by Em Petrova
The booming sound poured into her ears, flooded her brain and overflowed inside her. She lowered her mug from her lips and stared at him.
“Oh dammit.” Beau’s sudden outburst brought Kaoz’s laughter to a halt, and she edged closer to where her brother stood looking at the ground.
“What is it?” She leaned in and spotted a bird nest, one of the killdeers that built their nests on the dangerous ground. Her brother’s boot had crushed the nest and the birds scattered.
Kaoz leaned over her shoulder, bringing his manly scent with him. “Crap. Don’t touch the babies. The mother won’t come back.”
Beau pointed. “Pretty sure I broke that one’s leg.”
“Oh no!” Brielle thrust her mug into Kaoz’s hand, ripped the paper from his other hand and then bent to the bird. Using the paper, she edged it beneath the bird in order to inspect its leg.
“The mother won’t take it in again with a hurt leg. She’ll leave it for dead,” Beau said.
“Shut up! She will not.” The baby stared up at her with big frightened eyes.
“You can’t take in a wild bird, Brielle.” Kaoz’s tone sounded more tender than her brother’s.
“I know. But look at it. Do something, Kaoz.” The plea in her voice put the man into action. He set the mug down on the ground and leaned close to the bird.
He pulled out his gloves and slipped one on. “Give me the paper.”
She did, balancing the bird to make sure it didn’t fall.
Using his gloved finger, he prodded the leg. Its fragile appendage seemed broken. Then it moved on its own.
She gasped. Kaoz crooned. “It’s not broken. Just bruised maybe. Stunned or something.” He touched his fingertip to the bird’s foot, and it jerked it away.
She and Kaoz looked at each other. For a moment she forgot she hated him.
“I think the bird’s okay. Let’s set it down in the grass and see what he does.” Gently, he lowered the paper and helped the bird ease off.
Beau crouched next to her. “Looks to be okay now.”
The bird gave a little hop, and Brielle stifled a scream of elation. She also reached out and gripped Kaoz’s hand.
Heat shot through her palm and up her arm. She started to jerk her hand away, but he squeezed, ever so gently, with all the right pressure.
She shot to her feet and took a few steps away, breathing through the jolt of electricity from his touch that had shocked her. She hadn’t flirted with him. In fact, she’d given him nothing but a hassle. Yet somehow, she felt they were only dancing around each other.
He stood too and handed her mug to her, a smile lighting his eyes.
“Thanks.” She took the mug and turned to go. She had to put some distance between them, because being in his presence bombarded her with…well, everything. She couldn’t think let alone function like a normal human being.
As she slowly made her way to the house, she kept thinking about how gentle he’d been with the baby bird. How he looked at her with so much intensity that her heart kept making huge leaps in her chest.
Crap.
They definitely weren’t over, and that scared her more than anything.
Chapter Four
Kaoz stared up at the dark ceiling, his heart pounding, his cock hard. Waking from a dream of slipping in and out of Brielle’s slick pussy had him burning for her. Not as if he hadn’t been burning long before he rolled into Crossroads.
Now knowing she lay in the other room—steps away—had him riding the edge of insanity. He flipped onto his side and stared at the hallway that led to her bedroom. Beau’s room was down there as well, but he wouldn’t let Brielle make a single peep once he had his mouth sealed over hers, cutting off all noise as he claimed her.
Christ. He sat up and leaned forward, aching for more than a taste of her body. He wanted—needed—to hold her in his arms again.
He slowly drew in a breath and released it just as slow. Problem was, the effects of his dream lingered, and he could still smell the perfume of her skin…smell her need for him.
Before he understood his intention, he stood and started across the living room. He stepped foot in the hall before reining in his control. He stopped, a hand braced on the wall to hold himself back.
But his body pushed him forward, to her bedroom door.
He remembered from dropping off a breakfast tray the day before that the hinges didn’t squeak and he could easily slip in and out without waking her. Only one look at her sleeping form would be enough. Right?
