Texas Hot (5 page)

“Never.” He grinned, happy to see a returning glimpse of humor, but then he sobered and watched as she downed more booze. “I just want you to relax. There’s no ex-husband here but if he happens to show up, I’ll kick his sorry ass. Got that? I can’t abide bullies who hurt women and kids.”

“My hero.” Gina looked down and her discomfort was palpable. For all her outward appearance of being in control there was much that was wounded about her.

“Would you like to go back outside? Talk about things? I’m a pretty good listener.”

She shook her head and stepped back to look at the mess of broken pottery on the floor. “No, I think I should clean this up.”

“Uh uh. You just let me do it. It’s not all that bad and I’ve cleaned worse.”

“You’re stubborn.”

“That’s what I hear.” Mitch moved toward her and settled his hands on her shoulders. They were tense so he lightly stroked the muscle with the pads of his thumbs before leaning in to brush her forehead with his lips. It probably wasn’t smart but if he didn’t comfort and reassure her in some small way, he’d never forgive himself. Reluctantly, he stepped away and nodded. “Why don’t you just go on and rest, relax. The whiskey will help you sleep and I know you’ve had a long day.”

She stared at him for a scant moment. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Can we do it again?”

“Absolutely.” She managed a smile. “Well, good night, Mitch.” Gina moved to the door then placed her hand on the frame to look back at him. “Um. You’re a good man. Thank you.”

After cleaning the shards of pottery and tossing them into the trash then stowing what was left of dinner in the fridge, Mitch headed into the den, a man with much on his mind. The drone of the baseball game he’d tuned into wasn’t interesting enough to divert his attention when his thoughts were consumed with Gina and the truth he’d learned about her tonight. She didn’t know a damn thing about life in a small town so no wonder she’d panicked when he’d casually joked about folks talking. Nothing could’ve surprised him more than when she scampered off in a fluster and had fallen apart in his arms.

“What the hell’s eatin’ you?”

Mitch glanced over his shoulder at his brother then returned his gaze to the television as he tipped up his bottle, swallowing a mouthful of lukewarm beer. “Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”

Mitch shrugged. “Just have a few things rolling around in my head. Did you and Jules kick up some trouble tonight?”

“Naw. Pretty quiet. Watched some movies, had dinner.” Dawson stepped further into the room and gave him a steady stare. “Want to talk about what’s eating you?”

“Not tonight.”

“Fair enough. I’m heading off. Morning’ll come soon enough.”

“See you then.” Mitch watched him go, still mulling over recent events and though he knew sleep would elude him, he shut things down for the night and headed across the house to his suite of rooms. Not long afterward, as he stepped from the shower, Mitch wondered if Gina was stretched out in her bed or was she as restless as he. Considering the shaky state of her emotions before she’d left him, he doubted it. The comforter on his bed gripped in one hand, he cursed aloud and knew he had to know.

Mitch picked up the jeans he’d stepped out of earlier and slipped them on before moving to the door and stepping onto the patio. Sure enough, there Gina stood, leaning against the fence, much as she had the other time he’d caught her moon-gazing. In the night, her hair glistened, white lights shimmering among the black strands. She wore short shorts and a fitted tee that molded to her breasts. Her legs were long for such a petite woman. Beautiful.

When he stepped further into the space, she turned but didn’t say anything at first. Finally, she sighed and turned back to her star-gazing. “I might have known you’d check on me,” she said quietly.

Mitch walked up and stood close enough that he could feel the heat of her body. It poured over him, heating his blood and making him want more than Gina might be willing to give. She smelled of something lemony, fresh and clean, completely feminine and it drew him in.

He wanted her.

Without giving it a single thought, he settled a hand on her back and stoked her slowly. “I was worried. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep if you were still upset.”

Gina shrugged and looked at him. “I’m okay. You’d never know I’ve been divorced for an entire year because Tony seems to think he still owns me.” Her laughter was tinged with sadness. “That’s the way he sees marriage. He’s the boss. He talks, I listen and obey. Old school Italian, I guess.”

“Old-school asshole, you mean.”

“I finally gave up on trying reforming him.” She shook her head. “I’m such a damn cliché. At first, I excused him because he’d had too much to drink. The next time, I blamed myself for making him mad. He always apologized and said it would never happen again and, like an idiot, I believed him. It all came to a head when he decided we should have a baby. The very idea made me shudder and I just couldn’t do it considering how rocky our marriage was. I knew even then, I had to leave him but I kept putting it off for fear of his reaction. He’s a volatile, violent man and I was afraid. A baby wouldn’t fix what was wrong with us and I’ll admit it…I deceived him. When he found out I was still on birth control, he lost his temper. It didn’t end well for me. The next day, I made a choice. I couldn’t live that way. The divorce was easy since we didn’t have a dime but, little did I know, the bad part was just beginning. When I moved in with Mom and Dad, I believed he’d move on but he kept showing up there, terrorizing my parents with his threats. Even a restraining order did no good.”

