Rodeo Legends--Shane

by Pamela Britton

  Crazy.

  It was like standing on a firecracker, and the explosion reverberated through his body. She moaned, too, and then pulled back.

  “We shouldn’t.”

  Her eyes were huge and luminous, and he could see uncertainty in them along with surprise and something else, something that looked an awful lot like desire.

  “It’s our wedding night.”

  He sounded like an idiot, or like some guy just saying whatever to get the girl.

  “It’s not like that with us.”

  He knew what she meant, he’d had the same thought, and yet he found himself leaning down so that they were nearly nose to nose and he realized she smelled like strawberries, too.

  “Does is really matter?”

  He still held her cheek, his thumb brushing the softness of her jaw. Up close, her eyes looked even bigger, her skin even more flawless, her lips teasing him with their nearness.

  “I guess not.”

  She blinked, didn’t move, and he realized it was up to him to make the choice. It was hell staring down at her and knowing he could have her when what he should really do was get up and walk away. Yet he wanted her with such a fierceness it was all he could do to keep his heart in his chest.

  “You’re right. We shouldn’t.”

  He started to stand, but her hand caught his and his eyes found hers, and he knew that she’d ended up making the choice instead. He needed no second prompting, and he bent down and kissed her again and this time it was like riding a wild horse, one that bolted from the gate, and all he could do was hang on.

  She shifted beneath him and he realized the pearls of her wedding dress pressed into his borrowed shirt and that seemed like a perfectly good reason to get rid of said dress. He didn’t think twice, and she didn’t, either, because her own fingers were busy undoing buttons, but the dang dress wouldn’t come undone.

  She broke off the kiss. “It has a hook.” Her eyes were big and soft, and it seemed impossible to reconcile the sexy kitten staring up at him with the woman who’d been sawing some z’s earlier.

  “Here.” She sat up, the dress hugging her curves as she turned her back to him. He couldn’t help himself. He bent and kissed her bare shoulder, and if he was honest with himself, he’d been wanting to do that since the moment he’d spotted her at the end of the aisle. He’d never seen a woman more beautiful in his life.

  And she’s mine.

  The possessiveness of his thoughts gave him pause.

  But then he forgot everything as the taste of her lingered on his lips and the smell of her made him close his eyes, his mouth moving up the column of her neck.

  She leaned into him, tipped her head sideways. He buried his fingers in her hair, finding and then removing the clips or pins or whatever she’d used to hold it aloft. It came tumbling down a moment later. Her dress slid down her torso, and he knew this would be the world’s fastest seduction because he trembled. Damn, she did it for him.

  She turned again, lay back down, and he bent and kissed a rosy-pink nipple. Her hips lifted and he realized she was trying to shimmy out of her dress. He reached down and helped her, gently suckling her flesh, bringing back memories of their first night in Vegas. He’d been completely unable to control himself then, too. They’d gone to her hotel room, but they’d barely made it to the door before they’d started kissing.

  “Shane.” His name was a mere whisper, but the sound of it on her lips did something else to him, too.

  The dress fell away. His hand brushed something on her thigh. A garter belt.

  He met her gaze. “They went all out, didn’t they?”

  She was panting. “They did.”

  “Should I take it off with my teeth?”

  Her stomach moved—a huff of laughter, he realized.

  “Do whatever you want.”

  His whole body stilled. Whatever he wanted? Oh, he could think of a few things to do.

  His fingers found the edge of the elastic, sliding it down, and though that was all he did—touch her—those blue eyes of hers went wide and her breathing grew more pronounced. He didn’t even remember slipping off his shirt, but it was on the floor. She wore gauzy panty hose, too, the thigh-high kind, and the sight of her lying there in nothing but sexy lingerie made him groan and then dip his head, his lips following the path of the garter he tugged from her leg.

  It was torture to move so slowly, but he wanted to savor each moment. He gently removed the flimsy material, and each time he kissed and caressed her legs, goose bumps appearing on her flesh, until at last she was naked. He sat back. Her eyes had grown dark. Her rib cage, so small and delicate looking, and yet filled with a massively courageous heart, rose and fell. Beautiful. A part of him wondered how he could be so lucky.

  “Kiss me,” she said.

  He did as asked, his lips landing atop her thigh. She lifted her hips. He shifted upward ever so slightly, another kiss landing slightly above the first. She wiggled. He continued his trek upward and he knew he drove her nuts. When he nipped her belly, she groaned. When he suckled her nipple again, she arched against him. When he bit the side of her neck, she fumbled for the catch of his pants.

  “No,” he said, drawing back, his hand skating down her side. “Let’s take it slow.”

  Her eyes widened ever so slightly and he studied her flushed cheeks and her tousled hair as he wondered why he felt like he walked a high wire. As if everything were centered on a tiny line and he didn’t want to make the wrong move because if he did, it might all be over. Such a strange thought to have, he admitted, kissing her again.

