by Kadi Dillon
“Look at me, Alex.”
She felt his breath on her face before her eyelashes fluttered open. He seemed to be searching her face for some hidden secret; taking her in as if she was the only thing that mattered. Her muscles went lax even as her breath quickened. Finally, his lips curved before he brought them down to hers.
Her eyes clothed instinctively. His lips were firm and warm on hers, only tasting the surface. Alex thought she would die from the bliss of it. He brought her hand to his chest and held it to his heart. She felt it pounding brutally in his chest. Her heart rate matched his beat for beat.
His tongue shot out and traced her bottom lip. He swallowed her gasp before he deepened the kiss. The hand on her chin wrapped around her waist as he crushed her to him. She brought her other hand to his chest and grabbed hold of his shirt, tilted her head to deepen the kiss further.
A moan tore from his throat as he backed her up against the wall. Panicked excitement consumed her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Here was strength that wouldn’t bruise, she thought dizzily, riding each new wave of passion. Here was a power that would drown her in ecstasy. At last.
Lane slipped his hand under her shirt and found skin. She was as smooth as the underside of a rose petal and tasted of dark secrets. His hand crept up until it found her breast.
Her breath hitched as he left her mouth to trail wet, open mouthed kisses down her throat, to the front of her neck—all the while his thumbs teasing the sensitive flesh.
She bit her lip to bite back a moan, but couldn’t quite muffle the sound. He caught her earlobe between his teeth while he worked to get the pins out of her hair.
Blind with sensations she had never felt before, Alex reached for him.
He pressed his face to the side of her neck and fought to get his breathing under control. He wanted her badly enough to beg at that moment. Something, God knew what, had him stopping to ask.
“Tell me yes or no while you still have a choice,” he panted out.
“Yes,” Alex murmured. “Yes, make love to me.”
Both relief and impatience stabbed at him as he grabbed her shirt. The relief died instantly when Alex jolted and wrenched herself free of him. He landed on the ground on his knees and cursed. Before he could grab her, she sprinted out of the barn barefoot.
“God damn it, Alex!” he roared and ran out after her. He saw her run and jump the fence. Alex slammed into the horse barn and Lane busted through the door behind her. All he could think about was getting his hands on her. He was burning from a nasty ball of anger and need.
He stopped abruptly when he saw Alex crouched down over Hope, who was lying on her side.
“It’s okay, baby.” She soothed the horse that was obviously in the last stages of labor. “I’m here now, you’re all right.” Hope’s blond hair was darkened with sweat. Her eyes were half closed while her lungs expanded deeply, slowly.
“Sweet God,” Lane managed while he caught his breath. Alex barely looked winded, he noticed. Her hair was falling everywhere, her feet were covered in dirt, and yet she still looked so capable squatting over a laboring horse in her pajamas.
“I heard her cry out.” Alex tried but failed to keep her voice steady. “I panicked. I’m sorry I just ran, I—”
“It’s all right, Alex.” His blood was still boiling, but concern for Hope and respect for Alex calmed his raging libido. He crouched down beside her and rubbed his hand down Alex’s back. “Do I need to call anyone? The vet?”
She shook her head. “No, I worked part time for Doc Davis’ when I was younger. I know what to do. He just checked her a couple weeks ago, said everything looked good and ready.” She pressed her lips together when Hope cried out again from the pain. “Oh, baby. I know it hurts. It’s okay. When it’s over you’re going to have a beautiful little baby and this will all seem like nothing.”
Hope’s cries died off and she rested in between her contractions.
“Now what?” Lane asked, making himself comfortable on the floor beside Alex.
“Now, we wait. I need to go in and get some supplies. Will you stay with her?” She asked him for the favor, but was reluctant to leave.
“Sure.”
When she came back into the stables, her hair was braided and she wore jeans, boots, and an oversized brown t-shirt. She carried a bucket of water and towels and rags. Lane took a rag and began to dab it across Hope’s face to get the sweat out of her eyes.
