by Tessa Layne
Nope.
No way.
He was a sex magnet.
A very handsome sex magnet.
Like the black hole of sex magnets.
That was all. He didn’t love her, and she certainly didn’t love him. He’d just bamboozled her senses. She needed to remember that. And he kept secrets. She refused to be with someone who kept secrets.
These… these feelings, were clouding her judgment. Interfering with rational, logical thought. She’d do well to remember she was heading home in a few weeks and that this chaos would become a distant memory.
“Maybe he needs to stop being an ass first,” Axel returned.
“Who’s calling who an ass?” Blake stepped into the kitchen, his eyes riveted on her. Gunnar and Axel pushed back their chairs and stood as one.
Oh God. The generations of animosity were about to come to a head. Maddie stood too; ready to throw herself between Blake and her cousins. If fists started flying in the confines of the kitchen there’d be hell to pay with Martha.
“Sit down.” She pinned Axel and Gunnar with a glare. “This doesn’t concern you.”
No one moved. The tension crackled between the men.
“Forgive us if we don’t pull out the welcome wagon,” Axel spoke tightly.
“Shut up, Axe. He saved Dad. And you just welcomed him to the family a few hours ago. I say he’s welcome.”
Gunnar crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Blake. “Why you here?”
“A little birdie said I might find my lady here.”
My lady. If she wasn’t so irritated at him, she’d think it was cute. His eyes didn’t move off her. Heat curled up from her belly, drying her mouth. She swallowed, refusing to look away. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips. Lust flared briefly in his eyes.
Ooh…
So he liked that, did he?
“Outside,” he said gruffly, nodding toward the back door.
Axel stepped in front of the back door. “Anything you need to say can be said right here.”
“Would you stop already with the pissing contest?” She’d had enough. “I’m not a fire hydrant.”
Blake’s eyes were still on her, radiating an intensity that half scared her, half turned her on. Scared her because she couldn’t read his intention. Turned her on, well, for obvious reasons. Like he was so hot she’d incinerate if she stayed standing there.
“No. You’re definitely not a fire hydrant.” A wry smile flashed across his face.
With a grunt Axel stepped aside. Tearing her eyes from Blake’s, she turned and stepped through the door. He followed, shutting the door firmly. She moved to the railing, keeping her back turned.
“Turn around Maddie.” There was no mistaking the command in his voice. Slowly she turned, hugging her arms. His face was half in shadow underneath his Stetson. The glare of the porch light threw his features into strong relief. His eyes seemed hungry. Predatory, even. She braced herself on the railing waiting for him to speak.
The silence stretched between them.
“I don’t know what you thought you saw back there, but there is nothing between me and that woman.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you leave?”
Jealousy stabbed through her at the memory of the way he looked at Kylee, as if they shared a secret. But she couldn’t tell him.
Wouldn’t.
The last thing she wanted to do was appear insecure and untrusting.
“Because.” She bit her lip, emotion lumping in her throat.
Dammit.
She couldn’t do it. Couldn’t give him the upper hand by admitting she was jealous of whatever was still left between them. “Because, I’m not going to stick around and watch you coddle your ex, while I was the one wronged.”
There. That would show him.
“What did you want me to do, Maddie? Punch her? You know I’d never do that to a woman. Not even her.”
That took the wind right out of her sails. Her shoulders sagged. He was right. She’d wanted to punch Kylee in the face and wished she’d had the courage to do it.
“So here we are again, Maddie.” He stepped closer so that she had to tilt her chin to maintain eye contact. “We can stay here and fight in front of your family, or, we can go home and fuck. Which will it be?”
Her mouth went dry. “Did you really just ask me that?” He had nerve. He cracked a smile, and for the first time in days, it went all the way to his eyes. She hated it when he smiled like that. No. She loved it.
It made her insides gooey.
Would she do it?
Could she do it?
Tell him she wanted to go back and rip his clothes off? The image of him naked in nothing but his Stetson floated before her. A shot of hot arousal soaked her panties.
“Well… if you keep your hat on.” She reached her hand inside his coat and toyed with the top button of his perfect shirt. She wanted to wrinkle the heck out of it.
His hand came down on hers, trapping it in place. Electricity jumped between them.
“But first you have to have to make good on our bet and answer any question I ask.”
“Of course. Anything.” He leaned in to nuzzle her neck, sending little thrills down to her nipples.
“You’ll answer?”
He lifted his head and pinned her with a gaze so intense her knees shook. She could drown in his eyes. Swim in them like they were a galaxy of stars.
“I’m an open book. Ask me anything.”
She swallowed, holding her breath. Anticipation and anxiety set her nerves tingling. She pulled away and leaned back on the rail. “Kylee Ross. I want to know what you’re hiding about Kylee Ross and why she hates me when she doesn’t even know me.”
His eyes shuttered and he shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t know the answer to the second part of your question. She’s just a very unhappy person. As for the first part, that’s easy. Not much to tell.”
As if. She tapped her foot. “I’m waiting. Spill it.”
