Rugged

by Tatiana March

  His eyes raked over her as he hastily got out of his clothes.

  Rachel moved aside to make room for him.

  “Are you warm enough?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She reached to run her hand over the powerful contours of his shoulders, wanting to ease his path, not let him flounder with his inexperience, but again, he caught her wrist and with a whispered hush told her to lie still.

  Curious, she sank back to the covers and waited. Jed braced one arm by her side and bent over her. The fingertips of his free hand traced her throat, dipped lower, between her collarbones. Her breasts tightened. Tension made her spine arch. When he flicked his thumb over one puckered nipple, a moan left her lips.

  “Hush,” Jed said. “Let me learn what you like.”

  He cupped her breast, felt the heavy shape of it, then rolled the peak between his thumb and forefinger, increasing the pressure until she rocked side to side, whimpering with pleasure.

  “Do you like it?” he murmured.

  “Yes,” she replied.

  His touch grew light again, drifted past her belly, down her legs, skimmed up along the inside of her thigh. Instinctively, her legs parted. Slowly, so slowly. She sucked in an impatient breath. He caressed her, teasing, not quite completing the journey. In the end, she jerked her hips to find the intimate contact she craved.

  “Like this?” he whispered.

  The roughened tip of his forefinger dipped into her, traced the outer folds before returning to the entrance. Her breath came in shuddering gasps. She could manage no reply except a shaky nod and a husky moan.

  “Here?” His hand shifted, found her most sensitive part and rubbed, around and across the tip. He coaxed her into a riot of physical sensations as he patiently pushed her toward completion, shifting from one place to another, wringing a primitive response from her, forcing her to embrace her own desires in a way she’d never dared before.

  The tension inside her soared, peaked, and finally broke.

  Waves of pleasure crashed over her. She writhed on the bed, her body no longer hers, but claimed by the man who controlled her, chasing her higher still, not allowing her any respite until every last shuddering contraction had stilled, leaving her exhausted and limp.

  As the world around her returned to focus, alarm bells went off in her head.

  It hadn’t been the fumbling touch of an inexperienced lover.

  Rachel bolted to sit up on the bed, her eyes accusing.

  Jed’s brow furrowed. He leaned back, giving her space.

  She surveyed his lean body, roped with muscle, took in the dark blue eyes, the thick black hair. The stern features with high cheekbones and square jaw and the scars that only served to add to his masculine appeal.

  Why had she been so naive? A man like that would have women swarming around him. He’d admitted it himself, had complained about the fashion models who wouldn’t leave him alone. For whatever reason, he’d seen it fit to gain her sympathy with lies before he seduced her with consummate skill.

  “What’s your game?” she asked roughly.

  “Game?” His throat moved as he swallowed. “What do you mean, game?”

  Rolling off the bed on the opposite side, Rachel seized the towel thrown on the back of a chair. Her hands shook as she covered her nakedness with the damp terrycloth. “There was no need to spin me a story about your lonely life,” she told him. “I wanted you, more than I’ve ever wanted any man, but you’ve ruined it by lying.”

  Jed shook his head, looking baffled. “Lying?”

  Rachel circled the bed and crouched to pick up her clothes. “You’re not an inexperienced man. Hell,” she said, letting her anger rise, “you’re no more a virgin than Mozart was a man who just dabbled a little in music.” She straightened, clutching the clothes to her chest. She shot another look at him and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her. On the landing, she paused to pull on her clothes in the glow of the firelight from the stone hearth in the living room downstairs.

  “Rachel!” The roar preceded Jed by a fraction of a second. He appeared in the doorway, naked, fully aroused, his chest rising and falling as he fought to control his agitation. “Damn it, Rachel, I didn’t lie to you,” he said in a low growl. “I’ve never done that to a woman before.”

  She stared at him. A mix of emotions chased each other on his face. One by one, the others vanished, leaving only the fierce glow of a masculine pride.

