Wind River Rancher, page 28
The smell of fresh straw and hay that had been placed in each stall, filled the air like perfume. She took the reins, pulling them over her gelding’s neck, and walked into the aisle, glad to get out of the hot sun. She saw that Reese had rolled up his sleeves to just below his elbows, and his face was glistening with sweat. His Stetson was hooked on a peg on the wall.
Her throat tightened as she saw him look up, his green eyes locking on hers for a long moment. Heat soared through her, and she felt her breasts tighten beneath his swift, fully assessing gaze. Tremors of heat flowed through her lower body, the coals of need flaring to life. Reese straightened, placed the pitchfork aside, and wiped his brow with the back of his forearm.
“You’re a glutton for punishment,” he told her with a grin, walking casually toward her, his gloved hand ready to take Jak’s reins from her. “Pretty hot out there, isn’t it?”
It’s hotter in here, Shay thought, watching how Reese moved with that feline masculine grace of his. No man had turned her on with just the way he walked before. But Reese did. “I’ll take care of Jak,” she told him. “You’ve been working hard. Take a break?”
Reese nodded. She stopped Jak, and Reese took the reins, removing the bridle and replacing it with a frayed green nylon halter. “Getting out of the office is a break,” he told her wryly, pulling the panic snap over and hooking it to both sides of the horse’s halter.
Shay nodded and began to loosen the girth on the saddle as he placed Jak into the cross-ties. “I love the sun. I like being out in it. I always come back re-energized.”
Reese came around and slid the bridle up on his shoulder, lifting the loose saddle off her horse. “Your nose is red.”
Shay grinned and touched it, feeling nearly giddy with his nearness. “Summer is such a short season that I’m trying to get out every chance I can to enjoy it. Small price to pay.” There was a new openness between them. Reese had brushed near her shoulder to reach out to take the saddle. She followed him down the aisle and hurried ahead to open the large tack room for him so he could place the saddle on a rack. The fragrance of oiled and clean leather enveloped her as she stood aside and he walked in. The room was large and cool compared to the temperature outside. Shay pulled off her gloves, placing them in her back pocket.
Reese settled the saddle on the metal rack, meeting her smiling eyes. “On you, it looks good.” He saw her eyes change, her lips part slightly as he turned toward her.
Shay sensed the charged air around them as he moved to his full height, his shoulders so broad, the fabric stretched tautly across his chest. Reese had gained back all the weight he’d lost. He was a terribly good-looking man, from the ropy muscles of his arms to his large, square hands. She moved toward him, holding his gaze. At first, she saw a question in his eyes, but then a burning, narrowed look replaced it as she drew within a foot of him. There was nothing she wanted to say, driven by the weeks of teasing torture that Reese had awakened in her.
He towered over her, so broad, powerful, and pure male as he searched her eyes, realizing that she was going to kiss him. Shay followed her heart this time, pushing away any fear of rejection. She laid her hand on his chest and instantly felt his skin grow taut, the muscles tightening beneath her fingertips. Shay cupped his jaw, closed her eyes, and lifted her mouth to his.
The first contact made her ache. His mouth was firm, male, and she felt his arm come around her, pulling her fully against him. If Shay had any question whether Reese wanted to kiss her as much as she wanted to kiss him, it was lost in the plundering heat of his mouth sliding hungrily across hers.
A moan vibrated in her throat as she opened up to him, pressing her breasts wantonly against his chest, the scent of man, the earth, and sweat all combined in her flaring nostrils. His fingers moved through her loose hair, her scalp leaping with tiny flames of pleasure as he kissed her more deeply.
The world ceased to exist. Just Reese, his mouth growing gentler after initially taking her fiercely, tasting her, asking her to meet and match his need for her. Shay’s breasts grew taut, and she felt his other hand come around her waist, pulling her fully against him. She could feel his erection against her belly. He tasted so good to her! Their breathing was chaotic, their mouths hungry, as if they couldn’t get enough of one another.
Drowning in the strength and tenderness of his mouth as he moved his lips against hers, she felt as if she were the most cherished woman in the world. Unable to get close enough, she slid her hands around his shoulders, needing every inch of physical contact she could get.
