by Jenny Penn
“Ooooh, that feels soooo gooood,” she muttered, breathing deep and choking on the less-than-clean air. “But that doesn’t smell good.”
Eyeing the black column of smoke rising high into the air, she began to worry about toxic poisoning. “Maybe we shouldn’t have put all that upholstered stuff in there.”
“All I can smell is cinnamon and apples…You know your scent drives me wild.” Nick’s lips dropped to brush that sultry murmur right over the sensitive arch of her ear, setting off a delicious thrill that had Lindsay forgetting for a second the stink pile burning away only a few feet away. One more deep breath, though, and she remembered.
“That’s my lotion and I can’t believe you can smell it over the toxic blast coming from that bonfire.” Lindsay didn’t know how he could be so relaxed about what was clearly a serious health hazard. “Did you put plastic in there?”
Nick sighed as if burdened by her question. “We’re sitting outside, far from the smoke. As hard as I know it is for you, you can stop worrying.”
“I will not,” Lindsay shot back peevishly, knowing just how her retort sounded. “All it would take is for the wind to change directions and we would be dead in seconds.”
“We’re not going to die.”
“I could still end up giving birth to a two-headed baby with webbed toes.”
“Oh, look, something new for you to worry about.”
For a second she thought he meant her comment, but Nick’s hands stilled, causing her to glance up and catch sight of the line of riders coming storming down from the ridge to the east. At their lead was a very pissed off looking Cooper.
“I don’t think big brother looks too happy. What about you?”
“This is not going to go well,” Lindsay predicted, not the least bit scared by her own gloomy forecast.
Just the opposite. The tremors of nerves quaking along her spine carried with them a spicy hint of anticipation that had her blood flaring hotter than the inferno burning in the middle of her yard. Cooper looked so damn sexy she couldn’t even tear her eyes from him as he rode into the yard.
His jaw clenched in a hard line that looked cut from stone thanks to the shadow cast by the wide brim of his Stetson. His body moved in a graceful symphony of flexing muscles that controlled the powerful steed clamped between his thick thighs. In an instant, without a word, he had her wet, wanting, fighting a need to flee and an equally strong one to charge toward him and offer up her submission.
“He is so going to kick my ass.”
“What?” Surprised by that comment, Lindsay cast a glance in Nick’s direction. “Why?”
“Because of you.” He couldn’t have shocked her more if he tried.
“Me?” Lindsay didn’t know whether to be insulted or indignant. “What, am I the enemy and it’s some kind of sin to fraternize with me?”
“Hardly.” Nick snorted. “It’s more like big brother has his own interest in you and now he’s about to act like a jealous, possessive, protective jerk. Trust me. He’s going to kick my ass.”
Before Lindsay could respond to that revelation, Nick exploded into action. One second he was standing beside her and the next he was hauling ass around the edge of the cabin. True to his prediction, Cooper leapt from his horse and went chasing after him.
Chapter 8
Lindsay stared back at the angry line of ranch hands scowling her way and wondered just what she was supposed to do now. The muted hollers and thumps coming from the backyard weighted heavily on her conscience. Her guilt only grew when Cooper reappeared, dragging a bloodied but grinning Nick in his wake. He flung his brother towards the waiting hands as he began barking out orders.
“Thomas,” Cooper called out to the older hand who had hopped down off his horse. “I want you to take Nick, keep him busy and out of my sight for the rest of the day.”
“Sure thing, boss man. I’ll do my best.” Brown eyes shifted beneath the brim of a pale, wide Stetson to settle on her with the kind of disapproval that had Lindsay bristling. “Though it would be helpful if everybody cooperated.”
“Hey!” She might have deserved the censure but that didn’t mean Lindsay would let the jerk get away with such rudeness. “I haven’t done anything wrong here.”
