In the Cowboy's Bed (Pleasure Ridge Ranch) (2 page)

Justin’s words in her ear made all of Erin’s nerve endings spark like live wires. What was she doing? She didn’t even know this man and she was going to let him touch her? She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. This place was all about fantasy and letting go of inhibitions, right? Could she do that, let go?

An unexpected determination to do exactly that shot through her a moment before Justin’s hands skimmed up her ribs from her waist and drifted beneath her breasts. When he cupped them, the warmth of his hands soaked through the thin fabric of her T-shirt and caused a little "umm" to slip from her lips.

Justin chuckled a little, his warm breath tickling her ear. "You’re sounding happy, and I haven’t even done anything yet."

Oh, yeah, you have. She didn’t speak because she didn’t know what she could possibly say without sounding stupid.

Justin’s hands moved upward, and the next thing she knew his forefingers were making lazy circles around the tips of her breasts. Her whole body stiffened.

"Just lean back and enjoy it," Justin said. "Don’t think about anything but the sensation of me touching you."

She was beyond crazy, but she did what he said. With her eyes still closed, she leaned her head back against his shoulder and thought only of the feel of those fingers on her nipples. The zing of awareness radiated out, racing along her nerves to reach every part of her body. When it reached the center of her, she imagined those fingers dipping lower, much lower, and into her. She squirmed.

"What do you want?" Justin whispered, punctuating the question with a little lap of his tongue around the curve her ear.

You to fuck me harder than I’ve ever been fucked. She thought it, but there was enough of the real Erin James left that she couldn’t say it. Instead, she breathed a single word. "More."

Justin slid his hands with agonizing slowness back down her ribs then tugged at the bottom of her T-shirt. When it slipped free, his hands drifted below the cotton and touched bare skin. She jerked a little.

"Relax," he breathed.

Yeah, like that was possible.

Her entire body vibrated with yearning. If he could do this with just his hands sliding over her belly, what would having all of him in that big bed be like? Or riding him while hanging on to those handles in the shower? She shifted, pressing her flesh closer to the warm, wide breadth of his hands.

He grabbed the edges of her shirt and pulled it farther up.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Removing barriers."

Her eyes popped open and she scanned the land surrounding them. "We’re out here in broad daylight."

"That’s the idea."

"What if someone sees us?"

"So what if they do?" he said, his voice dipping even lower.

She would have never thought it of herself in a million years, but the idea of someone seeing them like this sent a thrill through her. So she lifted her arms, allowing him to remove her shirt. He tossed it onto the top of a low-lying bush she couldn’t identify. Then his lips touched her bare shoulder. Oh, those lips. Warm, wet, practiced. This man knew how to set a woman’s desires on fire.

He let his lips drift across the top of her back, up her neck, down her spine. When his hands went to her bra clasp, another wave of "What the hell am I doing?" zipped through her. But he popped open the clasp and guided the bra from her so expertly that she didn’t have time to voice the thought. He cupped her breasts again as he trailed his tongue along the side of her neck.

When he started to turn her to face him, she balked. It was one thing to allow all of this when she didn’t have to look into anyone’s eyes, especially a stranger’s, but it was another entirely when she had to face what she was doing head on.

"You want this," he said, and the little devil on her shoulder started nodding enthusiastically.

His lips went to her neck, and the feel of that wet heat had her bowing backward. He used the opportunity to shift to the front of her, taking his hat and plopping it atop her head as he moved. He held her at her waist as he used his tongue to make those little circles around the tips of her breasts, same as his fingers had done moments before. He lapped at her as if she were an ice cream cone, and she found herself running her hands through his short, blondish-brown hair.

When he began to suck on her, she gripped the back of his head, pushing him harder against her. She was out here on a mountaintop half-naked with a stranger’s mouth on her breast, and she didn’t care. In fact, she couldn’t believe she’d waited this long to experience something like this.

Justin shifted his mouth to her other breast, sending a flood of pure, hot pleasure coursing through her like liquid fire. He slid his hand below the waistband of her jeans, and her mind started screaming, Yes! Yes! Yes! His fingers threaded through the hair down there, expertly zeroing in on the little nub that had her pressing herself as close to his hand as she could.

