by Desiree Holt
“And me, too?”
Yes. What about her? The gold flecks in her eyes darkened, and the floral scent she wore invaded his nostrils, even over the scent of horses and barn. His balls ached so badly he had to grind his teeth, and his cock felt ten times its size.
Great. Just great.
“God damn it,” he repeated.
Before he could stop himself, he backed her against the door of the tack room and took her lips in a kiss brutal in its possession. She opened her mouth at once, and his tongue swept in. He scoured every interior surface, dragging against the inside of her lips and the surface of her tongue. She tasted as good as she smelled. Better, even, and she made him feel like an animal in heat. He tightened his hold on her arms to prevent her from lifting them to push him away, and used his body to cage her against the hard wood.
She was soft against him, but her nipples were hard points stabbing his chest. He wanted to rip off her blouse and suck them into his mouth, bite them until she screamed with pleasure. He wanted to rip open his fly, pull out his cock, and impale her on it.
God damn it, Cameron! Get a grip!
But that was impossible. He wasn’t sure even cold water could douse the heat rising from them.
With one hand, he cupped her head while the other pulled her hair into a tail and twisted it around his fingers. His mouth traveled the line of her neck, alternately taking tiny bites and soothing with his tongue until he returned to her mouth. Pulling her head back, he ground his lips against her, invading with his tongue again until he not only stole her breath but his own.
Then the reality hit him.
What the fuck are you doing, Cameron?
He released her so suddenly she nearly slid to the floor, grabbing the handle on the door to steady herself. Her eyes were glazed with sexual desire and hunger invaded him so brutal it made his blood heat. He had sworn not to do this. Not to give in to this temptation. But fuck! His famous control was fraying badly.
Worse than that, some unnamed emotion bubbled inside him, threatening what little peace of mind he had.
What the hell?
He stepped away, breathing as hard as she was. “Damn it, Zoe.”
“Wade, I—”
“This is who I am, Zoe,” he ground out. “What I am. You’d better get away from me, little girl,” he spat. “You don’t want to play my kind of games. And I won’t be around long enough for you to recover if you do.”
Zoe stared at him, mouth working but no sound came out.
He wanted to touch his own mouth, singed by the heat of their kisses. No, burned would be more accurate. He could still feel her breasts against his body, feel the softness of her cunt as he pressed his shaft against it.
He was in big fucking trouble. He’d told himself coming down here was just to frighten her away, but that was a big fat lie. It was an excuse for him to see her and look what had happened. Another few seconds and he’d have her naked on the concrete floor, his cock in her cunt, fucking both their brains out. No woman ever lit his fuse the way she did. He stormed out of the barn, headed toward the house.
Slamming shut the door to the combination den and office, he began pacing in long strides.
Shit, shit, shit.
He had really fucked things up. What the hell was he thinking? Why did he have to kiss her, anyway? And so roughly? He told himself from the moment he laid eyes on her again to keep a lid on everything, but his damn body didn’t appear to be listening.
He accepted the fact that he was a highly sexual animal, that he enjoyed sex maybe more than most, that he had extreme appetites. He reveled in it. And the women he spent time with took as much pleasure from him as they gave. But he hadn’t come here intending to have sex with Zoe Hampton. It hadn’t even occurred to him what she’d look like after all these years. The devil was certainly playing tricks on him.
He never should have touched her, but holy shit. The minute he got near her, his stupid dick shrieked to fuck her. Those full lips had begged for his mouth to take them in a brutal kiss. He wanted to rip off those clothes, tie her up with the rope hanging on a peg, and do all kinds of things to her.
He closed his eyes, but rather than erasing the image, another one came to mind. Zoe, naked. Wrists bound and arms stretched above her head. Legs spread. Clothespins on those rosy nipples. Sometimes he gave his subs nipple rings to wear beneath their clothes when they went out. It always gave him pleasure to sit in a restaurant and know that the pinch from the clamps was making them wet from the exquisite pain.
But for Zoe, he wanted the clothespins that he knew from experience ramped up the level of pain. One on her clit, too. He could even visualize the red flush of her skin from the contact of the soft flogger he loved to use.
Shit, Cameron. What are you doing to yourself? Zoe Hampton is off limits. Big time.
She represented this place and everything about it he hated. And she was the kind of woman who could reach into his soul if he allowed her to. He had to get out of here.
Maybe he should find someone besides John Morrison to take care of the ranch situation. An attorney in San Antonio who had no connection to anyone. Then he could get on the next plane for New York before he got himself in any deeper. Because as much as he told himself he needed to be here to oversee things personally, he knew that wasn’t the real reason. He couldn’t make himself walk away from a woman he had no business lusting after.
Where’s that famous Cameron self-control, idiot?
He needed to burn off some of this sexual energy devouring his body. And do it with someone he’d probably never see again. Shower and shave first, then he’d head for Rawhide again. It was a good thing he was planning to leave soon. If he stayed around here much longer, he’d fuck himself blind trying to get Zoe Hampton out of his mind and his blood.
