by D. L. Roan
The sun was dangling above the western horizon by the time they reached their destination. There’d been no end to the number of things they’d talked about in the remaining hours of the flight, though he’d purposefully steered clear of the sensitive topics. He’d never talked so much in his life, or enjoyed it as much.
Dani sat rigid beside him as the wheels touched down on the Pecos municipal runway, releasing a sigh of relief when the plane rolled to a stop and he cut the engines.
“Admit it,” he said, nudging her shoulder. “That wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be.”
Dani bobbed her head in agreement, giving him a reluctant grin. “That was…pretty cool, actually.”
Their gazes met and held. Everything inside him rioted for him to kiss her. She glanced down at his lips. He watched hers as they parted with a nervous breath. The air between them crackled with anticipation as he reached down and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Give me a sec and I’ll come around to help you out.”
The feeling of home settled in his bones the second he opened the door and stepped outside into the dry Texas heat. After the weeks he’d spent imagining it, having her there with him was surreal. He wanted more than just a quick kiss in the cockpit of his plane. Everything about her pushed him to want more, more of her, more of them, more of everything. He’d been craving the feel of her in his arms for long enough, and by the time he reached her door and helped her down, he’d reached his limit for waiting.
He gave her no time to think, no time to react with anything but pure instinct, gathering her against him and taking her mouth in a slow, sensual kiss he felt all the way to the tips of his toes. That first taste, that first electrifying touch of their tongues sliding together with equal curiosity and desire, tasting, teasing, searching, finally finding their perfect fit and rhythm… A sharp ache ricocheted through his chest, down to his groin and back up his spine, drawing out an appreciative groan.
He tipped her chin, reaching deeper and desperately for more. She melted in his arms with a helpless whimper, the sound stoking his desire to white-hot need as she answered his demand, clinging to him as she pushed harder to feed her own mutual hunger.
The bustling airport around them disappeared and he backed her against the side of the plane. Every hum and moan was answered with increased urgency. Trapped behind the thick denim of his jeans, his cock begged for release. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he wouldn’t find it today, but he chased it anyway, hitching her leg over his hip and pressing into the blessed heat between her thighs.
A vehicle drove by, the driver honking the horn as they passed. Clay cursed a silent blue streak when Dani tensed in his arms, the moment lost, for now.
He lowered her to the ground and searched her face for any sign of regret, finding nothing but the same drunken wonderment pulsing through him. Forehead-to-forehead, need still rushing through him, he gave her a quick, but definitely not final kiss. “Welcome to Texas, beautiful.”
Chapter Twelve
The Texas landscape passed by in a blur of muted browns and greens. A familiar, upbeat tune played on the radio. Clay pointed out landmarks as he drove. Dani listened as he talked about why they were important in one way or another, but everything he said, everything she saw, was filtered through the euphoria of that kiss.
She caressed the lingering tingle in her lips, one of many new sensations humming through her body. Clay had kissed her, and all she could think of was, when would he do it again?
“Home sweet home.” Hyper-aware to Clay’s touch, her stomach fluttered when he squeezed her hand. “The house is just over that ridge,” he said, nodding to the horizon.
Dani sat up and tried to focus. “How much land does your family own?” She’d researched it before, but couldn’t recall the exact number of acres.
Clay shrugged. “As far as you can see in that direction, all the way to the border.” He pointed ahead through the dusty windshield. “And a few miles behind us. It works out to be roughly two hundred thousand acres, but not all of it’s used for cattle anymore.”
“What do you use it for?” she asked.
“We haven’t grazed out west since the last drought started about a decade ago. We cut back on our commercial stock and started focusing on our seed stock operation. There’s a lot more money in bull semen these days,” he said with a wry grin. “Now we use the land as a buffer against the border smugglers and cartels, mostly. And my brother Beau leads a few hunting expeditions out that way during the different seasons.”
“Cartels?” She’d read about some border ranchers being killed by drug smugglers, but didn’t realize they were so close, or that it was so common.
