Rangers: Silver-Star Seductions: A Two-Book Box Set

by Ciana Stone

  Willa reached up and popped the center clasp between her breasts and shrugged out of the bra. Zeb’s breath hissed in and his hands cupped her breasts. A moment later he bent down and ran his lips over her skin.

  She felt weak in the knees when his tongue snaked out and slid over one taut nipple. She couldn’t stop her hands from reaching for purchase on his shoulders. He continued to lower, his hands stroking down the center of her body to the button of her jeans.

  Her skin tingled as he lowered the jeans down over her hips and thighs but she regained some measure of control, at least enough to step out of the jeans. Whatever control she’d regained fled when he peeled off her underwear and ran his hands up the inside of her legs to her sex.

  Willa grabbed both sides of the doorframe, fighting the need to moan when his fingers spread her lips and stroked over her clit. The fight was lost when his tongue replaced the action of his fingers.

  At her groan, his attention intensified until she was gripping the doorframe like a lifeline, her body taut at the riot of sensation rocketing through her. “Zeb.” She managed to moan his name.

  He rose and placed his hands on her waist to lift her up, against him. Willa wound her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, seeking his lips. This kiss clearly spelled passion, tongues warring and breath coming fast and hard.

  “Your room,” Zeb said into her mouth.

  “Last on the right.” She latched her mouth onto his neck as he carried her from the bathroom and down the hall. Once in her room, he lay her back on the bed, settling his weight on her.

  “Tell me what you want, Willa,” he whispered against her skin as he began a slow grind against her.

  “This.” She offered her lips and when he accepted, she surrendered. Completely. All that she was she offered without reservation. She didn’t know if Zeb understood but hoped there was some part of him that recognized what she offered.

  Zeb felt it throughout his entire body. She was his. That realization had need blazing inside him as hot and fast as the mussel flash of a gun. His mind went completely blank to every other thought except the feel and taste of her. His skin burned and his heart hammered in his chest with the need. He wanted to sink into her warmth and ride her hard and fast.

  But he didn’t want her to think it was just sex because it was way more than that. He’d keep it slow, take all the time she needed because as strong as his need pressed, the desire to please her was stronger.

  That resolve wavered when she wrapped her legs around his waist and hoisted her hips up to press her wet sex against his erection.

  Zeb’s mind emptied of every thought but the feel and taste of her. Willa ground against him and a fever swept through his mind. He grabbed her by the hips and sat back on his heels, pulling her onto him. She hissed a sharp, excited breath, followed by a mumble he couldn’t make out. It didn’t matter. Her first gasp had stabbed him with a shard of hunger so strong it damn near blinded him.

  Willa pushed him back so she could climb on top of him. The heat from her wet sex radiated through his groin as she rotated her hips, grinding on the length of his erection. Every slide and rub eroded his control more. His hands tightened on her hips, fingers digging in as he fought to hold the need at bay, to resist ramming inside her and riding like there was no tomorrow.

  God almighty. Zeb wanted to take it slow, to love her easy but she was so damn potent. He had to get her off his hard-on or he wouldn’t hold to his vow to make love and not merely fuck. With a quick move, he rolled her onto her back and pressed down on her, pinning her to the bed and gathering her breasts in his hands to feast on her nipples.

  “Zeb… Oh.” A moan followed. Then another.

  An arch against his mouth preceded her hands working between their bodies to fist his erection. It was like having a live wire shoved against his skin. Current shot through him, burning and tingling, nerve endings doing a frantic dance.

  She started to stroke him and he lost control of a groan, closing his eyes. Her touch was like electricity, sending jolts running rampant through him, all culminating in his erection. His breath caught in his throat and he closed his eyes, suckling one breast while fighting the demands of his body to plunge inside her, pound hard and fast and sate his ravenous need.

  He raised his head from her breasts and their gazes met. “Stop holding back. Take what you want, Zeb. Take it now.”

