by Francis Ray
At the ranch house, she grabbed her groceries and went inside. Duncan was right behind her. He slammed the kitchen door so hard the house shook.
“Crane is a liar and a cheat. Stay away from him!”
Tired of Duncan thinking she had the brain cells of a flea, she casually folded her arms across her chest. “It is none of your business whom I date.”
“Date,” he snapped incredulously. “You’re going out with him?”
“I do as I please.”
Duncan’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “We’ll see about that.” He swept her into his arms. Her startled protest was cut short when his hot mouth closed over hers. The instant his lips met hers, pleasure, not protest, ruled her.
She felt her back against the wall, her hands over her head, as Duncan ravaged her mouth, the curve of her face, her neck. All the while his hungry lower body rocked against hers.
He released her arms to shove up her T-shirt. She pulled his shirt out of his pants, wanting, needing, to feel his naked skin.
Need swept though Duncan like a stampede, wild and dangerous. His hand closed over her breasts. He felt her press against his palm, her nipple bud. His hand lowered with the full intention of taking the point into his mouth . . . until he heard the clump of Rooster’s boots on the back porch.
Duncan almost whimpered. He stared down at Raven. Her lips were moist and slightly parted from his kiss, waiting for another. Picking her up, he rushed out of the kitchen and into his office. Once there he was reluctant to put her down.
Her arms were wrapped trustingly around his neck. She stared up at him with open desire and complete trust. No woman had ever gotten him so hot so fast. She occupied his thoughts during the day, made sleep impossible at night.
He didn’t like it, didn’t understand or want it, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was tired of fighting the explosive attraction.
His head bent, found her waiting lips, and inhaled her soft sigh of surrender. He took his time, coaxing the cooling embers back to red-hot life, nibbling her lower lip, the lobe of her ear, teasing, enjoying the way her body twisted against his, showing her growing need, her frustration. When she was tired of it, she palmed his face, bringing his lips to hers, pressing her breasts against his chest.
She was heat and desire in a tantalizing, explosive package.
Standing her to her feet, he pulled her flush against him, letting her feel his blatant arousal. Undaunted, she pressed her woman’s softness against him. His eyes almost crossed.
His hands slid up under her T-shirt until they cupped her high, generous breasts again. Her nipples pushed against his palm. She whimpered. Her hands, soft and exploring, worked their way under his shirt.
“Boss, you in there?” Rooster called out on the other side of the door.
Chapter 7
Raven jumped. Her eyes widened. She made a motion as if to step back, but Duncan’s arm tightened.
“Boss?”
“Yeah,” he called, staring down at the top of Raven’s tucked head.
“Everything all right? You left your truck door open.”
“I was in a hurry,” he said. He felt Raven tremble and wasn’t sure if she was fighting embarrassment or laughing.
“Miss Raven must have been in a hurry, too,” Rooster mused. “She didn’t put up her groceries. I went up to her room and knocked, but I didn’t get an answer.”
“She’s probably in the shower,” Duncan said, which was the wrong thing to say. He recalled too clearly seeing a near naked Raven.
“I suppose.” Rooster didn’t sound too convinced.
“If you don’t mind, put the truck up,” Duncan called. “I want to finish what I’m doing.”
“You’re sure?” Rooster asked.
Duncan recalled the man’s poor eyesight, thought of how much he loved his truck, how just last week Rooster had banged the fender of his own truck. Then Duncan felt the warmth, the incredible softness, of Raven in the shelter of his arms. “I’m sure.”
“Sure thing, boss. I’ll be real careful.”
In a matter of seconds, Duncan heard the back kitchen door slam. Raven must have heard it, too, because she gently pushed against his chest. Again he refused to release her.
He waited until she lifted her face. Beautiful, exotic, tempting. “I want you.”
Her eyes widened at the gritted-out words. “I don’t—”
“The only mistress that I’ll ever have is the Double D. I’ll give you pleasure to heat up the night, but when it’s over, it’s over.”
Raven had been propositioned before, but never by a man who made her body hum and burn for his touch. He wanted her just as she wanted him. Even now the blatant proof of his desire kept nudging her. She could be sensible or angry. She had an analytical mind that sought answers. “Why me?”
Duncan frowned, obviously as taken aback by her question as she was by his proposition. She watched his face become shuttered. “The reason seems obvious.”
“Not to me.” She pushed against him and this time he let her go. “We could have just kept going and let it play out. Why the need to set the ground rules? Why are you so sure it will be enough for either of us?”
“It’s always best to know where you’re going.”
And you’re stalling, she thought. She recalled the ex-wife. Or was it another matter entirely? “Surely you don’t think there’s any validity to the McBride curse? Especially since your brother and sister are so happy.”
“We’re just met and you want to talk about forever,” he said gruffly, shoving his shirt back into his pants.
He didn’t want to talk about it. She’d bet her prized Jeep that there were few things that Duncan feared. Obviously failing at another relationship was one of them. He wasn’t being callous. He just didn’t believe in happily ever after for himself. She didn’t know if this was forever, either. What she did know was that she wanted to honestly explore the possibility, that she wanted and deserved something more than lust.
