by Desiree Holt
"Well? I breathlessly await your pleasure."
He leaned forward. “Oh, that you will. I promise you. But first we have some things to get straight."
"This is your party,” she told him. “Let ‘er rip."
"Grayson Ballou."
Her eyebrows shot up. “What about him?"
"That's what I'd like to know. I can't think of any reason for him to contact you. Or even know you at all. It doesn't make sense, and I don't like things that don't make sense."
"I'm so sorry to hear that.” She couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice. Why did he set her on edge this way? What was it about him that instantly put her on the defensive?
"Can you just can it for a while? Is that too much to ask?” He blew out a breath. “I want you to tell me everything he said to you."
"Please."
Zane frowned. “What?"
"Say please."
"Jesus, Jamie. You are some piece of work. All right. Please."
"See how easy that was?” She sat back in the chair and related every detail of both conversations she could remember.
"He called you twice?"
She nodded. “Yesterday, right after I got back from Duke's and then not too long after you left."
Zane searched her face, as if she were holding some answer back from him. “Like I say, it just doesn't make sense. Jamie, I don't mean to insult you, but we both know this place isn't worth the matches to burn it down."
"I agree. I'm afraid if I clean the house too much, it'll fall down around my ears with all the dirt holding it together. And the land itself would require a significant investment to make it usable even to grow hay."
"Gray doesn't do things without a reason. That's what has me puzzled."
"Do you think we might have a little exchange of information here?"
He raised an eyebrow. “Like what?"
"How about telling me a little more about this man who's so hot to buy my property?"
Zane leaned back and stretched out his legs. “I'd say the man's in his seventies, although he looks twenty years younger. My mother went to work for one of his companies when my dad was killed."
"Murdered,” she interjected. “That's one thing we might find we have in common."
"We'll get back to your conjecture later. But okay, murdered. Shot driving his truck out on the highway."
"Getting killed on the highway seems to be an ordinary event around here,” she pointed out.
"I said we'll get back to that. I believe I'll take that coffee after all."
She brought him his coffee and set it on the table, glad of the chance to do something besides sit. “Go on."
"Okay. You can bet my father didn't have any life insurance, and we weren't exactly rolling in dough. But my mother had good skills, and someone told her they needed help in Diablo Ag Con's Amen office."
The name was familiar to Jamie. In Amen almost everything was familiar to everybody. “Agricultural services, right?"
He nodded. “It was just a two person office, serving the ranches around here. The main office is in Copper Ridge."
"So she went to work there."
"Uh huh. Must have been a decent salary because we always made out all right. Maybe better than all right."
"And Ballou? Did he come around at all?"
Zane drew his brows together. “I met him once when my mother took me to the office with her on a Saturday. Said he was just stopping by to check on things and did she need anything."
Jamie drummed her fingers on the table. “So then what?"
Zane sipped at the hot liquid he was holding. “Damn, Jamie, you make good coffee. You wouldn't like to come by the station and take charge of it, would you?"
"I don't want to come by the station for anything.” She swiped at a stray hair impatiently. “Forget the coffee, Zane. Gray Ballou."
"Yeah.” He scratched his head. “All I know is Ag Con must make out all right because they've got fancy offices in Copper Ridge. My mother got promoted to manager there a few years ago. Ballou has a fancy estate home on the north side of San Antonio and drives the most expensive SUV I've ever seen.” He paused, frowning again.
"And?"
"And I've never heard of him wanting to buy land around here. He shows up in Copper Ridge about once a week, but he has better fish to fry. I want you to let me know the minute you hear from him again, if you do. I've got a funny itch about this that needs scratchin’ real bad."
"Maybe he's just looking for cheap land."
Zane shook his head. “If anything was going on with land around here, I'd have heard about it. And if Gray was involved, my mother would know. The thing is..."
"What would he want with this piece of junk, right?” she finished for him.
"Darlin', I don't mean to insult you, but..."
