Lone Star Burn_Lone Star Sizzle

by Reagan Phillips

  “You didn’t tell me you had a brother.” She ventured toward the island bar in the center of the kitchen and took a stool. “And a nephew on the way. That’s exciting news.”

  “I have a nephew on the way,” Hunter gruffed. “But I don’t have a brother. Not anymore.”

  Her skin prickled at the coolness in his tone and the dullness in his eyes.

  Hunter pulled two plates from a cupboard and dropped them to the counter with a clamor that made her jump.

  Small talk. She needed to calm him with small talk. “Molly seemed nice enough.” When he responded by dropping two sets of silverware next to the plates, she tried again. “Dinner with your family would be fun. I’d like to go…if we can.”

  “I don’t do family dinners.” He stalked across the kitchen and pulled the oven open. The smell of roasted meat filled her nose and made her stomach ache with hunger. He stirred a tray of veggies and chicken and closed the oven again.

  “Beau seemed to want you there. Maybe they have an announcement about the baby. When is he due?”

  Hunter turned sharp on her. Their eyes met and for several long seconds they stood, locked on each other.

  “My offer still stands,” Hunter broke the silence with an even tone. “You are welcome to stay here for the week, and I’ll make sure you get home safely and your car gets fixed at the end. But my personal life is private.”

  Blythe’s skin chilled at the rawness in his voice mirrored with the stare in his eyes. “Personal life, off limits. Got it.”

  “Good.” He dropped the potholder next to her. “The chicken will be done in another twenty minutes. Help yourself and leave the mess for me.”

  “You’re not eating?”

  He opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it. “I still have work to do in the barn, and it’s already late. Help yourself, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She picked up the potholder and toyed with the idea of throwing it at his retreating back as he walked out the kitchen door.

  What kind of man pressed all the right buttons to prime a girl for a night of hot sex, then shut it down without even an explanation? Apparently, this guy did.

  She poured herself a glass of water and turned the oven to warm. Her appetite walked out the door with the brooding man who was supposed to be her promise of release after a crappy twenty-four hours.

  Tomorrow, Mr. Sulky had better be in a better mood.

  ****

  Hunter jerked up the tool belt he’d left slung over a stall door and strapped it around his waist. The outer siding on the back of the stable hung loose and bowed in areas and the new boards sat in a pile in an empty stall. Replacing the old with the new made for the perfect job to blow off some steam.

  Beau had a knack for intervening at the worst time. Beau also knew he had company, or he would have called about dinner instead of making the fifteen-mile trek out with Molly in her condition. Gramps and his big mouth probably hadn’t been able to get both feet in Beau’s front door before he’d spilled the news of the new girl in his older brother’s life.

  Hunter pounded two nails into the first new board. The part that pissed him off the most was bringing Molly into his home. Since Grandma died, Beau and Gramps hadn’t stopped pushing him back to the family fold. They’d even used his commitment to Best Friends as a tactic. But brining Molly into his home cut deep into what little respect he still held for Beau.

  Hunter pulled at a loose board with his bare hands and cursed the wood that bit into his skin. He surveyed his hand and, finding a splinter in his palm. He bit the small spike of wood loose and spit it on the ground.

  He’d lost his temper in front of Blythe. He’d let Beau get under his skin and some small part of him still couldn’t take the sympathy Molly held in her eyes. He’d let both get to him until the frustration boiled over in anger.

  In those few moments right before Blythe had come in his hand that afternoon he’d looked deep in her piercing brown eyes and he’d seen something unexpected. So unexpected it’s shaken him to the core. Trust. In those few seconds between lust and release, she’d looked at him as if the world around them had ended and he was the last man standing.

  Hunter slid two new boards against the barn wall and hammered, disregarding the noise he made. Did it matter what kind of man Blythe thought he was? According to the phone call he’d overheard, she was only interested in finding a cowboy to add to her collection of men.

