Stone Cold Cowboy

by Jennifer Ryan

  Too many barriers in the way. He kissed a trail down her belly to the lace edge of her panties peeking out the top of her open jeans. He leaned back, hooked his fingers in the lace and denim, and tugged.

  She smiled. “Now I’ve got your attention.”

  He pulled her boots off, then her clothes. His gaze swept up her legs, over her curves, to her face, his eyes glowing with appreciation and a greedy hunger that matched her own.

  “You’ve got my undivided attention.”

  “But not those big hands on me.”

  He placed his hand on her knee, then slid it up her thigh and back down. Her body relaxed under his palm, but she wanted so much more.

  “Better?”

  “No. Not until every inch of you is touching every inch of me.”

  He leaned over her, holding himself above her on his hands and knees. He pressed down and kissed her, still not touching her with his body. He pushed back up and stared down at her, thinking he had the upper hand. Not so. She nimbly unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, sinking one hand into his boxer briefs. She had him well in hand then. Her fingers circled and squeezed his swollen flesh. His eyes went wide, then softened as pleasure replaced surprise and she worked her hand up and down his hard length.

  “You’re overdressed. Get naked with me.”

  “You’re beautiful and demanding in the sweetest way.”

  She cocked up one eyebrow. “You think I’m sweet?” She rubbed her hand up his hard length and back down again.

  “Maybe a little wicked.”

  One side of her mouth tilted up into a half grin. Feeling saucy, she said, “Come and get it.”

  He squeezed her thigh. “You’re nothing like I thought.”

  She slipped her hand free and slid it up his stomach and rested it over his heart. Everything in him stilled at the simple touch.

  “It’s you, Rory. I just want to be with you.”

  No words came to mind to respond to such an honest sentiment.

  If he didn’t have the words, Rory could certainly show her how much she meant to him. He stripped off the rest of his clothes, letting the quiet settle around them. He didn’t rush, but let the moment stretch because it wasn’t awkward, but comfortable. He had no qualms about her seeing him. They’d already made love once, but more than that, the way she looked at him, devoured every inch of his skin with her gaze, made him all the more anxious to be close to her. To love her with his body the way his heart so easily let go and did so without a hitch in its beat. It knew without all the cluttered thoughts, reservations, and uncertainties his mind conjured. What his brain made complicated, his heart simplified.

  This time when he went to her, he did cover her, his body pressed to every inch of hers. He stared down into her eyes, still unable to come up with something to say that conveyed the deep feelings filling him up.

  His lips touched hers, but it was altogether different. He poured everything inside him into the kiss. In her unique way of reading him, she changed the kiss for a moment, taking over and giving him back all he shared with her. The silent conversation tore him down and built him back up all at the same time into the man he wanted to be for her.

  He kissed his way down her throat to her breast, took her hard nipple into his mouth, and licked the tight peak in a long, slow stroke that made her sigh. Her legs cradled his waist as he lay between her thighs, her knees up-drawn to accommodate his large body. He shifted his weight back, slid his hand down her soft skin, over her belly, side, and hip around to her smooth inner thigh. Her hips rocked forward seeking his touch even as her hand slid down over his head and shoulders. He circled his tongue around her hard nipple, took the bead into his mouth, and sucked hard, sliding his finger into her slick warmth at the same time.

  The moan she let loose drove him on, his need for her a heat building inside him until the taste and touch of her wasn’t enough. He needed to be inside her. Her nails dug into his back and raked up over his shoulders. The bite set off a wave of electricity through him. He thrust his finger deep, her hips rocking into his hand. She lost herself in his touch, and he became a slave to her every need. He circled her clit with his thumb, softly rubbing until she panted, her fingers digging into his back muscles. She pulled at him to come to her. Happy to do so, he slid his fingers up over her soft folds, over her belly and around her hip. He squeezed tight, slid up her body, and took her mouth in a searing kiss. With his weight balanced on one arm, he reached for the condom in the bedside drawer. He broke the kiss to lean further and snag his prize.

  She planted soft kisses along his rough jaw to his ear. Her tongue skimmed the edge, her teeth clamped on to the lobe without hurting him, her lips closed over the soft flesh, and she sucked softly.

  He tore the foil packet with his teeth.

  “Love me, Rory,” she whispered in his ear. The same thing she said to him out in the grass below the trees. It was a request he was happy to fulfill again, now, whenever she wanted him to until the day he died.

  Sheathed and ready for her, he pressed the head of his hard dick to her slick entrance and kissed her, sliding home in one long glide until he filled her.

  “Oh yes.” She sighed, igniting the fuse on his restraint.

  He pulled out and thrust back home, loving the way her body rose to meet his. He didn’t think anything could feel better than loving her the first time. He’d been wrong. Her arms wrapped around his back. She pressed her breasts to his chest. With her knees pulled up, her thighs cradled his hips. Her feet hooked over the back of his knees. She literally wrapped around him. She pressed a warm kiss to his throat and the underside of his chin. He thrust deep again and she sighed. Her rushed, heated breath washed over his skin.