"I'm not your darlin', Sheriff. I told you that."
"Yeah, about that.” He reached over and took one of her hands in his. His face was taut and golden flecks danced in his dark, dark eyes. It was obvious the subject of Grayson Ballou was off the table for the moment. “Let's talk about yesterday."
She tried to snatch her hand back without success. “There's nothing to talk about. What happened was a mistake. It won't happen again."
He lifted her palm to his mouth and ran his tongue lightly over the center. Lightning shot straight to her cunt, and juice flooded her panties. Damn! This was an impossible situation.
"Look at you, Jamie. Face flushed. Eyes bright with fire. I'll bet your pussy's soaked, too."
Her face heated even more, and she tried once again to pull away. Zane closed his big hand around hers and held firm.
"Yesterday was fantastic and you know it. I didn't want it to happen any more than you did. I'm still mad about the way you left here. But guess what, darlin'. The fire hasn't died at all in twelve years.” He leaned across the table, his face serious. “Why do you fight it so much, this thing between us? If I can put the past behind us, why can't you?"
"Let me go.” She tugged on her hand with no success. “This isn't what I want."
"Oh, yes, it is,” he drawled. “Darlin', it surely is. That's what makes you so mad. But this time, Jamie, I'm going to make you want me as bad as I want you, so there won't be any question about what's going on. Running your ass out of town isn't an option for me any longer. Keeping it here is."
"You planning to hold me here at the point of a gun?"
He chuckled. “Depends on which one you're talking about. I'm always cocked and loaded for you, little hellcat."
Before she realized what was happening, he stood up and lifted her in his arms, just like the day before. The heat of his body burned through her thin shirt, and the hard muscles of his chest were like a wall around her. She was lost and she knew it, even though her pride demanded at least token resistance.
She'd run as fast and as far as she could to keep this from happening, to keep from being tied to Amen, Texas and this man. Now she was falling into the very trap she'd worked so hard to escape.
Damn it. How could he keep doing this to her? No, how did she keep doing this to herself?
"This time, I know the way to the bedroom.” His voice thick with desire, he bent his head and pressed the rough silk of his lips to hers again.
She tried to protest, but when she opened her mouth, there was his tongue again and reason fled. As he climbed the stairs, he kissed her until her senses melted and she forgot about kicking and squirming.
"Today it will be even better,” he promised, opening the door to her room with the toe of his boot. “Your body isn't a stranger to me. I know what makes it tick."
In what seemed like seconds, she was stripped naked and laid out on her soft coverlet. When she tried to push herself off the bed, he grinned. “Still feisty are you? Remember what I said about the handcuffs?"
He pulled the set he carried from his belt, deftly threaded them through the headboard and locked them around her wrists. She was stretched out befo
re him, helpless and exposed.
"I could scream, you know,” she warned him.
"Why don't you?” A wicked grin played over his lips. “Go ahead. No one will hear you way out here anyway. And I love the sexy sound of your screams."
Truth to tell, she was shocked at how turned on she was by this. The helplessness of her situation only increased the rising desire taking over her body. “Damn you."
He grinned. “Many say I already am.” He removed his holster and unbuttoned his shirt. “Bend your knees and spread your legs, darlin'. I want to see that pretty pink cunt."
"Go to hell.” But there was little venom in her voice, only a slight tremor that betrayed how turned on she was.
Zane chuckled. “Okay, but other things first.” His eyes burned into every inch of her as he finished undressing.
Jamie couldn't hold back a tiny gasp as his hair-roughened chest was exposed and his proud erection sprang free from his groin. Below it, his heavy testicles rested against his thighs. He gripped his cock lightly in one hand and stroked it once from the root to the dark purple tip.
"You want this, don't you, darlin'. Oh, yes, that little cunt of yours loves being filled with my dick, doesn't it? Go ahead, try and deny it. But your body gives you away."
