by Susan Arden
“There’s more,” he murmured, kissing her sweet mouth.
“More?”
“Tonight,” he replied. “You, me, and I bought a few things.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
That night.
Together they prepared a dinner of sirloin tips, baked potatoes, salad, summer squash, and a bottle of wine. Finally, this kitchen was getting used, which should thrill his mother. They piled the dishes in the washer. Afterward, the whoosh-whoosh of the water was like an echo of the blood in Matt’s head.
“Baby,” he said, pulling her to him.
They kissed. Carolina’s mouth tasted of wine and her sweetness.
It was time.
Earlier, he had dropped off the bag from The Silk Saloon inside his closet. Three candles were lit around the bedroom. Matt poured one glass of wine. “Drink,” he directed Carolina. She tried to take the glass but if he wanted to push her buttons, control was the name of this game. “I’ll hold the glass.”
Their gazes met, and he patiently waited while she sipped, emptying the glass. He poured more wine, lifted the glass and drained it.
Standing before her, he wanted to bury his head in the curve of her neck and tell her every dirty, racing thought of his, starting with his idea about chaining her to his bed. Maybe not chain, but definitely silk ties were in order.
Matt poured another glass of wine and set it on the nightstand. Slow and easy, nothing to lose his shit about. Carolina was his, only tonight mattered.
“Strip for me. Like you did the other night.” His voice was rough. He backed up, without taking his eyes from her, and he felt his cock thicken. “Let your hair down.”
She pulled it loose and waited, biting that plump bottom lip he’d soon own.
“That’s it, baby. Now, shake it out.” His legs hit the edge of the chair and he folded into the seat.
“So commanding, cowboy,” she murmured. “I like it.”
Good, ‘cause so the fuck did he. “Take off that tiny thing you’ve got on. No. Don’t cheat. Button by button.”
Those dark gray eyes of hers went wide but instead of arguing, she reached for the tiny buttons on her camisole. Every shirt she wore seemed to have a hundred tiny buttons and this time he’d finally enjoy how long it took for Carolina to shed her clothing.
She looked up at him, her cami open.
His cock juddered in his jeans. “Take it off,” he whispered.
Carolina brushed the thin material off her shoulders. Her nipples were hidden under her hair, forcing a primal growl from his throat.
“Raise your hands above your head. Yeah, like that, move your hair away… Touch your nipples, Carolina. Think of me sucking each one.”
Her breasts lifted, moving erotically. The little tease feathered her fingers, catching them in between. Slowly she drew out the moment, enclosing her tight pink nipples. She played with them, then held each perfect breast out to him. Caught in a battle to get up and toss Carolina onto the bed, or see this thing through, Matt had to close his eyes for a second, nearly out of his goddamn mind.
“Now your skirt, remove it,” he growled.
Carolina unzipped the skirt and let go. It fell to the floor, pooling at her ankles, and she waited for his next command. Dressed only in a tiny thong, she made him want to do things. Off the chart and out of the box, mind bending kinda things. Trouble was if they started, would they be able to stop? In that instant, he got the issue. Trouble…that’s what Carolina was pure and raw. His type of trouble.
Blood pounded in his ears. His hunger to touch Carolina ramped up. It wasn’t just sex, he wanted more, whatever it took to make her see the light. They weren’t over, they were just beginning.
In the dimness, her skin was bathed in golden light, smooth perfection, lithe. In heels and lingerie, this image of Carolina was branded into his brain.
Under his breath, Matt swore, and growled, “Turn around for me.”
Her ass cheeks were spectacular, framed for his view.
She glanced over her shoulder, biting her lip.
His cock responded to the image before him, throbbing, aching for relief. He didn’t fight being tormented. Sensing this was his future, he let himself become versed in what his life would be like.
“Remove your thong.” Matt’s voice came out hoarse and rougher than before. Near to breaking, he inhaled a serrated breath. “Sit on the edge of the bed. Spread your legs for me.”
