Cowboy Blues

by Jamie Craig

  Her mouth watered as she dolloped generous spoonfuls onto the cake, watching it start to melt and slide down the side as soon as it made contact. “How did you learn how to make this? This smells amazing."

  "My mom used to make it. Sometimes, if she couldn't make rent, we'd go on...impromptu camping trips. I learned how to make a lot of stuff with a Dutch oven, a few hot coals, and very cheap food."

  "Remind me never to leave home without you, then.” Rebecca laid out the blanket next to the fire and sat down, patting the place in front of her. “Get your ass down here. You're getting the first bite."

  With a crooked grin, Spencer sat opposite her, and she scooted forward, draping her legs over his in order to curl around his hips. It left their upper bodies within inches of each other, but she twisted away from his questing hands to pick up the nearest plate.

  "You did the cooking, so I'll do the feeding.” The fork sank into the cake, fresh steam rising from the chocolaty crumbs. “You're going to have to blow, I think."

  "Funny, I was going to ask you to do something like that.” He pursed his lips and blew a cool stream across the cake, making the steam dance between them, before obediently opening his mouth.

  Her pussy clenched at the sight of his tongue trailing along the fork, of his lips pursing to make sure he didn't miss a single crumb. Cream stuck to his upper lip, and she leaned in to lick it away, giggling when he tried to chase her for a kiss.

  "If it tastes as good as it looks, I've got no problem showing you how much I appreciate it. I could probably be talked into all kinds of appreciation, even."

  "Here.” He took the fork from her and cut off a bite of cake, making sure to get a good amount of whipped cream and cherry syrup with it. “You tell me how much appreciation I can look forward to."

  His eyes twinkled with glints from the fire as he waited for her to open her mouth. Rebecca did so obediently, but the second the hot cake hit her tongue, she moaned and sealed her lips around the tines. Her eyes closed, allowing her to focus on the flavors. They had been eating halfway decent since they'd been on the road, but sweet stuff was usually limited to Froot Loops for breakfast or a candy bar when they stopped for gas. This was an explosion of heaven, rich, melting chocolate and sweet, syrupy cherry cooled by the creamy whipped topping.

  "Anything,” she said as soon as she'd swallowed. “You name it, you got it. Just as long as I get more of this."

  "So as long as I'm well stocked in cake mix and tequila, I don't have to worry about you running away?"

  Smiling, she hooked her arm around his neck and pulled him closer. “Throw in some of those kisses that make my head spin and you're never going to be able to get rid of me."

  "If I start kissing you now, you're not going to get a chance to finish your cake while it's still warm."

  "Just one?” She nibbled at his lower lip. “I promise to eat all my cake after. Cross my heart."

  "That's the problem. If I start...” He caught her mouth for a brief kiss. “I won't be able to stop...” Their lips connected again, and his tongue traced the seam of her mouth. “Any time soon."

  With a sigh, Rebecca eased back, though it was the hardest thing she'd done all day. He'd gone to too much trouble with the cake for her not to savor each and every bite. Which, really, was not a hardship.

  She didn't unhook her arm, though. Reaching sideways, she speared another mouthful and brought it up to his lips, laughing when he didn't catch the melting cream in time. “We're going to have to stop and find a Laundromat tomorrow if you keep making such a mess."

  "I'm not making a mess. I know how to feed myself.” He closed his lips over the fork before adding, “You're the one getting cake everywhere."

  "I could always stop."

  "Then I'll just go back to kissing you."

  "Next bite'll be for me, then."

  His heavy gaze followed the bend of her arm, the lift of the fork, the disappearance of the cake past her lips. Turned out the second bite was just as good as the first. Rebecca dug in for a third, but just before it hit her mouth, she changed her mind and held it out for him to have.

  "In case I forget to say it later, thank you for the cake.” She waited until the fork was empty before adding, “You always do the sweetest things for me."

  He plucked the fork from her fingers and set it on the plate. “You deserve it."

