by Kizzie Hayes
“I just went to talk to the guy,” I muttered.
“And how did that turn out for you?”
“He was mean and nasty to me.”
“Good. Next time you’ll think twice before sticking your nose where it isn’t wanted.”
I frowned at him. “You are aware I pay your salary, right?”
He grinned at me. “So, I suppose you thought I’d be simpering “yes, ma’am. No, ma’am? I didn’t take this job for a salary, Wendy and you and I both know that. You need me more than I need your money.”
I couldn’t disagree with that. Without Jos, I wouldn’t have been able to get the ranch up and running. It had been in a worse way than I had thought when I just bought it but together, we had worked on the structures and erected more lodgings along the ranch to house the older kids.
Before I could respond to him, there was a knocking on the door. “I’ll go get it,” I said, getting up from the kitchen table where we were lingering at the table over coffee.
“Are you expecting anyone?” he asked.
“Nope,” I called over by shoulder and continued to the door. I opened it and stared in confusion at the man on the porch with his back to me. He seemed to be heading for the steps as though having changed his mind about showing up.
“Can I help you?”
At my question, the man turned. I didn’t recognize him at first but then the image of the light hitting his face when I had visited him last week flashed into my mind. He looked different probably because I could see his face more clearly. He had a stubble of beard and mustache that was neatly shaved and his Stetson was still firmly in place. I ran my gaze over him quickly, taking in the plaid shirt, the word blue jeans and dusty boots which were badly scuffed.
“Shane?” I asked, then excitement filled my belly because he was here. A man who was accused of never leaving his ranch unless it was important was at my door. That could only mean one thing. He had thought over my offer and was willing to accept it.
“Come on in, please,” I invited him like he was some longtime friend. I stepped aside and gestured for him to come forward. “I was just sharing a cup of coffee with Josiah Walker. You do know Josiah, right?”
“Yes, I know him.”
“Good.”
He followed me into the house and to the kitchen where Jos looked up in surprise. He straightened up from the counter where he had been pouring more coffee into a mug. He was a man who drank coffee at odd times of the day.
“Walker,” Shane greeted Josiah with a nod of his head.
“Powell.”
I decided that I would be needed to rescue the conversation. “Jos, can you pour me another cup? And one for Mr. Walker as well.”
“Shane,” he corrected me.
“Right, Shane. I’m—”
“Wendy Richards,” he finished. “The town’s folk have a lot to say about you.”
“They do?” I asked in surprise. I knew the town folks gossiped but had never thought of them gossiping about me before.
“Not every day someone moves from the city to assume responsibility of a rundown ranch,” he explained.
I shrugged. “Well, as long as it’s for a good cause, why not?”
Jos put down a cup of coffee for each of us and leveled his eyes on the next man. “I’m surprised to see you here, Walker.”
Shane cocked an eye. “Wendy here made me an offer. After thinking long and hard about it, I decided to accept. I could do with the money.”
“Right,” Jos agreed. “I can’t fathom those people down at the back have much patience waiting for their mortgage payment.”
Shane stiffened and his eyes turned angry. Just what in hell had I missed?
“Josiah, could you excuse us please?” I asked him, realizing he was hellbent in running off Shane. I’d talk to him about that later.
“You’re the boss,” he said sarcastically and with his mug of coffee in hand walked out the kitchen. I winced at the slamming of the front door a few seconds later.
“Sorry about that,” I told the man whose presence now filled the room. “He thinks he’s my father or something, hellbent in preventing me from making mistakes.”
He frowned. “You offered me a job and I am here to take it. Unless, the offer no longer is on the table?”
I stared into his handsome face, taking in the way his jaw was strong and his bottom lip fuller than the top one. How nice would it be to find out what he tasted like? He cleared his throat and I glanced up at him, my cheeks reddening. Busted. He had caught me checking him out.
I jerked from my chair and spilled the coffee all over the table. “Oh damn!” I cried as the hot liquid spilled onto my hand. He reacted quickly, getting a dish towel from the counter and dropping it onto the spill on the table.
“Here, you need to get it under the tap water.” Without warning, he reached for my hand. Fire exploded inside me into sparks from the connection of his hand on mine. He must have felt it too because he pulled away, surprised. We stood there staring at each other in surprise, wondering at the attraction between us. We barely knew each other.
“This was a mistake,” he muttered and stepped back. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
“Wait!” I called out to him but like before, he was already gone.
Chapter 4
The job is yours.
If you want, the job is yours.
Do you want the job yes or no?
You either take the damn job or get out of my thought.
I giggled to myself at the last thing that crossed my mind. I was trying to find out the perfect way to tell Shane that she job was his if he had the necessary skills to do it well. I didn’t doubt for a minute that he was skilled. I had talked to Jos last night about his attitude toward Shane and he had admitted that though there were decades apart in terms of age, Shane and he had been rivals at various rodeo events. In fact, it seemed Jos had been the sole winner at certain events before Jos had dethroned him.
