Corporate Cowboy (10 page)

His tie. Yes. He removed his tie. I try to picture him standing behind me with his top shirt buttons undone and his tie gone.

I can see nothing, of course. Not even if I try. I close my eyes behind the blindfold to try to center myself, because suddenly without the ability to see, I feel a little off-kilter.

Breathe, Emma, breathe.

I concentrate on shallow, even breaths and wait. I am unsure whether Gage is behind me or at this desk. I listen for small sounds that might give his location away.

And listen.

I’m going to stand here the rest of the day, I tell myself. But of course, this is my punishment for not returning in three minutes as Gage instructed. I must do better next time.

The glass, which was at first cool to the touch, is now warmed by my body. I find myself clinging to the window to steady my stance. My mind starts to play tricks on me. What if the glass breaks? Ridiculous. What if someone has a telescope and is watching me right this minute? What if—

I feel something behind me. I wait, my breathing coming quicker and a bit heavier. I feel something, I am certain. A brush of clothing? The skiff of a breeze from the air conditioner? Something.

There. Again.

Every nerve ending I possess is on edge. Especially the ones between my legs.

I want to squirm against the window. Suddenly I want to grind my pussy into the window until I come.

I want Gage to say something so I know where he is.

Then a touch. Ever so lightly, at the base of my spine. A fingertip. I concentrate on that touch and shiver as it trails down between my bottom cheeks. Slowly. I wonder if my breath is leaving marks on the glass, my cheek flat against the window now.

The finger moves lower, deeper into my crack, and pushes between my legs.

I huff out a hard breath.

Gage is silent behind me.

I think the only part of my body that is moving is my lungs, as I pant in and out.

His finger pushes in, and slides out, from between my legs. Its length strokes my most intimate parts. Repeatedly. Focused solely on the image of Gage’s finger slipping in, and then pushing upward into my folds, I shudder.

And gasp.

Standing silent behind me, Gage increases the pressure. The sensual stirrings inside me beg to come out to play. I feel on edge, every part of my lower half on icy fire.

And then…then… Nothing.

No touch. No finger.

Nothing.

I stand there, breathing heavy on the glass.

Chapter Ten

Gage stepped away from Emma. Silently, he moved backward several more steps and studied her. His gaze traveled up from her narrow waist to her feminine shoulders, then honed in on the slack of her pretty mouth pressing against the window. Her breath fanned out and receded, leaving a temporary cloud of condensation behind.

Her fingers, flat against the glass earlier, now curled at the fingertips, as if clutching at the window. Her arms, once outstretched, now lowered a bit and crooked at the elbows, as if fatigued. She hugged the glass window, her legs spread, her ankles several feel apart.

Her body shimmered with a fine sheen of perspiration and quivered slightly, once and again. She was beginning to feel the discomfort.

He shouldn’t have touched her, but damned if he could help himself.

His gaze fell to the swell of her ass and zeroed in on the space between her legs, where he’d just withdrawn his finger. He caught his breath at the sight and the remembrance of the feel of her sex. She was an incredible turn-on for him, and it was all he could do to control his actions and leave her be. He wanted to fuck her. Not dominate her, just fuck her. His cock throbbed with the idea of it. But not yet. She was not ready.

Nor was he.

Slowly, he brought his finger up to his nose and inhaled her scent, then closed his eyes and drew his finger across his lips.

He relished in the essence of her.
His Emma.

For a while.

He turned and went to his desk, settling behind it. Temporarily dismissing where his brain was taking him. Where his cock was taking him. He wondered what she must be thinking now, standing there, blindfolded. Naked. Exposed. And vulnerable.

Waiting. Not knowing what was coming next.

She trusted him. That was apparent and a good thing. He didn’t take that lightly. He would not abuse that trust. Glimpsing at her, his heart kicked up its cadence, beating rapidly in his chest.

He’d earned her trust. That meant so much.

