Molding Clay (4 page)

animal she encountered, but she had made it possible for Chase to communicate with

his dog Cody.

“Let’s just say that living around Ana has altered the way I view communication

between people and animals. And the way I think about…uh, a lot of things.”

Rusty threw back her head and laughed at the same time Koda howled. “Good

Lord and quarter I bet she has,” Rusty said.

“So are you…I mean…are you like Ana?” Clay asked.

Rusty looked from him to Koda. Their eyes locked for a long moment. When Rusty

turned her eyes back to Clay, he took a step back, blinked and then blinked again. No,

there was nothing wrong with his vision, but there was definitely something going on

with Rusty’s eyes.

The normal violet color was now swirled with what he could only describe as light.

“More than you want to know, Mr. Russell.”

For several seconds they stood perfectly still, eyes locked. Clay felt the energy

between them as something tangible, something that made his skin tingle and his blood

sing in his veins. “Don’t be too sure.”

Rusty smiled and the lights in her eyes faded. She turned away and picked up a

couple of towels stacked on an old wooden table, and put them in a small wicker basket

holding soap and shampoo. “You did good work today, Mr. Russell. I appreciate it.”

Clay wouldn’t admit that it had been a long time since he’d worked quite so hard.

There was a lot of work to do on the Circle R but repairing fences and hauling posts was

work usually left to the hired hands. “I’ve done my share of hard labor.”

Rusty tossed her battered hat aside, loosened the band holding back her hair and

kicked off her boots. “But not recently,” she said, hiding a grin as she bent to peel off

her dirty socks.

23

Ciana Stone

Koda let loose with a series of yips and yaps that elicited a laugh from Rusty.

Clay was so caught up in looking down her t-shirt as she bent over that he

completely missed the jibe, but the exchange between her and the dog interrupted his

visual appreciation. “What was that about?”

“Nothing,” she said as she straightened and picked up the basket. “Here,” she

offered it to him. “Seeing as how you’re the boss, it’s only fair that you get first dibs at

the shower.”

Clay heaved a sigh. Taking a shower under the cold water from the hose at the well

house was getting old. When the hell were those guys going to show up and repair

everything? Not only was the shower situation getting old but sleeping in a bunk above

Rusty every night, listening to the sounds of her breathing, and thinking about those

damn shorts and the man’s tank top she wore to bed was enough to have him ready to

split at the seams.

Tired and dirty as he was, with the night air starting to fall, the idea of cold well

water wasn’t a big appeal. “Ladies first.”

Rusty shrugged. “Have it your way.”

She walked past him and out. For a minute Clay just stood there looking after her.

First thing in the morning he was making a call to Clara and have her light a fire under

the delivery people to get the furniture for the bunkhouse and ranch office here and set

up, along with a computer. She was also going to have to find a way to pull some

strings and get a construction crew in to get started pronto on fixing up the house. No

way he and Rusty could live in this bunkhouse much longer. It had been five days and

already he felt like his balls were going to spontaneously combust.

Rusty was easy on the eyes and hell on the libido. Just watching her work was

enough to have him yearning to throw her on the ground and ride her like a stallion.

The sound of Rusty singing had him turning to walk to the door. He stopped,

wanting to look out and see her standing naked under the water, but knowing it was

24

Molding Clay

not the gentlemanly thing to do. Lust battled with manners. In the end manners won.

Reluctantly.

He wandered over and sat down on an old sagging-bottom chair. This arrangement

was going to be more of a challenge than he’d imagined. He could run a breeding farm

without a problem, but Rusty Blackhawk was another matter. Try as he might he

couldn’t get the images of her naked under that cold water out of his mind.

He thought about calling Ana. She had to have known that Rusty wasn’t normal,

that she was…well, that she was a witch. But Rusty hadn’t come right out and admitted

to that so maybe he was wrong.

Or maybe the damn woman had him so worked up with wanting that he just

wasn’t thinking straight. And that brought him to a question he had no answer for. Did

he follow the demands of the screaming male inside and do whatever it took to bed this

woman, or did he heed good sense and keep his hands off her so they could work

together?

He wished he knew the answer to that. Unbidden images rose to the forefront of his

mind again, of Rusty’s firm body glistening with water, those perky nipples tight

against the cold and the dark curls crowning her pussy sparkling with beads of water

like stars.

Clay groaned and reached down to adjust his cock more comfortably in his pants.

Right now, the idea of a cold shower was starting to have an appeal.

25

Ciana Stone

Chapter Four

Rusty shivered in the cold water as she rinsed off the soap and shampoo but not

even the cold water could quench the fire that burned inside her. The heat between Clay

and her had ignited at first look and was growing hotter by the moment, and she was

starting to wonder if the situation was going to end up being a disaster.

She’d never had a problem with men. She lived and worked in a man’s world, and

knew how to either become one of the boys, or to flirt and carry on without any

sincerity in the flirtations. But with Clay it was different. There was an underlying

current in the flirtation, something strong and unfamiliar. It excited her and also gave

her pause. Anything that potent had to carry certain dangers. But then it was also the

danger that attracted her. Clay was the first man she’d ever met that she wanted to

throw on the ground and ride until the stars set, then hold her until the day was done

and they could start again.

Which unsettled the hell out of her. Rusty was not a woman to give herself easily or

quickly and the idea that she wanted Clay Russell to strip her, toss her in the hay and

fuck her senseless rattled her in a way she was completely unprepared for.

