“That night, I punched a guy for calling him a faggot, and when I started in on Will for not fighting back, he started yelling at me for fighting who I was.”
“That was your second time together?”
“Josie Bean, I knew I was in love with Will from the moment he walked into that auto shop. So, yeah, it was the second time I had seen him, but it wouldn’t have mattered if it was the tenth time we’d seen each other. That night, Will called me out on not coming out of the closet, and even though I told him it was none of his business, there was something about that fight and fire inside of him that changed me.
“For the first time in my life, I didn’t care if the world knew I was gay. I didn’t care, because I wanted Will. I just … I just wanted him.”
Dad looks down at our held hands and smiles. “He told me that how he handled his discrimination shouldn’t matter to me. Which was true. Two days didn’t give me the right to tell him how to react to assholes. But it did matter to me. So I told him that—that the thought of someone hurting him made me crazy. And then I kissed him.” He sighs again. “Magical. Yeah, it sure was. If I didn’t know it before, I knew it then; Will Reyes had stolen my heart.”
I lean back in my chair, running my hand through my hair as I think about my first kiss with Seth. That was pretty damn magical too. It was the best kiss of my life—the moment I finally felt whole.
I’m not usually this mushy about love. I blame the pregnancy.
“Thanks, Dad. That was a good one.” It hurts to see the pain in Dad’s eyes. Maybe it’s selfish of me to keep asking him to remember the past he had with Daddy. A wound I keep opening.
“I miss him every second of every day, Josie. We were supposed to have more time together.”
My heart hurts in response. I get up and hug him tightly, not really knowing what to say. If I lost Seth so soon, I’m not sure I’d want to live out the rest of my life. “I know, Dad. It’s not fair. I’ll stop asking you to tell me stories.”
Dad’s burly arms squeeze me hard. “No, Josie Bean. Don’t stop. It’s nice to remember them while they’re still fresh. I just wish there wasn’t an end to the memories. I needed fifty more years with him.”
I give his bald head a rub and sit back in my chair. “Do you think you’ll ever date again?”
“It’s never crossed my mind. Daddy was … Josie, he was everything. I can’t imagine being with anyone else.”
It makes sense. I couldn’t imagine moving on from Seth. “Well, if you ever did, I would be okay with it.” Sort of. As long as Dad is happy.
“Enough of this crazy talk. Help me with this Harley I’m working on until we have to leave.”
Chapter 13
Josie
Some mindless auto work is exactly what I needed. Plus, Seth thinks it’s the sexiest thing in the world when I’ve got grease all over me from working on cars with my dad. I like his reaction too much to wash it all off of me when I get home. Yes, I’m pathetic.
We fix the clutch in the motorcycle, but the parts for the starter haven’t come in yet, so we don’t get it finished. I’d bet my bank account that Seth bought the Harley for Dad and me to work on so I would have an excuse to not be alone at home all the time.
On the drive to the farm, my phone vibrates in the pocket of my yellow sundress, and I know without looking that it’s Seth making sure I come see him before going into the main house.
Ignoring the text, I think about the announcement we’re going to make tonight. We figured it was time to tell our parents about the baby, especially since Gayle can spot a secret a mile away.
We pull into Montgomery Farm and a wave of sadness washes over me as I look at the feeble farm. Ever since George’s heart attack a few years ago, the farm hasn’t been thriving. I see the guilt in Seth’s eyes every time he stays home with me instead of helping his dad. I see the guilt even when he wakes up at four in the morning to help out.
He tries to fix everything that’s broken and tries to make sales for his dad, but the truth is, Montgomery Farm won’t last much longer. Or at least there will be no more financial benefits to keeping the farm. Seth’s passion is his photography. He doesn’t want to be a farmer, but he sacrifices his work to help prolong the failure of the farm.
Dad and I walk down the hill toward the barn and when we get to the bottom, Seth walks out carrying a bale of hay above his head. My heart skips a beat. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen him naked. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve spent kissing every inch of his body. My heart still stutters at the sight of him.
