Authors: Lorelei James
Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Adult, #Western, #Red Hots!, #Western Romance
Raising Kane (25 page)
mounted on the largest wall with AV equipment stacked beneath it.
Ginger glanced at Kane, who watched her taking stock of his place. He’d set his jaw in a hard line as if he expected her to pass judgment.
Silly man.
She closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his waist and placing a kiss on his neck. “Thank you for inviting me into your home, Kane.”
“It ain’t much.”
“But it’s yours and that’s all that matters to me.”
Kane kissed the top of her head. “You hungry?”
“Cold. I hope you’ve got some sweat clothes to lend me because this is all I have.”
“Sure. I can hook you up with something.” He snagged her hand and towed her down the hallway.
“Wait. I’ll need my phone in case Hayden calls.” She grabbed her phone from her bag, expecting Kane to protest, but he didn’t. Again, she realized she should stop making assumptions about this complex man.
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His bedroom was bigger than she imagined, with a king-sized bed covered in a puffy navy blue comforter, and yet another big TV atop a dresser. On the opposite side was a simple desk with a lamp and a laptop.
“So this is your bedroom.”
Way to be obvious, Ginger.
“I hope you weren’t expectin’ a swingin’ bachelor pad. It’s just a basic bedroom. Nothin’ fancy.”
Ginger slid her hands up his chest and trapped his face between her palms, looking him straight in the eye. “Stop. Do you really think I care that you live in a trailer?”
“I don’t know. Hell. It’s just…not what you’re used to.”
“What? Clean and quiet?”
He laughed softly.
“I am unbelievably happy to be here with you, so please don’t think I’m looking around and finding anything lacking. Because really, when I’m with you? All I see
is
you.”
Kane pressed his lips to her forehead. “You undo me sometimes, Red.” His lips drifted down her hairline. “I know we just got here, but the truth is, if I see you takin’ your clothes off in my bedroom? Well, sugar, I’m gonna want you to leave ’em off for a bit.”
“Is that so? But won’t I be cold if I’m naked?”
“I’ll keep you warm.” Kane’s mouth grazed the top of her ear. “Very warm. Hot, even.” Moist lips meandered down to the spot on her neck below her ear. The spot that caused her knees to buckle and made her panties damp. “I’m dyin’ to touch you.”
“What a coincidence. I’m dying to have you touch me.”
Kane ate at her mouth as he unbuttoned her white blouse. His rough hands skated over her arms as her shirt slid to the floor.
Drugged by his kisses, Ginger let her head fall back as Kane removed her bra and unfastened her skirt. He snapped the waistband of her pantyhose. “Take these off while I get nekkid.”
“Just as long as you get nekkid fast.”
“That ain’t gonna be a problem.”
Ginger shimmied her pantyhose off and pulled back the covers on his bed. She sighed deeply when her skin touched the flannel sheets.
“I like the sound of that sigh.”
“I like your flannel sheets.”
Kane crawled across the bed toward her. “I really like the look of you in my bed on my flannel sheets.”
“You don’t have to use that sweet-talk when I’m a sure thing. Crawl under here with me. It’s toasty.”
“Aren’t you the bossy one? In my bed, no less.”
She blushed. “Am I in trouble?”
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“I knew you were trouble the second I set eyes on you.” He nuzzled her cheek. “Stretch your arms above your head.”
Ginger pushed the pillows aside and placed her palms flat against the headboard. “Like that?”
“Perfect.” He trailed kisses down the center of her torso, stopping briefly to suckle her left nipple, then her right. His tongue dipped into her belly button and followed in a straight line over her mound.
When his tongue probed her folds, she spread her legs and arched into him. His fingers squeezed her inner thighs. Ginger realized that was one of her favorite things about oral sex with Kane—the feel of him holding her in place. Holding her steady to receive the pleasure he gave her. His tongue flicked her clit, teasingly, precisely, but always with unbridled passion.
Kane took his time tasting her, not in a teasing manner; he just slowly, thoroughly feasted on her pussy. When the telltale contractions started, Kane fastened his mouth to her clit, bringing her to climax with soft, gentle nibbles interspersed with butterfly licks as she came with a soft wail.
