“I’m going to grab a condom.” He watched her face. “If that’s okay.”
She shivered and her smile widened. “More than okay. I need you, cowboy.” She walked up to him and pressed her hands on his hips. “I want this.” One hand slid across his belly and pulled his briefs down to mid-thigh.
He jerked, his balls tightening and heat pooling in his gut. Her small hand gripped his rock-hard cock, packing one hell of a punch to his tightly-controlled lust.
She stroked him, looking at his shaft as if she’d never seen anything that interesting before. When her hand cupped his balls, he tried to speak but it came out a long groan instead. She looked up at him. “You like that?”
“Hell yeah, I like that.” The words shot out of him like a bullet.
Her eyes widened then she laughed. “Wow. I love that response.” Her palm continued its long strokes, her other hand massaged his sac. “You’re probably going to like this too, then.” She knelt and took his cockhead into her mouth in one fast motion.
“Oh, damn it.” Flames raced from his cock, through his balls, and up his spine, begging him to let go and shoot his load into her hot mouth.
As her tongue swirled around his knob, she used her hand to stroke the length of him. The combination nearly made him pop. “Harper.” He didn’t want to come in her mouth. Not this time. He wanted to be inside her, pumping hard and making her scream with her climax.
The room filled with steam from the shower. “You have to stop.” He eased his shaft from the intense pleasure of her mouth and pulled her to her feet. “I want to take you, Red. In the shower, both of us wet and slippery.”
Her face turned pink and her eyes darkened. “Yes.”
He opened the glass shower door, tested the water temperature, and gestured for her to enter.
She trailed her fingers along his abs as she stepped in. Tipping her head back, she let the water glide over her hair and down her body, running over her breasts and off her nipples, down her belly to slide between her legs.
She was absolutely beautiful. His balls gave a warning squeeze. His body needed release. He wouldn’t be doing a marathon this time around. It’d be a sprint. He jogged to the bedroom while stripping off his briefs then pulled a condom out of his wallet, opened it, and rolled it on.
When he stepped into the bathroom, Harper had her back to him. When she saw him, she pressed her hands to the wall and arched her back, plumping her ass up for him. “Hard and fast, cowboy.”
Fuck. He was right on the edge. He closed the shower door behind him and took a firm hold on Harper’s pale ass cheeks.
She wiggled and tilted her hips, offering him everything.
He slid his fingers along her ass crack down to her pussy. Slick and hot, ready for him. “I usually have more endurance, but Red, your sweet body is making me lose control.”
Licking her lips, she watched him over her shoulder. “Good. I want you to lose it.”
“Aw, Harper.” He stepped between her feet, lifted one of her legs and secured it in the crook of his arm, his hand pressed flat on the wall. With his other hand, he grasped her other thigh and lifted her a foot up the wall. His cockhead pressed into her tight slit and he dropped her onto his shaft.
Her cry of pleasure echoed along with his moan. Hot and slick, she took him all the way in, stretching to fit his heavy length.
“Shaw, oh God, that’s good.” She sucked in uneven breaths. “Let me ride you, cowboy.”
Razor-sharp jolts of desire ran up his spine where they demanded his brain shut down and let his body have its release. He fought for every second of restraint. “Ride me. Make it wild.” He lifted her, jerking his hips to pull out of her, then dropped her again, pumping his rod deep inside her. “You’re so tight.” He wouldn’t last long.
“Fuck me with your big cock, Shaw.” Her voice was deep and breathy.
Neither of them could hold on much longer. “We’re gonna come together, Red, fast and crazy.” He pistoned into her as he lifted and dropped her. “I promise I’ll make it up to you, slow and hot, later.”
She groaned. “I’m there, Shaw. I’m coming right...”
Around his cock, her tight pussy clamped and released, over and over, forcing his cum from him as he snapped into oblivion, sending explosions along his spine and into his balls. He pounded into her as his brain reached critical mass and spikes of pleasure hit each nerve ending in his body.
As he shot his cum into her, he pressed close to her, kissing her neck and stroking her pussy, drawing out one more minute of her orgasm. Slowly, feeling returned to his muscles and thought reentered his mind.
