The Cowboy Wins a Bride (The Cowboys of Chance Creek) (20 page)

"Yes, Ma'am." He did what he was told, although he knew he was a fool for it. Taking his wrist, she led him off the trail toward a small grove of pine trees. Stopping beneath one, she took both of his hands and lifted them once more. This time she made sure his fingertips brushed her nipples, which hardened under his touch.

"Now you can really get the idea," she said.

"Much better," he agreed. Surely this was hell. Standing so close to Claire, touching her, and yet not being allowed to pull her close.

"There's a lot more to me, you know," she said after a moment. "You probably should check the rest of it out."

"As delightful as this is, you can't trick me into flirting or touching. I'm not going to lose this bet."

"Oh, I know I don't interest you in the slightest," Claire said. "I know you'd rather be fishing or something."

Jamie choked back a snort. Fishing? "Just so we're clear. I'm in this for the long haul. I want a wife, not a one night stand."

"That's what you keep saying," she said, kicking off her boots and unzipping her pants. She skimmed them off and left them in a heap by her shirt and bra. She slipped off her panties, too. Now she stood before him, naked except his ring on her finger.

Radiant.

His Claire.

It took every ounce of strength he had not to move. Laughing at him, she stepped closer, took hold of his wrists, wrapped his arms around her body and helped him cup her ass. His breathing hitched and for one awful moment he thought his fingers might move of their own accord. Another part of his anatomy certainly was.

"You can't win this way," he said. His voice was strangled.

"Oh, I bet I can." She tugged him down to the ground and began to undress him. The next few minutes were some of the most agonizing of Jamie's life. He couldn't help her in the slightest with her attempts to get his clothes off without losing the bet…and she was so slow. He would have laughed at her struggles to free his pants from his torso if every inch of his body hadn't been on fire. Finally, when he lay there as naked as she was, she began a new conquest of torture.

She started at his mouth, kissing his lips, his cheeks, his jaw, and then under his chin. She trailed down to his chest, his stomach and after lavishing her attention there, descended even lower. While she touched and ministered to every inch of him, he clung to bent and broken stalks of bracken, willing himself not to go over the edge. Finally, she straddled him and lowered herself, inch by agonizing inch onto the length of him.

From the look on her face she was almost as undone by the whole affair as he was.

"You feel good," she said. "So good." Her teasing tone was gone.

He bit his lip. He wanted to tell her what she was doing to him, how much he loved her, how he wanted to spend his life with her. He could only nod.

She began to ride him, lifting up and sliding down again, over and over, slowly at first, and then much faster. Her breasts swayed in rhythm with her hips, her head tilted back and her lips parted. She was a glorious sight and he loved her, wanted her, needed her…

With a wild cry she bucked against him and Jamie came, too, caught up in her abandon. He swallowed his groans but he couldn't stop his orgasm. It rocked through him from toe to tip, leaving him shaken, shuddering, and longing to do it all again.

Claire slumped forward against him and it killed him he couldn't embrace her and whisper all his thoughts into her ear. When she sat up again and disengaged from him, he smiled weakly.

"That was nice."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The moment they reached the stable, Jamie knew something was wrong. Autumn was waiting for them, a worried frown creasing her face. Rob and Ethan were already seeing to the other horses. The guests were trailing up to the front porch. He and Claire had ridden the rest of the way home silently, but quickly, twin silly smiles on their faces. Jamie had no idea what had happened back there. Was Claire only trying to win the bet? Or had her sensual attack meant something more? He'd hoped she would tell him before they got back to work, but from the look of things, any discussion would have to wait.

"Claire? Can I talk to you?" Autumn said.

Claire turned to him. "Can you take care of the horses?"

"Sure – go on." But as he watched her walk away, he wanted to stay by her side. Autumn hadn't brought good news – that was obvious – and he didn't want Claire to face whatever it was alone.

Jamie got to work. The horses needed to be unsaddled, rubbed down and checked to make sure their hooves hadn't picked up any stones during the ride. As he pulled the saddle off of Storm and went to put it in its place, he was surprised to see Adrienne leaning against the stable door, waiting for him.

"Can I help you?"

"We didn't get a chance to talk today. Claire was monopolizing you."

Jamie shrugged. "We had some things to discuss."

"But I'm the one who's paying for your time. How about you give me a little attention." She touched his arm, running her hand over his muscles.

"That's not exactly what you're paying for, is it?" he said, pulling away with a quick look over his shoulder. He didn't want Ethan to see what she was doing. "And if I don't see to these horses, they're going to suffer for it."

She pouted. "I'm not so hard to look at, am I? That's all I'm asking for – a little of your attention."

He stopped and met her gaze. "Really? That's all you're asking for?" He refused to look away until she was the one that broke the staring contest.

"Fine. You got me. I am asking for a little more. This is my vacation – my chance to get away and blow off steam."

Jamie returned to the horses and began to undo Storm's saddle. "I bet you usually don't have any problem finding someone to help you with that." When he looked her way, she was smiling.

"No. Not usually. You're proving a harder nut to crack, though."

"Maybe you ought to be trying to crack another nut."

Adrienne laughed. "Maybe. But I like a challenge. I think I'll keep trying to crack you." She intercepted him as he crossed the stable again. "Come on. No one has to know."

"Look, Adrienne. You're a pretty woman. You know that – you don't need me to come on to you so you can feel good."

"You're right, I don't. But I do need you to fuck me so I can feel good." She put both her hands on his chest and rose up on tiptoes to kiss the underside of his chin. "I bet you can make me feel real good."

