by Alison Paige
“Just do as you’re told. Don’t talk.”
Joe’s brows shot to his hairline, then fell with his sexy smile. “Yes, ma’am. What would you like?”
“Kiss me.”
He shifted forward to stand, but Kate held his shoulders. “No. Not on the mouth.”
Joe leaned back, lowered his gaze to her pussy. His smile widened. “Yes, ma’am.”
He slid his hands up her thighs, his palms rough, still warm from masturbating. “Spread your legs.”
She did and he grabbed the pillow off his lap, threw it then leaned forward, clamping both his hands on her ass. He buried his face against her, his tongue darting out, toying over her clit, firm and moist. Kate’s chest squeezed. She held her breath, her body melting in his hands. Her hips rocked forward on reflex, her muscles tight, desperate for more.
His tongue pushed lower, driving through the sensitive folds, stroking back up to her nub. He suckled her, drinking her in, sweet suction, pulling sensation from every nerve ending in her body. Her hands raked through his hair, fisted, held him to her.
Joe didn’t resist, his vigor increasing with hers. His hand slipped around, cupped her ass between her legs, tracing down between her cheeks to her sex. He plunged his thick, stiff finger inside her. Her muscles squeezed around him as he added another, pushed deeper, drawing hard on her clit.
Sweet, undeniable sensation swamped over her, billowing out from her core. His fingers pumped her sex, like air into a balloon, building the tingling pressure. She was so wet, his strokes and suckling triggering a flood of cream through her pussy. He pulled his fingers out and replaced them with his thumb, his wet fingers cupping around to her anus.
Kate gasped with the feel of his fingers teasing the tight entrance, her body going slick at his touch. His thumb shoved deep into her sex, made her knees weak and her breath catch.
He held her hip steady, suckling her clit, pumping her sex, pushing past the slicked opening of her ass. Her mind spun, her heart thundering in her ears. She bucked her hips, riding his hands, his mouth, forcing his face to her pussy.
“I’m coming… Joe. Yes. Yes.” Everything inside her gathered to a tight, tight ball. She inhaled. Held it. Then suddenly all she held broke free, throbbing through her ass, gushing hot and wet to her pussy, pulsating in the nub of her clit.
She writhed against him, riding the storm of pleasure raging wild through her body. Second by second the razor-sharp sensation ebbed, fading to a warm sated comfort.
Kate opened her hands on Joe’s hair and he kissed along her belly until his dark eyes peered up at her, his chin resting just above her coarse curls. Ridiculously adorable, he made her heart ache for what she couldn’t have.
“You satisfied or do I have to put in some overtime, boss?”
His words sliced through her like a stab of ice. Was he joking? Did he resent what she’d asked him to do? A moment ago she’d have said no. But now? She couldn’t tell. Her mind was spinning, her orgasm too fresh, her emotions too raw. It didn’t matter. Dear lord, she’d just paid a man for sex.
Kate sucked a quick shoring breath, stepped back and picked up her robe. “Actually, I’m good, thanks. Feel free to go back to what you were doing.”
She turned on her heel and strolled back to her room, dragging her heart behind her.
Chapter Eleven
“You didn’t deserve that.”
“Damn straight.” Kate refused to look at Clayton. Staring out the inside office window at nothing. She didn’t want his sad, pretty blue eyes spoiling her righteous indignation.
“Part of me really thought he’d told you already.”
“And a part of you knew he hadn’t.”
Clayton didn’t confirm or deny. “Sorry.”
“Forget it.”
She’d actually gotten over Clayton’s accidentally-on-purpose slip about Joe working for her father shortly after he’d walked away. He wasn’t the one she was angry with—just the easier target. Paying Joe to perform sex acts was all her doing.
“So it’s over between you two?”
Kate looked over her shoulder to see Clayton still sitting at the desk. He leaned with his forearms in front of him, his hands bending and twisting a paperclip beyond recognition.
“I don’t know. Yeah. I guess.” Her stomach twisted. “Not sure there was ever anything real between us to begin with.”
