Almost a Cowboy (15 page)

She stopped typing and read over the paragraph she’d just written. The flow was off. Going back in, she rearranged some words.

Satisfied with it now, she sat back and stared at the screen. She hadn’t even gotten to the part where Bennett and Utah had shaken hands. Or the end where the guys had done the man-hug—clapping each other’s backs and swaying once as their pure animal strength rocked them.

Caroline’s throat closed off at the memory. She’d never seen anything like it and feared for the rest of the reunions. Whether or not they lived up to this one, it was certain that some would be failures. That many kids would not so easily accept Utah’s story.

And sooner or later a Davies man would be hot-headed enough to take a swing at Utah. What if she happened to be in the way?

Her old fears centering around Jeremy surfaced, and she firmly stomped all over them with her mental cowgirl boots. The answer to her question was simple—Utah wouldn’t allow anyone close enough to Caroline to allow her to get hurt.

She ran her fingertip under her eye and gathered the wetness there. Hell, she
was
wrung out if her past was getting to her.

Despite her fatigue, she pushed herself to relate the moment when Utah and Deirdre had bonded over Hollis’s treachery and when Rory had touchingly cried as they said their good-byes.

As Caroline filled the screen with words, she felt lighter. She had barely contained her worry for Utah, but as always, he hadn’t needed it. She’d seen him handle wild horses with the same ease as he had Bennett. From charming the girl at the donut counter to handling his hard-nosed brothers, Utah had a sixth sense about how to deal with people.

For a recluse, he was still amazingly good at it.

What about Caroline? She’d spent a few years hiding with Jeremy—then
from
Jeremy. For the past few years she’d prided herself on her public relations. But compared to Utah, she felt like a backward schoolgirl.

She took a swig of the soda sitting on the desk and then wrinkled her nose. It was syrupy sweet and flat.

Glancing over her words again, she figured it was time to stop for the night.
And crawl into bed with that big, handsome man.

Resisting him was impossible. How long before she gave in to his desire to marry her?

The day she’d bound herself to the jail sentence of marriage with Jeremy, Utah had been the only thing in her mind. While Jeremy repeated the J.P.’s words, she’d only heard Utah’s voice.

She could blame her family, Coach Milton, or the church congregation, but in the end she hadn’t been strong enough to stand up to them and meet Utah at the county line.

Really, she’d never believed she
wouldn’t
ruin his life.

She shut down her laptop and climbed on the bed. Collapsing beside Utah was a decadent pleasure. His musky scent, the sight of his hard muscles, and the way his dark lashes lay across his cheeks made her insides flutter.

No, her heart. She studied his face. The features were calm, and no creases lived around his eyes. Right now he looked eighteen.

For a moment she allowed herself to believe she was eighteen too and had eloped with him. This was their honeymoon suite, and she’d just made love to her husband for the first time.

She watched his chest rise and fall and the pulse throb in his thick throat. His fingers twitched, and she wrapped hers around them to still them.

Heart pounding, she whispered, “I love you.”

Thank God you can’t hear me.

Utah glared at the gas gauge, cursing himself for being stupid enough to not to pull off the interstate for gas at the last truck stop.

“What’s wrong?” Caroline asked. “You look as if you’re going to shoot holes in the dashboard.”

He folded his lips inward and then released them. “We should have gotten gas ten miles ago. I’m not sure where the next station is.”

She leaned to the side to see the needle wavering between empty and an eighth of a tank. “I don’t suppose this old truck gets great mileage?”

“We may be walkin’ through Kansas.”

She directed her stare to the horizon where the dark cloud one would expect in Kansas took up the whole sky. “I don’t fancy walking in a downpour.”

“Me neither. Well, there’s nothing we can do now but drive.” He forced himself not to look at the gauge and kept the truck at a steady speed to sap every mile he could out of the remainder of the gas tank.

Caroline leaned her head against the seat and yawned. An all-over body shudder in the way he loved followed—she extended her fingers and feet. Her ankle cracked, and he recalled she’d sprained it half a dozen times in high school.

“Does your ankle bother you?”

