Prairie Heat (Cowboys of The Flint Hills #1)

by Tessa Layne

  “Just showing you that cowboys can be romantic on occasion.”

  She removed her glasses, leaving them on the little table and joined him on the floor, snuggling up to him. He bent his head, giving her a lingering kiss, tongue curling with hers. She could taste the spikey bite of the champagne. She brought her hand to his face, delighting in the sandpaper feel of his end of day stubble.

  The thought of that scraping her most sensitive skin sent a jolt of heat to her crux. With every kiss, she fell deeper into this… whateveritwas. With every kiss, she grew more and more unable to crawl out of the hole she’d dug for her heart.

  Keeping his mouth on hers, he began to undo the buttons on her shirt. When she moved to help him, his hand stilled her. “Let me, sweet,” he muttered into her lips. “Sit back and enjoy.”

  He brought his lips to her neck, nuzzling and nipping the sensitive spot underneath her ear. Her nipples puckered in her bra and she arched into him, sighing.

  After only a week, he’d mapped her body. Memorizing where and how she was most sensitive.

  When he’d worked the buttons off, he began caressing her skin in lazy circles. Skimming inside her pants, then working his way across her body and up her ribs until he stopped at the edge of the lacy material of her bra.

  Heat oozed through her, making her limbs slow and languid, as his hands left a trail of goosebumps across her torso. She expected his thumb to dive under the material, but instead he traced the swell of her breast, circling her nipple through the lace, hardening it further. A sigh escaped as he flicked this thumb back and forth. Kissing the corner of her mouth, he slowly drew off her shirt and sat back.

  “You’re glorious, all golden in the firelight. Your hair looks like a halo.”

  The sincerity in his voice set her pulse thrumming.

  “First I’m seductive in silver, now I’m glorious and gold?” She reached behind and unhooked her bra.

  “Exactly. A lovely contradiction.”

  She reached up to remove the strap, but his hand covered hers. “Let me.”

  The straps whispered down her arms while the lace lingered a moment on her swells, before slipping into her lap. His breath hissed as he brought his fingers up to lightly caress her fullness. The heat from the fire licked at her, sending bumps skittering across her skin.

  Light flashed, brightening the room, thunder on its heels. She started. “Storm’s here.”

  Rain opened up on the cabin, drumming on the roof the way her blood drummed in her ears.

  He shifted, reaching for the pillow. “Lie back, love.” The blankets were cool against her inflamed skin as he helped her settle back. Giving her a slow, sexy smile, he removed his shirt and tossed it next to hers.

  He hovered over her, eyes boring into her with intensity. Her skin heated and pulled tight. He traced her with his fingertips, bringing them to rest on the button of her pants. Her breath caught in anticipation.

  He slipped a finger inside her waistband, slipping it back and forth before undoing the button and releasing the zipper. Her pussy clenched and heat pooled between her legs. Holding her gaze, he lowered his head, lips caressing just above the lace of her panties. Pinpricks of sensation zoomed straight to her clit.

  “Lift your hips, love,” he murmured into her skin, still not taking his eyes away from hers.

  Each time he said ‘love’ a tiny thrill swirled through her. Her heart swelled, pressing up inside her. The way he touched her with such care, such tenderness, pierced her. She lifted her hips as an offering. He shimmied off her pants and the scrap of lace, tossing them aside, and brought her hips back down to rest on the pillow.

  Lightning and thunder crashed around them. The sound on the roof increased to deafening. But here inside the tiny hideaway, they were ensconced in their own rising storm.

  He slipped his hand inside her thigh, caressing down her leg. The movement sent licks of electricity to her clit. She dropped her head back, momentarily lost in the sensation.

  “Open for me?” He put pressure on her knee. The words, the simple request, fired her nerve endings in waves, jolting through her like lightning. She dropped her knees, opening her body. She melted under the intensity of his gaze. He hadn’t even touched her, yet the pressure built and twisted in her belly.

