Shilah lay alone in bed, staring up at the skylight in his ceiling, thinking of what had happened between him and Ellie with his shaft still semi-erect. A state that seemed to be a regular for him, since Ellie had reentered his life.
Making love to her wasn’t something he’d planned, but neither was his life turning upside down and inside out the way it had since her return.
With a low growl he turned back on his side, as even the damn skylight reminded him of Ellie.
He’d had the skylight built into his ceiling when they’d begun the renovations on the house, several years ago. All because of an off comment Ellie had made when they were teenagers.
It had been the end of spring, and an unusually warm day. They’d been outside, lying on the grass staring up at the moonlit sky. Ellie had driven up with her father as he’d been inoculating the animals and, when Shilah had asked her to stay longer, she’d given him a shy smile and gotten permission from her father.
That night stood out for him for two reasons. One reason was that it had been the last time the two of them were alone together.
Secondly, because it was then that Shilah realized that he cared about her in a way that went beyond mere friendship. But he’d never told her.
Now as he lay in bed he wondered if fate had intervened and given him a second chance with her. If he could find out whether the feelings he had were strong, real, and if she felt anything for him, a small glimmer of the wild way he felt about her.
Or, if as before he’d allow the fear of rejection, a rejection that seemed to follow him around like some sort of wounded dog, would again prevent him from telling her how he felt.
He laughed humorlessly, thinking how he’d pushed thoughts of her aside all these years, afraid to examine his feelings for her.
Restless, he turned over in bed again, punching the pillow into shape.
The semi-erect state became a full-blown hard-on as his mind filled with images of her beautiful body, partially exposed to him, the feel of her perfect breasts filling his mouth…the taste, the fragrance of her femininity still in his nose…his breath.
He inhaled a low, shaky breath.
The erotic images, coupled with the state of his arousal, promised for a long, long, restless night.
Chapter 11
“I’ll take the rest of these to the men, Ms. Lilly,” the young girl said, lifting the heavy basket in her thin arms.
“Anna, you can’t do that alone! I’ll get one of the men to help you,” Lilly said with a frown. She watched the girl lift the basket filled with food to take to the canteen.
“Yaz, baby, go on and get Holt. Tell him we need help…. I know that boy ain’t too far away. Unless he’s working, he’s usually within yelling distance from you.” Lilly turned to Yasmine, who was in the process of pulling a tray filled with an assortment of goodies from the oven. “I swear, the way you two act around each other, it’s a wonder either one of you ever gets any work done.”
“Uhh…kinda busy with this, Aunt Lilly,” Yasmine said, as she placed the cooking pan on top of the large double oven.
“Ohh, that smells delicious…gimme gimme gimme,” Althea said from across the kitchen without looking up.
“None for you!” Yasmine said in her best “Soup Nazi” imitation from a long-running sitcom.
“No, really, I can handle it,” Anna said, and before Lilly could stop her, with only a slight stumble to her walk, she rushed from the kitchen.
“Yaz, you don’t want to mess with a woman on the verge of a breakdown!”
“Breakdown from what?”
Lilly spread her hands over the food-filled basket, indicating the cause of her mental state. “Need I say more? Why so many choices, each one as pretty as the next. I’ll never decide!” she groused. “Now, just hand over the brownie and nobody gets hurt,” she said in mock menace, and Ellie laughed along with Yasmine as she handed her the gooey confection.
Ellie’s glance ran over the women gathered in the kitchen, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Unsure of her reception by the others because of her involvement with the investigation, she’d been surprised yet pleased when Yasmine had come out to the field today and invited her to have a late lunch with the other women.
It had been a long time since the two women had seen each other, and Ellie had eagerly accepted her invitation, hoping the time spent with Yasmine and her aunt would help to keep her mind and thoughts away from Shilah.
She’d spent much of the morning as well as the last few days in the field, continuing her work, firmly shoving all thoughts of Shilah aside when they pressed into her mind. Not that he’d made that task easy to accomplish, although he’d kept his distance from her.
It had been his nightly invasion of her dreams, some of the most erotic dreams she’d ever had, that kept him front-row-and-center in her thoughts. Dreams of herself and Shilah together, wrapped around each other, taking their passionate act to levels that even now made her blush.
The dream images of them together, bodies intertwined, locked in passion, had made sleep a restless venture at best.
The day after their encounter, hoping not to see him, Ellie hadn’t known if she was relieved or disappointed when Jake, the ranch’s foreman, had shown up to help instead.
For the remainder of the week Shilah had stayed away from her…and she’d been even more hyperaware of him, knowing to the second whenever he was anywhere in her vicinity.
Whenever he was around, the back of her neck would tingle, a slow heat invading her entire body, something she’d come to understand signaled that he was near.
She’d stop whatever she was in the process of doing and turn, seeking him out. Unable to look away, her heart would thud slowly against her rib cage as she stared across the distance at him, watching as his muscles bunched beneath his work shirt, as he handled the cattle…or the way the muscles in his throat stood out in sharp relief when he tilted his canteen to his mouth, his strong throat working down the liquid.
