Six Pack Ranch: Books 1-3

by Vivian Arend

  “Go deliver these. Then gather whatever you need to put on a show for me. I’ll wait in the barn.”

  “The barn?”

  “That a problem?” Blake asked. “You got a better place in mind?”

  Jaxi backed against the door until it opened. “No, the barn is fine. You want to arrange a seat by the training pole?”

  Blake delivered the rest of the plates to a group of silent men all wearing enormous grins on their faces.

  “Someone here got the bad habit of listening at doors?” Blake let his possessive feelings show.

  “Holy shit, Blake, you’ve got to let us come watch,” Joel begged.

  Blake plopped a plate of pie in front of him. “In. Your. Dreams. I find any one of your scrawny hides near the barn, and I’ll convince Dad to let you handle the newborn lambs Christmas Eve all by yourself.”

  He ignored his own plate of dessert and hightailed it out the door. The boys could clean up—he had a show to attend.

  Jaxi slipped through the door into the long hallway. She dropped her bag onto a chair and tugged off her robe.

  Blake had turned on the overhead speakers, and the walls strummed with the local country station. She paced to the far end of the barn where the horses’ training area was located. In the center of the room, a solid metal post they used for putting foals through their paces rose vertically.

  Her heart beat faster as she anticipated Blake’s reaction to her dancing. It seemed forever since he’d touched her intimately, and she had no intention of waiting anymore.

  He reclined in his chair, relaxed and at ease. Until she noticed his fingers gripped his belt buckle a little too tight. His eyes gone a little too wild.

  Perfect.

  She took a deliberate stroll behind him. Close enough to drag her fingertips along his shoulders and through the short curls at his neckline. She stepped away to grasp the upright pole cemented in the middle of the room.

  And danced.

  She started slow and easy, with her hips and torso close to the pole. Her jean shorts rode high on her ass and low on her hips, and showed off the long expanse of leg exposed between the top of her cowboy boots and the shorts. The studded denim vest pressed her breasts until her cleavage threatened to fall out every time she breathed.

  She’d picked the outfit deliberately. The girl who had trained her wanted her to wear high heels, and Jaxi learned to dance in them as well, but the boots said it all. She was a country girl through and through, and there was nothing sexier.

  She let her head drop back, hanging on to her cowboy hat. She wrapped a leg around the pole while she swung her upper body free, one hand skimming her skin. Over the vest and the buttons, letting a couple loose and exposing more of her body to Blake’s vision.

  Jaxi pulled off her hat in one smooth motion and let the long hair she’d tucked inside bounce around her shoulders, swinging free. The length stroked her skin, caressing as it fell.

  She danced, feeling wicked and sexy and totally in control of her body. The beat of the song echoed in her heart, bounced off the walls and traveled through her limbs to heat her from the inside out. The song finished far too soon. She closed her eyes to focus, breathing hard for a minute before she stepped back from the pole and faced Blake.

  He’d opened his jeans and sat stroking himself as he stared at her, raw desire flushing his skin. She watched in fascination as he pulled with firm motions, the length of his cock hard and ready. It had been so long, and she was more than ready to renew the physical part of their relationship.

  “Take off your vest.”

  “Does this mean the wooing is over?”

  Blake caught her gaze with his, and the answer flashed heat through her as if she’d stepped in front of a blazing fire on a winter’s day.

  Oh, yeah.

  Jaxi took her time, finally unbuttoning the last snap, and let the garment fall to the ground behind her.

  “Holy shit, you’ve got nipple rings.”

  “Clip-ons. You like them?”

  He growled. Jaxi licked her fingertips, then rolled her nipples. She let the sound of her pleasure flow over him.

  “The shorts. Off.”

  Jaxi moved with deliberate slowness, unsnapping, unzipping, turning her back toward him as she lowered the material over her ass an inch at a time. She wanted to drive Blake mad with want. She startled when his hand touched her skin, hot and moist from touching his cock. He tugged her hips to draw her closer.