As soon as he saw her lying on her side, one hip rising into the air, begging for him to latch onto it and take her from behind, his guts clenched.
I’ll hold her for a minute. Maybe two.
He closed the door behind him and padded quietly across the room. When he slipped into bed next to her, every bone in his body relaxed. Except one very taut appendage.
He slid up behind her, and with a coo, she turned into his embrace. He went still, heart thudding. A long look at her beautiful face revealed she slept on and had no idea she’d curled up in his arms.
Fuck. Squeezing his eyes shut, he brought his nose to her hair, breathing in her sweet, feminine scents. He’d missed her so damn much. This was how it should be.
He threaded his fingers into her hair and cradled her head. All the emotions she claimed he didn’t share with her lodged in his throat in a thick lump.
A soft sigh escaped her as she nuzzled closer, tucking her face against his chest in her rightful spot.
All at once, she tensed and then shoved away from him. Her open eyes fixed on his face as realization struck.
“What are you doing here? You can’t climb into bed with me anymore, Kaoz. You can’t take liberties like—”
He kissed her plump lips. She struggled and tore her mouth away.
“Like that!” she burst out.
He caught her hand, enfolding it in his own. As he guided it up and over her head, pinning it to the mattress, something lit in her big soft eyes—want.
A moan escaped him as he lowered his lips to hers and nuzzled without taking them for his own. “You feel so damn good, sweet thing. I missed you. Missed this. Missed the hell outta us.”
“Kaoz.”
He kissed her again and felt her melt into the caress for the briefest of moments. She pushed him away.
“You can’t be here. We broke up.”
He shook his head, trailing his mouth across her jaw, stubborn chin, down to her throat. She dropped her head, giving him access, and he lightly sucked at her pulse point before moving to the hollow and up once more.
A shivery breath left her lips. “Kaoz…”
“Shhh. You know I can make you feel so good. Just hold onto me.”
Without any fight, she slid her arms around his shoulders, clinging as he rolled her onto her back. He pinned her with his body, and their gazes connected.
“I…Kaoz. We broke up.”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is how I make you feel. Hot. Breathless.” He sucked on her throat again, moving his fingers down her side and curling around her breast. She sucked in sharply, and he took that as his cue to work her nipple between his fingers. Pinching, teasing it into a hard point.
“Ka—oz!”
He slid his hand down her belly and straight to her pussy. No messing around. No foreplay, just straight to third base.
With questing fingers, he nudged aside the practical cotton of her panties and touched swollen lips and slippery folds. Her grip on his shoulders tightened as he nudged her thighs apart with his own and set out to make her scream for him.
Gliding his fingertip down her seam to her entry point, he then dipped in a fingertip and moved up to circle her clit with her own wetness.
She gasped and rocked her hips to his touch, and he bit off a roar of victory. The woman might think they were done, but her body told him otherwise.
Dark need blasted through him, but he held it off and focused on her alone…on the smal
l whimpers she made as he brushed his fingertip over and over her clit. When he eased his finger down and entered her, a roughened moan broke from her.
He swallowed it with his kiss. Drawing on her lips and feeding her his tongue, he lost himself in the juicy sounds of her slick pussy under his fingers. She clutched at him, and he knew by her body language how close she grew to losing it.
If she came for him, he hoped her heart came with it. He couldn’t live without her another day.
Passion rose up in his chest, making it so full he felt it might explode. His cock throbbed, and his balls were bursting. He lifted his head, breaking the kiss, and stared deep into her eyes as she shattered.
Her orgasm went on for long seconds, and heated juices washed over his fingers. He couldn’t stand it another second—he kissed her until she grappled at his spine.
When he raised his head again, he understood what he had to do—walk away and leave her burning for him. Let her see that he could give—would gladly give everything he had—to make her happy.