  “You really think I believe you?” Rachel yanked up the zipper on her jeans. “I should have known better. I was brought up not to trust men and I don’t know why I chose to forget those lessons with you.”

  She set off stomping down the stairs, but came to a sudden halt when a large hand curled around her upper arm, yanking her back.

  “I read those books, Rachel.”

  She turned to look at him over her shoulder. “What do you mean?”

  “Those romances on the shelves in the den. I’ve read every one of them, cover to cover, some pages over and over again.” Color flooded the high crest of his cheekbones. “I thought they would give me an idea of what to do with a woman, so I wouldn’t come across as a total novice if I ever got the opportunity.”

  “You read a bunch of steamy romantic novels…like a guidebook?”

  He nodded. “I thought that as they’re written by women for women, they probably have men doing things the way women like them to be done.”

  “I don’t believe you. You can’t learn to…not like you did…from a book.”

  “He flicked his thumb over her hard nipple and she moaned as pleasure burst like a fountain inside her. His dark head moved slowly lower—” Jed paused and changed his voice from dramatic back to normal. “The problem is,” he said a little ruefully, “that when they get to the main event, the books tend to be a bit hazy on the detail. So, if you come back to bed, you’ll in all likelihood realize that I was telling the truth.”

  Rachel stared at him. “You learned to be a good lover from a book?”

  A mix a pride and apprehension battled on his face. “Let’s say that I learned a bit of foreplay. I don’t know about the rest.” He held out his hand. “Please. Don’t go.” A shy grin eased his worried expression. “Book learning is no substitute for proper tuition.”

  A little hesitant, Rachel followed him back into the bedroom.

  She settled on the rumpled bed, but the romantic mood was broken.

  “Wait,” she said when Jed stretched out beside her and pressed his lips to her shoulder. “Do you have any contraceptives?”

  He fell back on the mattress. “No,” he said, and flung an arm across his eyes.

  “I don’t take risks,” she told him. “Ever. Not even once in my life.”

  His arm lifted. One corner of his mouth twitched. “In that case, it will just have to be a little refresher course of what I’ve already learned.” Rolling to his side, he started trailing his fingertips along her bare arm.

  By morning, Rachel understood what brought about unplanned pregnancies. If she hadn’t been so black and white in her need to follow the rules, so determined not to take risks, she would have pulled Jed over her countless times, tilted her hips to accept him, and let him make love to her, whatever the consequences.

  She couldn’t decide if her strict discipline was a blessing or a curse.

  * * * *

  Jed rode past the dark cabin and regretted not taking the tractor. All day, his groin had throbbed, erect and aching as the anticipation of the night to come eclipsed the pleasures that he had already experienced. The discomfort of sitting in the saddle had almost made him get down and walk, but the need to hurry back to Rachel had kept him on horseback.

  Last night, he’d discovered how it felt to touch a woman, be touched by one.

  Tonight, he wanted to experience the glory of possessing a woman, of burying himself deep inside her, feeling her feminine heat tighten around him. Finally, he would find out how it felt to make a woman writhe beneath him
, to bring her to peak, have her cry out in fulfillment and go limp as she lay sated in his arms.

  His hands tightened on the reins with a mix of elation and fear. What if he turned out useless at it, like that man Rachel had left because he didn’t satisfy her?

  A heavy sigh left his chest.

  Rachel. He’d planned to keep his distance, not get tangled up with her.

  Yesterday, after she’d finally drifted off to sleep, he’d held her close, his arms wrapped around her. In the morning, he’d got up quietly, taking care not to wake her up. It felt as if a splinter divided his heart. One half of him wanted to experience as much of her as he could, to store up memories, capture her scent and feel and sound, to sustain him after she was gone. The other half wanted to end it before it had truly begun, to keep the wound shallow, so it would heal faster.

  If she fell in love with you, she might stay, a small voice whispered in some deep recess of his mind. He pushed away the thought. He was a realist, not a dreamer. He knew that she had a life back in California. Once the troubles that had driven her into hiding in the wilds of Wyoming were resolved, she would return to the bright city lights.

