by Cathryn Fox
Once he stopped pulsing, he dropped down on top of her, moisture sealing their bodies together, and whispered, “Next time I’ll go slower, baby. I promise.”
Next time?
As she lay there beneath him, cloaked in contentment from the best sex she’d ever had, she exhaled a shaky breath. She wasn’t sure what to say, or how to tell him there wasn’t going to be a next time. This was a one-shot deal, and soon the plane would be coming to collect her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Coop pressed his fingers to her lips to hush her. Someone had entered the barn. She heard voices, along with the creak of hinges as the stall doors opened.
With Coop on top of her, his hard body pressing down on hers in the most erotic ways, they remained quiet. As his gaze roamed over her face, she realized how much she liked him on top of her, how much she’d like to spend the rest of the day trapped beneath his hardness.
He smiled at her, a naughty grin that turned her inside out and reminded her that she never, ever did wild things like this. But by God, she sure was glad she gave in to her urges and stepped out of her comfort zone. Coop was warm, sexy, and wild, and no man had ever been so crazed, so frantic with her before. Being here with him like this was pretty much the highlight of her life.
Her hands went to his face. She traced his cheek, his jaw, and then the crook of his nose. Again, she wondered how he’d broken it.
They stayed quiet for a good twenty minutes. Until the guests saddled their horses and left the barn. It was only when they were alone again that Coop rolled off her, but instead of climbing to his feet, he moved in close and gently pressed his lips to hers. As his tender kiss took her by surprise, weird and wonderful emotions blossomed inside her. Except in this erotic fantasy with the man from her past, emotions weren’t allowed.
Needing to get her head on straight and remind herself this was just casual sex, they had no future together, she wiggled out from underneath him and asked, “Am I keeping you from your chores?”
He grinned. “Nope, but I’m keeping you from yours.”
She crinkled her nose. “Ah, I have chores?”
In a teasing drawl, he said, “This is a working dude ranch. Did you think you were going to get off so easily?” He dragged the words “get off” out slowly.
“I kind of just did,” she returned, teasing him back.
Her voice drifted off when something in his expression changed. Gone was his playful look, replaced by one full of dark intensity as he lazily trailed a finger over her nose, mouth, and throat.
He angled his head, his eyes moving over her face. “You do plan on staying the week, don’t you?”
“I didn’t…I wasn’t…”
As she worked to formulate a clear response, he brushed his mouth over hers, and a warm shiver of need pulsed in her body. Her mind raced. If a day acting more like her carefree sister was this amazing, what would a week be like? But would she be able to do it? Would she be able to live life on the wild side and keep her emotions out of it?
“Well?” he asked.
“I don’t—”
“Maybe you’re in need of more convincing,” he teased, sliding back over her.
Chapter Six
As Coop sat across from Julia at the breakfast table, he couldn’t stop smiling. The sex had been good, quite possibly the best he’d ever had, but there was so much more to it than that.
So much more.
Her kiss, her taste, the way she looked at him, and the needy way she responded to his touch did something to him and made him feel things he never had before.
Despite wanting to take things slow, the sex had been wild, frantic, and out of control. And while they both might be temporarily sated, he knew he was far from done with her.
He wanted her. Had for a long time now. And he damned well planned to have her again. But he didn’t just want her in the bedroom. He wanted to know everything about the woman she was now.
He shifted restlessly and absentmindedly moved his eggs around on his plate. While he considered this unexpected turn of events, he watched Julia spoon a big chunk of grapefruit into her mouth. God, that mouth. She looked warm, content, and completely relaxed, a far cry from how she’d appeared when she first arrived. If one morning of lovemaking did this to her, he could only imagine how she’d feel by the end of the week.
I’ve waited too long for this, wanted you for too long.
Were they just words spoken in the heat of the moment, or were they true? She’d never shown any sign of liking him when they were teens. Hell, she’d even told him he wasn’t her type. A laugh lodged in his throat. Guess she’d changed her mind on that. But still, he was sure she thought this entire setup was just about sex, and she was in it for a fantasy—he’d felt the shift in her when she’d come into the barn, knew that she was trying to act more like her sister. Except deep down it wasn’t an act. There were two sides to this girl, and he wanted her to understand that when he was buried eight inches inside her, he knew it was her, Julia Blair, and no one else.
“Coop,” Julia said, her laugh breathy, intimate.
“Yeah.”
“You’re staring at me.”
He grinned. “And that makes you uncomfortable?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged and fiddled with her spoon. “Maybe. I guess. I’m not used to guys staring at me like that.”
Then those guys were assholes. The whole lot of them. Then again, if he caught anyone staring at her like he was, he’d have no choice but to beat the living shit out of them.
“Like what?” he asked.
She lowered her voice and leaned into him. “Like you want to eat me alive.”
Heat prowled through him, and all he could think about was doing just that—kissing her from head to toe before he drove his cock deep inside her.
“Oh, but I do, sweetheart. I do.”
Color blossomed high on her cheeks, but that sexy hue reminded him of her pink pussy and how she spread her legs while offering herself up so nicely to him. She wet her lips, and he felt his cock grow another inch.
