by Delilah Hunt
He looked over at the ranch then down at the ground before nodding and lifting his hand in a motion she remembered from the book. “I know.”
The silence grew dense between them until Noelle focused her attention on his hand. “What happened?” she asked, unsure if he would confide in her.
He gave her a wry grin. Noelle waited for him to grab the pen and start scribbling again. He didn’t.
Biting back the hurt, she lifted her gaze to the auburn sky. “Well the good thing is, I know nothing’s changed.” She brushed off her skirt. “As far as I’m concerned you can go on back to the ranch and keep on thinking of me as the bitch you want to avoid, because I probably am, cowboy.”
Brows furrowed, he gave her a quick look before writing something on the paper. I was stupid. Let myself get distracted while tearing down a piece of barbed wire.
She had seen some of the other cowboys removing sections of the wiring that must have been put in place over a century ago and was a deadly to animals if they became entangled in the fencing.
“Do you think Mr. Somerset will allow you to keep working if he gets a look at that injury?”
He chuckled. She assumed it was a chuckle because his eyes became lighter and his lips curved into a sensuous grin. He stared at her for another second before lowering his head and jotting something down.
He will. Needs all the men he can get.
He was probably right. There weren’t a lot of men out there ready to give up their social life to rough it on a ranch in a backwoods town. Much less a skilled cowboy like Cole who actually knew what he was doing. Mr. Somerset wasn’t an idiot and would not risk losing him to another ranch.
“All right. But just because your boss isn’t going to fire you, is not a good reason to not take care of that hand.” She pointed to the blue bandanna around his palm, stained with red. “You don’t think you need to tie that knot a little tighter? Or do cowboys have some kind of mystical healing power different than everyone else?”
He arched an eyebrow at her then held out his hand, with the knot facing her. Her cunt moistened at the way he held out his palm expectantly, even though she’d made no mention of helping him. It was a silent command and, Heaven help her, she adored it.
Steadying her breathing, Noelle fingered the knot, untied it and drew it closer around his palm. “Is it too tight?” Was that her voice all soft and throaty?
He shook his head and lowered his gaze to her hand beside his. She retied it and allowed her hand to fall. Reaching out, Cole brushed his fingertips to hers. Noelle pulled away her hand. It was wrong to allow him to believe this thing would go any further than what took place right here.
Cole looked at her hands, clenched to her sides and gave his head a jerk as if he didn’t care one way or the other.
Irritated with herself and him, Noelle blurted, “You’re not going to tell your friends about this are you?” The last thing she needed was her father finding out that she was making nice with a worker from one of his buyers. A ranch hand.
Cole pounded past her and dropped a piece of paper on the blanket. In big letters she read: There’s not a damn thing to tell, is there, Ms. Williams?
Her chest tightened. Noelle turned to say something to softened the sting of her words. She was met with his retreating frame. Noelle stared after him longingly. Thankfully, this time her feet heeded the command of her brain and remained still, winning against the urge to run after him and apologize. It was just as well. If Cole knew the real her, he would be disappointed anyway. No point in fanning the flames of their attraction.
Chapter Five
Cole studied the scar in the middle of his hand. It was almost healed. Despite how he’d made it seem to Noelle a week ago, he was thankful the injury was a minor cut. Men like him couldn’t afford to lose the ability to work with their hands. He couldn’t afford it, not with everyone depending on him to get the work done here and then to take over at the ranch back home.
Still, it was a stupid mistake that resulted in the injury. One of the regular line riders, whose duty was to make sure all the wired fences were in tact each day, was holed up in his room with the flu, so he’d stepped up and volunteered to show one of the newly hired hands, a tenderfoot, how to patch up the four wire barbed fencing used to keep the herd of cattle from straying. The guy made a stupid move, causing the sharpened blade to slide across his palm. Lesson learned, he’d never volunteer to teach fence mending to anyone.
