Chapter Four
Shayne was such an annoying man. He could undo her with a simple look.
And he could kiss like crazy. Dammit.
He cradled the back of her head with such gentleness as he swirled his tongue through her mouth. Her senses were snapping like she’d grabbed an electric fence. Shayne was all delicious, sexy, ripped man. And he kissed nothing like Owen.
She felt bad about Owen, but until a few days before she hadn’t realized his feelings were so strong. She’d believed them to be casually dating, and only for the company. A movie date, someone to talk to on a lonely Friday night.
The few times he’d kissed her, she hadn’t felt anything near this.
She made a soft noise as Shayne hitched her tighter against his hard body. Everything inside her was straining toward him. Tingles shot between her thighs. No ignoring those.
And the bulge tucked between them was enough evidence that he wanted her too, even if his kisses weren’t already raising alarms in her body.
He whirled her and pinned her to the wall. He tore his mouth away and stared down at her, panting. “I’ve fucking missed you,” he practically growled.
She trembled under his gaze, frightened by the force of her own emotions. She’d thought the love long-dead. But no, it was there the entire time, just lurking under the surface for the right moment, waiting for him to come back into her life and unhinge her.
Her nipples were hard pebbles against his broad chest and his spicy scent, like fall leaves and cinnamon gum, had her leaning in. Wanting more.
He brushed his knuckles under chin, raising the fine hairs on her neck. Then he swooped in again. Their mouths crashed together. An embarrassing whimper left her but she didn’t dwell on it long because he responded with an animalistic groan. He swiped his tongue over her lips and she parted for him.
Long, sweeping passes of his tongue set her on fire. She wiggled restlessly against him, and he ran his hand up her side to cup her breast. Need zapped at her. Her breath came faster as he closed his fingers over her nipple.
“Oh God, Shayne.” Was that even her voice?
She grappled at his shoulders as they swayed in the kiss. She pushed forward, he pressed her against the wall. It was a battle of wills as well as a kiss of reunion. He grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head as he sank his tongue deep into her mouth.
Small moans escaped her and the temperature in the barn felt like a tropical heat wave. Their first kiss had been phenomenal, but this one outranked it by about a hundred points.
He jerked his hips against hers, letting her feel every solid inch of his arousal. Need spiked in her core, and she was drenched with desire. Her thin leggings offered no barrier for his cock against her throbbing clit.
“You taste so damn good. Feel so good.” His grating tone washed over her senses. Passion flowed as he nibbled her lower lip and she bit down onto his in answer.
He released her hands and she didn’t hesitate to feel his buff body—all over. She skated her hands over his thick shoulders and down his trim sides, around to the speed bumps of his abs. Then lower.
He pushed away. “I can’t stop myself if we go any further.”
His words filtered through her hormonal haze and she rested her head against the wall, breathing heavily and biting her lip. How had she gone from telling him she was considering marrying another man to letting him kiss her senseless?
A trickle of icy remorse slid down her spine. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to scoot past him.
He caught her by the shoulders and forced her to meet his gaze. “Look, things are rough between us right now. Emotions are high. We’re both still holding onto a lot of anger too. But that kiss… that was real. And I’m finishing what I started when I’ve got the time to do it. But right now, I need to see to a conference call with my bosses and then I have to take this dog to the shelter.”
She blinked rapidly, trying to understand what he was saying.
“I found a dog up in the mountains yesterday. It’s wearing a collar, and it must have gotten away from its owner. We’ve made some calls locally but nobody knows anything about the dog. Two towns over is a shelter that said they’d like to see the dog and find out if it matches any missing reports they have.” He searched her gaze. “I want you to come with me. Will you do that?”
It was dangerous as hell getting within ten feet of the man, but she heard a note in his voice she couldn’t deny. He wanted her there with him.
She nodded.
He squeezed her shoulders lightly and released her. “Good. Why don’t you rest while I take this call?”
She still felt too turned on and it would feel good to have a cold shower and change. Hopefully the time away from Shayne would give her a grip on her reasons for coming here. Because during his very thorough kiss, she’d forgotten all about having him sign away rights to their daughter or that she was considering marrying Owen.
She nodded. “Okay.”
He offered her a smile, a boyish, more carefree version of the cynical ones she’d seen from him since meeting him again. It made her heart flutter.
When he reached for her hand, she gave it to him. She should avoid his touch, but it felt too good and she was too off balance.
That look on his face when he’d seen his daughter’s photo for the first time…
Dammit. Who knew the way to a woman’s heart was through her child?
* * * * *
Shayne stepped outside the cabin and adjusted his dick. He was hard, aching. But this was about so much more than sex, and that scared the hell out of him.
Touching Jolie again was as ground-shaking as learning he had a daughter.
It smacked him all over again. Fuck, he was a father. He wasn’t equipped for this. Jolie knew it too or she would have told him when she’d gotten pregnant.
He strode toward the office. First, he had to take care of being a Boot Knocker. Then he’d try to figure out what role he played in Jolie’s—and his daughter’s—lives.
Images of the baby kept popping up behind his eyes. He’d never been one to think of children as cute. They generally looked like potatoes left out in a wet sock. But Belle was… well, adorable.
There wasn’t a question in his mind that she belonged to him. Besides the fact that Belle had his eyes, Jolie wasn’t one to sleep around. She’d wanted more from him, but he couldn’t see her trying to trap him either. She would have told him long before now if that were the case.
His lungs were burning and he longed for the colder, sharper air of the higher altitudes. He’d love to saddle a horse, fill the packs and head into the wilderness. But that wasn’t in his future anytime soon.
He caught sight of Foster. Part of him wanted to spill his guts to a buddy, but he was nowhere near ready yet.
Foster had it all—the girl and the ranch. Maybe Shayne could have it too.
