Six Degrees of Desperation (Dirty Tricks) (7 page)

The brothers all looked at her at once.
“Don’t give up now. It’s just starting to get interesting.”

“Yeah, well, I’m done with the three of you.
It’ll be hard enough seeing you guys on the street, knowing what
you know about me.” Heat filled her chest and rose up to burn in
her cheeks. Charli sank onto the bed. “Just do me a favor, will ya,
and keep it to yourselves. Promise me, or I’ll sic Race on you
after all.”

The three O’Briens raised their hands and
Gabe spoke for them. “We don’t kiss and tell.”

“Uh-huh.” Charli laughed, the effort
completely without humor. “I’m supposed to believe that?”

“An O’Brien’s word is his bond.”

“Well, good, at least there’s that.” Charli
leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. “How did my life
get to be such a big damn mess?”

“Maybe I can help you out.” A warm, sexy
voice sounded from the hallway leading into the cell area.

Charli’s eyes flicked open. For a second,
she thought the fourth man in the crew had arrived. But when she
opened her eyes, her stomach did a back-flip to a belly-flop.

Connor Mason stood outside her cell, dressed
in his white shirt, carrying his white cowboy hat and sporting a
dark purple shiner on his left eye and a bruise on his chin. He
smiled and winced. “Hey, beautiful.”

A sheriff’s deputy reached around Connor to
unlock the door to Charli’s cell. “You’re free to go. You can thank
Mr. Mason for posting the bail.”

“Thanks, Jack.” Connor shook hands with the
deputy. “See you at the rodeo tomorrow?”

“Wouldn’t miss it. Could use a little rest
and relaxation after tonight’s haul.”

Connor held out his hand to Charli. “Come
on, I’ll take you home.”

Charli glanced across the aisle at the men
behind the bars in the other cell, her stomach a mass of
butterflies, just waiting for the O’Briens to spill the beans and
confess their part in the whole mystery cowboy charade.

They nodded toward Connor as one.

“Hey, Connor,” Gabe said. “Surprised you
made it out on your own two feet.”

“I would have been on the other side of the
bars had someone not cleaned my clock. The EMTs found me out cold
under a table.”

“Oh, baby.” Charli hurried forward, glaring
at the deputy. “I was trying to get to you, but some witch decided
it was time for a girl fight.”

“I heard.” Connor grinned and pulled her
into his arms, brushing a kiss across her lips. “Quite the talk,
how you showed her.”

Charli’s lips thinned. “Stupid woman. I
wasn’t there to fight.” She dragged in a long breath. “I wanted to
talk to you.”

“Same here. And I didn’t get that dance you
promised.”

“Hey, what about us?” Sean O’Brien called
out.

Connor grinned at the men. “Molly’s signing
for the three of you now. Won’t be but another minute or so.

The door to the outer offices opened and the
perky auburn-haired baby sister of the O’Brien brothers bounced
through. “Caused enough trouble for one night, boys?”

Charli paused in front of the bodyguard.
“Need me to bail you out?”

He shook his head. “My partner or my boss
will be by soon enough. Don’t worry about me. You have enough to
think about.” He nodded toward Connor. “If he gives you any
trouble, I’ll be staying at the Temptation lodge…once I get sprung
from this joint. Call me.”

Her heart warmed by a stranger, Charli let
Connor lead her toward the exit.

Connor waved to the O’Briens. “I’ll be at
the ranch, bright and early tomorrow morning to help load the
horses.” He hooked Charli’s elbow, escorted her through the doors
and out into the night.

As she climbed into the cab of Connor’s
pickup, Charli’s heartbeat ratcheted up into high gear. The time
had come to fess up, to set the story straight. She waited until
Connor pulled out onto the highway headed for Temptation. “I’m
sorry you got hurt in that brawl.”

Connor glanced sideways, with a smile. “I
just hate that you had to spend time in a jail cell.”

Charli shrugged. The experience hadn’t been
that bad and she’d at least discovered the identities of three of
the four men who’d made love to her in the storeroom earlier that
evening. For what it was worth, she had some of the truth. “We need
to talk.”

