He stayed still for a moment, his arms braced and his chest heaving. “I’m glad I left the headlights on.”
“So you can see the sparkle?”
“Yeah. In your eyes.” He drew back and eased forward again. “I never realized how they light up when I do this.”
She ran her hands up his muscled arms and clutched his powerful shoulders. “So do yours. I couldn’t see your face very well in the hayloft.” And because of that, he’d remained a shadowy memory, one more easily relegated to her fantasy life.
But the man gazing down at her while he loved her with slow, steady strokes was not the least bit shadowy. His gray eyes focused intently on her face and the tiny lines at the corners crinkled as he subtly increased the pace. Faint stubble roughened the strong outline of his jaw, and his beautifully sculpted, highly kissable lips parted as his breathing became more ragged.
She would never forget the way he looked, poised above her like this, his eyes filled with the need to drive into her over and over. His neck and jaw muscles were tight. Instinctively she knew he was holding back his own orgasm until he’d given one to her.
“I love the way you move with me.” His eyes darkened as he changed to an even faster rhythm. “I love the way you lift your hips and meet me halfway. Like that, and, ah…like
that.
”
“Because when you push in deep it’s…so good. So very…” She gasped as she rose to meet him again. The pressure and friction set off little explosions of delight building to what she knew would be a mind-blowing orgasm.
Around them, the night was still, forming a silent backdrop for their labored breathing, the soft rumble of the truck’s engine and the intimate, liquid sound of his rhythmic strokes. Each time he made the connection that sent shock waves vibrating through her system, she whimpered in anticipation. He coaxed her closer…and closer yet. She moaned softly and dug her fingers into his shoulders.
“No need to be quiet.” He shifted his angle to bring more pressure on her clit. “This isn’t the hayloft. No one can hear you yell.”
“Guess…not.” A sense of freedom washed over her. She arched upward with a groan of intense pleasure.
“Open that beautiful mouth for me. Let it out.” He pumped faster.
Feeling reckless, she welcomed the next thrust with a joyful cry.
“That’s good. Again.”
The more she cried out, the more excited she became. Giving voice to her pleasure intensified it, hurling her toward her climax at warp speed.
“Now I want to hear you coming.” He bore down, his movements rapid and focused. “Go for it, Tyler. Be loud. I know you’re close. I can see it in your eyes.”
She gulped for air. “Be loud…with me.”
“I’m right behind you. That’s it…”
She yelled as the first wave hit. “Louder!”
“Oh, God! Alex!
Alex!
”
“Louder!”
Her climax lifted her right off the rock and she emptied her lungs in a wild cry of triumph that echoed through the trees.
True to his word, he followed with a deafening bellow as he plunged deep and shuddered against her, his cock pulsing. With a groan he pushed forward, as if to go even deeper.
She wrapped her legs around his, locking him in tight. Slowly he lowered himself until his weight was on his forearms and his body rested lightly against hers. His breath was hot as he nuzzled her throat and behind her ear.
He raked his teeth along the curve of her shoulder. “I could eat you up.”
She drifted in a dreamy haze, satisfied in a way she’d never been in her life. “Bet you didn’t bring the whipped cream.”
“No.” He licked the hollow of her throat. “Too bad, because you won’t be able to yell like that when you’re in my bed.”
“Being quiet can be fun, too.”
“With you, everything can be fun.” Leaning down, he flicked his tongue over her nipple. “I can hardly wait to squirt whipped cream all over your hot body and lick it off.”
“That’s if we ever leave this rock.” She couldn’t imagine moving. Apparently endorphins had made her oblivious to the rocky surface, because she could swear they were lying on a cloud.
“Oh, we’ll leave it.” He lifted his head and feathered a kiss over her lips. “Much as I like lying naked here with you, I’d rather not let the truck run out of gas and strand us on this rock.”
“How much gas is in it?”
“Don’t know. Didn’t check it when we left.” He nibbled on her lower lip. “Should have, I guess.”
“Maybe we should get up.”
“Mmm.” He settled in for another kiss.
Tyler realized that kissing Alex was an activity that was excellent all by itself. Even when she’d just had amazing sex with him, she still enjoyed every second of having his lips moving on hers because he was so good at it, so sensuous, so…
He lifted his mouth away a fraction. “Listen.”
Her heart raced as her imagination ran wild. “What do you hear? Footsteps? A bear? A moose? What?”
“I don’t hear anything, anything at all.” He lifted his head. “And that could be a problem.”
“Because?”
“I’m afraid the truck’s stopped running.”
“Are you saying—”
“We’re out of gas.” He paused. “Did you bring your cell phone?”
“No. Did you?”
“No.”
“So what are we going to do?”
He sighed. “Walk.”
9
“BUT WAIT.” Alex untangled himself from Tyler, and as cool air hit his overheated body, his brain started to work again. “This isn’t your fault, so it’s not fair to make you walk back. I’ll go to the house, get a can of gas and bring it here in a second truck. I’ll be fast. You can stay here.”