Watching him, she imitated his motions and stuffed her T-shirt back into her jeans. “I think not. If I go to bed with a man, I’d like to think it meant more than scratching an itch.”
“I can change your mind,” he challenged, his black eyes filled with such sensual promise that her nipples tightened.
“You’re welcome to try.” At the door, a safe distance away from temptation, she glanced over her shoulder. “But be warned, Duncan. All women aren’t so easily forgotten.”
Duncan glared at the closed door. Why did women always want the last word? In this case, she wasn’t telling him something he didn’t already know. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, wanting her. One one thing he was sure of.
It had to be his way or no way. He didn’t even want to think of going through the hell of another ruined relationship. He only had to think of his father, still in love with Duncan’s mother and afraid to open himself up to the pain again, for Duncan to realize that some women were impossible to forget. He had a feeling that Raven was one of those women.
It was better his way, a simple affair where both parties knew the rules. Her way was unthinkable.
Raven might have an analytical mind, but she also realized that there were situations that couldn’t be analyzed or explained. Such as the intense sexual attraction between her and Duncan.
With the slightest touch of his hand, his body against hers, her normally intelligent mind shut down. The body that she thought she knew so well yielded control to a man she had just met. She became consumed by a desire, a need, so fierce that it blocked out everything else except the hunger for fulfillment.
This wasn’t supposed to be happening to her. She had her life mapped out. It did not include a man and a burning hunger that swept reason aside.
Her hand trembling, she paused while icing the cake she had just baked, her thoughts on the man she could see though the kitchen window. Hands on his hips, Duncan was talking to several men on horseback with blanket rolls tied t
o the backs of their saddles. Another man was sitting in a small truck with the motor idling.
If she weren’t stronger, her tongue might be hanging out. Duncan moved with the sensuous grace of a large cat, his body perfectly conditioned. Although the corral was fifty yards away, she had no difficulty picking him out. The hard thump of her heart alerted her.
She realized why she hadn’t told him the truth about Crane. She wanted Duncan to be a little jealous. Pure teenage mentality. And deep down she’d wondered if he’d lose control again if he kissed her.
She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. She vividly recalled his hot, damp mouth over hers, the first pressure, and the ball of heat that had rolled through her, exciting and tempting. Recalled the spark that had jolted her when his tongue touched hers, swirled around hers, suckled hers.
Her hand clenched as the heat swept through her, her body yearning for their mouths, their bodies, to be fused again.
He was also a gentleman.
It hadn’t occurred to her befuddled brain until she’d left Duncan in his office and her mind began to function normally. Then she realized he’d taken her to his study to protect her, not to continue his seduction of her.
“You finished?”
Raven started, turning around to find Rooster’s speculative gaze aimed at her. She barely kept from tucking her head in embarrassment.
When he’d returned from putting Duncan’s truck in the garage, Rooster had found her putting away groceries. He hadn’t asked where she’d been, but his steady gaze had made her a bit nervous, just as it did now. He might have poor eyesight, but there was nothing wrong with his brain.
“Almost.” She dipped the knife into the chocolate icing she’d made from scratch. Her mother abhorred any type of prepared food. She even had made her own pasta, had grown spices, and had a garden whenever possible. She had taught Raven so much about cooking and little about life.
Her mother would follow Raven’s father wherever he wanted with a smile on her face. She let her love for him overrule her own happiness and that of her children. Raven had promised herself that she’d never be so easily led by a man.
Her mind leaped to Duncan’s proposal of a hot, no-strings affair. If two people ever had completely different outlooks, it was them. He said it himself; the Double D was his only mistress. Raven wanted tenure and stability, not to be a man’s plaything.
“At least, if I stay here, I can probably have another slice,” Rooster mumbled.
“Were you planning on going out?” Raven asked.
“Yep. Monthly poker game with friends at the Marshall spread.”
“Isn’t that where the mountain lion was spotted?” she asked.
“Yeah. One of their hands spotted a cat yesterday near our connecting property line, but none of our ranch hands have seen signs of a cat,” he said.
She hoped it stayed that way. She turned and began icing the top of the cake. “You driving?”
“A friend of mine is pickin’ me up. The games sometimes last most of the night.” Rooster’s eyes searched hers. “I was planning on continuing my winning streak from last month, but I could stay.”
Not wanting to read too much into his offer, Raven casually swirled more icing on the cake. “Do Ramon and Billy or any of the other hands go with you?”
He grunted. “Ramon is too busy chasing women. He’s teaching Billy to be the same useless way. They’re going to camp out tonight to get an early start on the section of fence in the southeast corner of the ranch.”
Her head came up. “They’re working on a Sunday?”
“No choice. The fence has got to be fixed,” he said. “Lot of ranchers don’t care ’bout letting their hands off on Sundays, but not the boss. It’s a long way from the ranch. That’s why they’re going tonight. Once they’re finished they can come on back and have the rest of the day off.” Folding his arms, he stepped around so he could see her face. “The boss is staying to watch Belle.”
Her hand didn’t jerk, but it was a near thing. Did that mean they would be at the ranch alone? “So how far is Marshall’s ranch?”
