it had grown increasingly difficult to behave around him. Just looking at him for too long gripped my attention and refused to let go. It was worse when he was working, unaware I was watching him. His skin, covered in sweat and rippling with the muscles he'd been steadily building for weeks, always caught the sunlight and held me with a death grip. I could stand and watch him for hours, bending over and moving things, his face a mask of concentration as he worked.

Which was made even worse by the fact that we hadn't been celibate the past couple of weeks. Nothing had escalated, but we hadn't kept our hands or mouths to ourselves. I might have started off feeling awkward and bumbling when it was my turn to pleasure him, but just paying attention to him had done wonders to improve my skills. That or he was very good at pretending I was getting better to feed my pride, which was strange on its own, but I could see other parts of him I’d never imagined.

My thoughts were making my pants more than a little uncomfortable, so I did my best to push them away before they grew out of control like they so often did. Instead, I forced myself to walk to the tub in the work shed. I had told my father there needed to be water accessible to the men and nearby. It certainly created better team morale, and happy men were productive men.

Today had gone on longer than a standard work day, so no one else was around as I entered the shed and dipped myhand into the tub. I hadn't known it, but someone had recently replaced the water, so it was still cool enough to feel good against my heated skin. I pulled my shirt off, dangling it over a nearby fence, and cupped the water to drip over my head.

A shiver ran down my back at the feel of the water as it cooled my overly heated skin, trickling down under my pants as I rubbed at my face. I tried not to bend over the water and risk tainting it. One of the biggest points against water in many locations was scarcity. I had pointed out to my father that if we were smart and didn't replace it routinely, then we would be fine. The ranch was built around several water sources above and below ground that could be used and refilled every winter into spring. It was one of the reasons my grandfather had chosen the land once he'd had it surveyed, and I didn't see a point in not using it to its fullest.

A soft crunch of dirt under boots told me I wasn't alone, and I waited, unsurprised when I heard a familiar, smirking voice. "Well, I was coming to see if you were going to join us for a late supper, but I didn't realize I was going to get a nice peek in the process."

I turned from the tub to find him standing at the entrance to the shed, arms crossed with a familiar, playful smile on his face. He wasn't bothering to hide that he was staring at me, practically ripping my clothes off with his eyes. Which, of course, made my previous thoughts come back as I stared at him, feeling a familiar and usually welcome heat growing in my gut.

"Came to ask and ended up staring instead," I said, wiping my face. "How long have you been done?"

"Over an hour," he said, uncrossing his arms and pushing away from the wall. "Pretty much everyone's back either resting or getting food. Wondered what happened to you, Scowls and Mute."

"Is...you call your bunk mates that?"

"Well, they're my bunk mates, not my friends. And I'm fairly sure Mute likes me, but he follows Scowls' lead."

"Not everyone has to have a strong way of doing things like you."

"You're one to talk."

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