Cowboy's Bride: A Secret Baby, Ranch Western Romance (Rainbow Canyon Cowboys Book 6)

by KC Crowne

  “I trust you, Gerald. No other man I’d want on this case.”

  Nothing more to be said. I got up and the two of us shook hands.

  “I can’t offer my support openly,” Josh said as he let my hand go. “We don’t know who’s in on all this. Just know I’ve got your back in the mayor’s office.”

  “I appreciate it, Josh. And when I know anything, you’ll know it too.” I put my hat back on, gave him a tip, and left.

  The evening was well on as I drove back to the B&B. The sky was a wild orange and stars were twinkling up above in the purple and black night peeking through the top of the sky.

  When I pulled in front of the B&B, I headed in and was greeted with silence. Quiet wasn’t rare considering I was the only customer but knowing what I knew about what was going on in Idylwood, quiet was beginning to sit uneasily with me.

  I headed up to Crystal’s office and knocked on the door. No answer.

  “You in there?” No one answered, but through the door I could hear movement, things shuffling around. “Crystal, I need to talk to you.”

  More silence. “Alright. Come on in.”

  I opened the door and noticed two things. The first was what Crystal was wearing. She had on a skin-tight, black cocktail dress that hugged every curve. The hem ended at the middle her flawless thighs, and the top showed off more than a little cleavage. The fabric was so tight on her perfect, shapely body that I could see the outline of the lacy thong she wore underneath.

  It was enough to drive a man wild. I had to resist the urge to take her on her desk.

  The other thing I noticed gave me pause, made me put aside my roaring attraction for her. Crystal looked worried as hell, shook up about something.

  “What’s goin’ on?” I asked, shutting the door behind me and taking a seat on the couch next to where she was digging through papers.

  She shook her head, worry painted all over her face. “I got a call from some guy named Michael Diaz.”

  My body tensed. “Are you kiddin’? What the hell did he say?”

  “He was all charm at first, askin’ me how my business was goin’, but it seemed like he knew the answer.”

  “Go on.” There was barely restrained anger in my voice. I had no doubt Michael was a dangerous type, and knowing he’d gotten in contact with Crystal made me want to track his ass down and take him apart piece by piece.

  “Once the small talk ended, he told me why he was callin’. He said he wanted to buy the place, take it off my hands, as he said. Before I could say anything, he threw out a number, one that was damn near insulting. The fucker offered me next to nothin’.”

  As she spoke, the worry faded from her face and was replaced with tight anger. She stood up and started pacing back and forth with frustrated steps. It took all the restraint I had to take my eyes off her gorgeous body.

  “I told him to screw off, that I wasn’t about to sell my damn pride and joy for pennies on the dollar. But he kept right at it, tellin’ me he was doin’ me a fuckin’ favor, that I was gonna need to sell sooner or later and no one was gonna want to spend a damn dime on a business that wasn’t even operational.”

  “Then what?”

  “He started insulting me, sayin’ I didn’t know a damn thing about where I’d set up my business, that I was ignorant about what I’d gotten myself into. Then, for one last insult, he lowered the price of his offer, sayin’ he was doin’ me a charity.”

  She turned to me and put her hands on her round hips, fire in her eyes. As much as I hated what she was going through, damned if I didn’t go crazy over the passion in her gaze.

  “I told him to screw right off, that I didn’t need his fuckin’ charity. And he laughed again, this smug laugh like he enjoyed the position I was in. He told me the offer was still on the table, and that if I was smart, I’d think twice about smackin’ away the hand tossin’ me a lifeline.”

  Once she’d said all she needed to say, she let out a frustrated sigh before dropping onto the couch, her tits shaking as she did.

  “You gotta just ignore all that,” I said. “I’ve talked to that guy and know what kind of asshole he is. He’s just tryin’ to scare you, to pressure you into sellin’ this business for less than it’s worth. You did good standin’ up to him like that – vultures like him thrive on people who buckle under pressure.”

