Heart So Sweet: Book 3 in the Great Plains Romance Series

by Corrissa James

  She leaned back on the counter, pulling her robe even further open and giving her entire body fully to Tate. His mouth quickly shifted to her breast, and Susannah struggled to breathe against the burning desire he created as his tongue flicked back and forth. She pushed her head back and arched her back, wrapping her legs around him while wishing that she could somehow be pressed even more tightly against him even though there was no room between them.

  Nothing had prepared her for the heat that seared through her body when Tate moved his free hand to her thigh, sliding it up until it reached the moist area between her legs. As his tongue flicked across her nipple, his fingers matched its rhythm, stroking her until Susannah thought she would melt into a fiery pool at his feet.

  “Tate.”

  His name came out as a primal moan, and he immediately shifted to press the full weight of his hips against hers. His mouth returned to hers, and she recognized his need, matching his passion with her own. She wanted him—needed him—now, and she let him know. When he slid into her, she felt her body cocooning around him, and she held onto him as tightly as she could, not wanting him to leave her. As he pulled out, she whimpered, and he immediately slid back into place. It was a rhythm they established and rode together until Tate stopped kissing her and pulled back just enough so he could watch her reactions. Susannah watched his as well, until the power that surged between them threatened to devour them both. She threw her head back as her entire body shuddered in release, then fell forward, clinging to him as she felt his release as well.

  For several moments, they waited for their breathing to return to normal, their sweat-covered skin still pressed together. Susannah finally lifted her head from his shoulder, a languid smiled spreading across her face.

  “The bedroom?” Tate asked.

  Susannah giggled. “Don’t you think it’s a little late now?”

  Tate pulled her closer to him and she realized that he was still inside her—and ready to go once more. Her body reacted immediately, and in that moment she knew she could never get enough of Tate Trudell. He was everything she had fantasized about and more.

  “Just how long do you think you can keep going at this rate, sheriff?”

  “We’ve got all night to find out.”

  The skies outside were just starting their predawn lightening when Susannah felt the tell-tale heat spreading through her body once again. She sighed deeply, causing Tate to laugh in her ear. “It’s no use pretending that you’re asleep, sweet Annie.”

  She couldn’t tell what caused her more excitement, his hot breath on her neck or the way his gravelly voice whispered the endearment.

  “I wasn’t pretending, just enjoying the moment.” She looked up from the pillow to see him propped up on one elbow looking down at her. He had pulled the thin sheet away from her body and was taking the sight in while his free hand drew circles on her stomach. She half-closed her eyes again and felt his fingers making wide circles until her body was screaming for release again. How could he do that with just a touch? “You’re pretty good at this whole sex thing, you know.”

  He arched an eyebrow, then leaned down to nibble on her ear. “Is that a challenge, Annie? Because I am up for it. I know I can do better than ‘pretty good.’”

  Her eyes flew opened and she laughed to hide her nervousness. Better than what they had already spent all night doing? She wasn’t sure she would survive.

  He shifted to move on top of her, but Susannah put her hands out to stop him. “What about me?”

  “Excuse me?”

  She pushed on his chest, rolling him onto his back and sat up to look down at him. “I think it’s my turn.” She pulled the sheet away from his body and took her time examining every inch of him. She traced a finger along his strong jawline, down his throat and to his chest.

  A soft laughter rumbled deep in his chest. “Annie–” His sudden intake of breath made Susannah smile as she kissed him lightly, using her lips to follow the path that her fingers had made. She let her fingers play with one of his nipples while her tongue played with the other. He clasped her shoulders and tried to pull her back up to kiss him, but she pushed his hands away and moved her exploration of his body to his abdomen.

  She moved to straddle his legs, then leaned over his hips until she could reach his stomach, where she let her mouth explore each of his contracted muscles while Tate’s breathing intensified. Meanwhile, her hands moved to his thighs, lightly trailing up and down until one hand discovered he was fully aroused. She grasped him, caressing him while her mouth worked across his abdomen.