“Not happening.”
“No, seriously, it’ll be fine.” He turned away from her so he could deal with the condom. Before they left, he’d toss it in a bucket in the back of the truck where he’d put the other one.
“You think you’re going to leave me out here by myself?”
“You’d be perfectly safe. You can lock yourself in the truck if you’re worried about wild animals.” He felt like a total idiot for getting them into this fix. Running out of gas, for Chrissake. Teenagers did that kind of thing, not a grown man, and certainly not a self-confident cowboy.
But he’d do whatever it took to correct the situation. Too bad the whipped-cream fantasy would have to be sacrificed, but there was always tomorrow night, or the night after that. They had time…some, anyway.
“Alex, I’m not staying out here with the truck while you walk back. I’m going with you.”
He turned around to find her sorting through their damp clothes. “I won’t be gone long. We’re probably only about five or six miles from the house, so I can walk that in about an hour, maybe less if I jog part of it. I’ll be back to get you in an hour and a half, tops.”
“If you’re worried about me keeping up, I’m in good shape. The
Sea Goddess
has a weight room and a jogging track.” She stepped into her panties and pulled them over her hips.
He knew she was in good shape. He’d had his hands all over her tonight, and there wasn’t a bit of flab on her. She was all sleek, toned, sexy woman. “I’m sure you can make it fine.” He walked over to the pile of clothes to search for his briefs.
“Damn straight I can.”
“That’s not the issue. The issue is…look, I screwed up by not checking the gauge and noticing the tank was almost empty. I don’t want you hiking back to the house because of my stupidity. Stay here and relax.”
“No.” She pulled on her jeans next instead of searching for her bra.
As she buttoned and zipped her jeans, Alex took a moment to appreciate the sight of her standing topless in the headlights, her dark hair cascading down her back. Her breasts were truly a work of art. One lock of her hair had fallen forward over her shoulder and curled lovingly around her nipple. Alex wanted to step closer and tease her nipple with that tendril. And then he would…
stop thinking about that,
is what he would do. Right now.
He was the doofus who’d managed to strand them out here, so he needed to forget about sex and concentrate on fixing the mess he’d made. He located his jeans and shook them out. “Please stay here,” he said. “Let me take care of this.” He pulled on the jeans and his belt buckle clanked.
“No way.” Her gaze flicked over his belt and his open fly.
For one crazy moment he wanted to say the hell with going back to the ranch house. They had privacy and a generous supply of condoms. They could spend the night making noisy love and walk back in the morning.
But he had obligations in the morning. The open house began at ten. The ranch hands would be up before dawn, but they needed him there to supervise. The tractor barn had to be prepared, the setup for the music arranged and final touches made to the barn. Besides, he’d prefer this rendezvous with Tyler be kept on the down-low, so that meant returning under cover of darkness.
“Listen, Alex.” She propped her hands on her hips, which made her look even more like a centerfold. “I’m the reason we’re out here in the boonies, remember? If it weren’t for me, you’d be at the house enjoying your third glass of celebratory champagne in front of a warm fire.”
He deserved a medal for not going over and hauling her back into his arms. “And thank God you suggested coming to the sacred site. You have to know I’m happy about that. My dick is
really
happy about that.”
“Okay.” She smiled. “Point taken. But if I hadn’t insisted on leaving the engine running and the lights on, I’ll bet we would have had enough gas to get back, or almost back, so I’m accepting part of the blame for this, like it or not.” She picked through the clothes again and came up with her bra.
“Accept all the blame you want. Just stay here while I get the gas and another truck. Then we’ll drive tandem back to the ranch and all will be well.”
“No.” She fastened her bra in place.
He shoved his arms into the sleeves of his no-longer-white shirt. “Yes.”
“No, Alex!” She picked up her black shirt and started pulling it over her head. Her next comment was delivered while she still had the shirt covering her face. “It would be way too scary out here alone.” Then she pulled the shirt down, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
He stopped fastening the snaps on his shirt. “You’d really be afraid?”
She shrugged. “I know I shouldn’t be, but I grew up in a family with seven kids, so somebody was always around. Nowadays I spend most of my life on a cruise ship full of passengers. When I’m in L.A., I live in an apartment building with three hundred tenants, give or take. Don’t make me stay all by myself out in the middle of nowhere. Please.”
His protective instincts roared to life. He closed the distance between them and gathered her into his arms. “I didn’t mean for you to be scared. I’m sorry.”
She clung to him and pressed her cheek to his chest. “It’s not something I like admitting. After all, I travel the world. I’m the most independent woman in my family. Everybody thinks I’m invincible.”
“I won’t tell anyone. And I certainly won’t make you stay here. We’ll walk back together, and we’ll sing camp songs on the way, if that will help.”
She groaned. “Not camp songs. My parents
love
camp songs, and I’ve heard enough to last me a lifetime. If I never hear ‘Kumbaya’ again, that’s fine with me.”
“Then we can sing drinking songs.”
