Spurred On (The Quick and the Hot) (5 page)

She pointed west. Mind awhirl, he guided the horse. Sweet little woman was prepared to put an animal out of its misery. It took guts. He’d seen his older brother come back from the field red-eyed after putting down an animal on their pa’s ranch.

Behind him, she tensed. Her thighs tightened around him. “Up there.” She pointed again, her words hot on his neck.

His cock reacted instantly to her heat—twitching in his jeans and swelling to almost full length. He ground his teeth and scanned the land for the wounded animal. The fields converged here, sloping into each other. A thin strip of scrub brush ran along the lowest point—the only place where an animal could be.

He spurred the horse forward. The burst of speed caused Zoe Beth to slip in the saddle. She wrapped both arms around him.

His chest tightened.

As they neared the area, she buried her nose against his spine. “See those low bushes? It’s there.”

He slowed the horse, and they picked their way along the brush line. Zoe Beth’s face resting between his shoulder blades sent ripples up and down his spine. Her breath was coming fast.

So she wasn’t as hardened as she let on. Inside, he smiled at that. He didn’t want her to be that hard.

When he caught sight of the calf’s leg protruding from under the brush, Hayden reined the horse in. Zoe Beth loosened her hold and slipped to the ground as the mare danced to a complete halt.

Hayden followed, but Zoe Beth had swung the shotgun up to her shoulder and looked down the sights before he’d reached her side.

“Wait.” He wrapped his hand around the barrel, lowering the gun. “You’re sure this is the only way? Let me have a look.”

She met his gaze, eyes watery, but no tears fell. She gave a short nod.

He drifted toward the injured animal. Sure enough, a calf only a few days old lay on its side. Its eyes were closed, and it breathed shallowly.

“It’s in shock.” He crouched before it, and Zoe Beth dropped to her knees at his side. So close. Almost touching. She reached for the calf and stroked the dark brown hide.

“Could be sick,” he said.

She shook her head, and silk strands of hair webbed around her shoulders. “It’s not. See?” She reached beneath the calf and pulled out what looked like a floppy appendage. A fifth hoof, growing out of its side.

“Deformed.” The calf must have been born in the field and left behind when the herd grazed in another direction. Abandoned by the mother. It wasn’t unheard of.

A tremor ran through Zoe Beth, bringing her shoulder tight against his. Hayden dipped his head and looked at her. Her freckles stood out starkly against her unusually pale face.

He placed his palm over the back of her hand. “I don’t know if we can do anything. Your way might be best.”

She stiffened and pulled her hand away. “No. Let me just—” She passed a hand over her face as if trying to wipe away her despair. “Do you think we can get it back to the barn? I’ll put it into a stall by itself and try to nurse it.”

The dark flecks in her sea-green eyes yanked him in. Their faces were inches away—he could almost taste her fresh, minty flavor. And vanilla lingered around her. Would she taste like that too?

She caught his hand. “Please, Hayden. I know I brought the gun to put the animal down, but I-I just can’t.”

He stared at their joined hands—his so big, tanned, and rough against hers. The back of hers was spattered with freckles too, and a small birthmark graced her wrist, light brown and clover shaped.

Fighting the urge to raise her fingers to his lips, he nodded. “All right. We’ll go back and get the pickup. Ride out for the calf.”

Tears sparked in her eyes—the last sledgehammer in the door locking in his control. He leaned toward her at the same time she tilted her head upward.

Without thought he brushed his lips over hers. Gently. Once. Twice. Kissing her was as easy as drawing breath. Her fingers clenched around his. He caught her nape with his free hand and hauled her into the kiss.

A gasp burst from her as he angled his mouth over hers. Drinking from her sweetness. Vanilla, yes. Mint too. Pure, delicious woman—absolutely.

He pressed on the seam of her lips with his tongue, and she opened with a soft moan. His cock battered his jeans. Sweeping the interior of her hot mouth with his tongue, he gathered more of her flavors even as his conscience screamed in his head.

She’s off-limits. The boss’s daughter. I’ll lose the job, the hopes of raising prime bulls for competition.

I’ll lose my mind.

