Fevered Hearts (18 page)

“I’ve gotta have you.”

“Yes,” was her breathless reply. She ripped at his shirt buttons. When the flannel was open to his waist, she palmed his pecs, his abs, and downward to his waistband. The gun slipped against his spine when she unbuttoned him, and he eased it out and set it atop one of the nearby boxes. In the darkness, he didn’t think she even knew what he was doing.

Her mindless movements were driven by want. He felt the need humming in her, just beneath her fine, silky skin.

He twitched her top up and sucked one nipple through her bra. The nub hardened, puckering the fabric. She groaned against his hair and raked her fingers over his shoulders.

In seconds, he had his pants around his ankles and her tight little jeans around her knees. He spun her around, bent her over a crate and entered her.

The rough cry she issued was muffled in the close space. Sexy whimpers followed as he pounded her, lifting her on his cock.

When he felt the first squeezes of her body around him, he reached around her and ground his fingers into her swollen clit.

With a cry, they came together. Heat spread through his body and love warmed his chest as he filled her with his juices.

She pulsated around him.

And then he smelled it.

Something burning.

At the same moment, she detected it too. “Oh my God!”

He pulled free of her body and yanked his jeans up in one swift motion. She pulled hers up too, and he thanked God that he hadn’t properly stripped her. Grabbing Ivy’s hand, he yanked her to the window.

After yanking the blind off completely, he let it crash to the floor. Smoke was beginning to filter into the back room.

“He set the office on fire. He’s trying to kill us.”

“Not us—you. Goddammit!” The window was stuck—painted shut or swelled from weather. Using the heel of his hand, he smacked the frame twice. It creaked upward an inch.

“Hurry, Ward!”

The frantic tone of Ivy’s voice gave him the adrenaline rush he needed to force the window open all the way. No screen barred their way. Ward picked her up and pushed her feet first through the small opening.

Ivy hit the ground with a grunt and looked at the window she’d just been shoved through. Smoke roiled from the front of the building.

“Come on, Ward!” she cried, reaching in for him. Liam had driven off but he’d planned to circle back around. Where was he? Was he safe?

“Move back. This window’s small for me.” He dove through it head first. His shoulders and hips dragged on the sides of the frame, but he made it through at the moment they heard Liam’s shouts.

“Tony, you son of a bitchin’ coward! Come out now!”

Ward fell onto the ground in a heap. Ivy started around the building, but Ward gripped her ankle. “Not without me. Goddamn it, I left my gun in there.”

In a flash, he was on his feet and leaping toward the window again as if to go into the burning building after it.

“No, what are you doing?” she cried.

He turned to her, a look of shock on his features. Apparently he’d just realized his idea wasn’t the best one. Shaking himself, he grabbed her and shoved her away from the burning building. “Hide, Ivy. Do not move from your hiding place. No matter what you hear.”

She barely gave a nod of agreement before Ward shot off around the corner of the building. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she rushed to a grouping of bushes and folded slightly around her terror. Was Tony out there, armed? Was Ward running into a trap? Was Liam already in the thick of a fight? He could barely stand, had struggled to use his legs well enough to drive. He couldn’t have gotten his wheelchair out alone.

Why have I agreed to stay put?

She stared at the corner where Ward had disappeared. How had it come to this? What had started as fliers on windshields and sexual harassment at work was now arson and a frightening confrontation.

Pressing her hands to her face, she stared through her fingers at each side of the building. Smoke filled the sky and she felt the heat from it. The office wasn’t very large and the wood used to build it was old. Between that and the fact that it was jammed full of paper meant it would go up in minutes.

“Get him!” Liam bellowed.

Ivy heard boots thudding earth. Was there a chase? She couldn’t stay there another minute. They might need her help.

She stepped out of the bushes just as a body hurtled at her. The blur of fabric and features zipped through her awareness just as the impact of his body striking her took her down.

