by Camryn Rhys
He stopped his retreat and leaned forward, starting their dance all over again. Jamie reached up with a finger and wiped some trickling moisture from his cheek, resting her hand on his face. Her skin sizzled and his mouth came down on hers with quick ferocity.
She met his kiss with equal energy and opened to receive his tongue. He threaded his arms around her and pulled her against him, groaning as her stomach contacted with his erection.
Kyle pulled her to him and turned her around, walking them back until her butt felt the cold rock. She wrapped her fingers around his dick, and one of his hands snaked between her thighs. The delicious coldness of his skin was a sharp contrast to the warm, wet feeling she’d been trying to ignore most of the night.
Lost in his kiss, she almost stopped breathing when his fingers found first her clit and then the lips of her sex. And disappeared inside her. She could have ridden his fingers, they were so long and strong and thick.
But she wanted him inside her. Jamie shifted against the rock so her pelvis welcomed him and her thighs parted. In one swift movement, Kyle was inside her, filling her. He paused when he’d buried himself fully, as though coming up for air for the first time.
“Come on, baby,” she urged, grinding her hips against him. She felt some pressure on her clit and looked down to see his hand in the shadows. Beautiful man.
He finally pulled out and started to fuck her, grunting with each thrust.
“Careful,” she said. “We have to be quiet.” To shush him, she pulled his head down for a kiss, and he groaned into her mouth.
While the tension built between them, Jamie could feel the orgasm approaching, and she had no idea how she was going to hold in her cries. She’d already almost drawn blood from biting her lip.
Then Kyle’s finger found the sensitive underside of her clit, and she launched forward, burying her face in his shoulder.
“That’s right,” he coaxed, bringing his thumb around again.
Her eyes almost rolled back in her head. She opened her mouth as the wave of her orgasm started to take her, and he pulled her closer. She couldn’t help but bite down on his neck a little to muzzle herself as she started to come.
She hit the peak, but Kyle took her mouth again, and she whimpered into his kiss. As though she set him off, he groaned and his body stiffened, but he slid out of her and for a split second, she missed the feeling of him coming inside her.
What kind of lust haze had she gotten caught up in? Not a condom? Not a request for a pull-out. Dammit, girl.
Kyle turned around, cradling her against him, as he laid on the rock and panted like a marathon runner. Jamie straddled him, leaned onto his big chest, and caught her breath in similar gusts.
Lying against him, she listened to the staccato of his heartbeat and looked off into the darkness, waiting for whatever has clicked inside to shift back. Instead, she heard the quiet rush of the river, and the thrum of her heart in her throat. And she wanted to stay like this for a while.
Kyle pulled at her chin until she found his eyes. He was looking for something, and searched her face. A quick pang in her chest snapped her back to reality, and she turned her head toward the camp.
They hadn’t been caught yet. Maybe this could remain between them. Maybe no one would know.
“You okay?” Kyle trailed his fingertips over her shoulder.
Jamie smiled and laid her cheek on his chest. “I just need to catch my breath.”
Kyle reached over his head, and she felt the plush warmth of her towel on her back, followed by the pressure of his arms. “I know the feeling.” He laughed. “You warm enough?”
“For now.” She clutched at him with her legs, loving the feel of his solid body underneath hers, and the warmth around her, and let herself be the girl who gets what she wants. Even if it wouldn’t last.
Chapter Twelve
Jamie wasn’t at breakfast the next day.
Kyle had been up before dawn, making biscuits from scratch and a rich sausage gravy that sent a savory, smoky scent around the camp and eventually drew guests to the campfire like the Pied Piper. Yet, one person remained impervious to his cooking, and he was ready to spit nails.
The hot-cold thing frustrated him more now that they’d had sex. As intimate as it gets, right there.
She’d laid on him the previous night for a good fifteen minutes, mostly silent, before they went their separate ways. And before he dropped her at her tent, he’d given her a kiss that left no doubt as to his intentions. Or at least, he hoped it had.
