Cowboy Command

by Olivia Jaymes

  “Your front door was unlocked. Did you leave it that way all night?”

  Despite not a peep from anyone trying to kill her for over a month, Seth still fussed over her like a mother hen. “No. I unlocked it a few minutes ago. I knew you’d be here any second. You’re always early for everything.”

  His scowl softened as he drank his coffee. He liked good coffee almost as much as she did. “I like to be on time, that’s all.”

  Presley almost spit out her coffee laughing. “I sure as hell wasn’t leaving without you. The only turkeys I know about are in the local store. And speaking of that, why are we braving the cold and the elements to kill a turkey with our bare hands when we can just buy one from Sue Ann?”

  Sue Ann owned the local grocery and knew all the good gossip, Presley had learned. If anyone wanted to know something, all they had to do was talk to Sue Ann.

  Seth gave her a look Presley had come to know as his “patience look.” He wore it quite a bit around children, old people, and herself. “We are not killing the turkeys with our bare hands. I am using a bow and arrow. I thought this would be something fun for us to do together, but I see you’re not approaching this with an open mind. Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, Kimosabi. Let me fill the thermos.” Presley giggled. The thought of Seth shooting a bow and arrow was amusing and kind of hot. He was a man’s man, hunting, fishing, and playing pickup football with his brothers, but watching him in action was something completely different. She filled the tall thermos, bundled up in her coat, scarf and gloves, and hoisted her purse on her shoulder. “If I didn’t have an open mind, I wouldn’t be up and dressed, babe.”

  She thought he might laugh too but instead he looked taken aback. “You aren’t taking your purse, are you? You can’t take a purse hunting, Presley.”

  She looked down at the large bag. Everything she needed was right there. “Why not?”

  He shrugged. “We’ll be walking. It’ll weigh you down. Besides, what do you need with all that stuff?”

  “There’s stuff I need. I can switch to a smaller bag, I guess.”

  Seth waited, his toe tapping impatiently as she moved a few essentials from her large purse to a smaller bag that fitted across her body. She held out her hands so he could take a good look at the outfit she was rocking. He’d asked her to dress in greens and earth tones and she’d complied with khaki green pants and a beige sweater. “Ready.” She poked his chest. Man, did he get a stick up his butt sometimes or what? “Stop being pissy. It took like one minute to do that. All the turkeys won’t be gone by the time we get there.”

  Seth sighed, his features relaxing. “Sorry. I guess I’m a little intense when it comes to hunting. I’m very competitive. At least that’s what I’ve been told.”

  “No shit.” Presley snorted. “But it’s just me this morning. I’m not going to shoot any turkeys.”

  Seth tapped her nose as he helped her into the truck. “No, you won’t. You don’t have a hunting license. This is simply for your Montana education. When I say I’m competitive, I mean with my brothers or my friends.”

  They drove for quite a while until they were even more in the middle of nowhere than they normally were. There wasn’t much around but some trees and bushes. Once they stopped and got out of the truck, Seth pulled her behind a large bush and pressed his finger to his lips. “We need to be quiet and listen.”

  She nodded and he pulled out his bow and arrow, along with a strange box from his pocket. He rubbed the lid against the box and the friction, to her surprise, sounded just like a turkey. Presley slapped her hand over her mouth to hold in the laughter and shifted her eyes so she was looking anywhere but at Seth. If she looked at him, she was sure she would bust out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Seth’s voice was a low hiss in her ear. She shook her head and her eyes widened innocently. She swallowed hard and kept the sleeve of her coat pressed to her lips. He obviously didn’t see the humor in the situation. She, however, couldn’t wait to write about it in her notebook. This was a gem of a story.

  It felt like ten hours later but it had probably only been a fraction of that and Presley was getting antsy and bored. All they were doing was sitting on the cold ground, sipping coffee, and not saying a word. It was probably Seth’s dream date since he wasn’t hearing her voice ringing in his ears, but it wasn’t what you would call fun for her. She was about to ask him if she could get up and stretch her legs when a bush about twenty feet away started rustling.

