The wide front hallway was dark and cool compared to outdoors. The left side of the first floor was mainly comprised of the ranch office, formal dining room and kitchen. A doorway to the right framed the entrance to the family living area. It was one big, long room with a large collection of comfortable furniture, an extensive entertainment center and a huge, open fireplace.
Some of the furnishings were different yet the color scheme was still earth-toned mixtures of browns, oranges and yellows. The wide-screen TV was a new addition, as was a very large leather recliner that nearly shouted at Callie. She was thirsty but she decided to pass up a drink long enough to prop up her aching feet.
The leather crackled as she eased her tired body into its plush depths. The scent of leather and spice reminded her of Rylan. With a flick of a handle on the right the entire chair tilted backward and she sighed as she kicked off her shoes and stretched out in comfort. She would just close her eyes for a minute…
His perusal slowed on the return trip for a rare study of her facial features at sleep. Her eyes were wide-set and heavily lashed. The lashes rested on a sweep of softly rounded cheeks over high bones. A small, slightly pointed nose had turned pink from exposure to the sun. His intent study halted at her mouth.
She’d always been a tempting mixture of innocence and provocation. He’d forgotten what it was like to have her near—both exhilarating and infuriating. He could have done without the reminder. His life had been fairly uneventful the past few years and he liked it that way. When Callie was around chaos reigned.
Now that he’d had a little time to come to terms with her unexpected arrival he’d decided to accept the fact that she was here to stay a while. Chuck and Sammy were excited about having her. They badly missed their mom even though they’d die before admitting it. Callie would be good company for them. She was young, energetic and fun-loving.
Maybe if he sated himself with her he’d finally be able to get her out of his system.
Her casual, disheveled beauty was too much of a temptation. He reached out a hand and slipped it between her thighs, cupping her warm mound.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up.”
She didn’t immediately open her eyes but Rylan knew the instant she woke and felt his touch. She shifted her legs restlessly, arching slightly against his massaging hand. He dipped his fingers under the hem of her shorts and found springy, soft curls. Then he delved deeper and heard her hiss of surprise.
“Rylan!”
His gaze returned to the enticing curves of her lips with masochistic fascination. They were sensually full, delicately bowed and as ripe as forbidden fruit. He wished he didn’t know how soft, sweet and responsive they could be. If he had to endure an entire summer with her in residence then he couldn’t let her get to him so easily. He reminded himself that even the most seductive lips could lie.
Her betrayal had cost him too much pain and too many sleepless nights. Memories of their shattered relationship had destroyed his faith in love and his ability to trust. Youthful dreams had been crushed. He’d stopped dreaming about forever. These days he contented himself with carnal satisfaction.
“The only way I’ll tolerate you under my roof is if you promise me hot, uninhibited sex whenever and wherever I want it.”
“How charming,” she snapped but then she caught her breath as he plunged two fingers deep inside her. He rotated them, stroking her clit with his thumb until she was lifting her hips and grinding herself against his hand. He watched her toes curl. When her muscles clenched around his fingers his cock throbbed, straining against the denim of his jeans. He wanted to bury himself in her again.
“There’s no Prince Charming here,” he declared roughly, knowing Brad fit that description better than he ever would.
“So all I get is the king of torment?” She panted the question.
“You’re complaining?” he asked, increasing the pressure of his caresses until she was too breathless to respond. He watched, fascinated, as her eyes closed and her face went tight with tension. She moaned and her nipples were hard knots under her shirt. He leaned over and latched on to one with his mouth, sucking hard while his fingers plunged deeper. Callie cried out and he felt her orgasm rip through her body. Her responsiveness amazed him as she shook with the force of it. Her thighs tightened around his hand as her legs went stiffer but he didn’t let up the pressure. He continued to pinch and suck and stroke her hot depths until he felt a second orgasm hit her. The pleasure of watching her was so intense that he almost came in his jeans.
“Stop!” She used both hands to push him away and then leaned back until she’d regained some control. He stomped on the footrest, sitting her upright with a jolt.
After a few long, tension-filled minutes she tugged her clothes into order and rose from the chair. It took both her hands to shove the hair off her face while she searched the floor for her shoes. After she’d stepped into the sandals she finally brought her gaze back to him.