  Hunter glanced at the house, and Blythe’s delicate silhouette illuminated from the guest bedroom window. He hadn’t told her the shade was transparent. Maybe it was best if he didn’t. He stacked two more boards against the wall and nailed them in, convincing himself if he worked hard enough, he could forget about her. It didn’t work.

  Blythe raised her arms over her head, and the delicate outline of her curves called for his attention. He threw the hammer to the ground and tossed the tool belt across the stack of siding. He was a fool to think he could get her out of his head while she was still in his house. Her smell would soon permeate everything. Her makeup would be spread out over the guest bathroom counter. She would spread her body out on the guest bedroom sheets.

  The only other time he’d shared space with a woman had been the week before basic training when he and Molly had rented a cheap motel room. They’d spent every second together memorizing every detail about each other. They’d promised to stay together no matter what came between them. That promise kept him sane through basic and deployment, but upon returning home, he found that vow hadn’t meant the same for Molly.

  The familiar ache of betrayal had swelled in his chest at the sight of Beau and Molly together in his kitchen, but Blythe’s presence dulled the pain to bearable. She descended the stairs into the kitchen and all focus fell to her, giving Hunter a chance to school his expression and shake the tension from his shoulders.

  It was Blythe who made the last couple hours bearable and it was Blythe who had taken his mind off his brother’s infidelity. And he rewarded her by leaving her standing in the kitchen alone to worry she’d done something wrong.

  What a fucking jerk you are, Cole.

  Hunter strapped the hammer back in his belt and dropped the tools to the pile of boards, not stopping to collected the discarded wood for the trash pile out back. He slid the barn doors shut until they slammed into each other from the force, grabbed his hat from the bed of the truck, and stormed up the front steps hell bent on putting the last half hour behind him and finishing what he had started with Blythe.

  He settled the hat on his head and took the stairs two at a time. He stopped at the top with every intention of knocking on her bedroom door. But as soon as he heard the rustling of her sheets and imagined her lying in the bed, he charged in.

  The only light in the room came from the bedside lamp Blythe used to read a book. On the cover, a shirtless pirate held a longhaired beauty as if he planned to devour her.

  So, that was the fantasy Blythe desired. To be taken like a romance heroine in the arms of an expert lover.

  With her eyes wide and her mouth agape, he crawled over her, took the book from her hands, and tossed it to the floor. He didn’t give her time to think before he dropped his mouth to hers. He cupped the back of her neck in his hands and kissed her hard, the way he’d wanted to since he’d watched her pleasure herself on his tailgate. Quick and needy, he plunged, imagining his tongue delving into the depth of her sex.

  Blythe had a power over him, and for now, he was giving in.

  ****

  His mouth was wild on hers. His hands rough in her hair, his body heavy on her breasts. The need he seemed to consume from her filled the room, and Blythe felt instantly wet with lust.

  “I thought you weren’t coming back tonight,” she spoke into his lips.

  Hunter cupped two massive hands around the back of her head and looked deep into her eyes. “You didn’t want me too?”

  “No.” She rushed to grab his hair and held her mouth
close to his. “But you left angry and you left me alone.”

  His gaze heated. “The only thing that upsets me about tonight is the time I wasted angry when I should have been up here giving you what I promised this afternoon.”

  “Then you’re not angry?” she whispered.

  He pressed his knee between her legs until the thin sheet that covered them pulled tight around her. “Not anymore. But, we have an agreement. Personal lives are not a part of this week. We’ll go to dinner with my family, stay long enough for them to leave us alone, and then the rest of the week is about giving you the fantasy you came to Texas for.” His gazed softened. “Starting tonight.”

  Hunter dropped his head to her neck and kissed her. Her sensitive skin burned with the heat from his lips. “I want to make you come again,” he whispered into her hair.

  Blythe arched her back, elongating her neck, wanting him to cover every ticklish inch with his mouth.

