by A. D. Ryan
When I opened my eyes, I saw Jensen in the viewing gallery with the girls’ mothers—alive and well, as it would seem. The two women cast a look in his direction and stared a little longer than I was entirely comfortable with.
Completely ignoring them, he offered me a smile, while also shooting me a look that asked if I was feeling all right. With a nod, I assured him I was fine, and he waved before taking off to do his job.
I helped Maria and Lucy dismount before opening the arena door so they could go and brush Oscar and Gwen down. After assisting them with their tack, I made sure to stick around until they finished up and their parents joined us. Their mothers were also fans of the sport and gushed about how incredible it was that I was teaching their daughters. As they retreated, I also heard them comment on the attractive new “stud.” I knew they weren’t talking about Ransom.
Cougars. They weren’t just a threat to our livestock.
After returning Gwen and Oscar to their outdoor paddock, I saw Dad coming out of the new barn and waved. “Hey, Dad. How was today? I feel like I barely saw you.”
“Really busy. We’re a lot closer to finishing the barn, though. Come on, take a look.” Even though I was exhausted, he was so excited, so I tagged along with him. When we stepped into the enormous space, I was stunned. It had been a couple of weeks since I had been in here, when it was nothing more than beams and dirt. But now? Now there was a concrete aisle like the original barn, and there were walls and doors on each of the stalls.
“Wow, Dad! It looks great!” He gave me a tour of where the wash stalls and supply rooms were. I still couldn’t believe just how huge it was.
“Yeah, we just need one final inspection and we should be able to start boarding in here.”
We were one of the more popular riding stables in the area, so to be able to offer the space for more potential clients was a giant step for our business. It could easily push our yearly projections far past what we had ever projected—or even experienced.
“How were your lessons?” Dad asked as we exited the new barn.
Remembering how fantastic my day was—even with my sore ribs—I beamed. “So good, actually,” I reported. “I’d forgotten just how great teaching was. I think I want to do it more often. In fact, April, from my first class is amazing, and I think with a little extra work, she could compete in a couple years’ time. I’d like to talk to her and her parents about working with her privately—with Jill’s permission, of course.”
“Good for you, Madison. I always wondered why you stopped teaching.”
I shrugged. “Too busy working on my own career, I suppose.”
Nodding his understanding, Dad stopped outside the main barn. “True. Well, I’m glad you had a good day. Why don’t you head on home and relax. You worked hard today. Jeff and Tom are here for a bit, they can help me bring in all the horses.”
“You’re sure? That’s two nights in a row.”
“Yeah, you’re still walking like you’re in pain. Go home. Rest up,” Dad instructed, pulling out the dad-voice.
“Okay. I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight.”
After kissing my dad goodnight, I headed home. On the way, I didn’t see Jensen, so I just assumed he was off helping Jeff or Tom with something. I was curious to see if maybe Dad had said something to him—if he’d seen more than I had hoped. Sure, Dad hadn’t said anything to me, but I could only imagine that would have been uncomfortable for him; talking to his one and only daughter about relations with the opposite sex.
I opened my front door and removed my boots. If I listened hard enough, I swear I could hear the tub calling my name, and I figured I should get that done before Jensen got home. After grabbing a fresh towel from the closet across from the bathroom, I turned the knob and let myself in.
Steam poured out of the bathroom, which confused me at first. Until it cleared, anyway. As the fog lifted I watched, wide-eyed as Jensen stepped out of the shower. I had trouble tearing my eyes away from his body. His hot, steamy, naked, wet body. We both stood there, the pause both awkward and maddening, and I was embarrassed to admit I didn’t focus on his upper body. No, I’d already seen that. Instead, I decided to focus on the lower half.
Nay-ked. Yup, two looong drawn out syllables for that bad-boy.
Of course, his legs were nothing in comparison to what was between them.
Holy mother of—! A sound escaped me—though, if I was to try and describe what that sound was, I wouldn’t be able to.