  Seth was instantly on alert, going up on his knees, bow at the ready. She watched as a large brown and white turkey ambled into the open.

  Turkeys actually do gobble.

  The turkey ruffled its feathers wide and strutted toward them as Seth pulled on the bow and lined up for the kill. Something lurched inside of her and she tugged at his arm, knowing she couldn’t allow him to kill the bird. It was just too cruel. The darn thing looked just like the turkeys she’d seen in pictures growing up.

  Seth bit off a curse and lowered the bow, his brows drawn together and his mouth unsmiling. “What,” he whispered, “is wrong? We’re going to lose him.”

  She nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “Don’t kill him, Seth.” She kept her voice low when she really wanted to scream and flap her arms to scare the fowl away.

  His eyes scanned her face and his expression softened. “Fuck, shit, Presley. You knew we were going hunting. You knew we were going to kill a turkey, honey.”

  She nodded. “I know. But thinking it and seeing it are two different things. He looks just like the turkeys I used to make with construction paper when I was in grade school. I bet he has a family, Seth. I bet they love him, like your family loves you.”

  * * * * *

  Presley hadn’t said how her family loved her. She’d said how Seth’s family loved him. Seth set his bow on the ground in defeat, knowing he wouldn’t be bagging a turkey today. How could he do it with Presley’s tragic expression talking about familial love? Her own family was a piss-poor example of how a family should be. Seth’s mother, seeing Presley’s delight in the Reilly togetherness, had quickly taken her under her wing. Seth had considered discouraging it, after all, he didn’t know how long she’d be here−but he hadn’t. Presley simply seemed to fit in with his family, despite growing up three thousand miles away. His mother was teaching Presley to bake bread, for fuck’s sake. Presley had managed to hook his mother on those fancy coffees. His mother, along with half the town, came by every day to have a cup of designer java with Presley. Seth’s office coffee budget had doubled in the last month.

  “Relax, honey. I won’t kill the turkey.” Seth gave the bird one last regretful look. The turkey actually looked like he was laughing at Seth’s predicament before waddling away back under the bushes and brush.

  Her bottom lip was trembling. “Are you mad, Seth?”

  Seth rubbed his forehead with his hand and sighed. “No, I’m not mad. I am frustrated. Looking at this with hindsight, it was a lousy idea to bring you today. For some crazy reason, not clear to me now, I thought you would find this interesting.”

  Presley nodded vigorously. “It was. Very interesting.”

  “You are a terrible liar, Presley Lawson. I can see right through you.”

  She fell back on her heels. “Okay, it was dead boring. Are you happy now?”

  He started packing his bow away. “Not particularly. It just shows that we don’t have a lot in common.”

  She tilted her head in question. “Your other girlfriends went hunting with you?”

  “Well…no.” The question confused him for some reason, and he wasn’t sure why. He’d wanted her to come today because, shit, he liked spending time with her. He wanted her to like the things he liked. She was completely hooked on Broncos football now, he was happy to say. She even liked the jalapeño poppers he favored as a game snack.

  “Then why did you ask me to go with you?”

  He opened his mouth to answer then shut it
. He was a damn idiot and he didn’t know why he’d invited her. He simply had. “I thought it would be something different than you were used to in Florida.”

  Her eyebrows went up. “You’re right about that. Can we go? I’m hungry.”

  Seth nodded and led them back to the truck, tossing his stuff in the back before helping her climb in. It had been a waste of a morning.

  “You’re mad,” Presley stated.

  “I’m not mad,” Seth said. “I told you I’m just frustrated. I’ll be going home empty-handed, which means we’ll be buying our turkey this year.”

  “Sue Ann will appreciate the business.”

  Presley was always thinking about the happiness of others. “I’m glad we could help.”

  He shoved the key into the ignition and turned over the engine as her hand covered his. His eyes widened as she swung onto his lap, straddling his thighs, her body tucked between him and the steering wheel. “I can’t let this be a completely lost morning. I think I know by now how to make my sheriff smile.”

