His low and deep chuckle tickled across her as he rose on his hands, staring down at her. She reached for his face, cupping his cheeks, amazed she had met a man like Shep. There was confidence in his eyes that she was jealous of. He held a sureness about himself that anyone would envy. But it was the passion in their potent depths that caught her attention most. He lifted a single eyebrow and asked, “Can’t stay still, darlin’?”
“I want you. Stop waiting.” Her voice sounded distant and soft. She glanced down at her totally bare skin, blinking in confusion. She looked at his chest, finding him fully clothed. “Why am I naked and you’re not?”
“You keep taking your clothes off.” He frowned.
She ran her hands across his five o’clock shadow, her palm scraping against the scruff on his chiseled face. She couldn’t stop staring at his sculpted mouth, the way the side curved ever so slightly. As if he knew all her secrets. “That’s because I want you.”
He dropped his head, bringing his mouth so close to hers. “I know exactly what you want, sweetheart, and that’s losing your goddamn mind beneath my hands.” He lowered his head to her neck again and sucked, licked, and nibbled his way across her flesh, causing her heart to race. She moaned when he pushed against her thighs and widened her legs.
Over and over again, he circled his hips, pressing his erection against her bundle of nerves, curling her toes. She gasped against the intensity of all that man grinding against her, her chin lifting to the ceiling. He pressed his erection against her sex harder, teasing her with what she could have.
She wiggled again.
“I want you to be still, Emma.” He dragged a piece of rope across her arm. “So that I can fuck you good and properly.”
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Between his heated kisses, he’d expertly bound her wrists with rope cuffs and then tied her tightly to headboard.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he asked, his tongue sliding across her neck, slowly and teasingly, taking his time to savor every moment.
“Yes. Please.” Even with her dubious track record, she couldn’t help liking her men naughty and adventurous, and everything about Shep screamed that.
She shivered when he swirled his tongue over the curve of her earlobe and murmured in her ear, “You can’t run. You can’t squirm. You’re all mine to taste . . . to tease.” He tugged on the rope again, letting her feel how trapped she was beneath him.
She wasn’t afraid, not a shred of worry in her mind.
He raised up again, hovering over her. Something changed in his eyes then. They became more powerful, controlled even. Like he reined in all his wicked thoughts and formed a plan for the night ahead. She burned with anticipation, watching the magnificent man open his worn jeans. He shoved them down to his knees, freeing his hard cock that was the size she’d imagined, just the right length and perfectly thick.
With his pants off now and nothing between them, the air became charged with energy. His warm, hard body closed against her soft planes, and her skin flushed red-hot. He pressed a hand against her hip, pinning her down again, beneath him, exactly where she wanted to be. Those powerful eyes watched her intently as he began brushing his erection against her clit. He was relentless in his teasing, until she began to quiver with need. Until she couldn’t take anymore.
“Please. I want you so bad.” She struggled against the bindings and the weight of his body. “I need you so much.”
“You need this.” He slid his erection back and forth over her throbbing clit.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I need more.”
“Ah, I see,” he whispered across her lips, lifting his hips and pressing the tip of his cock inside her. “Is this what you want, Emma? My cock driving inside you?”
“Yes!” She’d beg if that’s what he wanted, if only he’d keep touching her in the way he had. Passion seeped from his touches, and when she looked into the depths of his eyes, the promise there consumed her.
“Tell me that you want me.”
It was an order.
One she’d happily oblige.
“I want you, inside me,” she breathed.
Her eyes widened, breath caught in her throat, when he pushed through her slick heat, right to the hilt, as if all he’d been waiting for was her permission. She couldn’t hold back the moans pouring from her mouth. He filled her perfectly, moving so very deep inside her, working her body like it belonged to him.
He stared at her intently, his fingers grazing the rope around her wrists, while he shifted his hips in a steady rhythm, his hard flesh stroking her soft, wet skin. Energy sizzled around her and she lost herself in his touch. There was something about this guy that tempted her with unfamiliar sensations. It seemed like if she let him in and lowered all her guards, he’d show her the world in a way she’d never seen it.
