Lone Heart

by Delilah Devlin

  She wasn’t even thinking about whether she’d see Lonny there. Not much, anyway. She certainly didn’t want to see him there chatting up another woman. It wasn’t until she turned in to the parking lot that she realized her heart was thudding inside her chest at just the thought of his tall, muscled frame.

  Slowing, she circled the saloon, trying to talk herself out of doing something reckless, because in the mood she was in, she knew she was looking for trouble.

  On the pass around the back side of the saloon, which faced the only motel in town, she braked hard.

  Drew’s truck was parked in front of one of the rooms. She set her parking brake and turned off the ignition, curiosity too piqued to ignore. She hadn’t wanted him enough to invite him back into her bed, but she’d never even considered he might have needs he’d have to take care of with someone else.

  Thankful for the falling darkness, she walked quietly to the door and leaned toward it. She heard muffled laughter. Light gleamed in the crack between the curtains, and even though she knew it was wrong, she couldn’t resist trying to see inside.

  She edged toward the gap and stared.

  Drew was naked, his body completely revealed in profile. She knew all too well he was good-looking man and breathed deeply at the sight of his burly frame, coated with dark hair on his chest and legs. His heavy cock was erect and tipped toward a pretty brunette Charli didn’t recognize, who was gazing up at Drew, her lower lip held between her teeth.

  Drew’s hand reached and grasped the woman’s head, fingers digging into the thick strands, and he pulled her down, spreading his legs while she knelt in front of him. His face was hard, cheeks stark, his gaze hungry slits as he bracketed the woman’s cheeks and forced her closer.

  Not that the woman seemed to mind. A moan filled the air. Her mouth opened and sank down Drew’s cock, and Charli couldn’t help staring as the woman bobbed forward and back, sucking hard.

  Her body was sweetly curved, lush where Charli’s was lean. Charli could understand why Drew would want the pretty brunette. She looked soft—everywhere. Her breasts were ample and swayed with her movements.

  When Drew pushed the woman away, Charli leaned closer to the window, her attention riveted. Her own breaths were jagged pants; her panties were dampening between her thighs.

  Drew urged the woman onto her knees at the edge of the bed then cupped her buttocks, parted them, and guided his cock into her pussy while he thumbed her little asshole.

  Shocked, Charli drew a quick, harsh breath. She stepped back, ready to flee in case anyone found her there, panting like a pervert. Her whole body quivered with heat, with emotions she didn’t understand.

  She wasn’t upset with Drew, not really. Intellectually, she couldn’t blame him. But there had been a part of her that had thought, given time, they’d find a way to come together.

  She’d been fooling herself. So had he. He needed someone in his life who excited him into a primal hunger. It wasn’t her. It never would be. Drew was wrong to think they could settle for anything less.

  Tamping down the tears filling her eyes, she turned, only to find her way blocked by a wall of muscle.

  Embarrassment had her ducking her head and pushing past the figure, but strong hands gripped her shoulders. “Slow down, Charli. Come with me.”

  Lonny’s voice broke through her panic.

  “Crap.” She let him walk her down the row of rooms to another door. Holding her against his side, he unlocked it then shoved her gently inside.

  Charli turned away, unable to meet his gaze. “That was embarrassing.” And a huge understatement.

  Footsteps came up behind her. “Which part? Watching Drew screw another girl or gettin’ caught?” Hands turned her toward him.

  Unwilling to be seen as a coward, she lifted her chin and glared defiantly back. “I don’t like you.”

  He grunted, his expression neutral. “Doesn’t mean you aren’t hot for me—or at least for what I can give you.”

  The gravel in his voice made her toes curl. “And what would that be?” she scoffed, even though her body was way ahead of her mind and beginning to melt.

  His eyelids fell, darkening his green eyes to black. “Sweetheart, I’ve never seen a woman more in need of sexin’ up.”

  Chapter 3

  For the second time that day, Charli’s jaw dropped. “Bastard! The things you say to me…” She bristled but wasn’t convinced of her own outrage.

  Apparently, neither was he. He smiled. “Doesn’t mean I’m not right.”