She cut her stretch short to look at him as if he’d grown another head. “Where did that come from?”

“I heard it crack. You sprained it a lot in high school. Does it bother you?”

A soft smile lit her face, and he could tell she was pleased at his good memory. “Not really. Some stiffness at times when it’s cold and rainy. Ma would have me using a cane, though.”

He laughed. During the hour they’d spent with Mrs. Wilks before leaving town, she’d complained of every ailment but hemorrhoids. He suspected the only reason she’d left that out was she’d been brought up right.

“Your ma means well.”

“Yes, she does. I wonder how she and Arial are getting along.”

“Like a house on fire, I’m sure.”

“Ma probably has Arial pegged with some kitty illness already.”

“She wasn’t always a complainer. What happened?”

Caroline turned her gaze to her fingers. Her nails were oval and unpainted. “After my dad died, she got funny by herself. It’s why I came back from San Francisco.”

He straightened. “I didn’t know you’d gone.”

She nodded. “I’d only been gone a few months with my new job before I started getting daily calls that my mom was going to the hospital or the doctor. One day she even left a message that she was checking herself into the hospice.” Caroline giggled. “It’s not funny, but she’s so dramatic. Anyway, I just knew she was lonely. Without any other family to keep her company, and with my dad gone, she needed me.”

“And your job?”

With her foot she nudged her bag where her laptop lived. “Still got it. Luckily they saw something in me and let me work from home. I go into the city every month and get my assignments.”

“And you’re on deadline. What are you going to write about?”

A strange look passed over her face, but she quickly wiped it clean. “I’m hoping to come up with something along this route, actually.”

“Yeah? You might write a story encouraging Kansas to put more gas stations along the interstates.”

She chuckled and leaned over for another look at the gauge. The needle rode just above empty now. Hell, if he had spurs, he’d put them on and kick his own ass. First the blown tires catastrophe, and now they’d surely run out of gas.

“I’d better get my walking shoes on.”

“You’d better.” He tensed for another ten miles, just waiting for the sputtering to start. Caroline had inched forward in her seat and was searching the road for signs of a rest stop or a town. But they were literally in the middle of nowhere.

The engine gave a cough.

“Here we go. Fuck.” He angled the tires for the weeds at the roadside just as the tank emptied. He smacked the heel of his hand off the wheel and stared at the weeds swaying in the wind. By his guess, they’d walk for about twenty minutes before that rain arrived in a big way.

Caroline was silent, watching him.

He sent her a sheepish look. “Some traveler I am. Don’t run out of gas is rule number one.”

Her expression transformed. “Oh!” Then she rummaged in her bag. Coming out with her cell and her wallet, she set both on her knees. Today she’d squeezed into a pair of jeans that hugged her legs and ass to perfection. He’d practically tossed her back into bed and had his way with her, but he felt the urgency to get on the road and find Hays.

Caroline picked through cards in her wallet and came out with a roadside assistance card. “I keep this on my insurance but never use it. We can get gas or a tow.”

While he hated he didn’t have a solution that didn’t involve their own two feet, he was relieved that she was rescuing them.

She took up her cell and stared at the screen for a moment. Then grinning, she held it out for him to read. It took him a full minute before he realized the text was to him from Bennett.

“Safe travels, and the best to your lady. I’ll see you in UT at the end of the month.”

Heart warm, he smiled too. Before leaving, he’d made the decision to set a date to meet for the reading of the will. This gave him a deadline in which to find the rest of his siblings. Bennett and Aurora had been easy to locate, but he guessed it would be more difficult to find others. They’d gotten lucky that Bennett lived in Bennett, Colorado. Hays may not even be in Kansas anymore. If he ever was.

Caroline took the phone back. “And there’s a voice message for you too.” She punched a button then held it to his ear. He angled his head to align his ear with the cell and listened as Aurora’s tinkling voice filled his head.

“Hey, bro.”
Giggling.
“I wish you could have stayed longer, but this isn’t the end. I look forward to talking to you more in Utah.”

Grinning, he recited what she’d said to Caroline.