Cole ran a finger over the scar. Although he didn’t like how things ended with Noelle during their last encounter, he had to admit she was wreaking havoc on his nerves. He could still feel her hands on his. She’d felt so soft, he hadn’t been able to stop himself from touching her… until she’d withdrawn from him. Right now, she seemed hell bent on avoiding any connection to him and he knew he should be doing the same with her.
Tonight he had the chance of doing just that, sampling another woman and clearing Noelle from his mind once and for all. It was one of those nights. Every month or so, some of the women from the neighboring towns would pass through on the ranch with thoughts of nothing more than hooking up with a cowboy.
A few of the women had been married, some of them not caring enough to take off their wedding rings. He had never slept with any of the married ones, but not all the men were as discriminatory, because of the long bouts of celibacy. He wouldn’t be a hypocrite and pretend he minded the women who came, but that didn’t mean he wanted to indulge either. The last and only woman on the ranch, he’d slept with had been three months ago. The experience left a rancid taste in his mouth although he hadn’t been stupid enough to place his lips on hers or any other part of her body. It would have been too intimate. At the time, the pressure in his cock had been relieved, but that was just it, nothing more, nothing less. The way he’d heard the other men describe it, it should have been way better than just releasing into the condom. And that went for both times he’d had sex.
It probably would be if I hadn’t been half disgusted. He’d known that as soon as he and the woman finished she would jump into bed with another ranch hand and continue like that for the rest of night. That little tidbit alone had lessened his arousal. Yeah, he really wasn’t that desperate for a fuck tonight.
He wanted…Noelle. Lovely, perfection that he wanted to claim. There had to be some part of her that wanted him too. Why else would she attempt to understand him, show concern for his injury? She was not as tough as she tried to portray herself and he wanted to be the one to wear her down, the one to lie on top of her each night, have her bear his weight with every thrust into her pussy. His cock pulsed with excitement and Cole lowered his hand, stroking it over his erection. Reluctantly, he lifted his hand and shook his head in defeat. He wasn’t going to spend another night bringing himself to come, spilling his seed for Noelle, a woman who he’d probably never get a chance in this lifetime to touch. He looked down at his cock and remembered how hard he came last night thinking of her and how badly he wanted to know what her cunt felt like. So much cum and such a fucking waste.
He knew he wasn’t the only one who was attracted to Noelle. He knew for a fact a couple of the other hands had tried to come on to her to which she shot them down. He’d seen it happen once and actually stayed close by to make sure the man left her alone. Of course she hadn’t seen him and he hadn’t alerted her to his presence once he realized the worker wasn’t going to push the issue with her.
Cole glanced at the small, rarely used alarm clock by his bed. What would be an even bigger waste was to spend the entire evening alone. He exited the room. The moment his feet hit the dirt, he could smell the stench of cheap liquor wafting off a cowboy with his hand up the skirt of a scantily clad woman sitting on his lap.
“Isn’t this great, Cole? I was starting to get worried for a couple of weeks there. Didn’t think we’d come across any females willing to spread em’ for us.”
Cole shook his head and ignored the boy. This was his first month on
the job and Cole suspected the nineteen year old had never been with a woman but was trying to show off his machismo.
There wasn’t anything unique about the position of the tenderfoot Mike and the brunette sprawled across his lap. Some of the cowboys preferred privacy and some just plain didn’t care, like the one pumping into a blonde against the tree.
Cole looked away, shifting his gaze to see Beau strolling in his direction. Like him, the foreman also took a quick glance at the couple by the tree and shook his head.
“I thought you were gonna miss all the fun and chill inside your room.”
“That was the plan.”
“Not tonight. Sandy was asking for you.” Beau turned, looking around as if he was trying to spot the curvy woman.
Cole shrugged. “I don’t give a shit.”
Frowning, Beau looked at him strangely. “You left with her last time. What’s different now?”
“It doesn’t mean I want a repeat experience. You can have her.”