“That’s when you ran?”

“Yes. Honestly, I didn’t know what else to do. At home there was no place to hide and no space in which to heal and figure out how to move on.” Gina looked at him. She was perfectly calm but he couldn’t resist touching. He reached out and let his fingers drift through the dark hair resting on her shoulder. “One day, I got in my car and here I am.”

“A soft place to land.”

“I think so,” she admitted with a smile that made his heart tighten. “There’s just something about this ranch and Dawson.” She paused. “And especially
you
, that makes me happy and I haven’t felt that way in a long time.”

A million words and phrases crashed through his mind and he wanted to speak those things out loud but he couldn’t. He’d always dreamed of the ranch being a place where folks worked the land, the backyard was filled with laughing kids, and the people who lived within the walls of his home loved and cared about each other. That hadn’t always been the case at the Buck River Ranch.

He swallowed his own pain, realizing that he and Gina didn’t come from such different worlds after all. There was a bind between them, a wealth of similar experiences that connected them though she didn’t yet realize it.

Mitch threaded his fingers deep into her hair and cupped the side of her head. Moving closer, he heard her breath catch but Gina’s gaze never wavered. “Then you have to stay. Stay here, Gina, and do all the healing you need, for as long as you want.” Her full lips were slightly parted and the moment was too ripe with emotion to resist doing what he’d wanted from the moment she’d stepped into his life. Giving in, taking charge, Mitch took her mouth, drank the sigh that slipped from her lips, then he took that first kiss deeper, tasting response and the sweet flavors that belonged just to her.  Raw lust coiled through his belly sending every nerve ending on red hot alert. She was his, his for the taking and his to protect and before this night was over, she would know it, too.

Chapter Four

Blood rushed hot and fast through Mitch’s veins as he angled his mouth, extending the endless kiss until her breathing ratcheted up another tantalizing notch and her lush body melded seamlessly against his chest. She was a sweet handful of a woman. Gina knew how to make a man burn and proof positive of that pushed against the rough denim of his jeans.

Touching her became priority number one so he slipped his fingers from her hair and slid them down the length of her back until they settled possessively at the dip of her waist. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss and looked down at her. Her lips were wet, parted, and sexily swollen, her eyes lowered to half-mast. Little gasping breaths burst from her lungs telling him all he needed to know.

She wanted him.

Mitch held her gaze, intently measured her every reaction and then, in a desperate ploy to touch as he wanted, sent his hands beneath the soft cotton of her tee shirt. Warm flesh met his palms. Gina sucked in another breath as he slowly stroked the line of flesh exposed at the low-slung waist of her shorts. Her softly rounded belly jerked at his touch then Mitch felt her go still when his hands moved to other softer skin. Without pause, he cupped her breasts, loving how those tight, little nipples prodded the palm of his hands. Using his thumbs, he drew tiny circles around them then lightly pinched the taut flesh. Again and again he teased until a murmur of sound escaped her and her pretty eyes drifted shut. Even without make up, her lashes were heavy and black laying like dark fans above her cheeks.

“Open your eyes for me.” Mitch didn’t want to come off like the abusive jackass from her past and flinched at the raw sound of his own voice but Gina obeyed his command.

Unable to stop touching, he thumbed her nipples repeatedly and focused on her. “I have to be sure you want this as much as I do.” He was much taller than she, so he leaned down to rest his cheek against hers and whispered in her ear. “You need to tell me to stop now if you don’t want to take this further. I swear by all that’s holy, it’ll kill me, but I will. Do you want this?”

He moved back to look at her, dreading her answer but was ultimately relieved when she drew her bottom lip between her teeth, released it, and then nodded slowly. “I shouldn’t. I know I need to be careful, cautious, but I’m tired of denying what I want. I have to make a life somewhere and put the past behind me. It should start with you.” Gina fixed her attention on his bare chest. Mitch went still. Then her gaze flashed quickly over his ribs and belly before advancing upward again. Finally, her determined gaze locked with his. “Tonight.”

Pride in her, need for her, mixed wildly with desire and lust and muttering a heavy, dark sound, he reached for her flimsy top and yanked it over her head. Mitch tossed it onto one of the chairs nearby and stepped back to look his fill. Her breasts were as pretty as he’d imagined, round and pale, topped with tight pink nipples that practically begged to be sucked.

