Wrangled and Tangled

by Lorelei James

  Her computer froze up. Twice.

  Her cell phone died even when it’d been fully charged when she’d left the house.

  Then Renner demanded she stay late to serve as hostess for the guests, after she’d spent the day catching up on all the work that’d piled up.

  Luckily Harper had stayed late too so Janie didn’t have to call Abe for a ride home. But Harper was distracted or pissed off—Janie never could tell with her—and she barely said two words to her on the trip home to the Lawson ranch.

  Janie paused on the porch steps and dug out the house key Abe had given her. First thing she’d do after kicking off the four-inch heels murdering her arches? Pour herself a generous drink.

  Shoes off, coat off, she padded from the entryway into the silent living room. Abe brooded on the sofa, holding a lowball glass filled with amber-colored liquid.

  “Looks like your day went like mine. I’m desperate for a stiff one myself.” In the kitchen she spied a bottle of bourbon on the counter and reached into the china hutch for a glass. When she turned around, Abe was there, right there, crowding her against the wall. “Abe? What are you doing?”

  “Where in the hell have you been?”

  “At work. I had no choice but to stay late. I’m sorry. I know I should’ve called, but—”

  “Damn right you should’ve called. Especially after all that’s been goin’ on. I tried your cell and you didn’t answer. I tried the resort but no one answered. The only thing that stopped me from racing there straightaway and ripping the place apart lookin’ for you, was that Bran called as I was on my way out the door and mentioned Harper was giving you a ride home.” He rested his forehead to hers and sighed heavily. “You have no idea how crazy it makes me to imagine you hurt again. No fuckin’ idea what it was like for me to see you in that wreck. And then to see you scraped up, bloody and bruised. It rips me apart.”

  “Abe—”

  “Ssh. Just let me . . . calm down.”

  But when he lifted his head and looked at her, he didn’t look calm at all. His worry had been replaced by hunger. Immediately her mouth went bone dry from the lust raging in Abe. His eyes. His body. Even his sinful mouth was primed.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know you are. I also know how you can make it up to me.”

  “Oh no,” she breathed, when she really meant oh please, yes please, right now.

  “Oh yes.” He put his lips by her ear. “And listen to you, askin’ me so nicely.”

  Holy crap. She’d said that out loud?

  Abe pried the empty glass from her death grip and set it aside. Then he slapped his hands on the wall by her head. “Isn’t it fortunate that in making it up to me, you’ll get the stiff one you wanted?”

  Her response was lost as Abe’s mouth crashed down on hers in a ferocious kiss.

  He’d been waiting months—no, years—for this. Sweet, delectable Janie pressed against him. He’d given her no chance to overthink the situation. None of that “can I touch you” bullshit that defined their married sex life. He’d have her. And he’d have her now.

  Not that Janie was protesting.

  Abe thrust his tongue between her parted lips, forcing her mouth open to accept more of his ravenous kiss. The way she kissed him back was familiar . . . yet new. A potent combination that kicked his need up another level.

  His lips slid across the plump moistness of hers, as he changed the angle of his head. Her hands yanked his hips closer and she moaned greedy noises that reverberated straight to his dick.

  Abe kept his hands on the wall. Letting the heat and the need between them build.

  But Janie had other ideas. She broke the seal of her lips to scatter kisses down his throat to where her fingers fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. “Abe. Please. Touch me.”

  He whispered kisses over her jaw. “You oughta know I’m not interested in foreplay.”

  That admission seemed to send a shudder through her. “Oh, God, me neither.”

  “I want it hard. Fast. And now.”

  She moaned. “Yes.”

  He stepped back. “Ditch your nylons.”

  Her shaking hands rolled up her skirt. She peeled the nylons down her legs and kicked them off.

  When she looked at him, her purple irises glazed with lust, Abe covered her mouth with his. Clamping his hands on her ass, he lifted her, turned, and placed her on the counter.

  She gasped, “Oh wow, that is cold on my butt.”

  “Friction will warm it right up.” Unbuckled, unbuttoned and unzipped, he reached for a condom before he dropped his Wranglers.

  She stared at his cock as he rolled on the condom. “This isn’t a dream? It’s really happening? You’re gonna fuck me right here in the kitchen?”

  “Yep.” He palmed her hips and said, “C’mere,” tugging her closer.

  Her fingernails scored the back of his neck when she pulled him down for an openmouthed kiss. Abe’s thumb traced the wet seam of her sex before he aligned his cock to the opening and eased just the head in. Slamming home on the first stroke wasn’t an option, no matter how tempting. Janie was small and he . . . well, he wasn’t small.

  She stiffened slightly as he pushed inside.

  He teased her clit, keeping his left hand spread across her lower back, slowly urging her forward. Her shirt was blocking access to the warm softness of her skin. As soon as he was fully seated inside her, he murmured, “Lose the shirt.”

