by Mari Carr
“Because I know where this is going, where we’ll end up. We’ve been here before, remember?”
“No, I don’t remember. As far as I know, we’ve never been here.” He couldn’t figure out what she was talking about, but hell would freeze over before he let her break things off between them again. She may have made the right decision over a decade earlier, but from where he was sitting, they were exactly where they should be at this point.
“Dammit, Jeb. You need a woman a helluva lot less independent than me. I’m not the same girl you knew back in school. The one who was content to let you make all the decisions, call all the shots. I’ve been running this ranch without Bob for nearly a year and I think I’ve done a pretty damn good job.”
“I agree,” he said, but she continued talking.
“I’m not the sort of woman to let a man just walk in and take over, and though I appreciate you taking care of getting the ranch hands fed and working this morning, you should have woken me up.”
“Next time I will.”
Again she ignored him. “This is still my home, my ranch, my life. I’ll either make my own way or I’ll fall flat on my face, but at least it’ll be me who does it.”
“I don’t have a problem with that, though I wouldn’t mind falling with you if you’d let me.”
“And another thing—” She paused and he knew she’d finally heard him. “What?”
“This is your ranch, Claire. I’m not trying to take that from you. I’m not looking for a slave or maid or whatever else it is you seem to think I’m after. I want a partner, a friend, a lover. I want you.”
“But you like to call the shots…” she began.
“In bed. Sometimes. It seems to me there were two of us taking what we needed, what we wanted last night. I get that you aren’t the same girl I used to love, darlin’, but I think you need to understand I’m not the same boy either. So I go a little alpha in the bedroom—”
“A little?” she asked, her voice betraying the fact the storm had passed. Her voice was light, her eyes laughing.
“Very funny. I think the last two weeks should have proven to you that we’re still compatible, in bed and out.”
She nodded, falling silent for several long moments. He gave her time to sort out her thoughts, knowing he’d continue to press his case until the cows came home if need be.
“Jeb, I’m afraid I’ve been acting like a fool since I woke up. Can we start this morning over?”
“Can we start it over with sex rather than talking?” he asked.
She laughed. “Given the fact I’ve only just now gotten my foot out of my mouth, I think less talk, more action would be ideal.”
“How do you feel about letting me take over for a while?”
Claire rolled her eyes. “Not very masculine if you ask permission first.”
Jeb shrugged, wanting to joke with her but unable to push back the anxiety, the concern that she would still cut and run. “You have a point there. Sure it won’t scare you away?”
She cupped his cheek with her hand. “I’m sure.”
“You’re mine, Claire.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He grasped her wrists, using them to push her down onto her back once more. “Remember you said that.” Holding her hands by her head, he kissed her hard, possessively. He didn’t want to leave any doubt in her mind who she belonged to or exactly where he was going to take them.
When he pulled away, he was pleased by the flushed, hungry look on her face. “Don’t move a muscle,” he said. “I need to grab a few things.”
She looked as if she wanted to question him, but he stopped her with a finger against her lips. “No talking without permission.”
She gave him the narrow-eyed look he loved and he countered it with a stern face of his own. She’d agreed to play this by his rules and he was ready to take advantage of that gift.
He rose from the bed, rummaging through her dresser until he found several scarves. Returning to her side, he started to open the drawer to her nightstand but she sat up quickly, protesting. “Wait.”
Jackpot. He opened the drawer and found exactly what he was seeking. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Nice collection,” he said with a wicked grin, pulling out one of her vibrators and a tube of lubrication.
She gave him a dirty look. “My husband died. I’ve been alone for a year.”
“You’re not going to hear any complaints from me, Claire-bear. I like a woman with a healthy sex drive.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Something tells me it’s about to get a whole lot healthier.”
“Oh yeah,” he agreed. “Darlin’, did I give you permission to move? Or to talk?”
“Oops,” she replied and he laughed.
“Roll over. I want you on your hands and knees.”
