by Mari Carr
And now that you’ve broadened your horizons?
Seth found it more and more difficult to silence the part of him that longed for home.
He’d already stayed longer than he’d planned, living for Jody’s infrequent visits. Jody sure as hell hadn’t made it easy on him though. Seemed like the older she got, the more her clothes shrunk and he’d grown accustomed to spending his summers in a state of never-ending arousal.
Last summer had been the worst. Rather than following him around, she’d taken to hunting Chase. Seth had been hard-pressed not to beat the cocky cowboy into the ground. He’d issued the man weekly warnings to keep his hands off Jody and even casually made the suggestion that Thomas give the same admonition. He didn’t relax his guard for one second during the three months she’d remained at home.
Then the fucking incident under the mistletoe happened, and he knew he had a problem. She’d dared him to give her a real kiss, and he’d caved. He’d been missing his family, the traditional Compton Christmas celebrations, and his brothers. Jody felt warm and soft and being with her felt too much like coming home. He took it too far, too fast and he’d been besieged with images of a naked Jody, tied to his bed as he fucked her. He wanted to claim her in a very primitive way, and he suddenly became aware of the real reason he’d never succumbed to his feelings for her.
He was a dominant male, and he’d fallen head over heels in love with the least submissive woman he’d ever met. Jody’s hands in his hair, the way she tried to control the kiss proved to him there was no way he could take her the way he truly wanted without scaring her away or having her pull a gun on him.
He’d broken the kiss and brushed her aside once more. He hadn’t handled the situation well, but it had been hard to think with all the blood that usually flowed through his brain filling his cock. He’d struggled for a reason and ended up giving her some bullshit line about her being too young. When she’d tried to protest, he’d tacked on a ridiculous, hurtful comment about Jody not understanding exactly what she was asking for.
She hadn’t bought it. Instead she’d insisted she was a woman, not a little girl. As if the curves filling his palms weren’t proof enough of that. When he’d tried to explain she needed protection from him and his darker needs, the rose-colored glasses she’d always seen him through shattered. She’d laughed mirthlessly about him using the old it’s not you, it’s me line on her and stormed out of his life, furious and hurt.
Her anger had only amplified since then. After returning for her last semester at school, she’d severed the lines of communication, refusing his calls. With some distance, he was able to put his concerns into words that he’d written in at least a dozen emails. Emails she’d clearly never read. He crossed his arms over his chest and bided his time. She wasn’t going to delete him from her life. At least, not without hearing what he had to say first.
“Bingo,” he murmured, when Jody showed up in her jeans, intending to ride. He knew his girl, knew she liked to escape on horseback for hours on end when something was bothering her. Today, she wasn’t escaping to anywhere until he came clean. She was out of college, so he didn’t feel honor-bound to make sure she finished the degree her father insisted on. He also wasn’t about to let her throw her life away, marrying a man she didn’t love. Just a few moments in Paul and Jody’s presence had proven to him that while they possessed a certain friendly fondness for each other, neither of them was in love. He wasn’t sure what her scheme was in terms of this rushed wedding, but she could put the idea out of her head. Last night, he’d decided there was one only one man for her and it was him. He’d ease her into his needs…somehow.
“Mornin’, sunshine.” He stepped out of his hiding place when she reached for her saddle. “Need a hand?”
She glared at him. The shadows under her eyes proved she hadn’t slept any better than him. She started to offer an angry retort, but seemed to recall her peace offering from the day before. She’d vowed they would be friends again. Jody never went back on her word, never broke a promise. It was that deep-seated honor that made him appreciate her all the more.
“I’m fine.” She started to carry the saddle to her horse, but he stopped her, taking the heavy leather out of her hands. “I’m perfectly capable of saddling my own horse, Seth. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid.”
“I know. I want to talk to you for a minute before you take off.”
“We said all we needed to yesterday. Everything’s cool. I promise.”
He shook his head. “Nothing’s cool, Jody. We’re nowhere close to that.” His body temperature had risen to unhealthy proportions the second she’d entered the stable in those tight Levi’s. One touch from him would leave her with third degree burns. He was on fire for her.
He placed her saddle over the top railing of a stall and gestured to the tack room. “I need a few minutes.”
He knew she wouldn’t protest. Not when he added, “Just a friendly chat.”
She stormed into the tack room. He glanced over his shoulder and confirmed the place was empty. He’d given every hand on the ranch a different duty this morning, all of them well away from the stable. He closed the door and locked them inside the quiet space.
“Is that necessary?” she asked.
“Maybe. How’s your headache?”
She shrugged. “Better, I guess.”
“You guess? You don’t know?” He edged closer. She took two steps back before she could think better of it. Then, in typical Jody-style, she stopped and stood her ground. He took advantage of her stubbornness with glee. Reaching up, he placed his fingers on her temples, rubbing lightly.
Her hands came up to his wrists, intent on pulling his away, but he didn’t budge.
“It’s better,” she said. “You don’t have to do that.”
He lowered his hands, but he didn’t remove them from her face. Instead he cupped her cheeks, tipping her face up so she had no option but to look at him. “I think there are still some misunderstandings we need to clear up.”