“Ah, don’t get in a twist, lil’ bit.” Nick feinted to the right and dove around Cooper’s left side to sweep her up in a big hug that literally lifted her off her feet. Lindsay shrieked, clutching onto his shoulders and clinging to him as he spun her around. “I’ll be back before you know it but just to make sure you don’t forget me…”
Nick’s head dipped, his lips capturing hers in a kiss that had her knees going weak. His wicked tongue licked out, forging deep into the velvety heat of her mouth. He teased and taunted her, tilting and slanting his head as he tested their fit at every angle. A soft moan of surrender escaped Lindsay as she gave herself up to the pleasure, forgetting everything, including their audience.
“That’s enough, Nick!”
Lindsay stumbled backward as she was suddenly ripped free of Nick’s hold. Cooper instantly stepped up to block her view of Nick as he shoved his brother back toward Thomas.
“You’ve made your point. Now get,” Cooper barked at his brother, looking ready to tear into him if Nick didn’t obey.
“You’re a buzz kill. You know that, man?” Nick complained.
“Go. Now.”
“Fine, but I will see you later, lil’ bit.” Nick glanced around Cooper to offer her that assurance along with a quick smile.
With that and a wink he turned to mount the horse waiting on him. As he turned his steed to head up the knoll the rest of the ranch hands followed at a nod from Cooper. Within a couple of minutes Lindsay found herself alone with Cooper.
He stood there stiff and tense staring into the fire without saying a word. As the minutes passed Cooper remained silent. Dead silent. That couldn’t be good.
* * * *
Cooper didn’t dare to turn and face Lindsay, didn’t dare to move or even speak. Since the first wisp of black smoke had darkened the sky, and the ‘fire’ alarm had echoed over the plains he’d been running on pure adrenaline. Fear, an emotion he wasn’t used to, had him cutting his horse through the herd at a full gallop. He’d pushed his stallion to his very limits racing as he raced for Elton’s cabin.
With each pound of the horse’s hooves through the dirt, Cooper’s stomach had lurched with new, more horrifying possibility of what he’d find, whether it would be Nick’s charred remains or Lindsay’s. In dark recesses of his mind he wondered if it’d be both.
So, he should have felt some relief in finding both of them safe, happy, and laughing it up together. He had been relived, for about thirty seconds. With his fear having nowhere to go but to anger, he felt the adrenaline surging through his veins hot with a sudden flash of rage and gave into the urge to pound some sense into his brother when really what he wanted to do was pound something else into Lindsay.
“I should call the sheriff on your sorry ass,” she muttered to herself, completely unaware of the battle Cooper fought to keep his hands off her. “Have him come out here and haul your sorry ass off for trespassing.”
Breeeeeathe in…and ooooooout…
The voice of reason whispered through Cooper’s head, helping him hold onto the last remaining threads of his sanity. It wasn’t easy, especially with his palms burning with the need to paddle Lindsay’s ass.
Her plump, made-to-be-fucked ass.
Cooper growled as that thought popped into his head along with an image that had every one of his muscles tightening with a sudden rush of lust. Lindsay might be more frustrating than a mule, but she had an ass that hypnotized a man and left him drooling with a need to see those lush, pale globes bent over and—
“You don’t have any rights here, especially after what you did.”
Cooper didn’t respond to that accusation but turned slowly to face the woman who tested every last one of his nerves. God but she was beautiful
and so full of sass she made him ache to prove that he was more than man enough to meet her challenge.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t figure out that you’re the reason I can’t get anybody out here to help fix up anything?”
The bite in her tone only fed the need in him to hear her gasp and moan, to hear her squeal and beg as he pinned her beneath him and rode her hard and fast. Not a squealer but a grunter, Cooper corrected himself, guessing that Lindsay would probably cuss when she begged. He loved a woman who knew how to talk dirty at the right moments.
“Well, let me tell you something, buddy.” Completely unaware of the dangerous churn of Cooper’s thoughts, Lindsay stepped right up to jam a finger into his chest as she outright challenged him. “You have another thing coming if you’re dumb enough to believe a little intimidation is going to convince me to do you any kind of favors.”