Jos had refused to accompany me to Shane’s small spread which was the reason I was once again unlatching the man’s gate alone. I hesitated, waiting to hear a voice stopping me but heard nothing. I felt uneasy at the quiet. Maybe he had gone into town. I hoped not. I had found the courage to turn up today after he had run me off the first time then run away from me two days ago.
I found a post in the yard and walked the horse over to it and tied her so she didn’t disappear on me. Smoothing my sweaty hands down my thighs, I strode with purpose to the two-story ranch. I climbed the steps and reached as far as the porch and still no one stopped me. I immediately thought something was off.
“Shane!” I called, knocking on the door. “Shane, are you here?”
No response. I almost turned to leave but hesitated. What if something was wrong with him? He lived here alone and far away from everyone else? What if something had happened to him? There would be no one around to help him.
With this thought in mind, I turned the doorknob, pushing the door open and entered the house. I closed the door behind me and took tentative steps down the hall.
“Shane?” I called again, more softly this time because I didn’t want to startle him, just in case he was okay.
There was still no answer. I noticed the house had very little furniture and there were areas in the house with dark marks which seemed like furniture once stood in that location. I remembered Jos remarking on his financial struggles and felt compassion rose up inside me. No wonder he had come to the ranch to accept the job after all.
I searched the kitchen first since it was closer but did not find him inside. I did find him however sprawled on the couch in the living room. He was fast asleep. I stopped at the entrance of the room watching him. Even in sleep his face was contorted as though in pain. My heart clenched looking at him. There was something strange about him that grabbed at me but I couldn’t tell what. Well, a part of me knew it was lust. He was an incredibly handsome black man with a lean body.
I
was about to step back and walk away when his eyes flew open. I froze, praying he wouldn’t see me. I hoped it would be one of those moments when you slept and woke up but didn’t take notice of anything around you. I waited for him to fall back asleep but he didn’t. He sat up with a groan.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded gruffly.
“I-I came to talk to you,” I answered.
“So you just go walking into people’s homes without an invitation?” He was sitting up on the sofa and massaging his temples.
“I was-I was worried something was wrong,” I explained then shrugged. “It seemed odd you weren’t quick to chase me off your property this time. I thought you’d hurt yourself or something. You know there’s no one around for…” I trailed off when I realized I was rumbling.
“Now you know I am fine, why don’t you go on home?”
“I came to talk to you,” I told him.
He rose to his feet. “I don’t particularly want to talk to you.”
I snapped. I had had enough of his attitude. I had done nothing but try to be kind to the hermit and he treated me like something beneath his boots he wanted to scrape off.
“You know what,” I snapped. “I’ve tried to offer you a job because I heard good things about your skills. I also hoped that working around you, those kids wouldn’t feel like everyone around them is perfect. I also thought it could do you some good. But you can’t help someone who doesn’t believe they need to be helped, so goodbye!”
I flounced and started off from the living room. One minute I was walking and the other I was swept off my feet and turned around. My mouth fell open and I gasped at the look on his face before his mouth smashed onto mine. I clutched at his shoulders, taken aback by the onslaught of emotions that hit me all at once. I gasped, trembling.
“Unfortunately goodbye isn’t so easy when I can’t get you out of my damn mind.”
Chapter 5
“You should leave now while you still can.”
He had given me fair warning but instead of listening, I grabbed the back of his head and kissed him again. There was no reason I could give for the reason I was kissing this man that I barely knew. He was surly and came with excess baggage but his lips on mine felt like they belonged. Since I’d worked my ass off for the last five years to be qualified and amass enough of a small fortune to follow my dreams, men have been the least of my concern. Maybe it was on account of my sex-starved body but I suddenly couldn’t have enough of him. Neither did it seem that he could have enough of me.
He backed me into the wall in the hall, my shoulders hitting into the hard surface. His hands went around me to cup my ass and he hauled me up against him until it seemed he was my second skin. His bulge below his waist dug into my thigh and I gasped from the fullness of it.
“You been messing with my mind since you dropped by the first time,” he mumbled, tugging up the hem of my blouse.
“You do too,” I admitted before his lips settled on mine again. I moaned and shivered when his hands located my breasts and cupped them. He squeezed gently through the bra and I leaned heavily against the wall or puddle at his feet.
“I’m giving you one last chance to leave,” he said gruffly, his lips trailing a wet mark along my jaw. “I don’t want you thinking this is more than it is.”
I should have been offended at his words. He was basically telling me I was nothing more than just a fuck but who said I wanted anything more anyway? With the ranch to run and newness of the business, I didn’t really have the time beyond a night or two to dedicate to a man.
“I’m fine with that,” I assured him.
He lifted me in his arms and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I kissed his face and neck while he walked me to his bedroom. Once inside, he kicked the door shut behind us and slid me down his body by the bed. Every part of my body tingled where we touched. His lips returned to mine as our hands grappled with each other’s clothes to get us naked.
My blouse dropped to the floor and his shirt followed. I fumbled with his belt buckle, sighing in relief when it was undone. Never had I felt so clumsy in all my life, all thumbs. I pushed the jeans down his narrow hips then proceeded to do the same with his underwear. I purposefully ignored his hardness but concentrated in getting his jeans off. When he was stripped naked, I stood back and admired the beautiful man before me.
