License to Love: Holiday Box Set (Contemporary Romance)

by Kristen James

  Seeing her bare breasts broke his restraint. His hands and mouth began exploring while he made noises of pleasure. She probably did too but couldn’t think about it. She ached inside for him and struggled to get her panties off, to get naked with him and feel him pressed against her.

  They were beyond words when they joined. She could tell he held back, tried to be gentle and slow, but she could take only a few minutes of that before she grabbed him, gripping him and pulling him closer.

  She was glad he didn’t worry about getting fancy. Missy needed him and needed mind-blowing, fast love. Brent didn’t disappoint and he didn’t rush it, either, to her great relief. She felt her body rise and fall over the edge time after time before he came with her, hanging onto her. She gasped, both from the pleasure and the intensity of his orgasm.

  When a thought finally formed in her mind, it seemed like he’d given himself up and offered everything.

  “Missy…” That sounded like he was falling to sleep.

  Panting, unable to move, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm buzz spreading throughout her and Brent’s strong arm holding her close. This felt so natural and right… could that be? She’d figure all that out later.

  Chapter Eight

  Brent hadn’t slept that well in ages. Walking to the stables in the soft morning light, he felt renewed. He might have slept better if he’d stayed with her, but he’d gotten the sense she wanted him to leave. They had lain together for a while, until he was about asleep, when she pulled away.

  Since he wanted to respect her, and continue to build her trust in him, he’d dressed and headed for home like that was the natural thing to do.

  It wasn’t his natural reaction. He’d wanted to hold her all night, listen to her breathe, and kiss her neck in the morning. He’d never felt love like this before. Wait. Love?

  Love. That was the only word for the overwhelming emotions raging inside him. It’d been in there somewhere, hiding, waiting for the right second to spring itself on him. Then, suddenly, while holding Missy and making love to her, he knew.

  He might have even said it out loud. If he did, she hadn’t heard. That was a miracle. How would he explain that to her?

  Even that little worry didn’t dim his mood. This Christmas season was looking up.

  “Morning, Dale,” he said and wished he hadn’t sounded so happy. If Dale noticed anything, he was gentleman enough not to ask. With the sun coming out, Brent felt like spring was coming early.

  They transferred the horses to the back section of the pasture. The recent rain had started a puddle that turned into a small lake in the front section.

  Brent turned around to see Missy walking down to them. She wore rubber work boots with a pair of Wranglers and a heavy coat.

  “Cute, isn’t she?” Dale grinned at him. “So you two getting to be pretty good friends?”

  “It’s way past being friends.” He allowed himself one knowing look directed at his friend. “But I don’t kiss and tell.”

  Dale tried to wiggle the smile off his face before Missy got there. “You just did, buddy.”

  With Missy several steps away, all Brent could do was send Dale a warning look to keep quiet.

  “Want some help?” she asked by the truck.

  “Couldn’t hurt.” He watched her come the rest of the way over, but she didn’t look his way. He’d expected at least a shy smile. Nothing? “Dale brought in a load of hay.”

  They worked together to distribute hay to the horses and talked to Dale like things weren’t different between them. Coldness settled inside him. Dread of losing what little they had scared him silly.

  They emptied the truck in half an hour with two extra bodies. Dale acted overly excited about leaving for lunch. Maybe he felt something off with Missy, just as Brent had.

  “Let’s take the horses out.” He took her shovel and laid it in the truck bed.

  “A ride, now?” she asked, like the idea was from left field.

  That tone seemed too normal after the night they’d shared. “Why not?”

  “Okay,” Missy said, almost smiling, and headed for the tack room. She knew her way around and how to saddle her own horse. She’d promised to learn fast and she had. But maybe he was a slow learner because he was missing something here.

  “Ready?” she asked from atop her horse. He mounted and nodded.

  He rode close to her side as they took the path into the forest. The breeze rattled the pine branches, sending droplets down like rain. Didn’t matter; they were dressed for wet weather.

  “All right, no one’s listening. What’s going on with you?”

  “Is there something you should tell me?” she said, concern in her voice.

  “You’re acting different.” He nudged Jeffrey closer.

  “I’ve been thinking about last night.”

  This wasn’t good at all. Maybe she had heard his confession of love, and it had scared her off. That or he wasn’t any good in bed. After the way she moaned, he doubted that was the case. “Second thoughts?”

  “No.” She laughed, looking him over from his boots to his hat. “Reliving it. I didn’t want us going all goo-goo in front of Dale.”

  He let out his breath in a half laugh.

  “Don’t worry so much, Mr. Serious Cowboy.” She lifted an eyebrow at him and turned the serious discussion into play. Trotting ahead, she glanced back. “Coming?”

  He’d never heard a laugh like hers. Quiet, yet suggestive. Relieved, he kicked up the pace and caught her.

  They came back muddy and soaked, but he hardly felt it. Even the horses didn’t seem to mind. He brushed them and checked them both over.

  “You sure take good care of these horses.” Watching him, she patted Speckle.

  “Some might think I overdo it.” He turned his back to pull up Jeffrey’s hoof. “But it’s best if you catch things before they fester.”

  He straightened and found her face had gone serious.

