by Desiree Holt
She looked across the small table at him. “Truthfully? I like this a lot better.” She gave him a small grin. “Especially after the little emergency. Getting into clean clothes was about all I could handle. I really wasn’t in the mood to hit a restaurant.”
The emergency had been assisting one of the Gold Buckle cows in the birthing of a bull calf. The animal had decided to make his appearance in the world about two weeks early. Ryan had been showing her the barn where the horses were stabled and discussing boarding her horse when one of the hands had come running to get them. When they’d reached the animal, she’d immediately seen signs of the cow’s distress. She’d grabbed her coveralls and her bag from her SUV and gone to work.
“You did a great job with the cow.” Ryan looked at her across the table.
She waved a hand in the air. “It’s what I do. And by the way, thanks for the use of the shower.” As usual, she’d been a mess when she’d finished her job.
“Are you kidding? It was the least I could do. That cow was having a hard time. You saved both her and a valuable calf.” He took a drink of his wine. “I didn’t expect to see you in action quite so soon, but I’m really impressed.”
“So I get to keep my day job?” she teased.
“I don’t think that was ever in question. Not really.” He swallowed a bite of his own steak. “For most of us, just the fact Doc would sell to you was the stamp of approval.”
She paused with her fork in midair. “Most of you? Are there some who have their doubts?”
He shrugged. “Not many. But there are those few that are either uber macho or old-timers who will have trouble seeing a woman as a veterinarian.”
Great. She’d been fortunate not to run into that attitude too often, but she knew it was out there, especially with the older ranchers. How often had she seen it written plainly on their faces? A woman? Isn’t she too small to handle big animals? Can she do this by herself?
“They are certainly free to find another vet,” she told him, choosing her words carefully.
Ryan smiled at her. “That’s not as easy as it sounds around here. Anyway, once they see you in action, they’ll get past it.”
She carefully scooped out some of the fluffy potato with her fork. “Were you one of the doubting Thomases?”
He laughed, a genuine sound. “Not on your life. I saw a lot of female vets on the rodeo circuit. Many of them could run rings around some of the men who thought they were such hot shit. I’m definitely good with this, especially after today. By the way, glad the house worked out for you,” he commented.
“Wow, Ryan. Just wow. Worked out is a mild term for it.” Excitement sizzled through her. “It’s absolutely perfect. Just what I was looking for. And affordable.”
“I think it’s good both ways,” he reminded her. “They’re anxious to get to Montana, but they didn’t want to leave the place empty.”
“The best part is I can move in next week, when my stuff gets here.” She lifted her wine glass. “To you, for making the match.”
“And now both you and your mare have new homes. See how nice that worked out?” he teased.
“Thanks to you for that too. You made me a great deal.”
He shrugged. “Happy to do it.”
Sable took a slow sip of the ruby liquid in her wine glass. Over the rim, she studied the man seated across from her. Lordy, but he made her body dance. That thick shock of black hair, the matching eyelashes and those piercing blue eyes were so mesmerizing she felt trapped in a magnetic force field. Every nerve in every one of her erogenous zones stood up and screamed. She should be exhausted after the difficult delivery she’d handled; instead she was exhilarated. Juiced, as her former vet tech would say.
Sex! the devil in her head screamed.
Behave! the little angel said.
Go away! shouted the devil.
Sable could not remember the last time she had been so enthralled by a man. Any man. She was fascinated watching the flex of muscles in Ryan’s tanned forearms as he cut off another piece of steak and lifted it to his mouth. Loved the play of muscles in his jaw as he thoughtfully chewed his food and swallowed.
He studied her with those stunning blue eyes. “Is something wrong? Did I get food on my face?” He lifted his napkin and gave a swipe with it.
Sable gave herself a mental shake. “No, not at all. I guess my mind was just wandering.”
Wandering into the bedroom. Bad Sable.
