Jessie moaned and closed her eyes, letting her body relax as she got lost in the pleasure.
"So pretty, baby,” he murmured, firming his grip on her head.
Her clit throbbed mercilessly, making her squirm for his touch. He teased her labia with a slow caress, drawing her juices over the swelling flesh, lubricating her. Finally, he eased a finger into her pussy, sliding in and out firmly over her G-spot until she moaned and pressed back for more.
He withdrew and tenderly stroked to her clit, grazing the edge with his fingertips. She released a soft gasp, and a quick tremor rolled through her. He stroked her again, right over the ultra-sensitive tip. She moaned low in her throat, a sound of animal pleasure that vibrated around his cock. Deke groaned in response and tipped his head back, the pleasure clear in his blissful expression. Lifting his head to stare down at her, he caressed her slick clit until she trembled and whimpered in need.
He stroked her hair while she suckled him, praising her when she found just the right spot. “Yeah, right there Jess. Feels so good, baby."
She moaned and took him deeper into her mouth, lost in her need. When she pushed back into his hand and cried out, his belly and thigh muscles tightened. Still stroking her pulsing nub, he released his hold on her thick hair to push two fingers into her pussy and slide them in and out. Jessie made a choked sound and squeezed her eyes shut as her mouth sucked him harder, faster, her orgasm building, just out of reach.
Oh God, please don't let him stop
. It was too good, too perfect.
"Come for me, Jess."
Three more strokes over her clit, and he thrust his fingers deep. Something inside her ignited.
She cried out around his cock, her whole body shuddering as release tore through her. Her pussy contracted around his fingers, squeezing him as Deke finally allowed her to take him over the edge. Cupping her head in one hand, he dropped his head back and let go with a guttural moan. She swallowed the warm jets of semen without hesitation, starving for him, still awash in pleasure. When he finally opened his eyes, she was licking him clean, and his gaze was so full of tenderness it brought a lump to her throat.
After smoothing her hair back, he gently pulled her head up. “Come here, sugar.” He opened his arms, and she crawled up his body to sprawl atop him. Releasing a contented sigh, she snuggled in close and buried her face in his throat. He ran a hand over her mussed hair. “Ready to sleep now?"
She nodded against his neck and kept her eyes shut, afraid he'd see the sudden vulnerability she felt. He gathered her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He stripped off his clothes and slid in beside her, the bed dipping under his weight. A second later, he pulled her back into his arms and cradled her tight against him.
Already attached to him more than she wanted to be, Jessie soaked up the comfort of his embrace. Giving herself to him so completely had left her feeling exposed, a little lost. Maybe it should have scared her, but she was too tired to care.
Deke woke to the sound of the morning doves cooing outside the cabin and the feel of gentle fingers drifting over his lower back. Jessie's fingers. Touching his scars. One by one, he forced his muscles to relax under her touch and let go of the tension in his body.
Warm lips pressed between his shoulder blades as she nuzzled him there. “Morning."
He turned his head, enjoying the sight of her all tousled from sleeping with him in his bed. “Mornin'."
She watched her fingers move over his skin. “What happened? You never told me."
Her hand stroked slow and gentle, then firmer. It felt good. Relaxing. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself the simple pleasure of enjoying her touch. “Landed wrong during a HALO jump."
"Is that the kind where you jump out of high altitude airplanes?"
"Yeah.” He grinned. “You been doing some research?"
"You know how much I love my laptop. Google is my friend,” she teased. Then she shrugged. “Actually, I read that Special Ops magazine on your bathroom counter while I was in the tub last night. I found it very informative."
Deke chuckled. That was so like her, to do research on his background. He liked that she was so interested in what he'd done, because he was damn proud of his time in the military. “It was a night jump into a high mountain landing zone. I fractured a few vertebrae in my lower back and destroyed a couple discs. Medevac didn't happen until morning, then they transferred me to Germany.” He hadn't been able to feel or move his legs the whole time. He'd been terrified he'd wind up permanently paralyzed.
"Took two surgeries to get everything back into place.” He was lucky to be walking, much less functioning as well as he did. The pain he suffered on a daily basis was nothing compared to spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair, like so many of the other patients he'd seen.
