A Rancher's Heart

by Vivian Arend

  “Good.” He stepped forward until they were facing each other, four feet apart. They’d kicked off their shoes in the front hallway, and they both stood there in stocking feet.

  He started at the bottom and took a slow, thorough examination as his gaze drifted up her body. When he reached her face, laughter rumbled up from deep in his chest. “Keeping your glasses on?”

  Instinctively Tamara’s hand rose to adjust them into a better position. Today she’d worn a pair of delicate red frames that matched her holiday blouse. “I can’t see without them, remember? And I have no intention of missing any of the show.”

  Caleb moved in on her, tapping his finger on her nose briefly. “I thought guys were the ones who got turned on visually.”

  “Girls like looking too.”

  He stroked a finger down the buttons on her shirt. “You watch sexy things, Tamara?”

  “You mean like porn? All the time.” She eased herself against him. “You look shocked. Did I scandalize you?”

  He undid her shirt, gaze fixed on his fingers as the buttons slipped through the buttonholes and the fabric edged apart. “A little, but I like it. Feel as if I should watch you while you’re at it. Maybe I’ll learn a thing or two about what you like.”

  “Well, we could do that. Or you could ask me. Or better yet, we can just try it all and see what fits.”

  She already knew some things that fit nicely, thank you very much. And as much fun as it was to have him peeling her shirt off her shoulders, what she wanted was to watch.

  Tamara pressed a hand to his chest and pushed him back half a step.

  She undid her pants and let them fall to the floor, stepping out of the fabric puddle so she stood in underwear and bra more than an arm’s reach away.

  When he would’ve reached for her she held up a hand. “Not so fast. Your turn. Lose the shirt. And the rest of it.”

  Caleb didn’t bother to unbutton anything. He pulled his shirt from his jeans and lifted it over his head, arms crossing as he stripped the fabric away. Abdomen muscles flexing as he moved, his happy trail wiggling as it disappeared enticingly under his belt line.

  His strong forearms were covered with a dusting of hair, biceps bulging as he folded his arms over his sturdy chest. “Since we’re taking turns.”

  “You still have your pants on,” Tamara protested.

  “Only two articles of clothing left,” he pointed out. “Oh, sorry. Socks means three.”

  “We can’t forget the socks.” She reached behind her and undid her bra, wiggling her shoulders to let the fabric fall to her hands so she could throw it on the nearest chair.

  Caleb’s gaze locked on her chest, and she took a deep breath, arching her back to see the fire flare.

  He didn’t look away as he dropped his jeans, kicking them aside so he stood in boxer briefs, his erection a thick ridge clearly visible in sharp contrast to the tight fabric.

  She couldn’t resist closing the distance between them. She stroked the very tip of her fingers over his hipbones before slipping a hand under the elastic of his waistband and grasping his cock.

  Caleb’s eyelids fluttered shut. “I thought we were looking first and touching second?”

  He braced his legs wide as she pumped, enjoying the weight in her hand too much to stop. “Oops?”

  She got in a couple more strokes before he wrapped a hand around her wrist and extracted himself from her grasp. He picked her up and placed her on the bed, stepping back as she wiggled upright.

  A moment later he’d lost the briefs as well, and she curled her arms around her legs and looked with admiration on her living Adonis statue. Trim hips, with deep V-cut muscles rising up from his groin. His oblique muscles were visible, the solid ridges of his pectorals slightly out of balance as if at some point he’d broken ribs. Every shadow, every dip highlighted the work of art the land had turned his body into. Hard physical labour and sheer determination had left him without an inch of extra fat.

  A heavy shadow coloured his chin and cheeks, his eyes watching with an intensity that lit her internal pilot light.

  Finally, she dropped her gaze. Fully erect, and beautifully proportioned. She could write a medical paper on the perfection of his equipment, but since the days of medical paperwork were behind her, she would just appreciate it for the wonderful gift it was. At least the way he used it.

