RopedHitchedandLassoed

by Ann Jacobs

  “Then you need to learn to cook.”

  That sounded like a command, but he squelched a smartass comeback. “Want to teach me?”

  “It’ll cost you.”

  His freedom? He was ready to give that up. Money? He had plenty of that, but so did she. “I think I can pay the price.”

  They weren’t talking about a few lessons in her kitchen. He knew it, and he had the feeling she did, too, especially when she stood and gave him the once-over. “We’ll see. I think you need to rest and let those bruises heal. I know I do. Come on.”

  Was she inviting him to fuck her? Matt stood and slid the chair back to the table. Somehow, the idea of letting her have her way with him appealed, even if that meant she was going to tie him to the bed and torture him before…”I’m coming,” he said, enjoying the way her tush filled her jeans as he followed her through the living room and up the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that her cat had silently joined the procession.

  Chapter Three

  “Take off your clothes.”

  Hell, it should have been him ordering her to undress. But it didn’t matter. They’d both be naked in her big, comfy-looking bed soon enough. “Tell me how you want me to do it.”

  She grinned. “Slowly. Make me hot for you. Pretend you’re one of those male strippers who take off their clothes to entertain a crowd of panting women.”

  He could do this. Never mind that exhibition wasn’t his bag and he’d never aspired to be a male stripper. Imagining the beat of a bass guitar, he unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off then flexed the muscles in his chest as he peeled off his T-shirt.”Like this?”

  “Take it off. Take it all off.” She obviously was enjoying his impromptu act. Her tongue darted out and moistened soft lips he longed to taste, to feel on his own lips, his body. His balls felt like they were about to burst, and she hadn’t touched him yet.

  She’d seen him naked and aroused before. Not just years ago but last night, before he’d walked out on the ménage scene and caught her coming out of Brad’s office. Still, he hesitated once he got rid of his belt and began to shove down his loosened jeans.

  “Mind if I do my socks sitting down instead of dancing?” he asked, glancing over at the bed.

  He loved it when she smiled. “Not at all. I don’t need you getting any more battered and bruised than you already are.”

  Given permission, he sat on the edge of her bed and took off his socks before standing and sliding his jeans and underwear down and off. “What do you want me to do now?”

  Her lips curled in a lascivious smile, and she apparently couldn’t drag her gaze off him. “How about undressing me now?”

  Her looking at him like that had blood slamming to his groin so fast that he felt dizzy. “Sure thing,” he said, reaching for her with every intention of ripping away every stitch she had on.

  She stepped back. “Easy, there. I didn’t say I wanted you to use brute strength. Go easy and maybe you’ll end up getting what you want.”

  He’d get that, all right, even if she teased him into a blind frenzy. Slowly he undid the snaps on her shirt and went to pull it off when the cat leapt up on her shoulder.

  “What the hell?” Matt had wrestled a five-hundred-pound bull calf high on locoweed. No way was he going to let a ten-pound fur ball intimidate him. “Get down, cat,” he ordered.

  The cat hissed. Diana laughed. “He might like it better if you called him by name.”

  “I don’t know his damn name.” The animal’s soft gray fur stood on end and his ears lay back against his head. Snarling, he lashed out at Matt with bared claws. “Ouch, you son of a bitch.”

  Diana reached up and petted the cat. “His name is Blue, short for Blue’s Clues. Don’t frighten him.”

  “Then he shouldn’t be up there scaring me. If it weren’t that I’m afraid he’d claw you, I’d show him who’s boss.”

  She rubbed her cheek against Blue’s. “I’m the boss here, and you’d better not forget it. Here, Blue, make nice to my friend Matt.”

  “You should’ve named him Green.” Blue regarded him quizzically, with eyes that glowed with emerald fire. “His eyes certainly aren’t blue.”

  “It’s his coat. In the cat world, all gray cats are referred to as blue. He’s a Russian Blue, and all Russian Blues have green eyes. Come on, pet him. Show him you’re a friend.”

