As Katie spoke, they headed toward a back room off the kitchen. Rachel aimed a nosy glance at a set of stairs tucked just outside the room before stepping into what turned out to be a laundry room. A laundry room the size of her entire suite. It boasted three sets of washers and dryers, floor-to-ceiling cabinets and several horizontal metal rods stacked with hangers. A giant folding table lay in the center of the room. On the back wall was an adjoining bathroom.
Rachel let out an impressed whistle.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Katie reached into one of the washers and transferred a load of towels to the adjacent dryer.
“Definitely.” Rachel’s own units were tucked in a closet in her apartment, so this much useful and thought-out space had her agog. Coveting the folding table, she ran her palm over the cool, smooth top admiringly. “Your grandparents live here as well?”
“Yep.” Katie lifted her chin toward the kitchen. “The housekeepers’ quarters on the other side of the kitchen. Like the upstairs suites, except with two bedrooms. They love it.”
Rachel already knew the house was big, but dang. “For so many people living and visiting here, it’s awfully quiet today.”
Katie laughed. “Always relish the quiet times because they don’t last. Grandma and Melinda are doing a final pass through the public areas as more guests will be arriving this afternoon. Bob and Rome are out doing landscape work. Gwen is in the reserve doing whatever rangers do and Andreas is at the crop shop. I’ve got cookies to make and dinner to start. The sister guests are napping, the young couple on their honeymoon are, well, they’re probably napping, too!”
If that was the new code word for sex, Rachel could use a nap herself. Of course that brought front and center her intended task when she’d bumped into Katie. “And I’m off for a walk.” To talk to a man and get some answers.
“See you at dinner.” Katie’s cheerful demeanor infected Rachel all the way to the gated corral. There she came to a halt. Not because she couldn’t figure out how to open the gate, but because four of the six horses were loping toward her.
“I don’t have any carrots,” she warned as they whinnied in what she hoped was welcome. Slowly, she raised a hand and stroked along Daisy’s neck. “You remember me, right?” She cautiously asked the white and black mare. “I’m a nice person, so no biting.”
“They won’t bite unless you do something to scare or piss them off.” Her heart lurched at Porter’s voice, her belly becoming a mass of quivering jelly as he strolled toward her from the open barn door.
Damn if a wave of cutting desire didn’t all but slice her to ribbons with its ravenous heat. Maybe coming down here wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“Oh?” The physical hunger was starting to intensify, as if it had only needed the right spark to set her on fire, and Porter was that spark. Pouting nipples perked up at his approach, straining against her bra for attention.
“And never come up behind them unannounced,” Porter advised, touching Frieda on her hindquarters as he made his way to the gate. “Always let them know where you’re at. Talk and touch their rump whenever you’re behind them, otherwise they’ll kick, and that is not a pleasant sensation.”
Rachel tilted her head back and stared up into Porter’s eyes. The hunger burning in them was as nerve-wracking as it was relieving. As least she knew she wasn’t alone in this intense sexual awareness.
She licked her lips, her voice low and breathless. “I’ll remember that.”
His nostrils flared and his gaze dropped to her mouth, visually caressing the plump flesh. “You need me.”
It wasn’t a question and the gruff tone had liquid need churn in a vicious eddy. “What’s going on, Porter?”
Montoya nudged Porter’s shoulder and he gave the animal an absent pat. “You came to me.” When no treats or more attention was forthcoming, all horses except Ares wandered off.
“I was curious about the new horse. The red one.” Not a lie.
Black lashes swept low on his cheeks and when they lifted, the hunger in his eyes was replaced with mirth. “Ah. Zabana.”
“Zabana?”
Porter opened the gate for Rachel. “Suffice it to say Rafe neglected to mention how close Plato and Zabana were. As I’m too softhearted to be the cause of broken hearts, I came home with both.”
Rachel might have melted on the spot if Ares hadn’t chosen that moment to stick his nose in her hair. Before she could flinch, Porter reached out and whipped off her hair clip, allowing the strands to tumble free in a cascade of burnished gold. “Curious horses have a tendency to mouth what interests them.” He twirled a curling lock around his finger and lifted it to his lips, his voice dropping to the consistency of thick molasses. “As do cats.”
Images of where she wanted him to mouth her flooded her vision as well as her panties. As a result, her voice was shaky at best. “They also scratch and bite.”
His lips kicked up in a smile, a lazy one with a hint of sharp teeth that reminded her she was playing with a dangerous predator. “I don’t scratch. Biting, on the other hand.” His slow perusal of her body made her feel as if she’d just been stripped bare. “I won’t deny desiring a nip or four.”
Neither could she. Last night she’d wanted to sink her teeth into his smooth honey skin, feel the play of those enticingly male muscles flowing under his warm flesh on her tongue.
Her hands curled into fists, her short nails digging into her palms so she wouldn’t reach out and touch someone. She looked pointedly at the hairclip in his other hand. “Are you going to give it back or do you plan on keeping it like my earring?”
