She pushed two bales of hay together against the wall, then spread the blanket. She sat with her knees drawn to her chest, chin perched on top, gazing out the double open barn doors.
Splashes of red, pink, blue and purple topped the hills in a blaze of glory as the sun sank to the horizon. The earth seemed to stand still as it always did at this time, as if it needed a rest from the problems of the day. How often had she witnessed sunsets from this doorway? Her whole flipping life, that’s how long. Would she trade this for something or somewhere more exciting? No, but it would be nice to have someone to share it with…besides the horses.
Footsteps on gravel snapped her attention away from the array of colors. “Patience?”
“Guess again,” came Tanner’s voice as he strode into view. He leaned against the barn door, hands in pockets, sunset at his back accenting his delectable profile. “Figured you’d be out here. Seems there’re more horse farmers in the stable tonight than in houses. Except at Thistledown.”
She stood. “There’s a problem at Thistledown? Does Nathan need help?”
Tanner went inside and pulled up beside her. “My dear brother took a bubble bath.”
“Oh my God, he’s lost his mind. He’s flipped. I knew it. The stress is too much for him.”
“Not unless someone can get stressed out bathing.” Tanner shrugged. “Though I doubt if much bathing actually took place.”
She gave him a hard look, searching for signs of unbalance. “Have you been sipping moonshine again or is your brain still pickled from last night?”
“Nate and Savannah had the bubble bath. In Ravish-scented bubbles, no less. Now they’re cuddling together in the barn to keep an eye on the horses.”
Charity sat. Or did she fall? “Savannah’s in a barn…with horses? She bought Ravish? Thought she settled on Bondage.”
“Guess she was torn. If you think Savannah in a barn is a stretch, Nate in a bubble bath boggles the mind.”
Charity grinned. “Guess I get to keep my pie.”
Tanner took a seat beside her. The long shadows of early evening faded to soft gray and a breeze drifted inside, rippling in Tanner’s chestnut hair.
“Yeah, Kentucky Girl, you get your pie.” He massaged the back of his neck. “Bubble baths or not, I still don’t think those two are suited for each other. This is just a novelty for Savannah.”
“Trust me on this one, Tanner. Savannah in a barn is way beyond novelty. But—” she added quickly “—if you still think we should break up this engagement, I’m all for it.”
He gave her a suspicious look. “You haven’t done much to speed things along so far.”
Oh, boy. She’d been afraid of this, that he wouldn’t believe she was giving their partnership her best shot. “I’m thinking, I’m thinking.”
His eyes turned to black satin. “We could think better with pie. I feel like I need some pie. Saw it in the middle of the kitchen table when I walked past the house. If we had pie and coffee, we could come up with some fine ways to break up Savannah and Nate. Besides, you don’t want all that pie for yourself. Go straight to your hips and you have such…nice…”
The last word faded into the quiet as his gaze collided with hers, the two of them frozen in the moment. His breath felt warm as it fell across her cheeks. His lips parted…anticipating? She brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, her fingers trailing to his temple. In spite of all that kept them apart, he captivated her in every way. His handsome face, his strong build, his humor and leadership. Did she have any affect on him at all?
“I want you.”
“What about the pie?” whispered Charity.
“To hell with pie.”
Yeow, question answered. The warm spot deep inside her that had heated up the first time Tanner kissed her sparked to red-hot. “Thought we weren’t the type for one-night stands.”
His left brow arched and an easy grin tipped his lips. He slowly, deliberately, seductively stroked her arm, sending shock waves through her body. His voice was low and throaty as he said, “Charity, for once in our lives let’s not try to control the situation.”
Then he seized her lips with his—blistering, wild, demanding—and, suddenly, she didn’t care if she ever controlled another thing in her whole life.
Heat emanated from him and flowed into her, making her warmer than she already was. His hand cupped her head in a possessive gesture, his fingers winding through her hair. His tongue connected with hers, stroking, encouraging, suggesting. Then he embraced her with his steely arm, brought her tight against his chest and gently rolled her back onto the bales.