The pounding of his heartbeat was in time with hers. Their breath mingled, their lips clung to one another. Shay felt if she let go of Reese, he would be lost to her forever. It was such a sense of joy as she moved her hips suggestively against his. Instantly, Reese groaned, his arms tightening around her, his mouth taking hers hotly, more deeply.
Yes! Shay wanted all of this and more. Much more! No longer did she care what Reese might think of her boldness. Shay knew there was something more beautiful that existed between them and she wanted to give both of them a chance to explore it fully.
Slowly, reluctantly, Reese eased from her mouth, gently pulling her away just enough to stare darkly down into her half-closed eyes.
“Shay . . .” he rasped, his entire body taut with need.
“Come into the ranch house with me,” she whispered unsteadily, searching his stormy green eyes. “I want you, Reese. I know you want me . . .” She saw such agony for a split second in his eyes. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders. “I’ll take whatever you can give me, Reese. No strings. Just us. Please”—her voice broke—“I need you . . .”
She felt a quiver go deep within him. His gloved hands grew more firm around her. For a moment, she thought he might step away. No! A new urgency thrummed through her, and she whispered, “I’ll take you just as you are, Reese. It’s more than enough for me. Let’s explore what’s there? What we know is between us?” A lump formed in her throat, his possible rejection terrifying her. His eyes grew hooded, burning with white-hot desire for her.
Relief soared through Shay. She finally understood that to get Reese to acknowledge their connection, he needed to hear that he was enough man for her. He’d said he was half the man he used to be. It had been the right choice of words at the right time to push him over the edge and into her arms. And into her bed.
Reese looked up toward the open tack room door. His mouth worked and he looked down at Shay. “Are you sure?” he rasped, tangling his fingers through her hair, easing it across her shoulder.
Shay gave him a tremulous smile. “Never more sure, Reese. Come on. Come to my bed. I want to love you. I want you to love me.”
* * *
Shay didn’t think she could make it from the barn to the ranch house on her jellylike knees. Reese’s heated, powerful kiss had begun melting her like red-hot lava inside. They agreed to go individually into the house, not together. She knew that Harper and Garret were gone. Noah was down working with his horses. Reese had concerns about their relationship being seen by the other vets, unwilling to let them know anything just yet. Shay had agreed.
She entered the house, the screen door creaking as it closed. She was sweaty and dirty from working all afternoon on the fence line. Entering the bathroom, she quickly shed her clothes to take a quick, cooling shower. She was shaking, literally, from anticipation as she made fast work of getting clean and washing her hair.
By the time she emerged from the bathroom, Reese had arrived. She had a towel wrapped around her, one hand holding it together between her breasts as he walked quietly down the hall toward her. The look in his eyes thrilled her. It was as if Reese had finally gotten around that block within himself. She met him halfway, holding his gaze.
“I need to wash up,” he told her, halting, threading his fingers through her damp hair. “Shay. Are you still sure about this?”
Closing her eyes, she leaned into his cupped hand against her cheek. “Never more sure, Reese.” Now, she had to be the strong one. Shay realized she was further along in her own, internal healing process than Reese was.
Nuzzling his palm, she placed a kiss in it and opened her eyes, staring up into his darkened green gaze. Reese wanted her. The hunger was stark. Stirring. Her whole lower body exploded with yearning for this brave warrior. “Meet me in my bedroom?”
“I won’t be long,” he promised her thickly, dropping his hand.
Shay nodded and opened the door, watching him disappear into the bathroom. Her heart beat with joy and anticipation as she allowed the towel to drop away. She’d never thought of herself as a bold person, but now she was being just that. And it seemed to give Reese the confidence he needed in order to take this step with her.
Smoothing the quilt across her queen-size bed, the light soft from the eastern window, the pink curtains lacy and feminine, she sat down on the edge of the bed and waited. Worried that Reese would back off if he got a chance to think about it, Shay was proven wrong.
