“Josh—”
“Colt is with Elise right now. You know that from our conversation yesterday.”
“Wasn’t he originally planning to be out of town, though? Nice alibi,” Renee countered, leaving the implication dangling between them.
Josh took a couple of deep breaths. He might know Renee personally, but she was still an investigating officer and she took her job very seriously. He decided to go in another direction. “What about that escaped convict?”
“No dice. When we pressured him with an attempted murder charge on top of his other offenses, he finally confessed he’d broken into an empty house and stole some food and checks around the time Sabrina was attacked. The house he broke into was two miles away from the Tanner ranch. The homeowner confirmed the timing of the break-in because they arrived home to see someone running away from the house. There wasn’t enough time for him to have been in both places at the same time.”
Josh sighed, feeling like he’d been beat up twice today. He grudgingly gave her Colt’s cell phone number. “You’re way off base, Renee. Colt will set you straight.”
When he hung up, he realized just how tense the ongoing investigation was making him. Sabrina meant everything to him. The need to be by her side was all he wanted right now. “Dirk, we’ve got to go!”
* * *
Josh left Ace in his stable while he dashed through the pouring rain to his porch. He’d rub his horse down after he saw Sabrina. He had to see her and hold her close.
Opening the door, he walked inside and quickly surveyed his place. Relief washed over him when his gaze snagged on Sabrina curled up in the window seat, leaning against the glass. He shut the door against the gusting wind then turned, tossing his hat on the chair and started to say, “Man it’s raining like crazy out there—” when he was jolted back a step as Sabrina launched herself into his arms.
As she squeezed his neck tight and wrapped her legs around his waist, he held her close and closed his eyes, inhaling her sweet smell.
“Thank God, you’re okay,” she breathed out, kissing his cheek, then his jaw before pressing her lips to his mouth.
Josh wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back, grinning. “Now that’s a hell of a welcome home. I could get used to this.”
Sabrina tensed in his arms and lowered her legs to the ground. Still holding onto him, she put her head on his chest and asked in a worried voice, “It’s been hours. Why didn’t you call me to let me know you were okay?”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?’ Didn’t you get my text?”
She glanced up at him with a confused look. “What message?”
Spying his cell phone on the coffee table, he let her go and picked it up. He frowned at the settings for a second, then his eyebrows shot up. “That’s right. I forgot I left it on vibrate mode. You wouldn’t have heard it ping with my text.”
He set down the phone as she approached, saying in a suggestive tone, “I just asked you to meet me in the stables. That’s one place we hadn’t christened yet. Plus, I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you,” he finished with a wink as he faced her.
“Ohmigod, look at your eye and that gash on your cheek! What happened?” she asked, eyes wide.
“The cut was dumb luck at the fire and the black eye was Dirk deciding I needed a little payback for my transgressions against him,” he joked. When he saw all the color drain from her face, he reached for her. “What’s wrong, Sabrina?”
She dodged his hand and backed away saying to herself, her gaze glazed over, “I thought I could handle…but I just can’t.”
“Sabrina?” Before he could reach her, she’d turned on her bare feet and dashed to the front door. Pulling it open, she ran out into the pouring rain.
“Sabrina!” he called out again and took off after her.
Sabrina’s heart thundered as she ran down the steps. The pouring rain immediately soaked her dress through, but she kept running. Her heart hurt as if someone had tried to rip it from her chest. She couldn’t put herself through another loss. Losing her father was enough. Not another person she’d come to care for, especially on such a deeply connected level. Her mother was much stronger than her. She knew it was crazy to run out into the rain, but she just needed to get the hell out of there. If she reacted this way to something as simple as a black eye and the ragged cut on his face… God, she felt so sick to her stomach.
She fought through the cramps gripping her belly as she heard Josh call her name from the porch. Thankful she was barefoot, she dug her toes in the grass and bolted toward the woods. Twenty-five feet. If she could just get there, she could have some time to herself. Get away from Josh and every deep-seated emotion his handsome face and endearing ways caused to churn within her.
