Chapter Four

What a twisted, mixed-up day. The Merriam-Webster definition of an emotional rollercoaster—Dare was nearing exhaustion.

They’d grabbed dinner-to-go from the local bar then she’d taken him around the back way to sit by the shores of Little Sky Lake for a picnic supper.

Somehow they’d gotten on to the topic of school and their favourite subjects. A random discussion, and low-key after the intense sharing she’d had to do right off the start. The storytelling was exactly what she needed to settle her soul.

Only the entire time they’d talked, there’d been this buzz of sexual awareness growing between them that she needed to fight.

Didn’t she?

The right and wrong of sexual attraction to this man was too much to consider while sitting beside him, his sleeves rolled up to reveal strong forearms, muscles flexing as he twisted the lid off a pop and handed it over.

Their fingers touched, and his gaze darted up to meet hers, a sensual smirk on his lips. “You got something on your mind, darlin’?”

“Just considering how I can take advantage of your mathematical genius,” she lied. “I barely made it through Math 30, and don’t ask me to explain my work.”

Jesse leaned back on an elbow, long legs stretched in front of him. “I’m game to help you, any way I can.”

He wasn’t talking about arithmetic, damn him anyway.

Dare ignored the innuendo best she could. “Tell me something about your family.”

His expression lost a little of the shine, and she wondered if they were treading into dangerous territory. The email from his sister-in-law had seemed good-natured enough, but sometimes it was hard to tell what was at the root of family problems.

Jesse rallied, taking a swig of his pop before answering her. “Lots of brothers, just like you. In fact, I beat you by one.”

“Ginny would tell you she’s as tough as any guy.”

He grinned. “I like her already.”

Dare poked him with her foot. “Five brothers. Let me guess. You’re the youngest.”

He frowned. “What’s that mean? I’m not the youngest.”

She shrugged. “The fact you’re here and not there makes me think you’ve got more freedom than some of the others, that’s all. I mean Caleb would cut off his arm before he’d leave Silver Stone, but Luke went on the rodeo circuit for a few years. Walker is there now, and I figure Dustin will head out at some point for a while.”

He nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense. Maybe there’s something about being the oldest that hits them harder about home and hearth. My brother Blake is like that—I told you about him. He’s the one married to Jaxi. They took over the house I grew up in. They’ve got four kids and another on the way.”

Dare swore. “Ambitious woman.”

“Coleman are a fertile lot.”

Great to know. “Thanks for warning me ahead of time, asshole.”

But she patted his hand to let him know she was teasing before urging him to go on.

“Next oldest is Matt. His wife owns a quilt shop, and they had their first kid last November. Middle brother is Daniel, and he married a woman with three older kids he’s adopted.”

“Middle?” She was going to need to write this down to remember it, but that made no sense. “You said there are six of you—”

“You’ll understand in a minute,” he promised. “Travis comes next, and he is a bit of— Hell, a wild card?”

“Black-sheep-of-the-family kind of thing?”

Jesse shook his head. “A Travis kind of thing. He lives with his boyfriend and girlfriend, and they’re expecting a kid this summer.”

Curiouser and curiouser.

“Whoa, that’s—” She was struck by something, counting on her fingers. “Six brothers, and three babies on the way, counting ours? You weren’t kidding about the fertile thing.”

“I’m glad to know it’s the baby thing that snagged you, not the fact my brother is in a permanent threesome.”

“Hey, whatever turns his crank, but damn—the babies…”

“There’s at least one set of twins every generation,” he informed her. “I’m a twin, and the firstborn, therefore not the youngest.”

Panic gripped her. “You’re kidding. You’ve got a twin?”

“Identical.”

Awesome, just what she didn’t need—two of Jesse messing with her hormones. They had to be devastating standing side by side, but even that image was rapidly overlapped by a bigger, more vital concern. “Is it catching?”

Jesse laughed. “Is what catching? Being a twin?”

“You said there’s a set in every generation. Oh my God, what if I’m having twins?” She collapsed dramatically onto her back and stared up at the sky.

Jesse stretched out beside her, obviously trying to temper his amusement. “You don’t know?”

