by Lea Hart
“I’m trying. I’m all but Susie freaking sunshine and farting rainbows while sneezing butterflies.”
Nessa burst out laughing. “Can’t wait to see it in person.”
“I bet!” she replied with a laugh.
“Love you, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Love you, too, Nessa.” She pushed the phone back in her pocket and whistled for her dog again, doing her best to quell her fears about taking Rick on. Could getting her biscuits burned and heart broken twice be possible?
Not liking the odds that popped into her mind, she walked down the row of pens and finally spotted her dog sitting in front of one. “Mabel, did you find a friend?” Crouching down, she stroked her dog’s head and let out a little laugh. “He’s cute. I can see how his pretty blue eyes and silky black hair have caught your attention.”
Mabel barked a response and then pushed her nose against the metal grate of the door. “Play a little hard to get, girl. You can’t be showing him all your love in the first thirty seconds.” Hearing a little pitiful whine, she put her hand on her dog’s back. “I agree, he’s good looking for an Aussie mix, but we don’t know anything about his personality, and he could have terrible manners. Maybe he’d chew up your favorite blanket or bark at every horse he came into contact with. Looks aren’t everything, and getting along is more important.”
“Are you talking to your dog or yourself, Em?”
Glancing up, she saw Rick at the end of the row. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.”
She watched him saunter over and then bend down. “I think my dog has fallen for a pretty-boy.”
Rick grinned when the dog licked his fingers. “I can see why. He’s fine looking and seems to be friendly.”
She pushed herself to her feet and stepped back. “Thank you, by the way, for putting a new lock on my back door.”
He moved around Mabel, taking her hand. “I want to be the one who stands between you and the world.”
“I appreciate that, but—”
“Em, please just give me a chance to look out for you, so I don’t lose my ever-loving mind.”
She stepped forward and ran her hand over his arm. “I’ll give you a conditional yes. If you go overboard and bossy, it will be rescinded.”
“Understood.” He captured her hand and smiled. “Would you like to come over to the ranch and take a ride out to Hog Lake this afternoon? I’ll pack up a picnic supper, and we can take an evening swim.”
His familiar scent filled her lungs, and instead of giving in to her habit of fighting the comfort it brought her, she let it calm her nerves. “All right, that sounds like the perfect distraction.”
He gave her a smile. “Hot damn, woman, you’ve made me happier than shit with that easy agreement.”
“It’s not a big deal. Don’t make me feel weird.”
He cupped her cheek and moved closer. “I plan on making you feel a lot of things, and weird isn’t going to be one of them.”
“Like you did last night?”
Rick dropped his head, brushed his mouth along her cheek, and let out a low laugh. “I’m hopin’ to talk you into more than kissing and cuddling when we find ourselves back in that meadow.”
Overwhelmed by heat radiating off his body, she turned her face so their lips touched. Did she press her mouth to his or wait? What was the protocol for kissing in an animal shelter in the middle of the day while your dog made lovey eyes at another dog?
He smiled against her lips. “You got the guts to kiss me and show whoever is bothering to look that we’re the real deal, or is it going to be up to me?”
Hating the mocking humor in his question, she wrapped her arm around his neck and brushed her lips against his. Slowly, gently, and with perfect pressure, she kissed Rick Blakely like she meant it.
Who was the boss of kissing now?
Clearly she was since he growled into her mouth, grabbed her ass, and hauled her against his chest. Digging her fingers into his dark, silky hair, she fitted her body to his and nipped his bottom lip. Never one to be outdone, he took over and leveled up, kissing her with a ferocity she was becoming familiar with.
Were they about to make both sides of the town’s dreams come true and get arrested for indecent groping?
Possibly.
How much did she care?
Not enough, apparently, since it was going to take a lot more than the threat of time behind bars for her to end the kiss.
A sign of things to come?
No doubt about it.
…
Rick dismounted his horse and watched Emily ride up. “What did you think of King’s gait? It’s pretty smooth, isn’t it?”
“Surprisingly so. I wasn’t expecting a gelding with a snippy attitude to be so relaxed. Have y’all been using him to round up cattle?”
“Yeah, we started taking him out last spring after he was gelded and retired from the breeding program. It took him a good bit to get with the program, but Cody was real patient and turned him into a decent mount.”
“I completely agree and would be happy to ride him any chance I got.”
“Then I’ll make sure he’s always ready when you show up.”
Emily dismounted and gave him a wide smile. “Don’t be seducing me with offers like that. You know I’ve got no resistance when it comes to horses.”
He led his horse over and took her hand. “Which means I’ll never stop offering. I might even build a barn near my spread so I can lure you into my lair and make it hard for you to ever leave.”
“You get me some baby goats, and that just might be possible.”
“I was thinking some baby piglets.”
“Get me some of each and I’ll be impossible to get rid of.”
“I like the sound of that.” Seeing her smile falter, he stepped closer. “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Your face is telling me that’s not true.”
