Читать книгу The Best Of Blaze - Six Sexy Romances - Jo Leigh - Страница 17

7

“I GUESS YOU have the whole universe spread out before you, though. The ranch must seem small compared to that,” she said.

He tipped his head back, staring up. As the sun set and the sky darkened, she saw stars and satellites twinkling in the sky.

“It does. But most of the time all I can do is look at the surrounding stars and the Earth through the space station’s windows,” he said at last. His voice was low, husky and relaxed. He seemed to be at peace, which she’d never noticed in him before.

“Most of the time?”

“Space walks,” he said. “I put on a space suit, tether myself to a line and go out for an extravehicular activity. I love the freedom of floating around up there.”

“Isn’t that scary?” she asked. She was scared just thinking about him up there, exposed and vulnerable. She reminded herself that he was nothing more than a guy she knew from childhood. A guy who turned her on, made her hotter than a two-dollar pistol as her gramps used to say. Yet he seemed like more than that somehow. He attracted her like nothing—no one—else ever had.

“No more so than galloping across the field when a horse has its head,” he said.

“But if you fall from a horse, you don’t have far to go.”

She was still trying to understand the draw that universe had for him.

“You could easily break your neck and die,” he said at last. “But the thrill of letting your horse run across the field, of feeling the wind whipping around you, of being free—it’s enough of an incentive that you don’t worry about that possibility. You know the risk is worth it.”

She uncrossed her legs and sat up from where she’d been leaning. As the darkness deepened and it became harder to see his features, he revealed things he wouldn’t say in the light of day. It had been the same two nights ago when he’d gone riding with her.

Why was it they both felt safer in the dark?

She couldn’t dwell on that.

“What if your tether breaks? What if you just float away?”

“I’d be out there with the stars, seeing parts of the universe only a handful have ever seen... I’d say that would be worth the cost.”

“It seems too big, too scary for me.”

“Some of the things you do scare me,” he said.

“Like what?” she asked. “You’ve done everything I do.”

He put his hand on her leg, just held it loosely, but a shiver went up her body. “Okay, maybe that’s true, but I hated it—at least when I first arrived at fourteen. I was so dusty and dirty and every night when I went to bed, I’d stare out the window above my bed and think about being up there with the stars.”

Even when he’d been closest to her, he’d been just out of her reach. She knew this. Why did she keep trying to find some way to convince herself he was the kind of man who’d stay?

She should stop thinking of him as Jason and remember he was Ace. That’s all he could ever be to her.

Ace.

Superstar astronaut. Heart in the stars. He was here because he was grounded. As soon as the all clear came he’d be gone.

He hadn’t even hesitated to sign that document earlier that had given her the right to make all decisions about the ranch if he was off the planet for more than two years.

“Why did Dad give you half the ranch?” she asked.

He shrugged. But she felt that he knew more.

“Don’t lie.”

“Lifting my shoulders isn’t lying,” he said.

“Not telling the truth is. Please, tell me,” she said.

“He told me once that he was afraid you’d never have a chance to be anything more than what he and the Bar T had made you. I guess he didn’t want to put the full weight of owning the ranch on you. Maybe he thought I’d be able to help.”

She could hear her father’s voice in Jason’s words. Heard the worry he’d felt in the last few months before his accident. Tears burned her eyes and she blinked, trying to stem them, but failed. “Why didn’t he ask me what I wanted?”

“Maybe he was afraid of the answer.”

She hugged herself and put her head down. The ache she felt for her father was all-consuming. She just wanted one more hug. One more chance to smell that unique scent of Old Spice aftershave and worn leather. To know she didn’t have to worry because he was there.

She felt Jason’s hand on her arm.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Me, too. I... What did he think I’d do?”

“Live. He said that he suspected you were hiding from something here,” Jason said.

She went still. The tears stopped and she realized her father knew there was more to her coming back from Houston than a messy roommate.

“What are you hiding from?”

* * *

TALKING NEVER WAS her strong suit. She’d never learned to hide what she was feeling, to protect herself. She pulled her arm out from under Jason’s and scooted toward the end of the truck. She hopped down and stood there. Twilight had darkened and she was caught between night and day. She was dressed up rather than wearing her usual jeans and scuffed boots. She almost felt like she didn’t belong here right now.

She was a mess. She’d been pretending for too long that she wasn’t. Thought she was going to make a deal with Jason and somehow get the ranch back on solid financial ground once and for all. But now she acknowledged she’d been kidding herself. She was never going to get out of this morass.

She knew it as surely as she knew that she’d been sending mixed signals all day. She wanted him. She wanted to lose herself in that sweet crush she remembered from a more innocent time. When she’d had no idea what real heartbreak and loss felt like.