Koda’s thoughts intruded and she turned to face him. “I know emotion is as natural

as sex,” she argued quietly. “But you know me, Koda. I can’t be saddled down with

some man who wants too much and gives too little. Casual sex is easier. Both people get

what they want and go their separate ways. Happily ever after isn’t meant for everyone.

Still, something tells me this one is different and maybe I need to tread carefully.”

She laughed at his reply. “Spoken like a true male,” she commented.

But maybe Koda was right. Maybe the only way to get it out of her system was to

just let it happen. If it ended up that there was nothing but lust between them then she

26

Molding Clay

could chalk it up to bad judgment and not make the same mistake twice. And then at

least her itch would be satisfied and she could stop wondering.

Maybe. Her inner voice told her she was fooling herself if she believed that. A spark

had ignited inside her the first time she looked at Clay Russell, and it was a spark that

went way beyond mere sexual attraction. If she were honest with herself, she’d have to

admit that.

And Rusty Blackhawk prided herself on her ability to be honest with herself, even

when it hurt. The truth was, when she looked at Clay Russell she saw what was likely

to be the man she wanted to walk time with.

“How melodramatic, made-for-television, sappy romance is that?” she asked Koda.

His reply brought her sense of humor bubbling to the surface. She finished rinsing,

wrapped a towel around her body, gathered up her dirty clothes and headed for the

bunkhouse.

Clay was sitting in one of the old wing chairs, leaning back with his head propped

against the rough planking of the wall with his eyes closed. “Your turn,” Rusty

announced as she entered.

Clay’s eyes opened and looked directly at her. For the first time in her entire life she

was rendered immobile and mute. His eyes held a force that was as old as mankind and

as powerful as a force of nature. It was the might of the male in all its purity and it was

stronger than anything she’d ever felt. What she saw in those hazel depths called to her

on a level that was primal and commanding. It touched the primitive female within.

It took every ounce of willpower Rusty possessed not to throw herself at him, she

wanted him so badly at that moment. Had Koda not been standing beside her, lending

her his strength, she might have succumbed.

Clay rose in one fluid motion and moved toward her, his eyes never leaving hers.

When he was inches from her he stopped, forcing her to tilt her head back to maintain

eye contact. For a breathless moment neither spoke or moved. A slow smile took shape

on Clay’s face.

27

Ciana Stone

“No peeking,” he said in a low tease then moved past her and out the door.

Rusty flushed at the image that jumped into her mind. Clay naked. Water cascading

down his tight body.
Get a grip!
she mentally chastised herself.
He’s just another man, no

different than any other. You’ve just been without a man too long, that’s all.

Koda’s voice spoke up in her mind.
Dishonesty brings dishonor even when one lies to

oneself.

Rusty cut him a sharp look. “Lucky me. Of all the familiars I could have had, I get

the sage of the lupine world.” She immediately felt bad because she knew he was right.

She was being dishonest. As much as she would like to deny it, Clay Russell was far

from just another man. At least to her. The problem was, how was she going to deal

with it?

Head-on like always,
Koda replied to her inner query.

Rusty regarded him and after a few moments a smile appeared on her face. He was

right. She’d always met life and everything in it head-on. No reason to change now.

Which meant that tonight she might as well have a little fun.

She started digging through the boxes of clothing she’d salvaged from the house.

This called for something special.

Outside, under the spray of cold water, Clay was busy lecturing himself. This was a

job and he was a professional. Just because Rusty Blackhawk was a walking hard-on

was no reason for him to forget that. He just had to get his head straight.

And his dick limp. Even in the cold water, he was standing at attention, with a slow

steady throb that was making his balls ache. Damn woman! How the hell did she get

under his skin so fast?

Maybe he should take Chase’s advice. Bed her and get his fill then turn his mind to

the business as hand. Chase might be right. Clay had met plenty of women who turned

his head and sure as sunrise, as soon as he bedded them the blush was off the bloom.

Chances were that it would be the same with Rusty Blackhawk.

28

Molding Clay

That meant that he needed to turn on the charm tonight and when they got back,

have his fill of her. That way, he could start fresh in the morning with a clear head. With

his mind set, he finished washing, wrapped a towel around his waist and headed

inside.

Rusty was nowhere to be seen but the door to the bathroom was closed and light

spilled out onto the floor from the crack at the bottom. Clay pulled his suitcase from

beneath the bed, tossed it on the lower of the bunk beds and started drying off.

Rusty put the finishing touches on her makeup and regarded herself critically in the

mirror. The tint of smoky shadow on her eyelids along with the mascara made her eyes

dominate her face. Which was just what she wanted.

She dabbed some of the scent her mother had taught her to make on her pulse

points and breathed in the sweet aroma. She hoped it worked as well as her mother

claimed.

Ready as she was going to get, she opened the door and stopped short. Clay stood

across the small room in front of the bunk bed as naked as the day he was born.

Hell yeah!
the wench inside Rusty shouted. He was as fine in the flesh as she had

imagined. His broad shoulders were decorated with matching sunburst tattoos. Her

eyes followed the line of his back. It tapered down to slim hips and an oh-so-fine ass

that begged to be bitten.

A thump in her gut signaled the swell of her pussy and the tightening of her

nipples. If ever a man was built to satisfy a woman it was Clay Russell. That was

evident as he turned and saw her watching him. His cock was long, thick and standing

proudly. Rusty’s mouth literally watered.

Clay never even thought about being naked when he turned and saw Rusty. Christ

on a crutch! She was a wet dream come to life. Her long hair cascaded down her

29

Ciana Stone

shoulders, past her elbows, as midnight as a raven’s wing with highlights dancing in