Jensen smirked … well, I think he smirked, I was still looking at … at … there was no name for what I was looking at. If I called it a penis, or a dick, or a cock, well that would just class him with all the rest. No, Jensen was hung. Like, really hung. Super hung. Dude.
“Umm, Madi?” My eyes snapped up to his, and I was right, he was smirking. “Mind closing the door, sweetheart? Unless, of course, you planned on taking me up on last night’s invitation to join me?”
“Uhhhhh …”
Chapter 6. Talk About Awkward
“Um, Madison?” Jensen repeated, but for some reason, I was frozen in place, my eyes still locked between his strong thighs.
Naked. Jensen’s naked, and I can’t seem to stop staring at him. This is going to be awkward. No, wait. It already is.
I shook my head like a maniac before finding my strangled voice. “Oh my God!” I fumbled for the doorknob so I could exit and shut the door behind me. I tripped over my own feet as Jensen reached for his towel to cover up his body—his glorious body—but I finally made it into the hall. Clutching the doorknob tightly in my hand behind me, I pressed my back against the solid door. Breathing was difficult as I continued to think about Jensen’s impressive length.
Don’t forget girth. I groaned silently—at least, I hoped it was silently—and palmed my face. “Oh God, was there girth.” Not a question. Definitely a statement.
“What’s that?” Jensen called from the other side of the bathroom door, and I hissed at myself for speaking aloud.
He mustn’t have known I was leaning against it, because the door opened quickly, and I was on my ass before I knew it. Pain shot up my left side as the bottom of my bruised ass cheek connected with the ceramic tile of the bathroom. That wasn’t the worst of it, though.
On my way down, I had grasped for something to catch me before I landed, only to grab a handful of terrycloth. Yup, Jensen’s towel. So, there I was, sitting on the ground, eye-level with Jensen’s dick. As I stared just a little bit more—because, clearly I hadn’t had enough the first time—Jensen scrambled to find something else to cover himself with. Finally, I closed my eyes tightly, rolling to the right and hugging the wall so he could make his escape.
When I heard his bedroom door close, I picked myself up and closed myself in the bathroom, parking my bright red self on the edge of the tub and groaning with embarrassment into my hands. A light rap on the door pulled me from my humiliation.
“Go away!” I mumbled into my hands, only to have Jensen knock again.
“Madi, it’s really fine.”
Understatement. There was nothing “fine” about naked-Jensen. He was un-fucking-believable.
“No, it’s not.” I got up and ripped the door open to find him in another fitted T-shirt, this time black, and a pair of gray flannel pants. “What the hell were you doing here, anyway?” My eyes travelled down his body, remembering what I’d seen. I smiled before mentally slapping myself upside the head.
Jensen looked at me, confused. “Um, I live here now, Madi.”
I reached out and slapped his chest, lightly. The instant my hand touched his solid pecs, I wanted to let it roam up until I fisted his dark hair hard enough to force his face to mine. I was so screwed. Not literally. Well, maybe—No! My will power was wavering with every passing millisecond, and a raging war of emotions and common sense ensued deep inside me. “That’s not what I meant! You should have been working!”
With a chuckle, Jensen explained. “I’d been work
ing all day in the new barn. Putting up the stall doors and a few of the other finishing touches. Your dad said I could take off early, and that’s when I came to see you in the arena, but you were still with your last session. I figured I’d hurry home and shower before you got back—clearly, that didn’t work out so well.”
My eyes went wide again as the memory slowly replayed—because I didn’t want it to “flash.” Trust me, nobody would.
“We really need to stop talking about this. It was one thing when you were being all sex-voice, smoldery guy, but now … Jensen, I’ve seen you naked.” I whispered the last word.
“Yeah, and?” he paused for a moment before smirking. “Madi …” He drew out my name teasingly before continuing, going the extra mile and poking the ribs on my good side playfully. “Have you never seen a naked man before?”
“What?” I asked, my voice cracking like a pre-pubescent boy. “Don’t be ridiculous! Of course I have. But, we work together.”
