Page 34 of Tusks & Saddles
Will gasped at the first brush of his lips against her curls. That gasp turned into low moans then into whimpers as he tormented her with his tongue. Her toes curled as he finally wrapped his lips around her desperate clit. Hips bucking, she grabbed a hold of the sheets like it were handles on a bike. Boone played her like a well-loved fiddle. A coil grew taut inside her as he slowly worked her up into a frenzy. The second it snapped, she prayed his name over and over for mercy. He granted it by spearing her alive on his tongue.
Boone spent a long time, lazily lapping up every drop until Will wasn’t sure she could open her eyes again. Kissing back up her body, he returned to tangling up their lips. The tangy taste of her pleasure on his tongue, their kiss was sloppy.But the sweetest thing, like balm to my burning soul.She threw her arms around him and hugged him close. Her Paladin gave her only a few minutes respite before he kissed down her body again. This time, even slower till she was begging him for mercy again. Boone took his time. Goosebumps were permanently prickled all over her body by the time she finally cried out, “Please, fuck me.”
Boone scooped up her hips, his heavy cock tip pressing against her curls. “If that’s what you want, wicked thing.”
Before she could hit him withI’ll show you something wicked,he plunged into her. Will tossed her head back, moaning for all three of the moons. Boone stuffed her to the brim and made her full again. With him there, in her bed, door crackling with magic, she realized the full feeling was more than physical. Finding his mouth in the dark, kissing him like he was putting air in her lungs, she let the feeling settle in her chest. Let it live there and know that she might be a long way from healed. The wound her father’s death left in her chest, the weight of having to figure out the ranch without him, of fighting for her mother’s love with a ghost that inhabited her body, all of it was so much. It used to make her feel hollow and angry.
While he didn’t fix all the things in her life, he took care of the things she wasn’t sure she could handle on her own. That’s what she needed, someone who could look a raging bull in the eyes and never flinch. And she loved him for that.
I love you Boone, it was bound to happen I guess. Maybe the Sun Bringer sent you to me. I don’t pray to her, and I know she owes me no favors, but thank you.Thank you for putting him in my path, for making him loveJacobus first, letting him show his hand first…I don’t think I would have believed him otherwise.
And as Boone spilled into her, panting against her lips with that easy smile curled up on his face, she knew she’d feel full for the rest of her life.Because he’s not going anywhere.
Chapter Eighteen
Boone
“You want to what?” Jacobus chuckled from the pen where they’d released the calves and the mommas. Twelve days since they got home and it was a whirlwind.Then again, it’s not Last Chance Ranch without a little chaos.He’d taken some time away from the Paladins to help get the ranch back up. Even moved out of his room at the guild.Not that I had much.A chest full of random stuff, a sack full of clothes, and a few books. Even Will asked where the rest of it was, which only made Jacobus laugh as he pulled out the notebook and pencils from his bedside table. Then it was full steam ahead as they got the ranch ready for the next round of breeding season. The cows who had babies last season needed to be separated so they could keep raising their young, while the other half got busy making more calves. Plus, there was the cabin on the ranch that needed fixing. That’s where Boone and Jacobus were, fixing the hole in the roof.
Willamina was out in the fields with the horses, working to teach Levi to ride the people-pleasing pony they kept on the ranch. It gave Boone the perfect opportunity to talk to Jacobus without her hearing about it.
“I want to do something special. So, I need you to get your momma out of the house,” Boone explained a second time.
“What kind of special?” Jacobus squinted at him suspiciously.
“Do you really want to know?” Boone cocked his head. Jacobus paled and shook his head, returning to his work of nailing down wood. After he burst in on Boone showing Willamina what she could do with that wicked mouth of hers in the stables the other day, he’d stopped asking about the pair of them. At first, he’d been curious and excited. Jacobus liked seeing Will happy. Then, as things always happen to get, he stopped thinking of it as ‘my best friend has someone special’and started seeing it as ‘my sister is in love with my best friend’.While there wasn’t a perfect ending to it, Boone knew better than to hope for just bewildered acceptance. Jacobus accepted that he was in love with Will. Will accepted that Boone had two hands.
And as the days continued on, he would do everything in his power to make sure it stayed that way.
“I’ve taken a job, protecting a high cleric of Sun Bringer from the stronghold to Gloomsdale. We’ll be away for two weeks.”
“We?” Jacobus blinked rapidly, glancing down at him off the side of the beam he was currently straddling.
“Yeah, we. I got approval to bring a gunslinger with me. The guild doesn’t want anything going wrong, especially since that train robbery a few weeks ago. We’re getting the cleric from the stronghold to the temple in Gloomsdale where the Paladin’s there will take over.” Boone nodded at Jacobus. The daemon hugging a fresh oakwood beam grimaced down at him. Boone rolled his eyes, “You’ll be fine.”
“I’m not a gunslinger, Boone. I haven’t even touched a gun. I lasso runaway cattle from the back of a horse.” Jacobus wobbled and nearly dropped the hammer in his hand onto Boone’s head.That’ll be three times today.Boone nodded at the hammer and Jacobus rushed to sheath it in his toolbelt.
“I know that, Kid. The guild doesn’t actually need a gunslinger, but if you come with me, they’ll pay us both for the job.” Boone returned to leveling out the panels of floor into the bottom of the cabin.
“So, you just want me to go for extra money?”
Boone huffed.These Jones’ are going to be the death of me.“I want you to go cause you’re my best friend and I don’t want to be stuck on a train making small talk with a cleric for several days on end.”
“Oooooooh,” Jacobus dragged out the word with a knowing bob of his head. “You don’t want to have to talk to them and you’re hoping I’ll be your Chatty Cathy, huh?”
Boone jabbed a finger up into the air letting Jacobus know he’d hit the jackpot. His best friend snickered the whole way back onto the roof to grab more lumbar and nails. While Boone had several reasons to keep Jacobus on his hip, the main reason he did it was to keep an eye on him. For the last twelve days, Jacobus didn’t even sniff in the direction of alcohol. Will even made a show of throwing everything in the house into the bunkhouse and threatening the ranch hands that any who gave Jacobus a sip would immediately get the boot. Not that she needed to worry, with Boone keeping the boy run ragged, he’d no time to chug anything but water.
However, Jacobus didn’t need to know he was worried he’d slip off the wagon. Until Boone was sure taking a job or two wouldn’t loosen the reins, Jacobus was his honorary sellsword. When the time came that his best friend was safe with just a list, then he’d ask if Jacobus wanted to go with him.
“So, uh, not the nitty gritty stuff, but what are you planning for Will? I can get momma out of the house easy, take her out for a date on the town and stuff. She’s been missing doing that withdaddy, and she’ll let me dress up the horses and stuff. But I’m curious.”
“I’m taking her dancing,” Boone smiled to himself.
“You’re what?” Jacobus half blurted out, half laughed. “Will hates dancin’!”
Boone snorted, shaking his head.No, she hates people.But he wasn’t going to argue with Jacobus over what Will did or didn’t like. While to her brother’s face she might spit and roll her eyes at the idea of dancing, that wasn’t the case for Boone. The second she suggested it, he knew what he needed to do. And best to do it tonight to keep her warm at night while he was gone.I want it to feel like I’m still with her even when I’m away. I want to keep proving I’m coming home to her, even when she’s worried I won’t.
And to say I love you to her face.He’d been tiptoeing around the words for a few days, wanting to find a good time to say it. Not that he was worried she didn’t feel the same—he was worried she wouldn’t hear it right. He wanted her to hear him and listen to him when he said those words.