But holy crap! Since last night, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking of this man, imagining him without his clothes on. Wondering how his mouth would feel on her nipples. How his tongue would—
Stop! the angel said. I won’t have you embarrassing yourself.
What was it Georgie had said about him? Oh, yeah. He wanted to settle down. Wanted something permanent. He’d been done with buckle bunnies for a long time. Well, Sable wanted the exact opposite. No-strings sex with a man she could like and respect. She had plenty of time for the other.
What if it sneaks up on you?
She slammed the mental door shut on the irritating voice in her head. Nothing was going to sneak up on her. Nothing and no one. Period.
But I can make time for sex with him, if we can limit it to that.
What had she said to herself? Friends with benefits? That she could handle, as long as they were discreet.
“I’d love to know those deep thoughts that keep pulling at you.” His voice was tinged with humor. “I must not be very interesting if you keep thinking of something else.”
Heat flushed her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking about, um, the cow and her calf.”
Ryan burst out laughing. “I think that’s a first. Displaced by two animals.”
Sable lifted her ice water and took a long drink, trying to cool herself down, then she licked the moisture from her lips. “No, no. That’s not it at all. You’re very interesting.”
Great line, kiddo. Very smooth.
He reached across the table and dabbed at her lower lip with his napkin.
“Ice water,” he told her. “You missed a drop.”
The table was small, meant just for two people, and when he leaned across to her, he was so close she could count his thick eyelashes. When he didn’t remove his fingers from her mouth and caressed her bottom lip with his thumb, her breath stuck in her throat.
“Ryan,” she began, when she could find her voice.
“I wanted you the minute I laid eyes on you.” His voice was thick with desire. “I walked out of the Bit and Bite that day ordering my dick to take a rest, but it wasn’t easy.” One corner of his mouth quirked up. “I had a feeling you felt the same way. Was I wrong?”
“I—” She couldn’t make the words come out. The vivid blue of his eyes had darkened, and she swore tiny flames danced in the irises.
“And last night,” he went on, not waiting for her to catch up, “when we were dancing? Your nipples were so hard they nearly poked holes in my chest. But they weren’t any harder than my dick that wanted to bury itself in your heat. It’s there, Sable. Don’t try to tell me it’s not.”
She nodded her head and finally found her voice. “Yes. I felt it too.” She cleared her throat. How to say this? “You should know I’m not really looking for anything, uh, serious. At least not right now.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And if I am?”
“Oh, please. You can’t know that so quickly. We just met a few days ago. Not only that, I’m in a very demanding profession. My practice can take up a lot of my time, and that’s not easy on a relationship.” She paused. “Unless it’s just physical. Then it works just fine.”
He burst out laughing. “You know, usually with me it’s the other way around. It’s my partner saying we have something special going here and me saying I don’t see it that way. I guess Fate is really playing a joke on me.”
“We just met,” she said again. “And, Ryan, I—”
“Aren’t interested in getting involved in
a relationship. I hear you.” He stroked her lip once more, just a soft swipe of his thumb. “Listen. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, Sable. I’m almost forty years old. I’ve finally reached a point in my life where I want to spend the rest of it with the right woman. I have a feeling it’s you. But I want you badly enough to take this on your terms, at least for now.” He paused. “We’ll be friends, though, and friends do see each other outside of the bedroom. I’d really like to get to know you better. Learn about the real Sable Hunter.”
“I don’t know if you can understand this,” she began slowly, “but here’s the other thing that concerns me. Saddle Wells is a small town, and the county is just an extension. I’m sure people talk about each other. They gossip. I don’t want them gossiping about me, not when I just got here. Everyone’s still in love with Doc, and I’ll be under a microscope.”
“And you think they don’t expect you to date?” He lifted an eyebrow. “I promise you dating and sex is allowed in Rowan County.” He grinned. “In all of Texas even. We can certainly have dinner or lunch once in a while without starting a scandal.”
She blew out a long breath. “I guess.”
