He rubbed back and forth, dragging the rough surface of his tongue along that sensitive bundle of nerves as long as he could, prolonging her pleasure, measuring her reactions until he had her on the edge of what he wanted. With a sharp snap, he lashed her clit, driving her to the response he sought, finding it as she jerked back and sucked in a hard breath. He barely got his hand to her mouth in time as she arched her back and screamed. Her teeth sank into his hand. His cock leapt with delight. He tucked his chin down, getting a better angle to satisfy his hunger as her cream poured from her body.
The soft night was filled with the sounds of her muffled cries and his search for satisfaction. He hadn’t indulged in play this innocent in years, couldn’t remember the last time, yet he was more turned on than he’d ever been. His cock ached and leaked with each desperate whimper and shudder he pulled from her slender body. And inside, anger roiled, because she wasn’t for him. Couldn’t be for him, yet he wanted her like hell on fire.
In the distance a door creaked and slammed.
“Mac?”
Dammit! Not now, he thought.Not when she is so close. “Yeah?”
“Mac?” The voice got closer. “Lone Tree’s on the phone.” Mac recognized the deep voice as Will’s when he added, “He says there’s a problem.”
Mac dropped his head against Jessie’s quivering abdomen. Will wouldn’t give up until he found him and delivered the message. He reluctantly slid her thighs off his shoulder. Jessie collapsed against him. He pressed his mouth into her stomach, steadying her as he fought his own ragged breathing.
Bracing her against the barn, he stood, catching her face in his hands, he slanted his mouth over hers, kissing her hard and deep, aware of Will getting closer. Aware of what he wanted, what he was about to throw away.
“I want you, honey girl, but I’m not a kid, and I’m not the safe little learning experience you’re looking for.”
“No shit.” The little wisp of sound hardly counted as a voice.
“I like my women obedient.”
“Wouldn’t a dog be less expensive?”
He rested his forehead against hers and laughed. “But not nearly as much fun.”
“Mac?” Will called again.
“Coming.” Mac called over his shoulder. He smoothed his thumb over her lower lip. “I want a lover in my bed, Jessie. Someone who enjoys taking an order and a spanking. Someone who’ll let me take charge, dictate their pleasure. Someone who will trust me to give them what they need. Unconditionally.”
She stilled beneath him, catching her lower lip in her teeth. He eased it free with his thumb before placing a regretful kiss on her tempting mouth.
“Somehow, I don’t see that being you.”
Chapter Six
He was out of his mind. Mac wrapped the barbed wire around the post and reached for the staple gun in his belt. He’d had Jessie in the palm of his hand three nights ago. Right where he’d wanted her. Had her panting and sobbing, limp against him, ready to give him anything he’d wanted, and he’d given her a damned out. He lined the gun up with the wire, and squeezed the handle. The shock of the staple slamming into the wood vibrated up his arm. What in hell was he going for, sainthood? The woman was twenty-nine years old. Old enough to know her own mind. Old enough to know when she wanted an affair and with whom.
So why had he tried to scare her so badly with the truth of the ways he liked to take a woman? He hooked the staple gun back into his belt and grabbed the next string of wire. With other women he’d let them get used to him first then slowly introduced them to the idea, judging from their reactions whether they’d be receptive, and backing off if they weren’t.
With Jessie, he’d been cold, matter of fact. Abrupt. Unnecessarily so. Maybe it was because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to ease her into anything. Her natural enthusiasm, combined with his natural inclinations, played hell with his restraint. Maybe it was because she scared him. Jessie was a woman a man didn’t just glance over. And despite her determination to make up for ten years of sexual deprivation with a white-hot affair, not a woman a man toyed with. She was smart, sweet, giving and way too trusting. If he had a shred of decency in him, he wouldn’t have handed her his test results this morning. If he had a single survival instinct, he wouldn’t have taken that soft mouth in a hard kiss and left her with an ultimatum. Jessie was too city to take to this life easily, and the years with his mother were a hard lesson in how living in the wrong environment could take its toll on a woman.
He wrapped the wire around the post and grabbed the gun again. Of course, there was a slim chance that Jessie might adjust. And she might come around to his way of thinking in bed. He slammed the gun against the wire and pulled the trigger. Yeah, right. After the way he’d done his best to terrify her, there was no way in hell she would let him near her bed. Nice to know he still had the Hollister talent for shooting himself in the foot.
He put the gun back on his belt and let go of the wire. And sighed when his hand stayed put.Damn it! He’d stapled his glove to the post again. He stretched to reach the screwdriver. That was the fourth time today. It took a second to get free, but he didn’t reach for the third string. He was too distracted today to be messing with barbed wire.
