by Cora Seton
The denim separated and Sunny got her first look at just how excited this man was. Swallowing hard, she reached behind her to unfasten the hooks on her bra. When she shrugged her shoulders to slide the straps down her arms, Austin’s hand shot out to grab the center of her bra and snatch it away impatiently.
His low, throaty moan skittered along her nerve endings, exciting them. He didn’t say a word though, he just stared at her, and Sunny wondered what he was thinking. Was he disappointed? Unimpressed? Self-consciously, Sunny’s hands shot up to cover her breasts, but Austin grabbed her wrists and forced her hands down to her thighs.
“No,” he barked, releasing her to hook his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans. Lifting his hips, Austin shoved them down to his knees and his underwear went with them. His cock sprang free and Sunny couldn’t keep her eyes from locking on his thickness.
Her inner muscles flexed, anticipating the feel of him inside of her, the stretch she hadn’t felt in five years. Her hands magically undid her jeans for her as Sunny’s heart pounded in her chest, her mouth and other body parts watered. Lunging up to push her jeans down, her head banged on the roof of the cart. Stars danced behind her eyes as a gong sounded inside her skull. and Sunny plopped back on the seat breathing hard, trying to find the sense she’d just knocked out of herself. Austin’s laugh rumbled in her ears, but was muffled by the pounding of her heart and the ringing in her skull.
“You okay?” he asked, his long fingers massaging her scalp which made every hair stand on end. Tingles danced down her spine as his fingers slid to her nape. He leaned closer to her ear and his hot, raspy breath heated her ear. “I could give you mouth-to-mouth if you need it,” he offered, nuzzling her hair.
Snippets of their hot kiss in the woods flashed behind her closed eyes, and a need as intense as she’d ever felt in her life took over. The bells faded, the fog cleared and blood pumped through her veins like it had never pumped before.
“Yes,” she whimpered, turning her face toward his to find his mouth, as her hand slid between his thighs to circle his heat.
Austin’s body tensed, he sucked in a sharp breath, then groaned long and low in his throat. The sound tickled Sunny’s lips then trickled down her throat like sweet honey. Having a man want her as badly as she wanted him was a powerful thing. Something she’d never had before. Toward the end of their relationship, she’d had to coax Jason to have sex with her. The only time he’d really been engaged had been their first time, and that had been over so fast she couldn’t really be sure even then. She should’ve taken that as a sign, but she’d been a love-starved idiot.
Now she knew it was because once he’d gotten what he wanted from her, he’d only kept her hanging on as a convenient sex partner when he got hard up. The reason he hadn’t wanted her after that was because he’d been fucking someone else. Probably several other someones. Sunny’s body tensed and her hand gripped Austin’s cock tighter, so he tensed too.
Sliding his mouth from hers, breathing hard, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she lied, forcing thoughts of Jason from her mind. “I’m sorry—it’s been a while.” And never with a man who responded to me like you do.
“Maybe we should go into the house,” Austin said, brushing her hand away from his lap to turn in the seat. She didn’t miss the frustration and disappointment in his tone.
“No, please!” Sunny shouted, her voice echoing across the field as she scooted closer to stroke him again. His dilated eyes met hers, and he still looked unconvinced. “Please fuck me, Austin,” she pleaded, leaning in to kiss his jaw. This was spontaneous, exciting. Another thing she’d never had before. “Here and now.”
Austin relaxed and turned toward her. His eyes sparked in the moonlight and his mouth curled up on one side. His slightly callused palm left goosebumps as it glided up her side to her breast. When his rough thumb raked her nipple, Sunny threw her head back and moaned loudly.
“Shhh…,” he said gruffly, glancing back toward the barn. “Sound carries out here.” He raked her nipple again, then made slow, lazy circles there and it felt like he was stroking another bud. He might as well be, because she felt his touch there too.