He jammed his hands in his pockets. “Twelve years ago. I was twenty and in school at K-State, Brodie was sixteen. She and Brodie had dated on and off. Brodie was really hot for her.”
“And?”
“During one of the ‘off’ times, she came up to K-State and fooled around and got knocked up and Brodie found out. Ended badly for everyone.”
She narrowed her eyes.
She’d expected something more dramatic, like Brodie had caught Kylee with one of his brothers. But not something so… typical for a teenage romance. Maybe no the pregnancy, but it happened sometimes. Bottom line. Kylee had simply moved on. So why the drama and animosity?
He shrugged. “In some ways he’s never let it go.”
He opened his mouth, and for a split second, looked like he was about to say more. Then snapped his mouth shut and nodded once.
Something didn’t add up.
She nudged his boot with her toe. “Any other secrets? I mean it Blake, it all comes out now.”
He swallowed, looking like he’d just eaten a whale. “Nope.” He shook his head, and reached for her hand, twining his fingers in hers. “Scout’s honor.”
Liar.
Her heart sank to her toes. So he didn’t trust her. Whatever his secret was, he was still holding onto it with two fists. Not that it mattered a whit. They weren’t really getting married. They had nothing between them but a bunch of crazy sexual chemistry bouncing between atoms. Was she willing to give him the benefit of the doubt? Was she willing to risk being hurt down the road?
“But you know my big, dark secret…”
He brought her fingers to his lips, before capturing the tips of two of them in his mouth, sucking on them lightly. The movement acted like tinder for the sparks spiraling through her.
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
She laughed nervously, covering her disappointment. Maybe she needed to analyze why she wanted so badly for him to confide in her.
�
�What about the rest of me?” A tremor shook her voice.
He turned her hand over, and brought his lips to her palm. Tingles raced up her arm to her nipples, hardening them to achy points. He ran his tongue over the hollow in the center of her palm. She locked her knees to keep them from buckling. Couldn’t feel her fingers from the buzzing. Her pulse thrummed wildly.
He raised his eyes, raw lust glittering in their depths.
“If you were smart, Maddie Jane,” he rasped, voice rough with desire. “You’d run while you can.”
Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips, “I think you said that once before… What if I don’t want to?” She couldn’t keep the breathiness from her voice. Waves of anticipation rippled through her. Desire roared in her ears, thrumming with a vibration that tensed every muscle.
“Then let the wild rumpus begin.”
He pulled her close and brought his lips to hers, running his hands down her sides to cradle her ass.
Her need finally breached rational thought, and she looped her hands around his neck.
There was only this.
Only now.
She groaned in the back of her throat, shifting forward to press herself against him. He ground his cock into her, sending a thrill to her core.
“Blake,” she murmured against him, rocking her hips into his.
The back door swung open.
“If you’re gonna suck face like that, do it on your own property.”
He groaned and tore his mouth from hers, leaving her lips numb. He looked back over his shoulder, but she knew who was there.
Gunnar and Axel stood smirking in the doorway.
She decided to have a little fun with him, and skittered her hand down his chest so it came to rest right underneath his balls. She gave them a little squeeze. He whipped his head back around, pinning her with a ferocious look. Whatever issues lay between them, one thing was certain. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.
“Thanks for dinner, boys,” she called out over Blake’s shoulder. “We’ll see you around.”
“We expect you for Sunday dinner, Maddie Jane.”
“We’ll be there.” She squeezed him again, trying not to laugh. Grabbing his hand, she tugged him toward the back steps, into the dark. “Did you ride or drive?” she asked, once they were out of earshot.
He twined his fingers with hers. “Rode. Blaze is tied up down by the paddock.”
“I heard the boys talking about the rains. Isn’t the creek running too high to cross?”
“Not on horseback, although after the rain later tonight, we’ll have to keep an eye on it. Any significant amount and it will be impassable for a spell.”
“How can you tell?”
“That it will rain? The science of my nose.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
A laugh rumbled in this throat. “A little. But seriously, when you’ve lived here your whole life, you can just tell. Or maybe it’s great granny’s sixth sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our ancestor, Pascal St. Claire, married a Pawnee woman who’d run away from a reservation. The story goes she used to get visions. So anytime we guess right about something, it’s because of granny Stands With Eagles.”
They reached the paddock where Blaze stood patiently.
“Can he carry both of us?” She placed her foot in the stirrup and waited for him to help her up.
“No problem.” His hands lingered a moment on her ass. They were so close to where she wanted them to be, wanted him to be, that she nearly hurled herself right over the other side when he boosted her. Grabbing the pommel, she righted herself and leaned forward, giving him room to settle behind her.
He hoisted himself up and snaked his arm around her, pulling her close to his chest, his hands splayed across her side. She gave a little sigh as she leaned back into him, enjoying the feel of him.
He wheeled Blaze around and headed in the direction of the creek. Darkness enveloped them as they left the compound. Even at half-full, the moon dimmed the smaller stars, casting a silvery light over the landscape. Coyotes yipped in the distance. They rode in comfortable silence surrounded by the sounds of night frogs and the occasional owl.
