A Rancher to Love

by Trish Milburn

  “That’s why you were so scared the night you ran from your car and fell outside the barn,” he said.

  She nodded. “I felt like a fool, but out in the darkness the danger felt very real, like if I slowed down even the tiniest bit whoever was after me would catch me.” She took a breath, still not quite able to believe she was sharing all this with Tyler. What if he thought she was stark raving mad?

  Well, at least she’d know before she passed the point of no return with him.

  “Please tell me the bastard is rotting in jail.”

  “He is. I managed to hit him and slip away as the cops arrived. One of my neighbors heard me screaming, and luckily I lived close to a police precinct. It was literally two blocks away. Even so, and knowing he was behind bars, I never felt safe in my home again. I wasn’t sleeping, barely eating, not able to work. I knew if I was going to get back on a good path, I had to make a big change.” She looked at him and half smiled. “And that’s how I ended up here.”

  Tyler took two slow steps toward her and gently gripped her shoulders. “I hate what happened to you, but I’m glad you’re here.”

  She was, too. She wasn’t sure if she believed in destiny, but it certainly felt as if she’d made the right choice moving to the ranch. Being with Maddie and Tyler had helped her begin to heal, but she suspected she would have loved them anyway.

  Love? Did she love Tyler? A voice inside her, one that belonged to her heart, said yes. And it didn’t say it in a whisper. Especially after what had happened, how could she possibly have fallen in love so quickly? Was she confusing gratitude for love?

  As she looked up into Tyler’s eyes, she knew what she was feeling wasn’t gratitude. It was desire stemming from the fact that she loved him. That frightened her in an entirely different way, the kind that created a fear of loss. She shoved that thought away. This had been a perfect day, and she wanted to add a perfect night.

  “I don’t want you to go,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.

  “I don’t want to, either.”

  “Then stay.”

  Leah took his strong hand in hers and led him inside, his strength and powerful presence allowing her to walk into the dark interior of the bunkhouse without fear.

  It was Tyler who turned on the light before pulling her into his arms and capturing her mouth in a kiss that felt as if it might consume her but in the best way possible.

  When he took a moment to breathe, he gently framed her face. “Are you sure about this, Leah? I don’t want to do anything to frighten you.”

  She hesitated a moment then nodded. “What I’m most afraid of is never getting past being afraid. If what happened to me hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t even hesitate right now.” In fact, she suspected they’d already be in the bedroom, ripping off each other’s clothes.

  “I want this, too, but I will stop if you need me to.”

  She reached up and placed her palm against his warm cheek, felt the slight bristle of whiskers that had appeared since he’d shaved that morning.

  “I know.” She looked into his eyes and hoped with all her heart that he felt the same way about her as she did him. “Kiss me, Tyler.”

  He did, with a thoroughness that made her head spin. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She was relieved that the action, which put her at his mercy, didn’t freak her out. Her heart sped up as Tyler started backing her toward her bedroom, but it was in anticipation. Everywhere he touched, her skin came alive.

  When they reached the side of her bed, Tyler didn’t press her. Instead, he continued to kiss her, melting any resistance that might have still existed within her. Though it was obvious he desired her, he took care with her, making her love him even more.

  Deciding she needed to make the first move, she slid her hands underneath his shirt. Tyler’s sharp intake of breath told her that the feel of her hands against his taut stomach thrilled him every bit as much as it did her. She moved her hands farther up and over his chest, liking what she found.

  Tyler’s mouth came down on hers with an intensity he’d not yet shown. Still, her fear miraculously stayed away. Growing more excited, she kissed him back with enough energy that she hoped it said without words that she was ready to move beyond kissing.

  In the next moment, Tyler scooped her up into his arms, causing her to yelp in surprise.

  “You okay?” he asked, a look of concern on his face.

  She smiled. “Better than I’ve been in a long time.”

  Slowly, as if he thought she’d still change her mind, Tyler laid her on the bed, then stretched out beside her. He didn’t immediately kiss her again but rather caressed her cheek with his fingertip.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  Her heart sang, full and high and free. “And you are very easy on the eyes yourself.”

  He smiled wide. “That right?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  At first, he kissed her gently, but their kisses grew deeper and more urgent. When Tyler’s hands made contact with the bare skin of her stomach, she flinched instinctively. But the feeling passed as her rational brain kicked the fear to some dark corner.

  Tyler started to pull back, but she grasped his shoulder and held him close. “No, I want this.”

  He didn’t look convinced, so she tugged at the bottom of his shirt. When she had it up to his arms, he stared down at her for a moment before pulling the shirt the rest of the way off and tossing it back over his shoulder.

  She giggled. “With moves like that, I feel like I need to have some stripper music at the ready.”

  His eyes widened. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  She shrugged. “It was an impressive move.”

  “You say that like you’ve seen strippers.”

  “There may have been a trip to a certain club for Reina’s bachelorette party.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t have those kinds of moves.”

  She ran her hand slowly up his chest. “That’s not what I want.”

