Wanted: Runaway Cowgirl (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Brynn Paulin

  Nash caught me as the overwhelming grief hit me. Unfastening my seatbelt, he pulled me tight to his chest. My tears soaked his shirt as I cried out the pain of loss and the devastating weight of my guilt. I sobbed into his shoulder. My whole body shook with my hitching breaths while sorrow engulfed me in wave after wave. He just held me, rubbing my back and talking softly to me, soothing me. It was his dad and here he was comforting me.

  I don’t know how long we stayed there like that, me crying, him with his damp face pressed into my neck. He was my rock, my anchor, and I was taken with a tremendous need to be there for him, however he’d have me.

  I sniffled, my chest still clutching, as I tried to pull it together.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered into his shirt, my hands clutching the fabric over his shoulder blades. “I’m sorry I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have asked. It’s your pain, and here you are comforting me. I’m crying all over you. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. I’ve had five years to mourn.”

  “No. No, it’s not okay. If I’d known…” I shook my head, pulling back to look into his sad eyes. If I’d known…what? Would I have come home to him there? If I’d known, yeah, I probably would have returned right away, no matter how mad I was. Nothing would have kept me away. I was surprised no one had told me.

  He pulled my head back to his shoulder, cradling the back of my neck and I listened to his heart, thumping steadily beneath me, so comfortable and soothing. “When?” I asked. “You said…five years?”

  “Not long after you left. Beginning of senior year.”

  “God, Nash. That’s so much… Too much for an eighteen-year-old to take on. You were a kid. Hell, some people would say we still are.”

  “I haven’t been a kid for a long time.”

  With all the responsibility he’d shouldered, I guessed not. The obligations had aged him. And he’d been doing so much at the ranch, all on his own.

  Resolve settled through me. I pulled back to look him in the eyes once more. “You’re not alone anymore, Nash. I’m here now. I know it’s late, but you’re not—”

  He slammed his mouth over mine, stealing my words, stealing my declaration, perhaps sealing the deal and claiming my vow. He kissed me just as hungrily as he had earlier in the kitchen, but this time, there was added desperation and need. Urgency had us coming together, me straddling his lap and getting closer as we kissed. Pressed chest to chest, I pushed my hands into his hair. My hips rocked slowly against the steel-hard erection that fit against my panty-covered sex.

  We were alive. Together. He was my comfort, and I could be his. I needed to feel him, to reaffirm us, to be as close as possible. From the way his ragged breathing increased and his deep groans vibrated against my breasts, I knew he felt the same.

  We were both panting hard when he pulled me back. “Fuck, Jorie, I’m gonna come in my jeans at this rate.”

  My hips canted into him again, and I swept my tongue over my bottom lip. I’d rather you come into me.

  As if he’d read my thought, his gaze darkened with intensified lust. “It’s been five years,” he said. His fingers tightened on my hips, keeping me close. Did he think I’d move away? Not a chance.

  “There hasn’t been anyone else,” I said. “I never wanted anyone else, even when I was mad.”

  “Me, either,” he confessed. “Too busy. Besides, no one else got me hard—not even the idea of a mindless fuck did it. I’ve got a one-woman dick, I guess. Just the idea of anyone else… I thought he was broken.”

  That brought a smirk to my face. “Doesn’t feel too broken to me,” I said, rocking against the solid ridge again.

  “Not with you.” The hands on my hips guided me harder against him. “Hell, I could open my jeans and slip inside…”

  “Do it,” I breathed, just wanting him and forgetting everything else. His hand moved between use then his hips lifted as he shoved his jeans and briefs down his thighs. A moment later, he pushed my panties to the side, and his fingers quickly glided through my wetness. Then the head of his cock lodged at my opening.

  I groaned in pleasure as his thick length pushed past my entrance. Even the pinch of discomfort from having no one in five years didn’t detract from how perfect it felt to have him inside me again. My hands clasped his powerful shoulders, and my head dropped back as the sound of our bliss mixed fill the truck’s cab.

