Jesse (21 page)

Holding the door open, he waited for her to pass through before quietly closing it.

“It's so beautiful out here.”

He wasn't sure if she meant the porch or the ranch so he asked her.

Laughing softly, she told him, “Both. I'm not used to the wide-open spaces, but it's awful pretty. The quiet is unnerving at first, but I could really grow accustomed to it.”

“You lived in the city before?”

“Well, not quite big enough to be a city, but we had sidewalks and streetlights.”

He snickered. “We don't need streetlights out here.” Lifting his glass high, he gestured to the sky. “We've got something better.”

The moon was three-quarters full and shining brightly over the corral.

“We couldn't always see the moon from our house.”

He sensed there was something more she'd been about to say, so he asked, “Do you miss it?”

Danielle shook her head and a lock of hair brushed against his shoulder. Unable to resist, he lifted the lock and brushed it against his cheek. “It's like silk.”

It was impossible to see the color of her eyes, but he remembered how they'd deepened to sapphire before she'd come apart in his arms. Leaning toward her, he waited a moment to give her a chance to refuse. She set her mug on the floor and he pulled her hard against him.

“Dani darlin', you're making me crazy.” His lips covered hers gently at first, slowly increasing the pressure and angle until she moaned low in her throat. The moment he'd been waiting for, his tongue tangled with hers and amped up the pressure building inside of him.

Coming up for air, they held on to one another, her eyes misty with passion. “Are you gonna make me beg, Dani?”

When his lips traced the line of her cheekbone, finding the sweet spot beneath her ear, she melted against him. She turned in his arms until they were face-to-face. “I want you so badly, Jesse, that it scares me.”

He brushed the hair back from her forehead and did something he'd never done before—talked when all he wanted to do was delve deep into her welcoming warmth. “You shouldn't be afraid of me,” he rasped. “I'd never hurt you, darlin'.”

She shook her head. “I've heard that before—”

He fought to keep a lid on his temper. “Not from me.”

She looked up into his eyes and sighed. “No, from the man I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with… look how well that turned out.”

Jesse tipped up her chin with his knuckles. “I'd say pretty well. That daughter of yours is something special.”

Tears filled her eyes and spilled over. “I've never regretted, Lacy… she's the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Your ex must be an idiot to let the two of you just walk away.”

She hunched her shoulders forward and hung her head. “We didn't.”

“Then—” The haunted look in her eye had him changing the subject. “I don't know how we got started talking when all I want to do is kiss you.” He nipped the edge of her jaw, then soothed it with a kiss.

She leaned closer. “Let's not talk anymore.”

Jesse vowed he'd get to the bottom of Danielle's story, but not right yet…

Smoothing his hands over her shoulders, slipping the shirt down so both shoulders were exposed, he sampled the satin-smooth skin from nape to shoulder and back again, until she was vibrating beneath his touch, moaning softly.

“Tell me what you want, darlin'.” He nipped her collarbone and teased it with his tongue.

“You,” she rasped.

He drew in a breath to keep from devouring her. With a choke hold on his libido, he stroked his fingertips up and down her spine, each time getting closer to the hem of the T-shirt she wore. Just when she started to writhe beneath his touch, he moved his hands, cupping her tantalizing backside.

“Oh God,” Danielle rasped, arching her back like a cat, pressing her breasts against him, stretching his control to the breaking point. Shifting her onto his lap, he captured her mouth and kissed her hard, deep, as he slid her legs so they straddled him and her warm hot center was pressed against his zipper.

“Let me love you, Dani,” he rasped, stroking his hands from her shoulders, along the length of her spine to her curvaceous backside.

When she squirmed in his lap, he slid his fingertips along her taut and toned thighs, down her calves to her ankles. Scooting forward to the edge of the swing seat, he gently tugged until she locked her legs around his waist and pressed her sweetest spot against him.

He moaned low in his throat as her heat tormented him, tempted him to lose himself in the woman in his arms.

The last shred of his control held him back, waiting for her to answer.

***

“Jesse, I…” She couldn't speak as his lips teased her and his hands tormented her, driving her higher.

“What?” he rasped, pressing a kiss to her heart. “Tell me.”

“What if someone hears us?” They were on the back porch and in full view of anyone who happened to look out the back door.

He nodded and slowly stoked the fires burning just beneath the surface with lips, tongue, and hands until she wanted to scream out in frustration. She wanted to revel in the strength of him as he took her over the edge.

