Page 43 of Alive and Wells

I let out an involuntary sigh, and drag my fingertips across his scalp. I’m kissing him. He’s kissing me. Although I’ve known him for two months, it feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life for him to kiss me. It’s raw and uninhibited and pure fucking bliss.

And I don’t know how much time has passed when we stop to catch our breath, but the sun sits lower in the sky. When I lick my lips, it burns the chapped skin. I’m weak and unsteady, intoxicated by him.

“We should head back,” he says in a low voice. “I don’t want to but…”

For once, I’m the one without words. “Mmhm,” I sigh into his neck as I unfurl myself from him.

The air’s cooler than it was when we walked into the lake, and the chill sends a shiver across my body. I tug jeans onto my damp legs and slip my shirt over my head, feeling my soaked bra instantly saturate the cotton. For once, Austin makes no effort to hide his staring as he boosts me into the saddle. Something about him looking at me makes me feel sexy in a way I never thought I was before. Like a prize he’s vying for.

“You win, by the way. This isdefinitelymy new favourite place,” I say with a smile I refuse to let go of. I’m going to go to bed like a giddy teenage girl tonight—cheeks aching, a flutter in my chest, kicking my feet in the air, squealing into the pillow.

I wish I’d brought my phone to take a photo of this moment. Specifically, a photo of his lopsided, boyish grin. The undoing of my grumpy, Not-A-Cowboy. Doing what he wants, enjoying himself, being reckless. In the mountains, it’s easy to forget everything except us. Consumed in each other for so long, everything else fades away.

Despite how much I love being at Wells Ranch, my heart plummets into my stomach when our horses round a corner, the farm buildings come into view, and reality sets back in.

Rough wood planking catches on my shirt as Austin presses me against the stable wall. His lips lock onto mine, and I need to tighten my arms around his neck to keep from buckling. Until today, nobody has ever kissed me in a way that melts my bones, and makes my heart feel like it’ll leap free from my chest.

My hands wander over him, feeling the way every muscle in his upper back dips and curves. Austin’s fingertip outlines my bra through my thin T-shirt, and I kiss him harder. My pulse’s steady drumming takes up residence below my navel. We’re lost together in the quiet stable, and I no longer understand why I was worried about getting off the mountain. The magic doesn’t need to end. My fingers hook his belt loops, drawing our hips together. There’s no mistaking his desire for our clothes to be gone, and I roll my hips to feel his hard bulge against the spot that’s beginning to throb. It’s not enough. I need more friction. A frustrated whimper rattles in the back of my throat as he grinds into me.

I fumble with his belt buckle until his hand covers mine. “Darlin’.”

To think, a few weeks ago, it felt condescending when he called me darling. Now I’m turning into a puddle at the sound of that word rolling off his tongue with a deep, wanton rasp.

“Aus,” I whine back. I don’t want to wait. Having to ride for two hours without feeling his hands on my skin or his lips on mine was more than enough torture.

“Darlin’, I’d love to do everything you want me to. I’d be so good to you. But the first time’s not gonna be here, in a dirty stable surrounded by horse shit.” His reassuring lips close over mine as a promise of what’s to come.

Somebody who’s neither him nor I clears their throat. There’s the stupid reality we had to come back to, staring at us with an amused grin and flaming auburn hair. Rather than stepping back, Austin’s hand on my waist holds tighter.

“I’m not usually one to interrupt… Hell, I love a good fuck in the barn as much as the next guy. But you two are right in the way of the tack room.”

“Oh, we weren’t…” I start to defend, trying to suppress the heat crawling up my neck, but Red puts his hand up to stop me.

“No need to explain, Filly. Just let me by ya real quick, and I’ll be outta your hair.” He skirts around us and through the door. A small laugh escapes me, and I plant one last, slow kiss on Austin.

“Kate’s likely waiting for us for dinner,” I say against his hot, blushing cheek. His quiet grumble of dissatisfaction cracks through my chest.

With a smile, I rub away the wrinkle formed between his eyebrows with my thumb. His eyes narrow with confusion and he pulls back slightly.

“Didn’t anybody ever tell you if you keep making that face, it’ll get stuck? Do you want this handsome face to have permanent frown lines? I certainly don’t.”

He rolls his eyes, leaning in to kiss me softly. Lips curving into a loose smile as they meet mine.

Kate knows instantly. Jackson probably does, too, although he makes a better effort to restrain his face. Not Kate. A smile reaches up to her eyes, which flit between us eagerly. I suppose there’s no hiding the redness on my face from Austin’s beard, and the plumpness of our freshly kissed lips.

“So, how was your day?” She cuts bite-size pieces on Odessa’s plate.

“Trail cams are good,” Austin says, disregarding Kate and looking over at Jackson instead. Jackson nods as he shoves a piece of steak into his mouth.

“But how was your day?” Kate asks again.

“Fine,” Austin says. He’s done with the conversation before it’s begun.

Swallowing a bite, I lick my lips slowly. “It was good. I’m not about to enter any rodeos anytime soon, but I didn’t fall off the horse. I’m counting it as a win. And Austin showed me the lake over the other side of the mountain—thank God, because the heat was brutal up there. And we checked the cameras and came home.”

I mean, we did a bit more than that, but I’ll let them fill in the blanks on their own.

Odessa perks up. “I want to go to a lake and I can ride a horse. Why didn’t I get to go?”

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