by Cathryn Fox
She taught him to clear his mind as the sun warmed their muscles, and they listened to the animals and the soft whisper of the wind drifting by on a breeze.
By the time they finished the routine, his stomach started grumbling, and Jess laughed. “I think we’d better feed you.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” He found a nice, flat grassy spot near the edge of the cliff overlooking the ranch. As Jess looked out over the view, her body so warm and relaxed, Mac opened his backpack to pull out fruit, a thermos full of coffee, and bagels and blueberry cream cheese.
“Do you come to the ranch often?” she asked.
“As much as I can.”
“What made you all buy a working dude ranch in the middle of nowhere?”
“Coop’s mom isn’t well. We all went splits on the ranch because this is where Coop thought she’d be most comfortable since she grew up in farm country.
Surprised that he’d go to such extremes for a friend, warmth and respect moved through her. “I had no idea.” She went quiet for a moment, thinking more about the boy from her youth. “You’re a good friend.”
And an amazing man…
Mac shrugged the compliment away and spread some cheese over a sliced bagel. “It was a sound investment,” he said, handing Jess the bread. ”Come on, let’s eat, I’m starving.”
“Thanks.” Jess took the morning treat and bit into it, savoring the explosion of flavors on her tongue. She didn’t comment on the gruffness in his voice or the flush on his cheeks. He was a man who did things for others out of kindness and uncomfortable with compliments. To lighten the mood, she bumped shoulders with him and took another bite. “You can really build up an appetite doing yoga.”
“Yeah, well, I was hungry before we started. Watching you did that to me.”
She arched a brow. “Oh? And just how long were you watching me?”
His grin was wolfish. “Long enough to make me ravenous.”
The gleam in his eyes told her he wasn’t talking about food.
She grabbed the Styrofoam cups and divided up the coffee. When he rolled one shoulder she asked, “How do you feel?”
“Pretty damn good, actually.” He looked over his body. “And I don’t think I ruptured anything. You’re a great teacher. Your students must love you.”
At the mention of her work, and the possibility of losing her business because she had no idea how to market herself or the skills to bring in new clients, her stomach clenched.
“What?” he asked.
She immediately wiped away the sadness, not wanting to spoil the calmness of the moment. “Nothing.”
As she sipped her coffee, he spread cream cheese onto another bagel and handed it to her.
“Mmm,” she said and took a generous bite. “These are so good.” He placed his hand on her leg and gave it a squeeze. Feeling completely comfortable with him, she said, “I’m glad you joined me.”
He leaned back on one elbow and said, “So am I.”
“And last night…the club…well…” she began, as she toyed with her cup.
“What about it?”
“I’m glad you took me.” She bit the corner of her lip. “Was that…what you read…in my journal?”
“Maybe, or maybe I just know a lot more than you realize.” He took a huge bite of his bagel and washed it down with a swig of coffee.
She chewed and then nodded slowly. “I’m beginning to believe that.”
“You have an adventurous spirit, Jess. I’ve always known that about you.”
“How?”
He smiled. “I have a confession to make.”
“You do?”
“Last night at the club, it wasn’t just your reactions to what was going on around you or the heat between your legs that told me what you wanted.”
“No?”
“No. Years ago, I kind of sneaked a peek over your shoulder and glimpsed what you were writing in your journal.” He touched her face, running the rough pad of his thumb over her cheek. “Plus I saw the kinds of books you were reading when you weren’t writing.”
She could feel color move into her cheeks. “You…you did?”
“Yeah, and I went to an out-of-town bookstore to grab a copy.”
Her eyes widened. “So you knew?”
“Yeah, I knew.” He nudged her and said, “And I liked it, Jess. Jesus, here it is years later and my fingers are still scorched from turning the pages.”
She nibbled her lip. “I can’t believe you went through so much trouble.”
“Well, I couldn’t buy them at home. The guys would have taken my man card and sacked me on the football field.”
She laughed. “From what I saw, they sacked you a lot as it was.”
He laughed with her. “Football wasn’t really my thing, but I liked being on the team.” He stopped laughing and said “Wait, you were watching me?”
“Maybe…”
All humor gone from his tone, he said, “I used to look for you after practice, to give you a ride home, but when I found you…well, I didn’t want to disturb you.”
She furrowed her brow, her mind racing a million miles an hour. “You were in the school after hours?”
“Yeah.”
When understanding dawned, she said, “That’s how you knew about my singing.”
“That’s right,” he confessed. “I loved listening to you.”
“I can’t believe you heard me singing…peeked at my journal.”
“About your journal, Jess. Tell me, is there anything specific in it that you’d like to share with me, that you’d like me to do?”
Her chest rose and fell erratically as she scanned the ranch, her glance settling on Blake as he exited the barn.
Mac followed her gaze. “If you liked the club, we can go again,” he said. “Maybe there are some other things you’d like to try there.”
For a brief second she thought she spotted tension in his jaw; then he ran his hand over his face, and it was gone.
A noise in the valley below drew her attention. The two women who took over the karaoke machine after Jess last night, the same women from the club, met Blake near the corral. As they ran their hands over him, making no qualms about what they wanted, he slid his arms around their waists and led them inside one of the barns.
