Boots and The Rogue: Ugly Stick Saloon, Book 10

by Myla Jackson

  Then she stared into his face, her eyes widening again. “Holy hell, Brody!” Her glance darted to her breasts bobbing just beneath the water. “I’m naked and so are you!” With nothing to cover herself, she pressed her body against his.

  He groaned at the way her skin slid over his, igniting a flame within. The coolness of the water around him did nothing to chill the rise of desire. His cock sprang to attention, bumping into her naked belly, making him even harder.

  “Why are you here? Why are you holding me?” she demanded. Her fingers fluttered across his shoulders, her face tipped downward, her cheeks bright pink. “I thought I was alone.”

  “You went under. I was afraid you might drown.” He forced himself to shrug when his entire body was tense with need.

  “Let go of me.”

  He immediately released her and looked down as she slid into the water.

  Before her head went under, she grabbed for him and pressed her body against his again. “On second thought, don’t let go. You’ll see me.”

  “Sweetheart, I saw all of you from up there on that rock.”

  Her brows furrowed. “You didn’t have to look.”

  “I found your horse wandering without you in the saddle. What was I supposed to think?”

  “I don’t know, but you shouldn’t have been sitting up there gawking at me.” Jessie glanced over her shoulder. “No one was with you, I hope.”

  He shook his head. “I’m by myself.”

  He avoided putting his arms back around her waist, afraid that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to let go a second time. Her body fit him perfectly and he loved the way her skin felt against his.

  “So what’s it to be? Are we going to stay in the water all day to spare your modesty? You didn’t seem that shy when you were floating on your back, staring up at the sky.”

  “The sky doesn’t judge.” Jessie’s forehead wrinkled. “Brody McFarlan, how long were you sitting there?” Her belly bumped into his rock-hard cock.

  “Long enough.” He reached out and gripped her around her slender waist. “You have a beautiful body.”

  Her hands on his shoulders tightened. “You shouldn’t have looked.”

  “Well, I did, and I’m not at all sorry.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “What are we going to do about it?”

  “If you were a gentleman, you’d close your eyes while I get out of the water and dress.”

  “I would…” he grinned, “…if I were a gentleman.”

  She bit her lip. “I’ve never swum naked in a pool with a man.”

  “Seems you’ve been missing out.” He tugged her closer. “Tell me to let go, and I will.”

  Jessie trembled, her nostrils flaring, her fingers digging into his shoulders. For a heart-stopping moment, she didn’t say anything as she stared into his eyes. “I want you to…” Again, she bit down on her lip, her chest rising and falling on deep breaths, the tips of her nipples sliding across his skin.

  “What?” he whispered, circling her back, his hands splayed low, brushing the swell of her ass. “Jessie, what do you want?”

  She released the breath she’d inhaled. “I don’t know. You confuse me.”

  Pulling the reins on his rampaging lust, he nodded. “And it’s probably a good thing.” As hard as he was, he had to give her the opportunity to back away. What he wanted to do and what he should do were diametrically opposed. “You work for me. I have no right to touch you.”

  “No. You don’t.” She paused, and then continued in a whisper, “Unless I give you permission.” She slid her hands from his shoulders upward and linked them around his neck.

  “Sweetheart, even if I weren’t your boss, whatever we’re feeling won’t last. I might not stick around.”

  “What do you mean?” Her brows puckered. “You live here.”

  “Not for any longer than it takes to convince my mother not to sell the ranch.” He still had his hands on her back. “My home is in Seattle. I’m going back.”

  Her hands remained on his shoulders as she slowly shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking about tomorrow. And I might not be looking for commitment. I have my own life to get in order.” She tugged his head down until their lips almost touched. “I don’t know how to flirt or play games. I’m not a girlie girl, but since what happened in the kitchen, I find that I really want to kiss you again.”

  Brody groaned. “Sweet Jessie, kissing isn’t all I want to do to you.” He fought to hold back. “Babe, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re naked and your body against mine is making me all kinds of crazy.”

