I took a deep breath in the bathroom, washing my face in my hands, though the taste of her seemed to linger on my tongue. I felt stupid—like a complete idiot—the moment her pleasure had peaked. I had given her what she wanted; beyond what she wanted. I was letting her use me in order to get her way, all because I had this insatiable desire for her and her body, to see her paint more, smile more, and enjoy herself always. The kiss, the touching—it had all been a part of her plan, her way to wrap me around her finger to get me to do what she wanted. I sneered at myself in the mirror, telling myself what an idiot I was that I had fallen for what she was doing to me. I had seriously considered for a moment what it would be like to sell my share of the business, move to the ranch and bring Violet with me. I shook the thought out of my head, pissed as I went to bed and laid awake for a long while. I wondered what she was up to, thought about her pussy again, how sweet, perfect and tight it had been. I pushed that thought out of my mind, too, in favor of brooding. I fell asleep after a long time, and when I woke up, my mood was as foul as it had been the night before. I grumbled and got out of bed, dreading the day, knowing I was taking Violet to the business branch for some more work.

When I went downstairs, Violet was sitting at the table. I didn’t look at her or greet her, but instead started to eat without a word.

“How are you this morning, Coop?” Abigail asked, obviously noting the silence between us. I only grunted in reply and Abigail raised her eyebrows, looking between the two of us for a minute before I shot her a look to drop it. She shrugged, digging into her food, and nobody said a word until my mother walked in.

“Why are the three of you so morose?” she asked.

“I’m not morose. These two are,” Abigail said.

“We’re just tired, ma. We were up late.”

“I bet,” said Abigail. My mother gave her a disapproving look.

“Are you going in today?”

“Yeah,” I said, glancing over at Violet. “I thought we would. Should give Violet a chance to do what she came here to do. Right, Vi?”

She didn’t say anything, but continued eating as if she hadn’t heard me.

“How much longer do you think you’re staying?” said my mother.

“Not long,” I said quickly. “A few more days. I’m sure Violet’s ready to get out of here.”

“I’m not,” said Violet quietly. I didn’t say anything, but got up from the table.

“Meet me at the car,” I said to her, and walked away. I heard my mother question Violet on the way out but didn’t pick up on what she said. I didn’t care. I walked out to the car, starting it, waiting impatiently until Violet arrived a few moments later.

“Thanks for hurrying,” I said to her sarcastically. She stared at me through narrow eyes.

“What’s your problem?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said to her. “I just regret last night.”

“Oh,” she said. She sounded stricken, and I wanted to take the words back as soon as I’d said them. But I refused, instead reaffirming as I spoke.

“It was a mistake. You are an employee. I’m sorry I let it happen.”

“You’re not half as sorry as I am,” she spat. I glared ahead at the road, driving in silence until we got to the business branch. She marched up ahead of me, quickly getting out of the car and going inside, though she had no idea where she was going. I felt tense, angry as I followed her in, though I managed to plaster on a smile when I met with my employees. We spent the day walking through the building again, this time getting a feel for how the schedule worked and how the employees cycled through the building throughout the day, just to get a fresh perspective and move their bodies.

“Was this your father’s idea?” she asked. “The open layout?”

I said nothing, heard her huff as we continued through the building. We sat in on a meeting for a moment so that she could get a feel of how the employers ran the place, how nice it was, how the politics here were nothing like in New York. I didn’t even know why I bothered—she wasn’t here to look at the business branch, but to tempt me, to sway me into doing something that I wouldn’t be inclined to do otherwise.

“You all can go home early,” I said to the staff around three o’clock. It was getting dark outside, storm clouds reflecting my mood as they gathered above us, threatening to burst. “Get home before the storm.”

Violet was quiet as we watched everybody file out, following behind them. I locked up the building as I went, glad that my father had had the foresight to build the place so that there was no way for hail to damage it. We got into the car just as it started to rain, heavy drops falling on the windshield, then hail. I said nothing as I started to drive and could feel the tension radiating off of her. She had been quiet or snippy with me all day, angry and irritated, upset with me for the night before.

We were miles from home when it happened. A loud popping noise, the car swerving out of control, hydroplaning off the road. I threw my arm out across Violet as we flew into the ditch, crashing against the edge of it. I cursed, looking over at her.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

“What happened?”

“I think the tire popped,” I said, blowing out a sigh of relief. “I don’t have a spare. Hold on a second.”

I got out of the car, getting drenched nearly the second I climbed outside. I saw that indeed the back tire was completely shredded, down to the rim. The front tires were stuck in the mud.

“Shit,” I said, getting back in the car. She looked at me with wide eyes.

“We’re not going anywhere,” I said, nearly shouting over the sound of the hail. “And we need to get out of the way. There’s a barn nearby—a neighbor. We’re going to run there. Think you can do that?”

“Yes,” she said, staring at my face with a heated expression. “I can do that, Cooper.”

