I walked out from the kitchen to find Cash sitting at the bar. He looked tired, a little haggard. It was almost midnight. I went around the bar and came to stand next to him.
“You should be home in bed, Cash. You look ready to drop. Bad day?” I touched his hand softly. He entwined our fingers, smiling tiredly up at me.
“Yeah, there was a fourteen car pile-up on Route 51. It took the state boys hours to get to us. Amazingly enough, no one died.”
“Wow, that's a miracle in of itself.” I squeezed his fingers lightly. “Robert shut the grill off hours ago, but can I make you a sandwich?” I offered.
“That would be great, sweetheart. Thank you.”
“Come on back. There's a table you can sit at instead of out here at the bar.” I gave his fingers a slight tug. He picked up his Stetson and followed me to the kitchen, not letting go of my hand. It made me smile.
Once the swinging door shut behind us, Cash pulled me around to face him. I looked up into those dark eyes. “Everything ok?”
“I need to kiss you,” he said in way of an answer.
“No one is stopping you Sheriff.” I took a step toward him so that we were almost touching. I had thought about his kisses all day, and I looked forward to having more of them.
Cash made a small groan as he reached for me. He threaded his fingers through my hair pulling it out of its ponytail holder. He tugged on my hair lightly. “I couldn't get you out of my head today. All I thought about was that I couldn't wait to kiss you again.”
“So kiss me,” I whispered, coming up on my toes to better align our lips. He groaned again, then descended upon me. This kiss was so different from the previous ones. It was raw, a little rough, but oh so good. When he pulled back, we were both panting.
“Holy shit,” I said touching my lips. They felt a little bruised.
“Indeed,” Cash replied, running his thumb across my bottom lip. “How about that sandwich, before I do something you aren't ready for.” His voice was gruff, but his touch was gentle.
I placed my palms on his muscled chest looking up at him. “What am I not ready for?”
Cash leaned into me so that his lips reached my ear. “For me to fuck you raw, against this wall.”
My breath caught. The sound of that deep voice saying those dirty words had my nipples pebbling and my panties getting wet. I squeezed my thighs together to ease the throbbing.
“Oh, well…um..,” I didn't know what to say. The word YES kept running through my mind.
Cash gave a rough laugh. He ran his thumb across my lip again. “How about that sandwich sweetheart?”
Trying to remain cool, casual and unaffected, I stepped around him, going toward the industrial size fridge to pull out fixings for his sandwich. I grabbed a beer, opened it, and handed it to him as he sat at the table. He ran his hands through his hair, tousling it. It made him look even more handsome. He'd unbuttoned the first few buttons of his Sheriff's shirt and I could see a smattering of dark chest hair there. Needing to distract myself, I grabbed the bread and got busy on making a couple of sandwiches. When I was done, I put the plate in front of him, and took the seat across from him. He really did look beat.
"Thanks sweetheart," he said, before biting into one of the sandwiches. In between bites, he told me a little more about the accident and that the driver who had caused the accident was now sitting in the state jail for DWI. We talked about my day, and I thanked him for spreading the word about my needing some security at night while I looked for a full time bouncer. Two of his deputies were going to fill in during the weekends, when things were really busy. As I watched him finish the last sandwich, it worried me that he looked more tired now than he did when he came in.
"You know, it’s a long drive back to the ranch and you really look beat. Why don't you go upstairs and get a few hours of sleep before heading back to the ranch?" I said reaching out to cup his cheek. It was bristly from a day's worth of growth.
He looked surprised for a minute. "Are you sure? Folks will talk if they see my truck parked out back all night," He grinned mischievously.
I smiled in return and shrugged. "Let them talk. Makes me no difference. In fact, I’d kind of get a kick out of the chatter."
"Ok, thank you baby. I appreciate it. I could probably sleep right here in this chair." He finished his beer, then got up to follow me through the back door. I led him up the staircase to my small apartment. It wasn't much, but it was mine, and the king size bed was my one indulgence when I'd moved.
"I just put fresh sheets on the bed today, so you are all set. I'll be quiet when I come up, as not to wake you. I'll be another hour or so finishing up in the bar. I'll take the couch." I led him through the apartment to the bedroom. Just the thought of Cash St. Bryant in my bedroom made my whole body tingle.
"Blue, baby, I won't have you sleeping on the couch when you have a king size bed. I promise to behave myself." He gave me that famous smirk.
"My couch is really comfortable, and I don't want to take the chance of waking you up."
He walked up to me so that we were almost touching. He grabbed my chin between his thumb and forefinger, applying a bit of pressure. "No. You'll sleep in your own bed baby. I’ll leave you be if that’s what you want, but that bed is big enough for the both of us."
When I went to say something, he shook his head at me. "Stop arguing with me. I expect to feel you crawl into this bed in an hour, understood?"
"Ok," I said simply giving up the fight. Truth was I wouldn’t mind sleeping next to him. The look in his eyes told me I should retreat, quickly, before we both succumbed to the heat between us.
Cash lowered his head, placing his lips against mine. He nibbled my bottom lip, then ran his tongue across it. My tongue touched his and he gave a small groan, before grabbing me and deepening the kiss. Our tongues dueled. I could taste the beer he drank and that unique taste of just him. His kisses were raw, powerful, and they made me ache. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him deeper into me. His hands roamed from my face down to my waist, where he held me tightly against that impressive erection. He pulled his mouth away from mine, breathing hard.
I was panting right along with him. "Um, I should probably get back downstairs."
He nodded, but didn't let me go. "Good night Sheriff. Sleep tight." I tiptoed and placed a soft kiss on his lips, then took a step back from him.
"Good night, Blue," his voice was rough, growly, and damn sexy. He slowly released me, his eyes devouring me. I made quick exit before I changed my mind and decided to strip him instead.