  Her hand found him. He gasped, and she thrust her tongue into his mouth, taking charge of the situation and driving him closer to the edge. He told himself to pull back, but he couldn’t seem to manage it. He kept kissing her and thinking to himself that he’d never met a woman who tasted so perfect.

  She undid his pants. He let her unzip him even though he knew she’d bring him nearer to completely losing control. A part of him shouldn’t be surprised. She was a woman known for her aggression on the track. Of course she would want to take charge in the bedroom, too. And still he didn’t want it to be fast and furious, so he jerked away from her touch when she parted his pants.

  “Not yet,” he whispered.

  “Yes,” she hissed back, rubbing her foot against his calf.

  “No.” And before she could say another word, he shifted down, back to her nipples, his mouth capturing her, his hand finding the center of her. She gasped, tried to touch him again, but he wouldn’t let her, just kept kissing and touching her. Her hips lifted, following the motion of his hand, and he slipped to the side of her and watched the play of emotions as she climbed higher and higher. This was what he wanted—to please her. To watch as she lost control.

  She cried out. He kissed her again, his whole body tight with pent-up longing. He could feel her rush of pleasure, knew the exact moment she fell over the edge, and all he wanted to do was kiss her and hold her as she gently floated back to earth.

  Chapter Five

  “No fair,” she told him, touching his cheek, relishing the feel of the stubble on his face.

  He smiled down at her. “We have all night.”

  She didn’t want to think about that. Didn’t want to admit to herself that spending the night in his bed was probably a bad idea. Didn’t want to do anything but bring him to his knees like he’d just done to her, so she quickly straddled him before he had time to do more than gasp.

  “Your turn.”

  He shook his head.

  She took the choice away from him, sliding down and finding him and taking him before he could stop her.

  “Kait.”

  And she triumphed at the sound of his voice and the way his eyes closed, and he tipped his head back and hissed in pleasure. Now he would know how she felt. What it
was like to lose control so quickly and completely that it blew her mind and made her wonder what it was about the man that touched her so deeply.

  His neck drew her downward, and Kait kissed him and thought he tasted better than any dessert she’d ever had. When she nipped his ear, she felt his whole body tense and then flex and she knew he drew closer to losing control. Her own body still shuddered and, to her surprise, it began to build again—the coils of satisfaction seemed to pierce her soul. She stopped thinking then, lost herself to the spirals of pleasure that let her climb higher and higher until they both cried out. Exhausted, Kait rested her head against his chest.

  “You’re something else.”

  His voice rumbled against her ear, mixing with the beats of his heart, and she smiled because she knew how he felt, but then her smile faded. They shouldn’t have been intimate again. She didn’t need to develop feelings for him. This was a business deal. And when the baby came, there’d be even more stress on the two of them. Still, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from kissing him on the chest before rolling off of him. He pulled her close. She thought about pulling away, but she was so tired...

  She should really sleep on the couch. Things would be so much simpler if she kept him at arm’s length.

  So much simpler...

  It was her last thought before she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

  * * *

  SHE WOKE TO the sound of her cell phone ringing. It shot her out of bed so fast she saw spots for a second, but a quick glance at a sleeping Shane revealed how soundly he slept.

  She snatched a sheet from the bed, which she knew was odd given how intimate they’d been that night, and followed her ears to the location of her phone.

  Her mom.

  She should have known she’d call. Sarah Cooper had been dubious of her mysterious trip to the West Coast. Kait had seen it in her mom’s eyes.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  Her heart pounded because her mom had a way of knowing when she was up to no good. It was entirely possible someone had spotted her in Vegas and her mom had found out.

  “Hi, sweetie. Just checking to see how your meeting went.”

  Kait’s spine lost some of its rigidity. She clutched her phone a little closer, trying to project a tone of normalcy into her voice. “It went fine.”

  She hated lying, just hated it, and she hoped like heck her mom didn’t ask her any more questions.

  “You sound upset about it.”

  The sound of her mom’s concern filled her with even more guilt. A girl couldn’t ask for a better mother than Sarah Cooper. Her mom was her best friend. She told her everything. Except this. She’d kept the biggest news in her life from one of the few people on earth who had her back since forever, and it killed her to do so.

  She was pregnant. She was married. And her mother didn’t know a thing about it.

  “Mom,” she said softly, tentatively.

  Her mom didn’t push, and that was just like her, too, even though Kait was sure her mother knew something was wrong. Still, she couldn’t get the words out.

  “Honey, what is it?”

  She sank down on the couch debating how much to tell her, but it was like a boil. She needed to lance it, but damned if she knew how.

  “Mom, I’m...” Her fingernails gripped the hard plastic of her cell phone. “Mom, I’m pregnant.”

  Silence. She could hear the echo of her heartbeat through the handset. And then...laughter, which was absolutely not what she was expecting.

  “Ha, ha, ha,” her mom teased. “Very funny.”

  This was it. The moment of truth. She could play it off as a joke, too, save her news for later. Or she could let the truth come out.

  “I wasn’t kidding,” she said firmly, seriously and with utter sincerity so that her mom knew she wasn’t kidding.