“Yeah.” Clay grimaced. “It’s not as big a problem here as it is further south in the Big Bend area, or further west in El Paso.” With the heel of his hand propped on top of the steering wheel, he pointed out the windshield again. “You see those peaks out in the distance?” Dani squinted into a horizon distorted by the boiling heat of the west Texas sun, nodding when she saw them. “That’s the Guadalupe Mountains,” he continued. “The Rio Grande is about fifty miles on the other side. A lot of sharp cliffs and hard to cross ravines. They give us a decent amount of natural protection, but we’ve caught a few lost fools who’ve tried to cross through that way.”
Dani cocked her head. “A few?”
“Don’t worry,” Clay assured her. “By the time they reach anything resembling civilization around here, they’re either too dehydrated or starved to pose much of a threat, if they make it that far.”
The truck bounced over a few rugged dips in the dirt road as it rounded a bend. A cluster of corrals and structures came into view. “Wow.” Officially distracted, she sat up straighter and tried to take it all in. “It looks like something out of an old western movie.”
Clay laughed. “It does, doesn’t it?”
He didn’t slow as they passed beneath an arch bearing the Sterling Eagle Ranch brand. Dust billowed around the truck when he pulled to a stop beside a rustic single-story ranch house with a wraparound porch. The front door swung open and a spindly hound ran out to greet her as she opened her door.
“Thor!” a white-haired man shouted from the porch. “Get down!”
Dani gave the dog’s head a scratch as she slid from the truck. “Hey.” She held out her hand and let it catch her scent. “It’s okay,” she insisted when Clay tried to shoo it away.
A loud whistle split the air and Thor retreated into the house.
“That’s Beau’s mongrel, Thor,” Clay said as he grabbed their bags from the backseat. “Like my brother, it’s been a while since he’s seen a woman, so don’t let your guard down.”
Dani rolled her eyes.
“Tellin’ lies again, little brother?”
Dani shielded her eyes against the sun to find the owner of the deep, southern voice. Darker tanned, longer haired, and a little shorter than Clay, his stocky build cast a wider shadow than the lean man she assumed was Clay’s father standing beside him. “What in hell’s blazes is a beauty like you doin’ with this asshole?” Beau continued as they reached the porch.
“Beau.” Clay gave the man a friendly warning glare. “This is Dani McLendon. Dani, my brother, Beau.”
“Pleasure,” Beau said with a predatory grin.
“And this is our pops, Virgil.”
Dani extended a hand to the leathery cowboy. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
He raised his chin and peered down at her with an arched brow. “Better call me Virgil,” he said, glancing at Clay and Beau. “It’s been so long since anybody around here’s been so respectful, I’m afraid I won’t know who you’re referring to if you don’t.”
“Bullshit,” Clay coughed into his fist.
Virgil narrowed his eyes, his pursed lips barely visible beneath his thick white mustache. “See? No respect.” He threw his arm around Dani’s shoulders and walked her through the door.
The rustic style of the outside of the hou
se carried through to the inside, with antique wood furniture and weathered western themes. He guided her into the spacious, open living area that lent to a partial view of the kitchen, and what looked like an office. “Where’s your daddy, young lady? I thought he was coming with you?”
She told them about what happened at the picnic the day before. Both he and Beau cringed. “Sorry to hear about that,” Virgil said, glancing at Clay with an unreadable smirk.
“He sends his regrets and hopes to be able to come for a visit later in the year.”
“You bet.” Virgil nodded. “I look forward to it.”
“Better get your guest settled in and get washed up, little brother.” Beau pulled a dishtowel from his shoulder and jerked his head toward the kitchen. “I’ve got some ribs on the spit that are about done. You hungry, darlin’?”
“Sounds good,” Dani said with a nervous smile, glancing over at Clay. “I’m starving.”
Virgil clapped his hands together, the loud pop startling her. “I knew I’d like you. Clay’s last girlfriend was one of those vegetarians,” he said with a shudder.
