by Becky McGraw
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Tina’s shoulder was suddenly cold, but her lower body felt like it was pressed against a furnace. She rolled toward the heat, and her face rubbed against what felt like sandpaper. Soft snores and hot breath tickled her ear. She opened one eye and panic shot through her, until the events of last night clicked through her mind. She smiled and her other eye opened. Looking around the rough wooden deer stand in the morning light, she thought it was more like a kid’s tree house. The flap on the wall was shut right now, so she couldn’t see outside, but daylight peeped through the spaces between the boards. That told her it was early morning.
After the night they spent up here, Tina was surprised the damned thing was still up in the tree, and that both she and Dean Dixon were still alive. The man sure hadn’t lied when he said he wasn’t done with her yet. He more than proved his words once she got past her fear and climbed the rough steps up to the stand. Dean had loved her fifty ways to Sunday. And then twice more on Sunday.
Tina stretched her legs and bit back a groan as her sore muscles protested. Dean’s arms tightened around her, and his hand moved to cover her breast. He snuggled his chin into her hair and pulled her closer. Tina decided to catch a few more winks to supplement the ten she might have gotten since yesterday. Besides, she wasn’t quite ready to let him go yet.
She turned her face into his neck and inhaled deeply of the few remnants of his delicious cologne that were mixed with sexy male musk. That’s what she wanted to remember. How this man smelled, how she felt when he was inside of her. Those sexy growls he made when he got excited. The way he said her name like a prayer when he came. The cute nickname he’d pinned on her. Buttercup. Tina’s heart did a little wiggle in her chest, and she mentally cursed herself for letting that make her think he might care about her a little.
Whether he did or didn’t wasn’t important. Her life was in Dallas. His was here. Last night hadn’t been about promises, or the future. They had both needed what happened. Tina knew it had gone a long way to improve her outlook on things. Dean had some serious problems to contend with now, and she hoped it would help him be more optimistic about overcoming those obstacles too.
A soft kiss landed on her forehead, and Dean gave her a squeeze. Pleasure floated through her and she cuddled her face into his neck deeper. “You were playing possum…”
If he could be this affectionate, maybe Dean Dixon wasn’t as prickly as he wanted the world to think he was. Or maybe she had slid under those sharp quills of his for a few hours last night. Whichever it was, Tina liked this softer side of his personality she would never imagine he possessed.
“Morning, buttercup,” he said in a sleepy gravelly voice that grabbed her right in the center of her chest. She felt him smile into her hair, and smiled herself. His morning erection pressed into her hip, and Tina couldn’t resist turning on her side and sliding her calf over his hip so he was positioned right where she wanted him. Again. Even after last night. Even though she was sore already. She felt sure when she stood, she would have trouble walking. But it was so worth it to have him inside of her just one more time, before the fantasy ended.
Tina wiggled her hips and he sucked in a sharp breath. Before she knew what was happening, he lay on his back and she straddled him. Stretching his arms above his head, Dean slid them under his head and grinned up at her.
“Ride me, baby,” he invited in that deep sexy drawl of his.
Tina smiled, shifted her weight, and grabbed him. Slowly she eased her body down over his stiffness, taking him inch by agonizing inch, knowing from experience it would drive him crazy. Dean sucked in a sharp breath, then it hissed out between his teeth as she finally settled herself on top of him. He was so deep, she was so full, Tina felt impaled, totally connected to him.
His mouth relaxed then eased up at corners. Tina relaxed too and sat up on him a bit more, just enjoying the fullness. “You feel so damned good,” she purred and her eyes fell to his mouth. That mouth that had been all over her body last night. But where she liked it most was on her own. The man knew how to kiss. When he kissed her, Tina felt connected to him on a different plane. It wasn’t just physical then. This fantasy was going to come to an end soon, and she wanted to hoard every memory of that mouth on hers that she could. It was unlikely another man would kiss her like that. None had to date.
She was greedy though. She didn’t want to lose his fullness to get those kisses. But she was too short to pull that off. “I want to kiss you.”
