by Jami Alden
"But now that you've sold your company, you have time to really enjoy everything it has to offer. I can't imagine wanting to give it up."
He shrugged. "Yeah, the city is amazing. And I always imagined at some point I'd slow down, and like you said, get out there and do everything I didn't have time for. But after the divorce..." he trailed off, shook his head. "My wife—ex-wife—and I moved there right before we were married..." He put his hands up. "Okay, I didn't take you to dinner to talk about my ex-wife," he said with a sheepish smile. "Suffice it to say I needed a change of scene. Besides, I'm not giving it up entirely. I still have a house in in San Francisco, and I'll probably spend at least half the year there."
"Not going to be a full time cattle baron?" Sadie said with a little smile. Most women might have felt jealous, or at least uncomfortable, that Tucker was still not over his ex. Sadie however, was oddly relieved to know that she wasn't the only person at the table hung up on someone else.
Which was stupid, she scolded herself, considering Tucker was exactly the kind of guy she would have wanted to date back in San Francisco.
Smart, successful, good looking to boot. And, despite the torch that might be burning for his ex, obviously interested in her.
As Tucker studied the menu, which Sadie could recite in her sleep, she resolved to put all thoughts of Dylan aside and focus on the man sitting across from her.
"Ready to order?" Molly said brightly.
Tucker gestured for Sadie to go first. "I'll have my usual."
Molly nodded. "Goat cheese and beet salad to start. Ribeye, medium rare, extra horseradish and a side of the brussels."
Sadie's mouth was already watering at the thought as she nodded. Who knew brussels sprouts could be so delicious? But Brady, with a little bacon and his own special magic transformed a vegetable that had once made her gag into one of the most delicious things she'd ever tasted.
"And for you?" Molly turned her attention to Tucker.
He scrunched his brow in concentration. "Not a ton of vegetarian options..."
Odd that he'd purchased a cattle ranch, Sadie thought, but kept it to herself as he ordered homemade pasta with tomatoes and garlic, along with the sprouts, minus the bacon.
Molly shot her a look, eyebrow raised. Sadie knew Molly's thoughts echoed her own.
Without the bacon, what's the point?
###
"Order in," Molly said and tried to retreat from the kitchen as quickly as she could.
Ever since he'd so crudely propositioned her at the Last Chance, she'd been afraid she'd melt into a puddle if Brady so much as made eye contact with her.
Trouble was, she didn't even need to be in the same room with him, much less look at him, for her mind to conjure up startlingly erotic images of him... how had he put it?
Fucking you long and hard all night long, his voice rang vividly in her head, and she turned on her heel and headed for the door.
"What's Sadie's date like?" Molly stopped as her sister Ellie, who was acting as Brady's sous chef tonight, called out to her. "I haven't had a chance to get a look at him."
"He's cute—kind of looks like that guy who plays the new Captain Kirk." Molly replied. "Seems nice. He's a vegetarian."
Ellie looked up and wrinkled her nose, mirroring Molly's own expression.
Brady also muttered something about vegetarians and real men.
"I know, right?" Ellie said. "I know we shouldn't judge, they're probably healthier than we are. But there's—something—about it, especially men."
"Yeah," Molly replied, "call me old fashioned, but real men eat steak."
"Not to mention." Brady turned from the stove to face her. His eyes had familiar glint, one that told her he was about to say something that either totally offended her or totally turned her on. Or both. "If a guy won't put meat in his mouth, imagine all the other things he won't eat."
Bingo.
Molly knew that was her cue to go, but she couldn't tear her eyes away as Brady dipped a spoon in the sauce he was stirring and licked it clean with long, slow strokes of his tongue. "Now me, there's not a lot I won't put in my mouth."
Molly felt her face flame at the image of Brady bending his dark head low between her pale thighs, licking his lips in anticipation—
"You're terrible!" Ellie's laugh jolted her thoughts from the inappropriate path they were traveling.