Jessie's touch never changed, a steady, soothing rhythm over his lower back. “Was it in Afghanistan?"
"Yeah. Last February."
He braced himself for more questions about it or his ex-wife, but her fingers trailed lower, over his ass. “And what about these green feet tattooed back here?"
"It's a PJ thing. My class got them when we graduated."
"What's it signify?"
"The Jolly Green Giant. It's a nickname for the Pave Low helicopters, before they got pulled from service. Tradition started with some of our guys back in ‘Nam."
The mattress shifted as she moved, and then he felt the brush of her long hair over his backs of his thighs. She placed both hands on his lower back just above his ass, and leaned forward to press her lips to the scars. Already semi-erect, his cock went rock hard when she flicked her moist tongue against his skin. “Are you trying to kiss and make it better?"
"Something like that.” Her tongue laved over the scars to the top of his right butt cheek, where she nipped lightly at the tattoo. “Is it working?"
"Think so."
In answer, Jessie nuzzled and kissed her way up his spine until her warm breath fanned the nape of his neck. Then she stretched out on top of him, blanketing him with her smooth, soft body. Christ, she felt good.
Her hands trailed over his shoulders and arms, squeezing and kneading like she couldn't get enough of feeling his muscles. Another huge turn on. “Anything else you'd like me to kiss?"
The corners of his lips tugged up in a smile. “Yeah."
"Mmm, good. I'm hungry."
He knew she'd loved sucking his cock last night, and by the sounds of it, she was more than eager to do it again. How fucking hot was that? Wearing a grin, he turned over, and her gaze instantly went to his rock-hard erection. Her hand curled around him, cool and soft. Delicious.
He bit back a groan and wrapped his fingers around hers, guiding her hand over him in slow, firm strokes, showing her what he wanted. Her eyes flared with instant desire, and she bent toward him, bringing her delectable mouth toward his aching flesh. He threaded one hand into her curls and palmed the back of her head, the other holding his erect cock up for her mouth. Those luscious pink lips parted, and the sight of her moist tongue gliding over them made his erection jerk. His eyes closed at her first delicate kiss on the sensitive head, every muscle in his body drawn taut with anticipation.
Then his land line rang.
Deke growled in annoyance. He didn't want to answer it, but it was barely dawn. Through the dissipating fog of lust, unease bloomed in his chest. Gently easing Jessie away, he rolled over and grabbed the phone. When he saw Dillon's number, his heart beat faster and he answered it. “What's wrong?"
"I need you to do a perimeter check with me."
Deke swung his legs over the side of the bed, instantly on alert. “Why, what happened?"
"Someone's been trespassing again. I found some fences cut, some cattle missing. A couple poorly tended bonfires and plenty of empty beer cans."
"Shit.” They hadn't had much rain so far this spring, and the ground was unusually dry. Stupid teenagers could've set the whole ranch on fire.
Jessie sat up with a worried frown and put a hand on his shoulder. He took it automatically and squeezed it to reassure her.
"Why the hell didn't you call me?” he growled.
"I just did."
Yeah, the morning after. “Jesus Christ, you're a stubborn bastard.” He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Yeah, it's genetic. Meet me at the corral in ten."
Deke hung up and reached for his clothes.
"What's going on?” Jessie asked, an anxious frown creasing her forehead.
He told her, squeezing her shoulder to reassure her. “Everything's fine now. Whoever it was is long gone by now. I wouldn't leave you here if I wasn't sure you'd be safe, but call the lodge if you need us. They can get hold of us on our walkie talkies.” Tugging his shirt over his head, he bent and gave her a swift kiss. “Not sure when I'll be back."
"It's okay. Go."
Dillon had Deke's horse saddled and ready when Deke got to the corral. With one look at his big brother's haggard face, most of Deke's anger drained away. The guy looked like shit, and with the shadows beneath his blue eyes, evidently he hadn't slept in a while.
Deke shook his head. “You shoulda called me last night."
Dillon handed him the reins and looked away. “Ready to do this?"
"Hell yeah.” Armed with rifles, they started out to begin the security sweep and Dillon finally filled him in on all the details. Including the part when he found a bunch of bullet casings amongst all the empties.
