Redneck Romeo (Rough Riders)

by Lorelei James

“Tell people that I’m not a lazy drifter, picking up odd jobs here and there and shirking my ranching responsibilities, but I’m independently…comfortable?”

  “Yes!”

  Dalton tugged her closer by her hair and brushed those full lips over hers. “Because I don’t care what people think of me, Rory. I spent way too many years tryin’ to live up to family reputations and expectations. Now the only expectations I live up to are my own.”

  Here was her opening. “Is that what happened with your brothers tonight?”

  “I don’t wanna talk about it, especially not when I have a gorgeous woman on my lap who offered to take my mind off my troubles with hot sex.”

  “You turned me down, remember?”

  “That was then. Now I’m thinkin’ a nekkid dose of sexy you is exactly what I need.” He cupped her ass and warned, “Hang on,” before he stood. He set her on her feet and kissed her in the sweetly seductive way guaranteed to melt her resistance.

  Rory threaded her fingers through his and followed him into his bedroom.

  He reached for the bedside lamp but she stayed his hand. “I think the darkness fits tonight.”

  “But I love lookin’ at you when you come.”

  She pushed his T-shirt up and he yanked it off. Then her mouth and hands were all over his warm chest. Her fingers mapping every ridge of his abdomen. Her mouth following the curve of his pectorals. She loved his chest hair. The feel of it on her face. The scent. She rubbed against it like a cat, filling her senses with him.

  And while she licked and tasted and nibbled, he ran his hands through her hair. From scalp to tip. Dalton could be so gentle or he could grab a fistful and be forceful. When she used her teeth, that forceful side appeared.

  He held her head in place and said, “I love your mouth on my nipples.”

  Rory tortured him and those sexy male grunts and groans told her he enjoyed every second. While her mouth focused on his incredible chest, her hands roamed everywhere else. Over his beefy biceps and strong forearms, broad shoulders and muscular back. His masculine form wasn’t only powerful, it was beautiful.

  His hands cradled her head and tipped it back. “Aurora, did you just growl at me?”

  “Probably.” She twisted out of his hold and sank her teeth into the meaty slab of his pectorals. “Because I love, love, love this body of yours.”

  “Good to know—sweet Jesus, you’re killin’ me with that hot little tongue.”

  Rory’s fingers inched to the waistband of his sweatpants. One tug of the string and they were down around his ankles. His cock bounced against his belly. She cupped his balls, playing with them before her fingers enclosed the shaft.

  Dalton hissed.

  She moved her hand up and down, adding the slight twist at the head that made him crazy. Her tongue traced his collarbone from the hollow of his throat to the ball of his shoulder.

  Then his hands were in her hair, his mouth taking control as he kissed her.

  His passion could be overwhelming at times. But this was sweet heat. A need for tenderness. Rory fell into the kiss so completely her hand stopped moving on his cock.

  Dalton finally released her lips. He whispered, “I need your skin beneath my hands, Aurora.”

  She managed to disentangle from him and stepped back. In less than thirty seconds she was naked.

  Immediately those work-roughened hands were on her.

  Her body became a mass of gooseflesh, quivering from his touch. “As long as it’s dark and I can’t see your face, hands and knees on the center of the bed, beautiful.”

  “While I love how you think you’ve got a say in this, you don’t.” Rory put her hands on his chest and shoved with all her might.

  Dalton hit the mattress and laughed. “Okay.”

  “Now how about you make yourself comfy in the center of the bed.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to turn the light on?”

  “No lights.” Rory crawled up his body. She bent her head and licked his cock from bottom to top.

  His entire body jerked.

  She laughed and tongued the tip, precisely on the sweet spot. Then she slipped that hot hard shaft into her mouth and held it there.

  “That wasn’t what I was expecting, but damn do I love your mouth on my dick.”

  She hummed around the thick meatiness of him and he jackknifed.

