by Starla Kaye
His eyes had darkened until they were nearly black. His nostrils flared with the smell of her aroused scent. Locking gazes with her, he moved her hand away and clasped the dildo. “Let me,” he croaked out. “Please.”
If she’d been in her right mind, she would have refused. But she was way past that point, especially when he slowly pushed the dildo back inside.
She arched her head backward, closed her eyes again. “Ohhhhhhh, Cole.” She moved her hands up to cup her aching breasts, to run her thumbs over the hard nipples.
“Yes,” he groaned. “Play with your breasts.” At the same time he got serious about plunging the dildo in and out, driving it deep. “I’ve never done this. Damn.”
He must have recognized her point of no return because he took her fast and hard with the dildo. Her world exploded as she screamed out, “Cole! Oh, Cole!”
She barely had a second to recover before he pulled the dildo out, tossed it aside, and flipped her over to her stomach. He pulled her up to her knees and pushed her shoulders down to the bed. In the next instant his cock drove inside her even as she wondered when he’d undressed. The feel of denim against her bare skin told him he hadn’t; he’d simply freed his cock.
Together they reached that place of release in record time. He held her hips with a strong arm looped beneath her stomach and roared out as he shot his load within her. She was content to remain in this position as long as he wanted. Sex with him in any position was amazing, but when he demanded control and took her in this way… Well, she loved it.
Finally he slid from her body and collapsed beside her. She stretched out, too, and he tugged her against him.
“I left early this morning thinking I didn’t have the strength for another round of lovemaking.” He kissed her forehead as she looked up at him. “Then I come back to…hell, I don’t know. I find you getting off and it made me crazy. Damn, sweetheart, that was something else.”
“I’m a little embarrassed,” Mandie said quietly and couldn’t meet his eyes. Make that a lot embarrassed.
“Don’t be. It was a hell of a turn on.” He glanced at the dildo on the far side of the bed. “Got any other toys?”
She did, but she wasn’t going to tell him. Before she could say anything, though, they both heard the front door open and Aunt Bessie call out, “Guess who came to visit? Victoria. Get decent and come on downstairs.”
Mandie’s face heated and she shot up in bed. “Move! I need a shower.” When he didn’t move, she tried to shove him. “Move! Move! Move!”
Of course, stubborn man that he was, he didn’t move a muscle. So she tried to crawl over him.
He snagged her arm before she could get away from the bed. He’d sat up and now he sent a sharp Smack! to her bottom.
“What was that for?” she asked in annoyance, glaring at him. She thought about Bessie and Victoria in the house. “They better not have heard.”
Still holding her wrist, he frowned. “Calm down. If you don’t, I’m putting you over my knee and spanking you until you do.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve always thought that statement ridiculous. How can someone calm down when someone else is burning their bottom?”
“When you’re getting your butt smacked, what’re you thinking about?” His hand moved to her quivering backside.
At that second she could only think about his hand on her bare bottom, at the way he was softly caressing it.
He repeated his question. “When I spank your sweet butt, what’re you thinking about?”
Mandie blinked back to the moment. “That it hurts. That I don’t want to be spanked.”
“The point is, you’re not focused on what was making you crazy any more. That gets forgotten during the spanking. Afterward you’re more focused on how much your butt hurts. Right?” He lightly smacked her bottom twice, barely making any sound.
She tugged free and he let her go. “Okay, you made your point. But I don’t need a spanking this time. I just need to get cleaned up and dressed.”
She sped into the bathroom. “Go visit with your sister. You’re too much distraction.”
* * * * *
Cole reluctantly left Mandie to her shower. It was damn tempting to join her, but that would only lead to more sex. As much as he’d enjoyed their quickie just now, he really was getting worn out. Still, he was glad he’d come back to check on her. Really glad! Wow! What he’d seen…what she’d been doing…what he’d done… The stuff of pure fantasies. He’d be remembering all of it for a very long time. Probably until he was old and gray and sex was a faint memory.