Mesmerized by the flush of passion brightening her cheeks, Cooper’s ears rang with the mad pound of his heart, making him deaf to her threats but not to the finger poking him. Glancing down at the long, slender digit, he felt the crackle and snap of his control coming undone.
“If you think I’m going to be pressured into give you access to my water then you—”
* * * *
Lindsay’s didn’t know what happened. One second she was in full tirade mode and the next she was crumbling under the avalanche of pure, unadulterated lust. Cooper moved in a bewildering rush that was too quick for her to even think of defending against. In span of a single blink he went from standing ten feet away to pinning her against his hot, corded length.
Just as quickly Lindsay was clinging to him, her nails biting into his shoulders as she melted into his strength. She couldn’t think, much less muster the will to deny him. Cooper stole her ability to resist right along with her breath as feasted on her, ravaging her with his kiss.
He tasted good but felt even better. Grinding into her, Cooper’s big hands settled on her hips. The hard grip of his fingers held her still as he thrust a thigh between her legs, forcing her to open up as he dragged her over the thick bulge of his muscles. The heated folds of her pussy blossomed with a wave of thick cream as he settled her against the deliciously hard erection pushing against his fly.
Giving in to the raw, primitive instincts driving her, she ground herself against Cooper in utter abandon. Bolts of pure delight shot out of her cunt that left her desperate for more. Silently, Lindsay cursed the clothes between them. She ached to feel him skin to skin, flesh to flesh, heat licking over heat, hardness grinding into softness until the sweet friction of ecstasy consumed her very soul.
Fueled by longing she’d never before confronted, Lindsay felt confused and close to being overwhelmed. In a sudden panic, she ripped her lips free and tried to jerk loose of Cooper’s hold but it was too late. The whole world tipped, and she found herself pinned beneath the hard, gritty ground and Cooper’s even harder, unforgiving weight.
Whatever fear had flooded her disappeared under the blinding wash of excitement that engulfed as Cooper ground into her in a desperate attempt to fuck her through all the layers of clothes. Lindsay gasped and arched beneath the typhoon of heat that blistered through her veins as he pounded against her.
Beneath the stiff stretch of denim, the silken lace of her panties twisted through her spread lips of her pussy. The sensitive bud of her clit came alive as it got caught in the folds of fabric. Vibrating with a pleasure so intense it arched her body and stole her breath, Lindsay’s entire world narrowed down to the pulsating wash of ecstasy echoing out of her clit.
Through that pleasure came the sharp bite of pain as rough, thick fingers engulfed her breast, leaching onto her nipple to pull and twist her swollen tit. It was too much for her to endure. Lindsay cried out, bucking with the rapture scorching through her as her whole body went up in flames.
All the while, Cooper’s dark, husky voice promised that this was just the beginning. He taunted her with the wanton possibilities of writhing, sweating bodies and endless carnal delights until her cunt ached to be filled. As if sensing the need clawing through her, Cooper slid a hand down over the quivering muscles of her stomach to dip beneath the waistband of her jeans.
Lindsay’s breath caught as the callused tips of Cooper’s fingers slid through the curls covering her mound to discover the creaming folds of her pussy. Gasping as he unerringly found the swollen bud of her clit and began to torment her with a rough touch that had her plea for more. Cooper answered her call, fucking two thick fingers deep into her and sending her soul hurling right out of her body as she convulsed in rapturous delight.
Still caught in the throes of her first climax, she had no defenses left as the second one pounded into her driven by the hard, relentless fucking Cooper gave her. The virginal walls of her sheath clung to his fingers, milking them in a vain desperation that left Lindsay hungering for even more even as she felt her whole body go limp with a contentment that followed her even as the world darkened around her.
* * * *
As much as he tried to hold back, Cooper couldn’t stop the hot wash of seed from pumping out of his dick as he felt Lindsay’s cunt clamp down on his finger with a strength that had him desperate to get inside her. It was too late. He’d already humiliated himself.