Sabrina’s heart broke at the realization of just how much she cared for Josh. Warm tears streamed down her face only to be washed away by the unrelenting cool rain.
Her breathing turned choppy and her lungs felt like they were on fire as she pushed herself to the limit to get to her destination as fast as she possibly could. Josh’s heavy footfalls sounded not far behind her. The noise both comforted and scared her.
When she was within ten feet of the entrance to the woods, she felt a hand around her ankle and she went down, hard on her stomach.
Sobbing, she clawed at the grass, trying to free her ankle from Josh’s grasp, but he was too fast and before she could move another inch, he’d rolled her over on her back and had pinned her to the ground with his body.
“No,” she wailed and swung her arm, doing her best to free herself from his touch, his attentiveness, his damned sexy heat. Her elbow accidentally hit his jaw, causing his head to snap sideways.
“Sonofabitch, Brina!” he hissed out as he grabbed her arms. Slamming them to the ground above her head, his teal gaze narrowed on her. “Why are you running and why the hell are you trying to break my jaw?”
“I’m sorry, Josh. I didn’t mean to hit you,” she replied, feeling suddenly hemmed in and vulnerable, her heart out there flailing in the wind. “Let me up,” she panted, resuming her struggles as she bucked to get him off of her. She needed to get away from him before she had a complete breakdown.
“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong.” Josh pressed his hips to hers, holding her firmly to the ground. Her heart raced at his deep concern for her, while at the same time she couldn’t mistake the hard flesh that nudged against her.
She jerked a surprised gaze his way and he ground out, “Hell yeah, I still want you even when we’re fighting…over God knows what! What’s wrong?” he asked again, a look of utter confusion and frustration crossing his face.
“I guess I need some space,” she mumbled as she looked away from him, her chest constricting.
Josh cupped the back of her head, turning her to face him once more. Water ran in rivulets down the muscle ticcing in his jaw as his piercing gaze met hers, willing her to listen. “Why? So you can run from us? Run from what you know is right?”
She blinked away the pouring rain, thankful the pounding water made it harder for her to meet his intense gaze.
His grip on her head tightened as he rasped out, “I love you, Sabrina. I won’t let you shut me out.”
Surprise jolted through her at his words. Sabrina raised her hand to hold onto his wrist. Her heart hammered out of control, in complete disregard for her earlier worries over her feelings for Josh. “Wha-what did you just say?”
His expression softened and he let go of her arm and then rubbed his thumbs along her jawline, saying in a rough voice, “I said I’m hopelessly, madly, deeply in love with you.”
Emotions swirled within her…emotions she hadn’t acknowledged and refused to identify. She didn’t know how to respond to his declaration—to tell him his mere touch made her melt like no other man’s did, but she couldn’t handle being with a fireman.
“Josh, I—”
Josh didn’t give her a chance to re
ply. He pulled her close and covered her mouth with his lips, his kiss tender yet dominant.
As his tongue brushed against hers, Sabrina wondered why all rational thoughts fled her brain every time the man’s lips met hers. She kissed him back with all the passion she felt but couldn’t express in words.
Thunder rumbled overhead, then lightning slashed, splintering the dark sky above them.
Josh broke their kiss, glancing up at the sky. He quickly pulled her to her feet, saying as he put his arm around her waist, “That lightning was a little too close for comfort. Come on, we’re closer to the stables. We’ll wait out the storm there.”
Sabrina followed him inside the structure, the smell of rain, hay, horseflesh, and the faint smell of manure assailing her nostrils.
Ace neighed as Josh shut the stable doors against the driving rain. Sabrina smiled and walked over to calm the horse, noting all the empty stalls. Rubbing her hand down the animal’s neck, she spoke to him in a soothing tone, “It’s okay, boy. We’re here to wait out the storm with you.”
The horse snorted and pawed the ground as if pleased. She smiled as she patted his neck.
“You’ve got the touch with horses,” Josh commented right behind her as he pressed his chest against her back.