  His steady gaze dared her to say more, but she refrained, afraid she’d somehow ignite the explosive atmosphere. Silence stretched between them.

  The pause gave her time to let everything sink in—the fact she was in a seedy motel room with a handsome cowboy.

  Her gaze swept his tall, rangy frame. He was dressed in jeans and a faded chambray shirt, scuffed boots and a pale, straw Resistol hat. Cataloguing his clothing didn’t alleviate the heat continuing to build between her thighs.

  “I guess this could get awkward for you,” he said softly, his smile fading. “You bein’ the boss lady and all.”

  Awkward didn’t begin to cover it. Not when she was so hot and needy for exactly what he’d said—sexin’ up.

  “This…” She licked her lips. “Um, this doesn’t have to be complicated.”

  His gaze sharpened. “You thinking this could be a one-time thing? Get it out of our systems?”

  She nodded slowly.

  He scooted his feet closer to hers. Warmth from his body radiated in the small space between them.

  She tilted back her head. “Just tonight. Tomorrow, you’re on the payroll and under my roof, with Drew.”

  “I understand.”

  She jutted her chin. “No flirting.”

  One dark brow rose. “Don’t you think Drew will wonder why I don’t act natural around you?”

  “Then no touching. No intimating we’ve ever touched.”

  His throat moved as he swallowed. “I won’t hit on you. But if you want me…”

  She shook her head. “Don’t you worry about that. The ranch’ll keep us all too busy to think about…” Lord, she couldn’t even say it.

  His mouth twitched. “Sexin’?”

  “Yeah, that,” she whispered.

  His hands rose and gently cupped her hips, and he pulled her closer, eliminating the distance between them.

  With her breasts mashed against his hard chest, her breaths shortened. Her nipples tingled and extended. Her pussy contracted, moisture leaking slowly into the crotch of her panties.

  His smell surrounded her—plain soap, a lovely male musk. She wouldn’t have been surprised to hear women tackled him in the grocery aisle after just one whiff. Hell, she wanted to tackle him and crawl right on top of his lean, muscled body.

  He reached up with one hand, removed his hat, and spun it toward the armchair in the corner. Then he bent toward her and kissed her, rubbing his mouth softly over hers.

  The chaste nature of his kiss wasn’t enough. She glided her hands up his chest, around his neck, and sank her fingers in his thick hair. Rising on her toes, she deepened the kiss, aligning her nose with his and opening her mouth to let him sink inside.

  The kiss was pure heaven—just as wildly erotic as she remembered. Every muscle tensed, straining toward him. Her entire body came alive.

  Groaning, he walked her backward until her knees hit the mattress. Then he held her as he lowered her to coverlet, coming down on top of her, blanketing her in heat and hardness, his cock flush with her mound.

  Charli lifted her legs and encircled his waist, clinging with arms and thighs, undulating to rub against the large ridge clothed in his pants, getting more desperate and breathless as the kiss continued.

  He raised his head and grinned. “Sweetheart, I’m all outta moves. I want you naked. When I get up, you get those clothes off.”

  Relieved he was every bit as horny as she was, she smiled back, suddenl
y feeling lighter and freer.

  He edged away and went to work, stripping off his T-shirt. She jackknifed to sit at the edge of the mattress and tore her shirt over her head, unsnapped her bra, and drew it down her arms, loving how his hands stalled at his belt buckle as his gaze snagged on her meager breasts.

  His nostrils flared, his breathing deepened—enough of a reaction to convince her he wasn’t disappointed. She lifted one foot at a time and tugged off her boots and socks, and then stood.

  He shook his head as though to clear it and toed off his boots, while at the same time peeling open his belt and dragging down his zipper. Wincing slightly, he reached into his pants and pulled his cock free, then bent to shove his pants down, obscuring her view of his sex.

  It didn’t matter. She’d seen enough to know he’d been blessed. He’d fill her, stretch her—and damn, she couldn’t wait a minute longer to feel him slide inside her. She shoved her jeans down and stepped out of them.