Right after the last pulse, Kane’s cock was driving inside her still-throbbing tissues, immediately bringing her to the verge again. He buried his mouth in her throat, thrusting into her, making this bonus orgasm last.
Soon as her head stopped spinning, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Wow.”
“The wow factor is always a good sign.” Kane slid his hands up her arms and threaded their fingers together. “Look at me while I’m lovin’ on you, sugar. See exactly what you do to me.”
Something big shifted between them in that small moment.
Ginger molded her mouth to his, desperate to taste his passion as well as feel it. The kiss never veered out of control. It stayed as easy and steady as the way he made love to her.
When his thrusts became faster and his hands squeezed hers, she wrapped her legs around his waist and bowed into him.
Kane threw back his head and groaned, eyes closed, neck taut, mouth slack, absolutely beautiful in the moment that he let everything go.
He blinked at her, as if clearing the fog away, and smiled an endearingly shy and somewhat boyish smile.
That’s when she knew what the elusive something was: love.
She loved him. Holy crap. She was in love with him.
“Why so serious?” he murmured.
Instead of blurting out,
Because I just realized I love you and I’ve never been in love and it’s scaring
the living shit out of me
, Ginger hedged. “I seriously like looking at you. You are one hot hunk of cowboy manflesh, Kane McKay.”
Kane blushed. “Dammit, Red, knock it off.”
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Raising Kane
“You can’t take a compliment any more easily than I can ask for help.” She framed his ruggedly handsome face in her hands. “I say, ‘you are gorgeous’ and you say, ‘thank you’—go on let’s try it. Kane, you are gorgeous.”
“I am
not
gorgeous,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Yes, you are. And you are one of those men who looks better as he ages. You are beautiful. Not just here.” She stroked his cheekbone with her thumbs. “Inside too.”
He kissed her then. With such sweet surrender she felt tears prickling the back of her eyelids. She felt him get hard again. He rocked into her as he kissed her. Their mouths weren’t apart for any longer than a second or two, as they remained locked together, lost in each other. The waves of pleasure didn’t crash over them, but built slowly, sweetly, until they were swept away.
After lolling in the moment, Kane withdrew and rolled to his back. He kept holding her hand and kissed her knuckles. “So you warmed up?”
“Uh-huh. And sleepy.”
“We’ve got nowhere to be. Go ahead and take a little nap if you want.”
Ginger snuggled into him, resting her head on his chest. “Will you stay with me?”
“Yep.”
“Red. Wake up. Hayden’s on the phone.”
She jackknifed, completely disoriented. “What?”
“Your cell rang and I answered it. Hope you don’t mind but I didn’t want you to miss the call.” He handed her phone over.
“Hello?”
“Mom? Guess what? We’re snowed in and the hotel has a pool and an elevator and me’n Anton and Ky are in the same room! And tomorrow morning there’s breakfast and this is such a blast!”
She smiled and slid up the headboard. “You’re okay? You’re not scared of the storm or anything?”
“Mom. I’m not a baby.”
“I know. But I was scared when I heard your class was stuck in Casper.”
“But it’s totally cool. Mrs. Dunnigan let me use her cell phone to call you and I gotta go so Anton can call his mom and dad next.” His voice dropped. “Love you, Mommy.”
“Love you too,” she said to the dial tone.
“So Hayden’s all right?”
“He’s having the time of his life.”
Kane sat on the bed. “Are you all right?”
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She liked that he sensed her melancholy. “I guess. I’m not away from him very often. Kind of makes me…” She didn’t know what it made her. Not the type of parent who lived vicariously through her kid.
“Makes you an awesome mother. Are you hungry? I heated up some chili.”
“Sounds good. But I need clothes.”
Kane handed her a pair of black sweat pants, a plaid flannel shirt and a pair of white athletic socks.
“Here you go, but there is one condition.”
“Which is?”
His fingertip trailed across the tops of her breasts. “No bra while you’re wearin’ my shirt.”
“Why not?”
“I like the idea of bein’ able to pop these buttons anytime I want and putting my hands on them. Or my mouth on them.”
“That is a good idea.” Ginger dressed and found Kane in the kitchen, talking to his dog. She leaned against the doorway to the living room. A pang of loneliness spiked in her gut. She had two people to come home to every night. Kane had his dog. Was he lonely?
Aren’t you sometimes? Even when you’re rarely alone?