She looked up at him. “How’d you do that?”
“Later.”
Her heartbeat raced as she wrapped her arms around his neck, curling her fingers into his worn shirt to get closer still. His lips found the recesses of her throat and her head fell back, welcoming his advances.
He said, “You are incredible.” He trailed a line of kisses to the back of her ear. She swooned, or whatever it was that women did when they felt weak.
“Where’s your family.” His left hand slid under her T-shirt, cupping her breast, making her head spin.
“What family?” The heat of his palm teased her nipple into a nub as a moan of pure delight wedged in her throat and her eyes wobbled in her head.
“Mama? Puck? Patience?” His tongue suckled her earlobe sending shivers down her spine.
“Sold them to the Gypsies.”
“Good.”
He slid her T-shirt up, along with her bra, and he sucked her breasts, first one then the other, making them swell with longing. She gasped and a surge of passion flooded through her, pooling between her legs.
She tugged his shirt from his jeans, needing to feel his skin. She ran her fingers up his firm sides and across the strong muscles of his back. She felt his fingers at the waistband of her jeans and he looked down at her, his gaze wild and hungry.
“You are an incredible woman. Beautiful, sexy, smart.”
His words fell over her like a warm blanket, making her more desirous of him than before. Was that possible? No one had ever said these things to her before. “You should know I’m not exactly skilled at…this.”
He grinned. “Double good. Makes it all the more fun.”
Her fingers fought the buttons of his shirt, his the snap and zipper of his jeans. She pushed aside the denim and her hands wandered through the fine curls of hair that had driven her crazy the first time she’d seen him bare-chested. Then he stood and slowly slid her jeans and panties from her body.
TANNER’S HEART BEAT wildly; the passionate look in Charity’s eyes mesmerizing him. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He’d make this good for her. He slid down Charity’s jeans, first revealing the smooth, silky-soft skin of her belly, the provocative indention of her navel, then the auburn curls between her legs. His erection strained against his own jeans and when he touched the soft, silky patch he could barely breathe. Urgency drove him on and he slid her jeans farther…until something stopped him. Boots? Ah hell. “Why couldn’t you be barefoot?”
“Are you?”
She sat up and tugged them off, tossing one to the left and one to the right, then slid off her jeans and tossed them into the feed barrel. She looked up at him, grinning, her eyes full and round. She then undid his belt.
His heart raced as she unbuttoned and unzipped. Her fingers traced the length of his erection through his briefs. He fisted his hands as her strokes filled him with sweet agony. “Charity. I only have so much control. I’ve wanted this for…since I got here and—”
“You have?”
She glanced back to him as her hand cupped his hardness, the heat of her palm nearly sending him over the edge. He stepped back and yanked off his boots, almost losing his balance, then his jeans and briefs. He pulled her up and took her in his arms, kissing her lips, her eyes, her hair, and reveling in the feel of her skin against his—his erection cocooned in the softness of her abdomen, h
er breasts teasing his chest. “I want you so bad.”
He laid her on the blanketed bails, then put himself on top of her. “Oh, damn, we can’t do this.”
“What?” Her eyes shot wide open. “You wait till now to figure out you don’t want to—”
“Condom.” He pushed himself from her, tripped on his own boots and fell. Kneeling, he rooted through his jeans’ pockets, found his wallet and pulled out a crinkled blue package. He held it up like a trophy. “Old but not too old.”
She sat up. “Need…help?”
He winked. “In a minute I will.” He rolled on the protection, leaned her back on the blanket and bracing himself on his elbows, covered her body with his. “Now, where were we?” He kissed her. “Were we here?” He kissed her left nipple. “Or here?” He kissed the right. “Or here?”
A passionate gasp escaped her parted lips and he said, “I want to make this last, I really do, but—”
His words died as he felt her legs wrap around his back, bringing the heat of her desire to his. Pleasure roared through him like an out-of-control freight train. “Thought you weren’t skilled.”