  “You done looking yet?”

  He didn’t give her time to answer. Crawling forward on the bed, rearing up on his knees, he stared down intently.

  Tamara reached for her panties, intending to wiggle out of them when he shook his head. “My job.”

  The evening was far from over. She lay back against the pillows and waited.

  Caleb had no intention of moving quickly. It had taken far too long to get to this point, and in spite of having to deal with the complication of Dustin discovering he and Tamara were having a—

  He didn’t know what to call this other than mind-blowingly fantastic.

  Here she lay, naked except for a scrap of fabric over her sex, and those ridiculous fuzzy socks she loved, and he wasn’t going to worry about the semantics of what to call the event. He was going to make sure they both had a damn good time.

  Even after the truck sex and that dirty-as-hell blow job, they’d barely begun. This was the first time he’d gotten to see the soft swells of her breasts, nipples tightening as he watched.

  Caleb adjusted position to lie beside her, and for a moment he was frozen with indecision. Where should he start?

  She laid a hand on his cheek and that seemed as good a beginning as any as he brought their lips together for another kiss. They’d had violent, startling kisses, and sweet slow kisses, but this was the first time they’d kissed with their bodies hip to hip, pressed tight, nearly naked. Her soft breasts with those tight nips teased his chest as he leaned against her. Tongues dipping and retreating as they tasted each other over and over.

  Tamara slid her fingers into his hair as they continued, heat rising at a modest pace.

  Caleb slipped a hand over her hips and up until his hand covered the swell of her breast. He rotated his palm in a slow, teasing circle, letting her nipple drag against him. One side, then the other, and when he could finally bear to take his lips from hers, he cupped his hand and plumped up her breast so when he shifted position he could suck her nipple into his mouth and tease the tip with his tongue.

  Tamara’s fingernails scratched his scalp, harder now as he sucked more intensely. She shivered as he gently put his teeth to her.

  He had no idea how long had passed as he moved from side to side, taking his fill of her breasts before skimming a hand over her ribs, following with his tongue. Moving down her body an inch at a time, licking and sucking and biting.

  He stopped at her belly button, flicking his tongue into the dip before sliding over to a hipbone. Now, finally, he tucked his fingers into the edges of her panties and lowered them enough so he could tease the sensitive spot where her leg joined her torso.

  Tamara attempted to bend one knee, but he pushed it aside, widening her legs to a V as he settled between them. Her panties still covered her sex and he caught the front between thumb and forefinger, using his other hand to reach below and wrap a finger around the gusset. Squeezing the material into a thin strip of fabric that he dragged back and forth over her sex.

  A low, breathless moan escaped her as the material rubbed her clit, slipping between the lips of her sex.

  She was wet, so very wet, and he couldn’t resist pushing the fabric aside and sliding a finger into her depths.

  “Caleb.”

  “Still looking,” he told her.

  Her low pants of excitement were wracked with a complaining tone as he added a second finger and continued to work them slowly in and out.

  “Caleb…”

  He tore off her panties, tossing them to the floor. He lifted her knees and pressed her legs to either side until she was wide open, her pussy glistening with m
oisture.

  “Hold them there,” he ordered.

  Tamara caught her knees and stared down at him, glasses perched on the end of her nose as she offered a rosy-cheeked smile. “You are a very thorough looker,” she teased.

  He didn’t answer, just rose up so he could peel off one furry sock then press a kiss to the arch of her foot.

  She giggled, the entire bed shaking as her laughter grew. He ignored her, although he had a smile on his face as he sucked her toes into his mouth one by one. Next came more kisses, from her ankle up the backside of her leg until he could torment the sensitive skin on the back of her knee with his tongue.

  The giggling stopped at that point, turning into moans of ecstasy.

  He repeated everything on the opposite side, and laughter returned as he peeled off her second sock.

  “Caleb Stone. Do you have a foot fetish?” she demanded.