Her feet flew out from under her and her spine and head hit the ground with a sickening thud. Pain and nausea were black orbs closing in on her and she gave in to the blackout.

Liam was as weak as a newborn lamb. His muscles trembled, but he was not going to attribute the shaking to his fear. No, Ward was all right. Ivy was safe. They had to be or else Liam’s world was over.

Sinking his teeth into his lower lip, he army crawled across the grounds. In the distance, sirens sounded. A fire up here would be spotted and authorities called. A fire out of control in these parts meant a lot of property damage.

Or it could mean a sadistic fucker had thought he was trapping Liam’s wife in a building with the intent to kill her.

Liam dug his elbows into the earth, pulling himself painstakingly over the turf. Black, acrid smoke burned his eyes, nose and throat. Tears might be clogging him up too, but fuck that. He was through being weak.

With all of the power in muscles developed from a year of using only his upper body to maneuver himself, he dragged himself at a quick pace around the building. Ash rained down on him.

“Ivy! Jesus, no!” Ward’s shout turned Liam’s blood to ice.

He pulled his gun and crawled faster. He knew Ward had a gun—he’d seen him check the chamber before crawling into the truck bed, but it had given Liam a strong sense of relief to carry a weapon too. Chances were Tony carried a concealed weapon at all times, being an ex-officer.

“What’s going on?” Liam yelled over the noise of flames.

“Ivy’s out cold. You fucking bastard!”

Liam’s helplessness had never seemed so pronounced, but damn it, he would overcome. Several thuds sounded—fists?

A strange sort of calm claimed him suddenly. This was why Ward was here with them. He’d been brought back to the area to take over the business from his ailing father, but his real purpose was to take care of Liam and Ivy.

Liam gripped his weapon and breached the edge of the building. A bit of burning wood landed on the back of Liam’s thigh, singeing his jeans, but he continued on.

For a moment, he stared at the mass of tangled limbs on the ground. Ward and Tony grappled with each other while Ivy sprawled nearby in a crumpled heap.

“No!” Liam’s cry was almost soundless. He dug his feet into the grass and pushed to his knees, gun forgotten. She lay five feet from him, but it felt like fifty.

By the time he reached her, Ward and Tony were on their feet, growling and circling like wild beasts. Tony’s weapon flashed as he pulled it on Ward. Liam threw himself over Ivy to shield her. He slid his fingers up her throat to feel for a pulse. Finding it at once, relief soaked into his consciousness. She would be all right.

But Ward might not be.

Tony’s mouth stretched tight over his lips. “You haven’t paid enough for stripping that land, for having possession of the only woman I’ve ever wanted.”

The pair danced closer, and Liam threw out his arms to cover more of Ivy’s motionless form.

“I didn’t order the stripping of that land and neither did my father,” Ward spat. “And why would you think Ivy would want you when she has two men?”

Stop goading him!
Liam’s thought was only to keep Ward and Ivy safe. But if it were him up against Tony, he’d probably goad the man too.

Ivy released a long moan, stealing Tony’s attention.

Ward threw a punch. His fist connected with Tony’s jaw and his head rocked. The gun flew from his hand. Seeing the man was out of sorts, Ward took advantage. With a roar, he hurled himself at Tony. They sailed onto the ground near Liam. Sirens wailed closer and closer. The fire raged out of control, the roof shooting flames into the sky.

Ward pinned Tony in a wrestling hold Liam recalled from their high school days. But the man had been trained to escape situations like this, and he used every dirty tactic he had.

Thrusting his head forward, he butted Ward between the eyes. Liam’s heart seized as his lover sagged. Tony kicked him off. Ward gained his hands and knees, head dropped down and a dazed look on his handsome face.

Liam took control. He crawled to Tony’s gun lying on the ground, aimed at Tony’s knee and fired.

Everything was chaos after that. Police and firefighters on the scene. Medics fighting Liam to get to Ivy. Ward’s solid arms around him, assuring him it was okay.

