Texas Temptation

by Barbara Mccauley

  “I remember now,” Jared said, his eyes narrowing as he turned his gaze on the younger man, “but wasn’t it just stupid civil servants with red hair?”

  “Yep.” Slater slammed the book and tossed it at Fitzer. “That’s the one.”

  Fitzer caught the book and stumbled backward. “You’re shut down, Mr. Stone,” he said, his voice wavering. “As of now.”

  When Jared made a move toward Fitzer, he turned and ran, slipping once in a puddle of champagne before disappearing out the door.

  “He could have at least closed the door behind him,” Slater muttered. “Guy must have been raised in a barn.”

  * * *

  For the next three days, Jared paced like a caged animal. The wait was driving him insane. Hell, he was past the point of insanity, he thought, dragging both hands through his hair, then over his unshaved face. He’d shifted into lunatic sometime yesterday afternoon. Right after Annie’s phone call telling him there was nothing to tell him.

  She’d driven to Midland two days ago to handle the problem in person. Jared had wanted to go himself, but she and Slater had convinced him that the rage he was in would only make matters worse. Slater had also threatened to lock him in the toolshed if he tried to go anywhere, and from the determined look on the big man’s face, Jared knew he wasn’t bluffing.

  Reluctantly Jared had agreed, but now, as he stared out his front window watching the dark clouds move in quickly over the horizon, he wished he hadn’t. His insides were wound up tighter than a spring fitting, and if he didn’t do something soon, he was going to explode.

  The only bright spot at this point was that they still had their crew. Slater had managed to convince the men to hang in there a few days. Now all the foreman had to do was keep an eye on everyone to make sure that restless men with too much time on their hands didn’t get into too much trouble or hit the bars to excess. Glenn and Tom had asked Jared to join them in a few games of poker, but he wouldn’t have had the concentration to play a game of go fish.

  Clenching his fists, he stared at the bottle of whiskey on the counter, then continued his pacing. He almost wished he smoked. He may have had a lot of bad habits, but that was one he’d never picked up. He stared at the bottle on the counter again, then swore and kicked a pillow he’d thrown earlier, pretending it was that weasel Fitzer’s head.

  What the hell was taking so long? It was after seven; the permit department had been closed for two hours. Why hadn’t she called?

  He needed to hear her voice. Even if it was no news. Even if it was bad news. He just wanted to hear that soft sexy voice of hers and know that she was all right. That she would be coming back soon.

  He paused at the flash of lightning. The rain started off as a murmur and quickly escalated to a shout, pounding the trailer roof with brutal force. Thunder shook the walls.

  He felt trapped. He had to do something. Anything.

  He reached for the bottle.

  * * *

  It was after eight by the time Annie pulled in front of Jared’s trailer. The rain had settled into a heavy consistent staccato, and an occasional streak of lightning illuminated the dark sky. She started to get out of her car, then realized it was dark inside the trailer and Jared’s truck was gone. Disappointment was like a dull knife in her chest. She’d driven straight here from Midland, not even bothering to stop in town first.

  Where was he? In town maybe, but she doubted that. He’d been staying close to the rig since the disaster with Fitzer. She’d been able to reach him here or at the rig.

  Which left the rig. But what would he be doing there at this hour? And in this rain?

  With a weary sigh, she turned her car around and headed for the oil well. She was tired and hungry and desperately wanted a hot shower. But first she had to see Jared. It couldn’t wait.

  As she neared the office, she could see a light on in the trailer. So he was working. She shook her head, wondering why that should surprise her.

  She’d missed him. She’d told herself she was an idiot, but it didn’t make any difference. Every time she’d called him, just before they’d hang up, she’d have the crazy urge to tell him, but she didn’t. She couldn’t.

  He was in there now. She could picture him sitting at the desk, his dark hair rumpled, his brow furrowed, his deep blue eyes intense as he studied a chart or a log. She smiled at the image, and her pulse jumped at the thought of seeing him.

