by Linda Conrad
However, it turned out he didn’t make that first move. She did. She flung her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Covering her mouth with his was like an automatic response. Somewhere in the back of his mind a semi-sane thought urged him to go gentle. Ease into the kiss. But he’d been dreaming about kissing this woman and couldn’t find his balance now that the time was here.
Instead he lost himself in the pleasure that was all Summer. Lost what was left of his mind in the softness of her lips. To the firmness of her breasts pressed against his chest. To the curve of her hip as his hand roamed up her back. Without thinking, he fisted his hands in her hair and tipped her head back, allowing himself access to feast on her full lips. With a flavor like spun honey.
Plunging his tongue inside her mouth, he gratefully took whatever she offered. He licked and nipped and tangled his tongue with hers in a frenzy of erotic moves. She moaned deeply, a sexy sound, and mimicked his moves.
Her inhibitions spurred him on, as she flipped off his hat and dug her fingers into his hair, holding his head in place. His heart thudded wildly in his chest while he slid his hand up under her shirt and shoved her bra aside. Her skin was hot, all firm satin and pulsating silk. When she arched her back and thrust her breasts forward, he pebbled a nipple between his fingers and listened while her breathing quickened.
Hard as a rock and straining against his jeans, he broke off the kiss and trailed a string of kisses along her jaw and down her neck. He totally lost track of the world around them. Forgot all about her being thrown from the horse. Forgot everything but what he’d wanted to do to her—what he’d dreamed of them doing together. He’d longed for this taste of heaven. Night after night. Fed his fantasies as he was now feeding his senses.
His fingers absently moved to the buttons on her shirt. He had the top three undone when she planted her hands on his chest and pushed. A second went by before he rearranged his brain cells enough to understand.
Dropping his hands, he leaned back. “What’s wrong?”
Her face was a grimace of pain. “My ankle. I…I can’t stand up anymore.”
Dang. Here he’d been seducing the hell out of a woman who had probably broken her ankle. He’d let himself get so carried away he hadn’t paid a bit of attention to her possible injuries.
Now wasn’t that just the ultimate picture of control?
Chapter 10
Travis was well on his way to regaining self-control as they waited under a stand of trees for the chopper to pick them up. Having the helicopter take them to the clinic in Gideon would shave off a good two hours from the trip instead of going by Jeep. But the silent tension yawning between him and Summer wasn’t helping his nerves or his guilt.
Admittedly, he had it bad for the woman. And he hadn’t felt this horny since high school. But throwing good sense out the window for Summer when he knew she’d be leaving soon was just plain stupid.
The situation was becoming intolerable. He didn’t want to let the days slide by and watch her leave. Why was she so set on leaving soon, anyway? Why couldn’t she stay long enough for the two of them to get to know each other—a lot better?
Out of pure desperation for more time with her, he’d been busy formulating a plan to keep her here. He was only asking for a little extra time, not forever. But if he outwardly pushed her too hard and she stayed, even if it was for his and Jenna’s sakes, she’d be miserable, and he’d be back where he’d been with his ex. A huge mistake. Been there, done that.
But really, what would a few more weeks—or months—hurt? She could stay on as housekeeper after Rosie left.
“I still think it would’ve been easier if we’d ridden double on your horse,” Summer gritted out. She tried to hide a wince while she shifted her bottom to a more comfortable position, but he saw the pain reflected in her eyes before she looked away.
“With you barefoot?” He took a deep breath and scowled. “We could have done it that way, yes. But riding double probably would’ve caused you a hell of a lot more pain than you’re already feeling. I’m not okay with that.”
“Are you sure the mare will be all right?”
“She’s fine. Now that the saddle’s off her back, the whole episode is probably forgotten.” But Travis wasn’t feeling nearly as fine as the mare seemed. The sight of Summer hitting the dirt under the horse’s hooves would haunt him for a long, long time.