  As if reading her mind, Hunter dipped his face into the hollow of her neck and licked, milking a soft moan from her throat. My God, the man knew how to use his mouth for pleasure. The thought of those lips between her legs made her sex pulsate in anticipation. If anything, seeing the rougher side of Hunter made her want to explore him. Made her crave taming the man she saw when he was with his brother.

  Hunter pulled the neck opening of her tank top down until her breasts pushed through the hole like two overfilled balloons. Her nipples hardened at the exposure, and her skin tingled in expectation of his touch.

  Her thoughts scrambled as his warm tongue lashed out at each tender nipple. She squirmed under him, fighting the temptation to scream from the pleasure.

  “I’m not going to stop this time, Blythe. I’m going to take you with my fingers, then I’m going to take you with my mouth. And only when you’ve come so many times you can’t imagine it happening again, I’m going to take you with my cock.”

  He took each nipple between his lips, and sucked tenderly at first and more greedily as she wiggled under his sizzling mouth. The taut, invisible string that connected her sensitive breasts to her core tightened, and her warm juices flowed between her legs. When she gasped from the sensation, his gaze flickered back up to focus on her. Damn, did he have the most amazing eyes, and being taken in with them was almost as sensual as being touched by his hands.

  “Is this how you wanted it on the tailgate earlier?” Hunter looked up and smiled. He knew what his touch did to her. He reveled in the idea of being able to send her over the edge of ecstasy with only his mouth. “Do you know how damn hard it was to hold back from fucking you this afternoon?”

  Feeling the need to ground herself, Blythe grabbed a handful of sheet and fisted her palms before speaking. “Then why did you hold back?”

  Hunter raised one corner of his mouth into a half grin. “Did you think about me being inside you all afternoon and tonight when you slipped between the sheets?”

  Barely able to form thoughts, much less speak, she nodded in answer.

  “I need to hear it.” Hunter pressed his lips into her tit before nibbling on the tip.

  The surge of pain sent sparks firing off in her belly. “Yes,” she almost screamed before schooling her voice. “I even dreamed about it.”

  Hunter looked back up. His eyes heavy with lust and his grin deep with satisfaction. “Then you know why.”

  He moved down her belly kissing her ticklish sides as he went.. His smooth chin rubbed alone the sensitive flesh and she fought to keep from jerking away. Instead, she pressed her fingers into his hair. Eager to feel him deep inside her, she couldn’t wait for him to finish.

  Hunter lifted to his elbows, his body planked above her, allowing her to unzip his jeans and pull them down his thighs. They stuck at his boots.

  Some fantasy.

  The roar of laughter that erupted from Hunter’s lips vibrated against her cheek. “So not everything about being a cowboy is sexy.” He grinned.

  He pushed away from her for a second to kick off the boots and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the wall of chiseled, tanned muscle. With his clothes now in a heap on her floor, he turned his attention back to the bed.

  “You’re going to work for it, Blythe. You’re going to fucking work for your come.”

  With a quick jerk he pulled off her yoga pants from the waist and slid the buttery soft fabric down her thighs. At her knees, he leaned over and kissed the soft skin of her inner thigh. She wished he’d rush. She wiggled under his touch, but instead his speeding up, his hands stilled. He glanced up, catching her gaze with his.

  “I don’t intend to rush this, if that’s what you’re after. I intend to take you slow and well until you’ve exhausted every ounce of patience. And then I intend to take you again.”

  He rolled the fabric past her knees, over her ankles, and off her feet before he dropped his head to each toe and sucked.

  “Hunter,” she breathed as his lips tightened and his mouth sucked. She’d never thought of her feet as erotic until his lips circled her toes. She pictured the same lips wrapped around her arousal and a new shockwave of awareness poured into her middle.

  Hunter moved up her body, smoothing his calloused hands over every inch from her ankle to her waist. She shook at the sensitive touch.

  His head dipped into the apex of her thighs. She ran her fingers through the sun-kissed curls that reached his neck. His fingers parted her folds and his tongue dipped between her lower lips, and she reared at the electric sensation.

  Unable to contain the sensation of entry, she pushed against his mouth and felt the reward of being impaled again.