With each pound of his hips, he brought her higher. The burn on her wrists. The pressure of his body. The passion in his eyes. It all became too much, so much to absorb. She fought against closing her eyes and lost sight of those unique silvery-blue beauties, as blackness began to fill her vision.
Skin slapped against skin. The sensual brush of his low grunts spilled over her.
Until he spoke again. “That’s it, Emma, come back to me.”
His voice sounded far away now, not hovering over her, but off in the distance. His strong body was no longer resting against her, and coldness sank deep into her bones. “What . . .” Her throat was dry, scratchy.
“This may hurt a little,” another voice said.
A sudden prick on her hand had her gasping, eyes flying open. Instantly, she was blinded by the bright lights above her. She blinked, again and again, until she saw Shep’s silvery-blue eyes. He wore the same dark-brown cowboy hat that she remembered he’d had on earlier at the bar, but his clothes were different. He’d been in a plaid button-down. Now she found him in a black T-shirt. No bound wrists. No dirty talk. No warm, defined muscles beneath creamy flesh. She blinked twice more. “Where am I?” she croaked.
Shep’s eyebrows were drawn over concerned eyes. He rested his hand on her forehead, and he felt so cold, his eyes looked so cold. This wasn’t the man she’d known a second ago. “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “You’re all right. We’re on the way to the hospital.”
“I’m going to give you something for the pain,” the other voice said again from somewhere next to her.
She attempted to lift her head, but a harsh throb sent her head straight back down onto the pillow, where she stared up at a bag of IV fluid. “What’s going on?”
“Be still, darlin’.” Shep pressed harder against her forehead, pinning her in the same way he’d pinned her to the mattress. “I know this is confusing. But you’re fine. I found you in a field being dragged by a horse this morning.”
“A horse . . . dragged . . .” She turned her head and glanced at her wrists, longing for the rope she swore she could still feel. Red burns marked her skin. When she looked at Shep again, she mourned for the way he stared at her, intently and passionately. “I—”
“Shh . . .” His voice became a low, comforting rumble. “Rest easy now, Emma.”
Blackness began to creep into her vision again and the world turned a little fuzzy. She shut her eyes against the pain hammering in her head, and that’s when she heard the ambulance sirens blasting through the air. Slowly, the missing pieces began to come back to her. She rejected Shep twice last night. Once at the bar, and again after their little show on stage. And apparently now, she wasn’t having the best sex of her life with a dirty-talking cowboy, she had head trauma.
Chapter 2
The day began normally enough. Shep hopped on his horse, Tadgh, and joined the morning cattle drive handled by the cowboys at his late father’s multimillion-dollar cattle company, Blackshaw Cattle Company. Truth be told, he expected to have a quiet day that mirrored every other day this week, since he’d given his team at his wilderness survival company, Blackshaw Survival,
time off. His team was due back to work in a couple weeks for the next contract with the military to train their soldiers how to survive under harsh conditions. When his team was home with their families, Shep took time off, too. In his absence, Lorraine, the receptionist, handled the day-to-day tasks. Though his expectations of a calm day vanished when Emma’s scream sent him and Tadgh galloping at full speed in her direction. Of course, he hadn’t known it had been Emma at the time, until he saw her face. Though one quick look at the fear in the horse’s eyes told him all he needed to know.
Not only had the chestnut gelding been abused at some time in his life, but the woman who had melted in his arms last night at the bar was the granddaughter of Daisy Monroe, an old lady who had a habit of taking in animals that should’ve been euthanized. No one had a bigger heart for abused animals than Mrs. Monroe. Shep had heard through the gossip grapevine that Daisy’s granddaughter had moved into the hobby farm after Daisy’s passing, but he hadn’t connected the two until he saw the horse.
Earlier this morning, when he first roped the crazed horse dragging Emma through the grassy meadow, he’d thought she’d been dead. But that rope, tied tightly around her left wrist, likely saved her life because it kept her head off the ground. While Shep suspected she’d be bruised from head to toe tomorrow, she’d have her life, and that was a good end to his day.
