She’d gotten so lost in self-recriminations she’d almost forgotten she was on horseback until Fletch spoke to her.
“There’s a long, flat section up ahead. I’m gonna give Gus his legs, so hold on.”
Tanna wanted to tell him, no, wait, you promised no galloping, but Gus kicked up the pace. She opened her eyes only to close them again.
She so wanted that big aha! moment when everything became clear. When the wind in her hair and the years of conditioning her muscles kicked the memory of what she used to be and she felt a burst of joy. Of rightness.
But neither of those feelings came.
They slowed. Stopped. She could feel Fletch’s core muscles working and the muscles in his arms tightening. Such a powerful man. Yet such a gentle giant.
He turned toward her and she lifted her head. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to get down and walk around?”
“How will we get back on?”
“Me Injun. Know how to mount bareback.”
Tanna smiled for the first time since they’d left this morning. “Okay, chief.”
“Hang on to my arm. I’ll help you off first.”
Just look at Fletch. Nowhere else.
“Tanna, sweetheart, give me all your weight. You’re not gonna hurt me.”
She swung her right leg over and slid down until both her feet were on the ground. And she was upright. Not wobbly. Not light-headed. This was good.
Fletch dismounted and immediately circled his arms around her, dipping his head for a kiss.
“Wait. Don’t you need to tie Gus off?”
“Nope. He’s broke to ground tie. Now gimme that mouth for the victory kiss I’m dying for.”
“Victory kiss?” she repeated.
“Mmm-hmm. ’Cause this ride surely is a victory for you. Don’t see it as anything less.” Their lips met in a sweet, loving, comforting kiss. A kiss he was in no hurry to end. Teasing her tongue with little nips and sucks, gliding his wet lips over hers, coaxing her to relax into him fully. He eased off and completely wrapped her in his embrace, mashing her face against his chest.
“You did great. How do you feel?”
“Lucky.”
“How’s that?”
“Because you’re a pushy bastard. You made me do it because you knew I wouldn’t on my own. Maybe ever. If not for you . . . anyway. Thank you.” Tanna dropped her head back and peered at his handsome face. Something deeper than lust pinched her heart.
And in that moment, she knew she loved him.
“Tanna? Sweetheart, you’re looking at me really funny.”
She couldn’t tell him. He’d attribute her reaction to the situation of his helping her face her fears. So she redirected. “How is it I forgot how unbelievably hot you look in a cowboy hat?”
He grinned. “No clue. Probably I haven’t been wearing it much since I’ve been on sabbatical.”
“Pity, that.”
Gus tried to poke his head between them.
Fletch studied her very carefully for signs of panic as Gus sniffed her arm, the side of her head and her ear. When she stepped behind Fletch, Gus followed and kept pestering her. But Fletch pushed him back. “Quit sniffing my woman, old man.”
Gus gave an indignant snort and meandered a few feet away.
“Are you ready to head back?”
“How far are we from the ranch?”
“Probably a mile.”
“Seems like it should be a lot farther.”
He cupped the side of her face. “I want you to ride in front of me on the way back.”
Her pulse leapt. “Why?”
“This is a pretty piece of dirt and I bet your eyes were closed during the whole ride here.”
“Fletch—”
“I’ll hold the reins. You don’t have to do anything but lean against me and soak in the view.” His thumb feathered across her cheek. “You’re ready.”
Tanna couldn’t help the grudging, “Okay.”
“I can tell by the stubborn set to your mouth you might just keep your eyes closed to spite me.”
She smiled. “Maybe. Just because I rode on the back of a horse for a mile doesn’t mean I’m ready to find my seat again.”
“We’ll go as slow as you want. I’ll have my seat on the horse first.” He kissed her again, his lips so warm and sure.
Watching him mount without stirrups was a testament to his strength and agility. After his Indian comment she imagined him mounting up bare chested. In a loincloth.
“Tanna?”
Crap. Fletch had his hand out to help her up.
When Gus turned his head to see what was going on, Tanna shied away.
“Don’t let him spook you. Show him who’s boss.”
She felt so damn ridiculous. Retreating from a twenty-year-old gelding. Keeping one eye on the horse, she reached for Fletch’s hand and he hauled her straight up as easily as if she’d been on a pulley. Then his left arm snaked around her waist, pulling her back so her butt was snug against his groin and her spine was pressed against his chest. She was at a loss without the reins. “What am I supposed to do with my hands?”
“Hold on to the outside of my legs.”
Tanna placed her palms on the midpoint between his knees and his hips.
His deep voice settled in her ear. “You ready?”
“I guess.”
Fletch kicked his heels in and loosened the reins and Gus started to move.
Her body seemed to be as stiff as cement.
“Are your eyes open?” he murmured in her ear.
“Yes.”
“Close them and lean into me.”
It was a relief to slump back.
“Now drop your head to the left. Keep holding on.”
When his open mouth landed on the exposed section of her neck she knew why he’d told her to hold on—that one hot kiss was as potent as an electrical charge.