Fuck.
Coop shifted in his seat. “I told you not to lick your lips like that.”
Innocent eyes widened. “Then you should stop saying things like you just did.”
“No.”
“Oh, and why not?”
“Because I like how you respond.”
Memories of the way her body moved under his warmed his blood. Oh, yeah, there really were two sides of her. She bit down on her bottom lip and went quiet. Was she reliving the morning, remembering how well they fit together?
Coop drained the rest of his cup and pushed his plate away. “Are you ready?”
Julia swallowed. “Ready?”
He grinned. “To tackle your chores.”
Apprehension passed over her face. “I don’t know how—”
“Don’t worry.” He laughed and added, “I’m not going to make you ride a wild stallion or do anything dangerous.”
Her gaze leisurely trailed over him, then taking him by surprise, she answered with, “Well, I’m pretty sure that stallion already rode me, and maybe I like a little danger.”
Jesus.
Talk about poking a bull with a stick. Coop jumped to his feet and almost knocked his chair backward. He grabbed her hand and practically dragged her from the restaurant, all the while ignoring the inquisitive glances aimed their way.
If the guests weren’t up and about, he’d have hauled her straight back to the hayloft for round number two. Instead, as soon as he got her alone behind the barn, he pinned her against the wall and kissed her hard. When he finally pulled back, they were breathless.
“You’re going to pay for that,” he warned.
She feigned innocence. “Pay for what?”
Coop grinned, loving this easy, playful side of her. “Christ, what the hell am I going to do with you?” Before he could tell her exactly what he’d like to do, he spotted Mac and Jess heading into the trails. Ma
c had his climbing gear with him. The two complemented each other well. While Mac could use some of Jess’s calm nature, she could benefit from his wild ways. He couldn’t wait to see how their week played out, and hoped like hell in the end Mac won over the girl of his dreams.
He turned his attention back to Julia and inched away. With guests milling about, this was neither the time nor the place to do what he wanted to her.
Looking edgy and breathless, and maybe even a little disappointed that he’d pulled away, Julia gestured with a nod. “Where are they going?”
“We offer rock climbing here.” He looked off into the distance. “Just over there, at the base of that mountain.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “So, how come those two are off to do fun things, and you’re putting me to work?”
“The guys and I all take turns.” He grabbed her hand and gave a little tug, leading her inside the barn. “Tomorrow is my day off, and I’ll take you up the mountain if you want to go.”
“Nope.”
Coop laughed and angled his head to see her. “No?”
She pulled a worried face. “I’m not all that coordinated,” she admitted, sheepishly taking in the row of horses on her right. “But I would love to go for a ride.”
“Have you ever ridden?”
She nodded eagerly, and longing filled her voice when she said, “Yeah, when I was younger.” She continued to tell him about the lessons she had in junior high, before he’d met and become best friends with Mari, as Coop gathered the saddles and reins to prepare them for polishing. “I loved it so much.” A small smile curled her mouth as she went quiet, like she was remembering something from the past. “Mari and I liked a lot of the same things, but horses were my thing, my passion.”
“She wouldn’t have been caught dead on one,” Coop said.
“I know. I saved all my babysitting money, thinking I could buy my own horse one day. But…well…I stopped riding.”
“Why would you stop if you loved it so much?”
“It was expensive, and Mari was just getting into modeling. With the possibility of her making a career out of it, Mom and Dad thought her lessons were a better investment. And obviously they were—look at her now.” She gave an easy shrug. “It wasn’t like I was ever going to go anywhere with my horseback riding, anyway.”
His heart squeezed. “I’m sorry.”
Surprise lit her face. “What? No.” She gave a quick shake of her head, her long dark hair falling over her shoulders in wild waves, her actions saying so much about her. Julia was kind, caring, always putting the needs of others first, and was probably even happy to sit on the sidelines while her sister stole the show. “It’s okay. Really.” She clapped her hands and turned her head from left to right. “So where do we start?”
“Right here.” Coop leaned in and gave her a tender kiss, determined to put all her needs first and give her the best damn week of her life. She deserved it. In fact, she deserved so much more.
“Oh,” she said when he inched back.
Need moved through him at her reaction. He loved that little surprised look, not to mention the heat in her eyes. Christ, as much as he’d love to spend the next few hours losing himself in her, he had chores to do.
He cleared his throat. “Next up is tending to the horses and figuring out which one you want to take out tomorrow.”
Before long, they were knee-deep in their chores. They talked quietly about nothing and everything, and while Coop told her all there was to know about the ranch, there was one very private subject he wasn’t quite ready to broach—the real reason he was in Alberta. His mother. He’d bought this place for her, and built her a cozy cottage because she’d grown up on a ranch—Coop had lived on one with his folks until middle school, until his father took a job at a bank and they moved across country. Being in familiar surroundings helped with the confusion of her Alzheimer’s, but opening up about it to anyone and knowing the inevitable outcome was just too painful to talk about.