Dean’s eyes heated, and he surprised her when he sat up, grabbed her hips and put his back against the wall of the stand. “Wrap your legs around me.”
Tina did as he asked and draped her arms around his neck. Dean lowered his mouth to hers, and Tina leaned in. Their mouths met in a hot, sweet kiss that short-circuited her brain, so much she thought he said her name, and it sounded like it was coming from outside the stand.
“Hmm?” she murmured, nibbling at his lower lip, while he sucked her upper lip into his mouth. She heard a female voice call Dean’s name and knew it wasn’t her doing the calling. Panic shot through her and she jerked back. His body tensed and he listened too. A male voice joined in the name calling, then another.
“Holy shit,” Dean hissed and leaned his head back against the wall. Tina looked back at him, and started to scramble off his lap, but he held her in place with his hands at her hips. His blue eyes met hers and they glittered with intent. “Just sit still,” he said holding her in place. “Be quiet and kiss me,” he whispered. “They won’t find us.”
After a minute, his grip on her hips loosened and he smoothed his hands over her waist up to her breasts. He thumbed her nipples, while he kissed her senseless. Tina was breathing hard when he pulled back. An evil grin spread over his face, and his eyes sparkled as he stretched her back over his arm. Tina held her breath as he lowered his hot mouth to suck her nipple into his mouth. Her inner muscles clenched around him, and she shoved her hands into his hair trying to push his head back.
He sucked harder and Tina bit her lower lip to stifle the scream dangling on the tip of her tongue. All night long, while they made love, Dean had encouraged her to be vocal. Now she had to be quiet while he turned her inside out. It was sensual torture, and Tina didn’t know how long she could hold out. She had incentive though. If they heard them up in the deer stand, this fantasy would be over. Reality would come crashing down on them in the most abrupt way.
Dean pulled his mouth back slowly to release her nipple with a wet pop. Tina whimpered, and closed her fists in his hair. He blew on the wetness he left behind and her nipple became painfully hard. She tugged his hair to urge his mouth toward her again. Dean took it between his wet lips again, but instead of sucking he nipped her. Tina wailed, but it was quickly muffled when he covered her mouth with his hand.
“Shh…” he reprimanded. He eased his hand from her mouth to move it to her breast then kneaded her for a second, studied her as if he had all day, or was trying to commit her breast to memory. His dark head lowered and he sucked her into his mouth again. His tongue began tracing maddening circles around the engorged tip. Around and around, over the same path again and again. Tension built inside of her, her breathing became shallow, and her body clamped down on his rigid cock.
The fullness between her legs, his irritating raspy tongue on her breast became pleasure mixed with sensual pain. Agonizing and exciting at the same time. The longer he continued, the less she heard anything around her. The calls of the people outside were covered by the pounding of her heart in her ears. Dean’s hot mouth on her body became her sole focus. He was in control of giving her that pleasure pain. She stayed very still so he wouldn’t stop. She was scared to even breathe. God he couldn’t stop. The sensation finally became unbearable, and a scream built inside her chest along with the orgasm that was barreling down on her.
Having to be quiet while he did this to her increased her discomfort. The knowledge that they could be discovered if she m
ade a sound ramped up her pleasure. His hand moved up between her shoulder blades and he cupped her neck. Tina wondered what he was doing, but wasn’t about to ask. His other hand suddenly clamped down over her mouth at the same time he bit her nipple hard. Tina’s body went into shock, vibrating uncontrollably. Her arms, her hands, her legs, her insides shook as she screamed into his palm.
An orgasm the likes of which she’d never had before paralyzed her brain, as wave after wave of pain and pleasure warred for control inside of her. Dean hugged her to him and held her tightly until the tremors lessened, then stopped. Tina dragged in a breath and dropped her forehead to his shoulder as she tried to gather her senses.
She felt out of control, and her emotions took over. Pressure built in her chest then moved up her throat to burn her eyes. Before she could stop it a small sob escaped. One hot tear dripped out of her right eye, then a twin followed the same hot path down her face. Tina was afraid being with Dean Dixon had ruined her for life. She would never find another man as exciting, as good at loving her. He just seemed to know exactly what would take her higher than she’d ever been before.