She tried harder to dislodge him. He held tight.
“Put your hands down,” he demanded. She stopped fighting him, but her fingernails still gouged his wrists.
“By your sides, Jody. And leave them there.”
“Who the hell do you think—”
He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss to silence her. When she started to speak again, he nipped at her lower lip.
“You ready to listen?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Oh my God. You have a death wish or something?”
He chuckled. She wouldn’t bend her will to any man’s. He dropped his hands and shook his head. “Nope. Just doing a little experiment. That was sort of a test.”
“What kind? How to Piss Off a Woman 101?”
“You were wrong yesterday.” His abrupt change of topic took her unaware, and she frowned.
“About what?”
“You said I wasn’t interested in you. You think I don’t want you.”
She closed her eyes and tried to turn from him. “I’m not talking about this any—”
“I do want you. So bad, it hurts.”
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
“Jesus, Jody. All these years, I’ve been keeping my distance so I didn’t give in to something neither one of us could handle.”
“I don’t understand.”
He ran his hand along her cheek and enjoyed the slight shiver his touch provoked in her. The connection had always been there. He’d known it since the summer she’d turned eighteen. Their bodies responded to each other like opposing magnets, drawn to each other despite the innate differences that could tear them apart. “Gossip about my relationships has been flying around here over the years. What have you heard?”
She blushed, the reaction starting to prove another suspicion he had in regards to Jody.
“I’ve heard you like it rough.”
“What does that mean to you?”
She struggled to maintain eye
contact. She glanced toward the door, but he knew her pride wouldn’t let her run. “I heard you like to tie women up.”
“Is that all?”
She nodded. “I’m the boss’s daughter. That fact pretty much guarantees folks clam up whenever I come around.”
“I enjoy more than bondage, Jody. I like control in the bedroom. I expect absolute submission in my women.”
She sucked in a breath and he tried to decide if her response was one of anger or surprise. “What are you saying? You want a sex slave or something?”
He grinned at her tone. Though the conversation clearly made her uncomfortable, she didn’t back down from asking what she wanted to know. “I don’t expect a woman to call me master or—”
She laughed. When he stopped and stared at her, she quieted. “Oh, you were serious. Shit,” she muttered.
Now it was his turn to chuckle. “This is one of the reasons I never approached you. There isn’t a submissive bone in your body, Jody.”
“So I was right. You aren’t attracted to me.”
He shook his head. “You’re not listening to me. I’m dying to fuck you unconscious, but I don’t think you’d like the demands I’d put on you.”
“You need the submission stuff?”
“It’s hard to explain. It’s a part of who I am. If you’re asking if I could tuck it away, yeah, I could. I’ve spent more than a few nights with women who clearly weren’t submissives, but I wasn’t hoping for long-term relationships with them either. It would be like me asking you to give up riding when you’re upset. You could do it, but you’d always miss it. It wouldn’t be a fair request.”
“Why didn’t you share all of this a long time ago?”
He leaned against a nearby barrel. “What would you have said last summer if I’d told you all of this? Be honest.”
She came toward him, claiming the barrel next to him. Quiet stretched for several minutes and when she spoke he could tell by her grimace her answer was bringing her no joy to admit. “I would have said it was okay. That I could give you what you need.”
He reached down and grasped her hand. “You’ve tried to catch my attention for years. Doing some pretty out-of-character things in the attempt.”
She nodded. “I guess I have.”
“You climbed on that horse my first day here even though you knew it was dangerous. You’ve pranced around here in skimpy clothing, when you’re more comfortable in your jeans. You came on to Chase last year with a vengeance, but I’m willing to bet you walked by guys like him at college every day and never gave them a second glance.”
“Jesus. I knew I was pathetic, but hearing it all spelled out like that…”
He reached over and grasped her chin, applying light pressure until she faced him. “You aren’t at all. You were being honest about your feelings for me. If anyone was pitiful, it was me. I made up a million lame excuses, lying to you at every turn, rather than admitting the truth.”
“Which brings us right back to where we were yesterday. Friends.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I can’t turn this off, Jody.” He leaned forward. “My dominance doesn’t change a fucking thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I still want you.”
“But you said—”
He pressed his cheek to her face, rubbing his rough skin against hers, trying to leave a mark. He was finished fighting it. They’d either move on or kill each other in the attempt. At this point, he didn’t give a shit which way it ended—both would put him out of his misery once and for all.
“We’re just gonna have to work through it.” He punctuated his declaration with a kiss. He took her lips with everything he had, proving to her just how much he’d shielded from her. Jody didn’t disappoint him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, opened her sweet lips and brought him in out of the cold. Their tongues tangled, and they shared the same air, the same space. Her fingers drifted to his hair, running through the thick, rough mass. He followed suit, taking a fistful of her soft, brown waves, tugging it with enough force to confirm the gossip about him liking it rough wasn’t a rumor.
She groaned and followed suit, tugging his hair as well. He’d never been on the receiving end of such a touch and it certainly got his cock’s attention. He was so hard, he winced at the tightness of his jeans.