“How many contractions has she had?”
“She’s cried out three times.”
Alex estimated she took ten minutes at the most. They were getting down to the wire. With everything set up, Alex sat on the ground beside Lane and curled her legs up under her.
“This is her first baby,” Alex commented when the minutes were stretching on. “She’s healthy and strong so she’ll be fine.”
He wondered if she was reassuring him or herself. Saying nothing, he reached his hand out and was pleased that she didn’t hesitate to take it. “What are you doing with the foal?”
Alex shrugged. “Selling it to you.”
“I’m buying the land,” he told her running his thumb on the backside of her hand. “Anything that can be moved will be moved unless you agree to marry me.”
She thought of Faith and her eyes stung.
Mistaking the tears of sadness for that of dread, Lane sat up. “What is it that frightens you about marrying me?”
She shook her head and cleared her dry throat. “I’m not sure.”
“I’d be a generous husband.” He turned her left hand over in his, imagined a ring there. A ring he had foolishly not thought about getting her. “I have no intentions of making your life anything but ideal.”
“Marriage isn’t a business to me, Lane. I’m not even sure what it is to me.” She winced when Hope cried out in pain.
“Maybe now would be a good time for me to tell you that I have feelings for you, Alex. Strong feelings.” His eyes were somber as they looked into hers. She could almost believe him and that scared her more than anything.
“You don’t even know me, really.”
“I know you are a beautiful woman with a tender heart. I know you’ve had a rough time in your life, all though I don’t know details yet. I know you’re a hard worker who thinks about everyone but yourself. I also know that if this right here,” he motioned to Hope, “wasn’t happening, we would be making love right now until neither of us could move.”
Almost mesmerized by his voice, Alex caught herself gaping and averted her gaze back to Hope. “That’s a tidy summary,” she said lightly, trying to keep it that way. “But I don’t know anything about you.”
He could feel her relenting. He knew she was thinking about marrying him. “What do you want to know?” When she only shrugged he smiled. “All right. My name is Lane Daniel Tanner. I’ll be twenty-nine on my next birthday. I have an MBA from Harvard. I’m CEO of my father’s company. Single, hopefully soon to be engaged to you. I live alone in a penthouse apartment in L.A. I don’t have any pets or children that I’m aware of,” he spoiled the last remark when he grinned hugely and was rewarded when she smiled back. “Anything else you’d like to know?”
“Is there anything left?” Nervous, she ran the end of her braid through her fingers. His hand was still linked firmly with hers, but she enjoyed the contact.
“Oh, there’s more.” He kissed the back of her hand. “And there’s more to you, as well. I intend to find out very soon.”
She took a chance and turned to him. “Why do you want to marry me?”
“I told you, I see what I want and I take it.”
“But you could have me without that. You know that.” She moved her hand restlessly over a tear in the knee of her jeans.
“That’s not all I want, Alex.”
She wanted to ask him what he did want but Hope let out another cry that was loud enough to have Alex jumping to her feet. She made her way over to Hope and slid down to her knees.
“It’s time.” She said and unfolded a towel.
By the time the sun came up, Alex was holding a new little filly in her hands. Lane looked on in amazement while Alex had cleaned and cooed the new baby. She then cleaned up Hope, giving her equal attention before leaving her alone to nuzzle and feed her new baby.
Lane slid an arm around her waist as they walked out of the barn together. As soon as the door shut behind them, two pickup trucks pulled into the driveway. Jack got out of one and Monster got out of the other. Alex sent them both a wave that they returned.
“Hay day. You want to come?” Jack asked when they closed the distance.
“Absolutely,” Alex grinned.
“What are you in such a chipper mood for?” Monster gave one of her braids a friendly yank.
“Hope just had her foal.”
“She all right?” Jack adjusted his hat and glanced back to the stables.
“They’re both great. She’s a beauty.” Alex slid out of Lane’s arm and turned to him. “Thank you for staying with me. I would have probably been a mess if I were alone. I’m going to go help haul hay.”