  Rory eased back, an inch at a time until the wide crown rested on her bottom teeth. She suckled the tip and released him. Once again she placed her hands on his chest and shoved him back. “Behave, McKay, or I’ll spank you.”

  That comment caused his entire body to go rigid.

  She scooted up, hanging above him, hoping to see his face. But the blackness was absolute. “Hey, I’m sorry. I was kidding.” She found his mouth and kissed him until he relaxed and kissed her back. Then she scattered kisses along his jawline, stopping at his ear. “You know I’d never do that without your consent.”

  “I know.” His hands skated up and down her back. “It just caught me off-guard after the stuff I talked about with my brothers tonight.”

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No, baby, I want you to make me forget.”

  That broke her heart a little. “I’ll take that challenge.” Rory planted kisses straight down his body from his chin to his cock. She jacked his shaft while she sucked his balls. Then she licked that stiff pole up one side and down the other. She swept her thumb across his anus as her head bobbed.

  “Stop. I love that but I can’t take much more before I blow.”

  “What if I want you to blow?” Rory nuzzled his groin, the musky scent familiar and it always made her wet.

  “Then you’ll swing that ass of yours around and sit on my face so I can blow your mind while you’re blowing mine.”

  She pushed up onto all fours and zigzagged her tongue from his left hipbone to his right. “I want you in me, Dalton.” She poised herself above his pelvis and impaled herself on his cock.

  Her head fell back and she released a long groan. “I’ll never get used to how amazing this feels.” She rode him a few more strokes and then Dalton reached for her.

  He palmed her breasts. Caressed her nipples. Followed the contour of her belly with deliberate sensual strokes until he reached where their bodies were joined. He pressed his thumb into the creamy center of her, swirling over her clit.

  “More.”

  “I like that word.” Dalton pushed up on one arm and latched onto her nipple while working her into a writhing mass.

  Rory kept a slow and steady rhythm as she braced her hands on Dalton’s thighs.

  “You got me so riled up I’m hanging on by a thread,” he said. “What do you need to get there?”

  “Your mouth on my nipple.” She groaned when his hot mouth enclosed the tip. “Move faster on my clit. Yes.”

  He thrust his pelvis up, thumb flickering madly on the exact spot. His tongue performed the identical rhythm on her nipple.

  There wasn’t a long buildup. Rory was lost in his mouth and his hands and then zing, there it was. The sweet throb that sent her body rocketing. Her hands squeezed his quads. She gasped when Dalton’s teeth scored the stiff peak of her nipple.

  Then his hands were on her hips, pushing her higher and pulling her back down. “Squeeze me,” he panted.

  Rory angled forward to hold onto his shoulders.

  “Right. Like. That.” He slammed into her hard one last time and his body shuddered with his release.

  After a bit, Dalton fell back onto the mattress and he dragged Rory down with him. Maybe it made her a sap, but she liked that he didn’t pull out right away. He kept their bodies joined as long as possible.

  She connected their mouths in a deep soul kiss. She loved kissing him, but he needed extra kisses and touches tonight and it was such a joy to give them to him.

  He swept her hair aside and placed his lips on the pulse pounding in her throat. “You are sexy as fuck and I’m lucky you�
�re here with me tonight.”

  Rory felt that melting sensation.

  His callused hands floated over her naked back. He kissed her temple. “Told you a dose of your sexy ways was the perfect antidote to my crappy night.”

  “I’m sorry you had to deal with crappy family stuff.”

  “They wanted an explanation on why I’ve stayed away. So I gave them one.”

  “What did you say?”

  His fingers stilled for a moment before resuming again. “I told them about Casper tracking me down five days after the wedding fiasco.”

  “Five days? You saw him the same day we talked?”

  “It was a few hours after that. And in that thirty minute conversation with him, my life changed.”

  Rory lifted her head to look into his eyes, but he’d turned his face away from her.

  This wasn’t good.

  “Was that why you were—”

  “Gone the next day? Yep. Had I planned on leavin’ before that conversation? No.”

  “And you never told anyone what happened?”