  “Fuck, you’re so tight,” he rasped. His breaths chuffed out as I slid down him.

  “You feel so good,” I cried. “Give me more. Give me all of you.”

  “Yes.” He grasped my hips tight and surged up into me, burying himself to the hilt.

  “Nash, yes,” I screamed. My channel clenched around him, my eyes squeezing shut from the perfect pleasure of the reunion with my best friend, my first love, my man.

  I rocked against his base, drawing another groan from him and sending spikes of electric sensation through me at the sweet friction.

  “Baby, please?” he begged.

  “Yeah?” I smiled, enjoying this power, this moment. I watched the agonized bliss on his face, the taut cords of his neck exposed to me with his head dropped against the back of the seat. I nipped at a tendon then licked the length as I kept rocking, glorying in the sharp reaction pulsing through me with each move.

  “I’m going to come too soon. Feels too good.”

  “So good,” I echoed.

  “Fuck, baby, please.”

  “Yes, fuck me,” I begged. With that, the storm unleashed. His hand came up to cup my breast, his fingers finding the nipple and pulling while his hips bucked up into me. It was raw and rough, neither of us with much experience or finesse but having plenty of need. We fucked hard until I screamed my release, the climax washing over me like a tidal wave, thrashing me about, tumbling to me toward oblivion. He yelled a moment later, and his warmth filled me.

  I collapsed against his shoulder, my eyes closing in delight as aftershocks vibrated through my limbs.

  He cupped my head and brought my mouth to his. “Welcome home, baby. You better never leave me again.”

  I hummed and sank against him. Home. I was finally home. At least for now.

  Chapter Six

  ~ Jorie ~

  “This isn’t really what I was thinking when I decided to take you out for a nice meal,” Nash muttered, into my hair before he kissed my temple.

  I crossed my ankles as I leaned against his shoulder. We’d driven back to the ranch then moved to the bed of his truck to cuddle and stargaze. He’d pulled out thick blankets to lay on—not that it mattered to me since I was practically lying on him as we curled together. Overhead, the stars twinkled in the clear Texas night. They were so much brighter here away from the city lights. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed sitting outside on a summer night, gazing at the heavens and listening to the bugs, frogs and night birds sing.

  “It’s perfect,” I told him. Rather than drive to Fredericksburg, we’d stopped at the Dairy Queen, and he’d run inside to get us fries, burgers and drinks to-go while I’d hidden out in the truck. Then we’d driven back to the ranch and out away from the main compound so we’d be alone.

  “Who takes care of guest problems in the evenings?” I asked, thinking of the cabins we’d passed on the way here. Turning my head, I kissed his chest. We were talking, yes, but there was a lot of touching and kissing going along with it.

  “We have a rotating schedule for who answers calls. Tonight and tomorrow, it’s Max. Then Missy for two nights. Then me.” He named a couple other people, totaling seven altogether, each taking a pair of nights on a two-week rotation.

  “Maybe, when I get a better feel for things, I should take Missy’s place. Being pregnant, she probably needs all the sleep she can get. If she’s not to that point now, she will be soon. At least, from the little I know of pregnant women, I guess that’s true.”

  “If you take her nights, you’ll have to stay out at the ranch so you’re close by.”


  “A hardship,” I joked.

  He took my hand and pressed it to his groin. “Very hard.”

  I couldn’t help grinning. Hell, I’d been grinning most of the evening. “Mr. Davidson, are you going to sexually harass me at work?”

  “Likely.”

  “The perks of this fill-in job are getting better and better.”

  “I should hope so. Wait.” He stiffened and pushed up on an elbow, tumbling me onto my back. He leaned over me. “Fill-in job? What do you mean by that? Are you still planning to leave?”

  “You hired me temporarily.” And even with the turn of events today, my heart wasn’t ready to commit. I just couldn’t. Yes, it had been a misunderstanding back then, but I just couldn’t shake the too-much-too-soon feeling, like a shoe would drop on me at any time, squashing my hopes. I couldn’t go all-in and get crushed when things didn’t work out.

