by Karen Foley
She loved everything about Riverrun Ranch. She had so many wonderful childhood memories of days spent with either Emmaline or Callie, or just watching her grandmother prepare meals for the Claiborne family. She recalled when she had first begun to notice Holt as more than just her friend’s older brother. He had returned to the ranch following his divorce and had moved back into the main house. At the time, he was only twenty-five years old and Jessie was sixteen, almost seventeen. She’d come to the ranch more often that next year in hopeful anticipation of seeing him. If he’d noticed her at all, it was simply to nod a greeting. But by the time she’d graduated from culinary school four years later, her crush on him was complete. He was ruggedly handsome, mysteriously stoic, and hardworking. Most of all, he understood the importance of family. For as long as Jessie could recall, he’d looked out for his siblings. He’d even tried to chase Cort off when he’d believed him to be a fortune hunter after Emmaline’s money.
But only in her wildest dreams did Holt Claiborne hold her in his arms and touch her as intimately as he had in the barn. She’d always thought him sexy, but she’d never thought she would see him set aside his cool reserve as he had that night. He’d surprised her with his passion and his tender expertise. The man knew his way around a woman’s body. Now that she’d experience him for herself, she craved more. She wanted to show him that she could please him, the way he had pleased her.
She wanted to show him that she was the perfect woman for him.
Sadly, she didn’t know if she would have the opportunity, since he seemed determined to avoid her again, and soon, she’d leave Riverrun Ranch for good. She figured she only had a week—maybe two—to catch her cowboy.
Chapter Eleven
It took Jessie two trips to bring the food and the laundry into the house. Sam was asleep on the back terrace and he came into the kitchen to greet her, his tail thumping happily against her legs.
“Hey, boy,” she said, bending down to stroke his ears. “What are you doing up here? Don’t you know Holt is down at the barn?” The yellow lab generally followed Holt everywhere so Jessie was surprised to see him at the house. “Is it time for your supper? Is that why you’re up here?”
After putting the bread pudding into the fridge, she measured out some dry dog food and watched as Sam enthusiastically began to wolf it down. She brought the laundry basket upstairs and left Gus’s and Evan’s bundles on top of their dressers. She stored the sheets and towels in the linen closet and carried Holt’s freshly laundered clothing to his room.
Jessie opened the door and stepped into the dark bedroom. She’d taken no more than four steps toward the bed when she realized she’d made a mistake. Light shone from under the adjoining bathroom door and she could hear someone—Holt—moving around. Jessie froze, but as she turned to creep out of the room, the bathroom door opened and Holt stood silhouetted in the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs that hugged his strong thighs and emphasized his masculine assets.
Jessie gaped at him, unable to move or even formulate words to explain why she was standing in the middle of his bedroom. Steam wreathed around him as he stared at her. His hair was wet and his skin gleamed with moisture. The muscles that had made her go boneless in the barn were on full display, and the light from the bathroom cast intriguing shadows over the sculpted contours of his shoulders and arms. She saw again the light furring of chest hair that tapered down his stomach and disappeared beneath the elastic waistband of his boxers. Her fingers itched to follow that path.
“Jessica.” She could hear the surprise in his deep voice. “What are you doing here?”
“I didn’t know you were here,” she said quickly. “I thought you were down at the barn.” She held out the bundle of clothing. “I was picking up the laundry and they gave me yours. I was just—I was—”
Holt crossed the space that separated them and the bundle of clothing slipped from fingers that had suddenly gone nerveless. He stopped just inches from her and Jessie could feel the energy that radiated from him. The air vibrated with awareness. His blue eyes were intent on her face, and she made no protest when he reached out and lifted a strand of her hair from her shoulder and rubbed it between his fingers. He was so close that even in the indistinct light, she saw the water that trickled along the side of his neck.
“I’ve tried to stay away from you,” he muttered, his voice low and rough. “God knows I’ve tried, but it’s been hell, and now here you are, and I’ll be damned if I let you go without doing this.”