  Her body tightened around his. Her head went back into the pillow, eyes closed, her mouth slightly parted on a moan as her body quaked below him. The lit fuse she ignited detonated his desire and he rocked back into her, circled his hips, setting off another round of aftershocks deep in her core. He pulled back and drove home in an explosive release that had flashing lights spark against the backs of his eyelids.

  Spent, satiated, he dropped on top of her, savoring the feel of her hands resting on the base of his spine, her fingers lightly caressing his ass. Her feet slid down his calves and fell back onto the mattress. Her erratic breath whispered through his hair as he lay on top of her, his face buried in her hair at the side of her head. His sawing pants came out warm against her ear, the heat washing over his face, too, but he couldn’t move. Not yet. He wanted to lie here in her arms, feeling just like this. Happy. One with her.

  She shifted beneath him. Her lips pressed to his head in a quick kiss. “Roll, big guy.”

  He managed to get his forearms beneath him and press up, taking some of his much heavier weight off her. He stared down into her beautiful face and bright blue eyes. “I think you’re trying to kill me.”

  “Never. I just really like having your undivided attention.”

  The smile came easy, because she made everything easy. He shifted to her side, rolling to his back, and bringing her with him. She lay on her side, one leg draped over his, her cheek pressed to his chest with her hand resting over his thumping heart.

  He lifted his head, stared down his body, verified the condom was still intact—thank God—and settled back into the bed.

  “It’s fine. Nothing to worry about, because I’m with you, and I know you’re with me.” Her hand slid over his ribs to his side and she hugged him close. “As long as we stick together, everything is fine.”

  He kissed her on top of the head and held her close, letting her words sink into his heart. I’m with you. Her way of telling him baby or no baby, she intended to stay with him.

  The possibility of a baby changed things. He had so much more to protect. Her. The baby. And if there wasn’t a baby now, he needed to keep her safe so one day the dream growing in his mind and heart became a reality.

  CHAPTER 24

  Sadie hugged Colt at her f
ront door. “Thanks for coming.” Her father’s funeral took everything out of her today. Having everyone to the house after the short graveside ceremony fried her last nerve. She didn’t want to answer any more questions about her brother’s absence and anticipated arrest, or talk about her father’s illness and his last days. She didn’t want any more advice about what she should do with the ranch, or hear one more order that she better not sell it to some rich actor or businessman who wanted to pretend to play cowboy out here in the country only to drive up land prices.

  “It was a nice service,” Colt said, releasing her. “See you back home, sis.” Colt walked out the door and joined Ford and Sammy at their truck.

  Luna stared after Colt, trying not to make it look like she watched him. They’d done this same strange dance the whole day. They didn’t talk to each other, but the awkward way they avoided each other grew thick with tension until they were both quiet, tense, and scowling at each other.

  Luna wrapped Sadie in a tight hug. “I love you, lady.”

  “I love you, too. Thanks for helping out today. I needed you here.”

  “What are friends for? But you don’t really need me, you’ve got a sexy, hot boyfriend,” Luna whispered in her ear. “I’m so happy for you. You two are really great together.”

  “Thanks.” Sadie squeezed Luna close, then let her go.

  “I’d say I’ll stay the night and we’ll have one of our legendary ice cream–movie–girl talk sleepovers, but you’ve got all you need.” Luna eyed Rory. “Take care of her.”

  “Always.”

  “I’ll see you soon.” With that, Luna walked out the door, leaving her and Rory alone together again.

  Grateful for the quiet and Rory’s comforting presence, she sighed and tried to let the stress of the day go.

  She and Rory had spent the last three days and nights together and settled into a strange routine. She worked with her father’s lawyer in town to settle the estate and file for the life insurance. She turned in her schoolwork, took a test, and studied. While Rory worked the ranch, she took a few hours each day to work on her novel.

  Rory fell back into work with his brothers and came up to the house for lunch and dinner, and to spend his evening with her. It seemed she fit into his family. In fact, they sat around the dinner table chatting about their day and watching TV in the evening like they’d done so for years. The men included her in their discussions, asked her opinion, and generally treated her like she belonged. She loved it.

  So much so that she looked around her family home feeling like it didn’t quite fit her anymore.

  “Where’d you go, sweetheart?”

  She shook off her tumultuous thoughts and focused on him and the question in his eyes. “Sorry. I guess I’m tired.” She stared into the kitchen and at the mountain of food platters, casseroles, and desserts. “We should have sent some of this home with your brothers.”

  “Granddad and my brothers took a bunch of stuff out to the truck to take back to our place.”

  Was that our place, as in hers and Rory’s? Or his and his family’s? She let it go for now.

  “I go back to work tomorrow. Poor Luna can’t keep covering all my shifts.”

  “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

  “Why wouldn’t I go back to work?”

  His gaze dipped to her stomach for a split second, then shot back to her eyes. “With the money your father left you, you could stay home, finish school.”

  “Rory, I’m nearly done with school.” Instead of talking about the baby and her being a stay-at-home mom or a working mom, she changed the subject because she was too exhausted after her father’s funeral to talk in circles about something they weren’t even sure about yet.