He’d certainly wanted it to. Kyle hadn’t felt this deeply for someone since his first love—which was so distant a memory, it rarely felt real. Like a crazed teenager, he wanted more.
He had no idea what Jamie wanted. One minute, she seemed to want nothing to do with him. The next, she wanted to fuck him.
Hell, he still had bite marks on his shoulder.
But everyone cleared out for the corral, breakfast was cleaned up, and by the time he had a chance to head up to the landing, the guests were saddled, mounted, and headed out.
Jamie circled around behind them on her big paint horse and met his gaze. A dark cloud passed over her face, but he kept walking.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head and pulled her horse up. “I’ve been up for a long time, getting ready to get them on the trail.”
“You should have come to breakfast.”
“Not hungry.”
The sinking inside was unmistakable, and yet, something hidden in her eyes made him more curious than hurt. He moved to take hold of the bridle, but she pulled her horse again and backed toward the rest of the departing trail riders.
“We’ll be back late today. Dinner near to dark.”
“Jamie, can’t we talk about this?”
The satiny skin of her cheek twitched. Kyle wanted to pull her off the damn horse and kiss her again. Remind her of what she’s running from, or dodging, or giving up, or whatever the hell she’s doing.
“Talk about what?”
He narrowed his gaze. “You know what.”
Jamie glanced back at the riders taking off across the rolling sagebrush valley. They were far enough away, Kyle wasn’t going to pull any punches.
“Last night, Jamie.”
She winced. “Can we not do this, Kyle?”
God, had it been that bad? He crossed his arms and stepped back. “We’re gonna have to talk about it sometime.”
“It’ll have to be tonight.” Jamie dug her heels into the paint and yanked the reins to one side.
Stunned, Kyle watched her gallop to the head of the loping line of guests. Lana’s blonde head, covered in a cowboy hat, turned as Jamie sped by her. She offered him a wide, knowing grin, and laughed.
Even though he couldn’t hear the sound, he could still feel the pierce of Lana’s laugh after so many years of hearing it directed at him. His shoulders slumped out of sheer habit. It was an odd feeling to have his wife—no, ex-wife—enjoying his inability to land a second date, and not one he wanted to repeat.
Had Lana talked to Jamie? Had Jamie heard something?
There had to be something else going on. Maybe it had nothing to do with him at all.
Dammit. If she was coming back to talk, then he would have to make the best dinner of his life and hope his cooking put her in a better mood.
All the couples were safely in their lunch spots, and Jamie sat on top of the ridge, her thighs burning from the hike, looking for a quiet place with good service. She could see all seven couples, with their lunch boxes and their picnic blankets, and everyone appeared to be engaged in some kind of conversation.
She swiped open Charity’s contact information and hit the dial button.
Her friend picked up on the first ring. “I’ve been waiting for you to call,” she whined.
“I had to wait until we got all the way out into the valley and stopped for lunch.”
“Awww,” Charity’s voice took a turn
up at the end. “Are you at the red rock?”
“Yeah.” Jamie ran her fingers along the craggy surface of the old lookout post. It had carved initials and dates all over. They’d found it in the wilderness one day and Charity had made up a story about Cavalry officers stopping here in the 1800’s. But Jamie had no idea what any of it meant. Not an uncommon occurrence for her.
“Who’s on the docket this week?”
“A couple of insurance salesmen from Cheyenne, an East Coast lawyer, a divorcee from Stapleton. Not much exciting this time.”
“No rock stars or celebrities?” Her joking voice started to edge Jamie’s nerves. This wasn’t a co-worker catch up call.
She pressed her heel into the dirt at the base of the big rock. “Look. I’m not sure about this plan anymore.”
“What plan?”
“You, staying at the cabin. Me, trying to get your job back.” She looked out over the valley, laughing couples and awkward couples and lunches…everything felt so tense. And Kyle.