Collapsing on top of the woman who had thankfully gone limp, Cooper buried his face in Lindsay’s neck and wondered if he could hide there for the rest of the day but knew he couldn’t. At some point he was going to have to stand up and make it from here back to his bedroom and pray every step of the way he didn’t run into anybody.
The last thing he needed was somebody seeing the stain he could feel dampening his jeans. It was bad enough he had to live with the knowledge of his complete loss of control. Everybody didn’t need to know about it. It wasn’t even his fault. Lindsay was as tight as a virgin, and he could tell that had been her first orgasm. Just the memory of her shocked expression as her slick, molten depths clamped down on his fingers in that unshakable grip was enough to have Cooper’s dick swelling with a need that had been nowhere near exhausted.
He’d have her, and soon. There was no stopping Cooper now. Whatever it took, Lindsay belonged to him and he would claim what was his. Either that or he’d end up locked up for assault. After all he had actually, literally, thrown himself at the woman, almost outright tackled her. In all thirty-two of his years that had never happened. When he was sixteen he had smoother moves.
He’d lost complete control. That’s what she did to him. What her taste, her smell, what the very feel of her body writhing beneath his drove him to—perfect ecstasy. Was it any wonder that his every breath, his every thought, even the very beats of his heart pounded with his need for her?
More importantly, she’d responded to his touch with the same hunger that had consumed him. The woman wanted him as much as he did her. Perhaps even more. That thought brightened Cooper’s mood, giving him the strength to roll off Lindsay as she began to rouse beneath him.
Her big honey-brown eyes blinked open revealing a lust not completely satisfied. The warm glow in her gaze cleared quickly as she took in the sight of Cooper stretched out beside her. In an instant she was scrambling backward in a mad rush to put as distance as she could between them.
Sighing, Cooper dusted off his jeans as he picked himself off the ground. The wet spot darkening the denim around his zipper had at least it started to dry. He might even get lucky and Lindsay wouldn’t notice it at all. She certainly appeared oblivious, too consumed with her own embarrassment to notice any Cooper might be suffering.
“I think you should go,” Lindsay muttered, unable to meet his gaze.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Cooper waited, refusing to respond to her demand until Lindsay met his gaze. She fidgeted before him, growing increasingly agitated as the seconds ticked by. Finally she caved in and tipped a defiant chin in his direction.
“What?”
“I’m not going anywhere until we settle
this,” Cooper explained calmly.
“Settle this? What this? There is no this,” Lindsay assured him with a frantic desperation.
“There is a this,” Cooper insisted, not about to let her dismiss him. “There is an us. What there isn’t is a you and Nick. Understand?”
Lindsay blinked at him, stilling for a moment before her head tipped back and she let loose a scream of pure frustration. She snapped, unleashing a barrage of tiny punches that didn’t hurt half as bad as kicks she aimed at his shins. All the while Lindsay hurled curses at him, damning him for everything from her lack of electricity to her complete loss of control.
“Enough!” Snatching up both her wrists in one of his fists, Cooper jerked her arms straight up, lifting Lindsay right off her feet and giving her something to really cuss over. “I treat you to, what I’m betting is, your first real orgasm and this is how you thank me?”
“This is how I thank punk cowboys who think they can just ride into my yard and tame me because they got a big dick!” Lindsay spat, wiggling in his hold. “Now let me go!”
“Not until you admit that there is something going on between us.”
“There is no us!” The way her eyes bulged and her nose flared would have been amusing if the woman wasn’t so damn aggravating. “There is just you and you’re nuts. I have no interest in a man who—”
“You got more than an interest,” Cooper shot back, not about to let her pretend like they didn’t at least have attraction between them. “You got a set of soaked panties that proves it.”
“—who introduced himself by trying to intimidate me into selling my land,” Lindsay continued on without skipping a beat. Her voice rose with every word until she was yelling over Cooper as they argued without bothering to listen to each other.
“Intimidate?” Cooper scoffed at the very idea. “As if anybody could.”
“When that fails, you turn everybody within a hundred miles against me!”