Dynasties:The Elliots, Books 7-12

by Various Authors

  “I’ve dreamed of you like this every night since that evening in your apartment.” His deep baritone, rough with passion, and his appreciative look sent a honeyed warmth flowing through her veins.

  Pushing his opened shirt off his broad shoulders and down his muscular arms, she smiled as she dropped the garment on top of her clothing. “And I’ve dreamed of you.” She placed her hands on his chest. “I’ve wanted to touch you like this again.”

  He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her deeply, letting her taste a hungry need that matched her own. “I intend to touch and taste every inch of you, sweetheart. And when I’m finished, I intend to start all over again.”

  As he nibbled his way down her neck to her shoulder, then her collarbone, Fin’s head fell back as she lost herself to the delicious sensation of having his lips on her skin. But when his hot mouth closed over her tightened nipple and he flicked the bud with his tongue, she trembled from the waves of pleasure flowing through her and the empty ache of need beginning to form deep in her lower region.

  By the time he finally lifted his head, she felt as if she’d melt into a wanton puddle at any moment. “This isn’t fair. I want to kiss you like this, too.”

  “What do you say we get the rest of these clothes off?” he asked, standing up, then helping her to her feet.

  Once he’d finished stripping both of them and they knelt facing each other on the rug in front of the fire, he took her into his arms. The feel of skin against skin, his male hardness pressed to her female softness, sent tiny currents of electrified desire to every part of her.

  “You feel so damned good,” he said roughly.

  Delightful shivers of excitement coursed through her at the passion in his voice. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

  The sultry quality of her voice amazed her. She’d never thought of herself as a sensual creature, but with Travis it seemed all things were possible.

  When he lowered them to the rug and gazed down at her, the heated need and the promise of complete fulfillment she saw in his eyes sent hot, dizzying desire flowing to the most feminine part of her. As his mouth covered hers and he slipped his tongue between her lips the pulsing ache in her lower belly increased and she gasped from the intensity of it.

  But when he trailed kisses down to the valley between her breasts, then beyond, her breath caught. Surely he wasn’t going to…

  “T-Travis?”

  Raising his head, he gave her a look that caused her heart to skip several beats. “Do you trust me, Fin?”

  Incapable of speech, she could only nod. No other man had ever made love to her the way Travis was doing now and heaven help her she never wanted it to end.

  As his lips blazed a trail down her abdomen, she closed her eyes and tried her best to remember to breathe as wave after wave of heated pleasure washed over her. But when he gave her the most intimate kiss a man could give a woman, the sensations threatened to consume her.

  “P-please…I can’t stand…much more.”

  He must have realized the depth of her hunger, because he moved to gather her to him, and gazing down at her, tenderly covered her lips with his. His callused palm smoothed over her skin with such infinite care, it brought tears to her eyes and she felt branded by his touch.

  Her body trembled with longing as he slid his hand down her side to caress her hip, then her inner thigh. But when he cupped the curls at the apex and his finger dipped into the moist folds to stroke and tease, spirals of sheer ecstasy swirled through her. The feelings were so intense, she couldn’t have stopped her body’s reaction if her life depended on it.

  Arching into his touch, she fought for sanity as waves of excitement flowed through her. “P-please—”

  “Does that feel good, sweetheart?” His low whisper close to her ear only added to the sweet tension gripping her.

  “I…need…you.”

  In answer to her broken plea, he spread her thighs with his knee and rose over her. She felt the tip of his strong arousal against her, but instead of joining their bodies, he commanded, “Open your eyes, Fin.”

  The blaze of need in his dark blue gaze took her breath. He was holding himself in check as he slowly, gently pressed forward to fill her completely. He remained perfectly still for several long seconds and she instinctively knew he was savoring the moment, savoring her.

  When he pulled his lower body away from hers, then thrust forward, time stood still. He set a slow, rhythmic pace that built her excitement faster than she’d ever dreamed possible. The heat spiraling throughout her body burned higher and brighter with each stroke and she wrapped her arms around his broad back to keep from being lost.

  But all too soon, the delicious tension inside of her let go and wave after wave of fulfillment washed over her. Her moan of satisfaction faded to a helpless whimper as her body relaxed and she slowly drifted back to reality.

  Only then did she hear Travis groan, then felt him shutter as the spasms of his release overtook him. When he buried his face in the side of her neck and collapsed on top of her, Fin tightened her arms around him, holding him to her in an effort to prolong the feeling of oneness she had with this wonderful man.

  As his breathing eased and he levered himself up on his elbows, he gently brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Are you all right?”

  Smiling, she cupped his strong jaw with her palm. “That was, without a doubt, the most incredible experience of my life.”

  His low chuckle as he rolled to her side and gathered her to him sent a fresh wave of heat coursing through her. “If I have my way, it’s just the first of many incredible experiences we’re going to have this weekend.”

  A shiver of delight streaked up her spine. “I’m going to hold you to that, cowboy.”

  “I’d rather have you hold me to you,” he said, brushing her lips with his. “And while you’re holding me, we’re going to have another one of those incredible experiences.”