But had the stubborn idiot called for backup after that? No. He'd gone and fixed the breaks in the fence by flashlight, gone and rounded up the missing cattle by himself, despite knowing drunken trespassers might be out there with loaded weapons. Dillon was a deadly shot and would never check the perimeter without being armed, but that wasn't the point. Deke's jaw got tighter and tighter as he stewed, until he thought he might crack a molar.
"Before you say it, I wasn't going to call you in the middle of the night over some punk teenagers,” Dillon muttered.
Deke glared at him. “Yeah. Drunk,
armed
teenagers.” He shook his head.
Dillon shrugged. “I figured you and Jessie had already had enough excitement for one night. I had the situation under control."
When Dillon used that clipped tone, Deke knew the conversation was over. They rode the fence line in silence until Deke decided to test the waters. “So. How are things with you and Charissa?"
His brother's shoulders bunched up like Deke had punched him. “Fine, I guess."
"Oh, that good?"
Dillon's blue eyes hardened like steel, but not before Deke caught a shocking flash of pain there. “Leave it alone."
"Okay. Sorry, man.” Damn. His big brother had fallen, and hard. The landing seemed to have just about killed him, but obviously Dillon was through with any conversation about the mysterious Charissa.
The midday sun beat down on them, creating shimmering heat waves on the ground. Deke raised his hat and wiped a forearm across his damp forehead. Nothing tripped his radar while they finished the sweep, and he was glad.
"You and Jessica seem to be pretty intense,” Dillon said as they started the trip back to the corral.
It surprised Deke his brother would say anything about it. “Yeah.” Intense was right. She'd wormed her way inside him good and tight, and he had no idea what to do about that. They had less than a day left together. All he wanted was to ride back to his cabin and feel her naked and willing beneath him as he made her surrender to the need eating at them both.
The horses plodded along at a steady pace, their gleaming coats streaked with sweat.
"You're right,” Dillon finally muttered, staring out at the rolling hills. “I should've called you. I'm sorry."
Deke glanced at him in shock, then chuckled. Somewhere beneath them, Hell had just frozen over. “How'd those words taste coming out of your mouth?"
Dillon's grim expression transformed into a reluctant grin. “Like shit."
Jessie smiled in relief when the door opened and Deke came in, holding a brown paper bag. “Where've you been? Is everything okay?” she asked as she wrapped herself around him. Almost five hours had passed, and she'd been worried about him.
His arms closed around her, hugging tight. “Everything's fine. I had to check the perimeter with Dillon and then run into San Antonio. Sorry it took so long."
"You're forgiven.” She sighed against his chest, content to stay there forever. He felt amazing, and knowing he cared about her warmed her inside.
His eyes twinkled with mischief when she looked up at him. “What?” she demanded.
"I bought you something while I was in town today.” He set the bag on the table.
She released him and stepped back, eyeing the gift. “What is it?"
A smile played around the corners of his mouth. “You'll see."
She knew that tone. “Is it going to make me blush?"
"Oh, yeah.” He wound a hand around her nape and tugged her close for a kiss. “But you'll love it in the end."
Okay, that sounded...foreboding. She frowned, but he merely laughed and kissed her forehead before covering her mouth with his. She melted and opened for the soft stroke of his tongue, every nerve ending in her body magically sparkling to life. He tasted like coffee and cinnamon and smelled like sin. The man was addictive. After one night in his arms she felt transformed. Free. She wanted more of the tender, dominant lovemaking he'd showed her.
He pulled off her tank top and jeans, and when he saw her black push-up bra and barely-there lace thong, his eyes flared like the blue flame of a match strike. She stayed absolutely still and watched him undress her, loving the hunger in his expression. A muscle flexed in his jaw as he let her bra fall to the floor and hooked his fingers in the waistband of her panties to tug them down her legs. She was already wet and tingling from the feel of his eyes on her and the confident touch of his hands.
Deke yanked back the sheets and tugged her down on the bed. Straddling her hips, he stripped off his shirt, baring the hard planes of his torso to her ravenous gaze. He smiled at the hungry sound she made and let her pet him for a moment before seizing her wrists and pinning them on either side of her head. She pouted up at him, but he only chuckled and kissed her, his tongue an erotic rasp against hers.