The foreman eyed him with suspicion. “No thanks. I do have to ask, this wouldn’t have anything to do with Williams’ daughter would it?”
They both knew the man had two daughters but it was obvious which one anyone would be interested. That and the fact that the younger one was married. Regardless, it was a strange question…unless he’d accidentally let something slip to his friend. Cole had no memory of ever speaking to Beau about Noelle or any woman for that matter. There hadn’t been much information to relay.
“Why would it? I don’t know his daughter.” It was the truth. He wanted to get to know her, but right now he was in a dismal darkness when it came to Noelle Williams.
Beau lifted a shoulder. “No reason. Just asking, you know. Then of course there’s the little fact that I saw the two of you by Snake Trail River. You’re a decent guy, so I was apt to believe you weren’t harassing the girl. I didn’t think you’d harass her. If you weren’t doing that and she didn’t have a phone to her ears calling for help, what was going on?”
The question stung. “Are you asking as a friend or my foreman?”
“Both. I’d hate to see you waste your time on her.’”
Was Beau saying that because he disliked Noelle, or he didn’t think he had a fighting chance with her? “I don’t see how that has anything to do with you or my work here.”
“Not your work.” Beau stared at him then snorted, “C’mon Cole. You wouldn’t exactly be her type, now would you?”
It was all too clear. “She turned you down so, why would she talk to me, right?”
The foreman’s face turned crimson. “That’s not what I meant and you fucking well know it.”
What he knew was that deep inside it was always the same bullshit. When he’d first applied for the job he had to work harder, demonstrate that he knew how to rope and drag a steer and everything else his duties entailed, while the other men were being hired without having to prove anything except their identity. Even now he still felt like everyday he had to prove himself, despite the legwork and hours he put in. In the end, it didn’t matter how well he did the work. He couldn’t speak and that left some dumbasses thinking he was lacking in the intelligence area or that he had nothing to say. Now it turned out, someone he admired, his friend and boss, thought he didn’t stand a chance with Noelle or any woman deemed desirable by other men. He should be relegated to the Sandy’s of this world, women who spread their legs for anyone with a prick.
“I’ll see you at work tomorrow, boss.”
Beau shook his head. “Easy there, Cole. I didn’t mean to start shit with you.” The foreman looked around for a moment and said in a contrite tone. “Don’t take anything I said to you personal. You know how it is around here. It’s easy to get desperate for a woman when it’s a commodity. I just think you’re out of your league on this. You think Williams is gonna approve of his daughter getting involved with a saddle tramp? Take my advice and let it go, cowboy. Go have a beer and bang the shit out of Sandy. If you don’t some other man will.”
Cole glanced over at the woman walking across the field, wearing a short dress that was far too tight for her round frame. He looked away, completely turned off. There was no way he’d be able to get it hard for her or any of the other cowboy chasing women. He wanted Noelle. Plain and simple. She didn’t want him, but that little bit of knowledge wasn’t doing anything to temper his desire for her.
Gazing up, he saw a light coming from one of the rooms in the neighboring house. Was Noelle staring out the window again, trying to get a glimpse of him? His lips curled. Bitch.
No other female had made it as clear as her that he wasn’t worth shit. Angered, his vision sought out the redhead sidling up next to him. “Your friend over there wanted to take me in the tack room,” Sandy told him, failing at any hint of coyness.
Cole stiffened. She smiled at him and rubbed her breasts against his arm and giggled. “I figured you’d want first dibs since it was so good last time. Maybe this time I can see if we can get a sound out of you.” Her lipstick smeared lips widened into a smile as if she had said something clever and cute.
Cole peeled her arm from his. If there had been a slim chance in hell he could have gotten it up for her, her mention of the silence he tried so hard to maintain during intercourse killed all possibility. “Oh my God, you sounded like an animal dying.” Five years after losing his virginity and he could still hear the disgust in the girl’s voice.
Get the fuck out of my way, Cole thought.