Jessie went still as he bracketed her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking lightly along her cheekbones. Then he bent his head and kissed her, cautiously at first, as if he expected her to protest. But the first touch of his mouth against hers snapped her out of the trance she’d been in. She kissed him back, parting her lips and inviting the touch of his tongue against hers. Holt grunted in assent and hauled her into his arms.
In the space of a heartbeat, everything changed.
Holt slanted his mouth hard over hers and deepened the kiss, sinking his tongue deep into her mouth until Jessie went weak with the pleasure of it. She clung to him, her hands pressed against the bare skin of his back. He was warm and solid and she could feel the flex of his muscles beneath her fingers. He tasted of minty toothpaste and smelled of something woodsy and citrusy.
She wanted to consume him.
Holt lifted his head and his blue eyes glittered hotly. “If you want to leave, you should go now. If you stay, I’m taking you to bed.”
Jessie’s heart, already racing, nearly stopped. As declarations went, it wasn’t overly romantic, but it was enough for her. If she left now, she’d likely never have this chance again. He’d rebuke himself for his moment of weakness and ensure there was no repeat offer. If she left now, he’d take it as a personal rejection and the walls he kept so carefully erected would be raised even higher.
For half an instant, she couldn’t breathe. Holt’s eyes showed raw need and heat, just barely banked. He wasn’t making her any promises, but she didn’t care. Right now, she didn’t want anything beyond this moment, this night. She’d leave the ranch in the morning, since she wouldn’t work for Gus and carry on an affair under his roof. But Gus was gone tonight and there was no reason not to stay. Tomorrow, when she was no longer employed at Riverrun Ranch, she and Holt could talk about a future.
Their future.
“I’ll stay,” she said softly, and punctuated her words with a soft kiss, wreathing her arms around his neck. “Of course I’ll stay. I want to stay.”
Holt groaned and speared his fingers in her hair, angling her head for better access as he plundered her mouth again. Jessie sagged against him, allowing him to feast on her lips. His kiss was hot and urgent, and an answering heat unfurled and blossomed low in Jessie’s midsection. She clutched his arms, curling her fingers around his hard biceps, because the room seemed to spin around them as he kissed her. She wasn’t aware of anything except the moist warmth of his lips against hers. When he finally lifted his head and stepped away long enough to kick the bedroom door closed, she felt lost. Light from the bathroom spilled into the bedroom, illuminating him. His eyes were hungry as he turned back to her.
“I need to see you.” His hands went to the hem of her T-shirt and he pulled it up and over her head. Without breaking eye contact, he reached behind her and deftly unfastened her bra, then let it slide free of her arms and drop to the floor beside her shirt. His gaze dropped to her breasts and he dragged in an unsteady breath. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
He cupped her breasts in the palms of his warm hands and gently hefted their weight, before stroking his thumbs across the tips. Her nipples immediately contracted. When he bent his head to kiss her breasts, Jessie pushed her fingers through his short hair, the thick, damp layers cool in comparison to the heat of his scalp. When he raised his head, she pressed a soft, lingering kiss against his mouth.
“Come with me,” she urge
d, and took his hands, before walking backward in the direction of the bed and tugging him with her.
Holt didn’t resist.
There was a telltale rise at the front of his boxers, proof of his arousal. The knowledge that she could excite him so gave Jessie added confidence, especially when she recalled how he had rebuffed her efforts to touch him in the barn. When the backs of her thighs bumped against the bed, she drew Holt closer and kissed him again, fusing her mouth with his. His hands came back to her breasts, gently squeezing and fondling them as he kissed her. Desire jackknifed through her and she didn’t protest when his hands moved to her waistband and unfastened the snap of her jeans.
“If you’re staying, you won’t need these,” he said. “Take them off.”
