Rough Riders Bundle 1(books 1, 2, 3) (76 page)

“I know. I miss your daddy every day too.”

AJ straightened when she heard Jenn’s minivan zipping up the driveway.

“I imagine you’ll be off now?”

“I promised Liza I’d swing by and look at a couple of wedding things.” A white lie. Better than the truth of Cord McKay having his wicked way with her.

Moments later, her eight-year-old niece, Krista, shuffled in followed by her six-year-old nephew, Mason, and four-year-old Ariel. They plopped on the couch without a word—which was not normal.

“Guys? Why so glum?”

“Because I left Alan,” Jenn said from the doorway.

AJ glanced up. Jenn’s face resembled a puffer-fish. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying.

“Why don’t you guys go outside and eat the ice cream bars I brought while I talk to Grandma and Aunt Amy Jo.”

The kids escaped.

“You left Alan?” AJ demanded.

“It’s not like he hasn’t left us first.” Jenn snagged a tissue and dabbed her eyes. “I’m tired of him being on the road all the time. Alan told me if a dispatch position opened up he’d take it. The money is better and he’d be home every night. Guess what? I found out he turned one down. Last year. He didn’t even talk to me about it.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Me too. So is it okay if the kids and I stay here for awhile, Mama?”

“Absolutely, you know this is your home.”

“Thanks.” Jenn said to AJ, “Will you help me unload some of the stuff from the van?”

“Sure.” AJ looked at her mother. “Will you be okay for a bit?”

“I’m fine. Send in my babies with some of that ice cream. We’ll snuggle up and have some Disney therapy.”

Once they were outside, Jenn collapsed against AJ and sobbed.

AJ wanted to cry along with her, but she’d have to be the strong one in the family. Again. She should be used to it by now.

Jenn pushed back and wiped her face. “Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.” AJ unloaded suitcases and boxes. “Where is everybody gonna sleep?”

“I thought I’d take Mama and Daddy’s room since she’s not sleeping in there. I’ll put Krista and Ariel upstairs next to you, and Mason in the spare room, okay?”

“That’s fine.” They carried everything into the house.

“I need a drink.” Jenn opened the liquor cabinet. “Wanna get drunk with me? I can give you all the reasons why you shouldn’t ever get married.”

AJ glanced at the clock. “Look, sis, I have something I need to do tonight. It’ll take an hour, hour and a half tops.”

“You’re leaving? But…” Jenn’s eyes filled with tears.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise. Then we can stay up and talk as late as you want.”

She nodded and knocked back a slug of Jim Beam.

AJ grabbed her purse and was out the door.

*

Took ten minutes
to reach Cord McKay’s place.

AJ parked in front of the big house and stayed in the car, telling herself she was admiring the stunning structure, but in truth, she was scared. How would Cord react when she told him she couldn’t stick around tonight? After she’d bailed last night? She couldn’t stand it if she’d waited all this time only to have him change his mind because their schedules didn’t mesh.

After she knocked on the screen door, he yelled, “It’s open.”

She hesitated in the foyer. “Cord?”

He poked his head out and pointed to the receiver next to his ear and gave her the five-minute sign.

AJ wandered into the kitchen. She’d been in this gorgeous house many times, but never when Ky wasn’t underfoot. The place was huge and she knew from listening to Keely that Cord’s ex-wife had demanded he build her a brand new log house with all the amenities when she’d agreed to relocate to Wyoming. The house boasted a formal living room and dining room, a family room, a huge master bedroom and bathroom, five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a state of the art kitchen and an outdoor hot tub. But even the ostentatious house hadn’t been enough to keep her around.

How could the idiotic woman walk away from the spectacular vista of gold and green fields against the backdrop of the pine-covered hills spread out beyond the sliding glass door? The view was more amazing than the house, in AJ’s opinion.

Bootsteps on the wooden floors stopped behind her. “Sorry. I was talkin’ to Ky.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Seems to be all right. They’re goin’ on a boat ride in the sound tomorrow, so he’s pretty excited.”