Jason slid to the end of the pickup truck and sat there, his legs hanging over the tailgate as he quietly watched her. She noticed that he had on some kind of hiking boot, not Western boots. He wasn’t a cowboy. How many times was she going to have to be faced with that knowledge before it sank in?

“You okay?”

No.

“Of course. I mean, you just told me my dad thought I was hiding, and I had to make a deal that requires me to let strangers come onto my land. I’m partners with a man I barely know...yeah, I’m great.”

“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you,” he said.

“Sorry. It’s all I’ve got right now. It’s that or howling,” she admitted. “Since I want to preserve a little dignity I’m going with sarcasm.”

“You can howl with me,” he said.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Be nice. Be agreeable. I don’t want—”

She broke off and turned away.

“You need a fight,” he said.

She didn’t answer him. Now she felt stupid. And small and silly. And still so freaking lost. She knew this made no sense. But then, emotions weren’t logical. She’d learned that a long time ago.

“Yeah, but that’s not fair to you.”

“Since when has life been fair?” he asked.

“Never,” she said under her breath. Her mom had died, his dad had left, his mom had died, her lover had left, her dad had died and who the hell knew what else had happened to Jason.

“Damned straight,” he said, hopping off the tailgate and putting his hands on her shoulders.

She turned to face him.

“Remember when you pinned me against the door in Rupert’s office?” he asked.

“How could I forget that?”

“I’ve been waiting for us to be alone all afternoon so we could finish what we started. I want that passion, Mol. I want you.”

“I want you, too. I’m trying to justify sleeping with you, trying to remember that nothing lasts and that I can just do this,” she said.

She put her hand on his chest. Felt his body heat through the fabric and watched him, carefully. It wasn’t light enough to see his eyes, but she felt his gaze on her.

“We’ll always be friends,” he said.

And that should be enough. She wasn’t going to fall in love. She remembered the one time she had fallen for a man. How much it had hurt when it ended. Could she keep her emotions bottled up?

Hell, probably not, but damned if she was going to deny herself Jason.

“Yes, we will,” she said at last.

She wrapped her arms around him, intending to kiss him, but instead she put her head on his chest. For just a moment she needed to feel him wrapped around her. She needed to know this was more than just physical because her emotions were still chaotic, swirling through her like a tornado across the plains. And she needed to be sure that he was solid enough to take the buffeting from the wind.

He rubbed his hands over her back, his fingers massaging her sides all the way down to her butt and then back up. Those long, languid caresses brought her more fully into her body and she felt the tension and worry drift away.

There was only the two of them and this moment.

Nothing lasted forever.

But she wanted this time with Jason to be lived to the fullest. Not hiding or running or worrying.

Tomorrow she might struggle with that, but for tonight...she was his.

And he was hers.

She lifted her face to his and he lowered his head, his mouth falling on hers with all the pent-up desire she felt sweeping through her own body. With all the lust and need they had awakened in the lawyer’s office. She’d thought she’d pushed it aside but realized the fires had only been banked, not extinguished.

His tongue pushed deep into her mouth as his hands grabbed her ass and lifted her off her feet.

She wrapped her legs around his lean waist and held on to his shoulders as the night swirled around her and she heard a moan. It was deep, raw and needy.

* * *

JASON SLIPPED HIS hands up the back of her thighs, clutching them to hold her up but also because he loved the feel of her flesh under his hands. Her skin was supple and smelled sweet. Under the perfume was another musk that was all Molly. Seductive and sensual, it aroused him as much as touching her thighs did.

He fanned his fingers out wider to reach her inner thighs and to feel the heat of her sex on his skin. She was so hot. And so damned soft. Softer than anything else he’d ever touched. He held her, his tongue in her mouth, his cock hard against the apex of her thighs, and took everything she had to give.

She was lost. He’d felt the loneliness that had come off her in waves. He’d experienced the same thing himself as a teen. That need had awakened in him a keen longing to give her something of himself. To make promises he knew he could never keep no matter how much he wanted to. To show her that she wasn’t alone. That they could lose themselves in each other and forget everything else for a few bliss-filled hours with only the stars and moon looking on.

He tore his mouth from hers, his breath sawing in and out. She bit his lower lip gently and then licked her own. He groaned and stopped thinking about anything but his thickening erection and how much he wanted her.

He took two steps back until he felt the cold metal of the pickup truck behind him. The gate dug into his back as Molly undulated against him. He felt her long, cool fingers on his neck; she stroked his pulse, which he knew raced.

He shifted her weight to one arm and saw her tight nipples pressing against the fabric of her sundress. Unable to help himself, he leaned down to suck on one of them through her clothing. She arched her back, thrusting her breasts toward him. He palmed her other breast as he continued to suck on her nipple.

