by Jan Springer
She also realized his hair was getting long and shaggy. It gave him a dangerous look. She found his disheveled appearance to be sexy. Best of all, he was wearing his cowboy hat.
Ever since coming here to the ranch and seeing Brady’s black cowboy hat that first night when she’d been drunk, she realized cowboy hats turned her on. Big time.
The dark five o’clock shadow was already hugging Rafe’s cheeks and chin and her breath caught as her pussy quivered, thinking about how those rough whiskers would rasp against her pussy.
Suddenly, she craved to touch Rafe. To run her fingers over his rigid flesh and to bring his shaft deep inside her. It was a new hunger for him, she didn’t understand. But ever since he had been injured, she wanted to be near him. To be with him. To know he was still alive and that he wanted her.
A quick glance at the kitchen clock told her it was almost lunchtime. If she hurried, the two of them could eat outdoors, right under the sun, and maybe afterward…
* * * * *
It took JJ less than fifteen minutes to whip up a lunch of roast beef sandwiches with an accompanying fruit salad. As she let herself out the back door and descended the steps with the picnic basket, she sensed Rafe was already aware of her. Although she was more than fifty yards away, she noticed his shoulders were tense as he knocked on something inside the front area of the tractor. She liked the way the sunlight gleamed off the sweat glistening on his back. Loved how he suddenly looked up and watched her with predatory awareness as she approached. Her belly fluttered as his chest muscles flexed. Her breasts swelled against her the knit top as his hungry gaze lingered on her chest.
Mercy, it appeared he might be as aroused as she at the prospect of something naughty happening between the two of them.
JJ swallowed as he pushed his cowboy hat higher off his forehead, giving her a close-up view of his dark eyelashes and his heated eyes. As she dropped the basket onto the tractor seat, he placed a tool he’d been using onto the ground, grabbed a rag and wiped his sweaty face and then his greasy hands.
“Hey, baby. Lunch already?”
JJ nodded, hoping he would simply take her into his arms and start madly kissing her. He didn’t. Disappointment shifted through her.
“You’re just in time,” Rafe said with a lopsided grin.
“For?”
“To take this baby for a ride. See if she works. I think I have fixed the problem. We can take the food with us. There’s enough for both of us, isn’t there?”
“Yes, plenty. Where will we go?” JJ asked.
“We’ll go wherever the tractor takes us,” Rafe said with a wink.
He scooped up the basket and hung it on a hook that dangled from the back of the large seat. Then he climbed up and sat down. He held out his hand to her. She placed her hand into his and he hoisted her up as if she were a feather.
He indicated she should sit in front of him, where he had left room for her on the seat. She sat down and her breath caught as he pressed against her, giving her an erotic touch of a very impressive erection against her backside. His arms came around her sides holding her hostage as he twisted the key in the ignition.
The tractor roared to life, giving off the scent of fuel fumes. Rafe grabbed the steering wheel and shifted his body even nearer. His head drew closer as well and his warm breath caressed her cheek.
“You thought I didn’t notice, didn’t you?” Rafe murmured into her ear. She barely heard him above the rattling purr of the engine.
JJ shivered in excitement.
“Notice what?”
“That you want a little fun under the sun. Baby, I know that sexy look you get in your eyes when you need some tender loving.”
“I didn’t make you a picnic lunch because I want sex from you, Rafe.”
The little bugger knew her too well.
He laughed and shoved the tractor into gear. The machine lurched forward.
“Whether you want it or not, I am giving it to you,” he said in a guttural voice that sent shock waves of eagerness through her.
As he drove the tractor along the well-travelled trail that meandered through the nearby forests, JJ caught glimpses of squirrels and rabbits as they scampered out of their way.
As he drove, Rafe kissed her neck. The raspy touch of his facial whiskers sparked against her flesh, a direct contrast to his plump, moist mouth.
“You steer,” he whispered. He barely gave her the time to grab the wheel before his hands landed on her top button.
Oh, my. Rafe’s fingers moved swiftly, until all the buttons were undone and her knit top fluttered opened. JJ trembled and held tight to the wheel as his hands cupped her bare breasts and his callused palms rubbed her sensitive nipples.
She loved the way he touched her. Tender, yet firm. Sexual heat pulsed through her as he pulled her nipples. She arched against him and moaned softly as he kissed her along the side of her neck.
“Um, Rafe,” she suddenly called out as she spied a large, dark-brown silhouette standing in the middle of the trail just up ahead.
“Yeah, baby. You like?”
She yelped as he pinched her nipples and pain sparked. Then he soothed the burn with the pads of his palms. His lips nibbled on her neck sending sweet tingles down her spine.
“Oh, very nice,” JJ whispered and suddenly remembered why she was trying to get Rafe’s attention.
The dark silhouette loomed larger.
“How do I brake this thing?” she cried out, frantic at how fast the tractor was heading toward the giant animal that stood almost six feet high.
“Rafe?”
“Huh?” his voice was thick with arousal.
“Moose. Up ahead,” she gasped.
That got his attention. Rafe cursed. She jolted as he suddenly applied the brakes and they came to an abrupt halt.
