Cowboys Last All Night

by Jennifer Ashley

  They stood there, their bodies in near mirror images, him leaning against the kitchen counter, her shoulders pressed to the back door where she’d retreated to after he’d let her go. Arms folded, legs stretched out in front.

  “So?” She tilted her chin higher, a challenge move if he’d ever seen one.

  Lee waited for the rest of the question.

  Rachel raised a brow. “Well, for all your grand plans, and everything you just bragged about, you seem to have forgotten one vital bit of the discussion.”

  Lee thought quickly, nodding when he figured it out. “You’re not going to let me get away with anything, are you?”

  An amused smile ghosted across her lips.

  He lifted himself off the counter and paced closer. He planted one hand on the door on either side of her head then stared down intently. “Rachel Malone, would you go out with me?”

  A solid gap remained open between them, but they could’ve been in complete contact for how hot he was, especially when she teased him with another glimpse of that tongue before answering his question.

  “Sure. Pick me up at eight.”

  Lee laughed. He wanted to pull her into his arms again, but the last thing he needed was for her to know he was aching to have her there. Hiding his hard-on was vital.

  It was late enough they should go to bed. The sooner this day was over, the better. He paced to the corner and checked the thickness of her sleeping bag, considering what he had in his backpack to wear.

  Somehow they’d get through this.

  Lee turned and caught her standing in front of the fire, hands once again stretched toward the heat. “Do you need to go out again tonight?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then why don’t you get ready for bed.” He pulled a small washbasin off the wall behind the stove and poured hot water from the kettle into it. “I’ll grab you some snow to cool that down when I head to the outhouse.”

  He bundled up and slipped outside, passing back a bucket full of pristine white snow. Then he headed into the cold, the light from his headlamp made thin by the blistering wind driving ice crystals into him like millions of tiny daggers.

  By the time he got back Rachel had washed up and changed. She was slipping under the covers, and he didn’t even try to avert his gaze. Just soaked in the glimpse he was offered, from the flash of long legs to the long-john-covered curve of her ass in the second before the fabric fell and blocked his view of paradise.

  He felt damn smart at how well his planning had gone down. “I’ll only be a minute.”

  “No rush. Actually, I didn’t mean that. Don’t take too long, because it’s really cold under here.” Her voice rattled, and his heart rate skipped a beat at the implied invitation, even though they both knew where they stood.

  “You’ve got a sleeping bag that’s good to minus forty,” he pointed out. “It’s going to get damn warm under there fast enough.”

  He wasn’t even making a dirty joke.

  The single candle flickering on the table provided enough light to hurry through washing up. He didn’t bother to strip, just blew out the candle and made his way the short distance to the bed where Rachel waited, curled into a tight ball, her face hidden against her pillow.

  Crawling under the thick sleeping bag was like opening the doors to an all-you-can-eat buffet and being told he couldn’t partake. Still he held firm, the heat from Rachel’s body stealing toward him.

  To hell with it. “You okay spooning?”

  She answered by putting her icy-cold feet on his thigh.

  Lee nearly jumped out of his skin. Even through his sweats it was like getting a snow wedgie. “Jeez, woman.”

  Rachel wiggled against him, the heat pouring off her back a blessing after the frigid temperatures outside had turned ninety-nine percent of his anatomy to ice.

  She slid one foot between his legs, and he stiffened again. “Hell, what have you been doing? Sticking your feet out the window?”

  “I can’t stand sleeping with socks on, and I always have cold feet.”

  “Awesome.” Lee reached under the covers until he could move her to a different position, cupping her cold toes in his hand and rubbing to warm them up.

  Rachel tried to escape. “That tickles,” she complained with a laugh.

  “Face your punishment.”

  When he finally released her, she moved into the space beside him, the mattress at the edge of the bed far colder than the space between them. Lee slipped an arm over her and tugged, tucking her soft curves against him. They fit perfectly even with her muscles held taut. It took a few minutes before she relaxed. Giving in softly as her breathing slowed.

  Heaven and hell were held in perfect fusion at that moment. If facing a short time of pain was what it took, he was more than happy to suffer now to gain paradise forever. He was brilliant.

  Yet at four in the morning he wasn’t feeling so smart.

  Sometime in the past couple hours after they’d both fallen asleep, Rachel had rolled over and snuggled in. She was cuddled against his chest, plus she’d wormed one leg between his. It would’ve been bad enough waking up in bed with her and dealing with normal morning wood, but there was nothing normal about how he felt right then. Pitch black in the cabin, nothing to be seen outside the window yet, but he didn’t need to see to know everything he wanted was within his grasp.

  He was not just what a person would call an idiot, he was a bloody idiot. It was his own damn fault he was lying there with a hard-on that could give a baseball bat a run for its money.

  A sharp gust of wind rocked tree branches against the outer wall, but it was only a momentary distraction. He braced himself and rolled from the bed, the shock of the chilled room knocking his arousal back a notch.

  As he hurried to reload the small stove with fuel, his mind was far too willing to take him into trouble. Images of Rachel on her knees in front of him flashed into his brain, her soft fingers curled around his shaft, her beautiful red lips surrounding him, and he grit his teeth.