He gripped her ankles and pulled her legs apart, bending them up as he'd ordered her to do. One forearm kept her that way while his fingers lightly traced a path the length of her slit, rubbing the juice she spilled onto her labia and lightly rasping the inner lips.
Suddenly, he stopped and leaned over her. His face was dead serious. “Am I making a mistake, reading the signs wrong? Tell me to stop, Jamie, and we're done here. I give you my word."
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out except a soft, unintelligible pleading sound.
He ran his tongue over her lips. “Last chance, Jamie. Tell me for sure you don't want this and we're finished. I won't force you, darlin'. That's not my style."
Her body was shivering with need, her nipples so hard she thought they would burst, and the muscles in her vaginal sheath flexing with involuntary contractions.
"Don't,” she croaked, cursing her traitorous body.
"Don't what, Jamie? Don't do this?"
"Don't ... stop."
The heat in his eyes flared even hotter. “I thought so. All right then. Here we go."
His hand was at her pussy again, stroking the outer lips, teasing at her clit, then sliding along the sensitive skin between her vagina and her anus. A streak of electricity shot through her when he pressed the pad of one finger against that tight spot, the lure of the forbidden tempting her. What would it be like to feel him there, that thick cock of his filling every inch of her?
"Ah, Jamie, I knew you'd like this. You're so wet you're dripping.” He scooped some of her cream with two fingers and rubbed them lightly against her anus.
When one finger probed gently inside, she couldn't hold back the purr of pleasure. “Oh, God. Yes, do it."
But he removed the finger and slapped her lightly on one cheek of her ass. “In a little while, darlin'. I promise you'll be begging for it."
He knelt between her legs, bent his head, and captured a nipple in his mouth. When he bit down gently, Jamie arched up to him in a convulsive movement. The streak of sensation raced all the way to her womb. Zane suckled and teased, nibbling, pulling with his lips, swirling his tongue around the distended nub.
Jolts of pleasure speared from her nipples to her womb and down to the sensitive walls of her cunt. They set up the familiar fluttering pattern, demanding something to fill that hot, liquid space. Something so big it stretched her to the fullest. Something that would drive the pleasure spikes into her harder and faster. Pushing her toward that release she craved yet holding back until she was ready to scream.
When he'd paid thorough attention to one nipple, he moved to the other, giving it the same treatment. Jamie felt as if a tidal wave was sweeping over her, lifting her body and tossing it about. Every touch of his mouth, every lick of his tongue, lifted her higher and higher on the crest of the wave. She tried to lock her ankles around his shoulders, but they were far too broad. All she succeeded in doing was spreading her legs further apart.
He moved away from her breasts, trailing light kisses down to her navel and stopping momentarily to tease her there with his tongue. Holding her hips firmly in place, he slid lower until his mouth hovered over her aching slit. When he pulled at her clit with his lips, she was sure fire would consume her.
He was merciless, teasing her with tongue and teeth, tormenting her already sensitized nub. She thrashed on the sheets, tossing her heads back and forth, straining again at the handcuffs. Zane's raspy chuckle vibrated through the pulsating walls of her pussy.
When he looked up at her, his lips and chin were wet with her juices. “You taste like sweet candy, darlin'. I could eat you up all day and all night."
"Please,” she begged, thrusting her hips at him.
"Oh, I intend to please you.” His eyes held a wicked gleam. “When I get through with you, there won't be a puddle left.” His voice dropped. “And next time you won't put up so much of a fight."
With that, he bent to his task again, probing her vagina with his tongue, lapping at her tight channel, sucking at the quivering flesh. His tongue was like the flame of a candle, scorching her wherever it touched, heating her blood and driving her to a higher plane of pleasure.
Her manacled hands clenched into fists, nails digging into her palms. She was sure she couldn't stand it one more moment if he didn't give her release. But when it came, it still didn't give her the satisfaction she sought.