  She nodded, leaning forward and folding her arms on her lap. “I can’t sell. I don’t wanna sound weak here, but this place is my dream, my life’s work.” She paused, considering her words before saying them. “When I graduated from business school and got into corporate finance in New York, I had dollar signs in my eyes, ready to make a killing and leave my mark on the world. But it took me hardly any time to see what that world is really like.”

  She sighed and sat back, her tits bulging against the thin fabric of her dress. I focused on her face; I didn’t want to seem like a horny teenager while she was sharing her life with me.

  “Those people thrive on sufferin’. They buy out businesses havin’ a little trouble, leverage their purchase, and sell the companies for scrap the second they can. I made a little money stayin’ away from all that, but I didn’t get into that line of work to make the world a worse place than when I found it.”

  She gestured to the office around her, a sweeping motion that extended to the rest of the house.

  “I did this because I wanted to have a business that actually made people’s lives better, you know? Give them a cozy place to stay, feed ‘em some good food, and give them a little break from the rest of the world. And now, as soon as we open, people want to take it away.”

  After she finished, she slumped in her seat. “I don’t know what to do, Gerald. This ain’t a matter of payin’ off a fine – the more I get into this, the more it looks like some really, really bad people trying to crush my dream. Or worse.”

  By pure instinct, I put my arm around her. Crystal didn’t bristle at my touch; she scooted close to me and put her head on my shoulder. God, her body felt good against mine. Being so near her, feeling her softness, taking in her scent…it was enough to drive a man wild.

  It took all I had to control myself. The angle at which she was seated, leaning against me, gave me a perfect view of her gorgeous breasts in that dress. My cock shifted in my jeans, but I ordered it to maintain its control.

  “Don’t get why you’re goin’ out of your way to help me, Gerald,” she murmured. “Part of me’s wonderin’ if you’re workin’ some angle.”

  “Not workin’ an angle,” I said. “You’re not the only one who wants to leave the world a better place than how they found it.”

  She smiled and gazed up at me, her eyes practically sparkling. “I don’t know what to make of you, cowboy. Somethin’s goin’ on in that head, and I wanna find out what it is.”

  Something certainly was going on in my head. Two things – how much I wanted to protect her, and how much I wanted to make her mine. Both urges were equally powerful, equally impossible to ignore. And with each moment that passed, each moment I spent with her body pressed against mine, the urges grew to the point where I didn’t know if I’d be able to keep them in check.

  I didn’t need to. Crystal moved away from me and gazed at me eye-to-eye. Then she leaned in and placed her lips against mine.

  Chapter 16

  Crystal

  CRYSTAL

  Damn, damn, damn – I’m doing it again.

  What the hell was wrong with me? Did I need of some kind of distraction? Or was I just so attracted to Gerald that being near him, resting my head on his solid, broad shoulder, was enough to make me forget about everything other than how damned hot he was?

  Whatever was going on, it was too late to take it back. My lips were on his, my hands pressed against his impossibly solid, broad chest. How could I be expected to resist a man like that?

  The kiss went on, Gerald moving his hands over my breasts, squeezing them firmly before taking me by the hips. My heart raced, my pu
ssy clenched, my nipples hardened like stones.

  I couldn’t resist him. And I didn’t care.

  His tongue moved slowly over mine, the bristle of his stubble over my skin causing me to break out in goosebumps. I shuddered with delight at his touch.

  As we kissed, he moved one hand down to my thigh. The dress was already short – shorter than I normally wore – and it didn’t take much for him to him to get his hand under the hem, his fingers grazing the border of the thong I wore underneath. I gasped at his touch, moaned through the kiss. Gerald knew exactly how to please me, how to tease me, how to make me melt in his arms.

  The kiss lasted forever and not long enough. Finally, he rose and took my hand, lifting me to my feet. He was so damn tall, looming over me and making me feel small next to him. He made me feel vulnerable and safe at the same time, like he’d do anything to protect me.