  Sarah Cooper went quiet again but only for a second. “Oh, honey.”

  There was shock in her mom’s voice and disbelief and, God help her, a tinge of disappointment.

  “Is that why you’re in California?” she asked. “Is the father there?”

  “He is.”

  “I knew it. I knew something was wrong. I could tell when you stopped by the shop.”

  I’m married, too.

  The words were on the tip of her tongue. But that little tidbit of information she would save for later. She’d let the news of her pregnancy sink in first. Her mom would probably have a heart attack if she learned she was married, too.

  “What does the father say?”

  This, at least, was a point she could make in her favor. “He supports me one hundred percent.” She took a deep breath. “You’ll like him, Mom. He’s a super nice guy. And he treats me right.”

  Kait could hear her mother breathing now. She was probably standing in her spacious kitchen, more than likely barely hanging onto the phone. Kait could picture her standing there, and for a moment homesickness overcame her to the point that she felt close to crying.

  “When will we get to meet him?”

  Kait caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Shane stood at the entrance to the bedroom dressed in his boxers and a white T-shirt, but at least he wasn’t naked. She swore her cheeks heated up with him standing there, as if her mom could see him through the phone somehow.

  “Soon.” She took her own deep breath. “I’ll talk to you later, Mom.”

  “Kait, wait—”

  She froze but didn’t hang up. Her mom took her time framing words.

  “I’m not going to pretend I’m happy about this. It’s going to lead to a lot of...complications.”

  What an understatement.

  “But I hope you know I love you and support you no matter what.”

  She swallowed. Hard.

  “And you could have told me about this before you left.”

  She could have, but she’d wanted to see Shane first to know if he’d be there for her, because as crazy as it sounded, she wanted her parents to have a good opinion of him. Maybe they’d think better of her and her stupid mistake if they knew she didn’t have poor choice in men, too.

  “I know, Mom. I understand.”

  She hung up before her mom could say another word. Shane stood there staring at her, and she knew he’d overheard.

  “What did she say?”

  The concern on his face nearly undid her. Damn the way her eyes kept wanting to sprout leaks. She really wished he hadn’t overheard all that.

  “She said she wished I would have told her.”

  He took a step forward, and she tried not to feel self-conscious, as if she didn’t know him well enough to be near him half dressed, but that seemed ridiculous given what they’d done last night.

  “Why didn’t you?” he asked, taking a seat next to her.

  This morning his five o’clock shadow looked more like a 10:00 p.m. blackout. The darkness of his razor stubble seemed to accentuate his sideburns and the thickness of his lashes. He could have been a character in a movie right then. The handsome hero come to soothe the troubled heroine. The backdrop of the pristine hotel room with its early morning sunlight and marble floors only lent itself to the fantasy.

  “I think because I was ashamed.”

  He reached for her hand. She told herself not to move but found herself squeezing his hand back.

  “We’re going to get through this,” he said. “You’ll see.” And then something flickered in his eyes, something that made him pull his hand back and stand up. “First step, though, is getting back to Via Del Caballo before nightfall and breaking the news to my family.”

  Her stomach dropped at the thought of it. What if they didn’t like her? What if they tried to convince them to abort the baby? She could never do that. What if she didn’t like them?

  She hugged her stomach.

  “Yo
u feeling okay?”

  She swallowed back bile. “I just need to eat.”

  It was all happening too fast. Too many changes. And now her mom knew, and Kait would bet her mom would tell her dad, especially since Kait hadn’t asked her mom to keep the news to herself.

  “Why don’t I order breakfast? You sit here and relax.”

  He was worried about the baby. She could see it in his eyes. She forced herself to relax, pressed a hand on her belly and told the child there that everything would be okay. And it would be okay. She needed to pick herself up and look to the future.

  “Thanks.”

  For being there for her. For not making her feel like a complete loser. For helping her to forget last night, even if it was only for a few hours, that her life was in complete chaos. He would be a good father. She didn’t know how she knew that, but she did.

  It’s too bad they would never have a real marriage.

  Chapter Six

  By the time they made it back to Gillian Ranch, the sun was high in the sky, painting the fields around the ranch a shade of green Kait had never seen before. In North Carolina the grass was dark. Here it was more yellow. As if the sun shone from inside of it.

  “This is it,” Shane said as they crossed beneath a metal sign with a G and a sideways R on it. “Home sweet home.”

  Acres and acres of rolling green hills dotted by massive valley oaks with thick shadows beneath them lay behind a rock wall that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

  “Good gracious. How much land does your family own?”

  Shane shot her a sideways look beneath his straw cowboy hat. “Between my dad and uncle?” He frowned in thought. “I think it’s about thousand acres, more or less. Each family has five hundred acres to manage.”

  She felt her jaw go slack. She had no idea why she’d thought Shane’s family were... She had to think for a moment because exactly what had she thought? That they were poor? She’d known he was at the top of his game and that he must make decent money, but this was a whole different level than what she’d thought.