Because, son-of-a-bitch, that was exactly what he wanted to do then…and now. He was living dangerously just being in the same room with her. She was trouble.
He was having the hardest time concentrating on what she was saying as he watched her sweet lips move, remembering how they’d tasted. Remembering how damned incredible they’d felt devouring him.
Shit.
That wasn’t helping him. He ripped his gaze from her mouth, stared down at his plate, and frowned. Jesus, it was empty and he barely remembered eating the bacon cheeseburger she’d grilled while he’d taken a quick shower.
Get a damn grip, man.
Her ability to knock him off balance, to obliterate his control was a huge issue. It had to stop. He couldn’t…wouldn’t give in to his attraction to her. She was Drew’s widow for Christ’s sake.
His stomach knotted. How could his buddy have been so damn foolish?
Haley had been a loyal, trustworthy wife to Drew. She’d supported her husband. Never would’ve betrayed him or given him cause to worry, especially during deployment. He’d been so damn envious of their relationship. Why the hell had his friend jeopardized it?
You could have it now, his mind insisted.
But he wasn’t looking for a woman. Didn’t want that complication. Hell, he was still dealing with issues from that last mission. If he’d done his job better. If he’d been…more…then he wouldn’t be sitting at this table now. Drew would be here helping his wife, not Cord.
Didn’t matter now. That was all in the past. He was there to fulfill his promise to Drew to take care of Haley. Only, it wasn’t just for Drew, was it? No. It was for himself, too. He liked Haley. There, he admitted it. He liked her. She was a good woman, and he wanted to help her out.
Even if she was stubborn as hell.
That afternoon he’d told her she could let the stall go and work in the new barn, setting up the stalls there, away from the muck, and the spiders, and heavy lifting. She’d hit him with a surly brown gaze that had as much as said, “Like hell, pal.” No way was she going to leave before finishing the one she’d started.
Admiration seeped into his chest and straightened his spine. Typical Haley. Responsible. Hard headed. Beautiful.
He stilled. Not the path his thoughts needed to head.
“So, how many vets are at your ranch now?”
A safe subject. One he liked to talk about.
He lifted his gaze, finding hers filled with genuine interest. “Twenty-three,” he replied. “Nineteen men, four women.”
“Women?” Her brows rose. “Where do they all stay?”
“In separate barracks.”
“Barracks? That’s pretty great.” She smiled. “So is what you do for them.”
The approval in her gaze sent a responding warmth through his chest. He nodded, reaching for his water to alleviate his suddenly dry throat.
“I’m sorry I haven’t gotten up there to see it.” Color rose high on her cheeks, amplifying the impact of the honesty in her gorgeous brown eyes. “I feel bad. I hope you all know I think it’s an incredible thing you’re doing.”
What was incredible was the way she regarded him with a rare genuineness that reached to his soul and soaked in like rain in a desert. If he allowed it, if he let her in, she could easily become addicting.
She already was, his mind whispered.
He ignored it.
“Thanks.” He cleared his throat and fought for the control he felt slipping away at a rapid pace.
“Well, I…uh…should clear these dishes and go grab my shower.” Her gaze was hesitant, and heaven help him…heated.
“I’ll take care of the dishes,” he offered. “You go ahead.”
He needed her to leave. Now. Before he cleared the table with a quick brush of his arm to make room for her body.
Damn. What happened to her being off-limits? To not wanting complications?
They seemed to fly out the damn window with one bat of her genuine, honest eyes.
“Okay. If you’re sure.” She rose to her feet, hesitating while she waited for his response.
At that moment, the only thing he was sure of was if she didn’t leave, right then, he wasn’t going to be able to hold onto his dwindling control. His attraction to the woman had never been stronger.
He nodded. “Yep.” And to prove it, he stood and started to gather their dishes, needing to fill his hands with something to prevent him from reaching for her.