  He huffed out a laugh. “Right. Temporary. Hardly. Try to leave again, little runaway. I’ll drag your ass back this time.”

  “You didn’t before,” I hedged.

  “I didn’t know where you were. Then things happened.”

  Right. All the stuff with his dad and mom.

  “Besides…Magnolia tricked you into coming back. I have a feeling she’d be on my side this time. She wants you in Mason almost as much as I do.”

  “I can’t believe we’re here,” I blurted. “One day back to talking to you, and we’ve already—”

  “And we’re right where we were always supposed to be.” He hugged me tight to his chest once more and kissed the top of my head. I closed her eyes, resting my hand on his stomach as I snuggled into him.

  Maybe, we were. “I wonder if things happened the way they were supposed to, though.”

  “How can you say that?” His arms tightened, but he sounded a little angry.

  “Well…think about it. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I’d never left. If I’d been here, you might not have taken the chance with the ranch. You might have moved away with your mom or gotten a job in town and left your home, the place you love, to go work somewhere else. That would have been heartbreaking. And maybe, we would have been too young and too new to endure that. That’s a lot of stress, you know? And, I never would have studied hospitality. I might not have even gone to college because I wouldn’t have wanted to leave you. If that had happened, I wouldn’t be able to help you now. Not like I’m trained to do anyway.”

  “I guess,” he conceded, relaxing a touch. “If you hadn’t gone, we’d probably be married by now. Have a kid or two.” His hand splayed over my flat stomach.

  My fingers covered his. “Maybe. But you wouldn’t have been completely happy. Since you were little, you always knew this ranch would be yours, and that someday, your kids would work it just like you did.”

  “Is anyone completely happy? I would have found a new dream. As long as I had you, I’d be happy.”

  Pretty words, but too much fairytale. I shook my head, not buying in.

  We sat in silence for a few minutes, our hands resting on my middle until my eyes went wide. I gasped and shot upright in horror.

  “Fuck,” I exclaimed, drawing out the “f” as horrified realization slammed down on me.

  “What?” he demanded, sitting up too. He looked around as if a night predator approached or something.

  “We didn’t use a condom. We didn’t use a damn condom. Fuck! Were you trying to get me pregnant so I’ll stay here?” I pulled completely away, standing then stalking to the end of the truck bed before leaping down.

  Nash followed close on my heels. “What the hell, Jorie? You know I wouldn’t do that. You were right there with me. I haven’t been with anyone else. I’m clean.”

  I was, and I’d even been aroused at the thought of him coming inside me, but that didn’t mean I’d really wanted that! That I wanted to take this sort of chance.

  “I’m not worried about that! I know you haven’t. I know I haven’t. Being clean doesn’t keep me from getting knocked up!” I practically screamed.

  “Christ, baby, keep it down. Do you want everyone on the planet to know?” he asked, reminding me how sound traveled out here. Chances were his cowboys had heard my yelling. Hopefully, they hadn’t caught the words.

  I ran my hands through my hair then laced them at the back of my head and tipped my face forward between my elbows. Gah! Every time I slept with him… Some sort of disaster…

  “Can you just take me home?” I mumbled, defeat washing over me. Every time I turned around, I fucked up my life.

  “Baby,” he pleaded.

  “Just… I need to go home,” I said. I was as pissed with myself as I was with him. More so at me, actually. I was more responsible than this, but I’d allowed myself to be caught in the moment of grief and need and incongruous euphoria at just being with him.

  “You’re not going to run, right?” he ventured in a near whisper, voicing his own specter.

  I met his eyes, seeing the pain and fear there. “No. I’m not going to run.” I grabbed his hand, my innate instinct to comfort him.

  He nodded then led me to my side of the truck. Lifting me in, he stepped between my thighs then rested his forehead between my breasts. Despite my fear and fury, I ran my hand over his hair, sifting the soft strands through my fingers.