  Nude now, she swiped the coverlet from the bed, grabbed the upper sheet and dragged it off as well. She climbed onto the mattress, letting him watch her ass, listening to his rough groan as more clothing hit the floor. Then he was on the bed behind her, grabbing her hips, holding her there on her hands and knees and bending over her, steamy skin snuggling against her backside, lying over her torso.

  His mouth glided on her shoulder. Teeth bit the corner of her neck. “I wanted this to be the best you ever had.”

  She reached between her legs, stretched a little farther, and grasped his shaft, aiming it at her entrance. “We’ll worry about finesse later.”

  His blunt, round head eased forward, found her center, and pushed inside.

  A moan sifted between her lips. She raised her head and dropped her back, raising her buttocks and taking more of his cock as he shoved and burrowed his way inside.

  With his cock fully sheathed, her pussy squeezed around him. Her thighs began to shake; her belly cramped with excitement. “Lonny, please,” she whimpered.

  “Damn, woman,” he growled. “You’re fucking wet.” He pulled back his hips, then shoved forward again, sliding his cock inside her. Roughened palms stroked her belly then cupped her breasts. Fingers circled her nipples and pinched the taut, pebbled tips.

  “Don’t worry about gettin’ me ready,” Charli said, her eyes closing as she drowned in the sensations his hands and fingertips aroused as they scraped over her sensitive skin. His cock crowded inside, his girth stretching her inner walls. It had been forever since she’d felt this way. “I feel like a virgin,” she whispered, overcome with awe.

  “Baby, you’re tight.”

  So was his voice.

  She reached again, cupped his balls, and squeezed. “I don’t mind rough.”

  “Thank God!” He pulled out, past the nails scraping his balls, all the way until only the tip remained lodged at her entrance.

  Her pussy clenched around it, refusing to let him go.

  His hips swirled and pushed forward, screwing inside, rubbing against her inner walls until he found just the right spot.

  Her breath hissed between her teeth.

  Lonny chuckled tightly and kept to that depth, circling and pumping, exciting her G-spot until her whole body quivered and her arms collapsed beneath her.

  With her face pressed into the crisp, clean sheet, she moaned again and again as his strokes deepened, sharpened, quickened. Her channel was so drenched, the lewd, slippery sounds of his pistoning cock filled the small room.

  Her ass warmed with the pounding; her pussy burned with friction. Deep inside her core, the cramping excitement wound tighter and tighter. She felt desperate, breathless, on the verge. “Jesus, Lonny. Faster!”

  A slap landed on her ass, and she jerked, stunned. He followed it with a flurry of deep, powerful strokes that inched her knees forward. She gripped the sheets, dug in her nails, and held on, resisting his motions as he slammed into her.

  Then she blasted past the edge, color bursting like fireworks behind her squeezed-shut eyelids, tension exploding so suddenly she cried out. The wail she gave was broken, agonized…distant. Not her. Not a noise she’d ever made before.

  A shout sounded behind her. Lonny’s hips bucked three more times, and hot semen poured inside her, scalding her channel, coating his cock in more liquid, easing the slower strokes he continued to deliver until he rocked gently against her backside.

  Like him, she didn’t want the motions to end, because as the rocking waned and his weight pushed her down onto the bed where he blanketed her in truth this time with his large, shuddering body, her mind stilled long enough to realize they’d made a mistake.

  She didn’t want to worry. Didn’t want to think. But the oversight grew and grew until she felt every ache, felt the strips of heat on her backside where his fingers had slapped her, the friction warming her vagina. “Get off.”

  He grunted but eased from inside her. He lay beside her on his back, his reddened, sweaty face turned her way. His gaze studied her mulish expression.

  “We forgot something,” she muttered.

  His mouth curved into a small smile. “I know.”

  Exasperated by his casual admission, she deepened her scowl. “When did you think about it?”

  “Right before you grabbed my dick and put it inside you.”

  She sputtered, and her eyes bugged. “Well, you could have said something.”

  “And spoil the moment?” His smile stretched wide.

  Her head felt ready to explode. “You’re not sixteen,” she bit out.

