Chapter Fourteen
“Damn, Amaryllis, you musta been flying down this road. How fast were you going? Seventy? Eighty?” Judd’s question made Aiden’s eyes roll back in his head, and Amaryllis knew she had to answer carefully.
“Something like that.”
Aiden’s hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“Great driving.” Judd’s comment had all the other lawmen gathered around Owens’ wrecked car bobbing their heads in agreement.
“Your timing was perfect. If you’d tried that maneuver any sooner, you would have both gone over the ravine.”
“That’s enough.” Aiden used his shoulders to barrel through the group. He grabbed Amaryllis by the forearm. “I need to talk to you.”
His warm, strong fingers grounded her. When she looked into his eyes, she saw all the things he wasn’t saying.
He drew her away from the wreckage and didn’t stop walking until they were out of earshot. Turning to face her, eyes dark, jaw grim. “You scared the fuck outta me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for it. I was doing the only thing I knew how to do. If I’d hesitated, we would have lost Owens. He would have gone into hiding and who knows when we would have nabbed him?”
“Would it have been so bad if we didn’t? If you would be staying in Wyoming longer?”
Her breath caught. “What are you saying, Aiden?”
“Dammit, woman, I’m saying I’m not ready for you to go. I don’t want you to go.” He grabbed her by the upper arms and yanked her close enough that his piney scent gripped her and her body stirred with the want to feel him moving inside her.
Heart pounding, she met his gaze. The steely gray of his eyes intensified by his strong emotions—anger and worry and something else. Something that sent liquid heat pooling in her core.
“I don’t have to fly out tomorrow just because we think we’ve got the leader of the ring. There’s a lot left to investigate.”
“It’s more than that.” His gruff voice sounded with irritation, as if he was annoyed with himself for not putting his thoughts into words better. “I don’t want you to go at all.”
“Aiden…”
“Tell me how you feel, Amaryllis. If you don’t feel what I’m feeling, I have to know now.” His grip tightened until she came onto tiptoe flush to his body.
She leaned into him, searching his gaze. “I don’t know what you’re feeling, so how can I say?”
He worked his jaw. “I was out of my head knowing you were on this road, taking risks. Your life in jeopardy.”
“I got the job done. Not a scratch on me.”
“I know that! You’re a capable, strong woman and I love that about you but at the same time, it drives me crazy.”
She’d never seen him this way, so uncontrolled.
“If I stick around I’m bound to do something else you disapprove of. Against the rules.”
“Dammit.” He swooped in and kissed her soundly. His lips hard and unmoving over hers. When he drew back, she gaped at him.
“Everyone can see us.”
“I don’t give a damn. Let them look.” He cupped her face and kissed her again, his tongue hot and urgent inside her mouth. She returned his kiss stroke for stroke until she was shaking for more.
Aiden broke free, panting. “I’m saying I care about you, Amaryllis. You make me feel things I never have.”
“Like stomach cramps?” Her tease died on her lips as his gaze pierced through her.
“Exactly like stomach cramps. The kind you get when you’re in love with a reckless woman.”
Her lips parted on a gasp. He loved her? Aiden Roshannon had actually just told her that he loved her?
He slid the pad of his thumb down her cheek to her jaw. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking I don’t know how I feel about being compared to stomach cramps.”
“You said it first.”
“But I’m thinking I love you too.”
A sound in his chest, part rumble, part growl made her nipples squeeze into hard pebbles. Aiden hauled her against him again as he slammed his mouth over hers. This kiss was no tender, we-just-admitted-our-love-mingled-with-stomach-cramps kiss. He kissed her with an insistence that was almost an oath.
“You’ve been driving me nuts for weeks.”
“I won’t apologize,” she whispered as he nibbled her lips.
“You will if I get you on your knees with my paddle on your bare ass.”
“Nope.” She ran her tongue over his lower lip, drawing another primal noise from him. “Then I’ll only beg.”
“Damn. Go get in my truck. I’ll tell everyone we have to go talk to Owens about his nephew and they can handle clearing the vehicles here.”
Dazed, she blinked up at him. He loved her and she wanted to show him how strong her feelings were. Right now.
Shirking her duties for once couldn’t hurt, could it? After all, there was a capable force on the scene in the other Roshannon men.
She nodded, and he let her go with a gentle nudge. “Go to the truck.”
After she’d climbed into the passenger’s seat, her knees let her know that her adrenaline rush was over. In minutes, she’d gotten her criminal and her lover had admitted what was in his heart for her.
