One Taste

by Cari Quinn

  He groaned into her mouth at the first scrape of her nails in his scalp. She surged against him, her breasts flush to his chest and her arms wrapping him in a cocoon of apples and a hint of lemon Life Savers. Christ, she was going to kill him. He latched his mouth on to her neck and tried to slow down the train.

  The only stop he wanted was inside her, after his breath was a gasp because she rode him into oblivion. He pressed his forehead into her neck and gripped her back, trying desperately to hold her still. “Kendall.”

  The purring moan that was half whine made him grin into her skin. “Don’t stop. Right there, I’m so close,” she moaned. Restless hips undulated against his aching cock, and he would have happily done anything not to stop. A whole different kind of banging came into the forefront of his hearing. In between the rasping breaths that made him so hard he was entirely sure he’d lose his fucking mind, he could hear the compressor from a nail gun coming their way.

  He slammed her down on his lap and ground into her. The quick rasp of her voice made him groan.

  “So close,” she whispered into his ear. Her breath was hot and hitching.

  He dug his fingertips into the supple muscles of her back, and he rose against her rolling hips. “Christ, are you going to come just from this?”

  She palmed the top of his head and latched her mouth over his. Fucking shit, she was. He kept up the steady bump against her even as his abdominal muscles shrieked and burned in time with his thigh muscles. She turned her cheek so theirs were side by side, and her breath cracked. He stilled under her as she ground into him so hard he knew he’d be wearing the indent of his zipper.

  Her cheeks were flushed, and her head tipped back as she finally made the tiny shuddering moan he’d forever hear in his dreams. He brought his hand up between them and laid it on her chest. Her heart slammed like a kick drum under his palm. He nipped her chin.

  She sagged against his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  He gripped her ponytail and brought her gaze up to his. Her pupils were wide open, leaving only a sliver of iris and her face flushed from wanting him. Humbled, he felt his heart turn. “What the hell for?”

  “I didn’t mean… I—” She groaned and bumped her forehead into his shoulder. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “You’re damn lucky it wasn’t me.” Her laugh was sexy and low. He let her hair slide from his fingers and tipped her chin up. “You are so unbelievably fucking hot.”

  She flicked her tongue along her dry lips. “Only with you, evidently.”

  He dragged her in. Unable to leave her swollen lips alone, he teased open her mouth for a last lingering taste. She lightly scratched her way down the back of his skull to rest her fingers at his neck. Voices and the snick of nails pounding into pine brought him around again. He set her beside him on the hay bale and untucked his shirt. His dick was so hard he needed a minute to adjust. Her nails dug into his upper thigh. He dragged her hand down to his knee and laced their fingers.

  With her cheek against his shoulder, he slowly relaxed.

  “I didn’t mean to do that.”

  He squeezed her hand. “You damn well should. Daily. Fuck, Sunshine.”

  “I don’t want to get you into trouble.”

  “I haven’t taken a break since I got here. Besides, you’re better than any coffee or soda I could go find.” Needing a minute to get himself together, he brushed an absent kiss along her temple. “What have you been up to?”

  She nuzzled against his shirt. “I met Lucinda, the housekeeper. She’s mildly terrifying in a completely nurturing way.”

  He laughed and enjoyed the feel of her against him. “I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not.”

  “I’m still deciding. I like it here. I’ve been near a lot of animals over the years but never horses. Once Evelyn—that’s the horse trainer—figured out I had a strong back, she had me in the stables.”

  He took a sniff. “You don’t smell like horseshit.”

  Kendall snorted into his shirt. “No, I got lucky there. She taught me how to rip apart hay bales and feed and water the horses.”

  That was why she tasted a little salty. “I’m doing this so you don’t have to slog through a job.”

  Her head popped up. “I earn my keep, Shane. So don’t worry about me. I like it. As long as I don’t have to muck out the stalls.”

  Keeping her busy was a good idea. Especially with the level of work he’d be doing. He didn’t have time to make sure she wasn’t getting into any trouble. He nodded. “I get that. It’s a good plan.”