His soft order caused shivers of anticipation to course through Jessie. She complied, unzipping her pants and pushing them down over her hips and then toeing her canvas shoes off before she stepped completely out of the jeans. She was trembling inside, half-afraid Holt would change his mind. But instead, he gave a soft laugh and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like I am so fucked.
Not yet, Jessie thought with feminine satisfaction, but soon.
“Take me to bed, Holt,” she commanded, and moved into his arms.
He hauled her against his body until her breasts flattened against his chest, and kissed her until she was breathless. When he eased her back onto the bed, she pulled him with her, loving the heavy weight of him on top of her.
“You’re sure about this?” Holt pressed his mouth against the sensitive skin beneath her ear, causing delicious shivers.
“Yes. A thousand times, yes.”
As if he only needed that assurance, he kissed her again, before he worked his way down her body, lingering over her breasts and drawing each nipple into his mouth, in turn. Jessie gasped and arched upward, her hands in his hair as he moved lower still and teased the whorl of her navel with his tongue. When he reached the edge of her panties, he glanced up at her, his blue eyes gleaming in the indistinct light.
“I’ve been wanting to do this since our night in the barn.” He slowly drew the scrap of fabric down, until he could pull it completely free of her body.
Our night in the barn.
His words warmed Jessie, doing more to make her feel connected to him than any physical contact could. She had never been so acutely aware of her own vulnerability. She’d wanted Holt for as long as she could remember and now, she was laying herself bare to him, in every way possible. He could break her heart, but it was a risk she was willing to take.
“Holt,” she said, reaching for him, “come up here with me.”
“In a moment,” he murmured, and skated his palms over her thighs before lowering his head and following the path of his hands with his lips. He kissed the inside of her knee and then moved upward, until he was at the apex of her thighs.
“Open up for me, darlin’.”
His breath huffed warmly against her sensitive flesh and then his hands were there, gently parting her as he stroked a finger through her feminine folds. Jessie gasped, but any thought of stopping him was obliterated beneath the hot, slick wash of his tongue against her. A small exclamation escaped her and then she stopped thinking completely as he proceeded to make her lose her mind. He licked at her, using his mouth and tongue to drive her need higher. The sight of his broad shoulders and dark head between her thighs was the most erotic thing Jessie had ever seen and her hands clenched convulsively in the bedding as tight coils of tension gathered and built inside her. Reaching up, Holt covered one hand with his own, lacing his fingers with hers.
“Let it go, darlin’,” he said.
The sensation of his mouth, combined with his husky command, was more than Jessie could take, and the building pressure shattered and broke over her in powerful waves. Holt didn’t stop until the last quiver had subsided from her body and Jessie lay boneless beneath him. Easing himself over her, he kissed her deeply. Jessie reached down and cupped him through the soft fabric of his boxers.
“I want you so much,” she murmured against his mouth. “Take these off and come inside me.”
Holt dropped his head to her shoulder, his breathing uneven. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I want to more than I want my next breath. But I can’t. I don’t have any protection and I won’t put you at risk.”
It took a moment for Jessie to understand what he was saying. He had invited her to stay, knowing he couldn’t finish what he’d started? It was so unlike Holt that she actually found it endearing. “But I thought all guys carried protection.”
“I haven’t had a reason to,” he said, lifting his head and letting her see the regret in his eyes.
“What if I’m safe?” She wound her arms around his neck.
“We can’t,” he said. “Trust me when I say this is harder for me than it is for you.”
Jessie gave a small gurgle of laughter. “Holt Claiborne, did you just make a joke?”
“I’d laugh myself, if I thought it was funny,” he groaned.
“Here, roll over.” Jessie pushed at his broad shoulders and he complied, rolling onto his back beside her. Hooking her fingers into the waistband of the briefs, she pulled them down. Holt lifted his hips to help her. The light slanting in from the bathroom washed over him, revealing the most perfect physique Jessie had ever seen. Even his thighs were strongly muscled and his other assets—Jessie had known he was large, but seeing his erection made her want to weep with disappointment that they wouldn’t be having sex. She trailed her fingers over his stomach, and stroked his shaft. He watched her with molten eyes and bent his arms behind his head, displaying his impressive triceps. He lay quietly, but Jessie wasn’t fooled. Even if his body hadn’t given him away, the ruddy color on his cheekbones and his agitated breathing would have. It was taking all his restraint to remain pliant and unmoving beneath her roaming hands.