Molly whirled and beat a hasty retreat from the kitchen, telling herself all the while he was just trying to get a rise out of her. He didn't really mean anything by it.
And if he did?
The point was moot. She was engaged, planning a wedding, and never in a million years would she risk her stable, dependable relationship with Josh for a night of wild sex with Brady McManus.
No matter how earth shattering she knew it would be.
###
As firsts dates went, Sadie had to give her dinner with Tucker a solid eight out of ten. Once she got past the vegetarian thing—so sue her, she grew up in cattle country where beef was what was for dinner. And lunch. And breakfast—she found her first impression of Tucker was correct.
Cute, smart, funny, and relatively humble despite his mega success. They talked about everything from his plans to change over Lewis's traditional cattle operation into one that focused on raising organic, grass fed beef to feed the growing market, to trends in the tech industry, to their childhoods.
There were no awkward silences, none of the lapses in conversation from the time their first courses were served to when Molly whisked their dessert plates away.
There were even a few sparks. Nothing that gave her that weak-kneed, vertigo-like feeling she got when she got too close to someone who shall not be named, but definitely some nice warm tingles when he smiled at her across the table and brushed her hand.
Enough so that when he bent his head to kiss her after he walked her to her car, she tilted her head back to enjoy it. It was... nice. A lingering press of the lips, not too hard, not too soft, no aggressive tongue action but interested enough to let her know that there was more where that came from.
And enough that when he suggested they get together again in a couple of weeks after a trip back to San Francisco, she didn't hesitate to say yes.
The porch light on the main house was still on when she got back to the ranch a little after ten. Otherwise the place was dark and still, the only sounds from the wind blowing off down from the mountain and the occasional whicker or stomp of a hoof coming from the barn.
As her feet crunched up the gravel drive, she couldn't keep her gaze from wandering over towards Dylan's cabin.
Like the rest of the buildings, it was dark. Was he sleeping?
Had he gone out to find his own entertainment?
She didn't see his truck, but sometimes he pulled it around the back. She wasn't about to go check.
She stifled a sigh, reminding herself that it was none of her business how Dylan chose to spend his time away from her. He didn't care what she was doing, as he'd so bluntly reminded her.
Time for her to return the favor.
"You have a good time?"
The rough voice came out of nowhere. She muffled a shriek as her heart jumped to her throat and her feet came about three feet off the ground.
She knew it was Dylan almost immediately, but that didn't stop her pulse from pounding out of control as she turned around. "Jesus Christ, you almost gave me a heart attack," she said as walked over to where he was nothing more than a bulky form hidden by the shadows next to his cabin.
"So did he show you a good time?" he repeated, not bothering to apologize.
The skin on the back of her neck prickled as she got closer, sensing a tension in him she'd never felt before. Anger, too. And maybe aggression? It emanated off him in waves, making her pause. "It was nice," she said simply, forcing herself to hold her ground as he took a step closer.
Soon, he was mere inches away, and she picked up on something else as well. "Have you been drin
king?"
He let out a rough chuckle. "Not enough."
Her instincts were going haywire, telling her to leave, even as she knew in her heart there was no reason to feel threatened. "Is everything okay? You seem... upset."
His harsh laugh cracked through the darkness as he stepped even closer. "You want to know what my problem is?"
She nodded, not sure if he could see it in the dark. Not sure if she actually wanted to know.
"My problem is I spent all night feeling like I was being chewed up from the inside out at the thought of you out with another man. My problem is that I can tell you, myself, and anyone else who will listen that I don't care who you go out with, and it's all a huge, fucking lie."
Stunned by his revelation, Sadie stood frozen as she tried to process everything. Was he saying he was jealous? Over her?
"And I know if I had even a shred of decency, I'd stay the hell away from you."
That knocked her for a loop. "Why in the world would you think that?"
"Because I'm not the guy who's going to stick around and settle down in the nice house with the picket fence. As soon as I'm cleared for duty, I'm gone. No ties, no commitments."
