“Don’t you dare.”
Kelly shrugged and waited.
“Fine,” Janice sighed. “What do you want me to say if anyone asks where you are?”
“Tell them I went for a morning ride.”
“Uh-huh, I bet you’ll be riding all right.”
“Janice.” Kelly rolled her eyes.
“Help me get the dogs in the house and I’ll do it.”
“You want them back in the cages?”
“No, the poor things have been cooped up enough. They’ll sleep in bed with me and probably with Alissa. She likes dogs, right?”
“She loves them. Thanks.”
As the dogs finished up their business and Janice cleaned up after them, she asked, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I’m sure about Trent. I’ve loved him forever. And now it seems like we’re going to finally get our chance to be together.”
“I hope so, Kelly. Does Alissa like him?”
“Yes. He’s made a big impression on her.”
“Is he going to stick around here?” Janice asked pointedly.
“I guess that depends on the school, but I think he’s in it for the long haul.” Kelly really wanted to tell her sister the whole truth, about Trent being Alissa’s father, but it was too late for what would no doubt be a long conversation and she wanted to tell both her sisters at the same time.
They brought the dogs in the house as quietly as they could. She could hear her father snoring, so they made it up to her room without incident. The dogs were relieved to be out of the truck and off their leashes. After investigating several smells and no marking of territory, they settled around the room.
“You’re going to trip on the way to the bathroom,” Kelly said, trying to maneuver her way back to the door without stepping on someone’s tail.
“Nah, watch.” Janice got into bed and all six dogs joined her.
“Mom’s going to shit if she sees that.”
“Have fun, and close the door behind you.”
Shaking her head, Kelly crept back downstairs and back to the barn. She set up the dog kennels in a neat line and took out Pippi, who was more interested in her new neighbors than going for a ride, but she allowed Kelly to saddle her and ride out.
It was a beautiful, clear night. The full moon lit up everything, so Kelly didn’t even need her flashlight. She couldn’t help but feel the excitement build, and she kicked Pippi into a controlled gallop. There was a light on in the studio and in the barn, and her heart fluttered.
Heading toward the barn, she met Trent coming out.
“I was hoping you hadn’t changed your mind.”
“Never,” she said. “Are you sure you’re not too tired?”
“Not for you.” He helped her dismount and she led Pippi to the barn. He had set up a stall for her. “You’re not wandering around tonight,” he said to the horse. “You can keep Flower company.”
Kelly took off the saddle and made sure Pippi was comfortable and had everything she needed. Trent leaned up against the barn door, watching her, and she realized she was stalling.
“Ready?” he asked in a husky tone.
“More than ready.” She took his hand as he shut off the lights and secured the barn door. They strolled back to the studio.
“How did the rest of the night go?” he asked.
“We had to get Alissa to bed before she melted down into a tired little rodeo princess puddle. How about for you?”
“Great. Everybody was headed over to the Last Stand Saloon, but I couldn’t wait to get back home to you.”
Home.
Kelly smiled. “It was hard sneaking out. Janice and Nate caught me.”
“Is that going to cause trouble?” They went inside the studio.
“No, Janice will keep her mouth shut and Nate’s not going to open up this bag of worms.”
“Last time I checked, you were over twenty-one.”
“Not to my dad.”
“Are we going to tell him soon?”
She sighed. “I’m afraid to.”
Trent frowned. “Afraid of him physically?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s stupid, but I’m afraid he’s going to throw me out again. I mean intellectually, I know I can go back to New York with my aunt or hell, rent an apartment anywhere I like. But it’s like I’m trapped in time. I’m still that waddling, blubbery mess going to my car and looking back at them on the porch—my father purple-faced and shouting and my mother silently crying.” Kelly took in a deep shuddering breath. “I don’t want Alissa to ever see that side of her memaw and pawpaw. It took me a long time to forgive them.”
“Did you? Because I sure don’t.”
“Trent, you don’t know what it was like.”
“I know they threw the mother of my child out when she needed them the most. I know they ignored my daughter’s existence for the first few years of her life.”
“My mother didn’t.”
“I don’t care. She let you go.”
“She knew I was going to her sister. She knew I’d be safe.”
“It’s not good enough, Kelly.”
And it wasn’t. Kelly wasn’t even sure why she was defending her parents, except she didn’t like hearing Trent condemn them.
“I should have…”
He held her shoulders and looked down into her eyes. She was mesmerized by the intense blue of his gaze. “They should have. Or rather, they shouldn’t have kicked you out of your home.”
She sniffed. “It was probably time for me to move out anyway.”
Trent kissed her forehead. “I get it. They’re your parents and Alissa’s grandparents. But I’m still pissed at them.”
“Thanks.” She hugged him.
“And you don’t ever have to worry about your father’s reactions again. You come to me if things get crazy. We’ll figure something out. I can wait a little longer.”
After locking the door, Trent led her upstairs. Her heart was fluttering in her chest and she realized that telling everyone he was Alissa’s father wasn’t the catastrophe she’d been building up in her head.
“As soon as Emily gets here next week, I’m going to tell them that you’re Alissa’s father. Then, my dad.”
“I like that. Progress. When are we telling Alissa?”