"Yes," she breathed, this time out loud.

Justin withdrew his hand, making her want to whimper. "Don’t worry," he said. "I’m not going anywhere." He resumed the wonderful assault on her breast as he unbuttoned and upzipped her jeans, granting him easier access. When his hand slid back beneath her simple cotton panties, she suddenly wished she had something solid to lean against.

His fingers slid between her folds, beginning a gentle back and forth rhythm that had her slicked in a microsecond. The heel of his hand pressed against her mound, drawing a moan from her. She wondered if that sound turned him on because his action on her breasts ticked up a notch.

He increased the pace of his movements down below until she began to pant. That’s when he slid a finger inside her and she damned near crumpled. Justin wrapped his other arm around her lower back, his strength evident. He eased the finger in slowly, swirled it inside, then slid it back out. Then he did the same thing again, just a little quicker but still not fast enough to satisfy what was building inside her.

"Faster," she said.

"Your wish is my command."

Gradually, he increased the pace, the slight roughness of his finger causing her core to shiver in the most erotic way, the heal of his hand beginning to bump against her harder and harder. She began to move against his hand, reaching for what was no doubt going to be the best climax of her life.

Suddenly, Justin really increased the speed, and he slipped a second finger into the center of her. His tongue ran all around her breasts as his hand pistoned away. She flung her head back and moaned, shoving herself against each thrust of his hand. She started to pant, and when she heard his breath coming quickly too her core began to pulse and contract around his fingers.

"Faster," she said again.

Impossibly, he complied as his breath huffed out against her wet breasts.

Oh, oh, she was going to come. Her breath got faster, faster, faster until she came and cried out her intense satisfaction. She sucked in great gulps of air, trying to recover, but Justin didn’t give her time. He grabbed hold of the waistband of her jeans and pulled them downward.

"What?" This was so much, so fast, but she couldn’t deny the desire throbbing throughout her entire body.

"Step out," he said, his voice rough and aroused.

And didn’t that just get her ready all over again. She lifted her foot out of the jeans pooling around her ankles, but left the other in. Justin slid his fingers under the edge of her panties, driving her crazy. And then he lowered himself, taking her panties with him.

When he looked up at her, she saw red, hot desire blazing in his eyes, prompting her to step out of one half of her panties, too. Justin guided her legs apart, and amazingly her knees didn’t buckle. And then his mouth was on her, that talented tongue lapping at her center. He grabbed hold of her hips, one in each hand, and she pressed her hands against the back of his head, urging him to keep doing what he was doing. Licking, flicking, and then, oh, oh, oh, sucking at her hot core, dipping his tongue inside and flicking it so fast she nearly collapsed on his face.

She started rocking her hips forward as she got closer and closer and closer to coming again. Their pants and gasps for breath only made her hotter.

"I’m coming," she said between ragged breaths, and those words seemed to encourage him.

Justin dug his fingers into her hips and urged her against his tongue thrusts. Faster, deeper, faster, deeper. And then she spasmed and truly came apart.

* * * *

Justin turned his back to give Erin a few moments to collect herself and get dressed. Who was he kidding? He needed a moment to get himself under control, too. Truth was if they’d been somewhere with a nice bed of soft grass instead of a scrubby, dirty, rocky trail, he might have laid her down and rutted her like a bull.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply as he pressed his thumb and forefinger against the area between his eyes. When was the last time he’d gone crazy for a woman like that? Not anytime in recent memory. He hadn’t even...no, he wasn’t going to think of that.

He’d met Erin, what, an hour ago? And already her mixture of beauty, hesitance, humor and vulnerability had seduced him. He was good at making women feel pleasures they never had, but what they didn’t know was that there was a barrier none of them ever got past. But Erin had gotten pretty damn close, and that freaked him the hell out.

He considered calling Heidi and telling her to set Erin up with another one of the guys, but his hands fisted at the thought of someone else with her. What the hell was wrong with him? He didn’t even know this woman. She’d be gone in a week.