As if sensing her withdrawal, he ground out, “Hold on tight,” and stood. With one large hand cupping her backside and her legs locked around his waist, he strode over past the barn to the bunkhouse. He opened the door and closed it, enveloping them in darkness broken only by a thin shaft of moonlight coming in the far window.

“We've already made up the beds for when my cousins arrive. What do you say we try out that one over there?” He pointed to the last bunk… the one by the moonlit window.

Overcome by need, desperate with want, she laid her head on his chest.

Taking that as a yes, he walked over to the bed and wrapped his hands around her ankles, urging her to let go. When she did, he swept her onto her back on the bed. While she watched, he toed off his boots, pulled off his socks, and undid his button fly jeans… one button at a time.

Her eyes were glued to his hands; she couldn't look away. When the last button slid free, his jeans slipped down to his hips, but got caught on his erection.

She giggled and he lifted a brow. “You laughing at me, Dani darlin'?”

“No, never… it's just that I didn't get a good look the other day and you're so… um… impressive.”

He grinned down at her and shimmied the rest of the way out of his jeans. Crawling up the bed until he'd pinned her to the mattress, he rasped, “You ready to be impressed, darlin'?”

The words tumbled down her throat as the heat of him pressed against her belly.

He kissed her until she curled herself around him and begged him to ease the ache inside of her.

“Soon,” he promised a moment before he sat back and reached for his jeans. Fishing in the pocket, he held up the small square foil packet and ripped it open with his teeth. “Gotta protect you first.”

Fascinated, she watched him slip the condom on from tip to base, already knowing how good it would feel when the length of him stretched inside of her. She nipped his chin with her teeth and teased his mouth with quick little bites followed by tender-soft kisses. He moved again and she hesitated, confiding, “You're beautiful.”

His snort of laughter caught her by surprise and had her insecurities roaring back. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Hell no, woman. No one's ever told me that before.” He grabbed a hold of her shirt and pulled it over her head. His short, sharp breath and groan of desire arrowed through her. “I just didn't expect it right now.”

She shifted beneath him, and he pressed his full weight against her, trapping her. His gaze devoured her as he rasped, “I can't wait to fill you.”

The strain in his voice sounded surprised her. “Are you in pain?”

“Darlin', you're killing me.” He lowered his head to the valley between her breasts and placed tantalizingly soft, sweet kisses along the fullness of her curves.

His mouth heated with each press of his lips, burning inside of her until it threatened to flare out of control. The tip of his tongue flicked first one nipple and then the other.

Lost in the sensations rocketing through her, she reveled in the sensation of his callused hands cupping and molding her breasts. “Jesse,” she rasped, spiraling downward into a maelstrom of desire that threatened to swallow her whole.

He lifted her hips off the bed and stripped her panties off.

Sliding her hands down, she gripped his muscled backside with both hands, dug her fingers in, and pulled him closer, to where she ached for him to fill her.

“That's it, darlin',” he groaned. “Take what you want.”

He shifted and slid into her welcoming warmth, losing himself even as he gave to her. Picking up the rhythm, he drove her up onto the ledge, stretching her out on a rack of passion, until she'd thought she'd explode.

Desperate for release, needing to take him with her, she pressed her lips to his neck and bit down as she drove her hips up and he took her over the edge into madness.

Lifting her hand had never been this difficult after making love, but she had to know… with her thumb and forefinger, she pinched the amazing backside she'd held on to as her world shattered into a thousand pieces.

“Hey!” Jesse placed his hands on either side of Danielle's head and lifted up. “What was that for?”

She stared up at him and licked her lips. “I'm not dreaming!”

The rumble coming from deep inside of him sounded suspiciously like a laugh. She frowned, but before she could say anything, he lowered himself onto one elbow and brushed the tips of his fingers along her cheekbone. “Dani, if this is a dream, I never wanna wake up.”

His words and his tender touch eased the worry that had started to surface when she thought she'd been dreaming.

“Is it always like this for you?”

He paused, a wrinkle forming between his dark brows. “Define ‘like this.'”

Suddenly shy, she closed her eyes. Searching for the right words, she drew in a sharp breath as his lips touched first one eyelid and then the other. Contentment spread from her belly to her toes. When his lips touched her forehead and then the tip of her nose, it spread all the way to her heart.

Ignoring the warning signals her head kept trying to send, she wrapped her arms around his back and pressed her cheek against his broad chest and sighed.

“You can't hide forever, darlin'. Sooner or later, you'll have to answer me.”

“I'm not hiding… exactly,” Danielle confessed. “I just don't want to sound naive.”