  She felt his body stir against her thigh and her own body answered with a delicious tightening in the pit of her stomach. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she smiled. “I’m holding you against me.”

  His promising grin caused her heart to race. “Honey, I’m about to amaze both of us.”

  And to her delight, he did just that.

  Holding Fin as she slept, Travis stared at the ceiling above his bed and tried to figure out what was going to become of them. They were treading in an area that could very well spell disaster for all concerned.

  If it was just between the two of them, the stakes wouldn’t be nearly as high. They could explore what was happening between them and if it didn’t work out, they could go their separate ways with a minimum of fuss.

  But it wasn’t just the two of them. There was Jessie and the baby to think about. Whatever happened between him and Fin affected them as well.

  Fin had told him up front that she wasn’t good at relationships and he’d told her the truth when he’d said he wasn’t looking for one. And he hadn’t been.

  After his wife died, he’d been sure that he’d never care for another woman the way he had for Lauren. But he was beginning to think that he might have been a little hasty in that assumption.

  From the minute he’d laid eyes on Fin, he’d been drawn to her like a bee to honey. And apparently, it had been the same for her with him. Her first visit to the ranch was proof of that. They hadn’t been able to keep their hands off of each other. But was great lovemaking enough of a base for a long-term relationship?

  The way he saw it, they only had three things in common—Jessie, the baby Fin was carrying and an insatiable need for each other. Other than that, their lives were about as different as night and day.

  He was country from his wide-brimmed Resistol hat to the soles of his Justin boots. His life was hard, grueling hours of work spent outside in all kinds of weather, and at night he slept with nothing to listen to but the crickets and an occasional coyote howling off in the distance. An
d he was much more comfortable in a honky-tonk where the music was loud, the beer was cheap and wearing a new pair of jeans and a clean shirt from the local Wal-Mart was considered dressed up than he’d ever be putting on a suit to go to a Broadway production or some trendy nightclub.

  And as foreign as his life was to Fin, her life was just as foreign to him. She lived and worked in a city that never slept. Hell, how could it? With taxis honking and sirens blaring all the time, it was no wonder people were up around the clock. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

  Day in and day out, she worked in a climate-controlled office where the only time she felt the warmth of the sun on her face was when she stood close to the window, and every piece of clothing she owned had some famous designer’s name stitched into the label. Even the jeans she’d been wearing at the ranch had some guy’s name plastered across the back pocket.

  When Fin stirred in her sleep, he tightened his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. On her first visit to the Silver Moon, she’d mentioned that she loved the wide open space, but after a while the novelty would wear off and she’d go stir-crazy from missing the hustle and bustle of New York. He had no doubt, he’d be just as unhappy if he had to live in a crowded city.

  As he felt sleep finally begin to overtake him, Travis closed his eyes and wondered how they were possibly going to share the raising of a child. Kids needed stability and permanence, not being bounced back and forth between two entirely different worlds.

  As he drifted off with no more answers than he’d had before, his dreams were filled with images of sharing his life on the Silver Moon with a green-eyed, auburn-haired woman and child.

  Eight

  “What do I do first?”

  Smiling, Travis handed Fin the keys to the old truck he used for hauling hay. “Put the key in the ignition and your right foot on the brake.”

  “That’s simple enough,” she said, doing as he instructed. “What’s next?”

  Fin’s pleased expression caused his chest to tighten. He couldn’t get over how excited she was at the prospect of learning to drive and he wouldn’t have missed teaching her for anything in the world.

  “Turn the key toward the dashboard. When you hear it start, let go of the key.”

  When the truck’s engine fired up, she beamed. “I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this.”

  “I think that’s what you said last night when we—”

  “You have a one-track mind, cowboy,” she interrupted, laughing.

  Feeling younger than he had in years, he grinned. “It’s incredible, as well as amazing, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Your mind or last night?”

  “Both.”

  When she took her foot off the brake, the engine died. “What happened?”

  He gave her a kiss that left them both needing resuscitation and when he finally raised his head, she gave him a look that was supposed to be stern, but only made her look more adorable. At least, to him.

  “Back to business, cowboy. You’re supposed to be teaching me how to drive.”

  “You have to keep your foot on the brake until you put it in gear or the engine will die.”

  She frowned. “This is going to start getting complicated, isn’t it?”

  “Not at all. Before you know it, it’ll be second nature to you.” He pointed to the ignition. “Put your foot back on the brake, start it up and take hold of the gearshift. Then, without taking your foot off the brake, pull the shift slightly forward and then down until the little indicator on the dash lights up the ‘D’.”

  “Done,” she said, looking more confident as she followed his directions.

  “You’re doing great. Now lightly step on the gas feed.” He’d no sooner gotten the words out than she stomped on the gas and the truck shot forward at what seemed like the speed of light.

  “This is fun.”

  “Holy hell!” They spoke at the same time.