  I tipped my head back to stare at the stars overhead. What had filled me with muzzy nostalgia before, now seemed a little more like a cage falling around me, one falling star at a time creating the inescapable bars.

  * * * *

  I didn’t run, but Nash seemed to. I knew it wasn’t on purpose. Over the next two weeks, I barely saw him. I came in and worked in the office, organized and went home. Nash, for that matter, seemed to be catching up on all things ranching, perhaps tasks he’d let slide while trying to cover all the admin, the guest ranch and the cattle operation. Though he seemed happy to see me in the few moments we crossed paths, he was constantly on the run, starting before I got there in the morning and getting back late, long after I’d gone home. I knew it was late, because that was when we finally had a chance to talk. He’d call me on the phone, and I’d lie on the bed, wishing I was with him and talking until his voice sounded so tired I knew he’d fall asleep walking. It was always me who cut the calls short, knowing if he didn’t rest, he’d end up hurt.

  Every day, I saw him for a few unsatisfying moments as he ran through the office once or twice, always giving me a quick, all-too-brief buss across the lips as he went, but staying clear so he didn’t get me sweaty or dirty. I wouldn’t have cared about getting a little messy.

  And that was when he was in Mason. He’d been gone to Denver for the last five days of this past two weeks for the Cattle Industry’s summer business meeting. Ironically, he sounded better rested over our evening calls from there.

  I missed him. It was bewildering. We’d been apart for five years, and now, I missed him like crazy—crazier than when I’d been in Michigan, thinking I’d never see him again. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow when he got home. It didn’t matter what time it was or what he thought he needed to get done, we were spending time together. No excuses.

  I’d already let Gran know I planned to stay over tomorrow night. Other than a raised brow, she hadn’t said a word, though she’d appeared rather smug.

  Yeah, yeah. She was right, and here I was, falling in with her plan. It was unlikely I’d ever hear the end of that.

  Resigned to another lonely night at home, since Gran would be gone with her bridge group tonight, I looked around my tidy office. It had taken me a week to get the paper mountains under control and to fully understand Nash’s hodgepodge system. I’d created an actual reservation spreadsheet, which not only tracked room assignments but the guests’ requested activities and preferences.

  Branching from that, I’d created a crew schedule to make sure our bases were covered at the guest ranch. From what I understood after speaking with Missy, the process had been rath
er informal up until now, with verbal requests followed by time sheet submissions. When I really thought on it, my head shook in shock over the utter dysfunction. How the heck had this place even kept running? It was easy to understand why Nash was so exhausted. With no systems, he’d tried to do everything while holding all the strings together. The ranch hands seemed to appreciate the change since it made their hours more regular and easier to track. One of their wives had even called to thank me, which had been pretty embarrassing.

  Once the chaos had been reined in, I’d moved on to the less administrative of my duties. Though reservations were steady and our online reviews were overall positive, I’d started analyzing our advertising. I had a long way to go, but since Nash wanted to expand operations to double the lodging, as well as host more events, we needed to increase our efforts. To that end, I’d also started to compile wedding packages and look for vendors to cover the required services.

  I’d spent one afternoon with Missy, going over her ideas for catering, what was needed for current ordering and her weekly menus for guests and the ranch hands. To say she was overjoyed I’d come aboard was an understatement. My first full day, she’d arrived with donuts and coffee then thrown her arms around me and said, “a million times thank you!”

  There was so much to do and oversee, but I felt pride in knowing my efforts would improve the Lazy D and keep the Davidson’s legacy going. I couldn’t help but think Nash’s dad would have been proud of what Nash had done…and maybe a little bit at what I was doing, too.

  So far, Nash had pretty much given me carte blanche and seen very little of what I’d accomplished. I couldn’t wait to show him. I couldn’t wait for other things, as well. Smiling, I thought of my trip to Austin and the lingerie I planned to wear tomorrow. Hopefully, the little scraps of lace would make him crazy, and really, I didn’t care at all if he ripped them off me.

  Smiling at that thought, I locked the office and headed outside.