It was like some invisible thread connected them together—whenever he was within her general vicinity, that tingling awareness would sweep over her, and her body would respond on cue.
Her nipples would constrict and embarrassing moisture gathered in her panties.
It seemed as though even her own body was set on sabotaging her.
More than once she’d had to ask Jake or one of the other ranch hands to repeat a question they’d asked.
She had it in a bad way. And no amount of ignoring, pretending or anything else was going to make whatever she and Shilah had between them…chemistry, lust…whatever it was, go away by pretending it wasn’t there.
A living, breathing entity of its own, it seemed to grow, despite her desperate attempts to pretend otherwise.
And she knew Shilah was just as aware of her. She’d felt his glance on her, more than once.
Earlier in the day she’d felt that weird tingling, one she now associated with Shilah, and had turned to see him watching her. His hot gaze brazenly skimmed over her as she sat astride her horse, the intensity, the focused way he was looking at her, bringing a wave of electric heat through her body, and she’d gasped.
Her name being called finally broke into her attention and she turned, placing a trembling smile on her face, shaken by the small encounter.
“Hmm, I don’t know about the new girl, Anna,” Lilly said, forcing Ellie out of her own thoughts.
“What’s wrong, Aunt Lilly?” Althea asked from across the room.
This was the first time Ellie had met Nate’s fiancée, Althea. From her father, Ellie had learned of Althea’s history and how she’d come to Wyoming Wilde.
From what she’d learned, Althea came from money, yet her warm smile and easy personality made it seem as though Ellie had known Althea much longer than the hour they’d spent here with the women.
“Just something about her…” Lilly said, shaking her head as she dusted the flour from her hand
s onto her apron.
“Like what?” Althea asked, her voice distracted as she glanced over at Lilly.
Yasmine raised a brow at her aunt. “Now, Aunt Lilly…you’re starting to sound like Nate!” she said, referring to her future brother-in-law and his previous mistrust of the women who worked at the ranch.
“No, it’s not that,” Lilly said, making a motion with her hand. “I can’t quite put my finger on it.” She frowned and shook her head. “Something about the way she’s always sneaking around where she has no place being.”
Althea bit down into the brownie, and licked away the ooze of chocolate that had escaped. “Well, if she can keep on making brownies like this…she can’t be half-bad!” she said, and Ellie laughed.
“Hmm. I guess,” Lilly said, her voice doubtful.
Ellie was seconds away from biting into the dessert when she felt Lilly’s scrutinizing eyes on her.
“And now…why don’t you tell us what’s going on between you and Shilah?” she asked, and Ellie felt like a deer caught in headlights as all three women turned and looked at her, sly grins crossing their faces.
She swallowed the bite she’d taken, trying to gather her scattered wits, wondering how…what the women knew.
Chapter 12
Without having to look at his watch Shilah knew to the minute the last time he’d had sex.
And if memory served correctly, the last woman he’d been with, he’d picked up here, at the same club, while sitting on this exact same barstool.
Which was exactly why he’d come tonight.
To pick up a woman, any woman, in an attempt to ruthlessly shove away the images from his mind of Ellie, her head thrown back in ecstasy as he’d made love to her in the most intimate way.
The last moment, right before she’d climaxed, it had taken all his will not to pick her up, turn and lay her across the table, his cock embedded deep inside her sweet, willing warmth.
He inhaled a deep breath, grabbed the beer the bartender had placed in front of him, tilted his head and in one long drink, gulped down the entire contents.
Shit.
Blowing across his mind in regular rotation, much like an overplayed song on the radio whose lyrics become etched in the listener’s mind, he could recall, in painful detail, every part of her soft, lusciously curved body to a T, inch by inch, curve by curve, and every nook and cranny in between.
He couldn’t get her out of his mind no matter how hard he tried—no matter how many long hours he put in around the ranch, well past quitting time—the image of her, legs spread, head thrown back in bliss as he’d made love to her.
He couldn’t exorcise from his mind her smell, that unique scent that seemed to belong to her and her alone, a mixture of fresh flowers and earthy woman, or the feel of her sweet lush body.
For the remainder of the week he’d kept his distance from her, his nerves so taut he knew that if he didn’t, he’d say to hell with it, pick her up and carry her to his room, to pick up where they had left off.
Every day since he’d worked until he couldn’t move, and finally exhausted, he’d made his way to the house, and slumped into the bed.
Where images of her continued to haunt him, relentlessly, refusing to allow him any peace of mind.
Last night, unable to take it anymore, feeling like he was losing his mind, as he’d lain in bed, staring up at the ceiling, he’d palmed his shaft in his hand, knowing that it was the only thing that would relieve the building, bone-crushing ache that was starting to drive him out of his damn mind.
He set his beer down on the counter, silently nodding his head when the bartender asked if he wanted a refill.
Which was the only reason he was here tonight.
What was brewing between him and Ellie was something he knew wasn’t good for either of them. Too many questions still lay between them, doubts and insecurities. Not to mention her dedication to maintaining her professional ethics.