Their breathing synchronized as they stayed pressed tightly together, her body giving tiny shivers. She’d taken a chill, so being pressed against a tile wall was probably not her idea of afterglow cuddling.
He withdrew his still-hard shaft from her tight canal and set her on her feet, pulling her with him under the warm water. He dealt with the condom and rinsed them both off, her body nearly boneless, but her smile reflecting her satisfaction.
Turning off the water, he found a towel and covered her hair while she just stood there smiling and sighing. After wrapping a big bath sheet nearly twice around her, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. Pulling back the sheets, he laid her down and tucked her in, then went back to dry himself. When he slid in next to her, she dropped her towels to the floor and rolled half on top of him, resting her head on his shoulder.
“You’re really, really good, Shaw.” She bit his chest softly, then licked and kissed the spot.
His shaft instantly sprang to life. “You’re amazing, Harper.” He took a breath and wondered how much to reveal. His heart told him to go for it, but his brain made him take it slow. “I want to stay the night, if that’s okay.”
Lifting her head, she cupped his cheek. “Stay the night. Remember, I owe you breakfast.” She frowned. “And an explanation of why I changed my mind.”
He would rather just sink into another round of sex, but she looked like she had something she wanted him to know. It probably wasn’t good. “Talk to me, Harper. Tell me what’s going on.”
She propped her head up on a bent elbow. “I made myself a promise when I broke up with my last boyfriend. I was going to hold out for a man who has the same dreams and goals as I do.”
Dreams and goals. He had those. Big ones, too.
Running a finger in patterns over his chest, she took a deep breath. “I told you about my goals.” She shrugged. “I guess my main goal was just to get out of the city...” She glanced into his eyes, then down at his chest again.
He couldn’t breathe. She’d said she wanted to run a ranch. Why was she hesitating? “You told me you’d like a piece of land. You want to raise cattle? Horses? Grow your own feed?”
She looked at him, her mouth turning down in a frown. “Those plans don’t seem as important now. I know you’re a roughneck, and that’s why I wanted to be just friends. But now that I’ve gotten to know you, I really don’t care what you do for a living because I...I really like you.”
This was like winning the lottery. “Harper.”
She pressed her finger to his lips then trailed it down his chin. “Wait. Let me say this.” Resting her head on his shoulder, she sighed. “I told you about my grandparents farm in Wyoming. How I’d spend summers there.”
“Uh huh.”
She softly stroked his chest hair. “Those summers were the best days of my life. When they sold the ranch, it felt like a piece of my heart was ripped from me.” Her voice grew so quiet, he had to turn his head to hear.
Sitting up, she faced him square on. “I do like you, and I don’t need an answer right now, but if we make this work, if we find ourselves going the distance, I’d like to know if there was any chance you’d want to live that kind of life.” She swallowed. “Or not.”
His heart double-pumped and his mind raced. How could he have found someone so perfect for him in personality, in b
ed, and in her vision for the future? It was almost as if fate had a hand in their meeting.
“But Shaw, if you are dead set against it, and want to work in the oil field, that’s fine. We’ll make that work, too.”
He couldn’t hold back his grin. She’d give up her goals for him? What kind of miracle was this? “Hang on.” He couldn’t keep it from her any longer. Tossing back the covers, he went to dig his phone out of his jeans.
Her eyes were wide and she looked confused.
He jumped onto the bed and laid a big, loud kiss on her lips before a laugh escaped his chest. “I think you’re gonna like this.” He found his photos and enlarged the one of his quaint old farmhouse. He tipped his camera toward her. “This is the Double M Ranch.”
She looked at the phone, then back at him. “This is, what?”
“Mine. My ranch, Harper. I inherited it from my uncle.”
Her face paled and she stopped breathing. “But you said...”
“I’m working the oil field until I have enough money to buy new implements and a few hundred head of cattle.” He scrolled to the next picture. “It’s in Lemmon, just up by the North Dakota border.”
Moisture shone in the corners of her eyes. “Really?” She looked back and forth between him and his camera.