He leaned forward, bracing his arms on his thighs, following her every move. She spread herself for him. She was pink, glistening, ready. He’d already memorized the feel of her skin-tight silk sheathed around his dick. The perfect glove.
“Matt, I want you,” she begged.
“Do this for us. Touch yourself, baby. Show me what I want.”
She did exactly what he asked, rubbing and giving him a teasing glimpse of all that awaited. Carolina pumped her finger until she whimpered. The sound of her voice pushed him over the edge.
Matt was off the seat and out of his fucking mind by the time he reached the bed. He was out of his clothes and naked, rearing to go. The room filled with the sound of their breathing. He caressed Carolina’s high cheekbones, then downward, over the curve of her jaw. His erection could pound nails he was so hard. Holding back was the war of the century.
“Carolina.” Her name slipped off his tongue, bittersweet agony for all she meant to him. For all he kept inside. “Touch me, darlin’.” He had to feel her soft hands on his flesh.
Her fingers grazed him, making his whole body throb in need. He threaded his fingers through her hair, wrapping long strands around his hands, cupping her head. He leaned over, taking possession of her mouth. Claiming what was his, he thrust his tongue between her lips and stopped against her teeth.
The little minx tensed her jaw.
He raised his mouth from her lips just an inch. “Open for me, Carolina.”
Her fiery gaze fused with his. “Make me,” she sassed.
A torch to his desire.
“You don’t want me to fuck you without mercy. Baby, this isn’t the time to throw down a gauntlet.”
“I think it is.” Carolina pushed against his chest, her nails began to claw against his skin. He took hold of her wrists. She fought him and he held her firmly, kissing the inside of one of her wrists and then the other. He inhaled her perfume and she twisted, raising her leg, almost kneeing him in the groin. Both of them were panting.
“If you want me to give myself to you all the way, then it’ll take more than sweet words, sweet acts, cowboy. Put your money where your mouth is.”
Stunned, he stared down at her. “How much more do you want, baby?”
“More than you’ve given all the rest, Matt. I’m not some woman who’ll jam herself into your life. But I’m also not some heartless witch who’ll leave scorched earth behind. I’m me. Carolina. Not a ghost from your past. Not someone you’ve ever known. I’m just me. And either I’m good enough for you to take, trust, be straight with—all the way. Or nothing.”
He got her meaning. Someone told her about his fucked-up, twisted as shit past. “I’m over her,” he said.
Carolina’s eyes blazed. “What’s her name?” She said it like a challenge.
But she was so off base Matt wanted to laugh in her face. “Layla Thompson.”
“Matt and Layla,” she said, watching him intently.
“You’re wasting time,” he warned.
“Am I?” Carolina arched a brow.
One he returned, saying, “You want details? Is that what this is about?”
“It isn’t against the law,” she whispered.
Without missing a beat, he growled, “I fell in love with a woman who kept secrets, such as being married. I found out she wasn’t living at her momma’s but at a house not far from Main Street in town. With a bunch of flowers in hand, I had thought I’d surprise Layla. The surprise was on me when her husband answered
the door. They weren’t divorced like she’d said. Hell, they weren’t even separated. Turned out that her husband was equally surprised then raging mad. He came at me.
It took Brandon and Stephen to pull me off Thompson. Once I get going…let’s just say it ain’t pretty. We both were arrested. It made the news and I’m on probation. Sheriff’s a friend of my father and thought it’d help me deal with my temper. So now, you’ve got the whole ugly story. I’ve got a criminal record that I’m not proud of.”
Carolina’s eyes were dark silver flames mixed with pain for him. She was the first woman who lit him up and felt his sorrow and rage. “I’m sorry,” she said, enfolding him in her arms.
“Baby, I’m not.” He flexed up so he could look at her face. “It wasn’t like I wanted Layla to leave her husband. It was the lie that tore me up, not the woman.”
