“I want to be near you. I want to touch you, but I don’t know what I did. I don’t know why we stopped.”
I squint at Hickory’s neck where Jedd’s hand strokes the horse. “I got in my head a little. What you said. Maybe the room.” My eyes lower for the dirt floor under my feet. In my periphery, Jedd’s hand comes to my nape, and it forces me to look up.
“Let’s be clear. I want you, anyway I can take you. If it’s bits and pieces, I can wait.”
“You said you could only be patient for so long.”
Jedd huffs with a strained chuckle. “Yeah, well, you were witnessing a man at the end of his rope,” he teases. “I’d been wound tight coming here, and you weren’t what I expected would unravel me.”
“And what did you expect?” I tug back, but Jedd’s grip on my neck holds me in place. Does he mean he thought he’d encounter someone young and fit? Someone loose and bubbly? Someone like one of his buckle bunnies?
“I didn’t expect you.”
I tug back again, adding my hands to the mix and pressing at his shoulders. We’ve shifted from him petting the horse to my back against the stall. He’s caging me in as he does—a trapped animal looking for an escape.
“No running,” he warns as if he reads my thoughts. “I didn’t expect how I’d feel about you. How badly I’d want you. That sassy mouth. Those steel eyes. That damn fucking shoulder.” Without further words, he grips my coat, tugging it to the side, taking my loose sweater with it, and sucks at my skin. My knees buckle, and he wraps his arm around me. He nips and licks, working his way to just under my ear.
“A man changes all his plans for a woman like you.”
My mouth gapes, but he doesn’t give me time to respond before his lips crash into mine. Rough and ready, he commands me to open to him. This isn’t the tender, sweet touch of the man on my couch but a man on fire with need and desire. And I feel the same. I don’t want to be wishy-washy or come across inconsistent because there’s something he’s doing to me. I pull back.
“Don’t call me baby.” I gasp before his mouth returns to mine.
“Okay…what else?” He doesn’t let me respond, coming in for more lips.
“Don’t ask me to ride you?” He pulls back, searching my eyes.
“What the fuck?”
“And that too. When you said fuck, baby, I just…” Shut down.
“Fucking Howard, that’s what I should say,” Jedd hisses.
“Yeah, and for good measure, maybe he shouldn’t be mentioned either.”
Jedd chuckles, wrapping his arm around my neck and tugging me back to him. “The only name I want to hear cross those lips is Jedd.”
Jedd. Jedd. Jedd.
“I might be persuaded to do that.”
“You don’t seem like the type to be swayed, Bee.” He teases me, but he runs his nose up my neck and nips my earlobe.
“And that’s one more thing. My name.”
“Bev. Er. Lee,” he groans, and I shiver at his teasing tone, but then I still, and he draws back.
“I’ve never been a fan of nicknames. Never thought I’d want endearments, but there is something about you calling me Bee and honey, and not calling me Beverly when we’re…you know.”
His expression softens, and his cheeks pink with the cool air of the stable. “You know?” He tips up an eyebrow and then chuckles. “That’s a mighty long list. Anything left I can do?” He’s still teasing me.
“That list is short.” My brow tips back at him. “Unless that’s all you got.” The innuendo is present and clear, and Jedd’s eyes narrow on me.
“You should know by now how long I am, but maybe you need a persuasive reminder.”
“I…” His mouth covers mine, and the next thing I know, we’re moving. My back hits another stall, and then the door behind me slides. I’m pressed inside, and the door closes. Jedd’s mouth comes back to mine, and we lower.
“A roll in the hay,” I mock as we collapse rather uncoordinatedly to a pile of straw. He tugs at my coat, slipping it off and sliding it under me, lower than necessary. My butt rests on the padded material. A piece of hay pokes through my sweater, but I’m distracted quickly by Jedd’s mouth on mine again and another long minute of corner mouth kisses and sucking my lower lip.
“The only thing rolling is going to be my tongue.” With that, he pulls back, shrugs off his jacket and slips it over his head. He looks ridiculous until I understand. My jeans come undone, and he shrugs them to my knees. My backside hits the fabric inside my open coat underneath me.
“Bend,” he commands, and I do as I’m told while at the same time, I can’t believe what he’s about to do. With his jacket draped over his head to keep me covered and warm, the heat of his mouth hits my core, and I buck up.
Sweet butter on biscuits.
“Dripping honey,” he moans, holding his forearms over my thighs to keep me in place as his tongue returns to my center, lapping and licking, and I see I was wrong. The list might be short of things Jedd can’t say or do, but it’s long on the things he can. I squirm, and I moan as he sucks and savors, drawing over me like a favorite treat. Quickly, I relax, giving in to a pleasure I never had in this position. Jedd takes his time until I’m calling out his name like he promised I’d do.
“Jedd. Jedd. Jedd.” The final cry is a sweet purr in response to the mystery and magic of that wicked tongue. Jedd drags out each lap until I can’t take any more. My quivering thighs cease. Dripping honey, indeed. I’m liquid on this pile of scratchy straw.
When Jedd pulls back, he’s pleased as punch with himself. He sits back on his haunches, and I sit up, right my pants and then tug him back down to me, kissing him in gratitude.
“You like that, honey?” He chuckles against my lips. I freaking loved it, but I don’t tell him. His smug satisfaction spurs me on. I press at his shoulders, flipping him to his back. I slip over him, kissing him like we were on my couch. Maybe that’s the trigger. Maybe it’s the house. Maybe I can be free as long as it’s not inside. My kisses aren’t as practiced as his. I’m eager and anxious, but I know what I want to do.
I lower on Jedd’s body.
“Bee, honey.” His hand comes to the nape of my neck, but I won’t be deterred. My fingers fumble and shake as I undo this belt. His head lifts, and his claw-hand stops my struggle. “We don’t need to rush. You don’t need to do this.”
My eyes meet his. “I need this.” For some reason, I want to prove I can do this. I want to give something to him. My expression must tell him what I can’t say because he reaches for his jacket, pushed aside after what he did. He drags it under his backside. “Don’t need straw where it ain’t intended to be.”
Dear God. I laugh, the tension easing out of me as I finish unbuckling his heavy belt and then unzip his zipper. I inspect him. I don’t mean it to be an assessment, but more inquisitive. I’ve only ever seen one man’s…and Jedd is notably different. Long and thick in my fist. My mouth waters, and I lick my lips.
“Sweet Jesus,” Jedd moans, and I look up to see him watching my face. “When you lick your lips…” His head falls back, and I giggle before lowering. Taking him in, I swallow, and Jedd flinches. His hand comes to my head as he swears with a word I warned him against, and then he quickly apologizes before begging me, “Don’t stop. Please. Bee. Please.”