I wondered how long it would take me to get up the nerve to go find Walker.
What would he say? How would things be between us?
Would he even want to see me? Did he think about me as much as I did him? My stomach was tied in a thousand knots, and I couldn’t for the life of me think of what in the world I was even going to say to him.
“Wilde Man?” The voice was deeper but familiar, and just the sound of it released something in me that had been caged up for a decade.
I lifted up my eyes and saw a masculine frame silhouetted in the big open doors of the barn so I couldn’t really make out his features. I saw enough to know a grown man stood in place of my childhood friend. He wore a khaki sheriff’s uniform, including a gun belt and the whole deal. Even though he hadn’t grown much taller, his shoulders were broader, and I could make out the delicious curves of muscles in his arms and legs through his snug-fitting uniform.
“Walker?”
“Make a Texas Ranger joke, and I’m drawing down on you right here,” he said, moving into the barn. I stood on shaky legs and walked toward him.
His face was open and friendly with a big smile, but as he got closer, the nerves were clear as day in his sky blue eyes. Seth Walker was just so fucking beautiful; I wanted to cry like a goddamned baby.
“Hey,” I managed to choke out.
“Hey yourself.”
Despite ten years of hating him for leaving me, I wanted him with a desperation that left me breathless. I didn’t know what I would do if I opened myself up to him again and he rejected me once more.
“I-I…” I tried. “I…”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. No way. We’re not starting with all that shit. Fucking come here.”
It took me two strides to get there, and then I was holding on to him as if my life depended on it. I felt every single tremble of both his body and mine, and our blood nearly sang with the rightness of being back together again.
“Oh god, Walker,” I breathed into his hair. “Damn, you feel good.”
“I missed you so fucking much. I don’t know whether to shoot you or fuck you,” he growled into my neck.
My dick jammed hard against my zipper, and I felt his growl in my balls.
“Do I get a vote?”
Walker’s lips were on mine before I even finished getting the words out. After that it was lips and tongue and teeth and hands.
Everywhere.
I heard his gun belt hit the bench behind me as my hands went for his shirt, yanking it out of his pants. Then his trembling hands were in my hair and mine were on his ass as if they’d never left. I grabbed rounded, muscular cheeks fuller than they’d been before and even sexier if that was possible.
I wanted to touch him all over.
“Get naked,” I demanded in a harsh tone. “Right now.”
My shirt was half rucked up and twisted around my armpits already. Somehow my belt was open, and the buckle was pinned between my hipbone and his stomach. I pulled his uniform shirt apart so fast buttons went flying into the wood slats of the stalls making little plik-plik sounds.
I had no patience for this clothing bullshit. “Get this motherfucking shirt—”
His hands grabbed mine and squeezed. “Hey. Hey. Slow down. There’s no hurry, baby. I’m here. You’re here. We’re here together now, okay?”
Seth Walker calling me “baby.” Fuck, my heart couldn’t take it.
“Seth,” I whimpered, resting my forehead against his. I slid my hands around his bare back and pulled him in tight.
His hands came up to cup my face. “Shh, Wilde Man. Take it easy. Shh.”
Walker’s lips dropped soft kisses all over my face as his palms slid down over my shoulders and chest to my stomach. I was dizzy with desire and wondered how in the hell I had survived ten whole years without this man in my arms. As I struggled to catch my breath, I realized what he was doing.
Walker followed his hands down my body with open-mouthed kisses until he landed on his knees on the dusty floor.
So much for catching my breath.
Chapter 3
Walker
Seth,
I don’t know if I can really do this, I miss you so much I feel like I’m going to be sick all the time. Thank god we agreed not to video chat or talk on the phone because, I swear if I saw your beautiful face or heard your sweet voice, I might crack into a million pieces.
I thought I’d be able to make it through this year, but tonight was bonfire night, and you weren’t here for the first time ever. How am I supposed to do this, Seth? I can’t stand it. Please tell me you miss me as much as I miss you.