  “Annie.”

  It was barely a whisper, and she glanced up to see him looking down at her, his eyes glassy as he watched what she was doing. She smiled and continued watching his reactions as her kisses moved lower, her hand still holding him firmly, sliding up and down in small movements. Suddenly he tensed and threw his head back against the pillow, his entire body begging for release. She laughed, a deep sexy laugh, at the power she held over him.

  It was the wrong thing to do.

  Susannah found herself flipped onto her back, Tate straddling her as she had done to him just seconds earlier. “Let’s see how you like it.” He dipped his head down to let his mouth cover one breast while his hand massaged the other.

  “Oh, you know I like it, Tate.” She arched her back, but he was already moving lower, his mouth burning a hot trail to her belly button. But he didn’t stop there. His hand was between her legs, and Susannah was almost afraid to breathe, remembering how he had touched her there already, how it had driven her mad with desire. She waited for his touch, to feel his fingers tease her hot moistness until she begged him to take her. But his fingers didn’t move. The explosion she felt when his tongue licked that secret place instead was like nothing she had ever experienced. She moaned his name over and over as her fingers became tangled in his hair. She shook her head back and forth, as if telling him to stop, but her mouth begged him for more. A fire erupted deep within her, burning a path right to the place that Tate was torturing, first with soft, slow kisses, then rapid flicks that had her standing on the precipice.

  “Tate, please, now—I can’t, no more. Oh God, don’t stop!” Her words made no sense, but she couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t understand. She didn’t know where she was or even who she was. All she knew was Tate and what he was doing to her. The fire inside her burned until it threatened to consume her. She fought it off, trying to stay ahead of it, but finally gave in and let it carry her over the precipice as her hips bucked. She gulped in air, until Tate’s mouth was covering her own, his body pressed down on hers as he slid into her and rode her wave of release with his own.

  Moments later, both of them spent, Susannah said, “Yes, better than pretty good.”

  The last thing she remembered before drifting into sleep was Tate’s chest rumbling against hers as he laughed.

  Chapter Eight

  The loud muffler from Andrew’s truck woke them up, and Tate glanced at the clock, which flashed 6:49.

  Susannah sat up with a start. “Shit, shit, shit.” She was mumbling to herself as she jumped out of bed, pulling the sheet with her. “Hurry, before they realize you’re here.” She raced out of the room, mumbling to herself once again.

  Tate covered his face with the pillow, trying to get just five more minutes of sleep.

  Susannah returned, throwing his discarded clothes at him. “No, no more sleep. Up. We have to get you out on the couch before they come over.”

  Tate pulled the pillow away and sat up. “What are you talking about, Annie?”

  “They can’t know.”

  “Why the hell not?” His voice was no longer clouded by sleep, and he saw Susannah flinch at his scowl, which only made him scowl more deeply.

  “Tate, please don’t argue. Not now.” She dug around in her dresser, then pulled a light purple t-shirt over her head until it hung to just below her hips. She followed that with a pair of loose-fitting sweats.

>   “Frumpy clothes aren’t going to hide what we did last night.” Tate was pulling on his pants, trying to keep his anger in check, but already knowing that he was failing.

  “What do you mean?”

  In two steps he was standing beside her. He grabbed her chin and examined her face, which wore the signs of a passionate night well: the healthy flush to her cheeks and slightly swollen lips from his kisses. Damn. Looking at her, being this close to her was a mistake. Would his desire for her ever be satiated? Not being able to control his body infuriated him even more. He forced her to look up into his eyes. “Are you ashamed of what we did—of me?” His blue eyes darkened as he stared down at her.

  “No!”

  But her voice cracked in fear. Was it fear that her brothers would barge in, demanding answers, or fear that he would be able to see through her lie? Tate couldn’t tell.

  She pulled her chin from his grip but continued to look up at him. “Tate, I don’t regret anything we did, and I never will, but I don’t want my brothers catching us here, like this.”