Wrapping his arms around her, Jesse rolled until they were on their sides. Trailing the tips of his fingers from her shoulder to her hip, he waited, watching her until she realized he was waiting for her to explain.

“I'm not that experienced and the last time we didn't exactly go slow… but still…” His lips twitched, but he didn't smile, which was a good thing because if he had, she was out of there. “Not that it's any of your business, but my ex was the second man I'd been with.”
And
he
didn't think to protect me.

He lifted her chin with his knuckle and gently pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was as soft as a sigh. “Darlin', that wasn't what I wanted to know. I wanted to know which part of our makin' love surprised you. Did you enjoy it as much as your body tells me?”

She looked away from him, but he turned her face until she had no choice but to answer him. “All of it,” she whispered. “No one's ever made me feel wanted and desired like you have—twice now.”

He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, the heat in his gaze had her belly twitching and her core weeping. “The thought of makin' love to you has had me twisted inside out and backwards since the day I saw your curvy little backside bent over the hood of your car on the side of the road.”

She cleared her throat. “Really?”

He rolled on top of her and kissed her long, hard, and deep. “Let me show you.”

Instead of settling between her legs, he shifted and leaned over the bed again.

“Do you seriously have another condom in your pocket?” Danielle couldn't believe it.

“Yes, ma'am,” he rumbled. “That's the beauty of a three-pack.”

So many thoughts swirled around in her brain, but one kept surfacing—Jesse wanted her, but he also wanted to protect her. Reveling in the newfound feeling of being the sole focus of Jesse Garahan's desire had her giddy with pleasure.

“Why hasn't any other woman staked her claim on you?” It didn't make sense. He was such a handsome man, but more, he was dedicated to his family and saving their ranch; he was hardworking and the very devil in bed.

“How do you know they haven't?”

That threw her for a loop. “OK,” she admitted. “Why don't you have a woman in your life?”

“I'm working on it, Dani darlin'.” His eyes gleamed and the passion in his eyes had her heart singing.

He grinned, eased back, and opened another foil packet. With his hands on her hips he held on to her as he dipped his head to taste her mouth. “So what do you say? You want to be my woman?”

“Yes!” She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close as he lifted his hips and thrust so deep, she felt him touching her womb. Her moan of ecstasy was quickly followed by his groan of desire.

“Come with me, baby,” he urged, picking up the pace, filling her, and then sliding out until just the tip of his erection remained inside of her.

Rolling his hips, he teased her until she grabbed a hold of his hair with both hands and demanded, “Now!”

He tilted his head back, gripped her backside, and filled her to the hilt. The heat of his body and strength in his hands sent her shooting over the edge. He hung on as his body emptied into hers.

With his palms spread across her cheeks, he tilted backwards and they fell onto the mattress.

“Darlin',” he rasped, breathing hard. “You pack a lethal punch.”

She snuggled against him and closed her eyes. “Same goes, darlin',” she whispered, drifting off to sleep.

The kiss to her belly felt so wonderful she moaned and reached for him. “Mmmm… you still have energy?”

He nipped her hipbone and soothed the skin with his lips. “I can't get enough of you, Danielle. You're like a drug in my blood… addictive… I've got to have you—just once more?”

She knew she should probably go back inside so Lacy wouldn't wake up to find her momma gone. “I should probably go back.”

His answer was to slide his tongue from her belly up an invisible line to the hollow of her throat. Tasting and teasing, he gorged himself on first one breast and then the other. Suckling and then sucking until she cried out for him.

Sheathed and ready to please, he paused at her heated entrance, waiting while she trembled with want, need for him twisting her into tight, taut knots until she thought she'd go mad. “Jesse,” she rasped.

He didn't make her beg; he pounded into her like a man desperate to mate to ensure the survival of his race. She met his powerful thrusts and was rewarded as he whispered her name a heartbeat before she came undone.

***

“I don't think I'll be able to walk,” she confessed.

He lifted his head and couldn't resist just one more kiss. Her lips tasted like honey, her mouth felt like silk, and her lovin' went to his head like twelve-year-old Irish whiskey.

“I'll carry you back.”

She shook her head. “Aren't you tired?”

“I feel like I could climb a mountain,” he admitted. “Your lovin' makes me feel energized, ready to roll.”

She looked up at him. “I hate to ask you, but I don't know if my legs will work… it must be from wrapping them around your waist for so long.”

His gut clenched as want for the woman in his arms spread from there to his fingertips. Digging deep for control, he eased back and smiled. “I'm gonna be sore later.”