Sunny bit her lower lip to stifle her mewl. It zipped back down her body to intensify the throb at the top of her thighs. Austin’s raspy, excited breaths echoed in her ears, exciting her more. The only other sound she heard was the distant murmur of the conversations by the fire and her own out-of-control heart. They were at least halfway to the house, an eighth of a mile or so from the fire, but she still heard the men. Austin must be right about sound traveling, so Sunny focused on keeping quiet.
She stroked him faster and his cock became silk-covered steel in her hand. Austin leaned in to kiss her cheek, then her neck, all the while abrading her nipple with his thumb until the bud became super sensitive. His touch became an irritation that her overexcited nerve endings magnified, transmitted straight to her core. Sunny had to fight releasing the involuntary little sounds that gurgled in her throat. She closed her eyes and dipped her chin to her chest to concentrate on the delicious release inching up with each pass he made over her nipple.
Suddenly, Austin kissed his way back to her mouth and Sunny lifted her face. He sealed his mouth over hers, just as he scraped his nail over her nipple, and she couldn’t stop the scream he absorbed into his mouth. Her fist tightened around his cock, as tremors rocked her body, and moisture flooded her folds. His laugh filtered into her mouth as he pulled away, breathing hard.
“God, Sunshine—you’re too easy. We need to do that again.” His eyes fell to her swollen nipple and narrowed. “Think you can take off your jeans without knocking yourself out?”
Sunny quickly toed off her tennis shoes, and shoved her jeans and underwear off. She sat back up naked as a jaybird, and Austin McBride was drinking his fill of her body in the moonlight.
Was she crazy? She barely knew this man and a moment of indecision had her gnawing her lower lip. But then she felt the moisture between her legs, the insane desire burning in her gut and decided it didn’t matter if she knew him or not.
This was probably a one-night, one-time thing and she was going to enjoy this gift she’d been given. A chance to restart her love life with a man whom she wanted, but who had not a snowball’s chance of hurting her. He’d be two hours away and she’d be a satisfied woman. At least for a little while. She was going to look at this as her opportunity to prove to herself that she was over Jason. Get the bad taste of that sour man out of her mouth, by replacing it with the sweetness sitting right here wanting her, and only her.
“Straddle me,” Austin said gruffly, shoving his own jeans to his ankles before scooting toward her.
Sunny pushed up to her knees, and was about to straddle him, but ice water poured through her body. Good God—she’d almost done it again!
“Condom!” she shrieked, scooting away from him.
Austin’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped open. “Holy shit,” he grumbled, as he leaned over to pat his jeans until he found his wallet. He flipped it open, dug through it and groaned. Huffing a breath, he dropped his chin to his chest. “It’s been a while for me too. I don’t have one on me.”
“No latex, no loving, cowboy,” she said firmly, crossing her arms over her breasts.
“I wouldn’t think of it,” Austin replied shortly, as he moved over then stepped out of the cart to pull his jeans up and fasten them. He sat back on the seat, and without another word drove them to the house.
Parking by the back door, he immediately got out and strode to the porch. Sunny gathered her clothes and followed him, her earlier urgency gone. It looked like she’d not only ruined the mood, she’d pissed him off. But that was better than ruining her life again, or his. Sunny learned from her mistakes.
Walking through the back door he’d left open, she slammed it harder than necessary rattling the glass in the window. Austin McBride could be mad all he wanted to be. Jason hadn’t like
d to wear a condom either. No man did—especially when the fact he needed one didn’t come to mind until much too late. Well, in Sunny’s estimation it was never too late, and it was his own damned fault for not thinking about that before he started what he started out there.
Sunny felt not an ounce of guilt for reminding him of it either, as she walked through the darkened house feeling her way. Halfway through the kitchen the overhead light flashed on and blinded her. Once her eyes finally focused, what she saw shocked the crap out of her. Austin McBride standing in the doorway wearing only an ear to ear grin. He held up his hand and flicked his fingers, unrolling a long string of shiny gold packets.
“Looks like this cowboy is gonna get a lot of lovin’ tonight,” he said with a wink, as he stalked toward her. Stopping in front of her Austin ripped off one packet and handed her the rest. Stunned, Sunny stood there watching as he opened it with his teeth then rolled the latex onto his long, still extremely hard cock.