  Her lips sought his in a kiss that was slow but passionate. Here it was. That illusive thing he’d searched for but could never find with anyone else. That ‘fit’. As corny as it might be, he wanted the moment to last, to be able to ensnare it and hold it forever. Nothing in his life had ever felt so right as this moment, and this woman.

  Willa moaned into his mouth, wrapped her legs around his waist and bucked against him. He drove himself into her wet core, feeling her push back against each thrust, driving him deeper into her. Her legs tightened around him as her body went into climax. Zeb saw it, felt it, smelled it, tasted it.

  “That’s it,” he whispered against her mouth.

  Wetness poured between them, her sex clenching around him, her belly contracting. Her neck arched back, eyes closed. Zeb slowed his movements, enjoying the feel of her orgasm, rings of it tightening around his erection. God, there’d never be another woman in his life. Willa was all he would ever want or need.

  She went limp and stretched like a lazy cat, smiling up at him. His mouth traveled to her breasts, teasing her nipples as he moved slow and strong inside her. Just then another orgasm began to ripple through her body—shit, he could feel each frisson pass through him—he kicked it into high gear and hammered into her.

  “Yes! God, yes!” Willa screamed in pleasure, bucking against him, nails digging into the flesh of his back, teeth biting at his neck. Sweat poured from them, making their bodies slick against one another.

  “Now!” she screamed. “Yes! Yes!”

  He raised his head and their eyes locked. And together they took the freefall. Fever took him. Over his eyes, a red haze descended, hot and beating to the pulse of his heartbeat. She was his. His lover, his woman. Nothing would ever be the same again. And nothing would take her from him. Not as long as he drew breath.

  When the storm passed Zeb sagged onto her, feeling the rapid pound of her heart.

  “Need air,” she wheezed.

  Zeb moved off her so she could roll over onto her side, her face against his chest. So hot. He wrapped his arms around her, relaxing. He was almost ready to drop off into sleep when she pushed herself up and gave him a soft kiss.

  “Better,” she said.

  “Better?”

  “Than the fantasies.”

  Zeb laughed and pushed her back so he could roll over on top of her. “And that’s just the beginning,” he promised before claiming her lips.

  *****

  “I can’t find my clothes.” Zeb walked into the kitchen wearing his hat, with a towel draped around his waist and carrying his boots and gun holster.

  Willa turned from the stove with two plates of eggs and bacon and grinned at him. “Sweet.”

  “Not exactly the outfit for showing up at the station.”

  “Your clothes are hanging in the laundry room. I washed and dried them this morning. That’s what I was coming to tell you when --”

  “When you found me in the bathroom and had your way with me?”

  She chuckled, placed the plates on the table and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Go get dressed and I’ll get the coffee and toast.”

  Zeb put his hat and holster on the table, his boots on the floor, and headed for the laundry room. The moment he entered the door, two furry faces peeked up over the edge of the laundry basket on the dryer. Zeb stopped dead in his tracks, eyeing the beasts.

  Willa was right. They didn’t really look like rats. Well, not exactly. And in a way they were kind of cute. Still, he wasn’t too sure about them so he eased into the room, keeping his eye on them. His pants and shirt were on ha
ngers on a rack beside the washer and his underwear and socks were folded on the dryer. Right beside the laundry basket.

  Great.

  “You mind?” he asked as he reached for the underwear.

  One of the ferrets leapt out of the basket and landed square on his hand. Before he would snatch his hand back it had run up his arm and clean to the top of his head. Zeb didn’t know whether to try to bat it off or not. The one still in the basket was bobbing its head, chattering in a way that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

  Rather than take a chance, he slid into his boxers. The ferret scooted around on his head, and for the world, it felt like the thing was hanging onto his hair. Zeb wasn’t about to be bitten by a ferret wearing only his underwear. He stripped the pants off the hanger, put them on, and by then realized the ferret was determined to stay so he slid into his shirt, grabbed his socks and headed back for the kitchen.