  “Well, gee, thanks. I’m glad you approve.”

  He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Don’t get all snarly. Besides, you smell like hay and sunshine. I like it.”

  Her eyes softened, and he cursed himself for wanting to please her. Such a bad fucking idea. In less than ten days the reality of their situation was going to kill the happy peace between them. He squeezed her hand and stood. “Thanks for being my ten-minute break.”

  A little frown line settled between her eyes before she grinned up at him. “I’ll see you for dinner?”

  He smoothed his palm along the back of his neck, missing her touch already. “Not sure. We might be pulling a long shift today to get things back on track.”

  She nodded. “Okay. I’ll find you later.” She brushed past him, and he snagged her wrist, hauling her back up against his chest. As usual Kendall melted into him, gentling him where he forgot to be gentle.

  He opened his eyes first and caught the sweet smile on her upturned face. Dusky lashes rested against her sun-kissed cheeks and finally fluttered open. She made him want to be easygoing. It was an alien feeling. He tucked a stray tendril of hair around her ear. “Get out of here. You’re distracting the men.”

  Her smile widened. “I always wanted to be a distraction.”

  If she only knew.

  She slipped away, her hips swaying as she bounced out the front doors into the sunshine. He stepped out of the stall to hear a long whistle from a half dozen men. “All right, all right. That overtime isn’t going to happen if I don’t see a dent in at least ten stalls. Move!”

  There were a few grumbles but mostly snickers as hammering, saws, and pops of compressed air filled the room. This he understood.

  KENDALL HIKED UP through bronzing fields dry with fall and the still-blazing heat of the sun. Utah hadn’t gotten the memo that it was mid-November. Now that she was away from Shane, she tied the sleeves of her overshirt around her hips and let the breeze cool her shoulders.

  The man was so hard to read. He was wild and rough around the edges, and each time he touched her she splintered into pieces. She didn’t know when she’d ever felt more out of control and happy at the same time in her entire life. Free to do her own thing, she’d found herself working harder than when she was at the Heron.

  But the backbreaking work cleared her mind. Evelyn Marsh was the perfect outlet for the days that tumbled in front of her. Kendall jogged the last few yard to the old stables and smiled when her new friend waved her into the foaling section. Evelyn was a leggy brunette who was as coltish as her charges. She was lean and sun roughened. Crinkles at the edges of her eyes spoke of the outdoors, but Kendall couldn’t name Evelyn’s age to save her life.

  She wasn’t young, but she was virile and powerful in a way Kendall hoped to be someday.

  “Come see my new baby.”

  Kendall hooked her palm around the faded wood and peered through the bars of the wrought-iron framework over the door. “Oh, Evelyn.”

  “I know. Isn’t she just the most beautiful thing you ever did see?” Evelyn knelt in the middle of a fresh spread of hay with a softly snuffing mama horse. The mare had a deep blue-black coat. The new baby was shaky but matched her mama in coloring save for a snowy slash of white down its nose. “Her name’s Hannah.”

  Kendall slowly crept in and lowered herself in front of the spindle-legged baby. Hannah took a tumble, her hooves clunking together
before she righted herself and scampered back to her mother. Kendall jammed her fingers between her knees and watched in awe as the mother nuzzled her baby. “They’re beautiful.”

  Evelyn crawled over to the mare and stroked her head. “Callie did an amazing job.”

  “When did she give birth?”

  “Just last night.”

  “And the baby’s already walking around?”

  “Yep. Horses don’t crawl. Hannah will be clumsy for a bit, but she’ll be running around the paddock by tomorrow.”

  Amazed, Kendall fell back onto her booted heels. “So fast.”

  “As cyclical as everything is on a farm, one thing moves at lightning speed—change.” Evelyn stood and slapped her hands on her knees to dust off the hay. “My, don’t you have a blush in your cheeks. Somehow I don’t think that’s from just being outside.”