No shirt covers the rippling muscles of his hardened abdomen and arms. His nipple piercings glisten in the sun like nature knows exactly what to highlight to make a girl weak in the knees. His Wrangler jeans, worn and filled with holes, hang low on his hips. So low. So very low that my mouth waters just wanting to tug them off of him. Sweat travels down the road map of muscles on his torso, and if the stray pieces of hay in his hair is any indication, it looks like he’s been running his fingers through it all day.
He doesn’t see us walking toward him. He doesn’t notice me stopping and staring at my soon-to-be husband. He throws the bale of hay with the other ones in the back of a pick-up truck and bends over to pick up another one sitting next to the tire.
Oh, sweet baby Santa. His ass. Those jeans. No shirt. Sweaty. I think I might combust with desire. The moan I let out is totally inappropriate in front of Dad, but his chuckle absolves me of guilt.
His arm wraps around my shoulder as he appreciates the same view I am. “I loved your Daddy very much, Josie Bean, but your future husband is one hell of a sexy man. I could watch him like this all day.”
For a few seconds, I’m rendered speechless. But who the heck am I kidding? Seth is mouthwatering. Why wouldn’t my dad find him hot? I start laughing my ass off.
Seth and Dad’s bromance has officially been taken to a whole new level.
Seth turns at the sound of my laughter and gives me his most charming, heart-stopping smile. It’s disarming—the way he takes my breath away.
“Yep. All day,” Dad says, smiling wider.
I laugh harder as Seth starts walking toward us. He wraps his sweaty arms around me, lifts me up, and kisses me hard mid-laugh—his mouth possessive and drinking in my smile.
“Whatcha laughing at, pretty girl?” Seth asks when he pulls away, licking his lips like he didn’t quite get enough. I glance over Seth’s shoulder at my dad who winks and turns to leave.
I look back into Seth’s glittering blue-green eyes and grin conspiratorially. “Dad has a secret crush on you.”
“Who can blame him? I’m gorgeous.”
“Yes, you certainly are,” I say, pouring as much provocativeness into my voice as possible. “I want to devour you right here, right now.”
“You make an offer I can’t refuse, Pussycat,” Seth says, picking me up in his arms and whisking me inside the barn.
When he backs up against a bare spot on the tack wall, he lets go so I slide down his body. My hands travel across his chest, over his tattooed ribs, and into the waistband of his jeans. He gives me a lazy grin as he rests his head against the wall and watches my every move.
As my hands busy themselves with the button and zipper on his jeans, pulling them down, my mouth magnetizes to the indentations that run from his abdomen to the inside of boxers. The virile taste of his body douses me with desire, an all-consuming feeling that makes me dizzy with longing.
I lean back once I get his jeans and boxers to his ankles, taking in the mouthwatering view of this masculine man, erect and swollen like he’s been waiting all day for this. I unconsciously bite my lip while trying to resist the urge to dive in too quickly.
“Stop teasing me, you sexy minx,” Seth says, eyes darkening and rolling his hips toward my mouth.
I grin, but the closeness is too much to ignore. My smile vanishes as I wrap my mouth around his hard, hot length, tasting the bead of moisture at the tip first. T
he moan that forms in the back of my throat is lost in the sixty versions of oh fuck coming out of Seth’s mouth.
My hands grip his tight ass as I try to take him further and show him that I can give as good as he gave me this morning. His hands in my hair, the moans passing his lips, the feel of his cock tightening and hardening in my mouth light a fire in my core and drown me in a sea of pure passion.
Seth’s calloused thumb runs down my cheek and places his fingers under my chin to stop me for a moment. His touch is electrifying. “You and your incredible fucking mouth, Jos. Let me finish inside you. Wanna come in you so bad.”
My insides clench at his tone, a sharp shock right to the center of my thighs that tells me I better get the fuck up and let this man fuck me as hard as he can or else I will suffer the consequences. My teeth capture my bottom lip again and I nod so he knows I want that too. Who wouldn’t? The man is to be worshipped and he wants me.