She slid her hand away and looked around. “I haven’t been out here in years and forgot how pretty this little lake is.”
“Are you fighting with old memories the way I am?”
“A little.”
Rick looked across the meadow and let his mind tumble back to the last time he and Em had been there together. Pictures slid across his memory of their wet, naked skin sliding together as their bodies consummated the bond they couldn’t deny. “I’m never going to be the cause of your pain again and want you to know that what we shared is a thing I treasure above anything else.”
Seeing a smile hit her eyes let him know that communicating his feelings made her happy. Which was both good and bad news since he wasn’t all that comfortable or good at it. But he could master it if it kept her smiling in his direction.
“I appreciate you saying that and want you to know that I’m finding this new open and expressive version of you very…appealing.”
He tipped back on his heels and grinned. “Miracles really are possible, ’cause I think you just told me that I’m doing something you approve of.”
Emily threw up her hands and groaned. “Don’t make me feel self-conscious.”
“Sorry,” he rumbled before kissing her head. “Don’t get me wrong—I like this new agreeable you. It’s just kinda throwing me for a loop.”
“Should I go back to hurling my mind-bending barbs and witty, cutting quips?”
“No, but feel free to throw out a sarcastic comment every once in a while so I know you haven’t been taken over by the pod-people.”
She shivered and moved closer. “That movie still kind of freaks me out.”
“Plant-like aliens will do that do a person.” He looped his arm over her shoulder and tugged her close. “Just know, I’ll be more than happy to defend you should any show up.”
“Make all the jokes you want,
just remember that I’m well acquainted with your fear of the Ouija board.”
“Any sane person is.”
“If I got you one, would you leave it out on the coffee table?” She batted her eyelashes.
“No.” Not liking the frown he received in response, he pulled her closer. “But feel free to add anything else to the house.”
“What if I made it worth your while?”
He led the horses over to the hitching post and tied off his horse and then took King’s reins and did the same. “Keep talking.”
“Well…”
He crossed his arms and raked his eyes over her slowly. “Just know that any offer you make would have to include kissing.”
“Naturally.”
Liking the sassy eyebrow lift she gave him, he grabbed the saddlebag off his horse along with the blanket. “And when I say kissing, I don’t mean some polite, first-date bullshit. I’m talking the kind of kissing that changes the temperature in a room, makes you rewrite your bucket list, and is hot enough to make more than half your brain explode.” He caught sight of her pulse fluttering in her neck and grinned as he led her across the meadow. “And since you’re asking me to do something so challenging, I’d have to insist on…”
“What?”
Stopping abruptly, he let the bag and blanket fall from his hands and gripped her arms. “Letting me map out every spot on your body that makes you moan, whimper, and beg for more at least once a day.”
“All that for one little Ouija board?” she asked breathlessly.
“For starters,” he said before fusing their mouths together. The previous night’s kissing and petting had ratcheted up his desire to an insane level, and he didn’t know how long he could keep the kiss gentle. He let his tongue play with hers and felt the decades of resisting, fighting, and denying that she was the center of his fucking world blow into a million fragments.
Stunned once again by the rightness of their bodies fitting together, he firmed his hold and swore he’d never let anything or anyone come between them ever again. Including his own stupidity.
Tearing her mouth away, Emily sucked in a long breath and looked up. “How does it keep getting better?”
Her words made an unfamiliar happiness push against his chest, and instead of stomping it down, he welcomed it. Even let it expand, giving it a place in his usually tight chest. “No idea, but I will do everything I can to keep stoking the fire between us.”
“Until there’s nothing left but ashes?” she asked quietly.
“If that’s how we’re meant to go, I wouldn’t hate it.”
Emily blinked several times and then kissed his chest. “Maybe we should take a swim in lake. You ready?”
“Not really. But since a small slice of common sense is still within in my grasp, I’ll say yes.”
“And if common sense had fled, would you tell me you want to make wild, sweet love in this meadow first and show all the birds and bees exactly how it’s done?”
Gut punched by desire, he pulled her back into his arms. “Without a doubt,” he said with a low growl. “And more than once.” Every day for the rest of our lives if I can become the man you need me to be.
She stepped back and slid her hand on her hip. “Well, it’s a good thing that’s not the case.”
“I have to ask…”
“Yes?”
Taking a breath, he told himself that the answer to the question he was about to ask didn’t matter. “Is there any chance of me surviving this?”
She slid her T-shirt off and threw it at his face and laughed. “No.”
He lifted his hand without thought and traced his finger along the strap of her bra. “You won’t think less of me when I drop to my knees and worship you, will you?”
“Not even a little.” She twirled her finger and smiled. “Your turn.”
“We going tit for tat?”
“Is that even a question?”
Keeping their eyes locked, he pulled his own shirt off and dropped it to the ground. “Boots next?”
“Sure.”
