Rough Stock (22 page)

But just a bit.

He didn’t rip her clothes off or feel the need to anymore, but he still wanted to see her. In those few seconds when he’d come so close to losing her, everything in him had crystallized, sharpened to daggers inside him. Rowan was
his
. And Seth was going to take her. It was why he hadn’t been able to sleep and come in the first place.

She leaned against him, shuddering now only with every deep breath, tears ebbing.

“Shh,” he whispered into her ear as he slid his hands down her stomach. His fingers worked slowly, but with purpose, as he popped each button, revealing silky smooth skin underneath.

Rowan leaned into him, resting the back of her head in the hollow of his shoulder.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he told her. “I’ve got you now.”

He pushed her away just enough to slip off the blouse. He brought his mouth down on her shoulder, savoring her. And he knew it was just the start. Rowan Archer wasn’t leaving this room until Seth had tasted every inch of her. He tugged down the straps of her bra, unfastened it with ease, and let it fall to the hardwood floor in front of them.

He could see the swell of her breasts, their swollen points, and he rasped his palm over one, making her gasp. Ravenous with a hunger he could no longer put off, he snaked an arm around her waist, drew her back to the bed, and pulled her between his knees as he lowered himself to sit on the edge of the mattress. He took her hard nipple into his mouth, sucking hard enough to leave a bruise. She whimpered a bit, but he didn’t care. Rowan was rough stock, wild at heart, just like the land around them, just like Seth himself was.

They only gave off the illusion of being tamed.

He bit her, just slightly, before stating his case. Reluctantly, he dragged his mouth away but still pressed his lips to her salty skin. “You’re mine, Rowan. I’ve marked you,” he growled. “Once, at least,” he amended and looked up at her.

The tears had stopped, and she was gazing down at him, cheeks flushed, eyes bright.

“Give me the other one,” he ordered as he gripped her waist. He could have yanked her forward, done it without asking, but as much as Seth wanted to take, he wanted Rowan to
give
.

She hesitated for the barest of seconds before sliding her palm under her other breast and leaning in, offering it to him.

He swirled the tight bud first with his tongue before taking it into his mouth.

Rowan threaded her hands into his hair, arching her back while pulling him closer.

He tore his mouth away again and licked between her breasts, enjoying the nervous quiver of her belly as he took a long, slow swipe of her skin. The hunger inside him only grew, became unbearable. He finally pulled her down to the bed, onto her back, and tugged off her boots, one at a time, until he could slide off her jeans.

She lay naked, spread out like a feast laid out just for him. And she wanted him, he could tell, writhing as she was on the sheets, but she wouldn’t ask him for anything. He knew she wouldn’t.

Seth knew everything about this woman before him. How much she sacrificed for her family, how hard she worked. She was his mirror, his reflection—a woman who put everyone else before
herself,
and at that moment, Seth vowed to change that. As much as he wanted to take her right now, empty himself into her, he didn’t. He held back. He waited.

She deserved that much.

He peeled off his shirt, kicked off his own boots, and undid his belt. Seth watched her watching him as he revealed his cock. It bounced, thick and hard, off his belly as he stood up,
stood over her
, fighting his own selfish desires to bury himself in her heat and mark her in a more satisfying way.

“Spread your legs,” he demanded. “Let me see all of you.”

Slowly, Rowan set her feet on the bed and parted her knees.

Seth was pleased to see a glistening wetness there.

“I need you,” Rowan whispered.

Seth understood the sentiment, could return it tenfold, but he shook his head. “It’s not going to be like that.”

He moved down onto the bed slowly, lips grazing her belly, then lower. His heated breath between her legs seemed to ignite some nervousness in her. She grabbed at him, clutching his shoulders.

“Seth?!”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he assured her. “Just open for me. Let me taste you.”

Rowan hesitated, and Seth thought he might need a bit more persuasion, but finally, gloriously, she spread her thighs for him, giving him another unparalleled view of her slit. He licked her slowly, dragging his tongue along the length of her damp seam.

Rowan’s hips lifted off the bed, and she cried out as Seth pushed his tongue inside. After a few minutes, he saw tears of frustration streaming out of the corners of her eyes.

Seth pushed in his fingers so she wouldn’t lose the rhythm as he spoke. “
Don’t hold back, Rowan,
” he growled angrily. “
Let yourself go
.”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at him. “But—”

Seth flexed his fingers deep inside her tight channel, causing her to gasp. “There are so many ways I can pleasure you, Rowan. Don’t hold back with me. Come. Any way. Every way.
Come for me
.” He pressed his lips to her swollen ones again, and this time Rowan shuddered, belly clenching, hands tearing at the sheets. She flooded his mouth, and he lapped up every drop greedily.

Before she fully came down off her high, he drew himself over her.

He held his body above hers, arms steady, waiting. Since the day he’d first held her in his arms, he’d thought about this moment so many times. He’d never taken a woman bare before and didn’t much care if she got pregnant tonight, but given what she’d been through, he’d let her do the choosing.

“Rowan?” he asked. “Do we need protection?”

She shook her head. “It’s okay,” she panted. “It’s safe.”

Seth pushed into her heated core, skin against skin. It was electric, all-consuming, and somehow he knew he’d never be the same again.

‡

R
owan nearly shattered
from a second orgasm the very moment Seth buried himself deep inside her. It had been a while since she’d taken a man to bed, and it had
never
been like this. He crushed his mouth to hers, and she tasted herself on his lips. His mouth and his hands couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Their coupling was raw and frenzied, both of them, she realized, starving for each other.

Seth was over her, taking her hard, but somehow managed to retain the gentleness she’d come to love about him. The way he cradled her head with one arm and pressed his other hand to the mattress to keep his weight off her spoke to a tenderness that Rowan had never experienced with another man.