Jess grinned. “I take it Blake is the jack-of-all-trades around here?”
“You could say that.”
“Where to now?”
“First, I have to check on Eleanor, then we have some chores to do.”
“We?”
“This is a working dude ranch, you know. Did you think you were getting off easy?”
“Well, so far I’ve been getting off pretty easy,” she teased.
When he laughed, she flushed, unable to believe that she’d say something so bold, so sexy, but there was just something about Mac that made it so easy to relax around him and let go of her inhibitions.
Chapter Six
After spending the day helping Mac with chores around the ranch and falling into bed for another round of lovemaking, Jess awoke feeling gloriously content. She stretched her body out, and even though Mac had insisted he join her in her early-morning stretches, she was certain his muscles really did need the rest.
She climbed from her bed, pulled on her gear, and left her room. She walked along the large expanse of ranch, taking in the beauty, and this morning, instead of climbing the mountain, she decided to do her routine in a secluded spot tucked beneath the crest overlooking the ranch. Once there, she turned her music on and began her routine. Less than twenty minutes later, she felt a body move against hers. At first she assumed it was Mac, until a blindfold was placed over her eyes.
Her breath caught and she tensed. Her earbuds were removed and a voice whispered, “Shh.” She turned her face toward him and pulled a breath in through her nose. The familiar fragrance of citrus and soap assailed her senses. Mac. Desire replaced the alarm. Ribbons of heat moved down her spine.
She sucked in an excited breath, but she felt another person step in front of her, blocking the warm sun from her body, and she suddenly found herself sandwiched between two walls of muscle. She gasped, sucking in air as she realized the scenario was right out of her private journal.
Was this what he’d read?
“What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly, almost too excited to speak when he began to walk her backward.
“You have nothing to worry about, baby. I’m going to take good care of you. I promise you that,” Mac said. A moment later, he slipped out from behind her, and she felt herself being pressed against the towering mountain, the heat from the warm rock wall seeping under her skin, arousing her all the more. With her vision blocked, her other senses became finely tuned. She felt something rough brush over her arms before her wrists were bound and secured over her head.
She tugged at the rope, discovered that she could, if she chose to, pull her hands free, but the thought of being restrained by two cowboys had pleasure zinging through her. “What—”
“Easy there,” the other man said. She recognized Blake’s voice.
Oh. My. God. Her pulse leaped in her throat, hardly able to believe what was happening. This had to be what he’d read, and the fact that he was playing it out for her, going so far as to solicit the help of another man, touched her in ways that left her feeling a little shaky, a little emotional.
“Mac,” she whispered past the lump in her throat as her heart swelled. God, there was so much more to this man than she knew. He was sweet, funny, kind, and so giving. He was everything a girl could ever want.
“Now you be a real good girl, and do as I say,” Mac whispered, his voice loaded with promise. A hand stroked her breasts, and she knew from the way Mac touched her before that it wasn’t his hand on her body. Through her shirt, Blake lightly surfed his finger over her nipple until she found herself arching into him, giving herself over to the pleasure he was offering.
“Easy, sweetheart,” Blake said, his mouth close to her ear, his warm, familiar scent feeding the hunger inside her. “No need to rush things. We’ve got all day to play.”
Warm lips found hers. Blueberries and cream cheese. Mac. She moved her hips and returned the kiss, thinking how easily she could lose herself in him.
Moisture pooled between her thighs, and she squirmed, seeking relief for the ache building there. The restraint securing her arms rubbed against her skin, and while she loved being held captive by these two men, she wanted to touch them, to feel their rippled muscles beneath her fingers.
“Do you like that, baby?” Mac asked, slipping a hand between her legs. “Do you like having us both touch you?”
“Yes.” She whimpered and wiggled against the wall to prove how much she liked it.
“Good. I’m going to keep the blindfold on for now because I want you to just feel and enjoy,” he said, a tenderness in his tone she’d never heard before. He pressed a soft, loving kiss to her mouth, a kiss so gentle and affectionate it took her breath away.
Before raw emotions could get the better of her, someone lifted her shirt. She sucked in a breath as a breeze washed over her bare skin, tightening her already-hard nipples. Mac’s and Blake’s groans of pleasure merged, exciting her all the more.
“Beautiful,” Blake said, and a moment later, she felt his hot, wet mouth on her breast. Then, when she felt Mac’s lips close around her other nipple, the dual assault nearly drove her over the edge.
“Oh my God,” she murmured, working to keep a modicum of composure as her entire world flipped upside down. Scorching mouths laved her buds, and a need so powerful it was almost frightening gathered in her stomach. She closed her eyes against the flood of emotions and concentrated on the pleasure…so much pleasure.
Mac’s mouth left her body, and she immediately missed his warmth on her nipple, but Blake’s hand closed over her bare breast, kneading it with deep hunger. Mac’s thick fingers dipped inside the band of her pants, pushing them downward, and she whimpered with need. He dragged them lower, and when he reached her ankles he said, “Lift your leg, sweetheart.” She immediately obliged. He removed her pants and slid her panties down, nudging her clit in the process. A moment later, she stood before the two, completely bare in so many ways.
