The Taming (The Black Thunder Series)

by West, Cary

  She didn’t utter another word as she closed her eyes and got lost in his intense display of affection. Nothing Jack McBride did was done in a small way, he even cuddled largely as she felt him consume her energy, taking it and wrapping it with his own. She felt satiated lying beneath this man that was stripping her of her identity and binding her to him. Never in all her life did she feel so utterly claimed as a woman. It was trance-like, and she could not help but fall under his spell.

  “What are you doing to me, Kate?” He whispered in her ear until it tingled. “I have half a mind to take you and fill you with so many babies it isn’t funny.”

  “Jack, no.” Her eyes darted open.

  “It was an expression of speech baby.” He lifted his head and smiled as his dark greens penetrated her blues. “I don’t want our first time here on Clara’s bed. For now all I want to do is kiss you.”

  Jack saw the sweetness of her pink lips and lowered his mouth to hers. There was no roughness in his kiss again, only longing of touching and feeling of a soul’s tender kiss. Kate felt herself melting away as he brushed her fleshy skin with his, his tongue probing in her mouth like a lover’s dream.

  It was a strange and unusual feeling for Jack to be content to lie with a woman beneath him. This thing he was feeling was more powerful than his need to be inside her. It was as if taking it beyond what it was now would somehow cheapen the experience.

  They were so consumed by each other that neither Jack nor Kate heard the bedroom door open.

  “Oh, sorry,” said the familiar male voice. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”

  Jack looked over his shoulder at the same time Kate lifted her head. She cringed when she saw Ethan staring at them. He mumbled something under his breath and stepped backward out of the room. The enchantment broke apart when the door banged closed.

  “Great,” exclaimed Kate as she flopped her head back down on the bed.

  “Well, that was awkward,” laughed Jack.

  “It’s all your fault,” she pouted. “Now Ethan thinks I’m like one your girls.”

  “You are my girl, baby,” he teased her as he nipped at her neck.

  “Come on Jack, we need to get out of here before he tells Felicia and Felicia tells Clara.” She tried to push him away, but Jack held firm to her.

  “I’m not done with you yet, my naughty thong-wearing girl,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Did you wear them for me?”

  “No,” said Kate, but her eyes told him otherwise.

  “You’re lying to me again, baby,” he said as he pressed her back into the mattress.

  Once more he slid his hand along her smooth thigh and up under her dress, tugging at the thin strap at her hip. Kate felt her breath catch as he glided his hand along the thin line, lifting her bottom and caressing her ripe cheek with his palm.

  “You know what I want, Kate,” he said in a hypnotic, seductive tone. “I want another kiss before I let you go.”

  “So what’s stopping you?” She barely got the words out as her heart started to race just thinking about his lips again.

  “No, this time I want you to kiss me,” he stated. “And make it good baby ‘cause it has to last me for a while since I can’t grope you at the party. Wouldn’t want anyone thinking I’ve soiled your reputation.”

  “Oh, you are sly,” Kate shook her head and laughed. “Pucker up baby, because I’m only going to do this once.”

  Jack saw a flicker of heat dance in her baby blues. He hadn’t really expected her to accept the challenge. She rolled a surprised Jack onto his back and sat on top of him. Kate placed her hands in his and lifted them over his head; sunshine locks fell on his cheeks.

  She licked her bottom lip like she was warming up for the event then she leaned down and brushed her lips like a feather tickling his fleshy mouth. With long and slow movements she parted his mouth and slid her tongue inside, lingering seduction for him to join her. Jack lifted his head wanting to feel her harder on his mouth, but she pulled back.

  “Oh, no baby,” she whistled against his teeth. “This is my kiss, don’t be greedy.”

  Jack went to speak, but Kate had other ideas. She slammed her mouth hard on his and took from him what he always took from her. She ignited his passions as she probed him with her tongue, tasting every part of his mouth and causing his stomach to have deep ripples of pure excruciating pleasure.