She moved into position and he placed his pile of goodies on the mattress before crawling up to kneel behind her. She jerked when he placed two quick smacks on her ass. “That’s for failing to listen.”
Before she could blast him, he ran his hand between her thighs, provoking a pleasured hiss instead. Pushing two fingers inside her pussy, he felt the rush of her arousal coating him. “So wet,” he murmured. Picking up her vibrator, he removed his fingers, filling her instead with the cool plastic toy.
She shivered as he pushed it inside and turned it on. “Jeb,” she cried out. He kept the toy set on low, turning his attention to her ass.
“This is going to be cold at first too.” Opening the lubrication, he squeezed a dollop on her anus, slowly working it into her tight hole. Taking his time, he stretched her with one finger, then two and finally three, generously lubricating her ass. He’d taken her virginity fourteen years earlier. Today he was going to take it again.
Removing his fingers, he caressed her ass. “Lie on your back, darlin’.”
She moved slowly, the vibrator still working its magic in her pussy, driving her to the brink but not providing enough stimulation to push her over the edge.
“Jeb, please,” she whispered, using her legs to try to draw him to her.
“Bad girl,” he said. “Maybe we should make sure you aren’t tempted to be naughty.” He reached over her head, tying her left hand to the corner post of the headboard with a scarf, and then he repeated the process with the right. She tugged against the bonds and surprise crossed her face when she realized she was truly caught. She wouldn’t escape until he allowed it.
“And now, for the rest,” he said, picking up the last two scarves.
“The rest?”
He didn’t answer. Instead he lifted her left leg up toward her shoulder, tying it to her left elbow. Good thing she was flexible. While he could see her struggling with the position, he did the same with her other leg. The bondage lifted her ass off the mattress and held her open. Her breathing picked up, became labored, and he glanced at her face. If he saw any distress at all, he’d free her. He smiled when he realized she was aroused—very, very aroused.
“I’m going to take your ass,” he said.
“Do it,” she whispered.
He reached down to turn up the speed on the vibrator still lodged in her cunt and she screamed. Gripping her ass firmly, he pushed the head of his cock inside the tight pucker. She was on the verge of an orgasm and he knew it wouldn’t take much to make her come.
Moving slowly, fighting to ignore how incredible the pulses of the vibrator felt against his hard flesh, he pushed forward until he was seated to the hilt. She came at that exact same instant and Jeb’s jaw locked against the power of her climax. Unable to hold back, he began thrusting shallowly in her ass and Claire’s orgasm morphed into a series of smaller but still forceful ones. Her screams turned to moans and then to pleading—more, harder, faster. When he couldn’t hold back any longer, he succumbed to his own climax, coming harder than he’d ever come in his life.
Untying her, he gathered her close, massaging her muscles and murmuring sweet no
things as they both struggled to regain their wits and their breath.
After several silent minutes, Claire looked at him, cupping his rough, unshaven jaw with her hand. “I love you, Jeb.”
He smiled widely, her words the sweetest he’d ever heard. “I love you too, Claire-bear. Always.”
Epilogue
Two months later
“Claire?” Jeb’s voice drifted to her from the hallway.
“In here,” she called. She sat on the edge of the bathtub and stared at the little stick. It was wrong. It had to be. She glanced at the three other pregnancy tests, all of them declaring the same thing. She was pregnant. How could she be pregnant?
She chuckled to herself. “You know perfectly well how you got pregnant.” Sex 24/7 with the most virile man on the planet. She was knocked up. As she looked at the little plus sign, she waited for the panic to set in. It didn’t. It wouldn’t. She felt besieged with complete, utter happiness.
“Are you okay? What’s taking you so long?” Jeb asked. The door started to open despite the fact she’d locked it.
He stepped inside, stopping in his tracks when he spotted her surrounded by the open boxes of pregnancy tests.
