by Sable Hunter
Clare melted. She would give him the world if she could. How could she deny him a kiss? Sliding to her knees in front of him she threw her arms around his neck, crushing her lips to his. Nathan wrapped her close in his strong, warm embrace and returned her kiss as if his very life depended on it. He tasted so good – like love and chocolate. How could she resist?
Without thinking, she reached for his belt. Life was short and within her reach was all she’d ever wanted. This man. This one man was her heart’s desire. Maybe she couldn’t have him forever – but there was nothing stopping her from having him now.
He groaned as she lowered the zipper of his jeans. Romy wanted him. She loved him. He knew she did. He could feel it. Losing himself in her kiss, Nathan didn’t need to know anything more.
Clare clung to him, her body flooding with warmth. With need. When he framed her face, his tongue stroking hers, she began tearing at the buttons on his shirt. “Touch me, Nathan. I need you.”
“You’ve got me, Romy. God, I missed you. I missed this.” He kissed a fiery path down her neck, his hands pulling up the bottom of her sweater. His breath was silky heat against her skin.
She let her head fall back as he nuzzled and nipped her throat. “This feels so good.”
“Raise your arms.” He lifted her sweater over her head to pull it off. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”
She helped him remove her bra, then pushed the sides of his shirt wide apart. “Hold me close.” When he did, they both moaned as their bare chests touched. She pressed against him as hard as she could, loving how her nipples nudged against his hard muscles. Joining her mouth to his once more, she kissed him as if she’d never stop…as if this moment could go on and on.
Needing more access to her sweet body, Nathan scattered some pillows on the floor and eased her down to lie on them. Quickly, they removed the remainder of their clothes, then sighed as they lay together – touching from head to toe.
Clare gasped as his hands moved greedily over her body, setting her skin ablaze. When his palms settled over her breasts, she moaned with relief. As he played with her nipples, she wrapped her hand around his cock and fisted it up and down. “You’re so hot.”
“I’m desperate, that’s what I am.”
He pulled her over on top of him and Clare made herself at home. She straddled his manhood and rode it, letting her clit slide up and down his shaft. “Do you like that?” she asked, moving quicker, her hands tangled in his hair.
“I love it. I love you.” He sucked on her tongue as she plunged it in his mouth, still grinding her soft femininity over his aching cock.
As her pleasure rose, Clare couldn’t wait another second. “I need you inside me. Now,”
Nathan didn’t delay. He urged her to sit up enough so he could guide his aching cock inside her delicious heat.
“No, I need to feel you on top of me. Please.”
“Anything.” He gently reversed their positions and they both groaned as he slid deep.
Clare clung to him as he rocked against her. “More. Harder, please!”
Nathan gave her what she needed. Driving. Pumping. Moving in and out of her as she wrapped her legs around his hips, the walls of her sex contracting tightly around him.
Clare closed her eyes in bliss as he impaled her over and over, the heat and friction building with each thrust. She held up her head, offering a kiss and he claimed it, then whispered her name like a prayer.
“Romy. I’ll always give you what you need. Just don’t ask me to leave you.”
She didn’t offer him words, she gave of herself, holding him close while he surged into her. With a passionate cry her body began to sing, pulsing, pleasure radiating from her center to every part of her body. In the next heartbeat, Nathan came, his body erupting in a powerful, billowing wave. She held him while he shook, his cock pulsing inside of her to the beat of his pounding heart. “Nathan, my Nathan,” she mouthed the words, the barest of whispers against his hair.
“Are you okay, my love?” he asked, lifting himself and moving to her side.
“Yea, I’m good. Wonderful, in fact.”
This pleased Nathan to no end. “Glad to hear it.”
“Are you hungry? I had a late lunch, but I could whip you up something.”
Nathan stood up to dress. “No, thank you. As much as I’d like to stay, I have some things to do before I go to bed. Brent and I are leaving before dawn in the morning to take a load of cattle to the sale. On the way back, we have to pick up more grass seed and fertilizer.”
