Linc shook his head. “Something must be on the land or under it. Keep an eye out for any strangers, will you?”
Arizona City was a crossing point over the Colorado River for wagon trains heading into California. Immigrants by the hundreds came regularly through the town. Jeb shook his head. “People come and go all the time. That won’t be easy.”
“You’re right. We’ll just have to keep watching.”
“What’s with you and the little lady?”
“She thinks she hates me.”
Jeb grinned. “Does she? Now, why would a sweet little thing like that think she hates you?”
He shrugged. “’Cause a lady don’t admit to some things, I guess.”
“What kind a things?”
“Mind your own business.”
“She’s gonna be my step-daughter. Her momma ain’t gonna be happy to see her hurt.”
“You asking what my intentions are?”
“Mostly I try to stay out of things that ain’t none of my business. And I would this time, ‘cept for her Momma.”
“I’m gonna marry her.”
“Damn, boy!” Jeb said a bit louder than either had expected. His shock was obvious. “So what’s she so upset about?”
“She doesn’t know it yet.”
* * * *
Abby was tired. That man was so aggravating. He’d totally ruined this visit for her. All she wanted was to leave this small town and head back to New York. If she never saw him again she’d be the happiest woman alive. Only, she couldn’t leave. Not until the wedding. Abby wished her cousin, Vinnie, would hurry back.
As soon as Vinnie and her husband Jack returned from San Francisco, her mother and Jeb would marry. Jack was yet another Knight brother and he and Vinnie, after marrying only a month back, had gone off to sell his place and pack up his belongings. They were buying a ranch near Phoenix. Apparently, the Knight men found the women in her family particularly attractive. Too bad she couldn’t say the same for the last brother. All he seemed to do was aggravate her beyond bearing.
Abby watched him walk his horse into the barn. In a minute, he’d come around front and make himself comfortable on the porch just to aggravate her. And she knew he did it to aggravate her. What she couldn’t understand was why? Did he want her to hate him? It sounded ridiculous to be sure, but she couldn’t think of a reason why he purposely chose to annoy her. Well, tonight, all of that nonsense would end. It didn’t matter what he did, she would show him only cool distain. Eventually, he’d stop. She was sure he would. In the meantime, it was important that she not let him upset her.
“Evenin’,” Linc said as he moved up the steps to the porch.
Abby countered with a short nod. “Mr. Knight.”
Linc laughed. “Are you upset with me, Abby?”
“Not at all.”
“And yet you’re calling me Mr. Knight.”
“It’s better than some of the things I could call you.”
“There you are,” he said with a familiar boyish grin as he sat on the porch railing before her. “I missed those snotty remarks. Where have you been hiding for two days?”
Abby refused to laugh. She absolutely refused. “Where have you?”
“I’ve been busy. Some of the ranchers hired on a few guns to protect them.”
“Is that why you came here? Are you a hired gun?”
He nodded. “A few folks had their places burned out. A few others had their wells poisoned. Looks like someone wants these ranchers to sell out. It’s a nasty business.”
“Have you always worked for the good guys?”
He grinned. “There was a time or two when I worked for rich men or their corporations.” He shook his head. “A man doesn’t feel much like a man when he goes up against some poor guy, asking little more of life than to eke out a living.”
“So now you work only for the underdog?”
He shrugged. “I sleep better, and the pay is almost as good.”
“Why would someone want them to sell?”
“Maybe the land is worth a sight more than anyone suspects.”
“What do you mean?”
Linc shook his head. “Don’t know yet.”
He watched her for a long moment. She knew he was watching her even though she couldn’t see his eyes, for despite the moon’s bright light, his hat shadowed most of his face.
Finally, she couldn’t stand the tension another second and asked bluntly, “What? What are you staring at?”
With a slow lazy drawl, he returned, “Just wondering if you’d taste as good as I remember.”