But she was innocent, in so many ways. Yet, she was
here
. She came willingly with no clue of what she was getting into. And there she still stayed, standing there, and would until he told her to get back away.

“Emma,” Gage said. He watched her body flinch a little when he called out her name. “When I tell you that I want you in three minutes, I mean three minutes. Do you understand?”

Her voice was soft, low. “Yes, Sir.”

“Do you have something to say to me about that, Emma?”

Her left cheek was still pressed against the glass; her face pointed toward the back wall of the office. Still blindfolded, of course. “Yes. I apologize for being late and not following your instructions to be in your office in three minutes. I have learned my lesson, Sir.”

Gage felt his mouth crack into a slight smile. “I see,” he said.

Then he turned back to his work, dismissing her. For the next fifteen minutes he worked, glancing occasionally to Emma to see how she was holding up. Finally, he noticed the time.

He rose and silently rounded his desk and stepped up behind her. For a moment, he simply stood and admired her. His black tie was a stark contrast to her honey blond hair and creamy pale complexion. Her bottom lip was plump and red, as if she’d been biting it. He allowed himself one more slow perusal of her body, so hungry for her he could hardly stand it, and then reached for the blindfold and untied the knot at the back of her head.

Emma flinched but held her stance.

Gage said softly, “Emma, you may step back from the window now.”

She didn’t immediately move. After a moment, she pushed away from the glass, rocked on her heels, and stumbled to the floor.

****

Gage felt like the bottom had fallen out of his stomach. As Emma tumbled to the floor, a foreign sensation gripped his gut and wouldn’t let go. His heart galloped in his chest and in seconds, he was at her side. Inside his head, he called himself every kind of bastard. She’d stood there too long. Dammit. He had to remember she was new at this.

“Emma!”

She pushed up and looked at him, brushing the hair out of her face. Her arms braced her upper body as she sat on her left hip. “I’m okay. Just stumbled. Trying to get my land legs again.”

Then she smiled.

Gage sighed in relief. That sickening feeling in his gut started to dissipate. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Yes. I’m fine.”

Gage didn’t know what came over him, but in practically one motion he stood and roughly gathered her into his arms, and carried her to the sofa on the other side of the office—away from the windows.

He laid her on the soft leather and sat on the edge, looking down at her. “Are you sure you are okay? Do your legs hurt? God, Emma, I…”

He stopped and watched her face, full of question. She studied him back. He’d almost said,
I’m sorry
, and caught himself.

He’d never told a woman he was sorry before. Then again, he’d never before felt the sensation that landed in the pit of his gut when Emma fell.

Shit.

“I’m okay, Gage,” she said softly. “Just a little stiff and sore. It’s okay.”

“Maybe it’s not okay.” He shook his head. “I let it go on too—”

Stopping him with a hand to his forearm, she stared, looking a little puzzled.

Of course she’d be puzzled.
The last thing she expected him to be was apologetic. Or kind.

Waiting a few more seconds, she said, “It was my punishment, Gage. I understand that. It’s okay.”

Damn.
Gage’s heart kicked up a beat. She gets it.

He dropped his chin in a nod. “Okay.”

A part of him wanted to turn her over and massage the kinks out of her thighs and calves and then take her from behind. Repeatedly. He wanted to kiss her, mingling their lips and mouths, and breathe her breath. He wanted to ravish her body from head to toe, violate every orifice of her body, and refuse to let her come.

Until he was ready, and until he gave her permission.

But that would have to wait. Instead, he stood and stepped back from the sofa. He needed a little distance, and with the way she was looking up at him right now, he needed it quickly.

“Gather your clothes, Emma, and get dressed. Your shift is over. Go home and get ready for me to pick you up at seven.”

Looking up at him, she said, “Oh?”

“The clothes you are to wear will be delivered to your apartment by six. We have a reservation at seven-fifteen.”

“But what about my homework?”