“You know this was why I became a physicist.” She casually pointed to the sky. “I found an old telescope in the attic, and Uncle Eddie brought me out here one night when I was probably six or seven and showed me the Orion Nebula. I was hooked.”
“Maddie. Stop talking.”
She shifted in the saddle to glance up at him quizzically. His eyes glinted down at her. His lips were so close, if she stretched her neck, she could kiss him.
“I’m not going to devour you. I’ve already said, you call the shots.”
A thrill ran through her.
“I-I was just talking. I’m not nervous.”
He snorted. “Of course you are. You never make small talk.”
“I can’t help it if my hormones go bonkers around you.”
“So you’re admitting you like me?”
“No. I’m admitting my body likes you.”
“Cut the crap, Maddie. You like me. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t give a shit about Kylee.”
He had her. He was right. And that terrified her.
He lowered his head. “It’s okay, Maddie. Because I like you, too. A lot.”
Her stomach dropped to her toes. He couldn’t be serious. Could he? She felt like she was on top of a rocket about to launch, but she had no oxygen. He’d just sucked all of the air out of her lungs.
His hand tightened around her middle.
“In fact, if you could admit that, we might get somewhere beyond sexually frustrated.” He nuzzled her neck. “I see the heat in your eyes when you think I’m not looking. I feel how you tremble when I crawl into bed next to you.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this because… this whateveritis… chemical explosion… is melting our brain cells. But if you want this… us… to mean anything, then I need…” She let out a frustrated sigh. “You have to be willing to be honest.”
Blake’s silent laughter rumbled against her back. “Are you saying you want whateveritis between us to mean something? Doesn’t that imply more than chemical reactions? Doesn’t that imply emotions are involved?”
“Not exactly,” she hedged. He was right, and she hated it.
“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black, Doctor feelings-are-irrational-Hansen?” His breath tickled in her ear.
She let out a rickety sigh.
“For a scientist, sometimes you’re dense.”
She rolled her eyes. “Speak plainly, Blake. It usually helps.”
“You talk this great talk about feelings being irrational, and you’re right; they are. You can fight to stay in control, but the person you’re hurting the most is yourself.”
Okay, she’d deserved that after her little speech. She swallowed the knot of fear that had lodged itself in her throat. To not be in control was to be vulnerable. To be vulnerable was to be weak. To be weak meant people like Kylee and Marcus ate you for dinner and spit out the bones.
“You can’t have it both ways, Maddie. When is it going to sink into that brilliant mind of yours that love is messy? You can’t love anyone and be in control. Love is messy and unpredictable. Look at the evidence in front of you.”
She twisted back to study him. His face obscured by shadow thanks to the moonlight and his ever present Stetson.
Deep down, some part of her wanted this. Wanted it to mean something. Something more than just super hot amazing mind-blowing sex. She turned forward and took a deep steadying breath.
This was it. The moment where all her timelines collided. If Dr. Who and the TARDIS materialized right in front of her, she’d jump into the unknown without a second thought.
Wasn’t this the same?
Jumping into the unknown?
And just like Dr. Who, she even had a companion to hold her hand.
“You’re thi
nking again, Maddie.”
She sighed heavily. “You don’t want to know what I’m thinking.”
“Try me.”
The challenge was obvious in his voice, but he let the silence draw out between them.
He massaged her side in lazy circles. Everywhere he touched, jolts of electricity zinged straight to her core. And when combined with the movement of the saddle against her clit, she wasn’t sure she’d make it to the barn. Orgasming on horseback would definitely be a new milestone for her.
For the final time, she jammed the fear down into the sole of her boot. And jumped.
“Fine.” Her voice no longer sounded like her own. “If you must know… I was, I was… questioning whether or not I could make it back to the barn without…without having an orgasm,” she finished hotly.
Immediately, Blake stilled. Silence crackled between them.
Flames of embarrassment licked up her neck. “Say something,” she whispered after what seemed like an eternity.
“Jesus,” he rasped. “That’s the hottest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He pulled her tighter against him, his fingers diving under her waistband searching for her skin. “Did you really mean it?”
His voice was low and hot in her ear. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. A thrill of exhilaration roared through her. What else could she tell him? Emboldened by his reaction, she continued.
“When you put your lips on my neck like that, it makes my nipples hard.”
This time he groaned. He moved his hand to palm her breast, his fingers searching for and finding her taut nipple. He pinched it gently, sending a bolt of lust right to her core. She threw her head back onto his chest, reeling from the sensation.
“Unbutton your shirt,” he commanded.
“D-do my other nipple.”
He sought her other nipple and rolled it between is thumb and forefinger. Wetness pooled at her crux, heightening the friction of the saddle. She clenched her thighs, squirming in the saddle.
“Jesus, Maddie. Your mouth is so fucking hot. Keep talking to me.”
“Wait until you feel the rest of me.”
She unbuttoned the top button of her shirt. Then the second. His breathing was becoming more labored. She placed her hand over his, circling her nipple, reveling in his quick intake of breath. Quickly, she undid the rest of the buttons, exposing herself to the night air.