“We don’t have to sing at all.” She gazed up at him. “Just don’t leave me.”
His heart twisted. She was begging him not to leave her tonight, and yet she would be the one doing the leaving next week. The irony wasn’t lost on him.
Now that they had a plan, they both moved quickly. After pulling the flashlight out of the glove compartment, Alex turned off the headlights and climbed out of the truck.
Tyler wanted to be in charge of the flashlight, so he gave it to her. But after seeing that she intended to keep it switched on all the time and fan it lighthouse style over the muddy road and the grassy meadows on either side, he had to say something. “Maybe we should conserve the batteries.”
“Conserve the batteries? That sounds like something out of
Survivor.
Are we in more trouble than I thought?”
“We’re not in any trouble, but the flashlight would be nice to have if we need to see something specific.”
“Like what? A snake?”
“Not a snake. Like I said before, it’s too cold.” He was thinking more of a bear, but decided not to mention that critter. He chose something that sounded more cuddly. “You know, like a raccoon.”
“Raccoons are kind of cute. I wouldn’t mind seeing a raccoon.”
“Anyway, you should probably use the flashlight sparingly. I don’t know how old those batteries might be.”
She didn’t look happy about that. “You’re saying that I can’t leave the flashlight turned on because the batteries could go dead any minute?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
She muttered something to herself and turned off the flashlight.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“It was too something. Spit it out, O’Connelli.”
“I just wonder what sort of outfit this ranch is, that’s all, with trucks almost out of gas and dead batteries in the flashlights.”
He cleared his throat so he wouldn’t laugh. Nerves could make people say funny things. “It’s the person driving the truck who’s supposed to keep it gassed up, and I didn’t do that, so my bad. The flashlight batteries may last for hours, but I don’t know that, so I thought we should use the flashlight only when we have to.”
She took a deep breath. “Fine.” She started off again, but she was walking noticeably faster, which wasn’t such a good idea on a muddy, rutted road.
He lengthened his stride to keep up with her. “You might want to watch out for—”
“What?” She glanced around wildly and stumbled over a rut. Although he caught her before she fell, she still managed to splash the legs of their jeans with mud. “What was I supposed to watch out for?”
“Ruts.”
“Well, damn.” She flashed him a quick grin. “Thanks for catching me. Falling down in the mud once is an accident. Twice begins to look like a habit.”
“Well, we didn’t.” He massaged her shoulders. “I would kiss you, but I know what that could lead to, and we need to get back.”
“I wouldn’t let you kiss me, cowboy.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“No.” She backed away from his touch. “Not a challenge, so get that note of anticipation out of your voice. You have a way of making me forget where I am, and where I am is in the woods in the dark, and that’s
not
where I want to have sex.”
“Actually, me neither.” He stepped forward and placed a quick kiss on her nose. “Let’s go. We’ll hold hands.”
“Okay.” She laced her left hand through his and held up the flashlight with her right. “At least I didn’t drop this.”
“Good.” He squeezed her hand, enjoying the way her fingers fit through his as they started walking again. “See, this isn’t so bad, taking a walk along a country road after a rain, breathing in the fresh scent of pine, listening to the wind in the—”
Noise exploded to their left in a wild series of yips and barks before several dark shapes hurtled across the road about twenty feet in front of them.
Tyler gasped and squeezed his hand so hard he winced. Then she switched on the flashlight and swept the area, but nothing was there. “Dear God, were those
wolves?
”
“No, coyotes. Most likely going after a late dinner. Maybe a rabbit.”
Gradually her grip on his hand loosened. “Okay, I vaguely remember about coyotes from when I lived here as a kid.”
“They won’t hurt you.”
“I know. But let’s leave the flashlight on. If it gives out, it gives out, but having that beam pointing the way makes me feel comfier.”
“Sure, why not. The batteries will probably last.”
They walked along in silence while Tyler made periodic sweeps of the muddy road with the flashlight beam. After they’d gone about a mile, she squeezed Alex’s hand. “Hey. What does this remind you of?” She stuck the flashlight under her chin in
Blair Witch Project
mode.
He laughed. “Looks like you’re feeling better about being out here in the wilds of Wyoming.”
“You must think I’m such a wimp.”
“Not at all. In fact, it’s nice to know you’re not perfect.”
“Oh, I’m far from perfect, Alex.”
“If you ask me, you’re pretty damn close.”
“Ha! I have a million little irritating habits.”
“You do?” He glanced over at her in surprise. “Like what?”
“I take really long showers and I like to hog the bathroom. So be forewarned, because we’re sharing.”
He’d forgotten that. “Then if you’re taking too long and I need to shower, I’ll just climb in with you.” If he hadn’t been holding her hand, he would have missed the fine tremor that ran through her.
“Um, yeah.” She cleared her throat. “Thanks for planting
that
idea in my head.”
“You don’t like it?”
“Oh, I like it a lot. Too much, in fact. And we’ve already established that in the middle of the dark woods is a bad place to have sex, so now I get to be frustrated.”