  And that feeling made me want to give myself to him in a way that I had never wanted with men. Gerald, just standing in front of me, let me feel like I could take my walls down and expose myself to him.

  “Come on over here,” he said, putting his big hand on my side and starting to walk.

  “What you got in mind?” I asked coyly, a smile flirting on my lips.

  “First, I’m gonna yank that thong down. Then, I’m gonna slide my cock into you and fill you like only I can.”

  Not the slightest trace of hesitation or doubt was in his voice, and his confidence made me want him even more.

  “But we got a little problem to deal with first.”

  “What’s that?”

  His eyes moved up and down my body. “You’re lookin’ mighty good in that dress, gorgeous lady. So good, in fact, that it’d be a hell of a tragedy to do to you what I’ve got in mind.”

  “Is that right?” A tinge of frustration ran through me. Was the fucker teasing me again? Kissing me like he wanted to ravage the daylights out of me only to leave me hanging?

  “So, if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna have to do it careful like.”

  “And how do you propose we do that?”

  “Come here and I’ll show you.”

  He led me over to the desk, put his hands on my hips, and turned me around to face him. Once I was in position, Gerald looked me up and down, the glint in his eyes suggesting he was just as turned on, just as ready, as I was.

  He put his hands back on my hips, and with an effortless lift, picked me up off my feet and set me down on the edge of the desk. Something about the way he so easily handled me, like I weighed nothing, got me going even more.

  “We’re keepin’ the dress on, and your hair looks so nice I don’t wanna mess it up.”

  I glanced over at the mirror on the wall next to the desk, seeing that my hair was, in fact, already a little rustled.

  “Now, hike that thing up.”

  Without a word of protest, I grabbed the hem of my dress and pulled it up, exposing my thighs and the black lace of my thong.

  “There we go.” He put his hand on the waistband of the thong and slowly rolled my panties down, my pussy glistening wet from our kissing. He let the panties hang off my heel, then opened my legs.

  “I want inside you like crazy,” he growled. “But first, I wanna taste you.”

  Gerald dropped to his knees and started kissing my thighs, the sensation of his lips on my skin enough to make me feel on the verge of totally losing control.

  Once he was between my thighs, he placed his lips on mine and kissed, sending a crackle of electric pleasure through my body that brought a sharp gasp into my throat. He lapped at my pussy slowly, as if savoring every taste.

  After a short time, he moved his head back and spread my lips, sticking out his tongue and dragging it firmly over my clit.

  “Oh…oh my Lord,” I cried, throwing my head back as the pleasure shot through me.

  “Damn, you taste like heaven,” he murmured, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it. “Now, I wanna see you come up close and personal, understand?”

  I was losing control, giving myself over to him more and more by the second. And damned if it didn’t scare the dickens out of me. I was in the palm of his hand at that point, and there was no going back. When Gerald slipped a pair of fingers into me, moving them in and out as he licked and kissed my pussy, I knew I was done.

  He kept at it, moving his tongue over my clit like a master as he fingered me. Through the pleasure, I glanced at the mirror, loving the sight of him between my bare, shivering thighs.

  His fingers and his tongue fell into a steady, conjoined rhythm, and it didn’t take much of it for an orgasm to rip through my body, nearly knocking me off the side of the desk. Gerald ate me through it, not stopping until it had worked its way through my body. When he was done, he rose, his mouth glistening with my juices.

  “Finest thing I’ve ever tasted in my life,” he whispered, grinning. “I could eat your pussy all day.”

  The words that came to mind were maybe I’d let you. But I already felt like I’d given so much of myself to him that I held them back.

  Gerald positioned himself between my legs, undoing his big belt buckle, followed by his zipper and button. His cock was stone-solid and on the verge of ripping through the white boxer-briefs he had on underneath. When he yanked them down, his cock springing out, I couldn’t resist grabbing it and guiding it toward me, positioning it between my lips.

  “You ready for me to fuck you, baby?”

  “Fuck, I’m so ready,” I moaned. “Please, give it to me.”