  “You going to leave those boots on for me, sexy cowgirl?”

  “You know it.”

  Blake stripped down, all hard, glistening muscles, replacing his own boots before standing. He circled her again, like in the kitchen, only this time they were both naked.

  Except for their cowboy boots.

  Blake stared at her, his gaze eating her up. “Slick, I don’t even know where to begin on you. I need to taste those nipples with those pretty little rings. I want to lick your entire body. I want to kiss your sweet lips all night long. But all I can think of right now is finding out how good a cowgirl you are.”

  Jaxi ran her hand down his chest, playing with the hairs that led to where his cock stood at attention, weeping with need. “You wanna take me for a ride, cowboy?”

  Blake swept her into his arms. Jaxi wrapped her legs around his waist, felt his shaft hard against her heated core. He shifted his hands to her ass, and with one quick adjustment, he penetrated her. He was hot and huge, and Jaxi felt every inch as he forged into skin that was tender from too much, too soon, but she didn’t want him to stop. The pleasure rose above the faint discomfort as more fluid coated them both, smoothing the thrusts of his body as he drove deeper and deeper. Blake used his strong arms to support her, to weld them together intimately while he stood in the middle of the room. She squeezed him hard, reveled in the heat of his body. The tingle of the breast clips radiated out, upping the sensations slowly driving her higher, increasing the stimulation as he struck her clit on every plunge.

  He lifted her suddenly and spun her, nestling her hips back against him. Blake centered himself and pressed in from behind, his hands cupping her breasts, his thumbs and forefingers tugging on the nipple rings while his hips pistoned.

  “I need to touch. I need to feel you, all soft and welcoming under my hands. So wet and tight and everything I need. Damn, I need you.”

  She was going up in flames, all the heat from teasing him at the table, the knowledge she’d turned him on with her dancing, all the love she’d seen in his eyes pulling her closer and closer to the edge. He drew both breasts together into one hand and dropped the other to brush her clitoris and she cried out. Her body squeezed his cock, tried to lock him in place as he continued to rub and thrust.

  “Give it to me, Jaxi, don’t hold back. I ain’t going to stop until you come around me one more time.”

  Tension drew toward a peak again. She was so wet fluid clung to the inside of her thighs, easing their joining.

  “Blake, oh hell.” The explosion radiated from her core to the tips of her fingers, every ridge on his cock more pronounced as her sheath clutched tighter around him. Blake cried in triumph, his arms supporting her against his torso as his cock pumped and jerked inside her.

  He cradled her close while he shuffled backward, his cock nestled deep within her. He collapsed into the chair, draping her legs over the arms to let him touch where they connected. Jaxi leaned her head on his shoulder and tried to stop the aftershocks from ripping her away from him, still hard between her legs.

  One hand cupped her breast. With the other Blake ran a slow finger along the seam between his cock and her pussy, the wickedest sensation ever.

  The most intimate touch.

  “Damn, that was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  She couldn’t speak. Could barely breathe.

  They lay in the chair until Blake softened enough he slid from her body. He twisted her in his arms, both of them sticky with sweat and come, and Jaxi realiz
ed she didn’t care one bit. She’d never felt more alive.

  Blake loosened one of the nipple rings. He pressed his palm against the stinging tip for a minute before removing the other one. Dragging his jeans closer, he reached into a pocket to slip the rings away. He kissed her and cradled her against the beating of his heart.

  “Jaxi, I tried to ask you something the other day before the munchkins invaded our picnic.”

  She sat up a little, glowing from their shared heat.

  Blake grinned. He kissed her hand and slipped something cold on her finger.

  “It’s temporary. We can go pick up something real in Calgary or Edmonton, or even online I guess. I wanted—”

  Jaxi kissed him to silence and leaned back to examine the ring. He’d woven two horseshoe nails together, smooth and shiny. It was simple and beautiful and evoked feelings in her she hadn’t thought possible to grow any stronger.