He pulled off his gloves and wiped his sleeve across his brow. Still there was a chance that Jessie would give him the green light, and if she did, he had to come up with a plan because sure as shootin’, he was going to have to keep an eye on her if she did decide to hang around. That woman had a wild streak that wouldn’t tolerate the monotony of ranch life. He had only to think of his mother to know that boredom was one emotion he didn’t want overtaking Jessie. Boredom led to risk taking, and risk taking led to—
Hell, he definitely didn’t want to go where those memories led, he decided as he emptied the staple gun. The staples dropped into their plastic holder with tiny pings of protest. He snapped the lid on the box, dropped the stapler into the toolbox and snapped it shut. It was time for a break. He headed for the pickup, leaving the shade of the trees for the meadow.
The sun beat down on his back and shoulders as he grabbed the red and white cooler out of the cab. He took the cooler back to the shade and sat down under a tree. Before opening the wax paper-wrapped hoagie, he popped the top of an iced tea and drained the can in one long swallow. When he was done, he didn’t feel the least refreshed, which only added to his feeling that this day was going to be one long sojourn in Hell. He opened his sandwich with a quick tear, so frustrated he almost missed the piece of notepaper attached.
He reached for it. There was only one person who would leave a note in his food. Taking a breath, he braced himself. There was only one reason Jessie would put a note in his lunch. She was too embarrassed after all her bravado to admit, face-to-face, that she’d made a mistake. He held the note in his hand for a moment, and then, calling himself a fool, opened it. The first piece of paper was easy to see. It was test results. No shock there. Jessie was clean. He slipped it underneath. The second was different. It took a second for him to recognize what he was seeing. It wasn’t a note but a list he held in his hand. And from the different colored inks and stains here and there, he’d say a longstanding one. He moved his thumb off the top, revealing the heading.
SEXUAL TO-DO LIST
He scanned the contents and smiled. Son of a bitch, but the woman had a sense of adventure.
* * * * *
Jessie worried her lower lip with her teeth as she put the last of the pots and pans into the sink. Mac hadn’t showed up for supper. She didn’t know what to make of that. Surely he’d received her message? Had her bluntness scared him off? Had he changed his mind? She’d personally strangle him if he had. After spending all day drowning in sexual tension, there wasn’t a woman alive who would blame her.
“I believe this belongs to you?”
Elbow deep in soapsuds, Jessie stiffened at the low drawled question. She knew what she’d find in Mac’s hand if she turned around. Heat surged in her
cheeks and prickles of cold ran down her arms. Oh damn this was humiliating. What had seemed so appropriate at three a.m. this morning appeared childish and stupid at nine o’clock at night. She scrubbed hard at the spaghetti sauce cooked to the bottom of the cast-iron pan.
“You didn’t come in to supper.”
“After finding this list wrapped around my lunch, I didn’t trust myself within a hundred yards of you. Audience or not.”
She knew she should turn around, but all her courage seemed to have deserted her. “I assume that everyone is gone now?”
She couldn’t see the smile she heard in his voice, but out of the corner of her eye she could see the piece of folded paper he held in his hand.
“Yup.”
Jessie stopped scrubbing the pan. Her breath froze in her lungs as she realized the time she’d been anticipating all day was here.
“Oh.”
“Are you going to look at me?”
“No. Yes.” She shrugged. “Eventually.”
More of his body came into view as he shifted to lean against the doorjamb. “Just how long, exactly, is eventually?”
She grabbed the dishtowel and dried her hands. If he expected her to face him, forever. “I don’t suppose we could do this the first time without me having to face you?”
“It’s possible.” His voice was thick and deep as he added, “But not likely.”
“Why not?”
“Because I want to see your face while I take you this first time.”
Her fingers clenched so hard on the butcher block cutting board that her nails bent. The note landed beside her right hand. The heat in her cheeks deepened. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It seemed like a great idea this morning, but I realize now how childish it would appear to you.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw him move. Heard him approach, Still, she jumped when his hands slid around her waist. Jumped and shivered when he kissed the nape of her neck. Groaned when she felt him smile against her spine at her reaction.
“I was so hoping to be more sophisticated when it came to this,” she admitted on a rush of honesty.
He nuzzled the side of her neck with his lips, but his hold on her softened, became soothing somehow. “Would I be correct in assuming the reason you’re standing so stiff in my arms is because you’re embarrassed?”
The laugh she meant to sound carefree came out choked and strained. She leaned further into his embrace, seeking the confidence she lacked. “Right the first time.”
His hands slipped beneath the sensible cotton of her shirt, and she shivered in anticipation. Would he like what he discovered or would he consider it tacky? There was a pause in his movements as he discovered lace where he expected skin. His breath caught as his lips touched her ear. It came harder as his hands explored further, creeping over her stomach up toward her breasts. He cupped them once, his hips pressing into hers as he rolled her nipples through the lace, abrading the tips deliciously with the rough material, pulling her close when she whimpered, before releasing her breasts and heading lower.