  He gripped her ankle more firmly then teased his tongue between her toes. Tamara’s eyes widened, pleasure streaking across her face.

  He was having too much fun to stop. This time he didn’t hesitate for more than a second at the back of her knee before continuing all the way along her inner thigh, scraping his whisker-roughened cheek against her soft skin. Pressing her knees farther toward her head so her hips rocked off the bed.

  Open and ready for when he dropped to his elbows and licked delicately.

  “Oh…”

  Caleb took his time, tasting and teasing. Listening to the sounds she made in response to each one of his actions as he learned what she liked and what she loved.

  And every time he glanced up she was still watching, gaze on his mouth, drifting over his features. Eyes fluttering shut as her body tensed under him, closing on her peak.

  He pulled away before she could climax, swallowing her soft moan of protest with a kiss before he rolled away, digging in his jeans for one of the condoms he’d stashed.

  He was back on the bed in seconds, pushing her back when she would have sat up to join him.

  When he lifted the wrapper to his mouth to rip it open, though, Tamara stole the condom from his fingers. “None of that. No teeth near condoms unless you’re doing it the right way.”

  Her words were confusing enough to make him hesitate. He found himself being levered to the bed, her firm grasp around his shaft as good as a nose ring on a bull. “The right way?”

  Tamara removed the condom then placed it on the head of his cock, and the next second she’d leaned forward and was using her lips to roll it down his length. Slow repetitious movements that threatened to send him flying over the edge far too quickly.

  “Fuck.”

  She pulled back and wiped her mouth. “Strawberry. My favourite.”

  Caleb laughed, pulling her into his arms and catching hold of her ass. He lifted her over him, but she rolled to her side. Moving together to line up, he slid deep, her leg draped over his hip giving him the perfect angle to be surrounded with white-hot pleasure.

  There was too much to feel. Too much to enjoy. Tamara scratched his back, sliding a hand over his ass as he pumped against her. He got a breast in his fingers, kneading the heavy weight before pinning the tip of her nipple against his fingers with his thumb and rolling.

  Another kiss, another caress. And through it all, the motion of their bodies rocking against each other, ancient and perfect and far too raw to resist.

  Tamara arched against him as a throaty cry escaped. Her sex clamped down, and he swore, fighting off his release for another thrust. And another, long enough to drag out her pleasure until she gasped every time he drove forward.

  He lost all finesse, rolling her to her back, locking his elbow around her knee to pull her farther open so he could drive deep for his last thrusts.

  Release started somewhere near his toes and went all the way up, shooting through his system as if he were being electrocuted, power surging until the top of his head was ready to come off and stars formed in front of his eyes.

  They clung to each other, breathing heavily. He didn’t want to leave, but he took care of the condom quickly before returning and pulling her back into his arms.

  She curled against him, and he realized that sometime in the last ten seconds she’d finally removed her glasses. “You don’t need to see anymore?” he teased.

  Tamara shook her head, a gentle motion against his chest. Her arms draped over him, their legs tangled. “Need sleep.”

  It was late enough that it made sense. No postcoital serious discussion, no questions about where they went from there.

  He rolled far enough to turn out the light before coming back to cradle her. Staring around the room that had once been his wife’s.

  No. Before that it had been their room. The place where he and Wendy had started their married life, before everything had gone to hell.

  Before that, once upon a time, it had been his parents. A place where love had lived.

  It was just a room. It was the people in it who mattered.

  A soft snore escaped Tamara, and Caleb found himself smiling. The sleep of the innocent, in the best sense of the word. Tamara had no agenda. No reason to withhold or barter her affections. Just honest pleasure and connection between the two of them.

  He fell asleep wondering if it was possible to hit the reset button and actually start over.

  Waking less than four hours later at his regular time, he was groggy enough to wonder what the hell was going on before he remembered he was in bed with Tamara.

  Sometime during the night they’d rolled and were now spooned together. Tamara’s backside against his groin, his hand crossing her body and cupping her breast.