  “Not until tonight.”

  She disconnected their bodies and covered them with the comforter. “Sorry. I was getting cold.” She snuggled into him. “If you want to tell me, fine. But if you’d rather not discuss it, I’m fine with that too.”

  “You probably oughta know.”

  With her cheek on his chest, Rory felt his heart rate pick up.

  Then he began to talk. Relaying the conversation in a tone so dead and flat her stomach hurt.

  And when he finished talking, her heart ached.

  “Shocked you into silence. That’s gotta be a first.”

  Don’t be flip. I can’t imagine the level of hurt you’re feeling. How isolated and alone you must’ve felt.

  “Rory?” he murmured.

  “Sorry. I’m stunned. I don’t even know what to say.”

  Dalton kissed her forehead. “It’s okay.”

  But it wasn’t okay.

  The longer she lay there, the more upset she became. When she couldn’t hold back her anger and sorrow, she untangled herself from his arms and rolled across the bed, setting her feet on the floor.

  Then the tears came full force. She had to clap her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. But she couldn’t stop her body from shaking.

  “Rory? What’s wrong?” Dalton flipped on the light. Then he was crouched in front of her. “What… Are you crying?”

  “Yes I’m crying.”

  He waited for her to explain.

  “You can’t tell me something that fucking heartbreaking and just expect me to roll over and go to sleep.” She covered her face with her hands. It was so wrong and she hurt for him so bad.

  “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you. This is the reason I didn’t tell anyone.”

  “No wonder Georgia said Tell wasn’t all right when he got home from talking to you.”

  “That’s me. Mary fucking sunshine. Spreading love all over the goddamned place. My brothers couldn’t even look me in the eyes when they left the bar. And now you’re bawling in my bed.” He stood abruptly. “Just stop. I can’t stand to have your pity.”

  She leapt to her feet. “My pity? That’s why you think I’m crying? Because I feel sorry for you? That’s not it. Not even fucking close.”

  “Then why?”

  “It’s because of guilt! From the time we were kids I knew that your dad was hurting you.”

  Dalton winced.

  “I did nothing, Dalton. Nothing. I could’ve told my mom or one of your brothers or even your mom but I didn’t. And to find out he’s still fucking with you? He’s still bent on reducing you to that scared little kid? It kills me. It kills me and enrages me and if that man were in this room right now I’d tear him to pieces. So I’m back to crying. That’s all I’ve been able to do for you is to weep like some helpless little girl. Then and now.”

  “Baby. Please. Stop.”

  “I can’t. You’ve deserved better from everyone around you including me. How you can even look at me…”

  Dalton’s hands framed her face. “I look at you because I love you. That you’re crying for me shreds me inside. To know that crazy wild friend, a tough girl who refused to cry after you sliced open your knee, cried for me all those years ago? That grabs me by the throat and makes it hard to breathe.”

  “You were always so tough, McKay. I didn’t want you to think I was a wussy girl so you’d stop coming around.”

  “Nothin’ would’ve stopped me from coming around. I acted tough. A front I kept up for years. Probably why I picked so goddamn many fights. I had to prove I was tough enough to win. And if I couldn’t win, then I showed them I was tough enough to take whatever was dished out.

  “Nothin’ you would’ve done back then could’ve changed anything. Do you hear me? I stood there every single time he brought out the strap. Until the day I didn’t.” His thumbs wicked away her tears. “You were there that day. I was so damn proud of myself.”

  “The beatings stopped. But that mean mouth of his didn’t, did it?”

  “No. And it’ll always be like that with him.”

  “So are you done with him? Has sharing the truth with your brothers about what an unforgiveable asshole Casper McKay is freed you to walk away from him?”

  “It freed me years ago. But knowing that past history between him and me, can you see why it was so easy for me to believe his claim that I wasn’t his son?”

  Rory’s eyes searched his. “That’s the question, isn’t it? Do you think you’re his son?”

