Didn’t the woman have any good sense? he wondered, his gaze continuing its traveling, past her hips, down her legs to her sexy shoes, the high heels of which were sinking in the mud as she angrily strode away.
He glanced around and saw that he wasn’t the only one who appreciated the spectacular visual.
When he caught the eyes of several of his men, they hastily looked away and went back to work, noting the scowl across his face.
He turned toward Yasmine just as she was about to walk inside the house.
Jake had approached her and she stopped, looking up at him. Whatever he said made her tinkling giggle float across the field and the irrational anger knot in his gut.
Chapter 11
“They say you can take the girl from the ranch, but you can’t take the ranch from the girl.”
Thinking she was alone, startled, Yasmine twisted her upper torso in the saddle, glancing over her shoulder. She smiled when she saw Jake leaning against the corral.
“Oh, hey, Jake. I didn’t see you there,” she said, reining the horse around so that she could face him. “I was just about to put her up for the night.”
As she cantered the horse closer to the fence, he hopped over it and strolled over to meet her. Standing beside the horse, he ran a hand over its mane and smiled up at Yasmine. “Still hard to believe this is the same horse Nate bought a few months ago,” he said, shaking his head.
“Yeah, Holt told me she was all but wild when he bought her. He mentioned that Althea had a lot to do with her transformation,” she said, and allowed him to help her dismount.
“Yeah, she had a lot to do with it. She’s a hell of a woman.”
As she pulled her hand away from his grasp once she was on her feet, he held on a fraction longer than necessary.
She looked up at him, a slight frown on her face, and his smile widened.
“She’s not the only one,” he replied.
For a brief moment, Yasmine was caught off guard by the casual compliment.
“The women on Wilde Ranch, you and Lilly, and now Althea, are all a breed apart,” he finished, and she blushed slightly at the compliment.
“Why, thank you, kind sir. We try our best,” she replied lightly, tipping the brim of an imaginary hat in his direction.
He laughed, tapping the end of her nose. “That’s what I’ve always liked about you, Yas.”
“What’s that?” she asked, glancing up at him.
“Your sense of humor. Among other things,” he said, taking the horse’s reins, guiding her in the direction of the stable.
Again, Yasmine was caught off guard, causing her to stumble.
Jake caught her beneath the elbow, righting her.
With a mumbled thank-you she smiled slightly, when she saw him staring down at her with an odd look on his face.
“I must look a mess,” she said, self-consciously running a hand over her disheveled hair.
She’d been hard at work the entire day.
Truth be told, much of that hard work had been in avoiding Holt, yesterday as well as today. She’d told herself it wasn’t because she was afraid to be alone with him, it was just that she didn’t have anything to say to him.
Yeah, right, her inner voice mocked her.
“No. In fact, you look beautiful,” Jake said, the smile on his face broadening, the appreciation in his eyes as his glance slid over her unmistakable.
At his response, Yasmine paused and looked up at him.
“Thank you, Jake,” she said, suddenly on unsure ground.
“Mind if I walk with you to put her away?”
She forced a smile and nodded her head.
As they walked toward the stable, they chatted lightly, Jake asking how things were going and that he’d heard about her catering the wedding.
“Yeah, that came out of the blue.” She laughed, walking alongside him. “When she asked, well … I couldn’t say no. Nate is like family,” she said softly. “Everyone here is like family.”
“Including me?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“It’s been a long time since you’ve been home, Yasmine. It’s good to know you think of me the same as you do the others.”
Yasmine felt the uneasiness grow but pushed it away. This was Jake. They’d grown up together and he was as close as a brother to her as the Wildes were. Well, as much as Nate and Shilah were, she thought.
“So much has changed around the ranch,” she said, changing the subject. When they passed a large oak tree, a rope around an old tire suspended from one of the thick, overhead branches, she said, “Seems like just yesterday we were all swinging from that old tire,” and they both laughed in memory.
“Yeah, I was trying to get your attention back then, but that didn’t work any more than it has since you came back.”
Although she wasn’t entirely surprised by his admission, she hadn’t known he’d liked her when they were younger.
He smiled down at her once they reached the stall. “Yeah,” he admitted sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. “But even then, you only had eyes for Holt. Guess nothing’s changed, huh, Yas?”
From the moment she’d returned home, she’d caught the way Jake looked at her whenever he was near. At first when the thought had come to her mind that he was attracted to her, she’d brushed it away, thinking she was seeing things that weren’t there, that it was simply her imagination, but now she wondered if it were more.
She didn’t know what to say. And neither did she know that anyone, outside of her aunt, knew of her girlhood crush on Holt.
“I—uh …”
He shook his head, the smile dying on his lips. “You don’t have to say anything, Yasmine. I knew your heart belonged to him. And now … well, like I said, guess nothing’s changed.”
When he was set to guide the horse inside, she placed a hand over his, stalling him.
“I never knew. Had I known, well …” She allowed the sentence to dangle, glancing over his face.