  The truth was Tyler had all those strippers beat by a dozen miles in the looks department. In fact, if there was a better-looking man in all of Texas, she’d never met him. When she felt how his heart was beating against her hand, it shot her desire for him into overdrive. She grabbed the bottom of her own shirt and removed it quickly, tossing it in the general direction of Tyler’s.

  With a hungry growl, Tyler captured her mouth and kissed her thoroughly, moving cautiously to her throat, probably afraid she’d balk.

  “I’m okay,” she said.

  His lips and tongue kept moving south. She felt his hands at her back and then her bra unclasping before he captured her right breast in his mouth. Raw, pulsing need shot through her, had her grasping for his belt buckle.

  The pace picked up, and soon they were both naked. After Tyler turned away long enough to put on a condom, they kissed and caressed and explored with their hands, their mouths, their tongues. She wanted Tyler so much that she thought she might burst from the wanting. He seemed to be feeling the same, but he still looked into her eyes as he nudged her legs apart with his knee, watching for any sign that she wanted to stop. But she didn’t. She wanted him to keep going, and she told him so by entwining her fingers with his where his hands were braced above her head and spreading her legs to welcome him.

  Tyler eased into her, perhaps still not convinced she wouldn’t stop him. But when he slid all the way in, his eyes closed as if he were savoring the feel of her surrounding him. Without even thinking about it, she moved to create more friction. With a very male sound deep in his throat, Tyler began to move, each stroke slightly faster than the one before.

  Leah’s breath started to come in pants, and she gripped Tyler’s shoulders as if she might fly away if she didn’t. The pleasure coursing through her body
built until she was close to exploding. Tyler was beautiful. She wouldn’t tell him that using that term, but he was, and not just physically. Her love for him grew right alongside the pleasure he was giving her.

  The muscles inside her tensed and then the rest of the ones throughout her body as she plunged over the edge into glorious release. As if he’d been holding back until she reached her peak, Tyler quickly followed.

  One moment he was rigidly tense all over, and in the next his muscles seemed to lose their ability to support him and he sank down beside her. But he still had the strength to wrap his arm around her and pull her close. She nestled next to him as if it were the most natural action for her to take. And it strangely seemed so.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his breath warm against the top of her head.

  She ran her fingertips up his chest. “Way better than okay.” Tears stung her eyes. “I feel like I’ve broken free of a cage I put myself in.” She leaned back so she could look up at him. “I’m happy. So very happy.”

  He kissed her with a sweetness that belied his size and the power he could command at a moment’s notice. But his size and strength didn’t scare her anymore, which felt like a miracle. In fact, as she snuggled against him, bare in more ways than one, she felt safer than she had since before the attack.

  As she drifted toward satisfied sleep, she hoped that this wasn’t a one-time thing. If she were being honest, she wanted this for the rest of her life.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tyler resisted the urge to kiss Leah’s soft lips as she lay on his arm sleeping. She looked so peaceful in the early morning light, he didn’t want to wake her. He suspected this had been the first really good night of sleep she’d gotten since the attack.

  Just the idea that some man had pawed at her like an animal, making her fear for her life, causing her so much trauma, made him want to rip the guy’s head from his body. But he would never tell Leah that. By some miracle, she’d trusted him enough to be with him in the most intimate way, so he wasn’t going to repay her by sharing his violent thoughts.

  As he watched her sleep, his heart felt content, like he’d be perfectly happy to stay here with her forever. What exactly did that mean? Was he falling in love with her? It certainly felt like it. Did she feel the same? He found himself hoping so, and that he wasn’t just another stepping-stone on her path to healing. He wished he could say he was strong enough to be okay with that, but it would be a lie. Once he’d started developing feelings for her, they had deepened quickly, like a stone dropped into the middle of the lake.

  Felix whimpered from the living room, which was followed by the sound of his uneven gait.

  Leah stirred beside him. “He has to go potty.”

  Tyler did lean over and kiss her forehead then. “Stay here. I’ll take him out.” He slid from the bed and pulled on his jeans.

  “It’s a shame to cover that up,” Leah said, her voice still tinged with sleep.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Like the view, huh?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  Damn if he didn’t go instantly hard at that appreciative sound in her throat. Were it not for a puppy about to piddle on the floor, he’d be back in that bed with her in the blink of an eye.

  Instead, he left the room and headed straight for the front door. “Come on, little guy.”

  As Felix did his business, Tyler’s gaze landed on the wildflowers growing along the opposite side of the driveway and remembered Maddie’s assertion that girls liked flowers. He let Felix sniff about the bunkhouse’s small yard as he picked a bouquet. He didn’t think he’d ever actually picked flowers for anyone before, but it felt right.

  “What do you think, boy? Will she like them?” he asked Felix, who cocked his head a bit to the side as if wondering why the crazy man would be asking a dog his opinion about flowers.

  He half expected Leah to be up when he walked back inside, but after putting the flowers in water in a glass, he found her right where he’d left her.