Kyle had been a mistake. More specifically, feeling something for Kyle had been a mistake.
“Did Brady find out?” Her friend’s voice took on a note of panic, and Jamie rolled her eyes. Zero to sixty in the drama department. Always.
“No. Brady is oblivious.” Well. Not oblivious. But still.
“Then what happened?”
“I just… this guy’s good at his job, Char. And you always hated cooking, on some level.” Jamie sucked in a quick breath. “Let me talk to my mom about bringing you on as program staff with me, and you could help just with the trail rides, and we could keep Kyle.”
There was a long silence at the other end and her heart thudded hard. She wished it could be a sign that her friend was going to listen to logic. But it was more likely that Charity was coiling up for some big strike.
Jamie tried to strike first. “Look, I’m just not sure it’s fair to this guy. He needs the work, too. And I can try to find you a job at the Gallagher place in Springhill.”
“I don’t want a job in a restaurant, Jamie. I want to work with Paul. And with you. I want to be at the ranch.” There was a knife’s point of sincerity in Charity’s voice. Either she was holding back real emotion, or she was lying, and Jamie could never be completely sure which was which.
And after her night with Kyle…she wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
Memories of the night flooded over her with a curious urgency, making her blood race hot in her ears. His hands on her, his mouth on her…she’d been having spontaneous memories all morning, and it wasn’t making this any easier.
I need to get clear.
“Tell me why.” Jamie cleared her throat. “Tell me why you want to be with my brother.”
“Because I love him.” The words tumbled out of Charity’s mouth like dominoes.
“Whoa,” Jamie whispered. “You love him? That’s the first time I’ve heard you say that.”
“Well, it’s hard to think clearly when I’m around Paul.” With a soft laugh, she paused. “He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”
“So, you love my brother?”
“I do.”
She gripped the edge of the rock. This whole revelation wasn’t helping her think straight, or clear, or at all.
Charity wanted her to get Kyle fired so she could work on the Silver Spring Ranch, because she was in love with Paul. But her brother had been flirting with Lana—which was putting it mildly. They’d practically dry humped at dinner.
“Does Paul love you?”
“Of course he does.” There was enough certainty in her voice, at least she believed that statement.
Whether it was true or not was another story.
Jamie breathed through a long moment of silence. She wasn’t totally sold on telling Charity about Paul and Lana. And she wasn’t totally sold on Paul’s feelings for Charity. And she definitely couldn’t tell her friend about Kyle.
God. Kyle.
What she really needed was to talk to her brother.
“Okay, you stay at the cabin for another day.”
“I’m not sure how much longer I can stay here,” her friend said. “There’s not a lot of food left, and I need something to do.”
“I know. Just don’t go find Jeff. Please. I need to talk to…Brady.” She held her breath. She hated the fact that she suspected Charity of lying to her. But she couldn’t help it.
It was one thing, when Charity was sobbing and cleaning out her room in the bunkhouse, and Jamie promised her to help get her job back. It was another thing entirely to be almost a week later, and looking at trying to get a good guy fired. Just so Charity could get a job back that Kyle was better at, anyway.
It would be better for the ranch business to have Kyle on the trails.
Even though it might not be better for Jamie.
“You need to get Brady out on the trail with you.”
“Brady will be out again tonight to bring supplies out to Kyle.” Jamie found herself saying the words, even though she didn’t want to. It was the truth, though. Her brother always resupplied in the middle of the trail. Probably to keep tabs on her, too, but that’s what big brothers were for.
“Then you know what you have to do.” The dark inflection in Charity’s voice made Jamie’s shoulders rise in defense.
“I’ve…” She stopped herself. I’ve already slept with him didn’t seem exactly the right way to put it. It wasn’t just the sex that was the problem.
It was the feelings.
She cared about what happened to Kyle. She felt guilty for having sex with him. But in that moment, it hadn’t been about Charity. There weren’t enough ways to explain that to the sinking feeling in her stomach.