But it wasn’t enough.

The night was beautiful and he wanted to see her standing naked right in the middle of it. In the distance, a coyote howled as if approving his thoughts. Mitch sent his fingers into the stretchy band of her shorts but when he began to drag them from her hips, Gina sucked in a breath. His gaze lifted as he paused. “Are you sure? Are you ready for this?”

“I’ve never been with anyone but my husband,” she whispered. “You should probably know that.”

Shit.

“And you’re nervous?”

She nodded.

Mitch stared her straight in the eye. “Then I’d better make this good.” A smile from her would have eased the sudden tension in the air but he figured she might not be capable of it. Scared was no damn good. Hot was a whole hell of a lot better. Determined to rock her socks and prove to her once and for all that there were good men in this world, he moved close enough to feel the warmth of her body wash over him. Wrapping her up, hauling her close, Mitch made a sound of frustration when her nipples settled against ribs, her breasts soft cushions against his flesh. His palms raced over her soft, pliant torso to explore her belly, her ribs and the dip of her waist. The explorative kiss of before was just an appetizer, a simple tease, he quickly learned as he took her mouth like a man who’d been hungry for years. Maybe he had been. No woman in his memory lit a slow flame then stoked it to blazing life as Gina did.

A little cry swept into his mouth and he drank it down as she moved against him. Needing her more than his next breath, he slid a hand over her belly and settled his fingers between her thighs to feel the moist heat there. It was his turn to groan and without pause, he shoved his hands past the barrier of her shorts and panties and sent his touch over the warm seam between her thighs. Liquid need met his touch. Slipping over her drenched flesh, gathering the moisture on questing fingertips, he found her clit and gently pressed it with the pad of his thumb.

Keeping his fingers in place, continuing the exploration, Mitch broke the wild kiss and looked at her. “I want you under me in bed,” he said, his voice no more than a rasp. “Despite what you might think, I’m not a patient man.” He punctuated the words with another brush of a finger along the seam of her pussy. A whimper drifted past her lips and her lids fell to half-mast. Aware of the tremors that shook her, Mitch fisted his other hand in her hair and tipped her head back to kiss her throat and chin and the soft curve of her cheek. “My room. Now.”

“Yes.”

The softly spoken consent drew a low curse from his lips. Spurred into action, he scooped her high against his body loving the way her long legs twined around his hips. Mitch carried her into the shadowy depths of his bedroom, not pausing until they reached the side of his bed then he gently lowered her feet to the floor. It wasn’t until she stared up at him in the darkness that he picked up on her apprehension. He wanted none of that. No regrets. Only pleasure. Nothing would please him more than to banish any thoughts of her ex straight to hell where they belonged. Mitch settled his hands on her bare shoulders before slipping them down the length of her arms until her fingers were entwined with his. “Don’t think I’ve ever wanted a woman as much as I want you.”

He wasn’t a talkative man but the words he spoke were as natural as breathing. Her answering smile curled through his system like strong brandy.

Wasting another second wasn’t acceptable. Mitch released her hands then gripped the soft band of her shorts before pushing the fabric past her hips until they fell in a heap around her ankles. “Sit on the side of the bed.”

Gina paused then did as he asked, her eyes widening slightly as he gently pushed until she lay against the comforter, her legs dangling from the edge of the mattress. Mitch took her knees and spread her open, taking a moment to appreciate the sight of that delicious pink flesh now exposed to him.  Moving into place between her legs, he leaned over her naked body and brushed his lips over her throat and shoulders. He teased her collarbone then took a nipple, sucking the bit of flesh into his mouth. His tongue swirled and circled, drawing, pulling the bud until it pearled impossibly tighter. Teeth scraped the delicate flesh as he shoved two fingers deep into her body. It was tight, hot. Mitch groaned against her breast and Gina moved in response, writhing against his touch, her fingers dipping into his hair to tug and pull.

He released her nipple, stroked it lightly once more with his thumb then moved lower to tease her ribs and belly. Using his teeth again, he nipped her belly then brushed his tongue over the spot.

Gina went still.

“Going to eat you out,” he murmured against the softly mounded skin moments before he went to his knees on the floor between her open legs. The dead last thing he wanted was for Gina to change her mind but he figured a woman courageous enough to leave a violent marriage, let alone a loving family and drive off into the unknown was brave enough to take a risk on him. Still, giving her a lot of time to talk herself out of this would not be helpful to his hard, aching dick, so he draped her legs over his shoulders and pressed a lingering, open-mouthed kiss on her wet flesh. Repeatedly, he slid his tongue over her, finding her clit, and prodding the swollen knot before sucking it lightly into his mouth. A series of soft gasps filled the quiet of the room encouraging Mitch to alternate the pressure with pulls and tugs and the slow steady drag of his tongue. Gina moved against him, slowly at first then faster and faster as he claimed her with this mouth. His fingers found her channel, teasing the opening, circling it before plunging deep.