“Haven’t gone to my first prenatal yet,” she confessed. “It’s a week away.”

His expression changed. “That’s late, isn’t it? I could have sworn my sisters-in-law were dragging my brothers to the doctor the day they suspected.”

She curled up and nodded guiltily. “I was in denial for a while, and then I wanted to figure out for sure what I wanted to do. I tried to find you, as well—”

Jesse paused. “You want to keep the baby, don’t you?”

That was one question Dare could answer now without hesitation. “Yes. It might be crazy, but I think it’s the right thing to do.”

He nodded, and she was glad to see relief on his face. The baby was a shock, but he wasn’t going to try to change her mind about keeping it.

Not that proposing made her suspect he would.

Lordy. He’d proposed…

They cleaned up the picnic and headed back to her cottage, another stretch of silence between them. This time it wasn’t quite as comfortable, but that was more because Dare was thinking hard about what would happen when they got home.

They’d talked, they’d eaten. Was it wrong that images of fooling around kept flashing into her brain?

Sex got you into this mess, the angel on her shoulder reminded her.

Really hot, body-shaking sex that had not sucked? I remember, the devil on the other side retorted.

Jesse held the door open for her then followed her inside. It was bright daylight, and would be for a long time, so she debated asking him if he wanted to sit on the porch.

The alternative was asking him to strip and make her evening.

Dare ignored him for a moment and filled a glass at the kitchen sink, drinking the water as she gazed out the window and tried to slow her racing libido. There were cattle in the field on the far side of the lake, and she watched them graze. Peaceful and calm, completely different than the wild thoughts racing through her brain.

He stepped behind her, a hand landing on either side of her hips on the counter. Far enough back he wasn’t pinning her in place, but she was definitely in his arms.

Dare took a deep breath then pivoted.

Her gaze met heat and desire, and she swallowed hard to stop herself from too willingly accepting his unspoken invitation.

“I don’t know if we should do this.”

He caressed his knuckles over her cheek. “Are we doing something?”

Jerk. He was going to make her say it. “We could be. I just don’t know if we should.”

His fingers brushed lower, slipping down her neck. “I don’t seem to remember us having any problems doing it. I had fun, you had fun—or at least I’m pretty sure you had fun. Four or five times. Maybe six?”

“You’re playing dirty.” Every nerve in her body was tingling. Dare managed to get out the words, but her voice had gone low with lust. “The sex was awesome, and you know it.”

His cocky grin was back in place. “A guy likes to hear it, though.”

Amusement and desire warred, and she couldn’t decide what to do.

Jesse didn’t have the same hesitation. “Let’s put this into perspective. We met one night, and had a good time. If there weren’t consequences to that evening, and I tracked you down, what would you have been thinking right now?”

“I would have jumped you,” she admitted, the confession bursting free. “Three hours ago. The instant you arrived I would have hauled you into my bedroom, and we probably wouldn’t have come up for air yet.”

It was his turn to hesitate, the hand on her hip tightening as he fought for control. “Now who’s playing dirty?”

She let her hands roam up his chest. “But there were consequences, Jesse. That changes things.”

He shifted his position, and their hips bumped, the heat from his torso slipping over her.

“There’s a lot we’ve got to figure out over the next while that’s complicated. This?” His gaze roamed her body, a heated expression back in his eyes. “Sweetheart, this is the simplest thing in the world. It’s also the biggest thing we’ve got going for us, so we may as well take advantage of it and enjoy the ride.”

Forcing her brain to function was damn difficult when all her hormones were percolating like a soda machine set on high. “Wait. You’re right. If we’d found each other again, fooling around would be logical and fun, but there is something because of that night.” She looked him in the eye. “This isn’t just our lives we’re messing with. You clean, Jesse? Because I’m going to assume you’ve been with other women since me, and I’m not about to trust a condom, since they obviously work oh-so-well for us.”

He made a face. “I enjoyed our night together, a lot, but you’re right. It was only one night.”

Dare lifted her hands to his shoulders, easing them apart as the sexual tension slipped off potential-now-screwing-around into future-screwing-around, which was not great for her current aching hormones, but still something to look forward to.