Her eyes blazed, her breaths came faster. “I’m learning.” She licked her lips, her legs tensed more. “Can we talk later? Hurry, okay?”
The pleasure building in him was unbearable as his hardness touched her softest place. He clenched his teeth till his jaw hurt, holding on to the last shreds of control, then slowly he eased himself into her. She was so tight, so hot, so wet, so incredibly perfect.
“Oh, Tanner.” Her passionate cry echoed through the barn, driving his restraint over the edge. He filled her completely, then again and again, taking her and himself to an ecstasy he’d never experienced before.
CHARITY LAY perfectly still, her legs still molded around Tanner, his head nestled between her breasts. She could feel his breathing slow as her fingers traced the muscles of his back. He was magnificent, in and out of bed, and she would remember him forever…even though he’d be many thousands of miles away. She shuddered at the thought of not having him near.
“Cold?”
“Just thinking.”
“That never leads to anything good.” He pushed himself up, gazing down at her. She ran her fingers over the cleft in his chin, her eyes not leaving his. Then she replaced her touch with a feather-light kiss, enjoying the roughness of his beard on her lips, then her tongue.
He kissed her, deeply, wetly, intimately, restoking the heat building again inside her.
He suddenly sat up, leaving her warmed body for the chill of evening. He raked his hair and shook his head. Was there a problem?
He grinned. “Well, damn, if that wasn’t some great sex, Kentucky Girl.”
“Huh?”
He disposed of the condom and grabbed his briefs.
Sex? “That’s all this was to you was…sex?”
“Like you said, a fling’s a bad idea, remember? Better get your clothes in case that family of yours escapes from the Gypsies.”
She couldn’t move if she had to. This was just a romp in the hay? Actually, it was on the hay, but right now it didn’t matter diddly. She sat up and glared at him as he pulled on one boot then the other.
He patted her on the head. Patted her on the head? How many women got their heads patted after lovemaking? None, that’s how many.
“I better get going. Told some of the guys from high school I’d meet up with them for a beer or two.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m late, but hey, it sure was fun.”
He stood and dusted himself off. “Talk to you later. See if you can come up with any ways to break up Savannah and Nate, okay? You haven’t been doing such a great job, you know.” He turned and left.
Charity sat on the bails, nearly naked, watching Tanner’s retreating figure till it faded into the darkness outside. She was going to kill him dead. Wring his neck with her jeans that had landed in the feed barrel, chop off his nether regions with a dull knife. The swine, jerk, butthead—
“Charity? You in there?” came Patience’s voice from outside the barn.
Yikes. “I’m in here. I’ll be out in a minute.” She snatched her neck-wringing jeans and tugged them on. Grabbed her panties and shoved them into her right boot, then yanked down her bra and T-shirt as Patience strode in.
Patience flipped on the light and surveyed Charity’s appearance. “What the heck happened to you? Where’re your boots? Didn’t I just see Tanner leaving? He didn’t look too happy.”
He’d be a lot less happy if I get a chance to take care of him like I want to. Charity smoothed back her hair. “Tanner?” She wiggled her bare toes on the concrete. “Didn’t see him. I…was…sleeping.” She nodded to the bails. “There. Till you called. He must have seen me and left.”
“You are so full of baloney.” Patience’s face split with a devilish wide grin and she chuckled. “I may be the youngest sister, but that doesn’t make me a candidate for the stupid club, and though I have no idea how oats on your jeans play into all this, I’m sure there’s one heck of a story connected to it.”
She held up her hand as if warding off a stampede of horses and rushed on. “But, hey, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. Kissing and telling is taboo.” She looked around at the rumpled blanket and burst out laughing. “Taboo is an understatement and you don’t have to say a word. I can pretty much connect the dots and—”
“Patience!” Charity pulled in a deep, steadying breath. “Why are you here, other than to harass the heck out of me?”