She heard the bathroom door open fifteen minutes later. She straightened, her eyes on the open door to her bedroom. Reese walked in silently, a towel draped low over his narrow hips. His erection was clear to see even through it. She dragged her gaze upward across the expanse of dark hair on his chest, to his proud, broad shoulders, to his eyes. He closed the door, turned, and didn’t hesitate as he walked over to her, his gaze raking her naked body, appreciation in his expression.
“You continually surprise me,” he rasped, standing before her. He reached out, sliding his fingers through her drying hair.
“I like surprising you,” she admitted, her voice becoming tremulous as his touch wreaked fire across her scalp.
Reese removed his hand and couldn’t keep his eyes off her beautiful, lush body. “I wasn’t expecting a kiss in the tack room,” he told her wryly, sitting down, sliding his arms across her shoulders, drawing her against him so their thighs were pressed to one another.
“I couldn’t help myself,” she admitted, moving her hand across his chest, his hair damp and slightly curly beneath her fingertips. “I’ve wanted you ever since I met you.”
Reese searched her face, memorizing her . . . memorizing this moment. “I never thought this would happen, Shay.”
Resting her palm against his heavily thudding heart, she whispered, “I didn’t either.”
“So? What changed?”
“Me, I guess.” She gave him a rueful smile, watching his mouth curve faintly upward. “There’s something good between us, Reese. I want the chance to explore it with you.” Her voice lowered with feeling. “You’re more than enough for me just as you are right now.” She saw her boldness tearing away all the damage Reese had undergone for the last two years. Shay turned and got up on her knees, pressing her breasts against his arm. “I see you so differently than you see yourself, Reese. I like the man who is here, now, with me. I’ve watched you reclaim yourself, you’ve regained all your lost weight and”—she smiled deeply into his eyes—“I like the way you look . . .” She leaned down, caressing his lips, hearing him groan, his hand gripping her shoulder, hauling her against him more securely.
Just getting to be intimate with Reese, to move her fingers across his damp skin, inhale his male scent, feel him ardently returning her kiss, set Shay on fire. He eased away just enough to break their kiss, their lips less than an inch apart, their breathing unsteady.
“I don’t have a condom on me, Shay,” he rasped. “I never thought I’d need one . . .”
Her heart winced with pain as she saw the regret in his eyes, the loss, the need for nurturing, needing her love and knowing he might not be able to consummate what they both wanted so badly.
“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered, her lips grazing the taut line of his mouth. She felt the tension he carried dissolve. “I’m on the pill.” And then she broke their kiss, smiling into his hooded eyes. “I’m clean, no diseases. You?”
“Same,” he answered in a guttural growl. And he took her as if she weighed nothing, positioning her onto the middle of the bed, on her back. Reese took the towel off, dropping it to the floor, laying his long body alongside hers. “It’s been a long time for me, Shay. Two years . . .”
“Two years for me, too,” she whispered, sliding her hand along his jaw.
“Sweetheart, I’m afraid I won’t last for you . . .”
She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. We’re both a little rusty at this. And I want you inside me, Reese. I don’t care if you come sooner than you wanted. It has been two years . . .” She gave him a smile she hoped would ease his worry.
Moving his hand lightly down her arm, cupping her breast, he nodded. “I’ll do my best to please you, Shay.”
Her flesh tightened beneath his large hand teasing her flesh. “Then, we’ll just have to wait and let you rest up a little bit and try it again, if it happens.” She saw the relief in his eyes that she understood his concern that he might lose control. Reese wasn’t selfish. By the way he was caressing the curve of her breast, he wanted to pleasure her first. Shay felt him relax and she saw it reflected in his eyes as well. All she wanted to do was love him. That knowledge gave Shay the courage she needed to move beyond her own realm of experience, to trust her heart, because she was falling in love with this man. She knew she wasn’t any consummate lover, did not have the experience or skills, but it didn’t matter. Shay could love him, regardless. Because love wasn’t about experience, it was about sharing how she felt about him.