  It had been ten years since he’d taken Jess out in the same pasture for her first driving lesson, but he remembered it as if it were yesterday. They’d raced across the field and barely missed running off into a small pond.

  As the truck bounced across the pasture, Travis tightened his shoulder harness. It seemed that mother and daughter were similar in more ways than just their looks. They both had a foot made of pure lead.

  “You might want to take your foot off the front bumper and slow down a little, honey,” he said, pulling his hat down tight on his head. He felt like he had in his younger days when he’d ridden broncs in the local rodeo.

  When she eased off the gas a bit, Travis breathed a little easier. The pond had been filled in a few years ago, and even though the pasture was wide open and there was nothing Fin could crash into, he was still glad the horses were safe in their stalls in the barn.

  “I should have learned to drive years ago,” she said, her cheeks flushed with excitement. “This is a lot more fun than having a driver take me where I want to go.”

  “I’ve created a monster,” he groaned. His stomach clenched into a tight knot just thinking about her trying to drive in New York City traffic. “You aren’t thinking about getting a license and a car, are you?”

  “Hardly. There isn’t enough room in the city for all the cars now. And parking is an absolute nightmare.” She gave him an indulgent look. “I’ll limit my driving to the Silver Moon and this pasture.”

  His heart stalled, then took off at a gallop. She was talking as if she’d be visiting the ranch quite frequently and that pleased him to no end.

  “That makes me feel somewhat better,” he said when she turned the truck in a tight circle and headed back the way they’d come. As they barreled toward the barn, he decided the horses might not be as safe as he’d first thought. “When you put your foot on the brake, give yourself plenty of room. These things don’t stop on a dime.”

  Apparently, she took him at his word because in the next instant, Fin planted her foot on the brake and the truck skidded to a bone-jarring halt. “I suppose there’s a trick to making a smooth stop,” she said, frowning.

  Reaching over to the steering column, he turned off the key and put the truck in Park. “We’ll work on that the next time,” he said, thanking the good Lord above for whoever invented antilock brakes.

  She surprised him when she unbuckled her shoulder harness, then leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Travis.”

  “For what?”

  “I’m learning all kinds of incredible things this weekend,” she said, giving him a smile that sent his temperature skyward.

  He grinned as he pulled her close. “Is that so?”

  The impish sparkle in her emerald eyes as she nodded fascinated him. “Some of what I learned was particularly amazing.”

  Lowering his head, he kissed her soundly. “What do you say we go back to the house for a while?”

  “Did you have something in mind?” Her whispered words in his ear had him harder than hell in about two seconds flat.

  Nodding, he unbuckled the shoulder harness, got out of the truck and walked around the front to slide in behind the steering wheel. “I want to show you something.”

  She grinned. “Is it incredible?”

  He started the truck and, putting it into gear, laughed as he drove toward the house. “Honey, prepare yourself to be downright amazed.”

  “Have you given any thought to our situation?” Fin asked as she and Travis prepared dinner together. She was supposed to return to New York tomorrow morning and they still hadn’t discussed anything about the baby, let alone made a decision.

  “A little, but I haven’t come to any conclusions,” he said, tending to a couple of breaded steaks he was frying in a big cast-iron skillet.

  “Me, either.” Cutting up vegetables for a garden salad, she thoughtfully nibbled on a sliver of carrot. “I think it’s only fair that we have equal time with her.”

  “Or him.” Travis gave her a
grin that sent her pulse racing. “There’s a fifty percent chance the baby is a boy.”

  “True.”

  She turned back to the task at hand before her hormones diverted her attention from the subject. It seemed that with nothing more than a look or a touch, she and Travis gave in to the electrifying passion between them and found themselves in each other’s arms.

  Slicing a cucumber, she arranged the circles on top of a bed of lettuce. “I don’t think we’ll have much of a problem with equal time until he or she reaches school age.”

  He chuckled. “You’re ahead of me. I can’t think past how I’m going to juggle being in New York for your visits to the obstetrician and here, too.” He arranged the steaks on two plates, then spooned milk gravy over the tops. “It gets real busy around here in the spring and summer.”

  “What’s it like here in the spring?”

  She loved hearing Travis talk about the ranch. From everything she’d seen and heard, it had to be one of the most tranquil places on earth.

  “After the snow melts, everything is green.” He smiled. “Then, when the wildflowers start to bloom, there’s all kinds of colors mixed in.”

  “It sounds absolutely beautiful.”

  He nodded. “With the snowcapped mountains in the distance it looks a lot like the postcards they sell at the tourist places over in Colorado Springs.”

  “I’d love to see it,” she said, unable to keep the wistful tone from her voice.

  When he slipped his arms around her waist from behind, she leaned back against his solid frame. “If you’d like, after the baby comes, I’ll take you on a trail ride up to some of the upland meadows.”

  Turning to face him, Fin put her arms around his shoulders, raised up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I’d love that, Travis. But I still haven’t learned to ride a horse.”

  “And you’re not going to until after the baby’s born.” He shook his head. “I’m not willing to take the chance of you falling. It might cause you to lose the little guy.”