Herd That (The Valentine Boys 1)

I was honestly giddy as fuck to take her to my bed.

I had a house full of men, and I knew that every single one of them would know exactly what we were getting up to at some point tonight, but I didn’t fucking care.

What I did care about was the fact that Codie felt like she was made to be in my arms.

Also, the fact that I still had to get up in three or so hours to go feed the horses and get my day started.

But I couldn’t find it in me to care, really.

I was happy that she’d stayed up to watch that TV series marathon with me. I was also more than happy that, despite my day being a shit one, she’d somehow made it better.

Walking down the long hallway, I passed Banks who was on the way to the bathroom and grunted out a ‘you need to wear some pants around here’ to him as I passed.

He flipped me off, and I continued walking, knowing that each word I said to him would go in one ear and out the other.

Banks had always been the one that refused to wear appropriate clothing while in the house.

Honestly, I was lucky that the motherfucker had underwear on at this point.

Getting to my bedroom, I kicked the door shut with my foot and headed straight for the bed.

When I was close enough, I reached down and pushed the covers down, grateful that I’d remembered to turn my heating blanket on when I’d come in for a shower earlier.

The fact that I got to put Codie into a warm bed instead of a freezing ass cold one really made me think I was taking care of her.

Even more, I liked the fact that she looked like she was made to sleep in my bed next to me.

Reaching for her shoes, I took them off one by one, grinning and shaking my head when I saw how worn down they were.

She’d told me earlier when we’d stopped by her house that her ‘Ugg knockoffs’ were her favorite pair of shoes, mainly because they were so comfy and warm.

I made a mental note to buy her a new pair that didn’t look like she allowed the dog to chew on them on a daily basis, then went for her pants.

They were a pair of my sweats that she’d slipped on about halfway through our TV marathon when the sun had set and the coolness of the house had started to set in.

With how old the place was, we still didn’t have adequate heating and cooling, meaning that when it got too hot or too cold, we had to either crank up the fireplace or start stripping off clothes.

I cast a glance at the fireplace in the bedroom and contemplated starting a fire, then decided against it when I glanced at the clock.

It wouldn’t have time to even burn all the wood down if I started it now, which would then mean I’d have to leave it unattended while I got to work.

So that was no, but I would make sure to keep her warm… with my naked body pressed to hers.

Once she was stripped down to a t-shirt and her panties, I covered her back up with the heating blanket and the comforter, then went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and toss my clothes into the hamper.

The chill started to set into my bones, so I hurried through the rest of my nightly routine, forgoing the usual squirt of lotion onto my hands so I could rub it into the tattoos on my shoulder and back.

That would’ve just been downright cold and rubbing cold lotion into already cold skin was just no fun.

That, and I had a beautiful, warm woman in my bed. I didn’t want to get in there absolutely freezing seeing as the second I was underneath the covers she was being pulled into my arms.

Turning the light off and yanking open the bathroom door, I stepped out into my bedroom and grinned at the woman who was now only being illuminated by the moonlight that was shining in through the drape-less window.

She looked like a goddamn angel. No joke, the moonlight was pouring through the window so bright that it looked like a spotlight directed solely at her. It showed her crazy hair that’d escaped from the haphazard bun she’d had it in spread all over my white pillowcase. It showed the way her mouth fell partially open… and the way she snored.

It was cute, honestly.

I couldn’t wait to tell her about it.

I had a feeling she had no idea that she did it.

Walking quietly to the bed, I was very careful to tiptoe around the floorboard that always squeaked and sounded like I was about to fall through it at any second.