“Then get proof and we’ll talk.”

“Oh hell, we’ll do more than talk.”

Jesse unbuttoned his shirt and stripped it off in record time before catching her against him. Once more she was trapped by strong arms, this time with the full-on furnace heat of his body melting her resistance.

He’d pinned her arms between them, and her palms were pressed to bare skin. She traced the muscular chest under her fingers. “You have a strange way of slowing down, cowboy.”

“You said no sex, which makes sense. I’m glad you’re going to be a stickler for keeping Buckaroo safe.” He lowered his voice, and a challenge came into his eyes. “Nothing to say I can’t get you off without sex.”

Something was wrong with her that she wasn’t nixing the idea immediately. “You’re not going to end up walking around with blue balls?”

“I have no intention of keeping the pressure so high they turn blue. I can get us both off in a way that keeps you safe.”

He nibbled his way along her neck, hands cupping her ass to pull her tighter to where his erection bulged the front of his jeans.

Distracting. Very distracting. Dare struggled to focus. “I still want to—”

“—fuck? Me too.”

She laughed. It was impossible not to. “Stop interrupting, asshole.”

He sucked lightly on her neck, pressing his advantage when she quivered involuntary. “You do want to fuck, don’t you?”

“Yes, eventually. Papers, yada, yada, but I also want to date you. I’m serious about that too.”

He untucked her shirt and his talented fingers made short work of her buttons. “We’ll date for a while. Have lots of talk time. I’ll find my baby books so you can admire all the shots of my bare butt.”

He ran his hands delicately up the sides of her body, hands on bare skin under the open tails of her shirt. He undid her bra with rapid skill before sweeping forward under the fabric to cover her breasts with his palms.

An electric storm shot through her. “Careful.”

“Jeez, Dare. This is the baby thing, isn’t it?” He peeled off her shirt, tossing away her bra. “Fuck.”

“No. No fucking, but yes—” She gave up and gave in, a long moan of pleasure escaping her lips. It was too good to not let him have his way with her. “God, do that again. Like that.”

He’d lifted her breast with one hand as he leaned in and swiped his tongue over her nipple. It beaded tight under his touch and a tingling sensation washed over her. “That’s so good.”

She gasped as he picked her up and carried her to the kitchen table, dragging out a chair with one foot to arrange her in his lap. “I’ll be busy for a few hours. I hope you don’t mind.”

He shoved her back up to overdrive immediately, this time wrapping his lips around one peak and sucking. His tongue flicked rapidly as pleasure tore through her system, faster and faster, as if she were a pot of water, and once she’d reached the boiling point she could just stay there for a good long time.

He murmured happily, switching sides, her breasts hot and heavy against his mouth. His big palms supported the weight as if he were her own personal servant, and even through the haze of pleasure, the image made her snicker.

Jesse pulled back far enough to offer up a smile. “What’re you giggling about?”

“Just picturing you walking around with your hands over my boobs for the next five months.”

“Jeez, is that an option? Because hell, yeah.” He flashed a grin full of pure lust and happiness. “Close your eyes and relax. I’m serious. This is a little bit of heaven, and I’m in no rush.”

“Breast man?” she teased.

A contented hum was all she got in return as he slid his tongue wickedly over her nipple followed by a brief caress of his lips. He pinched lightly, then swung to the other side, and she gave in and closed her eyes like he’d suggested.

It was all sorts of amazing, and it had been a long time since anyone had touched her, other than herself…

She glanced down to discover he was smiling in that way that made her shiver. “Stop looking at me as if I’m on the menu.”

“Darlin’, you’re not only on the menu. You are the menu. I’m on a Dare diet, and I’m planning on enjoying as much all-you-can-eat buffet as possible.”

He was too cheesy to be real, but that tongue—

Damn, she loved his tongue, and she knew well enough from their previous interaction his talents in using it involved a lot more than her breasts.

She could hardly wait.

“Stop talking and keep doing the other things,” she ordered to stop from giving in to temptation and telling him to go for it.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Seconds later another moan escaped her. She wondered if it was possible to come from just him playing with her breasts. Jesse was completely dedicated to his task, focused on what he was doing, so intent as he grabbed her hips and placed her on the tabletop, reaching for the top button of her jeans.

