by Kate Pearce
“Can I persuade you out of these?”
She undid the zipper and for a glorious few moments they both struggled to get her out of them, ending up with Rachel now sitting on the chair with Cauy on the floor between her thighs. He leaned in and kissed her mouth as he cupped her mound.
“Let me touch you.”
She bit his lip. “What about you?”
He glanced down at his straining fly. “Later. Ladies first.”
* * *
Rachel closed her eyes as Cauy flexed his fingers against her most tender flesh. He’d probably noticed she was already aroused as his thumb slicked through her wetness. He murmured her name as he learned her, caressed her, and slid one finger deep.
She came almost immediately, clinging on to him, and letting the new rush of emotions drive out old hurts as he moved with her.
“Yeah . . . that’s it, honey, do it again.” His appreciative murmur made her shiver as he slowly bit down on her neck and eased his finger into a driving rhythm that made her forget anything but the taste and smell of him, and the need for completion.
She gripped his shoulder so tightly she worried she’d do some permanent damage, but he didn’t seem to notice, and letting go of him right now so wasn’t happening. He was her rock in a storm of emotions, the calm center of her own personal blizzard.
She forced her eyes open. “I want you. All of you.”
“Yeah?” He kissed her with a thoroughness that made every nerve ending she possessed sit up and take notice. “Then come to bed with me.”
He eased free of her and brought his fingers to his lips, tasting her with a slow enjoyment that made her blush.
“Give me a second to make sure my bedroom is warm enough, and then I’ll come get you.”
“Okay.” Rachel smiled foolishly at him. Unwilling to let him out of her sight, and almost too relaxed to want to move anywhere. “Get rid of all your other women, too.”
He chuckled as he left the room, and Rachel forced herself to sit up. Where the heck had her underwear gone? She spied her panties and bra on the floor and started gathering up the rest of her clothes. The pocket of her jeans vibrated and she crouched down to check her phone.
It was her stepfather Paul’s number. She struggled into her panties as she accepted the call.
“Rachel? Is that you?”
“Yeah. Hey.” She tried to sound bright and cheerful. “I saw your news! Congratulations!”
His sigh echoed across the continents. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you first. I intended to, and then Jane said she’d just e-mailed everyone because calling individually would be too expensive from here.”
“She had a point.” Rachel pulled on her shirt and buttoned it one-handed. “And it’s okay. Having your first baby together is exciting.”
His laugh was rueful. “It wasn’t planned. Traveling messed with Jane’s birth control, and now we’re faced with being the oldest parents in the schoolyard.”
“You’ll be great.” Rachel sat on the floor and pulled on her jeans.
“Only because I had all that experience with you,” Paul said.
“Luckily, you never knew me when I was a small baby. Mom said I was awful.” Rachel became aware of Cauy standing in the doorway and kept her back turned to him. “It was nice of you to call, but—”
“Rachel, you’re still my daughter. I know you’ve got the Morgan family behind you now, but I’ll always consider you as much mine as this new baby.”
“That’s very sweet of you.” She smiled even though he couldn’t see her. “I appreciate that very much.”
“I always wanted to have kids, but your mother . . . well, she told me after we married that she’d had her tubes tied, and couldn’t have any more, so that was that.”
“I’m sorry,” Rachel said.
“Nothing to be sorry about. I had you and your mom, and that was enough for me.”
Rachel held the phone so tightly she thought it might crack.
“You still there, Rachel?”
She gathered herself. “You’re breaking up a bit. Maybe you should go. Love you, Dad, and love to Jane.”
She cut the connection and stayed where she was, all the time aware of Cauy’s gaze on her. He still had his jeans on although he’d taken off his belt and unbuttoned them.
“You planning on going somewhere?”
She put her cell back in her pocket and stood. “No, that was my father, and—”
“Because that’s okay.” He found his T-shirt and put it on in one jerky motion. “Probably not good to make decisions when you’re upset.”
