by Starla Kaye
“Please,” she whispered in a breathy voice. Her head tipped up and knocked off his hat.
Before he could do more than notice, her arms slid around him, burrowing under his coat. As her fingers splayed over his back, he groaned and lowered his mouth to hers. He knew he would regret this later. But he couldn’t resist. Wrong, right, it didn’t matter.
The kiss wasn’t soft. He’d fought too long about wanting it. When she ran the tip of her tongue along the edge of his teeth, he lost the last bit of control he possessed. She demanded the best he could do. Obliging, he thrust his tongue into her mouth, met hers, and the two danced against one another. He’d missed a woman’s desire, a woman’s need of a man. He couldn’t seem to get enough.
Neither could she, for she took everything he offered. She moaned and shifted closer. His body trembled in reaction to the feel of a soft, passionate woman writhing in his arms. His cock, desperate for more, ached to drive deep inside her.
He pressed his fingers into her fleshy, jean-covered butt and nudged upward, letting her know what his body yearned for, as he deepened the kiss.
All of a sudden, she stiffened, jerked her head back. Her eyes were wide in shock. Her cheeks flamed red. “Put me down!” she gasped.
Confused and alarmed at what they’d been doing, he crashed back to reality. His hands fell away from his hold on her.
She dropped at once. Unable to get her footing, she fell on her ass on the concrete floor, wincing. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
The front door slid open, but he barely glanced in its direction. Instead, he bristled in annoyance and growled, “Kissing you. Like you ordered me to do.”
“I never—” She slammed her mouth shut, as she must have realized the lie in the words. Still, she sat there and glowered at him.
“Yeah, you did,” he grumbled and couldn’t believe he was arguing about the matter. Damn, he shouldn’t have lost control. He belonged with Daniel.
Daniel! Oh shit!
Reluctantly, he looked at the man walking toward them. The man, who in this awkward moment, made his heart skip a beat. Guilt spread through him, made him irrational. He shifted his gaze back to her and commanded, “You’re leaving here. Today.”
Chapter Six
Daniel stepped aside as Cal stormed by him then hurried outside into the thickly falling snow. So, his friend had kissed Ruby. Interesting. The idiot had accused her of being responsible for Cal’s going against what he believed wrong. He sighed. What a mess.
He considered the horse therapist who’d entered their life the day before and was already creating upheaval. Cal had suffered enough traumas these last few months. He wasn’t sure the man could handle more. Okay, he wasn’t handling this new problem well. Somehow, he would have to find a way to calm the rancher down.
First, he needed to deal with the fragile-looking, young woman standing aghast and blinking back tears. He hadn’t been around women much outside of the boardrooms or his business. He’d never been around a woman who cried, until her. In her trailer the afternoon before, he’d held her as she’d cried and talked about losing her father, about her worry over working alone, and about the emptiness she felt. She’d touched his heart. These new tears got to him as well.
Drawing in a steadying breath, he headed in her direction and offered a reassuring smile. “I guess you’ve noticed Cal’s ability to make an ass of himself.”
As he’d hoped would happen, her focus shifted from staring after Cal to him. She gave a wobbly smile in return. “He’s good at it.” A hint of anger replaced her despondent look.
Sampson slipped under Starbright’s stall door and went to rub against Ruby’s leg, offering a cat-rumble comment of his own. Clearly the sly feline could offer comfort to more than just a troubled horse. She bent down to scoop the usually human-wary Tomcat into her arms. As the cat allowed her to nuzzle her chin to his head, he experienced a surprising second of envy and desire. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman touched him in more than a handshake, a brief hug of greeting. Except Ruby, of course.
She smoothed her hand down Sampson’s back, glanced at the watching mare, and placed the cat on the floor. Straightening, she headed for the sheepskin-lined coat and hat she’d laid on a hay bale sitting in front of the tack room. She shoved her arms into the jacket.