  “You thinking things over again?” He didn’t need to think after watching her ride. He needed to kiss her all over.

  “Oh, I’m thinking about Dancer.”

  Dancer. Guilt spiked through him at the horse’s name. “Yeah, I’ll ask Dale to take him for a ride soon.”

  He couldn’t go near the horse, couldn’t think about Ben. Or that day when he should have been driving the truck and trailer. He felt how she watched him but this wasn’t the time to tell her.

  “You sure got dirty.” He grinned at her muddy clothes. He had to force the grin, but she relaxed.

  She fluttered her lashes. “Maybe we need a bath.”

  He grabbed her hand so quick, she gasped. He whipped them outside and straight to his house.

  “Brent?”

  “You said you need a bath.” He lifted one side of his mouth. He threw open his door and pulled her inside. She tried to kick off her boots, but he yanked her into his arms.

  He pulled off his Stetson and dropped it on the floor. Their lips met, hers feeling hot against his mouth. The clothes were in his way, so he pushed her coat off her shoulders.

  She moaned into his mouth as he kissed her. Pulling his hands back, he jerked his coat off, tossing it over his shoulder to land on the floor behind him.

  “Bathroom,” he growled.

  “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” She murmured and took a step back. She crossed her arms, grabbed the bottom of her shirt, and pulled it up and over her head in one motion.

  Have mercy! She let him stare at her white satin bra for about ten seconds. Then with a spin, she left for the bathroom. “Did you want to join me?”

  “You little tease!” He reached the bathroom in five fast steps.

  She giggled. “And you love it.”

  She had him there.

  “Maybe I should do some teasing.” He grabbed her and turned her to face him. “With my tongue.”

  He didn’t look away from her pleasantly surprised face as he kicked the bathroom door shut with h
is foot.

  His promise of teasing wasn’t an empty one. Brent started the bath water and then kissed her entire body as he undressed her. When she relaxed back into the hot water, he continued teasing her with his hand. Maybe it was pleasing, not teasing…

  * * * *

  Lying in Brent’s bed with him, she couldn’t believe how satisfied she felt. He’d shown such care while rubbing the towel over her and taking her to his bed. Before she met him, she wouldn’t have thought the same man could match her need in the bedroom, then be patient and caring to her once their passion was spent.

  “Seems you’ve decided to stay on,” he said, low and quiet. That’s what he’d been thinking about? She lay on her back with the sheet pulled up to keep her warm. Under the sheet next to her, he leaned up on his elbow so he could trace his finger down her neck.

  “I knew I would from the beginning,” she corrected. “I said I would prove myself, and I knew I could make it.”

  He shook his head, a half smile coming and going. “I did, too. I knew you could make it, but I didn’t know if you’d want to stay.”

  Why else would she go through all this trouble? Just to leave? Something happened in his past, but what? “Brent?”

  “I didn’t know what would happen here. If you stayed or went on your way... we were short a worker.” He kept his gaze off her face while he spoke, and only glanced up now as he paused. “I didn’t want to replace Ben, and I couldn’t hire anyone. So you had more power than you knew.”

  “I didn’t think of it as power. I wanted to make it here, to show I could.” And she had, hadn’t she? Pride filled her. It hadn’t been easy to come here, stay and learn how to share in the work.

  He’d been teasing a finger over her skin, but now he pulled his hand back. “Are you staying now that you’ve proved you can do it?”

  For the first time, she heard uncertainty in his voice, and he lacked the hard confidence he’d displayed since she met him. This wasn’t about the ranch. She asked, “Haven’t I proved that?”

  She couldn’t hear him breathing. What was going on with him?

  “Is that your answer?” he asked.

  She felt him tense next to her. “I’m not going anywhere. But I can’t make promises about you and me. We don’t know what we want from each other, if this will turn into anything else.”

  She couldn’t let it become something else yet. Russ had whispered sweet things to her, made promises, and he’d been wearing a mask. Even while she felt her trust for Brent grow, she didn’t trust herself to recognize a lie anymore.

  “Are you afraid it will?” He broke into her thoughts, touching her arm again.

  She was sleepy and didn’t want to talk about this. “There’s no point in trying to predict the future.” Right as she spoke the words, she felt a jolt. The future had been so uncertain for her when she came here. Was it still?

  She just wanted to be held, but he wouldn’t do that now. Her own words made her realize that while she wanted to have plans, she was afraid of setting herself up for another crash. She’d come to love life here. When she thought about risking it for a relationship with Brent, her stomach went flipping over in circles.

  After a silence, he said, “I think you’re afraid of a lot of things. Sometime, I want to know what those things are.”

  That couldn’t happen, she wouldn’t let it. She sat up and said, “I should get going before I fall asleep.”

  * * * *

  First things first. Brent stood outside the passenger side door of his truck at daybreak. In one hand, he held a lighter. In the other, he held the will Ben had started to put together. Ben hadn’t been the type to think ahead. That had been Brent’s part in this venture, so he never expected Ben to have a will.

  It gave Missy only a one-fourth interest in Ben’s share, while the remaining three-fourths went to him.