****
Zoe finally recovered enough to make her way back to her house and collapse on the couch. Her emotions were in a turmoil, her body seething with unsatisfied desire. She felt as if she’d tempted a tiger and gotten bit. That hadn’t all been anger with Wade. Something else was working there and had been since the moment they laid eyes on each other again.
The last time she saw Wade was that terrible week after his law school graduation. By then he was twenty-six and she was eighteen, battling the stirrings of sexual desire and doing her best to get him to notice her. What a miserable failure that had been. He never came back to the ranch after that. She remembered her dad asking Max about it, and the argument that ensued was so bitter she ran into her bedroom, closed the door, and hid her head under her pillow.
Now here he was, a hard, angry, sexually tempting stranger who she was sure could destroy her if she let him. And it had nothing to do with the sale of the ranch. She was in love with Wade Cameron, a disastrous turn of events that happened before she could give orders to her brain or her heart. And she knew she was nothing to him except… Except what? She didn’t even have an answer.
He sent her so many conflicting messages. One minute he wanted her, the next he wanted her gone. She was not only going to lose the ranch before this was over, she was going to get her heart badly broken.
Zoe lay on the couch for a long time, trying to sort out the maelstrom of feelings whirling through her. At thirty, she wasn’t an inexperienced novice where sex was concerned. She’d had her share of lovers and two very significant relationships, both of which died a natural death. At the moment, she was experiencing sexual isolation, but that was by choice. Was that why Wade had such an unbelievable effect on her? Why her body was vibrating like a young filly in heat?
Hell!
Finally, telling herself she couldn’t lie here forever, Zoe crawled off the bed and treated herself to a long hot shower. Tossing on a T-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts, she nuked a frozen dinner. She grabbed a drink and carried everything out to the porch where she sat down in one of the old chairs she loved. She propped her feet on the rail and forked a bite of the mystery meat into her mouth.
She didn’t turn on the porch light, preferring to sit in the dark. With her thoughts in such disarray, for tonight the light from the sliver of moon was enough for her. And that was probably why Wade didn’t spot her when he jogged down the back steps to his rental SUV. Zoe paused with her fork halfway to her mouth to watch him.
Where the hell was he going? He’d only been here for three nights, hadn’t set foot on the place in more than twenty years, yet he had some place to go every night? What was that all about?
Her curiosity, which had gotten her into ten kinds of trouble over the years, made her hurry into the house, dump her dinner in the sink, grab her keys and some shoes, and head out for her own vehicle. She had to wait long enough that he wouldn’t see her leaving behind him and following him.
She drove down the driveway to the road without her headlights on, hoping no one was awake and wondering what the hell she was doing. When she turned onto the road, she could just make out Wade’s taillights a good distance ahead. She turned on her lights and paced herself to him, staying far enough behind that if he looked in his rearview mirror, he couldn’t see who she was.
They drove through Sagebrush and onto Interstate 10, headed toward San Antonio. Was he going into the city? Where would he go? To a bar? He could stay home and get drunk a lot cheaper. Maybe he was going to pick up a woman. She had no idea if that was even a habit of his, but the thought gave her an unfamiliar stab of jealousy.
As they approached the northwestern edge of San Antonio, he pulled off at an exit that led into a semi-populated area. Mostly a bedroom community. What on earth could bring him here? Had he met some woman in the short time since he’d been in Texas and was going to her home?
He turned onto Cypress Creek Road, a two-lane road where businesses shared space with oak and sagebrush trees. Zoe hung back as far as she could without losing him. In about half a mile, he turned into a driveway to an adobe building with a red barrel tile roof. There were no windows in front and the parking lot was half filled with vehicles of all kinds. No sign indicating a business, and it sure didn’t look like a residence, so maybe he wasn’t seeing some woman.
She pulled into the lot, far enough away that she didn’t attract his attention but close enough to watch him walk up to a massive carved door and ring a bell. In a moment, the door opened just enough to admit him then it closed again.
What kind of place could it be? Was there gambling going on inside? Was that a vice of Wade’s? It she actually knew very little about the last twenty years of his life—his habits, his preferences, his tastes in the things that made up someone’s personality.
It suddenly occurred to her that in her T-shirt and flimsy shorts, with no underwear, she couldn’t exactly walk up to the door and ask to be admitted to…whatever the place was. This might not be the dumbest thing she’d ever done, but it was close to it. She obviously couldn’t just sit here in the parking lot, practically naked, waiting for Wade to reappear.
There were no street numbers visible on the building, but when she drove back onto the country highway she checked the numbers for the buildings on either side of it. Surely, on the Internet where you could find anything, she could figure out the address and find out what was in that building.
Irritated, both with herself and with Wade, she headed for home. She might as well start searching tonight. She didn’t expect to be getting much sleep.
****
Weary from too little sleep and annoyed that she hadn’t been able to find any address for the place on Cypress Creek Road, Zoe dragged herself out to the porch with a cup of coffee only to find Wade’s SUV already gone. For a brief moment, she wondered if he was running away from the ranch or from her?
She emailed Mickey to see if he had any input from the information she’d sent him and cleaned up a few client things he’d sent her. The smattering of housekeeping chores that required attention took up only so much time. She should go through her father’s things, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it yet. There was a finality to it she’d have to face.
