Roped Tight (Ryker Ranch #4) - Kim Loraine Page 0,54

too,” I murmured against his mouth.

His harsh breaths came in ragged draws as the kiss deepened and changed into something less ravenous and more…passionate. I needed him to say it again, to remind us both that we were in this together. No uneven, one-sided, unrequited bullshit. This was us. The two of us together. Just like it was supposed to be.

“Say it, Tucker.”

He nodded slightly.

“No. I need to hear it. Say the damn words, and then whatever else you’re feeling, whatever you’re carrying. Get it all out with me.”

Gripping my face between his rough palms, he pressed our foreheads together and let out a broken, “I love you. I’m in love with you. I always have been.”

His kiss was different this time. It was a calm before a storm. Electrically charged, the need built with each pass of his lips, each brush of his tongue with mine. “Take off your clothes,” he whispered.

“You first.” Releasing me, he stepped back and moved toward the door. “Wait, where are you going?”

A smirk twisted his lips. “To shower.”

“Now?”

"I'm not gonna sleep with you like this—covered in sweat and grime. Not when you look like that." He motioned to me. I wasn't exactly clean. It had been one hell of a day.

"Then I hope you're interested in having company. I've had fantasies about you and me in the shower together."

He chuckled. "Is that so?"

"Ever since the waterfall."

Eyes locking on mine, he licked his lips and took a long, controlled breath. "That was something."

"Something mighty fine, if I remember it right."

"I'm sure you do. Maybe we can top it?"

My chest lightened at the playfulness in his voice. "Yes. I think I'm up for that challenge."

His gaze flicked to the door, then back to me. "I don't know if we'll both fit in my shower."

"We'll make it work."

I followed him out of the garage and into the now quiet house. The bathroom was the kind of small that spoke to old buildings made for necessity, not comfort, and yeah, the shower wasn’t anything to write home about, but we'd fit. I didn't mind being close to him.

He turned the water on full blast and grinned at me. "Now, clothes."

"I like it when you're demanding."

"I like it when you're naked."

Unsnapping the buttons on my shirt, I swallowed past a dry throat at the look in his eyes. He was a man starved. There was something about the way he wanted me. Maybe it was the fact that it mirrored my own feelings, maybe because he had been unattainable for so long. Probably both. It hit me hard each time I saw that need in him. A longing for the time we missed, a need to make up for everything and to hold on like hell so it didn't happen again.

When I was completely stripped and standing before him in the bathroom, I jutted my chin forward, not saying a word. He knew what I was asking for. His turn.

A low chuckle was his only response as he slipped off his shoes and shoved the sweats down his hips. Goddamn, he was just fucking perfect. I don't know why I ever thought I'd be able to spend my life without him. I'd been an idiot. But now? Now I didn't have to ever experience that again. Tucker Weston was mine. I wouldn't let him go.

Tucker

"I know we have to go back to the real world and face everything, but damn if I don't want to hide here for a little while longer," I said, trailing my fingers through Sam's still damp hair as we lay in bed together after...everything.

I was a weird mixture of sated, happy, and terrified. No matter what Sam said, I'd really fucked things up. I'd assaulted one of the guests, a cast member of their show, their livelihood, the one thing that had saved the ranch. He might think I need to be there, to be part of the family, but family was blood. That wasn't me. What if they all disagreed with him?

"There's nothing left to face."

"He could still press charges. He could sue the ranch, or me."

"I'll pay him off. I can afford a settlement if we need to do it. In fact, I've got enough money from my investments that we don't need to keep the show going if we don't want to."

I frowned and propped myself up on my elbow. "Then why didn't you help Clint out when his ex embezzled most of the ranch's funds?"

"He didn't tell me what