“Now, these levers here move the bucket back and forth.” He reached in and showed her. “Then up and down is like this.”
She watched him work the levers and studied how the machine responded.
“Then if you want to drive forward, just push on the gas and do this…” He showed her how to steer and move. Her eyes were fixed on his movements, and her smile seemed to grow even larger throughout the quick tutorial. “You ready to handle this rig yourself?”
“Yes!” she said and clapped a little.
He hopped down and yelled, “Go on then, girl. Give it some gas.”
She drove the excavator slowly, lifting the bucket and lowering it as she went. There were acres and acres of open field she could drive through, so she could feel free to run as wild as she pleased. She drove in circles, only pausing to mess with the jaws of the bucket.
“This is so cool!” she yelled over the loud machine and continued to move the joystick around. Ryder smiled, and when she caught his eyes on her, she smiled back. And then her look turned form happy to intent.
She killed the engine and moved to get out of the cab. Ryder was right there, hands ready to grab her hips and help her down. But instead of lowering her, he brought her into his body, and she threw her arms around him and yanked him in for the hottest kiss of his life.
She moved her mouth against his in what felt like lust and gratitude all mixed into one. He chanced a look at her face, and her delicate brow was knit and her eyes squeezed shut like she was lost.
If he wasn’t careful, he might get lost, too.
“Thank you,” she whispered against his mouth. The sun fading over the horizon gave off light purple colors that made the woman in his arms glow like a dream.
He set her on her feet, and she looked up at him, her hands sliding down his chest and over his stomach, until finally she took his hands in hers.
“Now it’s your turn to follow me,” she said with a saucy grin, and headed toward the lake.
Ryder let her pull him along, realizing that he would, in fact, follow her into the pits of hell, likely with a smile, if she simply looked at him the way she just had.
Whitney did the one thing she’d been dying to do since she’d met Ryder Diamond.
She bossed him around.
“Shirt, pants, boots, off. Hop to it, cowboy,” she said, coming to stand by the lakeshore.
“Still not a cowboy,” he said, then reached behind his neck and tugged the T-shirt over his head and off. The moon was shining bright and high in the sky, coming down on them like a spotlight. Thank God she could see him. The man was incredible, with large, hard chest muscles that tapered to even harder abs.
He kept his eyes on her when he reached for his belt clasp. Those biceps flexed as he worked the metal open, and the deep V of his hips made her salivate with anticipation.
“You have your own private lake, and you’ve still never gone skinny-dipping?” she asked, tossing off her sandals and standing in the thick grass, just a few meters from the lapping water.
“Like I said…never had the opportunity.”
“Or maybe you didn’t have the right company,” she teased.
But he looked serious. “Agreed. But I’m set to change that.”
She raised an eyebrow. The fun side of Ryder was starting to come to the surface. Which was good, because a moment ago, when he’d fulfilled one of her “I’ve Never” moments, she’d been ready to hug him and kiss him and…like him. Like, really like him. For more than a night at a time. Which was why she not only would return the favor and resolve his “never gone skinny-dipping” issue, she’d remind herself that this was just one experience at a time.
“So…this is you wanting to see me without clothes on?” she challenged, sliding her thumbs beneath her straps.
His hands on his belt paused, and his gray gaze stayed transfixed on her. “If you kept your dress on, that defeats the point of skinny-dipping,” he said.
“Yes, but I recall you saying something about boundaries.” She let one strap fall down her arm. Then the other. “This dress is one tug away from giving you your ‘I’ve Never,’ but then…uh-oh!” She ran her fingertips along the low neckline of her dress, which was getting lower by the second, thanks to gravity. “That would just wreck all those boundaries you like so much.”
A low growl rumbled from his chest as he stared her down. Keeping his eyes on her, he bent to unlace his boots, then he kicked them off. His hands here back at his belt, letting it open completely, and then he unsnapped and unzipped his jeans. With the fly spread open wide, she caught a glimpse of his hard cock straining against his boxer briefs.
“My boundaries are growing difficult to keep,” he rasped.
“I can see that,” she breathed. And boy could she. He was big and built in every sense of the word. And those boundaries were getting really annoying, because they were keeping her from seeing all of him. “So tell me then,” she said, holding her dress up with a single arm over her breasts. “What is it you want to do?”
She was tempting him. Trying so hard to get the Ryder that she’d caught a glimpse of to come out and take her up on every naughty thing going through his mind. He just had to give in—something he’d made clear he was fighting.
“What do I want to do?” he said, repeating her question with a venomous smile. “I want to rip that dress off of you and burn it for daring to cover your perfect curves.” He reached into his pocket and took out a condom, then pushed his pants down and off, and stepped from them to stand gloriously naked with the moon shining off his skin. His gray eyes beamed with light, like they were made of liquid silver.
“I want to take you into that water, feel your hot skin chill, then heat up again when I pull you close.” He ripped the condom wrapper open with his teeth. “I want to wrap your legs around me and bury my cock as far inside your tight pussy as I can.” He rolled the condom on and took a step toward her. “I want to feel you slick and hot. Feel you surround me. Claw at me. Go wild for me as I fuck you hard and deep. Just the way you like it.”
Another step.
“I want to feel you come on me, gasp for breath, then come again.”
She swallowed but stopped short, because air refused to leave her throat. She was entranced by the hulking, sexy man closing in on her.
“I want to hear you beg,” he said. “And I can assure you that all this will happen, sweetness. But if I reach you before you get to the water, I’ll fuck you right here on the ground, and we’ll have to try this skinny-dipping idea from the beginning again.”
Her muscles swelled with adrenaline. She was prepared to flee, because this kind of chase was another new experience she was dying to try.
“Deal.” She kept a tight hold of her dress as she sprinted toward the water. Heavy footfalls came after her. Just as she got into the water and it hit her waist, Ryder was right there, scooping her up and falling with her into the lake.
They both submerged down. She held her breath as the water fully covered her, and then she shot up, blowing out a hard exhale. Her dress had gathered around her waist. She reached for Ryder, but he was already on her, hoisting her up and locking her legs around his waist like he’d said he would.
“You drive me to the brink, sweetness,” he rasped against her mouth. She tried to kiss him, but he snagged her tongue between his teeth and sucked on it. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she gasped at the wicked feel of his slick, hard body around hers.
He reached between them and slid a finger inside her. Thank God she’d forgone panties—something he noticed quickly. He removed his hand and she cried out at the loss.
“You’re a temptress, aren’t you? You like watching me lose control?” With an arm tight around her back, he yanked off her wet dress, and the sound of it ripping to shreds buzzed against her eardrums. She didn’t know where it went, nor did she care. Naughty Ryder had come out to play, and she was ready to take him on.