Gage turned and headed toward his desk, putting some distance between them. “You will just have to find time to fit it all in, Ms. Lavender.”

“Yes, Sir,” he heard her say behind him.

****

Amanda McIntyre pulled onto the dirt road at the entrance to the
Branded Filly
and sped toward the main house. Her old pick-up truck rumbled over the washboard road, sending dust and gravel flying. She was going to get answers about Gage’s behavior, come hell or high water. Of course, she’d never get anything out of Gage, but perhaps she could wrangle some nugget of information out of Cole. Although he would be loyal to Gage until the end, it was possible she could convince him to spill his guts.

Or maybe accidentally let something slip.

Something was definitely going on. Gage’s behavior last Sunday was off. He usually couldn’t wait to get inside her, but that day, it was like he didn’t want to touch her. At all. Anywhere. Anyway.

She had waited long enough for Gage to come to his senses. She’d let him have his way for far too many years. Now, it was time for her to take control.

And goddamn it, she was going to take it.

As she pulled up to the parking area between the house and barn, she called Cole’s name out her window. Throwing the truck into park, she exited and slammed the driver’s side door. “Cole! Where the fuck are you!”

Her boots clunked against the wooden plank porch as she crossed it and headed toward the back door. She grasped the doorknob and rattled it. Locked.

“Dammit!”

Whirling, she stepped to the edge of the porch and peered off toward the barn and adjacent corrals. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she spanned the horizon to see if she could see him, or anyone else, for that matter.

“Damn them all!” Amanda snorts. “Where the fuck is everyone?”

Gage was in Billings, she knew, or at one of the other WestInn locations. Rarely was he at the ranch during the week. But Cole or even Helen should be around—somewhere. Or one of the ranch hands. The voice behind her startled her.

“Amanda? What the hell?”

She whirled. “Cole. You scared the shit out of me.”

“What do you want, Amanda. Gage isn’t here.”

“I don’t want to talk to Gage. I want to talk to you.”

“What in the Sam Hell you doing hollering from the truck coming up the road?”

She approached Cole and stood square in front of him. Damn, he was almost as good looking as Gage. He’d aged as they all had since high school, but she would swear on her best horse he’d gotten better looking with every year. She wondered why he’d not married.

But no matter. She wasn’t after him. She wanted Gage. “We need to talk. I need information.”

He eyed her, his gaze narrowed. “I don’t know that we have much to talk about, Amanda,” he drawled. “What do you want?”

“I want to know what the hell is up with Gage.”

Cole chewed on that a moment. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

She huffed. “Like hell. You know him better than anyone. Something’s going on. Is it a woman?”

Cole chuckled. “Amanda, it’s a lot of women. In and out of here, almost every weekend. You know that.”

She huffed. “Those are just one-timers. I’m not worried about them. I know Gage’s deal. He fucks them once and gets rid of them. It’s his way of never getting too close.”

“And you know that’s never going to change.”

“Wrong.” Amanda jerked her chin up. “That will change. I’m the only one he’s ever fucked more than once. But something else is going on with him. It’s gotta be another woman, Cole.” She stared at him. “And you know it. Don’t you?”

Cole stepped closer. “Amanda, forget it. Gage ain’t gonna change, and especially not for you. Why buy the cow when the milk’s for free? Besides, he’s set in his ways. Go find a man who wants to be in your bed every night. That ain’t Gage. Give it up.”

Amanda wasn’t about to do that. “No. There’s where you’re wrong. Gage thinks he knows what he wants, but he’s kidding himself. That
will
change.”

She turned and headed toward the porch steps, then glanced back to look one more time at Cole. “He
will
be mine. You can take that to the bank.”

She bounded down the porch steps toward her truck, opened the driver’s side door and jumped inside. Too much on her mind. Too much to do. She looked at Cole still standing in the shadows of the covered porch. “And you can tell Gage Parker that, too, Cole. You just go ahead and tell him.”