by Becky McGraw
“I can’t ride Diamond, she’s too small,” Dylan complained.
“You’re right, she is,” Carrie agreed with a chuckle, as she patted her horse’s neck. “Guess you better get Sheedy to help you saddle a different horse.”
“He’s out in the field already,” Dylan said.
“Well, I guess you’re riding Diamond then.”
His feet shuffled, kicking up little dust clouds as he walked back to the fence, looking a lot like Chris when he was put out. He tied the bag with the cupcakes behind the saddle, then seemed to be pouting as he untied Diamond’s reins. Carrie felt kinda sorry for him, as she watched him walk Diamond over to stand beside her horse. The tiny mare’s back hit him at right under his pecs. He could probably throw his long leg over her back without even using the stirrup to mount. She really was more Carrie’s size, but definitely not her speed.
“Have you learned a lesson about making assumptions about me?” Carrie asked with a chuckle, even though she was dead serious.
His gaze flew up to hers and his brows knotted. “What assumptions did I make?”
“That because I’m small, I’m helpless. Because I’m widowed, I’m needy and clingy. Neither is accurate. You should’ve just put a sidesaddle on her, and that would have been the final insult.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “There’s nothing helpless about you, beautiful. I’m sorry for assuming anything.”
Carrie swung her leg over the horn, then turned on her stomach to slide to the ground. She grabbed the reins and held them out to him. “Ride your damned horse,” she said with a wink.
Dylan didn’t take the reins from her, he turned back to Diamond and untied the sack from behind her saddle, then turned back to Carrie. “I have a better idea. Since I’m the helpless one with this damned shoulder, we can ride together,” he suggested with a grin. “Unsaddle Diamond and turn her loose in the paddock.”
“You’re not a good liar either,” Carrie said with a laugh, as she scooped up Diamond’s reins. “You just want your hands free so you can molest me while we ride.” The thought sent a delicious shiver through her.
“Damn, busted,” he replied with a waggle of his dark brows.
Laughter bubbled up in her chest, and she threw her head back and let it free. It felt damned good to laugh. It had been so long. As long as it had been since she’d had any kind of contact with a man as sexy and charming as Dylan—damn, she realized right then she didn’t even know the last name of the man she had every intention of having sex with.
“What’s your last name?” she asked. He looked down at her as if she’d lost her mind. Carrie was starting to think that was exactly what had happened.
“Thomas, why?” he replied.
“If I’m going to have sex with you, I need to know these things.” She thought she needed to know a lot more than that, but wasn’t going to interrogate him. This wasn’t about forever. She wasn’t interviewing him to be the replacement father for her children. It was a one night, or afternoon stand, in their case. But she thought she at least needed to know his last name.
“We’re having sex? I thought this was a date.”
“If the other morning in the kitchen was any indication, I have a feeling we both know where this is headed.” Or where she hoped it was headed. She had worked herself up so much for this, gathered the courage to do it. If it didn’t happen she would be sorely disappointed.
Dylan put his hand on her chin, and held her gaze. “Whoa there, cowgirl. I want to get to know you. That’s what this is about. If that leads to me finding out if you taste like sugar cookies all over that delicious body of yours, I’ll be a happy man. If not, I’ll have a new friend. No pressure,” he said.
Another shiver worked its way up Carrie’s spine and split off to harden her nipples. He leaned in for a quick kiss, and Carrie wanted more, but he stepped away. So now that she’d finally decided to go through with this, he was backing off? She was rusty, but Carrie thought for sure the signals she was giving him should come through loud and clear.
With a sigh, she led Diamond to the gate and opened it. After she unsaddled the horse, she carried the saddle into the barn and dropped it inside the tack room. When she walked back out of the barn, Dylan was already mounted. He scooted back in the saddle, and smiled as he extended his left hand down to her. Carrie just stared at it a second, as her heart took a couple of glancing shots off of her ribs.