He felt the strain a little in his muscles, but he’d been working out every day for most of his adult life and if he couldn’t hold on to this wild cowgirl while he was making love to her, then what was the point? She moaned his name and he felt her hands in his hair, tracing the shape of his ear before moving down his neck again.

She stroked his chest and then wedged her hand between their bodies to run her fingers down the line of his zipper. His hips jerked forward and he had to shift his hold on her as a wave of need, hot like a solar flare, washed over him.

There was no hiding his reaction to her. And he didn’t want to. For the first time since he’d come back to Cole’s Hill and the Bar T Ranch, he felt like he was being true to himself. Every breath he took was filled with the scent of her. The feel of her under his fingers inflamed every sense in his body. He was compelled by the need to fill her completely.

He turned to set her ass on the tailgate and stand between her legs as he tangled his hands in the hair at the nape of her neck, tugging lightly on it. She let her head fall back, exposing the long length of her neck. He kissed it, moving his mouth slowly down to her collarbone where the fabric of her sundress blocked his access to her skin.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tightened her legs around his hips, then shoved the strap of her dress down. He groaned in approval and kissed his way farther down her arm. Moving slowly back toward her torso, he followed the neckline of her dress, dipping his tongue underneath to taste more of her.

She was addictive. He wanted to see her stretched out under him. Naked so that he could explore her entire body. Wanted nothing but his hands and mouth on her. Wanted her to need him and nothing else.

He pushed her legs farther apart, caressing her knees and slowly moving his hands down her legs to her feet. He took off her left boot and set it on the ground before turning his attention to the right. He removed it as well and then pulled off her socks.

He smiled when he saw they were decorated with pink flamingoes. He set them on the truck bed. Lifting her left foot, he placed it in the center of his chest. She wriggled her toes and he rubbed the arch of her foot.

“Your feet are small.”

“Really? They seem just right to me.”

He ran his finger along her instep, tickling her, and she squirmed to get away, causing the hem of her dress to ride up her thighs. All thoughts of smallish feet and tickling her dropped away. He noticed the large bruise on the top of her foot and pressed a gentle kiss to it. Ranching was hard work. He’d ask her what happened later, make sure it wasn’t causing her pain. But right now he wanted to focus on bringing them both pleasure. His fingers glided up her leg. It was strong, muscled from years of working on the ranch—he always associated Molly with strength.

Despite what her father had said, and what she was going through now, he didn’t believe she was hiding on the Bar T—that wasn’t Molly Tanner’s way. She was the kind of woman who met life head-on and took what she wanted. And for some reason she wanted him.

He hoped he wouldn’t disappoint her. But at this moment, with the scent of her filling every breath he took, the only thing he could be sure of was how much he wanted her.

He just needed to be inside of her. To prove to himself that he wasn’t lost.

Damn.

He shut down his mind and just stared at her long, slim legs. Her skirt still covered the top of her thighs and suddenly the clothing wasn’t tolerable to him anymore.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, the words torn from some place deep in his soul.

“I’m not,” she argued.

“You are.” His fingers drifted higher and felt something rough on her inner thigh. Somehow he hadn’t noticed it earlier. Leaning lower, he examined her leg in the dusky twilight.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Burn scar from the time Annabelle and I tried smoking in the barn, but Jeb busted us. I dropped the cigarette in surprise but caught it between my legs, not wanting to start a fire in the hay. It burned my jeans instead.”

He touched the scar again, lightly. The skin was raised, but it wasn’t as rough as it would have been when she’d first got it.

“When was this?”

“The spring before you arrived.”

“You tried smoking at twelve?” he asked. No matter how much he learned about her, there was still a lot he didn’t know.

“Yeah, my mom had just died. I was going through a phase,” she said.

He feathered his fingers over the patch of skin. It fit with what he knew of Molly.

He leaned down and kissed the scar.

What else had she done? What other scars were hidden on her body? He vowed to find them all. To search them out so he could kiss them and soothe them. To make her his completely and learn all the secrets that he’d never realized she was keeping.

But how could he do that and still keep his own secrets? It was a path he’d have to tread very carefully.

He kept kissing her, moving higher and higher until he reached the edge of her panties. He mouthed her through her underwear and felt the heat of her body. Her thighs tightened around his head and then she let them fall open.

He pushed her panties to one side and parted her with his fingers. Her hair was neatly trimmed, her flesh a delicate pink and the little nub at the center was swollen with need. He gently caressed her, rubbing her clit in a circular motion, and she moaned. A sound of approval. He continued to move his finger over her before he leaned down closer again.

He breathed on her first, watching her legs spread wider apart as she lifted her hips, presenting her body to him. He ran his tongue over her and she grabbed his head, resting one of her legs on his shoulder as he continued to lick her delicate flesh. She tasted amazing. He traced her core with his finger, just teasing the opening, and then slowly pushed one finger up inside of her. Her hips jerked upright.