  “If I cleaned all the personal items out of this place, maybe I could rent it out furnished.” She left off the part about how she’d be living with him.

  “That’s a great idea. If you rented it to someone who wanted to use the land, you could take part of the profits from that, too. Ford would probably love something like this.”

  “He doesn’t want to stay on your ranch and work with you and Colt?”

  “I imagine that’s fine with him, but to have his own place, something of his own, he might like that a hell of a lot more. We could work both ranches together. Plus it’d still be in the family, right?

  See, right there was where it got complicated. He said things like that, exactly what she wanted to hear. She was a part of his family, but still, his gaze dropped to her belly and made the elation she felt being included and an intricate part of his life deflate, because it now felt conditional on her being pregnant. Like would he be saying that if they were just together and nothing happened the first time they made love.

  “Sadie, what is it?”

  Drawn to the sincerity in his voice, she walked into his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. He didn’t hesitate to pull her close. She rested her chin on his shoulder and sighed. “My dad died.” Today she’d laid him to rest in peace beside her mother. Somehow that changed everything, despite the fact it had been several days since he’d passed. All the overwhelming feelings and tasks that needed to be done stemmed from the simple fact that her father had died and it was left to her to carry on. She didn’t exactly know how to do that right this minute. Not when her life had seemed to be going in one direction, but hit a fork in the road and sent her down another path and straight into Rory’s arms. Now, she felt as if finding out if she was pregnant would be another fork in the road. She was staying at Rory’s, but she didn’t actually live there. She had a house and ranch and her father’s things to settle. And her future hinged on one yes or no answer to a question they couldn’t answer right now, but could change everything about her future.

  “I have so many things to do, I’m not sure what to do first.”

  “First and always, you take care of you. Sit down and eat something. You’ve been on your feet and going all day without stopping. I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

  “Hot chocolate.”

  He kissed the side of her head. “You got it.” His arms contracted around her. “We’ll figure it out, Sadie. All of it. Together.”

  She leaned back and stared up at him. “Do you mean that?”

  He laid his hand on her cheek. “Yes.” The honesty and intensity in his eyes told her he truly meant it. “You’re feeling a little lost without your dad. I get it. But you have me, Sadie. I’m not going anywhere.”

  She laid her forehead on his chest and breathed him in. His hand slid through her hair and held her head; his strong fingers massaged her sore neck.

  “I need you,” she whispered, holding him close, her fingers digging into his back muscles.

  “You have me.”

  She appreciated it so much that he understood her saying she needed him didn’t translate to she wanted to have sex with him, but that she needed him in her life for so much more. She loved him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. He seemed to want the same. That gave her a sense of security. Right now, she needed it. She let everything else go and held on to the hope that the bond and connection they shared would see them through, that she and Rory would have what their parents had strived for but never got—a long and lasting marriage filled with love and family and memories that stretched decades.

  Rory backed her up into the kitchen and one of the chairs at the table. He gently pushed her to sit. She did and stared up at him. He squatted in front of her and laid his hands over hers on her thighs.

  “I know it feels like it, but nothing has to be decided immediately. We can take our time.”

  “I feel like if I don’t do something I’ll be stuck in this strange uncertainty forever. I don’t like feeling this way. I want things to go back to the way they used to be.”

  “We’ll clean up here, then go home. Tomorrow, when you’ve had some rest and are ready to face the tasks ahead, we’ll plan what to do about everything else. Okay?”

&n
bsp; “Okay.”

  Rory made her hot chocolate and a plate of fresh fruit and banana nut bread someone had baked and dropped off after the service when everyone paid their respects. She ate at the table, watching Rory methodically put food into the fridge for later, or store it in the cupboards. He cleaned the kitchen, took out the trash, and kept a close eye on her. By the time they left, her home looked like no one had been there since she’d last sat with her father watching TV the evening before she found him bloody in his room. It was almost as if he’d be right back. The thought made the ache inside her throb and beat with her broken heart.

  They drove back to the Kendrick ranch in silence, but Rory held her hand, his thumb gently rubbing against hers. They walked into the quiet house together and went up the dark stairs and into their room. Rory didn’t say a word then either, just slowly undressed her and tucked her into bed. He undressed and joined her, pulling her backside against his front, his big hand settled over her stomach as he held her in the dark.

  She stared at the wall, feeling his warmth behind her and his soft breath whispering through her hair. The numbness spread through her like a virus eating up all the happiness she’d ever felt. It left her raw and aching so bad, she pressed her hand over Rory’s on her belly and slid her fingers into his.

  His lips settled softly on her bare shoulder for a tender kiss. The simple touch eased the ache for a split second. A second she wanted back and to build on until she felt herself again.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Rory opened his eyes and stared back at her.

  “Make me feel something other than this aching emptiness.”

  Rory’s hand smoothed over her belly, down between her legs. His knee pushed between her thighs, giving him enough room to slide his fingers over her soft folds. His lips settled on her shoulder again, planting soft, wet kisses up to her neck and ear. “Stop thinking. Just feel.”

  She reached over her head and slid her fingers through his hair as his lips pressed another soft kiss behind her ear. “Now I’m only thinking about you.”