* * *
Reese was pleasantly surprised once again as Shay flowed like liquid fire into his arms and opening hands. There was an innocence about her that made him go hard and achy. Her lips caressed his at the same moment his thumb brushed across her tightened nipple. The sound that caught in her throat told him unequivocally that she enjoyed it, her hips insistent against his, her warmth against the steel of his erection trapped between them. More than anything, he wanted to please Shay, to give back to her first. He felt so close to exploding, he doubted he could stop it once he entered her. She deserved to be brought along with him, not left behind. Yet, the years without the warmth of a woman, the softness of Shay’s arms surrounding him, her lips dismantling him because he was so starved for exactly this, left him vulnerable.
Fighting his own needs, he focused on Shay, drowning in her luminous blue eyes that radiated such love for him. Just that look alone stole his breath away. Every gliding touch of her fingertips across his shoulders, the movement of her mouth opening like a blossom beneath his, tore his resolve away like an ocean pulling sand from the shore. The velvet firmness of her warm skin was a perfume to his heightened senses. Her tongue shyly touched his and a low growl tremored all the way through him, causing an earthquake of starving need to plunge into his depths. Everything Shay did broke him down a little more. He was helpless to ignore the sweet touches of her fingers wrapping around his erection, squeezing him gently, reminding him he was a man with needs. And when she opened her thighs, welcoming him, guiding him to her slick, wet entrance, he gritted his teeth, straining to stop himself. But he couldn’t. And Shay wouldn’t allow him to as she wrapped her slender lower legs around his, arching her hips up to pull him deep into her welcoming body.
A low, guttural sound rolled out of him as he slid into her, drowning in her honeyed fluids, her tightness and the throbbing, rhythmic movement of her hips defying him to do anything but pump hungrily into her. She gave him no quarter, no time to do anything but thrust his hips powerfully, repeatedly against her own. And within moments, he felt the red-hot explosion ripping down through him. All Reese could do was clench his teeth, straining, his spine taut and frozen as the potent fire flowed powerfully into her. He crushed Shay to him, his jaw against her hair, groaning, sounding more like a wild animal in the throes of such pleasure nothing could compare to it. Nothing, nothing had ever felt so good as this, with Shay, with her arms around him, holding him tight against her. Holding him.
So many suppressed emotions, good and bad, flowed to the surface. He felt the last of his strength ebbing, felt her legs holding him so he could not ease out of her.
Understanding Shay wanted him in every possible way made his heart fly open. Her sweet kisses along the sweaty column of his neck, cool fingertips grazing his long back, caressing his hips, moving hers against his to prolong his ecstasy—he had never felt so lavishly loved as right now.
As he lay on top of her, realizing his weight was crushing her down into the mattress, Reese started to rise.
“No,” Shay whispered. “Stay, Reese . . . I love how you feel on top of me . . .”
The words were so powerful, moving him almost to tears, he rested his brow lightly against hers, holding her tightly. Afraid he was going to suffocate her, he loosened his arms a little. Her soft, undulating body was still stroking him within her, and he felt the hot fluids caressing him, loving him. Reese didn’t try to avoid the word any longer. Shay had unselfishly offered herself to him, understanding he’d never last more than a minute within her. It had been too long. Years.
His throat tightened. Shay had given herself, her heart, her trust to him without expecting anything in return. How could such a woman exist? Reese had never had an experience like this and it left him vulnerable, with a mounting desire to not only love Shay, but share his love for her in nonverbal ways. He was a skilled lover, and yet the years had taken a toll on him, on his ability to have ironclad control over his own sexual urges. Shay had boldly approached him, pulled him into her arms, trapped him with those long, strong legs of hers, and given herself to him.
Weakly, he lifted his head, turned and pressed a series of kisses along her hairline, moving to her closed eyes, her flushed cheek, and finally seeking out her lush lips. And she did not disappoint. A happy sound arose in her throat as he cherished her mouth, moving deep, stroking her tongue, emulating the rhythm of her hips still moving gently against his own. His strength was returning and Reese eased off her, despite her mewing protests. Already, he was starting to harden within her and he wanted to take advantage of the situation and please her until she screamed with satisfaction.
