His head dipped to hers and then his lips were on hers, creating a magic that caused her head to buzz. Excitement hummed along her veins and the glow deep within her ignited into a scorching flame that took away her breath and her ability to think. All she could do was react to the urgings of her body.
Tearing her lips from his, she began to shove his shirt down over his shoulders. In her haste, she forgot about the bandages on his forearm, until he winced and jerked his arm free of the sleeve.
“Oh, Noah, I’m sorry!”
“Forget it.” He tossed the denim shirt to the floor. “Just let me do it. It’ll be faster.”
She stood to one side, watching as he stripped out of his jeans, then sat on the edge of the bed to remove his boots. Once he was down to nothing but a pair of plain white boxers, he reached out and pulled her between his legs. But not before she’d caught an eyeful of broad shoulders and a wide chest dusted with curly black hair. A corded abdomen narrowed down to a trim waist, while the long legs pressed on either side of her were all hard, sinewy muscle.
Being this close to his naked body, with the masculine scent of his bare skin wafting all around her was all it took to send ripples of excitement rushing through her. When his fingers began to clumsily deal with the buttons on her shirt, her nipples tightened with anticipation, her body ached to be connected to his.
Curving her hands over both of his shoulders, she leaned closer, while mentally willing his hands to move faster.
“I thought you said you could do this faster,” she said in a breathless rush.
He groaned with frustration. “I thought I could. But these damned buttons are too little for my big fingers.”
“Let me do it this way.” Brushing his hands aside, she grabbed the hem of the shirt and quickly tugged it over her head.
After she’d tossed the garment to the heap of clothing he’d already made on the floor, he stood and lifted her onto the bed.
“Be still,” he ordered as he reached for the closure on her jeans. “I can handle a pair of jeans.”
While he dealt with the button and zipper, Bella focused on the black waves of hair falling over his forehead. She’d never been this close to such a rugged, sexy man and the idea of making love to him was more potent than a shot of whiskey.
By the time he’d stripped her down to nothing but a set of pale pink lacy underwear and joined her on the bed, she was trembling with need, her breaths coming and going in jerky spurts.
He rolled her toward him and she wrapped her arms around his neck and aligned the front of her body next to his. With one arm, he pressed even closer and the sensation of his heated skin sliding against her breasts caused a shiver to ripple through her and a moan to find its way past her lips.
“You feel like a piece of hot satin against me.”
His voice was rough with desire and the sound was just as provocative as the touch of his hands moving against her back and down to the lace covering her hips.
“And you feel like everything I’ve ever wanted,” she whispered. “Make love to me, Noah.”
He tilted her chin to an angle where his lips could reach hers. His kiss swallowed up her sigh and then he broke the contact between their lips to begin a slow, sweet caress along the side of her throat.
Eventually the tempting kisses reached her collarbone and his hand found its way to the middle of her back to unfasten her bra. Once the flimsy garment slipped away from her breasts, his hands cupped their fullness while his gaze devoured the plump flesh.
When his head lowered and he drew a puckered nipple into his mouth, she cried out with pleasure and thrust her hands into his thick hair. His tongue laved the sensitive bud until she was writhing against him, desperate for even the tiniest form of relief.
Eventually, the hot throbbing in her nipple spread downward until it pooled in the intimate spot between her thighs. The unbearable ache caused her to tug on his hair and lift his head away from her breast.
“Noah—I—can’t—wait! I need to feel you inside me! Now!”
*
Her frantic urgings pushed Noah’s desire to the boiling point and it was all he could do to stay in control as he peeled off his shorts and rolled her onto her back.
Once he’d positioned himself over her, he took a moment to look down and as he gazed at her partially closed eyes and swollen lips, her dark hair lying in tangled strands upon the worn quilt, he was quite certain he’d never seen anything more lovely or precious.
“Bella. Oh, Bella, I wanted this to be slow and sure and perfect. But I—”
He didn’t finish the rest as she suddenly snatched a hold on his hips and jerked him downward.
“It will be all those things next time,” she whispered.
With her hand on his manhood, she guided him into her soft, warm folds. After that Noah wasn’t aware of anything except the movement of her body rising up to his, her hands skimming over his back and buttocks, the hot trail of her lips against his skin and the feel of her teeth sinking gently into his shoulder.
The need she was building in him far outweighed anything he’d ever felt before and the realization rocked the ground beneath him. As he frantically drove himself into her, flashes of the room spun wildly around him, while outside the window, the sound of calling night birds faintly registered through the hazy fog.
Tiny particles in his brain were questioning whether he’d gone crazy. If he had, then crazy was a place he didn’t want to leave. For the first time in his life he wanted to give the deepest part of himself to a woman, and the feeling was so euphoric he wondered if he must be dying. No living man could feel like this and still be alive.
Time ceased to matter as over and over their bodies crashed together in a perfect rhythm that grew faster and faster until Noah’s breath was gone and his heart pounded as if something wild had suddenly inhabited his chest.
Beneath him, Bella was groaning, her hands gripping his buttocks. And then suddenly she was arching and straining against him.