“Thanks.” She smiled. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”
He carried his armful to the sink, grateful for the distance. “No rush,” he called over his shoulder, and spent the next ten minutes returning the kitchen back to pre-dinner condition.
It was good to have a purpose. He thrived under those situations, otherwise his mind wandered. But even with a task to do, he still couldn’t completely concentrate with the sound of the shower running just down the hall. His mind kept conjuring up images of Haley soaping up her lush curves, and he now sported the biggest damn hard-on he’d had in years. If not ever.
Before she finished, he needed to get to his bedroom and stay there. At least until she was safely in hers and the temptation was gone.
And just as he neared his door, the one across from it opened and Haley emerged, in a pale blue robe that clearly outlined her mouthwatering nakedness underneath.
Son-of-a-bitch.
He should’ve gone to the damn barn.
“Oh.” She blinked and seemed to have trouble drawing in air.
Like him. Where the hell had all the air gone?
It messed with his head. Hell, his whole damn thought process ceased until his needs became wants and his wants became needs.
“You shouldn’t look at me like that, Cord.”
He watched, mesmerized by the pulse at the base of her neck, pounding out a crazy beat. “Like what?”
Her chest rose on a strangled inhale. “Like you want me as bad as I want you.”
Ah hell. Her words energized the heat flowing through his veins, and when he lifted his gaze and found hers dark with the same fierce need racing through his body, it was too much.
It was too damn fucking much.
“Jesus, Haley, don’t say stuff like that.”
“Even though it’s true?”
“Yes. No…fuck.” He sucked in a breath, but the oxygen arrived to his brain too late.
He had already stepped into her.
Chapter Six
Sandwiched between the wall and Cord’s hot, hard body—a body she’d fantasized about for years—Haley barely dared to breathe or blink in case it was just a dream.
He thrust one hand into her hair while the other palmed the wall near her head. “This is a bad idea.” Those gorgeous green eyes of his were dark with hunger as he lowered his mouth to her jaw and began to kiss a slow, tantalizing path to her ear. “You need to stop me, Haley.”
She knew he was right. What if he found her lacking? God, she’d never survive that. Or what if he sensed her self-doubt and she blurted out the truth about Drew? This was risky. So damn risky. She didn’t want to ruin Cord’s memory of his friend or have the other Rangers find out.
And yet, she didn’t push him away. Instead, she clutched at his shoulders as her eyes crossed from the sheer ecstasy of his kisses. God, he made her feel desirable and wanted, and she needed that, needed that so bad right now. Maybe she could have this one time. To let his desire for her fill a little bit of the empty well where her self-confidence once resided. She wanted him, and dammit, why shouldn’t she have him this once? “How could something that feels this good be a bad idea?”
He stilled and slowly drew back to meet her gaze. “You were married to Drew.”
And he’d betrayed her countless times. She owed herself this instance of pleasure. Deserved a short respite of enjoyment. She didn’t owe his memory anything. “Not anymore.”
Something unreadable flickered through his eyes, then disappeared before he brushed
the hair off her temple. “I’m not staying. My life is in Joyful.”
The honesty and concern in his gaze touched the battered and broken pieces of her heart. Warmth spread through her chest. “I know.” She slid her hands to his shoulders, and butterflies fluttered low in her belly at the feel of solid muscle under her palms. “That’s perfect.”
“It is?”
“Yes. I’m not asking you to stay. I don’t want a relationship. Been there. Done that. Lord knows I have the scars. I can’t go down that road again. So don’t worry, I’m not looking to connect emotionally. Just physically.” She dug deep for some bravado, cupped his jaw, and caressed his delectable lower lip with her thumb. “Think you can handle that?”
When he opened his mouth to reply, she pulled him close and kissed him.
Putting all her pent up hunger, frustration, and need into it, Haley kissed him as if there were no tomorrow. Because, well, there probably wasn’t. She wasn’t a fool. If she managed to break through Cord’s iron-tight control right now, she knew it would return by morning.
