Cowboy Outcasts (8 page)

“Then she’ll stay with
me.”

Hailey looked up,
locking eyes with Callum. So, she felt something for his brother in return.
He’d always hoped Callum would be able to find a woman of his own one day, a
good woman, one who’d love him unconditionally. But he gave up hope long ago.
It was increasingly evident that people with Tourette’s were the brunt of every
cruel and crude joke. It wasn’t just the townsfolk. The uneducated slurs were
on the big screen, local television, and popular radio stations. There was no
escape for his brother.

He shrugged. “Whatever
suits you, Callum. I have to head back into town to pick up a few things. Be
back in a few hours.” It was time to goad Callum, to bring some sibling rivalry
into the mix. He had to keep from laughing when he lifted Hailey’s hand and
kissed her knuckles. “Until we meet again, baby doll.”

Callum grabbed him by
the sleeve and damn near threw him out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind
him. He chuckled as he walked to his truck, pulling a small flask from his
inside pocket. Being back on the old ranch brought him mixed feelings. Although
there was a sense of security in the familiarity, he also experienced an
overshadowing feeling of doom and gloom. He didn’t want to live out the rest of
his life isolated from the world, no chance of a future. His daddy came to
their country, worked like a dog, and died just as broke and weary as when he
started.
Arden
wanted more—he just didn’t know what, yet.

****

Bastard, bastard, bastard!
 
Arden
showed up out of the blue and immediately went after his woman. Well, not his
woman, but Arden didn’t know that. He may be the little brother, but only by
three years, and he was no smaller in size. Powerful surges of jealousy nearly
made him dizzy. His fucking Tourette’s was testing him, pushing him over the
edge, as if things weren’t bad enough between him and Hailey.

He felt like an ass,
but that’s what he’d wanted—to push her away. Now he wasn’t so sure.

“Do you know what a
charmer is?” he asked, his breathing still labored. Callum closed the distance
between them.

“I suppose.”

“That’s what my
brother is. He’ll use you, get what he wants, and then be gone faster than the
morning dew in summer.”

She scoffed. “Did I
appear to fall for sweet words and kisses?”

“Most women do when it
comes to
Arden
.”

She turned around and
stirred her pasta. “Not me.”
 

Why couldn’t words
come to him as easily as
Arden
?
He’d never be able to woo a woman properly, even if he wanted to.

“Then you’re a
rarity.” He turned to leave. “I’ll be in the yard.”

“Callum!”

He stopped dead,
closing his eyes and taking a breath out of her sight. With his back still to
her, he replied, “What is it?”

“Why are you mad at
me?”
 
There was insecurity in her tone, a
pleading note. He wanted to wipe it away when he was the one to put it there in
the first place.

“I ain’t mad at you or
anyone. I’m just tired is all.”

“Of what?”

“Life.”

She ran both her palms
down his back. He stiffened, straightening his posture. Callum hadn’t expected
her to touch him or reach out after the way he’d treated her. Was it a sign?

“Don’t say that. Life
is whatever you make it.”
 
She nudged him
until he turned. Those beautiful, big, doe eyes looked up at him. He was
immediately held captive.

“Only I don’t have a full
deck. You saw for yourself how others look at me. I guarantee they’d look at
you the same way if we were an item.”

“I guess it’s good I
don’t care then.” She smiled. He’d missed that sweet smile, and felt like an
asshole for trying to steal it away.

“You say that now…”

The boiling water
began to make the pot lid dance. She rushed over and turned off the stove. She
mustn’t have expected to see him because she was only wearing a skimpy pair of
cotton shorts and a tank top which barely covered her midriff. She had a fine
figure. As she reached over the stove, he caught a glimpse of her panties.
White.

His control wavered.
What would it feel like to spend a night with a woman who meant more to him
than just cheap thrills? It was a recipe for disaster, one his heart probably
wouldn’t survive should things go sour. But he couldn’t keep away. Her soft
little body called to him, a beacon in a stormy sea.
 

He wrapped his arms
loosely around her waist from behind, savoring the feel of having her close.
He’d been lying to himself. Callum did want to own her, to call her
his
woman. But the commitment and
potential for disaster terrified him.

Her breath hitched.
Hailey spun around in his arms.

“You’re staying in my
room tonight,” he said.

She nodded.

“Nothing will happen
unless you want it to happen,” he reassured.

“I want it,” she
murmured, lips swollen and delectable. Hailey fiddled with the buttons on his
shirt, seeming to completely forget about her meal. “You know I want it.”

He still remembered
the day he’d left her in the hayloft rather than making love to her. It had
been a mistake, but he was too emotionally compromised at the time.

“I don’t know about
the boys at the university, but things may be different than you’re used to.”

“Such as?”

He smirked. “Bigger
and better for one. And a little rough.”

“Doesn’t sound too
scary.”

His cock thickened by
the second. She had no idea the restraint he was using. If he let go, he’d
probably take her right on the kitchen floor. “Not scary at all.”
 
He pulled her against his erection and leaned
down to kiss her neck. The sweet scent of her shampoo drove him wild like an
aphrodisiac to an already aroused male. He wouldn’t be able to wait until he
got her in his bed. She was so warm, so ripe, so
his
.

“That feels good,” she
said, wriggling against his cock.
 

He lifted her up
under the arms and set her on the counter. They were more equal in height now
since she was so tiny in comparison. She wrapped her legs around his hips,
spurring him to keep going. His resolve to keep professional diminished, his
libido taking control.

Callum slid his hands
under her shirt, cupping her bare breasts. They were soft and perfect, filling
his hands nicely. “It’s been a long time for me,” he confessed. “You’re so…so
soft.”