Carolina licked her lip where a tiny droplet of blood had formed. He released her hands to run his thumb over her bottom lip. Their eyes met. His heart thudded heavy in his chest. “I want you. Only you. Dammit, isn’t that enough?”
“Yes. It’s enough.” Carolina’s gaze sparked, no longer pain riddled or in question.
“Move to the center of the bed, baby. You agreed we’d do what I wanted for one night. Well, it’s hardly over.” He went inside his closet and returned to the bed, carrying silk ties.
“What are those?” Her skin was flushed as her eyes followed him.
“Trust me?”
“I do,” she replied in a sure voice.
Matt traced a line from her chin down between her breasts, to her navel, stopping and swirling his finger over one hip, then the other. So sexy. His fingers continued to move, lower over her pubic bone and stopped. Carolina twisted her hips but he pressed her down.
“The rule tonight,” he whispered. “I’m lead, Dr. Rodriguez.”
He let go of her and she groaned softly.
“Spread your arms over your head. Baby, open your legs wide for me. Good girl.” He tied one end of the silk tie around her wrist. He caressed her beautiful skin with his thumb, threading the other end of the tie around the headboard spindle that ended with a firm square knot. He repeated the action, securing his little firecracker’s ankles and her other arm. She was spread eagle on his bed. His for the night.
From his vantage point, Carolina was fully exposed. The light flickered, casting provocative shadows over her curves and hollows as he sampled the skin up her thigh, inch by inch. Pressing his fingers between Carolina’s legs, he opened her to him, claiming her with his mouth.
Arching wildly, she pressed against his face as he sucked her hard, then scraped his teeth across her, for good measure.
This woman would never forget him and he didn’t stop, didn’t back away from where they were headed. Carolina twisted, tugging, and convulsed against his tongue. Savoring every one of her gasps and moans, Matt took her over the edge, tasting her sweetness as she clenched around his mouth.
No more waiting, Matt pushed up and moved over her beautiful body. He drove into her. One hard thrust, and Carolina called out his name. Her muscles gripped him like pure hot tight silk. He hauled back, hungry to brand both her body and mind of him, only him. Fuck, if he couldn’t make her stay, at least, he could make her remember him. He thrust hard into her, diving, driving, slamming. He rocked his hips back only to pound into her again. Carolina yelled his name, her voice a rasp of sound.
This time he didn’t hold anything back. He let go and let her in. They kissed coming undone, together. Over a cliff into pleasure that ricocheted in his skull, whispering bliss until there! Fuck, they both exploded.
Afterward, they lay spent and wrapped around each other. “You’re amazing,” she whispered.
“What goes around,” he replied, grinning down at his beautiful captive. “I had this mini fantasy… of tying you to my bed.”
“Mission accomplished,” Carolina said with a breathy laugh.
That remained to be seen.
A warm droplet slid down his arm. As if a dam had busted, hot tears splattered against his chest. He didn’t tell her not to cry. Instead Matt untied her wrists and ankles and gathered Carolina around him. He wrapped her in his arms. He kissed her again, whispering against her hair. Spreading his arms over her shoulders, he tucked her against his body. “I’m here, if you want to talk.”
“You’re the first man, I’ve felt…so close to.”
He let that sit for a moment. “What about your dad?”
She stiffened, then her shoulders shook. “He was killed…murdered,” Carolina sobbed out. “When I was little. He was an attorney. A man who only wanted to help those in need. I loved him and miss him, very, very much.”
The sorrow filling her voice drilled into Matt’s chest. Her pain was his. He didn’t know anyone whose parents were murdered…That had to be rough. Matt gently turned Caro’s shoulders down to the mattress. He wiped away her tears, murmuring, “Baby, I’m here for you. Always.”
“I believe that,” she said, capturing his hand and laying it over her heart.
Matt snuggled up next to her. So close, they both shared a pillow. “This doesn’t have to be the end of us.”
“What are you saying?”
