Chapter Two
As Jena opened her door, the phone rang. Who would be calling her? No one knew she was here yet. Still holding her bathing suit top together, she walked over to the nightstand near the bed and picked up the phone. “Hello—” She immediately held it away from her ear as her brother lit into her.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were coming a day early? I was worried something happened to you.”
“There’s a reason I didn’t tell you. I came to sight-see.” She cast a smile toward the cowboy who shut the door behind him, towel in hand.
“Well, it may have taken us six months to finally come to Texas, but I want to get this over with. You’ve kept Mr. Steele waiting. Get down to my room, 614.”
“Now?” She sighed, looking regretfully at Mr. Knock-your-socks-off-with-more-to-come. And boy, did she want to.
“Now.”
“Oh, all right. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Replacing the receiver, she felt his warm hands settle on her shoulders. Harm gently squeezed and massaged her bare skin. God, he had the magic touch.
“Problem?”
She turned and faced him. “No, but I have some business I need to take care of.”
He sighed, disappointment evident in his expression. “Yeah, me too. I’m expecting a phone call.” He ran a finger along her jaw, a sexy smile canting the corners of his lips. “How long will you be here?”
His light touch caused goosebumps to form on her skin. “I don’t know yet. I may leave as early as tomorrow.”
“If this has to be goodbye, I understand.” Harm cupped her face in his big hands and brushed her lips with his. He slid his hand through her hair to cup the back of her head and pull her against him. Jena opened her mouth, accepting his intimate, seductive kiss, wanting more.
He lifted his head and kissed the tip of her nose. “I know you have to go.” His regretful gaze, heated and intense, dropped to her breasts and then her belly. “The rest of my day won’t be near as adventurous.”
He touched his hat and turned to leave.
What a gentleman! How many men would just walk away? Jena reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, dropping her hand to cover the hard outline in his pants, saying in her sexiest voice, “I wouldn’t want you to leave empty handed, Harm, just empty.”
Harm stopped dead in his tracks. What a woman! It had been one of the hardest things he had to do—walk away from her luscious body, lust still raging within in him. Thank God he wouldn’t have to.
She pressed her cheek against his back and slid her hand up and down his arousal. “I do have a few minutes that I could put to some very good use.”
Harm gave a low laugh, took his hat off, and threw it in a chair by the table. Jena walked around to face him, slipped out of her bikini top, and unbuttoned his shirt. When his shirt was completely open, she moved to unbuckle his belt and the top button on his jeans. She didn’t bother with the rest, just pulled the fabric and the buttons gave way.
Heat curled in his belly, tightening his balls against his body at her aggressive act. Damn, he couldn’t remember wanting a woman to go down on him this much. She had lips made for wrapping around his cock, full and firm. If she gave head near as well as she kissed, he’d be in heaven.
Jena pulled back the gaudy green and yellow floral bedspread, pushed him back on the bed, and made fast work of removing the rest of his clothes. When she settled next to him and grabbed hold of his cock, his hips moved involuntarily, bucking into her hand. Before she could touch her lips to him, Harm yanked her across his body, kissing her long and hard. She tasted good, like honey and lemons. He wanted to know what the rest of her tasted like. Too damn bad they didn’t have all afternoon to discover each other.
Jena pushed away from him, tsking, “As much as I would like to continue kissing your sexy mouth, I have more pressing matters,” she tightened her hold on him, “to take care of.”
Harm chuckled and let her have free rein. When her mouth closed over him, he closed his eyes and groaned, rocking his hips, pressing further into her hot, wet mouth.
Her tongue slid around the sensitive tip as she sucked and slid her hand down to his balls, playing with him. When she took one of his balls in her mouth, covering it, tasting it with her tongue while she stroked his cock, he almost lost it, but she looked up, tightened her hold and said, “Not yet, Harm.”
As she took him fully in her mouth once more, he slid his hand over her bare bottom, squeezed, then cupped her head, changing the pace of her movements, showing her just how he wanted it.