  His expression turned somber. “No, I’m not, but you seem to think it’s okay to talk to me like I am. I’m clean, by the way.”

  Charli sighed. “And I’m out of practice. I would have thought that would be rule number one to someone like you.”

  Both of his eyebrows shot up. “I think I’ve just been insulted. You calling me a man-whore?”

  She pushed up on her elbows. “I didn’t mean it that way, but you…”

  “Have more experience?”

  “Yeah.”

  Lonny sighed and rolled onto his side. His arms slipped around her and constricted, pulling her closer. Not until he tucked her against his body did he reply. “Baby, I got caught up in the moment, every bit as much as you did. That should say something to you.”

  Her eyes filled, and she wiped away the moisture with an impatient swipe. “What do you mean?”

  “This sure as hell won’t be the last time we fuck.”

  Lonny wiped his sweaty face against his sleeve.

  “What’s the matter? Can’t take the heat?”

  Lonny swung toward Drew, who reined in his horse beside him. Drew’s tone hadn’t been derisive, but the narrowed gaze he leveled on Lonny said the older man had a bone to chew.

  That morning, Drew had given him only a few minutes to drop his gear in the spare room before they’d headed to the barn and saddled horses. Then Drew had taken him from one end of the property to the other, all the while delivering a commentary on everything Drew and Charli had accomplished together over the past few years. The Lucky K was a small spread compared to Lonny’s and True’s, but the land and outbuildings appeared well maintained, and the livestock was healthy. Still, it was apparent the ranch was a lot of work for one man and a woman to keep up with. So why was Drew doing his best to show Lonny he wasn’t needed?

  Lonny drew his horse around to face Drew’s. He tipped up the brim of his hat to meet the other man’s gaze dead on. “I can take the heat just fine. Look, you got a problem with me?”

  Drew glanced away and cussed under his breath. “What the hell happened between you two last night?” His head swiveled back, and he gave Lonny a searing glare. “And don’t tell me nothin’. I saw her truck. She came back late all agitated and headed straight to bed without a word. Then this morning she turned pale as a ghost when you drove up. I’ve known her too long not to know something’s up.”

  “I’m guessin’ it’s not what you thi
nk happened,” Lonny said, choosing his words.

  “That’s not an answer.”

  Lonny’s face heated with anger. “What business is it of yours?”

  “Charli and me are friends. Have been ever since we were kids. Her husband Daniel and I were best friends.”

  “You two are friends?” Lonny narrowed his gaze on the other cowboy, whose jaw tightened a fraction. “Would I be stepping on any toes if I said I’m interested in the lady?”

  Drew’s breath billowed his chest, but then he shook his head slowly. “I won’t see her hurt.”

  Lonny stared, sure there was more to their relationship than Drew was willing to admit. Did Drew carry a torch for Charli? “I’ve no intentions of hurting a hair on her head,” he said, careful to maintain eye contact with the other man. Best Drew knew the truth now. Lonny didn’t intend to sneak around. “I like her. She’s a pretty woman. Whatever happens will be strictly consensual.”

  Drew’s expression hardened. “Charli needs someone who’ll stick.”

  “Stick?”

  “Yeah, you’re young. A rodeo cowboy. You into stickin’ around when things get rough?”

  Fair question. He thought about his answer before saying, “I may be younger than her, but I haven’t spent my life on the circuit. I was raised on a ranch. I know it’s hard work. I don’t walk away when the going gets rough.” Inside he felt a twinge. Hadn’t he done just that? Walked away from the family spread?

  Drew brought his horse closer. Every line bracketing his mouth deepened as he leaned toward Lonny. “But we’re not really talkin’ about the ranch, are we? I’ve been there for her. When Daniel died, it was my shoulder she cried on. Charli’s not into casual. If you’re not sure, you need to leave her the hell alone.”

  Lonny nodded. Drew and Charli had a history. Drew knew her better than Lonny did. He’d respect that. “How long ago did it happen?”

  Drew didn’t hesitate over what “it” was. “It’s been nearly five years since Daniel passed.”

  “And in all that time, she hasn’t wanted more from you?”