“About time you got around for the day,” Bessie said boldly, meeting him at the foot of the stairs.
Victoria stood behind her, grinning. “Mandie?” She started to walk around him, clearly intending to go upstairs and see her friend.
He blocked her path. She’d been in his room thousands of times, but now it was his andMandie’s room. And he wasn’t at all sure if either of them had thought about putting the dildo away. His baby sister didn’t need to discover that, or figure out what they’d been doing.
“Leave her be, Tori. She’s taking a shower.” He narrowed his eyes. “We need to talk.”
Bessie shook her head in disgust and turned to walk back to the kitchen. “You need to stop ragging at your sister for bringing Sweet Mandie here. Get over your mad, nephew.”
She stopped and gave him a sly look. “Besides, you’re sleeping with her now. Probably doing more than just sleeping.”
Victoria giggled and Cole felt as if someone had lit his face on fire. “Breakfast,” he choked out. “Are you going to make breakfast?”
Bessie hooted in amusement at his obvious distress. She walked off. “I’ll have it ready in about a half hour.”
Now it was Victoria’s turn to torture him. She walked right up to him and tapped his chest with one finger. “You’re playing nice with my friend, right? You’re not going to hurt her this summer, are you?”
He grabbed her hand. “Stop that!” He looked down at her. “Now that you’re here, maybe we should a private discussion about your tricking me.”
Her eyes widened and then narrowed. “Your private discussions always mean warming my bottom. Those days are over, bro. I’m too old for spankings, and certainly from my brother.”
“A woman’s never too old for getting her backside heated up.” But he released her and looked toward the kitchen. “Come on, I’ll pour you a cup of coffee. I made some earlier.”
She walked beside him, her high-heeled shoes tapping on the tiled floor. “So you’ve been up already? You haven’t become a slug-a-bed after all.”
“I got up before dawn and rode out on the range. Wanted a few minutes of peace.” He huffed. “Rusty showed up, though. We had words, nothing big, but words. I came back here to check on Mandie. I’d left her sleeping.”
And now he was thinking again about what he’d walked in on. His pulse picked up speed and he felt the stirrings of arousal once more. Damn.
“Are you okay?” Victoria studied him in concern. “Your ribs still bothering you? Your head?”
He nudged her forward. “I’m healing fine. I’ve just got some things on my mind.” When she looked ready to press him, he shook his head. “None of your business things.”
Ten minutes later Cole had grown way past tired of telling his sister to mind her own business. She’d been trying to grill him about how the summer camps were working out, about him and Mandie, and about the guest ranch and more changes she thought he should make. Fortunately Bessie shoved a plate filled with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and biscuits in front of him. Irritation fled. His ravenous hunger took over. All this extra morning exercise had made him hungrier than usual, and he was always hungry.
Victoria smiled knowingly at him as he shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth. “Worked up a real appetite already, huh?”
Mandie walked in at that moment and distracted her friend. “I’m so glad to see you.” She hurri
ed across the big kitchen and threw her arms around Victoria’s shoulders.
“I had a few days off between shows and decided to come see how things are going here.” Victoria nodded toward Cole. “I wanted to make sure he was playing nice.” Then she smiled. “I guess he must be, since you’ve moved in with him.”
“That’s personal stuff,” Mandie chastised, stepping back and quickly telling Bessie good morning.
Cole wanted to kiss her feet for finally showing up to help him out with his sister. “I’ve been trying to tell her that. She’s determined to butt into our lives, anyway.”
“Only because I care about both of you.” He saw the sincerity in Victoria’s eyes and calmed down.
Mandie pulled out the chair next to him and sat, scooting closer. His nostrils picked up her scent. Every nerve in his body danced in awareness. It made him uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure where they were going from this point, if they were going anywhere. He took a few more huge bites, trying to focus on filling his stomach instead of thinking about a future with Mandie.