“Oh man, this is not good,” he muttered as he stared at the creature.
“Why? It’s just a moose. Beep the horn and he will move.”
“You need to keep your voice down. He is a she. Look over that way.” Rafe nodded to the left toward a swamp. Her heart melted when she saw two more moose standing belly deep in the tall reeds and cattails. Those animals were smaller in size than the one standing in the middle of the trail.
“It’s mating season. There’s probably a bull moose or two around here somewhere. Those smaller ones in the marsh are her offspring. Born this spring by the look of them. She’ll be kicking them out as soon as she gets pregnant again. When moose are scared they might charge a human, so we’d best give her her space.”
“I thought it was bears that were dangerous,” JJ said as a sliver of fear rippled up her spine.
“Moose can be too. They aren’t territorial, but they can attack humans if provoked, annoyed or scared. Their hooves are pointy and they can do a lot of damage if they start kicking. They have pretty flexible legs and can kick in all kinds of directions with both front and back legs. So yeah, best not to spook her more than we already have.”
Rafe jammed the tractor into reverse.
“She is watching us like a hawk,” JJ said, wishing she were sitting behind Rafe, instead of in front of him.
The moose looked like an oversized deer. She had a big head with a long snout and very long skinny legs. The rest of her was huge and covered in dark brown hair.
“How much do you think she weighs?”
“Six hundred, maybe seven hundred pounds. The males are even bigger and get up to a thousand pounds.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of moose meat.”
“We try not to kill too many moose. Their population is in decline due to overhunting. But I can tell you, they do taste good in lasagna.”
JJ laughed. “You and your stomach.”
“Me and my stomach say we need to keep backing up. Keep an eye on her. Let me know if her ears go down or if her hackles go up.”
“Hackles?” What?
“The hairs on the back of her neck and shoulders will puff up if she’s think
ing of charging us. If her hackles go up and she starts to move toward us, we’re in trouble. Shit! I should have remembered to bring the rifle.”
Rafe’s alarm made JJ stiffen.
Wow, she hadn’t realized how dangerous it could get for her guys out here. She realized they had kept her pretty isolated from the hazards of wilderness ranching, just so she wouldn’t be overly concerned about them when they went out every day. Just like she’d been keeping her flying from them so they wouldn’t worry about her.
JJ kept her gaze on the mother moose. She watched them and stood as stiff as a statue. But her ears thankfully didn’t go down and her hackles didn’t go up.
The tractor moved slowly in reverse and JJ squirmed in her seat wishing Rafe would move this contraption faster, but she understood that he was moving slowly so as not to frighten the moose into charging.
“I’m not the best at driving backward. You’d best keep your head down,” he said as he clipped a few pine branches at the edge of the trail. She moved aside just in time and the branches missed her right shoulder.
Thankfully, there was another curve in the trail that blocked their view of the moose. She felt Rafe relax against her.
“That was close,” he grumbled. To her surprise, there was a tremble in his voice.
“You really were scared?” she asked as he began to turn around the tractor.
“Hell, yeah. It’s healthy to be scared of things that might kill you. Survival instincts.”
JJ looked down and watched as his big hands twisted the wheel. A moment later he had turned the tractor around and they quickly moved along the trail back toward the ranch house.
Amazing. A strong, tough guy like Rafe had fears too. It got her thinking about her own fears. She had plenty of them. Terror of closed spaces. Panic attacks. Distress at crashing a plane?
JJ worried her bottom lip as she suddenly realized something. Had she not been working on overcoming her anxiety over the last several months and had she not had the courage to start flying lessons with Kaley, what would have happened to Rafe? Kaley might never have called that night to offer her help and JJ would not have been able to fly the plane to rescue him.
Maybe she was supposed to keep pursuing her goals? Maybe she should keep practicing her exposure therapy and continue with her flying lessons, despite her fears and anxieties?
Baby steps. Kaley’s words echoed through her mind.
JJ smiled and nodded. It was time to stop hiding behind the excuse of tending to Rafe. It was time to get back to breaking through the walls of anxiety that had been wrapped around her for so many years. She had read that plenty of people conquered or dealt with their anxiety and panic issues, living with their problem on a daily basis. If those people could do it, then she surely could do it too.
“What’s got you nodding like that, sweetheart?” Rafe whispered as he softly rubbed the side of his face against the side of hers. Such a tender gesture.
“I was just thinking about something,” JJ said.
“What’s that?” Rafe asked.
“That I want you to make love to me, right now. Right here on the trail. Right up against his tractor. Right…” Before she could finish saying right now, he brought the tractor to a complete halt, turned off the engine and tapped her shoulder.
JJ twisted around to see what he wanted and gasped as he lowered his head. Rafe caught her mouth with his warm lips and kissed her so deeply she couldn’t even think straight. She reached back and clasped her hands over his knees, holding tight for balance as his tongue pushed into her mouth and stroked over her teeth. His hands slipped beneath her armpits and slid into her open top and smoothed over her breasts. His fingers tweaked her nipples until they were painfully hard peaks. His erection, a large, hard promise of things to come, pushed boldly against her ass cheeks.