  He held up his hand to show off a matching ring, and she fought back tears.

  “Can we can be ready by October? Ma and Dad got married Thanksgiving weekend, and I figure a wedding would make a real fine reason to be thankful.”

  Jaxi drew a contented breath and nodded.

  He paused for a minute, then gave an embarrassed cough. “You notice we forgot to use something? Again?”

  Jaxi blushed. “I was too interested in what we were doing to worry about it.”

  Blake let out a big breath. “This past week I thought about the fact we’ve had sex with no protection, a couple times already. I also pondered that lecture you gave me, that first night we made love.”

  “Lecture?” She shot him her best evil eye.

  “Hey, I’m not saying I didn’t deserve it. In fact, I earned more of an ass kicking than you gave me that night. It was reckless of me to put you in that position, no matter how right you were about us being together no matter what the outcome. I shouldn’t have acted all territorial until we’d talked about the future.”

  Jaxi wasn’t sure where he was going with this. “And the next time? In the kitchen? And now—you’re not being territorial now by leaving off a condom?”

  “Now I’m totally staking my claim. Like a bloody caveman.” He brought their lips together and caught her in mid-laugh. When he finally released her from the kiss it was to back up only a couple of inches. “This time I figured I had your permission—something I didn’t have that first night in the cabin. But after you told me very plainly you didn’t think us having a baby was a mistake, I thought you might not mind us getting started on a family right quick. I know I wouldn’t mind a bit.”

  The delight in her core turned from a tiny flutter of happiness to a wash of nearly unbearable joy. Having him and a family? “Oh God, Blake.”

  “Good oh God, or you’re ready to kill me oh God?”

  They were getting married. They could have a baby soon. Wild, incredible, unbelievable. “You’re safe, no murder on the agenda. I’m just as responsible for birth control as you are, if it comes to that.”

  “Just as irresponsible, you mean.” His grin flashed bright, and she nodded ruefully. “I also did something this week I’d never done before. I did the math. You know when I was born?”

  “May seventeenth.”

  “Hmm. I’ve heard that planning for life takes different routes for different folks. But it sure looks like I’m following in my daddy’s footsteps in more ways than one.”

  Oh boy. “You talking six boys?”

  “Maybe. Hate to remind you, it’s tradition. Great-Grandpa started it.”

  They dressed and strolled away from the barn hand in hand, Blake playing with the ring on her finger with his thumb.

  “So, when are you going to ’fess up and tell me what other classes you’ve taken? The interesting ones you wouldn’t share last week…”

  Jaxi raised her gaze to his. “Let’s see. Self-defense and boxing.”

  “Handy for those six boys we’re going to have.”

  “Stop it. Personal massage.”

  “Nice. What else?” Blake drew her close as he led her back to the cabin. It had been worth the wait to know she was finally his. No more questioning if he’d be able to hold her heart.

  She was his. He was hers. It was enough.

  22

  Canadian Thanksgiving

  “How long do we wait?” Blake plopped down on the edge of the mattress.

  Jaxi burrowed a little farther under the covers and groaned. “Oh hell, don’t rock the bed.”

  Blake pulled the edge of the quilt free and smoothed his fingers along her neck, rubbing gently. He leaned over and kissed her nape. “You’ve got to get up sometime, Slick.”

  “Go away.”

  Blake chuckled and drew the blankets back, a tug at a time. She was still warm and soft from sleep, cheeks rosy, and the subtle scent of her skin made his mouth water. He rolled her carefully to her back and smoothed his hands down her body all the way to her toes. He picked up a foot and massaged his thumbs along the bottom length.

  “Oh, yeah. You keep that up, and I promise I’ll be real nice to you later.”

  Blake snuck in a nip to her arch. “You’re already going to be real nice to me. How long do we have to wait?”

  Jaxi opened her eyes with reluctance. “I don’t know, read the box. Why do we need that thing anyway?”

  “’Cause I want to know for sure.”

