The Rancher’s Tempting Nanny

by Mary Sue Jackson

  “That’s wonderful,” she said sweetly, leaning in a little closer, her floral scent mingling with the fragrance of the night. “I’m happy for you, Austin, truly. It honestly seems like you’ve had a perfect day.”

  “Almost,” he replied impishly, letting go of her hand and stepping closer to the water. “But not quite. Fortunately, I’ve got just the thing in mind to take things over the edge.”

  "What--?" she started to say, then stopped when he tossed his hat to the side and then grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up over his head. His heart was pounding violently in his chest, and he was keenly aware of her eyes on him as he tossed the shirt aside and started on his boots and jeans.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, laughing breathlessly. The laughter was a good sign, at least. It meant that she didn’t think he was either a pervert or just flat out insane.

  “Going for a swim,” he answered promptly, giving her what he hoped was a challenging look and trying to smooth his tousled hair back into place. “Don’t you remember how much time we spent here as kids? We practically lived in this pond.”

  “I remember,” she said, blushing but taking a step closer in spite of herself. “And a swim actually sounds kind of amazing right now, but you’re forgetting one thing.”

  "Am I?" he asked, walking backward into the water with nothing but his boxers on, not stopping until it was halfway up his chest. "What's that?"

  “I don’t have a bathing suit,” she answered, the corners of her mouth twitching with a smile.

  “Do you know what that is?” he asked, his heart racing anew at the thought of what was underneath her flowery sundress. “That’s a city girl thing to say.”

  "Is that so?" she asked as she removed the barrette holding back one side of her hair. "Well then, mister, consider that challenge accepted."

  “Man, this water feels good!” Austin continued to tease, clearly not convinced that she was really going to step into the pond. “On a fine summer evening? Nothing like the feel of this--”

  His voice cut off abruptly when she pulled her dress up over her head, and although she couldn't see his face while still caught in the fabric, imagining it made her grin. Her heart was beating frantically while a small voice in the back of her head asked just what on earth she thought she was doing. A much larger part of her mind was busy doing a frantic inventory of which bra and panties she'd put on that morning, though, and giving a silent cheer when she remembered it was the teal blue lace set that made her skin look like it glowed.

  “Okay,” he said, his voice breaking a little as he held both hands up in a sign of surrender. “You’ve got me, I was wrong.”

  “Not as much of a city girl as you thought?” she asked with a lopsided smile as she stepped gingerly into the water, trying not to slip on the smooth, algae-covered rocks.

  “No,” he agreed, splashing a handful of water in her direction. “I guess you’re not.”

  “What?” she asked a little self-consciously when she saw him staring at her with intense concentration. “What are you looking at?”

  “At the risk of sounding like a Neanderthal, I’m looking at you,” he said with a shrug, light dancing in his eyes despite the dimness of the hour. “I think you’re just about the best thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Sara didn't have an answer for that, so she settled on returning his splash, moving forward until it was only her head and neck above water. She liked the way it felt, having his eyes roam every inch of her body, liked how powerful and sexy his admiration made her feel. It had been a painfully long time since a man appreciated her the way Austin was appreciating her now. Even in the beginning, her ex never had. By the end, the only time he had looked at her at all was when he was gearing up to do something awful.

  She was also a big fan of the way Austin looked without a shirt, as briefly as she'd gotten to see him before his body was hidden by the water, his strong, lean muscles flexing and rippling easily with every movement. It wasn't hard to remember the way she had mooned over him when they were kids, the sexy, brooding older brother of her best friend who would never see her as anything more than a nuisance. Except that now he was looking at her like he wanted her more than anything, and what woman alive didn’t like to be on the receiving end of a look like that?

  “You can come closer if you like,” he said, sending another ripple of water splashing her way. “I don’t bite. At least not unless it’s desired.”

  “No?” she asked breathlessly, swimming closer to him while every nerve ending in her body screamed out for his touch. “And what if a person hasn’t decided whether or not it’s desired? What do you do then?”

  “Well then, I’d start with a little nibble,” he answered huskily, moving slowly towards her, the water giving way around his body like butter around a knife. “Just to see, and we could take things from there.”

  Sara laughed giddily, her skin breaking out into goosebumps despite the warmth of the twilight air. It didn't even feel real, what was happening now. It was too perfect for real life. The air was thick with the warm scent of summer, and when she looked up at the sky, she could see the first hint of the moon and a host of companionable stars twinkling merrily away. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to remember every detail. Whatever else happened, this was one of those memories to tuck away and keep for a rainy day.

  “Sara?” came Austin’s voice again, so close now that she could practically feel his breath tickling her skin. “Sara, I don’t know if this is okay to say, but I want to put my hands on you—not to mention my mouth. I want to know how you taste.”

  Sara gasped at the same time as Austin reached for her, his hands circling around her waist and pressing her against him so that she could feel his heart beating against her breast. She could feel something else, too, something stiff against her thigh beneath the water, and she shuddered deliciously, her hips moving unconsciously as if they had a mind all their own.