But despite all of that, Shilah knew that if he continued to work side by side with her, it was only a matter of time before he’d do something stupid, and force her to admit she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
As much as he wanted to do exactly that, in the end, he didn’t want to think about how she’d feel about him afterward. Shilah lifted the beer to his lips, and this time allowed the liquid amber to slide slowly down his throat.
The arctic greeting she’d given him the next morning had shown him that her guard was back in place, a barrier she was hell-bent on maintaining between them.
With a drawn-out breath, Shilah allowed his glance to drift across the crowded bar, surveying the scene.
To hell with it. And her. If she didn’t think what they had was special—if she didn’t want to take the chance that what they had, what they could have, could be one of the best things that ever came their way—who was he to fight against it.
Seemed like he had been trying his whole life to prove he was worthy of someone loving him.
Forcing the maudlin thoughts to the side he continued his perusal of the club. It was Friday night, and although barely eight o’clock, the club was already hopping, as it was the hottest spot in Lander, Wyoming.
Truth be told, besides the variety of pubs on every corner, it was the only spot in town where people could dance and mingle. Sporting three levels, the club brought in customers not only in the small town of Lander, but, due to its increasing popularity, people came from miles away to party at the club.
Dubbed “the pick-up spot,” it was a place where people mingled from all walks of life, all looking for a little action, if only for the night. It was a place where hookups happened regularly, and a man…or woman, was guaranteed to find someone to fill the empty void, if only for one night.
Exactly the place he needed, he thought, finishing off his beer.
There was a time when he and his brothers hit this place, or similar ones, together, the three men having their pick of women for the night. Even then, there were times when Shilah longed for something more. Something like what his brothers now had—one woman to love, to call his own, one woman he could turn to, the only one he wanted to turn to during good and bad times.
More and more, Shilah was beginning to feel like the odd man out.
Without conceit, Shilah was well aware of his effect on the opposite sex, something he and his brothers during their younger years had capitalized on.
The Wilde boys.
That’s what they were called, from as young as he could remember. First, as the wild “hellions” Jed Wilde had adopted, cast-offs, unwanted by their families. The kind of boys who, if a woman passed them on a deserted street, she would clutch her purse tightly against herself.
As the boys grew into manhood, women held on to their daughters, just as tightly.
Wilde. Undisciplined and reckless.
He and his brothers hadn’t given a damn what others thought about them. He knew that, although the young girls looked at them longingly as their mothers dragged them away, Shilah and his brothers were not the types any of those same girls would dare bring home to meet their parents.
Not that it mattered.
And although their opinions had changed as they’d grown to manhood, their wealth increasing, as had their status, Shilah knew that despite all of that, if those overprotective mamas knew his history, where he’d come from, they’d turn disdainful eyes his way and swiftly hustle their daughters away.
“You here alone, sugar? Or would you like a little company?”
Shilah turned from his perusal of the club and his own thoughts to cast a slow, appraising glance over the woman who’d come to stand near the bar, next to him.
He allowed his glance to slide over her, lazily, taking in the short dress that was barely long enough to cover an ass so round and full, he wondered how she even took a step without showing her panties.
That is, if she was wearing any. He had a distinct impression that she wasn’t.
The hot smile stret
ching across her full, red-hot lipstick-covered lips competed with her equally flaming-red hair. Although wide and inviting, there was a certain calculating look in her eyes as she in turn assessed him, head to toe.
He eyed the rest of her. The dress she wore was soft, made out of some stretchy type of material that molded her curvy body as though it were a second skin.
Despite the youthful attire and alluring smile, the heavy makeup she wore didn’t disguise the fine lines that framed the corners of her mouth and eyes.
But tonight he wasn’t picky. Tonight he needed a woman to take his mind away from the one he couldn’t have, the one who had plagued his thoughts for longer than he wanted to admit. His cock hardened, but not for the woman standing in front of him.
She glanced down, her grin widening, and slid her glance back to meet his eyes. Moving closer, she scored the side of his face lightly with her long, sculpted nails.
“Or…we can take this party somewhere else,” she suggested, her voice low, full of suggestion.
He rose from the barstool, towering over her, despite the stiletto boots she wore.
“Let’s go,” he said. Withdrawing his wallet, he threw down bills to cover his tab, along with a hefty tip, and turned, his arm going around the woman, and left the bar.
Chapter 13
Her hands shook as Ellie unlocked the front door and dragged her bone-weary body into her parents’ home. No sooner had she closed the door than she slumped down against the frame.
She was so tired even her eyelids ached. She blew out a long breath and allowed her lids to droop as her head dropped back, leaning heavily against the door.
She would have slipped right onto the floor had she not used the last ounce of her strength to push away from the door and move farther inside the house, and slowly make her way to the kitchen.
Opening the fridge, she withdrew a large bottle of water and uncapped it, allowing the ice-cold contents to slide down her throat, closing her eyes.
To Desire a Wilde Page 8