  “I’m feeling a little crazed myself.” Her gaze on his lips, she threaded her fingers through his thick hair and stopped. “I’m over twenty-one, I’m on the pill and this is the first time in my life I’ve come close to seducing a man. If you’re not interested, I’ll understand.”

  “What part of making me crazy didn’t you get?” He slipped his hands down over her ass and pulled her legs up and around his waist, his cock nudging her entrance. “And just who is seducing whom?”

  “I’m seducing you.” Jessie cupped his face with one hand, the other applying pressure to the back of his head. “Tell me what to do. I learn quickly.”

  “You’re already doing it.” He crushed her lips with his, giving in to the lust washing over him in a tsunami of sensations. Yet he hesitated before penetrating her. Breaking off the kiss, he whispered against her ear, “You’re not a virgin, are you?”

  She laughed out loud and eased down over him, taking him into her. “Not since I was sixteen in the bed of Jimmy Rae Wharton’s pickup truck. I haven’t been with many men since.”

  Brody frowned. “How many?”

  She smiled. “Enough to know where things go, but not enough to wear things out.”

  Brody laughed and wrapped his arms around her, thrusting deep inside her.

  The walls of her channel fit around him, slick and tight.

  “Damn, you’re tight,” he said, his voice low, guttural.

  “That’s good, right?” Her breath caught and she closed her eyes. “Oh my.”

  Brody stopped before thrusting again. “Did I hurt you?”

  “Yes. No.” Her eyes widened, the gray-blue deepening. “Dear Lord, don’t stop now.” She pressed down on his shoulders, raising up and lowering herself on his staff.

  Needing leverage, he backed her against the boulder and sat her on a shelf of rock beneath the water’s surface. Hands free, he tucked them beneath her thighs and pumped in and out of her until she clung to him, her head thrown back, her breathing labored.

  “Is this how it’s supposed to feel?” she cried.

  “Good or bad?” he asked.

  “So good it should be bad, but it’s not.” She clutched his buttocks and slammed him home. “Just don’t stop, unless you want to see me all kinds of crazy.”

  Every nerve and blood cell raced for the finish line, while wave after wave of sensations swept over him until his body tensed, his muscles bunched and he exploded in a sparkling array of fireworks. One last thrust and he buried himself deep inside Jessie and stood still for a long, glorious moment.

  When he could think with his brain again, he rested his forehead against hers. “You’re amazing.”

  “Is it always that intense?” she whispered, her breathing ragged, her eyelids still at half-mast. “I mean, that was incredible.”

  “And I haven’t even begun to please you.”

  Jessie’s belly fluttered and her pulse leaped. “What do you mean? I was pleased.”

  “Not as much as you could be.” He raised her off him and settled her higher on a rocky ledge protruding over the pool. Brody slid his hand between her knees, parting her legs.

  Jessie’s eyes rounded and her core burned white-hot. “What are you doing?”

  His big, calloused fingers rested on her knees, a sexy smile curling the corners of his mouth. “I want to make you as crazy as you made me.”

  “But I was—”
/>   Brody stepped between her legs and, with his tongue, flicked a path along the inside of her thigh toward her center.

  Jessie’s nerve endings jumped, sending an electric current zinging to her core. Jessie’s breath caught on a gasp. “Oh.”

  Brody’s chuckle sent a whisper of warm breath across her opening.

  Her legs spread wider.

  With his thumbs, he parted her folds.

  Barely able to catch her breath, Jessie stared down at his dark head.

  Brody darted his tongue out, flicking the nub of flesh.

  Fire shot through her groin and outward to the tips of her fingers, her entire body trembling on the edge of…of…

  He slid a thick finger into her throbbing, wet channel and flicked his tongue over her clit again.

  Jessie grabbed his head in both of her hands, twisting her fingers in his hair. “Oh sweet heaven,” she cried.

  Another finger joined the first, stretching, massaging, pumping in and out. Brody sucked her clitoris into his mouth and flicked her, again and again.