Concern filled her gaze. “Did I hurt you?”

He leaned in for a swift kiss. Tempting him to do more, but it was late, and he didn't want anyone asking questions… well, more than they probably would when he walked downstairs with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Not a bit. I'm just out of practice 's all.”

Her smile warmed him from the inside out. “We'd better get dressed.”

She reached for her T-shirt and pulled it over her head, and he wished they'd had more time. There was this little mole beneath her right breast that he hadn't had a chance to taste.

Slipping into his jeans he thought,
There's always tonight
. Reality and the simple fact that she lived in town and he lived almost an hour away had him swearing. “Damn, Dani, when can I see you again?”

“Well,” she said, bending over to look for her panties. “It'll be light in a few hours and you'll be giving Lacy another riding lesson…” Her voice trailed off as she found what she'd been looking for slung across his boots.

Picking them up, she shimmied into them and wobbled on her feet. He reached out to steady her. “Here hold these.” He handed her his boots and lifted her into his arms. “Hang on, Dani darlin'.”

“I'm not too heavy?”

“You don't hardly weigh more than a kitten.”

She snorted and buried her head in the crook of his neck. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

He kissed her as he carried her outside. Careful not to misstep in the semidarkness, he made his way over to the back porch and set her down. “I want to take you upstairs to my bed.”

She shook her head, “Not yet, Lacy—”

“I know,” he said. “Tomorrow night?”

She smiled up at him and placed her hand in the middle of his chest and nodded. “Good night, Jesse.”

After an all too brief kiss, she disappeared inside. Steeling himself not to chase after her and cart her off to his bed, he sat down on the back step, pulled his boots on, and swore—he'd left his socks in the bunkhouse. Not only that, he had a bed to strip and sheets to wash.

Making his way back, he found his socks, toed off his boots, and put them back on. He noticed his shirt lying on the floor next to the bed and shook his head. “Damn, but that woman packs a lethal punch.”

Stripping the bed, he noticed a faint glimmer reflecting off the window. Not enough time to wash the sheets. What the hell would he do with them? Looking around, he realized he couldn't stash them here. Wadding them up, he hauled them back to the house and dumped them on his floor. Exhausted, but satisfied beyond his wildest dreams, he fell face-first onto the bed.

He had two hours before he had to get up and he was gonna use both of them to recharge.

His last thought before he drifted off to sleep was that he had to convince Dani and Lacy to stay at the Circle G for a few more days.

***

“I picked up the mug and glass you left by the swing last night.”

Ronnie looked at Emily and shook her head. “Dylan and I didn't sit outside last night.”

“Oh, well then, who…” Emily started to say and then she smiled. “Hmmm… sounds like someone else was making use of the swing last night.”

Ronnie grinned. “It's so romantic sitting out there in the moonlight.”

Emily was staring out the back door. “Ronnie, do you think we should bring blankets out to the bunkhouse?”

Ronnie thought about it and added a dash more milk to the batter and stirred briskly. “I'm not sure if their cousins are used to East Texas weather, but we might as well bring them over later, just in case they need them.”

***

“Hey, Ty, were you over in the bunkhouse this morning?” Dylan wheeled the wheelbarrow into the barn, picked up the pitch fork he'd been using, and started on the next stall.

Tyler paused and looked over at this brother. “No, why?”

Dylan shrugged. “The door's open and we usually keep it closed to keep varmints out.”

Tyler leaned on his pitchfork. “Did you look inside?”

“No. I noticed it while I was dumping the straw, but it didn't sink in. Hell, Tyler, you know I'm not that sharp until I've had that second cup of coffee.”

“We're almost finished up here,” Tyler said, forking up another load of soiled straw. “Then we'll go check it out.”

Dylan put his back into it and then paused. “Have you seen our little brother this morning?”

Tyler nodded. “Damn fool was whistling while he was tearing apart the fuel pump on the tractor.”

“And you didn't think that was odd?”

“We're talking about our little brother here.” Tyler hefted the wheelbarrow and wheeled it outside. Dylan put the pitchforks away and followed.

When Tyler had stowed the wheelbarrow, they walked to the bunkhouse, steering clear of where their brother was working on the tractor. “Door's usually closed.”

Standing inside the doorway, Dylan mumbled. “Looks like everything's as it should be.”

Tyler shrugged and turned around. “Pat's not coming, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just checking to see if the girls made up enough beds.” Tyler stared down the row of twin beds and noticed the last one was pushed off to the side and devoid of sheets. “They must have been in a hurry.”

