The Rancher Meets His Match

by Kate Pearce

  After escorting Julia back to the cabin, Kaiden took a moment to check that both of the trucks were locked and to remove his gun and ammo from behind the back seat. Like most ranchers he always carried a weapon in his truck just in case. He also spied his medical kit and brought that in too.

  Julia was drying her hair on the towel he kept in the truck for the dogs, not that he would mention that. She looked up as he came in and discarded his wet jacket.

  “Why do you have your gun? Are you expecting trouble?”

  “Not necessarily, but I don’t want to invite trouble and leave it in the truck in case someone decides to break in overnight.” He set it in a safe place away from the fire. “Better to be safe than sorry.”

  “Dad said there were pot growers and rustlers up here last year.”

  “There’s a lot of it about.” Kaiden took off his fleece-lined shirt. “I wouldn’t normally have come up here by myself, to be honest.”

  She sighed. “Dad didn’t want me to either. I just didn’t want to spend the whole day looking at you outside my window so I made the suggestion. It wasn’t my finest moment. I can see that now.”

  Kaiden paused as he took the towel from her. “If you don’t want me at your place—”

  “That’s not it. The problem is me wanting what I can’t have, and trying to stop myself mooning over you all day.”

  Kaiden slowly dried his hair, using the time to work out what he wanted to say to her frank admission. He liked the idea of her watching him work way too much. But, what was the point of going around the same old rodeo again? Nothing had changed. Neither of them could make a relationship work right now. . . .

  Right now.

  Kaiden set the towel over the back of the chair.

  “You owe me.”

  She straightened up, pushing her hair behind her ear. “I know.”

  “Twice, actually.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t remember that.”

  “I saved you from Blaine.”

  “No, you didn’t.” He was about to correct her when she carried on speaking. “You helped me by keeping an eye on my dad, and managing Father Pascal.”

  “And by not killing Blaine for being so damned insensitive he turned up at your father’s ranch just to harass you about work.”

  “Okay.” She folded her arms over her chest. “I’ll give you that.”

  “So, given that you owe me twice, can you agree that right now, we’re kind of out of our own time and away from all our problems?”

  “Kind of.” She eyed him curiously. “What are you getting at?”

  “That being said, maybe we could do what we both want?”

  “Which is?”

  He reached forward, cupped her chin, and kissed her mouth. “This.”

  “I thought I was the one who owed you a kiss.”

  “Oh, you do.” He kissed her again, running the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips. “I’ll make you pay up very soon, honey, don’t you ever doubt it.”

  She pushed gently on his chest and he immediately let her go.

  “You’re suggesting we give in to our . . . needs?”

  “Oh, yeah.” He kissed her ear and down her throat. “All of them.”

  “And, then when we go back we forget it ever happened?”

  He met her gaze. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forget you, but I certainly won’t hold it over you, or have any expectations of more.”

  He held his breath as she considered him, her expression serious.

  “I’m not sure,” she whispered. “It sounds impossible.”

  Even as his faint hopes died, he offered her a smile, moved away, and gestured at the bed. “If we put the two fleece blankets down on top of the mattress, and spread the unzipped sleeping bag over us, we should be warm enough.” He paused. “That is, if you’re okay with us sharing the space. I can go sleep in my truck if you want.”

  “Don’t be silly, you’d freeze out there.” Julia stood and brought their mugs over to the sink. “I’ll just finish this washing up, and then I’ll be ready for bed.”

  * * *

  Julia took off her jeans and wiggled out of her bra without removing her shirt and sweater, and walked over to the bed where Kaiden was unzipping the sleeping bag.

  “It’s a good one.” He nodded for her to get in. “Should keep us nice and warm.”

  “Great.” Julia crawled across the space and waited as Kaiden did his final check around the cabin. He tested the locked door, built up the fire so that it hopefully would stay alight all night, and extinguished all the lamps except one, which he brought to sit beside the bed.

  “Anything you need before we turn in?” he asked, his expression inscrutable in the shadows cast by the lantern.

  “I think I’m good.” She smiled up at him, but he didn’t respond, as he was busy shucking his jeans and thick fleece jacket.

  He climbed in next to her and the suddenly roomy bed took on the dimensions of a dollhouse. She often forgot how broad his shoulders and biceps were. She tried to squeeze farther into the corner, but there was no way she wasn’t going to be touching at least some part of him while they slept.

  “You okay?” he asked as he drew the sleeping bag over them both.

  “Great,” she whispered. “Just peachy.”

  “If you don’t mind me saying so, you don’t sound peachy.”

  She resolutely closed her eyes. “Shut up and go to sleep, Kaiden Miller.”

  “Okay, good night, honey.”

  “And, don’t call me that.”

  Time slowed along with Kaiden’s breathing until Julia ended up wide awake and counting every second in her head. The storm ebbed and flowed above her making the cabin rock and shift. She could only hope that whoever had built it had done a good job and reminded herself that it had stood for at least fifty years without a problem.

  Her treacherous mind kept circling back to Kaiden’s offer of time-out-of-mind sex. He’d been totally respectful of her decision not to go along with him, which she appreciated more than she could say. But the longer she lay there, in such an unfamiliar and unexpected environment, the easier it became to believe that anything they did together here would be such an anomaly that they could return to their regular lives afterward without any remorse or guilt.