“I was upset, but that’s not why I put my clothes on, I was talking to my stepdad, and it felt weird—”
He interrupted her again by handing over her jacket and hat. “Not a problem.”
Rachel clutched her remaining garments to her chest as he marched over to the back door and looked at her expectantly.
“You’re throwing me out?”
He shrugged. “Sounds like you’ve sorted things with your dad so your problem is solved.”
Rachel stalked up to him and poked him in the chest. “I don’t think I’m the one having regrets, buddy, but classy of you to put all the blame on me.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw, but he didn’t react to her deliberate taunt, which was annoying as hell. He was supposed to defend himself, get mad, and then sweep her off her feet into his bed and make love to her all night. But maybe he really did regret what they’d started, and she simply hadn’t made the grade. She was the one who had forced her way into his house, cried all over him, and let him comfort her with sex. She’d taken everything and given nothing in return.
She rammed her hat on her head and struggled into her coat. He silently helped her find the second armhole, but she didn’t say thank you.
“Good night, Cauy.” She smiled at his T-shirt, not daring to look up into his eyes in case he looked either sorry for her or delighted she was finally leaving him in peace. “Thanks for listening. I really appreciate it.”
This time he didn’t stop her leaving, and she stumbled in the frosty night almost slipping on the ice in the yard. At least this time she wasn’t storming out and slamming the door. That was progress, right? She took a deep breath and looked up at the clearness of the star-studded sky. Acting on her emotions never ended well and usually made her feel she’d let everyone down and was ungrateful. How many times had she tried to tell her mother how she felt only to be called out about how hard her mother’s life was? Too many to count until she’d stopped complaining, and just done her best to keep her mouth shut and keep everyone happy.
She got into her truck and took it slow going down the slope, her tires struggling to find grip on the icy surface. She was glad her stepfather had called to straighten things out. If she’d just stayed put in her bedroom she would’ve received the call there, and none of what had happened later with Cauy would have occurred.
She allowed herself to think about how he’d touched her so carefully with his work-roughened hands, how easily he’d made her come. Did she regret that? Rachel sat up straight and slowly shook her head. She’d had sex before, but no one had taken care of her needs first. Most guys were way too selfish to even think about her pleasure before they took their own.
So she wouldn’t regret that experience even if it was the last time she ever got to see Cauy Lymond half-naked. Her body disagreed with that, but she ignored those pitiful yearnings and focused on getting safely back to the ranch.
* * *
As the sound of Rachel’s truck receded down the hill Cauy sank into his chair and put his head in his hands.
“Jeez, Cauy Lymond . . .” he breathed. “You complete and utter monumental fuckup.”
The shock of seeing Rachel dressed when he’d come back into the room had knocked him sideways, robbing him of speech and obviously his brains. He’d made assumptions, she’d gotten mad, and he’d let her walk out.
Again.
H
e was the ass in assumptions.
There was a pattern here that even he was aware of. He thought she’d changed her mind, had regretted letting him touch her, and was desperate to leave. But from what he’d allowed her to say she’d only covered up because she was talking to her stepdad, which was ridiculous, but made a weird kind of sense. He would probably have done the same if it had been his mom on the phone.
But why had he been so eager to rush to those conclusions? Was Rachel right and had he really been looking for a way out?
He couldn’t answer that. Or maybe he just didn’t want to face the truth. The thought of having her in his bed had been . . . Cauy sighed. Awesome. She was like the light. Having her in his hands and sinking into her warmth made him feel alive again. Thinking she was about to leave had gutted him.
All the reasons why touching her was a bad idea still remained. He licked his lips. The taste of her still lingered despite his hasty teeth brushing while he made sure his bed linen was clean and his boxers safely in the laundry basket. His dick was throbbing like a sore tooth. He’d been more than willing to take advantage of her emotional state so maybe it was right that he’d been stopped.
“Bullshit,” Cauy spoke aloud. “You still want her.”