His thoughts returned to Julia. He’d watched her throughout the day and couldn’t believe how much pleasure she took in feeding, watering, and caring for the horses. It was a damn shame she never had her own. She was a giving person, and he liked that she wasn’t afraid of hard work and had readily helped him clean the stalls when he said she could sit that chore out. A few times, he caught her humming to herself. Perhaps, like him, ranch work took her away from her worries and from real life for a few hours.
By the time they finished their chores, breaking only for a late lunch, night was approaching, and they found themselves hot, tired, and hungry. As Coop watched Julia put the mare back in her stall, his hunger turned carnal.
“I like this one,” Julia called out after she secured the door behind her.
“And I like this one,” Coop said, sneaking up behind her so he could plant a kiss on her neck. But when she spun around, she tripped on a shovel, landing on the hard floor with a thud.
“Jesus, Julia, I’m sorry,” he hurried out. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” Looking thoroughly embarrassed, she made a move to get up, but winced when she put weight on her ankle.
Coop scooped her up and set her on a chair. Then he dropped to his knees and took her ankle in his hand.
She tried to squirm away. “It’s okay, really.”
He felt along her bone. Once he was certain she didn’t have a fracture, he said, “Nothing feels broken.”
“Thank God, otherwise you might have to put me down,” she joked.
“You’re not a horse,” he said, grinning. “I think you’re going to be okay, but if you want to go into town for an X-ray—”
“No, I’ll trust the cowboy to know when a bone is broken or not.”
“I think it’s just bruised.”
“Yeah, that and my ego,” she said under her breath.
When he spotted the humiliated look on her face, Coop put his thumb under her chin, an unfamiliar fullness in his chest. “Hey, no need to be embarrassed around me. Besides, this was my fault. I feel terrible that something I did caused you pain.” He helped her to her feet, and as he held her against him, she seemed a little breathless, a little shaky.
When their gazes met, his heart hammered, and his entire body reacted as if he’d just been sucker punched. Even with her hair mussed and full of hay, she was breathtaking. Absolutely fucking gorgeous.
He picked hay from her hair. “How about a shower?”
She crinkled her nose. “Good idea.” She glanced past his shoulders. “I guess I’d better make my way back to my room.”
“No,” Coop said, caging her against him. “I don’t think you should.”
A bit flustered, she said, “I told you my ankle is fine.”
“And I told you I don’t think you should go to your room.”
She lifted one brow. “No? Then how am I supposed to shower?” She looked around. “Unless you have some shower here that I’m not aware—”
“In my room. With me.”
Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. For a brief second, he thought he spotted a moment of hesitation, but then she quickly blinked it away, her bravado back in place.
“I’d like that.”
He scooped her up and less than five minutes later, he was carrying her into his room on the top floor at the back end of the old farmhouse.
He set her down. “So this is how Chase Cooper lives.”
“Sometimes,” he said, and circled his hand around her waist. Home was in Nova Scotia, where he had a successful sports medicine practice. But he didn’t want to talk about that right now, because that conversation would lead to his mother and the reason he came here often. “Can you walk?”
She rotated her ankle. “It’s already feeling better.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
With his fingers on the small of her back, he led her to the bathroom. Desperate to get her naked again, he pulled the shower nozzle, adjusted the temperature to
hot, and then turned his attention to her.
Not wanting to waste a moment, his hand went to her T-shirt. He gripped the hem and peeled it from her body. When he exposed her lace bra, air hissed from him, and his heart pounded harder.
“Jesus, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you agreed to join me.”
She dipped her head to take in the way his hard-on was pressing against his jeans, and in a sexy, teasing voice laced with promise, she responded with, “You don’t have to tell me.”
Stepping into him, she pushed against his erection, letting him know in no uncertain terms what she wanted. This time there was no hesitation in her tone, no doubt in her eyes, and he knew with every fiber of his being that here on the ranch, here with him, she was setting another facet of her personality free.
Beneath the reserved package she presented to the world, she was fun, flirtatious, sexy as hell, and damned if he didn’t want her to understand that, to embrace that side of herself.
Her hand went to her bra, and she unhooked it from the back. It fell to the floor and exposed her full, gorgeous breasts. Her pale buds hardened beneath his lusty gaze, and he was pretty damn certain he was the luckiest fucking guy on earth.
He stepped back and made quick work of his clothes. He kicked the pile away from his feet, entered the shower stall, and pulled her in with him.
She gasped and laughed as water soaked her clothes. “I’m still dressed.”
“I can rectify that.” He unzipped her shorts and peeled them down her long legs, and then he gripped her panties to drag them away.
Her breathing changed, became a little faster, and once she was naked, Coop pulled her into the warm stream and held her tight, enjoying the softness of her skin against his. As the hot water fell over them, Julia made a sexy little noise that prompted him into action.
He grabbed the soap and lathered her body, running it over her curves, around her breasts, and between her legs, taking extra care with her sore ankle. Quivering beneath his touch, she moaned with pleasure, and Coop grinned, loving how responsive she was to his touch. Once she was clean, she took the soap and turned it on him. She ran the bar over his body, paying extra attention to his cock. She ran her hands along the length, and the sweet torture made him throb.