  In one swift act she rendered him powerless as she continued her luscious attack on his lips. She felt him actually swoon as his hands went limp in hers and he groaned a virile masculine moan in her mouth. Now satisfied, Kate ended the kiss. She sat up and rubbed her lips with her finger.

  “That should hold you for a while,” she said in a triumphant smile as she slid from him and stood. “I’ll meet you outside for the fireworks.”

  Jack couldn’t move as he laid there speechless. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect this—to be so thoroughly kissed he couldn’t think straight. He said nothing when Kate opened the door and left the room.

  Jack sat up on his elbows with an intoxicating grin planted on his face. She had turned the tables on him and he was totally hooked. He stood from the bed and left the room relishing in the sexual buzz lingering in his belly. He entered the kitchen and almost ran right into Adam.

  “Hey, what’s up with you?” he asked, seeing Jack look a little dazed. “You want a beer?”

  “No,” said Jack as he followed the invisible line of her scent, like a lost puppy and left Adam alone in the kitchen.

  Adam watched Jack float across the patio like a shadow looking for its owner as he honed in on Kate and stood behind her. He grabbed two beers from the fridge and walked out onto the patio striding up alongside his friend.

  “Here,” said Adam as he placed the beer in Jack’s hand in order to occupy it away from the back of Kate’s sundress. “Don’t let Clara see you do that or she will be all over you.”

  “Huh?” Jack looked at his friend and felt the buzz begin to fade. “Oh, yeah, right.”

  “Oh man, Jack,” said Adam as he placed his hand on his friend’s back and led him away from Kate. “You are way too tripped out on her, my friend.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” said Jack reigning in his manhood though he glanced back one last time to look at her sweet bottom. “There’s nothing between me and Kate.”

  “Keep telling yourself that,” laughed Adam as they walked to the edge of the patio and sat along the paved wall. “’Cause if my wife gets wind of you and Kate hooking up for a night, she’ll have your hide, and then mine.”

  Jack took a sip of his beer and ran his fingers along its edge. He wasn’t the kind of man to kiss and tell. As a matter of fact he wasn’t the kind of man who liked to talk at all, but his mind was racing with all kinds of thoughts about Kate and he didn’t know what to do with them.

  “What if I was thinking about hooking up with her for more than one night?” Jack looked at the bottle of beer and picked at its label.

  “I’d have to ask if you were drunk or on something,” laughed Adam.

  “No, I’m serious. I mean, what if it went longer than that?”

  “How much longer are we talking about?” asked Adam a bit surprised by his friend’s confession. “Two nights, a week, a month?”

  “Hell, I don’t know,” laughed Jack. “Maybe, like you and Clara.”

  “Clara and I have been together for a long time,” said Adam. “That means tapping one woman, and one woman only, for the rest of your life. Could you do that?”

  “If you can do it, so can I.” He laughed in order to hide his nerves.

  “I do it because Clara would dissect my balls if I ever considered being with another woman,” said Adam.

  “You still want to tap something else?”

  “I’m a man, of course I think about it,” laughed Adam. “But in the end, Clara is what I want.”

  “She would kill you,” Jack gave a sly smile. “Then she would rip the woman to shreds.�
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  “She can be scary sometimes. And she is protectively scary over Kate. For that matter, so am I.”

  Jack nodded and took another sip of his beer. The moment of male bonding was over as the conversation went back to the light and superficial. Jack talked about the ranch, sports, and anything insignificant in order to keep his mind from Kate as the day turned into evening.

  Jack helped Adam light the torches, illuminating the patio with a bright orange glow as the Virginia City hillside stayed shadowed by the black backdrop of Nevada night. Everyone congregated outside taking their seats and waiting for the show of fireworks.

  Adam and Jack took their seats along the stone wall as Clara, Kate, Felicia and Ethan filed in with an overtired Henry clinging at his mother’s hip. It was the perfect picture with couples pairing, Clara cozying beside her husband while Ethan and Felicia sat holding her son. Jack shimmied over and motioned for Kate to sit beside him. She joined him, but not before Clara leaned over and gave her a cross look.

  “The fireworks better be good this year, or I’m gonna want to hit somebody,” said Clara looking straight at Jack.