And, fuckin’-A, did she deliver. Jena opened her throat, taking him as far into her mouth as she could, gripping his cock at the base and pumping him, priming him. Oh, God. “Jena,” he warned, but she just took more of him further down her throat. Holy shit, he wanted to let go. He had to use his hold on her hair to pull her off of him as his body rocked with one of the best damn climaxes he’d had in a very long time.
Jena didn’t stop pumping him with her hand until he was completely spent, but she turned angry eyes his way when he was done. “Why the hell did you pull me off of you?”
What? Most women would be glad. Harm leaned on his elbow and met her gaze as she got up and threw him the towel. She was obviously pissed.
“Jena, I’m a complete stranger. You don’t know anything about my sexual history.”
“Is there something you want to tell me?” she shot back.
He shook his head. “No, I’m clean, but I thought it best to not take chances since you didn’t know that at the time.”
As he got dressed, she appeared to be weighing what he said. “Well, thanks for considering me, I suppose.” She sounded disgruntled.
He shook his head, chuckling. “This is the damnedest conversation.” He pulled her into his arms. “We certainly don’t seem to do things the conventional way do we?”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and laughed. “Yes, that does appear to be the case.”
Harm pulled her close and kissed her temple and said, “I know you have to go, but will you have dinner with me later?”
She squeezed him and said, “Yes.”
He touched his hat and walked toward the door, the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. He didn’t want to walk away from her. He paused for the briefest of seconds when he realized he didn’t know her last name. Now would be a helluva time to ask. Harm set his jaw. Her last name could be Timbuktu for all he cared. As soon as his business was taken care of, he’d take her to dinner and do his best to convince her to stay longer.
* * * * *
“Mr. Steele is on his way,” Ty called out absently as Jena entered his hotel room. Jena’s gaze slid to the other person in the room. “Oh, hi, Colt. What are you doing here?” Jena asked her cousin. He sat in a chair against the wall, his cowboy hat resting on his knee.
Colt unfolded his tall frame from the chair, put his hat on his head, and pulled her into a bear hug. “It appears your brother sent me on a wild goose chase for you earlier.” He set her back from him and smiled, “Look at you. You’re all grown up.” His dark brows drew together as a stern expression crossed his handsome face. “But I see you never out grew your fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants ways, Jena Lee.”
Jena sighed. Only the Tanner brothers still called her that. Colt and his two younger brothers, Cade and Mace had teased her mercilessly during the couple of summers she’d spent on her great aunt Sally’s Double D ranch. Their own ranch, The Lonestar, was only a few miles down the road.
“I see you’re still ever the responsible one, Colt,” Jena teased back.
Colt grinned and touched the rim of his hat, his blue eyes crinkling in the corners. “We all have to be good at something, don’t we?”
Ty cleared his throat and settled in a chair at the hotel room desk. He flipped though the paper work and rubbed his square jaw, his vivid green eyes meeting his cousin’s across the room. “Colt, thanks for waiting while we settle th
is.” He looked back down at the papers saying, “I wish I knew why great-aunt Sally insisted we not use an attorney, but handle this transaction ourselves.”
Colt settled back in his chair, chuckling. “I think she and her brother were definitely of like minds.”
Ty glanced up from looking at the deed. “Yeah, I couldn’t believe it when I heard Uncle James didn’t leave his half of The Lonestar to you, that he left it to his wife, Marie.”
Jena noticed the tightening of Colt’s mouth before he shrugged and smiled, laughing outright. “Uncle James certainly threw me for a loop. But I’ve got it all under control. I’m going to buy the land from Marie.”
“How do you know she’d sell it to you?” Jena piped in.
Colt grinned. “Marie is retired. She’s at a point where she wants to enjoy life, not feel hemmed in by the responsibilities of running a rodeo ranch.”
He addressed them both, “Steele is a good man. I see him often at horse auctions. I’m happy to see Sally’s land going to him. He deserves it.”