“’Cause he lied to you.”
“That’ll do it.” She shuffled over to the chair on the other side of the desk and dropped.
“If he hadn’t?” Clayton swung his eyes to her, peering beneath his favorite cowboy hat with the rim curled tight toward the center on either side. “How serious was it, Kate? Did you really… Did you fall for him?”
“Doesn’t matter. Like you said, he was paid to be here. That changes everything.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Kate sat forward. “Why are you asking?”
His face flushed and he looked away. “I just need to know.”
A cold shudder tickled down her spine. Her belly rippled. Joe’s insistence about Clayton and the things Clayton had said that day made her dread his possible reasons.
She smiled, trying to lighten the tension. “It’s kind of weird discussing my love life with my brother.”
“Knock it off, Kate. I’m not your brother. We aren’t kids anymore.”
“Clayton…”
“Stop.” His gaze collided with hers, held it. “I can’t do this, Kate. It’s tearing me up.”
“What is? Clayton, you’ve seen me with other men before. What’s with you?”
He shook his head. “It’s different this time. I can see it in your eyes. The way you look at him. Even when he’s not around it’s there.”
Kate sat back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s just a guy.” Her throat constricted on the words. Her eyes stung. She pushed the reaction from her mind.
“Then say it’s over. Not because he hurt you, but because it didn’t mean anything to you.”
“What difference does it make?” Kate said.
“Can you say it?”
“Why?”
“Because I need to know I haven’t lost you.”
Shit. “What?”
Clayton pushed to his feet, strode around the desk and scooped Kate up from the chair. Her hands bracing on his chest were all that kept her from being pulled completely into his arms.
He held her waist, his other hand tenderly brushing flyaway strands from her eyes. He ran his fingers down the side of her face then cupped her jaw. A rush of tingles washed over her body.
“I’m not asking you to marry me or professing undying love. I just… Just consider me.” Clayton’s short, towhead blond hair, bright eyes and rock-hard farm-boy body were enough to cream the panties of most women he met. His features were chiseled and had sparked the interest of two modeling agencies in the past. He’d turned them both down when they told him he’d likely be asked to pose naked at some point. He wasn’t that kind of guy.
Kate wasn’t oblivious to his looks, but Clayton had always kept a distance. “I’ve never thought of you that way.”
“So, start.”
“Why now? Why the sudden full-court press?”
He dropped his hand to her waist, his thumbs stroking her sides. “I still remember the day I saw your skinny butt get off that bus in Pittsburgh. Did you know it was my idea for Dad to give you a job? To bring you here rather than a shelter. He thought I was being altruistic. I was eighteen and horny.”
“That was fourteen years ago. You’ve never even made a pass.”
“Didn’t want to scare you off. You were such a little thing.”
“I was sixteen.”
“You were a baby. Your father had messed with your head. You were alone, vulnerable. You needed taken care of, protected. You needed time.”
“I don’t anymore?” she asked.
“Time’s running out. I’m going to lose you. I always figured you a
nd I would come together eventually, when the time was right. But when I saw Joe, saw the way you looked at him, I thought I’d waited too long. Have I?”
Kate swallowed, staring into those shining blue eyes. Her heart hammered a mile a minute. Her throat went dry. She slid her hands to his biceps, allowed him to nudge her closer.
Clayton was more than any woman could ask for—never mind his looks. He was kind, intelligent and honorable. He’d never hurt her, never lie or mislead her. There’d be no surprises. The only time he’d kept anything from her was when he’d learned the truth about Joe and even then he’d kept quiet to protect her.
He knew her better than anyone. He’d seen the good and the bad, and still welcomed her into a family she’d desperately needed. He was safe. Unlike Joe, Clayton had wanted her, to keep, from the start. Now more than ever that was a comfort she couldn’t ignore.
Kate smiled, still trying to lighten his somber mood. “Clayton, we’ve never even kissed.”
“I can fix that.” His fingers crawled around her waist, gathering her closer to his body. His lids lowered, his gaze dropping to her lips. He leaned to her mouth and Kate’s belly rolled. A moment before they touched she changed her mind. But then it was too late. They were kissing.