  Janie lifted the formfitting sweater over her head. Her bra was a black push-up number that highlighted her curves. He groaned, pressing his mouth to the mounded flesh.

  She released a throaty sigh and arched into him. “This day is getting better. Oh yeah, tons better. Do that again. Harder.”

  “Been waiting a long time to hear you say that.”

  Each thrust picked up speed to the point any finesse he’d planned had vanished. His mouth cruised over every dip and hollow of her throat. Tasting. Teasing. Remembering. Wanting her as absorbed in the moment as he. A moment he’d been waiting for, for eight long years.

  Her breath came in short puffs of air and her belly tensed against his. That sexy purr started and her thighs squeezed his hips as she gasped and came undone.

  Janie’s orgasm unleashed his. A wash of white-hot pleasure that made his eyes roll back in his head with each body-shaking pulse. Spent, he dropped his head on her smooth shoulder. “Damn. Guess we’ll call that one the speed round.”

  She nuzzled his ear. “What’s the next round called?”

  Pecking her quickly on the mouth, he withdrew and ditched his clothes completely. Then he slid his hands around her hips, warning, “Hold on,” and carried her out of the kitchen.

  “Abe!”

  She seemed surprised he entered the bathroom, not his bedroom. He set her on her feet, gesturing to her bra and skirt. “This is the water round. So take ’em off unless you want them wet.” After tossing the condom, he turned and Janie was naked. “Such a petite package. You still pack a powerful punch for me, cupcake.”

  Janie smirked.

  Cranking the shower on, he slid the glass door open. “Beautiful, sexy ladies first.”

  “Flattery? After you’ve already fucked me? You have changed.” As she stepped into the tub, he smacked her luscious ass and followed her inside the enclosure.

  He squirted shampoo into his hand and scrubbed his hair. When he faced the showerhead to rinse, she plastered her slick body against his. Her hands flowed with the soapy water down his chest and abdomen. Circling his cock. Goose bumps followed in the wake of her questing fingers.

  She whispered, “This big, buff body of yours still bowls me over.”

  Abe turned, dragging kisses down her chest. Feasting on her nipples until she thrashed and cried out. Yep. She still loved nipple play. He lapped the water from her skin as he lowered to his knees. Arcing his mouth across the delicate sweep of skin of her lower belly, he lifted her left foot and set it on the lip of the tub. Oh hell yeah. T
hat gave him total access to the sweet and tasty flesh between her thighs.

  The first swipe of his tongue across her slit had them both groaning. But one lick wasn’t enough and he settled in to take as much of her in his mouth as possible. He growled every time he elicited a gasp. A moan. A whimper. A plea. His thumbs opened her cunt like a flower and he burrowed his tongue deep, licking away every drop of her sweet juice. Over and over.

  “Abe. Are you testing the strength of my knees? Because they’re about to give out.”

  He pulled the soft skin of her mound away from that pouting pearl. “Hold it like this. I wanna see every inch.”

  Janie’s hands shook as they replaced his. Her plump bottom lip was trapped between her teeth. Her cheeks were damp from the steam. He plunged his thumb into her channel the same time he suctioned his mouth to her clit. Sucking ruthlessly, sliding his thumb up to where his mouth worked her and back down into the opening of her sex.

  She moaned his name, her body trembling as her clit pulsed beneath his dancing tongue.

  He loved this part. Loved to feel every intimate muscle pull tight as she unraveled against his mouth. Her knees did start to give out and he laughed as he caught her. Then he licked the moisture from her skin on his way back up to her ear. “Turn around. Brace your hands on the wall.”

  She made a murmur of assent.

  Abe was so ready for her, so damn hard, that as soon as she waggled her ass at him, he slipped inside her to the hilt.

  Her head fell back. “God. That’s so good.”

  “Damn straight.”

  Slapping sounds of skin on skin surrounded them. He kept hold of her hips, focusing on the visual of his cock disappearing into her body as he tried to stave off his orgasm.

  His balls drew up and he rammed into her harder, the slick heat of her flesh gliding on his. Had it ever felt this good?

  Then it hit him why it felt so great.

  “Shit. No condom.”

  “But—”

  “I can’t stop,” Abe panted and pulled out. He stroked his shaft against the cleft of her ass. He was about to blow—then heat shot up his cock and he groaned as he shot his seed all over her back.

  Soon as he caught his breath, he kissed her shoulder and stepped aside to let the water rinse her.

  “Ooh, that’s getting cold.”

  “We need a bigger water heater if we’re gonna play water games.” He shut off the tap and reached outside for the towels hanging on the towel bar. As he wrapped the bath sheet around her, he kissed her. The way she clung to him made him believe this was the start of something. Was he a fool for feeling a twinge of hope?

  Maybe. Because once they were out of the shower, Abe felt her staring at him. Sensed the change in her. Thinking. Planning. Backtracking. He knew his response to whatever she was about to say would set the course for what happened next.