“I agree. But can we save it until I get you
home? I could use an icepack on this eye, and I’m sure you’ll want
to clean up and change out of that outfit.” He nodded toward the
corset and skirt. “Not that I don’t like it, but I’m feeling a bit
overdressed with you.”

“But I wanted to tell you—”

His hand reached out and captured hers. “Let
it ride.”

The warmth of his calloused fingers seeped
into her hand. Charli leaned back against the leather seat, chewing
on her bottom lip. Okay, just until she got to her place. She’d
enjoy the last few minutes she’d be with Connor, holding his hand
as if he might actually be in love with her.

She almost laughed, but she was afraid the
laughter would turn hysterical and she’d bust out crying. Why, oh,
why had she made love to the men in the storeroom, especially
knowing Connor would be there that night and she’d be breaking it
to him that she’d had an affair while dating him?

Sitting silently beside him now was tearing
her heart in two. This time tomorrow, she’d be alone again,
unloved, unwanted and back to square one, only worse. Now she knew
how exciting Temptation could be with the right person…or persons.
But her adventure would be over and she’d have to move on.

“Tired?” Connor squeezed her hand
gently.

“Exhausted.” All the worry, the fight, the
internal battles had taken their toll. Charli closed her eyes and
let the silence wash over her like a soothing balm, the scent of
leather and cowboy lulling her into a false sense of calm. Her
announcement could wait until she had him alone at her house. For
now, she wanted to hold Connor’s hand and pretend all was right
with the world. Even if only for the few minutes involved in
driving from Hole In The Wall to Temptation and her house.

All too soon, Connor pulled into her
driveway and released her hand.

Charli sat staring forward, all the dread of
the evening welling up inside. The time had come to confess.

Connor shifted into park and dropped down
out of the truck, rounding the hood to open her door.

All her energy drained away, Charli let him.
After the craziness of the past couple weeks, she’d be glad to put
this all behind her and move on with a normal life. She snorted.
Who was she kidding? She’d loved almost every minute—except the
ones she’d spent worrying about her deception and lies. She’d never
felt so alive and desired. And all that would go away once they had
their “talk”.

“Come here, baby. You look all done in.”
Connor held out his hands, grabbed her around the waist and swung
her down to the ground and into his arms.

She braced her hands on his chest.
“Connor—”

Before she could say another word, he kissed
her, his mouth sealing over hers, his tongue delving between her
teeth to slide alongside hers.

The longer Connor kissed her, the weaker
Charli’s knees grew until she had to slide her arms around his
waist to help hold herself up.

Without breaking their connection, Connor
scooped her up into his arms and carried her to her door. His head
came up with a butterfly kiss to the tip of Charli’s nose. “Where’s
your key?”

Breathless and a little lightheaded, Charli
chuckled. “At the Ugly Stick Saloon in my purse.”

“That could be a problem.”

With a grin, she nuzzled the side of his
neck. “Only if I didn’t keep a spare under the flowerpot on the
porch.”

He set her on her feet.

Charli retrieved the key and handed it to
him, her hands shaking enough she feared she’d fumble and drop
it.

Connor opened the door.

When Charli tried to step past him to enter,
he put out his hand. “Wait.”

Then he scooped her into his arms and
carried her across the threshold, like a newly married man,
carrying his new wife into the home they’d share for the rest of
their lives.

A lump the size of her fist lodged in
Charli’s throat and tears welled in her eyes. She blinked fast,
praying Connor didn’t see them. It was one thing to blow the
relationship of a lifetime, it was another to be caught crying
about it when it was your own darned fault.

“Put me down, Connor,” Charli choked out,
past constricted vocal cords.

“I will.” He grinned and marched through the
living room to Charli’s bedroom. “Now.” He set her on her feet and
smoothed a hand through her hair. “You are the most beautiful woman
I’ve ever had the pleasure of making love to.”

“Connor.” She pressed a finger to his lips.
“You need to listen to me.”

He kissed her finger and drew her hand into
his. “Me first.” His hands slipped around her waist. “I’ve had my
eye on you since I returned to Temptation and the first time I
heard you sigh across the bar in the Ugly Stick Saloon.”

“That seems like such a long time ago.” Yet
the meeting had only been a couple weeks earlier.