Watching him through the windshield, she admired everything about him. From the way his hat perched in that cocky way atop his head to the jeans hugging his carved ass. He spoke with the group for a while. Judd slapped him on the back and Wes nudged him with a shoulder. Judd’s deputy threw his head back to laugh at something they said.
When Aiden started back, he met her gaze through the windshield. Need shot through her. She pressed her thighs together, her body on high alert.
She loved this man, and no way could she return to Texas and leave him.
He got into the truck and looked at her. “Latchaw’s holding two other guys thought to be involved with the thefts back in Crossroads. Judd and the others are taking Owens and we’ll meet them there.”
Damn. So they wouldn’t have their time alone.
He planted a hand on the back of her seat and twisted to back up. He turned around and started down the road where he’d come. When he rested a hand on her thigh, his eyes were warm, his touch solid. “I don’t intend to take you back to the station yet.”
A thrill hit her belly. “Seems like there’s plenty of back roads to get lost on.”
He gave a single nod, lips curling. “That’s right.” He walked his fingers up her thigh and nestled his hand against her crotch. Her pussy throbbed at the contact, her panties damp in an instant.
“I’m going to take you down this road a ways. Stop the truck, spread your legs and take you the way you need, doll.”
“Yes…”
He took the turns faster.
“This road’s even twistier than the one I drove. And you made it here plenty quick. So how fast were you going?” she asked.
“You tell me first.”
“No way.” She wasn’t getting chewed out for doing her job.
“Then you’ll never know.”
“Let’s see if this makes you talk.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and moved so she could lean across the console and rest her head in his lap. With her breath fanning over his fly, his cock bulged in seconds. She worked at his belt, and he scooted down in the seat to give her better access. By the time she had his shaft free, she was burning to take him in her mouth.
And boy, was he ready. His cock head purple, shiny with precum. She snaked out her tongue and lapped it. Around and around the head until his groans became more urgent.
He suddenly slammed on the brakes and threw the truck in park. One hand on her nape, he drew her down over his cock, forcing her to take him deep. Her lips brushed the short pubic curls at the base of his length, and she inhaled his spicy clean scents.
“Fuck, you’re so good at that. Suck my cock and show me what a good sub you are.”
She shivered at his words. He ran his hand down to her breast, cupped it too gently for her tastes. She wanted that roughness, needed him to show her with his body how much he wanted her.
She hollowed her cheeks and sucked his length while running her tongue around his shaft.
“Damn. Stop. Get up here.” He dragged her up and pulled her across the console completely to sit in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I want you, Aiden. Take me.”
His eyelids lowered over his smoldering stare. He opened the door and got out with her balanced in his arms as he walked to the back of the truck.
One-handedly, he popped the tailgate and lowered it. With the skill of a real lover and country boy, he climbed in with her still in his arms, hardly jostling her. When he lay her on a blanket, she looked around in surprise.
“You planned this.”
“Not exactly. Been carrying it around for days, hoping to get you alone on a back road.” He settled between her thighs, pushing his erection against the V of her legs.
Passion rolled through her as she held him close, her face buried against his neck. “I don’t want to leave Wyoming, Aiden. What do you think Latchaw’d say to making me your permanent partner?”
He pushed back enough to look down into her eyes. Happiness made his glimmer and his rugged smile cut through his cheek like a lazy river through granite. “I’d say he’ll be pretty damn happy to have one of the best rangers in the US here in Crossroads.”
She smiled. Aiden was man enough not to be threatened by her strength and skill—he embraced it. After she’d figured that out, falling in love had been easy.
“Now.” He stopped nibbling her neck long enough to fix her in his gaze. “You scared the hell out of me. And that means you have to do everything I say right now.”
Excitement had her trembling. “I agree to those terms.”
“Good. Because I want you happy. And naked.” He reached for the hem of her top. His callused fingers burned over her flesh as he worked to her bra clasp. In seconds, her breasts were free and he cupped them. His cock bulged against her, and her pussy pulsated in answer.
“Unbutton your jeans.”
Holding her gaze, she did his bidding.
“Zipper too.”
She felt the vibration of each tooth as she eased it down.
“Bet you’re hot and wet. Slide your fingers into your panties and feel your pussy for me.”
Need exploded inside her. To the beat of her heart and the rumble of his voice, she sank her fingers into her panties. A gasp hit her lips. Juices coated her hand, and her clit throbbed.
“Fuck yeah. Stroke your folds for me. Tell me how good it feels.”
“Oh my God.” She panted as she strummed her hard pearl and down to her wet opening. “It feels so good, Aiden. I need you to touch me.”
“How wet are you?”
“Drenched.” Her voice came out on a rasp.