No, he needed a tight grip on himself always. The instant he loosened up, he was ripped off two-thousand-pound beasts and falling. He couldn’t afford to lose his hold on this job or his control.

When he tried to move away, she followed him.

“Hell,” he growled as he slammed his mouth to hers again. Lust pounded his veins. A roaring began in his ears as he dragged her up against him, drowning in the feel of her perky breasts and her tender arms looped around his neck as he ravaged her mouth with wild kisses.

The wind soughing through the high grasses mingled with their gasps and moans. When the calf added a long mewl, they jerked apart.

Remorse flooded Zoe Beth’s face. Hayden’s heart stopped, afraid the remorse was for their shared kiss. But she turned her gaze to the calf.

“We’d better get it out of here,” he rasped, voice none too steady.

A shiver shook her body. Hayden wrapped an arm around her, anchoring her against him once more.

“Hayden…”

He knew what she was going to say—the same thing he was thinking. They shouldn’t have kissed. Shouldn’t have given in to that magnetic pull.

Zeroing in on her full pink lips again, he said, “Yeah?”

“We can’t move this calf until the sun’s about to drop. We can’t risk it.”

Ripped from his aroused state, he focused on her concerned expression. “Why not?”

“Because this calf doesn’t belong to the Cole Ranch. This is Joseph Michaels’s animal. If we take it and someone spots us, we could—”

“Be in a heap of goddamn trouble,” he breathed.

She nodded. “You still want to go through with it?” She cast a look at the shotgun lying abandoned a few feet away.

Hayden stared into her eyes, falling headfirst into the shimmering depths. Never wanting to surface.

“I’ll meet you at the first bend of the driveway after dinner,” he said.

A smile that was like the sun rising in the cold morning sky and heating the day spread on Zoe Beth’s beautiful face. “Thank you, cowboy.”

He darted in and bit her lower lip. “Don’t make me regret it.”

Chapter Four

Zoe Beth’s nerves still jangled from that toe-curling, mouthwatering kiss. She should be shocked at what she’d done—for the second time in a week, she’d tossed away her good sense. First by flirting with the ranch hands to keep Joseph Michaels—and her father—at bay.

Now she’d allowed that dark need Hayden caused in her to carry her away.

On foot, she rounded the bend in the long gravel drive, her heart racing out of control.

The ranch truck was parked there as promised, the engine idling.

Night was falling, the shadows stretching, eating up the ground. She hoped no one had noticed her taking a walk or Hayden leaving. Of course it could be construed they were meeting for a tryst.

Which after that kiss might be right. Damn, the cowboy was a fine man. Every flip of his tongue had sent her higher and higher up the steep cliff of want. The kisses she’d experienced in the past had been fumbling compared to his confident caress.

He’d taken control of her mouth, commanded her every movement. Without thought she’d responded and longed to give him more.

The warmth between her thighs grew. Since he’d kissed her she’d been soaking wet. Even fingering herself to two shuddering orgasms in the bathtub before dinner hadn’t eased her.

She quickened her pace to reach the passenger door of the truck. The logo on the side reminded her where she was—the Cole Ranch. Her father’s land.

Dallying with Hayden wasn’t a good idea. Still when she hitched herself onto the bench seat beside him, she couldn’t stop her smile.

His eyes sparked. Just as quickly his expression grew grim.

Her heart flipped and dropped into her stomach. Tangling her fingers together, she stared out the windshield. “Thanks for doing this.”

“We both know it’s a risk.” He slipped the truck into gear and headed down the driveway. They’d cut across a main road leading through the ranch, then set off into the field right to the calf.

She swallowed hard. While the calf was on their property, the tag in its ear stated clearly who it belonged to.

“My guess is that Joseph Michaels left it to die because of its deformity.”

Hayden cut a hard look at her. “That’s a serious accusation. Any rancher worth his salt would put that animal out of its misery. It can’t thrive out in the open as the other cows do, and it’s obviously sick.”

“Yeah, well, I see our neighbor for what he really is even if my father doesn’t.”

He stared at her openly, not bothering to glance at the road as he guided the truck down the straight stretch at a slow pace. The weight of his gaze prompted her to speak.

“Daddy sent me up to Joseph Michaels’s place with a load of feed. His shipment was late or something. When I pulled into the yard, I saw Joseph with horse reins in his hands, doubled over, and whipping his dog.”