Taking Dylan’s hand meant she was actually going through with this. No matter what he said, if she took his hand she knew she was doing a lot more than getting to know the man who owned that hand. She would be admitting that Sean was never coming back to her. That she was now a single woman who needed more than memories to keep her among the living. It would be a giant leap into a new beginning for herself.
She needed a new beginning, she thought, as she forced herself to put her hand in his. He moved his foot out of the stirrup, and she shoved hers in then grabbed the horn. He pulled and she flew upward. Pivoting her body, she sat in front of him, and she slid her leg over the horn. It was a snug fit with both of them in the saddle, but it was comfortable, and the horse didn’t seem to mind they were riding double. Dylan wrapped his right arm around her waist, then handed her the reins.
She twisted to look at him. “You want me to—“
“Yeah, you’re in charge of whatever happens today, sweetheart. I’m just along for the ride.” He chuckled and squeezed her waist. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t throw me off though. I’m banged up enough already.”
His words and gesture, the symbolism of him handing her the reins, made her relax a little. Carrie leaned back against his firm chest with a sigh. Squeezing her calves she gave the big horse the cue to start walking. The rocking gait eased more of the tension in her shoulders. “You’ll have to tell me where we’re going,” she mumbled as they reached the open field.
“Just keep riding north. When the pasture runs out, we’ll be there.”
Carrie squinted to look, and couldn’t see where the pasture ended. This was a huge ranch. It could take hours for them to get there at this pace. Excitement pulsed through her. It was tough riding double, but both of them were experienced riders, so she asked, “Would you have a problem if we ran?”
“We can do whatever you want to do,” he replied. Reaching around her he grabbed the horn with his left hand. Carrie rested her arm on top of his. She sucked in a sharp breath when his arm brushed the side of her breast. Dylan shifted in the saddle behind her, then leaned over her, putting his crotch flush with her ass. His scent drifted to her nose on the breeze, made richer by his heat and the sun, and Carrie couldn’t help but inhale it deeply. A delicious quiver rippled through her, and her heart kicked in her chest. A throb started at the top of her thighs and she unthinkingly squeezed them.
The horse took that as a signal it was time to go. Her body slammed back into Dylan’s, and she squealed as she slid sideways. His arms tightened around her to pull her back up and his laugh rumbled in her ear. Carrie gathered her senses to put her hand over his on the horn, then leaned over the horse’s neck, and Dylan leaned over her back.
The hoof beats pounded in time with her heart as they streaked across the field. Excitement coursed through her. Freedom. Lightness in her soul. Peace she hadn’t felt in a long time engulfed her. Living in the city as long as she had with Sean had made her forget this feeling. Carrie remembered now, and she would never go back. This was where she belonged.
The wind dried the moisture in her mouth she was smiling so widely as they galloped across the field. A happy giggle worked up from deep inside of her and escaped. The wind whipped her hair into a frenzy, but she didn’t care. Riding this horse, being with the man behind her was liberating, and Carrie was glad she made the decision she had.
To let Sean and her old life go. It was time.
The horse’s huge stride ate up the ground for several minutes, while Carrie just leaned low over his neck, reveling in
the fresh air rushing across her skin, the scent of the warm horse that wafted up to her. Nothing in the world smelled better. Well except for Dylan Thomas. The two combined was irresistible.
Her eyes swung up and she suddenly realized they had reached what must be their destination. Through the sparse trees she saw the sun sparkling on water. A lake. Carrie smiled. It had been years since she’d enjoyed a day by the lake. Since she left her parents’ home to move to the city with Sean. Easing upright, Carrie slowed the gelding to a trot. She felt Dylan’s hot breath on her neck, and turned her face to the side to kiss his beard-shadowed jaw. His arm tightened at her waist, and his face dipped to the side to brush his lips over hers. Carrie’s heart melted in her chest, then caught herself daydreaming that this man could be hers.
One day she would find someone just like him, but someone who wanted forever. Dylan Thomas might want a fling with her, but he wasn’t her forever man. Carrie wasn’t going to set herself up for a world of hurt by thinking that he could be that man. He had been honest with her, and she had accepted his terms when she chose to come out here with him.