Overhead, the sun and sky only added to the experience. Being out in the open this way stimulated her until she was out of her head. She swirled her finger around her clit.
“I need you to lick me, Aiden. Eat my pussy.”
“Fuck. You’re so goddamn beautiful. Pull your hand free and let me taste.”
She removed her hand from her panties. He caught her wrist and drew her wet fingers to his lips, inhaling and sucking them into his mouth simultaneously. She drowned in a sea of desire. Each flick of his tongue sent stabs of lust deep.
When he’d licked her clean, he let go of her hand. She curled it around his nape, drawing him down to kiss him, sharing her flavors. His growl shook her.
“I can’t wait anymore, Aiden. I love you. I need you inside me.”
“I love hearing you beg. Raise your hands above your head and don’t move them.”
As she lay on the blanket under the big Wyoming sky, Aiden stripped off his clothes. Every cut and swell of his chest seemed larger than life. Staring at him made her lick her lips. And hearing the clink of his belt buckle had her pulse racing.
He shucked clothes and boots. His hat was long gone.
“Aiden…”
“Let me look at you a minute. Lying there nude, staring up at me with those big brown eyes.” His voice was gritty, the vein in his neck flickering.
For long heart beats he held her gaze. All the love welled up and a tear trickled from the corner of her eye.
“Amaryllis.” He blanketed her with his body, hard to soft, scorching hot skin to skin. He kissed away her tear.
“I’m just so happy to have found you when I wasn’t even looking. When I didn’t know what I wanted or needed from life.”
He caressed her cheek, searching her eyes. “I know. I wasn’t whole after leaving the Marines and couldn’t figure out what would fill that space in me. Then I saw you on that Skype call and you rocked my world.”
She giggled. “Did not. You didn’t like me.”
“I liked you fine—when you weren’t talking.”
She disobeyed by moving her hand and cuffing him in the ear. He grasped her hand, fingers closing gently, and leaned in to claim her lips.
* * * * *
Each small noise erupting from Amaryllis’s throat sent Aiden reeling. He’d never made love before, but with Amaryllis, there didn’t seem to be anything else. Her curves threatened to undo him. Barely let him hang onto his control.
With her arms pinned overhead to the blanket and her sweet thighs cradling his hips, he sank into her.
Sweet inch by sweet inch.
Heat enveloped him all the way to his balls. He rocked into her, filling her in one deep shove.
Their shared moan was caught by the breeze trickling down from the mountains. He knew it would bring the scents of pine and woods but all he could smell was her.
“Spread wide for me, doll. Pull your legs up.”
She obeyed and he drove another fraction deeper. Her cry resounded through his soul. He closed his eyes and let himself feel every inch as he withdrew his cock.
Plunged again. She slid on the blanket by the force. “I love your tits bouncing as I fuck you. Grab them and hold them together for me.”
“Oh God,” she whispered, cupping her breasts. Her nipples were deep pink, begging for his tongue. Dipping his head, he lapped one and then the other while he sank into her body.
He grazed her nipple with his teeth. Her throaty noise hit him full force. His balls clenched, and he had to still his movements for the count of ten or he’d blow.
“You’re moving out of the B&B and into my place this evening.”
The sexual haze on her face told him she hadn’t really registered his words. But he needed her to know before he lost his mind entirely how much he wanted her with him. Sure, it had only been weeks since they’d met, and only a few days in person, but there wasn’t anybody else suited to him like Amaryllis.
“I want you with me. In my bed. Tied to my bed. Bent over my bed as I spank your round little ass.” He reached under her and squeezed her cheek hard enough to make her cry out.
She nodded, lips plump from being bitten. “I need you. All of you.”
The fact she loved his darker side only made him slip more deeply in love with her. He ground his hips. Pleasure shot through them both. With a groan, he began to move. Faster, deeper. She spread her thighs as far as she could, and he drew her ass up into his every thrust.
“I’m going to fill you with my cum until it’s running out of you.”
“Yes! Aiden, I’m close. Master, can I come for you?” Her hair tumbled around her face, and he couldn’t look away from her beauty.
“Wrap your arms around me.”
She did, and he lifted her off the blanket, supporting her as he fucked into her so hard the truck rocked on its tires.
“Come for me. Now.”
At the demand, her body clenched. Tightened. She threw her head back as a primal scream came from her. Her wet heat clamped around his cock was too much—he came in hard, fast spurts, over and over.
* * * * *
Aiden kept throwing Amaryllis dark looks throughout their process of questioning not only Billy Owens but six other men who had just been arrested in connection to the cattle rustling ring. She didn’t know what Aiden could be thinking to eye her that way in front of their work colleagues, but she couldn’t deny she felt a little flushed from it.