He shook himself. What was he thinking? Nobody said anything about making a family with Jolie. She was here to get leave of him so she could start a family with Owen.
He grunted and pushed into the office. Owen had been about five years ahead of him in school, a cocky jock of a guy with the toothpaste-ad smile. He’d gotten all the girls swooning over him, and hell, was even prom king.
He was also a jerk to people he didn’t believe to be in his station of life. Shayne had seen him turn down underclassmen who wanted to partner with him in sports or phys-ed class. And he hadn’t exactly been kind to young girls with crushes.
Shayne couldn’t picture Jolie with a guy like Owen. She was sweet to the core, with a universal love for humanity. Which was why she’d pursued nursing.
He would stake his life that she was a terrific mommy too.
He burst into the office. Elena looked up from a stack of folders on her desk. The next week’s clients. One of those was meant for Shayne.
The thought of laying hands on someone else now made him queasy. He wasn’t the same man he’d been the day before. This could be a real problem.
Elena was a brunette with a face full of freckles. She was pretty in a girlish way and her best feature were her lips, a dark reddish color that looked like she’d been too long in the berry patch. But right now, she wore a strange look and a deep blush.
He leaned in and glanced at the folder.
She snapped it shut.
Whatever had been in there had embarrassed her.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Peachy.”
“What was in that folder?”
“Nothing.” She touched her throat, where a sheen of perspiration had broken out.
He reached out and snagged the folder off the top of the pile. A squeak left her and she made a grab for it, but ended up lunging across the desk, half-lying on the surface.
He opened the folder and stared at the contents. Then he closed it and read the name on the front typed on a little sticker.
He stared at her over the manila. “Since when do we take men?”
“Um. It’s a trial thing. It was Riggs’ idea.”
Shayne had never given it much thought that men would have the same issues as women did, especially when it came to being gay or bi.
He handed her back the folder and she took it, eyes downcast.
“That’s one hell of a photo. Looks like that guy on the sports channel.”
Her flush rose again, turning her so scarlet that her freckles stood out.
“Holy shit. It is. Let me see that again.” He threw out a hand for the folder, but she spun away with it clamped to her chest.
“This is confidential information, Shayne. And more sensitive because of who he is.” She ended her sentence in a furious whisper. “Now I trust you’ll keep this between us.”
“Who’s he getting’?” She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, he said, “Wyoming.”
She nodded.
“He’s in good hands. Does Wyoming know?”
“Yes, he had to be in on the conversation before we accepted Tray, I mean, the client.”
Shayne twisted his lips and then pretended to lock it with an imaginary key.
“Are you here for the conference call?” Elena tried for some sense of normalcy and set aside her stack of folders. He noted that she randomly shoved the athlete’s in the middle so it wouldn’t be so easy to find. But Shayne wasn’t about to spread rumors. The client would have enough difficulty getting the nerve to come here. He’d probably have to hide from the media too. As far as Shayne knew, he wasn’t “out” publicly.
“I thought you said you’d come in this afternoon for the call,” Elena said.
“Something came up.”
She arched a brow. She was far from naïve and she probably knew having a woman from your past show up looking for you wasn’t a good thing.
She offered him a light smile and he was grateful for her tact. She was definitely going to be a good fit for The Boot Knockers. “Let’s go into the other office.”
She led the way and he was surprised to see a large monitor on the wall. She went to the table and took a seat behind a laptop. Without asking if he was ready, she dialed the computer at The Boot Knockers in Texas.
He hurriedly sat and stared at the screen. “I didn’t realize it was a video call.”
She made a face. “Voice calls are so old school.”
When the person appeared onscreen, she smiled in greeting. “Hello, Texas! We’re live in Montana.”
Hugh chuckled. “I see you’re acclimating well, Elena.”
She gave the thumbs’ up. “Just fine.”
“Good to see you, Shayne. I’ll just wait a second for Riggs to come in and then we’ll get right to discussing the position.”
In the meantime, he asked a few questions about operations, which Elena answered. When he directed a question at Shayne, his mind had been elsewhere.
In Cabin 6.
Elena nudged him with an elbow and he stumbled over his words.
Ridge’s face appeared on the screen. The men seemed to look at him with concern. Then again, maybe it was the monitor settings or lighting.
Finally, Hugh leaned back against his chair and sighed. “What’s going on, Shayne?”
“Just here to speak about the position.” He jiggled his knee under the table.
“There’s more. You know half of the job is getting your mind in the game, and yours isn’t.”
He stared at his hands. Hardworking hands and hands that gave a lot of pleasure. Hands that had never held his child.
Was there any point in pretending he was fine?
He tugged off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Oh shit,” Hugh said.
Elena gave Shayne the side-eye but didn’t speak.
When Shayne looked up at the monitor, he’d found the strength to speak what was on his mind. Saying it aloud was the first step, right? He knew that from working with many women.
“My ex showed up today.”
Elena made a gulping noise and Riggs said, “Damn.”
“And?” Hugh said at once.
“She brought pictures—of a daughter apparently I’ve fathered and didn’t know about.”
“Fuck, that’s harsh,” Hugh said.
Elena made a strangled noise now. She hadn’t known Jolie’s reason for coming to the ranch. Shayne wondered if she would have let her in if so. All the personnel on the ranch were here to make sure The Boot Knockers’ heads were in the game. And that they wouldn’t leave for a long time.
But no, Elena never would have kept him from that information.
“I’m not sure what to make of anything at the moment,” he said.
“That’s understandable. Can I ask what the mother’s asking for?”
“For me to…” He faltered, the words suddenly dry, poisoned sticks in his mouth. “To sign away my rights to her so she can have another man adopt her.”
“Damn,” Elena said softly, her expression compassionate.
He looked away. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen or what I even want. All I know is I need more time to process it before making a decision about Texas.”
Hugh nodded. “That sounds fair. Elena, what about bringing down another guy as a stand-in?”