  The best he could hope for was that she’d remember him.

  At the barn, Jed hurried taking care of Montana. When he looked in on Nebraska, he found the goat lounging at the back of the quarter horse’s stall. A bright red ribbon had been twined into her leather collar. Georgia lifted her head, sending out an eager jingle of the bell, but when she saw him, she settled back down with an air of disappointment.

  Another conquest for Rachel, Jed thought wryly.

  He left the barn and headed to the house. The light streaming through the windows pulled him like a beacon. Despite his fatigue, he took the porch stairs two at a time. Not pausing to remove his boots and sheepskin coat, he barged inside. The need to see Rachel, to touch her, to be with her, had burned inside him all day.

  “I’m in here.” Her voice greeted him. He followed it to the den.

  She was sitting behind his desk, her hand poised over the calculator.

  “I think I’ve found a way to reduce the maintenance costs for the tractor,” she told him, her brows knotted in concentration. “If you take out a contract—”

  “Later.” He strode up to her, his boot heels ringing on the floorboards, and slipped his hands beneath her arms to yank her up against his chest. His mouth took hers in a hard kiss. Her taste hit him like a drug. Blood roared in his ears.

  When he pulled back for a second to let her breathe, she flattened her palms against his coat and arched away from him. “Hey,” she said. “What’s the hurry? I’ve got dinner on the stove and a fire roaring in the chimney and a bottle of red wine ready.”

  He kept one arm wrapped around her waist and tore his coat buttons open with the other. “I’ve got two condoms,” he said, and felt the color flood his face. “I stole them from Jesse’s room. I was going to drive to a drugstore in Jackson, but I had to deal with a burst water pipe first and I ran out of time. I told Martha that Jesse had a copy of the list of the calves we sold in October, and I needed to borrow it. She told me to look for it around the house. I found a box of condoms in a bedside chest and took two.”

  While he spoke, Jed started stripping them both naked. His coat fell to the floor behind him, and his boots clattered to the corners of the room. His movements were jerky and hurried as he pulled the shirt from the waist of his jeans. Instead of bothering with the buttons, he tore off the garment over his head and flung it aside.

  “Rachel. Rachel.” He stood naked before her and bent to bury his face in her neck, breathing in the subtle floral fragrance. “I’ve been aching for you all day.” His hands shook, but he forced himself to be careful when he undressed her. He made sure not to tug the curls he’d released from their ponytail while pulling off the bulky sweater he remembered wearing as a boy. He fell to his knees and removed her jeans, taking care not to nick her skin with the teeth of the zipper.

  Still kneeling before her, he flicked a glance up to her face. He could see a hint of apprehension in her expression. He knew she understood that he barely clung to control, but even the startled widening of her eyes couldn’t slow him down now.

  “I can’t wait,” he said in a voice that was a low growl, alarming even to his own ears. He reached for her hand, curled his fingers tight around hers, rose to his feet and led her into the living room where flames were leaping in the big stone chimney.

  Not pausing to talk, he left her standing by the fireplace while he swept down the cushions from both sofas and arranged them on the floor, making a soft surface in a black and red pattern. Pulling her into another embrace, he started kissing her, deep, devouring kisses, his tongue exploring the recesses of her mouth, mimicking the penetration that every nerve in his body strained to experience.

  “Stop me if I’m too rough,” he said, and began to lower her to the floor.

  Only dimly aware of their surroundings, Jed barely registered Rachel’s husky response, or the eager way her head tipped back to let his lips roam along her exposed throat. When he felt her body beneath his, soft and yielding, the hardened tips of her breasts catching the coarse hairs on his chest, the last shreds of his restraint tore away.

  He got up and went to find one of the condoms. When he returned to the bed made of sofa cushions, Rachel reached out to take the foil envelope from him. He leaned back, half sitting, legs stretched out, watching her through narrowed eyes, fighting to master his body as she dealt with the protection.

  Then she lay down beside him.