  She looked at him through her barely opened eyes. “I don’t want to get up. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this comfortable.”

  Tyler slid back into the bed with her. “That’s the good thing about being your own boss. You can make your own hours.”

  “You make an excellent point.” She rolled toward him, the sheet falling away to reveal the swell of her breasts. “What time do you have to pick up Maddie?”

  “Not till noon.”

  She smiled. “Best news I’ve heard all day.”

  “I aim to please.”

  Leah’s hand slid over his hip. “That you do.”

  He kissed her hard, much more so than he’d been willing to do the night before for fear of frightening her and bringing back horrible memories. Leah responded in kind, and soon they were making love again. They lay tangled together afterward, kissing, until he couldn’t put off getting up and ready so he could pick up Maddie on time.

  Leah tossed on her discarded T-shirt and rounded the bed where he stood fastening his pants for the second time that morning. She took his hands when he was done and held them in her own.

  “Thank you for last night,” she said.

  He knew she’d enjoyed herself every bit as much as he had, but for her it had been so much more.

  “You’re welcome, though I feel as if I should be the one thanking you.”

  “Really?”

  “Why do you sound so surprised?”

  “I don’t know, but I am. Or do you usually thank women for sex?”

  Her question startled him. “I don’t recall, maybe because it’s been so long.” He smoothed her hair, mussed by sleep and sex. “Last night wasn’t just sex for me, Leah.”

  He watched as she swallowed and her eyes took on a glow that tugged at his heart.

  “It wasn’t?”

  “I care about you, more than ought to be possible at this point. I didn’t expect it or plan for it, but do anyway.”

  “Tyler.” She seemed at a loss for what to say other than his name, so he lifted her from her feet and kissed her.

  As he stood with Leah at the bunkhouse door a couple of minutes later, it startled him how much he didn’t want to leave her.

  “Come meet me and Maddie at the Primrose for lunch.”

  The past twenty-four hours had been so great that he kept expecting the bubble to burst, expected it to be now when she declined.

  “Okay.”

  It took Tyler a moment to realize that she hadn’t replied the way he thought she would. But the fact that she’d accepted made him grin like a fool. After another lingering kiss, he headed down the driveway toward his house for a shower and clean clothes.

  He was halfway there before he realized he was whistling.

  * * *

  WHEN LEAH WALKED into the Primrose Café right after noon, she felt as if everyone in the building would take one look at her and know what she’d done with Tyler the night before. As if “I had awesome sex last night!” was blinking in bright lights across her forehead.

  She spotted a table in the middle of the dining area and headed for it. She’d barely seated herself before the waitress stopped by with a menu.

  When she heard the door open, she somehow knew it was Tyler before she even turned to look. His smile when their eyes met made her tingle all over and remember every single touch they’d shared during their night together. That he’d asked her to lunch and looked happy to see her now suggested he wasn’t having any day-after regrets. And neither was she. In addition to the great sex and the tenderness he’d shown her, she’d slept solid and without interruption. It was as if all the sleep she’d missed out on since the attack had found her. It was huge that she’d felt safe enough with him to sleep that soundly.

  “Hey, Leah,” Maddie said
as she hurried toward the table. “Look, I got a tattoo.” Maddie stuck out her arm to show Leah her temporary pink-and-purple butterfly tattoo on her forearm.

  “Why, yes, you do. Very pretty.”

  “It’s not real.”

  “That’s good, because you might get tired of the butterfly and want something else.”

  “Don’t encourage tattoos,” Tyler said. “At least not until she’s, oh, thirty.”

  “Did you have fun at the party?” Leah asked.

  “Yes!” And she proceeded to tell Leah everything she and her new friends had done, pausing only long enough to tell the waitress she wanted chicken nuggets.

  Leah glanced across the table at Tyler, and he was having a difficult time not smiling. She wondered if he was hearing all of Maddie’s stories for the second time.

  “Did you and Uncle Tyler have fun on your date? Did he bring you flowers? I told him to.”

  He’d told her about their day?

  “Uh, we had a nice time. We went for a horseback ride and had a picnic. And yes, he brought me flowers.” Which she’d discovered that morning after he’d left.

  Thank goodness their food arrived then, but so did India Parrish.

  “Hey, guys,” India said.

  After a round of hellos, India turned to Leah. “I was just chatting with Gina this morning, so the arts and crafts trail is fresh on my mind. Have you thought any more about whether you might take part?”

  “I don’t know. I’m still getting settled, and I’m not sure I want people coming and going.”

  “Okay,” India said, sounding surprised by Leah’s answer. “I understand, but I hope you change your mind.”

  After India left, Tyler said, “Maybe you should do it. The exposure would be good for your business. And meeting new people might be nice, too.”

  She met his gaze and thought she understood where he was coming from, that maybe she should open herself up to more people in order to continue healing.

  “Maybe just one day a week, and I could make sure I’m around that day in case you need any help,” he said.