The ride to the hospital with Ivy was a blur. Relief tingled in his fingers and face when she opened her eyes and asked where she was. But on the heels of that was worry that Ward’s truck would give out at last and he wouldn’t make it to the hospital to be with them.

With the use of a hospital wheelchair, he followed behind his wife. They were halfway down the hall to the emergency room when Ward burst through the doors.

He ran the short distance to them. Liam held out his arms, and Ward filled them. Solid and true. Unhurt. Here. Ward tightened his hold on Liam, and as one, they turned to Ivy. They each pressed a kiss to her pale cheek before she was wheeled off to get some scans. The medics believed she had suffered a concussion, but she was responsive and not as disoriented as they expected, which meant her injury wasn’t as dire as Liam had first feared.

He knew firsthand what it felt like to overcome an injury like that.

Liam rested against the back of his wheelchair, shaking and worn out. Together they made their way to the waiting area. Shock created silence between them, but they locked fingers and waited together to see the woman they loved.

But when they saw her again, all the words tumbled out.

“So sorry I wasn’t able to protect you, sweetheart—”

“I couldn’t reach you both fast enough.”

Ivy’s eyes shone up at them. A ghost of a smile played about her lips. “Shh. We stopped him
together
, right? That’s as it should be for all of our lives.”

With an arm around Ward and one around his wife’s shoulders, Liam stood on his own two legs at the bedside and knew that sometimes there was a purpose to everything in life. If not for his injury and his loved ones surrounding him, he might not have been able to relinquish the hard grip he’d had on his control. But sharing some of it between Ivy and Ward was the most amazing thing that would ever happen to him—besides loving them.

He kissed Ivy tenderly then turned his mouth into Ward’s for a brief caress. The oath was binding. “For all of our lives.”

About the Author

Em Petrova lives in Backwoods, Pennsylvania, where she raises four kids and a Labradoodle named Daisy Hasselhoff. Her dream is to buy an old pickup and travel small-town USA meeting people and hearing their stories. Her heroes are hardworking—in bed and out—and she is known for panty-scorching erotic romance.

Find Em online:

www.empetrova.com

www.goodreads.com/author/show/4342760.Em_Petrova

hardworkingheroes.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/empetrovahardworkingheroes

www.twitter.com/empetrova

Look for these titles by Em Petrova

Now Available:

Country Fever

Hard Ridin’

Lip Lock

Unbroken

Somethin’ Dirty

Boot Knockers

Pushin’ Buttons

Body Language

Reining Men

Coming Soon:

Ropin’ Hearts

There’s no escaping ranch policy—anything to please a lady…

Reining Men

© 2014 Em Petrova

The Boot Knockers Ranch, Book 3

The Boot Knockers Ranch caters to women in all ways. And now rookie Paul is officially part of the team. He’s had six months to hone his skills with the ladies and prides himself on being a prime catch.

Jack would agree. He can’t get the rugged cowboy out of his system. He wants Paul in his bed more than anything, but his best friend has always been resistant to relations with other men. Jack’s instinct says different, but he values Paul’s friendship too highly to push it.

Then Jack takes on beautiful new client Lissy Lofton and finds himself falling hard for the confident show jumper. He’s not the only one. Lissy has caught Paul’s attention, and the attraction is mutual.

But now Jack has a problem. Lissy’s sexual appetite is so ravenous, he doubts he can last the week without backup. Which presents an irresistible opportunity to invite Paul into their bed—where the incandescent heat brings all their walls tumbling down.

Warning: Contains two smoking hot cowboys whose drive to please the same woman spurs a desire to please each other.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Reining Men:

Jack’s balls tightened as the fresh scents of man and soap filled his head. Paul was a fucking beautiful cowboy, and he pushed all the right buttons in Jack. Broad chest, carved ass. And his ice-blue eyes lanced right through Jack.

Too bad he didn’t swing that way, because all the Elliots on the ranch wouldn’t equal one heated roll in the hay with Paul.

