“I told her what happened from my point of view,” he said, his chin jutting stubbornly. “It was harrowing.”
Daddy ducked his head, his face red and lips curved upward, and it was probably only the years of practice at not laughing out loud during Sunday service, when we shouldn’t have been bullshitting anyway, that kept him from breaking the silence.
“Noah’s never been around horses, he fell getting his feet on the ground again.”
She remained unimpressed. “You should’ve beenright there. That poor thing. He’s not very big, is he?”
“Yes, Mama,” I said with a sigh and shook my head. Noah’s triumphant smile morphed into a frown as he glanced at her. I wanted to laugh but knew better. There was no winning with this crowd. Daddy sent me a wink and I fired one back.
“Food’s on the table. Wash up.” She pointed at the sink, and I nodded, going over to douse my hands with soap.
Dinner was a low-key affair, as it always had been in this house. Mama chatted with Daddy about which Christmas Eve service she wanted to go to—“We don’t know about the Methodist preacher they got right now because he likes to slip his politics into the sermon.”—and Daddy did the same thing he always had and nodded, watching her like she was the whirlwind at the center of his universe. I supposed that was accurate. Somehow Noah’s chair ended up very close to mine, and he leaned his shoulder tiredly against me as he ate. I tried not to stare at him, but it was a lot to ask. He’d been so sweet to kiss outside, and he’d been mostly responsible for us getting here in one piece, letting me sleep on the way.
After dinner, I took him up to my old bedroom, which had gone through a couple of changes since I’d been gone. Mama had slapped a coat of cream paint on the walls, getting rid of the broody navy I’d put up in my late teen years, and everything matched the too-bright color scheme. He nodded when we went in and smiled at me. I went through to the connected bathroom, which was simple but homey. The clawfoot tub was something I’d always loved about the house, even though it was cast iron covered by porcelain, which made it cold as hell on the bottom until the water had a chance to warm it up.
“I’ll run you a bath for your bruises,” I called out and got no reply. Noah sat on the bed, cheeks cupped in his hands, staring at the floor.
“You okay?”
He startled and glanced up at me, his smile ragged around the edges. “Yeah.” I wanted to ask more questions. Which ones? I’d never considered myself a coward, but I retreated to the bathroom.
When the tub was full, I grabbed his hand, and he let me lead him into the bathroom, face pinking up. It was cute. I’d begun to love shocking some of the shyness out of him. I loved the trust he had in me because he didn’t say a word as I stripped him, merely helped. Once he was naked, he stepped into the warm bathwater and hissed but eased down. I dropped my pants to join him, laughing at the spoon sticking out of my pocket. I picked it up and set it on the counter. It was nice to ease into the steamy water at his back. I’d run the faucet too long, and we sloshed and made puddles on the floor, but after he got situated against my chest, the moment was perfect. His strong shoulders pressed back against me and I cupped his hips.
It had been too long since I had time to spend with him, so I traced my hands over his chest and down his belly. I found exactly what I wanted—a firm, needy cock waiting for me. Noah rolled his head back against my shoulder, and I slipped a hand up to cover his mouth. He gasped and gripped my hand, eyes wide with alarm.
“Oh, you want it,” I murmured in his ear, and he moaned as I carefully slid my other hand over his cock. I tugged him slow and sweet, dragging my fingers along his shaft and toying with him. I waited until his eyes were squeezed shut and he was fucking my fist to really take him in hand and jerk him off. He thrashed and whimpered, and I loved the filthy sounds he made as he blew his load, tensing in my grip as his cock throbbed against my hand.
When he was finished and snuggled against my chest again, I moved my palm from his mouth and tilted his head back to kiss him. “How’s your bruised behind feeling?”
“Uh.... Sore. Riding hurts.”
I snorted at that. “Don’t know. I like it when you’re my little cowboy, riding me. Does that hurt?”
He smiled but didn’t say anything.
We soaked for a long while, then I got us moving again. I dried him off and took my time, and when there wasn’t a drop of water left on him, I led him out into the bedroom. I’d never seen him so peaceful, but we’d had a long day and he’d just gotten off. All I wanted to do was kiss him and touch him. It was like an addiction.
His eyelashes brushed his cheeks and stayed there for a few seconds, and I was struck by the overwhelming urge to blurt stupid things. I cut myself off twice before—“Thank you for taking care of me today.” I hugged him to hide my embarrassment. Why had I said that?
“You wanted to come home.”
The spot behind his ear seemed to be asking me to kiss it, so I did. “You’re such a good husband. I’m lucky.”
He flushed and ducked his head. His hands clenched at his sides.
“Noah?”
“It wasn’t good to... to feel like you were sick of me. Not knowing what you were thinking while you were ignoring me. You were gone. And now you’re acting like that didn’t happen.”
“I was working.” I kissed his pretty lips and gave his ass a pat.
“Hey,” he said, waking up to rub at the spot on his behind.
Laughing, I slipped out of the room to go and raid Daddy’s closet until I could get our clothes. I’d already texted Antoine to put speed on replacing our stuff. In Mama and Daddy’s room I didn’t come up with much that would fit Noah, other than a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring, and an old hoodie from the construction company Daddy used to work for sometimes during the winter. I grabbed one of his undershirts and snagged pajama pants and a sweatshirt for myself. When I came back I found Noah curled up on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I held up my haul, and he snorted.
“Really? That’s the best you could do?”
“You’re not in the city now. Come here, we got stuff to do.”