“I know the ranch has always been a vacation home for you,” he said. “It’s a great place for kids but you never stayed long enough to see the downside of living thirty miles from the nearest town. If you end up being sorry you’ve committed yourself to the whole summer then don’t feel obligated to stay.”
“I want you to know that I didn’t do any scheming behind your back,” she told him in an equally serious tone. Then she had to shift her gaze. “I honestly had no idea you were gone and I assumed you knew about the arrangement.”
“What’s done is done,” he said, “but you stay on my terms.”
“Sex.” She glanced at the front of his jeans. The blush that had been receding flared again. “What about you?”
“I wouldn’t object to being sucked on for a while,” he said arrogantly.
Her pink tongue came out to lick full lips and more blood scorched its way to his groin.
“Your brothers,” she replied faintly.
“Gone to town for pizza.” As the words left his mouth his hands dropped to his belt. He watched her watching him in fascination as he dropped his pants and shorts. His cock sprang forward in enthusiastic release. “Be my guest,” he growled.
Callie’s eyes darkened with renewed passion. Then she amazed him by dropping to her knees in front of him. His legs trembled. Any sex they’d shared in the past had been strictly conventional. He’d never felt her mouth on him. The thought of it made him so hard he ached. When she tentatively touched him with her tongue his knees almost buckled. He’d never expected her to play with him but she did, lapping and lashing and teasing his taut flesh until he thought he’d go crazy if she didn’t give him more. He heard a groan rumble from his chest. Then he grasped two handfuls of her thick hair and urged her closer.
When she finally took him deep into her mouth and against her throat he thought he would explode. She used her lips and tongue and teeth to lick him, stroke him, suck him. Her fingers found his balls, gently caressing until they drew up tight into his body. His cock swelled, blood pulsing through his veins in a fever pitch of excitement. She made him so damn hot that he couldn’t stop shuddering. Then she brought him to a release that staggered his breathing. Pleasure ripped up his spine as she sucked him dry and brought him to his knees.
Rylan wrapped his arms around Callie and clutched her tightly against his chest, using her as an anchor while his world spun. They clung to each other for several long minutes, chests heaving in exertion.
When he finally regained some control he glared at her furiously. “Who the hell taught you how to do that?”
She blinked at him owlishly. “I don’t suppose you’d believe it’s my first time?”
The lie made him even more furious. “Hell no! He rose to his feet and drew her up with him. “Do I have fool written on my forehead?” They glared at each other for a few tension-filled seconds but she didn’t offer any explanations. He cursed himself for asking or caring then jerked his pants back up and fastened them.
“Why are you really here? Are you just at loose ends this summer?”
“I have some free time right now and I wanted to come.”
“I thought you were getting a master’s degree in art education so that you could teach at the college level,” he said. “Are you just biding time until fall?”
“I never intended to teach college classes.”
“You’re going to teach high school?” He could understand that sort of a career and he knew that a master’s degree greatly increased the pay scale for teachers.
“No.”
“Then what? What good is a degree in art except to teach it to somebody else?”
“There are lots of uses for it.”
“Such as?”
“I could work at a museum. There’s always a need for curators in the east. I could also pursue a career in painting, sculpting, ceramics or several other forms of creative art.”
“But?” he drawled, watching her frown at his persistence.
“I’m really thirsty,” she declared, turning swiftly toward the door and heading for the kitchen.
Chapter Three
Rylan followed closely as she made her way down the hallway to the back of the house. She crossed the kitchen, grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. Then she drank thirstily.
He opened the refrigerator and got a can of beer. “So what are your plans for the rest of your life?” he demanded, leaning against the doorjamb while he drank and watched her every move.
Callie gave him a frown. She should have known he wouldn’t let the subject drop. He could be merciless if he wanted information. She wasn’t going to accommodate him. She wasn’t ready to share her plans with anyone at this point. She’d spent the last two years researching and preparing to follow her dreams but she knew once they were disclosed she’d have to field a barrage of objections.
“Callie?”
Something about the way he said her name made her heart trip. His deep voice had an almost hypnotic effect on her senses. It had always been that way.
She shook off the feeling and forced coolness to her tone. “There’s really nothing to discuss, Rylan. I’m just here to help. My only immediate plan is for a nice, cool shower.”
His eyes narrowed at her dismissive tone. He crushed the empty can and tossed it toward the trash. “In that case I think we can share. I need one too.”
“Won’t someone be home soon?”