Dean pushed her back from him and cupped her face in his palms. His eyes were dark and tortured. “Did I hurt you?” he demanded. She shook her head from side to side, but he pulled her tightly to his chest. His breaths were short and agitated, his heartbeat erratic in his chest. “Fuck, I’m so sorry, baby…please don’t cry.”
Why the hell was she crying? Tina asked herself. That was the best, most intense orgasm she’d ever had. She should just appreciate last night for what it was. When she made the decision to make love to him last night, Tina knew what would happen this morning. So why did the thought of leaving this man, this place make her heart hurt so badly?
“Hey, ya’ll. I found her skirt! Where the hell are they?!?” Tina’s eyes teared up again at hearing Cord’s voice outside. She refused to let the tears fall and upset Dean. This was all her problem, and she would deal with it. She knew the score when she allowed this to happen. She sucked in a shuddering breath then pushed away from him. He was still hard inside of her, but Tina made herself get up. As his body slid from hers, it felt like she was ripping her heart out too.
“We have to go,” she said softly, and he grabbed her hand.
“Look at me, Tina,” he said darkly, and her eyes met his.
“Yeah?” The indecision in his eyes, his sudden tenseness told her he was struggling to find words. She had a feeling she knew what he wanted to say.
When he looked away, she knew she was right. “Um, last night was…”
Dean Dixon had a lot of problems, and Tina wasn’t about to add to them, or make him feel guilty about last night. “Amazing,” she said lightly with a smile she definitely didn’t feel. “But a one-time deal.” Tina laughed, instead of sobbing. “We have a problem though.”
His eyes flew back to hers. “What?”
“I don’t have underwear or a skirt to climb back down that ladder. If I do it now, everyone will see my bare ass. My bra is down there too.”
Dean pushed up to his feet, then grabbed his jeans off the floor. He’d managed to remember to bring them, because his supply of condoms was in there. He had used every single one of them. Thank god he hadn’t come inside of her that last time. Dean hadn’t even thought about a condom that last time.
“I’ll go get them.” He shoved his legs into the jeans, then managed to zip them over his engorged cock without injuring himself. His underwear was down there too, and his boots and belt. His family was probably having the lake dragged for their bodies. He’d heard Cord’s friends’ voices as they yelled for them out there too. Dean had no idea how he was going to explain this one to them. He wasn’t going to explain. He was a grown man, and didn’t care what they thought. Last night was the best night he’d had in three years.
No, it was the best night he’d ever had in his life.
Dean glanced back at Tina, and he didn’t want to open that damned door to go down there. What he wanted to do was to keep her up here forever. He could stay here with her, and they’d make love. Pretend the outside world wasn’t slowly killing the man he knew he needed to be. The man he was before his ex-wife had destroyed him.
If he stayed up here though, Cindy would finish that job. Dean had to figure out how to hang onto his son. Tina was right. Jeremy was his son, even though they didn’t share genes. He was going to fight Cindy with everything he had to keep him from getting hurt again. And his family was depending on him to figure out how to hang onto the ranch.
Tina Montgomery had a life and a big important job in Dallas. She wasn’t going to give that up for a broken down cowboy with a needy son. He wasn’t going to ask her to. That’s not what last night was about anyway. Dean didn’t know exactly what it was about, but it wasn’t about forever. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said gruffly, as he swung the door open.
He turned and laid down on the floor then reached back with his foot to find the first rung. He scrambled down the tree to the ground, and took a moment to adjust his jeans, before he started across the pine needle covered ground. Last night in the heat of the moment, he hadn’t felt the prickly pine needles sticking into the soles of his feet. He hadn’t felt much of anything, except the overwhelming urge to get Tina Montgomery up in that deer stand and fuck her brains out. This morning, he felt every step he took, just like he felt the bitterness of the regret inside his chest.