Unlike Holt, Jake wasn’t handsome in the traditional sense of the word. His strong aquiline nose, broken sometime in his youth, dominated an angular face. His dark, inky-black hair was cut close to his head. When dampened with sweat, as it was now, the ends curled up, forming curls that covered his head. His mouth was a slashing line, usually somber in looks, unless he smiled. But his eyes … Jake’s eyes were a magnet.
Light green, the lashes surrounding them were inky-black, matching the color of his hair.
Like the brothers, Jake was tall, well over six feet in height, with powerful shoulders that tapered to a lean waist.
As she said to him, had she known, and if she hadn’t fallen for Holt all those years ago …
He placed a finger beneath her chin and raised it so her glance met his. She saw him lower his face and turned her face away enough so that he only kissed her softly on the corner of her mouth.
“Well, there it is,” he said, and in his voice she heard a certain sadness. “Doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, does it? And maybe we can give that old tire another ride. Sound like fun?” he asked, and she grinned, her mood lightening along with his attempt to put her at ease.
“Tonight seems as good a time as any. Give me a minute to put the horse away,” she replied, grinning up at him.
“Why don’t I give you a hand with that? We can get to that swing that much faster.”
“You’re on!”
Just then a sound alerted them that they weren’t alone, and seconds later Holt emerged from around the stable, walking toward them, his stride unhurried.
“Kinda late to be out riding horses, don’t you think, Yas?”
Although he asked her the question, his voice mild, his gaze was directly on Jake. But as he came out of the shadows and withdrew his Stetson, there was nothing mild about the look on his face. His bright blue eyes were blazing with fury beneath the halogen light.
Yasmine took a step back, coming up short when she felt Jake’s hand on h
er elbow, steadying her.
Holt’s gaze followed the action. A muscle ticked in the corner of his sensual mouth.
“Let her go,” he said, his voice pitched low.
The sound of his voice and his quiet anger startled Yasmine so much she gasped.
“Holt, man, wha—”
“I said let her go, Jake.” His voice was cold, unyielding. “Yasmine and I have some unfinished business to discuss.”
The air around them grew suddenly colder, and Yasmine wrapped her arms around her body in reaction.
Jake moved her to the side and faced Holt.
“I don’t know what your problem is, but we can discuss this civilly or …”
“Or?”
Holt advanced on them and Yasmine snapped out of her momentary daze. She knew, instinctually, that she needed to put as much distance between herself and Jake as she could. Quickly. Walking forward, she placed an arm on Holt’s forearm, feeling the muscles bunch beneath her fingertips.
She turned to Jake, forcing her mouth to stretch into what she hoped was a semblance of a smile. “I’m sorry, Jake. Holt’s right. I completely forgot about our … uh, plans. Maybe we can swing from the branch another time?” she asked, infusing levity into her voice.
Jake stood still, looking from Yasmine to Holt and back again, before nodding his head, his features set. He placed his Stetson back on his head and focused his gaze on Yasmine, a curious look on his face.
“Okay, I’m going to hold you to that,” he said softly, with a corner of his mouth lifting. “I’ll take care of your horse,” he said with a curt nod in Holt’s direction. He took the reins and guided the horse away.
The minute he rounded the corner and they were alone, Yasmine spun around, placing her hands on her hips, and faced off with Holt.
“What in the hell was that all about?”
He took two steps forward until his big body brushed against hers, crowding her so that she was forced to take a step back.
“I don’t know who you think you are, ordering me around like that,” she boldly went on, pushing down the apprehension at the look on his face, his entire demeanor, and continued, one foot tapping against the ground. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you. You think you can ignore me for days at a time and then go all caveman. And if you think a simple kiss gives you the right to—”
Holt grabbed Yasmine by the waist, the air escaping from her mouth in a whoosh when he hauled her close and slanted his mouth over hers, effectively ending her angry tirade.
Chapter 12
Yasmine struggled, planting her balled fist against his chest and shoving as hard as she could.
He didn’t move an inch. It was as though she were trying to move a two-ton block of cement, as effective as she was.
He grabbed her hands at the wrists and shackled them with one of his large hands, raising them together high above her head, and continued his sensual assault on her mouth.
Her body slumped and her mouth softened, yielding to him.
She heard a very masculine grunt of approval, felt his hold on her loosen, felt his lips soften, and with a groan, he slipped his tongue between the seam of her lips, asking for entry.
She arched her back away from the barn door, into his embrace … and with as much force as she could, kneed him, and quickly jumped out of his hold while he was distracted.
“Damn it, Yasmine!” He bit out a much more explicit oath and jumped away, grabbing his thigh.
Although she’d missed her target by a few inches, a grin of satisfaction stretched her mouth wide.
She didn’t have time to savor the moment.
When she saw the gleam in his bright blue eyes, she knew retribution was right around the corner. With a yelp, she evaded his outstretched hands and pushed aside the barn door, slamming it shut behind her before he could reach her, and ran inside looking for cover.
Her heartbeat was racing, blood pumping strongly through her veins after she spun and immediately began to run, looking for a place to duck and cover.
She heard his curse behind her.
She didn’t have long; soon he would be after her. She found a small space near the back of the barn and dived into the hay, hoping he wouldn’t come looking in the place she’d found.