His mouth was warm and moist. He tasted like bread or white rice, not unappealing but not especially memorable. His lips were strong, driving the kiss, his tongue sweeping into her mouth predictably. Muscles bunched under her hands, his arms tightening around her, not feverously but expectedly. His body was hard against her, his chest muscled and warm, his stomach and groin a comfortable, if flat, press to hers.
Clayton broke the kiss abruptly. His head cocking back for a better view without loosening his hold on her. “You’re not trying.”
“Yes I am.”
“Give me a chance, Kate.”
Kate exhaled. She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him again.
White rice and comfort, no sparks, no body-melting heat. It was nice, like chicken soup and crocheted blankets—safe. Then his hand slid to her ass and squeezed. Kate gasped against his mouth and Clayton nipped her tongue, then suckled. Just like that heat stirred low in her body, her nipples tingling. She shifted her hips on reflex and Clayton’s body roused to life.
They were man and woman, the parts would fit, but Kate’s heart wasn’t where it needed to be and she suspected neither was Clayton’s. She broke the kiss, separated the press of their bodies. “I’m sorry. It’s not working, Clayton. It can’t.”
“It can. Maybe not fireworks and shooting stars but that’ll come in time.”
“I don’t think so. I don’t want to lose you either, but I can’t pretend to feel something I don’t. You deserve better. We both do.”
Clayton dropped his forehead to hers, his hat nudging back. “Maybe it’d be different if we had been raised together from birth. Maybe we’d know where we fit with each other. Something would feel right. Nothing does now. I don’t know.”
“I’m not Amy, Clay. Even if we were raised together from infancy, you wouldn’t feel for me the same way you did for her.”
“I know that.” He straightened. His tone was sharp. She’d expected as much. The subject of Clayton’s sister was a complicated, tender topic. Kate let it go.
“How about we stop trying to label it and just be? I’ll be in your life and you stay in mine. And in forty years if neither of us is married…we’ll buy a cat together.”
A smile flickered at the corners of his lips. He snorted. “A cat?”
“Yeah. Old ladies love cats and old men love pussy.”
“I get it.” They laughed, forcing the weighty tension between them to dissipate. “Was the kiss really that bad?”
She wrinkled her nose in a mock grimace. “You tell me.”
Clayton shrugged and opened his mouth to answer.
“Looked cozy enough to me.”
Kate and Clayton parted, turning to see Joe leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb, his arms crossed over the Superman emblem on his snug gray T-shirt.
“How long have you been standing there?” Kate asked.
“Long enough.” His dark eyes slid to Clayton. “Nice ass?”
Clayton folded his arms, unrepentant. “As a matter of fact.”
Joe gave a half nod, scowl securely in place. “Right.”
Gawd, he looked good, effortlessly sexy. He hadn’t shaved today and Kate’s hand itched to scratch her nails over the bristle of stubble. His hair was a casual muss, black shiny waves over his brow and down to his collar. Kate’s heart skipped. Liquid warmed her sex, memories of those soft lips nuzzling her pussy making it hard to breathe.
“What are you doing in here, Joe?” she asked.
“My job.”
Clayton dropped his arms. “You think she needs protection from me?”
“I go where she goes.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Besides as you can see, Clayton’s here. You don’t have to stay so close.”
He looked at her, his eyes like black ice. “Right. Know if I’ll be puttin’ in overtime again tonight, boss lady?”
Kate’s face flamed hot, her ears burning. She couldn’t look at him. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Understood.” He pushed straight, the deep creases across his brow softening. “Be out here if you need me.”
“Fine.” She watched him walk several stalls down to lean against the opposite wall where he could still keep an eye on the door.
“You have fallen for him.”
Kate blinked and looked at Clayton. “Wha? No. Why do you say that?”
“Christ, Kate, your whole face lights up when you look at him.” Clayton shuffled back a step as though dazed. “Your entire being changes. I can see it. Anyone could.”