"Um, I’m going to go back to the cabin," she said, sounding embarrassed and a little like she might bolt from the ranch altogether.

With another breath, he turned slowly toward her. She was fully dressed again, but he doubted he’d ever forget what she looked like beneath that barrier of clothing. All that smooth, supple, creamy flesh.

She couldn’t meet his eyes as she handed his hat back to him, and he didn’t urge her to. Instead, he fell into step beside her on the trail, trying not to remember what she looked like with her head thrown back. With his hat on her head and her breasts wet and gloriously free. Her sex rocking against his mouth.

Damn, his dick went rock hard. How was he supposed to walk like this?

"Have you ever been to a ranch before?" he asked, desperate for some topic that had nothing to do with sex. He had to get control of himself, get his mind back where it needed to be, his interior walls in place, before they got anywhere near having sex.

"No, first time."

Probably a first time for lots of things for her today.

"Heidi has some good horses in the stables if you want to go for a ride sometime this week."

"Sounds nice."

He could tell from the distance in her voice that her mind was racing, not able to grasp what she’d just done, worrying about if when she went home people would be able to tell just by looking at her. He wanted to tell her it was okay, but he was also pretty good at reading people. And Erin needed time to process before he broached the subject or assaulted her senses any more.

When they reached the cabin, she took the two steps up to the porch then turned halfway back toward him. "So, um, do you stay here?"

"I can, or I can go home and come back whenever you want me to. Do you want me to stay?"

He saw the internal battle going on inside her, her common sense and societal strictures warring with animal instinct and desire. She hesitated so long that he wondered if she’d somehow forgotten the question. Then she met his eyes.

"Yeah." She dropped her gaze to some spot on the porch floor. "Don’t know about you, but I’m starving. I think an order off that menu is in my immediate future."

As he followed her inside, he appreciated her curves and wanted to order off an entirely different menu.

She hurried to the kitchen and retrieved the menu of Chef Andre Pillar’s offerings. "What would you like?"

"Surprise me. I like everything Andre makes."

She gave him a quick, curious look before returning her gaze to the menu.

Justin took the opportunity to go to the bathroom to wash his face and hands and brush his teeth. Once behind the closed door, he looked at himself in the mirror, wondering if someone else had inhabited his body. Nope, same old him. But he was definitely a little off today. He considered taking himself in hand and easing the ache, but he resisted. A part of him, the currently aching part, wanted to wait to see what the coming night would bring. He’d much rather release inside a beautiful woman than his own hand. And if that woman was the beautiful Erin, so much the better.

Erin stood in the kitchen with her hands braced against the sink to keep her wobbly legs from buckling beneath her. She had lost every last speck of her mind. That or some wanton crazy woman had inhabited her body without Erin knowing it. Seriously, who let a man she’d just met strip her naked in broad daylight and bring her to throbbing, exploding orgasms with both his hand and his tongue?

Evidently, she did.

She’d cracked. That was the only explanation.

That or this powder keg of desire and yearning had been in her all along and she’d been too afraid to even acknowledge its existence. After all, she’d had some pretty erotic dreams in the past week, ones that left her panting like she had been out on that trail a few minutes ago.

She opened a cabinet, grabbed a glass and filled with with cold water from the tap. She gulped half of it down, but it did little to settle her.

The sound of running water in the bathroom drew her attention, and damned if her thoughts didn’t go to Justin, naked, wet, sudsy and hanging on to those handles for dear life as she used her mouth to drive him buck-wild crazy like he had her.

She resisted the urge to shove her head under the sink in front of her. Maybe that would cool off her overheated skin and even hotter thoughts.

With a shake of her head, she grabbed the menu. She dialed the number at the bottom and ordered a humongous burger and fries for Justin — all guys liked burgers and fries, right? For her, she selected grilled shrimp pasta. And because she was pretty sure she’d burned off all of the calories she’d consumed in the last week, she added two slices of chocolate cake to the order.

When she heard the creak of the bathroom door opening, Erin’s pulse kicked up again. How was she going to sit across from Justin and eat dinner after what had happened between them?

"So what am I having for dinner?" he asked, causing her to jump.

