Rocky Mountain Cowboy

by S A Monk

  He lifted the lid to the washing machine and swore. The machine was full of very feminine under things. He started to scoop out all the tiny scraps of multi-colored silk. There was so little material to them, the whole load of panties and bras fit into his two hands.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  He was reaching for the dryer door when she came in and grabbed her things away from him. The damp lingerie fell to the floor. She bent down to pick it up at the same time Hawk did, and they bumped heads. Both of them swore and straightened up.

  “My laundry!” he snapped, taking a step back so she could squeeze in front of him. “Sunday’s supposed to be my day to have the washer and dryer, remember?”

  Her round little bottom bumped his groin as she bent over to throw her underclothes into the dryer. He got hard fast. It felt like forever since he had made love to her, even though it had only been three days. His traitorous body ached for her even through all his anger.

  “Well, the bunkhouse needs a washer and dryer!” she complained as she spun around to face him.

  For Hawk, that didn’t help much, either. With her backed up against the dryer, less than two feet before him, he had a close-up view of her breasts. Beneath the robe that hung open, her thin silk slip revealed their delectable, round, unrestrained shape to perfection. Even as he stared, her nipples tightened into taut little buds peaking against the black silk. For the life of him, Hawk couldn’t stop staring.

  Jenny saw where his eyes lingered and shoved at him disgustedly. “Oh, for crying out loud, get out of my way, will you?”

  As she squeezed past him, it took all his will power to keep his hands off her. He took a deep calming breath, then finished loading his clothes into the washer. He saw she hadn’t turned on the dryer. “What do you want your underwear set on?” he called out to her.

  Back at the stove, in the kitchen, Jenny poured boiling water into her cup, over her tea ball. “Delicate, fifteen minutes.” While she stirred honey into her tea, she peeked over her shoulder at him. “I see your ex-girlfriend didn’t waste any time reclaiming you.”

  Finished in the laundry room, Hawk came through the open door into the kitchen. Under the overhead lights, he gave her another thorough assessment, from her bare feet, to her pale make-up free face, to her disheveled hair. “You don’t look so well. Are you sick?”

  “Well, I’m sooo sorry I don’t measure up to your sexy blonde girlfriend,” she shot back. “And, no, I’m not sick. I’m just tired.”

  Hawk stopped in front of her. “Cindy…is…not…my…girlfriend,” he stated slowly and precisely.

  Jenny rolled her eyes. “Well, you could have fooled me. It looked like the two of you were getting reacquainted and cozy as hell last night.” With a shrug, she sipped her tea, pretending not to care. “But, stupid me, I didn’t listen very well when everyone warned me.”

  He was an arm’s length away, and gave her a look of strained patience. “Jenny, we didn’t get back together.”

  “Like I care, anyway.” With that parting shot, she took her tea cup and turned to leave.

  Hawk caught her elbow and pulled her to a stop. “You told me you did three nights ago, damn it.”

  Jenny gave him a cool look as she stared directly into his eyes and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve had a reversal of opinion, Mr. Larson.” Pulling her elbow free, she turned once again to leave. “Just leave my underwear on top of the dryer when it’s done.”

  Hawk watched her dismiss him, then walk away. Infuriated, he half-snarled, half-shouted her name. She glanced over her shoulder on the bottom step of the stairway, her eyes widening when she saw how furious he was and how close he was. The moment he started after her, she bolted up the stairway. Once she reached her room, she slammed the door in his face, but she didn’t have time to lock it. She could hear him right behind her. Setting her teacup down on the nightstand by her bed, she dashed to the bathroom.

  Hawk’s longer legs made him faster, and just as she reached the bathroom doorway, he caught her from behind, hooking one arm around her waist. Her robe fell to her elbows. His hands got tangled in the silky belt. Immediately, he pulled his hands free, turned her to face him, and caught her around the waist again to keep her from escaping. Then he looked around the room. All the curtains were drawn, and the room was dark, except for the faint glow from her small beside lamp. There were clothes strewn all over the floor. Her bed was unmade and rumpled.