  Getting up to deal with chores was the purest form of hell he’d ever experienced. Forcing him away from a warm, soft woman and into the cold outdoors was just cruel.

  The animals didn’t give a damn how mean it was. Hell, he swore his horse was laughing evilly when he went to saddle her up.

  Caleb should’ve known he couldn’t go the entire morning without being accosted by his younger brother. Dustin, who usually survived early-morning shifts by consuming massive amounts of cola, was waiting for him by the feed stores. He attempted to look casual but something was on his mind.

  Maybe the kid would be too embarrassed to say anything if Caleb didn’t bring it up first. “Morning.”

  “What are you and Tamara doing?”

  So much for avoiding the issue.

  Caleb glanced around the barn before motioning his brother to join him. He leaned against the solid wood wall and debated what to say.

  He was tempted to basically say nothing, but the concern on Dustin’s face was real, and all those old instincts of trying his best to teach his brother what he needed for life—hell, Caleb had screwed up pretty big on that when it came to setting an example with his first marriage. Saying nothing wasn’t an option.

  So he went with the truth. “I don’t know.”

  Dustin hadn’t expected that answer. “Oh.”

  They stared at each other for a full minute before Caleb carried on. “We didn’t expect to bump into you yesterday. We’re still figuring out what we want, so it’s important you don’t say anything to anyone.”

  His brother shook his head. “I won’t, but Caleb…” Dustin lifted his eyes, and instead of a teasing young kid there was someone teetering on the edge of adulthood, concern darkening his features. “I like Tamara. And I want you to be happy, and if there’s some reason you’re staying apart because you don’t think getting married again is a good idea, well, then I think you need to know, I think this is different. She’s not like Wendy.”

  “She’s not,” Caleb agreed.

  “And you’re not the same as you were before,” Dustin continued in a rush.

  Okay, that was a little more confusing. “What’s that mean?”

  Dustin shrugged. “I mean, you’re in a different place than when you and Wendy got together. I know you’ve got Emma and Sasha, but all the rest of us—we’re
grown up now. You don’t need to take care of us.”

  “You’re still my family. And we still need Silver Stone to run well and support us.”

  “Right, but you’ve got all of us to help, with everything. So if being with Tamara makes you happy, and if she wants to be with us—” The kid’s cheeks flushed nearly as red-hot as they had the night before when he’d interrupted them. “If she wants to be with you, then I hope you guys end up together.”

  In the first time in a long time, Dustin was the one who walked away from the conversation before Caleb had a chance to.

  Romance advice from a nineteen-year-old. Huh. Caleb watched his kid brother vanish around the corner.

  The kicker of it was—it wasn’t bad advice.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “How do you want to do this?” Tamara asked. It was just past noon, two days later, and they were lying in bed with nothing but lingering heat between them.

  Caleb traced a trail over her breasts, his gaze following his fingers. “I just showed you how we do it. Need me to demonstrate again?”

  She shot a hand down to cover her sex before he could make it there first. “Stop or I won’t be able to walk.” She tilted her lips toward him and gave him a kiss. “Although, I’m not really complaining about that option.”

  The past couple of days had been a glorious haze of sexual satisfaction. They’d started each day tangled together, then he’d drop in for lunch, which had turned into a quick romp. Followed by shower sex before dinner.

  Sitting in front of the fire in the evening, their glances would become longer and longer, until they were shutting up the place an hour before usual, slipping off to her bedroom to start again.

  Tamara figured the man had over seven years of celibacy to make up for. She wasn’t going to deny him. So self-sacrificing of her, to be willing to have sex at the drop of a hat.

  In her imagination, her sisters’ eye rolls were audible. Self-sacrificing, ha!

  It had been worth it because Caleb wore the expression of a well-satisfied man. “What’s your question?”

  “What do you want to tell the girls?” They’d ignored the conversation until now as agreed, but it couldn’t be put off any longer. “They’ll be here in a couple hours.”