“Drive carefully,” she insisted as she slipped on her own garments.
“Oh, I will. Rest assured.” He picked up Lobo from where he still slept soundly on the couch to place him on the floor. “Thank you for agreeing to the date.”
“It’s only right, I lost the game.” She smiled and shrugged. “I thought you were about to thank me for the sex.”
Nathan didn’t return her smile. “I made love with you and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not playing a game. This is real for me and it’s for keeps.”
“I told you, Nathan…”
He held up his hands as if surrendering. “I know. You need time.”
“Yes.”
Shaking his head in frustration, he captured both of her hands in his. “There’s something keeping us apart and I don’t know what it is. I can’t fix it unless you tell me what I’m fighting.”
Clare eased from his grasp, moving toward the kitchen, her arms wrapped around her middle. “You can’t fix it, I don’t know if anyone can.”
Jerking off his Stetson, he pitched it on the dining room table. “Dammit, Romy! What does that mean? You say cryptic things like that, and I don’t have enough information to rebut them. Please, talk to me!”
Clare stared at his face. She was already hurting him. Could telling him the truth hurt him even more? “Let me think about it.”
Hope lit up his eyes. “You mean it?” When she nodded, he smiled and picked up the pup who was playfully nipping at his heels. “Good. Together, we can fix anything. Two heads are better than one. You’ll see.”
At a loss as to what more to say, Clare just nodded with a slight smile. “I’ll see you Saturday.” She reached out to stroke the coywolf’s fur. “Bye, Lobo. Come back to see me.”
“Oh, he will. He needs to visit in order to make friends with a certain bear. After all, we plan on spending a lot of time together.”
“Yea.” Clare felt like she was about to cry. She wanted to say something encouraging, but she felt like it would be another form of dishonesty. Her sins of omission were piling higher by the minute. “Be safe,” she told him again.
“I will. You take care too.” He gave her one quick kiss, a tip of his black cowboy hat, and he was out the door.
Clare sank down in a chair, winded. She felt like she’d run a marathon. “Okay, time to face the music. What are you going to do, Romy?”
Chapter 15
“I don’t like keeping things from your brothers, Clare.” Ms. Robbins stood with a hand on her hip, glaring sternly at the young woman she’d helped raise. “I don’t mind taking messages for you, playing the go-between, but this is important. You need to tell Mad and Storm about these tests.”
Clare nodded. “Yea, I know. I will. Just let me do it in my own time.” She waved the note in the air. “I’ve been approved for the eval. Of course, this doesn’t mean I’ll qualify.” Her face fell a little. “Dr. Shepherd says the criteria is stringent – but at least I have a chance.” If this ticking time bomb stayed in her chest, she didn’t have much of one at all.
“When’s your appointment?” Ms. Robbins couldn’t help but smile with happiness and hope.
“Next week.”
“You need to tell them before you go. In fact, they’re going to want to go with you.”
“Yea.” She kissed the older woman on her cheek. “Just don’t say anything. I don’t want everybody to know.”
“By everybody, you mea
n Nathan, don’t you?”
Clare frowned at Ms. Robbins. “You see too much.”
“I’m not blind. Besides, I recognized the name right away. It’s the same as the one on all of those packages I mailed for you to Kerrville, Texas. The place where you get that newspaper from.”
“Hush.” She shushed her old friend. “Mad and Storm have ears like an elephant.”
She shook her finger at Clare. “Don’t sell them short. They’re more aware than you give them credit for. Plus, they only have your best interest at heart.” When the last word came out of her mouth, Ms. Robbin’s face crumpled.
“Oh, don’t cry.” Clare patted her on her back. She wished she could assure the older woman everything would be okay, but she couldn’t. “This is good news. Let’s hold on to that right now, okay?”
“Yea.” Ms. Robbins stepped aside to wipe her face with her apron. “I’ll help you stay positive.”