"You think if we sleep together I'll expect a big commitment?" She challenged. "I'm a grown up, Dylan. I know the difference between sex and love," she said with false bravado. With Dylan, all bets were off. But if her choices came down to having no strings attached sex with Dylan or nothing at all, she damn well knew which way she would go.
"I don't know, Sadie." She could see his head shaking in the shadows. "You're not like other girls—"
"How do you know what I'm like?" she said, closing the distance between them. "You still think I'm that same awkward girl following you around with puppy dog eyes." She heard his sharp inhale as she flattened her hands against his chest and slid them up to his shoulders. Heart pounding at her own boldness, she whispered, "I'm not a girl. I'm a woman. And I know what I want."
His muscles turned to stone beneath her fingers as she froze, and her stomach flipped with panic as she realized he was going to push her away.
Then all thoughts fled as his big hand wrapped around the back of her neck, his fingers fisting in her hair as he tilted her head back for his kiss.
Unlike Tucker's gentle, polite inquiry, Dylan's kiss was all hunger, and yes, aggression as his mouth crushed against hers.
Lips parted, tongues thrust as he kissed her so hard their teeth clicked together. Sadie's response was instant, instinctive as she wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips eagerly for his assault.
She'd imagined this a million times, but nothing could prepare her for the heat screaming through her at the first touch of his mouth on hers, the feel of his hands sweeping up and down her back as if he couldn't get close enough, fast enough.
They both groaned as his hand swept down to the curve of her ass, pulling her close until she could feel the thick heat of his rock hard erection nudging between her thighs.
An answering rush of heat and wetness flooded her sex. He slid his hand down her leg, urging her to hook it up and over his hip as he backed her against the porch rail.
She drank him in, his hot, salty taste mixing with the smokiness of the liquor he'd consumed. The scent of him, clean soap and male skin mixed with the sharper scent of arousal.
For her. He wanted her.
The mere thought made her standing leg buckle as her pulse beat hot and heavy between her legs. He grabbed her around the waist to steady her, and then with a low curse against her mouth he lifted her feet from the floorboards.
At his urging she wrapped her legs around his waist, gasping as her sex made contact with him. Even through the layers of clothes, she could feel his heat, pulsing, brushing against her with every step until she was sure she was going to come before they even got their clothes off.
He pushed open the front door and walked them to the bedroom, dropping her legs so his hands could work on the buttons running down the front of her shirt. Through it all his mouth never left hers, kissing, licking, sucking as he murmured sentence fragments her sex-fogged brain could barely comprehend.
Waited for this. Crazy. Wanted this. Can't stop.
No way was she going to ask him to. Her own hands went to work, tugging his shirt up over his head, running up and down the acres of smooth skin stretched tight over rippling muscles. A gentle tug at her back and her bra slid down her arms.
Then it was hot skin on hot skin, making them both gasp at the contact. The coarse hair dusting his chest abraded her nipples, making her moan. His echoed in response as his hand came up to cover one breast, kneading, squeezing, rolling the tight peak between his fingers until she had to dig her fingers into his shoulders to stay on her feet.
The rough sounds of their breathing echoed through the darkness as his hands skimmed down her belly to unbuckle her belt and unbutton her jeans. He shoved them, along with her underwear, down her thighs. Sadie quickly kicked off her shoes and stepped out of the clothes.
And there she was, naked in Dylan Decker's arms. Something she'd fantasized about countless times, but never believed would really happen.
So much different, so much better, than anything she'd ever been able to make up in her head.
No way could she have imagined the heat, the hunger emanating from him, like he could barely keep himself from throwing her down on the bed and ravaging her like some kind of conquering warrior.
No way she could have imagined how his hot mouth and rough hands would feel against her skin, teasing, sucking her nipples, sliding between her legs to feel how hot and ready she was.
He backed her over to the bed, pushed her back against the pillows and reached out to switch on the lamp resting on his bedside table.