“Mmm hmm, and?” Jensen said, taking a step forward. My heart skipped a beat, and I felt a lump in my throat as the distance between us lessened more and more.
I began to breathe heavily, his lips mere inches from mine. I wanted him. So badly. But I shouldn’t.
“Well, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to wanting to take things further with you.” Jensen’s voice was soft and low as it vibrated beneath my skin.
His fingers grazed my cheek before moving through my hair to the back of my head. My eyes closed at the tingling sensation of his fingers on my scalp, and I sighed before holding my breath in anticipation as his lips barely brushed mine. “I’m going to kiss you now,” he informed me.
There was a spark as his bottom lip connected with mine, and in a flash, I backed up, covering my mouth with the tips of my fingers. “We can’t,” I told him breathlessly.
Jensen watched me back into the still-hazy bathroom until my legs hit the edge of the tub. “We can’t?” I shook my head softly and he looked as though he understood. “You don’t want to?” Or not …
Internally I screamed, “Yes!” but, out loud, I lied. “No. I don’t.”
Jensen looked into my eyes, his own narrowing knowingly in an instant. “You’re lying.” That panty-melting, crooked smirk appeared, and while I considered telling him he was right—that my pants were most definitely on fire—I held firm.
“Think what you want, Jensen. I just got swept up in the moment. We both did. There’s nothing here.”
He still wasn’t buying it. In fact, he said the one thing I never, in a million years, would have expected. “Does this have something to do with Dane?”
“Wh—what?” I stammered.
“Well, I assume he’s an ex?”
I nodded. “How do you even know about him?”
Jensen shrugged, a tiny sliver of his abdomen showing for a fraction of a second. “He called while you were out.”
“You spoke to him?”
“Nah. He left a message.” Jensen said, shaking his head simultaneously. “You didn’t check the machine?”
“Not yet. I was going to have a bath because my back is killing me.”
Concern flashed across Jensen’s face again and he stepped back toward me. I was already pinned against the tub and moving at half-speed, so unless Scotty was going to beam me up, I had nowhere to go.
Yeah, I just referenced Star Trek. What of it?
“Can I see how it looks?”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Are you going to tell me to go to the doctor?” I was glad that the sexual tension was gone—well, for the most part, anyway.
Jensen chuckled. “I make no promises.”
“Nice,” I said, turning to the right so my left side was more easily accessible to him. “So you expect promises to be made to you and kept, but you don’t make them yourself? I think that borders on hypocrisy.”
Jensen laughed. “No, I think it qualifies as full-blown hypocrisy. It’s okay; I can own it.”
I raised my left arm, bending it and resting my forearm on the top of my head. I had just crossed my right arm across my torso to lift my shirt, but Jensen had already dropped to his knees and was pushing my shirt upward.
Fuck my life. Just when I thought the sexual tension had mostly cleared, a brand new wave of it steamrolled right over me. He sat eye-level with my bare stomach. I could feel his breath across my flesh as he looked over the tender spots that covered my ribs, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek and clench my eyes to keep from moaning or whimpering—basically any noise that would let him know that my pants were now on fire for an entirely different reason than lying.
“Wow, it’s really up there,” Jensen whispered, causing me to snap my head to him, eyes wide and nervous.
“What?” I cried out, my eyes falling to his flannel-covered crotch.
Jensen smirked. “The bruise, pervert.”
My entire body was about to break out in embarrassing red blotches. “I knew that.”
“Again with the lying, Landry. One of these days your pants are going to spontaneously combust.”
Too late.
In order to keep myself from jumping him right there, I changed the topic back to the situation at hand. “How is it?”
“I don’t know; I can only see a small portion of it. You can say no, but it’d be easier for me to tell if you took off your shirt?” He phrased it as a question, probably expecting me to huff, yank my shirt down, and storm out of the bathroom.
Instead, I smirked. “And this has nothing to do with you wanting to get me naked for seeing you naked? Level the playing field?”