  He slipped between her open knees, caressing her legs in long, firm strokes, each time edging higher, closer to her folds. His eyes raked over her, leaving a trail of goosebumps across her body. She rocked her hips involuntarily.

  “Lie still, love.”

  “I… can’t.” She bit her lip to keep from moaning.

  His low chuckle scraped over her, tightening her nipples, and settling in her aching clit.

  He placed a kiss on the inside of her thigh, sucking, then licking the spot with his tongue. At the same time, he brought his thumb to her slit, stroking from entrance to nub, slowly swirling over her clit until it became hard and swollen. Her hips bucked wildly and she cried out, arching.

  His lips curled into a smile against her leg. “Shh, love. I’m just getting started.” He continued to work his thumb up and down her slit, circling her clit each time he neared, spreading her creamy desire. “So beautiful, so much passion inside you. Let it out, Madison.” There was a softness, a reverence, in the way he said her name. Like a prayer.

  She gripped the blankets beside her, trying to catch her breath. Her body was no longer her own. And then he was there. His breath tickled her folds, and she gasped, unable to breathe. His hands came up under her knees and entwined with hers.

  “I’m right here, love.”

  She couldn’t tell if the buzzing in her ears was the storm outside or the one in her body. Every cell waited in hot anticipation.

  He nuzzled the juncture of leg and folds, slowly running his tongue along the outside of her pussy. It took all her concentration to not clench his head between her legs and hold on for dear life. She clutched his hands as her breath came in small gasps.

  He slid his tongue up her mound and across, taking his time and avoiding the place she most wanted him to touch. She arched toward him hungrily.

  “We have all night long,” he murmured into her skin, sending additional ripples of delight coursing through her. “I intend to take my time. No hurrying tonight.” She bit back a needy groan. The anticipation was sweet torture.

  He released one of her hands, bringing his to her belly, massaging her legs and mound, sweeping her sensitized clit from the top. Heat flushed her like a fever raging through her body. Simultaneously hot and trembling with want.

  “I love you, Maddie,” he whispered into her skin. She lifted her head, seeking his eyes. “Your fire, your passion.” Keeping his eyes on her, he lowered his mouth to her wet folds, sliding his tongue up and bringing it to rest on her clit.

  Tears pricked her eyes as she cried out. She reached for him, threading her fingers through his dark waves, caressing his cheek. Emotion broke over her as she rolled under him, unable to tear her eyes from his, locked into his clear gaze like a tractor beam.

  She loved this man with every atom in her body.

  He slid his tongue over her folds, returning to the deep place inside her to lap more of her, sweeping back up to circle her clit. He moved his head and she arched, grinding into him, her body begging for more. He pressed on her mound, his hand massaging and caressing everywhere at once in long strokes that mirrored the work of his mouth.

  There was no more talk. Only little sighs and grunts. She squeezed the hand she held, letting her body move with his head as the tension built and took her higher. As he scraped his teeth lightly over her sensitized nub, she broke, crying out. Her sounds drowned by the cacophony of the storm overhead. And still he moved. Slipping his tongue through her wet folds, maintaining a constant suction, he helped her ride her orgasm to the very end.

  As her breathing slowed, he laid his head on her belly, still holding her hand, and caressing her in lazy circles with the other. She wove her fingers throug
h his thick hair, wanting to touch him, be a part of him.

  Overhead, the rain still pounded, but the thunder began to recede. Inside, the only sound was the crackle of the fire, and their mingled breaths.

  If she could capture this moment and bottle it up, she would. Here, in this place they’d christened with their bodies, the rest of the world stood at bay. She felt more herself than at any other moment. Ever.

  He lifted his eyes to hers. Their hazel depths soft and full in the light of the fire.

  “I love you.” It slipped from her, quiet as a breath. Unbidden. His eyes crinkled at the corners. She said it more firmly. “I love you, Blake.”

  He shifted up on an elbow, and scooted closer. They untangled their hands, and she brought hers to his face, caressing each curve and crevice, imprinting his features into her memory.