Tomorrow evening she was going home to her parents’ ranch. Her kids would be there, and reality would once again resume. But maybe today would help her deal with that reality with a fresh perspective. And instill hope that things would get better soon. She hoped so anyway.
When they reached the tree line, Carrie stopped the gelding. Dylan put his foot in the stirrup, and cool air brushed her back when he swung his leg over the saddle and dismounted. He smiled up at her.
“I’d help you down, sweet cheeks, but…” he glanced at his right shoulder and shrugged.
“I can get down,” she assured him, then laid on the saddle. The ground was a long way down, so she held onto the horn and back of the saddle until she found the stirrup with her foot to ease herself down to the ground. She huffed out a breath to tamper the adrenaline still coursing through her. “That was fun.” Carrie looked up into his eyes and found him staring down at her with concern in his eyes. “What?”
“Your cheeks are sunburned. You should’ve worn a hat,” he said gravely. “You can wear my hat on the way home.”
The corner of her mouth kicked up. “You can’t let me wear your hat. You’ll get burned then,” she teased. In more ways than one. He was a fricking cowboy, he knew what that meant. In cowboy terms, it was a claim that she was his. But it sure was a sweet gesture. Dylan Thomas was sweet. And thoughtful. And considerate. As good as gold.
If he ever decided he was a relationship kind of man, she knew he’d be a good one. Some lucky lady in the future might discover that too one day and offer the right incentive to make him change his ways. But right now, Carrie was going to get the benefit of basking in his sweetness for a few hours. And whatever else he wanted to do.
Sweat trickled down between her breasts and tracked to the waistband of her jeans. It was then she realized her shirt was stuck to her front and back. She dragged the material away from her skin and fanned herself. “It’s hot out here today,” she commented looking up at him.
“Do you know in the sunlight your eyes are hazel?” he asked out of the blue.
She laughed. “What has that got to do with anything?”
“They’re like you. Beautiful, but all mixed up.”
Her good mood vanished. Carrie was mixed up, but she was absolutely not going to think about any of that today. “Let’s go sit under the trees,” she said, turning to walk toward the tree line, trying to regain her carefree attitude.
Dylan shook his head as he watched her walk away. Carrie Collins was wound tight again, and evidently his joking words had twisted the spring a little more. He grabbed the sack behind the saddle then jogged after her. He caught up with her right inside the canopy of trees, standing there staring at the lake.
He grabbed her arm, and slid his hand downward until he caught her hand and twined his fingers with hers. Her wrist touched his, and he felt her heartbeat pounding there. Yep wound tight. If they were going to have a good time today, she needed to slow down, relax. He was beginning to think this woman had no idea how that was done. “You need to slow down, sweetheart. Where’s the fire?” he asked with a laugh.
Carrie Collins seemed like she was in a hurry to do everything. Desperate almost. Most women he knew wanted a little conversation with a side of hot sex, but this one seemed to want just the sex. The women he knew just weren’t like that. They were usually the ones who wanted to talk, and talk and talk about themselves. He didn’t know a damned thing about Carrie Collins, other than what Joel told him. She’s vulnerable.
Dylan said he didn’t want to know, was better off not knowing, but his curiosity was too strong to resist. It was crazy, but he almost wanted to know why that was more than he wanted sex with her. Why had she still been wearing her wedding ring three years after her husband died? Grieving was one thing, but he had a feeling what Carrie Collins was doing was hiding. A woman as nice as she was, as gorgeous, wasn’t single for three years without a reason.
From the looks of it, gauging from her reaction to him when they made out in the kitchen, and when he’d kissed her since, she hadn’t had a relationship in that amount of time either. Not that he wanted one with her, that was the last thing he wanted. But he at least wanted to know something about her situation to satisfy his mind.
Dylan led her to a tree beside the water, before he dropped her hand to unroll the old quilt he’d tucked behind the saddle. He spread it over the ground, then stood back up. “Have a seat, sweet cheeks,” he invited.
