The Rivals of Copper County (Copper County #2)

Plucked- a The Rivals of Copper County Bonus Scene

Mid-December

“Jasper?” I called down the stairs. I pressed a hand to my stomach, as if to forcibly restrain the butterflies that were making a desperate bid for escape. “You coming?”

“Yup. Two minutes to John Ruffian and Chill,” he called back. “Just finished stretching and folding my sourdough, and then I’ll…” His voice trailed off as I heard the distinctive quacking of his phone.

“Jasper?” I demanded.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, coming. Just got a text from Delaney. Apparently, there was another construction mishap at his house. This time, it was a teeny, tiny fire.” He snorted. “Don’t worry, everyone’s fine. Delaney says Brew had an equipment malfunction. Ten bucks says Brew’s equipment wasn’t the problem, Delaney’s been touching his tools again. Hey, did you want me to bring up some snacks? I’ve got some charcuterie shit left in my fridge from when Reed and Chris came over—”

“No snacks. No Brewer and Delaney. Just you. Hurry.” Nerves and anticipation added a note of impatience to my voice as I headed back to Jasper’s bedroom and arranged myself on the bed.

If I played my cards right, Jasper’s sourdough would not be the only thing getting stretched tonight.

“Okay, eager beaver,” he shot back. “Get the episode cued up while I fix the thermostat. You want anything while I’m down here? Water? Cider? Some of that weird pumpkin beer Ollie likes?”

“Jasper,” I called back. “Less talky, more walky. Bet you can’t be up here in two minutes.”

“Yeesh. You’d better not try drinking my water again is all I’m—”

“Jasper!”

“I’m coming! Keep your pants on.”

I bit my lip around a grin. Too late, baby…

In the weeks that Jasper and I had been together, we hadn’t just settled into a comfortable domesticity; we’d held hands and dived in… and it was fucking glorious.

We’d exchanged house keys and Netflix logins.

I knew a lot (some might argue too much) about Jasper’s sourdough, and he’d taken over a lot of the admin work at the orchard because, he claimed, someone needed to protect the poor spreadsheets from me.

We ate dinner together most nights, and Derry was such a huge fan of Jasper’s cooking—and of Jasper in general—that I’d only been mildly annoyed when he’d taken one bite of Jasper’s roasted broccoli, declared, “I hadn’t known there was a way you could cook this that didn’t involve boiling it to mush!” and (mostly) jokingly begged Jasper to adopt him.

Jasper and I watched hockey at my house, and I only growled occasionally when he fanboyed over his friend Lawson. We watched John Ruffian at his house, sometimes alone and sometimes with my friends… who’d quickly become ours. Jasper, Chris, Ollie, and Brew had even started their own group chat called Cookie Bitches—Ollie’s idea, I was almost positive—where they discussed making their Christmas cookie exchange a monthly event since the world needed baked goods all year long.

Jasper was growing and stretching into the life he’d chosen, and I… well, I was more deeply planted than I’d ever fucking been. Roots all over the place. Roots galore. I hadn’t known there was something better than contentment until Jasper had come back and showed me how it felt to be all the way happy.

Our relationship was new, yes, but it was also old. Jasper’s name had been written on my heart long before I’d learned how to guard it, and I’d grown around it. So much of my past was colored with memories of him—even when I’d wanted to pretend otherwise—that it felt natural and obvious that we’d be together, yet still thrillingly unexpected. The best of all worlds. Friends and rivals…

And now lovers.

But no matter how settled Jasper and I got, we were never bored. We couldn’t exist in the same space without teasing each other. I couldn’t see him without itching to touch him. And for the first time in thirty-seven years, I not only understood what the big deal about sex was… I craved it. Constantly.

As Ollie might say, my battery was fully charged at all times.

I wrapped a hand around my half-hard cock and gave myself a few lazy tugs.

Downstairs, Jasper muttered to himself as he locked the front door. “It’s called John Ruffian and Chill, not John Ruffian and Agitate The Man You Love Until He Brains Your Bossy Ass With A Bread Pan.”

Was it weird that he made my blood run hot even when he was grumbling like an old man? Possibly. Did I care?

I laughed out loud as I stroked myself more firmly. Not even a little bit.

“Hey! What’s so funny?” I heard Jasper’s feet on the stairs and then down the creaky hall as he hurried toward the bedroom. “Watt, you’d better not have started without—” His voice cut off the second he stepped into the room.

I spread my legs wider, showing him exactly what I’d been up to. “Kinda did.”

Jasper’s mouth fell open, his blue eyes going dark with want. “Fuck, baby,” he whispered, setting his water glass down on the dresser and reaching for the hem of his sweatshirt. “Holy shit.”

I grinned at his reaction, loving the way he devoured me with his eyes. There was something about the way Jasper looked at me—like I was the only thing that mattered—that made my skin tingle.