When he looked back up at her, he grabbed her hand. “First time’s in the shower, though. You smell like a horse,” he informed with a short laugh, as he dragged her down the hallway.
He smelled like earthy man, clean sweat and the heated remnants of some spicy cologne. Good enough to eat. But he’d insulted her, so she could dish it right back. “You don’t smell much better, bucko,” Sunny replied indignantly, as he pulled her inside the steamy bathroom where the shower was already running. “You smell like a lumberjack.”
He left her to walk to the linen cabinet and pull out two thick towels, which he set on the tiled counter beside the sink. Turning, he leaned back against the counter in all his naked glory.
“I’m hung like one, so I might as well smell like one,” he countered arrogantly, waggling his eyebrows, and the playful wink he added fanned the flames inside of her again.
Dropping her clothes on the floor, his heated gray eyes drew her to him. Everything about this man called to something inside of her. Unable to resist, Sunny planted her hands on his smooth, tight stomach and his flesh rippled under her fingers all the way up to his shoulders. She looked up into his eyes and smiled.
“Well, I guess we’re in luck,” she purred, cupping his jaw. “I like lumberjacks, and you like horses.” With a growl, Austin’s hands found her ass and Sunny shivered as his mouth covered hers in a hot kiss that stole her breath.
Chapter Eleven
‡
Without breaking their kiss, Austin backed into the shower with her, then reached over to slide the door shut, closing them in a cocoon of hot mist. His hand immediately returned to her ass, his fingers digging in to pull her tightly against his body as he kissed her deeper, licked the streams of water from her lips, sucked them into his mouth to nip them, driving her wild. God, she could come just from his kisses alone. Sunny had never met a man more talented with his mouth, both in calming her down and exciting her.
His mouth opened on a growl, and he sucked her tongue inside, made love to her mouth as he shifted his hips to fit his hot cock into the space at the top of her thighs. His hips moved to slide his length through her slick folds and a tremor rocked Sunny. Her fingers dug into his wet shoulders as she fought to remain standing. Austin’s arm clamped around her waist to hold her steady, as he leaned around her to grab something. She heard a click then the aroma of sweet cotton candy mixed with the steam. Sunny inhaled deeply, and laughed.
“You use cotton candy bath gel?”
“No, but evidently Haley does,” he replied gruffly. Now, I know why she always smells like that.”
Haley? That explained the gross of condoms he had handy. Sunny stiffened, and stepped back. When she reached for the door, Austin grabbed her wrist.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“I think you should wait for Haley to come over to take your co-ed shower,” she spat, fighting the burn in her eyes as she tried to get her wrist free.
“Her husband might have a problem with that,” Austin grated, as he uncurled his fingers from around her wrist. He stepped back under the spray seeming unconcerned that it was dripping from his hair into his eyes. “What’s with you and that jealous streak?”
“Streak?” Sunny repeated, crossing her arms over her breasts.
“Yeah, streak,” Austin repeated angrily, running an agitated hand over his face. His gray eyes speared her through his dark, water-clumped lashes. “You were green with it that night at the fire when Silas put me in charge. Again at the hospital when I was talking to that nurse, then you got indignant and accused me of having a girlfriend after I kissed you in the woods. Now because there’s female bath gel in here you automatically assume it belongs to a female friend of mine. If you think that little of my morals, that little of me, what the hell are you doing in here with me?”
That was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. What was she doing in here with him?
“I probably need to get Billy and go,” Sunny said, reaching for the door again, but Austin’s fingers closed around her wrist like a vise.
“No, what you should do is tell me what the hell happened to make you feel so damned insecure. You are a fucking knockout—smart, gorgeous and capable. The hottest woman I’ve met in a lot of years.” Austin’s hot eyes streaked down her body to her toes. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
The hottest woman he’d met in years?