“How’s the ankle?” He’d removed her boot as soon as he’d gotten his head on straight and carried her to the nearest shade. But now he noticed how much the ankle had swelled, and how dark purple bruising was becoming more evident with every passing minute.
“It hurts a little.” Grimacing, she tried to move the injured foot. “Mostly, I feel like I need a bath.” She couldn’t hide the pain from him. He knew she was lying.
He leaned in and slid his arm around her shoulders to give her strength. But the minute he touched her, his own body went weak. His knees started to tremble and his eyes welled. He’d come close to losing her for good.
Stunned by his own too-intimate thoughts, he walked them back in his mind and decided it was just the lust sparking between them that was causing him to lose control. And the two of them should do something about that soon. Very soon.
Sucking up some strength of his own, he muttered, “I should’ve made sure aspirin was in the first-aid kit before we left.” He should’ve done a lot of things differently.
“None of this was your fault, Travis. If anyone was to blame, it was no doubt me. Where did I go wrong, anyway? I thought the mare and I were getting along fine.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Neither did the mare. The saddle wasn’t cinched properly.”
A glimmer of amusement popped into eyes still squinting against the pain. “An equipment malfunction? Just my luck.”
Travis didn’t believe for a moment that some fool doing a bad job of saddling a horse had anything to do with luck. One of the hands had either been sloppy or had deliberately left the buckle loose. But he wouldn’t mention his suspicions to her.
Just then the chopper appeared on the horizon, and he found a way to change the subject. “Here we go. You and I will be at the clinic in less than twenty minutes.”
“I still say I don’t need a medical clinic. The ankle is probably just sprained.”
“We aren’t taking any chances, sugar. An X-ray will let us know for sure.”
“What about the horses? You aren’t going to leave them here, are you?”
He flicked a glance toward the horses, quietly munching on grass, and shook his head. “The Bar-C foreman, Barrett, is coming in with the chopper. He’ll see that they get back to the barn safe and sound.”
Barrett was a rock. Travis thought he should take lessons on safekeeping from Barrett. What good was being the boss if the people he cared about the most weren’t safe and sound?
Whoa. What? People he cared about the most?
For cripes sake, why was he having such thoughts about Summer? They barely knew each other. One kiss didn’t change that. Even one over-the-top, spectacular kiss.
Hmm. He came to the too-eager conclusion that these odd thoughts of protection and intimacy must stem from continued physical frustration and his need. He wanted her worse than he could ever remember wanting a woman. He’d stayed away from sex for far too long. Summer had been the first to tempt him in a good, long while. Still, he didn’t think coming on to her too hard or too fast was the right thing to do either.
Dang. He would need some time to consider the ramifications of all this. And he intended to take that time. Just as soon as he finally accomplished the one right thing he should’ve done from the start—taking care of Summer.
* * *
Summer had to chuckle, remembering Travis’s overly solicitous behavior. Through the entire ordeal of flying to the clinic and waiting for X-rays, he hadn’t left her side. He’d kept at least one hand on her the whole time. The X-ray technician practically had to pry Travis’s f
ingers off her shoulder to get the pictures.
It seemed clear to her that Travis must be blaming himself for the accident. Rather foolish of him. She was an inexperienced rider, for heaven’s sake. It had only been an accident.
Now that they were home and she’d been soaking in a hot bath for a good hour, the aches and pains were nearly gone and her thoughts were free to wander back to their kiss. But when she really thought about their lips touching, and how that had set off fireworks inside, her whole body went weak.
What woman wouldn’t go weak at the idea of kissing Travis?
He was special. Kind. Respected. Exciting.
And as sexy as any man she’d ever met.
Darn it. It was too dangerous for her to be so attracted to her boss. But she couldn’t help herself.
The last thing she needed right now was to be going gaga over a man. Especially the man she’d been using to reach her goal.