“All in due time, sweetheart. All in due time.” And just like that, he turned the tables on me again.
Very carefully, I lifted my shirt over my head, discarding it to the floor, leaving me in only my plain, white bra. When my hands dropped to unbutton my jeans, I watched Jensen’s eyes widen.
“What are you … ?” he croaked.
I continued to push my jeans down over my hips. “My bruise goes down past my hip.” My jeans fell to a heap around my ankles, so I stepped out of them, using Jensen’s shoulder to balance myself. His right hand snapped to the small of my back to steady me when I teetered, and sent a wave of lust directly to my lady-bits.
So, there I stood in my most basic white bra and panties with Jensen kneeling next to me. His eyes were still wide as he looked up and down my body, and my stomach knotted as the realization of my actions finally caught up with me. I quickly turned my face from his to hide the blush I felt warming my face, neck, and finally chest.
“Wow,” Jensen said breathlessly as I felt his hands gently touch my ribs before trailing down my side and over my hip. A delightful tremble worked through my body when the tips of his fingers grazed the flesh of my ass that wasn’t covered by white cotton.
This was such a bad idea, I thought to myself, swallowing thickly.
“Madison.” I turned back to him and looked down into his eyes. They were no longer wide with shock, but full of worry. “I don’t like the looks of this. Please let me take you to the doctor.”
“Don’t …” I started to say, watching as Jensen slowly stood until he towered over me again. “I’m going to be fine. I just need to rest. Maybe have a bath.”
Nodding hesitantly, Jensen leaned forward, and I inhaled sharply as I expected him to kiss me. He didn’t, though. Instead, he continued on until he was leaning over the tub to start my bath.
“Okay,” he whispered, straightening once more. “You relax. I’ll go start dinner.”
Jensen turned from me with a smile and exited the bathroom, winking at me as he turned the lock on the inside of the door before closing it behind him. Once on the other side of the door, he jiggled it to make sure it was locked. “Just checking,” he called through the door.
Rolling my eyes, I laughed and added my salts and bubble bath before removing my two remaining articles of clothing and stepping into the warm water. When the water level was a few inche
s from the curved rim of the tub, I turned it off and settled back to relax. I closed my eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath as my body released most of the tension from my muscles. Most. Not all.
With my back feeling as close to normal as it would for the next few days, I stood up, draining the tub and flipping on the shower so I could rinse off and wash my hair. I pulled the shower curtain closed to keep the water from spraying all over the floor. Letting my eyes close, I moved my face under the gentle spray of water and my thoughts instantly drifted to Jensen.
Yes, I had feelings for him, but not all of them were contempt. Sure, he was an arrogant jerk sometimes, but he was also sweet and caring. My thoughts instantly took a turn, and soon I was remembering how his skin looked bathed in the post-shower steam. The way the beads of water trailed down his body. It dripped from his water-darkened hair, onto his shoulder where it proceeded to trickle down his chest until it rolled down his well-sculpted abs and reached that yummy V-shaped muscle that led to the motherland.
There was a dull ache between my legs that suddenly needed attention. I ran my hands through my hair, allowing them to rest on my shoulders for a moment as I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. Removing my face from the water and opening my eyes, I eyed the door nervously. I was wound like a friggin’ top, and if I didn’t get the release my body so desperately craved, I was sure to implode.
My hands had just begun their journey south when a knock at the door ripped me from the fantasy I’d started to weave.
My hands flew to my face, pushing the droplets of water away. “Yeah?”
“Dinner’s going to be ready in about ten minutes.”
“Okay. I’m almost done.” Jensen’s shadow disappeared from under the door, and I rinsed the conditioner from my hair.
I wrapped my towel around my body and stepped out of the shower before walking over to the mirror and using my hand to clear it. Using my wide-toothed comb I untangled my wet hair before unlocking the door. Barefoot, I proceeded to my bedroom to find some comfortable clothes.