  Matt’s hand still stung from where Blue had nailed him, but he held it out in surrender. To get to Diana, he obviously had to get through her watch cat. “Good kitty. Come here,” he said as he tentatively scratched Blue under his chin. Blue purred. “I think he likes me.”

  “He likes everybody unless he thinks they’re threatening me. I got him when I was in rehab.” She reached up and took Blue in her arms, snuggling him the way Matt wanted to snuggle up with her. Then she set him on the floor. “Go on, Blue, it’s time for your morning nap. Matt’s not going to hurt me.”

  No, he wouldn’t hurt her. Ever. No matter how much he wanted to rip her clothes off her and taste her from head to toe. No matter how crazy she made him. “May I finish undressing you now?” he asked in his most docile tone, trying to tamp down the urge to take her now—his way. Out of the corner of one eye he watched Blue curl up on a chair by the window and cover his eyes with one paw.

  “Since you ask so nicely, yes.” She raised her head. “No touching, though.”

  His cock throbbed. His balls ached. His fingers shook as he took off her shirt, her jeans—and the flesh-colored scraps of lace that hid almost nothing. He couldn’t help it. Diana was as beautiful as he remembered her, even with the handful of scars on her breasts and belly that hinted at past abuse. As soon as Matt had her naked, he went on his knees and buried his face against her soft pubic curls, inhaled the musk of her arousal. He dug his fingers into his palms so as not to spook her with his desperate need to take charge.

  “Oh, that feels good,” she said when he found her clit and teased it with his tongue. “Come on, let’s get in bed so I can taste you, too.”

  When he imagined how her mouth would feel on his cock, he practically lost it. Instead, he licked her one more time then stood, ready to do her bidding.

  “It looks to me like you want some pussy,” she cooed as she stretched out across the bed, her head resting on his belly. “That will have to wait. I want to suck your big, hard cock first.”

  “Feel free.” He’d take it as long as he could. Her warm breath tickled his cock head before she opened her mouth and took him in. “Oh, yeah. Like that.” It took a lot of effort not to come then and there, especially when she wrapped her hands around the base of his cock and squeezed him. The pressure built in him but he tamped down his lust, concentrating instead on other emotions that had lain dormant for years and deepened by events beyond his control.

  Love. He’d never stopped loving her. Fury for what she’d put herself through to feed her need to submit sexually. Frustration that in getting cured, she now couldn’t see submitting to him. He tried not to heed the urgent message from his body, to take this slow and show her he was hers for the taking.

  God, but it was hard. “Sweetheart, I can’t take much more. Please.” Please fuck me now. Please quit driving me past sanity. Please trust me and let me make love to you the way I need to. Please,” he croaked again, “please stop.”

  If she didn’t, he was going to come in her mouth when where he wanted to be was inside her hot, wet cunt. The way he’d been twenty-two years ago when he claimed her virginity with his own. He was about to lose it when she raised her head and lapped the drop of lubrication that had settled on the tip of his cock.

  “Mmmm.” Gracefully, she rose and straddled him, rubbing his cock head along her slit before inserting it in her cunt and lowering herself onto him. “I think you’ve gotten even bigger here.”

  He didn’t know or care. All that mattered now was her heat enveloping him, the delicious friction when she moved up and down, slowly then faster. She’d
better not want him to wait much longer before giving him permission to come.

  Instinctively he reached out for her waist, wanting to direct her movement. “No. Not yet.”

  He understood from the panic in her voice that she wasn’t ready to hand over control of their lovemaking. That was okay. He laid his arms out, the way they’d be if she’d tied them to the headboard. “I’m not moving. Take what you need.”

  When his words sank in, she smiled. “Thank you.” Then she moved on him again, her tight pussy milking his cock. He didn’t know why, but not being able to touch her anywhere else heightened the sensation of them fucking. Determined to hold out until she took her fill of him, Matt caressed her with his gaze, imprinting her on his memory now, replacing the nostalgic images he’d carried with him through the years.