“Um, yes, that’s a great idea actually. We can just have one man off on rotation per week. The question is who do you want?”
“We wanted someone well-rounded like Shayne. Who do you recommend?”
Elena grew flustered with the big boss man putting the question to her. She hadn’t been here very long and she may not know what every Boot Knocker’s best traits were.
Shayne looked into her eyes. “May I?”
She nodded.
He looked to the screen. “I’d recommend Marcos. He’s on his off week right now and is free. He’s got the talk, knows how to romance, but he’s trained in all kinks and is a dirty SOB at times.”
Hugh sat back and slapped the desk. “Done. I’ll have our people book the flight and we’ll get him down here tomorrow.”
Elena blinked. “I’ll have to do some rearranging to get his clients to other Boot Knockers, but that should be doable.”
“Good. Thanks, Elena. Now, if you’d excuse us? We’d like to speak to Shayne alone.”
Shit. Here it came.
She got up, putting a hand to Shayne’s shoulder as she passed on her way to the door.
Once they were alone, Hugh seemed to stare into Shayne’s soul. He pushed out a breath and tried to focus himself. “We’ve seen the baby momma thing here in Texas before.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep, with Booker. Only the baby wasn’t hidden from him. She just came back into his life after a long time apart.”
Shayne nodded. “What happened?”
“He ended up getting back together with Skye and taking on the responsibility of a family. Now they’ve got two more kids and live just south of here. He’s working as a foreman on a big cattle operation and they’re happy. But that’s a success story. Not everything works out the way the movies tell ya.”
Shayne shook his head. “I don’t expect it to. Just don’t know what to think at all.”
“Right. I get it. We’re not trying to persuade you one way or another, but we know what children do to a man. It makes us protective and even angry at ourselves when we can’t be there for them.”
They’d hit the nail on the head. Shayne leaned back in his chair.
“Take this week to collect yourself. And if you still aren’t straightened out next week, have Elena give the Boot Knocker who’s off your client. We want you a hundred percent in the game, Shayne.”
“Yeah, that’s what I want too. Okay, thanks, guys. It’s good to have some insights.”
“Keep us informed.”
Shayne found himself sitting in a quiet room, thinking on his life. Suddenly, it had become less about where he wanted to be and more about what he wanted. Up until the moment he’d set eyes on Jolie again, he’d known his path. Now the way wasn’t so clear. It was like standing halfway up a mountain in a dense fog, unable to see the peak or the valley clearly below.
* * * * *
Sitting next to Shayne in a truck again made Jolie reel with questions. This felt far too normal for her comfort level. And there was the small fact that she wanted to rip off her seatbelt and leap over the console into his lap.
After he’d left, she’d gone to the shower. But after stripping off her clothes, she had stared into the mirror. Seeing the evidence of her arousal in her hard, pink nipples and the lights in her eyes.
Then her gaze had wandered down to her belly. She saw the echoes of Belle inhabiting her body in the stretch marks and little roll of skin that had been stretched beyond reason. Carrying a ten-pound kid in a smaller frame hadn’t been easy on her, but she was proud to say she had.
But looking at her imperfect body made her wonder how Shayne would see her.
No, he wasn’t looking at her naked. She’d slipped up, had a moment of temporary insanity. She wouldn’t let it happen again.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. The road leading out of the ranch was the smoothest country driveway she’d ever been on, and she barely bumped in her seat.
He stared straight ahead, mouth firm, his hat pulled too low to get a clear look at his eyes. The silence in the truck was too much for her, and she always jabbered when she was nervous.
“So you found this dog on the mountain?”
“Yeah.” He glanced over his shoulder at the back seat, the animal there, sitting up as pretty as a picture postcard.
“She’s really thin.”
“We’re feeding her well, but she’s suffered from exposure.”
“She’s got a collar. No answers on it?”
“We’ve got clues. It says Katrina JSP.” He swung his gaze her way. A tingle hit her full-force.
She arched a brow at him. “No numbers on it?”
“It might be micro-chipped. I’m not sure. Or tattooed someplace that’s haired over. That’s why we’re taking it to town to see. We made some calls to the local shelter but they don’t have any missing dog reports.”
“Is it possible for a dog to travel this far from that other town?”
“Sure. Not far in a straight line along the mountain pass.”
“Do you believe that’s where she came from?”
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Don’t know what to think.”
“But you have a guess.”
He fixed his gaze on her. “I think she was hiking with an owner and something separated them.”
Her heart lurched at the implications of that. “You think… her owner’s dead?”
“Didn’t say that. Don’t rightly know. But the dog got away and was alone. Guess we’ll find out.”
Silence descended again.
This was freaking awkward. She didn’t know whether or not to fill the dead air with stories about Belle. One thing was certain—she wasn’t discussing the moments in his arms. Those fiery kisses and the way he’d touched her in all the right places…
“Who has… B… B… the baby while you’re here?”
She gaped at him. “You can’t bring yourself to say her name, can you? Unbelievable.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Say it then. It’s one little syllable.”
He narrowed his eyes at her and huffed out, “Belle!”
She sat back and folded her arms, a smug smile on her face.
“Does Owen have her?”
That surprised her. She’d never considered leaving the baby with Owen. He’d never done more than hold her a few times or sit and play with her on the floor when he came over.
“No, she’s with my parents.”
“Ah. Do they know who her father is?”
She opened her eyes wide. “Of course they do! We’ve been living with them for a year.”
“And they approve of you marrying Owen and him adopting… Belle?” He pushed the name out in a ragged whisper.
She bit her lower lip. “They don’t exactly know yet.”
“You didn’t tell them?”
She shook her head.
It was his turn to look smug. “Must not be that serious then.”
“How the hell would you know?”
He grinned. “You don’t have the invitations printed.”
“Well, no.”
