Page 6 of His Cowboy Heart

God, I hated thinking about him without having a name to go with the face that had haunted my dreams every night from the moment I’d met him. As I’d jacked myself off in my sleeping bag the last few nights, I’d wanted a name to whisper as I came deep inside him while fucking him beneath a canopy of stars. I’d been tormented with images of him riding me, the sway of his graceful hips, his lust-filled eyes holding mine as his ass gripped me so tight that I wanted it to go on forever and also end as soon as possible so I could watch his body jerk with pleasure as I thrust up into him. With his cum spattered over my lower body and mine enveloping us both deep inside of him, I’d had this split second where I’d been so certain it had all been real only to come to my senses to find justmycum smeared all over my hand and abdomen.Iwas the only one breaking the silence of the forest around me with all my panting and grunting that accompanied the aftershocks.

“Damn it,” I muttered as I dismounted and loosened my horse’s girth enough that the saddle would stay in place but would also give my mount some relief from the pressure along the sensitive skin just behind his front legs.

The first thing I needed to do was find my new boss or the ranch’s foreman and introduce myself.

Unfortunately, my body wasn’t listening to my brain, and I ended up at the base of the steps for the wraparound porch. I dropped my horse’s reins to the ground, which was the automatic signal for him to stay where he was, and then I was climbing the steps. The front door looked a million miles away, yet my heart was racing with what I’d find on the other side of it.

My palms were sweating when I pulled my hat from my head and then knocked on the door. I glanced behind me to see if anyone had noticed my presence, but everyone was doing their own thing.

I knocked again.

“’Mumin,” I heard someone call out from inside the house. I couldn’t make sense of the words but figured on a working ranch, people were coming and going all the time, so I reached for the doorknob.

“Hello?” I called as I scanned the quaint kitchen. It was somewhat outdated but clean. There were small knickknacks here and there, but what caught my attention was two very old, very used mugs sitting in the middle of the kitchen table with an old-fashioned carafe, probably for coffee. It was a strange centerpiece to be sure, but who was I to judge? It wasn’t like I knew what passed for interior decorating skills, even in a refurbished farmhouse. It smelled heavenly, though. Apple pie maybe?

“’Ngon.’”

The response to my greeting still made no sense, but it didn’t matter. I’d already started searching out the stairs because I could tell the voice was coming from below me.

I easily found the basement door but when I opened it, I was greeted with a huge laundry basket that appeared to have a significant amount of wet bedding in it. I couldn’t see the face hidden behind the stack of laundry that had to weigh a ton. Disappointment went through me when I looked down and all I could see were skinny legs in black leggings and the hem of a gray sweatshirt that looked several sizes too big.

All the anticipation that had been building from the moment I’d seen that car outside changed to irritation. As far as I knew, the guy could be long gone. The Range Rover’s presence didn’t mean the enchanting man with the unique eyes was anywhere on Black Hills Ranch or even in Wyoming anymore. After the way he’d been treated in Eden, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d been on a plane by that evening.

The stairs leading up from the finished basement had some lighting, but it wasn’t particularly bright. Without thinking about it, I reached for the laundry basket, not giving its owner any kind of warning. The basketwasas heavy as it looked so as I took it, I lost my balance. I would have recovered quickly if the person on the other side hadn’t been struggling to hang on to the basket.

Between my lack of verbally offering to take the basket before I actually did so and the other person not releasing it, there was no avoiding the disaster. I heard a sharp shout as the person began to fall backwards, releasing the basket in the process. Thankfully, my instincts kicked in and I released my hold on the basket and reached out to grab the flailing hand that was trying to grasp the banister. Wet laundry and the plastic laundry basket hit me in the face in the process.

I managed to get hold of the hand, but it didn’t do either of us much good. All I managed to do was wrap my arms around the other person so I could protect their body with mine as we tumbled down the stairs. Although the accident had taken mere seconds, it felt like slow motion. By the time it was over, I was crumpled up against the banister and we were both nearly halfway down the stairs.

Despite my own bumps and bruises and a wet sheet covering my face, I was more worried about my unwitting victim. “Miss, are you hurt?” I asked. She was lying half on top of me and only managed to answer my question with a groan. Fearing that she could seriously be injured, I tried to sit up without moving her too much. Both my arms were still around her, so I didn’t have a free hand to yank the sheet off my face.

“Miss, you need to tell me if you’re hurt. I can’t quite sit up yet?—”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I heard averyfamiliar voice grumble. The sheet was ripped from my face none too gently. “God, you again,” the man muttered in disgust. He climbed off me, making sure to knee me in the balls in the process. Luckily, his aim was off enough that I could breathe and speak.

And move.

I grabbed the man and, despite the pain in my head, yanked him back down. I barely recognized him without his makeup and shiny clothes. So much so that I couldn’t find my words. Without those unique eyes of his, I probably wouldn’t have recognized him at all.

“Nice work, genius. You saved the damsel in distressagain,” he snapped. His eyes burned with fire, but it was the black and blue mark around his eyes that held my attention. I automatically reached out to touch the bruised skin. I’d let those three fuckers off too easy.

“What?” the man asked, his tart comment catching me off guard and forcing my gaze to meet his head-on. “You want some kind of thanks or a reward? A kiss, maybe?” he sniped. He had the audacity to lower his mouth so it was within inches of mine. “Because I assure you, cowboy, the next time Ithankyou—”—he rubbed his semi-hard cock against mine—“I’m going to make sure you know what’sreallybetween my legs.”

The young man might have intended to try and turn me off, but all he did was make me forget every bump and bruise. As he tried to climb off me for a second time, I snatched him by the back of his neck so that his mouth was achingly close to mine. “I’ll settle for a namethistime around.”

“Fuck you,” he responded before pulling free of me. He began collecting the wet laundry and clothespins as he made his way down the stairs. “Actually, it’sMr. Fuck You,” he snapped. “Wouldn’t want that hick brain of yours to get all confused again.”

If my head hadn’t hurt so much, I would have smiled. His show of spirit was a major turn-on, not that I needed any more of those. I sat up enough to make sure I wouldn’t pass out, but before I could string more than a few words together, Fuck You glanced at me. He sighed loudly and put down the basket, then closed the distance between us.

“Let me see,” he said. “Don’t move.” With him standing and me sitting, it meant my face was practically pressed against his groin. Unfortunately, when his fingers prodded a spot on the back of my head, my hard-on died a quick death. “You’re bleeding.”

“You almost sound worried, Fuck You,” I said, though the words were strained.

“You’re the one who pushed me down the stairs,” came the snide response. Then, just like that, his voice gentled. “Okay, you’re going to put your arm around me so I can steady you. I need more light to clean this.”

I would have liked to tell him I was fine enough to walk on my own, but I wasn’t sure. I still felt off balance and the last thing I needed was to take another tumble down the stairs. “Are you hurt, Fuck You?”

“I’m fine,” he said as he placed himself next to me and eased my arm over his shoulders then wrapped his arm around my waist. I wanted to look at him to see if he was smiling because it sounded like he was.

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