  Just as he reached the kitchen door, the ferret hopped down to his shoulder.

  “Curly!” Willa said as Zeb walked into the room. “Get yourself down from there. I told you it wasn’t polite to hitch rides without asking.”

  The ferret chattered and wound its way down Zeb’s body like he was a May pole, and then disappeared around the corner.

  “Sorry about that,” Willa said. “Sit. Eat.”

  Zeb raked his hair back, took a seat, sampled the coffee and then picked up his fork. The eggs were scrambled, with onions, peppers, a little sausage and chopped tomatoes, topped with cheese.

  “Damn good eggs,” he mumbled around a mouthful.

  “Glad you like ‘em.” Willa took a seat across from him and started buttering a slice of toast.

  “So, I’m going to arrange to have a patrol car stationed here until we can clear up this Ellis thing. I think it’d be a good idea if you stuck close to home today and tell your hands to be on alert.”

  “We’ll be fine, Zeb.”

  “Damn straight you will and I’m going to make sure of it. Just please, for me, let your hands know to be watchful. If they see anything there’ll be a deputy on the property.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine? No argument?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well… well good. So what do you have on your plate today?”

  “Working with some new horses.”

  “Working how?”

  “Training them for law enforcement – making sure they can handle fire and noise, cross water, that sort of thing.”

  “I didn’t know you did that.”

  “Yep.”

  “I’d like to watch you work sometime.”

  “I’d like to watch you.”

  Zeb paused in the middle of lifting the fork to his mouth. “No, you probably wouldn’t.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “My line of work isn't always pretty.”

  “There’s ugly in most things if you look for it.”

  Zeb paused again. “You’re right. Okay, I hate to, but I have to go. Now remember –”

  “Stay on property, be watchful, alert deputy if we see anything.”

  He smiled and skirted the table to lean down and kiss her. “Okay if I head on back after work?’

  “I’d be hurt if you didn’t.”

  “Then I’ll see you later.”

  She nodded, rose and walked with him to the door. Zeb paused and gathered her to him. “I thought coming back here would be the worst thing that ever happened to me. Turns out I was dead wrong.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m glad.”

  He hugged then kissed her before opening the door. “See you by seven.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Willa watched him until his cruiser pulled down the drive then backtracked to the kitchen. All five ferrets were lined up at the door, sitting on their haunches. Willa chuckled and scraped the remnants of breakfast into their feed bowl then busied herself cleaning the kitchen.

  She couldn’t help but think how wonderful it would be to start every day this way and mentally scolded herself. As much as she wished that Zeb would want to stay, she still couldn’t trust that he would. And she wasn’t going to set herself up for an even bigger hurt by wishing for something he couldn’t give.

  And you haven't been completely honest with him. Willa purely hated it when the voice of her conscious chimed up. It wasn't like she was keeping something horrible from him and besides it wouldn't matter. She wasn't getting her hopes up.

  No. She’d enjoy what time they had and hope like hell that when he walked away he didn’t take her will to live right along with him.

  Chapter Six

  Zeb leaned against the fence of the paddock and watched Willa take the big gelding, Jet, through his paces. She’d had a line of poles erected, each wrapped with rags soaked in gasoline. They were all blazing. A portable music player with what sounded like a crowd rioting was blaring and all the ranch hands, along with the foreman, Ronnie Camp and his wife Polly were watching, hooting and hollering.

  She’d wrangled an extra week of training with the horses and he knew she was feeling pressure to succeed. She took what she did seriously and would bust her ass to deliver what she promised.

  Willa looked so small perched on the back of the horse. Jet pranced once as she urged him toward the entrance of the flaming gauntlet but he followed her commands and galloped through. She turned the horse and led him back to the entrance again. This time she forced him to walk the gauntlet.

  Everyone watching cheered when rider and horse cleared the last set of flaming poles. She’d succeeded. All three horses were trained and ready.