Austin McBride must’ve been isolated out here at this ranch in the boonies for those years, because Sunny knew that wasn’t true. She was a too tall, a gangly tomboy who intimidated men most of the time. Since she’d been back in Glanville, the intimidation was intentional to make sure they kept their distance. She hadn’t been ready to let a man close to her again.
Now that she’d taken the leap though, Austin was right, she was acting crazy. Because she had so damned much to worry about these days everything was magnified.
“I’m sorry,” Sunny said, casting her gaze to his feet. The damned man even had perfect feet. Every toe was smooth and even, the bones and tendons led to lightly furred, perfectly formed ankles and muscular calves. “I am insecure about a lot of things. I have a lot on my mind too, and applying for the Chief’s job is just making it worse. Worrying about my ability to do the job is making me twice as determined to prove myself. But I really need that job for me and for Billy. I want him to have the opportunities I didn’t have, because I had a single mother and an absent father.” Sunny huffed a breath.
His index finger hooked under her chin to tip it up, and Sunny gasped. Austin stepped closer to her to hold her gaze. “You’re going to tell me what Billy’s daddy did to you to make you feel like you do. That’s what this is all about right? It must’ve been bad, if it’s still affecting you.” His eyebrows lifted for a second then slammed down over his suddenly angry eyes. “He’s not in your life anymore is he?”
“Now who’s questioning whose morals?” Sunny asked shortly. “Jason hasn’t been in my life for five years and thank goodness for that.”
“He doesn’t even come around to see Billy?” Austin asked hotly.
“He wanted nothing to do with Billy. Told me it was my problem. I doubt he even knows where we are, and I like it that way. Our final confrontation at the station in Carrolton was bad. It’s why I lost my job there.”
“Well that kid isn’t a problem,” Austin growled, his face a rain-wrapped thundercloud. “He’s a good kid—smart as a whip and that guy is a loser!”
The passion in Austin’s defensive words plucked a chord deep inside her, and Sunny had to force words past the knot in her throat. “I agree, and Billy is lucky Jason isn’t in his life. He wouldn’t be the kid he is if Jason was around.”
“Then why in the hell are you still letting that bastard live rent free in your beautiful head?” he asked with a huffed breath.
“I’m trying to evict him.” Sunny blew out a breath too.
“Don’t try—just do it.” Austin jerked her to him and held her, rocking her gently in his embrace and Su
nny soaked up his comfort like a dry sponge. That’s what she’d felt like for a very long time now, dried out. But this man was quickly filling her back up again, and then some.
Gorgeous, beautiful, hot? Either Austin was damned good at sweet talking a woman out of her pants, better than Jason even, or he was sincere, in which case, if he kept that up, she might just overflow. With a kiss to her wet hair, he pushed her away from him.
“Now, where were we before we had our visitor?” He smiled and put a thoughtful finger to his jaw. “Oh yeah—bath gel.” With a broad grin, he bent to pick up the bottle from the floor.
Sunny smiled too, and her shoulders relaxed, but her relaxed state was short lived when Austin stood again and turned her toward the wall. Sliding his palms down her arms, he took her hands and placed her palms against the cool tile wall.
Leaning close to her ear he growled, “Keep those right there, no matter what, okay? I want to explore that perfect body of yours. Those legs alone could take me a week, so be patient.”
Austin shoved her wet hair aside and his hot breath ignited her skin before he suctioned his mouth to her neck in a hot open-mouthed kiss. Sunny sucked in a lungful of the steamy air that wasn’t nearly as hot as her insides. Austin licked his way down to her collarbone and she groaned. Sliding his foot between her ankles, he forced her legs apart, then used his knee between her thighs to add more space. “A little wider, Sunshine. I need plenty of room to work.”
After dropping a kiss on her shoulder, his stepped back and Sunny’s back felt cold. Her nipples hardened in anticipation of what he’d do when he touched her again. Cotton candy filled her nostrils as she dragged in quick, steamy breaths when Austin’s slick, warm palms pressed into her back. He made slow, languorous circles with the heels of his hands moving outward to her shoulders and Sunny’s body went limp. Locking her elbows, she arched her back into his touch to increase the pressure.