  When he kissed her this time, there was none of the hesitation of the times before. He kissed her like doing so was a need, like he would die without her touch. Any hesitation on her part about blurring the lines between them, or falling into a relationship before she was fully healed from her past, was long gone, or at least on a brief hiatus, and she kissed him back with abandon. Her hands moved to his chest, then up to the back of his neck, clinging to him and sighing with pleasure as his tongue slipped inside her mouth.

  It was the best kind of kissing, the kind where time and space seemed to stand still, and there was nothing but the feel of two people's bodies twining together. She wanted him so badly now that when he finally pulled away, she almost whimpered in protest.

  “At the risk of being too forward,” he panted, running one calloused hand lightly over the swell of her breast. “Do you have any interest in taking this back to the house?”

  Sara thought of the king-sized bed in Austin's master suite and nobody else in the house to stop them. The idea of him laying her down on his crisp white sheets was so delicious that it actually made her mouth water, and she started nodding before she could even speak.

  "Yes," she said, so decisively that it made him laugh. "I have interest. I'm all about that kind of interest."

  Fourteen

  They walked a good deal quicker back to the house than they’d walked on the way to the pond, their hands linked tightly in the dark. They hardly spoke at all, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was a quiet that was full of anticipation, a feeling that was only heightened by the way her finger moved lightly across his knuckles, sending pleasurable shivers up his spine. He could still feel her breasts pressed up against him, could feel the way her hips swayed against him when they’d tangled together in the water, making his erection so stiff it hurt. It was all he could do to keep from laying her down right here in the grass, and it was a feeling he thought she shared. She didn’t have to say it, he could just feel it. The air between them was thick with the electricity of their
desire for one another.

  They were almost to the porch, Austin already imagining all of the things he wanted to do to her, when they heard a loud bang coming from the direction of the barn. Sara jumped, startled, and stopped in her tracks, looking at him with a question in her eyes.

  "You heard that, right?" she asked, her brow furrowed with sudden worry.

  “I did,” he agreed with a nod, squinting through the dark in the direction of the barn. He held her hand tighter, pulling her in a little closer, where he could more easily protect her if need be.

  “What do you think it is?” she asked, worry taking some of the charge out of the space between them. “Could it be the pony? Is she, like, running rampant through the barn?”

  “No,” he answered, shaking his head decisively and starting towards the source of the noise. “The pony is safely tucked away in her stall. I’ll go in and check it out, see what’s going on in there. You wait out here, just in case.”

  “In case of what?” she asked with a frown, tugging on his hand to keep him from getting any closer to the barn door. “What do you think is going on in there?”

  "I don't know yet," he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Probably nothing, but I still want to make sure you're safe. Just allow me to be chivalrous for a minute, will you? We both know I'm likely to make an ass of myself sooner or later, and it will be good for me to have some checks already in the pro column."

  “Well, that’s true,” she said with a smirk, although he could still plainly see some worry in her eyes. “But be careful, okay? And please, don’t leave me out here to wonder what’s going on for any longer than you have to.”

  “You have my word on that,” he said in a low voice, pulling her in close. “Why would I want to leave you by yourself out here when there are so many more interesting things we could be doing in there?”

  He nodded in the direction of the house, and thanks to the light coming from the porch, he saw her face flush a delicate pink. He kissed her again, deep and full of promise, and then let her go so he could root out the source of the mystery noise.

  He moved slowly once he was inside the barn, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim light from the porch and the moon streaming in through cracks in the boards. When he got to the middle of the floor, he stopped, letting out a low laugh. One of the big metal trash cans they had set out for the party was toppled over on its side, some of the pink ribbon and torn wrapping paper spilling out of its dislodged top. More likely than not, an adventurous possum or raccoon had taken it upon himself to come inside and investigate the sugary-sweet scent of leftover cake. He would go back outside and tell Sara as much, and they would have a good laugh as they went back to the house. Something to lighten the mood and help them not to take themselves too seriously as they went to bed together for the first time.

  In the next instant, however, his feeling of easy good humor vanished, and he jumped back with a feeling of genuine horror crawling all over his skin. He let out a string of curse words that would make a sailor blush as he watched the long, thick snake slithering lazily from around the trash can and in his direction. Of course it would be a snake, one of the only things in the world that he was genuinely afraid of, whether it made a lick of sense or not.

  “What?!” Sara demanded with alarm, rushing through the door and to his side. “What’s the matter? I thought I heard—”

  She followed his eyes, still locked onto the offending serpent’s progress, and let out a yelp of fear and disgust. She jumped behind him, clinging to his back as if he could protect her. He would have been happy to do just that if he was dealing with anything but snakes. As it was, it was all he could do to breathe—there was no chance he could do something about the snake. He wasn't even sure he could speak until the snake moved closer still, finally prompting him into action.

  "The ladder!" he barked, backing up and forcing Sara to do the same. "It's a couple of paces behind us, and it leads up to the hayloft. Go!"