By early afternoon, she couldn’t stand her own company anymore so she wandered out to the barn, thinking she might take another ride. That seemed to be the only thing that soothed her. There was activity at the far side of the barn, and when she wandered over, three of the hands were completing the setup of the squeeze chute for branding, and Will Hoyt was locking the gate in place.
“Planning to help with the branding, Zoe?” He grinned. He knew it had never been one of her favorite ranch activities.
“I might,” she told him and shook her head. “It might be my last chance.”
Will pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his forehead. “Any word on where things stand?”
Zoe had made sure to tell him what was going on. He had been with Big Spur since before she was born. It was as much his home as it was hers, and he had a right to know.
“My boss is reviewing everything I’ve sent him to see if it’s possible to find alternative financing. Fingers crossed, right?”
“All of them,” he agreed. “Wade gotten any further with his attempt to break the will?”
“Not so far, thank god.”
Will shook his head. “I just can’t believe that boy would do something like that.”
“He’s not a boy anymore,” she pointed out. “You know he’s always hated this place.”
“I tried to tell Max he needed to open up to his kid more. Ease up on him. Make him feel part of this.” He shook his head again. “He just shut down after his wife and that baby died, and there was never any reaching him. Too damn bad.”
“Not much we can do about it now,” she reminded him.
“Sad to say,” he agreed. “Well, the men are off to start separating out the calves, and I’m heading to the hardware store. Anything you need in town while I’m there?”
“No, but thanks. I’ll see you when you get back. Maybe I’ll have some news by then.”
When everyone had left, Zoe wandered over to the chute setup. The men would bring the calves down to the pasture closest to the barn and set up a temporary fence dividing it. They’d drive the cattle one at a time through the long chute into the pen. Once a calf was branded, it would be released to the other side of the fence.
Hoisting herself up, she sat on the top rail of the chute and sat staring out over the land. Soon, this area would be filled with activity, and she wondered if this would be the last time she would ever get to see it.
“Will tells me we’ve got a good crop of calves to brand this year.”
Wade’s voice behind her startled her out of her reverie, and she lost her balance, tumbling into the pen. Before she could get to her feet, he had climbed in beside her and stood looking down at her.
She spit dust from her mouth and glowered at him. “Aren’t you even going to offer to help me up? Or did you just come out here to rub my face in the fate of the ranch again? Make up your mind, Wade. I’m too old to play games and tired of sparring with you.”
“Maybe not my kind of games,” he growled.
He stared down at her then stunned her by lowering his body over hers, his legs bracketing her hips as he knelt in the dirt. His long fingers wrapped around her wrists, holding them down to either side of her head, imprisoning her. His grip was so tight as to be painful, and it shocked her that his aggression gave her pleasure.
Wade bent low over her until his face was only inches away. His eyes darkened to the color of burnt chocolate again, and a muscle ticked in his cheek. He wasn’t as unaffected as he wanted her to think. That kiss yesterday might have been meant to frighten her, just as he was trying to do now, but it was very clear he was affected, too. Probably more than he wanted to acknowledge.
Instead of struggling, Zoe lay on the ground beneath him, waiting to see what he’d do next.
“You know what I’d like to do to you, little girl?” he ground out.
“What?” The word came out in a breathy r
ush of air. “What would you like to do to me, Wade?”
“Things that would scare the shit out of you.”
He was holding her forcibly in place, apparently unaware she wasn’t attempting to get up. He was holding most of his weight on his knees so he didn’t crush her, but she was essentially completely helpless. His crotch was practically at eye level, and there was no mistaking the prominent bulge. Oh, yeah. He was as hard as she was instantly wet.
“You think so?” She licked her lower lip, seeing the heat flare in his eyes again and knowing she was pulling the tiger’s tail. “You might be surprised.”
He stared at her for so long she wondered if he ever planned to speak or move. Without warning, he rose to his feet, pulling her with him. Imprisoning her wrists with one hand, he swept her over his shoulder and stomped into the barn. He carried her into the tack room and slammed the door shut, sliding the bolt into place to keep it locked.
“Big talker,” he ground out. “Let’s see where that big talk gets you.”
Grabbing a coiled length of rope hanging on a peg, he wound it around her wrists, tying it off and fastening the other end on a nail high up on the wall. Her arms were stretched over her head, forcing her to stand on tiptoe. Wade kept his gaze locked with hers as he worked, obviously watching for signs of fear or resentment or—who knew what.
She should be terrified, or at least alarmed. This might be Wade, who she’d known since she was born, but in the twenty years since she’d last seen him she had no idea how much he’d changed? What he’d become? Her brain told her she should either demand he release her…or beg him. But her brain seemed to be disconnected from her body. The edge of fear crawling through her was wrapped in a blanket of suddenly exploding lust.
A dark thrill curled through her as the realization of how much his control and dominance turned her on. If he thought she’d back down, he was very much mistaken.
“You know, I could do whatever I wanted to you right now,” he growled. “Anything at all.”
She licked her lips that had suddenly become dry. “Like what?”