Billy Owens sat in handcuffs, looking bored as Amaryllis got up and circled the long table to him. The other suspects had spilled their guts already, but she knew there were more people involved than Billy was saying. If they didn’t catch every single man or woman who’d stolen or butchered the ranchers’ cattle, then the problem would arise again.
She’d seen it many times in Texas.
She leaned against the table a foot away from Billy, crossed her ankles and folded her arms as she stared at him.
He wore a bruise and cut on his forehead from their earlier activities, and she didn’t feel a bit sorry for it. Too bad he hadn’t busted his nose too.
“Billy. We all know you aren’t telling us everything.” She used her special tone—the one with a hint of disappointment hardly any momma’s boy could withstand. Men were men, after all. They didn’t like to disappoint.
He swung his stare to her, eyes cold. “What do you think I should tell you? You know about the old grocery store and the auctions.”
“Tell me about the first cow you stole. How you led it off with a bucket of food and it went right into your trailer.”
He smiled sardonically. “Sounds like you already know the story.”
“I’d like to hear it from you. Whose cow was it?”
Getting a guy to talk about his crimes was like pulling teeth, unless he was proud of his activities. Often criminals enjoyed telling people what they’d done because they felt superior in intelligence to have evaded the law so long.
His lips twisted. “My uncle’s.”
There was a stirring behind her where Aiden, the deputies and sheriff sat.
“You saw an opportunity of earning some money so you took it.”
“Wouldn’t have if he’d lent me the money I need. I came to Crossroads to ask him for some cash to bail me out of a debt. In over my head with a mortgage and several loans that I’m behind in payments on. Kirby’s the only family I have with more money than he needs.”
She nodded. “So you feel entitled to him helping you.”
“Yeah.” Billy shifted as if to fold his arms, but his hands were cuffed behind the chair. “Why the hell shouldn’t he lend me money? I woulda paid it back.”
“You saw the money grazing in his fields and you took your chance.”
“First one was easy. I took a few others and he never suspected.”
“You made friends and they wanted a cut,” Amaryllis prompted.
“No. That dumbass neighbor of his, Mitchell, caught me one night. I told him I’d give him a half a beef for his family or to sell if he’d keep quiet.”
“Which led to Mitchell procuring more butchered cows to sell.”
He nodded. “Then Mitchell told a friend who told his brother and pretty soon there were more of us out there. Some selling the live cattle, some the meat.”
“Instead of you paying off the debts you’d accrued, the same debts you say brought you to Crossroads to ask your uncle for help, you went out and bought a stereo system for your truck and a Polaris sport utility vehicle.”
Billy gave her a bored look. “Why ya asking if ya already know?”
“It’s not a question.” She straightened and flipped the chair next to Billy backward to straddle it. She stared at him, aware of Aiden’s tense pose and the other lawmen seated around the table ready to spring if Billy so much as cussed at Amaryllis.
She folded her arms on the chair back and rested her chin on them. “We need names. There are at least five more men we believe worked with you.”
“Why should I tell you anything?”
“Because withholding the information will only earn you more time on your sentence. Right now, you’re looking at ten years minimum. Eight if you get out on good behavior, but I’ll make damn sure the judge knows you weren’t cooperative.”
Silence filled the room. Billy stared right through her. His glare rolled right over her. The man could dick around all he wanted, but she wasn’t backing down from her demands.
She raised her chin off her hands and met his stare. “Names.”
“Fuck you.”
Aiden was on his feet, his chair rocketing across the room, so fast that Amaryllis didn’t have time to blink. Aiden rounded the table and grabbed Billy by the scruff of the neck. He bent down to glare into his eyes. In a deadly calm voice, he said, “You will show Ms. Long some respect.”
Amaryllis stood and leaned toward Billy from the opposite side. With both of them breathing down his neck, Billy caved.
“Fine. I’ll give you some names.”
“You will give us the right names,” Aiden commanded.
“Yeah.”
When Hoyt was finished jotting down all the names Billy recited, they had a shocking list. The people involved in Crossroads weren’t people they’d ever suspect. Sons of respected business owners, and even a daughter of the man who owned Delaney’s diner. Amaryllis thought she might have even seen the girl waiting tables.
Sheriff Latchaw sent out warrants for their arrests, and as the deputies rolled out to track down the suspects, Aiden and Latchaw dealt with some paperwork.
That left Amaryllis to go inside Aiden’s office, close the door and wait for him. Casting a look around the small space, she considered the possibilities. Since their romp in the truck, she realized she liked having a new place to seek pleasure.