“All of those cookies you bake for me certainly helps on that score.” Clare slipped the note about the appointment into the front pocket of her jeans.
“It’s the least I can do. I wish I could do more. I’d make everything okay for you if I could.”
“I know you would.” She kissed Ms. Robbins on her cheek. “Now, stop crying. Someone will see.” Taking the basket of cookies, she turned to slip out the door. “Luna and I are heading back up the mountain. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow before we head out on our date.”
“Oh, a date.” The older woman clasped her hands together. “I hear wedding bells.”
“No, you don’t.” Clare looked at her sternly. “Not another word on that subject.”
“Whatever you say.” She waved her hands in the air. “My plate is full. I have to get ready for some visiting athlete your brothers invited for the weekend.”
“Oh, okay. Don’t work too hard.”
As Clare hurried to the barn to retrieve Luna, she thought of Nathan. If he were home, she’d be tempted to give him a visit. Knowing how excited she was, it was probably a good thing he was gone to the cattle sale. She’d be too tempted to share the news of her transplant evaluation appointment. “Just a little while longer,” she told herself. “Wait and tell him when you know for sure.” Clare couldn’t help but feel positive. She was young. Surely, fate would be kind. After all, she had someone to live for.
Saturday morning 8:30 am. Sharp.
“Come in.” Clare pushed her hair over her shoulder and grabbed her bag.
“Good morning, beautiful. Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am.” She could see an excited Nathan was ready to be on his way. “This is going to be fun.”
Offering her his arm, he shut the door behind them. “We’ve got a full day ahead of us.”
“We do. I brushed up on my travel brochures so I could be a decent tour guide.”
“Great.” He leaned near to whisper in her ear. “But…it’s not about the sights and scenery.”
“Oh, what is it about?”
“Being with you.”
Clare felt overwhelmed by tenderness and love. “You’re so sweet.”
“I am.” He agreed with a grin. “And I’m addictive too.”
“That you are.” She laughed as he helped her up in the saddle, then pulled himself up to sit behind her. “Oh, I like this.”
“Me too.” He put his arms around her. “If you lay your head back on my shoulder, I can steal a kiss or two along the way.”
“Good idea.” She did as he asked, then glanced up into his face. “I’m glad to see you this morning.”
“I’m glad to see you too.” He stole one of those kisses he warned her about. “You’re in a good mood.”
“I am.” Clare couldn’t deny it. “So, what’s first?”
“Well, while you change clothes, I’m going to speak to your brothers about the check from the auction barn that should be hitting their account. If they’re around, that is.”
“I think they have company. A swimmer, or a long-distance runner. I forget.”
“That’s right. Sandy Peterson, she’s a swimmer, an Olympic hopeful. She was visiting Tebow the same night your brothers offered me a job.”
“Oh, okay. Nice. I’m sure she and FEVER will be a winning combination.”
“Yea.” He was more concerned with their plans. “Once you’re ready, we’ll head out. I thought we’d go to Florence first and check out the museum, then catch the other things on the way back. Our reservations for dinner aren’t until eight tonight.”
“Sounds amazing.”
Nathan studied her gorgeous profile. “Are you sure? The museum might bore you.”
“Not at all. I love stuff like that. It’ll be great.”
Reassured, Nathan clicked his tongue. “Get along, Buck. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
…A brief time later, Nathan handed Buck over to Brent. “Thanks for taking care of him.”
“Glad to.” He pointed to Clare who was making her way across the yard. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full.”
“Not a problem, believe me,” he said with a grin as he hurried along after his Romy. “Hey, wait up.”
On his way to join her, another voice sounded loud and clear.
“Nathan McCoy! It’s so good to see you, honey!”
Faster than he could realize what was happening, a woman launched herself at him. Nathan caught her – barely. He didn’t get a chance to say ‘boo’ before the stranger began covering his face with kisses. “Hold on. Wait.”
“I’ve waited long enough. When I got your message, I made it here as fast as I could.” With those confusing words, she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a big kiss right on his lips.