  God, but she was still every bit as beautiful as she’d been when they were kids. Still as soft and sweet-smelling, as giving. Her pale skin glistened as she moved on him, varying the tempo, making memories that were brand-new yet colored by the long-ago past they’d shared. She bit her lip, as though holding back from saying whatever it was she had on her fertile mind. He hoped it was him, the feel of his cock throbbing in her hot, wet cunt as she hurried up the pace, slammed into him harder.

  She tossed her head. Her expression tightened, and sweat beaded on her forehead. She licked her lips. Her cunt tightened on him like a vise. “Now. Come for me.”

  It was as though a thousand rockets burst in his head when she screamed out her pleasure. God himself couldn’t have stopped him from coming. “God, sweetheart, I love you,” he muttered, shooting wave after wave of hot, slick seed into her spasming cunt. He barely remembered her fear, his promise not to touch her.

  But he kept still. His restraint paid off when she snuggled up beside him and said, “You may hold me now.” When he stroked her back, the raised scars there made him clench his teeth so as not to spoil the afterglow.

  * * * * *

  When she woke several hours later, Diana slipped out of bed. Funny how she’d slept so well with Matt in her bed, when she usually tossed and turned so much that Blue had taken to sleeping on the lounge chair by the window. He was still there, one eye half open as if he were looking over her and Matt while they slept. Careful not to wake Matt, whose chest and arms were sporting some nice bruises where her calf had nailed him, she got up and grabbed a robe.

  It was getting colder. Fast, she realized when she looked at the clock and saw it was hardly past noon. When she went to turn up the thermostat, she glanced out the window. Snow was coming so hard and fast, she couldn’t even see the barn.

  Apparently Nature was taking care of that locoweed she’d been planning to send a crew up to eradicate.

  “Hey, where’d you go?” Matt sounded surprised, not angry. “You were doing a great job keeping me warm. Is that snow coming down, or are my eyes playing tricks on me?”

  “It’s snow. Looks like the start of a blizzard. If you need to get home to take care of your stock, you probably should do it now.”

  “I have a ranch manager who takes care of that. Got him when I inherited the place while I was still playing football out east. If you can use an extra hand here, I’ll stay.”

  He shot her a playful grin. “I really hate to leave, in case you should need me to warm your bed.”

  He had a nerve! Still, she didn’t want him to go. She’d miss him terribly if he left.

  “If you want to warm my bed, you’re gonna have to dress and help me make sure the wranglers get all the cattle to safety in the barns. Come on, get the lead out.”

  “Yes, Mistress. One thing for sure, you’ve learned to give orders.”

  She only wished the hired help obeyed her as well as Matt did. “What I need right now is for you to go with me and make sure my help does what I say. They’re not nearly as obedient as you.”

  “Okay.” He got up and pulled on his clothes. “You want me to be your enforcer, then?”

  “You could say that.” His smile warmed her more than the long johns and clean jeans she put on. “Stupid cowboys don’t seem to think a woman can give them orders, especially since I was away so long.”

  Grinning, he handed her the socks he’d taken off her and suggested she might put them on when she started shoving her bare feet into a pair of roper boots. “I have a way of commanding respect, except from you. Comes from being six foot six and two hundred sixty pounds.”

  She doubted that. There was a lot more about Matt Rogers than size that made men hesitate to cross him. An inner strength, a strong sense of chivalry. And a sense of protectiveness toward weaker people that made her pretty confident he not only would take care of her against potential bullies, but also would protect her from himself.

  “Come on now. You know you’re nothing but a great big pussycat.” Smiling, she patted Blue and headed out the door.

  Chapter Four

  By the time they’d satisfied themselves that the stock was being taken care of, snow lay three feet deep in the barnyard with some drifts already over Diana’s head. It was still coming down strong, no sign of letting up anytime soon. Diana had gotten no arguments from the ranch hands about how she wanted the stock sheltered. She hadn’t expected to with Matt scowling at them over her shoulder. Yeah, size did matter to a bunch of itinerant cowboys.