  He snuck back under the sleeping bag and dragged her against him to warm the ice in his veins, and she cuddled in with a sigh, still sound asleep.

  What he wanted was to roll her under him and let her feel exactly how hard she made him just by being there. How every time she caught him with those big brown eyes, it was as if she were looking into his soul and begging him to take care of her in all the right ways.

  And once he had her there? He’d start at the top and work his way down, ripping away the long underwear she wore as pyjamas. Fine woven material that was paper-thin and silky soft. He knew this because even now one of his hands rested on Rachel’s ass, the bottom edge of her top in line with his palm. That left his fingertips in contact with the satiny-smooth fabric covering her butt. He swallowed hard—there was no way he could deny that he’d been looking for a glimpse of what she wore to bed. And it might be warm, but it wasn’t much of a barrier, proof of that in the rounded curve he brushed as he adjusted position ever so slightly.

  Far too much of a masochist to roll away, he leaned back and let her fall where she would, which ended up being on top of him. Her head lay on his shoulder and chest, one hand clutching his other shoulder as her breasts and hips covered him.

  He’d gone from freezing cold only moments earlier to boiling hot. Lee desperately needed to toss back the cover. Everywhere they touched he pictured shimmering rays, like the heat on the asphalt in the middle of summer on a deserted road. That’s what was rising off them in spite of the layers of clothing between them.

  Far too thin layers as his cock attempted to tunnel its way out of his sweats.

  Yup, this entire situation was his own damn fault, so he would lie there like a good little prisoner and take his punishment.

  Even being tormented by the feel of her against him was better than what he’d suffered through last summer, silently saying goodbye as she left town with her new husband. Suffering later when he caught the bastard cheating on
her. Then lost in uncertainty. How could he support her, or was there any way to reduce her pain?

  He hadn’t been the one to tell her about her husband’s cheating, but he’d been sure to give Gary a couple of solid rounds of his displeasure applied with his fists.

  And now he lay in bed with Rachel Malone. Six months earlier if someone had told him they’d be stuck in a cabin together, cuddled up like two kittens nestled in a box, he would’ve sworn whoever was making the prediction was out of their damn mind.

  Funny how the world changed.

  Rachel wiggled, and it was heaven and hell to feel her brush against him.

  Gary had hurt her, though, had taken so much from her. That’s another reason why Lee had said no to fooling around. He was doing his best to return the control that had been wrenched from her.

  His balls were going to explode before this was all over, but he believed it was worth it. As his older brothers would have drolly shared, Lee’s sheer stubbornness would provide the will to go on.

  Rachel took a deep breath and stirred further, dragging her knee up his body until her inner thigh rested squarely across his groin. He lifted one arm and covered his eyes with his forearm, biting his bottom lip to suppress the groan that wanted to escape.

  He lay still and listened to the wind howl. Listened to her even breathing, and gave thanks both her fury and tears had settled until she was at peace.

  He must’ve fallen sleep again because when he woke she wasn’t moving. Or breathing—that’s what gave away that she was awake. If she’d still been asleep, he wouldn’t have felt her tensing against him, her fingers easing higher as if levitating off his chest.

  “I’m awake,” he warned.

  She tightened like a spring before moving rapidly, rolling to her back beside him and throwing an arm over her eyes as well. “Well, then, wasn’t that special?”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he assured her. “Special would’ve involved me losing my load after nothing but you innocently touching me, or me dreaming about touching you not so innocently.”

  Rachel snorted, and then hiccupped, rolling so she could hit him on the chest with the side of her fist. “Is nothing sacred with you?”

  “What, because I mentioned my hard-on? Rachel, you’re not a child, and neither am I. You’ve woken up in the morning beside a man before, and he’s been hard.”

  It took a moment but she answered him, embarrassment in her tone. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I have woken up next to a guy with a hard-on.”

  “This one’s for you.” Lee pondered his wording for all of two seconds before adding. “I mean this one’s because of you.”

  Rachel laughed. “Well, it obviously wasn’t the first thing you said, because it’s way over there, and I’m over here, and if it was for me, something’s wrong with the way you fool around.”

  “Trust me, honey. There’s nothing wrong with the way I fool around.”

  There they lay, flat on their backs, their sides still brushing. Both of them staring at the ceiling as they discussed his morning wood and daydreamed about what they could do with it.

  Lee would be ready to apply for sainthood by the time this relationship got consummated.

  “Is it still storming?” Rachel finally asked, breaking through the dirty images that were doing nothing to ease the ache in his groin.

  He listened for a moment, twisting his head fruitlessly toward the window. Even if the storm had passed, at this time of the year it wouldn’t be light until much later in the day. “It’s not blowing so hard anymore.”

  “Doesn’t mean it isn’t snowing, right?”

  “Winter in Alberta. You don’t like the weather? Wait two hours and it’ll change.”

  The local saying brought another small laugh from her as Rachel propped herself up on an elbow. There was just enough light they could see each other, mostly as an outline.

  She smiled—not one of delight, more tinted with sheepishness and regret. “I’m sorry if I’m tormenting you.”

  “I hope I’m tormenting you a little as well,” he teased back.