“Noah. My Noah!”
She was slipping over the edge and taking him with her. The frantic fall had him snatching her upper body close to his and with his mouth on hers, he made one final thrust. The release was so great he was certain he’d been catapulted to heaven. Every cell in his body felt like a glowing star and for one brief instant he felt immense happiness.
Rolling away from her, he lay on his back and fixed his gaze on the open window. His breathing was still coming in rapid gulps and though his heartbeat had slowed, it continued to throb loudly in his ears.
He’d never felt more weak and vulnerable in his life. Yet there was a sense of contentment in him that contradicted each doubt that swirled through his mind. In the end, he didn’t know which feeling would win out, but for the moment it didn’t matter. All that mattered was the fact that Bella was lying next to him. His bed was no longer empty. And neither was his heart.
Sighing, she turned onto her side so that she was facing him. Noah looked over at her and winced with longing as he scanned the soft light in her eyes and the tender smile curving her lips.
“I don’t know what to say, Noah. Except that nothing like this has ever happened to me. Not like this.”
Her hand reached over and came to rest in the middle of his chest. Noah lifted it to his lips and kissed the tips of her fingers.
“It shouldn’t have happened here in this old cabin. You deserve much better.”
She scooted close enough to press a kiss against his damp shoulder. “This old cabin, as you call it, was built by my grandfather. I happen to like it. Besides, what just happened between us would have been just as great if we’d been on the ground underneath a pine tree.”
The fact that she looked at everything so simply and logically made it impossible for Noah to express his feelings. She couldn’t understand his thoughts or fears. He’d be wasting his time to try to explain them.
“Yeah. I expect it would,” was all he could manage to say.
With a groan of frustration, he pulled her head down to his and cupped his hand against her damp cheek. “If you’re thinking I regret what just happened, you’re wrong. I feel blessed and honored to have you here with me.”
Her soft brown eyes swept over his face. “And what about happy? That’s how I want you to be, Noah. Happy.”
He tried to smile and the effort made him realize the expression was one he’d rarely displayed in his lifetime. “I’m not sure I know what that is, Bella. If I was ever happy, the feeling didn’t stick around. Maybe because I’m not capable of holding on to it. Or maybe I just didn’t know what it was when I had it. Either way, you don’t need to be worrying yourself about pleasing me. You’ve given me more than I ever expected to have.”
Her hand moved gently over his chest and Noah wondered if this might be how it felt to be touched by an angel. Bella was making him feel wanted and needed and that was a heavenly thing.
The need to put an end to his soft thoughts made him ease away from her and rise from the bed. After fishing his shorts from the pile of clothing, he tugged them on and walked over to the window.
As he breathed in the cool night air, he hoped the sharp, tangy scent of the pines would help to clear his mind. Yet he knew that nothing on earth would be able to erase the passion he’d just experienced with Bella.
So what was he going to do now? How would he be able to keep his hands off her? And if he couldn’t, what would it do to his job, his friendship with Jett? He’d worked so hard to start his life over here on the J Bar S. If everything ended, he wasn’t sure he’d have the will to start over again.
The deep thoughts were churning around in his head when Bella came to stand next to him.
“The night is beautiful,” she said quietly. “The crescent moon looks like it’s pouring silver dust over the mountains.”
“It would be prettier if a band of clouds were pouring rain.”
She chuckled. “Spoken like a true Nevada rancher,” she said, then looked up at him. “Tell me how you came to be a cowboy and rancher, Noah. Was it something you always wanted to do?”
Noah had never talked much about his past. Sometimes with the ranch hands, he’d bring up a story or two about an ornery horse he’d ridden, or a particularly bad spell of weather he’d worked in. But that was as far as his reminiscing went. Bella deserved more than that, though.
“When I was just a little kid, I’d see cowboys on television and a few around the small town where we lived. But all I knew about them was that they rode horses and chased cows.”
A knowing smile tilted her lips. “And that seemed exciting to you.”
“Well, not any more than a fireman or policeman or some job like that.” He slanted her a wry glance. “My parents weren’t exactly the sort to encourage education. Being a lawyer like you was as far out of reach as becoming president of the United States.”
“In other words, your parents never asked you if you wanted to be a doctor or lawyer.”
He let out a caustic laugh. “Hell, my parents couldn’t even figure out where their own lives were going. They weren’t concerned about what their little snot-nosed boy might grow up to be.”
Her hand rested on his arm. “I wish—well, that things had been different—better for you.”
He shook his head. “I’m not telling you this for sympathy, Bella. I made out okay. I had a roof over my head and food to eat. And when I went to live with my grandparents some things got better. They had a fairly nice house, plenty to eat, and the utilities were never turned off. But Granddad was a rigid, narrow-minded man, who believed everyone should see things his way. Even if I’d wanted to go to college, he wouldn’t have helped. For one thing he was a miser. Secondly, he was a retired copper miner. The job had made him a decent living and he thought I was stupid for not wanting to do the same.”
