Roped Tight by Kim Loraine

Sam

It had beena long day filled with patching the roof, replacing rotted boards on the porch, and building a shelter for the firewood. I was hot, sweaty, and I still needed to exercise Shadow. Tucker was off doing God knew what. Surveying the land, that's what he said. I wanted him so bad I could taste his kiss if I closed my eyes and thought on it. That wasn’t gonna help me get through the rest of my day.

So, I saddled up Shadow and began my own exploration of the land. I rode trails, up hills that offered sweeping views of the mountains, and then I found the most perfect spot I'd ever seen. A waterfall. Not a large one, but it was big enough to offer a freshwater pool, a place for Shadow to get a drink, and a place for me to cool off. Dismounting, I led her to the pool and waited as she drank her fill. Then I hitched her to a tree nearby and sat on the closest boulder.

Sweat trickled down the back of my neck, between my shoulder blades, and all the way down the length of my spine. I took off my hat first, set it on the rock, then leaned down, scooping up some of the fresh cold water and splashing it on my face. It felt good. Bracing, but good. Slipping off my boots, I placed them next to my hat, then began stripping out of my clothes. No one was around. Besides, my dad bought the five acres of land this cabin sat on. This was our property. If I wanted to wander around naked as the day I was born, I could.

Stepping into the pool, I had to grit my teeth against the cold and its bite at my skin. But before long, I dipped my head under the water and swam lazily. The pool was only ten or so feet in diameter, just big enough that I had some space, and when I was standing, the water came chest high. It was perfect.

I waded to the waterfall and stood under the pounding stream, letting it massage my aching muscles, knowing I'd be here every damn day if I could.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him. Tucker stood at the water’s edge, a knowing smirk on his handsome face as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt.

"That is one fine picture, Sammy.”

“It’ll be even more fine if you’re in it too.”

He stripped down, naked and proud as he stood on the shore. Then he waded toward me, flinching slightly at the chill, but not slowing his pace as he closed the distance between us.

“Where have you been?” I asked as he slipped his arm around my waist and tugged me against him.

“Horse needed exercise. I needed to think.”

“About?”

“What happened between us. Whether I pushed you.”

“You didn’t push anything.”

“Didn’t I?”

I reached down between us and found him thick and hard. Grabbing both of our cocks, I stroked slowly. “Does this seem like you pushed me?”

I felt his groan all the way to my toes. “No.”

“Exactly.”

Working us over, I stared into his eyes and refused to break eye contact until we both came together, the orgasm rolling through me leaving me breathless. I loved the way his brows pulled together as the pleasure overtook him. On a rough moan, he leaned forward and kissed me deeply as we both came down from our high.

“I could spend every day like this,” I murmured later as we sat on the rocks with our feet still in the water.

“I see why this makes such a great escape. It’s perfect out here.”

“It really is.”

“I want something like this. Somewhere I can just sit outside and enjoy the beauty of nature every day.”

“You don’t like the ranch?”

He shrugged. “I like it just fine, but even there, it’s noisy. Trucks and tractors, wranglers moving cows, work being done. I want somewhere separate from all that. What about you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only ever lived on the ranch. I want to see more of the world. Explore before I find my place.”

He went quiet, contemplating something, but I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or bad. Then he got to his feet and held out a hand for me. “Cmon. We better get back to the cabin before dark.”

I followed his lead, the two of us dressing then mounting our horses. I’d never been attracted to a man on a horse. It wasn’t something special to me, I saw it all the time. But Tucker on a horse made me understand what was so damn sexy about a cowboy. Maybe it was this cowboy in particular. I wanted to look at him every day. But what I wanted more than anything was for him to be mine.

A week later,we were packed up and nearly ready to head back to the ranch. Tucker leaned against the side of the truck, hands in his pockets, eyes trained on the rolling clouds above. His beard had grown from neatly trimmed to a little bit wild. I didn’t hate it. In fact, one of my favorite things was the feel of his scruff along my inner thigh. I must've made some kind of noise because he snapped his focus to mine, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Staring?" he asked.

That familiar zing of excitement raced up my spine. "If I am, what are you gonna do about?"

His gaze turned dark, lust shining in the depths of his eyes. "Why don’t you come over here, and I’ll show you?”

Wishing this never had to end, I took a deep breath and strode toward him, already removing my hat to give him better access to my mouth. He grabbed me in that forceful way he had, the gesture sending my heart racing, before claiming my lips with his. So much lived behind his kiss, passion and tenderness, anger and desperation. I wanted to know what was going to his mind, what would cause such frantic need. He broke the kiss before things got out of control and we ended up delaying our already late return even further.

Breathing hard, I let out a low chuckle. “Fuck, I have to figure out how we can find time to do this when we get back to the ranch."

“When are you leaving? For Colorado?”

I shook my head. I’d made up my mind. I was staying. “I’m not. I’m turning it down, staying on the ranch to help out. We can be together.”

His posture stiffened, focus dropping to the ground. "Sammy, I don't think that’s such a good idea."

What the fuck was he talking about? What wasn’t a good idea? "I need you to explain. Because what it sounded like you just said was, you don't think we're a good idea."

"We aren't."

All the air left my lungs. Every single ounce, gone in one shot, as though he kicked me hard in the gut and knocked the wind out of me. My brows drew together as anger and disbelief warred for control of my emotions. "So… I'm good enough to fool around with in secret, but once we get to the real world, this isn't happening?"

All that shit he said about our bodies wanting each other, about him wanting me ever since I kissed him. He’d been telling me exactly what this was, and like an idiot, I thought he meant something different. I thought he meant this was something real. Not just something physical. He wanted my dick. Not me.

His eyes widened for just a minute, then hardened again. "It's not what I mean. I just… I can't get involved with you."

"Well, it sure as fuck seemed like you were involved with me when your mouth was on my dick."

He shook his head. Clenching his jaw, he sighed, the sound weary and frustrated. "What do you think your dad's gonna say when he finds out the two of us were up here fucking when we were supposed to be fixing up his love nest for your mama?"

I swallowed back a retort. He was right. When put that way, what we’d done, what had been eye-opening and life-changing for me, somehow now sounded sordid. I was Tucker Weston's dirty little secret.

I let out a bitter laugh. It was all I could do because the bile rising in my throat stole the words right out of my mouth. Slipping my hat back on my head, I turned away from him and strode out of sight, down the trail that led to a viewpoint that overlooked the vast expanse of forest and mountains beyond.

My fucking heart was breaking. But it wasn’t Tucker's fault. It wasn’t like he had promised me the world. Hadn't made allusions to a future together where we lived happily ever after. In fact, he’d done the very opposite. And still, I’d fallen fast and hard over the last two weeks. And knowing he never wanted more than this only made it hurt worse.