12. Giana

CHAPTER 12

Giana

D espite the interruption from Leo’s mama, we crank the volume on the radio, dance the evening away with our paintbrushes in hand, and eat some leftover pizza sometime around eight p.m.

We don’t finish the cabinets until after midnight. We’re tired, sweaty, and covered in paint. But completing another project has a satisfaction wriggling through me. Even if I am exhausted.

And even if all I’m thinking about is how Leo is about to leave me.

“All right, Cowboy. You know I don’t break my promises.” I take him by the hands and wiggle my brows suggestively.

He gives me an impish grin but acts like he’s going to wave me off. “It’s been a long day, Sugar. We’re both tired.”

“I’m not tired.” Tugging him along, I continue walking backward down the hall.

“Ya sure?”

I smile and push the bathroom door open with my backside. “Start the bath.” Dropping his hands, I begin undoing the buttons slowly on the coveralls.

His eyes zone in on my hands, and when he glances back up at me, his pupils are dark and electric.

“I love it when you get bossy,” he says.

As the bathtub fills and steam rises in the small bathroom, I step out of the coveralls. Leo tears his T-shirt off and tosses it onto the worn tiled floor. I help him out of his pants. When he kicks them off, his yearning for me is visible. He yanks off his own underwear before he tears mine off. I unhook my bra, and we stand naked amid the billowy steam.

It’s intense. It’s hot and erotic.

“You’re gorgeous.”

A small laugh escapes me. “I’m covered in paint.”

“Not covered,” he says, dragging a finger down the center of my breasts agonizingly slow and not stopping till he reaches my belly button.

A hunger bubbles inside me that’s so intense and raw.

It’s a desperate need to touch him. To feel him. I’m craving to pleasure him in a way I haven’t yet during our time together.

Bringing the bathmat underneath me, I drop to my knees slowly, not tearing my eyes off him.

“Sugar, no. What’re ya doing?” He lowers himself with me, propping a hand underneath my elbow.

“Let me do this, Leo. I want to.” In case he tries to argue further, I am quick to wrap my hand around his cock. It’s thick and already so stiff in my grip. It pulses, and he’s unable to muffle his groan.

Anticipation swirls around me as I shift my gaze from his eyes to his impressive erection. Being this close, holding it in my hand, rubbing the sensitive skin of his length, has my heart rate accelerating.

“Have you always been this big?” I snort a light laugh .

He breathes out a strangled chuckle just as I press a kiss to the tip of him. I pull back and lick my lips, the taste of him piquing my intrigue.

“It’s not too big for you, Sugar. You take it so well.” His hands go into my hair, and it heightens my senses.

I lean in again, this time opening up for him and taking his fullness into my mouth. As I do, he thrusts in farther, and my tongue pushes him back in response.

He groans. “It’s okay, my pretty girl. You’re doing it just right. Take me in and suck.”

His words coax me to close my lips around him, and when I pull back, my tongue glides against his throbbing cock. My hand moves intermittently with my mouth, pulling him in and out in a rhythm I’m surprised to find easy. Enticing even.

Leo digs his fingers against the back of my head, guiding me when I become sporadic. It’s hot and gets my own desire buzzing. When I drag my teeth against his sensitive skin, his fingertips scrape against my scalp, and he brings my head closer to him. As I torment him with my mouth, opening and closing around him, sucking and licking, he pulses against me.

“Shit. I’m gonna come,” he whispers sharply, trying to pull away from me.

But I grip a hand on one of his butt cheeks and hold him to me. “It’s okay. I can take it.”

His eyes dance over mine. “Ya sure?”

I nod and take in his fullness once again. It doesn’t take long before his cock twitches and then surges. Hot liquid pools into my mouth, and I open my throat, taking it. Just as I said I could. I swallow but barely notice as the only thing I hear is my name tumbling quietly out of his mouth.

“Giana. Giana. Giana. Fuck, Giana.”

I pull back my mouth until I release him with a pop from my lips. My hand unclenches from him, and I wipe the back of my hand against my mouth. He lowers himself to me, and lifts me under my elbows. His breathing is quick. Pressing his forehead against mine, he blinks slowly and lethargically.

“You are…everything. Everything to me,” he pants before blessing me with a kiss to my lips that’s sweet. That’s grateful. That’s appreciative.

“Now, let’s take a bath, and let me take care of you, Darlin’.”

There’s a dip in my belly, and already, a lustful yearning builds between my thighs.

“And after I bathe ya, I’m going to fuck you until you’re howling my name.”

“Is that a promise, Cowboy?”