Wow. He had to put a stop to this, fast. Obviously, she wasn't the one who'd left him the note – she wasn't patient enough to wait for midnight. All he needed now was for Claire to walk in on them.

He caught both of her hands and pushed her aside. "I don't want to be rude, Ma'am, but you haven't given me a choice. I've got a woman already, and I'm not looking for any more company."

"Who – Claire? What's a man like you want with a cold fish like her? She's not going to keep you warm at night."

"You'd be surprised." He hauled the saddle off of Walter and put it in its place. "I've got work to do, Adrienne. I'll see you up at the Big House."

"Fine. Be a wet rag. There's plenty more where you came from." She stalked out of the stable and Jamie heaved a sigh of relief. He hoped that was the end of it – at least with Adrienne. He needed to keep Rob closer to hand for emergencies like this one. At least he'd fend off his midnight caller's advances. Maybe it was time to hire all the Matheson brothers on for the rest of the week. That'd be four guests kept busy. And Angel wasn't going to bother anyone.

* * * * *

"What is it? What happened?" Claire asked, her heart beating hard. She was still shaken from her interlude with Jamie – shaken in a good way. She'd never made love to a man like that – taking all control. It had been one of the most sensual experiences of her life. Maybe someday they could turn the tables – what would it be like to be entirely under Jamie's mastery? The thought left her a little breathless.

"There's a police officer on the phone for you. From Billings," Autumn said and led the way indoors, handing her the house phone when they got to the kitchen.

"Hello?" Claire said.

"Claire Cruz? I'm officer Bradley with the Billings PD. We got a call from your subletter – Carrie Ellis. There's been a break-in at your condominium. We tried your cell, but couldn't get through. I'm glad we got a hold of you."

"Oh, my God. When? What'd they take?"

"This morning, we think. And we hoped you'd be able to help us figure out what's missing. Carrie mentioned you had a lot of boxes in the main living area? How many of them were there?"

"They took the boxes?" Claire said, her heart sinking. "Oh, my God. Oh, no."

"What is it? What was in them?" Autumn said.

Claire shook her head. "What about the garage?" All those materials. All those pieces of furniture. Thousands of dollars' worth of supplies.

"The garage was empty, too. Ms. Ellis said you had things stored in there. Is that true?"

She thought she was going to faint. How much money was tied up in those purchases? She'd meant to send most of them back just as soon as she'd made up her mind which ones not to use. They couldn't be gone. They just couldn't be.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Just hold on a minute, ma'am. I have a few questions."

"They can wait." She clicked the phone off, slammed it down on the counter and headed for the front door.

"Claire," Autumn called after her. "When will you be back?"

"I don't know."

* * * * *

At nine o'clock Claire still hadn't come home and she wasn't answering his phone calls, either. Jamie paced the small living room in his cabin and tried to decide whether or not to go after her. She could very well be on her way back already, so if he drove off to Billings he could start a wild goose chase that would go on for hours.

"She was really upset. Give her time to figure out what to do," Autumn had advised him earlier. The Mathesons were playing cards in the Big House with the female guests and he'd decided he could slip out early to the quiet of his own home. No telling how late that party would last.

Rob promised to stop by his cabin on his way to meet the mystery woman at the stable. While he was curious as to who it would be – his money was on Liz or Maddy – he cared far more for how Claire was getting on in Billings.

No wonder she was upset. Nothing was worse than getting robbed.

Maybe she'll move back to the ranch for good.

He sure wanted her to, but not under these circumstances. And what was with the boxes? Autumn said she was upset because she'd had things stored in her house and now they were gone. What was she storing?

Something expensive? He hoped she had insurance.

He checked his phone again. Where the hell was she?

Nine oh one.

That was it. He was going after her. He headed for the door, but when he pushed it open, it smacked into someone on the other side.

"Ow!"

A definitely feminine someone.

"Christine? Is that you?" He peered through the gloom to make out the small woman who teetered on his front porch in jeans, a strappy t-shirt and high heeled shoes. How the hell had she made it all the way from the Big House in those?

"Jamie. I need you." Unlike Adrienne, she didn't wait for foreplay. She lunged at him, slid her hand down the waist of his jeans and searched his crotch like she was fishing car keys from the bottom of a purse.

"Whoa! Hold on there." He unceremoniously yanked her hand free and shoved her away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"No one loves me," Christine wailed. Heck, she was drunker than a cow in a poppy field. "My husband doesn't love me."

He did not need this right now. Not when he needed to go after Claire. "I'm sure your husband adores you. You should go back to your room and call him."

"He asked me for a divorce," she wailed.

Shit. "Do your friends know?"

"No! Of course not. I can't tell them my marriage is tanking. How could I face them?"

"They're your friends." He turned her in a circle and pointed her toward the steps down to the path. "They're supposed to support you when times are tough."

She snorted. "Not bloody likely. They'll say all the right things to my face, then talk about me behind my back."

"Then they're not your friends." He began to frog-march her back toward the Big House. As she wobbled along he considered carrying her. It would sure be faster.

"I don't have any friends," she wailed.

How he got through the next fifteen minutes he couldn't say. Thank goodness Claire wasn't there to see Christine alternately paw him and push him away. He deposited her on the front porch and got Autumn. "She's a mess. I'm sorry to dump her on you but I've got to find out what's happened to Claire."

"Morgan went after her," Autumn said.

"I'm still going."