He reached across and grabbed her hand. He pressed his thumb into her ring finger—her bare ring finger. She snatched it back and glared at him across the truck cab. In the back seat, Katrina panted.
“You’d better roll the window down for her. She’s hot,” Jolie said tightly.
“Why aren’t you wearing a ring? You haven’t actually accepted Owen’s proposal yet, have you?” He pressed a button to roll the back window down halfway and Katrina moved over to stick her nose out. She’d obviously been a loved companion to her owner. She knew all about riding in trucks.
“That’s none of your business.”
“I think it is. My child’s involved.”
She bit back a lot of angry words and stared out the windshield. She could mention that he hadn’t bothered to check in on her again in the time since he’d left. If he had, he would have found out about Belle sooner.
“I deserve to meet her,” he said softly.
She whipped her head to look at him. “You want to see her?”
“Why does that surprise you, Jolie? It feels like you’ve spent all this time concocting stories in your head that all make me seem like a bigger asshole than I’ll ever admit to. Believe me, I know I’ve fucked up. I have the DNA to prove it, but—”
She issued a scream-gasp. “You’re calling Belle a fuck-up? She’s a beautiful and dear little girl who—”
“Calm yourself, woman. I didn’t say that. I said I’ve fucked up. Don’t get your thong in a twist.”
“How the hell do you know if I’m wearing a thong?”
“I saw them in your bag.”
She stared at him.
“It was unzipped and I saw them on top. You never used to wear thongs before, Jolie. In fact, I remember a rather large pair of cotton panties that—”
She cut across him again, burning up at the embarrassing mention of those panties. She’d been a virgin, hadn’t considered sexy underthings. “You didn’t seem to mind taking them off me.”
He ignored that and went on. “Why’d you bring the thongs to The Boot Knockers Ranch, hmm? Did you think you’d get laid?”
“Lots of cowboys around. Seems like I could if I wanted.”
It was his turn to glare. He took a turn wending around part of the mountain so fast that she had to cling to the holy-shit handle or risk falling into his lap. Probably exactly what the arrogant ass wanted. Her face-down on his lap.
“The Boot Knockers aren’t laying a hand on you, Jolie.”
“Who are you to dictate that?”
“I’m your… I’m the father of your child. And until we get this straightened out between us, there’s no pleasure taking place.”
“Fine by me.” It meant he wouldn’t touch her again. Throwing her off balance with more kisses would only end badly. She wasn’t sure she could control the urges to be with him again. It was hard after she’d loved him so long and saw his face reflected in Belle’s daily.
They rode the rest of the way in silence. Then he parked in front of the shelter and looped a leash onto Katrina’s collar.
The dog was reluctant to come with him into the unknown building, and Jolie had to get out and coax her inside. In the end, they found out nothing. Katrina wasn’t micro-chipped and didn’t appear to have a tattoo in any of the normal places where animals were inked. The missing dog reports had photos that didn’t match Katrina’s black coat and white patch above her eye.
In the end, they left with the dog, Shayne unwilling to relinquish her to the shelter with a possible high kill rate. They drove to a gas station and he disappeared inside for a long time. She was getting worried when he came out carrying a brown paper bag shaped suspiciously like a magazine.
They only put the porn mags in brown bags back in her hometown. Damn, she was sitting beside a sex-hungry man who couldn’t even go into town without thinking about his cock.
He tucked the bag in the back out of her reach and then climbed behind the wheel again. All the way back to the ranch, they said maybe five words to each other.
She definitely needed to find a way to persuade him to sign the papers so she could get out of this place.
* * * * *
Ten Ways to Make Your Own Baby Food.
Organic All the Way to Adulthood.
Shayne shook his head and turned the pages of the magazine. If this was what parenting was all about, then he deserved to be clubbed over the head for not being there for Jolie. She had so much to handle. Making her own baby food? Fuck. And she couldn’t feed Belle the jarred kind, because it was full of preservatives and sugar.
She’d gone into the bedroom to make a private call. Deep down, he was grinding his teeth, figuring she was speaking to Owen. He imagined her whispering about how she hadn’t gotten Shayne to sign yet but she would.
Thing was, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to sign. He had too many doors open at the moment and he had no idea whether to pass through the openings to see what awaited on the other side or to close them.
He started reading an article about how to discipline your toddler. The quiet whirr of the heating system was all he heard. It crossed his mind that he’d never noticed the sound before in the cabins, because he always kept a woman screaming in bliss.
A quiet footfall from behind him made him slap the pages of the magazine shut. He tried to shove it under the couch cushion but Jolie lunged for it. They grappled. She dug in and wouldn’t let go of the magazine.
“Let me see what you’re looking at,” she grunted through clenched teeth.
He was bigger and stronger and could easily rip it from her hands but he didn’t want to destroy the pages.
“I’m not done reading it.”
She lay half on top of him, and just the pressure of her weight kicked his libido into high gear. He kept the magazine locked to the cushion while fought her off with the other hand. She was like an annoying little hummingbird.
“What are you grinning at?” She dug her pointy elbow into his ribs, which only made him huff with laughter.
“I was thinking that you’re like a little hummingbird. Actually, an annoying little hummingbird, but I figured I’d leave off the annoying part.”
Her mouth opened wide at the insult, and she doubled her efforts to get the magazine away from him.
She caught the corner and ripped it away.
“Damn, woman.” He hooked her around the middle and dragged her fully atop him. She struggled, her knees were too close to his balls for comfort. He flattened her against his chest and did a leg-locker move.
“Just show me the magazine! I know it’s porn so you’d might as well let me see it.”
He went still. “What?”
She panted from exertion, and her brown hair fell adorably across one eye so he could only see hints of the blue. “I know you bought a dirty magazine back in town.”
So that was what she thought of him.