“Not like you do,” she said as his heat radiated, seeping into her pores and warming her, despite the wet clothes on his body. She inwardly acknowledged her desire to push thoughts of walking away from Josh out of her mind for the time being. Why did he have to feel so right standing behind her, protecting her, loving her and damn it, seeming to understand her better than she understood herself?
“As much as you love horses, I’m surprised you don’t have more on your own land. You’ve certainly got the room for them,” she said, glancing at the empty stalls as she tried to get her tumultuous emotions under control.
“Right now I work too many hours to give them the attention they would need.”
Josh pushed her wet hair out of the way, then trailed his lips down her throat. “Hmmm, the way you smell turns me on,” he ground out as he nipped at her neck.
Heated and hungry were the only two words she could think of to describe the intensity in his voice. And the sound caused her body to react in swift unadulterated arousal. Her nipples hardened, her stomach tensed and her sex pulsed while she turned to face him with bated breath. Josh had taken off his shirt and now stood in front of her in his wet jeans. His biceps flexed while he kept his hands down by his sides—as if it took supreme effort to do so.
His jaw muscle flexed as he reached out and ran his finger across a nipple through her thin dress. Soaking wet, the material clung to her skin, and without a bra, the combination did nothing to hide her pink nipples underneath.
“I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight in my life,” he whispered as he clasped her around her upper back and pulled her to him to clamp his mouth over the hardened bud he’d just touched.
Sabrina arched her back and dug her fingers into his shoulders as he bit down on the cloth-covered dark pink bud, then sucked it into his mouth.
Sliding his thigh between hers, he moved his lips to her jaw and slowly unzipped the zipper on the back of her dress. The distinctive sound only seemed to accentuate the heated silence in the stables.
As Josh’s lips found hers once more, he pushed the straps of her sundress down her arms, then to her waist.
While she shrugged out of her dress, Josh rubbed his thumbs across the taut peaks. The hard-working, rough surface of his fingers grazing across her sensitive nipples distracted her, setting her on a ragged edge.
Sabrina moved close to his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck, purposefully rubbing her breasts against the hard surface. The warm, taut skin stretched over his well-defined muscles pressing against her only made her want more. Clasping his neck tight, she lifted herself and wrapped her legs around his waist.
Josh grabbed her rear and squeezed while his teal green gaze seemed to penetrate straight to her soul. “I want to be inside you so bad I can’t think straight.”
Smiling, she threaded her fingers through his thick, wet hair and kissed him.
Josh returned her kiss, his tongue stroking deep inside until their breathing turned choppy. He set her down beside Ace, his voice tight, “Turn around.”
Excited by this barely controlled side of Josh, Sabrina turned around.
When Josh lifted her hands and clasped them around the horse’s saddle horn, she wondered what he was doing. She had to elevate her heels off the ground a bit to get a full grip. Expecting Josh to slide her underwear down, she was surprised when he slowly unwound Ace’s reins from the post. As he began to wind the leather straps around her hands on the saddle, her heart rate kicked up to a thunderous rhythm.
“What are you doing?” She glanced up at him nervously as he leaned over her to complete his task. She’d tried to keep her tone calm, even though she felt far from it.
After he’d cinched the reins into a knot around her hands, Josh only gave her a wicked smile before he patted Ace on the neck and commanded, “Hold boy.”
“Josh!” she began, getting a bit anxious. “I’m not—”
He pressed his back to hers once more, then cupped her breasts in his hands while he kissed her neck and said, “Shhh, baby.” Aroused tension filled the air as he slid a hand down her hip then gave a hard tug on her underwear, ripping the wispy material right off her body.
Goose bumps formed on her arms and her nipples tightened. His fierceness lit her on fire. She couldn’t help but squirm when he skimmed his fingers up her spine and said in a knowing tone, “You like it when you don’t have all the control, don’t you.” It wasn’t a question. It was an assured statement.