  She cut the engine of her car and stepped out, preparing to make a mad dash to the office. Thunder rattled the heavens and lightning struck no more than fifty yards away from the rig, illuminating the entire area.

  Startled, Annie turned. The derrick glowed from the flash of light and on the platform was the silhouette of a man dressed in black, his coat billowing behind him like the wings of a raven, his arms outstretched.

  She froze, staring up at the apparition.

  It can’t be, it can’t be...

  She’d seen this in her nightmares—Jonathan up on the platform of the rig, his gaze locked with hers as he stepped to the edge. She’d open her mouth to scream, but no sound would come out....

  She tried to scream now, but it was the same as her dream—no sound came out. She squeezed her eyes shut and fell to her knees in the mud. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t possible....

  Rain soaked her clothes and hair. She opened her eyes again, but all she saw was blackness now.

  “Annie!”

  When someone grabbed her arms and pulled her up, she did scream.

  “Annie, it’s me, Jared.”

  “Jared?” she said weakly, then swayed. He tightened his hold on her and hauled her into his arms. She started to shake.

  “Jared, I thought you were... I thought that...” She wrapped her arms around him.

  “I know,” he said against her ear. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  He pulled her into her car and climbed in beside her. They were both soaking wet. Neither one of them spoke while he drove them back to his place. The rain and her teeth chattering were the only sounds.

  “Do you have any clothes in the car?” he asked as he pulled in front of the trailer.

  She nodded. “My bag is in the back seat.”

  He reached around and grabbed it, then took her hand and led her inside. “Go ahead and get in the shower. I’ll make us some coffee.”

  She started to protest, but Jared took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. Her face was pale, so pale it frightened him. “Do what I say, Annie Bailey, or I’ll drag you in there myself.”

  She smiled at him and a touch of color came back to her cheeks. Without thinking, he kissed the end of her wet nose, then released her.

  When she came out a few minutes later, dressed in a pink blouse and jeans, he sat her on the couch, shoved a cup of coffee into her hands, then took a quick shower himself. By the time he came out, the color had returned completely to her face, and she was working on a second cup of coffee. Her damp hair curled around her cheeks.

  He poured himself a cup and sat on the couch beside her.

  They sat there for a long moment, listening to the rain.

  “You okay now?” he finally asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, I...” She turned her head away. “Oh, Jared, I feel like an idiot.”

  “Don’t.” He touched her shoulder. She’d stopped shaking, and he could feel the warmth of her skin through the cotton blouse she wore. “It was stupid of me to try and catch your attention like that.”

  “What were you doing up there?”

  “It was either sit around my place and get drunk or come down here and work. I was headed for the office when I noticed a pulley was loose. I’m sorry I scared you.”

  She held her coffee cup in both hands. Steam rose from the black liquid and she stared at it. “It was raining that night, wasn’t it?” she asked quietly.

  His hand tightened on her shoulder. “Don’t do this, Annie.”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s all right.” She
looked up at him. “Jared, not talking about it doesn’t mean it never happened. It did happen. There’s nothing anyone can do to change that.”

  He held her soft gaze, then released a slow breath. “Yes, it was raining.”

  “Do you know what happened, I mean, what really happened?”

  I lost my brother. My best friend. The only person who ever really knew me. The ache in his chest swelled until Jared thought he might not be able to breathe.

  “There—” he swallowed back the thickness in his throat “—there was a cable loose. I told him to wait.... We’d get it in the morning when we could see better and the rain stopped. He...he was anxious and went, anyway.”

  Jared could hear the thunder, see the flash of lightning. But it was another storm, another time, not the one he’d just come out of.

  “Slater and I followed Jonathan up the platform,” he said as if he were narrating a film moving through his head, “giving him a bad time about being green. He just laughed and said the only thing green about him was all the money he was going to make.”