“Clayton…” Heat washed over her cheeks and up through her ears. She looked back to Joe.
A group of counselors huddled together talking and laughing a few feet from Joe. Craft hour for the campers meant free time for most of the staff. They ignored Joe for the most part, but it was Ginny who finally walked over and leaned against the stall wall next to him. Her breast pressed against his biceps. Joe had his hands in his front pockets. He dropped his gaze, stared at her chest for several seconds, then raised his eyes to Ginny.
Kate couldn’t hear what he said, but Ginny’s bright smile faltered. She straightened. Nodded. Then returned to the group. Joe’s dark eyes swung to Kate, his expression tight, unreadable.
Clayton watched through the office windows. “Him too. He’s just as hung up on you. If you both weren’t so bullheaded…” He looked back to Kate. “What happened?”
She shrugged, trying for nonchalance. “Nothing. I hired him. That’s all.”
A flash of light caught the corner of her eye. Kate looked across the aisle to the tack room. The door was open, the room dark. “Did you see that?”
“No. What’d you mean you hired him? How? For what?”
“I asked him to quit working for my father and work for me instead. He’s still my bodyguard except now, I’m paying him.”
Clayton’s white-blond brows shot high. “Oh. Wow. That’s…”
“Awkward.”
“Yeah.”
Another flash from the direction of the tack room and Kate turned in time to see a blur of movement at the darkened doorway.
“Now that I saw,” Clayton said.
Kate glanced down the aisle to Joe. He was already striding toward the tack room. Clayton was through the office door in front of Kate, a half stride behind Joe. Just before they reached the tack-room door, someone sprinted out.
Joe and Clayton gave chase, but Joe was closer. His long reach snagged the back of the runner’s shirt collar a few feet outside the stable entrance. Joe yanked him around to face Kate.
“Frank,” she said.
Joe fisted his collar high so Frank’s shirt hiked up, pulling at the pits of his arms. He’d lost his ratty cowboy hat in the sprint. His prison-short hai
r, round features and pronounced underbite made him seem acutely devious.
Frank squirmed. “Le’go. Le’go. You’re gonna rip my dang shirt.”
“Camera.” Joe held out his hand.
“Screw you. I ain’t got no camera. Lemme go.”
Joe yanked his shirt higher.
“Hey, hey. Okay, wait a sec.” Frank pulled a silver camera about the size of a wallet from his back pocket and slapped it into Joe’s hand. “Don’t break it. It’s new.”
Joe glanced at it, front and back, then handed the camera to Clayton.
Clayton made short work of figuring how to operate it. “He’s got pictures of the damage to the tack room and of you, me…” He flicked his attention to Frank, his eyes turning to ice. “And Kate.”
Something in Joe’s face changed, turned cold, emotionless, deadly. Kate shuddered at the stark, lightning-fast transformation. Without warning Joe whirled the dangling Frank around and shoved him hard against the side of the barn.
Frank hit with a loud thud against the wood. “Uhff.”
Joe had a hold of him again before he could recover, flipping him around, pinning him with an iron hand to his chest. “Explain.”
“Get off me.” Frank tried to push away from the wall, but he couldn’t budge Joe’s leveraged hold.
“Explain the pictures. Why?” Joe asked.
“It’s a free country, asshole,” Frank said. “I can take all the pictures I want and I ain’t gotta tell you dick.”
Clayton planted himself next to Joe, feet wide, thick muscled arms knotted over his chest. He gave a nod toward the dark purplish bruise shading across Frank’s nose and under both eyes. “That your handy work?”
“Yeah,” Joe said, brows tight.
“Feel good?”
“Hell yeah.”
“Figured.” Clayton spoke to Frank. “This is private property. You’re trespassing.”
“Nu-uh. I’m here on business.”
“What business?” Joe asked.
Frank dug into his back pocket again and pulled out a neatly folded paper. “Delivered ten rounds of hay. See?”
Joe ignored the paper he waved, his eyes cold on Frank.
Clayton snagged the thin rustling sheet. “Sales receipt. He’s telling the truth.”