Across the way, Clare had seen enough. Whirling around, she ran into the house. Humiliated, hurt, and sizzling with jealousy.
“See? I told you. She’s pea green with jealousy and mad as an old wet hen.” Maddox Connelly announced from behind Nathan, sounding very pleased with himself.
“Hell, Mad. This is not cool. Worst timing in the world.” He let the woman slide to her feet. “Look, I’m sorry.” He offered his hand to shake. “Forgive me, Ms. Peters.”
“No, forgive me.” She glared at Mad as she touched Nathan’s fingers briefly. “Someone led me to believe this was necessary.”
“Hey, just trying to help!” Mad shrugged.
“I don’t think that’s what happened.” He nodded at Sandy. “I don’t mean to be rude…but I gotta go!” After giving his boss a glare of his own, Nathan took off after Romy.
…In her old room, Romy slung her bag on the bed, then turned around and locked the door. She didn’t know if Nathan would come after her or if he was otherwise detained – but if he did come, she wasn’t interested in anything he had to say.
…Hurrying into the main house through the kitchen door, Nathan let out a yell. “Romy! Romy! Where are you?”
Ms. Robbins shook her head in disappointment, then raised a finger to point upward.
“Thanks.” Heading through the dining room, he made for the front staircase. “Romy! Let me explain!”
Hearing him, Storm came hurrying from his office. “What is all the racket?”
Not stopping, Nathan answered while he climbed the stairs. “You and your brother’s ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ plan backfired. Spectacularly. Everything was going great until I got ambushed – right in front of Romy.”
“Oh, hell.” Storm stood at the base of the stairs. “Sorry.”
“Romy!” Nathan yelled again. “Where would she be?” he asked her brother over his shoulder.
“Her old room. End of the hall.”
Nathan couldn’t believe his foul luck. How in the hell had he let this happen? Finding the door, he knocked lightly. “Romy. Please!”
“Go away.”
“Not on your life. You’ve got to listen to me.”
“No, I don’t. There’s nothing you have to say I want to hear.”
“
Look, I can explain. I don’t know that woman.”
A scoffing laugh could be heard through the door. “Oh, right. She certainly greeted you like a stranger.”
“It’s true. We’ve never even been introduced.”
“Likely story. Of course, we’d never been introduced either – but you came on to me like a steamroller.”
“That’s different and you know it.” Nathan looked around to see Storm approaching. “Tell her!”
“He’s right, honey,” Storm began to explain. “This wasn’t his doing. Knowing how you feel about him, Mad and I – mostly Mad – suggested that Nathan…”
Storm didn’t get a chance to finish before Clare threw open the door. “Knowing how I feel?” She stared at her brother with wide, angry eyes. “How dare you! You don’t know anything!”
Storm backed up a notch. “Okay, okay.”
“What did you suggest?” Before he could answer, she turned on Nathan. “You went to them for advice?”
“No. I didn’t.”
“He didn’t, but we were trying to help. We suggested Nathan try to make you jealous.”
“Jealous?” She felt her cheeks reddening in embarrassment and shame. “How could you do this to me?”
Storm continued to speak low and slow. “After the blizzard, we told him not to give up – that we were rooting for him.”
He knew Storm was trying to pacify his sister, but Nathan was mighty afraid he was making things worse.
“I can’t believe this,” Clare muttered. “What a stupid stunt.”
“Do you believe me?” Nathan asked, searching her face for a sign of forgiveness.
“Yea, knowing my brothers like I do, yea.” She hung her head. “Now, will you both give me some peace?”
She started to shut the door, but Nathan stepped in before she got the chance. “Romy, please don’t let this spoil our day.”
Clare pressed her palms over her cheeks. She couldn’t believe how upset she’d become. “I’m sorry. I made a fool out of myself.”
“Nonsense.” Nathan rubbed her upper arms as if trying to warm her up. “I was the one who looked foolish. That poor woman thought she was doing me a favor and I almost dropped her on her…”