“Pops!” Clay glared at him.
“What? It’s true.” Virgil glared back. “Filled my refrigerator with those tofu things she called breakfast sausages. I’ll never forget that godawful taste,” he said with a cringe.
“Please ignore him,” Clay mumbled. Hand-in-hand, he grabbed her bag and led her toward a set of double, glass paneled doors at the back of the room. “I’ll show you to the guesthouse.”
“Oh, shit,” Beau groaned. “I thought you said you needed it for next week.”
Clay jerked to a stop and turned back to his brother. “No. I specifically said this week.”
Beau’s head fell forward. He peered up at Clay, then glanced at Dani. “My bad.” He raised a surrendering hand. “I’ve got a pair of clients staying in there.”
“Dammit, Beau!”
“It’s no big deal,” Beau said with an exasperated sigh. “We’re headed out in the morning. The two of you can do whatever you want with the guesthouse after we’re gone. Just change the sheets when you’re done.”
Clay pointed at his brother. “We’ll talk about this later.” He changed directions and led her through the galley kitchen. “Sorry about this.”
A dozen and one questions raced through Dani’s mind as she followed him down a long hallway, why they thought she was his girlfriend the most prevalent one, until he opened the door. A crisply made bed sat beneath a large window. Family pictures, along with one of Clay in uniform, decorated the top of the dresser on the opposite wall. Recognizing the armchair in the corner from one of the pictures he’d sent her, she froze in the doorway.
“This is your room.”
He nodded. “You can sleep here tonight.”
Unexpected panic snaked its way up her spine. She’d had it all worked out in her head. Tossing and turning all night, she’d finally decided. This was it. If Clay was interested—a question that had been fully answered the second he’d kissed her—she was going to have sex with him. She was finally going to shed her virginal status, and she wanted him to be the one to do it, but now that she was there, she wasn’t so sure she could go through with it. At least not her first night there.
“I can sleep on the sofa,” she muttered in a halfhearted rebuttal.
Clay pulled her farther into the room and closed the door. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He set her bags on the floor and drew her against him.
“Clay, I—”
“I’ll sleep in the spare room across the hall,” he offered.
Dani stilled in his arms. “You will?”
“Of course.” Catching her off guard again, he dipped his head and touched his lips to hers.
Disabling currents of warm seduction spiraled around her limbs and, despite her concerns, she melted against him. Less urgent than their earlier kiss, he teased her with lazy, unhurried nips, the tip of his tongue darting out to join hers each time until she could no longer suppress her need for more.
Her insides trembled as she pressed closer, deepening the kiss, drawing a moan from him as their tongues slid together in a long deep stroke. That same urgency flared between them again and he hauled her closer, his grip demanding as he slid his hands to her ass and pulled her against the hard ridge straining behind his zipper. The unexpected familiarity snapped her back to reality and she tensed in his arms.
A low groan rumbled in his chest and he tore himself from the kiss. “Damn, woman,” he panted against her lips. “If you keep kissing me like that, you won’t have to worry about sleeping, much less where.”
Heat tinged her cheeks. Not that she had many experiences to compare it to, but he wasn’t half bad himself. No one had ever kissed her in the all-consuming way he did.
“Come on.” He tugged her toward the door. “I’ll give you the official tour before dinner.”
“I smell ribs,” someone called from the front door. The owner of the unfamiliar, masculine voice stopped short in the kitchen doorway. A younger version of Clay’s dad, tall and lean with thick black hair, broad shoulders, wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a lab coat, looked her over. “You must be Dani McLendon.”
“My brother, Doctor Levi Sterling,” Clay introduced, “the mad scientist behind the Sterling brand.”
“Well, sometimes the science part of what I do is questionable,” he said with a dimpled grin that mirrored Clay’s as he shook her hand, “but the mad part will be true enough if I don’t get something to eat soon.”