“I don’t want you upset.” His tongue was a wooden plank that refused to say the words in his heart. Tell her. He kept silent. This wasn’t about him. Wanting to exorcise all her pain, he tightened his arms around this woman. “Or thinking, for an instant, that you’re alone.”
“I don’t, not anymore.” Carolina closed her eyes, one tear slipped out.
Matt watched it move. “Sleep, baby,” he whispered against her cheek, then he captured the teardrop onto his palm and squeezed his hand shut. “I’m right here. For as long as you’d like.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Two days later.
Sitting behind Matt’s desk, Carolina stared at the laboratory results. The preliminary reports had arrived and the final one didn’t detour much except it identified a viral strain.
The report was over four hundred pages long. She was almost through, making notes, highlighting text, plus typing up her own report in more user-friendly language.
Each sample taken from one of the diseased cows generated a slew of DNA markers. Those were entered into a spreadsheet. The markers were crosschecked against the control samples they’d collected from the bull and cows.
Carolina stared at the graph, sensing the answer stared back at her. Yet she couldn’t, with absolute certainty, make a call as to how related the respiratory disease was in terms of genetics. Definitely, the same virus was affecting the herds but only two distinct stock lines were susceptible. Evermore could treat the herds about to be vaccinated with an antiviral bovine flu med. It was new on the market and delivered by injection. The rest of the herd, grazing and not expected back before next week, wouldn’t be in danger.
Carolina put in an order for the meds to be expedited to Evermore.
But why had this outbreak occurred? That was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question and Carolina didn’t have an answer. If she were a ranch owner, it would be the next logical question that she’d ask. Slowly, she rocked back and forth in the leather swivel chair.
Matt needed answers, not an educated guess. She picked up her cell phone and auto-dialed him.
“What’s up?” The sound of his deep voice made her pulse quicken.
“I’m reviewing the lab results and had a thought about getting another opinion.” She hated having to go this route, but this wasn’t about her past, this was about Matt’s cattle and Evermore Ranch.
“Any clues to why the cattle are dying?”
“From the sampling, a viral strain was identified. It can be highly contagious once the infection has been around for a year or so.”
“How do we deal with it before it takes root?” he asked.
“Vaccination. The meds are good and available. Did you want to call in an expe
rt who could give you definitive answers about why the viral infection occurred, in the first place?”
“We need answers. Who do you suggest?”
Carolina looked out the window. The sun was shining and temperatures were expected to hit 105 degrees by noon. “He’s a pathologist. Not local. Unless you have a connection around here or the West Coast?”
“What’s got you shifting gears?” Matt asked.
“I’m not. I want to contact the best person in the field of pathological genetics. That includes checking around Texas or Louisiana. It wouldn’t be a bad idea of re-establishing a connection, maybe to Texas A & M. You’ve got family alumni. Or UCLA, I think I heard that university mentioned.” Actually, it had come from Cory and at the time, she was certain his sister’s comment had nothing to do with cattle.
“Carolina, I’ll be there in a minute. Otherwise, just call whoever you know, the sooner the better.”
In a minute? She’d need a week to get her game face on. “I’ll start to send out feelers, but this is your decision.” They hung up.
This wasn’t the time to get cold feet. From this morning’s log, she’d read that another cow was on watch. The cow’s calf was listed, too. If the cow died, the calf would probably die as well.
Matt entered the office. “We don’t have any more time to waste. I thought we covered this issue when we first met.” His words were uttered in that strained tone she’d heard when he was containing his frustration.
“I remember clearly.” He was right. All she had to do was pick up the phone and call Jeff. Call the man who had said she’d do just that.
This wasn’t about her screwed up past, this was about Evermore ranch. She inhaled, putting aside her emotions. All she had to do was make one small call. Staring at Matt didn’t make the call any easier to dial. “I’ll call Dr. Haverty.”
She didn’t miss the slight narrowing of Matt’s eyes. “Wait a minute. The asshole who had you dancing on the end of a string because of some contract BS. Find someone else.”