Slowly, he brushed his lips across hers as he removed his fingers from her sticky wet folds. “Sleep well, sweet thing,” he grated out.
Then he climbed out of her bed and returned to the couch.
* * * * *
What. The hell. Was that? Brielle could hardly think through the pulsations of pleasure that seemed to linger long after Kaoz left the room. Her lungs burned from gasps restrained and her insides quivered for so much more. Like his long, thick cock gliding into her, rubbing her deepest points until she exploded.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned onto her side and held in the good feelings he’d given her until they faded, and all she had left was her loneliness.
I can fix that—go out to the couch and tell him I want him.
No. I broke up with him for good reasons. I can’t forget those. I can’t fall into old habits.
She threw off the covers, feeling too hot and agitated and twisted her fingers in the damp sheets. Air—she needed air.
After getting out of bed, she threw open the window. The moon shed its glow on the bushes below and she caught sight of a lone sock of Kaoz’s she’d tossed out earlier. A look across the yard showed her that he’d found a few of his other garments and picked them up.
She pressed her fingertips to her lips, holding in the giggle and then a shivery sigh at the tingle he left from his kisses.
Minutes of standing in the rush of air later, she felt cool enough to sleep again, but once she hit the pillow, she struggled to find any peace. Knowing the hunky cowboy slept in the other room and how he hadn’t taken his ease after touching her…
She couldn’t think about those things. Who cared if he suffered? He didn’t seem to give a damn when he left her for months on end.
Thinking of his actions when he vaccinated the herd or planned the amount of lumber needed to build the barn only bothered her more. He obviously had learned from his stint out West. She saw that he really had bettered himself. But his way of gaining that knowledge it had been all wrong.
In the wee hours of the morning, she drifted off. When she woke, she once again saw a breakfast tray at her feet, with sausage patties but two more fried eggs.
She wrinkled her nose at the sight. As she scooted to the end of the bed to gather the tray into her lap, she saw he’d left another note. I hope you had sweet dreams.
Her pussy clenched as if he’d reached into her panties and stroked her again. Now what? She’d given in to his advances, now he’d never leave her alone.
Did she want him to?
As she picked up a slice of hot, buttered toast, she realized two things—he’d only given her pleasure last night, and he’d fixed her breakfast a second day in a row. Would the old Kaoz have done either of those things? Maybe, if she’d given him longer to prove himself.
She nibbled her toast and ate her sausage. The eggs she pushed to the side of her plate.
She carried the tray into the kitchen. With a new sway to her hips from her release the night before, she returned to her room to dress for the day of hard work.
Out in the pasture, she saw he’d once again seen to the mare. Automatically, she checked the state of the shelf. She shook her head in awe. He hadn’t messed it up. Everything sat in its original spot.
“I knew that drove you crazy, Brielle.”
She spun to his deep voice. One look at his big hard muscles had her body kicking up a fuss, demanding more of his kisses, touch and finally, his cock.
“What are you jabbering on about now?” She conjured her sassiest tone.
He only chuckled. “I knew moving the stuff around on that shelf would make you crazy. I was right.”
“You don’t know me as well as you think you do, Bellamy.”
He stepped up—so close. His blue eyes like blue fire and his beard darker and more dastardly than ever. Hovering near, he rumbled, “I know you, Brielle. Don’t ever think anybody on this Earth knows you as well as I know you.”
Okay, so he might know exactly how to drive her crazy. His knowledge of her body was off the charts. But know her? Not bloody likely.
“Okay, what’s my favorite dinner? What kind of perfume do I wear?”
He cocked his head, studying her.
Aha—he has no idea.
She whirled away and set off for the pigpen to feed them their breakfast and clean their space. She realized he watched her ass, so she amped up the swing into her hips. A low growl followed her, and she smiled in reaction. If she wasn’t as immune to him as she wished, at least she knew he wanted her as bad. Last night, his thick arousal pressing into her side proved as much.
