Page 47 of Charming the Cowboy
“Why don’t you drop your car back off at your place. I’ll pick you up in your driveway.”
Which is exactly what he did. And it did feel a little bit like high school. Like the thing she never had. And really, not like anything he’d ever had.
He had physical relationships, but there wasn’t this intimacy to it. He knew her. He knew Eliana, and that made it different. He said as much when they got inside his house. “You’re special, you know that, right?” He didn’t know what was straying too far into admitting feelings. He didn’t think he was allowed to.
She nodded, though, didn’t scold him, didn’t say he couldn’t say it. “You too.”
He had never brought a woman back to his house before. He didn’t tell her that. He didn’t tell her that, as he kissed her and walked her back to his bedroom, it felt like something singular. As he stripped her clothes away, kissed his way down her body, lingering over that tattoo, he didn’t tell her that she was something fierce and wild that he wanted to grab onto, because it was nothing like what he had inside of him.
Dependable.
That’s what he was.
And she was this wild creature, who gave him tarot readings and had a secret tattoo. Who believed in magic. Curses and benevolent spells in equal measure. Who was so bright and sunny, and frankly weird. With her enormous fake spider and her proclamations of loving all creatures. She was just every inch herself.
She was herself, and he wanted that spark. That beauty that seemed to come from deep inside of her. That magic. He wanted crystals in his pockets, and all these things that he said were dumb, that now felt like they were missing from him. And only she had it. But he didn’t say that. He kissed her. And kissed her. Laid her down on the bed, tasted the sweetness of her skin. Made her cry out as he ate at the honey between her thighs. And then took them both to heaven over and over again.
She cupped his face, looked right into his eyes as he entered her in one smooth thrust. It had never been like this before for him, because it had never been Eliana. He remembered what she’d said to him last night. It had never worked before because it wasn’t him. And he might’ve had sex before, but it wasn’t the same. There was some piece of himself that had always been held back, because it wasn’t her. She was everything. And she had returned the fundamental piece to him that he hadn’t known was missing. Hope. Magic.
She cried out his name, arching against him, and he let himself go over the edge. He came with her name on his lips. And then he held her close.
“I should probably go,” she said sleepily.
“Why?”
“Well, I’m sure Hank can keep them from noticing for a while, but eventually…”
“I drove you over here, remember? You’re my hostage.”
Her eyes went round. “Oh.”
“You’re going to stay the night with me, silly girl. I’m not letting you go that easily.”
She relaxed against him, settled against his chest. “Well, if you insist.”
“I absolutely do.”
“You’re so bossy,” she said on a yawn as she curled up against him, drifting off to sleep.
Practical. Dependable. Bossy. And facing desires he never wanted to have before. But he held on tightly to her and tried to comfort himself with the fact that this wasn’t anything he was going to have to figure out.
Because as long as Eliana believed that she was cursed, she wouldn’t ask him for more.
So he would never have to be braver than his fear allowed him to be.
Chapter Nine
The whole month of October went by in a blur of passion, spiced cider, and nights spent in his bed, under his blankets, laughing, talking, and generally being a whole lot more than a fling.
Before she knew it, hayride time was over, and it was Halloween.
“Do you still want to come to my house for trick-or-treating?”
“Yeah. I said that I would.”
“You have to dress like a cowboy,” she told him.
And he did. He showed up at the Sanderson house, fully dressed as a cowboy, a slightly curmudgeonly smile on his face.