“I’m so happy for you,” she said.

He was thrilled with how easily they’d accepted him. If every one of his siblings took to him—and each other—with such ease, they’d have one hell of a family reunion on the ranch.

Too bad it looks like a broken-down dump.
His desire to restore it to its former beauty shot through him.

Caroline placed the call to the assistance operator, relating their location and problem. When she was finished, she tossed a look at Utah. “An hour. They don’t bring gas cans, so they’re going to tow us to the next station.”

Utah released a long sigh. “Guess there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“There are other things we can do, though.” The arch of her long pale brow was enough invitation.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her across the seat until their thighs were pasted together. Then he knotted his fist in her hair and yanked her head back. Burrowing his mouth against her throat, he drank in her sweet flavors.

“Utah!” She giggled madly and squirmed, but he kept her locked to him. He scraped his beard over her sensitive skin until it grew pink. Pressing his tongue against the mark, he soothed it.

She melted against him, fingers tangled in his hair. For long minutes he teased her, kissing up her neck to her mouth. When she parted her lips for him, he resisted the need to drive his tongue into her mouth.

The first splatter of rain against the windshield made them jerk apart. “That got here a lot faster than I guessed.”

“I’m glad we’re not walking,” she said.

The sky opened up, and buckets dumped on the truck. Wind shook them. Damn, if this kept up, they’d have to run for a ditch or underpass in hope of surviving a tornado.

Caroline glided a hand down his abs to his erection poking against the top of his zipper, and he forgot about natural disasters. They had a hurricane of passion between them, and he planned to weather the storm.

He pinched her nipple, and she cried out. Her hand moving over his cock sent a spear of lust straight to his groin. With a growl, he shoved her down on the seat and covered her with his body. She rested a foot on the dash and one on the back of the seat, opening herself to him.

“You picked a good day to wear jeans,” he grumbled.

“Next time we run out of gas I’ll have a skirt on.” She mewled as he twisted her nipple gently.

“And no panties.”

“Right.”

He raised his head and looked into her eyes. Her need glowed in the depths. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“No.”

“I’m going to run out of gas tomorrow.”

Her laugh was music to the drumbeat of the rain on the roof. He rocked his erection against the
V
of her legs.

“I don’t know if I can shimmy out of these jeans very easily in this cramped space.”

“Guess we’ll have to get creative.” He flicked open the button of her jeans and slid down the zipper. When he reached into her panties, she gasped. He stared into her eyes and burrowed his fingers into her soaking heat.

She cried out and reached for him. With practiced skill she unbuckled his belt and unfastened his jeans. As she gathered his cock into her palm, he hissed in pleasure.

They moved together in perfect sync, rubbing, stroking, and tormenting. His heart pounded in his ears. Hail struck the truck, but he was so close. And judging by the
O
formed by Caroline’s lips, she was too.

He sank his middle finger into her sheath and ground the heel of his hand against her clit. Wetness drenched his finger. He focused on getting her off even as his legs began to shake with his own impending release.

Her silky fingers worked over his shaft, rolling the swollen head. He bucked. She swiped the tip with her thumb, collecting his pre-come. For a solid minute the hail blocked out their rough, shared breaths.

Something broke behind her eyes. She stiffened and cried out. The rapid clench and release of her body around his finger sent him over the edge. She pumped his cock as he spurted onto her lower belly.

“Ffffuck,” he growled, diving for her mouth. She gave herself up to his kiss he’d withheld for so long. Making soft, feminine noises, she responded to every flip of his tongue.

The sound of boulders hitting the truck receded, and he lifted his head, sure to find the windshield cracked. But somehow they’d managed to escape more truck repairs.

He pushed back to his knees, head cranked in an unnatural angle against the ceiling. As he gazed at Caroline, a sharp bolt of possessiveness hit him. Seeing her painted in his come was almost as good as seeing her wear his ring had been.

“Someday I’ll see my seed stretching your belly,” he said.

She froze. Eyes wild like a deer looking down the barrel of a rifle, she even stopped breathing. Seconds ticked past.