West of Forever (Heartstone Ranch #1)(48)

“I look forward to it,” I say with a grin. “But right now I’d like something else.”

“Good, me too.”

She slides the condom on and lies back. I follow her down and press my lips to hers. When I pull away, I stare into her eyes, waiting for her to change her mind, to tell me to stop, to remind us both why we shouldn’t do this, but she doesn’t. She just smiles.

Fuck.

I push forward, my cock sliding into her wet heat. And then, when I’m fully inside her, I realize that hell is a place on earth, and I’m going to live in it when I have to let her go.









Chapter 20





Lark




That was the best sexual experience of my life.

Dear God.

How am I going to walk around doing mundane things when I know that I could be doing this?

I’m not. I’m going to be a waste to everyone I know.

We’re lying on the blanket, my head on his chest, arm draped over him, and he’s running his fingers up and down my spine.

This is weird. We need to say something.

However, neither of us has spoken. I lift my head, resting my chin on my hand. “Hi.”

He chuckles. “Hi.”

“So, we had sex.”

“That we did.”

I grin. “It was good.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

My eyes widen. “Did you not?”

“I didn’t say that.” Tristan smirks and looks up.

“Tristan!”

“What?”

“You know, it would go a long way if you told me how good you thought it was.”

“It was good,” he says, still staring up at the sky.

Well, that’s freaking reassuring.

Then it hits me. Oh my God, what if…what if he’s thinking about the past? What if he’s feeling guilty or like he betrayed something or someone? What if I’m going to be the mistake?

“Tristan?” I say his name softly. “Do you…regret this?”

He moves quickly, flipping me on my back and staring down at me. “What? No!”

“Are you sure?” I ask, feeling my own wave of guilt.

“Lark, look at me,” he says firmly. “I don’t regret anything. We both knew what this was, and we both had plenty of opportunities to stop it.”

“Still…I just…you…have a past.”

“If this is about Emmy Jo, don’t think that. I loved my wife. You loved my wife. But we lost her a long time ago. I’ve reconciled that and this—what we did had nothing to do with my past.”

I nod, my heart settling a little at that. “Okay.”

All of what he said is true. I did love her. She was my best friend’s sister, and I spent a lot of time around Emmy Jo.

Mary Lou used to joke that they were a house divided between the Stones and the Gatlins.

I rest my head back on his chest. After a few minutes, he stops making patterns on my spine and huffs. “By the way, I’m now under an official investigation,” Tristan says.

“Oh? For what?” I ask, teasing. We both know what he’d be under any kind of investigation for.

“For trespassing and vandalism.”

This whole thing is bananas. “Maybe you should stop damaging other people’s property.” I lift my head to smile at him, wanting him to know I’m joking. “You know, it’s just not nice.”

“Neither is falsely accusing others. As I’ve said, I am not the one doing a damn thing to your farm.”

“I wouldn’t worry then. From what I know, you have proclaimed your innocence from the beginning. Besides, Jimmy is a really terrible detective.” I laugh.

Tristan chuckles, and I feel the vibration to my toes.

Everything he does seems to make me tingle.

I hoped after we had sex, the pull I feel to him would’ve gone away—apparently that hasn’t happened.

I also didn’t anticipate cuddling. Not that I thought we’d just bang and get on our horses and ride away until the next time. I figured we’d talk, plan, and keep it casual.

This isn’t that.

It’s warm and comforting. It’s sweet and romantic under the stars. It’s as though we’ve been doing this forever and it’s not our first time.

“Lark?” Tristan interrupts my thoughts.

“Yes?”

I raise my head and look into his eyes, waiting for him to speak. “You’re sure you’re okay with this?”

I let out a heavy sigh, hating that already the reality of our situation has taken over this moment. “Yes. I am completely fine.” And I think I am. As I said when we decided to finally do this, we’re adults, and we’re not doing anything wrong. I’m aware of what this is. As is he. The sexual tension between the two of us was going to explode anyway, so we might as well have let it out in a controlled way.

Are there complications? Yes.

Are they legion? Absolutely.

“Even though you just slept with the enemy?” he jokes. It’s funny because it’s true.

“You did too.”

“Yes, but my family isn’t mentally unstable and going to fly off the handle like your brothers will.”