There was nobody to answer him, but he already knew the truth. He’d have a cold shower, take himself off to bed, and try not to dream about what might have been.
Chapter Nine
“Can you come over, Rachel?” Rachel’s stomach clenched as she listened to Jenna’s message on her cell. “I wanted to talk to you about the dog.”
Rachel finished her morning coffee and washed out her cup before going to find Ruth.
“Can we go shopping a bit later this morning?” she asked her grandma. “I need to go and see Jenna.”
“There’s no rush.” Ruth shut the chest freezer and turned to Rachel, a huge leg of lamb clutched to the front of her apron. “Is there something wrong?”
“I found a dog in the bottom of one of the feed bins at Em’s yesterday and took it to Jenna.”
“Oh dear, I hope the little mite is okay.” Ruth walked back with Rachel to the main kitchen. “Text me if you need anything. If it gets late, I’ll just get Billy to take me instead.”
“Thank you.” Rachel bent to kiss Ruth’s wrinkled cheek.
“Are you feeling all right yourself, dear?” Ruth’s keen gaze swept over her. “You look tired.”
“I’m fine,” Rachel hastened to reassure her grandma. “I just stayed up too late reading research papers on mining and ground-penetrating radar.”
It was the truth. She’d literally bored herself to sleep so she wouldn’t think about Cauy.
“Tell Jenna I’m making her favorite vegetarian lasagna for dinner tonight if she wants to come over. I need to talk to her about the final details of the house as well.” Ruth chuckled. “Sometimes I don’t think BB’s new place will ever be finished.”
“It’s certainly taken a while,” Rachel agreed.
“That’s because BB’s so darn picky.” Ruth placed the frozen lamb in the sink and cut into the plastic surrounding it. “I’m amazed Jenna puts up with it and him.”
Deciding not to answer that, Rachel handed Ruth a towel to dry her hands and headed out to the mudroom to find her boots and outerwear. Her concern about the dog filled her thoughts as she drove to the McDonald place, which was not much better than thinking about Cauy.
* * *
Jenna was waiting for her in the cramped back office surrounded by cages filled with animals in various stages of recovery, piles of paperwork, and overstuffed filing cabinets.
“Hey, Rachel! Thanks so much for coming over.” Jenna patted the seat next to her. “Come and sit down.”
There was no obvious sign of the dog, and Rachel immediately feared the worst.
“So, what’s up?” She tried for a calm tone. “Is the dog okay?”
“She’s doing fine.” Jenna paused. “The thing is . . . she’s pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” Rachel gaped at her. “But she’s only a baby herself.”
“Yeah, but females can reproduce from the age of five months, and I think she’s less than a year old.”
“Then I wonder if someone did dump her.”
“It’s hard to tell. But it’s more likely she’s been a stray all her life, and just fell into that feed bin when she was looking for food.” Jenna paused. “The thing is, this is going to make her recovery slightly more complicated.”
“In what way?”
“Well, the puppies will probably be small and need extra care and attention, and the mom will need to build up her strength considerably so she can feed them.”
“That’s all doable with good care, right?” Rachel asked anxiously.
“Absolutely.” Jenna nodded. “The other thing I wanted to ask was do you have Cauy Lymond’s phone number?”
“Why do you need that?” Rachel asked.
“Because he offered to pay for the dog’s treatment.” Jenna raised her eyebrows. “Didn’t he tell you? It was very kind of him. I said I would be keeping any costs to a bare minimum because you are family, but he insisted on offering to help.”
“That was . . . nice of him.”
“Yeah, he seems like a good guy.” Jenna studied Rachel’s face. “BB seems to think you like him.”
“I . . .” Rachel groaned. She’d already started to count on Jenna as a friend and an ally. “I kind of do, and then I also want to strangle him because he can be absolutely infuriating.”
“Like most men,” Jenna said, nodding. “Are you holding back because of me and my history with his father?”