“Your hands are
rough.
 
I like it.” Her willingness to
accept him despite his distracting syndrome made him want her even more. He
felt accepted, understood.

“I may just break a
slight thing like you.”

She smoothed her
hands over the expanse of his shoulders. “I wonder how that would feel.”
 

He wanted to show
her. Callum stepped back a foot and tugged off his shirt. She watched him with
fascination in her eyes. He unbuckled his leather belt and brought down his
zipper, groaning once he had more space for his ever-growing cock. Still
sheathed by his boxers, he moved on to Hailey.

“Arms up,” he said.

She complied without
complaint, raising her arms so he could remove her shirt. Her breasts were
beautiful, youthful, sloping out into tempting peaks. Too tempting not to sample.
He wrapped his arms around her hips and buried his face in her lush tits. When
he sucked a firm nipple into his mouth, she let out a strangled moan, signaling
her readiness to be fucked.

“Brace the counter.
These are coming off,” he said, hooking his fingers around the waistband of her
shorts. He slid off her panties at the same time, leaving her completely nude
on his kitchen counter. Callum took a cleansing breath, the red hue from the
sunset flooding the kitchen in a warm bath of light. She was the ultimate
temptation, a siren he couldn’t ignore.

She reached for him,
a wanton glaze in her eyes. “Kiss me.”

“If I start, I won’t
be able to stop. Do you have anything against doing this here?”

“Do you?”

He kissed her hard on
the lips. He’d been wanting to kiss her since that first day. The reality
wasn’t disappointing. Callum lost himself in her taste, the heat of her breasts
against his chest, and her probing hands testing his muscles. As he gave
himself over to his passion, his tics eased, leaving him in rare peace. He
pulled her tight to his body, carrying her to the kitchen table, not breaking
their kiss. Her tongue was lively, keeping him on his toes.

The table was solid
oak, built by his daddy before he was born. If anything could support Hailey as
he rode her hard, it would be the kitchen table.

“You look good enough
to eat,” he said, spreading her legs at the knees. Her blonde hair pooled on
the wood as she watched his every move. Her pussy was glistening from an
overflow of moisture, so pink and swollen. He’d love to feast on her, to rub
his face in her folds as he made her scream for release. But he was in no shape
to deny himself tonight.

“Come to me,” she
said, reaching out. He didn’t deny her, dropping over her and feasting on her
tits. He fiddled with his boxers, freeing his cock.

“Oh, baby, you drive
me crazy. I have to have you.” He ran the head of his cock along her slick
folds, preparing himself.

“Then take me,” she
said.

Callum positioned his
body securely between her legs, aiming his erection at his target. As he slid
into her pussy, he thought the tightness would be his end. “Fuck, you’re tight,
darlin’.”

He was only a couple
inches in when she sprung her news on him. “I’m a virgin.”

Callum froze, his
cock pulsing in her cunt, eager to continue. “No, you’re not. You’re
twenty-six.”

“You’re my first.”

“Well, it’s too late
to stop now, Hailey. Do you want me to stop?”
Please say no.

She touched his face.
“I want you to be my first. I’m not afraid. Not with you.”

Knowing he was her
first made him feel even more possessive. He also wanted to be her last. He was
the only man to know her sweet, little body—she was his. Now he faced a
difficult dilemma. He’d never been harder or hornier, but he had to take her
virginity tenderly like any good man would.

“Tell me if I hurt
you.” He eased in, inch by inch, his eyes lolling back in his head. Callum
intertwined his fingers with hers at the sides of her head. He kissed her
temple, then her lips—soft, individual kisses. They were promises. He’d always
be there for her. He’d never hurt her. Callum hoped she could feel his
intentions because he’d never been good with flowery words.

Chapter Seven

Hailey accepted
Callum into her body, welcoming him. It was more than sex, it was a bond, a
cementing of a new relationship. She’d known there was something between them
before he started giving her the cold shoulder. The past week had been
difficult for her. Lonely. She missed talking with him, saddened that their
budding connection was stifled so soon. She could scarcely focus on her
research when he dominated her thoughts. Now she had an abundance of hope. Or
was it just sex for Callum, a momentary bout of passion?

Right now Hailey only
focused on his cock filling her to the hilt. He was thick and long, her walls
stretched to the max. The groans he made were masculine music to her ears. She
wanted him to enjoy himself, to never forget his pleasure came from her body.
Although she’d waited twenty-six years to lose her dreaded virginity, she was
glad she’d waited. It made all the difference sharing it with a man she could
imagine forever with, a man she respected.

“You okay?” he asked.

He’d gone so slow,
something she didn’t think he was capable of. She’d prepared herself for a
hard, unforgiving fuck. Her body was ready, moist, and anxious. But he was a
tender, patient lover. He continued to amaze her.

“You can’t hurt me. I
feel—I feel like I’m burning inside. Only you can make it better.”
 
It was the best way to describe the inferno
building in her cunt. Her toes curled as the energy spread outwards. She wanted
him to fuck her, to work his cock inside her until she screamed his name.

“Yes, ma’am.” He
pulled back and thrust back in, over and over. The rhythm slowly increased in
speed and strength. He slid both of his forearms under her shoulders, securing
her to his body. She kissed his lightly stubbled jawline, seeking his lips.

“More,” she said.

Her word was the
final catalyst. Callum fucked her so hard the heavy oak table screeched against
the hardwood floor. She kept her legs around his hips, anchoring herself to his
body. Pulsing waves began to roll through her, warning of an impending orgasm.
It felt heavenly, a bliss she wanted to live in forever. Each thrust of his
hips brought her closer to a precipice, his pubic bone rubbing deliciously
against her clit with each upstroke.