  He captured a strand of her hair, winding then unwinding it. Studying the way it curled over his fingers. He exhaled heavily, then brought his eyes back to her. “I have no right to ask this. But I will.”

  She stilled, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

  He looked down at his fingers again, still wrapped in her hair. Her toes and fingers suddenly went numb as the blood rushed inward with a surge of adrenaline. When he looked up again, he looked… afraid. But only for the tiniest of moments.

  “Stay?”

  The word hung between them. Suspended like a planet in orbit.

  “How?”

  How could she stay and leave her work? How could she go back to the lab and leave him? Her heart twisted in slow, sinking knots.

  He shrugged. His eyes as intense and determined as the receding storm.

  “Maddie… I…” He pulled her hand to his heart. “I don’t want you to go.” His words came out in a breathless rush.

  “I don’t want to leave,” she whispered.

  “We can figure this out… Can’t we?”

  Hope bloomed in her chest. Pushing out fear, swelling and pressing, demanding to be acknowledged.

  “This isn’t rocket science.”

  Her smile wavered. “It’s harder.”

  “You’re the smartest woman I know. We can find a way. I’m sure of it.” His voice grew stronger, more urgent.

  “What about my family?”

  He gave her hand a little squeeze. “We can handle them. Together.”

  His conviction touched and terrified her.

  Blake brought his hand to her face, caressing her cheek, coming to rest under her chin. He tilted her face up.

  “Please… Maddie.” His eyes showed the determination of a man who would not be thwarted. “I want to be with you. Don’t we deserve to give our love a chance?”

  “I…” All the excuses of why this couldn’t possibly work, why it wasn’t rational or logical or practical, disintegrated in the face of the answer of her heart. She loved him and wanted to be with him.

  “Yes.” She nodded. “Yes.” An ache expanded into her throat and she couldn’t say more.

  Relief flashed through his eyes. And joy. He crushed his lips to hers, tumbling them both to the floor. He rolled her on top of him, his hands stroking her back.

  “I know it won’t be easy, but we can figure it out.”

  She silenced him with her mouth. Pressing her lips to his and sweeping her tongue inside. He still tasted of her. “Tomorrow.” She mumbled against his lips. “Tomorrow. Want… you… now.”

  He growled in the back of his throat and rolled them over again, pressing his hips to hers. The denim on her still sensitized clit immediately set her need flowing again. She reached for his zipper, thrusting a hand inside to stroke him as he wriggled out of his jeans.

  She brought her other hand down to cup his balls. Stroking and pulling, as she gently stroked his rigid shaft. He groaned and thrust further into her hand.

  He brought his mouth to her breast, pulling on her hardened nipple, rolling it with his tongue before sucking hard. She arched toward him, giving him more of herself to take into his mouth.

  She swept her thumb across the head of his cock, smearing the slick drop of precome across his slit and down the underside where it was most sensitive. He groaned onto her nipple as he thrust into her hand. The vibrations from his mouth sent ripples careening directly to her aching clit, restarting the upward spiral of ecstasy.

  “Need you… Inside me… Can’t wait.” Her breath came in quick pants, she wanted to seal this commitment with her body as well as her heart.

  Blake lifted his head. His eyes held a fire she’d never seen. “You’re mine, Maddie.” In one strong movement, he thrust to the hilt, his balls coming to rest on her slick folds. “Don’t forget it.”

  His voice was thick with passion. She clenched her walls desperately trying to hold on as he pulled out slowly. “Ever.” He thrust deeply again, filling her completely.

  “Yes,” she cried out, half sobbing. “Only you, Blake.”

  He continued the rhythm of deep thrusting followed by achingly slow pulling back, winding the lust tighter and hotter with each movement. Just when she didn’t think she could take another without slipping over the edge, he stilled, holding her in the space between insanity and ecstasy.

  He rolled his hips, barely thrusting in and out, and lowered his head to capture one of her tightly budded peaks between his lips. He rolled his tongue around mimicking the rolling of his hips, and she rolled with him, with greater and greater intensity, as the heat inside her burned like a white-hot star.