With a jerk of his arm, he brought the magazine out and in front of her face. He watched her features change from shock to tenderness.
“It’s a mother and child magazine.”
“Yeah. I’m glad you think I’m so horny I can’t make a trip to town without looking at things I can look at right here on the ranch if I wanted. Hell, we could walk into any number of buildings on this ranch right now and see couples going at it. I don’t need to pay for that sort of entertainment.”
She tried to roll off him, but he held her in place. She was too pretty to let go just yet. Besides, he liked knowing he’d thrown her for a loop.
“You wanna go watch a couple or two?”
Her eyes flared wide. “No!”
“Then it’s time we finish what we started.”
“Definitely not!” She pushed against his chest but couldn’t lever herself away fast enough.
He leaned in and kissed her. A whole claiming of lips and tongue. She resisted for all of two seconds before he had her tongue moving against his and soft sighs trickling from her.
They had all this chemistry and it was a damn shame to waste it.
He let the magazine slide to the floor and skated his hand over the curve of her spine to her buttocks. She moaned as he kneaded it the way he remembered her liking it. She wore leggings and a flannel shirt over a camisole. Did she have any idea how fucking hot she looked dressed like that? Like he could whisk her away to a mountain hideaway and then peel away the layers until she was all bare skin, golden in the firelight.
He growled and set his teeth against the side of her throat. She sucked in a breath and rubbed against him. He kissed and nibbled up to her ear and whispered hotly, “I want you.”
She melted in his arms, and he felt her resistance was a thing of the past. He tugged the flannel down off her shoulder and worshipped the skin there for a while as she squirmed against him.
He wished she’d just straddle him and grind on him but one step at a time, right?
He licked over her collarbone and then captured her mouth again. This kiss had a different feel—passion.
Long, sweeping passes of his tongue through her mouth had her moaning over and over. Then he guided her by the hips right where he wanted her. Straddling him, her pussy warm and damp through the thin cotton of her leggings. He rocked up into her, and they shared a harsh noise.
“Dammit, I want you too,” she murmured against his lips.
He chuckled. “Don’t sound so happy about it.”
“I’m not.”
“Let’s see if I can change your mind.”
He had an idea that carrying her into the bedroom and taking her on the bed would make it too official, and she would most likely push him away before he got that far. But right here, on the couch, they were like kids exploring for the first time.
He touched each piece of skin he exposed as he removed her shirt. Her breasts were full and the camisole afforded him a ball-clenching view of her cleavage. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and he couldn’t resist another second.
He cupped one breast, toying with her nipple, stroking his thumb back and forth over the tip until it strained and quiet noises of surrender left her.
“You haven’t been touched,” he said in surprise.
She lifted her head, lips parted and her eyes blurred with lust. “No.”
So Owen wanted to marry her and she hadn’t even slept with him yet. What if they weren’t compatible in bed? Shayne knew enough about her to understand sex and pleasure was important to her.
Well, it was Owen’s loss. And Shayne’s opportunity.
He tugged her upward so he could suck her nipple into his mouth. She shuddered in pleasure, as he pulled on her with his lips and tongue until her nipple stood out sharply. Then he moved to the other.
“Oh God, that feels so damn good.”
“For a mom, you’ve got a potty mouth. Gotta curb that language before Belle picks it up.”
She batted at his head, but he bit down on her nipple before she made contact. Gasping, she only gripped him to her, letting him taste and suck her until she was shaking.
He caught the hem of her camisole and pulled it over her head. Tendrils of hair fell around her shoulders, and his breath stuck in his throat. “Beautiful,” he managed to push out before he cupped her breasts and kissed her.
This time he sensed a hum of urgency in her. She reached for his shirt buttons and in seconds had him bared to the waistband of his jeans. She pushed back to look down at him, appreciation on her beautiful features worth all the hard work he put in on the ranch.
She went for his belt next, but he couldn’t let her get that far. He’d lose his control too quickly, and no way was that happening.
He yanked down her leggings and panties in one quick move. Then he managed to pull them off her bare feet.
He lay back on the couch. “Come up and sit on my face, Jolie. I need to taste you.”
“Oh God… Shayne.” He saw a small war going on behind her eyes. She wanted to do exactly what he’d told her to do. Yet she wanted to hold back at the same time.
Only one way to urge her. He slipped his fingers between her thighs and over her swollen folds.
Her head fell back and a louder moan escaped. God, she was so damn passionate.
He circled her hard nubbin and she shimmied up his body to sit on his face. He inhaled her sweet scents and grasped her hips to hold her right where he wanted her.
Then he snaked out his tongue and lost himself in giving her the best damn ride she’d ever have in her life.
* * * * *
Jolie’s inner muscles quaked as Shayne worked his magic. God, she’d forgotten how damn good at this he was. Lights of pleasure flashed behind her closed eyes, and her breathing was too harsh to sound like anything but a woman in the throes of ecstasy.
He ran his tongue up and down her seam. Stopping to swirl in her opening before moving with slow, intense licks back to her clit.
Her head fell back. Need pulsated just out of reach. She strained into his hands, and he dragged her to fit tight against his mouth again. He sucked on her nubbin, and she cried out.
His slick tongue circling her bundle of nerves was setting her on fire. She was so… sooo…
She rocketed upward, her walls tightening, every thought gone from her head and sensation ruling her entire body. She dug her nails into his shoulders and he groaned against her. The rumble was too much.
She rocked her hips, dragging her pussy over his mouth and tongue, and exploded with a wild shudder. He intensified his efforts, towing her under again, so deep in this man that she had no idea who she even was anymore.
When she began to twitch with sensitivity, he delivered slow, soft licks. Gathering her juices and spreading them over her folds. She issued a breathy sigh and made a move to slide off him.
But he held fast to her hips and pressed a tender kiss to her inner thigh. She looked down at him to find his eyes on her, burning.