“I think it was love at first sight.”

Although it hadn’t been exactly love at
first sight for her, she remembered her initial attraction to the
fair-haired ex-marine, his face clearly etched in her mind, his
words, challenging her to find the excitement in Temptation. Charli
shook her head. “How long had you been deployed?”

“Long enough to know what I wanted when I
got back from the sandbox.” His fingers twisted the strings on the
back of her corset. “And I want you.” He tugged the bow, the corset
strings loosened and her breasts spilled from their
confinement.

“Connor, I—” God, he wasn't making this
easy.

“Shh.” He pressed his lips to hers. “Just
let me love you.

His mouth moved across hers, teasing her
lips open so that his tongue could slip between her teeth and claim
hers.

The long slow slide of warm wetness made
Charli’s pussy clench, heating her core. Her fingers threaded
through his hair, drawing him closer, her hips pressing into his,
her naked breasts rubbing against the crisp white cotton of his
button-down shirt.

He found the zipper of her skirt and slid it
down, pushing the fabric over her hips. The smooth, silky material
floated to the floor, a black pool of ruffles, and she stepped out
of the circle. He worked the strings looser on the corset and let
it follow the skirt.

When she stood before him in nothing but her
black, lace thong panties, all her thoughts of telling him the
truth had flown. All her focus turned to getting him as naked as
she was. The sooner the better, before her body exploded into a
fiery inferno of need.

Charli grabbed his arms and turned him until
his back was to the bed. Then, with a wide smile, she pushed him
onto it.

As he fell, he grabbed her around the
middle, dragging her down.

She straddled his hips, her pussy grinding
against the ridge beneath his fly, an urgent reminder of her near
nakedness and his fully clothed body.

Her fingers flew over the buttons on his
shirt, ripping them loose of the holes. As she moved down his
muscled chest, she opened the shirt, kissing a path that followed
her work until she reached the waistband of his jeans. With a sharp
tug, she pulled the hem of his shirt out of the band and shoved the
edges open.

God, he had a beautiful chest. Tanned, toned
and contoured around each muscle from his pecks to his abs. The
dark brown nipples nestled in a smattering of manly hairs.

Too aroused to slow her descent, Charli
eased off the hard ridge of his cock and stood beside the bed,
working the buttoned-fly of his jeans. She struggled with the
first, then ripped the remaining open.

His cock jutted out, rising straight to the
sky, hot, hard and thick.

Digging her fingers into his waistband,
Charli dragged his jeans down to his boots. She grabbed his boot
heels and tugged off one, then the other boot, tossing them behind
her as she did.

Naked at last, he sat up, his legs falling
over the side of the bed. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her into
the V between his legs. “What about foreplay?”

“I’m working on that.” She dropped to her
knees and took his cock in her hands, her fingers kneading his
balls, while her tongue touched the tip and slid down his length in
one, long, slow movement.

His fingers fisted in her hair, his body
tensing. “What about you? Don’t you want me to do that to you?”

The guilt she felt reared its ugly head for
a second and she almost lost her concentration. But she pushed all
thoughts of the past, her indiscretions and her ultimate confession
to the back of her mind, focusing on the man, promising to send him
away with at least one good memory, before she shattered his trust.
“I want this to be all about you.” Her mouth closed around his cock
as she took him in.

“Umm. That’s feels so good.” He shook his
head, lifting her off his member. “But it can be so much better.”
He scooted back on the bed until he lay in the middle and dragged
her up beside him.

Eager to please him first, Charli leaned
across him, taking his cock in her hand, running her fingers down
his length.

Connor eased her up onto all fours and
ducked his head beneath her, planting her knees on either side of
his head. "Now, I can taste you as well."

He urged her to spread her legs wider,
dropping her down to within reach of his mouth.

Charli creamed, her pussy throbbing, aching
to be fucked. As soon as Connor's tongue touched her clit, she
rocketed up the orgasm ladder, shooting for heaven. She sucked
Connor's cock deeper into her mouth, taking his full length, all
the way to the back of her throat. Her fingers curled around his
scrotum, massaging the sacks as he pumped in and out of her
mouth.