As if he needed another reminder tonight of everything that was wrong with him. Glancing up at the window again, he saw that the light was still on. Cole dragged his gaze from the house. His foreman was correct. He hated to admit that it was over with Noelle before he ever had a chance. Hated to admit it hurt. He looked back at Sandy. Maybe if he drank a few cans of beer, he’d be able to fuck her. Prove to himself his manhood wasn’t destroyed because of a tease who had no interest in him. Would she even care if she saw him with another woman? He hoped so and a part of him hoped it would cause her pain.
Like hell. Noelle had buckets of ice water tapped straight from the Rockies coursing through her veins. There were just some things a gorgeous face couldn’t make up for and he had a sickening feeling that dwelling on her was a lost cause.
Bullshit, his mind screamed. He’d seen the glint in her eyes when she admitted her feelings. The way she’d carefully wrapped the bandanna around his hand. He still couldn’t believe she had done it. So, was that the reason his feet were taking him toward the river this late in the evening, hoping she would be there with thoughts of him?
“Hey Cole, you ain’t sticking around for the pussy?” Mike yelled, taking a break from the woman’s breasts.
Cole waved a hand, brushing off the question before striding in the direction of the thick stretch of overgrown trees. A swim would help and then he’d turn in for the night.
****
She knew what was going on at the ranch, had driven by and seen the cars parked along the roadside. Noelle wasn’t surprised that there were women chasing down the cowboys. In a way she envied them. Those women might only be in it for the sex, but at least they were brave enough to go after what they wanted. They were stronger than her and didn’t have to worry about what anyone would think of them. Like if Cole or anyone in Copper Mesa knew the reason her family moved to the town was to save her father’s business and the Williams’ family reputation before her behavior and heroin use cost them everything they held dear.
Is Cole with one of them right now?
Anger tore through her as she made her way to the river. Were those powerful muscles on his back bunching and rippling as he pounded into some strange woman? Were his hands holding on to soft feminine flesh not belonging to her? Maybe he would even place his lips on this mystery woman’s.
Stop it, Noelle. What that cowboy does is none of your business.
And yet it was. Sighing, Noelle glanced up at the night’s sky. Overhead a silver moo
n hung low, illuminating the dark, its sole companion a single star. She laughed to herself. Even the moon wasn’t alone…and neither was she, it seemed.
Someone was in the river. The person was neck deep in the water. She could see the wet hair that fell to the sides of his face. His hands moved in a fluid motion. In the dim of night she could see the way his muscles flexed from the simple motion of pushing the strands from his face. He was amazing. Her pussy tightened. Noelle drew her legs together to relieve the ache. Cole was here and not lying between the thighs of a cowboy chaser. Her heart leapt and rejoiced. Thank God.
He hadn’t noticed her, however. With bated breath she stood by the riverbank, anticipating the moment he would turn and regard her presence.
A shift of the head and her wish came true. Whatever tranquility Cole was experiencing left him the moment he saw her. The same hands that had pushed away the strands of damp locks with such grace became rough and impatient as he swam toward the shore, stopping with the water above his waist.
Oh God. She looked over at a log and saw his clothes laying there, a pair of dark blue boxers beside his jeans.
Modesty entreated her to turn and head in the opposite direction. Modesty was not her best friend. Noelle strutted over to the log and stood beside his discarded clothes. Heaven only knew why she insisted on pushing the man time and again.
Midnight shaded eyes connected with hers. Crooking his fingers, Cole beckoned her to him. Everything felt like a dream. A delirious vision of Cole stepping out the river, his naked body dripping with water played before her eyes.
“Look away, look away,” she chanted quietly.
Impossible. She wanted so badly to see him and her pussy was moist and aching so much from his proximity. Her clit felt swollen.
She glided in front of him, her gaze traveling from his feet to sculpted thighs. Noelle paused and swiped her tongue across her lips. Nerves and excitement tightened its reins on her.