  “It is pretty hot.”

  Evelyn hooked her arm into Kendall’s. “You’ve got sex eyes.”

  “I do not.”

  Evelyn laughed. “You do. And that quick response says to me that you definitely had it or almost had it.” She grabbed her hat off the post outside the stall. “Or you just enjoyed a little whisker burn with your visit to the new stables.”

  Kendall swiped her hand over her face with a wince. “Is it that obvious?”

  Evelyn shrugged. “Either you found yourself a randy cowboy at the stables—which isn’t hard—or you went and saw your little boy toy.”

  “I don’t have a—”

  “Everyone’s buzzing about Shane Justice. I saw you two roll in together this morning. I get the feeling that you aren’t quite boyfriend/girlfriend, but you’re not strangers either.”

  Confused, she peered up at her. “How…”

  “That man watches you like you’re a steak and a hot fudge sundae wrapped up in a silky bow.” Evelyn sighed. “I remember when Doyle used to look at me like that.”

  Dumbfounded, Kendall followed her out of the barn. “You and Will?”

  “We scratched the itch sometimes. After his wife died, he wasn’t all fired up to do much more than lose a few random hours in the middle of the night. It suited me until it didn’t.”

  They walked in companionable silence. Was that all she and Shane would be? Random hours that filled the time until New York? That was all she wanted. All she was supposed to want. But after last night’s weirdness, she didn’t know. Even if she’d hopped on his lap easily enough a few minutes ago.

  She found herself wanting to share the Heron with him. Instead of just telling him about her favorite spots, she wanted to show them to him. She wanted to see him there on her dock and look out on the water with his warm chest at her back.

  Which was stupid. He’d probably want to sell and wash his hands of her. There was so much she wanted to do with it, but the only steady customers she had were fishermen. And she couldn’t turn them away, or she’d be out of business in a month.

  She’d blocked out the reality of her situation for days now. She was so afraid the B and B would be gone and so would he. Maybe if she kept talking it up, she could convince him to see the Heron like she did.

  And just maybe he’d see the bed-and-breakfast as something more than a moneymaker that would fetch them the highest dollar for a sale.

  Evelyn’s voice gentled. “I’m not sure what’s going on in that head of yours, but I’ll give you a piece of unsolicited advice.”

  “Lay it on me.”

  “Good sex can color the whole world in sparkles and fairy dust. Wait until the sparkle fades before you own up to love and babies and forever. Sometimes the fairy dust is just a good orgasm.”

  “I must be covered in fairy dust.”

  Evelyn guffawed and slapped her back. “From head to toe, kid.”

  Kendall slammed the lid on the box again. It wasn’t time to take New York out of its box and look at it too closely yet. “I think I’m going to enjoy my Tinker Bell status for a bit.”

  “I don’t blame you. I’ve seen your boy, and he looks like he’d be very good with the, um…fairy dust.”

  Kendall’s lips twitched. “He’d kill me if he heard the analogy.”

  “I have a feeling you know your way around his growly nature.”

  For some things she did. And other ways, she wasn’t sure how she’d ever reach him.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kendall flexed her tight shoulders and slammed a hook into each end of the hay bale so she could load it into the large cart. She sawed down the sides until the straps snapped and loosened the whorls of golden straw. She repeated the process six more times until she had a massive pile ready for the yearlings and colts. She hopped into the little tractor and slapped it into gear.

  Day three and she was finally getting the hang of her small chores. She hadn’t been delegated to mucking out the stalls, but she had a feeling that had more to do with Shane’s station in the pecking order this week than anything she was doing on Doyle’s horse farm.

  She hadn’t seen Shane for more than a few minutes in the evening before he poured himself into the shower and bed, returning at daybreak to do it all over again. Most nights he stayed down at the barracks with the other workers, checking in on her between whatever projects he was working on.

  Keeping busy had been the deal of the day for her since the first night. She understood that he wanted to wrap up the job as quickly as possible, but with each day that passed, it was becoming clearer that her fantasy was falling apart. She avoided her mother’s calls and didn’t have it in her to talk to Bells about her situation.