“Did you pick the lock?” she asked, aware that her question at a time like this was silly and insignificant. She hadn’t shared her suspicions with Jeb, hadn’t told him about her bizarre bouts with nausea that only came after breakfast, after he’d headed out with the ranch hands to work each day.
“Yeah. What the hell are you doing?”
She rose slowly, suddenly wishing she’d warned him. She was stunned and she’d suspected the truth for nearly a week. Poor Jeb was about to be completely blindsided.
“Well. It would appear we’re going to have a baby. Surprise,” she added lamely.
Jeb stood motionless long enough that the anxiety she’d managed to hold at bay started creeping in. She’d told him she couldn’t conceive. What if Jeb didn’t want children? What if he thought she’d lied about not being able to get pregnant in hopes of trapping him or something? “I really thought I couldn’t—”
“A baby?” he said, interrupting her, and she nodded.
“I hope you don’t think—”
“We’re going to have a baby? You and me?” he repeated.
Her nerves erupted, frustration taking over. “Yes, Jeb. You and I are going to have a baby. Apparently your sperm are super swimmers and one of the little boogers managed to find an egg inside me despite my medical issues and—”
He laughed. “Hot fucking damn!” He walked toward her and for the first time since she’d dropped the bomb on him, she knew things were going to be okay. “I’m going to be a daddy!” He picked her up and spun her around as she giggled.
When he put her down, he knelt in front of her stomach and her laughter morphed into happy tears as he kissed her still-flat tummy. “She’s going to be beautiful, tall and slim with your blonde hair and blue eyes. I’m going to spoil her rotten.”
“What if it’s a boy?” she asked.
“I’ll spoil him rotten too.”
“You’re really happy? I don’t want you to think I lied to you. I swear I—”
He looked up, shock written on his face. “Lied to me? Jesus, Claire. I know you’d never lie. Not about something like this. Besides, haven’t you figured it out yet? I’m exactly where I want to be. I love you.” He took her hand, kissing her palm before tightening his grip. “Will you marry me, Claire? Will you be my wife?”
She smiled mischievously, his words filling her with delight. She pretended to consider his offer. “Hmmm,” she said at last. “Maybe.”
He laughed as he stood, picking her up and carrying her to their bedroom where he tossed her onto the bed. “Maybe I should find a way to convince you to change that maybe to a yes.”
She lay back, beckoning him closer with her finger. “Maybe you should.”
Inflamed
Cowboy Heat, Book 3
Dedication
This story is dedicated to Rhian Cahill, an amazing critique partner and a wonderful friend.
Chapter 1
“Dammit.” Keri Shields climbed out of her rental car, cursing the billows of steam rising from beneath the hood. The car had started sputtering and she’d managed to pull it to the side of the road before it died completely. If she recalled correctly, she was about five miles from her uncle’s ranch.
Using her sleeve, she wiped the perspiration from her forehead. No wonder the car had overheated. This Texas sun was merciless. Bending into the driver’s door, she popped the hood then walked to the front of the car. A huge wave of red-hot heat pushed her a few paces away when she opened the hood, and she cursed again.
Reaching into her pocket, she switched on her iPhone. Yep. Still in a dead zone. She’d noticed a few miles back she’d lost service. Not unusual, considering she was in the middle of nowhere. There were only four ranches spanning three hundred miles, and she’d already passed two of them.
Keri turned and stared at the straight stretch of road ahead of her. It could be hours before another car happened along. She was headed for Mockingbird Ranch, her uncle Brody’s place. After escaping four years in a disastrous relationship with the world’s biggest jackass, she was ready for a change of scenery and a new lease on life. New York had officially chewed her up and spit her out. Uncle Brody had been begging her to move back for years, and she’d finally wised up and accepted the invitation.