“Food’s on the table,” Beau announced from the other side of a screen door just off the kitchen.
“You want a beer?” Clay asked her. “Or I can see what else we have in the fridge.”
“Beer’s fine.”
Dani waited for him to retrieve a couple longnecks from the fridge and then followed Clay and Levi out onto the covered porch, where Virgil sat at a picnic table, already preparing his plate.
“Get all settled in?” Virgil asked her as she took a seat beside Clay.
“We’ve worked it out,” Clay answered for her, glaring at Beau.
“Hey.” Beau held up his hands. “I said I was sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Dani dismissed his concerns. “Clay gave me his room for the night.”
“Gave you his—wait.” Beau looked at Clay. “You mean, you two aren’t…” He gestured between them, his eyes widening in surprise when Clay shook his head. “Damn.” Beau cringed. “Sorry. I just assumed—”
“You got the ass part of that right,” Clay mumbled as he handed her a plate.
“So,” Levi said once everyone was seated. “Clay says you’re here to check out our operation for some upgrades you’re planning on your family’s ranch. Are you interested in branching out into genetics?”
“Not specifically,” Dani said, passing on what looked like some sort of corn salad Clay offered her. “I’m more interested in herd management and automation.”
Beau snickered. “Clay’s definitely your man, then.”
Clay nudged her with his elbow and she caught his I told you wink. Heat rose in her cheeks and she looked away. She couldn’t think when he did that.
“I took an intro genetics course last semester,” she said, “but that’s more my dad Mason’s thing. He wanted to come here with me, but he’s attending a genetics and breeding conference in Colorado.”
“The one in Denver?” Levi asked, and she nodded. “Small world,” he said. “I’m leaving day after tomorrow for the same conference.”
“You are?”
“I wasn’t scheduled to go.” Levi nodded. “But one of the lead panelists had some sort of family emergency and asked me to fill in for him.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, handing a business card across the table to her. “Tell your dad to give me a ring and we’ll meet up for drinks.”
“Thanks.” Dani took the Sterling branded card and slipped it into her pocket.
“Slick,” Beau m
urmured under his breath, elbowing Levi in the side. “Wish I’d have thought of that.”
Clay dropped his fork on his plate and glared at his brothers.
“Relax.” Levi chuckled. “I’m not trying to poach your girl, Clay.”
“At least not with you sittin’ right there,” Beau said with a wry grin and took a swig of his beer. “I’m joking!” he said, when Clay cracked his neck and limbered up his shoulders like he was preparing for a fight.
Dani rolled her eyes. They were worse than her brothers!
“Not funny,” Clay grunted, placing a claiming hand on Dani’s thigh.
“All right,” Virgil barked. “You two have embarrassed your brother enough for one night. Pass me a couple extra napkins, darlin’, then tell me more about you and what you hope to accomplish with this visit.”
Dani told them about her family and the ranch, and all the changes she wanted to make. The conversation eventually circled around to the Sterling family and Dani listened, enraptured with the story of how Clay’s great-great grandfather first came to Pecos, Texas, during the great free range cattle drives after the Civil War, eventually settling in the Marfa area to start the Sterling brand. As he talked, Clay and his brothers added forgotten tidbits to the story, and she couldn’t help but take note of the brothers’ similarities and differences.
She’d learned that Beau was the oldest. In his mid-thirties, rough around the edges, he reminded her of the salt of the earth, old-time cowboys Virgil spoke of, preferring to spend his time in the desert instead of around civilization.
The polar opposite of Beau, Levi was the next oldest. Clean-cut with a hint of salt and pepper in his neatly trimmed beard, his domestic sophistication set him apart from his rough stock, older brother. Both a geneticist and a professor at a college in San Antonio, when he wasn’t running the ranch’s lab during the summer, he had the credentials to be a certified science geek. But he certainly didn’t look like any professor she’d ever had. With his chiseled smile and cowboy physique, he could teach bowling management and have every female at Montana State on a waiting list to take his classes.