Smoothing the short skirt of her yellow linen sundress, Jena settled on the corner of the desk, picked up the paperwork, the deed to the property and house, and smiled. “As for why aunt Sally asked us to handle the transaction ourselves, I think she wanted us to come back to visit Texas, considering we haven’t been here since we were kids.”
Her brother snorted while he rolled up the sleeves of his blue cotton dress shirt. “I can do without the heat. I’ll take Maryland weather any day.”
Jena ran her finger along the desk’s smooth surface. “I don’t know, I think Texas has a certain appeal.”
Ty jerked his gaze up to meet hers. “What do you mean—?”
A knock at the door cut him off. Ty stood up and opened the door, extending his hand. “Thanks for your patience, Mr. Steele.”
As the man walked into the room, Jena looked up and about had a heart attack. Mr. Steele turned out to be her fantasy cowboy. Heat suffused her face and neck as she watched him shake Colt’s hand and mention his latest horse purchase. When he finally met her gaze, his never wavered or showed surprise, though she knew he had to be as shocked as she was.
“I’m sorry about the delay.” Ty cut his eyes back to her. “But my sister is a bit of a free spirit at times.”
Harm raised his thick eyebrow, a small smile tilted the corners on his sensual mouth. “You don’t say?”
Jena collected her wits and extended her hand, a secret smile playing at her lips. “Yes, I like to take opportunities as they arise. Jena Hudson. Nice to meet you.”
He grasped her hand in a firm grip and met her gaze head on. The blatant look in his eyes told her he approved of her not-so-wet-look. “Harmon Steele, Miss Hudson. Pleasure’s all mine.”
Harm’s warm hand made her nipples stand up and rub against her bra, and heat pool between her legs. Jena hoped her brother and cousin didn’t notice the flush she knew stained her cheeks. She took the seat at the desk, needing to put distance between herself and Mr. Too-sexy-for-his-own-good.
“Okay, let’s get down to business,” Ty said, picking up the paperwork. “Jena, I’ve already signed my half of Sally’s ranch and holdings over to Mr. Steele. We just need your signature.”
Harm pulled the check out of his pocket and set it on the desk.
“I’m not signing the deed over.”
“What!” All three men said in unison, staring at her incredulously.
She nodded and sat back in the chair, folding her arms. “I haven’t had a chance to visit Sally’s place yet. I want to before I make my decision.”
“Do you always make it a habit of getting what you want, Miss Hudson?” Harm’s Texan accent only accentuated the steely edge in his voice.
She didn’t miss his double entendre. The look in his eyes told her he wasn’t happy. She jumped up and put her hands on the desk, leaning forward. “No, but I want the decision to be mine, not because people,” she looked pointedly at all of the men, “made the decision for me.”
Harm crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
Ty coughed. “Um, is there something I’m missing here?”
Jena smoothed a hand over her hair. “No, Ty. I just want to see the ranch, but after the forty-five minute trip from the airport, my rental car died yesterday. Did you get one?”
Her brother pressed his lips together in a thin line. Oh, boy. He was pissed too. Served him right for assuming she’d just sign the ranch away without asking her. Darn autocratic men. All her life men have been making decisions for her. First her dad until his death, then Ty took over with this whole property thing and now Harm with sex. What’s a girl gotta do to show them she has a mind of her own? She grinned inwardly. Rebel!
Ty looked at his watch. “No, Colt picked me up and we are meeting Mace and Cade for drinks in an hour.”
“I’ll take you,” Harm said, his voice calm, even.
Jena met his gaze. “I’ll rent a car.”
“Storm’s brewing.” Harm jerked his head toward the window. “If you’re going to head out to Sally’s place, you’ll want to beat it.”
Jena followed his line of sight. The sky had turned black and menacing, threatening rain. She debated his offer. She really wanted to see Sally’s ranch again. It had been fifteen years. And the storm was getting closer by the minute.
“Go on, Jena, let Mr. Steele—”
“Harm.”
“…Harm take you to Sally’s ranch, get this out of your system, and get back here to sign the papers.”
Jena grabbed her purse and eyed all three men. “Fine, but I’m not promising anything.”
