“I thought you lived here on the ranch,” I said as he extricated me from his cousin Hallie’s tight hug.
“I do, but not in the main house. I have my own cabin just behind the first pasture,” Felix said with a blush. I heard a muffled laugh behind me and caught Arthur winking at Grandpa Wilde.
“We’re going to Felix’s house,” I told him, trying to reclaim my professional air.
“No, sir. Just you. The rest of us are being put up at the bunkhouse out back. These gentlemen have graciously offered to entertain us in your absence,” he said with a smirk.
I swallowed an audible sigh of relief and nodded my thanks to Doc and Grandpa Wilde.
Once we said our goodbyes and promised to return for a late dinner, Felix led me down a gravel path to a narrow space between two long fences. The early-spring grass was green and young, trampled from what was most likely daily foot traffic between Felix’s cabin and the main farmhouse.
“It’s so peaceful out here,” I said to Felix’s back. The narrow passageway between the two fenced pastures didn’t allow us to walk side by side. “You must love it. How often do you go into the town itself? Hobie is charming, by the way. You described it perfectly. I even saw the bakery and the old theater.”
“I’m not sure I’ve heard your nervous chatter before,” he said with a grin over his shoulder.
Felix was right—my stomach felt like there were a thousand angry bees swarming around in it, and my skin itched like I’d rolled in nettles.
“All I can think about is getting you alone,” I admitted. “My hands are shaking with it.”
Felix turned around and grabbed my face, crashing his lips into mine and smiling against my mouth.
“Mpfh, you taste good,” he mumbled. “I want to get you naked and suck hickeys into your skin. And then I want to lick your cock before riding it. And then I want to—”
It was my turn to attack, and I did. My tongue thrust into his mouth, surprising a squeak out of him. I walked him backward, hands roaming all over his back and ass before he finally dislodged himself from my person and took off running toward the tiny cabin in the distance.
I raced after him. Once we were through the door to the place, he slammed and bolted it. His clothes were off in a blink, and I stood there staring like a fool at his slender, fit body.
“Christ, you’re beautiful,” I murmured, stalking closer to him. “I want to eat you for dinner.”
His grin was playful, but his eyes were intense.
“Only if you ask nicely,” he teased, stepping backward toward what I assumed was a bedroom. “Take off your clothes, Your Highness.”
If you insist.
Chapter 42
Felix
I felt like I’d just sucked in three helium balloons and could fly. But the reality was, I only got the squeaky voice.
When Lio stripped and threw me down on my bed, I squealed like a little kid being tickled to death. Lio teased me mercilessly.
“What’s with the giggles, giggler?” he asked, hands roaming over my ribs, which only made it worse.
“I’m just so freaking happy to see you, to touch you, hopefully to fuck you,” I admitted with glee. “I feel like… my fairy tale is coming true.”
Lio was lying on top of me, his naked body bringing up all kinds of feelings against my own bare skin. His gaze turned from playful to intense.
“Do you have any idea how much I missed you, Felix?”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “If it’s anything like what I felt for you, I’m sorry.”
His hand came up to brush the hair from my face. “I don’t want to be apart from you anymore, Fee. Will you come home with me? I know it’s asking a lot. I know you’d have to put up with the media and leaving your family and—”
“Yes,” I breathed, feeling the tangle of emotions that word entailed.
Lio squeezed his eyes closed in relief and dropped his forehead onto my chest. “Thank god. I hate to even ask you this in case the answer is no, but are you sure?”
“Babe, I don’t really have a choice,” I said, bringing my legs around to cross ankles behind him. “My heart’s already decided. It’s picked you. I didn’t really have a say in it.”
He lifted his head. “And if you had?”
I shrugged. “Meh. You don’t seem all that worth the trouble you bring. I was hoping to find a nice ranch hand here in Texas. You know, someone who could support me in the manner to which I’ve become accustomed.” I gestured toward the window where we could see a barren pasture with some abandoned, half-rotten hay bales next to a broken-down tractor. It was a fairly normal part of living on a giant ranch but looked pretty pathetic compared to the opulence of his life in Monaco.