JJ felt so alive. So free out here with the blue sky overhead and the moaning trees twisting in the wind. The breeze was cool and refreshing against her heated skin.
“Let’s get down,” Rafe whispered as he broke the kiss.
“Is it safe?” She almost didn’t care if it was dangerous.
“Yeah, we’re far enough away from the moose. Besides, she won’t come and watch us. She’s looking for action of her own.”
“Like I am,” she whispered.
Rafe chuckled as he hopped down, and then helped her off the tractor. The instant JJ’s feet hit the ground, Rafe speared his fingers through her hair and held her head.
His eyes were dark and intense as he studied her.
“Did I ever tell you that I really, really love you, JJ?” he said in a soft, tender voice that curled her toes.
JJ blinked with surprise.
Sure, he muttered that he loved her while they had sex, but this time was different. He was different. Very forceful. Sincere.
“I love you too, Rafe. With all my heart.”
He smiled and the smile brightened his eyes. He lowered his head and he stroked his tongue over her lips until her mouth was tingling. Then leisurely, ever so torturously slow, he dipped his head and kissed a line of fire along the left side of her neck and then sparked more kisses across her collarbone.
JJ gasped as he pushed her against the tire of the tractor, her ass pressing against the hard bumpy rubber. She shuddered as his mouth found her right nipple and he sucked it between his lips. Pleasure zipped through her as his raspy five o’clock shadow burned her flesh.
Sensations pummelled her as his other hand squeezed and massaged her other breast. His fingers tweaked and gently rubbed her nipple until she was moaning into his mouth.
Then he moved his hand and mouth away, leaving both nipples throbbing and aching. He stepped away from her and she lowered her pants and panties and kicked them off and then watched as he undid his pants and dropped his underwear.
JJ trembled at the sight of his large shaft as it stuck straight out at her. An erotic weave of veins pulsed along his thick flesh. He reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew a packaged condom. The rip of foil followed and a moment later he was sheathed.
Her heart beat a mile a minute as he gazed at her with pure lust and love shining in his eyes.
“Come here, baby,” Rafe breathed.
She took a step closer to him, and his raw scent filled her nostrils making her heart pick up speed. His hand moved down to between her thighs. She moaned as he dipped two of his fingers into her wet vagina. He removed his fingers and then rubbed her cream over his condom. He did that several times until the top quarter of his condom was generously lubed with her cream.
Then he reached out and took her hands into his. Rafe’s eyes were glazed with lust as he held her fingers tight and pushed her back against the tractor tire again.
“When I had that accident, you are what kept me going,” he whispered.
Me?
“I heard your voice. Heard you telling me to hold on. That help was coming. And for me not to leave you.”
“I kept thinking all of that. I was so worried. I just wanted you home with me.”
Was it possible they had some sort of magical bond? Or had it just been in his hallucinated state that he’d thought he’d heard her?
“Good to know you were thinking it,” Rafe murmured.
JJ gasped and all her thoughts disintegrated as Rafe’s warm mouth melted over hers and his stiff cockhead touched her sensitive clitoris. Pleasure shimmered in bundles as his velvet tongue dashed past her lips and she met him with sensual movements of her own.
He groaned, liking what she did to him with her tongue. The guttural sound of his voice fired her blood and she kissed him harder, quickly drowning into the fiery vibrations.
Instinctively, she gyrated her hips, diving into the pleasure he created. He matched her movements while continuing to massage her tender clit.
Tension built quickly deep inside JJ. When Rafe let go of her hands, she slid them around his waist and caressed his ass. His cheeks were full and taut and she loved the way h
is muscles flexed beneath her fingers.
Rafe rubbed her clit harder and faster whipping up a frenzy of pleasure. Suddenly she could hold back no longer as her body and mind exploded into a mirage of mindless shudders.
JJ cried into Rafe’s mouth and shook at the impact.
Quickly, he thrust into her. His solid cock pierced deep into her vagina and she welcomed his thickness. She loved the tight way her muscles clenched around his perfect intrusion. He withdrew and pistoned into her again.
She met his every plunge, bucking her hips against his. His flesh was firm and long as it slid in and out of her like a steel piston. Every push went deeper and harder. Every plunge sent more spirals of pleasure through her.
She shuddered against him as he came apart with her. He drove into her like a man possessed. A man who claimed. A man who loved.
Stars sparkled behind her eyes as she kept bucking against him. They kept up the mindless pace until they were both spent, their breaths crashing through the autumn air.
As their climaxes ebbed, Rafe stayed inside of her, his cock throbbing and hot as he wrapped his arms around her. He held her tenderly, his soft lips gently kissing hers as he muttered her name over and over again.
Slowly, every so slowly, JJ’s thoughts began to re-form and her body hummed with satisfaction. She remembered what he had said moments earlier, that she had kept him going during his accident. She truly was important to him. That thought filled her heart with warmth and love. She already knew she could never leave them or this ranch, but him telling her what he’d experienced only solidified her decision to remain here forever with her three men.
Chapter Seven
By the time the cattle drive rolled around, Rafe was good to go. JJ noticed he barely limped now and the pain lines etching his mouth were gone. Relief for Rafe made her happy, and when she was happy, she baked.