  “Annie, you’re a grown woman. Surely you’ve had–”

  “Yes, but not you! Anybody but you, Tate.”

  Her eyes widened as she realized what she’d said. Tate turned away, afraid he would no longer be able to control the black anger the surged through him. Or the pain slicing through his heart. He knew she was right, that Lucas would never allow Annie to be with him. Anybody but him. The pain cut deeper because Lucas was a man Tate considered to be his brother, even after not speaking to him for ten years. All because of Mary Ellen.

  Tate’s fury was nearly blinding, so he didn’t hear the banging on the front door until Annie started pushing him toward the bathroom, scooping up the rest of his clothing and tossing it in after him.

  Chapter Nine

  Susannah was thankful that whoever was banging—most likely Andrew—had forgotten that Jenny was with her grandparents or else he would have just walked right in. Unfortunately, the interloper seemed to remember this just as Tate stepped into the bathroom. Susannah pulled the door closed and raced to the living room, where she pretended to be folding up the sheets she had left for Tate there the night before.

  “What, you don’t answer your door anymore?”

  She turned to see Andrew standing in the entryway, his brown hair lightly tussled and his pale blue eyes sparkling with laughter.

  She shrugged and turned back to the couch. “Why do I need to see what the cat dragged in?”

  “Ouch, Susie, that hurts.” He sauntered up next to her and jostled her shoulders playfully. “Why you gotta be that way after such a good night?”

  “A good night?” She threw the sheets at him. “Just what the hell did you think you were doing stranding Tate here last night?”

  He laughed at her, a hollow sound that shook the entire length of his tall, lithe body. “You know what they say. When the cat’s away...Well, we knew the cat was trapped, and boy did this little mouse have fun last night.”

  “Andrew Clark, do you even have a single working cell in your brain or have you partied them all away?”

  She saw the hardened look appear in his eye, but she didn’t care. Andrew always reminded her of a puma: sleek and beautiful to look at but powerfully dangerous when riled up. He had never touched her in anger, but there’d been a few times when she knew he’d wanted to. And when he got really angry, Lucas was the only one who could take him down—although not without taking a beating himself. Goading Andrew now, with Tate so close, was not the smartest approach. She softened her voice a bit as she took the sheet back from him.

  “Did you ever stop to think that your little prank might put Tate on the offensive? And if he is snooping around, what’s to stop him from finding out about the shenanigans with the neighbors?”

  Andrew shrugged and waved her off, but the hardness in his eyes didn’t dissipate. “Aw, man, I’m not worried about that. Tate’s a good guy, for the most part.”

  “He’s sheriff now,” she stressed, fuming at Andrew’s nonchalance and refusal to see the seriousness of his actions. But she hid her anger as best she could. “He doesn’t have the luxury of being one of the boys.”

  Andrew whistled softly. “Why, Miss Susannah Clark, I do think you have a little crush on our new lawman.”

  “Oh, knock it off.”

  “What’s the matter, sis, our new lawman think he’s too good for you? Did he reject your advances last night?”

  “Andrew, please!” She turned and walked into the kitchen, hiding her burning face as she remembered all the advances that she had welcomed, had nearly begged for last night. But Andrew would interpret her blushing as something else, and the only thing that made her brothers crazier than being protective of her was their determination to destroy anyone who dared hurt her.

  When she saw the mess they’d left in the kitchen the night before, she panicked. She despised a messy kitchen, and all her brothers knew it. One look and Andrew would know something happened last night. She spun around and walked back toward the living room just as Andrew was moving to follow her into the kitchen. She pushed past him and was about to head to her bedroom when she realized that Andrew would follow her there too. For some reason she didn’t want her brother seeing her disheveled bed, where she and Tate had reveled in each other’s passion. She turned back to look at Andrew, unable to stop the flush to her neck and face.

  “Aw, I think it’s kinda cute. Susannah and Tate, sitting in a tree...”