  His piercing gaze came back to her pale, tired face. “Have you been in bed, in this dark room all day? What’s wrong with you?”

  “As if you don’t know,” she mumbled sullenly under her breath, tugging and pulling to break free of his hold. “I didn’t sleep well.... That’s all.”

  “Did you eat today?”

  “What do you care? And it’s none of your business anyway!”

  “The hell it isn’t!”

  “Get out of here and leave me the hell alone!” Since she was getting nowhere trying to get free, she stopped struggling. When all he did was study her, she stiffened in his embrace and raised her voice to repeat herself more forcefully. “Damn it, leave me alone!”

  “No.” Bowing his head, he pressed his forehead to hers. “Damnation, I can’t leave you alone! I need you, too much.” The admission was punctuated by a raw husky groan.

  Jenny heard the anguish in it, but was having none of it. “Bullshit! You just want to get laid again. What’s the matter? Isn’t Cindy enough?”

  “Goddamnit! I am not screwing Cindy, and we did not get back together,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “She came over because she said her brother found out about those loan payments you made. He’s madder than hell about it, too, just like I knew he would be. Do you know how much danger you put yourself in, woman? Now, he and his nasty friends are more than likely going to come after you for messing up their big plans.”

  “I got your home and mine out of danger,” she insisted defiantly.

  “But at what cost, for christsakes? Did you take a good look at those guys in the hallway outside Brad’s office the other day? Did you see how the big guy was looking at you? Like he’d really like to get up close and personal with you?” Hawk’s hands had moved from her waist to her arms. He so angry with her, he was digging his thumbs into her soft flesh. Jenny looked down at his hands and winced. Immediately, he loosened his hold. But he didn’t, couldn’t let her go. “Didn’t I tell you to stay the hell out of this mess?” Emphasizing his point, he gave her a little shake. “Didn’t I?”

  “You are not my boss! So fuck you!”

  “Do it, then! Fuck me!” God, she was driving him crazy, wiggling and tugging! She was so defiantly beautiful when she was this spitting mad. And he was so goddamned worried about her! It all made him feel dangerously raw and primitive. “Fuck me then,” he repeated, yanking her against the full length of his body, locking her in his arms despite her rigorous struggles. “Let’s end this, damn it!”

  His mouth swooped downward in a ravenous kiss that took complete possession of her lips and every inch of her squirming body. He could feel all the pent up anger and thwarted passion that had been building in him released in the first moments of his kiss. His tongue drove deeply into her wet honeyed heat, thrusting against hers, dueling with hers. He was so hard he was afraid he was going to explode. Dressed as he was in just his sweatpants, he knew she could feel his fierce arousal. He ground his hips against hers, rubbing, pushing, entreating. His hands slid to her buttocks and squeezed their soft round shape. Coherent thought scattered in a million directions, and he was sure he would die before he got inside her.

  But he didn’t want to hurt her, and he was afraid he might have when he heard her whimper. She felt small and fragile in the tight lock of his arms. He wanted her safe and happy. His kiss gentled. His arms loosened, but he kept her within their circle to prevent her from bolting away.

  Only he quickly realized that she no longer wanted to escape him. She’d risen onto her toe
s to reach his lips more easily, and her hands were locked around his neck, her fingers woven into the hair at his nape. He was no longer taking. She was no longer struggling. They were finally kissing each other, giving.

  Jenny’s anger faded the moment Hawk’s kiss gentled. His body heat radiated around her as powerful waves of desire swept through her. The damn man ignited a firestorm of fierce need within her. She couldn’t resist him when he was so determined to have her, and damn it, loving him made it even more impossible to deny him. No matter how angry he’d made her, she hadn’t stopped loving him, needing him.

  Undulating her hips against his, she pressed against his turgid length, wanting to alleviate the quickening inside of her. With a quiver, she gave herself up to the mindless hedonism of his erotic kiss, lifted one leg and curled it around his hips, wanting to get even closer than she was.