It’d been an hour now since they’d arrived at the hospital, and he’d been waiting to be allowed into her hospital room. When he finally entered the room, he found Emma lying in bed with her eyes shut, sleeping soundly. Her long, chocolate-brown hair spilled out onto her pillow, her pink, pouty lips parted with her deep breaths.
Not wanting to disturb her, he carefully grabbed the chair next to her bed and sat down, waiting for her to wake up. Twice now this woman had fallen into his life, and Shep didn’t believe in coincidences. He wanted to know more about this sweet little thing who went all soft and warm when he touched her.
Right as he leaned back into his seat to relax, her eyes snapped open, and revealed beautiful light-green eyes, as she said, “I banged Jake, the CEO.”
“Did you now?” Shep fought off his smile, sure she had no idea what she was saying to him. He’d been warned by Doc Thompson that she’d been heavily drugged. Regardless, curiosity had him digging into her life. “When did you do that?”
“Oh, for the last year or so, but it was the biggest mistake of my life.” Her glassy eyes locked onto his. “Let me give you a piece of advice, stay away from the bad boys. They’re all trouble.”
Shep stretched out his legs. “I will. I assure you.” Just so happened, he was also one of those bad boys, who never quite followed the rules, always paving his own path in life, and so were his two brothers. “Is that why you’ve moved to River Rock?” He had heard through gossip that Emma was originally from New York City. “To get away from this guy?”
“Well, partly.” She stared up at the ceiling, looking at nothing. “Of course, Grams’s death brought me here, but I haven’t left River Rock because I don’t want to go home and face all the whispers and looks of coworkers who think I got my promotion all because I fucked my way to the top. So, here I am, rethinking my life and forming a new plan.”
“And then?”
She looked at him. Or at his chest, her eyes rolling a little. “Then I will kick ass.”
He laughed softly and placed the heels of his boots on the end of the hospital bed, staring at the beauty in the middle of the mattress. She was cute and feisty. His type of woman. And the sexy soft moans he heard last night at the bar remained imprinted on his mind. If it were up to him, he’d hear them again soon. “Sounds dramatic.”
“Totally dramatic. Horrible, in fact. First, I need a plan.” She glanced back up at the ceiling. “I need to rethink where I’m going after where I’ve been. I’ve put in years . . . so many fucking years . . . and then Grams died and she, for some reason, left me the farm, and then I thought, why in the hell not. I can do this. I can raise abused animals. Well, obviously I can’t because I guess I was being dragged in the field by a crazy-ass horse and eating cheeseburgers.”
Shep barked a laugh, unable to stop himself. Eating cheeseburgers? “And apparently, you’re hilarious on drugs.”
“Ah, I see the nurses have taken good care of you, Emma.”
Shep glanced left, finding Doc Thompson stepping next to Emma’s bed. He was an older man; his retirement was long overdue. His good bedside manner shined when he rested his hand on Emma’s shoulder, giving a gentle smile before he turned to Shep. “It’s just the morphine talking. Try not to pay too much attention to what she says.”
Shep nodded and smiled in return. Amusing, is what it was. His ex-girlfriend, Sara, a woman whom he’d uprooted his entire life for and dated for four years, had become uptight and rigid before their relationship ended a little over two years ago. Emma was like a breath of fresh air.
He began to wonder if fate was dropping him a line, when Emma spoke up again. “Wait. Where am I?”
“You’re at the hospital, Emma.” Doc patted her on the arm before turning back to Shep. “She’ll be fine once she sleeps a little bit.”
“Of course, I’ll be fine.” She lowered back down onto the pillow and cringed, breathing deeply for a few seconds before adding, “I can handle everything. I don’t need anyone. In New York, I was a big deal. Executive Creative Director at only twenty-seven.” Her eyes fluttered shut and she mumbled something incoherent.