They both dropped on their asses and stretched out their legs. Pulling her leg closer, he clasped her boot heel and tugged it off and then repeated the process. “Bet you can’t get my boots off.”
“Silly man, you know there’s nothing I can’t do once I set my mind to it.”
He leaned back on his hands and hitched his shoulder. “I’m hearing a lot of talk.”
Pushing herself to her feet, she cocked her hip and smiled. “Give me your left leg.”
Doing as she asked, he watched her shuck his boot off with ease and throw it over her shoulder. Why was this the hottest thing he’d ever experienced? “Think you can do the other one?”
She wiggled her hand, and he lifted his other leg and watched her do the same thing. “What’s next?”
Loving the challenge in her eyes, he stood and peeled off his socks and then rested his fingers on his belt buckle. “I’m not swimming in my jeans.”
Rolling her eyes, she stepped back and shimmied out of hers. “Nobody does.”
Momentarily struck dumb, he didn’t know if words would ever form in his brain again. Emily Connor stood in the late afternoon sun very nearly naked, and he knew without a doubt it was perhaps the finest moment of his life.
Her blond hair had fallen out of her ponytail, her mouth was bruised from his kisses, her cheeks were flush, and she was looking at him like he was the last piece of pecan pie. “Fuck, Em…you’re…”
“Going swimming,” she finished with a laugh before turning and running toward the lake.
“Not without me,” he called out as he peeled off his jeans. Cutting the distance between them, he ran across the meadow, grabbed her hand, and let out a loud hooyah as they jumped into the water.
They surfaced at the same moment, and when he saw a smile lighting up her face, he knew the best part of his life was about to start.
Chapter Thirteen
Emily fell against the blanket and closed her eyes, letting the late afternoon sun warm her wet skin. Hearing Rick’s feet scrape across the meadow grass, she slid one eye open and appreciated God’s fine work. Droplets of water slid through the dark hair covering his broad chest and rolled toward a happy trail that led to a very impressive bulge in his jockeys.
“You like what you see, Em?”
Closing her eye, she hitched a shoulder. “It would be hard not to.”
He collapsed next to her and chuckled. “For the record, I sure as hell like what I see and consider myself a blessed man to be in your company.”
She pushed herself up on her elbows and tried to determine if he was in any way serious. When she saw red slashing his cheeks and the determined set of his mouth, she had her answer. Allowing her eyes to crawl over his body, she shuddered as she took in every glorious inch of his grooved, perfect muscles. No doubt about it, there was no man sexier or more appealing on the planet, and he was hers for the taking.
“I’m praying the fire in your eyes is finally going to mean good things for me, Em.”
“It’s possible,” she whispered as his hand crawled up her leg. “But I can’t say for sure.”
“Let me see what I can do about making you a little more sure.”
“Mmmmkay,” she murmured right before he devoured her lips in a primal display of possession. Aggressive in his approach, he made love to her mouth with the same determination he’d done everything else in his life. “Rick…”
Lifting his mouth away, he framed her face with his hands. “What’s up, Stitches?”
“Well, you for starters.”
Levering himself up, he ground his hips against hers and shrugged. “Kinda inevitable.”
“I just want to say…” Feeling him still, she tugged his face next to hers. “I’m glad you came home and we’re…getting
along.”
“Me, too,” he said quietly. “Can I ravage you now?”
Nodding, she canted her hips. “Yes, please.”
“My fucking pleasure, woman.”
Threading her fingers through his hair, she tugged him closer, feeling his fingers rip her soaked panties off in one hard tug. “You plan on always ripping my panties off?”
“Absofuckinglutely,” he growled. “You mind?”
“Not really,” she said, knowing he was about to discover how very much she desired him.
“So wet,” he murmured as he dipped his finger inside her heat. “I’m going to make you feel so good.”
Pleasure streaked across her skin as his thick finger eased deep inside her body, curling and stroking in and out. Melting, she let the unease slip away as her body soaked up his heat. The man had a masterful touch, and she wasn’t surprised that somewhere on the road home, he learned his way around a woman’s body.
Heart careening through her chest, she felt his finger slide away. “Wait…”
“Patience, woman.”
She popped open one eye and saw the same devilish smile he’d been blessing her with from the moment they met and thumped her head back against the ground. “Rick…are you going to deny me?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Good.” She closed her eyes and couldn’t wait to see if they still fit together.
Once and for all.
…
Rick licked his lips and appreciated that the strongest woman he’d ever known was giving him license to do as he saw fit.
Moving in close, he slid his fingers over the lips of her pussy, growling when he inhaled her scent.
Home.
He’d finally made it.
“Mine,” he murmured as he skimmed his fingers back and forth, coating them with her wetness. Blowing a breath over her core made her hips buck. Damn, but he loved how responsive she was.
He slid one finger back inside and groaned at how tight her pussy was and couldn’t wait to experience how goddamn amazing she felt wrapped around him again. Adding another finger, he worked her body until she was rocking against his hand, giving him the yes he needed.