He smacks me playfully on the bare ass as I step into the tub.

“If you climb in the saddle, you better be ready for the ride, Sugar,” he drawls, joining me in the bath.

I’m not familiar with that saying, but what I do know, it’s hot as hell. What I also know, it’s going to be a Hail Mary kind of sex.

Because it could very well be our last.

A fter we slip into bed, Leo picks up the book from the nightstand and reads out loud for a bit. Reading together is something we’ve been doing to unwind at the end of the day. We’ve been working our way through Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It’s amusing the way Leo chuckles at Elizabeth’s quips at Mr. Darcy.

But tonight, there’s no chuckling. There are no silly voices for the characters. Neither of us is invested in the story. At this realization, Leo closes the book and returns it to the nightstand.

With his arm wrapped around me tightly, I rest my cheek against his chest. Listening to his breathing and feeling his heart thump is soothing.

“I have to go,” Leo finally whispers into the dark.

“I know,” is my reply.

We cling to one another the entire night, both fighting against exhaustion and sleep that threatens to drag us into our new reality. The one where we have to say goodbye. The one where our future together is uncertain.

It’s unfair.

It’s not how this love story was supposed to end.

I awake in a panic, shooting straight up in bed. But my shoulders relax at the sight of Leo sitting on the edge of the mattress. His back is to me. I crawl over to him on my knees and slip my arms around his back. He grips my hands and holds me so tight to him I fight to take a breath. My throat feels raw and thick.

“Morning, Sugar. How’d ya sleep?”

Is this a trick question? How does he think I slept?

“Like shit,” I say.

It’s blunt for so early in the morning. But his body quakes against me like he’s exhaling a strangled laugh.

“Me too. Me too.” He glances over his shoulder at me and grazes his hand over my cheek, his eyes searching mine.

Without thinking, without an invitation, I crawl right into his lap. His length stiffens against me so quickly. His instant need for me is usually good for the ego. We’re so in sync. So familiar with one another’s bodies by now. But this morning, it’s just a reminder of how unfair all of this is.

Leo’s fingers dig into my ass as he grinds me against his cock. My pussy already whimpers for him. My head lulls back, and his teeth gnash against my throat.

“This is so fuckin’ unfair.” His words tumble out roughly into the crook of my neck.

I rock against his length, and it sends a vibration throughout my core. Our reality is harsh. It’s cruel.

Everything logical inside me fights with my brain to form the words to tell him not to go. To beg him not to go. I need him, here, with me.

“So unfair,” I whisper.

He squeezes my hips and shoves me back a bit. “I’ve got somethin’ for you.”

At first, I assume he means his erection or morning sex. But I follow his line of vision to the nightstand where a small compass on a gold chain rests. I sit back on his knees, and he reaches for the compass.

The brassy gold is worn, but the chain is shiny. He studies the metal in his hand for a moment before opening up my palm and setting the compass in it. The piece is light, but there’s a weight to it I can’t explain. The backstory is heavy; I can already feel it as it settles in my hand.

I don’t speak. I bite my lower lip as I glance up at him and catch his eyes glossing over. My stomach tightens, and I hold my breath. Waiting but dreading at the same time for the story to follow.

“My dad gave this to me,” he starts, swallowing in between. “It was his dad’s before him.”

My thumb grazes the glass front. “It’s beautiful.”

“I want you to have it. ”

“Leo, no.” I shove it at his chest. “There’s no way in hell I’m taking a family heirloom.”

He closes my fist around it, clamping his hand over mine. “My dad gave it to me before I left the ranch to come here. He told me to follow my heart. But that no matter what, this compass would help me find my way back home.”

My throat thickens, and tears prick my eyes. I shake my head.

He takes my chin in his hand, stilling me along with the whirling thoughts racing through my mind. “I followed my heart. It led me home. You’re my home.”

My heart cracks. Along with it, the dam, which has been holding back my flood of tears. “Leo…” Tiny sobs break free from my chest. I can’t find more words.

“I need you to hold onto this until I come back. Until I come back home. Please?” His eyes search mine, an unspoken plea.

I can’t resist him. I finally nod and swallow the lump in my throat.

Relief smears his expression. He unclasps the necklace and holds it out to me. I gather my hair to one shoulder, and he hooks the chain together at the nape of my neck. It drops with a heavy plunk , hitting my breastbone. It carries a weight of fear. Of responsibility.

Leo smiles. But it’s laced with sadness and apprehension. “You’re my home, Sugar.”

I wipe away my tears and throw my arms around him. The compass presses in between us.

“Just come back to me, Cowboy,” I whisper into his neck.