He turned toward her with a sheepish grin. “And yes, before you ask, Shep does answer me back.” He looked at the dog. “Shep. Speak your mind.”
Shep barked.
“See?”
Ginger laughed.
After they ate and finished the dishes, Kane gave her a considering look.
“What?”
“Anything in particular you wanna do tonight? We are sort of limited for entertainment options. I doubt the satellite is workin’ in this weather, so TV is out.”
“Could we just hang out and watch a movie? Make some popcorn?”
Kane frowned. “You sure?”
“Actually, it sounds heavenly. I never get to watch the types of movies I want because Hayden is too young for them and Dad doesn’t like anything with explosions, car chases or romance.”
“Do I have a selection for you. Action movies are about all I own.”
Cuddled up to a sexy, sweet man, sharing a bowl of buttery popcorn, a few intensive make out sessions snuck in between the movie action scenes and Ginger was in heaven.
No, silly, you’re in love.
Ginger in his bed was too big a temptation to resist.
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Raising Kane
Kane woke up in the middle of the night wanting her. As he touched her, she murmured sleepily, clinging to him, letting him know with her body that his attentions were welcome. And in the aftermath of sating his need for her, she curled back into him and fell asleep.
Kane wanted this. Ginger in his arms every night, seeing her beautiful face first thing every morning.
Because he was an early bird, he got up and checked the weather. He’d intended to let her sleep in, but the aroma of coffee brought her into the kitchen.
“Mornin’. How’d you sleep?”
“Like a rock. A warm rock cuddled up to another warm rock. And I had this amazingly vivid dream.”
“Was I in it?”
“You were the star, Mr. McKay.”
“What a coincidence. I had the same kind of dream. Only in mine,
you
were the star, counselor.”
She smiled coyly as he handed her a cup of coffee.
“Damn, woman, you look much better in that flannel shirt than I do.”
“Can I keep it?” she cooed.
“Hell no. Every time I wear it from here on out, I’m gonna think of how perfectly the material hugged those tempting tits of yours.”
“Flatterer.”
Kane grinned.
“Thanks for leaving out the extra toothbrush.”
“You’re welcome. I need to head out and check cattle.”
“When will you be back?”
“Dunno. Depends on if I run into any problems.”
“Do you always check cattle by yourself?”
“I do when both my Dad and Kade are snowed in.”
Ginger set down her cup. “I’m not comfortable with you going out there alone, Kane. I’ll come with you.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but really, he’d appreciate her company. Even if she didn’t say a single word. “Okay. Let’s find you all the gear you’ll need to bundle up.” He dug through the closet, coming up with an extra pair of coveralls, an extra coat and a pair of hiking boots.
She dressed without complaint until she was covered from head to toe. “I look like Ralphie from
A
Christmas Story
.”
“Since we’ll be on the ATV you’ll be grateful for the layers, trust me.” Kane crouched down and spoke to Shep. “You wanna come along?”
Shep just gave him a baleful stare.
“Guess not.”
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It’d quit snowing, but the wind still blew like a bitch. He’d opened the gate before they’d gone in the barn to fetch the ATV.
The path he usually followed to the cattle shelter and stock tank was impossible to see, so he drove along the fence line, keeping an eye on the odometer to gauge how far he’d gone. He knew this ranch like the back of his hand, but blizzards fucked up everything and he could get turned around ass-backward in a helluva hurry if he didn’t pay attention.
Kane cranked the wheel to avoid getting stuck in huge drift that resembled a foamy, curling ocean wave. Ginger’s arms tightened around his midsection when they caught air.
Then he saw the wooden shelter, which really wasn’t any more complex than a snow fence. Except they kept bales of hay stacked on one side just for situations like this. The cattle were milling around, waiting for the food fairy to appear. He shouted over the howling wind. “I’ve gotta spread out some hay.
Sit tight.”
“Can’t I help?” she shouted back.
“Sure. Come on.”
They trudged through the snowdrifts until they were at the backside of the shelter. The structure offered some respite from the wind, but not much. Kane scrambled on top of the haystack and kicked away as much snow as he could. Then he hefted two bales to the ground. He hopped back down and took out a pocketknife. He sliced the twine on the bales and yelled, “Spread it out. Along the length of the shelter.”