  Zeb felt a sense of pride swell inside him as he watched her rub the horse’s neck and praise it. She always gave credit to the animals she worked with and the people who helped and supported her, but Zeb knew the truth, as did everyone who watched. Willa was very talented. She was damn near a magician with animals. Sometimes he'd swear she could understand them in a way others couldn't.

  Ronnie met her as she dismounted. She spent a minute rubbing the horse before turning over the reins to Ronnie. Another ranch hand, Dan Beechum yelled that he and a couple of the others would take down the poles and get the paddock back in order.

  Willa shouted her thanks and headed over to Zeb. “You’re amazing,” he said as she stopped in front of him.

  “No they are.” She indicated the horse and her people.

  “No, you are.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him.

  “Zeb!” She resisted when he wrapped his arms around her.

  “Honey I’ve been pretty much living here for the last three weeks. I don’t think we’re gonna shock anyone.”

  With that, he kissed her. And, at the whoop that went up from the onlookers, he picked her up clean off her feet and kept his lips glued to hers.

  She grinned when he finally put her down. “You’re such trouble Zeb Childress.”

  “And you love it.”

  Her eyes moved from his to her feet. He knew that move. It did not matter that he’d slept no more than two nights in his own place in the last three weeks and spent every moment he wasn’t working with her, she still didn’t trust what they had. He knew that. Could see it in the way she looked at him at times. She expected him to leave.

  He wished he could say she was dead wrong, but the truth was, even if he was crazy in love with Willa, he still wasn’t keen on the idea of being stuck in Calder County.

  “I need to go get the horses ready. Billy’ll be here in an hour to pick ‘em up.”

  “Okay, I need to get on the road. The deputy should be here any time.”

  “About that,” she said as they both started toward his cruiser. “It’s been weeks. I’m betting they’re pretty tired of sitting here all day. And there hasn’t been any trouble. Call ‘em off, Zeb. Please.”

  Zeb stopped at the driver’s door of his vehicle. “Tell you what. I’ll speak with the Sheriff today and see what he thinks.”

 
“Zeb…”

  “Willa, today let’s just be happy. In fact, let’s celebrate. How about I pick you up when I’m done and we head into town for dinner and some dancing? I hear there’s a pretty good band at Bucky’s and you haven’t been off the ranch in weeks.”

  “And you’ll talk to the Sheriff?”

  “Yes, I’ll talk with him.”

  “Promise?”

  “Scout’s honor.”

  She blew a raspberry. “Like you were ever a boy scout.”

  Zeb grabbed her for a kiss. “I’ll see you at six. Wear a dress.”

  “A dress?”

  “Easier to feel you up on the drive.”

  “Get outta here.” She pushed him away with a laugh. “See you at six.”

  Zeb climbed in the cruiser and watched her head back toward the barn. He hadn’t told Willa much about the investigation into the shootings at the Newell place. He was in touch with the Rangers Headquarters and forensic evidence definitely placed at least two of the Ellis men at the ranch the day of the shootings. Along with that, they’d found evidence of drugs. One of the bundles had leaked inside a cow and the carcass proved the animal had been used to transport drugs.

  It was only a matter of time before they had enough to take the Ellis clan down. Zeb fully intended to be part of that operation. After that, well, he hadn’t thought that far. He had no desire to be stuck in Calder County, but he knew there was no way he’d ever talk Willa into leaving.

  Which left him where?

  That was a question for which he had no answer.

  *****

  “Do I look stupid?” Willa stood in front of the old-fashioned dressing mirror that had been her mama’s, turning one way then another. The ferret family was perched on the bed watching. Sassy chirped and bobbed her head in response.

  “Is that a yes, you look stupid as all get out?” Willa asked. She didn’t own a lot of dresses and hadn’t worn this one in a good three years. It was a simple peasant dress with smocking that started beneath her breasts and ended just below the waist. A full skirt covered her legs to three inches below her knees and the small capped-sleeves rested on the outer curve of her shoulders.