He added a second finger and thrust them deeper. She was the perfect dessert on this starry night. She felt like everything to him in this moment. He was rock hard, his cock straining against the zipper of his jeans, but he didn’t want to stop touching Molly to free it. He continued moving his mouth over her until he felt her body start to tighten around his fingers. He kept rocking them in and out of her until she arched her back and cried his name.

He lifted his head, pulled his fingers from her body and looked up at her. She was on her elbows gazing down at him. Her eyes were fiery, passionate. There was a flush to her body and her breath rasped in and out, causing her breasts to rise and fall rapidly.

“That was...”

“Delicious.”

He climbed up on the tailgate and straddled her as she reached for the zipper of his jeans. He had a condom. Just one. Optimistically put in his pocket earlier when he’d stopped for gas on the way to the coffee shop.

He’d wanted her for so long. He’d known it when he arrived on the Bar T, and that deep need for her had been confirmed today in the lawyer’s office when he’d realized he wanted to be her hero. He wanted to come up with a solution that not only would be palatable to her but would impress her.

Shit. He was thirty-one and still trying to figure out how to impress a girl he liked. He’d hoped maybe he’d have figured women out by this age. Now he was wise enough to know he never would.

But he knew what she wanted tonight and he meant to give it to her. Some things in his life were out of his control right now, but with Molly there were no limits. He was in charge and he meant to take full advantage of that tonight.

She reached into the opening of his jeans as she lowered the zipper; he felt her hand rubbing up and down his cock. He jerked forward and realized his control was more tenuous than he’d imagined.

He had been at the space station for a year and that was a long time without anything besides his fantasies to keep him company. His body was primed. And this was Molly...which made it so much sweeter.

She traced his length, her fingernail scraping over his boxers. He wanted to feel her touch on his naked skin. He quickly freed himself, the evening air brushing over his aroused flesh, as she scooted backward, coming up on her knees to look at him.

She took his shaft in one hand, stroking him in her fist. Moving it up and down in a slow and sensuous way that made his balls tighten. She skimmed her finger over the tip of his erection and his hips jerked forward.

She cupped him in one hand and squeezed very softly as she tightened her grip on his cock. He started to thrust in her hand. She leaned forward and he felt her breath on him a moment before her tongue traced the head of his penis.

The beginning of his orgasm shivered up and down his spine and he pressed his hips forward, feeling her mouth engulf him. He tried to control himself—he’d been lauded for his self-control. But her mouth made a mockery of that. He was thrusting into her mouth, his hands in her hair and her hands on his balls.

But he wanted more for this first encounter with her. He forced himself to pull back. She followed him. But he tipped her chin up and looked down into her eyes.

“I need to be inside of you,” he said.

She nodded. “I want that, too.”

She reached under her dress and removed her panties. Then she looked at him. He put the condom on with one hand and then drew her closer until she straddled his lap. His hands under her dress, he felt the warmth of her body in contrast to the cool fabric.

He ran his hands down her spine; she arched over him and brought her mouth down hard on his. She took one of his hands and brought it to her breast. He cupped it and then pushed the fabric out of his way.

She reached behind her, pulled the dress over her head and tossed it away. Then, she slowly undid the buttons on the front of his shirt. She pushed it aside and leaned down to kiss him. One of his hands tangled in her hair as their mouths met again and he shifted his hips so that the tip of his cock was poised at the entrance of her body.

She hovered over him and then slowly lowered herself down his length. He sucked her tongue deeper into his mouth. She stopped, letting her body adjust to his size, and then she rocked up until he was almost completely out of her before plunging back down on him.

She tore her mouth from his, tipping her head back as she rode him hard. He pushed the fabric of her bra out of his way and found her nipple with his mouth. He sucked on her and felt her moving faster and more forcefully against him. But it wasn’t enough. He needed more.

He grabbed her hips, clutching at her ass, as he drove himself up into her and pulled her down against him. The fire of sex engulfed them both as they drove themselves harder and harder until she screamed his name and he felt her tightening around him. He held her hips tight against him as he continued to thrust up into her, sucking her nipple deeper into his mouth until he felt his balls tighten and he came. Emptying himself, he continued to thrust into her until he was spent.

She collapsed against him, her head on his shoulder. He held her loosely, but he wanted to clutch her to him. Wanted to remember this moment, her pressed against him like a warm blanket, when he was back in the coldness of space.

“Well, you showed me the stars tonight,” she said, her voice breathless and her tone, he suspected, deliberately light.

“And you showed me how little I know of the universe. That there are still so many mysteries I have yet to understand.”

He drew her dress over her and held her in his arms. He wanted to pretend that this had changed nothing, but instead it seemed that everything was different now. He held her so close that it was impossible to deny it.

She’d become important to him.

She’d made a place inside his soul.