  He reached around her and flicked on the heater. If she was thinking what he thought she was thinking, they’d need it. He leaned over and moved the seat back, grateful he had purchased the double cab model.

  She pushed aside his coat and ran her hands over his chest, making his cock hard behind his zipper. He tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her down for a kiss.

  He’d learned early kissing Presley was like kissing no other woman. She put everything, her entire body and soul, into her kiss, until he felt about ten feet tall. She acted as if kissing him was the most important thing in the world. She was like that about everything. Whatever she was doing, she did it all out. She was passionate and he drank up every bit of it with his lips and hands.

  They were tugging at each other’s clothes, their breathing getting heavy as they stole kisses and caresses in between a piece of clothing getting tossed away. It was colder than hell outside the truck but the temperature inside was zooming higher every minute. Seth cupped her breasts and lifted them so he could tease them with his tongue. The nubs tightened under his lips and he suckled first one then the other. Presley dug her fingers into his biceps and let her head fall back with a moan.

  He loved hearing the sounds she made when they were like this. He was never in any doubt as to how much she wanted him or liked what he was doing. He pressed a finger inside her wet cunt and she clenched on him, letting him know exactly what she’d do when he was inside of her. Her cream dripped on his hand as he finger-fucked her, adding a second digit to find the sweet spot that sent her into orbit. He knew he’d hit the jackpot when her thighs tightened against his and she cried out with a mini-orgasm.

  “Seth!”

  Her pussy spasmed around his finger and he pulled it from her drenched slit. He needed to fuck her now. He reached for his pants and the condom stuffed in the front pocket, but came up with her pants instead.

  “Shit.” Seth leaned to the side, trying not to dislodge her on top of him. With his fingertips, he found his slacks and snagged the condom, ripping it open with his teeth. She plucked it from his fingers and rolled it on his hard cock trapped between their bodies. She lifted up and he grasped her hips, slowly lowering her onto him inch by inch. When Presley was stuffed full of cock, she locked her gaze with his.

  “Fuck me, Sheriff.” Her voice was husky and it amped up Seth’s arousal even higher. Fucking Presley was sublime, her tight cunt hugging him. She rode his dick hard, their bodies slapping together in the close confines of the truck cab.

  He could feel the pressure building in his balls, wanted to hold back, but Presley had other ideas. She leaned forward and bit down on his earlobe as he slammed into her.

  “Yes,” she hissed, her cunt rippling with her own orgasm, her body quivering. He couldn’t hold back any longer, his own climax coming over him like a tidal wave. She tucked her head between his neck and shoulder as her shuddering subsided and his breathing grew more normal. He pulled her head back by her hair and grinned.

  “Woman, I haven’t had sex in my truck since I was in high school.”

  “Then you were long past due. I knew I could get you to smile.” She grinned right back at him. “This is a pretty comfy truck. I wouldn’t mind doing it in here every now and then.”

  Instantly, his mind conjured up a vision of Presley riding shotgun naked as the day she was born. He groaned and shook his head to clear his brain.

  “You’re trouble. I am a man in trouble.” But he liked it, if he were honest.

  She lifted herself off of him, wincing as she did so.

  “Shit, did I hurt you, honey?” He was so much bigger and stronger than she was. Seth needed to be more careful. Presley was such a little thing.

  “No.” she shook her head. “Just a little sore, that’s all.”

  Now he really felt guilty.

  She pushed at his shoulder. “From horseback riding, you pervert. Not riding you. Although the way we go at it, it wouldn’t be surprising. You’re a horny devil.” She waggled her eyebrows as she pulled up her panties and hunted for her bra in their pile of discarded clothes.

  The decision to make love had always seemed mutual, but perhaps Presley felt pressure to fulfill what he knew was a strong sexual appetite. A sexual appetite that had only grown sharper since meeting this woman. Before her, he’d gone several months in between women without much thought about it.

  He shifted in the seat, tugging on his boxers and jeans. “I guess I am.” He couldn’t meet her eyes.

  She grabbed his shirt right out of his hands, holding it like a game of “keep-away”. “For the record, I wasn’t complaining. I like that you want me all the time. I want you the same way.”