  The smirk on his face at the word please suggested this was exactly what he wanted to hear. Gerald stepped forward, his head entering me. My pussy was so wet that his cock, as long and thick as it was, glided into me effortlessly.

  He pushed all the way, filling me full, whimpers of pleasure pouring from my mouth as he buried himself to the base.

  No cock felt like Gerald’s – no man could please me the way he could. There was no denying it.

  He grasped my hips again, pulling back and driving into me, making his cock disappear inside my willing body. I glanced to the side, watching in the mirror as he thrust into me over and over, finally throwing back my head in total bliss.

  Another orgasm was coming, and I was ready for it, tingling with anticipation. I opened my eyes enough to watch Gerald work, to take in the sight of his big, thick cock vanishing inside me again and again.

  He pulled my tits out of the top of my dress, pausing in his fucking to lick my nipples, squeezing the flesh around them. His face tightened with pleasure, and I could tell he was on the verge of an orgasm of his own as he continued fucking me.

  “Come inside me,” I moaned. “Please. Please.”

  He grinned as if this was exactly what he wanted to hear. In the middle of another deep thrust, my second orgasm flowed through my body, filling me with a warm pleasure unlike anything else.

  Gerald came with me, spraying his seed deep inside me with a series of hard, full thrusts. My pussy gripped him, coaxing out every last drop of his load, bringing it deep inside me and not letting it go.

  My orgasm faded, and so did his. When our orgasms were beautiful memories, Gerald stayed inside me, wrapped his arms around my body, and held me close. As if he knew just what I wanted – to be taken and then held.

  How does he know me so well, without even having to ask?

  He withdrew, and I missed his presence inside me immediately. Emotions overcame me, ones I didn’t know how to discuss. Gerald furrowed his brow, his gaze on mine even though I tried to look away.

  “What’s goin’ on?” he asked. “You alright?”

  I knew what I had to say might’ve been too much. But I couldn’t help myself. I took a deep breath and spoke. “There’s a reason I’m keepin’ my distance from you,” I confessed, reaching down and grabbing my panties, pulling them back up before shuffling down the hem of my dress.

  “What do you mean?”

  I smirked in spite of the confusion I felt. �
�You and me. I think it’s kinda stupid at this point to pretend there’s not somethin’ happenin’ here.”

  He grinned as he tucked his cock back into his boxer-briefs before buttoning and zipping his jeans. “You’re right about that. But damned if you’re not puttin’ up a wall between us.”

  “There’s a reason for that.”

  He furrowed his brow and cocked his head slightly. I shuffled off the desk and made a slow circle around the room.

  “Oh yeah?” he asked, watching me move away from him.

  “Yeah. It’s…” I looked him in the eye so he could see I meant what I was saying. “I don’t like to be controlled, Gerald. And I worry that’s what you would try to do.”

  He seemed even more confused. “Control you? Why the hell would I do somethin’ like that?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, you’re forceful, you’re stubborn, and you even said you do whatever it takes to get what you want. And I’m not the kind of woman who wants a man to impose himself on me.”

  He shook his head, stepped in front of me, and put his hands on my shoulders. In spite of what I was saying, his touch calmed me. “That’s not what I want at all, Crystal.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, watching him closely. “Then what do you want?”

  “You know why I’m so fuckin’ crazy about you? It ain’t just because of how damned beautiful you are – though that doesn’t hurt.”

  I grinned in spite of myself at this comment.

  “It’s because you’ve got a fire in you, a strength. You’re strong-willed and you aren’t afraid to make your voice heard, to stick up for what you believe in.” He looked around. “This place is here because you believed in yourself and made it happen. Maybe a lesser man would see the spirit in you and be afraid of it, want to control it. But not me. I love it, and hell, I even see a little of myself in you.”

  His hands slid down my arms, holding my hands in his. “I’d never want to change you, make you somethin’ you’re not. Never.”

  I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I smiled. He leaned in and kissed me deeply, a kiss tender and passionate. Before it could go on for too long, a knock sounded at the door.