After a few incredible moments of reacquainting herself with his taste, she drew back panting.
“Haley—”
“It’s okay. I know what I’m doing,” she stated, unbuttoning his shirt, barely refraining from licking her lips at the expanse of tanned muscles her fingers exposed.
“You do?”
“Yeah… You.”
She hoped. God, did she hope.
A night of passion hadn’t been on her radar in years. It was now. And Cord was the perfect man to deliver. A spark simmered under the surface with them. He made her burn. And since it wasn’t permanent and their hearts weren’t involved, when he left her ranch and returned to At-Ease, she’d watch him walk away with a smile on her face, and God willing, some much needed confidence.
Cord remained silent, but arousal flared in his eyes, and darkened with resolution and something else. He shrugged out of the shirt she’d unbuttoned then reached for the tie on her robe. “Be sure about this.”
She grasped his wrist and helped him tug her robe open. “I’m sure if you don’t quit talking and get started, I’m going to give the honor to my plastic friend in my nightstand.”
“Hell no. Not while I’m around.” He jerked the tie the rest of the way, and when it came loose, her robe parted, and his eyes darkened to a deep emerald as he looked his fill. “Damn, Haley.”
His words and tone matched the appreciation in his eyes, and her barbeque potato chip fetish suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad indulgence. Empowered by his hungry expression, she reached for the band of his jeans, but he grasped her wrist and pulled it away.
“Not yet. It’s time to take care of you.”
Her?
Some of her surprise must’ve shown on her face, because he lifted a brow. She knew what he wanted to ask: Drew didn’t take care of you first?
She lifted a shoulder, and that was all the response he was going to get out of her. She was done bringing her late husband into their…whatever this was going on between them.
Unable to resist the magnificence in front of her, Haley trailed her hands over his broad, naked expanse of chest, scraping her nails over his nipples on her journey south. He hissed a breath and captured her wrists in one swift move that had him holding them above her head as he pressed her against the wall with all that muscle.
“You first, remember?” His breath was hot, his gaze was dark and intense, and his body…oh God…his body slid down then up, and the delicious feel of his hot, hard flesh against hers ripped a moan from her throat.
It was that good. And she wanted more. Needed more.
Ever the intuitive, he wedged his thigh between hers, and slid again. And yet again, all the while staring deep into her eyes, as if gauging her reactions. The unexpected friction against her sensitive flesh had her crying out and his eyes dilating.
“Like that?” he asked in a rough voice that told her he was getting just as much pleasure from the sweet torture.
She opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out, because he simply stole her breath. So she nodded and rocked into him, needing to let him know he felt so damn good.
“I want you, Haley.” He transferred her wrists to one hand and skimmed the other slowly down her body, causing a slew of new sensations to race to her toes. “Have for some time.”
That knowledge did crazy, wonderful things to her battered ego. The ever-present, crushing weight of her inadequacies lightened and her pulse jumped in her veins.
“Me, too,” she managed on a whisper.
“I don’t usually give in to my wants,” he murmured, dipping down to brush his mouth to her throat. “I concentrate on my needs. But you’re on both sides of that coin.”
Lord knew he was on both sides of her coin. And making her hot. God, so hot.
His mouth was blazing a trail to her jaw now, and her fingers curled in her trapped hands, waiting as anticipation rocked her heart against her ribs.
“Last chance to stop.” He held her gaze, as they shared a breath.
“Okay,” she replied, her lips brushing his as she spoke. She was all for stopping his teasing.
With a groan rumbling in his chest, he finally took her lips for the kiss she’d burned for all evening. Hot and demanding, over and over, he devoured her strength, and she trembled against him. His hand was stroking high on her ribs, the very tips of his fingers brushing the bottom of her breast.