“Soon. My dad first, then Alissa.”
The loft was set up like a bachelor’s bedroom. It was stark, but functional.
“Are you really going to live here?” she asked.
“Why not? Bathroom and showers are downstairs. I’ve got a kitchenette off the office.” He sat on his futon and pulled off his boots. “There’s the TV. The only thing missing is you.” Trent patted the place next to him on the futon.
Kelly sat down, nerves coming back again.
“Now then,” he said, taking her boots off. “Where were we?”
Unbuttoning his shirt one pearl button at a time, she pressed tiny kisses over his forehead, eyelids, and face. Trent shrugged out of the shirt. His T-shirt was next. She pulled it up over his arms and tossed it aside. Kelly slid her hand over the rough texture of his chest and down lower.
“My turn,” he said huskily and pulled her shirt over her head. After unsnapping her bra, he flung it on the floor and groaned in appreciation at her breasts. Trent pulled her back onto the futon with him. She was flat on her back while he lay on his side, resting his head on his hand. He traced the curves of her breasts, circling one nipple until it puckered tightly. He did the same to the other one before dipping his head to suck on the sensitive peaks.
Kelly gasped, threading her fingers through his silky hair as he indulged himself with long pulls, using his tongue and the slightest bit of teeth. Her jeans were too tight and he was wearing too many pieces of clothing.
“God, I’ve been thinking about having you like this for years,” he whispered.
He kissed her, his mouth hot and wet on hers. Her fingers
trembled as she unfastened his Levi’s and pushed them down his narrow hips. Kicking them and his underwear off, he was gloriously naked and she eagerly touched every inch of him within reach as they kissed.
Taking off her jeans and panties, he knelt between her thighs and reached over to the small table next to the bed. When he pulled out a box of condoms, she said, “Not yet.” Pulling him down, she pushed him so he was on his back and she was on top of him.
“Am I too heavy?” she asked.
“Hell no.”
“Are your hip and leg fine with me here?”
“Don’t ever leave,” he said, stroking her back.
She kissed him again, her sensitive nipples pressed against the wiry hair of his chest. Moaning, she licked down his chest to his abs, kissing every curve of his six-pack and down to his obliques. Kelly rubbed herself over his cock, sliding it between her breasts.
“There’s a pretty sight,” he rasped out.
“How about this one?” She licked up the entire length of him.
Trent’s whole body twitched. Kelly liked that reaction so much, she did it again, this time with the flat of her tongue.
“Come here,” he said, rifling through the box and pulling out a condom.
“Not yet.” She took him deep in her mouth and he groaned.
His fingers tangled in her hair as she moved her head up and down.
“Fuck, that feels incredible,” he whispered as she hollowed her cheeks and sucked him tight. “Come around and let me taste you too.”
She let him slide out of her mouth with a wet pop. “Not this time,” she said. “This time I want all your concentration on how I’m making you feel.”
Sucking him back into her mouth, she went at him in earnest. The sliding sounds her mouth made on him were messy and erotic when it was mixed in with his cries of passion. His hips pulsed as he fought not to fuck her mouth and she admired his control. But she wanted to shred it. She had dreamed about doing this for too long to not give it everything she had. Faster she pulled at him, swirling her tongue down his length and across the head of his cock. When his fingers tightened on her hair, she knew she had him and swallowed him deep as he exploded with a surprised grunt that tore out of his throat and shook through his body.
“That’s what I wanted,” Kelly murmured as she kissed her way back up to his mouth.
“Let me show you what I want.” Trent placed the condom in her hand. “Put that on for me. My hands are going to be busy.”
He captured her lips again as he reached between her thighs. She rolled on her back and spread her legs, allowing his talented fingers to tickle through her slick folds.
“Uh,” she grunted in surprise when he pinched her nipple at the same time he touched her clit. The condom dropped from her nerveless fingers as her thighs tried to trap his hand where it was. He rubbed her in slow circles, a gentle touch that was different from the sharp tugs on her nipple. His mouth swallowed more of her cries as he stroked her until she was frantic.
Kelly had to use both hands to get the condom over his cock and completely on. She writhed under his fingers, sparks of electric pleasure coursing through her. “Please, please,” she whispered.
“Come first and I’ll give you what you want,” he said, with a dark chuckle. Sucking the tip of her nipple hard, he plunged his fingers inside her.
Clamping her thighs around his arm, she came so hard she saw stars. She didn’t recognize the sounds coming out of her body. When she sagged in release, he pushed her thighs wide and sank his hot cock in deep. Clutching at his muscled ass, she kissed him as he fucked her with long slow strokes that slammed the futon frame back into the wall. The rhythm was breathtaking and she enjoyed the hard press of his body in hers. The friction of this thick cock rubbed all the right places. Kelly was powerless to stop her body from slamming up to meet his every thrust.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, a fervent prayer. “I’ve wanted you like this for so very long.”
“I need you. I need this.”