Um, me.

"Burger and fries. And chocolate cake," she said.

"Sounds good. I seemed to have worked up an appetite."

You’d think after what she’d allowed him to do to her that a simple comment wouldn’t embarrass her. But heat surged up her neck into her face like a geyser.

He took a couple of steps into the kitchen and leaned back against the counter next to her, hat in his hands. "Are you going to look at me, Erin?"

"I’m not sure."

He chuckled again, amused by her. She liked the sound of his laugh. "What do you say we go outside and watch the sunset while we wait for the food?"

Watching a sunset, that sounded pretty normal. But so had hiking along a trail. "Sure."

He crossed the living room to the door and held it open for her, the perfect gentleman. He placed his hat on a hook by the door then followed her out.

She considered sitting in the porch swing but opted for plunking down on the edge of the porch with her feet on the first step. She rested her arms on her knees and her chin atop her arms. When Justin sat next to her, she still didn’t look at him. Instead, she focused all of her attention on the setting sun. It looked huge on the horizon, a giant orange ball that was taking the heat of the day with it. Up this high in elevation, the warmth faded fast.

"Chilly?" he asked, and she realized she must have shivered.

"A bit. I’m used to being at sea level."

Justin wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she stiffened.

"Don’t worry," he said. "I’m just trying to give you a little warmth."

"Oh, thanks."

"So you live by the ocean, huh? Must be nice."

"Chesapeake Bay, and it is."

"What do you do by Chesapeake Bay?"

"Nothing near as adventurous as your job." She detected what she thought was a slight tightening of the muscles in his arm, prompting her to glance at him. He relaxed as their gazes met. "I’m an insurance claims adjuster. Yes, I work in a cubicle. Try not to be jealous."

He smiled, and it made him even more devastatingly gorgeous than he already was. "Somebody’s got to do it, I guess."

Erin watched his lips as he spoke, remembering what those lips had done to her not so long ago. She shifted her gaze back toward the sun. It sat halfway below the horizon now. "You ever noticed how the you can actually see the sun move when it’s like this? It’s the same way when it comes up over the water."

"Yeah. Guess it’s in a hurry to get to bed."

Now it was her turn for muscle tightening, just because he said something about hurrying and bed. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit she wanted to drag Justin into the cabin and straight to the bedroom, undress him as quickly as she could then see just how sturdy that bed really was.

He leaned toward her. "You’re awfully tense," he said close to her ear.

Gee, I wonder why. "Today’s just been...a surprise."

"A bit out of your comfort zone?"

"You could say that."

"But you like it." It wasn’t a question.

"Maybe."

"From where I was, there was no maybe about it."

Erin dropped her forehead against her arms. "I’ve gone crazy."

Justin stood then sat behind her, one of his long legs on either side of her. His hands went to her shoulders and started massaging the knots she wasn’t aware she had. "You’re not crazy," he said. "You’ve probably just been taught that really letting your inhibitions go and doing whatever you want is wrong. But I fail to see what’s wrong with it."

"You don’t think it strange that I let...I let you do those things to me only a few minutes after we met?"

"No, because you’re safe with me. There’s no commitment, no expectations. You can explore every fantasy you’ve ever had with no consequences."

That sounded so good, so tempting. But could she really do it? Totally let go and be a crazy sex maniac for a week?

His hands weren’t just good at making her climax. The tension in her shoulders and back eased as he worked on the muscles.

"That feels so good," she said.

"Nothing like a good massage. Being on a plane all day is stressful. Not to mention coming to a place you’re not entirely sure you’re ready for. Although I hope you’re a little more comfortable now than when you arrived."

Erin was surprised to find that she was. Without really thinking about it, she leaned back against his chest. "How are you so warm?"

"Having a beautiful woman between my legs can do that to a guy."

She laughed this time. "You don’t miss an opportunity to slip in a little sexy talk, do you?"

"Job hazard?"

"Oh, no. You better hope I don’t start talking deductibles and policy limits."

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "Maybe when I want to go to sleep."