He used his other hand to lift her T-shirt, stretching it over her bra. She was well-endowed, curvy, more than a handful. Christ, he couldn’t wait to put his dick in the valley between her breasts. He’d cup himself in her smooth flesh, fuck her until he came, and paint her pretty pink nipples with his come.
She tried to retreat, but he refused to give up her lips. He’d ached to taste her for years and he was nowhere near satisfied.
She turned her head again. “I can’t breathe.”
“Yes, you can.” He tweaked her nipple through her bra and she gasped. “See?” He angled her lips back to his before she could offer a smartass reply. Moving both hands to her breasts, he tugged the cups of her bra lower until her nipples appeared. Glancing down, he fought a wave of lightheadedness as he scored his first up-close and personal look at her. “Jesus. You’re perfect,” he whispered.
She rested her forehead against his and smiled. “Too big.”
“Ain’t no such thing.” He bent to prove to her exactly how flawless he thought she was. Her hands flew to his hair once more, her back arching toward his mouth as he sucked hard on first one, and then the other tight nipple. As he applied pressure, he paid close attention to her body’s other signals. He’d waited a lifetime to get her into his arms and he didn’t plan to screw it up now. Sucking on one nipple, he reached over to pinch the other, relishing the image of her pressing her legs together. He was certain he could smell her sweet juice even through the denim of her jeans.
She liked a bit of pain with her pleasure. Suddenly, he started reevaluating his idea. She blossomed beneath his attentions, making him wonder if she might accept his dominance in the bedroom. Holy shit. Rising, he released her nipple with a soft pop. “Open your legs.”
She hesitated for the barest moment and once again, faint unease about her level of innocence niggled at his conscience. Then her thighs parted. He stood between them, his lips returning to her breasts, sucking as she moaned and clung to his hair.
Distracting her with his mouth on her nipple, he unbuttoned her jeans and opened the zipper. Her knees tightened on his hips, and he suspected she would have closed them if his body hadn’t blocked her. He paused and studied her half-closed eyes. Her face was flushed, her breathing labored. He knelt before her, leaning forward to place a kiss on her stomach. He grasped one of her hands and lightly ran his tongue along her wrist, her racing pulse confirming his suspicions once and for all. He closed his eyes and prayed for patience.
“Just my fingers,” he whispered against her skin. She shivered. He focused on her and waited for the permission he needed to have before he would proceed. She held his gaze and nodded.
He tugged her jeans and panties to her ankles, the delicate scent of her arousal would have driven him to his knees if he hadn’t already been kneeling. His mouth watered for a taste, but he had to go slow. As she watched, he dragged one fingertip from the top of her chest, between her breasts, and along her stomach. He didn’t stop until his finger lingered barely above her clit.
Her hands had landed on his shoulders, and her grip tightened. Out of fear or anticipation, he couldn’t tell. Forging on, he skimmed through the trimmed hair of her pussy until he found the little button he sought. She reared when he touched it. With his free hand, he pressed against her flat stomach, holding her in place. The shiny juices covering the tops of her thighs warned him it wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge.
He rubbed her clit again, and she moaned aloud.
“Jody.”
Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing her pretty blue eyes.
“I lied,” he confessed. “Not only my fingers.” He placed
his lips around her clit and sucked on the tiny nub. He had to lean his forearm on her abdomen to pin her to the barrel as her hips fought desperately to squirm beneath his tongue.
“God, Seth.”
He took her cry as permission to push her further. He ran his finger around the entrance to her body, slick with desire. Her hands returned to his hair, tugging harder than before.
“Please,” she whispered.
He pushed one finger inside her far-too-tight sheath and the truth crashed down on him. Jody was a virgin. All bets were off. No man other than him would ever touch her, ever possess her. She was his, and he damn well planned to make sure she knew it.
He thrust harder when her cries grew louder, her thrashing wilder. She was riding the razor’s edge of need. He prepared to relieve years of lust. He caught her gaze, savoring her passion-dazed eyes. “Come for me, Jody. Just for me.”
He added another finger to the first as he sucked her clit into his mouth, harder than before. The avalanche of her orgasm rumbled through her body, and she cried out his name as she tumbled, trembling, clinging to him as if he were her only lifeline to earth.
His cock throbbed in his jeans, but he wasn’t going to find satisfaction inside her body today. It was all too new. The realization of her innocence changed everything. When he took her for the first time, they would be in a bed, they would be totally naked and the ring on her finger would be his.
The thought of her fiancé sent a thread of insane jealously through him. “There’s no way your precious Paul ever made you burn like that.”
His statement reverberated in the room louder than cannon fire, and Jody reacted as powerfully as if he shot her.
“Oh my God.” She wrenched from his hold, scurrying across the floor, fighting to drag her jeans over her hips as she moved away from him. He sat on his haunches, stunned by her response, his jaw hanging open as she yanked her bra up, tugged her shirt down.
“Paul,” she whispered. “What have I done? I can’t do this. I’m engaged.”