Oh God, she’d really done it now. She’d put herself into his hands again, and not only her body but her heart.
Before she could think about moving away from him, he slid her down his body. Over his muscled pecs and down the ridges of his abs. She was straddled over his denim-covered cock, and fuck if she didn’t want it.
“Feel that? I need to sink into you.” He was so handsome, she couldn’t stop staring. How his rugged good looks had transformed to something godlike over the past couple years apart. A light dusting of hair coated his cheeks and jaw, his lips glistening with her juices.
He ran his tongue slowly, invitingly, over his full lips. Then he twisted her hair in his fist and hauled her down for a kiss.
As soon as she tasted herself combined with his flavors, any barrier she’d managed to build up in the past thirty seconds crumbled. She parted her lips for him, aware of only his tongue dancing across hers. She didn’t realize they’d moved until she found herself sprawled on the sofa cushions, her legs up around his ears and his cock poised at her entrance.
“Shayne. Wait.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a condom on.”
“We wore one last time and we made a baby.” She watched his face for a grimace at the mention of Belle, but he just smiled at her.
“Want me to use two?”
Her own chuckle caught her off guard. He pushed against her pussy, and she could see him trying to master his control. His urge to plunge in fast and deep stood out on the lines of his forehead.
She ran her palms over his chest, loving the smooth hardness. Like velvet covering steel.
“Tell me you want this. You want me.” He bit off the words.
She slid her legs down to rest on his muscled hips and looked into his eyes. She’d have a hell of a time backing away from him a second time, but she was older and wiser now. She knew it could never work out with Shayne, but he made her feel so alive and her body ached for him.
It was too much for her to say, even if she could find the words. She dug her ankles into his backside and dragged him to her. Into her.
He parted her walls and kept burrowing until his balls brushed her body. They stared at each other.
“Oh God.”
“Move,” she said at the same time.
Need blasted her as he withdrew inch by slow inch. This was far from a quick fuck. He was taking his time with her.
Which only confused her more.
But ohhh, it felt good.
She’d forgotten what it was like to be a woman, lying with a man. To see that look on his face as he pushed into her again. He’d been her last and somehow it felt fitting he was her first after the long abstinence.
He covered her hand where it rested on his chest, flattening it to his warm skin as he leaned in and kissed her. The tangling of their tongues started as a slow burn and increased with every stroke of his cock.
She angled her hips up and he sank a bit deeper. She gasped out her pleasure, and he bit into her lower lip with a growl.
“You feel fucking amazing.” He kissed down her jaw to her throat, and she tipped her head to receive the delicious burn of his five o’clock shadow on her skin. She hummed in agreement. Pressure built in her core. She was soaking wet from her orgasm and the arousal he was raising in her now.
Just to hear him moan, she squeezed him with her inner muscles just to hear him moan. Then he swooped in for another deep kiss that left her mindless, boneless and gasping.
She felt him stretch inside her, and knew he was getting close. That flutter of a tendon in his jaw was a dead giveaway that he was approaching fast. Knowing he was so turned on sent her body skidding out of control. She pushed her hips up for more. And more.
His movements grew disjointed. She wrapped her legs firmly around him. There was no holding back her noises this time. Her hoarse cries echoed around the cabin.
He added deep tone to create a tempo for their bodies to move to. Only she was too far gone, out of her head with the need to see that highest peak. She bit into his shoulder, propelling him faster. He sucked at her neck, her breasts. His tongue a hot, wet branding iron on her flesh.
He stiffened, and she lost it. Reeling into the heavens of ecstasy. Her cry cut off by his questing tongue as he poured out his own orgasm.
She rode the waves of bliss for long seconds. Then he collapsed against her with his mouth on her throat. His warm breath washing over her damp skin raised goosebumps like a roadmap leading her back to him again and again.
Damn, she was silly for letting herself fall into bed—or on the sofa, rather—all over again. It could lead nowhere. He was right where he wanted to be, here as a Boot Knocker. And she had a purpose in coming here.
“Don’t do that.” He kissed a path up to her ear and down again.
“Do what?”
“Start thinking about all the reasons you shouldn’t have had two orgasms.”
She smacked him in the ear and he huffed with laughter. “I’d never say I shouldn’t have two orgasms. How do you know what I was thinking?”
“You were getting stiff under me.”
“Well you’re still stiff.” She squeezed her thighs together, causing her pussy to clamp around him tightly.
“Mm. I’m not remotely finished with you. Now that I’ve got you where I want you, I plan to keep you screaming my name all night.”
“I don’t recall screaming your name.”
“You would have if I hadn’t kissed you quiet.”
“Arrogant ass. Let me up—I can’t breathe.”
He rolled off and landed on the floor lightly next to the sofa. She was aware of his gaze wandering over her body, lingering on her stretch marks.
She moved to cover them, but he caught her wrists. “Don’t. You’re beautiful. I love the changes motherhood has made in you.”
“They’re ugly.”
“No. They’re evidence of how strong you are.” He leaned in and skimmed his lips over the silvery-white markings below her navel. When he lifted his head, his eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, Jolie. I would have been.”
Oh God. That was the worst possible thing he could say to her.
Because it meant he cared, and that set her mind whirling through happy family life scenarios.
“I can’t do this.” She scrambled off the couch.
* * * * *
She didn’t make it three steps before he was on her, scooping her up and carrying her to the bedroom. He fell with her to the bed and she glared up at him.
“You can’t just manhandle me when you want something, Shayne.”
“You’re beautiful when you’re feisty. And every other time too. But I’m not letting you shut me out just for telling you the truth.”
“I didn’t ask you to be there for me.”
Her words hit him right between the eyes. He pushed back onto his elbows. “You didn’t want me there? You didn’t want me to be part of it?”
He dipped his tongue into the hollow of her collarbone, and she sucked in a breath. He was still wearing the condom and needed a minute. But he was afraid to leave her for even a second.