“How’s Dad doing?”

“Miss the squirt like I lost my right arm.”

She continued to stare out the window. “This is such a beautiful view.”

“The one good thing about this damn monstrosity.” Cord placed his hands on her shoulders. She jumped. “Relax. What’s got you so tense?”

“Family stuff. Jenn and the kids showed up, which I expected. I didn’t expect her to tell me she’d left her husband.”

Cord’s hands fell away.

Was it an automatic reaction because it brought to mind the demise of his own marriage? “I’m not surprised, things have been bad for a while. Alan is constantly on the road driving truck. When he is home he’s not much of a husband or father. Jenn’s always pretended that things would get better, but she found out he lied to her and she’s fed up. She and the kids are moving in with us while she makes some decisions.”

After a moment, Cord said, “I’m sorry.”

“Me too. She needs me tonight, so I can’t stay.”

Cord spun her to face him. Then his hands were in her hair and his mouth was hot and demanding on hers. She sank into the kiss, twining her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his damp hair. He herded her until her spine hit the counter.

“Wait, I have to go—”

“You drove all the way over here to tell me you can’t stay?” He nuzzled the skin below her ear. “You could’ve called. Which leads me to believe you want to stick around.”

“I do. But I can’t.”

“You will stay.”

His low sexy voice reverberated throughout her entire body. “Cord—”

“Thirty minutes.” He tipped her chin up to gaze into her eyes. “You owe me, baby doll. I’ve been thinkin’ all damn day ’bout how bad I want your hands on me. And with the way I feel right now, it’s gonna last thirty seconds anyway.” He kissed the corners of her mouth. “Which still gives us twenty-nine minutes and thirty seconds to mess around.”

“Is that, um, enough time?”

“With you? Not nearly.” He reversed their positions and his back rested against the counter. “You want me to teach you about sex and how to satisfy a man’s needs, right?”

“Right.”

“Undo my pants.”

“Now?”

“Right now.”

Oh wow. Even though she’d been waiting to get her hands on him forever, AJ’s hands shook as she unbuckled his belt. She fumbled with the top button of his jeans. After several frustrating attempts, she pressed her forehead to his chest, feeling embarrassed, feeling…virginal. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Hey now, you’re doin’ fine.”

She chanced a look at him. God, he was gorgeous. His rugged face defined masculine ferocity—the hard angular edge of his jaw, and his jagged cheekbones. His blue eyes burned indigo with lust. His goatee and mustache was the perfect frame for his perfectly kissable full lips. She wanted him so much. How could she prove it? “Kiss me.”

He pecked her on the forehead. “I plan to spend hours kissing you, but I wanna see the look on your face when you see my cock for the first time.”

Heat flooded AJ’s cheeks.

“Ah, you are so goddamn sweet when you blush like that. It’s sexy as hell.”

Buoyed by his enthusiasm, she reached for the tab on his zipper and tugged it down. Her palm brushed the firm lump off to the left. She stroked it, amazed she could feel heat through the denim.

Cord sucked in a harsh breath.

AJ wrenched his pants legs until the jeans were down around his knees, leaving him in his navy blue boxer briefs. She grinned. “I expected Superman underwear like Ky’s.”

“The man of steel ain’t got nothin’ on me right now.”

“Sort of looks that way.” She slipped her fingers under the elastic band and stopped. “Take off your T-shirt first.”

“Why?”

“I wanna see you mostly naked.”

“Remember you said that when my turn comes around.” Cord whipped the navy cotton over his head and chucked it on the floor.

Her eyes bugged out. “No wonder you always wear a shirt. Keeps the bulls from chasing after you as well as the lovesick cows. Lord. I could just eat you up.” AJ pressed a kiss above the brown nipple, then rubbed her lips over that smooth, warm flesh, amazed by how fast it puckered.

Rough male hands curled over her cheeks. “Focus, AJ.”

“You saying the only part of you I can touch is your…?”

One dark eyebrow winged up. “My what?”

“Your…you know.”