“Put your mind at ease, honey girl,” he said as he unsnapped the button of her jeans and slipped his fingers beneath. He paused again when the pads of his fingers slid across her bare flesh. The prick of sharp pleasure sucked her abdomen in and notched her breath. He was so big. So strong, and so damned hot she thought she’d burst into flames. He kissed the taut cord on the side of her neck. Her whole body shuddered in sensation, her knees lost all strength, and she collapsed back against him when he nipped her gently.
“I’ve never received a more welcome invitation than that to-do list,” he rasped as he explored the tiny well of her belly button.
Jessie groaned and dissolved into his embrace. When he deliberately set his teeth to the spot where her shoulder met her neck, she jerked and spun around. Grabbing his shoulders, she tugged. She had to do it twice before the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile, and he obligingly lowered his lips to hers.
“Are we all done being shy?” he asked, the question drifting across her tongue, spicing his warm breath with erotic promise.
“Oh God, yes!” She’d waited a lifetime for this. She’d be damned if she was going to chicken out now that she had her opportunity. She slid her tongue along his lips, teasing the corners as he’d done to her, sucking his lower lip between her teeth for the simple reason that she’d always wanted to. Doing it again because he shuddered and yanked her close.
“Good,” he sighed. “Because I’m hotter than a firecracker, and I don’t think I have the patience for a slow seduction. Not this time.”
“I can tell,” she whispered. Her fingers clenched in his mink-brown hair as his lips slid across her cheek in search of the soft skin of her neck. “I can feel the urgency in you.”
He pulled back. “Do you mind?” His eyes met hers. “The first time might be a little quick, but I’ll make it up to you later.”
His evening beard rasped against her palm as she cradled his cheek. With her thumb, she stroked the tension from beneath his eyes. Eyes that measured her response for accuracy.
“No,” she said softly. “I don’t mind. In case I haven’t made myself clear, I want you, too.”
He laughed. “I noticed.”
“One question?”
“What?”
“Are you protected?” he asked as he slipped those strong hands under her hips and lifted her up onto the counter’s edge, so her legs dangled down and she either had to lean back or against Mac for support. She chose Mac.
“Yes.” She’d taken care of that a year ago when she’d begun her search for a bed partner.
“Good.”
The hard edge cut into her butt as he slid his hands to the zipper of her jeans. She wiggled a bit as she asked, “You don’t think I’m too forward?”
“I think you’re about perfect.” He didn’t look like he was lying. He looked intent, eager, hungry. But not like he was trying to spare her feelings. The knot of tension in her stomach eased.
He unzipped her jeans slowly, the metal rasping softly in the silence. He kept his gaze tight to hers, measuring her reaction as he slid his hand over her lower abdomen, tracing the edge of her bustier all the way around her back until his thumbs met and his fingers rested over the curve of her buttocks. She couldn’t help rocking into his palms.
“Your hands feel so good.”
It was only when his pupils flared and his fingers slipped lower, two pressing into the crease between her cheeks, separating them that she realized she’d said the comment out loud. Oh great. She dropped her head against his shoulder.
“I hope you weren’t expecting a quiet lover, because apparently, I’m not going to be good at that.”
His fingers wedged deeper, the longest ones hovering just above her anus. Anticipation roared through her like fire. He had to feel the tension in her, the expectant quivering she couldn’t control.
“I already told you I wanted to hear what you feel.”
“Just making sure you meant it.” She’d no sooner finished than he tapped her anus with his fingertip. The pleasure was electric. White-hot. Shocking.
Her body wrenched upright, her cry a high-pitched statement of disbelief. How could such a little thing feel so good? His hand behind her head kept her still while he probed lightly at the sensitive rosette. She couldn’t stop shifting with his touch. “Oh my God!”
“You like that.” It wasn’t a question. And the light probing he was giving her anus was not enough.
“Yes.” She bit her lip. And as he tapped her once again, she moaned, “Can’t you do it harder?”
His hand wrapped in her braid, pulling her head back, forcing her to arch and look at him while he answered. “Hell, yes.”
His middle finger centered on her anus as his gaze centered on her face. With steady pushes he wedged the small opening wider, making it accept the tip. Then he started a rhythmic pulsing. She didn’t know whether to grind down or pull away. Without lubri
cation it hurt, but not enough to overcome the pleasure. And strangely, there was something good about the way the pain and pleasure came together. Something erotically addictive, so she bit her lip and took the small pain, clinging to his gaze, gasping as her pussy ached and clenched around nothing. Hungering. Needing to be filled.
His expression was intent as he watched her. Almost calculating. She arched harder when he pressed in, inviting more of the heady combination. He frowned, and gave her what she asked for. A strong thrust. His finger dragged against the dry tissue as it worked her hungry channel. Even as she cried out she pushed back, straining for more. He stopped and she sobbed. “Oh God, I need more.”
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