The warm glow flooded the room, and she felt a wave of self-consciousness as Dylan's gaze locked on her naked form. Sure, she'd mostly grown out of her awkwardness over the years, but she was still a little knobby around the knees and elbows, and her breasts, while suited to her slim frame, were hardly centerfold worthy.
"How the fucking hell did you get so damn hot?" His rough words, the way he licked his lips like he wanted to devour her, sent all of her doubts packing.
He quickly kicked off his boots, leaned down, and retrieved a condom from the drawer of the bedside table.
We're really going to do this. Her mouth went dry as another wave of moisture surged between her thighs.
Her breath caught in her chest and she watched, mesmerized, as he dropped his hands to his waist and flicked open the button on his jeans.
The buzz of his zipper echoed through the room and then he was shoving the jeans off his hips. He wasn't wearing underwear. She took a brief moment to notice that detail and then all rational thought fled at the sight of his naked body in the pool of lamplight.
Chiseled didn't even begin to describe him. There wasn't an ounce of fat on him, his corded muscles standing out in tight relief against tan skin dusted with dark hair. He looked big and rough and ready for anything,
Speaking of ready, she thought, swallowing hard as her gaze skittered down his ripped abs and lower. His cock jutted eagerly out from between his legs, long and thick and straining almost up to his navel.
The knot of desire between her legs tightened almost painfully as she anticipated what it would feel like to have the whole, huge length of him buried deep inside of her.
She wasn't going to have to wait long. Under her hot gaze, Dylan reached for the condom, ripped it open, and smoothed the latex down with one smooth stroke of his fist.
He climbed on the bed and slid his hands up the inside of her thighs, urging them wider. Sadie watched, breath frozen in her chest as he held himself firmly in his hand and guided himself between her legs.
The muscles of her inner thighs quivered as she felt the thick head of his cock circling, stroking her clit as he bathed himself in her wetness.
"Jesus, you make me so hard I feel like I'm going to blow apa
rt," he murmured as he pressed against the opening of her sex. She let out a shuddery sigh as he squeezed his way inside, shifted against the stretching sensation as her body struggled to take him.
A low moan rumbled from his chest, drawing her gaze up. His features were pulled tight, his mouth a hard line, the muscles of his jaw clenched against his fast, sharp, breath. "Christ, Sadie, I want to.. I can't.. promise next time I'll go slow."
A sharp cry erupted from her throat as with one, firm stroke he thrust his full length inside her. Her hands fisted against his back as every muscle stiffened against the invasion. She told herself to relax, but after two years of nothing, her body was wholly unprepared to take on a man Dylan's size, no matter how turned on she was.
He drew back, and she struggled to conceal her wince. She'd wanted this, she reminded herself, and clearly so did he. No reason to ruin it for both of them.
###
Dylan felt her wince and froze, feeling like he'd had a bucket of cold water thrown in his face. What the fuck was wrong with him, going after her like a cave man when he knew how long it had been for her?
"Oh, shit, Sadie, I'm sorry," he pulled back, slowly this time as he came down over her to rain kisses across her cheeks.
"It's okay," Sadie said. "Really, you can go ahead." There was no concealing another little wince as he pulled out another inch.
It should have made his dick wilt like an orchid in the desert, but he was so damn hot for her even her obvious discomfort couldn't keep his dick from throbbing and straining to get back inside her.
It did, however, give him back a small amount of the self-control that had abandoned him under the combined influences of scotch and raging lust. Enough to allow sufficient blood to flow from his dick back to his brain and remind him that when he fucked a woman his primary purpose was to make sure she had an even better time than he did.
"You don't have to," she whispered as he pulled all the way out.
He silenced her by covering her mouth with his, taking it in a slow, deep kiss that had all the passion but none of the out of control hunger of before. He slid his tongue against hers, licking, sucking, tasting, forcing himself to go slow until he felt some of the tension leak from her body. "I'm sorry about that," he whispered again. "Sorry I got carried away."