“Relax. You’ll see. It’s all good.” He put his napkin down and reached for one of her hands, folding his long fingers around it. “Damn, Sable. I’m having the hardest time sitting here eating my meal when what I really want is to tear off your clothes and lick every inch of your naked body.”
The throbbing pulse in her sex ramped up in intensity and more moisture flooded her panties. When she lifted her wine glass again to take another sip, her hand trembled slightly with the rush of need.
“Am I rushing you here?”
“No.” She whispered the word, but she was shrieking it in her head. She’d wanted him since he’d danced with her at the party and pressed her body to his. No, since she’d laid eyes on him at the Bit and Bite.
“Then you should know this.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and drew a line across her knuckles with the tip of his tongue. “I want to start tonight. Right here. Right now.” He lowered his voice. “I want to fuck you, Dr. Hunter, until neither of us can see straight. Say it, Sable. Tell me you want this as much as I do.”
She could hardly breathe. Her pulse thrummed and her heart was beating so loud she was sure he could hear it. Oh, she wanted this all right.
“Y-yes.” Oh, Sable, why are you stammering? “Yes, I do. I want this.”
The smile he gave her was so wicked she felt every nerve in the walls of her pussy fire and spark.
“Then let’s leave this mess. It will still be here later.”
He rose in one lithe, athletic movement, lifted her from her chair and strode into the house. She looped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against that solid wall of chest, barely noticing details of the house as they passed through the living area to the bedrooms. At the end of a short hall, he elbowed aside a partially open door and carried her inside.
Sable had seconds to glance around the room, taking in sparse details of the place where he slept. Did he bring other women here?
None of your business. Focus on tonight.
Then she stopped thinking as Ryan set her on her feet at the side of a massive bed and cupped her face in his palms. His hands were both gentle and possessive.
“Last chance to say no, Sable. We’ll still be friends. You’ll still be my vet. But I won’t take anything in half measures.”
She pulled in a long breath and let it out slowly. “I’m in. Yes. In.”
There was that devilish grin again, a wicked curve of his lips. “And before long, I’ll be in too.” He licked a line around the shape of her mouth. “In you.”
Oh God!
Very slowly and carefully, as if he was unwrapping a package, he began to remove her clothing. First, the tee shirt she’d put on after her shower, gray with a faded Texas A&M logo. For one brief moment, she wished for something more feminine, then decided it didn’t matter. She apparently wasn’t wearing it any longer anyway. Beneath it, at least, was a bra of navy satin and lace. Outside, she might be all business, but inside, she was all woman. Ryan traced the lace edging on the upper side of each cup with the tip of one finger back and forth, outlining the upper swell of her breasts.
He brushed the flat of his tongue across soft flesh before he took a moment to suck each nipple into his mouth, fabric and all. She felt the pull of his mouth through her nipples clear to her core, a shimmying feeling that raced through her. He pressed a hard kiss to the hollow of her throat, where she knew her pulse beat an erratic tempo.
A flick of the clasp in back, the whisk of the straps down her arms, and her bra was history. He moved his hands to the snap of her jeans, popped it and lowered the zipper with one slide of the tab. He had to bend to push her jeans down past her hips.
“Hold onto my shoulders,” he told her.
She did, and he tugged off her boots, her socks and her jeans. Then she stood there in nothing more than a scrap of satin and lace that matched her bra. She heard him suck in his breath, hard, before he coasted his hands down her arms and then back up to her shoulders, over her breasts and outlining her hips. Every place he touched, she felt as if fire had kissed her skin.
“Don’t move.” His voice was low and thick. “Just—don’t move.”
He yanked his polo shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Sable had to bite her lip to keep from sucking in a breath at the sight of him. There was that hard wall of chest she’d felt, covered with a rich dusting of black curls as dark as the hair on his head. Flat bronze male nipples peeked out at her and made her mouth water. A line of dark hair arrowed down his flat abdomen and disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. As large as he was, there wasn’t an inch of fat anywhere on him. He was as solid as a concrete wall and just as massive.