The strangest sound echoed through the house. One Dare hadn’t heard for simply ages.

Jesse cursed softly, his fingers stilling on her waistline. “You expecting company?”

Oh, damn, that sound was the doorbell, and here they were both naked from the waist up.

“Give me my shirt,” she whispered in a panic.

She grabbed what he offered, which was his shirt, not hers, but the doorbell was going off again and she had no choice but to pull the fabric on as Jesse pushed the chair away and kicked her bra and shirt out of sight under the table.

“How do I look?” she asked frantically doing up buttons.

“Edible.”

Of course he would be completely unhelpful.

“Awesome.” She hurried to the door, eye to the peephole to discover her nieces on the other side.

“Drat.”

“Need me to climb out a window?”

Before she could answer, the door opened and Dare stepped back as Sasha and Emma poured in. The little girls were clad in their pyjamas, travel mugs in one hand and DVDs in the other.

Neither of them focused on Jesse, more intent on storming across her living room to throw themselves onto the couch.

“We didn’t know which movie you wanted to watch, Auntie Dare, so I brought The Jungle Book, and Emma brought the movie about pixies, and Jesse gets to decide.”

The gentleman in question was standing with his back to the door, a wide grin on his face. Other than his bare chest, she never would’ve guessed they’d just been interrupted from a highly charged sexual situation.

Dare sucked in a quick breath and worked to sound as casual as possible instead of wracked by lust. “We’re not having a movie night, girls.”

Sasha looked confused. She glanced at her sister before turning back. “But Daddy’s out tonight, and we always watch a movie when Daddy goes away.”

Heaven save her from little girls. “You can watch a movie, but to make it extra special you should watch it in Auntie Ginny’s room.”

There was another knock, obviously just for show because the door swung open an instant later and Ginny nonchalantly stepped into the room, an oversized plate in her hands.

“I wondered where you little turkeys had taken off to. I told you we could drop off some dessert, but that’s it.” She eyed Jesse appreciatively before passing over the plate. “Hello, again.”

He took the offering before offering Dare a rueful smile. “It’s gotten a little chilly in here. I’ll just go grab a shirt.”

“Don’t bother on my account,” Ginny deadpanned.

Dare wondered that he didn’t take off and run for the hills at the lack of privacy caused by the revolving door on her house.

He didn’t seem upset, though. Just walked to the table by the front door to dig around in a bag she hadn’t noticed he’d left there. He found a dark T-shirt, pulling it over his head then tucking it into the jeans clinging to his lean hips while she watched with far too much fascination. Not even the distinct sound of Disney theme music starting up in the background could interrupt the sexual buzz jolting through her.

She wasn’t sure how it happened, but she ended up being corralled onto the couch with Jesse on one side of her, and a little girl on either side of them. More specifically, Sasha had settled beside Jesse and was intently watching the opening credits of the movie while Emma leaned past her to stare at him with wide eyes.

Ginny took the open seat in the recliner, peering over the top of her glasses. “I guess I need to mention to Caleb that the furnace in here needs adjusting. Since you’re having trouble regulating the heat and all.”

“Shut up,” Dare muttered with affection.

Her cheeks had to be beet red, and she wasn’t usually a blusher.

Then again, she rarely had the opposite sex over, and even less often got caught in compromising situations. She’d had a steady boyfriend in their final year of high school before he’d gone away to college, but if anything she’d spent more time hanging out with the Stone family than in a long-term boy-girl relationship.

It seemed whatever she’d been lacking before, she had it now. The long-term business.

She glanced across the room at her friend, trying to put a world of meaning into her pleading expression.

Ginny blinked innocently, exaggeratedly so.

“You will regret this,” Dare warned.

“Nice shirt,” Ginny returned. “Is that the latest style?”

Dare glanced down to discover she’d buttoned Jesse’s top up so frantically she’d missed a notch, and the shirt front was out of kilter left and right.