She wanted to cry, all over again, but for an entirely different reason. A short cry did rip from her throat, and she was overcome by emotion, by this man on top of her, inside her. As he rocked into her, over and over, she was suddenly so aware of how alone she’d been all these years, even when she’d been with someone else.

“Come for me again, Rowan,” Seth demanded, dragging her thoughts out of that well of despair. “Can you do that, sweetheart?” he asked while pounding inside her. “Can you come? While I’m…
right
…
here
?”

Each thrust pushed Rowan higher and higher, closer to the edge of oblivion.

His lips found her ear, and he whispered, “I can go all night, if you need it.”

Somehow she sensed that was true, that Seth would hold off from his own pleasure for as long as it took for her to reach her own. She didn’t want that, though. She wanted to finish with him…
begin with him
. She drew up her legs and wrapped them around his hips, ready for the ride of her life.

Seth delivered. In ways she’d never dared to hope for. He slipped his hand underneath her, cupping her ass, and drove into her in a steady, unrelenting rhythm. That awe-inspiring cock she’d seen when he’d undressed was stretching and filling her, rubbing that spot that made her whole body ache with need. She struggled to stay quiet when every nerve ending was still singing.

“You’re so wet, Rowan,” he groaned. “So wet. Oh God. You want me this much?
I want you more.
”

It was heaven, being underneath this man. Rowan never wanted it to end, but it did, and with a rush of heat, a zapping of pent-up electricity, she came, harder than she ever knew was possible. Her pussy throbbed and clenched and tried to hold onto his shaft for as long as she could. Seth never lost the rhythm. He pounded her through her orgasm, nearly galloping toward his own. With a deep-throated cry, he finally came, pulsing inside her. Rowan gripped his ass, pulled him in close, as though they could somehow stay joined like this forever.

Seth seemed to feel the same way, because instead of rolling off her, he finally pinned her with his weight, crushing her breasts against his own bare chest, tickling her neck with his warm breath.

Rowan bit his shoulder gently, marking him the way he’d marked her.

Seth chuckled above her, and the rumbling in his chest was deep timbered and pleasant. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “I’m yours.
And you’re mine.
” He burrowed deeper into the hollow of her shoulder. “I almost lost you,” he whispered. A shudder passed through him, as though losing her was the worst thing he could imagine.

He finally moved off her, and Rowan protested the loss of him with a sigh. He pulled her to him, though, and they huddled together under the blanket.

“Why’d you come tonight?” she asked, no longer afraid of the answer. Not after the intense claiming she’d just experienced.

“I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see you again,” he told her. “Now I might never be able to leave.” He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close.

Rowan watched his eyes close. She wished she could wipe away the heavy, dark circles underneath. He was exhausted, but he’d still taken care of her, twice,
always
.

They slept for a few hours, but not nearly enough, to Rowan’s way of thinking. In the dark, he lifted the sheet and blanket and slid away from her. Even semi-conscious, she reached for him to draw him back. When she realized he wasn’t coming, she opened her eyes and sat up. “You’re leaving?” she asked as she watched him pulling on his jeans.

He shook his head. “No, but I’m going to go on downstairs so that you don’t have to do any fast-talking to Willow about how I spent the night. We’ll put the dog in my truck and have Doc Chambers take a look at him. I just don’t want Willow to get confused about why I’m still here.”

“Well, we’re friends…” she said, testing the words out loud.

Seth looked up at her sharply. “We are
not
friends, Rowan,” he growled.

Heat pooled in her belly, ignited once again in spite of their recent coupling. Seth reached for her, and she trembled with excitement, but he simply leaned down, lifted her chin with a finger, and laid a soft, lingering kiss on her lips. “We have forever,” he said. “We can take it slow. I want to get this right. It’s complicated.”

Her heart sank a little because she knew he was right.
Forever
would take longer than just one incredible night.

She dressed and headed to Willow’s bedroom to wake the girl. “Honey, Seth’s here.”

Willow sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Seth?”

Rowan nodded. “To help get Kinka to the vet.”

Tired though she seemed, Willow jumped out of bed to pull on her clothes. They headed downstairs to find Seth seated on the couch next to Kinka, who gave them a thump of his tail in greeting.

“Mornin’, sweetheart,” Seth declared. “Did you sleep okay?”

Willow nodded.

“Did
you
, big guy?” Seth asked, looking at Kinka, who thumped his tail again happily.

Willow’s eyes went wide. “Will he be okay?”

“I think so. But we’re going to have Doc Chambers take a look. Just to be sure.”

Willow nodded as though that sounded like a good idea to her.

“Well, now, boy,” Seth said to Kinka. “Are you feeling well enough for me to lift you this time?” He wrapped his arms around the dog and heaved him off the couch and onto the floor.

The whole procession followed the dog slowly outside and down the porch stairs, with Kinka limping every step of the way.

Once they were outside, Rowan noticed Seth had taken a thick, blue tarp from the barn and now had it in the bed of his truck. She guessed that he’d gathered the carcasses of the wolves and hidden them, obviously intending to dispose of them himself. She was glad that Willow didn’t have to see them.

She was glad for the reprieve, too. Still, farm work was brutal, especially since it hadn’t provided the distraction she wanted. Nothing had been able to take her mind off Dad, or her growing feelings for Seth, or Court’s antics. All she could think about now was Seth’s body, pinning hers, his lips, his taste, his scent. She needed it again. And again and again. Rowan wasn’t certain how she’d ever get enough. Even just seeing him would be good enough—for now. Seeing his golden skin, dark eyes, and muscled frame would be enough of a fix until the sun went down again.