“It’ll be a while, maybe another six months or so before I’m ready to get the ranch running.” He took her hand. “Right now, I got the hat, but no cattle.”
She huffed out a breath. “This is such a shock.”
“Yeah.” He tugged her toward him, wanting her lying in his arms. “Isn’t this amazing?”
Harper pulled back. “No. It’s not amazing.” She scooted toward the edge of the bed as wrinkles formed between her brows. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Ah, shit. He hadn’t counted on her being angry. “Probably because I’m a big, dumb roughneck, and I didn’t think this through to the end.” He reached for her.
She slid off the bed, looking at him with pain in her eyes. “You were testing me? Is that what this was?” She reached for her shirt.
“Hold on a minute.” He rolled to the edge of the bed and sat, his feet on the floor. “At first, I was going to tell you right away, but then I thought about it, and I wanted to give us a chance to get to know each other as people first. Not possible candidates for ranch co-owners.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You knew exactly who I was.” She pointed to her sternum. “A woman looking for someone who had what you had.” She jabbed that same finger into his chest. “But I wasn’t given the full picture, Shaw. You lied to me.”
He lifted his hands then dropped them to the bed. “Hell, when you put it that way, yeah, I guess it was a damn stupid thing to do.” He shook his head. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Puffing out a loud breath, she pulled on her pants.
How was he going to make this right? He could beg forgiveness, act like the big idiot she thought he was. Or he could use his brain for a change and convince her he hadn’t done it to hurt her.
“Harper, listen.”
She turned to him, crossing her arms. Her lips pressed tight together.
“Put yourself in my position. What if some cowboy came up to you and said, ‘I’m looking for a woman who works for a major beverage distributor’.”
She cocked a brow at him. “As if that would ever happen.”
“Hypothetically.” He held up a hand. “If I’d said that to you after we’d spent time together and knew there was the start of something good between us, what would you have done?”
Her gaze didn’t shift from his. Was she following his logic? “That’s how you rationalize it?”
“I’m not rationalizing. I simply wanted to give us time to know each other, give you a chance to see that I’m a guy you could fall for one day.” He shook his head. “If I’d told you I owned a ranch, you would have been focused on that, instead of on who I really am.” His voice rose in volume. For some reason, her stubbornness was riling him up. He stood, his hands fisting at his sides. He looked down at her. “I’m not just a man with a ranch, Harper.”
“Don’t you get mad at me when I’m mad at you.” She jammed her fists on her hips, her eyes sparking.
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
“What kind of argument is that?” He relaxed his hands.
The corner of her mouth twitched. “I don’t know.” She tipped her head. “I guess I can see your point. About clouding my perception of you with the fact that you already own something I’ve been dreaming of most of my life.”
He glanced down, just realizing he was completely naked. Fitting, since he felt like he was baring his soul to her. “Forgive me for going about this in a way that offended you.” He set his hands on her arms. “And I’ll count on you to keep me from making stupid mistakes like this from now on. Okay?”
“From now on.” She set her palms on his bare chest. “That sounds so nice.” She turned away. “But I need to think about this, Shaw. Let me have some time to process this before I decide either way.”
Shit. He’d really fucked up. “Okay. I understand.” He grabbed his clothes and dressed quickly, tugging his hat on. “Do you want my phone number? You can call me any time—”
“No.” She wouldn’t look at him. “I’ll see you at the rodeo tomorrow night.”
He hated to leave it this way. He strolled to the door. “Harper. Give me another chance. I didn’t mean to play games. I just...I like you a lot.”
Opening the door, he waited a second, then stepped out into the hall. The door closed behind him with a finality that made him sick to his stomach.
*****
Harper watched Shaw leave her hotel room. Biting her lips to keep from calling him back, she fought a wave of tears. This was not how it should have turned out.
In her daydreams, he would be honored that she was willing to give up her goals for him. But he’d promise to consider ranching because it was something she loved.
Flopping onto the bed, she looked up at the ceiling. Now, she felt almost betrayed. Lied to. Put under a microscope and examined.