  “Let’s hope this year they don’t set the hill on fire like they did last year,” said Jack trying to diffuse Clara’s wrath to something other than him.

  “No way,” laughed Kate as she looked at Jack. “I don’t believe you. They set the hill on fire?”

  “They did,” interjected Adam as he laughed in return. “It’s one of the hazards out here because it’s so dry.”

  “That’s horrible,” she said shaking her head.

  “It’s all part of Nevada living, Barbie doll.” Jack smiled at her.

  “I hate when you call me that,” she frowned and nudged him.

  “I know,” he grinned and nudged her back.

  Just then they heard a whistling sound and everyone’s eyes darted toward the sky as a small firework burst open shooting green light into the night. They all made the proverbial awes, lingering their enthusiasm until a blue then a red display of fireworks shot into the air.

  Kate leaned her hands over the stone wall, stretching her head upward to watch the light show but Jack preferred watching her, mesmerized by all her wonderful facial expressions. Her eyes glistened when a beam of gold sparkled and sizzled across the sky. Jack viewed its reflection in her eyes, the gold shimmer illuminating the tiny freckles along her nose and cheeks. It took everything inside him not to reach out and kiss her. He settled for placing his hand over hers, covering her soft petite knuckles with his large firm palms. Kate looked over at him and gave a sweet smile, flexing her fingers out so he could mold his own between her folds.

  “You’re beautiful,” he leaned over and whispered in her ear then sneaked a kiss on her lobe. Kate looked over and their eyes met, getting lost in the imprint of shimmering infatuation and blue light. “Quit looking at me like that or I swear I’m going to spank that pretty little mouth of yours with my lips,” said Jack in a tone only Kate could hear.

  “What’s stopping you?” asked Kate as she bit her bottom lip as if she were challenging him.

  “Clara for one.” He glanced up and saw red hair and hazel eyes scowl at him. He needed to play it cool for now, but when he got her back to the ranch that was a different story. “You’re torturing me, baby.”

  “Watch the fireworks, Jack,” said Kate. “It will take your mind off me and my lips.”

  “Nothing could take my mind off you and your lips.” He squeezed her hand.

  She smiled then returned her attention back to the show. Jack was not a patient man and he couldn’t wait for the fireworks to be over so they could work on creating their own back at the ranch.

  The grand finale erupted and so did Jack. He sprung to his feet ready to leave. The crowd applauded and Jack inwardly sung his own jubilation now that the fireworks were over and he and Kate could slip from the party unnoticed. Kate stood from the stone wall just as Clara strolled up beside her.

  “Can you help me in the kitchen?” asked Clara as she looked at Kate then Jack.

  “Sure,” said Kate seeing her friend didn’t look pleased. “I’ll be there in a minute.” Clara frowned and walked across the patio, entering the kitchen waiting for Kate to join her. “I’ll be back,” said Kate to Jack. She tried to walk away, but he reached out and took her hand, pulling her back toward him.

  “Let’s get out of here,” said Jack. “Make whatever excuse you need to Clara and meet me out front by my truck.”

  “Okay,” said Kate knowing she could no longer resist him. All those times of fighting and resistance were over. She was ready to take the next step, though she was not sure what the next step meant.

  Jack released her hand and Kate headed for the house. She stepped into the kitchen and saw the look of displeasure on Clara’s face.

  “You and Jack are getting way too close,” said Clara as she refilled a bowl full of chips. “I told you before he isn’t the relationship kind.”

  “I know,” said Kate as she grabbed another bowl and filled it with pretzels.

  “Then what are you doing with him?” Clara sighed and leaned her hip against the counter.

  “I don’t know,” she said quietly and shrugged.

  “Oh sugar, this isn’t good. Jack’s a one night stand kind of guy and you are a forever kind of girl. The two don’t mix.”

  “Why do they always have to mix?” She looked at Clara. “You’re always telling me to be spontaneous and stop planning everything, so that’s what I’m doing.”