No isn’t really in my vocabulary at the moment.
Seth helps me up and gently pushes me against the wall, my arms bracing against it.
His tattooed arms cover mine, linking our hands together as he lines his cock against my ass and runs his nose through my hair. The heat of his hard, chiseled body makes my skin prickle with awareness—alert to every touch of his skin against mine. “Working on a car today, pretty girl?” he asks as he gets a whiff of motor oil I purposely left behind on my neck.
“Motorcycle. Know anything about that?”
He grins, but keeps his secret. “You know I can’t control myself when you still smell like you’ve been working on a car all day, right?” His rough hands barely graze my skin as he trails his way down my back and up the yellow flowery sundress I so ingeniously thought to put on before coming over.
What can I say? I know what my man likes.
“Then lose control, Sethy.” I look over my shoulder and give him my best come hither look. Though, based on the playfulness in Seth’s eyes, I’d say it comes off as goofy instead of sexy. He pushes my panties to the side and plays with my slick slit. I bang my head against the wall and forget everything.
Which is so easy to do with Seth. I’m lost in his world of pleasure—his hot breath rasping in my ears, his hair tickling my neck, his length, warm and thick against my ass, his hand making indents in my hip and his other making sure I’m soaked and ready for him to start taking me, not stopping until my body is vibrating and begging.
And I am. My hips rock back and forth, fighting for his fingers to keep hitting that spot. The one that he knows so well.
Finally—fina-freaking-lly—he takes his fingers out and edges his erection inside me. He moans when my hips move back to take him in further.
“Have I told you how fucking sweet you taste, Josie?” I tilt my head back and watch him savor the taste of his fingers that he just had inside me. Oh—oh my. I’m pretty sure my ovaries exploded. He moans again and closes his eyes, still licking his fingers and pulling his hips back thrust back harder into me. “Like apple pie. My favorite.”
A groan starts in my chest, but he catches my lips before it escapes, kissing me hard and long while still setting a delirious rhythm with his hips. His tongue captures my I love you and my lips capture his your perfect.
There’s this moment in pleasure where focus is lost, the world blurs, and the only thing that matters is finding release. We lose ourselves in each other—in the hot, heavy breathing and connection of our souls.
My nails dig into his arms and my teeth bite his lips, all propriety and restraint lost. I don’t care how loud I moan. I don’t care how many times my head hits the wall from the power of his thrusts. All that matters is Seth bringing me to the pinnacle of my climax.
His tongue is hard and wild in my mouth. His moans match mine. His hands bruise my hips as he slides his slick cock in and out of me, wet with my own desire. When my body gives him the sign that I’m close, shivering and clenching around him, his eyes meet mine and there’s only one thing he needs to hear before we both can let go.
“Say it,” he says, dipping his head to kiss the back of my neck. His tongue darts out and he sucks on my skin—leaving his mark on me, even though he knows I’ll always be his.
I shiver. “I love you, Seth. I’ll love you forever.”
“Yes.” His voice is hoarse as he hits the right spot over and over again until I’m screaming that I’m coming. He follows with his own moan, burying his face in my neck as fills me with his come. “Fuck, Jos. Every single fucking time is incredible with you.”
The words tumble out of his mouth like he hadn’t planned on saying them, and butterflies kick around in my stomach. That I can make this man—someone who can have any girl he wants—feel incredible is a thrilling feeling. Accomplishment, power, and hell, even a sense of sexiness settles into me, creating a confidence I’d lost years ago.
We stay wrapped around each other against the tack wall with the horses snorting and neighing for what feels like hours before we bring ourselves to pull apart. Seth finishes what he was doing before I interrupted, while I go to George’s office to clean up—but not before Seth drops to his knees to watch his come slide down my thighs, begging me to let him take pictures of it.