Mac pressed his mouth to her ear again, and she shivered as his hands moved over her body as though reacquainting himself with her curves. His fingers burned everywhere he touched. She wet her lips, need careening through her.
“Widen your legs for me. Show me how much you want it.”
A breeze curled around her thighs, cooling the hot moisture between her legs when she opened them. Mac’s lips captured hers, his kiss deep and sensual as Blake pushed against her side. Her heart stuttered when she felt his thick cock press into her hip. Ecstasy flitted through her. She was trapped in a web of sensation, enslaved by two aroused cowboys eager to please her and give her the ultimate fantasy.
She breathed in the scents of the men, the combination of citrus and soap and spice and musk driving her wild. When a set of teeth clamped around her nipple, she gasped, her back arching against the wall. Soft licks followed, soothing the sting, and she was sure she’d never felt anything quite so sensuous.
Her skin flushed. A hand moved across her hip, down the crease of her thigh, and slid between her legs, feathering the moistened curls at the very edge of her sex. Jess wiggled her hips, seeking a firmer caress. The hand retreated.
“What do you want?” The soft query tickled her ear.
Mac.
“Please.” Blistering heat careened through her blood with a force that left her feeling light-headed.
“Please, what?” His hand dipped, skimmed the curls, and retreated again.
She rocked her hips, frustration warring with desire. “Please, touch me.”
“Where, Jess? Where do you want to be touched?”
“My…”
“Say it,” he demanded in a soft voice.
Not wanting to be that reserved girl here with Mac, she drew a breath and said, “I need you to touch my pussy. I need you to put your fingers inside me.”
She listened to Mac’s throat work as he swallowed. “You’re a very bad girl, aren’t you?” he asked, the lust in his tone curling her toes.
“Yes, I—” she began, but her voice fell off when the rough pad of his finger slicked over her hot clit.
Another hand joined his between her legs, and she widened more to accommodate both men. A thick finger pushed inside, and she rested her head against the rock wall, not caring which cowboy was burrowing deep—only that they were finally answering the demands of her body.
Her blindfold was removed, and she caught Mac’s glance. His jaw was clenched, and he had a look she couldn’t quite identify on his face when he asked, “Do you want to watch?”
She nodded and glanced down to see his finger join Blake’s inside her. She cried out loud as the two began to move in sync, pushing high inside her and pleasuring her in the most erotic ways.
Blake’s hand slipped around her body, but Mac stopped him. “Only me,” he said in a hoarse voice that caught Jess’s attention. “And her mouth, that’s mine, too.” Blake nodded, and withdrew his hand. Mac caressed her ass, and her mouth fell open when he lightly stroked her puckered passage. He toyed with her, letting her get used to the feel before he inched a finger inside her. She cast questioning eyes his way, wondering if he was going to enter her from behind.
Not that she’d say no. She wanted to do this, to experience everything with Mac while she could.
His mouth found her neck, and he pushed his cock against her hip as he played with her pussy and ass simultaneously. God, everything in the way these men indulged in her body, touching her all over, not daring to miss a speck of flesh, made her feel so sensuous, so special, so eager to do anything…everything. A maelstrom of sensation overcame her as Blake dropped to his knees to take her clit into his mouth.
He bit down on her eng
orged nub, and her skin tightened beneath his invading mouth. She threw her head back and pitched her hips forward. Mac slipped his finger deeper inside her back passage. A moan caught in her throat. Oh, God, she’d never felt so full before, both men dipping into her body in such a delicious manner. Uninhibited, and wanting to be ravished at the base of this mountain with the wildlife scurrying around her, she moved her hips as they indulged in her flesh, the sweet torture pushing her to the precipice in record time.
Mac’s cock throbbed against her hip, and passion and possessiveness gleamed in his eyes. “You like that, baby?”
“Yes,” she cried out, and his lips found hers as her body quaked. He swallowed her gasp as her pussy began clenching hard, squeezing the fingers inside her as a powerful orgasm took hold.
“Christ,” Blake said from between her legs, his fingers biting into her thighs hard as he lapped at her. As he continued to lick her, Mac released the rope securing her arms. The second her hands were free, she reached for him, desperation urging her on.
“I want to taste you,” she murmured.
His hands went to his buckle, and Blake climbed to his feet. He pulled her from the rock wall and stood behind her, capturing her breasts in his hands as he guided her to her knees, aligning her mouth with Mac’s cock. She watched Mac and Blake exchanged a knowing look, then Blake pulled her hair back, giving it a little tug until her mouth was wide open and ready for Mac’s thick cock.
Mac unzipped his pants and released his cock. He stroked it, and when his eyes met hers, her skin warmed all over. The intimacy in what they were doing, the connection between them, made this fantasy that much more extraordinary.
Blake dropped to his knees behind her and held her against him. She caught the thin sheen of sweat on Mac’s upper lip, a sign that he was coming unglued as he fed her his cock. Sucking him in and loving the feel of him, the taste of him in her mouth, she took him as deep as she could.
“Fuck,” Blake said from behind, and then made a sound of delight as he slid his fingers between her legs to play with her.