“Guess I’d better go hitch up my trailer so I can hit the road.” Her expression tightened as she gazed down the long aisle through the open door at the snow falling outside. “It appears I’ll have quite a challenge driving today.”
He didn’t hesitate. “You’re not leaving.” He wouldn’t let her go—not in this weather—even if he had to fight with Cal about the matter, which he didn’t think would be necessary. “You’re staying at least until the storm stops.”
She shook her head, straight blonde hair brushing against her face. The chin-length strands had been silky when his fingers touched them last night. He hadn’t given it a lot of thought at the time, but right this second he did. Perplexed by the reaction, he almost missed her saying, “I’ve already worn out my welcome here.”
She buttoned her coat and plopped the pink hat on her head. He thought about how sadness had laced her words, how loneliness had echoed as well.
He knew too much about loneliness. He dealt in the corporate business world with people who only wanted to make money off of him or with him. Most people stayed emotionally distant from him, which he’d always believed he preferred. After his previous love cheated on him and their bitter breakup, he’d grown more reserved from those around him. He’d kept busy, but ached with loneliness.
But a bedroom-eyed, complicated cowboy came into his life at a mutual friend’s wedding. Theirs wasn’t an easy relationship, but it was worth all of the frustration. This heart-wounded, somewhat-lost woman drew out a tender side of him he’d kept hidden out of self-defense, except from Cal.
Daniel pushed aside the unexpected thoughts, stepped closer, and forced her to look up at him by touching her chin. “I don’t know what you’ve done in the short time I left you in here alone.” He nodded toward Starbright, still amazed at the mare’s unusual wary calmness. “But you’ve already worked some kind of miracle with Cal’s horse.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “I didn’t do anything.”
He met her troubled eyes. Maybe it was just her presence; something in her gentle attitude with animals calmed the mare. He felt grateful for the change. Cal would be, too, if he could quit fighting his unwanted attraction to her and think rationally.
“Can you just walk away? Can’t you muster up enough courage to butt heads with Cal in order to help this horse in such obvious need?” He knew he’d laid it on pretty thick, as Cal would say. But Starbright was important to Cal and Cal was important to him, even when he acted foolish.
She hesitated, her brow pinched in clear distress as she worried her lower lip for a second. “Cordell won’t allow me to help her. His finding me in here by myself blew all my chances. I went against his prior order.”
Yes, he remembered Cal’s firm dictate that she could only be around Starbright with him. Because of what he knew of her past, he understood Cal’s apprehension on the subject.
“He’s scared to death you’ll get hurt.” He hated that he’d taken the phone call—no matter how critical it had been—and leaving her in here. The large quarter horse could have harmed her if she’d dared to get too close. Getting injured would have been his fault. Remembering Cal’s distress, he imagined the man had, in fact, found her too near the frightened animal. He shouldn’t have put business above her safety. “I shouldn’t have—”
She tightened her jaw, irritation fired in her vivid green eyes. “You did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong.” She blew out a breath and appeared to calm. “I know how to handle these damaged horses. I’ve been working with them since I was a preteen and Dad first let me help him.”
He shared a knowing look with her, and she huffed at his unspok
en reminder of the incident they already talked about.
“I refuse to have one instance keep me from doing my job.” She shifted her gaze to Starbright, backed into the corner of her stall. “I could help her. I know it in my gut.”
Thinking about this small change in the mare’s behavior, he sensed she was right. “Do it.”
The sound of heavy footsteps in the open doorway drew their attention, interrupting their discussion.
Cal stood there, stomping snow off his boots, glowering from under his wide-brimmed Stetson. “Are you coming to help me hitch up your trailer?” he snapped, looking from him to Ruby. “I’m ready to be done with this.”
Outside, probably an inch of snow had accumulated since Daniel had come into the barn. He hadn’t believed the rancher still intended to send her out into the middle of a storm. Irritated beyond his patience, he questioned, “How can you think about letting her drive away?”