  Her heart thudded against her ribs. That particular look in his eyes made everything else in the world disappear. “Are we done with cake?"

  "I am.” He wrapped his arm around her. “It tastes fine cold. And I didn't spend my whole day thinking about cake."

  "No, I just bet you didn't."

  Kissing him now provided the release she'd been looking for ever since the sun had set. Another day gone. Another part of the assignment over. But she couldn't put a cap on it without Spence, without feeling his muscles flexing beneath her hands, or swallowing the breath he willingly shared. Neither bothered with teasing. They didn't need it. They needed the heat of their bodies and the taste of their mouths.

  His hand traveled up her spine until he reached her neck. He caressed the sensitive skin at her nape before gripping her with firm fingers, holding her as his mouth grew hungrier, more demanding.

  Sometimes, Rebecca thought she could kiss Spencer Cole forever and not get enough of him. He always knew where to taste her, how to coax her into tasting him, consuming her without ever making her feel like she wasn't still in control. Even now, he held her still in order to devour her mouth, but not once did she resent it. It gave her permission to touch him, to smooth her fingers down his chest, scratch at his ribs through his thin T-shirt. She could steal every ounce of heat he had to give and he would only offer more. It was part of the magic they'd had from the beginning. A knowing she couldn't explain. A knowing she didn't want to dissect.

  His mouth didn't leave hers until her lips were swollen from the force of the caress. He kissed a path along her jaw and down her neck, his mouth hot and wet when his lips closed over the skin. Rebecca moaned with each point of pressure, dropping her head back and arching forward to encourage him to continue. He moved from her left side to the right, his lips never abandoning her neck until he finally sought out her mouth again.

  Their position made it easy to kiss, easier still to touch, but to progress any further would require moving. Rebecca didn't want to. She liked the slight graze of his erection into her pussy where their hips met, and she loved rubbing against his hard chest, tightening her nipples until they demanded more. She especially liked that he was pretty much at her mercy. With her legs over his, Spencer would have to work too hard in order to get out.

  That point wasn't now. Now, she dropped her hands to his stomach, pulling his shirt up and exposing his delectable muscles to her determined fingers.

  Spencer twitched when she touched him, like she hadn't been touching him almost continuously for the past week. Their tongues tangled, and her teeth and lips vibrated as he moaned. Rebecca shifted, scraping her tender nipples against him, forgetting the chill of the night air against her back as his heat soaked through their clothes and into her body. She pushed his T-shirt higher, seeking out more of his chest, and her mouth watered to taste his salty skin.

  When she broke away from the kiss and slid back a few inches, Spencer scowled at her. She pressed her fingers to his mouth, cutting off whatever might have come out, and bent her head to drag the flat of her tongue along one side of his bare chest. The muscles hitched. So did his breath. She liked to tease him about how sensitive he could get, but at heart, Rebecca loved licking almost anywhere and provoking this kind of reaction.

  "Can you get this off?” She bunched his shirt higher, prompting Spence to grab the hem and shuck it off. It dangled from his injured shoulder only for as long as it took her to grab it and pull it the rest of the way down. “That's more like it."

  "I think it's only fair if you return the favor,” Spence murmured, reaching under her shirt to find the
clasp of her bra. His fingers worked it open easily before he traced the hem, the line guiding his hand to her breast.

  Rebecca whipped her shirt over her head and immediately resumed caressing his chest. Her bra straps fell down her arms as Spencer cupped her breast, his knuckles visible beneath the plain white cotton. One swipe, two. Then a shudder wracked through her when his callused thumb brushed over her nipple.

  "How is it fair when you turn me into a big pile of goo this way?” She followed her good-natured complaint with a bite at his chest. “I think if you're going to be really fair, you need to lose the jeans, too."

  "You know how to get rid of them.” He circled her nipple with the tip of his thumb, each caress maddeningly slow. “I hope no random hikers find us."

  "That's not code for ‘it's cold out here and I want to go in,’ is it?"

  "No, I just don't want anybody staring at you except me."