“You’re still a big deal, dear.” Doc grabbed the clipboard off the end of the bed and began writing. “I think we should take the morphine down a notch or two.”
Shep smiled. “Probably a good idea.”
“Bad idea,” she interjected. “These drugs are so . . . exactly what I need.” She paused. Then, “But you should take that dirty-talking cowboy with you when you go.” She gave Shep a good hard look, with a blatant sexual regard that caused his cock to swell. When her eyes lifted to his again, she added dryly, “That guy right there is far too sexy for his own good. That makes him my nemesis.” She paused, closed her eyes, and snored a little, then opened her eyes again and said, “You know you want to kiss me. Remember how good it was? What are you waiting for?”
Doc laughed. “And that’s my cue to leave.”
Shep sighed, watching Doc leave the room, hoping this moment wasn’t added to River Rock’s gossip. When he turned back to Emma, she still smiled at him, awaiting his answer. “You’re right, darlin’. There’s nothing I’d like more than to kiss you, but I don’t make it a habit to kiss women hopped up on morphine.”
“No, you just like to tie them up. That’s your thing, isn’t it?” She dragged her teeth across her bottom lip. “All rough. Super sexy. You take control.”
Sure, she had him pegged right.
Regardless, he chuckled, placing his ankles onto the side of the bed again and leaning back in his seat. “How would you know that’s my thing?”
She rolled her glassy eyes and snorted. “Because we had sex.”
News to him. Fuck, he wanted to have sex with her last night, and she rejected him twice, leaving him standing on the stage with a raging hard-on. “Pray tell, when exactly did this sex between us happen?”
“Before I hit my head.” She paused, nose scrunching, clearly fighting to find her memories. “Or maybe after. I don’t know. But damn, we had some good sex together.”
No matter how much he wanted to indulge this conversation, maybe learning a secret or two about her, and hearing more of this sexy dream she had either last night or after she hit her head, he said, “Darlin’, you’re going to regret this conversation tomorrow.”
“Nope. Never going to happen.” She leaned her head against the pillow, her eyes fluttering once again, her voice getting a little bit softer. “What I’ll regret is that we only had sex once. It should have been more . . . and lasted far longer.”
“Great.” He snorted, crossing his arms. “Not only was I not there
to experience this rough, great sex, but apparently, I didn’t possess the skills to satisfy you.”
She mumbled something incoherent again. Then, “I liked the way you touched me. I want you to touch me again . . . and again.” Another long pause. Then, “Cheeseburgers.”
Shep smiled. “Now that is something I can give you later.”
Not that he’d be all that opposed to giving her the sex she referred to, but he’d start with a cheeseburger.
* * *
Darkness faded to light as Emma opened her eyes, groaning in rhythm with the deep throbs in the back of her skull. Her entire body hurt from her head right down to her toes. Once her eyesight cleared, she found herself in her Grams’s bedroom, lying in the middle of the queen-size poster bed, unsure how she got there.
More awake now, she glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost four o’clock in the afternoon. Where had the day gone? What happened? Bits and pieces of the day slowly began returning to her.
The ambulance. The hospital. The cowboy.
She gently eased herself up to sitting and cursed, grasping her skull as her head pounded. Slowly the throbbing began to dull, and when the world stopped somersaulting around her, she spotted the rope burn on her wrist. She stroked the rawness of her skin, and with that touch, she remembered a whole lot about this morning. A dirty-talking cowboy. The kinky sex. And when she’d woken up in the ambulance and realized she’d dreamed having sex with Shep.
“Good one, Emma,” she grumbled, glancing next to her.
On the nightstand, she found her cell phone attached to the charger. The house around her was quiet, but the glass of water next to her phone told her she wasn’t alone. After a quick look down, she exhaled deeply, finding the hospital gown. She lifted the gown a little and noted the black and purple bruises along her thigh and buttocks. And she could feel more sore spots on her back too.
With her confusion growing, she grabbed her cell phone and discovered a text from Harper.
Dirty-Talking Cowboy Page 2