She swallowed back her excitement when she felt his knuckles against her ass as he unbuttoned his pants. All the blood in her body rolled straight to her core in a near painful rush.
“I’ve seen the way you react when I’ve held your arms while I thrust inside you. It turns you on.”
In the dimness, Sabrina stared at the stable’s far wall, not wanting to admit he was right. Hell, for that matter, she didn’t even know if he was right. “No, I—”
Josh clasped her hips and rasped against her ear as he nudged her stance further apart with a booted foot. “I want to feel every part of you, Brina. Do I need a condom?” he asked and she felt the press of his erection just outside her wet entrance.
She shook her head. “No, I’m on the pill. Trust goes both ways—”
He entered her as she spoke, a swift, hard, deep thrust. The decadent sensation of being taken from behind caused her to scream out in fulfilled satisfaction. The fact she didn’t have a sure-footed hold while Josh had to bend his knees slightly to accommodate the differences in their heights made her feel protected and cherished. Her suspended-in-the-air position where their bodies joined felt seductively erotic and so very intimate.
Josh stayed buried deep within her as he moved his hands to cup her breasts. Rolling her nipples between his fingers, he applied just the right amount of pressure. Sabrina put her chin to her chest, her breath coming in tiny pants.
“I can touch you anywhere I want,” he said as he slid his palm slowly down her stomach. Once he’d reached the tiny triangle of hair between her legs, he rubbed a finger through it and against her sensitized skin until he found her clit. Circling the hard bit of skin, he finished with a satisfied tone, “And all you can do is come.”
As much as she loved what he was doing to her body, Sabrina couldn’t help but give him some of his own medicine. “If my hands weren’t tied, I’d grab that nice ass of yours and pull you deeper,” she taunted.
Josh groaned and gripped her hips. Tilting her pelvis forward slightly he ground his hips against hers, thrusting upward even deeper. “Like this?”
Sabrina could’ve sworn she saw stars with his aggressive move, but she was determined to let him know how much control she still had. “No, like this,” she sai
d, clenching her inner muscles to contract her walls around his cock.
He tensed behind her, then lowered his head to her shoulder. He didn’t move or say a word. All she could hear was his shallow breathing and the rain hammering the roof above their heads. Seconds ticked by as she waited for him to move.
Then his fingers flexed on her hips, letting her know…she’d gotten to him.
With her last action, Sabrina had made him literally shudder and his knees almost give way. Despite his wet skin, his body broke out in a heated sweat. Josh had a hard time keeping his cool. He’d never felt such bone-deep, body-jarring sensations with anyone else, not like he did with Sabrina. Loving someone as fiercely as he loved her must heighten and intensify the pleasure. He wanted to take his time with her, bring her to peak with his hands first, but seeing her gorgeous naked body like this and discovering more about her responsive nature…damn, he was revved. It was taking all his willpower not to just fuck her senseless like he wanted to.
Finally he gritted out, “I wanted this to last, to draw it out…” He stopped speaking and inhaled and exhaled to keep it together. “I’ve never wanted to just take someone so bad in my life.”
She sucked in her breath, then arched her spine, pushing herself against him. “Go for it, cowboy. I’m more than ready to take all you’re willing to give.”
Josh clenched his jaw as her warm body pressed further into his, as if she somehow hoped to physically fuse her body with him. He’d never felt more connected to another person and the thought rocked him deeply. The softness of her skin, her sweet ass rubbing against him, the arousing smell of sex all around them, hell yeah, she was ready. He held her hips while he withdrew and slammed back inside.
As pleasurable sensations ricocheted throughout his body, he pulled out and thrust in once more, clenching his jaw at the coiled sexual buildup slamming into his groin.
He dropped one hand from her hip to rub her clit while he slid inside her again, this time holding himself deep. When she screamed out and he felt her warm core contracting around his cock, fisting him in a tight glove of renewed wetness, he groaned in pent-up relief.
Josh's Justice, Cowboy Romance (Bad in Boots, Book 4) Page 12