“Ah. Missing an earring, are you?” He released her hair and stepped back. “Sure it wasn’t nabbed by our resident ghost?” The lack of concern coupled with a flash of silent laughter in his eyes confirmed her suspicion.
“Very sure.”
“And you think I had something to do with it?”
Rachel shot a glance to Ares as he finally moved off to join his equestrian companions at the other end of the corral. “Yes.”
“Then there’s only one thing you can do.” He raised his hands out from his sides. “You must strip-search me. Go ahead. I won’t mind.”
Laughter bubbled out. “Idiot.”
“No. Really.” His grin was like a lightning bolt, full of charm and humor. “I can handle the indignity if it will clear my good name.”
She shook her head. “Right here? In front of everyone?”
“Well.” He lifted his chin at the barn. “I do live only a few feet away. We can have total privacy.” Crowding in once again, he brushed a single finger down her cheek. “For all manner of things.”
That was both what she was afraid of and what she really, really wanted. She needed to know if this crazy attraction between them was due to the mating heat or simple lust. The later she could slake and move on, but the former would stay with her for the rest of her life. She would crave Porter, and only Porter, until the day she died. If the female didn’t feel secure and loved by a mate that craved only her in the same manner, it would be a torturous existence.
The muffled ringing of a cell phone—and not the musical notes of a certain song—split the sudden tension in the air and knocked her out of her self-induced anxiety.
Porter frowned and reached for his phone. “Hold that thought. I’ve been waiting...” He checked the readout. “Finally. Don’t move.”
Not a suggestion but an order, yet Rachel did as directed and waited. Though she did move a few feet away to give him some semblance of privacy. It wasn’t until his terse, “I sent it hours ago,” that she gave up pretending to ignore his conversation and stared at him.
“Don’t ask me. I’m not a techie.” Porter stepped up to her and clipped her hairclip to the top edge of her shirt. When she looked down with a scowl a
nd reached for it, he grabbed her hand and headed for the back of the barn.
“No. Hold on just a minute. I need to get to my computer.”
At the rear of the barn was a metal flight of stairs that led up to his home over the horses. After scurrying up the steps, or else be dragged, she crossed the threshold. He must have thought she would bolt the second he let go because, after shutting the door with his booted foot, Porter went deeper inside, pulling Rachel along so she only caught a glimpse of masculine furniture and big electronics before they entered an office.
Only then did he finally let her go and sit in front of a desk where an open laptop waited. “All right. I’m here and checking.” He opened his e-mail account and clicked on the sent items. “What the hell? I know I sent you the order last night.”
Ever curious, Rachel couldn’t help looking at his e-mail while she put her hair back up in the clip. She saw the problem at once. “You have a draft.” She pointed it out. “Maybe you hit save instead of send?”
Porter slanted her an undecipherable look. Then he clicked where she pointed. “Damn. Found the problem. I’m resending it. Yeah. As soon as possible. Sorry, Mitch.”
After another minute he ended his call and sat back in the chair to regard her thoughtfully. “You immediately caught my mistake. Impressive. And thank you.”
Rachel shrugged. “No biggie. I do it all the time so I knew where to look.”
“As do I.” He left his phone on the desk and stood, drawing Rachel to him as the swift move had her stumbling back. “And I like looking at you more and more.”
With her hands twisted in his shirt for balance, Rachel blinked up at him. “Porter.”
One of his hands trailed down to rest low on her back, the other a gentle pressure on her neck, his thumb lightly stroking her jaw. “I’ve got a condom this time.” One brow quirked up, along with his lips. “A whole box, in fact.”
“I just bet.” A snarky response at the thought of him entertaining other woman in his place. His bed.
“Hey.” He touched the edge of his fist under her chin, made her meet his eyes. “Outside of family, you are the only female who’s been in my home.” Disbelief must have shown on her face because he added, “It’s not like I can sneak anyone in. Between my nosy family, the guests, the staff at the crop shop, and the cameras? Nobody comes out to the barn undetected.”
It didn’t matter. Not really. It wasn’t like she had any claim on him.
Which brought her to the original reason for seeing him. Her fingers dug deeper into the material of his shirt. “This...attraction between us.” No point hiding that she wanted him. She knew he would smell her arousal, and it wasn’t as if last night was all one-sided. “Tell me it’s not the mating heat.”
He didn’t even pause. “It’s not the mating heat.”
Now why did that cause her heart to hurt?
She didn’t have time to digest that as his hand trailed up the front of her top, skimming over her breast and shoving any thoughts of hurt out of her head. He removed the hairclip once again and tossed it on the desk. “This is too beautiful to hide.” His fingers wove through the strands, his other hand holding her captive by a gentle cupping of her nape.
His voice was dark and deep and she started to tremble. “Why did you bring me up here? I mean, if you’ve never,”
He shut her up by setting a finger across her lips. “You’re here, with me,” a muscle flexed in his jaw “because I want you to be.”
Chapter Twelve
“I want to be inside you, Rach.” He dipped his head to nuzzle a sensitive spot beneath her ear. “More than I can say. But you have the final say. If you want to leave, I strongly suggest you do so now.”