  “Either way, I don’t care. I spent the last three years comin’ to terms with who I am. Not as a McKay, not as a rancher, not as a gambler, but as a man on my own. Once I liked that guy staring back at me in the mirror every morning, I knew it didn’t matter.”

  Dalton took a step back.

  That’s when she noticed a half-packed suitcase behind him. “Dalton? Why is your suitcase out?”

  A guilty look crossed his face. “I was heading to Montana this weekend. There’s some stuff I need to get.”

  “And you also want to avoid your brothers, don’t you?”

  He jammed his hand through his hair. “Yeah, that was part of it.”

  Rory marched up to him. “You dropped this on them tonight and then you run off the next day? How is that fair? Maybe you’ve had years to come to terms with the idea you’re not Casper’s son, but they haven’t.”

  “Which means it’ll take them more than a few hours to process it, Rory. Me goin’ away for a couple of days ain’t gonna matter.”

  “You don’t know that. You’re assuming a lot.”

  “So are you.”

  “Are you telling me to butt out?”

  Dalton touched her face. “No, baby, I’m not. I’d never do that. This affects you too. It affects us.”

  “Then when did you plan to tell me you were leaving?” When he looked away from her, she knew. “On your way out of town.” Despite her fury, she kept her tone icy. “You say you’ve changed? Bullshit. You’re still running away.”

  “I’m not!”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “Goddammit, I’m not.”

  Was he trying to convince her? Or himself?

  Rory got right in his face. “Don’t do this. Stay here and deal with it. Stay here with me and let me help you deal with it.”

  “Rory—”

  “You say you love me? Prove it. Don’t go.” She wrapped herself around him. “Stay. Please. Grab that suitcase and come home with me. Let me take care of you.”

  He hugged her so tight she couldn’t breathe. “Okay.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Dalton hadn’t seen much of his brothers in the week that’d passed since his…confession or whatever the hell it was. He’d talked to them both on the phone. That’d been easier than a face-to-face meeting, especially since Brandt and Tell were still in shock. He understood it wasn’t that his brothers didn’t believe h
im; they just didn’t want to believe it.

  Those conversations were the first in the past two months they hadn’t asked if he’d be visiting the rehab hospital.

  His sweet, wonderful, thoughtful sisters-in-law had each stopped by in the guise of dropping off a decent home cooked meal for the lone McKay bachelor. He hadn’t minded that Jessie hugged him a lot. He’d held it together when she’d broken down about Brandt’s reaction after he’d left the bar. While part of him was relieved to hear Brandt’s reaction in front of him had been more about saving face until he could unleash his anger in private, another part hated that his brother was dealing with any guilt.

  And Rory…after she’d begged him not to go to Montana, something had shifted in their relationship. But he hated to think the change was because she felt sorry for him. And asking why she wanted to spend all their free time together when she’d been so insistent on showing him she had a full life without him, smacked of desperation.

  So this official business meeting with Rory gave Dalton a case of nerves. He needed this elk permit. After all he’d been through with his brothers, he knew that he’d never return to ranching with them. As much as he’d harped on honesty between them, Dalton couldn’t tell Rory that the only reason he’d applied for the permit was because of her. If she wasn’t living here he wouldn’t have bothered.

  There were a number of ways she could take that—none of his explanations sounded good in his head so he’d be better off not giving voice to them.

  And he had to take care today to separate the Rory in his bed from Rory the WNRC employee who was evaluating him. Her evaluation wasn’t as a person. She wasn’t judging him as a lover, or a lifelong mate, but an acceptable risk for the test program.

  He’d left the gate open and parked off to the side where she could see his vehicle. He hadn’t unloaded the ATV he’d borrowed from Tell. Rory would need to unload hers and he figured he’d seem overeager if he was ready and helped her without asking. Rory was independent that way.

  The wind began to blow. He checked his cell phone to see if he’d missed a call. Might seem like Rory was late, but he’d been twenty minutes early.

  The government vehicle bounced into view and pulled up beside him.