Responsive.

Vaginal walls tightened and relaxed then began again as her body reacted to the assault. Mitch concentrated on her pleasure, absorbed it into his pores, and a savage satisfaction roared to life in his brain as she suddenly whimpered, going stiff for a scant second before flying apart under the lash of his tongue.

The world reeling, sensation rolling over her body like an electric wave was totally, completely, wonderfully new for Gina. Dazed from the strongest orgasm of her life, she barely blinked when Mitch gripped beneath her arms to scoot her into place on the bed. Breathlessly, she blinked as he hovered over her, his expression sharp with a passion she’d never seen before. Amazing!

He brushed a kiss at the corner of her mouth. “Hang on,” he murmured. His sudden absence was acute because more than anything, she wanted to touch his big hard body and she needed more of what he’d only begun. Struggling to catch her breath as her belly repeated clenched and released, Gina heard the sound of a drawer closing followed by a rustling sound. She slit open her eyes and, turning her head, watched Mitch step out of his jeans, fist a hand at the base of his erection, and pump it twice. Gina swallowed at the massive display of his passion. Mitch watched her too, his gaze intense, as he rolled protection into place.

Scant light that slipped between the shutters sent shadows across his rock hard body. Those men back home who possessed rows upon rows of muscle gained that kind of physique by living at the gym but she knew that wasn’t the case with Mitch. He worked hard from sunup until sundown. His hands were rough and calloused, his thighs rock hard from hours spent astride a horse.

Anthony was a big man but in him, she only saw a brute power that aimed to crush her. Mitch was different. Despite his size, his words were kind and she knew he’d never hurt her. Gina swallowed as he moved to the bed. She wanted to tell him that she’d never known this kind of world-rocking pleasure from a man. Adding that he was hotter than any guy alive was also on the tip of her tongue but speaking was impossible.

Anticipation zipped down her spine as her heart sped.

The bed dipped beneath Mitch’s weight and catching her breath wasn’t an option when he moved between her thighs. Giving in to the urge to touch, Gina sent her questing hands across his chest, teasing muscle with the tips of her fingers. She slid them lower, lower finding the line of his flat belly. He groaned, arched his back like a cat then speared her with another hard look. Telling herself she must remember this was a man who liked to be touched, she slid her hands up again, spreading her fingers wide over the vast expanse of his muscle, bone, and warm skin.

Mitch gripped the base of his erection, keeping his intense gaze fully focused on her, and then dragged the heavy head over her slick folds, teasing and circling the entrance to her body only to slide upward again. Her clit felt the light, teasing press before another downward glide.

“Mitch.”

He made a rough sound. “Fuck waiting. I have to get inside.” With those definitive words, he plunged deep, settling heavily inside her body, before going perfectly still. Gina struggled to catch her breath but there was no time. Mitch moved luxuriously out then returned with a force that stole every thought from her brain. Her body clenched, released, then clenched again as she grabbed at his broad shoulders, her only means of holding on for the ride to come. Pounding deep, thrusting hard, Mitch moved over her, rotating against her clit with each downward stroke. Heat rolled over her limbs to curl deep in her belly. She needed more, harder, faster, deeper and determined to keep him close, Gina wrapped her legs around his thrusting hips. “Yeah, like that.” He sucked in an audible breath and slammed his eyes shut. “Damn, Gina. Damn.”

Pleasure caught her up then carried her under as he pistoned hard and fast and before she could draw another gasping breath, a fine quivering began in her belly that grew wilder and more violent by the second. Tightening her legs, her heels planted hard against him, she cried out, unable to believe the wild, raw sound had actually come from her.

“That’s it. Come for me, Gina. I’ve got you.”

The dark words, the assurance in them, whipped through her mind at the moment her body relented. The coil in her belly tightened, tightened, tightened then impossibly sprang free. Orgasm hit her like a punch. Shaken to the core, she could do nothing but hang on when Mitch pumped again, then again, until with a savage, raw sound he finished what he’d started. Spent and shaking with reaction, Gina could do nothing but curl into his big body and hold on.

“I should go back to my bed,” she whispered moments later. Of course, she didn’t mean it. Nothing would please her more than to lay with him through the night and if she were a very, very lucky girl, they might even have a repeat of the smoldering sex they’d shared. “We both have to get up early.” She started to roll away and put action to her words but Mitch pulled her back.