Harm turned on his heel and walked out. Jena followed, almost running to keep up with him. How could her best fantasy personified turn into her enemy so quickly?
As the elevator descended to the garage, she chanced a glance his way. He stared straight ahead, not once looking at her. That didn’t sit well with Jena at all. Thirty minutes ago the man had had his hand down her swimsuit. Not to mention the fact he’d given her the best damn orgasm she’d ever had. And that was with his hand! She could only imagine how the rest of him would feel against her, on her, oh God…in her.
She clamped her legs closed to stop the ache that had started at her wayward thoughts. Somehow she didn’t think asking him for a roll in the sack would fly just about now, darn it! But she’d be damned it she’d let him give her the cold shoulder either.
As they entered the garage, she grabbed his arm, pulling him up short. Harm looked purposefully at her hand and then met her gaze with his impassive one.
“Hey, it’s not personal, Harm.”
He turned to her, his expression angry. “That land should belong to me. I’m offering a fair price for it, but now you’re standing in my way.”
She let go of his arm. “For some reason I can’t fathom, Sally left the ranch to Ty and me. The least one of us can do is go see it one last time. Can you understand that?”
He considered her for a moment and then gave a curt nod before he walked toward his red Ford truck. Unlocking her side, he helped her climb in and shut the door. He walked around to his side and climbed in. Removing his hat and cell phone, he placed them on the seat between them saying, “It’ll take us about thirty minutes to get to Sally’s place. I’m hoping we’ll beat the storm.”
While Harm drove, Jena surreptitiously studied his strong profile. The man was just too good looking for words. Why in the world wasn’t he married? Well, he was already pissed at her. No better time than the present to find out. “So, why aren’t you married?”
He gripped the wheel tighter and said roughly, “That’s none of your damned business.”
“Considering that we’ve been somewhat intimate, I think that gives me the right.”
“That hardly counts.”
“Oh, so fly-by-the-elevator encounters are a common occurrence for you?”
He shot her a look. “No, I’ve never—”
He set his jaw and stared at the road. For a minute she wondered if he was going to ignore her, but then he finally spoke, “I don’t believe in happy ever after.”
“Whoa, pretty cynical for a man who knows how to fantasize.”
Harm cut his eyes over to her and let a smartass smirk form on his lips. “I didn’t say I don’t know about pleasure.” He shrugged, looking back at the road. “Finding the perfect person to settle down with is a childish fantasy.”
Before he had a chance to ask Jena about her single status, rain started falling in heavy sheets. He gripped the wheel of his truck tighter, concentrating on the road. Lightning slashed across the dark sky, illuminating the road ahead of them. Loud claps of thunder immediately followed. Wind whistled and buffeted the truck, rocking it back and forth.
He cast a glance at Jena as he turned onto the dirt road leading to Sally’s ranch. She had a firm hold on the molded door handle, her bottom lip clutched in her teeth.
Damn, it was raining like a sonofabitch. He couldn’t see more than two feet ahead of him. Good thing they were almost to Sally’s place. Another flash of lightning and Harm looked up in time to see a huge tree falling right in their path. He slammed on brakes and swerved to avoid the mass of limbs and leaves. The dirt road underneath the tires had turned to slippery muck, allowing no traction when the brakes locked the wheels.
The truck slipped over the side of the road, right into a ditch.
His head slammed into the steering wheel with the force of the impact. Immediate pain followed, then utter blackness.
* * * * *
“Harm? Harm!” He heard a woman’s frantic voice calling to him, felt her warm hands on his face, his head. Sounds of torrential rain hitting the roof of his truck and thunder rolling in the background invaded his senses.
He opened his eyes and tried to lift his head from the seat. “Sonofabitch,” he hissed out as pain lanced through his forehead.
The woman, her expression worried, touched his forehead. “Oh, God, Harm. You were out for about a minute. I was so worried. You’re going to have a helluva knot on your head.” She held up two fingers. “How many fingers do you see?”
Bad in Boots: Harm's Hunger Page 2