She moaned and arched into his touch, encouraging more. Much more. He released her wrists to cup both breasts, brushing her nipples back and forth with his thumbs. Yes…that. Her arms were tingling as she lowered them to run her hands on him everywhere. His muscled chest and broad back, around his lean sides to explore the ridges of his abs that quivered under her touch.
He was magnificent.
When he released her mouth, he stepped back to slide her robe off her shoulders and watched as the material landed at her feet. Then his gaze made a slow, burning trail all the way up to her eyes. His were hot. Hungry. Intense.
“God, Haley,” he murmured, gruff and so damn sexy she didn’t know what to do with herself. “Turn around.”
Wanting nothing more than to keep that look, that level of craving in him, alive, she did, pushing back that damn self-doubt. There was no room for it under the heat of his desire.
He groaned and trailed a finger down her spine until he cupped her ass with both hands. “So gorgeous.”
The sexy man was both feeding her ego and seriously taxing her strength at the same time. Need raced through her body, pooling at all her good parts, and she shook from the power of it. “Cord…”
“Right here,” he muttered, pulling her with him until they were in the bathroom, standing in front of the vanity and large mirror above. “Look how gorgeous you are.”
She saw him. Only him, and the muscles in the arm banding her middle, the big hand covering her breast, and those eyes… God, those gorgeous green eyes of his smoldered as he watched his hand trail down her body to disappear between her legs.
Breath hitched in her chest and desire burst out as he sank his teeth into the curve of her neck at the same instant his thick finger slid home. She whimpered and pressed back, rubbing against the large bulge in his jeans. “Please.”
“Christ.” His mouth was at her nape, making her shiver. “Anything you want.”
With a rough sound vibrating through his chest and into her back, he nipped at her shoulder and caught her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, all while grinding his erection into her bottom. It was too much, and so damn good. Sensations ricocheted through her body, declaring the man gifted beyond reason. Lost in pleasure she suddenly worried only Cord could bring, her eyes drifted shut and her head fell back to rest on his shoulder.
“Just you,” she finally replied in a pant as she gripped his hips and rocked with the rhythm of his hand. More tremors raced down her legs and her knees wobbled. “I can’t stand.”
She did, and opened wider at his urging, moaning when he changed the angle and upped the pace. “Oh…I…” She tightened the grip on his hips and bucked. “Harder,” she urged, so very close to that blissful edge his touch promised.
“Come for me, Haley.” He stroked her harder, longer, and when he added his thumb to the mix, brushing her center with the right amount of pressure, she burst, going off like a bottle rocket from all the pent up need the man caused the past few days.
When the room finally came into focus and he brought her down slow and easy, she watched his finger pull out and satisfaction gleam in his eyes. “You’re so wet.”
“Your fault.” She grinned at his reflection then squeaked when he quickly turned her to face him.
“Damn right,” he growled, his mouth coming down on hers for a hot, demanding, possessive kiss as he lifted her into his arms and carried her across the hall and into his room.
Without breaking their kiss, he set her on the mattress, his tongue brushing hers in an erotic dance she longed to mimic with the rest of their bodies. She slid her hands up his chest, throat, over his scruffy jaw, yearning to feel the roughness on her skin. It was arousing and intimate. And when he drew back, his eyes were heated and unwavering. He made her feel fierce, protected, and beautiful.
God, how was it he could make her feel so much with just a glance?
He was incredible, and had always been popular with the ladies. What if she didn’t measure up?
She cleared her throat. “It’s been a long time for me.”
Not the best time to get shy. But the last thing she wanted was to disappoint the man. God, she just couldn’t bear that.
“Haley.”
She skimmed her hands down to his jeans, brushing her fingers along the band, in love with the feel of the taut skin of his rigid, hard washboard abs vibrating under her touch.
Her own insides quivered in response.
“Haley,” he repeated, and thrust his fingers into her hair, holding her head as his gaze bored deep. “You could never disappoint me.”
The Right Ranger (The Men of at Ease Ranch) Page 5