  Hawk thought he heard her moan his name, but the blood pounding in his veins was so fierce, her voice sounded distant. He had never wanted any woman like he wanted her. He burned for her. The ache was raw, the need insatiable. The urgent desire to claim her, to completely possess her and mark her as his own rose inside him so fiercely, he felt overwhelmed by it.

  His mouth slid down her throat as his hands slid to cup her bottom. He lifted her until she wrapped both long legs around his waist. Then he carried her to the bed, pushing her robe off her as he went. Beneath it, she wore a short little nightgown made of a satiny material. Beneath that, she was naked. The feel of her soft delicious bare flesh in his hands rocked him with white hot lust.

  He set her on the edge of the mattress and whipped her nightgown off over her head. His eyes swept her naked form hungrily.

  Jenny had his sweatshirt over his head before he could reach for her. With an impatient yank, he divested himself of his sweatpants, kicking them clear as soon as they reached his feet. His moccasins followed quickly. Pink-flushed skin and small pebble-hard nipples pressed against his chest as he lowered himself over her onto the bed. His knee moved between her thighs, and the soft curly hair between her legs felt warm and damp against his groin.

  Lord, she felt exquisite— sweet and hot and utterly feminine, writhing beneath him, her flesh quivering, her need betrayed by the barely audible sounds that came involuntarily from her throat. He staked her arms above her head, and she immediately arched her smaller body upwards, voicing his name. Kneeling between her thighs, he spread her legs for his entry, but it wasn’t enough, so he growled into her ear, “Wider. More.”

  She surrendered to him with complete abandon, just as she always did when they made love. There was no artifice, no game-playing; just raw honest passion. It had always been so different than it had been with Cindy.

  He dropped his mouth to her high full taut breasts and licked each rigid little pink peak, tugging tenderly with his teeth, then finally engulfing one at a time within his mouth. His fingers traveled over every erogenous zone he’d discovered these past weeks. She moaned and whimpered with each stroke, each teasing caress. He loved it!

  His mouth wandered lower, his tongue licking its way down the center of her nude body to her cute little belly button. After a moment’s diversion, his mouth moved lower yet, while his hands pushed her legs even wider apart. Then he slipped his hands beneath her to raise her hips to his oral invasion. He kissed her, licked her, even bit her gently. The scent and heat of her was nearly his undoing. She was twisting and moaning, her head digging into the pillows, her body arching upwards under his insistent, intense assault.

  Hawk wanted her mindless with desire for him. He squeezed her butt. His tongue probed deeper, then swirled. He bit her again, gently. She nearly shot off the mattress. He pinned her down and continued to torment her. He knew he was making her wild as he drove her to the edge, then backed off, then drove her there again, only to leave her hanging once more. She cried out to him. Somehow he managed a laugh. He didn’t just want her mindless, he wanted her begging. He brought her nearer and nearer to a climax, over and over.

  She was cursing him by the time he finally moved up her hot, slick gyrating body. “What do you want, princess?” he teased mercilessly. When she only shook her head back and forth, he held it still and demanded she open her eyes to look at him. “Tell me what you want.”

  “You!” She was breathless, panting, her heart drumming. “I want you!”

  His erection throbbed and jerked against her pelvis. Taking her slow like this was torturing him as much as it was torturing her, but he needed to hear how much she wanted him. Her like I care tonight had cut deeply. Bottom line— it hurt hell. He wanted her to care about him, more than he’d ever wanted anything in his whole damn life. Feeling savage with the need to hear her say it, he pushed a couple of inches of himself inside her, then pulled out again, wondering where the hell he found the capability to laugh as he did so.

  She bit his shoulder and swore. “Damn you!”

  His fingers clamped around her wrists as he dragged her arms over her head again. His gaze roamed her flushed face. The hair around her temples and neck was wet with sweat. Her lips were bruised and swollen. This time, he pushed himself halfway in before he pulled out, knowing he couldn’t keep this up too much longer or he was going to come long before he got fully inside her.