  She swung her legs around to pull into a sitting position, and cold air rushed under the sleeping bag.

  “Yikes.” She was flat on her back in an instant, fabric tugged to her chin.

  Lee rolled, careful to keep the material from moving and letting the warm air escape. “I take it you’re not getting up to start the fire?”

  She clutched the edge of the fabric with two hands, eyes deliberately wide. “Oh, no, sir. That would be the task of the big, strong male in the room.” She wrinkled her nose even as her words shot pleasure through him. “Sexist or not, it’s damn cold out there.”

  “You’re so lucky I stumbled in last night.” He took a deep breath and gathered his strength for a brand-new reason.

  Slipping from under the toasty-warm covers was like dropping into one of Dante’s levels of hell. It was worse than hours earlier, the floor now icy cold underfoot since the cabin stove was inadequate to carry a bank of coals throughout the whole night, even with the damper shut down hard. He hurriedly pulled on his wool socks and coat before attempting to get the fire going.

  Rachel stayed tucked under the covers, but she was watching him, the dim light from the candles he’d put a match to allowing him to witness her rising curiosity as he moved through his tasks.

  “What are you doing?”

  He pointed to the knob on the chimney pipe he’d just twisted. “This? Spark retarder. When the stove is cold, you need to open it and the damper, or it takes too long for the chimney to draw. There’s got to be heat in the stovepipe for it to work properly.”

  “Oh.” He could see the wheels spinning in her head. “That’s why I ended up with so much smoke in the cabin when I lit it yesterday.”

  “Brilliant as well as beautiful,” he complimented her.

  She made a noise at him, but her eyes sparkled as she tucked her nose under the sleeping bag. He didn’t blame her. It was damn chilly in the room.

  “It won’t be long now,” he promised. Lee glanced toward the counter, checking the supplies she’d laid out. “Coffee or hot chocolate?”

  “Let’s go gourmet,” she suggested. “Mix them.”

  It was a good idea, especially after he checked her coffee supply. If they added it to the chocolate, they might not run out before the weather broke. The other possibility was there might be a stash of emergency supplies somewhere in the cabin—most of the old trappers were good about preparing for anything. “After we have breakfast we’ll explore.”

  Rachel curled herself into a sitting position, the sleeping bag wrapped around her shoulders. “Inside or out?”

  “Both. We’ll wait until later in the day to go outside, but we need to find out what we have for supplies. Even if it keeps storming, I can make it to the highway, but we’re far enough into the bush I’d like to avoid trying unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

  She was frowning, her happiness wiped away. “You’re not going traipsing off into the woods. It’s not safe.”

  “I know, that’s why I said if at all possible we’ll stay here. But if we don’t have enough food, we’ll do the next thing.”

  Rachel shook her head rapidly. “And the best next thing is not for you to wander into the wilderness in the dead of winter. I can afford to go without food for a few days, and we’ve got all the water we need. You’re not leaving.”

  Already she felt comfortable enough to challenge him. Lee’s smile widened. Chances were they’d be trapped for a couple more days. Plenty of time to talk. Time to really get to know each other. It was awesome.

  Then she pushed off the blankets and reached for her clothes, and his body reminded him all over that waiting wasn’t going to be peaches and cream. Good thing he had the best alternative to a cold shower right outside the door.

  Chapter Four

  “Jackpot.”

  Rachel looked as excited as he felt as they hauled out the shallow wooden bo
x that had been tucked beneath the bed.

  “Holy cow, that’s heavy,” she exclaimed as she tried to pull the crate out farther on her own.

  Once both handles were free, Lee reached past her to grab them and move their find into the center of the room. It was midmorning, and the cabin had warmed up enough they’d gone looking through the admittedly small space. “The old-timers know how hellish the weather can get. I’m pretty sure we don’t have to worry about rationing your food anymore.”

  He undid the latches holding the top wooden plank in place, and they worked together to lift off the lid.

  Rachel made a sound of delight as she went through the supplies. “It’s like early Christmas.” She held up a handful of chocolate bars, delight shining in her eyes. “Okay. You can eat everything else. I’ve got what I need to survive.”

  He laughed. “You can have the chocolate. It’s not my favourite.”

  Rachel tilted her head to one side. “Really? But you had hot chocolate in your coffee this morning.”

  Lee lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “That was to make things last. I prefer my coffee black.”

  She placed the chocolate on the table, reaching for the next item. She paused with her hand over the box. “It’s really okay for us to use this stuff?”

  “Of course, that’s what it’s here for.” Lee gestured around them. “Even if this were a private residence being used on a regular basis, under emergency conditions, all rules get tossed out the window.”

  “If you could open them,” she teased.

  She’d been shocked to find the snow outside the cabin door piled nearly four feet high when he’d pulled open the door that morning. The trip to the outhouse had required some path clearing on his part before she could make it through.

  The wind had still been howling, and the sky the deep grey-black of predawn, but it looked as if conditions might improve later. In the meantime, they’d had breakfast and were now exploring the small cabin.

  “What else do you like?” Rachel asked as she set the cans in neat rows on the table. “You take your coffee black. What would you have for dessert if you got a choice?”