Jack drank in the man’s worn jeans and T-shirt with The Boot Knockers Ranch logo. Today he also wore a bandana knotted around his neck, and it was already darkened with sweat.

Sweat Jack wanted to lick off his skin.

Shit, he had it bad. For six months since Paul had been voted in as an official Boot Knocker, Jack had battled his cravings. His advances roused Paul’s anger, so he tried to stomp on the sprouts of lust. Sometimes it was impossible.

Paul released his shoulder, but the skin still tingled from his touch. He forced himself to let go of Paul before he ended up yanking him into his hold and kissing the hell out of him.

Damn.

The hair on his forearms rose despite the eighty-degree weather and high humidity. He reluctantly moved away. As another handful of cows trotted off the truck, he spotted a spring calf. It was crowded against the metal slats of the truck, holding one leg up.

Before his mind wrapped around the danger of jumping into the truck with thousands of pounds of animals, Jack stepped onto the ramp. He made it two steps.

“Jack! What the hell are you doing?” Paul hollered.

His presence on the truck was spooking the cows. Snorting, stamping. One rushed past him. He kept going.

“Hey!” Randall called.

Paul ran around the side of the truck and gazed up between the slats. “What are you doing?”

“Hurt calf. I’m offloading them all faster,” he grunted. He sent a few more trotting down the ramp then used his shoulder to move a heifer out of the way. He had to get them away from the baby, which cowered against the edge.

More cows made it off the truck, leaving a gap for Jack to safely maneuver. Crouching, he brought his arms around the calf’s legs, folding them against his chest.

He used his thigh muscles to push into a stand, bearing the weight of the calf. He turned to the ramp once more.

Cows scattered, but one stubborn animal planted her hooves and refused to move.

“Paul!”

“Shit. Why couldn’t you wait to get all the animals off?” Paul jogged to the head of the ramp and gathered his rope in his gloved fist. Watching Paul swing the rope shouldn’t be erotic, but it was to Jack.

He hitched the calf against his chest.

Paul threw the lasso. It fell in a perfect arc over the cow’s head. As soon as it hit her neck, he yanked the rope. She issued a moo of dislike, but Paul tugged her forward.

Behind him, the other animals that hadn’t been offloaded milled restlessly, slamming the sides of the truck and making it rock. The calf’s muscles coiled, and Jack tightened his hold in case it tried to break free.

Paul was right. The animals should have come off first, but Jack hadn’t been thinking about anything but saving the baby.

“C’mon, you stubborn heifer,” Paul said through gritted teeth. He leaned into the rope, using his body weight to move the cow a few inches.

“Get lower. It will change your leverage,” Jack called over the noise of too many cows stuck on a truck. If they stampeded, Jack and the calf would be trampled. And Paul would be forced to jump out of the way.

Except he was stubborn enough to keep trying to move the problem cow. He might not move in time.

“Give her foreleg a kick,” Randall encouraged.

The older generation did things that way, but Jack didn’t totally agree with it. Obviously Paul didn’t either. Leaning back, he dug in his boots and used his weight and strength. The cow lurched forward a foot, the rope slackened and Paul’s ass hit the ground.

He popped up with a grunt and a red face.

Jack’s insides stirred at the sight. This was no time to feel aroused, but damn if he could help it. The flush on Paul’s face, the way the vein ticked in his temple…hell, Jack wanted to bend him over and sink into his muscled body.

Again and again.

Randall darted forward and delivered a light kick to the cow’s foreleg. It gave a loud moo and ambled down the ramp.

Paul caught the end of the rope and wrapped it around his fist several times, determination set on his rugged features. When he shot Jack a glance, the familiar need heated Jack’s gut.

The cow ran the rest of the way down the ramp.

Jack was jostled from behind. Clinging to the hurt calf, he somehow got off the truck without being stomped by a cow. The feisty specimen Paul was wrangling was still giving him a fit.