“Let’s go then,” I snapped at her, getting out of the car. I waited for her to catch up with me, grabbing her hand, running as I pulled her in the direction of the barn. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled as we jogged across an open field toward the barn. When we got there, I had to pry the door open with my bare hands, pulling on it as hard as I could to get the door open through the mud. We rushed inside, both of us soaked, and pulled the door closed behind us. Violet shivered violently, hugging herself close as she sat down on the floor of the barn.

“Are you okay?”

“Y—yes,” she said, her teeth trembling. “I just need to dry off.”

“I’m going to look around,” I said to her. I wished there was something that I could give her to warm her up, and only hoped that there was a blanket or something nearby. Even a horse blanket would do. Texas was hot, balmy, but being soaking wet at night in a lofty barn during a storm would be enough to make her sick if she didn’t get warm soon.

I sighed in relief when I found a gas lantern, along with some canned food and a large blanket. I carried it over to her, turning on the lamp as I sat next to her.

“You should get out of those clothes,” I said to her. She squinted at me in response.

“What?”

“You’re soaking wet,” I said to her. I was shivering myself, but I was more worried for her sake. She was shivering, obviously freezing. “Please, Violet.”

“What about you?” she asked. “You’re wet.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll dry out.”

“Okay,” she said. “Don’t look.”

“I won’t,” I promised, closing my eyes as she stood up and stripped out of her clothes, then sat back down with the blanket wrapped around her. I tried to bring my hands closer to the lamp, which put off a little heat. The lightning cracked above us, thunder shaking the whole barn, and she jumped at the noise, biting her lip.

“You’re freezing,” she said after a moment, staring at me. “Come here.”

“What?” I asked her.

“Come under the blanket, Cooper,” she said. “Take your clothes off.”

“But I—”

“Are you grossed out or something?” she asked. “You just going to let yourself get sick rather than share a blanket with me?”

“I want to share a blanket with you,” I said to her. “I want to spend all night under a blanket with you underneath me. I want to make you cum on my cock until you can’t walk straight, okay? It has nothing to do with how much I fucking want you, Violet. I just think it’s a bad idea.”

“Fine,” she huffed, pretending like she hadn’t heard the words. “Suit yourself.”

I sighed, standing up, stripping out of my clothes so that I was naked in front of her. Her eyes landed on my cock, hard and prominent, and I shrugged when her lips parted and she met my gaze. Then I sat down next to her, taking part of the blanket and wrapping it around my body. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so large anymore, now that we were both naked and huddled underneath it. I could feel the heat of her body and craved it desperately against my own, not just to warm up but to touch her skin.

“Why did you leave last night?” she asked softly. I didn’t say anything, but pulled out my pocket knife and started to open one of the cans.

“Cooper,” she said firmly. I looked at her then, her eyes burning.

“You owe me—”

“I don’t owe you anything,” I said, staring at her, drinking her in. Her lips were so full, so ripe, and her skin was soft against mine. She was still trembling, the barn cool and drafty.

“If you want me so bad, why did you stop last night? Why did you just leave me there?”

I stared at her, not answering. I wondered if she would tell me the truth if I brought it up, asked her what the real reason was that she had come here for. But I found I didn’t want to. Instead, I leaned into her, taking her mouth in a soft kiss.

“You’re right,” I breathed against her lips. “I shouldn’t have left you there. I should have fucked you when I had the chance.”

She kissed me again, then again, tasting my mouth with her sweet tongue. Her hand found my cheek and she held me there, hungry for me as I was for her. I could tell it was real then—that she wasn’t faking her desire. Her kiss proved everything to me. No matter what she was doing here, she wanted me just as bad as I wanted her. It made my breathing ragged as I continued with the kiss, shifting our bodies so that she was on her back underneath me. Her hands immediately went to cover her stomach, but I pulled them away, kissing her soft belly and nuzzling it with my nose. I loved the fullness of her body, how every single part of her was soft to the touch, no hard angles or jutting bones.

“I love it,” I said. “I love everything about your body.”

“I don’t—”

“Shh,” I said to her, nuzzling her ample breasts, kissing them as I brushed my lips over both of her nipples, just teasing them with my breath.

“I can’t help it,” I said to her. “God, I don’t think I should do this. But I can’t help it.”

“So don’t,” she said, looking into my eyes, kissing me one more time as she ran her hands over my skin. I lowered my face to nuzzle her neck, then to suck on her hard, ripe nipple, teasing it with my tongue. My fingers found her pussy and I started to stroke it, spreading her moisture all around. She was soaking wet, ready for everything—my mouth, my fingers, my cock. All the anger within me dissipated the longer I touched her, slipping a finger deep into her pussy to tease her with its fullness. She moaned at that touch alone, something that drove me crazy. I groaned, kissing her other breast, positioning my body on top of hers.

“You want this,” I said to her. “You want my cock. Say it and I’ll give it to you.”

“I do,” she said, looking into my eyes. “But I—I’ve never—”

I stared at her face. “You’ve never what?”

“I’m a virgin,” she said, blushing in embarrassment, looking away from me. I took a deep breath, sitting up, shaking my head. That was too much for me.

“I can’t do this,” I breathed. Fucking her was one thing, taking her virginity another altogether. There was a look of surprise on her face, then shame as she turned away from me.