“What did you have in mind?” His eyes glittered as he watched her.
“Just this,” she said, and leaned over to kiss him. She used her lips and tongue, making the kiss as lush as she knew how while she continued to stroke and squeeze him, until Holt buried his hands in her hair and sank his tongue deep into her mouth.
Breaking the kiss, she released him, and worked her way down his body, lingering over the flat discs of his nipples and smoothing her palms over his pecs. His stomach muscles contracted as she kissed her way downward, gently biting his hip bone and then curling her hand around his hardness. His breath hissed in as she began to stroke him, but when she touched him with her tongue, he made a deep groaning sound of pleasure. Knowing he watched her, Jessie drew him into her mouth and began to lave him with her tongue, hoping her enthusiasm made up for her limited experience. Holt’s body tightened and his breathing grew ragged as she stroked him with her hands and mouth. He caressed her ears, her neck, her shoulders, keeping his touch light and gentle, but Jessie knew the precise moment that he no longer had control over his own reaction.
“Jessica.” His voice sounded ragged, urgent. “Are you sure you’re safe?”
Jessie raised her head. Holt’s blue eyes were unfocused, his color high.
“I’ve been on the pill since I was seventeen to regulate my periods. I promise you I’m safe.”
“Jessie, if we do this—”
She leveraged herself up until she was beside him. “Holt, I’ve wanted this forever. Please don’t make me wait any longer.”
In a heartbeat, Jessie found herself on her back beneath him. He hooked his arms beneath her knees and opened her wide. He was looking at her as if he wanted to eat her alive.
“Jess . . .” His voice sounded low and anguished.
“Please, yes.”
Almost before the word was uttered, he slid into her in one deep, glorious thrust. Jessie cried out with the sheer intensity of it and her body clenched hard around the wet silken hardness of him. She pulled him down on top of her and kissed him, her arms and legs locked around his taut body as
he moved. He slanted his mouth hard across hers, using his teeth and lips and tongue to coax a greedy response from her. Jessie lifted her hips to meet his powerful thrusts, the voluptuous slide of his flesh pulling her into another orgasm. She came in hard shudders and, through a haze of blinding pleasure, watched Holt’s legendary control crumble as he came apart in her arms.
He lay still for several long moments with his face against her neck, dragging in deep lungfuls of air. Then he rolled onto his back and tucked her snugly against his side. Jessie curled against him, listening to the strong thud of his heart. His breathing still came in ragged gusts, and she slid an arm and leg across his body, as if she could protect him from himself.
“Good?” she asked softly.
“Honey,” he said thickly, “it was good the second you walked into the room. But that—” He gave a soft huff of laughter. “That was worth the wait.”
Jessie almost stopped breathing. Carefully, she raised herself on one elbow and studied his face in the dim light. “You’ve been waiting for me?”
He looked disconcerted for a moment and then seemed to collect himself. “I only meant that I’ve, uh, gone without for a while now.” He pulled her onto his chest and bracketed her face in his hands as he kissed her. “But I’ve only gotten started with you.”
Jessie felt her heart hitch. “What did you have in mind?”
“Everything, darlin’,” he said in a rough whisper, and kissed her again. “Let me show you.”
Chapter Twelve
Jessica returned to her own rooms just after dawn. Holt had tried to persuade her to spend the morning in bed with him, but she reminded him that his father and Evan could be home in time for breakfast. He’d reluctantly let her go, knowing his own chores wouldn’t wait. Now he lay on his bed, conflicted and filled with doubts. Had the sex been amazing?