“They can mind their own business. If you stay we’ll be having lots of sex. They’ll just have to get used to it.”
Callie rolled her eyes in disbelief. Despite his bald assertion, she knew better. He’d always been a strict disciplinarian when it came to his younger brothers. She’d heard him lecturing them on many occasions about how a man should treat a woman. He preached respect and restraint although he’d shown her very little of either since she’d arrived. His bluff was a blatant attempt to scare her away.
“You’re lying. You know you’re their role model and you’d never encourage them to accept casual sex.”
He watched her with unwavering scrutiny. “Is that what you call it? Casual sex?”
There was nothing casual about the way she wanted him. He might think of her as a tramp yet no other man had ever enticed her to behave like such a wanton. He made her lose her head, throw caution to the wind and turn into someone she hardly recognized. The power he had over her was equally frightening and thrilling.
She didn’t answer but headed out of the kitchen, down the hall and up the stairs. Rylan followed a few steps behind her and she knew he intended to follow through with his plan for a shared shower. The thought made her breasts tighten and her pussy clench in anticipation. She’d never been totally naked with a man in a shower. The idea quickly blossomed into escalating desire.
She would have relished a chance to check out her old bedroom but as soon as they stepped into the room Rylan slammed the door and reached for her.
“You can’t possibly want to make love again,” she argued as he twisted her around to face him.
“Wrong,” he insisted flatly. His expression taut, he jerked the knot out of her shirt and stripped it off. “Rylan!” she protested.
“I want you naked.”
The raw hunger in his expression halted any further thoughts of refusing him. Without breaking eye contact she unclipped her bra and let it drop to the floor. He grabbed her shorts and panties, shoving them over her hips. She stepped out of them and reached for his shirt. In another few seconds they were both naked. Their breathing grew heavier as they slowly studied each other. Callie put a tentative hand on his chest, running her fingers through the swirling golden hair. His body was sun-bronzed except for a strip of pale skin across his groin. She marveled at the readiness of his broad cock. As she watched, it burgeoned to thickness, the bulbous head purple and gleaming.
Her mouth went dry. Her breathing shallowed. Her pussy wept. When her gaze slid back up to his eyes they were watching her intently.
“Want me?” he asked thickly.
A strangled yes whispered past her throat. She desperately wanted him buried inside her. She wanted his hands on her breasts, his tongue deep in her mouth. She wanted it all.
“I want you from behind this time,” he ground out hoarsely. “But first I want to see your skin glistening with water.”
He strode to the bathroom, gloriously naked. Callie watched and admired his tight rear end, muscled thighs and long legs as he moved away from her. When he disappeared into the bathroom she followed.
Rylan had the shower running and was stepping into the tub when she entered the room. He motioned for her to join him but he didn’t touch her once she’d stepped in beside him. Lukewarm water cascaded over her and he handed her a bar of soap.
“I want to see you wash yourself,” he said.
Caught in the web of his fantasy, Callie did as he asked. She lathered her hands with soap and then began to bathe herself. Starting with her arms, she slowly smoothed the suds from shoulders to hands and then back again.
“Your breasts.” His voice went lower and deeper. He commanded and she obeyed. Cupping her breasts in her hands, she massaged the soap over smooth flesh. “Now play with your nipples.”
She took each nipple between her fingers and plucked at it, causing a different moisture to pool between her legs.
“Now your pussy.”
Callie watched Rylan watching her and nearly came at the touch of her own fingers. He was so rigidly tense that he looked ready to snap. His lashes were lowered to hide his eyes but she could still see the heat of primitive hunger flaming out of control. He looked almost wild with need. His eyes had gone dark. His jaws were tight. When she lathered her pubic hair and her breast at the same time, his nostrils flared.
The next time he spoke his voice was strangled with tension. “Now turn around and bend over for me.”
She watched him warily for a few long seconds as the water trickled over the tightness of his expression. He looked so hard and fierce that she wasn’t sure she could handle the dark passion she saw in him. Still, she did as he asked and slowly turned her back to him. Then she bent at the waist and opened herself with a vulnerability she’d never allowed another man.
She felt the touch of his hand first. He’d lathered it with soap and he explored the tiny openings of her body. When Callie felt the light probing of a finger in her anus she caught her breath. She’d never considered anal sex and she wasn’t sure she could handle the width and length of him.