His baby sister, her mother, had gotten pregnant in high school. When Keri’s teenage father denied his role in her surprise entrance to the world, Uncle Brody—only twenty at the time—had stepped in and become Keri’s father in every real sense of the word. She’d missed her uncle terribly, suffering from genuine homesickness lately. He never failed to make her smile, to cheer her up when she was down. And God knew she could use a healthy dose of his optimism these days.
The sound of a vehicle approaching sent a jolt of relief through her. She took two steps toward the edge of the road and waved her arms, praying the driver of the pickup truck would take mercy on her.
The truck pulled in behind her car, and she suppressed a grin when she spotted the driver. Maybe today was her lucky day after all. Max Lennin stepped out from behind the steering wheel and Keri immediately felt the libido that had died a painful death several years ago spring to life again.
When Shaw Stone opened the passenger-side door, she knew fate was smiling on her.
The two cowboys had worked on Mockingbird Ranch when she’d lived there, but they now owned Bronco Ranch, the spread next to her uncle’s. They had inflamed her young, girlish fantasies for years. Given that the men were seven years her senior, she’d known her childhood crush would never be more than that. She’d been cursed with practicality—never prone to the flights of fancy her other schoolmates often succumbed to. There were girls who were born to follow their hearts and others ruled firmly by their heads. Unfortunately, she’d always been in the latter group.
That was about to change.
She pushed her long hair over her shoulder seductively. It had taken months for her boring bob to grow out to the long, wavy tresses she’d highlighted before leaving New York. Always a boring brunette, she’d decided to test the blondes have more fun theory.
As she watched Max and Shaw approach, she couldn’t stifle her emerging excitement. After all, the playing field had evened out. There was nothing inappropriate—or illegal—about a twenty-six-year-old woman flirting with two men of thirty-three.
Well, okay, flirting with both of them was probably tacky, but what the hell? They’d never paid her any attention before and it would be good practice. Miss Conservative had traded in her turtlenecks and eyeglasses for contacts and cleavage. From here on out, she was going to be wild and wicked.
If they were surprised to see her in a too-tight T-shirt and Daisy Dukes, they didn’t give it away with their expressions.
“Keri Shields,” Max drawled. “Long time, n
o see.”
She grinned. “Hey, Max, Shaw. Y’all sure are a sight for sore eyes.” She’d been back in Texas four hours and already she could feel her Southern accent returning.
Max looked at her popped hood and nodded. “I can see that.”
He walked toward her and she started to step back, expecting him to check the engine. She was surprised when he stopped directly in front of her, bending to give her a hug, and laughed when he picked her up and spun her around.
“Stop hogging her,” Shaw complained, until Max set her down and Shaw picked up where his friend left off. “Damn, baby, you look hot.”
She fanned herself. “It’s this damn Texas sun. It’s brutal.”
Both men laughed.
“Not exactly what I meant,” Shaw clarified. “You’re all grown up. Gorgeous.”
She fought against the usual Keri response, determined not to blush. Changing her habits was going to be harder than she’d thought. “Thanks.”
Max grinned as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “So, sweet Keri. Sort of expected you to come back here in a power suit and practical shoes. I’m glad to see city life didn’t ruin you.”
Clearly Brody had told them she was returning. She shrugged. “I may have spent the last few years in the city, but it’s hard to erase a lifetime of ranch living.”
Shaw leaned over the hood of her car and shook his head. “Where’d you get this piece of shi— I mean, junk?”
She smiled as Shaw attempted to curb his foul language. He and Max had always regarded her as an innocent little girl, always treated her with polite, if distant, courtesy. She stepped closer to the car, bending forward slightly and pretending to study the engine. Through her peripheral vision, she watched Shaw blink rapidly as she gave him an eyeful of her spark plugs. She didn’t even bother to hide the fact her nipples were sharp enough to scratch the car’s paint. Being with the two sexy cowboys was revving her engine. “The piece of shit is a rental. I didn’t own a car in the city. Traveled by subway. I plan to buy one down here, now that I’m moving back for good. This was supposed to tide me over until that happened.”