As she finally reached the crest and tumbled over it, Zane spread her labia wide, holding her wide open to his gaze, denying her even the feel of his finger inside her greedy, hungry vagina. She bucked and screamed and pleaded as her liquid poured forth and her body shuddered with spasm after spasm.
At last the aftershocks subsided, but her body was far from satisfied. “Fuck me,” she begged, willing to do anything just to have that thick cock inside her. “Oh, please, Zane. I want you inside me."
He kissed her opening and lapped the fluid with his tongue, sending shivers through her. “Soon, darlin'. Very soon.” He moved to straddle her, holding as much of his weight on his legs as he could. “But turnabout's fair play, don't you think?"
Her heart still bumping erratically, Jamie eyed the hot erection bobbing before her eyes.
"Think you can take this, darlin'? I don't want to hurt you."
Jamie licked her lips. “I-I can take it. I want it, Zane."
His breath hissed through his teeth. “God, you don't know how much I want those sweet lips wrapped around my dick. We'll go real slow. You wiggle your eyebrows any time you need me to stop, okay?"
She nodded her head and opened her mouth, saliva already pooled inside as she imagined his taste.
He took his cock in one hand and inched it slowly passed her lips and her teeth, sliding it over her tongue into the welcoming cavern of her mouth. Her cheeks hollowed as she sucked on it, pulling it deeper and deeper. He was thick and hard, and the veins just beneath the skin pulsed against her tongue.
When the broad head hit the roof of her mouth, her gag reflex kicked in and she bit down involuntarily.
Zane jumped as her teeth sank into him. “Easy, Jamie. Breathe through your nose. It'll ease up in just a minute."
She did as he told her, forcing her throat to relax. Sure enough, in a moment, he was sliding in even further. She had never had a cock this big in her mouth, and her lips were stretched almost beyond their capacity. But it wasn't an unpleasant feeling, and the thing that stood out was how good he tasted.
Fully seated, he held himself at the root and began to move his hips back and forth, working himself in and out with steady strokes. “That's it,” he rasped when she caught the rhythm. “Just like that."
Impossibly, his cock swelled even more until Jamie thought it woul
d explode in her mouth. His body tensed in her grip as his climax began to build. His testicles, resting on her chin, drew up and tightened. Then, without warning, he pulled out and moved back.
"What—"
"Next time I'll come in your mouth, darlin'. And in your ass. And maybe all over your body.” He struggled for control. “But right now, we're a little short on time, and I can't wait to feel your tight little cunt wrapped around my dick."
His large warm hands settled on the backs of her thighs and pressed them until her knees touched her chest. If she'd felt exposed before, now she was as open to him as she could be, giving him greater access to her body. And greater pleasure. She nearly came when his cock filled every inch of her vaginal sheath, but she held her breath, wanting to ride the rollercoaster with him.
And then he began to move, hands on her knees to keep them far apart, balls slapping against her buttocks. Up the slope he took her, her body already inflamed from his earlier touching and nibbling and licking. She felt like one big fist ready to clench.
And then they exploded together, his thick cock pumping his seed into her, her cunt clutching at him, milking him, her name a hoarse shout in her ears. Her body shattered, splintering into a million pieces, vivid colors swirling against a black void behind her closed eyes.
She thought it would never end—the spasms, the spinning and whirling. Every bit of energy drained from her body, leaving her limp and exhausted. Zane collapsed on top of her, his heart thudding as hard as hers, his breathing rough and irregular.
"See how ready I am for you, little hellcat?"
She nodded, unable to make her mouth form words.
"Now tell me you don't want me,” he whispered in an uneven voice. “You were mine then, Jamie, and you're mine now. Think about it, darlin'. The rest is just details."
God, how she hated to admit he was right. What did she do now? This couldn't possibly be love or anything close to it. She was confusing really great sex that tied her in knots with an emotional attraction. And so, she was sure, was he.
Just what she needed, with so much else unresolved between them. There was the money she still hadn't told Zane about. And, of course, the question of how her father really died.