  “Andrew, enough. I do not have a crush on Tate. He’s like a brother to me. Thinking of him in that way is just...ew!” She shuddered to add to the effect.

  Andrew laughed, then shrugged. “Sorry, man.”

  But he wasn’t speaking to Susannah anymore. He was looking over her shoulder. She froze, afraid to turn around and see Tate standing right behind her. How much had he heard?

  Andrew pushed past her to clasp Tate on the shoulder. “Although I do think maybe she’s protesting too much.”

  The icy silence Tate gave Susannah made her want to scream. It wasn’t fair! They’d had such a wonderful night, and she really thought there might be something more between them, even if maybe that was just her schoolgirl crush coming back to the forefront. Still, she had a right to find out, didn’t she? And now Andrew was ruining it all. She gritted her teeth and kept silent. She knew Andrew too well, though. He was always itching for a fight, and even the hint that Tate had taken advantage of her in any way would send fists flying. Andrew wouldn’t care that Tate was the sheriff. If anything, that would just add fuel to his fire.

  “Why don’t you give me a ride to my car.” Tate spoke to Andrew coolly, as if this were any ordinary situation. But as Andrew made his way toward the door, Susannah sneaked a glance at Tate. The anger in his glare made her blood run cold, and she reached for the back of a nearby chair for support. The two men stepped through the door. When Tate turned to close it behind him, he gave Susannah one last long look.

  She stared back at him, letting the thoughts of the night before well up inside, hoping that she was conveying to him just how much she still wanted him. She took a step forward, wanting to touch him again, to feel his kisses on her skin. He let his gaze travel up and down her body, as if making love to her with his eyes. She shuddered in excitement, but when their eyes finally met once again, he frowned and slammed the door shut, leaving Susannah to wonder about his parting look, so full of hate and fury.

  Chapter Ten

  In the twenty minutes it took for Andrew to drive Tate to his SUV back at the ranch, there was not a moment of silence. Andrew took it upon himself to catch Tate up on all the boys they grew up with. Tate let him ramble, occasionally adding a detail or asking about someone specifically. It didn’t seem to register with Andrew that Tate had already been back in the area for several months. He also didn’t seem to understand that he was implicating himself in about a dozen misdemeanors as he spoke. Or he didn’t care. Tate thought it was more of the l
atter.

  Tate didn’t like Andrew. He never had. Even in their youth Andrew had been a troublemaker, and Lucas had dragged Tate along on multiple outings that involved saving Andrew from yet another mess. More than once Tate had told Lucas to let the younger Clark fend for himself. Maybe if he didn’t have his older brother always stepping in to save him he’d quit instigating trouble. But Lucas was quick to explain away Andrew’s problems, dismissing them as growing pains or Andrew trying to grow into his own.

  As Andrew turned down the lane to Dalton James’ ranch, Tate clenched his fists. Lucas could forgive Andrew for every possible indiscretion, even when he knew Andrew was at fault, but he refused to even consider that Tate was innocent of the charges leveled against him by Mary Ellen. And now those same charges were affecting whatever he might have with Annie—if there even was anything between them. Had it all been an act? She’d said something about messing with the neighbors when Andrew had arrived that morning. Had the brothers intentionally stranded him at the farm with their little sister, who then charmed him with her feminine wiles? The more he considered it, the more he convinced himself that he had been set up by the Clarks, putting him in a precarious position that would prevent him from carrying out his duties as sheriff.

  Tate decided it was time to make some changes. He’d prove to Annie and Lucas that he was not some play toy.

  Andrew stopped his truck next to the sheriff’s SUV, but Tate made no move to get out.

  “So your sister tells me you all have had quite the struggle going on with your neighbors here.”

  “Who, him? Nah.” Andrew shook his head and laughed. “Now his sister—she’s a different story.”

  “Miranda James, you mean?”

  “Yeah, she fancies herself some kind of cattle baroness.”

  Tate looked at the two-story farmhouse. He knew that the land extended for more than a thousand acres behind it. “I heard they were building a horse ranch.”