  Her cries rose above the water as the wind rippled through the trees above, the warm air wrapping around her naked body. How could it get more exquisite?

  Then his tongue stroked her, swirling around that tightly packed bundle of highly agitated nerves, sending her over the top, spinning out of control.

  Jessie rocketed into the stratosphere. “Brody!” she screamed, her voice echoing off the rocks and the canopy of leaves. She held on to his hair, her hips rocking with the thrusts of his tongue until her insides exploded into a million tiny fragments. Her body froze—everything, including her heart and lungs, seized for that moment.

  Then the world came rushing back and she dragged in a ragged breath, her muscles going limp, her bones liquefying. Too drained to hold herself up, she sank back against the rock, her hand draping over her belly, her eyes staring vacantly at the leaves above.

  Brody climbed out of the water and stretched out on the rock beside her. He leaned over her, a frown denting his forehead. “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, her voice weak, her body trembling.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “No.” She dragged in a steadying breath. “For a moment there…I think I died.” Then she turned and smiled at him, her heart filling with light and joy. “But I didn’t.”

  Brody burst out laughing and lay back, his chest rising and falling as if he’d been running.

  Jessie lay for a long time staring up at the points of light making their way through the leaves. “Thank you.”

  Brody didn’t respond, lying still beside her. He reached for her hand and held it in his bigger one.

  “Lying in the warm air, with a gentle breeze blowing through the leaves, makes you think everything is right in the world.” Jessie stretched, raising her free arm over her head, her back arching off the boulder.

  Brody’s gaze skimmed over her body. “Isn’t it?”

  Her body tingled where his glance lingered. With a soft snort, Jessie answered, “For the moment.”

  His lips tightening, Brody said, “And then we return to reality.”

  Jessie sighed and gave him a sad smile. “Yes.”

  “Hey, why the sad face?” He touched her cheek with his fingertips. “What is it you want out of life?”

  Her gaze shifted back to the leaves above and she whispered, “A home.” That one word meant more to her than she’d ever realized. When her father died, she’d had no place to call home. Living with the McFarlans, she could feel the connection between the people and the ranch. She wanted that.

  “You have a job, a place to live and a place for Scout,” he reminded her.

  “And I’m very grateful for those, but I didn’t realize how important it was to have a place to call your own that no one could kick you out of, or take away from you.”

  Brody leaned up on his elbow and stared down at her.

  His gaze made the heat rise in her cheeks. “What?” She blinked. “You don’t know how it feels. I’ve never lived in a place that I could call my own.”

  “What about your parents?”

  “Mom left my father when I was four. I haven’t seen her since. My dad worked and lived on a big ranch in the Panhandle. We never owned the house we lived in. When my father died of a heart attack, I couldn’t live there any longer. I had to move and find a place for me and Scout.” She tried to pull her fingers free of his hand but he held on. “You’ve always had the Rafter M Ranch to come home to, even when you stayed in Seattle.”

  He shook his head. “Do you think a home is only a place?”

  “Oh no. A home is so much more than just a place. It’s where you’re surrounded by the people you love, and who love you unconditionally.”

  Brody’s gaze drifted out over the pool. “A place you feel safe and you can trust the people around you to have your back.”

  “Yeah.” For a moment her eyes misted as she thought of her father and how happy she’d been growing up. He’d been there for her up until the day he died. Since then, she’d been homeless. “I can only work on the things I can control. I want to earn enough money to put a down payment on a place of my own, with enough acreage for Scout.” She turned to Brody, reaching out to rest her hand on his chest. “Too bad you’re going back to Seattle.”

  He stiffened. “Why?”

  “I would have invited you over for dinner or a game of cards.” She smiled sleepily.

  His chuckle warmed her. “Would you be burning the meal?”

  She tapped his chest. “I’m learning. Or maybe I’d throw a steak on the grill. I bet you don’t get many sunny days in Seattle for grilling.”