“This one’s going to take me for a ride!” Paul hooted, grinning.

Jack raised his jaw at Randall. “Lower the tailgate of the truck so I can put the calf in.” The baby needed medical attention. It could have been crushed against the side during their journey. A weak animal meant predators would have a feast, and Jack couldn’t let that happen.

As soon as he placed the calf in the truck, he shut the tailgate and went to lend a hand to Paul.

When he reached him, blood was trickling down his jaw. Jack sucked in a sharp breath. “What the hell happened to you?” He rushed forward, took the rope from his friend, and used the adrenaline coursing through his system to drag the stubborn-ass cow to the fencing.

He loosened the rope around its neck and then gave it a nudge with his boot. Turning back to Paul, he found blood dripping onto his friend’s shirt.

In two strides he reached his friend. Gently he placed his fingers over the wound. Hot blood slicked his fingers.

Hissing, Paul jerked away. “Don’t.”

A hollow blossomed in Jack’s chest, and an ache filled it. He didn’t like seeing that blood or the crease of pain between Paul’s brows.

“You need to get back to the ranch and let Holly see to you. How did it happen?”

“Damn thing shifted, and I hit the side of the truck.” He fingered the ragged edge of the cut between his cheekbone and ear. “It’s fine.”

“You might need a tetanus shot.”

Paul leveled him in his gaze, one light brown brow quirked. “Don’t you remember two months ago? When we all lined up and the doc stuck a needle in our arms?”

Yeah, all twenty of them had gotten a mandatory physical including a tetanus booster. Hugh was a stickler about their care.

“Too bad it wasn’t your ass. I woulda liked to have seen that.”

Jack’s joke achieved exactly what he wanted. The pain on Paul’s face vanished, replaced by annoyance tinged with amusement. Shaking his head, Paul twisted away. “Let’s get the last of the cows unloaded.”

Together they worked side by side, shooing animals into the fencing. Jack roped another cow that proved not as stubborn as its fellow. As soon as Jack tugged the rope, the animal scurried into the pasture.

When every last beast was enclosed in the open expanse of grassland, Paul and Jack turned to Randall.

“You got the check from Hugh?” Jack asked.

“Yes, it arrived yesterday. I’ll stop on my way out of the ranch to say hi. Nice doing business with you. Good luck with your venture.” Randall pushed the chewing tobacco into his cheek and shook their hands again.

Randall climbed into his truck and guided it back down the ridge. Hitching a thumb in his jeans, Jack turned to watch the milling herd.

Paul leaned his elbows on the fence, ignoring the cut. “Well, that was definitely a change from finessing women.”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I think the cows require more finesse than the women.”

Paul burst out laughing, his eyes softening. Jack moved to stand beside his friend. This time when he stood too close, Paul didn’t move away. They stared at the cows that would butter their bread a little more. By the time they were too old to keep their cocks up all day and night, they’d have enough money to retire.

“Do you like the stud ranch part of your job, Paul?”

He started. When their gazes met, Jack’s breath hitched. Hell, he wished he could either convince Paul to let him in—all the way—or he wished he could quit having these feelings.

Paul sniffed. “’Course I like it. Helping beautiful women fulfill their dreams? What’s not to love?”

“I don’t know. Do you ever feel there’s something missing?”

When Paul pivoted to face him, Jack’s body responded. Want speared him. His cock jolted, growing instantly. He ran his tongue over his lower lip.

“What do you mean?” Paul asked.

What
did
he mean? Damn, he was getting all sappy over a bit of blood oozing from a cut on his buddy’s face.

“Never mind. Let’s get the calf back to the barn. Now that last week’s ladies are gone, we won’t have to rip Quay from between a woman’s legs. He’s the best with animals. He’ll be able to fix up the calf.” Taking a chance, Jack lightly touched Paul’s cheek, just above the cut.

This time when Paul jerked away, he was prepared. It still hurt like hell, though.