Cowboy Cool: Book 5 (Cowboy Justice Association) (22 page)

K
aylee dug the boxes of Halloween candy out of the cabinet along with an oversized glass bowl. It was one of her favorite days of the year and she needed to get ready for the trick-or-treaters. There were tons of kids in the neighborhood so she’d bought quite a bit of candy in anticipation. If none of them showed up she could have herself a pity party for one and overdose on chocolate.

Feeling sorry for herself was stupid but she couldn’t help the sadness in her heart at how she and Reed had crashed and burned in less than a week. She hadn’t asked him for much…wait…that wasn’t exactly true. She’d asked him to talk about his past which he’d been adamantly against, but she hadn’t asked for a commitment. Reed wasn’t giving those away.

She was dumping chocolate bars into a large bowl when he joined her in the kitchen.

“Full-size bars? Isn’t that unusual? I thought people gave away those smaller treats.”

Kaylee laughed and added another box of candy bars to the bowl. “It is unusual but I have fond memories of dressing up for trick or treat and then the surprise of going to a house where they gave out full-size bars. The news would spread among all my friends and then everyone wanted to go to that house. It was such an unexpected thing and I thought it was so cool. I just want to kind of carry on that tradition.”

“And you want to be that house this year?” Reed asked. “The cool house.”

She wished he wouldn’t look at her like that. As if he liked her. Or cared. She already knew that even if he did, he didn’t want to.

“Just passing on that feeling to a new generation. What about you? Do you have a great Halloween memory?”

Reed opened the refrigerator and pulled out a soda. “Not really. We lived on a ranch way out in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t go trick or treating and no one came to our house either. Later in my teens we might go out and soap some windows or TP a house. Raise some general hell but nothing dangerous.”

“That’s too bad. Halloween is the best holiday.”

“The best?” he teased. “How is it the best?”

She’d had to answer this question more than once so she was prepared. “It’s all about candy and having fun. You don’t have to buy and wrap presents, you’re not obligated to visit family that might drive you crazy, and no one thinks it’s strange if you don’t celebrate it. It’s dressing up, candy, and maybe a little scare. All good,” she pronounced.

“I see you’ve given this some thought. Do you dress up?”

“I have in the past if there was a party or something. This year I’m going as a busy writer in a witch’s hat.” Kaylee pointed to the black hat sitting by the door. “There, the candy’s ready. Now we need to carve the jack o’ lanterns. My carving set is in the basement though along with a few decorations. I’ll need to go get them.”

“If you tell me where it is I’ll get it. You don’t need to be dragging things up and down the stairs.”

Reed was doing that bossy thing again but this time she was happy to let him be the muscle. The Halloween box was heavy because she kept adding to it every year from the after holiday sales.

“It’s a rectangle shaped clear plastic box with a white lid on the shelf in the corner. It’s labeled Halloween. It should be right next to Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

“Labeled, huh? Organized.”

“I had to be when I moved.”

Before long Reed was brandishing a carving knife and cutting the tops off of the pumpkins so she could scoop the guts out.

“I think you got the better job.” Kaylee’s arms were covered in goo up to her elbows. “How did that happen?”

“I’m simply doing the manly part and you’re doing the womanly part,” Reed grinned, his hazel eyes twinkling. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

He loved to say outrageous things simply to get her dander up. “It’s not a good idea to say sexist crap when a female has a handful of pumpkin guts.”

“If said female did what I think she might be contemplating, she’d find herself over my knee with a red bottom.”

Instant lust ran through her at his teasing words. She’d allowed him to spank her during a boss and secretary fantasy and had found it more than pleasurable.

But this was a shitty thing to do on his part. Bringing up something that he had said couldn’t happen again.

Asshole.

There was anger mixed with that lust. It made her want to do something, anything, that would break his cooler than cool facade. She wanted that mask he wore to crack and fall away so she could see the real Reed Mitchell.

Her fingers tightened around the wad of slippery, cold guts. Before she lost her courage she pulled out the ball, but instead of placing it on the newspaper she lobbed it in the air. It landed with a splat on the front of his shirt and he froze, his eyes widening in disbelief then narrowing dangerously.

Oh shit. What did I do?

Wet, orange strands and seeds clung to the cotton of Reed’s t-shirt in a sort of abstract art blob. He slowly set down the large knife and scooped up the damp goo with his hand so it lay in his palm.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

Kaylee swallowed hard as her stomach tumbled in her abdomen. She wasn’t afraid he would do her harm. No, Reed was far too protective for that. But he might just make good on that spanking threat and then leave her hanging without release.

That would be far crueler than what she’d done.

Reed finally looked up from his shirt and a slow grin spread across his face. “I’ll give you a three second head start. One.”

“Now, Reed–”

“Two,” he intoned, that smile growing ever wider.

Move. Don’t just stand here.

Kaylee lunged toward the stairs, climbing them as fast as her trembling legs would carry her. Adrenaline mixed with arousal made her pulse beat madly and she had to concentrate to keep from falling backwards on the steps.

“Three.”

Her short legs were no match for his long ones. She’d barely made it to the top of the staircase when his muscled arm wrapped around her waist pulling her back against him. His own hard cock was pressed firmly against her bottom and it was some comfort to know he was as excited by their game as she was. With a growl that set her on fire, he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom.

“You are in so much trouble, honey.” His voice rumbled in her ear but it didn’t sound angry. It sounded like a promise.