She let her head fall back on the couch with a thud, attempting to ignore Jesse’s firm thigh muscles pressed against her leg and the echo of lust ricocheting through her veins.

The wolves howling on the screen had nothing on the howling going on inside her belly.

Dare dragged her head back to vertical so she could glare at Ginny again, extra hard. The look usually reserved for moments of I will never forgive you for teasing me like this…

Her friend let out a long-suffering sigh before winking, then leaping to her feet. “My goodness, you guys, I totally forgot that Auntie Dare’s out of popcorn. I simply can’t watch a movie without popcorn.”

Sasha jumped off the couch, gaze pinned to the screen. “I can get some.”

Dare moved quickly and turned her niece to face her, placing her hands on Sasha’s shoulders to give a firm squeeze. “You are such an amazing girl, but you know what? You brought cake for me and Jesse, and I don’t think we can eat cake and popcorn, so you and Emma go ahead with Auntie Ginny, and enjoy your movie.”

Sasha looked as if she was about to argue, but Ginny saved the day, adding in a low whisper aimed straight at the girls. “Maybe they can’t eat cake and popcorn, but I’m pretty sure we could sneak another piece.”

Ginny pressed a finger against her lips as if she hadn’t said that in public, and miraculously little people were rising off the couch, nabbing the DVD and heading for the door.

Which meant her and Jesse’s plans were back on track.

Dare wasn’t sure if this was good news, or terrible news, but at this point she was pretty much willing to go where the adventure took her.

 

 

The girls were out the door and across the space between the houses, their arms held out like fairy wings as Sasha howled loud enough for two.

Ginny stepped to the threshold. “Don’t stay up too late, kids.”

Dare miraculously waited until her friend was completely outside before sliding the door shut. Jesse would have slammed it on Ginny’s heels, but then she wasn’t his best friend. Especially not after her horrible timing dropping in.

Blame it on the girls—ha. That had been all Ginny’s fault.

“Let me get that for you.” He moved in tight behind her, reaching to lock the deadbolt. “Should have locked this earlier.”

Maybe there was something wrong with the system in the house because he was suddenly on fire.

She twisted toward him, body pressed to his. Meeting his challenge head on. “You are trouble.”

Jesse rested his hand on the door, his arms on either side of her head. “I thought by now that would be pretty apparent.”

“Maybe I’m on a trouble-free diet.”

He inched in closer. “You don’t have to eat if you’re not hungry.”

Damn, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and march off to the bedroom so he could make her scream. But he had to follow the rules—

He hated following the rules. It was more fun to bend or break them.

Inspiration hit. He caught hold of her fingers and tugged her with him to the bathroom. “Come on. Two locked doors are better than one.”

He paused in the hallway, though, not sure there was enough room for both of them in the limited space of the bathroom.

He popped open the button on his jeans, lifting his gaze to offer Dare a challenge.

“Did you get cake down your pants?” Dare demanded, but he heard it. An appreciative hum as he shoved his jeans and briefs to the floor, kicking his way out of everything else to stand naked in front of her.

She shook her head, moving closer to touch the bruise on his hip. “Another fight?”

“Argument with a horse.”

Her brows rose. “How did you lose an argument with a horse?”

He reached for the buttons on his shirt, the one she was currently wearing. Slowly stripping her as he spoke. “Who said I lost? That was a friendly love tap after I stayed in the saddle long enough to prove my point.”

“We’re not having sex,” she reminded him as he tossed the shirt to the floor. “How did he bruise you?”

“Shoved me into the corral fencing. Just an affectionate nudge before I left.”

He kept working as he spoke, and suddenly she was once again naked from the waist up and he was back in heaven.

“You need a shower,” he announced. “We both need a shower really badly.”

She opened her mouth, probably to protest, but screw that. He’d had enough of waiting around, and the hardness in his cock wasn’t going away. He caught the waistband of her jeans and pulled them down, grinning when instead of panties he found bare skin and soft curls. “I like the way you dress.”

She threaded her fingers through his hair as he knelt by her feet. Body heating up immediately as he tugged her pants free.

“I like the way you undress me,” she confessed. “No sex, remember?”