Yet she felt no fear of his size. She instinctively knew he would be careful with her. With everything.
He got his boots and his socks off, tossing them to the side too, but he left his jeans in place.
She drank in every male inch of him, every powerful muscle, every sculptured part of his body. Then she frowned. “Aren’t you forgetting to take something off?”
“No. If I take them off now, this whole thing will be over in five minutes. I have things I want to do first.” He took a step closer to her again. “With you.” He took another step. “To you.”
Then he was right there, pressing her body to his, raking his fingers through her hair and molding them to her skull, holding her head in place. He brushed his lips lightly over hers in a gentle motion before sliding his tongue back and forth over the surface. Gentle. Soft. Teasing. But it made her pulse in all her hot places. She grasped his wrists to steady herself, to keep her balance as he traced every inch of her lips. When he probed at the seam with the tip of his tongue, she opened for him readily, eagerly.
God, his tongue was hot, so searing it ignited every nerve in her mouth. He plunged it deeply, retreated, plunged again, searching and exploring. She gripped his wrists harder as their tongues indulged in an erotic tango, twisting and turning and licking until she was so weak in the knees she could barely stand. When he lifted his head, it was all she could do not to collapse.
Ryan picked her up again, raked back the covers on the bed and placed her on the sheets as gently as if she were made of china. The slight trembling of his arms told her exactly how much restraint he was using. When he had her arranged the way he wanted, pillows beneath her head, legs bent at the knees and wide apart, feet planted on the mattress, he knelt between her thighs.
He took in every inch of her body, his gaze like a hot caress everywhere. He brought his mouth to her nipples again, this time sucking long and hard on them, even nipping them with his teeth. She arched up to him, welcoming the sharp nip of pain that sent a spear of electricity straight to her pussy. He soothed them with his tongue, first one and then the other before trailing the tip of his tongue between her breasts. When he reach
ed her navel, he took his time tracing the curl of flesh in the indentation, exploring lightly before moving lower, lower, lower.
When he grabbed the lace edging on her barely there panties and tugged on it, she moaned with anticipation. Faster, she wanted to shout, as he eased them down, exposing her mound.
“Jesus, Sable.” His breath was a soft warm breeze against her flesh. “Waxed. With just those two mouthwatering strips of curls marching down your pussy lips, I know I’ll dream of this every night and probably wake up with my hand wrapped around my dick.”
A little laugh with a slight hysterical edge to it burst from her throat. “Glad I could provide incentive for your dreams.”
“You have no idea.”
She clenched her fists at her sides, digging her fingernails into her palms as she waited breathlessly for him to do more. She didn’t have long to wait. He grasped the edges of her panties, dragged them down her legs, tossed them to the side and spread her knees wide again.
“Jesus!” he said on an exhale, his voice rough and raspy. “You have the most gorgeous cunt I’ve ever seen.”
As if to punctuate his words, he trailed his tongue the length of her slit and back again, humming his appreciation. Using the flat of his tongue, he lapped her wet flesh over and over again, setting every nerve to vibrating.
“More.” She whimpered the word, signaling her need with her body.
But he seemed determined to take his own sweet time, tracing every inch of the soaked flesh of her pussy and teasing the hot bundle of her clit. When he closed his teeth around the sensitive nub and teased it, need rose up from within her hot and hungry.
“More,” she begged again. “Please.”
His rough laughter rumbled against her overstimulated body. “In a hurry, are you? Let’s see if I can take that edge off a little.”
He thrust two fingers into her soaked channel and her walls instantly closed down on them. When he curled them slightly and dragged them towards him, the tips scraped across her sweet spot and she nearly levitated off the bed. Then he did it again and again. And oh God, when he slid a third finger in with the other two and sucked hard on her clit again, that was all it took to trigger her release. It exploded from deep in her body, her sex clenching and spasming.