She watched as the last sliver of the sun slipped out of sight and thought about the rest of the night. Was she really thinking about letting this man stay with her all night? All week? She closed her eyes and let herself really think about what he’d said about leaving inhibitions behind, stepping away from normal life for a little while. Forgetting about shoulds and should nots.

"What are you afraid of?" Justin asked.

"I don’t know. Doing something I’ll regret, maybe."

"But no one will know about it but you and me. There’s nothing to regret if you make yourself happy."

"That sounds nice in theory," she said.

"Tell me this, did you feel better in your normal life doing what everyone expects or totally letting go this afternoon?"

Letting go. The answer came quickly and easily. That’s when she made her decision to enjoy every moment of this week to its fullest. If she could imagine something sexually that she thought she’d like, she was going to try it. For once in her life, she was going to be in total control of how things progressed. Just the thought of that sent a thrill and a surge of empowerment through her.

"I want you to stay," she said. "All week."

"Then I’m all yours." He kissed her ear.

She was just about to turn and find his lips with her own when the sound of an approaching vehicle was followed by the honk of a horn. "What are they honking at?"

"It’s a warning," Justin said. "In case we were preoccupied."

She wondered what happened when the food delivery was made to naked people going at it hot and heavy. She went wet just thinking about how she and Justin might find out before the week was over.

* * * *

Before their meal had arrived, Erin had thought she’d rather explore what Justin had to offer than what was in the takeout containers. But as soon as she opened the boxes, her stomach growled and she remembered how little she’d eaten throughout the day. She dived into her meal like it might be her last.

"This is delicious," she said between bites.

"Andre is a master in the kitchen," Justin said then took a huge bite of his burger and made an appreciative sound. It reminded Erin of the sounds he’d made when he’d been working down below earlier.

She mentally slapped herself. Couldn’t she at least get through dinner without imagining herself astride him, his length filling her and stretching her inner muscles?

When she got to the chocolate cake, she closed her eyes and moaned. "Oh, my God. This is the best cake I’ve ever eaten."

"I think if Andre weren’t so busy in the kitchen, he might get laid by half the customers based on that cake alone."

"And it’d be worth it. This cake is sex on a plate." She looked up and saw Justin watching her with a hungry look that could mean he was thinking about only one thing.

Slowly, he used his finger to wipe up a bit of frosting from his plate then stick his finger in his mouth to suck it clean. Her toes curled in her shoes.

"I can think of better places for sex than a plate,"

he said.

So could she. That big bed. The shower built for two. Hell, this table they were eating at this very moment.

Justin slowly scooped another dollop of icing, and Erin felt herself leaning forward, wanting to watch every play of his lips and tongue. But then he surprised her by plopping the frosting on the end of her nose.

"Hey!"

Justin sat back and laughed.

"Now that’s a waste of perfectly good chocolate," she said as she grabbed a napkin and wiped the frosting away.

"Oh, it wasn’t a waste. The look on your face was priceless."

She wadded up the napkin and tossed it at him. He laughed again as he batted it away. Before he could assault her with chocolate again, she grabbed his takeout containers as well as hers and headed for the trash can in the kitchen.

Truth was she needed a few moments away from him to rein in her galloping nerves and thoughts of what the next few hours might bring if she could manage to keep from thinking about how normal people didn’t do this. Didn’t toss caution to the wind. Didn’t let their innermost, carnal desires bubble to the surface and then satisfy them. Didn’t get naked and nasty with a guy they just met.

But that wasn’t true, was it? People hooked up in bars all the time. One-night stands were a dime a dozen. Amy had been a participant in more than one and enjoyed most of them. Even Hillary had had a couple. But not Erin. She’d never let herself, always looking for a "relationship." Yeah, well, that had turned out just dandy. She was terrible at picking guys for potential relationships. Maybe it was time to see what all the fuss about anonymous sex was about. See if she was any better at picking guys for a good orgasm or two. After all, she was covered protection-wise on her end, and the guys here were clean, safe. And sexy as sin.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, quietly so Justin wouldn’t hear it. Then she returned to the other room and met Justin’s gaze.

"It strikes me that you have on entirely too many clothes, she said."