Setting her feet on the floor, he trapped her against the wall with his big body. Not bothering to cover his laughter, he took his hand full of cold, slimy goo and rubbed it on her chest while she shrieked and tried to wriggle away. Giggling and screeching indignantly at the same time, she managed to bend her knees and duck under his arm, but even as she tried to crawl away his superior strength made catching her a cinch.

On all fours and helpless, he easily held her immobile with one arm while he spanked her denim-covered posterior with the other. She should have been angry but instead flames were licking along her veins and excitement made her face as red as her ass cheeks.

When he was done, her bottom was on fire and that heat had spread to all her intimate spots. Once he loosened his hold she rolled onto her back and pummeled his broad chest ineffectively with her fists. It only served to embolden him and he pinned her wrists over her head as he raked his gaze down her quivering body. There was no doubt she was aroused. Hard pointed nipples jutted out from her t-shirt, her breathing rising and falling rapidly. God help her, if he reached into her panties he’d find them soaked with honey.

“Reed,” she whispered, an ache in her voice that only he could soothe.

His lips crashed down onto hers, not gentle or coaxing, but almost brutal in their intensity. This was not a tender kiss between lovers but a stamp of ownership from someone who had come to the end of his tether. The urgency between them was overwhelming in its strength and she couldn’t deny the instinct to mate with this man—this good man—no matter what the future held for them. At this moment they were man and woman, not Reed and Kaylee.

It was that basic and simple. Later it would be complex and painful.

His tongue swept through her mouth and his large hand held her wrists above her head while the other insinuated itself under her shirt and bra. He pinched her nipples, somehow making them even harder than they already were and sending arrows of pleasure straight to her clit. Shoving the fabric up and out of the way, he moved his mouth from her lips to the aching tips of her breasts using his tongue and teeth to make her moan and writhe under his attentions.

Dominant and arrogant to the end, he smiled at her mindless submission to his skillful lovemaking. So fucking sure of himself, not a shred of self-doubt. She loved and hated that about him but it was part and parcel of who he was. If she wanted him she had to want all of him, not just the easy parts.

That was the coward’s way and she was no fraidy-cat. A woman had to be brave and a little crazy to love a man like Reed Mitchell.

God, she loved him. She’d never tell him but she did. The thought didn’t scare her but it did make her sad. This relationship was only going to end one way. Heartache and loneliness were in her future but she was determined to take everything she could get now.

Bucking under him, she ground her groin against his arm trying to get some friction to her poor clit. He chuckled and pinned her to the floor with his hips in no hurry to move further south from her breasts, content to feast on them until she was begging for mercy.

Then and only then did his lips wander down her belly to the waistband of her jeans. His sure fingers popped the button and pulled down the zipper before tugging at the fabric until they were out of the way. His splayed knees slid in between her thighs, pushing them far apart and up so her bottom was off the floor slightly. She closed her eyes knowing he could see every detail of her pussy, shiny with cream. For a moment shyness overcame her and she struggled against his iron grip but then he dragged his finger through the sensitive folds. She gasped as the sensation rocketed all the way to her toes.

He didn’t say a word and she kept her eyelids tightly shut as he continued exploring her slit slowly and methodically as if he was trying to learn every intimate inch. She moaned as he pressed first one finger and then two inside and his thumb lightly brushed her clit.

“Please.” Her voice was a wisp of sound but he wouldn’t be hurried or pushed. He dragged his thumb back and forth over her swollen button over and over, but never enough to give her release. The tension in her lower abdomen built, taking her higher and higher until the pleasure was too great to bear. Pure bliss was all mixed up with pain as her pussy tightened on his fingers and her sore bottom brushed against the rug.

“Come for me, baby.”

His thumb pressed on her clit and she exploded in a rush of white light. Waves crashed through her and she gave herself over gladly to the rush of pleasure that suffused her every pore. Through the haze of her orgasm she heard the rasp of a zipper and the crinkle of a condom. Before she could catch her breath Reed had thrust inside of her, his cock filling her pussy and making her toes curl with delight.

Their coming together was much like the kiss. Alpha to the core, Reed rode her hard and fast, dominating all of her senses. The rough feel of his thighs against her own. The tang of salt on her tongue when she nipped at his shoulder. The panting of their breath as he powered into her again and again, sending her teetering near the precipice. She forced her eyes open so she could watch him as he fell over the edge with her, his face a mask of concentration.

At some point he’d let go of her wrists and her nails dug into his muscular arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Each stroke sent them higher until finally her climax erupted, shattering her into a million shimmering pieces that seemed to whirl around the room.

Reed groaned as his own orgasm took him, his teeth gritted and his eyes squeezed shut as if he wanted to block out the world at that moment. She wouldn’t let him shut her out and kissed his neck and nibbled at his ear even as his body shuddered above her. When it was over, he rolled off and lay beside her, his breathing ragged as they both came back to earth.

Reality began to seep back into her brain and she blinked back a few tears she was determined not to let fall.

She would not cry over this man again.

She’d admitted she loved him but damn if that meant he could twist her life around and make her miserable. She’d wanted this as much as he had and being a crybaby about it wasn’t going to make things better. Being brave was her only choice. Take what Reed could give her and not ask for more. He’d given her several warnings. Changing a man wasn’t possible unless he wanted to change, and she’d never seen a man who wanted to change less than Reed.

He levered to his elbows and she could feel his gaze on her as if he was waiting for her to speak, or scream, or cry. She didn’t do any of those things. With as much dignity as she could muster with a bare, pink ass and her shirt and bra shoved up to her armpits, she got to her feet and headed for the bathroom. She needed a shower and a few moments to get herself together before she could face him.