  Brody’s hand covered hers on his chest. “No, I don’t. I can’t remember the last time I grilled. Probably eight years ago when I lived here.” He lay still for a while, his chest rising and falling beneath her hand in a steadily slowing rhythm. “Who knows, maybe I’ll fly down for a visit and you can grill me that steak,” he said softly.

  Jessie smiled.

  Though the sex had been world altering, she refused to think past this day and the sunshine making the sky so blue. No matter what tomorrow brought, nothing could take away the memory of today.

  Jessie inched closer to Brody and relaxed, letting all the worry of the past couple of weeks slide off her shoulders.

  The warm air and gentle breeze lulled her into a hazy, sleepy place.

  Brody wrapped her in his arms and she slipped into a halo of darkness.

  Brody lay for a long time, Jessie’s slender body pressed against him, her leg thrown over one of his, and fought to quell the panic. He’d just made love to a woman who wore her feelings on her sleeve and, despite her argument to the contrary, would want more from him than he was ready or willing to give.

  If she were just some girl he met in a bar, he’d have no trouble walking away. But Jessie was…well, Jessie. Kind, caring and generous. Hurting her would be like kicking a puppy.

  Damn it, she was anything but a puppy. The woman fit him—her body just the right length, her curves complementing his hard plains. Open and sunny, she balanced his brooding, artistic nature and made him want to be better, happier.

  What would happen if he didn’t go back to Seattle at all? What if he stayed at the Rafter M Ranch?

  He’d have to confront his eight-year-old anger at Colin, forgive him and get over the past. Hiding his work would be impossible and that meant revealing a part of him that even his family wasn’t aware of—with the exception of Angus. His older brother hadn’t ridiculed him or told him his work was a waste of time.

  In Seattle, he’d maintained a certain anonymity while he built his portfolio. Working as a bartender at night, he’d spent the days painting. No one cared what he did or where he was from.

  In Temptation, Texas, everyone knew everyone and their business. He’d wanted to prove himself before he revealed his work to those he cared the most about. He’d left, mad at his brother for betra
ying him. Staying away had been easier than coming home to work through his anger. To fill the lonely, empty hours of the day, he’d taken up drawing, enrolled in a class at the university and transitioned into painting.

  The longer he stayed away, the harder it was to return, other than for short visits.

  Now that he was here, he wasn’t sure he could leave again…and he wasn’t sure he could stay.

  Chapter Nine

  Jessie woke a little while later. The sun angling through the tree trunks, shining into her face, made her blink her eyes and glance around.

  Brody lay on his back, his eyes closed, his face peaceful in sleep.

  Sitting up, Jessie stared at the man who’d captured her heart in a very short time.

  He was tall, ruggedly handsome, with fingers that strummed her body like a musical instrument, making it come alive in ways she’d never imagined.

  Too bad he was going back to Seattle. She would love to get to know him better, to find out why he was always so brooding and angry. When he laughed, all that darkness disappeared.

  Jessie wanted to be the one to make him laugh, to make his heart lighter. But she couldn’t make him stay. A gangly woman, more tomboy than girl, didn’t have a chance at keeping a man like Brody McFarlan’s interest.

  Her chest tight, she gathered her clothing and hid in the bushes to dress and pull on her boots. Then she went in search of her horse.

  Scout stood in the middle of a field, happily grazing.

  When she clicked her tongue, he lifted his head, spotted her and trotted over.

  With one last glance toward the stand of trees shrouding the swimming hole and the man who’d pretty much ruined her for any other, Jessie swung up into the saddle.

  Ready for a run, Scout took off toward the barn, hooves flying over the dry Texas ground, kicking up dust in his wake.

  Jessie leaned over the horse’s neck, letting the breeze blow her hair out of her face, hoping the wind would blast the silly dreams of a happily ever after with Brody out of her mind. She’d just met him and had mad, passionate sex with the cowboy in broad daylight. It didn’t mean forever. He’d been sure to say that before they got too hot and heavy into the sex.