Aiden’s desk would serve well enough. His wheeled chair creaked, she remembered from seeing him sit in it. Other than that, a short span of wall between the door and a filing cabinet could be a good place for him to pin her.
The window presented a problem, because it overlooked the parking lot and anybody pulling in could see them.
A thrill hit her belly.
She spun his chair and sank into it. Then she unbuttoned the top three buttons of her denim shirt to reveal an ample amount of cleavage. Crossing her thighs in a seductive pose, she waited. Hoping one of the deputies didn’t barge in and find her looking like the seductress. Or worse, Latchaw. The man had just given her a permanent spot on their team, and she couldn’t think of a more terrible way to thank him.
The quiet in the office settled into her consciousness. Without the crime to distract her, her mind wandered. To packing up her few possessions from the B&B and taking them to Aiden’s house. Of him giving her the closet and then discussing flying back to Texas with her to get the rest of her things.
It was a big step—a huge one, actually. Normally it would terrify her. Hell, just the idea of owning the small farm in Texas had left her with misgivings and butterflies, but moving in with Aiden… It felt right.
A step sounded outside the door. Her muscles tightened and her heart fluttered in anticipation.
“Thanks, Latchaw. I’ll get that written up.” Aiden opened the door and blinked at Amaryllis seated behind his desk.
She gave him a flick of her eyes and stretched her shoulders back, giving him a good view of her breasts. “Howdy, Special Investigator.”
He closed the door quietly. “Need to get myself a lock.”
“Uh-huh.” She uncrossed her legs in a move like an exotic dancer, swinging her leg up and wide.
His eyelids lowered over his smoldering gray eyes. “What’s going on here, hmm? Are you trying to draw me into doing something against the law, Ms. Long? I’ve seen you in action, and I know firsthand you’re good at that. Or is this just you being reckless again? Bucking the rules.”
She stood and moved around the desk to grab him by the shirtfront. Going on tiptoe, she whispered against his lips, “Or maybe I just want you to take me in your office.”
“We might get caught.”
“That’s the exciting part.”
“Damn, what have I gotten myself into with you, woman?” He growled against her lips before claiming them and lifting her at the same time. Pulling her up into his arms and crushing her mouth under his.
His kisses were dizzying, and she realized she was holding her breath. With a gasp, she filled her lungs again. He moved to the desk and set her on the corner facing the window.
“If you fuck me like this, everyone can see your bare ass through the window.” She smiled at him and batted her lashes.
“Guess I’ll have to take that chance.”
“Why, Special Investigator Roshannon, how shocking.” She plucked at his shirt buttons until the fabric hung open to reveal the line of muscled perfection.
He caught her hair in his fist and wrapped it tight to her scalp. Then, drawing her head back, he sucked on the arch of her throat. Goosebumps broke over her, and she couldn’t get his pants down fast enough. In seconds, hers were puddled at her ankles and she was bent over the desk.
He poised at the root of her. Breathing hard in her ear. “I don’t have time to torment you right now, but rest assured later you will be tied to my bed and introduced to my flogger.”
A shiver snaked down her spine. His grip on her hair stung deliciously. “Good.”
“Good, what?”
“Master,” she breathed.
He entered her in one slick glide. Buried to the root. She braced her hands on the desk and pushed back to meet his every thrust.
“You like taking risks, but this is as far as you’ll go now.” He grunted as he pushed deep again.
She wanted to say no way would she obey that command, but she’d save the argument for the next time they were out on an investigation and she took a liberty that bagged them their criminal. For now, let Aiden think he had the upper hand outside of their sexual playground. Outside, they were on equal footing. Partners.
On his next thrust, her pussy contracted hard. Him hitting every sensitive nerve ending as he stretched her to full capacity. She stopped breathing again. Three more jerks of his hips and she came in a hard rush.
Hot spurts filled her at the same time. The desk groaned under his assault, and she wondered if anybody could hear what was going on in the small office.
Then he bit into the side of her neck and squeezed her nipple at the same time, making her forget anything but him.
Aiden, her lawman. There was something about a man who strutted around packing a .40, looking hot as hell, but could also fuck her this thoroughly—and make her heart fuller than she ever would have dreamed.
“Fuck, woman, you’re gonna kill me.” He collapsed against her back, strumming her hard nipple with his thumb.
She wiggled until he disconnected from her body and turned into his arms. “I promise to keep you on your toes, Roshannon.”
He clapped a hand on her ass, a light swat that promised so much more. “I look forward to… Every. Damn. Moment.” He kissed her softly, a swirling of their tongues that spoke of the emotions that would meld them together for the rest of their lives.
THE END