  He breathed a little easier and motioned for his shirt. “I was worried for a minute you might feel, you know, pressured.”

  An eyebrow arched. “Do you honestly think you could pressure me into having sex with you, Seth Reilly? Really?”

  It did sound absurd. She had him chasing his tail on a pretty much daily basis. There was no doubt Presley Lawson was a woman to be reckoned with. Seth reckoned with her on a regular basis.

  “No, honey, probably not. I just needed to be sure.”

  She buttoned up her pants and found her bra wedged under the seat. “Then be sure to feed me afterward. I’m hungry, Sheriff.”

  He finished dressing and put the truck into gear. “I won’t let you starve, honey. Breakfast coming up.”

  He headed into town feeling better than he ever had after a hunting trip and he didn’t even have a turkey.

  * * * * *

  Presley patted her stomach, now pleasantly full of pancakes and sausage. The pancakes she’d ordered from the smiling waitress in the diner. The sausage was stolen from Seth’s plate. She was enjoying her third cup of coffee when Seth’s phone started buzzing on the table. He put down his forkful of hash browns and picked up the phone.

  “Um, yeah, I can talk. Just let me get to a quieter spot.”

  Seth gave her an apologetic look and headed out the back door of the diner into the alley. The diner was busy and loud this Monday morning. Despite the snow and the cold, Harper was bustling with activity. Thanksgiving was this week and everyone was shopping and decorating. Seth told her it was easier to shop and prepare for Christmas now when the weather wasn’t too bad than in a week or two when the snow and cold were worse. Presley had pointed to her laptop on the desk and replied she knew how to shop when the weather was poor. As for decorations, she was looking forward to putting up a small tree in her apartment and helping Seth decorate his home. She spent most of her time there anyway.

  Trask came in the door of the diner and spotted her. He waved as he ordered his coffee at the counter before coming over to greet her. She’d grown quite fond of him. He had a sweet, old-fashioned way about him that always made her smile. He was also an incurable romantic, constantly hinting to her about how happy Seth looked these days. The whole town had turned into matchm
akers, giving her and Seth indulgent smiles when they would walk down Main Street hand in hand or share a plate of fries at the barbecue joint. She felt like they were the reality television for this town.

  “Hey, Presley. Where’s Seth?”

  Presley nodded to the back door. “He had to take a call and it’s pretty loud in here. What brings you to town today?”

  “I needed to restock the pantry. I thought the crowds wouldn’t be too bad today but I was wrong. The grocery store was already busy this morning. I saw the Sheriff’s station was closed. You and Seth taking the day off?”

  Presley chuckled. “Apparently, this is normal on a holiday week. There are deputies on duty but no one comes into the office. Seth will be on duty tonight, but he told me not to worry about the paperwork and such until next week.”

  Trask winked at her and accepted his to-go coffee from the waitress. “Enjoy your time off. It sounds like you’ve earned it. You’ve revolutionized the place the way I heard it.”

  The office had desperately needed it. “I’ve tried. Seth didn’t make it easy.”

  Trask laughed and headed for the door. “I’m sure you’re right. Have a good day, Presley, and Happy Thanksgiving.”

  “Happy Thanksgiving, Trask.”

  Presley tried to relax and wait for Seth but her gaze kept falling on a man who appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. His hair was cut shorter than most of the men in Harper and his skin wasn’t as tan. She signaled to the waitress for more coffee as Seth returned, an unhappy expression on his face.

  “I thought I’d wiped that frown off your face earlier, Sheriff. You’re all grumpy again.” She nodded to the man in the corner booth. “Do you know who he is?”

  Seth twisted around and quickly looked at the stranger. “Why do you ask? Has he broken the law? We do get people passing through town on occasion.”

  “No,” Presley shook her head. “He doesn’t look like the usual hunter or fisherman tourist, that’s all.”

  Seth sighed. “He’s not a tourist. He’s a Fed. Every week or so, they send a Fed or two here to check on you. I get an email with their pictures so I don’t freak out when someone is watching you.”