Shivering slightly, she hugged her arms to her chest. “So what happened? How did you go from your grandfather demanding you become a miner, to working as a cowboy?”
Noah shut the window, then took her by the shoulder. “You’re cold. Let’s go back to bed.”
Once they were under the covers and Bella’s head was pillowed on his shoulder, he asked, “Warm now?”
“Mmm. Just right.” She hugged her arm around his chest. “Now finish telling me about your grandfather.”
She wasn’t going to let the story of his young life die. Not until he’d finished the whole thing. But oddly enough, now that Noah had started talking, it was far easier than he’d expected.
“There’s not a whole lot more to tell, Bella. I learned early on that it was useless to argue my point. So I kept quiet and stayed out of his way as much as I could. When I was fourteen a friend found us a job on a nearby ranch mucking out horse stalls. We were too young to drive, so every day we had to walk five miles out from town and back. But we didn’t mind. I fell in love with the livestock and the land and decided I wanted to become a rancher. The foreman was a nice guy and could see I wanted to learn. He and the hands took me under their wings, taught me how to rope and ride and deal with livestock.”
“So how long did you work there?”
“For the next four summers. That was long enough to learn about the work involved in keeping a ranch going.”
“From living on the J Bar S, I’ve learned it’s never-ending work,” she replied, then asked, “How did your grandfather feel about all this? Was he proud you were learning a trade?”
He snorted. “Proud? Oh, Bella. He didn’t see me as a grandson. He saw me as a nuisance. As soon as I turned eighteen and graduated high school, I went off on my own and I’ve been taking care of myself ever since.”
“Did you ever go back to visit your grandparents?”
He sighed. “I’ve gone back to Benson once and that was to attend my grandmother’s funeral. She’d been a good woman and deserved more than what she’d gotten from her husband. Then three years later I learned Granddad had died. But by the time I’d heard about him passing, he’d already been buried. Which was just as well. I don’t think I would have gone to say goodbye to him.”
When several moments passed and she didn’t say anything Noah decided he’d finally managed to break through to her. The account of his childhood had succeeded in bursting the fairy-tale bubble she’d built around him. They weren’t from the same stock. In a few minutes she’d find some excuse to get dressed and make a beeline back to her fancy house. He should be feeling relief; instead he felt dead inside.
Finally, she said, “When you first told me how your father dumped you onto your grandparents, I wondered how a man could do such a thing. How he could turn out to be such a callous and, frankly, worthless human being? But it’s easy to understand now. He didn’t know how to love you or be a father. How could he? He’d never had a loving father to teach him.”
“I didn’t have one, either, Bella. It’s a defect in my family that’s been passed on and on. That’s why it has to stop with me. That’s why I’m not about to father a child or take a wife.”
She lifted her head to look at him. “Cycles can be broken, Noah. And you’re strong enough to break it. That is, if you want to.”
Did he want to break the cycle and be everything his father and grandfather hadn’t been? There’d been plenty of times Noah had watched Jett interacting with his children and he’d wondered how it would be to have a little person of his own to look to him for love and guidance and security. To have a part of him live on through his children was something most every man wanted. But Noah could see that being a father was a job that was far too complex for him to handle. Still, the idea that she believed in him, even after all that he’d revealed about himself, was enough to warm his heart.
Beneath the covers his hand slipped up and down her arm. “This guy you
’re going to defend. I’m glad you’re taking his case.”
Her head stirred against his shoulder and he knew she was studying his face in the darkness.
“You are? Why?”
“Because sometimes a guy just needs someone to believe in him.”
Shifting so that her upper body was lying across his chest, she brought her lips next to his. “We all need that, my dear Noah.”
Like a soppy fool, emotions filled his throat and made it impossible to speak. But Noah figured he’d already said more than enough tonight.
With a groan of fresh desire, he deepened the kiss and when her arms fastened tightly around him, he pushed everything from his mind, except making love to Bella.
*
On Thursday of the following week, on her way home from work, Bella stopped by Jett and Sassy’s to spend a few minutes with her nephews and niece.
When she entered the house, she found Sassy in the kitchen dicing vegetables and cutting strips of beef to make fajitas. Skyler, her three-year-old daughter, was sitting on the floor with a coloring book and a small box of crayons. The girl was dressed in jeans and boots, while the flowered headband holding back her strawberry curls gave her a sweet, girly look.
The minute she spotted Bella entering the room, she raced over and hugged her little arms tightly around her legs.
“Auntie Bella! Look, Mommy! Auntie Bella is here!”
The tall woman with a thick red French braid hanging against her back, turned away from her task at the cabinet to greet Bella.
“Well, hello, stranger,” she said with a wide smile. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d disowned us or something. You haven’t stopped by in days.”
Bella reached down and lifted Skyler into her arms, then cuddling the girl close to her, she walked over to Sassy.
“I’ve been extra busy this week,” she told her sister-in-law.
“Jett tells me the office is getting busier and busier.”
Work wasn’t the only thing that had kept Bella busy this past week. Each evening she’d been racing home, hoping that Noah would stop by to spend time with her.
Her Rugged Rancher Page 11