  "I think we're safe.” She wriggled the rest of the way out of her bra and tossed it onto the growing pile of clothes. “Though you could always get on top if you're so worried."

  Spencer leaned forward to catch one nipple between his lips, lingering for only a moment before shifting his attention to the other. “No. I like it here just fine."

  She meant to say, “You would.” It came out as a hiss instead, when he chose to bite at her breast instead of just teasing it with his tongue. Rebecca tangled her fingers in the hair at his nape and shivered with the fire rolling through her flesh. Her head tilted back. The ends of her hair tickled where they dragged along her spine. Everything conspired to bombard her with sensations, but she felt the man was determined to make her crazy the most.

  "Missed you today,” Spencer said, and even the words felt like a caress. His lips and tongue danced across her skin, finding new ways to make her tingle and squirm against his erection. “That's why I like travel days."

  "Me, too.” And she did. She loved what she was doing, found it incredibly easy to get lost in the natural beauty of each park they visited. But every time something caught her eye, she had the same thought. I wish Spence was here to see that. Tugging at his hair, she forced him to look up and meet her eyes. “If you ever want to come out with me, you know you're more than welcome."

  "I don't want to get in your way."

  Her mouth slanted. “Silly. You're never in my way. Haven't you figured that out yet?"

  "Apparently not. But I don't want you to miss the shot of a lifetime because I have a hard time keeping my hands to myself."

  "You're worth more than any picture I could ever take.” To prove it, she closed the distance between them, sealing their mouths together in a slow demand that he believe her.

  Spencer responded to the kiss with the same heated fervor, as though he wanted to convince her of something, too. His hand moved down to her waistband, and he hooked his fingers around the pants, his thumb brushing across the button. He freed it with a hard tug, and then pushed down the zipper. The more he pushed at the pants, the more her clit throbbed, until all she wanted was to feel his rough skin against her flesh.

  Straddling his legs pulled her jeans too tight for him to do more than press the ends of his fingers over her mound. Her panties were soaked with need for him. The way he massaged over her flesh and scraped her clit across the wet fabric didn't help.

  She got up, though abandoning the heat of their kisses and his touch made her grunt in frustration. She stripped the rest of the way, all too aware of the hungry fix of his eyes. Then, she knelt at his feet, tugging off his boots before going to his fly.

  "Lay back,” she said. “You might not want to be on top right now, but I'm more than ready."

  Spencer took a moment to straighten the blanket behind him, then set his hat aside and settled on his back. He watched her from beneath heavy lids as she pulled his jeans down his legs and off his feet.

  "In my back pocket,” Spence said at Rebecca's questioning look. She snatched the condom from his pants and turned back to him. Spence took her hand, gently pulling her down until she straddled his hips, her knees cushioned against the soft blanket.

  She sat back on his thighs as she grasped his cock. Already, the tip glistened with moisture, mouthwatering and clear. Swirling her thumb in it, she coated more of the velvety crown, never taking her eyes off Spence.

  "So is this what you've been waiting for all day then?"

  "One of many things.” He caressed her thigh, his knuckles brushing against her lips, glancing over her clit.

  Goose bumps erupted along her arm, and her grip tightened automatically. Spencer groaned, but the blaze in his eyes told her not to stop. Catching the foil wrapper in her teeth, she tore it open. She had been waiting, too. She needed him inside her as badly as he needed her.

  Rebecca rolled the condom down his length, smoothing it along with both hands. Spence tugged at her arm after it was in place, and he was the one to pull her flush against his torso, cupping her ass as she rubbed against his sheathed cock.

  "Something tells me you're a little eager,” she murmured.

  "Silly, I'm always eager for you. Haven't you figured that out yet?"

  The world lurched sideways, and she crushed their mouths together as the emotion surged through her. Vaguely, she felt herself lift her hips, seeking out the tip of his erection to guide him to her opening. They didn't wait for any more foreplay; there was no need. Rebecca sank down on his hard length, reducing them both to shudders when he was completely buried.