“Have you heard any more from your partners?” Victoria asked and reached for the bowl of strawberry jam.
“Harrison called me yesterday,” Mandie said in disgust. She accepted a plate of food from Bessie and then heaved a sigh. “They’ve moved from being semi-reasonable about my summer camps to being angry. Evidently the marriage counseling side of our partnership is growing fast. They have more appointments than they can handle. They want me back there in Phoenix right now. Next week, actually.”
“You didn’t say anything about your partners calling,” Cole stated, a little annoyed she hadn’t shared her problems with him. He sure complained about ranch issues with her. He’d even started bouncing his thoughts off her and had been surprised by her helpful suggestions.
She salted her eggs. “I didn’t want to burden you with my problems. You’ve got enough around here.” She met his gaze. “Including me. Including having a ridiculous romance therapist rent your guest facilities for the summer.”
His words were coming back to haunt him. “Mandie, I—“
She shook her head. “Never mind. I know you’ve come to terms with who and what I am.”
She smiled across the table at Victoria. “Did I tell you Cole has even helped me with a few sessions? He’s never overly eager, but he shows up and takes part.” Now she touched his arm to capture his attention. “I think he’s even learning a few things.”
“I was hoping he would.”
“Victoria…” he warned, sensing she was ready to shift into serious teasing-him mode.
But she backed down and studied Mandie instead. “Why don’t they hire another counselor or two? That’s not even your specialty. They know that.”
Mandie scooped way too much jam on her biscuit and the excess dropped into her eggs. She frowned in disgust. “I’m trained for it; just don’t prefer that kind of practice.”
“It’s your mother, isn’t it? She’s meddling in this situation, isn’t she?” Victoria jabbed her fork in the air in anger.
Mandie nodded. “I’ve never been able to please her. I didn’t go into law practice like she wanted. I haven’t gotten married and given her 2.5 grandkids, although she really can’t stand kids. My one serious relationship ended with my fiancé moving out of our apartment while I was away at a conference. With him taking everything that was of any value and selling it so he and Bambi—or Fluffy or Featherbrain, whatever—could start over in the Bahamas.”
Cole stared at her in horror and she finally realized all she’d blurted out. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and absorb her pain. Then he’d love to find the scumbag and pound the hell out of him.
“Mandie…”
She shot to her feet. “Do not feel sorry for me.” She shoved her way around him, managed to avoid him trying to stop her, and sped out of the house. Barefoot. Not that she seemed to notice, but he did.
“Well, hell.” He started to get up.
Bessie put a frail hand on his shoulder and with surprising strength held him in place. “Give her some time to get over her embarrassment. You’d want that. Give it to her.”
He blew out a disgruntled breath and glowered at his sister. “Why didn’t you tell me any of that stuff? About her piece of work mother? About her fiancé?”
Victoria’s chin went up. “For the same reason I haven’t shared every painful humiliation you’ve suffered with Mandie. What you decide to share with one another is up to you two.”
Okay, she was right. He tried to calm down, tried not to worry about the woman who owned his heart. Owned his heart! Oh, shit! She did. Now what the hell was he going to do?
He shoved back his chair and frowned from Victoria to Bessie. “I’m not going after her right now. But I’ve got to get out of here for a while.”
“Cole—“ Victoria said worriedly.
“No. Leave me alone for now. I need to think.”
He strode to the front door, snagged his hat and planted it on his head.
Striding out of the house and out onto the porch, he suddenly froze. A noise caught his attention. Crying. His gut burning at her suffering, he followed the sound. He found Mandie curled up on the double wicker rocking chair. Tears streamed down her face. She looked so miserable.
He walked closer, knowing he was invading her privacy, unable to keep from doing so. “Mandie, sweetheart…”
She looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes, pink tinged her cheeks. “I’m so embarrassed. I didn’t mean to say all of that.” She sniffled. “It all just hit me.”