He wasn’t perfect. Not in the very least. He had scars on his body where he must have been shot a time or two while he did his duty in the army. He also had other scars on his arms and chest. The life of a cowboy was never one without its injuries though. If anything, each mar was a stamp that life for him had not been without its share fair of pain.
“Now you’ve had your fill,” he said gruffly. “Now, it’s mine.’
I allowed him to undress me while suppressing the desire to shiver. He peeled my jeans down my legs and left me standing in my matching thong and bra. From his kneeling position on the floor where he’d just tugged off my boots and jeans, he placed his lips to the inside of my leg and started a slow journey north.
“Oh God,” I gasped when his lips reached my thighs. He hooked fingers into my underwear and peeled it down my legs. I felt a bit awkward because if I had known this would happen between us, I would have at least shaved down there.
“Turn around,” he instructed me and pushed me toward the edge of the bed. He kissed the back of my knees and upward toward my butt. With a hand firmly planted in my back, he pushed my torso to the bedspread so I was lying, my feet still on the floor.
Of its own volition, my legs parted, giving him easy access. I was breathing hard and fast, moaning at his lips running over the generous curve of my ass.
“Ooo,” I moaned loud and noisily as his teeth sank into the flesh of my ass. He squeezed and released the globes, using his hands to shake them. I couldn’t help myself but helped his movement by shaking my ass for him.
“Yes, just like that,” he grunted. “Perfect.”
“Shit!” I cried out when his mouth settled over my mound. He didn’t push back nor eased me into the act. He went all in at once. He sucked my pussy lips into his mouth. He tugged on the lips, released then captured them into his mouth again. His tongue circled around my clit, ran down to my slit and poked me inside my tight wet hold before continuing over my pucker.
“Oh God!” I exclaimed in surprise. His tongue created delicious sensations I didn’t want to end. He played with the ribbed edges of my pucker with his tongue before returning to eating my juicy mound. I was dripping and he collected the droplets on his tongue. He kissed me slowly, engaging my lips and his tongue. With one finger pushed into my pussy hole, he teased and toyed with my clit.
My harsh breathing filled the room. I clutched at the sheet in desperation, grinding my ass back into his face. I was losing it and I felt like I was falling. Contractions tightened my inner muscles and my eyes rolled over.
“Shaaaaaane!” I cried out his name as my climax washed over me. He didn’t stop but continued licking on my engorged and sensitive clit. I jerked away from him but he wrapped his hands around my hips and restrained me. I stiffened, an incredible wave washing over me. I tried to hold back, tried to claw my way from the scary depth of it all, but the dam broke and I squirted for the first time since I started having sex at seventeen.
Chapter 6
“Oh damn,” I moaned resurfacing from my incredible climax. “Oh damn.” I still felt putty and could barely move.
“I’m not done with you yet,” Shane murmured running his tongue one final time through the folds of my pussy and up over my crack. He continued the path up my spine and caused goosepimples to break out over my back. “It’s your turn to return the favor, sweetheart.”
I knew he didn’t mean the word as an endearment yet it slammed into me in a pleasant way. Too pleasant. If my brain wasn’t already befuddled by the awesome, one of a kind orgasm I just received, I would have probably walked out but I wanted more. I also wanted to give h
im back some of what he gave me.
“Lie on the bed,” I told him and straightened on legs that were still rubbery. They shook a little and he chuckled, having realized how much of an impact he had on me. I was adamant to leave him with the same impact. He looked just a little bit too cocky for me but it was still better seeing him this way than the anger and sadness he usually harbored in his eyes.
He lay on the bed on his back, his hands folded behind his head. He had a smirk on his face and it was obvious why. He was hung. His dick must have measured twelve inches. It was as girthy as it was long. Excitement flooded my veins like drugs being pumped into my blood streams. I wanted to sit on him, to feel his length slide up inside my body. But first, I wanted to taste him.
Crawling between his legs, I removed my bra and dropped it onto the bed. I heard his sharp intake of breath at the sight of my naked breasts. I reached upward to tease him, cupping my own breasts. I squeezed them and pinched the nipples.
“Fuck, I’m screwed,” he uttered and I smirked at him.
His cock was so hard it stuck straight upward and curved slightly to the right. I dipped my head, forgoing his dick to reach his balls. I licked them and heard his sharp intake of breath. I sucked them into my mouth, moaning at silken feel of him.
With my hands planted firmly on his thighs, I licked up the underside of his cock with my tongue slowly. He wasn’t breathing. He lay still until I reached his tip and my mouth covered the bulbous head. I sucked the head of his cock into my mouth and only then did he groan and let out the breath he was holding on a groan.
“Fuck,” he gasped, his hands plunging into my hair. His hands pulling my hair back from my face, I slid my lips down his shaft, taking as much of him as I could. He hit the back of my throat and I started bobbing my head up and down his cock. Clutching the back of my head, he thrusted upward and hit my tonsils. I widened my mouth, trying to control my gag reflex. Over and over he thrust upward, working his cock deeper and deeper down my throat.