  Hunter circled his tongue over the needy lips of her sex before diving back into her clit. His fingers dug at her thighs as she gripped his hair in her fist and pulled.

  As if he knew she couldn’t take anymore, he moved a hand to her middle and plunged one finger deep in her opening, moving it in rhythm with his tongue. When the second finger dipped into her entrance, she moaned. The fullness had her rocking her hips, taking him deeper, until her mind fogged and her body moved without her control.

  And she came. Hard and loud as the screams rolled out of her in waves.

  Hunter glanced up again, a prideful brightness in his eyes. “That’s what I like to hear. Tell me how good it is, baby.”

  The musk of her sex was still on his lips when he bent in to kiss her and she lapped it up. “That’s your mouth,” she whispered between kisses. “And your hand. What comes next?”

  She pressed her head into her pillow and took in his soft gaze. Please came to mind.

  Hunter broke their stare and pulled his boxers down to his knees before reaching down to his jeans and pulling something from his pocket. If he hadn’t offered protection, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop herself from taking him anyway.

  He rolled the condom on, and his weight returned. Muscular legs spread her, and his erection pressed into her thigh before finding her entrance. He slid just the tip inside, and she pushed her back off the bed to take him in, greedily. Hungrily. Until the full sensation forced her to stop, and he pulled out before pumping into her again.

  He cupped her breasts in his hands and continued the assault on them with his tongue while driving himself into her over and over. She reached for his back and dug her claws in, feeling them break the skin as she pulled back. Marking him as hers. Hers. Only for tonight, and only in the throws of passion, but for this few moments alone, he belonged to her.

  Their rhythm hastened, and he thrust deeper inside until the growing urge for a second release overpowered every other thought in her head. Blythe bit her lip to hold on until his release showed in his face and his cock throbbed against the walls of her core. She let go, and the explosion of the mutual orgasm shook her body.

  Hunter cried out his release before he dropped to her shoulders and buried his head in her hair.

  Blythe wasn’t sure how long they laid in silence before he raised his hand again and traced her areola wit
h a lazy finger.

  Hunter rolled to his side and lifted his head on his elbow. “Was it everything you thought a cowboy should be?”

  Blythe closed her eyes and searched for just the right way to explain sex with Hunter. Nothing seemed like the right choice, so instead she turned to the floor, lifted his hat, and put it on her head. With a smile, she answered, “Once you go cowboy, you never go back.” And after a week with Hunter, she truly wasn’t sure if she ever would be able to go back.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Hunter woke before the sun the next morning. It was a skill he found valuable in his training with the Marines, as well as with the heat of the Texas spring.

  But, watching Blythe sleep curled up next to him was a negative to the early morning wake-up routine. He’d give anything to be able to sleep with her in his arms until some time after noon.

  Instead, he covered her naked body with a sheet and snuck out for a shower. With the horses fed and the cattle watered, he set to work cleaning up dinner from the night before preparing eggs for omelets and his famous bulls-eye coffee.

  It wasn’t until the sun shown through the windows that footsteps tapped overhead and the shower ran. Tempted to spy on Blythe and join her under the running water, he stopped at the edge of the kitchen steps. A week together felt like an eternity on the front end of it where they stood, but in five short days she’d return to Virginia and he to the solitary life of ranch living. The less memories he had of how solitary that life could be, the better.

  He’d just poured himself a second mug of coffee when Blythe emerged in a pair of white shorts and a dark blue sleeveless top that tapered at her waist. He held back his laughter at the impractical white leather boots on her feet. In the city, they might have fit right in, but in Fort Mavis, they would turn as orange as the clay in no time.

  Blythe yawned into her hand and took the stool next to where he stood. She wrapped her arms around his waist and angled her face to his. Leaning down, he’d only meant to kiss her quickly, but once she reeled him in with her soft eyes, he couldn’t resist taking his time to taste her. Sweet cherries and sunshine with a hint of mint from her toothpaste.