Admittedly, she wasn’t much closer to reaching her goal than she had been when she’d arrived. She had discovered that Bobby “Hoss” Packard was in Chance—or nearby. That was something. And she’d seen him, but unfortunately he’d seen her, too. Yet she still had no idea who he was or where to locate him.
For a while she’d had the idea of going to the sheriff for help in finding the guy. But then, Travis hadn’t seemed too keen on this sheriff. And she trusted Travis’s opinion. He’d lived here all his life.
Summer had faith that something else, some other way of locating the man, was bound to turn up eventually. She just hoped Travis wouldn’t mind if she stayed on the ranch long enough to gather more information.
Lounging back in the oversize tub in Travis’s master bath, her thoughts immediately went to him. What a man he was. He’d given her a job and a place to stay. He’d rescued her from a situation that could’ve injured her much worse or even killed her beneath the horse’s hooves. He’d even run her a bath.
That had to be the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. He was such an enigma. Controlling but kind. Hard to understand.
Back to daydreaming about their kiss, she flipped on the hot-water faucet to warm the bath again. Heat spread through the water, sending bubbles and warmth crawling up the inside of her thighs. The sensation almost made her giggle. And then, it didn’t. The feeling was suddenly intense.
Glancing at the back of the bathroom door, halfway open to Travis’s bedroom, she thought of him on the other side. He’d said he would take a quick shower and then stand by to see if she needed his help to climb out of the tub. She needed him, all right.
Tentatively testing her ankle, she’d found what she had suspected all along. It was a simple sprain that only hurt when she put weight on that foot. Otherwise, there was hardly any pain at all. She’d appreciated the doctor wrapping it in an elastic bandage and had accepted the set of crutches he’d offered. So far she hadn’t even needed to take an aspirin.
The warmer the water grew around her, the more acutely aware she became of the way her own body was betraying her. She’d felt the same kind of prickly sensations when Travis had asked if she needed any help stripping off her torn and dirty clothes. The look in his eyes then had set off a dangerous thrill of anticipation throughout her body. A type of longing to reach for the magic that she was sure would be waiting in his bed.
She’d turned him down then, needing the bath. But she wondered what it would take to put that look back into his eyes.
Nothing like the present to find out.
She pulled the plug on the drain and eased up, standing on her good foot. Being upright on one leg proved easy enough as she reached for the clean T-shirt she’d been intending to use as pajamas. The shirt just came down to the bottom of her hips. That should stimulate Travis’s imagination.
Thinking of it caused her nipples to harden against the material of the shirt. Whoo, boy. If she couldn’t catch his attention like this, she didn’t deserve anyone as wonderful as Travis.
Opening her mouth to call out to him, she found her voice had gotten rusty and the only sound she could make was a pathetic squeak. Clearing her throat, she swallowed hard and fought to lower her tone.
“Travis? Are you out there? I need help.”
One second. Two. And the door swung open.
He was clean-shaven and his hair was still wet from the shower. The only clothes he wore were his jeans, and they were slung low on his hips. Her voice left her again.
Somehow, his bare feet turned her on almost as much as the sight of his chest hair.
“You’re out of the tub,” he said, as his eyes took in the T-shirt and then shot to her chest.
When the direction of his glance slowly rose up her throat and reached her eyes, she met his gaze—and didn’t say a word. She could see his mind matching the direction of her thoughts.
It was his turn to clear his throat. But to his credit, he strove to do what he thought was the right thing. “Want me to bring the crutches?”
“In a moment. But first, could you help me with the elastic bandage?” The bandage was still sitting on the bathroom counter and was the first thing she’d spotted to use as an excuse.
“Um, sure.” He picked it up and then blinked a couple of times. “You’ll need to sit down.”
He glanced around the bathroom. “Uh…” Apparently deciding nothing in here would be appropriate, he bent over and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. “Hold on.”
Sure thing. In fact, she would be happiest never letting go.
He carried her into the bedroom and gently set her down on the edge of the bed. “You okay there?”