  He turned quickly, and the two of them sprinted to the ladder with Austin feeling that the beastly serpent was hot on his heels. It wasn't until they were both safely sitting atop a blanket of hay, and he was looking down the length of the ladder to see how closely the snake had followed, that Austin realized that Sara was laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked, frowning at what he thought might be movement. “Did you see the size of that thing?”

  “I did,” she answered, still giggling. “But you don’t honestly think it’s going to follow us up here, do you? It’s a ladder, Austin. Snakes can’t climb ladders.”

  “Right, I know that,” he said over his shoulder, his jaw tightening a little at the idea. “But I want to know where it is all the same.”

  “For when we climb back down?” she asked, something in her voice making him think she might just be poking fun at him now. He didn't want to take the bait, but he also didn't seem able to stop himself.

  “Yeah, that’s not happening anytime soon,” he said decisively, finally moving away from the opening and coming to sit beside her. “Not until I’m satisfied that that thing isn’t anywhere close.”

  Sara's eyes widened, and she dissolved into another fit of giggles, this one so intense it left her panting to catch her breath. It didn't take a genius to know what had her so tickled. His fear of snakes had been found out.

  “Oh, Austin,” she gasped, still giggling. “You should see your face.”

  "I'd rather not if it's all the same to you," he grumbled, scooting in closer to her side.

  “You’re afraid of snakes, aren’t you?” she asked, her tone not unsympathetic despite the laughter.

  "Right, hence the not going back down the ladder," he agreed with a stubborn nod. She started full-on laughing again, and the sound of it made him smile, despite the scare. He reached out and plucked a piece of straw from her hair, letting his thumb trace the line of her jaw afterward. "You better stop that laughing, or I'm going to have to find a way to keep that mouth of yours occupied."

  “Oh, really?” she asked, a challenge in her eyes. “And what did you have in mind?”

  Instead of answering, he pushed her back gently on the hay and went in for a kiss.

  The hay beneath her was scratchy as it worked its way down the back of Sara's dress and up the skirt, but Sara didn't mind one bit. She wasn't bothered by the snake presumably still slithering around on the barn floor, either, regardless of how massive it was. Those were both worries that barely edged into her awareness because, for now, the only thing in the world she wanted to pay attention to was Austin.

  He hovered just above her, his strong arms up near her ears, propping him up so that she only felt a fraction of his weight where their bodies touched. His eyes shone as he pulled away from their kiss, letting them travel the length of her body and then moving back up again. It was almost as if he were still hesitating, something holding him back from what they clearly both wanted. Just in case he wasn't confident of where her level of desire was, she arched her back, drawing her legs up so that his hips rested easily between her trembling thighs.

  “This isn’t quite where I imagined this happening,” he said softly, dipping his face and kissing the tip of her nose. “At least not the first time.”

  “You’ve imagined this?” she asked, reaching up and brushing a strand of hair away from his face.

  “Only about a hundred times,” he laughed huskily, his hips beginning to rock suggestively so that a helpless moan escaped Sara’s lips. “Let’s just say that it hasn’t been easy for me to keep my distance.”

  “So then don’t keep it anymore,” she whispered, straining her neck to kiss him, nice and slow.

  It wasn’t hard for him to slide her dress up her body and over her head, his capable hands making easy work of the task. She took care of the bra, still damp from their dip in the pond, by arching her back again and wriggling around until she was bare-chested. He smiled then, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck and
kissing down its length, moving slowly along her collarbone and finally taking one of her nipples into his mouth, his tongue circling it until she cried out with pleasure and want. He groaned against her skin and reached down with one hand, slipping his fingers beneath the scalloped edge of her lacy panties and tugging them down. When he had to rear up and scoot back to get them all the way off, she whimpered with displeasure, already missing the weight and heat of his body on top of hers.

  “Don’t worry,” he said huskily, his hands moving to first his belt and then the zipper of his jeans. “I’m coming right back.”

  He had to stand to get his own clothes off, and Sara took the opportunity to prop herself up on her elbows, biting her lower lip as she watched his figure appreciatively. She'd gotten a look at him by the pond, but she had tried to be discreet about it and hadn't let her eyes linger the way she wanted to. His skin was almost golden from so much time in the sun, and he had the easy muscularity of a man who knew how to make use of every inch of his body. She could have done with some electric light instead of just moonlight with which to look her fill, but she wasn’t going to complain. When he was completely naked, he looked down at her, saw the way she was watching, and favored her with a devilish grin.

  “Have I told you how crazy it makes me when you gnaw on your lip that way?” he asked, dropping to his knees before her and taking her thighs in his hands to spread them apart.

  “No,” she gasped as he pulled her forward, wrapping her legs around him. “I don’t believe you have.”

  “Well, it does,” he said hoarsely as he slid on the condom hastily grabbed from the wallet in the pocket of his jeans, shutting his eyes and letting his head fall back as he guided himself inside of her. “It really, really does.”

  The time for talking was done, and Sara let her body do the answering for her. She arched her back again, throwing her hands over her head and gripping one of the wooden beams supporting the roof. The light breeze coming through the walls brushed across her nipples, teasing her until she wasn't sure she could stand it, and all the while, Austin moved inside her.