“If she’d get going….”
“Cal, be reasonable,” he stated in disgust. He didn’t want to argue in front of her, but this was too important. “You’ve been outside. We’ve heard the weather report and how bad this storm is supposed to get.”
With a huff of frustration, Ruby strode around him and marched right up to the much taller man, as she’d done the day before. “Cordell isn’t sending me away. I’m choosing to leave.”
“Now you’re the one being unreasonable. It’s dangerous out there.” He strode next to her.
She ignored him and pushed past Cal. “I can hitch up the trailer on my own.” She tugged her hat brim lower against the snow flying at her. “You can go sit by your damn fire and get all warm and cozy.”
Cal shifted to face her, tension tightening his shoulders, fisting gloved hands at his sides. “You can’t do it by yourself.”
She glanced backward with a defiant look and strode onward. “I can and I will,” she shouted into the wind.
“The hell you will.” Cal caught up with her and attempted to snag her shoulder, but she scooted out of his reach.
“Back off, cowboy! I don’t need your help.”
“Damn pigheaded woman.”
She didn’t bother with a retort, just tipped her head down against the storm and sped off. Cal followed on her heels, grumbling as he hurried after them, annoyed and, at the same time, amused by their bickering. They were quite a stubborn pair.
***
Calhoun stood in front of the great room’s windows overlooking the ranch yard, straining to see through the heavily falling snow. Ruby’s pink rig could barely be seen. He and Daniel both convinced her she needed help getting the trailer hooked up once more to the truck. That troublesome task finished, he’d realized his friend had been right, they couldn’t let her leave. He wouldn’t have sent his worst enemy out into the storm. Ruby McMurtry might have been a bothersome woman, but she wasn’t an enemy. She just didn’t belong here.
He sucked in a deep breath of frustration and blew it out, not feeling much better. They’d both argued with the cowgirl to persuade her to stay until the snow stopped and the road was safe enough to get out on. She’d been bristly as a porcupine about the matter. Daniel believed he was stubborn!
He heaved a disgruntled sigh as he studied the thick clouds that didn’t appear anywhere near done dumping snow. The night would be frigidly cold. He hoped the power stayed on, but at least there were back-up generators to keep the barn, the bunkhouse, and the house warm.
Darn obstinate woman refused to stay in one of his guest rooms. At least she’d let him get the electricity connected to her trailer again. Crazy female would have stayed in there without it. But if the power did go out, her trailer would turn into an icebox. He bellyached a string of uncomplimentary curses under his breath.
Daniel walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him from his musings. “Worried about her, aren’t you?”
“No,” he denied, lying. He didn’t want to be, but he sure as hell was.
“You could go out there and get her,” Daniel suggested, concern in his voice, dropping his hand away. “Carry her back here if necessary.”
He snorted and moved toward his favorite chair in front of the fireplace. “Like she’d let me in the door.” He’d been considering the idea since returning to the house an hour ago, furious at her decision.
“She’d let me inside.” Daniel turned to face him. “I’d have no problems with toting her in here.”
He studied the man who’d become his closest friend and bed partner. As far as he knew, Daniel had never made love to a woman. Yet he’d seen the way he looked at Ruby, sensed his attraction to her, and that it worried him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about his lover being drawn to her, maybe thinking about…. Shit! He didn’t want to be thinking along those lines at all.
It was bad enough he’d considered taking the blonde to bed. Worse, he’d gone so far as to kiss her…and blame her for his losing all good sense.
“McMurtry hasn’t been here a full two days and she’s causing problems.” He slumped down into the thick cushions, enjoying the heat of the nearby fire. God, he’d nearly frozen to death changing her tires and hitching up the rig. He wondered if she was warm enough in her trailer, and that made him angry all over again. “The sooner she leaves here the better.”
Daniel turned back to the window. After a few seconds, he said in obvious concern, “She’s hurting, Cal.”