Let him try to figure out what her favorite dinner was or the perfume she wore, especially since the bottle of scent in her bathroom wasn’t truly her favorite. She’d been out for months and had yet to replace the bottle.
With a decided lift of her chin, she knew that right this minute, she had the upper hand in this battle of wills.
* * * * *
“We could bale this pasture.” Kaoz looked out over the golden-tipped grasses and beyond that the pale gray-blue sky of early evening.
“I don’t have the right equipment.” Beau plucked a blade from the ground and stuck it into the corner of his mouth.
“No tractor?” He hadn’t seen one around the ranch, but he hoped it was out for repairs or something.
He shook his head.
“So you really are hauling feed and water with a four-wheeler? I thought that was a temporary thing.” Damn, if this proved to be the case, the ranch sat in worse shape than he originally thought. Without this hay crop, he didn’t know how he’d keep his bet that he would turn a profit for them quick.
“There wasn’t much left after we bought the land and paid closing costs. After that, the money we sank into the herd, and the pigs wiped us out.”
Kaoz kicked his heel into the turf. There had to be an answer. A way to earn off the land. He swept his gaze over the landscape. “Timber?”
He shook his head. “We don’t own that patch of trees over there. What we do own is too small to timber off.”
He cocked a brow at Brielle’s brother. He didn’t think the guy was incompetent—maybe just slightly clueless and riding a dream from some other time period.
Yeah, like the nineteenth century.
“How ’bout mineral rights? You own those?” Kaoz asked.
Beau chewed on the grass stem. “I don’t believe we do. But mining will upset the water system.”
“Not if it’s done right. I’ll have a look at the paperwork on that once we get to the house.” The best bet was still to bale that field and sell the hay.
“What do you have around here that’s worth any money? Any old vehicles you could sell or trade in on a tractor and a solid wagon?”
“Unless you count my truck and Brielle’s car, no.”
Brielle would be pissed if they even suggested she trade her car in for farm equipment. He almost chuckled
thinking about it, but he sobered quickly at the scent and feel of her the previous night still lingering fresh in his mind. That and her challenge for him to come up with her favorite dinner and perfume.
He felt pretty damn sure her favorite dinner was the same one they shared on their first date—pepperoni pizza. Couldn’t be—too easy, wasn’t it? She wouldn’t set such an easy challenge. He knew what his woman was capable of…and he still hadn’t seen hide nor hair of his custom beer tap.
He eyed Beau. “You wouldn’t happen to know Brielle’s favorite dinner, would you?”
Beau shot him a grin. “She said you’d ask.”
“Damn.” He jerked his head aside. Now she’d know he asked and she’d one-upped him. “Kiddin’, bro. I remember it’s pizza.” He watched Beau for a sign he could be right.
Beau’s grin widened. “You sure o’ that?”
Double damn. Never mind—he’d figure it out. And he already knew her favorite perfume. Or at least he remembered the scent like he remembered the smell of the air in Crossroads all those months he worked in New Mexico.
He and Beau continued to mark out the footer for the new barn. “When do you expect the horses again?” he asked Beau.
“Six days now.”
Kaoz scrubbed a hand over his face. “Your contract has a term to put them under roof?”
Beau nodded.
Kaoz rubbed at his jaw in thought. “This barn’ll take more than a week and that’s with a dozen guys who have their own jobs. Unless you’re paying them double for their time, you’ve got weekend workers at best.”
Beau twisted his lips. “We can do it.”
“You ever built a barn? Or seen one built?” As soon as Kaoz saw his expression, he knew the answer. Replacing the cap on the spray paint they’d used to mark out the footer lines, he said, “Look, you gotta move the delivery of those horses back. Give us two weeks at least. And you need to come up with more money to pay some real workers. You don’t have enough friends or family to call in this favor.”
Beau gave a stubborn shake of his head. “Can’t do that, Kaoz.”
“Why not? The owner needs to keep with the original dates set and—”