  Despite the cold wind that swirled around them and blew snow into treacherous drifts, she laughed out loud. Her pussy twitched when she thought how tight a fit Matt’s cock had been. Apparently size mattered to her, too. “Ready to go inside?” she asked.

  “I’m always ready,” he whispered in her ear, tickling her with his warm breath as it evaporated against her icy skin. “Want me to carry you?”

  A long time ago she’d have giggled and thrown her arms around his neck, but life had made her wary.”I can walk, thank you.” She noticed how he shortened his steps so she could follow in his tracks. Oh, how she wished…

  Wishing didn’t cut it. Diana accepted that she needed his strength, and also his willingness to let her maintain control. Control over the ranch hands as well as his big body when they made love. As she watched Matt shed his gloves, jacket and boots inside her mudroom, she saw Blue twining around his legs. She might not have given Matt her entire trust, but apparently her cat had. He followed them into the kitchen and nibbled at the cat food in his bowl by the sink.

  Matt stood by the window, watching the snow swirl wildly in the wind. “I called up at my place and asked my housekeeper to send me a change of clothes. One of my ranch foremen should be coming on a snowmobile any minute.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s freezing cold outside, and I like having clean, dry clothes. You don’t mind, do you?”

  She did and she didn’t. While his presence gave her confidence, it also made her feel dangerously dependent, especially when she pictured him wandering around naked, tempting her beyond resistance while a blizzard raged all around them. “I guess not. Your man may have to stay here. The storm’s getting worse, not better.”

  “That’s understood. He’ll stay in the barn with Midnight. That way he can keep an eye on your stock, too. It looks like we may be stuck here for a while.” He held his hands over the stove, close to her yet giving her the space she needed. “Can you use some help? I could call back and have him bring a few wranglers. I have more than I need.”

  “Not really. As long as they know they’ve got you to answer to, the cowboys will do their jobs. Cookie will fix grub for the men. I just need to keep us fed.” She leaned back, rested the back of her head against his rock-solid chest. “Coffee and some more of that stew sound all right for lunch?”

  “Yeah. And maybe a piece of that cake you mentioned.” When he nuzzled her hair, he sent shivers down her spine. She loved it, the desire that overwhelmed her fear and made her want to drag him back to bed.

  * * * * *

  Matt stretched when he got up from the table. His bumps and bruises were hurting now, an
d he had no doubt Diana was suffering, too. “I’ll get the door,” he said when he heard a loud knock over the storm’s roar.

  When he came back, he joined Diana on the couch and gazed at the fire in the grate. “Do you have enough wood to keep this going?”

  “On the porch. Brad and Jared brought it over last week, after they cut down a dead tree close to Jared’s barn.”

  “Good.” When Blue jumped up between them and started to purr, he reached down to pet him and collided with Diana’s hand. “I think he likes to see us together.”

  She glanced up at him. “Seems like he does. You know, Blue’s been my best friend since Brad brought him to me. He found him at a cat rescue place in Denver. His original owner had died a few weeks before Brad got him for me.”

  Her tone was wistful. Matt covered her hand with his. “I think he knows I want to be here for you, too.”

  “Maybe. What’s in that big duffel bag?” She had to be desperate, starting a conversation about his clothes.

  “Some jeans and shirts. Underwear. Some cold-weather gear. No way did I want to wear anything your ex might have left lying around.” It wasn’t the time or place to show her the bag of toys he’d had his housekeeper pack.

  “You wouldn’t have found anything of Gareth’s. I had it all burned. Brad and Jared took care of that chore for me since I was in the hospital, but they brought me pictures of the bonfire.” She curled her fingers around his, almost as though she trusted him.

  “Besides, none of his stuff would have fit you. He only seemed omnipotent to me because he had me under his boot heel. You—any big, powerful man for that matter—could have torn him apart without breaking a sweat.”

  Matt wished he could soothe the hurt that was still evident in Diana’s voice, in the defensive way she slumped her shoulders. “I should have, the first time I came home and heard how he abused you. I will, if he ever comes near you again.”