“No!” Rachel paused. “Although he might be.”
“He didn’t let Blue scare him,” Jenna observed.
Rachel glanced around the empty office and lowered her voice. “I just worry that maybe I’m pushing myself at him, and making a fool of myself, you know? He seems to like kissing me, and . . . other things, but—”
“Other things?” Jenna perked up. “Like what exactly?”
Rachel worried her lip, and Jenna spoke again.
“Look, we’re practically family. I already like you a lot, and I’d love to help if you need to talk anything through.”
“And you promise you won’t tell BB?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.” Jenna traced the pattern over her blue scrubs. “After years of therapy, I’m really good at giving advice, ask anyone.”
“Well . . .” Rachel let out her breath. Her other closest friend was currently working in a mine in South Africa so not very reachable, and there was something about Jenna that made Rachel want to confide in her.
The sound of whistling came through the back door and Jenna sighed. “That’s Dave. How about I come around this evening for dinner at the ranch, and we can talk after that?”
“That sounds great,” Rachel agreed. “Ruth said to ask you anyway.”
Jenna glanced up as her tall, dark cousin came into the room. He looked as if he’d just gotten out of bed.
“Hey. Dave. Did you just wake up?” Jenna asked.
“Nope.” He threw himself into a chair with a groan. “I’ve been up all night with a fricking horse with colic.” He yawned so hard his jaw cracked. “Maybe you can take a look at him later, and make sure I didn’t mess up.”
“Of course I will.” Jenna got up and Rachel followed her.
“I’d better go, Jenna. Thanks for everything and let me know about the costs for the dog, okay?” She didn’t really want Cauy paying for anything at this point.
One of Dave’s eyes opened, and he sat bolt upright.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” She smiled at him. “I’m Rachel.”
He unfolded his large frame from the chair and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Dave, and I’m good-looking, employed, and single, how about you?”
Rachel grinned. “I’m—”
“She’s a Morgan, leave her alone, or Blue will
skin you alive,” Jenna said with a wink as she handed Dave a cup of coffee. “He’s an okay person, really, but sometimes it’s hard to tell.”
“Thanks for the write-up, Cousin,” Dave grumbled as he drained his coffee in one. “Maybe Rachel might like to find out what I’m like by herself.” He put his mug down on the table. “Would you like to go out for a drink on Friday night at the Red Dragon?”
Rachel considered him. He was young, employed and very charming, and maybe she could do with an evening out with someone who genuinely seemed to like her?
“Can I call you?” she compromised. “I’m not sure of my plans.”
“Sure.” Dave smiled triumphantly at Jenna and helped himself to more coffee. “Watch and learn, Little Cousin, watch and learn.”
* * *
Cauy answered his cell as he was walking down to the barn. He’d spent all night dreaming of Rachel and he half hoped she was on the phone.
“Hey.”
“It’s Jackson. Mom told me to call.”
“Hey, it’s good to hear your voice.” Cauy stopped walking.
“You too, long time no speak, Bro. How’s the ranch looking?”
“Like crap.”
“Yup. After Mom left, Dad basically ran it into the ground. Are you going to sell up?”
Cauy looked around the frost-laced fields and the high black mountains that surrounded the valley. It felt like the whole place was holding its breath waiting for him to answer. “I’m not sure.”
“Really?”
“That was my original intention, but . . .” Cauy’s breath condensed in the frozen air. “There’s a lot of our history here.”
“Gotcha. After I’ve checked in with Mom, do you want me to come out?” Jackson asked.
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
“Okay, I’ll call you when I’ve finalized my itinerary. Stay safe, Bro.”
Cauy carried on to the barn and started on the daily tasks of mucking out the horses before taking them to graze in the pasture. His younger brother was something of a talker. Years in the United States Air Force had made his delivery even more rapid. Despite not seeing each other much they were still close, and Jackson had pulled every string in the book to make sure he got leave to see Cauy after the accident.