Abby’s heart turned to thunder in her chest. She could hardly breathe over the pounding of it. “Don’t,” she said as she came to her feet. “My God, we’ve been here a week, and you’ve never stopped. Can’t you forget what happened? Can’t you leave it alone?”
She watched his lips curve into a grin.
“I knew it was too much to expect you to act like a gentleman for once.”
“I never said I was a gentleman.”
“I’m going in.” She couldn’t take any more. She couldn’t remain in his company and act normal. How many times over this last week had he touched her? Seemingly innocent touching even as his gaze darkened and lowered to her breasts, telling her clearer than words where he wanted to touch her, where he would touch her if they’d been alone. She couldn’t stand the tension a moment long. She couldn’t bear it.
“Wait.”
Abby frowned. “No.”
She said no and yet she remained in place. What in the world was the matter with her? Why didn’t she run for safety? Unless she left right now there was only one way this encounter could end. Yet, she stood there, leaning against the house, waiting like a mouse offering herself up to a cat who had come to claim his dinner. Oh my God, it wasn’t as if she wanted his kisses. She knew she didn’t. Then what was she doing? What was she waiting for?
He moved to stand before her. Slowly, he lowered his head. His breath, warm, moist and clean, teased her skin. He was going to kiss her. And she ached for him to complete the kiss even as she swore she’d never allow it. Only, she knew she lied. She didn’t know why or how he had managed it, but he’d made her want him, want his kisses. She frowned unable to understand. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. When he stood near her, her mouth grew dry, her breathing became strangled and uneven, while a warm, heavy wetness seeped between her legs. It was happening now, and she couldn’t stop it.
Abby moaned a sound of pure hunger as his lips touched hers at last. Despite any earlier thoughts, there wasn’t a flicker of resistance in her as her lips parted easily beneath his mouth. She groaned again as his tongue came to eat at her, to absorb her taste and leave his behind. He pressed her tightly to the wall, for her knees grew instantly weak. Chills raced down her back, and she took a deep breath. God, he smelled so good. There were times when she’d come from sleep wondering if she’d ever get enough of his smell.
His mouth pulled sharply away from hers.
Cheek to cheek, they gasped for their every breath, when she groaned, “You’re ruining everything.”
“Am I?” He smiled as he pulled back a bit and ran his thumb over her lips. “What did I ruin?
She shook her head. “I’m engaged.”
“Are you?” He looked at her eyes. “And you love him?”
“Would I marry him if I didn’t?”
Linc grinned, took her hand and said, “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“The barn.”
Abby made a low protesting sound deep in her throat, even as she allowed him to take her hand and lead her from the porch. “I don’t think…”
“Sometimes, you’re better off if you don’t.” At the barn, he turned to face her with a grin. “If you love him, you would have said that you do.” He moved her so he could press her up against the inside wall. “So why are you marrying him?”
“How is anything I do your business?”
“I want you.”
“I hate you.”
“Jesus.” He shook his head. “I don’t care,” he said as his mouth lowered again to hers.
His mouth, there was something about his mouth. How did a man come to taste like this? How did he know to use his lips, to pry hers apart, to pull, to suck her softness deep into the heat of him? And how did that kiss steal her breath? It wasn’t that he refused to allow her to breathe. The truth was she simply couldn’t manage the chore when his lips played against her like this. She wanted more. It took only seconds for her to realize that fact, but she wanted all she could get.
And the kiss went on and on. When he took what he could of her breath, and rediscovered her every texture and her taste, he began to steal her mind, as well. When at last he allowed their mouths to part, she nearly crumbled, her legs proving useless under her, her body on fire with the need for more. He steadied her before he asked, ”Liked that, did ya?”
Abby bit her bottom lip as she forced back a laugh at his cocky remark. “You might say I liked it some.”
She saw a flash of teeth before she heard, “Just some?”
“Don’t be greedy.”
“I can’t help it when I’m with you.”
Then he was kissing her again as if he’d never get enough.