“I’ve got to go, Charity. I still have to hike back down before we get back out on the trail.”
“Text me tonight after Brady gets there.”
“I will.”
“And say hi to Paul for me.”
The line went dead and Jamie watched her phone click back to home screen and then go dark.
She couldn’t imagine passing along a message from Charity to Paul. Why was that? Didn’t Charity love Paul? Didn’t Paul love Charity?
Then, why was there still a hard lump in her stomach?
Jamie pushed herself off the rock and dusted her jeans off. She looked over the valley. This was where the white woods trickled out into regular pine, and not far away was where the Gallagher land began and the Banfield land ended. The edge of her world, really.
Was she ready to risk the safety of that world for Charity?
She started down the hill toward the match-made couples. Her heart still wasn’t in the trail ride, which she’d been planning for months.
All she could think about was that they were on their way back to camp, and that meant she would be seeing Brady soon. And Kyle. And if she was going to ruin a man’s life, she was going to have to act tonight.
But she didn’t want to ruin Kyle’s life.
She wanted Paul and Charity to get their shit figured out, and she wanted Kyle to stay. Hence the stomach lump.
She wanted Kyle to stay.
Chapter Thirteen
Mattie Banfield unloaded the last of the meat from her coolers into the wagon freezer and turned on the generator. The low hum of the motor broke into the silence of the woods and she checked the gauge on the gas levels. “Don’t forget to top that gas off before you go to sleep,” she said, but when she turned around, Kyle was gone.
He’d taken the cooler back to her Jeep and settled it into the seat.
She still needed to ask him about the spice rubs, but she didn’t want to push too hard. If he complained to Brady, then all bets would be off. She hated lying to her son, but it was time that Jamie got her happy ending. Brady didn’t understand that yet, but he would. Once he saw what magick could do.
When Kyle returned, he went around to the smoker to check on the meat, and started to slice potatoes in the kitchen.
Mattie wa
lked around the kitchen, smiling at him when he looked up at her. He didn’t offer any information. Didn’t ask for help. Just kept on slicing. The speed of his hands doing the work was almost mesmerizing. It hadn’t occurred to her that Charity might not have been to culinary school until she watched Kyle slice vegetables. He was like an Iron Chef.
She headed past the campfire toward the corral. The group had come in from their trail ride, and she could see Brady opening things up to let the first of the horses inside.
Jamie brought up the back of the group, her cowboy hat sitting low on her forehead. She had a gray t-shirt on, and not the Silver Spring Ranch shirt she was supposed to be wearing.
Mattie came up alongside her horse, putting her hand on Jamie’s leg. “How was the ride, my girl?”
“Fine.” Her daughter grabbed the reins and held them tight as she climbed off the horse. She looked around the group and called out, “The guys are on horse duty tonight. Ladies, head on down to your tents or make for the river. Probably about an hour yet until dinner.”
Mattie smiled at each of the girls as they left their horses and circumvented the camp, heading toward the girls’ tents. It wasn’t long before they disappeared into the trees and were out of sight.
When one of the guys took Jamie’s horse, her daughter headed straight after the girls.
Mattie jogged after, catching her arm. “Where are you going?”
“I’m headed down to the river, Mom, with everyone else.” She nodded back toward the corral. “Brady’s here today. He can supervise the corral while I get cleaned up.”
“Where’s your staff t-shirt?” She pulled on the bottom of Jamie’s gray tee. It was tattered and frayed on one side and looked like it’d been washed one too many times. Or forty.
Jamie looked down, eyes blank. “I’m not sure. I guess I was…Yeah, I must’ve forgotten this morning.” She yanked the shirt back and walked away from the corral.
“It’s not a big deal. I was just wondering.” Mattie fell into step beside her daughter, their boots cracking twigs as they left the path. When they were out of earshot of the boys, she pulled on Jamie’s hand. “Are you okay, J? You seem… sullen.”
