“You can see them, but only barely. The lights of the city are everywhere. Unlike here where there is absolutely none around for miles in every direction. Then there’s the peace and quiet. Back home there is always something to be heard. Being here, it’s like going back in time or something.”
Her words triggered something in me, and I remembered what she told me when I first met her. I couldn’t help but rib her just a little. “Ahh, so you still think you need to send a smoke signal then? Maybe a messenger pigeon with an S.O.S note to get you out of here?”
She rolled her eyes but smiled widely. “No, cowboy. I’m exactly where I need to be.”
I pulled her even closer to me, kissing her temple this time. “As am I, darlin’.”
The crickets were singing quietly around us as I repositioned the blanket so it laid over her legs a little better when she snuggled in closer to me. “Comfy?” I asked her, hoping like hell she was, as the feel of her pressed in tight against me was something I was quickly becoming attached too.
“Yep. You?”
Squeezing the top of her arm a little, I smiled out to the nothingness. “Very.”
A little while later, her hand peeked out from under the blanket and covered her mouth as she yawned beside me. “I think it’s probably about time I head to bed.” Removing my arm from around her shoulders, she sat up and looked over at me. “Thanks for tonight. I had a really great time; I mean that, Ryder. It was honestly one of the best nights I’ve had.”
Unfolding the blanket from her lap, she stood up. I followed her, quickly tossing the blanket on the seat we’d vacated. Her words warmed my soul. “Me too.” I stepped closer to her, catching her hips with my hands and pulling her firmly against me. She let out a huff of air as we connected. “Thanks for agreeing to it.”
“Well, I don’t really think I had any choice now, did I?” she whispered back at me. Her lips moved a fraction at the sides, kicking up a little and then flattened once again. I knew without a doubt, she was trying her hardest to hold back a smile. I didn’t want her to, though, because, hell, she was beautiful anytime, but when she smiled, it threatened to undo me completely.
“Is that right?” I leaned down and pressed a kiss to the spot where her shoulder met her neck and enjoyed the feel of her shivering at the connection. “I think you’re being dishonest.” I pressed my lips a little higher this time, along the column of her long neck. “Actually, I know you’re being dishonest.”
“Am I?” Her voice was a whisper of breath and if it weren’t next to my ear, I doubt I would have heard it at all. I felt the pressure of her hand as it came up to cup the back of my head, holding me in place, which wasn’t a bad thing. I was more than happy to keep my lips on her soft skin.
“Yes. I know that in the end, you actually wanted to come on a date with me.” I kissed along her jaw, all the way up to her ear, blowing just a little warm air onto it before following it up with a flick of my tongue. The answering hitch in her breath made me smile. She was like putty in my hands at this moment. I could lead her wherever I wanted, and I was pretty sure she would follow. But that wasn’t how I wanted this to go. I wanted anything we did to be a choice we made together, never led by one party or another.
“You’re right. I did want to go on a date with you. I just didn’t know how much I wanted to go on that date until you asked me.”
Her confession did something to me. Her words had lit a fire that I’d tried to keep banked since I first kissed her in the barn. But honestly, it wasn’t working. Tonight’s date did nothing more than add tinder to it. Even some damn gasoline was thrown on top. I was burning for her, and she didn’t even know it.
Leaning back, I stood at my full height, a good half a foot taller than she did, cupping her cheeks with my hands. Scanning her face, I saw no hesitation or shyness there, so I leaned down and kissed her. I kissed her softly, but passionately. Putting my emotions into the kiss. The feel of her hands wrapping around my wrists, holding me closer to her, had me flicking my tongue and nipping her bottom lip with my teeth.
I kissed her like that for a good five minutes or so, though in all honesty it could have been hours. The one thing I knew for sure was that when we finally pulled apart, I wasn’t the only one who was breathless. If I had to take a bet, I would put a hundred dollars on the fact she was feeling the same emotions I was.
Maybe, just maybe, she was falling for me, just as hard as I was falling for her.
“Well. Goodnight then.”
Smiling down at her, my gaze flicked between her eyes that were full of emotion, and her kiss-swollen lips that were begging to be kissed again. With great self-control, I managed to rein in my desire to devour her. I was a gentleman after all. “Goodnight, darlin’. Sleep well.”
She turned and headed inside. I heard her wishing sweet dreams to someone else. I turned and walked to the porch railing, and leaned on it as I looked out at the ranch that had been with our family for generations.
Was this the beginning of my own story? Of our story?
More to the point, did this story have a happy ending? I sure as fuck hoped it would.