His rationalization that she would have done the same thing...
“Crap.” She probably would have done the same thing. If she owned property, and some guy told her he couldn’t date her because she wasn’t a land owner...
“Yes, damn it.” She closed her eyes. “I would have taken some time, gotten to know the guy, see if he liked me for me, or for my ranch.”
Just like Shaw did.
And she’d kicked him out of her life. “Stupid, Harper.” She sat up, a burst of panic tightening her muscles. Would he even talk to her, now? Was he through with the crazy, overreacting woman?
She had to catch him. He’d be walking back to his hotel, or meeting the guys somewhere... Grabbing her purse, she ran toward the door, stopping to slide her feet into sandals. Yanking open the door, she dug in her purse for her car keys and ran—
She tripped over something big, her purse going one way, her keys another, and her body sailing toward a hard fall.
Strong arms grasped her, pulling her against a hard chest.
“Shaw?” He’d been sitting in the hallway outside her door. She looked up into his sexy eyes.
“Harper?” His grin crooked up one side of his face. “What’re you doing running through the halls at this time of night?” He eased her up until she sat on his lap.
She caught her breath. “I was looking for the man I was dumb enough to let walk away from me.”
“Oh yeah? Anybody I know?” His hands cupped her cheeks and he pressed his lips to hers, softly, just for a second.
“Yep. And he’s someone I want to know a whole lot better.” Setting her palms on his hands, she blinked back moisture. “Forgive me, Shaw. You were right to do what you did.”
He shook his head with a sigh. “I don’t know that I was right, but at the time, it seemed the wise thing to do.” His gaze ranged over h
er face. “Now that I know you, I can see it wasn’t.”
“Would it help if I said I probably would have done the same thing?” She kissed each of his hands.
He released her face and stood up, helping her to her feet. “It’s a bit of a relief, but I learned a good lesson from it.”
She picked up her purse as he grabbed her keys from the floor. “Did you?”
“Yeah.” He tugged her close, brushing his lips over hers. “When it feels like the start of something really good, don’t hold back.”
“You’re a wise man, Shaw Donahue.” She fisted her hands in his shirt. “And I’m not going to let you go.”
“Hold on, Red. You and me, we’re going to have one hell of a ride.”
####
Would you like to read about how Pete meets his sweetie, Ms. CJ? They have their own story, the second book of the All Cowboy Series, All Flash No Cash. Read the book blurb and find out where you can get your own copy by clicking HERE. And here's a sneak peek for you:
Pete and CJ’s story:
All Flash No Cash - Chapter One
Pete Gonally wandered past the row of motorcycles parked along the curb, each one leaning like a domino ready to fall. The mid-September sun glinted off the shiny chrome and polished tanks and fenders. Dirty Harry’s Saloon, was a favorite watering hole in Deadwood, South Dakota, even on a Sunday. Pete looked down at his bib overalls, mud-crusted steel-toed boots, and oversized T-shirt. He’d stick out like a pansy in there, but he had to do this. Today.
He turned back to look at the semi he’d parked a block away, loaded with round hay bales that he’d picked up at his uncle’s farm in Wyoming. He could make the trek back to his family’s ranch in Lemmon, but it’d take three hours to get there, a while to shower and change, then three more hours to get back to Deadwood. And he still had to drive up to North Dakota tonight so he could be at work by six the next morning.
“Suck it up.” It was just his nerves making an appearance. He had to ace this interview. This could be the start of his career as a graphic artist. He stepped into the dark bar, letting his eyes adjust for a few seconds. As he’d predicted, nearly every head in the place swiveled to look at him. The scent of leather and spilled beer rolled up his nostrils. Everywhere he looked, black T-shirts with orange graphics, bandanas, and tattoos covered patrons’ bodies. ‘80s rock played from a jukebox in the corner. He pulled off his seed cap and walked to an empty spot at the bar. He ran his hand through his curly blond hair, hoping to look halfway presentable for this meeting.
Red Hot and BOOM! A Sizzling Hot Collection of Stories from the Red Hot Authors Page 6