Dylan had been about to leave, but he turned around to ask, “What makes you say that?”

Tyler pointed to the last bed. “Every other bed is lined up perpendicular to the wall and made up, except that one.”

“Is that so?” Dylan stepped around his brother to investigate. When he got down on one knee, Tyler started walking toward him, but when his brother started to laugh, Tyler hesitated.

“What's so funny?”

Dylan held up an empty foil packet. “Seems like somebody got busy out here last night.”

They shared a smile as Dylan tucked the packet into his back pocket. “I need coffee if I'm gonna lay into our brother about taking advantage of a certain little blonde divorcée.”

Tyler straightened the bed so it matched the others and they headed to the house for breakfast.

They were still chuckling when they opened the back door. “Morning, darlin'.” Dylan walked over and kissed the side of Ronnie's neck. The wooden spoon dropped to the floor as she swayed toward her husband.

Tyler swept his fiancée into his embrace and kissed her. “Whatcha making, Ronnie?”

“Hmmm?” His sister-in-law was too wrapped up in kissing his brother to pay Tyler any mind.

“What's in the bowl?”

“Oh,” Ronnie said, pushing out of Dylan's arms. “Pancakes.”

Dylan grinned and pulled her back for a quick but meaningful kiss. “She means flapjacks.”

Ronnie shook her head. “Why do you call them that?”

“What do you call them pancakes?” Tyler countered.

Emily laughed. “How about we agree to call them breakfast?” Turning toward Tyler she asked, “Are you ready for more coffee?”

“Desperate enough to hold off ravishing you until I get one.”

The first thing Danielle heard as she walked down the stairs was Emily's laughter. Still smiling herself, after the late night rendezvous with the dark-haired cowboy who had turned her world upside down, she hurried to the kitchen to make sure Lacy hadn't been getting in the way.

She froze in the doorway. Tyler and Dylan were sitting at the table drinking coffee while Emily and Ronnie were making breakfast… Lacy was nowhere in sight. “Oh, I thought Lacy was helping you.”

Ronnie looked up and smiled. “She was, but when Jesse came in for coffee, she tagged along after him. Since he said he'd watch out for her, we didn't think you'd mind.”

“Uh… no.” Danielle tried to cover up the fact that she was feeling left out.

“He's behind the barn.” Tyler lifted his mug, but then didn't take a sip. Danielle had the odd feeling that he was waiting for her to say something. When she didn't he added, “By the bunkhouse.”

Heat rushed up from her toes as memories of last night's loving filled her to bursting. Her cheeks felt warm, and she hoped no one noticed.

Tyler's grin was just this side of wicked and mirrored by Dylan. The brothers lifted their mugs to her, as if in silent salute, and drank.

“OK,” Ronnie said, hands on her hips. “What's going on?”

“Yeah.” Emily crossed her arms beneath her breasts and stared at the men.

“I, uh, think I'll go find Lacy.” Danielle couldn't get out of the kitchen fast enough. Did they know how she and Jesse had spent the last part of the night? Walking briskly across the yard, she bypassed the barn and practically ran past the bunkhouse as memories of last night filled her.

“So what's that for?” Lacy was asking Jesse from where she sat perched on an overturned bucket next to the tractor.

“It's the gas line,” Jesse answered. “And probably the real problem—it's clogged.” He shook his head and pulled the one end free. “Damn, and I just finished rebuilding the fuel pump… should have checked the gas line first.”

Lacy got up and walked over to Jesse. Leaning close, she whispered, “You just said a bad word.”

His delighted laughter warmed Danielle's heart, but the sight of his black Stetson bent low next to her daughter's hot pink one had her stumbling and nearly pitching to the ground.

Jesse looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Hey there, gorgeous.”

At a total loss for words, Danielle stopped and stared at him.

He frowned. “Don't tell me no one's ever told you how beautiful you were before?”

Lacy laughed. “Unca Jimmy tells her, 'cept he says prettier than a June bug.”

Jesse's look turned thoughtful. “That a fact?”

“Uh-huh,” Lacy said. “But I think she's beautiful.”

He nodded. “She sure is,” he said. “And that's why you're beautiful too.”

Lacy seemed to be hanging on his every word. “I am?”

He laughed and pulled Lacy in for a hug. “Yes, ma'am. Your momma must have looked just like you when she was your size.”

“Is that why Unca Jimmy calls me little June bug?”

Jesse nodded as he let her go. “'Cause you're pretty just like your momma.”