  He pinched her other nipple at the same time he sucked hard, thrusting once again to the hilt. She cried out as her orgasm exploded over her in brilliant sparks and waves, swirling and crashing as he thrust to help her ride it out, taking everything she had, and joining her in his own violent release. She was nothing. She was everything. Every atom in her body vibrated with the universe. She was nowhere and everywhere. A brilliant beam of light and a million tiny points.

  A tear squeezed from each eye. And his lips were there, brushing and kissing, murmuring sweet incoherent sounds as she floated back to Earth on a sea of stars.

  CHAPTER 26

  Maddie sat at the long Formica bar of Dottie’s, lazily stirring cream into her coffee. Blake had needed to leave early for an errand to Manhattan and had dropped her off at Hansen Stables on his way out of town. She’d enjoyed a nice breakfast with Martha, but one of the boys had already taken her father into town.

  She’d agreed to meet him here for coffee then stay and have lunch with Blake before heading back to the Big House to put in an afternoon of work. She’d made great progress on her research project out here, in spite of the hours she’d needed to spend babysitting her father.

  She sighed, unable to keep the contented smile from her face. Being with Blake had… energized her. Her muscles were tired from their long nights of loving, but her mind was another story. It was like admitting she loved him had unlocked some hidden aspect of her creativity. The fresh air didn’t hurt either. Even though it was only early April, she’d been outside so much she was starting to notice freckles forming across her nose.

  Dottie placed a large sticky bun in front of her.

  “Are you trying to fatten me up, Dottie?”

  “Just want you to taste a little bit of heaven this morning, sweetie.” She waggled her eyebrows. “You look positively languid. Have you been getting enough sleep?”

  Dottie’s eyes twinkled at her, as a telltale flush crept up her neck.

  Dottie patted her cheek. “Aww, sweetie pie. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Just nice to see you two so happy and in love. That’s all.”

  So everyone else could see it, too? There was no reason to hide it.

  She looked around the little diner, studying it with fresh eyes. The patrons, scattered about, most in groups of two or three, all wore smiles on their faces. Several had nodded and smiled at her when she walked in. She had to admit, with exception of Kylee Ross, being home this time had actually been… nice.

  For one per
fect moment, she envisioned herself living with Blake on the ranch, periodically driving in for a morning cuppa and the news from Dottie. The buzzing of her phone broke through her reverie. Glancing at the number, she knew she couldn’t let it go to voice mail.

  “This is Maddie.”

  “Maddie, Richardson.” Of course it was. He was still old-school brusque.

  “Yes, hello. Do you have any questions about the research I sent over yesterday?”

  “That? Er… no. Of course not. Exemplary as usual.” His voice held an edge of condescension.

  “Then may I ask what you need? The team and I are skyping at two.”

  “Er… well… about that.” His voice grew brusque. “The fact of the matter is, this long distance communication isn’t working.”

  For you, maybe.

  “In what way sir?” She knew exactly what way. He felt the only way to manage the project was to have the entire team under his thumb.

  “It just isn’t.”

  She pushed up her glasses, and forced herself to take a calming breath. “The feedback from the team seems great. And I’m not sure my father’s well enough to leave yet. I really think–”

  “Ms. Hansen…” She always knew she’d upset him when he reverted to formalities. “The research partners are unconcerned about your father, or anything that stands in the way of successfully completing the project.”

  He continued, not waiting for her to respond. “You know our organization frowns on long absences.”

  “But I’ve been communicating with the team. And turning in my work. I fail to understand–”

  “We can’t count on you if your loyalties are divided.”

  “But they’re not.” Even as she denied it, she knew it was true. They had suddenly become very much divided, and she was having a difficult time processing that reality.

  She lowered her voice. The last thing she needed was word leaking out that she was having difficulties with her job. “Look, I recognize that Skype is not your preferred method of communication–”