“I’ve missed you in my bed.” Fletch nuzzled the tender area below her ear. “I woke up hard.”
“Have to take care of it yourself?”
“Mmm-hmm. In the shower.” Whisper-soft kisses drifted up and down the side of her neck. “I used my left hand and pretended it was you jacking me off.”
“Did it take long or did I drag it out?”
“Oh, you were a greedy little thing. You wanted to get me there as fast as possible. You worked me hard in your slippery fist.”
Tanna was right there. Watching as Fletch jerked himself off. She could hear the slap, slap, slap of skin. She felt that breathless moment of anticipation when he stopped breathing and threw his head back. When long ribbons of come jetted from his cock, splatting onto the floor and swirling down the drain.
“I recognize that sexy noise.”
“I’m not surprised. I make it a lot around you.”
Fletch rocked his pelvis forward and Gus picked up the pace.
Tanna’s eyes flew open. Gus’s muscles rippled against her inner thighs. She bounced out of synch with the horse’s gait. She felt herself starting to slide to the right just like her accident and jerked herself to the left.
Fletch’s arm squeezed her lower torso. “Tanna. I’ve got you. You won’t fall. I promise.”
“But what if—”
“You won’t. Get them thoughts right outta your head.” He kissed her temple. “Now where were we? Wrap your arm around the back of my neck. You can even dig your nails in because you know how fucking much I like that.”
She maneuvered her right arm back and held on; the pose felt decidedly wanton. Not at all like her usual seat atop a horse.
“Know what I’m thinking about? How badly I want my hands on you. My mouth on you,” he murmured. “I’d start on your tits as I’m kissing you. I’d
rub my palms over your nipples, until they were diamond hard.”
Her nipples immediately constricted.
“As much as I wanna put my mouth on those rigid tips, I’d save that for later. Too much naked skin tempting me to kiss and tease. I love when your breath catches as I touch you here.”
His fingers on her belly lightly brushed the skin between her hipbones. A little gasp escaped.
“There’s the sound.” He adjusted his upper body and bent his head to place a kiss on the tender area on the inside of her arm. “I’d run my fingers along the muscles from your wrist to your biceps. Stopping to trace the bend in your elbow. The ball of your shoulder. Your collarbone. Your neck. Your strong, stubborn jaw. All beautiful feminine places.”
“I have other feminine places,” she said a little breathlessly.
“Believe me, I know. I like watching your face as I’m kissing a path down your belly to gorge myself on that slice of heaven between your thighs.”
Fletch kept telling her all the wickedly raunchy things he planned to do to her. Explicit things. But he didn’t touch her beyond caressing her thigh with his thumb.
Rather than being wound tight, Tanna relaxed against him completely. The deep, modulated cadence of his voice was a perfect complement to the easy cadence of the horse.
She felt a stab of disappointment when the barn appeared. She hadn’t wanted this horseback ride to end.
Wait. What did that mean?
Imagining strapping on the feedbag, Gus picked up the pace.
Tanna held her breath, expecting that panicked feeling would overwhelm her.
But nothing came.
“You all right?” Fletch asked.
“Yes. I am. I really am. Thank you for this.”
“My pleasure. This riding double thing is awesome.”
She laughed softly.
“I’m gonna swing down and open the gate.”
Leaving her alone on Gus.
Fletch dismounted and walked them through the gate.
He helped her dismount.
Tanna stood in the dirt, watching Fletch deal with the horse.
She’d survived.
In fact, she felt exhilarated.
Alive.
Wanting to celebrate this feeling—this victory—with more than just a kiss.
She paced outside the gate and as soon as Fletch exited, she pounced on him. She kissed him as she tried to scale his body.
Fletch returned her kiss with equal enthusiasm, until she reached for his belt buckle. He released her with a groan, stopping the motion.
She wasn’t ready to let him go. She latched onto his neck and whispered in his ear. “I need you, Fletch. Fuck me against a tree or on the picnic table or even in the dirt. But I need—”
“Slow down.” He stepped back and took hold of her hands. “Sugar twang, there’s no rush. Let’s just chill for a minute.”
“But . . . I thought we would . . .” She knew she looked bewildered and didn’t care.
“No.” He kissed her knuckles. “When we get back to the Split Rock, we can hit your bed, or my bed and do all the things we talked about. But not here.”
“So why would you say all those . . .” Lightbulb moment. Duh. “You were distracting me.”
“Yep.”
Tanna fought back tears. For Fletch’s thoughtfulness and that she’d become such a basket case that she needed soothing in the way he knew would be effective on her. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He brushed his mouth across her forehead. “This is about you. Sex is about us. In this moment we’re gonna talk. Really talk about where you think you can go from here. No holds barred, beautiful.”
She really loved this man. “Okay.”
Fletch led her to the picnic table. They sat side by side, her small hand engulfed in his bigger one, her head resting against his bicep. She took a deep breath. “I was so fucking scared when you told me I was getting on a horse today that I considered faking a recurrence of my knee injury so you’d change your mind.”