  Jaxi sat and snuggled in close.

  “You ready for today, Jaxi?”

  “I’ve been ready for a long time, but…”

  He kissed her eyelids, stroked her hair, held her close.

  Three more hours and they’d be standing in front of their family and friends, saying the words to join them as a couple. Together and forever and everything that went with it.

  It felt so right.

  “But what?”

  Those big eyes stared at him as she traced a finger along his jaw. Her touch was light but it echoed through his whole body.

  “I’m a little scared.”

  Blake shook his head. “You? Scared? Hell, woman, I’ve always admired how fearless you were. Even as a little tyke, the first time I saw you, half-naked, covered in mud and whaling on Travis. You were so damn proud you never gave a hint to how much you hurt.”

  “I was only seven and Travis deserved it. You’re never going to let me forget that fight, are you?”

  Blake stroked a finger over her lips. “Nope, I like it that you know how to use your fists.”

  “You like a woman who fights?”

  Blake kissed her. “I love a woman who fights. I think I fell in love with you the day I found you taking on that boy who was planning to drown the kittens.”

  Jaxi’s eyes flashed. “You never did let me finish him off. He was ready to go home crying to his mama—”

  “Yeah, but he was about three years older than you and a whole lot bigger. Tell me when you knew you wanted me.”

  Jaxi nuzzled at his neck, her lips brushing his rough stubble. “I fell in love with you when you came to the school for the Professional Day talks. You told everyone all about how the ranch was managed, and the hard work and caring needed to keep the animals happy and everything. I decided right then and there I was going to be the one that helped you.”

  His jaw dropped. “Jaxi, you must have been about ten years old when I gave that talk.”

  She flashed him a gorgeous smile. “I told you I’ve loved you forever.”

  He cradled her tenderly, enjoying their embrace. There was one last lingering concern he had to share. He had to start this marriage with a clean slate and somehow he’d never managed to bring it up while they were wooing. His chest tightened. “Jaxi, I’ve got to tell you. Travis and you and me. I mean, there was this one time…”

  Jaxi wiggled back, her cheeks slowly flushing with colour. “Oh, shit.”

  He narrowed his eyes. She looked guilty, but he was sure that was his own emotion reflecting back. “I have to confess the first time you touched me
wasn’t the night after the pool hall. You kinda… Well, there was this time earlier when you hit on me.” He hurried to reassure her. “I mean you were out of it and nothing really happened. I don’t think you were aware you were with me.” He stuttered to a stop, not sure there was much else he could say.

  Her face glowed red but her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Um, Blake, if you’re talking about the trip home from the Stampede? I knew it was you.”

  A funny feeling tickled his stomach. “You knew?” Holy shit, she’d known all the time?

  She licked at her lips and nodded. “I don’t remember much from the start, but suddenly it was like I woke up. Well, I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten into the situation, but there was no way in hell I was going to give up the opportunity once I had it.”

  He stared at her. Unbelievable. “You are more trouble than anyone I’ve ever met in my life.”

  Blake shook his head, and they both laughed, soft at first and then louder until he was lying flat on his back beside her.

  When they finally calmed and he wiped the tears from his eyes, he noticed the time. “Damn, we’ve got to get ready.”

  Jaxi stood slowly, biting her lip. Blake swung around and wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her close as he sat on the bed.

  “I’m sure it’s done by now,” Blake teased.

  Jaxi leaned into him as he kissed her belly. “I can’t believe you woke me early to pee on a stick. Just remember I already told you the answer.”

  Blake followed her into the tiny bathroom, crowding against her back. He dropped his chin to her shoulder as she lifted the small white indicator.

  “What’s it say?” He kissed her neck. Couldn’t stop touching her.

  “It says you owe me a trip to Calgary to buy maternity clothes like I already told you last week.”

  Blake slipped his hands over her still flat stomach, imagining how it would feel round and heavy with their baby. All the doubts, all his worries were a thing of the past.