If they’d met when he was younger, before he became so jaded. Before Cindy. Maybe Dean’s life would be different. Tina Montgomery coming along now wasn’t the same. He wasn’t the same. Last night up in that deer stand he’d forgotten his problems for a few hours. She’d helped him forget. But when his feet hit the ground again this morning, they were all still there. Last night hadn’t solved a damn thing. Dean knew it had just been a temporary reprieve in his shitty life. A welcome one, but just a reprieve. Dean still didn’t have a damned clue how he was going to fix things. Or if he could.
Taking a deep breath, he huffed it out then picked his way through the trees toward the place they’d made love the first time last night. Dean looked around under the tree and found his hat behind some scrub, but didn’t see her skirt, his boots, or anything else. He mumbled under his breath and turned. A pair of ripped red panties occluded his view. They smelled just like Tina Montgomery, and he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
“Looking for these?” Cord said smugly.
Dean ripped them from his fingers, and shoved them into the pocket of his jeans. “Where’s her damned skirt?” he grumbled.
Cord laughed and pulled it from behind his back to hand it to him.
“My boots?” Dean growled.
“Hope has those in the truck.” Cord didn’t move to go get them though. His brother stood there with a wide grin on his face. “Figured you took her to the deer stand. I made enough damned noise to wake the dead. You should be saying thank you instead of being an ass. Seems like you should be in a better mood too, considering.”
“Would you just go get my damned boots?”
“Hope has Tina’s boots too,” Cord said in a sing song voice, then his eyes laughed as he added, “I’ll go get them on one condition.”
“What’s that?” Dean asked clenching his fists, wanting nothing more at that moment than to plant one in his brother’s face.
“You let her climb down that ladder to get her panties and skirt.”
“Fuck you,” Dean growled and shoved him hard. Cord laughed as he stumbled back and put his hand on his chest.
“You know I’m just kidding.” Cord’s face turned serious. “I’m happy for you brother.”
“Nothing to be happy about. It’s done,” Dean said through his gritted teeth. “Now, go get my damned boots before I tell your wife you’re ogling Tina, and she kicks your ass!”
His brother’s laughter echoed through the woods, as he walked toward the clearing. A few minutes later, he returned with Dean’s shi
rt, and their boots. Cord dug into the pocket of his jeans and handed Dean a set of keys. “Ya’ll take your time,” he said with a wink. “Lucky says to take his truck when you’re ready to come back. He’s riding with us.”
A lightning bolt of desire shot through him, but Dean caught it and crushed it. He had things to do. “We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said as he turned to walk back to the tree stand.
Two days later, Dean watched out the window of the ranch house as Tina, Paulo and Belinda loaded up their equipment into their cars in the rain. The pouring rain. The bottom had fallen out on their way back from the woods the other morning, and it hadn’t let up since. There was no way they could take photos now. He was sure the bluebonnet field on the other side of the lake was knee deep mud. The lake had probably overflowed too, so they couldn’t get back there even if a miracle happened and the sun came out.
Dean knew he should go over there and say goodbye, but he just couldn’t make himself do it. She was most likely mad at him anyway. After he dropped Tina off at the bunkhouse, Dean had been hiding out to avoid her. Being stuck in the house made that kind of difficult, but she hadn’t come out in the rain to walk across the yard to the house.
Who the hell knew, maybe she was hiding out from him too.
The only reason he knew she was leaving this morning, was because Cord came to eat breakfast with the family, and he’d mentioned she got called into a meeting with her bosses in Dallas. He also gave their daddy the check from Texas Tomboy that Tina had brought with her. Their payment for using the ranch for the shoot. That money was going to be combined with the auction money they had to buy spring stock for the ranch. Half a herd was better than no herd.
Dean didn’t get a check himself, because he hadn’t done the photo shoot. When he did get one, he wasn’t going to put it into the herd. He was hiring a fucking attorney to take care of Cindy. According to his brother, Tina was going to call to reschedule when the weather got better, but there was a chance she wouldn’t be coming back out to the ranch for the shoot. Hope would handle taking the photos with Paulo and Belinda if she was needed at her office.