Hayden’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He directed his attention to the road once more.

“The animal was bleeding and yipping. And well, I jumped out and confronted him.”

He sucked in a sharp breath. In the fading light, his eyes were strangely brighter in the same way grass seemed greener when twilight descended. “He didn’t try to hurt you, did he?”

The harshness in his voice ripped through her senses and warmed her insides. She shook her head. “No, he stopped hitting the hound, and it ran off.”

“Did he try to explain himself?”

“Not at all. It was as if he had the right to do such a thing, and he spoke to me without a hint of guilt on his face.” She shivered at the memory. Joseph Michaels might be her father’s comrade, but she’d never call a man who could draw blood on his animal a friend.

“Well, some of the old-school guys, they were raised to treat dogs that way.”

“There’s more.” Her words fell between them, a quiet but ticking bomb.

Hayden reached across the seat and placed his hand over hers. She realized she’d been twisting them. She let them drop to her lap. His hand remained, warm, dry fingers moving over hers in the faintest caress that lit her soul on fire.

“I don’t need to hear more. Not right now. Let’s just get this calf.”

In silence they bumped up the driveway. When he put it into four-wheel drive to head into the field, he removed his hand from hers. The loss left a pit in her belly.

If they hadn’t been on a mission, the drive might have seemed romantic. Moonlight and tall grasses in the headlights, a small cab, and plenty of attraction. On a date she might wear a miniskirt and encourage him to touch her thighs by putting her feet on the dash.

A spike of need struck her at the thought. She loved it when a man eased his hands up her legs, toying with the sensitive spot behind her knees. Moving upward until he cupped her ass.

She clamped her knees together. She didn’t know Hayden’s character well enough to warrant these feelings rising in her.

In the arena he was known for his poker face. He didn’t play to the cameras as some bull riders did, but hopped onto the back of a bull with a look of grim determination. Even after he rode out his eight seconds, his lack of a smile proved he was a hard man.

But he was helping her—rescuing the calf. Zoe Beth pivoted in the seat, angling toward Hayden. “Thank you for doing this.”

He let off the gas, and the truck trundled along more slowly. “I guess you’ve found my soft spot, Zoe Beth.”

She gave a small laugh. “Animals?”

“Yeah. It’s why I took this job. After my…injury…after I was off the Tour, I missed the animals more than anything. Just being around them centers me. I spent a year in rehab and angry that I’d been kicked by life. But finally a physical therapist named Lilly convinced me to try again in a different way—by working behind the scenes with animals. I never imagined when I came here to the Cole Ranch that your father would be interested in raising some prime stock for riders. I’d hoped to work up to suggesting it eventually.” He glanced at her, a bracket of amusement around his all too kissable lips. “I’m rambling.”

“No, I like hearing it.”

He let off the gas until the truck almost stopped. “Yeah?”

She nodded. His gaze traveled over her face, making her feel so desirable she twitched with the urge to slide into his lap.

“What do you want, Zoe Beth?”

I want your job.

She tore her gaze away, ashamed she could still covet the one thing that had obviously given Hayden hope. She didn’t know how to answer him. When he continued to wait for her response, she finally drew a deep breath and let it trickle out.

“I want my father to see how capable I am. To have the respect I deserve. Well—deserved.”

“Explain.” He stopped the truck.

The moon hung over the land, a golden crescent with puffy clouds illuminated on either side of it. She sank lower in the seat and contemplated Hayden’s path versus hers. They were similar. He was trying to find a place in the world, and she was trying to be taken seriously in her existing position. But in the end they wanted the same job.

“I fucked up the other night at dinner.”

He stared at her. The creases around his mouth deepened. “How?”

“By flirting with the guys,” she whispered into her hands. Shame burned her cheeks. “I never do that—make it a point to never do that. Or do this, for that matter.” She waved a hand toward him.

He caught her fingers, enveloping them in a snug grip. “Explain
this
.”

She dropped her hands and darted her gaze to his, captured once again. She couldn’t look away if she’d tried. “Our kiss. Our obvious attraction.” The throaty tone of her voice seemed to vibrate the air.