“Easy, I’m just going to make you feel good,” he whispered gruffly as he continued to probe her. “I’m not going to bury myself here,” he said as he pushed forward. She felt all her muscles clenching around his fingers in part pain and part pleasure. She tensed a little more but dampness gathered between her legs.
Then she felt his cock prodding her pussy, easing into one opening while he continued to rub her in another. The combined caresses made her gasp and shiver then she reached to the side of the tub and braced herself when her knees threatened to collapse. Rylan reached his other hand to her left breast, teasing the nipple to rigid tightness. He dropped his mouth to the back of her neck and sucked. The combined stimulation had Callie shuddering and begging for more.
“Rylan, please!”
“Tell me what you want. Say the words!” he growled near her ear.
“Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me…” she chanted, lost and drowning in sensory overload.
Hearing the words seemed to snap his considerable control. He pulled his finger from her anus and used both hands to grip her hips. Then he began to pound into her with increasing force, slamming his cock into her until she screamed and screamed as orgasm after orgasm rocked her body. He wasn’t easily sated this time so he pumped himself into her over and over again. Their bodies slapped together until they were both shuddering and with release and weak from exhaustion.
“You’re never going to forgive me, are you?” she cried breathlessly, knowing that part of his forceful passion stemmed from long-suppressed anger.
“I have a driving need to punish you,” he confessed on a primal groan. He pounded harder and faster until he found his release. Yelling her name as he came, he poured lava-hot semen into her with one last pulsing thrust.
Then they both collapsed. Rylan sat down in the tub and drew her down between his legs. She dropped her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes. Water cascaded over them, slowly cooling their bodies as they struggled to regain some strength in their limbs. Finally, after several long minutes, he picked up the bar of soap and bathed them both. As his hands got lost in her pubic hair, Callie tensed. He found her clit and toyed with it until she was breathing roughly again and arching against his fingers.
“Rylan!” she scolded, spent yet unable to stop her body’s response to his touch.
“I like to make you come,” he whispered near her ear. “I like to hear you scream my name.” His fingers worked magic and soon she was spiraling toward release again.
“No more!” she whispered after another shattering orgasm. “No more,” she begged him weakly.
“You’re going to be here all summer,” he reminded. “We have plenty of time for more. I think I could get used to having hot sex every day, all day long.”
“I know what happened four years ago, Rylan,” she quietly announced, knowing that would still his taunting. She felt him go stiff.
“What do you know?” he asked in a wary tone.
“I know you asked my dad if you could marry me and he said no.”
After a brief hesitation, he asked, “And do you know why?”
“Why he refused, why you accepted his decision or why you lied to me about both?” Strength was returning to her limp body. She stood and shut off the shower. Then she stepped from the tub and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her. Keeping her back to him, she continued.
“He said the ranch was facing bankruptcy after your dad died and he loaned Aunt Molly enough money to save it. Apparently you felt the debt you owed him was more important than a future with me.”
“None of it matters,” he snapped, climbing from the tub and quickly toweling himself dry. His actions spoke volumes about the sensitivity of the subject. “It all became moot when I found you naked in Brad’s arms.”
Callie turned and studied his rigidly controlled expression. She wished she knew how much of his lingering anger stemmed from deeper emotion and how much from damaged pride. How much stemmed from possessiveness or jealousy? Or wounded male ego?
“You thought I still belonged to you even though you’d cast me aside like some casual summer fling?”
His eyes blazed and his tone roughened. “You’re the one who swore eternal devotion, remember? You said even if I didn’t want you you’d always love me. That lasted until you’d gone about two days without sex!”
Anger radiated from every pore of his body. Callie knew she was wasting her time trying to reason with him. She finished drying and turned her back on him again. He’d never believe the truth and she wasn’t at liberty to tell him.
“It’s all old history. Best forgotten,” she said, her tone flat. “Now we’re both at liberty to enjoy some uncomplicated sex, just like you said. Let’s keep it that way.”
“My pleasure,” he replied smoothly.
She watched him stride from the room, her expression bleak. Despite all his talk about making her a sex slave, she had a feeling he wouldn’t willingly touch her again. Her sudden appearance had taken him by surprise and they’d succumbed to some long-denied physical needs but he still resented her. She’d lost his respect and he wasn’t a man who easily forgave.
It might be a very long, tension-filled summer.