“Like I said, our property lines connect. Marshall hopes the ranches will be joined one day.”
A frown creasing across her brow, she glanced up. “Joined? How?”
“His daughter,” Rooster explained. “She’s another one after the boss.”
She can’t have him, Raven thought, her fingers curling around the knife. She relaxed her fingers, hoping Rooster hadn’t caught her reaction. Opening the drawer, she picked up a cake knife and cut a generous slice of the cake.
Faith had said the kitchen was well stocked with cooking utensils. She had seen to that. She’d looked sad for a moment and whispered that she wished one day there would be a woman in Duncan’s life to use them.
“Do you have time for pork chops with mushroom sauce? It’s one of my best dishes.”
“Hoagie is fixin’ rabbit stew.”
Raven glanced up from wrapping the cake in foil. “I think I’d rather have pork chops.”
Rooster took the cake she handed him. “Don’t knock it until you taste it. There’s nothing like it.”
The back door opened, and Duncan came in. Their gazes met, held. Heat and desire arched between them. Her breathing altered; her breasts felt heavy. She was the first to look away. You might say the same thing about Duncan, she thought.
“I was just leaving, boss, if you’re sure you don’t need me?” Rooster said.
“Go on.” Duncan closed the kitchen door. “You haven’t missed a game in ten years. There’s no need to start now.”
“Well,” Rooster began, glancing between Raven and Duncan. “Most of the men are out on the range or off.”
“It’s not the first time. Harvey and Pete are at home with their families. Stew and Otis at the bar in town. If needed, they can be here in twenty minutes,” Duncan said just as a horn blew. “There’s Redman to pick you up.”
“I guess. I’ll have to hear his mouth all night if I keep him waiting too long. Well, good night.” With one last look at them, Rooster went out the kitchen door.
Raven felt nervous and unsure. The idea that she and Duncan were virtually alone was as unsettling as it was exciting. “You want dinner now?”
Duncan’s black eyes burned with an intensity that sent shivers racing though her. “You think we could eat it in bed afterward?”
Heat lanced through her at the thought. The idea appealed to her. Too much. He stepped closer. “Tell me no before I kiss you and take it out of both of our hands.”
The thought was tempting and so foolish. She stepped away. “I’ll fix your plate.” She quickly prepared his food and placed it on the table with hands that refused to steady.
He caught her hand, studied the fine tremors, then lifted his head.
“Why are you fighting this so hard?”
“Because I value myself and you.” She flexed her arm and she was free. “There’s cake for dessert. I’m going to my room.”
“You’re also running,” he said to her retreating back.
Since he was right, she kept walking.
Wanting a woman shouldn’t make you this damned restless, Duncan thought as he walked to the barn. He hadn’t been this messed up when he first went out with Shelley. They were in bed by the end of the second date.
Females shouldn’t be so unpredictable. Just like the one he was going to see. Belle should have foaled by now. The vet had been out the day before to check her and said things looked good. He expected a normal delivery. Horses did most of the work. It wasn’t anything Duncan hadn’t gone though before.
But this was Belle and Black Jack’s first. Duncan had raised Belle from a filly and she’d never acted the way he expected. She’d been a scrawny runt and had grown up to be graceful and beautiful. For some odd reason he thought of Raven. Perhaps not so odd. She had grace and beauty in abundance, and she also kept him guessing.
His mare wasn’t giving any of the s
igns that labor was imminent—she wasn’t off her feed or acting unusual. He was just going on a gut feeling that her time was near. He’d been out to check on her at least twice in the last hour, and each time she’d been fine.
As he entered the barn, his gaze went to the fifth stall on the left, and he expected to see her head. When he didn’t, he took off running. Opening the stall’s door, he saw Belle on her side, in labor.
Raven couldn’t concentrate, and it made no sense. The cave drawings were everything she had hoped for and so much more. If her calculations were correct, and she was sure they were, she was on the verge of a major discovery.
Yet here it was, almost midnight, and she hadn’t made any significant progress in the past hour. She should have completed the day’s notes hours ago and been in bed. Instead, she sat, still dressed, thinking about a man she had no business thinking about.
His proposition was certainly insulting, but his kisses made her wonder what other things he might be good at.
Her cell phone sitting on the desk by her laptop rang. This late at night, she was sure it was a wrong number. But thankful for the interruption of her wayward thoughts, she quickly picked it up. “Hello.”
“Come to the barn. I need your help with Belle.” The line went dead.
Raven shot up from her chair, jammed the cell phone into the pocket of her jeans, and took off running. Duncan’s voice had been calm, but she knew he wouldn’t have called her unless there was a problem. She raced out of the house and to the barn.
“Duncan,” she called when she didn’t see him.
“Belle’s stall. Hurry.”
Raven took off. She opened the door to the stall, not knowing what to expect, just hoping the mare was all right.
“Her water broke thirty minutes ago. She should have progressed further by now. Finish wrapping her tail,” Duncan said. He was on his knees in the straw at the mare’s head. “Easy, Belle.”
He threw a quick glance at Raven. “We’re going to have to help her. Neither the vet nor my men can get here in time.”