He laughed. “Clever. But wasn’t happening. Go on.”
Baring her body was a lot easier than baring her soul. But she did it.
Fletch didn’t run. He didn’t pass judgment. He just listened. Then he kissed away her tears.
He’d helped her take the first step. The rest was up to her. And for the first time in months, she had a feeling of hope.
The first thing Tanna did when they got back to the Split Rock was call Eli and ask if he had a gentle mount she could ride first thing tomorrow.
The next thing she did was convince Fletch she needed lots of help on reclaiming her riding skills as she led him to bed.
Chapter Twenty-seven
With the warm breeze drifting through the open windows in the cab of his truck and his sense of anticipation, Fletch could almost imagine this was the beginning of his vacation instead of the end of it.
Where in the hell had six weeks gone? Six weeks ago he’d wondered how he’d fill his time. Now he made a mental list of all the things he hadn’t done.
It’d been a week and a half since the horse incident, which Tanna referred to as “the day the horseshit hit the fan” and things had never been better between them. Even when he’d known it was the beginning of the end.
He’d convinced her to spend the last two days of his sabbatical with him at the lake.
“We’re not sleeping in a tipi, are we?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts.
Fletch sighed. “You really went there, Tanna?”
She laughed. “Kidding. I just wanted to hear that exasperated sigh. It’s sexy as hell.”
“I oughta turn you over my knee and paddle your ass. Those yelps you make are sexy as hell.”
“I’m on board—but only if you pull my hair too,” she cooed. “I love it when you go all he-man large and in charge on me.”
“Remember you said that.” Fletch brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “This cabin is rustic. But it does have running water. And a decent dock.”
“A boat?”
“An old fishing canoe.”
“So no waterskiing? Damn.”
“You water-ski?”
Tanna shook her head. “I’ve always wanted to try, but it’d just be my luck if I wiped out and tore the crap out of my knee again.”
“Motorized watercraft aren’t allowed anyway.” He waggled his eyebrows. “You’ll just have to lay on the dock in a bikini.”
“While I’m holding a fishing pole. Because I’m a damn good fisherwoman.”
“Glad someone is,” he muttered. “I brought steaks just in case.”
“Buffalo steaks?” she snickered.
“Y’all are fixin’ for me to open a can of whoop ass for them Indian comments, ain’t ya?” he shot back, imitating her twang.
She laughed. “I deserved that.”
With no beach or motorized boats, the small lake didn’t attract many people, so the area had remained unchanged since Fletch’s childhood. They turned off the main road onto a bumpy, overgrown path one step below a fire trail. The pine trees were sparse. Not much green grew on the forest floor. The road took a sharp curve and they reached the back side of the cabin.
“Here we are.”
Tanna bent forward and squinted through the front window. “Where’s the outhouse?”
“No outhouse. It has a septic system.”
“Whoo-ee Jim-Bob! Then this here is right uptown.”
If Fletch had his way, he would’ve carried in everything. But Little Miss I Can Do It insisted on helping. He kept an eye on her to see if she favored her knee after her recent return to riding.
She set the sleeping bags on the floor and looked up at him, smiling. “This oughta be cozy.”
“Let’s test it.�
� Fletch pulled Tanna against his chest and landed on the mattress on his back. He took her mouth in a ravenous kiss, keeping her arms trapped between them so he could tease and coax—devour her however he pleased and she couldn’t do a damn thing about it. By the time he slowed the kiss, his dick was hard.
He pressed his lips to her forehead. “We’ll fit, but one of us will have to be on top. All night.”
Tanna angled her head to bury her face in his neck. “Sounds like something fun to try.”
He loosened his hold on her, but she remained curled into him. He trailed his fingers up and down her back, more than content to just lie with her like this.
“Fletch?”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks.”
“For?”
“Bringing me here. For wanting to spend time with me.”
There’s no place I’d rather be. No one I’d rather be with.
“My pleasure. I hate that my vacation’s about over.” He twisted the ends of her ponytail around his finger. “I wish this was longer than two days.”
Tanna kissed the pulse point in his neck. The corner of his jaw. The tip of his chin. “Me too. So we’d better make the most of the time we have.” She pushed up and stood beside the bed, offering him a hand to help him up. “Let’s go explore.”
“You go ahead. I’m right behind you.”
Her white cover-up blouse fluttered to the floor. She kicked off her flip-flops and grabbed a beach towel.
Fletch stopped at the cooler and snagged two beers.
Barefoot, Tanna wandered to the end of the dock, looking delectable in cutoff jean shorts and a bright yellow bikini top. She sat and dangled her legs over the side. Resting back on her elbows, she aimed her face toward the sun and closed her eyes.
He nearly stumbled over his own feet; the woman was such a vision. He just stared at her while drool formed in his mouth and icy water dripped off the bottom of the cans.
She cracked an eye open. “Why you standing there, breathing hard, blocking my sun?”
Because I love you.
His little Texas cowgirl would run if he confessed that, so he plopped down beside her and said, “Just admiring the view, sugar twang.”
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