  "I think I might be starting to understand,” she said against his mouth. “Just so long as you understand that I love you, Spencer Cole."

  "Worthless cowboy that I am?"

  Rebecca smiled. “Important thing to remember? You're my cowboy."

  "I am,” Spencer agreed, his words a hint of air across her mouth. “Always will be."

  She rocked along his length, shallow strokes that barely had him leaving her body. But she couldn't speed it up, not yet, not and kiss him the way she needed to. She needed to show him how deep it went, how sure she was about what they were, what they could be. Her fingers traced along his jaw, caressing the stubble starting to make itself known, while she poured every ounce of love she felt into her touch.

  When Rebecca lifted her head again, she saw the light from the fire reflected in his eyes. A log snapped, sending a wave of sparks into the air, casting an almost ethereal glow over his features.

  "Love you, too, Becca. I think I have for awhile now."

  Though she hadn't expected him to say the words, the swell of love for him they evoked prompted her to kiss him again. Long. Slow. Tender enough to make her ache.

  "Funny how it all crept up on us,” she said. “Only took us five years to get to this point."

  "What can I say? I'm a cautious guy."

  "Uh huh. I can think of more than a few bulls who might think otherwise."

  "I intend to hold on to you for longer than eight seconds."

  Though she smiled, Rebecca was done talking. Everything had been said. She loved him. He loved her. Things would work out, because that was what they wanted. They didn't have to dwell on questionable futures, of whether or not Spencer would ride again, or what she would do when this particular assignment was over. None of that mattered. All that mattered was the circle of his embrace and the slick glide of her body along his. Now. This moment. And then the next.

  Their mouths connected in a series of slow kisses, each building on the one before it. Her hard nipples scraped across the hair on his chest, and she felt each individual, wiry curl. Half of her body was cool, the other half overheated from the fire and Spencer's flesh. They kept the rhythm slow, moving in silent agreement toward the same goal. Spencer never closed his eyes, never took his gaze from her face, though she knew stars were glittering and spinning overhead.

  Coiling their fingers together, she held onto his immobile hand while bracing herself on her other. They still had to be careful of jarring his shoulder, but this sensual pace stoked th
e desire beneath her skin. Her breath came in quickening gasps, small cries Spencer caught with kisses that only burned her hotter, and she clenched around him each time she slid up his cock. Then it was his turn to gasp, and her turn to capture him with kisses.

  She felt Spencer shift, drawing his knees up to plant his feet against the ground. He changed the angle of his hips just enough so that when she slid down his length, her clit hit the base of his cock, sending a new shock of pleasure through her system.

  "Oh, God, Spence...” Rebecca ground her hips on the next stroke, shivering in delight from the friction before pulling away again. “What you do to me...” She chased after that little jolt with ever increasing strokes, the hard dig of Spencer's strong fingers into her ass spurring her even more. She couldn't breathe, couldn't even suck in air. Everything had narrowed down to the points of contact between their bodies, each rub and scrape and slap compelling her closer and closer to breaking.

  "Becca...Becca...honey..."

  She didn't think there could be anything sweeter, any sound better, than the way Spencer said her name as he neared the edge of his orgasm. A strangled sound reflected her own satisfaction, echoing through her. She slammed their mouths together one final time, stealing his breath for the scream building in her throat. Her clit coming in contact with his heated flesh snapped like a whip through her, and then everything shattered.

  She couldn't stop shaking, sensitive everywhere they touched, incapable of peeling away and losing the touch of his skin. Clutching at him helped; so did kissing. It kept her rooted to the ground, to him, before euphoria had her floating away. Somewhere in the midst of it, more repetitions of I love you came out, and she wasn't the only one speaking. His claims matched hers, and she held on to both those and the man himself, unwilling to let either of them go.

  Their kisses slowed, and eventually stopped, leaving her shaken and boneless. “Well, if there were any hikers around, I think they got one hell of a show,” she said.

  Spencer chuckled. “If they stick around for a few minutes, I might give them an encore performance."