  “No, that’s not what you’re doing. You’re falling for his line of bullshit and that’s dangerous.”

  “Maybe I want to fall for his line of bullshit,” she said watching her finger trace the tile lines on the counter.

  “Wake up, Kate. Don’t you see what he’s doing? He’s using you.”

  “How do you know I’m not using him?” She looked up at her friend.

  “Oh, don’t go there,” she warned and pointed a finger at her. “He’s better at the game than you are sweetheart.”

  “I don’t care anymore,” Kate shook her head.

  “Well you should care,” Clara yelled and took Kate by the arms. “I can’t keep picking you up every time some man stomps on your heart.”

  “Well I’m not asking you to- not this time.” Kate jerked away. “Christ, Clara, I am so tired of feeling like no man would ever want me again.” Tears filled her eyes. “Jack makes me feel like I’m the sexiest woman alive. Can’t you let me just pretend that I really am the sexiest woman in Jack’s eyes for one night...” Her breath hitched in her throat. “Just for one freaking night can’t you let me think he’s real?”

  The dam burst and Kate raced out of the kitchen and down the hall, slamming the bathroom door closed behind her.

  “Dammit!” She slammed her hand down on the counter. She looked up and saw Jack heading for the kitchen.

  “Clara, I’m heading out,” he said as he walked through the sliding glass doors into the kitchen. “Thanks for a great party.”

  “You’re an asshole, Jack,” she said as she grabbed him by his t-shirt.

  “What did I do?”

  “I swear to God if you hurt her I’ll kick the snot right out of you,” she fumed.

  “What are you talking about?” said Jack though he knew.

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” she spouted. “Did you forget who you’re talking to? I know all your tricks, and I’m warning you, don’t fuck with Kate.”

  “What Kate and I do is none of your business,” he said as his back prickled and he pulled his shirt free from her grip. “We are both consenting adults, so I thank you to keep your nose out of it.”

  “Kate is my friend!”

  “I thought I was your friend too,” he said getting a little offended. “But it seems you don’t have such a high opinion of me.”

  “Jack, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember, but when it comes to women, you’re right, I don’t have a high opi
nion of you,” stated Clara. “You’re a womanizer, just like your old man.”

  “Don’t be bringing him into this,” said Jack as his temper flared. “I’m not my old man.”

  “Really?” said Clara ready to spill it all. “Tell me Jack, have you ever had a second date with one of your women?”

  “It’s not a crime to like women, sweetheart,” he fumed. “Besides, they’ve all been consenting, just like your little Kate.”

  “Kate isn’t like those women.”

  “Oh, please,” Jack laughed. “You make Kate out to be a saint. She isn’t. She’s just like any other woman who wants to know what it feels like to be with a real man for a change.”

  “And you think you are that man?” Clara shook her head and laughed. “You’re an arrogant son of a bitch!”

  “I never claimed to be anything but,” Jack shouted at her. “And yeah, I’m the guy who’s going to rock her world between the sheets, just for the spite of pissing you off.”

  “Oh, that’s good, Jack, royally good,” Clara spat back with sarcasm. “But what happens afterwards?”

  “I don’t know what happens afterwards,” he shouted. He wasn’t about to tell her how he really felt about Kate after the way she jumped down his throat. “Hell, maybe we’ll swap memories over a cup of coffee someday.”

  Clara looked up and saw Kate standing in the kitchen door. “Oh, shit!” cried Clara realizing Kate had overheard their conversation.

  Jack turned just in time to see the devastation in Kate’s eyes. “Kate, no,” he called, but it was too late. Kate ran from the room, tears streaking down her face as she headed out the front door to her car. “Oh shit Clara, why did you have to go and piss me off?” Jack ran from the room and went after her.

  Kate ran to her car and cursed under her breath when she saw Jack’s truck parked behind hers blocking her in. She heard the screen door open and Jack’s voice calling to her.

  “Kate,” he called as he caught up to her just as she was opening her car door. “Kate, where are you going?” He took her by the arms and pulled her back on to the lawn.

  “Get away from me!” she shouted yanking her arms free.