  She turned on her side and studied him. He lay on his back, one hand cradling his head, the other trailing over the side of the bed. Even in his sleep, his face was mobile and alive. He exuded a kind of restless energy that kept her off guard, which was an unfamiliar sensation for the girl voted “most prepared for any emergency” in high school. Was she making excuses for herself because she already knew she wanted to go ahead? Touching him, breathing in his smell just made her want him so badly.

  “If you think any louder you’ll wake the spiders,” he murmured without opening his eyes.

  She came up on one elbow and stared down at him. “I thought you were asleep.”

  “I was until I felt you staring at me.” He opened an eye. “It’s like being stalked by a predator. Damn terrifying.”

  She leaned over and poked his chest. “Good.”

  “Ouch.” He collected her fingers in his and entwined their hands together over his heart. “Go back to sleep, I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

  “I’m quite capable of taking care of myself, thank you,” Julia retorted. “And I’m not worried about the surviving part.”

  “Then what are you worrying about?” He sounded like he was about to drift back to sleep.

  “The usual.”

  “I told you my take on it earlier.” He paused. “You changing your mind?”

  “I might be.”

  “Yeah?” He finally opened both his eyes and gave her one hundred percent of his attention, which was both gratifying and slightly nerve-wracking.

  “If we do this—and I said ‘if ’—we both have to agree that it’s not the start of a relationship. That it’s just for now,” Julia said.


  “What happens in the cabin stays in the cabin.” He winked. “I’m good with that.”

  “And we don’t tell anyone, ever,” Julia added.

  “Okay.” His gaze never left her face. “Before you ask, I have protection in my medical kit, so we’re good.”

  She was also on birth control, but he didn’t need to know that. She took a deep breath and gathered her courage.

  “Then, maybe we should do this.” She waited hopefully, but he didn’t sit up and immediately start kissing her. “If you’re still all right about it.”

  “Sure I am.” He stayed where he was, one hand behind his head, and beckoned to her. “You’re the one who owes me a kiss or two, so I’ll let you set the pace.”

  Even as she marveled at his absolute and complete audacity she briefly considered turning over and forgetting the whole thing. But, she’d always been competitive, and this was an outright dare of epic proportions.

  “Okay, then.” She wiggled out of her panties and climbed onto his stomach, her knees on either side of his hips. “Don’t be scared.”

  She slowly leaned down, planted one hand beside his head on the blankets, and licked a line along the slightly parted curve of his lips. He obligingly opened his mouth as she delved deeper tasting a spiciness and a richness that was all him. He made an approving sound and brought one arm around her hips.

  “That’s nice, honey. Do it again.”

  She considered biting his tongue, but she was already too caught up in the sensual spell of discovery and rediscovery that he represented to her. She’d known him most of her life, but this part of him? The part that seemed made just for her was new, and exciting, and terrifying. This wasn’t a man who didn’t know her, or get her, in fact he knew her far too well, and sometimes that scared her.

  He rocked his hips making her very aware that she was sitting across his stomach and that he was very happy about that indeed. She ended the kiss and smiled down at him.

  “That was the first one I owed you. Where do you want the next one?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I’m a man. Where do you think?”

  She pretended to consider the question, one finger pressed against her lower lip, which he couldn’t seem to look away from. She deliberately licked the tip of her finger and he groaned.

  “Yeah, just like that.”

  “You want me to kiss your fingers?” she inquired.

  “How about you give me your hand, and I’ll show you exactly what I want.”

  “Only if you take your T-shirt off first.” Julia was totally ready to bargain for what she wanted.

  “You want me to freeze to death or something?” Kaiden complained.

  “No, I want to get a good look at those fine shoulders, pecs, and abs I suspect you’re hiding under there.” Now that she’d committed herself, she was enjoying ordering him about.

  “If you insist.” He sat up dislodging her from her perch and pulled his T-shirt off one-handed.

  “Oh . . .” Julia sighed and leaned in to rest her palm on the heavy slab of muscle layered under his lightly haired chest. “That’s damn fine.” She traced her fingers down over his perfect abs to the elastic band of his boxers. “It’s a shame you have to wear clothes at all, really.”

  He flexed his arms. “Thank you, ma’am, and unlike Blaine the pain, I’ve never been inside a gym in my life.” He held out his hand and took hold of hers. “Now, it’s your turn.”

  He brought her fingers to the hard length making his boxers bulge almost open at the top. “Kiss this.”

  She kept her fingers where he left them, lightly grazing his boxers, and lowered her head. His breath hitched as she looked right at him and used her teeth to delicately pull the soaked cotton of his boxers away and drag it clear of his stiff, heated flesh.

  “Julia . . .”

  She waited, but apparently, for a change, he’d said everything he wanted to say. He was gazing down at her with a mixture of lust and trepidation that made her feel very powerful indeed. She licked him like an ice cream, enjoying the way his hand fisted in the covers and his body arched toward her, seeking each lavish stroke.