But then his gaze tracked up my body and locked onto my chest. He froze, brow furrowing, as he took in my ridiculous bedazzled and be-feathered T-shirt. “Watt,” he said, blinking like he was trying to figure out if he was hallucinating. “What the hell are you wearing?”

“Oh, this old thing?” I said casually, tugging at the feathers and tweaking my nipple through the fabric for good measure. “My souvenir turkey shirt from the Pilgrim Prance. Ring a bell?”

Jasper’s lips twitched. “Since it was only a couple of weeks ago, I think I might recall. I won…”

“Our team won,” I corrected, motioning between the two of us. “Not the same thing.”

“Close enough. Uh, Watt? My beloved?” He swallowed, dragging his eyes back down my body to where my hand was still wrapped around my cock. “Is there a reason why you’re wearing it? Not that I’m complaining, but… Thanksgiving was weeks ago.”

“Well…” I shrugged fake-casually. “You said it was hot. There was talk of… plucking fantasies. So I wondered…” His eyes met mine. “You wanna pluck me, Jasper?”

His nostrils flared, and in one swift motion, he yanked off his sweatshirt and threw it on the floor. “You looking to get plucked, baby?”

I shivered, loving the intensity in his voice, the raw need in his eyes. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it. A lot.”

Jasper was on me in a heartbeat, pushing me back against the pillows, stripping out of his sweatpants, and tearing off my shirt with zero regard for the feathers. I could not have approved more.

Then his mouth crashed against mine, hot and desperate, and I gasped into the kiss, my body arching up to meet his.

His hands were everywhere—on my chest, my hips, my thighs—and I moaned when his fingers brushed over my hole.

“Fuck, Jasper,” I groaned, spreading my legs wider. “Please.”

He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. “You sure?” His voice was hoarse, his gaze searching mine.

“Never been more sure,” I whispered, aching and breathless. I grabbed the lube from under the pillow where I’d stashed it and handed it over. “I thought about doing this myself, getting myself ready. But I figured—”

“I’d be pissed if I didn’t get to do this for you?” Jasper said hoarsely. “Damn right.”

Jasper exhaled a shaky breath and rested his forehead against mine as his fingers teased me open. “Fuck, baby, you feel so good. So fucking perfect.”

My heart swelled at the tenderness in his voice. No one in my life had ever looked at me with that combination of love and want before. And it wasn’t just about the sex, even though that was incredible. It was about the way he cared for me, the way he knew me.

His fingers pushed deeper, and I groaned, gripping his biceps as my body adjusted. “Jasper…”

“I’ve got you,” he whispered, kissing my forehead, my cheeks, my lips, as his fingers worked me open. “I’ll always have you.”

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, not from pain but from the overwhelming emotion that came with knowing this was real.

I got to have this. I got to keep it. Jasper was mine.

“Okay,” he said softly after a few minutes, pulling his fingers out and reaching for the lube again. “Ready, baby?”

I nodded, watching as he slicked himself up, my heart pounding in my chest. He lined his cock up against my hole, his hands trembling slightly as he looked at me. “If it’s too much, tell me to stop.”

“I won’t,” I promised, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling him closer. “I want you. All of you.”

His eyes darkened with desire, and slowly, gently, he pushed inside me. I sucked in a breath, my fingers digging into his shoulders as my body adjusted to the stretch. It was intense, but it wasn’t too much. Not with Jasper.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice strained with the effort of holding back.

“Yeah,” I breathed. “Move.”

“Bossy,” he muttered, making us both laugh.

My laughter ended on a groan as he pulled out and pushed back in, hips rocking in a slow, steady rhythm that had me seeing stars. Every thrust hit just right, sending waves of pleasure crashing through me.

“Fuck, baby,” he gasped, his pace picking up as he lost himself in the sensation. “You feel so fucking good.”

I was too far gone to respond. My body was on fire, every nerve ending lit up with pleasure as Jasper fucked me, his hands gripping my hips, his mouth brushing against mine in soft, desperate kisses.

I could feel the tension building low in my belly, the pleasure coiling tighter and tighter until I was right on the edge.

“Jasper,” I gasped, my voice shaking as my hips bucked up to meet his. “I’m close.”

“Me too,” he groaned, his thrusts getting faster, rougher, as he chased his release. “Fuck, Watt, come for me.”

That was all it took. My body seized, pleasure exploding through me as I came hard, Jasper’s name a broken cry on my lips. He followed right behind, his body trembling as he buried himself deep and spilled inside me with a guttural moan.

For a long moment, we stayed like that, tangled together, our breaths mingling as we came down from the high. Jasper was a solid, warm weight on top of me, his heart pounding against my chest as I wrapped my arms around him to hold him close.

“I love you,” he whispered against my skin, his lips pressing soft kisses to my neck, my jaw, my cheek. “I love you so fucking much. Never leaving you again.”

“Good,” I murmured, my voice thick with emotion. “Because I love you, too. Forever, Jasper. And I’ll never let you go.”