  Annie watched as Jared stared, unblinking, at the coffee in his hands. There was no emotion on his face. No expression.

  But his eyes. God, his eyes. The torment she saw there ripped through her like a sword. Pain welled up inside her, and her own eyes filled with tears. She set down her coffee, then took Jared’s cup out of his hands. His fingers were stiff and cold.

  “I was still several feet away,” Jared went on, his voice empty, “when he reached for the cable and slipped. I...I couldn’t stop him. I couldn’t help him....”

  He stared at her then, his eyes wide, and grabbed her by the shoulders. “A few feet. A few lousy miserable feet.”

  She touched his face. He’d shaved after his shower and his skin was smooth under her fingertips. “I loved him, too,” she said softly.

  He made a wild choking sound in his throat and closed his eyes. There was nothing she could say. There were no words. She’d dealt with her grief long ago, but Jared hadn’t. He needed this, and there was no easy way.

  Letting her heart lead her, she touched her lips lightly to his, then slid her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his chest. His arms were wooden as they came around her, but slowly, as they sat there, he began to relax. She listened to the steady thud of his heart.

  And then she remembered.

  She straightened. “Jared, I almost forgot. We got the permit. We’re back in business.”

  He stared at her blankly, as if he’d forgotten. Then he smiled slowly and pulled her close. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled back. His hands were warm now as they circled her waist, and she was suddenly aware of the hard length of his body against hers. His heart began to pound harder, and she knew that he was every bit as aware of her as she was of him.

  She started to move away, knowing that the second he realized what they were feeling he would push her away, but his arms tightened, holding her in place.

  She was afraid to look at him, terrified of what she would see. Pity? Or another explanation of why he couldn’t let himself touch her, or want her.

  But when she lifted her gaze to his, what she saw there—the raw open need, the steel blue intensity in his eyes—made her heart stop.

  He touched her face with his fingertips, as if he was really touching her, really seeing her, for the first time.

  “Annie,” he said raggedly, then covered her mouth with his.

  Seven

  It was madness. He knew that, but it made no difference. He was beyond thinking, beyond reason. The price he’d pay would be high, but even that realization couldn’t stop him.

  He pulled her closer, needing to feel her body against his. She was soft and warm in his arms, her lips incredibly sweet. Desire, stronger than he’d ever felt, hotter than he’d ever imagined, pounded in his veins and through his body.

  He’d meant to be gentle. He wanted to be, but his control shattered when she parted her lips and welcomed him. All the wanting and the needing washed over him, and he tightened his hold, grinding his mouth against hers again and again, murmuring her name.

  Her arms circled his shoulders and a small sound of need in Annie’s throat sent his senses spinning. She was so small against him, so soft and vulnerable. He wanted her so badly he worried he might hurt her. The thought terrified him and he started to pull away, but she clung to him, deepening the kiss as she tugged him closer, meeting every thrust of his tongue with her own.

  He was lost to her, and yet, at the same time, it was as if he was found. As if, for the first time in his life, he was where he belonged.

  She tasted like an exotic wine, so rich that one sip made him drunk, so rare that he knew he’d never find it again. The moan that came from deep in his throat was not one of desire, but of torment, knowing that this could never be enough, but that it would have to be.

  Her hands began to move over him, and he ceased to think at all. He allowed himself to feel, to cherish every touch, every taste, every sound. She was his. If only for this moment, she was.

  Annie could hardly breathe. No man had ever made her feel this way before. She felt a desperation that shocked her, a need to consume and be consumed she’d never experienced. A need she was sure could never be fulfilled, but still insisted—no, demanded—fulfillment nonetheless. She felt the energy coiled inside Jared, felt his muscles tighten and bunch as she moved her hands down his arms and over his chest. The strength she knew he possessed excited her all the more. She squirmed against him, thinking she would never be close enough.

