The Cowboy's Prize

Chapter 20

We headed home, our emotions rattled.

It was one thing to contemplate another human being's condition desiring to assist; and quite another to find his condition much worse than imagined. His appearance at once shocked me and yet I already knew exactly what had happened to him. I was thankful he had wanted to leave. Without both that desire and courage, there was no hope of him getting out of Alastair's clutches.

To get him out clean, he would need to delete the blackmail file containing whatever dirt Alastair had on him both on the computer and destroy the backup. If he wasn't up for that, there was no hope. He'd never be able to prove the depths of Alastair's depravity or break his hold over him... and if I was being completely honest, us.

I knew it wasn't just for the kid that I was doing this. I wanted to erase that clip of my own defeat, but I'd settle for Sam's. Truth be told, I wanted to hand the drive over to the authorities. They would be able to glean from everything shown what kind of man he was and I was also 100% certain there had to be illegal activity shown on it. He was the kind of man who would relish having more than just people's sexploits recorded.

Our smiles were muted as we walked into my apartment and sat on the couch, Scott pulling me into the curve of his arm in comfort.

I sighed and relaxed against his strength as I tried to let the tension I was feeling go.

He stroked my hair and hummed a nonsensical tune under his breath, as I relaxed into his comforting embrace. Then as he kept humming, the tune began to form a shape and I found myself wanting to sing along with it. "Beyoncé?" I asked quizzically as I looked up at his smiling face, recognising the chorus to a familiar song.

He nodded and began singing out loud. It was infectious and I joined in with him, our voices blending in a really nice harmony as we got into it and began to belt out the chorus. We were both grinning by the end of it and he nodded with satisfaction before asking, "Better?"

"How do you know the perfect thing to cheer me up?" I asked once more snuggling back into his frame.

"Pure genius." He said completely deadpan before laughing, his opposite hand covering his mouth adorably as he laughed at his own wit.

That was even more adorable than his voice and I sat up and then climbed into his lap. His smile disappeared as remembered desire flared again and his expression became serious once more.

"Now where were we?" I asked softly, raising my hands to cup his face before lowering my mouth to his.

"Mitch..." He breathed before I stopped his voice and gave into my desperate need to feel his mouth under mine once more.

He surrendered to me, his hands pulling me closer as his mouth grew hungrier and his moan of desperation rose in his throat.

I answered his needy sound with one of my own and before long, we were starving for each other again and all other concerns had been pushed onto the backburner. Scott growled and stood, lifting me and holding me in position while his large strides took us to the bedroom. His strides, fast enough to take my breath even as his mouth stole my next one. I pulled back for an instant, filling my starving lungs as my eyes grew stormy with desire and met his own yearning, ocean tossed, tempest filled ones.

"Mitch." He whispered, uncertainty battling desire for ascendency as he reached the side of the bed and reality struck again.

"Don't think too hard Scotty." I said softly, "I've got everything covered." I reassured him, nodding toward the drawer next to the bed.

He smiled as understanding took away his momentary hesitation and then kissed me again, putting all his trust in me. I did all I could to reassure him with my approving murmurs, kissing him fervently and caressing him until his tension melted away. I could feel it easing under my fingertips as they wrapped around his shoulders, ran across those amazing trapezius muscles that flowed down from his neck, and then ran across his collarbones. Knowing he'd put himself in my hands completely for the second time that night was heady. It filled me with confidence and drove me harder toward making every moment of the rest of his night the most wonderful it could be.

Our caresses became more urgent, our touches more seductive. It was easy to drive Scott to the point of oblivion; he was so sensitive to my touch. He proved it every time his breath huffed out and moans escaped his mouth.

I had decided to ensure his absolute pleasure before any thought to my own. But I found myself reaching the same peak as Scott tried, even in the midst of his own overpowering sensation to drive me wild as well. We'd made use of the drawer and we'd spent torturously drawn out moments making sure we were both ready for whatever came next.

Scott reached oblivion under me as I rode him like he rode his stallion. The sensations of him filling me and his hand wrapped around me hurtled me over the edge as fast as he had reached it. His explosive shout of release one more flashpoint of memory I knew I'd never forget. His neck arched, his voice rasped through emotion roughened vocal chords, and his face was flushed with emotion and sensual pleasure.

His first thought however when he was able to breathe again and open his eyes to immediately gravitate to mine was whether I was all right.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked hoarsely as he held my waist while I eased up and away from his mighty sword.

"You were amazing Scott." I assured him, leaning down a planting a reassuring kiss on his forehead before heading to the bathroom momentarily.

I returned with a damp washcloth and he blinked as I first wiped away the beads of sweat at his forehead before moving it lower.

"Sure?" He asked, his breathing slowing, his hands fluttering as they tried to decide where to grab hold of me. It was charming and I grabbed them and put them around my waist again. Grounded and looking up at me, trust and love shining in his beautiful blue eyes my heart melted once more.

"You Dork." I muttered, making a huge grin explode across his face and confidence brim in his satiated expression. There, that was what I was hoping to see. NO regret, no second thoughts.

It was perfect. And so was he.