“Harassing you is my duty as a younger sister. Comes with the position.” She waved a fistful of notepaper. “And the phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Everybody wants Mama’s yeast concoction. She made up some before she left, but not near enough.”
“So?”
Patience spread her arms and rolled her eyes. “So we have to fill in. Make up some batches. No one reported any new sick horses today but…” She paused and looked out the open barn door. “I wonder if the rain yesterday had anything to do with that?”
“Why would rain keep horses from getting sick?”
Patience furrowed her brow. “I don’t know, but as a scientist I can tell you there’s no such thing as coincidence in nature.”
“You can give me a lecture on Biology 101 later. Right now we have a problem. We don’t know how to make up Mama’s concoction.”
Patience stuck her nose in the air like some reining monarch. “Even some of the people who snubbed us when things weren’t so good around here are calling. Can’t wait to tell Mama that.”
“By some miracle, did she give you the formula?”
“She just called with it because she got to thinking this might happen.” Patience stroked her chin, a worry line creasing her forehead. “Puck was there.”
“Well, of course he was. He drove, remember? A few hours ago we waved bye-bye?”
“They were having room service. I could hear the waiter in the background asking if he should pour the wine. Dinner, together in Mama’s room. You don’t think Mama and Puck are…staying in the same room, do you?”
“They’re having dinner, they’re hungry and thirsty. Now, where’s this recipe?”
Patience handed it to her. She read over the ingredients and puffed out a breath of air. “Well, we have enough yeast to make up one batch tonight, but tomorrow we’ll have to get more supplies.”
“Mama says she gets the yeast from some supplier in Danville. How are we going get Mama’s mixture to all these people—” she waved the papers in the air “—get to Danville for more yeast and make up more batches and distribute that before more horses get sick? Most of the farms are too busy with horses already sick to spend time coming here. And a lot of these places are hours away.”
Charity caught a glimpse of her white undies in the boot. She ground her teeth. She was never going to wear white undies again. Pat on the head? She’d give Tanner Davenport a pat on the head…with a two-by-four. “I’ll get our friendly neighborhood av
iator and his magnificent flying machine to help us.”
“Did he say he would? How does he even know we need help?”
“Oh, he’ll help, all right. All I need is some excuse—any old excuse will do—to drive a stake through his lily-livered heart.” She kicked the boot—the one without the underwear—stubbing her toe but not really caring. “Then again I couldn’t drive a stake through that man’s heart because that man doesn’t have a heart.”
A wide-eyed Patience gaped at Charity. “Whoa. Maybe what I think happened here between you and Tanner didn’t happen after all. I’ll get together the stuff that we need to make up Mama’s concoction.”
Charity nodded. “And tomorrow morning I’ll get Tanner’s sorry hide out of bed at the crack of dawn and get him to make himself useful for a change. He may not like the Ridge, but since he’s here, he’s helping us whether he wants to or not.”
TANNER KNEW HE WAS dreaming, but since that was as close to Charity as he’d ever get again, he’d settle for the dream. He held her close, his arms around her, her red hair flying in the warm breeze, both of them naked, riding Ranger and—
“Tanner Davenport, you no-good polecat, get up.” It was Charity, yelling. Why would she be yelling in his dream? Especially about him being no good. Why wasn’t she telling him she wanted to make love with him more than anything and—
“This isn’t the Klondike, no hibernating.”
She was banging on the door, or was that kicking down the door? It was really loud. He squinted open one eye as she bellowed, “There’s work to be done.”
He sat up and noticed the first glimpse of dawn peeking over the hills outside the window. He tossed off his covers and stood, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then opened them to see Charity standing in front of him.
Holy hell. He was naked as the day he was born. He instinctively sat and grabbed the sheet to cover himself.
“Don’t bother. I’ve seen it before and it ain’t all that impressive.” She threw his shirt and it landed on his head, sleeves flapping over his ears like giant muffs. “We need you and your aircraft to save the horses. And if you refuse, I intend to feed your bony carcass to the bears and—”
The Wedding Rescue Page 11