  In one fluid movement he pulled her beneath him, and she sank into the soft cushions of the couch, his body stretched over hers. He dragged his hot lips over her cheek and jaw, then down her neck, setting her skin on fire. He moved lower, cupping her breasts in his hands, sliding his mouth over the fullness, kissing her through the cloth separating them.

  With a gasp, she buried her fingers in his damp hair, frustrated at the barriers between them. Gently he bit through the fabric of her blouse, closing his mouth over her nipple and sucking. Pain and pleasure rocketed through her, and she arched upward, catching her lower lip between her teeth as she cried out.

  “Jared,” she said hoarsely, “please...please...”

  Her plea was like lighter fluid on an already burning fire. Jared pulled her blouse upward, baring her stomach. He thought of hot satin as he moved downward over the smooth white valley. Her fingers moved over his head and through his hair as he nuzzled her small perfect belly button, dipping his tongue in and out so he might taste her there.

  Annie caught her breath at the exquisite sensation of pleasure pulsating through her. Her hands clutched at him, tightening into fists. She couldn’t bear it. She couldn’t. He unsnapped the top button of her jeans, then shifted his attention upward again. He pushed her blouse higher, sliding his hands underneath to cup her breasts again. His lips moved over the thin silk covering her nipples, and she squirmed, desperately wanting to be free of the constraints of clothing.

  “Annie,” he whispered, his voice ragged and strained, “you’re so sweet, so incredibly sweet.”

  He reached behind her and she arched upward as he unsnapped her bra and pushed it away. He met the welcoming tip of her nipple with his tongue, and when he closed his mouth over the hardened peak he felt her entire body tense, heard her sharp intake of breath. He moved over her, giving equal attention to the soft mounds he’d cupped in his hands, reveling in the pleasure he gave her.

  Her pleasure heightened his own, and an urgency began to fill him. He moved downward again, with his mouth and his hands, finding her zipper and tugging it down. The soft rasp mingled with the sound of the rain and their breathing. He wanted to taste her, to know every inch of her, and his lips followed as he slid the jeans down her hips and thighs, pulling her underwear with them. She surged upward as his lips moved over her, and he whispered to her, calming her, wanting so desperately to love her.

  Annie’
s world was out of control. She was spinning somewhere, lost, in a place where pain and pleasure were one. Jared’s hands slid over her hips and the texture of his rough palms on her skin sent shivers coursing through her. His fingers skimmed over her inner thighs and she dug her hands into his shoulders, twisting the fabric of his T-shirt in her fists. He made love to her as no man ever had before, stroking and touching, moving over her with a rhythm so profound she thought she might scream.

  “Jared...please...I want you.” She knew she was begging now. She didn’t care.

  He stood and pulled off his T-shirt. She watched him undress, and his dark heated gaze never left her as he stepped out of his jeans and underwear and tossed them aside.

  Her heart slammed in her chest as he stared down at her. He was a beautiful man, solid muscle and long lean limbs. His arousal should have frightened her, but it only increased her desire. She reached out to him and he took her hand, moving over her as he kissed each finger and ran his tongue along the inside of her palm. She trembled, sure that if he didn’t hurry she was going to die.

  His lips moved over her body again, over her shoulder and sensuously over her breasts as he removed the last of her clothing. She slid her hands over his chest and hips. He sucked in a breath when she touched his inner thigh, then moaned when her fingers circled him. He was velvet over steel, and the raw power held her in awe.

  He moved between her knees and spread her legs to make room for him. The storm outside increased; lightning and thunder shook the walls, rain pounded the roof. Neither one of them noticed or cared. The storm inside was the only one to be reckoned with, the only one that mattered.

  “Look at me, Annie,” he said, his voice heavy. “You have to look at me.”

  Through a mist of passion she lifted her gaze to his. His eyes were dark and fierce, piercing, and she couldn’t have looked away if she’d wanted to. Her hands gripped the cushions beneath her and she curled her fingers tightly around the soft fabric. A flash of lightning illuminated the room, bathing their bodies in silver.