He rolled off and turned his back to discard the condom. Then he used some tissues from the nightstand to clean up. When he turned back to her, she had thrown the covers down and gotten underneath.
He didn’t hesitate to crawl in next to her. He waited for her protest but none came. He chanced more and slid his arm under her head. To his surprise, she snuggled into the spot where she fit so well, her head pillowed on his biceps.
He found her fingers and laced them with his. “We have a lot between us. But we have each other right now too.”
“Meaning you’re horny again.”
He chuckled and moved their entwined hands down to his erection. He hadn’t been joking when he’d said he wasn’t finished with her.
He moved their joined hands back up to cover her breast. “Seems like your nipple’s mighty hard. And don’t even try to tell me you’re cold.” Her skin was toasty warm plastered next to him under the covers. He could stay like this all winter.
He unlaced his index finger from hers to flick at her hardened bud. It tightened, and she shifted to get away from his fingertip.
“You really are beautiful,” he whispered.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” He liked the appreciation he saw in her eyes.
Suddenly, she poked her tongue out and licked his skin.
“Ohhh-hoo. Game on.” He flipped her into the mattress and hovered over her, his erection nestled where he wanted it most, but he couldn’t take her yet and especially not without a barrier. They were tested regularly and careful with sex on The Boot Knockers Ranch, but he’d never risk Jolie.
He lowered his mouth to her throat and began to nibble it in the way he remembered she loved. She tossed her head back with a gasp of pleasure, and he grinned against her skin. Then he reached out for the nightstand drawer. Thanks to his long arms, he located it easily and found what he was going for against the side.
When he flipped on the vibe, the noise made Jolie jerk against him. He gave her a wicked grin and held up the pink metallic bullet.
“What are you doing with that?”
“Hm, let’s see.” He eased his hand down her side and settled between her thighs. She rocked against the tip of the toy and he slipped it back and forth, coating it with her juices.
A harsh noise broke from her lips, and he claimed them as he went to work on her clit. Circling it with the vibrating toy and then applying pressure. Letting up, only to start all over again.
He watched ecstasy cross her beautiful features. Then he took her hand and put the vibe into it. Her eyes flared wide.
“Show me how you like it.” He rolled to the side and fitted himself with a condom while she lay there shyly.
He gripped her wrist lightly and moved the vibe against the side of her clit again.
“Oh God.” She placed it over the spot she needed and began to grind her hips.
“So fucking beautiful.” He braced himself over her again and parted her thighs far enough to fit his hips. His hard cock at her opening almost drove him over the edge.
Her eyes were clenched shut with pleasure, her plush lips parted on a cry. He pushed inside her with one shove.
As he sank balls-deep, she cried out. The vibe hummed between them, and he took over for her. She clenched her fist in the sheets and shuddered as sensation rolled through her.
He fucked her shallowly and then deep with hard thrusts that drove her up the bed. Need spiked in his balls. How was he so close in such a short amount of time?
“Oh God!” She grabbed onto him as her orgasm swept her away. And he watched with more pleasure than he ever had before.
* * * * *
Shayne couldn’t be better at this than she remembered. It had to be her imagination.
She stopped thinking at all as waves of bliss struck her. She clamped around his cock, dragging him deeper into her with her heels.
The vibe was too much on her sensitive clit and she batted it away. He gave her that bad-boy grin and angled deeper to reach a point that made her drenched and screaming with another orgasm in a blink.
Damn, he was better at this.
He grunted and she knew that sound. He was close too, and she wanted to drive him just as wild. She anchored her nails in his shoulders and arched up to kiss him. She took control, winding her tongue around his as he pounded into her.
A light slap to her outer buttocks made her break the kiss on a cry. What the…?
He slapped her again. The sound sent an erotic spear through her and damn if she wasn’t on the verge of coming a third time from the tingles of the slap resonating through her body.
He moved his hand again, and she braced herself for the smack but he grabbed her ass and lifted her off the bed as he drove into her deeper, harder.
The cords in his neck stood out and his teeth were set in his lower lip, giving him a fierce expression. She couldn’t believe she was back in his arms, back in his bed, under him, spread wide open for him.
He groaned and stiffened. She leaned in and bit his lower lip. The sharp nip must have been what he needed because he began to jerk into her with short thrusts and moans to match.
Seeing him come apart this way… Her inner muscles pulsated and she came for the third time with a wild scream. Her breathing stopped for long seconds as she rode the sensations. He sucked on the sensitive spot on her throat and she drew air again.
His muscles were damp under her hands. She reveled in exploring them, in learning the new swells and cuts. He roved his hands over her too, up and down her torso, just under her breasts and to her hips. As he passed over her lower belly, she stiffened, but he didn’t seem to notice.
She closed her eyes and listened to his harsh breathing slow to a normal rhythm. When she opened them again, he was staring at her.
On reflex, she swung for his jaw. Her fist glanced off it and he collapsed on her in laughter. “Damn, woman, I make you come three times and get punched for my troubles.”
“You were staring at me.”
He laughed harder, making her and the bed shake. That was one thing about his bigger muscles—he had so much more power that a simple action like laughing made her jiggle like a bowl of pudding.
“Staring at you isn’t allowed but eating your pussy until you come and using a vibe on you until you come and fucking you until you come is?”
“Maybe.” She sounded silly and she knew it but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Her muscles felt so languid, her back sinking lower into the mattress with every pulse of her heart. She hadn’t felt so relaxed in ages. First it had been discomforts of pregnancy keeping her awake, and then a newborn’s sleep and feeding schedule. Now Belle slept through the nights but Jolie was always on alert, listening for her to cry out in the crib in the other room. Or staying up late rewriting a paper she’d lost to a tech glitch.
