Page 23 of Swallow Your Fear
And for the third time, I watched Booker walk away from me without a worry in the world.
Maybe that was the way he was taught to deal with things—to just leave them behind him—but I wouldn’t stand for it.
If he didn’t want to admit his feelings, fine. He didn’t have to. Sex didn’t mean we were dating or anything. But while I lived in his house temporarily, he’d treat me like a human fucking being. I wasn’t to be used as a fuck toy, no matter how appealing the thought felt at the moment. I didn’t need strings, just pleasure, but already, my emotions were out for the world to see, and it was all because of Booker.
Chapter 11
Booker
“Don’t mix business with pleasure. Isn’t that what they say?” Austin teased from where he sat on the opposite side of the burn pile. We’d spent the day clearing some brush on the property, and as dusk fell, the debris kept on burning. About twenty minutes ago, we’d added some larger branches. Once those fizzled out, we’d head inside, but for now, we stuck around. Last thing I needed was a fire getting out of control and spreading to the land.
The amber glow from the flickering flames illuminated the space around us. We were pretty close to the driveway, the light from the barn glowing in the distance. Henley had brought some chairs out, which was where we sat now, spread out around the fire, enjoying some beers.
Without saying a word, they’d figured out the line I’d crossed with Brynne. I wasn’t one to mess around with women, but something about that girl made me break the boundaries I’d set for myself. I almost wanted to hate her for it, but it was no one’s fault but my own. She was in avulnerable state right now, giving me too much power when it came to her body. If I had half a mind, I’d tell her to go find a new fuck buddy—not that that was what we were, but if she wanted orgasms, she needed to look elsewhere—but the thought of her with someone without me there, those moans of pleasure being brought on from some other asshole, made my fists twitch with the urge to beat a man black and blue.
She was here for one reason, and one reason only: to help us get the deed to the ranch back in our possession. Not to get me off. Yet, it was a plus, and I didn’t want it to stop now that I knew what she felt like when she exploded around my cock, her inner walls milking every last fucking drop from me. I hadn’t even thought to ask if she was clean. Fuck, at the moment, I didn’t think it would have mattered. That woman was equivalent to a drug, so willing to get on her knees for me. I’d only done that to try to teach her some control with her fear, and she was bending it in all the wrong ways.
“Maybe you should tell Henley that.” I mean, shit, he was the one who’d lost our fucking livelihood in a childish game of pool.
Henley threw his hands out. “Don’t bring me into this. You’re the one fucking her.”
My eyes darkened in his direction. “I wouldn’t be fucking her if you hadn’t lost the deed to the only home we have.” It was a poor excuse to pin the blame on him. Before finding our place on this ranch, we’d been floaters, moving from place to place until we’d conjured up enough money to purchase the land. We lived in tents for years after that,right under the old sycamore tree by the barn, as we saved up to build the house.
“You’re blaming me for your dick banging the shit out of her?”
I slightly shook my head at the idiotic way he phrased it. Henley was a fucking dumbass sometimes. “I’m blaming you for her being here in the first place.”
“Is it so bad if you’re getting a few quick fucks out of it?” he asked.
My teeth ground together as Austin took a casual sip of his beer.
“You jealous, Hen?” Austin asked.
Henley’s eyes darted to him, the flame reflecting in them as he scoffed. “I wouldn’t want to fuck her with a ten-foot pole.”
The insult made me want to ring his neck out, but tires crunching over gravel pulled our attention away, presumably saving Henley’s life.
“Speak of the devil,” Austin muttered as Brynne’s car came into view.
She stopped it right outside the house, killing the headlights before turning off the car. As her form appeared in the moonlight, I found she was heading in our direction instead of into the house.
Rather than going through the gate, she hopped the fence, striding over to us in her little diner outfit. Speaking of killing someone, the length of that skirt made me want to gouge her boss’s eyes out. He knew what he was doing when he made them a requirement.
“Evening, boys,” she announced, not glancing my way.
My head moved as I tracked her, right to where she plopped her ass on Austin’s knee.
He sat there, frozen like a statue, as Henley’s brows rose.
“Good day?” she asked, like being perched on his leg was as casual as brushing her goddamn teeth.
My jaw ached as I tried to sit back in my chair, attempting to look relaxed but feeling anything but.
“It was great,” Austin said, keeping his hands off her, probably assuming I’d cut them off if given the chance. Smart guy.
Internally, I chastised myself. I didn’t have some fucking claim on her.
“Pretty boring if you ask me,” Henley replied.