He wasn’t good at this emotion stuff. He didn’t know what she needed to hear, what she needed him to do. Yet he couldn’t walk away now. So he stepped closer and she stiffened. He ignored that and noticed she was rubbing one of her big toes. “Did you hurt yourself?”
“Stubbed my toe.” She glanced at it and seemed surprised to see blood from a cut on the tip of her toe. “Cut it, too, I guess.”
Cole inched forward again, this time she seemed okay with that. He crouched down and gently reached for her foot. “Let me see it. Can you flex your toe? If you can, then it’s not broken.”
Mandie bent her toe, winced, but said quietly, “Hurts, but I can move it.”
Blood continued to drip from the cut. “Why don’t we get you inside so we can take care of this cut?”
“I’m fine. It’s nothing.” Now she was getting stubborn.
Victoria opened the door and glanced in their direction, worried. “What’s going on out here? Cole, I thought you weren’t going to pester Mandie right now.”
Mandie dashed away her tears. “She’s right. I don’t want you pestering me now. I’m not up to talking about anything I said in there.”
“Hold the door for me,” Cole ordered his sister and stood. Then he scooped Mandie off the rocker while she squeaked in dismay.
“What are you doing? Put me down.” She tried to wriggle free.
He shook her in his arms. “Settle down. I’m just going to cart you inside so Bessie can tend to your cut toe.”
Victoria grinned as he strode past her. “My brother, the white knight in denim.”
He growled at her and carried his wiggling bundle of pain-in-the-neck woman to the kitchen where Bessie was cleaning up the remains of breakfast. “Take care of her, okay?”
He set Mandie down on one of the chairs at the table. “She cut her toe.”
Mandie tried to get up. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me. Certainly not for a simple cut.”
Cole shoved her back down and then stood there glaring at her. He knew Victoria and his aunt were watching, but he didn’t care. “Sweetheart, if anyone needed someone to take care of them, it’s you.”
With that he bent down and kissed her. Kissed her long and hard. Kissed her until if he didn’t move away now, a lot more was going to happen. He straightened and announced, “I’m going into town. Probably be gone all day.”
“But….” Vic
toria called after him.
“She’s hurt,” protested Bessie, sounding annoyed that he’d just leave.
“Cole,” Mandie said and then grumbled, “thanks.”
Chapter Ten
Mandie watched Victoria climb out of the front of Rusty’s dual-cab pickup. She considered staying here in the back seat and letting them enjoy their night of dancing and drinking without her bringing them down. She shouldn’t have let her friend talk her into coming here tonight. She wasn’t in a particularly good mood after the discussion with her partners, then her mother, and then being on the outs with Cole. It ticked her off that he hadn’t made it back to the ranch yet. Darn his stubborn hide! They needed to talk.
“Come on, pretty lady,” Rusty interrupted her musings and reached in for her arm. “I’ll help you out.”
“I’m not sure….” she protested, thinking about moving away from his reach. But that was being ridiculous. Instead she accepted his assistance, only to be grasped around the waist and lifted out of the truck.
He held her a little too long before setting her feet on the gravel parking lot. When he released her, she saw the regret in his eyes. What was that about? Surely he didn’t…. The fleeting sadness in his expression before he stepped quickly back toward Victoria warned her to be careful. It did appear he was taking too much interest in her. Cole would be furious.
Victoria gave her a silent questioning look, but Mandie shook her head. She didn’t want to get into a discussion of any kind now. “So, who is going to show me how to two-step?”
Rusty closed and locked his truck, then grinned. “That would be me, darlin’. Best two-stepper in the whole county.” He offered them his arms and they each put a hand in one crooked elbow.
It was a star-filled night lit by a full moon. Cicadas sung loudly in the nearby trees but were bested by the country and Western music drifting out from the bar and dancehall ahead. The parking lot was jam packed on this Saturday night so business was booming in the Boots ‘n’ Buckles. As they walked toward the long building that was a strange mix of additions, Mandie forced her problems with everyone aside. She would kick up her heels and have a good time.