“Mind if I come?” he asked before he thought about it.
Alex looked taken aback, but she smiled quickly. “Sure. We could always use an extra pair of hands. I’ll be right back; I brewed coffee when Hope went into labor.”
She came back out with two cups of coffee and two hats tucked under her arms. Lane laughed and took one of each.
“You could’ve asked me to help, you know.” He climbed up in the bed of the truck behind her.
“I needed coffee,” she murmured after draining her cup.
“You’re going to have to walk me through this. I’m afraid to say I’ve never attended a ‘hay day’ before.” Lane settled back against the wheel well while the truck bumped along the dirt road.
“Aaron’s going to drive the truck. Jim’s manning the trailer. Me, you, Monster, Jack, and Ty will grab the bales and throw them up to Jim. Jim stacks them. Then, we go back to the barn and arrange them inside.” She shrugged. “Nothing to it.”
“Sounds easy enough.” But he wondered why a man would be driving the truck while Alex was hefting hay bales.
Alex grinned. She wondered if he’d be saying it was easy after lifting a couple hundred bales weighing about fifty pounds each. She looked at his broad shoulders, the muscles in his arms. Probably.
As the truck crept along the dirt and gravel, Lane took in his surroundings. The six hundred acres left of Morgan Ranch were beautiful. Rolling plains with subtle hills were green and plentiful with wild flowers.
The morning sun wasn’t yet high in the sky and there wasn’t a single cloud visible. His gaze shifted from the open meadows to the trees that wooded in a perfect line along the edge of the Morgan’s land. He imagined a house right there, he mused. Big, two story and white with shudders and a white picket fence. He could put it right in front of the tree line.
He realized he wasn’t imagining a house for a possible dude ranch or theme park. He was imagining a house for him and Alex. His gaze traveled to her. She sat with her profile to him. She, too, stared out at the land.
He wondered what she was thinking with that small, somewhat wistful smile on her face. Some of her hair had come loose from her braids and danced in the breeze.
She looked so right there, he mused as his heart did a turnover in his chest. He couldn’t imagine taking her away from where she looked so perfect. Sitting there with the meadows at her back, Lane realized he had more feelings for her than he’d ever had for another woman. Taken aback, he tore his gaze off of her and watched the road move under them.
Now, more than ever, he needed the answers to Alex’s life. And he would get them today, he decided. Time was already running out for him. No longer was he only thinking of the company or of a business arrangement. First and foremost, he wanted Alex for himself.
The truck came to a stop and Lane climbed out. Before Alex could even move, Lane had her by the waist, lifting her up then down to the ground. With his hands still hooked on her hips, he crushed his mouth to hers.
The protest that had been on the tip of her tongue ended in a moan as his tongue lashed out and ravished hers. He nipped her bottom lip before bringing his head up and grinning at her dazed response.
“Must be the braids.” He flipped one. Before she could speak he pressed his lips to hers briefly and firmly, took her hand, and walked toward the men and the hay pasture.
She wanted to put a hand to her spinning head but thought better of it since she was surrounded by men. Instead, she applied herself to her task. With gloves three sizes too big for hands, she hefted up fifty pound bales of hay and tossed them up to Jim on the trailer.
Aaron had the radio blaring out a country song as he cruised along the field. For each hay bale Alex hauled up to Jim, Lane hauled two. She kept pace with the other men but was ultimately exasperated that a novice was out hauling her.
Lane caught her speculative frown and flashed a grin before he hefted up another bale. The muscles in her stomach knotted as her face heated. What was it about that man that could churn her up this way with a single smile?
She plucked her hat off and dabbed her sweaty forehead with the back of her glove while she drank half a bottle of water. After adjusting her hat, she neatly plucked up another bale. Monster used one of his bottles and squeezed it all over his head. Alex laughed and then squealed when he flicked the rest of the water on her. She gave him a shove.