Yasmine stayed in that position for as long as possible. When she heard no more sounds, no footsteps, nothing but the sounds of the few horses in the stable, she released her breath, expecting to feel relief that he had left.
Instead of relief, she felt a stinging disappointment, the adrenaline slowly leaving her body.
Slowly she rose to her feet, and walked out into the main aisle, looking around just to make sure he was gone.
She’d taken no more than two steps when two large, strong hands grabbed her by the waist, and taking her with him, the two went down onto the ground, their fall cushioned by the soft hay.
“Can’t get away from me that easily, Yas … I’ve tackled bigger prey than you when I played ball,” he said, grunting when she tried to connect again with that part she’d missed earlier.
“Fool me once. Not again.” He laughed roughly, flipping her body around so that she was beneath him, trapped.
“A simple kiss, Yas?” he asked, his voice low.
He leaned down, brushing his face against the side of her cheek in a back-and-forth motion, the stubble from his cheek a rough caress against her skin.
Yasmine closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, de ter-mined not to allow his nearness … his scent, his overwhelming masculinity, to make her succumb.
She swallowed back the moan of satisfaction when he bit down on her earlobe lightly, before his tongue snaked out and licked a hot path down the side of her neck.
“Wha—what do you want from me?” To her own ears the question was more like a plea than anything else.
His tongue continued its deadly assault, trailing a path from her earlobe to the corner of her mouth. “Whatever you want to give me,” he whispered.
“Holt …” His name was drawn out on a long sigh before he recaptured her mouth.
“God, Yasmine … I’ve been wanting to touch you, to feel you like this, for so long,” he said, thumbing a rough caress across one of her nipples. With a growl he bent down, moved the flimsy lace of her bra aside and drew her nipple and most of the surrounding aureole deep inside his mouth.
Yasmine cried out, her body arching sharply away from the hay, pressing herself closer to his questing mouth.
“Holt …” She breathed his name, her body on fire from his nibbling kisses and caresses.
She placed a hand out, between them, against his chest. She turned her face away.
She couldn’t get caught up in him. Not again. His odd hot-and-cold treatment was too much for her, she needed to put him … them, her feelings for him, in the past. Where they belonged.
“We can’t—” Again her words were cut off when he placed his mouth over hers, pressing his hot tongue inside. He turned her face back around, forcing her to look at him.
“I know. This is crazy. The way I’m feeling, the way you’re making me go wild, just from looking at you.” In his voice she heard the confusion she herself felt, as though he didn’t understand what was going on between them any more than she did.
“And when I saw you with Jake … the way he’s been sniffing around you for the last few days … I lost it.” The admission seemed to be torn from him.
He guided his other hand down her waist, lightly toying with her belly button before pressing his large palm at the top of her mound, pushing against her.
“Hmm … Holt, what …” she stopped, panting “ … what are you doing?” she cried, and held her breath when she felt his hand ease the zipper down, pushing the waistband of her jeans to the side.
“Making you feel good, I hope,” he mumbled against the underside of her breast. When his finger delved inside, past the thin cotton of her panties, and found its mark, she inhaled a long, harsh breath.
His bre
athing, hot against her skin, grew more labored as he worked his finger deeper inside her clenching warmth. When he found her clitoris and lightly pinched it between two fingers, she felt the ease of her arousal flow, past his fingers and down the inside of her legs.
He released her breasts, the nipple plopping out of his mouth in a loud pop as he trailed his tongue up her body. He reached the hollow of her throat and licked her, swirling his tongue inside the tiny indenture before continuing the path up her neck, suckling her chin until she whimpered. He released her chin and continued his sensual laving, ending at the corner of her mouth.
“Do you like what I’m doing to you, Yas?” He breathed the words against the corner of her mouth. Not giving her a chance to respond, he placed his thumbs inside the waistband of her jeans, and in one yank pulled them down, lifting her enough so that he could take them up and over her bottom.
Immediately his hands went back to work. Pulling aside her panties, he inserted one long finger deep inside her body, slowly rotating it, until it was all Yasmine could do to hold back a scream. In and out he plunged his finger, one, then adding a second, pressing in and out of her welcoming heat.
Yasmine whimpered, squirming around his thick fingers, her head tossing back and forth against the rough hay as she bit down hard on her bottom lip, afraid that if she didn’t she’d wake everyone on the ranch with her cries.
He released her mouth, uttering a rough laugh against her cheek. “Go ahead, baby, let it out. No one can hear us out here … Let go, Yas,” he said.
He hooked his hands beneath her knees, lifting them and her wider, and snaked his body down until she felt his warm, heavy breath fan the hair covering her mound.
She swallowed hard. “Holt … no, no, baby, I—” She moaned, the sound little more than a whimper when she felt his tongue snake between the seam of her lips, long … slick … and hot.
As he licked and sucked, worshipping her in the most intimate way, Yasmine’s breath grew ragged, her head spinning out of control. He was merciless in his sensual attack, alternating between playful short swipes of his tongue and long, languid strokes until she felt the fire within burn, blaze out of control.
To Love a Wilde Page 9