  Last night, Missy had shown him she wasn’t ready to put her roots down here. Why was she unwilling to plan? To talk about their future? He sure as heck wouldn’t give her a reason to take off.

  Holding the will at arm’s length, he lit it.

  Ocean View Stables had been his dream, one that he’d made into a reality. He still planned on directing it, choosing where they’d go. And Missy would be a part of it.

  He dropped the flaming document and watched as it burned down to a crinkling paper before he stomped it out.

  Missy wouldn’t be up this early, so he went back to his place for breakfast. He was lost in thought, waiting for his toast to pop up, when someone knocked.

  Missy stood outside, looking sleepy still in sweat pants and a big coat.

  “You could have stayed here, you know,” he reminded once again, shaking his head at the woman. Why bother taking off during the night if you’re coming right back in the morning?

  She yawned and came in.

  “Toast?”

  A nod.

  “Coffee?”

  Another nod. She sat on a stool at the counter and laid her head down on her arms. Since she looked asleep, he let her be. Why had she come back instead of sleeping? It didn’t make sense, not after she’d wanted to take off the night before. He dropped more bread in the toaster and started fresh coffee. She hadn’t moved.

  That couldn’t be comfortable. If she actually had drifted off, he intended to move her to his bed, whether or not she liked that when she woke up. “Are you asleep on my counter?”

  “No.” She rolled her head and opened her eyes. “You get up this early?”

  “Why didn’t you just stay?” He didn’t get it, and that made him mad.

  “I don’t do that.”

  “You always sleep with guys and take off?” That went over the line. Turning his back to her, he grabbed the fresh toast and buttered it.

  “I don’t sleep with guys. So I didn’t know what to think.”

  His hands stilled. Her words and tone told him he’d come on too strong, asked too much of her. Now what could he do about it? He didn’t want to back off.

  Bringing two plates of toast over, he sat opposite her. “I just made a jerk of myself. I don’t do that kind of thing, either. Haven’t in a long time.”

  She looked awake after that comment. They chewed on toast for a minute before he grabbed two mugs and poured coffee. “Sugar? Cream?”

  “Please. Lots of both.”

  He dumped them in, added just cream to his, and sat again. He wasn’t ready to let go of their conversation. “I could help.”

  “With?”

  “You’ve asked about plans for the stables, but you won’t talk about our future. You take off after we make love. I think there’s something I should know.”

  “No,” she said and looked down at her mug and took a quick, jagged breath. “Unless you want to talk about Ben. About Ben’s horse and why you avoid him.”

  Jarred and unprepared, he said. “One topic at a time, sweetheart.”

  “Don’t you think they’re related?” She raised her gaze finally, and he saw fire in her eyes. Why did she care about that? It didn’t affect their relationship, not like her secrets did.

  He wanted to answer, but didn’t know how to say anything that could end this. They stared each other down as unease settled over them like the fog outside the house. They in too deep.

  She downed the last of her coffee and stood. “Listen, we’re great in bed together. Why mess it up? Obviously, we’re not ready to share the other parts of our lives.”

  Turning, she went to the front door and left. He wished he could run after her. He did want to share everything. The ranch. Their lives. Their secrets.

  But he didn’t know how he could tell her about his part in Ben’s death.

  Chapter Nine

  He’d give Missy her space. They both could use time to think.

  He just missed her, and didn’t want to consider his reasons for clamming up.

  Because two boarder horses were leaving that day, he couldn’t talk to Missy in the morning. After loading
the horses into the trailer, he paused outside the driver side door. He didn’t think anyone had noticed how hard it was on him to drive the truck with a trailer behind it.

  It was the one moment when he couldn’t push it away.

  After that dark moment passed, he climbed into the truck and started it. What would Missy think if he told her?

  He transported the horses back to their owners, who had returned from vacation, then picked up more hay while he was out. He wished, as he looked over at the passenger seat, that she would have come along.

  He wanted to slip over and see her for lunch, like they’d done many times now, but he needed to think about what he’d say. So he went back to his own place when he was done working. After heating up leftovers, he chewed without tasting, wondering how he’d gotten so lost.

  After lunch, he ventured to Missy’s door. While taking her porch steps, he brushed off any lingering hay before looking up to find her standing in her open door.

  “We sure complicated things before,” he said. Maybe that was why she’d left instead of staying with him.

  The soft skin around her eyes wasn’t red from crying, but her face looked gloomy today, and her brown eyes dark. She stepped inside and let him follow her in.

  When she stopped and turned to him, they were inches apart, and her eyes grew heavy with need. The change threw him, but only for a second, because he always needed her.

  He swept her into an embrace, barely getting the door shut behind them while he hungrily kissed her.

  “You look good,” she said, pulling off his coat to see his thick, cotton shirt underneath.

  “Work clothes.” He gently pulled the band from her ponytail to set her long hair free.

  “You look good when you work.”

  He tugged on her shirt, but she made him wait till they were in the bedroom to pull her clothes off. Both were naked in minutes.

  They fell onto the bed in a rush. Her body was made for his hands, the curves and dips, the swells. Their tense words were forgotten in their kisses. She seemed to need him as much as the first time. When she arched up against him, it sent him over the edge.