Abby had no mind of her own. It didn’t matter what he did, what he wanted to do. He couldn’t want her more than she wanted him. They tore at each other. Neither able to find satisfaction. His shirt was open. Her hands flat against his flesh found his skin smooth, his body hard and deliciously hot. She wanted to kiss him, to touch her lips to his neck, his throat, his chest, his belly, and he allowed her the pleasure.
Her hands followed her mouth as it moved over his smooth, hard chest, her soft sighs telling clearly the delight she knew in his scent and texture. Her tongue swirled the scant hair found at its center, just before she moved to one nipple then the other and smiled at the low moans she’d brought from his throat.
And when her dress somehow opened to his touch and her chemise lowered so his mouth might easily take her nipples into its blazing depth, she couldn’t hold back her own cry of delight.
“I wish I could see you.”
Abby barely heard his words as the blood thundered in her brain. All she knew was sensation and overwhelming need. She’d never felt so hot, so filled with want, her pussy so wet, so heavy, so desperate for his touch. And when his hand reached under her dress, inside her drawers, her cry for more was muffled by his mouth.
“Wet, Jesus, you’re so wet, so hot. I have to taste you.”
Linc knew this was too soon, too much for an innocent lady, only he wouldn’t be denied. He had to taste her or die. He could just make out her frown as he tore his mouth from hers, brought her into his arms and settle her upon a few bales of hay.
She had to sit. He needed to reach her. He desperately needed to reach all of her.
“What are you doing?”
“Lean back. I need you to lean back.”
She did as he asked, helpless but to obey his every suggestion. His mouth was over her nipples playing with them, biting at them and biting again. She moaned.
“Am I hurting you?”
“What?”
“Does this hurt?”
“I don’t know,” she said as her hands came to his face and pulled him tighter against her.
She moaned again as he continued to bite her. He was pulling away her drawers. Sucked deep into the explosive passion, she didn’t stop him. Linc smiled as she moaned again. She didn’t have to tell him, not with words. Her soft cries, her sweet moans of pleasure spoke for her. She wanted him. She might not admit aloud to the wanting, but there was no denying it. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
“More,” she gasped, holding him tightly against her breast, nearly suffocating him in her need. “Touch me. God, please. I need you to touch me.”
He pulled back and leaned over her. His breathing was strained and uneven as he fought against the unbearable need to take her now, to push his cock as deep as it could go into her heat. To ride her like she’d never been ridden before. “Don’t move. I need to taste you first. I’ve been wanting to do this for days…for years.”
Abby could have reminded him that they hadn’t known each other for years, and he knew she would have, if he’d given her the chance to think or speak at all.
Her knees were bent, her dress pushed up, her legs spread wide. His hands slipped toward her pulsing, wet, hot pussy. They were both gasping for every breath as his hands moved over her, memorizing the feel of her skin, the softness over firm muscle. The tiny curls upon her mound beckoned, but he refused their silent call, their sweet allure. His fingers studied the silkiness he found from her clit to her wet channel and beyond to the tiny puckered ass beyond. He played there, circled both holes, driving his fingers one knuckle deep in each. The barn came alive with the delicious sounds of the agony he imposed as he drove her wild with his movements. And then his fingers parted her pussy, to play with her clit, and she cried out her pleasure.
“You’re killing me. Don’t touch me there.”
“Does it feel good?”
“It feels too good.”
“You’re wet. I love it that you’re so wet.”
“I have to taste you, Abby. I have to. I can’t think of anything I need more than to taste you. Can you hear me?”
She moaned softly, unwilling to be drawn away from this delicious moment.
“I’m going to lick you.” His mouth was inches from hers as he repeated the words. “Do you hear me?”
“Yes,” she managed.
“I’m telling you this so you can imagine how wonderful that’s going to feel and so you’ll be ready for the sensations and not cry out. Do you understand?”
No response.
“Tell me you understand.”