Immediately, he thought about how he’d found her standing by Starbright’s stall, her small hand on the railing. She hadn’t appeared hurt. But he’d been so upset with her being alone in the barn he hadn’t looked too closely. Maybe he’d missed….
He sat up and asked in controlled distress, “Did Starbright hurt her?” Dangit! He needed to know firsthand. Shoving to his feet, he strode across the room toward the foyer. “I was afraid that would happen. I told her—”
“No!” Daniel exclaimed in a rush. “The mare doesn’t have anything to do with what’s causing her discomfort. It’s not physical pain I’m talking about.”
He stopped, turned, and gazed at him, remembering his friend and Ruby had talked a lot while he’d been gone the day before. Daniel hadn’t shared much of what they’d discussed. “Her father, right? Losing him has to have been tough since they were close.” He had pretty much acted like an ass ever since she’d admitted her father died. But he’d counted on her father’s help with Starbright. His hopes dashed, he’d taken his disappointment out on her.
Daniel shared an understanding look with him. “You were blindsided with the news, not thinking…just reacting.”
“Responding damn badly, too.” A part of him envied the obvious closeness she’d had with her father. He’d never experienced that with his old man, not even before their final argument all those years ago. “I owe her an apology.”
“Yes, you do.” Daniel held his gaze. “It would be better if you gave her a fair chance to work with Starbright.”
Grinding his teeth, he recalled the online article he’d read about her getting injured, how she’d been hospitalized with a concussion. She could have died that day. What the hell had her father been thinking? Letting her be alone with the crazed horse?
As if he’d read his mind, Daniel’s expression tightened. “I didn’t think you’d read about the incident.”
“And you weren’t going to tell me, were you?” he challenged. “No, I don’t want to take that kind of chance. I can’t.”
“I guess she’ll leave as soon as the storm ends.”
He headed for his bedroom, saying over his shoulder, “I guess so.” But, damn, he would miss the contrary female.
***
The storm raged outside, and the heater in her trailer struggled to keep a hint of warmth in the small area. Ruby trembled beneath the two wool blankets and heavy quilt she’d splurged on during their travels. She wore two pairs of thick socks, long johns, her flannel pajama bottoms, and her dad’s old sweatshirt, topped by her sheepskin coat. It wasn’t enough.
She recalled Cordell’s grudging demand she come stay the night in his house. Even Daniel had pressed her about doing so. Pride and, okay, stupidity, made her refuse. Well, and the way her insides went all fluttery at the idea of being alone with the two handsome men in the rancher’s house. It was nuts to be mentally stripping them down, envisioning so much hunky, naked flesh. She needed to get laid, as she’d overheard many a cowboy say when they were feeling lusty.
Getting laid. Kind of coarse, but titillating. Having a man ever so slowly undress her. Having him strip, too, and lay her down on his bed. Having him do all of those naughty things she’d read about with his hands, his mouth, his….
The thoughts made her body quiver down low. Yes, one of these days she would have to move beyond reading and re-reading the juicy parts in the erotic romance novel she’d picked up before leaving North Carolina.
The wind whipped around the outside of the trailer and blew right on through the thin walls. She trembled. If she couldn’t start controlling these unending shivers, she just might bite her tongue in two. She would be a Popsicle by morning. The contrary rancher would love that.
The lights flickered as they already had several times in the last hour. Her day kept getting better and better. She should stomp down on her foolish attitude and….
A pounding on the trailer door snared her attention, making her gasp.
“Unlock this door and let me in!” Cordell yelled, pounding again.
Her heart raced at his familiar deep voice. She should be annoyed, but instead she was darn glad he’d come to her. “It’s not locked,” she called back.
He jerked the door open, and a blast of frigid air rushed inside. “Why the hell not?” He stepped into the compact space. His six-foot-plus, wide-shouldered body made it seem smaller. His beard-roughened face red from the cold, he tugged the door closed behind him. “It’s not safe to keep it unlocked.”
