aren’t afraid to protect ourselves, and if he wants to learn that lesson the hard way, he can go right ahead.”
Wyatt almost grins. “You sound like a cowboy in an old western.”
Wes shrugs. “I’ve been a lot of places, Wyatt, and I’ve learned there are different definitions for justice. If Dixon wants to operate outside the law, he’ll find there are others willing to do the same.”
The subtle violence of Wes’s words frighten me, but there’s something about them that makes my thighs clench, my heart beat erratically.
Wes’s hand squeezes mine. “You ready to get out of here?”
I nod my agreement and say goodbye to Wyatt. As we step away, Wyatt calls Wes’s name.
“Thanks for jumping in when you didn’t even know what you were jumping into.”
I watch the understanding light up Wes’s eyes. He’s silent, looking at his little brother for a few beats, then he nods his head at him. “Get rid of what you have in your pocket,” he tells Wyatt.
Wyatt walks to the bathroom and we head for the exit.
When we get to Wes’s truck, he opens my door and helps me in even though I don’t need it. Like a bookend to the night, he leans into the open passenger doorframe. His eyes implore me, asking me to love him, needing somewhere to put all the emotion he was feeling when he rushed in to protect his brother.
I kiss him. It’s short, sweet, and chaste. And yet, it sends shivers through my entire body.
“You still coming home with me?” His voice is low.
I smile at him. “Most definitely.”
It was cute how we thought we could make it all the way to Wes’s cabin.
I don’t know what happened after we left The Chute, but it was urgent. Wes’s hand was on my knee, then my thigh, slipping under my skirt, traveling up, up, up until I was gripping the door. He pulled over on a side road closer to the ranch than to Sierra Grande, a dirt road lit by nothing but the stars and the pale light from the half moon.
Now the truck’s passenger door is open and my head is almost hanging out of it. The cool night air swirls around us, and my hair tumbles down out of the truck. Wes is on me, in me, all around me. His presence is commanding, both physically and emotionally.
I moan, maybe I say his name, I’m not certain. My nose presses into his neck and I inhale. He smells spicy and manly, and it’s the best thing my nose has ever come across. I want to dig in, to stay here forever. And what Wes is doing to my body right now? The slow, unhurried pace, one hand in my hair, the other trailing over my hip, cupping my breast, thumb brushing over me. I don’t want that to end, either. Ever.
The sensation builds, slow and delicious and excruciating, and Wes feathers kisses over my throat as my head tips back and I let go. My pleasured cries stretch into the half-lit darkness. Wes follows soon after, his back muscles flexing under my palms as he reaches his high, then collapses on top of me.
Our breathing evens out, and he lifts his head. The dim moonlight shines through the windshield, illuminating half of Wes’s face. He looks calm and sated.
My hand abandons his lower back, traversing the smooth, hard muscle of his body, over the nape of his neck and around, so I can touch his face.
He turns into my touch, pressing a kiss to the inside of my palm. “I want to take you somewhere.”
“We were on our way to somewhere when this happened.” My hips wiggle to make my point.
He breathes an amused sound. “Not my cabin. Somewhere else. Will you go with me?”
“I’ll go anywhere with you.” To your cabin. To your favorite place in the world. To the place inside where you hide your pain.
I can see how much my words mean to him. He sits back on a bent knee between my splayed legs, ducking his head so he doesn’t hit it on the truck roof. I push to sit, swinging my legs so my feet are on the floor.
Reaching into my purse, I pull out a few tissues and hand one to Wes. “I don’t know about you, but I’m a mess. And it’s your fault.”
Wes plucks the offered tissue from my hand. “How about we stop at my place to clean up, then I take you somewhere?”
I nod