He picked up the pace, rocking into her hard and fast. She swore the legs of the futon lifted off the ground with the force of his strokes. Wrapping herself around him, Kelly pressed as close as she could get. He was slick with perspiration and she was so close to coming, she could barely hold on. Her body arched as lightning strikes of pleasure overrode her brain, and she contorted as waves of joy thrummed through her. Kelly whispered mindless gasps of ecstasy and Trent pulsed against her until he, too, stiffened and found a dramatic release.
“Damn,” he panted, too shaken up to move for a long moment. Sliding out of her, he dropped on his back with his arm over his eyes. “Hell…” He tried for more words, but lapsed until his breathing was under control. He disposed of the condom and then dragged her against him. Boneless, Kelly fought to keep her eyes open as her body molded against his. At some point, he managed to cover them with a blanket, but she fell asleep listening to the steady thud of his heart against her ear.
Chapter Twelve
Trent was still having a hard time moving when Kelly slipped out of his bed in the wee hours of the morning. He managed to crack open one eye to watch her do a reverse striptease as she got dressed.
“Stay,” he croaked out. “Stay until your father leaves for the cattle.”
“That was an hour ago,” she said, sitting on the side of the bed to pull on her boots.
“Come by with Alissa later. We can go to lunch.”
“I’ll see. It might be more toward the afternoon. I’ve got pictures to edit before I send them to the paper, and then I want to get some of them framed and see if any of the local boutiques will sell them on consignment.”
“Okay,” he said agreeably.
She kissed him. “Last night was wonderful.”
“Come back tonight.”
Her laugh was happy and it made him smile. “Greedy.”
“You’re lucky I’m still half asleep or you’d already be underneath me.”
“Promises, promises.” Kelly gave him a kiss that started waking up parts of him, but then it was over too quickly and she was gone.
Sated and lazy, he rolled over and slept until noon.
*
Every inch of his body ached. He barely made it down the stairs and into the shower. For some fortunate reason, the shower stall was installed with a seat and he was so very grateful for either his or Billy’s foresight in doing that. He let the hot water drench him and felt his tight muscles ease. When he thought he would survive, Trent staggered out of the shower and gingerly got dressed. Maybe he’d overdone it last night with the horseback riding and the bullfighting and the lovemaking, but damn he’d do it all over again. Sign him up.
After washing some Tylenol down with his coffee, Trent got dressed and went outside to check on things. More packages had arrived. He’d bring them in when he was confident he could bend and get up again. Still, as he walked to the barn to check on Flower, he could definitely tell that he was walking better than he had been in a while. Maybe his body was healing more of the damage.
As he was walking back, he saw a cattle trailer pull in and back up to the paddock. What was Frank doing now? But Billy jumped out of the passenger side and Enrique Chavez got out of the driver’s. Trent stopped walking, his eyes sliding to the trailer.
“What the hell is going on, Billy?” he asked. “Hiya, Enrique. Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to talk with you last night.”
“Open up the paddock,” Billy said, coming over to him. “We’re going to take some pictures with Corazon del Diablo.”
Something flashed through him. Fear? Excitement? Hate? Trent covered it by asking, “How much is this costing me?”
“Considering a vial of sperm costs two grand, you probably don’t want to know,” Billy said, opening the paddock while Enrique went to the trailer door.
“You coming or what?” Enrique asked the bull in Spanish.
After a few moments, Corazon del Diablo sauntered down the
ramp and into the paddock like he owned it.
Trent’s jaw set and his fingers clenched into fists.
I could do it. I could ride him.
“I’ll give you a million dollars to climb on his back right now,” Chavez said, a gleam in his eyes.
“How long do I have to stay on?” Trent forced himself to relax and grin at the bull owner casually.
“No,” Billy said. “No. No. That’s not the type of pictures we want.”
“Speak for yourself,” Enrique said. “I’ve always regretted what happened. You would have been one of the greats.”
That was one hell of a backward compliment. Trent just folded his arms and glared at the bull. The bull glared back. “What’s this ornery bastard doing on my property?”
“We’ve got to start some buzz around you and the school,” Billy said. “You did great last night, but now we have to keep up momentum. I figure with Enrique and his bull in town anyway, we can get some pictures taken and sent out to the media.”
Kelly would be great at this. “I’ve got just the photographer in mind.”
“We’ve got a reporter coming already,” Enrique said.
Trent dialed Kelly’s number anyway. When he got her voice mail, he texted her to call him about a photography job. While this was going on Enrique and Billy bickered like an old married couple, and Trent played stare-down with Corazon del Diablo. He wondered if the bull remembered him. If he was a bull, he’d remember every cowboy he’d stomped on.
A Jeep pulled up and the woman reporter from last night came out. She had a professional camera around her neck and a young boy with her. Trent looked over at Billy, but he shrugged.
Enrique smiled. “Ah, here she is. She’s going to get us in the top country magazines in the world. I’ve worked with her before. She got my bulls into Sports Illustrated last year. Gentlemen, this is Lana Kirkland.”
“Pleasure,” Billy said, approaching her to shake her hand.
Trent didn’t want to be rude, but he also didn’t want to turn his back on the two-thousand-pound nightmare in his paddock. Leaning on the fencing, he eyed the bull warily, and the bull eyed him back. Maybe they had both gotten older and, hopefully, a little more mellow.
The Cowboy’s Daughter Page 14