“I’m hot,” she announced instead, lifting her hair off of her neck causing her full breasts to strain at the material of her thin shirt.
She was right there. Dylan was hotter though, as his eyes fixed on the soft flesh spilling over the vee of her shirt. He held his breath and his dick went rock solid behind his fly when she dropped her hair, and reached for the top button of her shirt. She went for the second button, and raised her eyes to meet his as she slid it from the buttonhole. Looking back at her shirtfront, he held his breath as Carrie’s fingers flew down the row of buttons to the bottom. When her shirt was open she closed her eyes and sighed, pulling the sides apart to reveal the white lace bra that barely covered the full mounds of her breasts.
Her hands slid down to the button on her jeans, and Dylan yelled, “Wait!”
Her eyes flew open, and met his. “For what?” she asked with a laugh, as she unzipped her jeans and shimmed them to her ankles, hesitated a moment to toe off her boots then stepped out of them. Tossing them on the blanket, she turned and bent to pick up her shirt, and Dylan groaned as her perfect ass stared up at him.
He was done. Forget talking. His palms itched to feel those round globes as he buried himself inside her. His jeans were too tight, so he unbuttoned them, and carefully slid the zipper to the bottom of the track.
The sassy little brunette stood back up to glance coyly at him over her shoulder. There was a blatant invitation in her beautiful eyes as she smiled and flicked her shirt toward the blanket. His heart slammed to a stop in his chest when her hands reached for her bra clasp at the center of her back. The sides parted then the thin straps whispered down her arms. Holding the bra in her fingers, she let it drop to the marshy ground. She hooked her thumbs into the sides of her lacy white panties and pushed them over her hips. They slithered into a pool around her tiny feet.
Dylan finally breathed again, because he thought the show was over, but then she hooked a toe in her panties and giggled. More turned on than he’d ever been in his life, Dylan watched her extend her perfectly toned leg to kick them toward the blanket.
He felt lightheaded, as all the blood in his head drained down to his throbbing cock. Even at the strip clubs he and his rodeo buddies frequented to blow off steam after a rodeo, he’d never seen anything sexier than this woman’s obviously unpracticed, but very effective, strip tease.
She took a few steps to the water’s edge, and the sun
glinted off her perfect curves highlighting them. Even though he couldn’t see her beautiful breasts, he knew they would be perfect too. Just like the rest of her. Probably rosy tipped, he thought, and his mouth watered to taste her.
“Last one in is a rotten egg!” she shouted playfully, as she pushed off and executed a perfect swan dive into the water.
“Damn,” Dylan whispered with a shake of his head, watching as she gracefully cut through the water toward the center of the lake.
He tossed his hat on the blanket, then hurriedly shucked his jeans and shirt. Walking to the edge of the water, he stood for a moment to watch the sun glisten off of her wet skin. At the last minute he stepped out of his underwear and threw them toward the blanket too. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be needing them. They would just slow him down on what he fully intended to do before he came back to the bank.
Dylan dove into the water and it soothed his heated skin, but he took one stroke and gasped, sucking in a mouthful of water as pain shot from his right shoulder through his entire body. He stopped to tread water and grit his teeth until it eased.
Stupid, he thought, seriously considering going back to the bank. His shoulder had been getting better from the ice pack therapy Terri had done. Dylan was almost optimistic now that he hadn’t done further serious damage to himself, that it was just a sprain, and he would get better quickly. He kicked his legs to stay afloat, and had just made a turn back toward the bank when small, soft hands dropped onto his shoulders.
“Your shoulder hurting?” she asked with concern, and Dylan turned toward her.
He forgot all about the pain in his shoulder when her hard nipples raked across his chest. She looped her arms around his neck, and suctioned her slick body against him. Dylan groaned and his hands went for her ass like a magnet. He pulled her tighter against the source of his current pain. He didn’t think his cock had ever been harder, the driving need to fuck a woman greater, than it was with the one in his arms.