  Jenny screamed his name when he withdrew. Hawk gritted his teeth. Before he gave her what she wanted, he wanted something from her.

  “Tell me you care,” he demanded hoarsely.

  “Damn it, you bullheaded bastard!” she cried.

  “Tell me you love me.” He was relentless. He penetrated and withdrew again.

  “Damn you!” Her eyes were fierce, her body taut, arched.

  “Tell me, Jenny,” he whispered this time, poised above her barely touching her.

  She met his eyes. “God help me, but I do love you.”

  His world righted again. He’d needed to know so damn badly that she still loved him. He thrust into her all the way finally, burying himself so deep he hoped he’d never find his way out again. Her hot channel closed around him like a fist just as she wound those long incredible legs around his hips, gripping him as fiercely as her inner contractions. Lost in her, he surrendered as last, climaxing hard, spilling his seed, planting it deep within her where it belonged; where he belonged.

  As he collapsed into the incredible oblivion only she could bring him, he shifted onto his side and pulled her tight into the curve of his wet body. Still inside of her, he placed one hand behind her head and one behind her back, pressing her to his chest, tucking her under his jaw, certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was where Tom’s beloved daughter belonged— in his arms, at his side, with him. He’d find a way to keep her safe. He wasn’t going to lose her the way he’d lost so much in his life. Damn it, Brad wasn’t going to take her from him.

  CHAPTER 24

  Eli was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher when Hawk came through the back porch door the next evening. He’d gotten up before dawn to fly two businessmen to Cheyenne this morning, returned alone, parked his plane in its hangar, then made a quick trip into town. It was obvious he had missed dinner because Eli and Hank were still in the kitchen cleaning up. Carrying a big bouquet of flowers, Hawk greeted the two cowboys, then headed toward the living room, missing the look that passed between Eli and Hank.

  Jenny had been on his mind all day. He’d hated leaving her so early this morning. She’d still been sound asleep, so he hadn’t wanted to waken her. But she was the only person he wanted to see at the moment, especially after what they had shared last night.

  When he didn’t find her in the living room or the office, he headed upstairs. At her door, he didn’t bother to knock, just threw it open. But she wasn’t inside. He checked the bathroom, again not bothering to knock. Next, he strode across the hall to his room, then to Tom’s old room. There was no evidence of her anywhere. He returned again to her bedroom. It was neat as a pin today, but even though her clothes still hung in her closet, something was
beginning to feel wrong. Alarm sent him back downstairs, the flowers still held absently in one hand.

  Eli remained in the kitchen, though Hank had left. He stopped Hawk as he headed to the back door to check the barn. “She’s in Los Angeles,” the old man informed the younger one.

  Hawk spun around. “Los Angeles? Why? When? She didn’t say anything about going anywhere.”

  “She left this morning and caught a noon flight from Denver.”

  “How did she get to Denver?”

  “She drove her ‘Vette. Said she was going to check it into one of those long-term parking lots at the airport.”

  “Then she’s coming back?”

  “Reckon so.”

  “What do you mean you reckon so? Did she say she was, damn it? Did she say when?”

  “She wasn’t real clear ‘bout her plans, but I figure she’s coming back if she left her fancy car in Denver. Far as when, I got no idea. She was pretty close-mouthed ‘bout what she was up to. Just said she had to go to Los Angeles to take care of some business.”

  “What kind of business? She just got back from there a couple of weeks ago!” Hawk set the flowers down finally on the kitchen table and spun a ladder-back chair around to straddle it and fold his arms over the top. His dark face was etched with anger and frustration. “Why didn’t she let you know when she was coming back?”

  “Hell, man, I don’t know!” Eli threw his dishtowel onto the kitchen counter and came back to the table to sit across from Hawk. “I figure she wanted some time away to think.”

  “To think about what, for christsakes?”

  “I reckon you know more ‘bout what than I do, seeing as how you were such an ass refusing to form a partnership with her.” Eli gave him a glaring look.