“You’re going to lick, me and it’s going to be wonderful,” she repeated dutifully, dreamily.
He smiled as he listened to her, wishing she could always be this docile, this lusciously obedient. And then his mouth was where they both wanted it most. He licked her everywhere, and Abby fought against a building need to cry out. She groaned instead. “I can’t stand it. Oh my God, you’re killing me.”
“I’ve barely started,” he said, the words muffled against her warm flesh. “It’s only going to get a lot better.”
“It can’t. I’m not going to make it if it gets better.”
His hands were under her ass, lifting her so his mouth might more easily reach every part of her. He licked her from her wet channel to her ass and back again, circling with his tongue where his fingers had explored. And then up, to her pussy between the folds of womanly flesh, to her clit, to force deep agonizing groans of pleasure from her throat.
He sucked at her clit, absorbing her juices and delighting in her taste. A moment later, he was suddenly lying over her. “I knew you’d taste like this. God, I knew it.”
His mouth covered hers, and he showed her how much he loved the sweet taste he’d encountered.
“We taste good,” she muttered.
“We taste better than good. We taste delicious.”
Once again, his mouth left hers. The barn filled with the low moans of his pleasure. She raised her hips as his mouth reached her hot, wet channel and began to suck at her essence.
He knelt before her, her skirts were pushed to her waist, her legs spread, his cock ready, harder than he’d ever been in his life. More than he wanted to breathe he longed to ram himself into her, but he wouldn’t. It might very well kill him, but he was going to go slow. He was going to enjoy every movement, every silky length of skin, every sweet, delectable inch of firm muscle.
His finger continued rotating her little nub of pleasure as his cock strove to enter the tightest pussy he’d ever encountered. Jesus! She was as tight as a schoolmarm’s ass.
For the first time, Linc was glad it was dark. If she saw his grin at
his wayward thought, it sure as hell would snap her back to reason, and he didn’t want that any more than he wanted another woman beneath him.
He gained entrance slowly, purposely. Her muscles were hard, tight, almost unyielding. Gently, he continued to play with her clit, knowing it would make all the difference. She was just minutes, perhaps seconds, from welcoming him into her heat. Jesus, this was going to be something. His body hummed with excitement, knowing he was her first. If he had anything to say about it—and he definitely did—he’d be her last.
“Kiss me,” he said, leaning forward as he continued the stimulation. “Kiss me, Abby.”
And she did. And, in the doing, damn near rocked his world. She held nothing back, but taking her cue from his previous actions, she set out to explore his mouth, and while mastering the act, she captured his heart, as well.
“Linc,” she cried, “Linc, something is… I can’t. This time, it’s too much.”
He smiled, realizing what she was about.
A thickening was crawling its way over her stomach. It lay heavy upon her, tightening her muscles, bringing her to the point of near pain. She wanted this; she needed it. On the train, beneath the rubble, he’d brought about much the same feeling, only then she hadn’t known what to expect. Now, she did. Now, she knew the pleasure that awaited her. Only this was more than the first time.
“My God, I think you’re killing me,” she murmured against his mouth. “Linc, this is—”
“Delicious,” he said, finishing for her.
She strained forward into the pleasure greedy for it, hungry for all he could give her. “My stomach,” she gritted between clenched teeth. “It hurts.” A band was growing tighter. “Wait,” she said, trying to back away from something that promised to be too much to bear. “Linc, wait, this time it’s too much.”
“Give it a minute,” he said above her. His every breath a study in control.
She was gasping. “It’s going to kill me.”
“Damn, do you know what you’re doing to me?”
“Linc,” she murmured and then shuddered uncontrollably. “It’s coming. Oh God, it’s coming.” She moaned and reached deeply for her next breath and threw her head back, lost in the pleasure. Her hips rose toward his. She grunted as she reached wildly, desperately for the pain, blindly into the ecstasy. A low guttural cry began deep in her throat.
Heat LIghtning Page 4