Through the Dust (Black Springs Ranch, #2)

by Amber Palmer

There was a time when I would’ve given anything for Bishop Bryant to take my hand and hold me close on the dance floor, but that crush had been killed long ago.

Alexa ply never say never by justin bieber

Besides, I didn’t even want a relationship right now. I’d taken a year off the rodeo circuit after Dad had gotten sick so that I could help around the ranch. Next year, I was hitting the ground running and wasn’t planning on looking back. Still, I couldn’t deny the ache in my chest that refused to go away as I watched him pull my sister close. He said something, making her laugh as they moved around the enclosed space.

Hehehe knew it

You her brother or something?” I said, “Or something,” while Bishop growled, “Absolutely fucking not.”

Im giddy

I think they found it attractive at first—how I could hold my own in the arena and kick most of their asses while doing it. But there was some deeply rooted belief that all of that had to go away when a woman settled down. Like suddenly, it was unbecoming. I was never going to be the type to be barefoot and pregnant, turning in my reins for apron strings while my partner was out tending to the things that needed to be done. I wanted to be beside them, fixing fences and rounding up cattle. I wanted to be seen and treated as an equal, sharing the load of life’s hardships instead of becoming an accessory on their arm.

Alexa play lavender haze by taylor swift

I spun around, ready to dig into him for letting me drop, when I saw a smile on his lips. An actual smile—not that fake, public shit some people put on. No, this had wrinkles forming near his temples, his eyes full of a weird playfulness. He covered his mouth with a hand, shoulders shaking with restrained… laughter?

She grabbed my hat and placed it on her head with smug satisfaction. “If you want me to get down, Bishop,” she said, running a finger along the gold chain around my neck, “then you better make me.” I barely heard the grumble of disappointed men behind me, too aware that Lennox Hayes was wearing my hat. My. Fucking. Hat.

“You wanna know what I’d do to you?” Lennox nodded, barely able to move in my grip. I leaned forward, enjoying the way her eyes fluttered close as I whispered, “It’s taking everything in me not to throw you over my shoulder again and haul your bratty ass to the bathroom. I wanna lock the door, force you to your knees, and stuff that smart fucking mouth with my cock until your make-up is ruined. And then I’d fuck you bare against the wall, hard and fast, letting you scream for more. I bet you’d beg me to come inside your hot little cunt, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah, you’d thank me for filling you up, killer. It’d turn you on to know I’m leaking out of you whenever some other mother fucker tried talking to you.”

Holy shit

Now, all I could feel was the phantom beat of Lennox’s racing heart as I held her like I owned her. I hated how much I wanted to feel it again.

Im sat

Who’d have known the grumpy cowboy had it in him?

Its always the quiet ones

She needed a man, not a boy. One who could put up with her shit and give it right back. Who was older and had experience and⁠—

But that seemed to always be my problem where she was concerned. I was constantly looking when I shouldn’t have been.

I’d learned early on that blood didn’t define family.

She wanted to know why I’d stayed away all week? Without Doug on the ranch as a reminder of who she was, it would’ve been too damn easy to give in. I was weak for her. I didn’t know how much longer I could stop myself from acting on the things I wanted. Lennox Hayes was a goddamn lightning strike to my heart. She’d cracked the wall I’d carefully erected, letting in dangerous ideations that threatened to send me to my knees. I didn’t know what she saw in me.

Her eyes flicked to meet my own, as if she could feel me staring. They lingered, and for a moment, I swore I stopped breathing. It was like I’d forgotten how to perform essential bodily functions. My chest grew tight as I tried to suck in a lungful of air, suspended in this awkward tension hanging between us.

For a moment in time, I wasn’t a twenty-seven-year-old woman walking an unknown path who was terrified of losing her father. Instead, I was just a girl dancing with her first love as we watched the sun rise over the peak of the barn.

The smile he gave me was nearly blinding. It nearly knocked my breath away and made me forget what was happening. I’d never seen him smile like that, so full of pride and happiness and something else I couldn’t understand now.

“And I’m gonna take my time, killer, because you’re right; I’ve been watching and waiting and wanting, and I’m not gonna fuck this up because I don’t know if I’ll ever get this again.”

“Almost there,” he whispered, moving slowly. And then I felt his legs beneath me, felt how full I was, and I knew I’d taken every inch. “Good fucking girl,” he praised. “Taking all of me like the perfect little slut you are.”

Omg bluhing

Only time would tell. In the meantime, I needed to protect my heart until I was sure Bishop would go all in with me like I was ready to be all in with him.

My mind was a goddamn mess right now. I couldn’t stop thinking about Lennox and how great our night had been. For the first time, I felt this heavy weight lift off my chest. I could breathe again. The crazy thing was that I didn’t even realize how hard it’d been before. It was a night and day difference.

But where there’d once been confusion, I only felt clarity. And that clarity was Lennox Hayes.

“But I’m done fucking my hand to the thought of your lips wrapped around me, so…” he paused, pushing his jeans down his thick, muscular thighs. My mouth watered as the outline of his length came into view. “You’re gonna drop to your knees like a good girl.” Our eyes met, and I knew the slickness between my thighs wasn’t only from the rainwater. “Then you’re gonna reach inside my boxers and pull out my cock.”

Can you take me all the way?” “I can take it,” I gasped. “Are you sure?” he asked, stroking himself from root to tip. “I dunno if you can.” “I said I can do it,” I pleaded, replacing his hand with my own. “Let me show you.”

I might have fallen in love after just one night, too, but I wasn’t talking about the goddamn mattress.

He tipped his head back and laughed. God, I loved when he did that. It wasn’t often, but when it happened? It almost made me forget why I was mad at him in the first place.

Kissing Lennox Hayes for the first time had been life-altering. It made me want things I’d only dreamed about. It’d given me hope for a future—a better one where I could move away from my past and do something for myself.