Right then he wasn’t sure what his own name was, so the reminder was appreciated.

“You’re driving me crazy.”

He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him, their bodies pressed together. Warm, naked skin, strong thighs, and those breasts—

Everything about this woman was lush and perfect. He squeezed her ass, resisting the urge to stop and press her against the nearest wall. Temptation told him to drive himself deep and rut on her like a wild man.

Civility told him to follow the fucking rules. Right now Dare was trusting him to keep his word, so as much as his balls were begging him to do one thing, he let his mind take control and brought her into the tub enclosure with him.

He turned the taps on full, waiting until the water splashing at their feet was a decent temperature. That gave him time to press his front to her back and allow his hands to drift over her, caressing and teasing, drifting back to cup her breasts, the heavy weight of them heaven in his palms.

She wiggled, her body warm—no, more than warm. She was a fiery furnace that set his need soaring.

“The first time I can have you I’m taking you in the shower,” Jesse warned her. “Or, maybe not the first time, because I won’t be able to keep my hands off you long enough to get you in here. Maybe the second time, because you dripping wet for me, body slippery—fucking works.”

Dare let out a soft moan, reaching up to hook a hand around his neck.

He caught her earlobe between his teeth and worried it for a moment before whispering in her ear, “I want to look into your eyes when you get close. I want to see you lose control and tip over the edge like an out-of-control explosion, like before.”

She rocked against him, and Jesse slid his fingers between the lips of her pussy and stroked, slow enough to tease, hard enough to drive her wild. Over and over as he nibbled on the back of her neck between telling her every dirty thing he had on his list.

“I’m going to fuck you from behind, and up against the wall. I’m going to lick every inch of you and then take you from one end to the other.”

A shudder rocked her, and her hips pulsed forward.

He turned and pulled on the tab to send the water up to the showerhead, standing protectively so the cold in the line hit him first. The instant the water went warm he twisted them, water driving between his fingers where he cupped her breast. Moisture dripped from her nipple, and Dare laid her head back on his shoulder and groaned, the sound driving into him and sending a pulse straight to his balls.

No sex, no sex. Keep your fucking cock away from her.

He listened to himself, mostly. The shower made things even more slick, and he increased the pressure on her clit. His other hand he curled around to tease between her butt cheeks as he fastened his teeth on her shoulder and nipped.

Her hips pulsed helplessly against his hand, and he increased the tempo, fingers working her like a concert pianist while he stroked over the tight hole of her ass.

“So close,” she offered, her voice tight. Her fingers were wrapped around his wrist with a death grip, pulling him closer, not pushing him away.

He adjusted position, pressing his cock into the hollow of her back. Rubbing to ease his cock even as he worked to bring her pleasure. His hands worked independently, multitasking like a mofo, one intent on getting her off, the other needing to soak in the lushness of her breasts.

“Oh. Oh, Jesse…”

Her grip tightened, fingernails digging into his forearm. Jesse kept up the demanding pace on her clit, rocking his hips and fucking against her in a desperate race to completion.

One earthmoving pulse later, she came apart in his arms. A long, low moan escaped her, and the noise triggered his release. He set his teeth together and his release exploded, seed spraying over her back and rubbing between them. He slowed his fingers as aftershocks rocked her.

He forced himself to stay vertical, the beat of the water around them dull in his ears as blood raced so hard the roar drowned out everything else.

He fought for air.

She relaxed in his arms, turning to catch his face in her hands then dragging their lips together to kiss him deeply. The same fire he’d experienced that night in February scalded him.

He pressed on her shoulders and inched them apart.

“You shouldn’t kiss me,” he warned.

She threaded her fingers through his hair, chest rocking with her heavy breaths. “I know, but maybe I’m not as smart as I should be.”

He wasn’t about to insist he was safe, even though he really thought he was.

She rested her head on his shoulder, curling against him, and he held her, the moment strangely intimate—

More intimate than seconds earlier while giving her pleasure. Right then there was nothing but them, naked and unguarded. Nothing between them but a fine sheen of water.

Nothing but them…and a baby.

Jesse’s heart rate kicked into overdrive all over again.