  “That’s . . . good, that’s damned good.” He breathed. “Don’t stop, okay?”

  Seeing as she had no intention of stopping anytime soon, his bossiness was easy to ignore. Having Kaiden Miller at her command and in her power was not something any woman would relinquish easily. She wanted him to beg, she wanted him pleading to come, and, even though she knew at some point he’d get even, it didn’t bother her in the slightest.

  She peeled his boxers farther down, pausing to explore the firm curves of his ass, which made him curse under his breath, and then returned her attention to the main attraction. She kissed her way down his shaft with slow deliberation, aware that he was already wet for her, and that the sight of so much brazen maleness was having a very specific effect on her own sex.

  If this was to be her only night with Kaiden, she was determined to examine him as minutely as possible, and to explore as many of her fantasies of what to do with a supremely fit and hot cowboy she could manage. With that thought firmly in mind, she took another leisurely tour of him, pausing to caress his balls and the firm root of his shaft. He smelled delicious, like leather and horse, like he was . . . hers.

  Which was stupid, but there it was.

  She reached his crown and lapped at the wetness, making him say her name again, his fingers coming down to her shoulder, not to direct, but simply to touch her. She slowly took him inside her mouth and sucked him hard enough to make him groan. His hand moved to her covered breast and squeezed, making her hum with pleasure.

  “You need less clothes,” he said hoarsely. “A lot less clothes.”

  She released him and sat up straight before peeling off her sweater and T-shirt. His eyes went so dark when she revealed her breasts that her breath caught in her throat.

  “May I?” He reached out a hand.

  “Not yet.” She wrapped her fingers around his pulsing shaft. “I haven’t finished.”

  He added his fingers to hers. “If you keep that up, I’ll come, and I know where I’d rather be when that happens.”

  “Then perhaps you’d better come up with a solution that benefits us both?” she challenged him.

  He stared at her for a second, and then nodded.

  “Okay.”

  Before she could do anything except gasp, he grabbed her by the waist, turned her around, and set her over his torso. “This work for you?”

  As her nose was now practically touching his shaft she couldn’t even nod. She settled the matter by drawing his thick length into her mouth and almost screeched when his tongue licked her most sensitive parts.

  Trying to concentrate on pleasuring him while he teased and played with her, while he rubbed his stubbled chin against her bud and thrust his tongue deep, was almost impossible. She climaxed in a heated rush and blatantly writhed against his face, not caring if he could breathe or not.

  “Damn.” He lifted her off him again with an easy strength that still shocked her. “I need to be inside you right now.”

  She helped him find the medical kit and the precious foil packages inside, and waited with barely concealed impatience for him to cover himself and lie back on the covers.

  “Come on, cowgirl.” Kaiden breathed. “Take me for a ride.”

  She made a face. “So corny.”

  “Replace the ‘c’ with an ‘h’ and you’re closer to the mark.”

  She straddled him and slowly lowered herself down over his cock, watching his face as she took him deep.

  “That’s so good, honey.” He briefly closed his eyes as she settled over him. “Can I touch you now?”

  “Yes, of course.” She deliberately squeezed her internal muscles and his eyes nearly crossed. “But don’t put me off my stride.”

  “I wouldn’t dare.”

  She rose slowly up and then sank down again, finding a rhythm that pleased her and also see
med to drive him wild. He used his formidable core strength to roll upward to meet each of her downward thrusts, causing enough friction to make her freeze over him and come again.

  She planted one hand on his chest and felt the slam of his heart against his ribs as he set his jaw and fought not to come with her. Holding him under her, keeping him there at least for a while, suddenly seemed vital. If she allowed him to surge over her and take control would she ever find herself again?

  * * *

  Kaiden counted backward from a hundred and tried to think of the kind of winter day in the great outdoors that would freeze his nuts off. But Julia gasped his name and bent forward, her breasts swinging against his face in an invitation he couldn’t resist. Holding her steady over his thrusting hips, he scooted backward until he was in a sitting position, his thighs spread wide, her knees clinging to his sides.

  She kissed him again, and he slid his fingers between them to finger her bud, urging her on, knowing at some desperate level he never wanted to stop feeling her pulsing around him. She moaned into his mouth as she climaxed again, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. With a harsh cry he joined her, his whole body shuddering with the effort to satisfy her as he climaxed.

  She fell forward over him, her hair all in his face and mouth as she sobbed in completion and held him like he meant something to her. He stared up at the rafters of the cabin, automatically checking the joinery as he slowly regained his breath. He waited to see what she would do next. Would she say thank you, turn her back on him, and go to sleep? Or would she want more?

  She sighed and stroked his hair. “That was wonderful.. . .”

  He allowed himself to relax a little.

  “Good to know.”

  “Do you want me to get off you?”

  He shrugged. “It’s up to you. I’m okay being used as your own personal mattress.” In fact, he loved the way she was cuddled up against him, and didn’t really want to move again in this lifetime, but he wasn’t going to be that guy.

  “I suppose you’ll want to clean up.”

  “Yeah! Of course, right.” He lifted her off him and immediately swung his legs over the side of the bed to take care of condom disposal. “Would you like a drink or something? I can boil some water—”