  His for the taking.

  Jed rolled over and covered her body with his. Acting on instinct, his legs nudged hers apart. He braced his weight on one elbow, and, at the last second, remembered to reach down and test her readiness. His fingers encountered a wet, slippery heat. Rachel’s hips bucked up to meet his touch. With a groan of impatience, Jed shifted into position and entered her in one long, smooth thrust.

  He froze.

  The sensation was glorious, a hot, wet embrace that throbbed around his shaft, gripping him tight, pulsing with life. A cry burst from his throat, almost like an ancient symbol of a conquering warrior. He withdrew, only to surge back inside at once. Deaf and blind now, urged on by the flash of pain from the nails that he could feel digging to his shoulders, Jed settled into a hard rhythm of invasion and retreat, each advance gripping him tight, each recoil inviting him to return.

  Too soon, but at the same time not soon enough, a tension gathered inside him. It whispered through his whole body, from his toes to his fingertips, and then gathered at the base of his spine. His ears roared, and in that roar was a promise of more, some incredible pleasure that shimmered within reach.

  Again and again, he thrust in and out of her, his body heaving and bucking. Then, with a throaty moan, Rachel arched beneath him. Her hips tilted, taking him deeper. Jed felt her contracting around him, small clenching movements that had as much significance to him as the first explosion that created the universe. Once more, he withdrew and surged back inside, and on that last surge, he fell into a blackness filled with pleasure.

  Bracing up on his arms, he bowed over her. His teeth ground together, but they couldn’t contain the roar of triumph that shuddered from deep within his chest. Waves of pleasure broke over him, starting where the tension had gathered, shooting through his balls, tearing through every nerve, every cell in his body, and pulsing out in hot spurts of release that left him shaking.

  Spent, exhausted, Jed collapsed on top of Rachel. Sweat beaded on his brow. A rivulet ran past his lips. He tasted the salty tang, not quite sure if it might be mixed with tears. Barely lucid, he tried to remember, tried to think of what he ought to do next, to make sure he didn’t hurt her, or do anything to ruin the aftermath of a climax for her.

  “Am I squashing you?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she replied, but when he began to shift, she stalled him with a firm touch. “I like it,” she said, and
wrapped her slim arms around his shoulders in a fierce hug, as if she could imprison him there, even against his will.

  “Was that all right?” He wanted to lift his head and look at her, press kisses in her hair, cherish her like a man should cherish a woman who had given him a glimpse of heaven, but his bones felt liquid and his limbs felt like lead and his lungs were even now fighting to draw a proper breath. He simply lay on top of her, trying not to crush her with his weight.

  She didn’t speak, but he could feel her smiling against the crook of his neck.

  “Did you say you stole two condoms?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Tomorrow, you’ll have to drive to Jackson for more.” She eased her grip around him and smoothed the damps strands of hair from his brow. “That was fast and hard, like thunder and lightning. We’ll have dinner now. Then we’ll go to bed, and I want you to make love to me slowly and tenderly, like a soft spring breeze. Do you think you can do that?”

  A little uneasy, Jed rolled away from her. “I’ll try,” he said.

  They got up and dressed and ate the casserole she’d cooked. The new intimacy between them acted like a drug that sent odd currents through his body, made his heart beat in an erratic rhythm.

  After dinner, Jed took Rachel up to the bedroom

  He wanted to be a slow and tender lover, give her what she had asked for.

  And he found out that he could.

  Chapter Seven

  Jed lifted the shovel and brought the blade down to crack the ice on top of the water trough. All around him, cows pushed and fought to get closer, eager to drink. He glanced back to the tractor, where Rachel sat on top of a load of hay.

  If only life could go on like this forever.

  A few days ago, he’d driven out to a drugstore in Jackson. It would have been simpler to add the contraceptives to Martha’s weekly shopping list, but it would have cost him his privacy. He wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Rachel. Least of all Martha, who would want to be introduced and keep asking about Rachel after she’d left.