Seth’s waiting for me at the barn doors when I come out, a satisfied, lazy grin stretching across his face. Light from the setting sun seeps through the cracks and bounce off the phone that fell out of my pocket as Seth made love to me. I grab it and unlock the screen so I can check the clock, since time seems to slip through my fingers when Seth’s mouth is fused to my desperate body.
The missed text from earlier flashes in my inbox. As I walk to Seth, who grabs my hand and twirls me around once before starting our walk to the main house, I open the missed text message.
My heart lurches as I read the text—the excitement from earlier drains and is replaced with terror. My nerve endings feel exposed, like even a swift wind would scar and burn me.
Blocked Number: Have you forgotten me? I haven’t forgotten you.
My hand shoots to my throat, almost instinctively—as if it could protect me from the way he strangled me that night so long ago. My gasp makes Seth turn his head and stop walking.
It’s Michael. It has to be. A sick taunt to scare me. My heart beats rapidly, and an ache stretches in my throat as fear claws its way into my skin.
Before Seth can see the message, I tuck it away in my pocket. He can’t know about this. I have no clue what I’ll do about the text, but I do know that Seth absolutely cannot know about this. At least, not right now.
“What’s wrong? Who was that? Are you hurt?” Seth’s worried eyes rove my body to look for signs of something wrong.
Gulping down a throbbing lump in my throat, I look at Seth with what I hope is a look of innocence. Please forgive me. “It was just a dirty text from Brooke. Don’t worry. Just surprised me, is all.”
I pull on his hand to keep him walking, keeping my face impassive. Show no fear, Josie. Don’t let Michael strip away your security again.
Seth reluctantly continues, but my perceptive man watches for a sign that proves that everything is not all right.
Inside I’m screaming. One foot in front of the other.
Seth’s hand squeezes mine, and I feel his body tense the longer I refuse to let him in.
Fucking, Seth. I’ll have to tell him, but it’s the very last thing I want to do. Right there next to chewing glass and eating raw chicken. Stressed and worried don’t even begin to touch the surface of what Seth is feeling right now about me and the baby. Knowing that Michael found a way to communicate with me will only amplify it—something I would rather take the burden of than place on him.
Before we walk in the side door to the kitchen, Seth stops and turns me to face him. “Are you lying, Jos? What’s going on?”
“Sethy, please,” I plead looking back into his concerned blue eyes. “Let it rest until we get home. I can’t talk about it right now.”
He searches my eyes, b
rows drawn in confusion and reluctance. I beg him as I look back. Not now, Seth. I’m not sure I can keep it together. His eyes close and he leans his head back, letting out a distressed sigh.
“The things I do for you, Jos. God fucking help me, if you’re hurt in any way, you better tell me now.”
“Not hurt.”’ My heart is breaking. “I swear I’ll tell you when we get home. Everything’s okay for now.” I’m suffocating.
Seth’s distress is so easy to spot. He was relaxed two minutes ago, and in one swift moment I’ve turned him rigid and worried. His hands run through his hair as he wars with what to do. Does he push me for answers or let it go? “Fine. But, Josie, if this is an emergency, you have to tell me.”
“Let’s go eat dinner,” I say instead of responding. I tug on his hand and keep us moving.
Is it an emergency? Can I delude myself into thinking it’s not a big deal? Maybe I’m overreacting. It probably wasn’t even Michael—that’s a pretty big leap, anyway.
Right?
Chapter 14
Seth
“Wonder what you two were up to for the past hour,” Dad says when we walk in, sliding me a wink.
Any other day, I’d laugh, but concern for the girl next to me has consumed me. Her plastered smile is fake—something I’ve learned to identify through all the lies she told me and herself for so many years. Her assurance that she’s okay doesn’t mean shit.
She’s lying.
At first, I was worried I had hurt her when I made love to her in the barn. It’s easy to get carried away. One laugh. One whiff of her vanilla-scented skin. One sensual look in her dark-blue eyes, and I can’t control the desire to make her mine. I’m a fucking goner. But the more I watched her, I knew it wasn’t about the baby. It’s something worse.
That's a Relief (Promises, Promises Book 3) Page 10