Was he insane? She didn’t want to leave. She wanted passion. Pleasure.
She wanted him.
Clutching his shoulders, she angled her head in invitation. “I don’t want to leave.” She sucked in a ragged breath. “I want to stay with you.”
A soft growl of approval and then he took her mouth with his. She braced herself for a turbulent onslaught of the senses, but instead, the cat messed with her. His lips whispered over hers in the softest of brushes, a sweet slide into desire.
Rachel twined her hands in his hair, her fingers curling through polished silk. Pulling him closer, opening to his gentle persuasion, she felt herself go, falling into her primal half as tongues tangled and lips melded.
Tension built, the sexual heat rising to engulf her in flames. One hand remained on his head to keep him near, the other smoothed over the rigid muscles on his chest, wanting to purr in feminine power when they jumped under her simple touch.
As if she’d flipped a switch, his kiss turned voracious. Consuming. His teeth came into play, nipping her lips as he thrust his tongue deep, sweeping in to take control. His hands cupped her butt, pressing her tight to his hard thigh so that she rubbed her flushed folds against him.
His hands slipped under her shirt to cup and knead her breasts for a teasing moment before he whipped her top from her body. Her bra followed seconds later. With his hands on her hips, he lifted her straight up and took her breast into his mouth, sucking the aching nipple.
Liquid heat shot straight to her sex and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Porter!”
“I’ve got you,” he said, his tongue working her nipple so that she writhed against him, panting with need.
Her arms were in a stranglehold around his neck, clinging to him as he pivoted on his heel and headed from the room. His eyes burned up into hers. “So sweet.” He licked the pouting point, somehow finding his way to his bedroom as he played with her breasts. “Bet you’re even sweeter in other places.”
One of those other places swelled to painful intensity. Then she was falling, the mattress barely dipping under their weight as Porter came down on top of her, pinning her against the bed.
Wanting to touch his bare flesh so badly her fingers shook, she slipped them tentatively under the back of his shirt. “Yes,” he encouraged. “Touch me everywhere you want.” His wicked smile dazzled the eye. “I know I plan to.”
He moved to her other breast, licking and sucking, and when she felt the edge of his teeth, she arched off the bed, her hips slamming against the thick bulge of his arousal. Itching for more, she grabbed the bottom of his shirt and tugged. “Off. Now.” She wanted bare skin.
Porter obliged, inching down her body as his shirt inched off his, licking and nipping his way further south. One hand undid the snap and zip on her shorts and then it, along with her panties and shoes, were stripped clean off to join his shirt. Somewhere.
“Beautiful.” When he pressed a kiss to her stomach, she squeezed her eyes closed, her breath coming faster, her thighs parting wider. Body coiled tight, her sex eager and hungry for his attention, she couldn’t be shy. Not when she craved his mouth on her.
When his fingers found her, he let out a tortured groan. “Already so wet for me.” Strong and rough from manual labor, they slipped through her slick folds and toyed with her throbbing clit until her eyes crossed and her hips bucked. His mouth followed, his tongue stroking her outer lips, taunting her with erotic anticipation. Then he delved deep, making her moan and push against him in mindless need. Opening her, he rasped his tongue over the hard bundle of nerves, sending a piercing, erotic jolt through her so strong she flinched.
It was too much, yet not enough. She was too sensitive, too ready. Over and over his clever tongue devoured her, nibbling gently, then alternatively licking and caressing.
Her hands dug into the softness that covered the bed, her whole being centered on the place between her legs where Porter was diligently working to make her in-freaking-sane. Then that tongue stiffened and he plunged into her core. She cried out, her hips twisting at every intimate lick, each fierce plunge.
More. The whisper in her mind chanted out until she choked out the single word. “More.” Because she was so close, she just needed—more. Something. Anything before she burned into a pile of ash on the bed.
Two fingers suddenly thrust inside her, stroking her so hard and deep his knuckles brushed her swollen lips. With his mouth back on her clit, suckling the nub to acute tenderness, she went wild beneath him. The deep sound he made in his throat vibrated through her sex, sending pleasure to lash her body in violent whips, and she came against his hand in a long cry of release.
Even as she gasped for air, Porter was moving away, kicking off his boots, shoving off his jeans and rolling on a condom from the drawer of the nightstand. She saw all this through half-closed eyes, sated.
At least she thought she was until he covered her once again, his knees pushing her legs further apart as he made himself at home between her thighs, his weight braced on his knees and forearms. His eyes were practically glowing, an intriguing greenish-yellow ring at the outer rims of his chocolate irises. Eyes that were bleeding to cat. She could see the edge of his teeth, long and sharp, as he fought for control.
It probably should have terrified her, made her shiver in fear, but it only thrilled her more, made her sex clench at the unguarded display. Lust was taking him over—lust for her!—and the wild beast that marked him as one of the most dangerous creatures alive was struggling for freedom. Not that he was about to shift forms and freak her out, but that unleashing of his primitive half meant he was on the precipice, consumed with desire for her. Desire that pulled his skin taut across the bones of his face, giving him an aura of other-worldliness.
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