  She worked herself into exhaustion just so she didn’t have to analyze whatever it was between her and Shane. Cross-country sexathon, fling, or was it more? She couldn’t lie to herself anymore.

  It was more for her.

  Was she deluding herself? They’d known each other for little more than a week, and already she felt more for him than she had any other man in her life. Was it just fairy dust like Evelyn said, or was it that once-in-a-lifetime connection that everyone looked for?

  She dumped the feeding station into the middle of the pasture and waved to Evelyn, who was putting Porthos through his paces. Besides the baby foal, Porthos was her favorite horse. The ring created in the paddock was filled with jumping fences and agility barrels. She hooked her arms over the sun-bleached fence around the perimeter.

  This was her favorite part of the day. With three days under her belt, she still marveled at the horses’ grace and beauty. Not to mention she had a healthy respect for the fact that most of them towered over her.

  “Beautiful, aren’t they?” A man’s voice came from over her shoulder.

  Kendall smiled. “He’s going to be one helluva show horse.”

  The man leaned against the post and definitely hadn’t gotten the memo about invading a woman’s personal space. “I can show you how to ride.”

  She kept her smile in place but focused her attention on Evelyn and the barrels she raced around. “Evelyn already gave me a few lessons.”

  “Ah. She’s a damn good rider. I could take you for a ride out to the meadow, maybe have some lunch. I’m Lon Mackie, by the way.”

  “No, thanks.” She gave him a sideways glance. “You’re on Shane’s crew, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thought so.” And she’d seen him watching her when she went in to visit Shane during her midday break. “I’m sure Shane keeps you too busy for a picnic.”

  “Work is never more important than a pretty girl.”

  Kendall arched her brow. “I’m sure another woman would be very happy to hear that.”

  “But not you?”

  She jumped down from the fence. “Not me.” She peered up at the tall man. He was still handsome, but she had a feeling he’d been truly devastating before ten years of liquor and cigarettes had done their damage. There were dozens of Lons back home.

  “I’m entitled to an hour off with the overtime I’ve been putting in.”


  “And I’m sure you can find someone to do that with.”

  He leaned in again, and she took a step back. “Slim pickings around here.”

  She shielded her eyes and squinted up at him. “Oh, yeah? That makes me want to go all the more.”

  “Now, I didn’t mean it like that, Kendall. I can call you Kendall, right?”

  She ducked under the rail and glanced over her shoulder. “It’s very sweet of you to ask, but I’m not interested.”

  “I’m not good enough for you, city girl?”

  She stopped and stared. “I’m sort of with someone, Mr. Mackie.”

  “Sort of means you’re available. And call me Lon.”

  There’d been no talk of exclusivity with Shane, and yet just the idea of him with someone else made her stomach churn. “I…”

  “Come on, what could it hurt? I know how to have fun, unlike that uptight—” He shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile. “Let’s just say I’m a helluva lot more fun. We could go out after my shift is over. We may be working overtime, but I don’t have to be here all night.”

  “No, thanks, really.”

  “It’s not just me. You gotta be bored staying at the big house. There’s a bunch of us that go out. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m harmless.”

  About as harmless as bees around a hive. He had his heels dug in, and it was easier to make him think her answer was maybe. “I’ll think about it.”

  His blue eyes sparkled. “Great. That’s all I’m asking. We’ll be at Starrla’s on Main Street.”

  “All right.”

  “Great. Don’t forget now.”

  “I won’t.” She strode along the edges of the ring to stay out of the way, waving to Evelyn to let her know she was in the paddock. “See you later, Lon.”

  Fielding the attentions of the men on Shane’s crew was getting to be a full-time job. And Shane was far too busy to notice. She knew how to walk the line between friendly and showing interest. Lon might require her rude card if he got any more aggressive. She didn’t like to pull that out unless it was absolutely necessary.