Lane was having the time of his life. The work was strenuous, but he was accustomed to working out four days a week. At least he had kept his muscles toned for something, he mused, guzzling water. He’d have been completely embarrassed if he had been shown up by a girl.
By noon, the entire trailer was full of square bales of hay and they headed back to the barn. Again, Lane jumped down from the truck and plucked Alex out. This time, she laughed as her feet hit the ground.
“Let’s take a break,” Lane suggested.
“A break? I have to unload the hay.” She started toward the barn, but Lane nipped her at the waist. “Hey!”
“I already told Jack you have the day off. Let’s go.”
“What do you mean, the day off?” She tried and failed to dig her heels into the dirt as Lane pulled her to the stables.
“Saddle some horses. I want to go for a ride.” He opened the gate, careful to keep his grip firm around her arm.
“You can’t just tell me I can’t work,” Alex protested. “This is ridiculous.”
“No.” Lane pulled her through the gate then pressed her back up against it. Her spine stiffened instinctively and her chin came up involuntarily.
“Christ, you’re beautiful.” He laughed when she narrowed her gaze. His hands rested on her shoulders. “Listen. We’ve been up all night with Hope. We’ve worked the better part of five hours in the miserable heat. I’m tired and I’d just like to relax, maybe see some of the ranch. I’d like you to show me. Is that agreeable?”
He could see her relenting again and smothered a grin. “I guess that’ll be fine, but you could have cleared it up with me before talking to Jack. I don’t want him to think he can’t depend on me.”
“He knows he can, Alex. Saddle up some horses. Surely there’s a creek around here we can go swimming in. I want to take some food, too.”
He saw her eyes brighten. “Like a picnic?”
“Exactly like a picnic.”
Her lips curved and without thinking, she reached up and pressed them to his. Surprised by her initiative, Lane wrapped his arms around her and parted her lips with his. When he pulled away from her, he realized he wasn’t as steady as he would have liked.
“Saddle up those horses and I’ll go get the food.”
Chapter Eight
Sitting on a blanket by the creek, eating sandwiches with Lane Tanner was the last thing Alex imagined herself doing on a Saturday afternoon. The weather was hot, but clear. Chores
needed to be done. And she couldn’t pretend to want to do anything except what she was doing.
Alex was taken by surprise at how much she didn’t want this day with Lane to end. He was a constant surprise to her.
She hadn’t realized that she’d let herself fall in love with him. And then he’d suggested the picnic. Silly, she knew, but that insignificant gesture had been worth more to her than a million blazing kisses. Not that she minded those in the least.
Now, they sat side by side on a spread out blanket on the bank of the creek Alex had swum in every summer. They were hot and sweaty from the long day working and eating egg salad sandwiches that Lane had prepared in a hurry. There was no place she would rather be.
Alex polished off her sandwich and dusted off her hands soon after Lane.
“That water’s going to feel like heaven.” Lane peeled off his sweaty shirt.
Alex wondered if her mouth actually dropped or if she just imagined it. Under the red cotton shirt, there was a glistening, bronzed washboard of muscles under a hard, wide chest. The muscles on Lane’s arms and back rippled as he tossed the shirt aside and then proceeded to rid himself of his pants.
Alex averted her gaze and began to toe off her boots. She jolted when his hands came to her shoulders. Her eyes met his, held. Then he kissed her, softly at first while he brought her hands to his naked chest. The feel of his warm, hard body beneath her palms was exhilarating. Her lips parted for him as she spread her hands out to feel him.
When she was already lost in delirium, he eased back and unbuttoned her shirt achingly slow. His knuckles brushed her skin with each button until he finally drew her shirt away.
Her lacy, white bra left little to the imagination as he unhooked it from the front. He drew it away and caught her breasts in his hands. She gasped from the contrast of his hard, powerful hands to her soft, smooth flesh.
His hands journeyed down further to unhook her jeans. Alex brought her hands to his shoulders to steady herself when she thought her legs would buckle. Lane slipped the rough denim down her legs.