“Mmm.”
Kneeling on one knee on the carpet before her, he bent his head to the task of rewrapping the bandage. “Does it hurt very badly?”
“Not at all.” But the sight of his muscled shoulders and back, so close and yet so far, was killing her.
Leaning closer, she breathed in the scent of him. He smelled clean, all male, and aroused. Whew.
Lifting her hands, she succumbed to temptation and wrapped her fingers lightly around his biceps. He jerked as if he’d been shot and looked up at her.
They were so close she could see the pulse beat at the base of his throat. She was nearly positive she could also see a cloud of testosterone wafting off him and aimed in her direction.
“Sugar?” The darkened look in his eyes shot yet another thrill zinging straight through her veins to heat her from the inside out. “You sure?”
“Yes, Travis, I’m sure.”
Her words didn’t spur him to movement, so she tried again. “We’ve got a perfectly good bed right here. And you know we’ve been heading in this direction for days.”
“Weeks…months.” He added his own highly exaggerated number to her assessment. “But…”
“Don’t. I don’t want to think of the reasons why not. Not now. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been in a man’s bed. I haven’t wanted to. But in your case—I do.”
Shaking his head, he laughed in a way that sounded desperate. “I admit we’ve got…a thing…going on between us. But it’s just lust. You’re a better person than that.”
She noticed he’d said she was a better person. But he wasn’t? He was weakening. Good.
“I’ve been through a lot today, Travis. I almost died.” Cupping his cheek with her palm, she parted her lips and smiled. “Let’s both lose our heads. Just for tonight. What we do will never have to leave this room.”
Grimacing, he bit his lip and breathed deeply. But he still didn’t move a muscle.
“What about your ankle?” His eyes were shooting sparks of desire that showered her with heat, but that damned hesitation was driving her crazy.
So much for giving him the first move. Summer could scarcely believe she would have to pursue him. Well, she’d wanted a different kind of life, hadn’t she? Reaching for the hem of her T-shirt, she lifted it over her head before she could chicken out.
“Dang it,” he growled, low and raspy
. “That’s no fair.”
* * *
He’d tried to be the good guy. Tried to do the right thing. Now he was going to do the wrong thing, and be as bad as he could be.
And it was going to feel so danged good.
He shucked his jeans in record time, without really remembering how he’d done it. All he could see, in his mind and in front of his eyes, was the image of Summer lifting her shirt. And then the sight of her perfect breasts, full and bare, with rosy nipples just begging to be kissed.
Those bright blue eyes of hers had turned the color of a Texas storm as they implored him to take her. Or maybe they were saying, Let me take you. Whatever. He intended to enjoy every minute.
Pushing her back to lie under him on the bed, he reached out to the woman of his fantasies. He would never have enough of touching her heated skin. And couldn’t wait to taste every inch.
He licked a wet line across one nipple and sank into the perfection that was so brazenly offered. With his heart pumping blood through his body at an unprecedented record rate, he took the other nipple into his mouth and suckled. But his hands were everywhere else. Roaming over hot silk, stroking and petting and stirring.
Clenching and unclenching her hands, Summer began to moan and toss her head. He reared his head up just to see her in the throes of passion. She was a picture. Covered by a sheen of perspiration, her eyes had rolled back in her head, and her parted lips looked plumped and wet.
Travis leaned up and nipped at those lips—because he couldn’t resist. Returning to her chest, he scraped a kiss along the tender underside of her breasts, and then moved lower to ring her belly button with his tongue. She made a growling sound and went nuts, gathering strength he didn’t know she possessed to physically flip him onto his back.
She wanted to lead? Fine by him. He stopped thinking of her as injured, fisted his hands in the sheets and watched her straddle his hips. A groan came from deep in his chest as she ground herself against him, but he never stopped watching. This was the picture he wanted to remember forever. Summer, smiling with a look that shouted glory and power as she rubbed herself against his straining erection.