“Say the word, baby doll. You’re gonna be handling it soon enough.”

“Your cock.” When he pulled his underwear to his knees her eyes bugged out again. “Whoa.”

Cord didn’t say a word. He just watched her.

AJ ran her finger up the pulsing vein from root to tip. She drew circles on the purplish head and the whole shaft jerked against his flat belly. A bead of clear liquid covered the slit. She wrapped her hand around the girth and squeezed. Hard, not unlike steel, but smooth. And hot. Heat singed her palm, zinging from his cock right to her core as if an electric current flowed between them. She moved her fist down to the thick base and back to the top.

He hissed.

She looked up at him.

“Jesus. You should see your eyes.”

“Do they look scared? I don’t know how to tell you this, Cord, but I don’t think this is gonna fit in me.”

He laughed softly. “Oh, it’ll fit. It’ll be the perfect fit, trust me.”

AJ released him, letting her fingers lightly trace the length from tip to root. Touching him was making her wet and squirmy. She reached down to feel his balls. “Are they always this hard and tight?”

“Only when I’m about to blow.”

She wanted to see him blow. “Show me how to make you do that.”

“With pleasure.” Cord kissed her first, encouraging her to keep touching him by kissing her harder when she did something he liked. Then he broke his mouth free, reaching along the countertop for a bottle of olive oil and uncapped it. “Hold out your hand.” He dribbled a few drops on her palm. “Saliva is a better lubricant, but this’ll do.”

Another wave of heat blasted her as she imagined tasting him, feeling the velvety skin of that stiff rod sliding between her lips and across her tongue.

“You’re killin’ me. You wanna know what it’ll be like to have my cock in your mouth, don’t you?”

“Is that bad?”

“Hell no.”

AJ gripped the base of his shaft and stroked up with her whole hand. “Tell me what to do.”

“You’re doin’ it. Go a little faster. Yeah. Like that. Don’t squeeze too hard unless you’re tryin’ to keep me from coming.”

“Umm. Why would I want to do that?”

“You don’t. Not this time anyway. Keep it a steady pace until I tell you to move faster. Sweep your thumb over the spot below the slit.”

“This spot?” She rubbed back and forth over the spot where the cockhead split into the shaft.

“Baby doll, that feels good.”

What a heady sense of power; her hand could make him whimper. Could make him thrust his hips at her for more. Why, she could probably make this big bad cowboy…beg. Ooh and she’d take such pride in cracking his tough-guy mask.

“Gimme that mouth,” he growled, swooping down to inhale her in a sizzling meeting of lips and tongues.

Somehow she kept a uniform rhythm as he scrambled her brain with his tongue-tangling kiss until he groaned.

“Faster.” Cord tipped his head back. “More. Like that. Jesus. Don’t stop.”

AJ alternated between watching his face and her hand.

“Here it comes.”

His cock spasmed and thick creamy liquid streamed out, landing on his belly. He arched his neck, losing himself in the moment. His fingers gripped the counter behind him until his knuckles turned white as the last spurts flowed over her hand.

She thought she might be embarrassed by the nitty gritty bodily functions of sex. But she was awestruck by the primal need his climax had brought out in
her
.

Cord opened his eyes. “You okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You can let go of my dick now.”

“I don’t want to.” AJ squeezed his shaft and he hissed again. “You’re still hard. I want you to teach me some more. Show me some more. God, Cord, show me everything.”

“AJ—”

“We have time. Please. I have this ache low in my—”

His mouth slammed down on hers. He kissed her until she was woozy. “Clothes. Off. Now.”

Her tank top hit the floor. AJ unhooked her bra, kicked her boots away, slid out of her jeans and panties.

Cord was as naked as she was when he reached for her. Then they were on the floor with Cord on top.

Oh yes, this was what she wanted, his need as escalated as hers. That heady give-it-to-me-now sensation of lust.

As his hungry mouth suckled her right breast, his hand swept over her mound and he thrust two fingers inside her pussy.

A low groan rumbled from him and vibrated against her chest. “You’re so ready.”