She couldn’t really afford to be away from her schoolwork for more than a few days. She’d never intended to stay more than one night, long enough to get Shayne to sign off Belle.
And hopefully let go of his grip on her heart forever. Well, that had freaking backfired, hadn’t it?
She lay in his arms and didn’t want to budge even an inch, let alone get up and leave. It wasn’t only the way he made her body feel either. She liked seeing his eyes go from cool to burning for her.
She thought of him looking through that baby magazine earlier and giggled.
“What’s funny?” He lifted his head to pierce her in his warm gaze.
“Did you learn anything from the magazine you were reading?”
He pinched her backside hard enough to make her howl. “I was trying to see what I’ve been missing.”
She held up a hand and started ticking things off on her fingers, starting with diaper blow-outs all the way up to babies who manage to help delete entire school papers.
His wide smile warmed her inside and out as he listened. “I want to meet her.”
Jolie tensed. “Shayne…”
He looked at her more closely. What he saw in her face made him roll off and stare down at her hard. “You don’t want me to meet her. You never intended for me to meet her. Why did you even come here?” He pushed onto his elbow and answered his own question. “You just wanted me to sign off rights.”
Now it sounded like she was a conniving, terrible person. She sat up and dragged the sheet over her nudity. He continued to sit there as bare as the day he was born and glare at her.
“Let me get this straight. You don’t tell me about my child, but somehow I have rights. That must mean you named me as the father on the birth certificate.”
She nodded.
“Why did you bother if you didn’t want me to be part of her life?” He ran his fingers through his hair, sending it into spikes. He looked dangerous, eyes glinting, beard growing in dark against his cheeks and jaw.
“I should have told you in the first place and let you decide. But you were so set on being a Boot Knocker, and I figured I wasn’t going to bring you back to responsibilities you didn’t want. You left me to come here. Why would a baby keep you there? You would have been miserable, Shayne.”
“So, you were really thinking of me? My wishes?”
“I guess.” Spoken that way, it still rang with selfishness—hers. “Look, I didn’t give you a say and that was wrong.”
“Damn right it was.”
“But now I’m giving you the opportunity to go on with your life the way you envisioned it.”
“Jesus. You aren’t understanding me, are you?”
She shook her head, anger gaining momentum inside her. She bounced a few more inches away from him and clutched the sheet more tightly to her bare chest.
“Maybe I didn’t want to be excluded from my daughter’s life.”
“You didn’t?”
“I would have liked a choice! Now you’re asking me to give her away to… to Owen! Meanwhile, you’re in bed with me. I think you see how fucked up this is, Jolie.”
She climbed out of bed and held the cotton sheet like armor around herself. Angry tears welled in her eyes and made her vision swim, but she wasn’t as angry at him as she was herself. When he said it that way, she really sounded like a terrible person. And that hadn’t been her intention at all.
“I don’t know about Owen yet. But I want to let you go from Belle’s life so you can move on with yours.”
He leaped up and faced her with the expanse of mattress between them, the sheets indented with the memory of their entwined forms. He pushed a breath through his nostrils, making them flare. “Well, it backfired. Because I have the right to see her, and I intend to.”
“What would you have me do? Bring a baby to a sex ranch?”
“Weirder things have been done around here, and it isn’t like she’s going to see anything. Or remember it, for that matter. She’s young.”
Jolie shook her head. “No way.”
“Why not? She’s with your parents. Have them bring her up.”
She shook her head wildly. “I can’t let my parents know where I am! Can you imagine what they’d say?”
“Who cares what they’d say? This isn’t about them.”
“No way.”
He started to say something and then cut himself off. He sliced a hand through the air. “Fine. Then I get to turn you over my knee and spank your ass.”
Her mouth fell open. Had she just heard him correctly? The light sting of his earlier smacks now seemed to resonate through her.
“You’ve lost your mind, Shayne.”
“Or maybe I’m just getting smarter. Taking what I want.” His eyes gleamed in that way that scared her. Not because he was frightening, but her reaction to him was. Damn if she didn’t want him to turn her over his knee.
“You think spanking me will make you feel better?”
He grinned. “It will make both of us feel a sight better. More relaxed too. Then we can talk.”
She let out a shivery breath. Changing the topic seemed the only course. “I can’t have my parents bring Belle here.”
His jaw worked as if he was biting back words. “Fine, then have someone else bring her. But I’m going to see my child.”
The words stabbed her deep. She dropped down on the bed and faced the wall away from him. Her breaths came in shallow rasps.
He circled the bed to stand before her. When she didn’t look up at him, he nudged her under the jaw with his knuckles. “Talk to me, Jolie. Don’t shut me out anymore.”
“Can you see my point at all? You’d left, dumped me. I was younger and scared and pregnant.”
At her words, he dropped to his knees before her. “We could have worked it out. And I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. God, you’ll never know how sorry I am.”
Her throat burned with unshed tears. “I didn’t come here to sound like a callous bitch, Shayne. I need to get on with my life and you do too.”
He searched her face. “You think that marrying Owen’s the answer?”
She faltered, looked down at her fingers. She was still throbbing from Shayne’s touch on her body and she’d never even felt Owen’s. “I don’t know.”
He ran his fingertip from her temple down to the point of her chin. “Jolie, I don’t mean to come down hard on you about this. You’ve been through enough alone. But that’s what I’m telling you. I want to meet Belle. I want to know what I’ve been missing. I deserve that much. Then I’ll make my decision. Even if I have to go to your parents house to see her.”
Oh no. Not that. She wasn’t ready for the questions that would raise, and even if she took Belle out to meet Shayne, they were sure to be spotted in their small town of nosy people who all seemed to be friends with her parents.
There was only one course. She was going to have to bring Belle here. To a sex ranch. Where she’d just experienced the full benefits of one of The Boot Knockers.
And loved every burning, exquisitely hot moment of it.