  Abe knew exactly what he wanted: a second chance. But he wouldn’t coerce her. He wanted her to come to the same conclusion of her own accord. In the past he’d made all the decisions and expected her to fall in line. This time he’d woo her differently, in a way she’d never expect, but he’d pull out all the stops to convince her they belonged together. “You all right?”

  “Yes. I’m great. Thanks for . . . blowing my mind.”

  “It was my pleasure.”

  “Look, this happened so fast and we didn’t talk about what it means.” She vigorously towel dried her hair. “We agree this is just sex?”

  Oh, cupcake, you’re running again. Setting parameters. And that just won’t do.

  He’d let her have that little delusion for now, that their connection was just physical, even when deep down inside she knew better. She’d soon learn something new about him: that he had no parameters when it came to sex. That oughta shock her more than the fact he could cook.

  “Abe?”

  “Uh, yeah. No worries.”

  “Glad we’re on the same page.”

  Same page? Hell, they weren’t even in the same book. But they would be. Keeping the towel wrapped around his waist, Abe moved to the mirror to brush his teeth.

  Janie leaned against the wall and watched him. “You caught me by surprise, not that I’m complaining, because it was freakin’ awesome, but I’m hungry. Would you like me to fix us something for supper?”

  He rinsed and spit. “Fix yourself whatever you want. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

  By the way her spine stiffened, she hadn’t expected that answer. By the anticipatory look on her face, she probably assumed Honest Abe would do the gentlemanly thing and invite her along.

  He didn’t.

  His research trip could wait another couple of days, but Abe had the perverse need to be unavailable to her for the rest of the night.

  Then they’d see how long her “just sex” attitude lasted.

  Abe was gone when Janie got ready for work the next morning. The man confused the hell out of her and she was relieved not to have to face him, because it bothered her that he’d just taken off, while she was still naked, for Christsake, without letting her know where he was going.

  You surprised? After your comment about it being “just sex” between you?

  Then to add insult to injury, he hadn’t invited her into his bed. She’d lain awake in the guest bedroom after he’d come home, waiting for him to sneak in, scoop her up and drag her into his room for round three.

  He hadn’t.

  In fact, she was half afraid the click she’d heard was Abe locking his bedroom door.

  Locking her out.

  So she was trying to figure out this “new” sexually confident, sexually aggressive, but oddly ambiguous Abe.

  Not that Abe had been a slouch in the bedroom during the time they were together. His passion for her was evident from the night they met. He’d made love to her so sweetly, so tenderly that first time she’d felt cherished. She’d fallen a little bit in love with him right away, even when she berated herself the next morning for sleeping with a drop-dead gorgeous cowboy hours after she’d brought him to her apartment. When he kept coming back, she’d known frequent sex was part of her appeal, but she’d also known they brought something to each other neither had found in previous relationships: comfort.

  So maybe Abe hadn’t been the most inventive lover, but he’d always satisfied her. He always wanted her. Even when things were bad between them at the end, he’d reach for her in the middle of the night. Loving her with everything he had. But in the morning, he’d revert to the same gruff Abe. The sexy, sweet side he showed her in the dead of night hadn’t been enough to convince her to stay.

  Would more of that smokin’ hot sex be enough to get you to stick around now?

  Who knew? Focusing her mental energy on this situation allowed her to put the stalking issue on the back burner. She knew from past experience that obsessing over something she couldn’t control, could completely control her life. Besides, it’d take some mental fortitude to unravel the mystery of this new Abe. And she couldn’t wait to find out what she discovered next.

  Since her car was still in the repair shop, Harper picked her up for work. And again Harper seemed distracted.

  “Don’t feel obligated to drag me to the Split Rock every day just because I’m your boss,” Janie said off handedly.

  “It’s not that.” Harper sighed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t good company last night either. I’ve just been preoccupied.”

  “Anything you want to talk about?”

  “This is gonna sound weird, but yesterday? I was waiting outside the office. The door was open and I heard Tierney . . .”

  Please. Not another complaint about Renner and Tierney fighting. “You heard Tierney what?”

  “On the phone, talking to Celia.”

  Janie looked at Harper. “Celia? Really? I didn’t know they were friends.”

  “I didn’t either.”

  “But now that you mention it, they did hang out at your wedding reception after you and Bran
left.”

  “I figured as much. Here’s the really stupid thing. I was jealous. Celia has friends on the circuit. Heck, she has lots of other friends in Muddy Gap. But ever since Bran and I got engaged, even when I sort of figured out she’d set it up and was happy for us, I’ve felt her pulling away. It bugs me. After you and Abe were married, did your single friends decide since you were part of a couple you didn’t need them? Or did you end up having new friends? Couple friends?”

  “I don’t remember.” At that time none of Abe’s friends were married. He and Max had always been tight but Max had taken a job out of state