Cowboy's Bride (10 page)

"Don't," she said again.

"Yeah." His finger moved again, and again,
gently, slowly, sweetly.

Her gaze never left his, except when he'd
lower his head to kiss her gently.
It was heady.
The raw sex urge
had faded, and an exquisitely tortuous one remained, slow, achingly
sweet and just as demanding.

His finger slipped in.

She caught another breath, shook her head
slightly.

"Trace.
I'm not ready for something like
this."

"Just this, sweetheart.
Just this." His
finger moved again.
A second joined the first.

"It's not right," she breathed, almost unable
to talk, to reason.
The feelings that coursed through her were
delectable.
She shivered as the sensations shimmered throughout.
She caught the rhythm of his hand, feeling every inch of the
fingers that played her as if she was a delicate instrument.

"Nothing is wrong with a man and woman
wanting each other if they are attracted and they both agree to
it."

"You're...
getting...
nothing out of this."
Her hand had opened his shirt.
Her greedy palm rubbed the defined
muscles of his chest, her fingers danced across his nipple.

He was a perfect man.
His body perfect
beneath her hand.
His knowledge of her perfect, just as the feel of
his fingers against her caused the most exquisite sensations.

"Oh, yes, I am, sweetheart.
Relax and enjoy
it.
I'm getting a lot out of this."

"But you could get more."

"Not yet, you said.
Besides, there are a
bunch of men outside waiting for us.
We don't have time."

"Oh, no." She closed her eyes, all thought of
her ranch, her position as boss, the threat of takeover by Trace
forgotten as his fingers moved her higher.

He kissed her, his hand moving harder now,
faster.
"Come on, Kalli, let go.
It'll be so perfect."

So perfect, she repeated as her body gave in
to his urging and moved as he directed, fought him, surrendered to
him, accepted the glorious gift of his hand and mouth.
The waves of
ecstasy coursed through her, flooding her senses, filling her with
heat and fire and delight.
When he felt her first contractions, he
lay across her, feeling the undulation of her body, his mouth
capturing her cries, his body aching to know the fulfillment she
would one day bring him.
For now this would have to be enough.
But
one day she would want all of him and he would not deny her.

Kalli was floating.
Vaguely she felt his hand
withdraw and his thigh press against her, hard.
The fingers moved
her shirt up, exposing her damp skin to the morning coolness.
In
only a second his hot mouth captured her nipple and sucked into the
hot cavern.
She rolled slightly to offer it more fully, her arms so
weak she could scarcely move than.
Trace kissed her other breast,
his lips moving across the damp skin of her stomach to the dampness
between her legs, back to her mouth.

She sighed and kissed him.
Feeling the hard
ridge of his desire, she opened her eyes slightly and gazed into
his heated ones.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded solemnly.
She'd never felt so good
in her life, but felt guilty at enjoying herself and not giving him
any release.
"But you—"

"I'm fine." He pressed his hip against hers,
knowing she felt his hardness, then smiled.
"One day you're going
to say yes to everything.''

"Oh yeah," she said sassily, touched at his
gentleness.
This was not the angry man of last night.
Not the
ruthless neighbor who wanted nothing but her land.
This man was
deeper than that.
Complex.
She wished she knew him better.

God, if she knew him any better, he'd be
naked on top of her, inside her, a part of her.

"That bunch of men you mentioned..." she
started.

"Yeah.
They'll be looking for us soon.
Get
dressed.
I'll fix us something to eat.
We've got a lot to do
today."

"In case it escaped you, I fired you
yesterday," she reminded him, loath to have him leave.
She felt
sheltered and well-loved.

"Yeah, I remember you saying something like
that, but knew you didn't mean it.
You can't run this place and I
don't want it ruined before I take over."

"You're not taking over." The well-loved
feeling fled.

"Sooner or later you're going to give up and
then I'll get it.
If you want to stay a while, I don't have a
problem with it.
But let me keep the place going, keep it up."

"What if I stay forever?"

"You won't."

"You don't know that!" He made her so mad.
She was not Alyssa!

"No, I don't." He took her hands, one at a
time, and laced his hands through them, raising than over her head
as he settled himself down along the length of her.
"But I don't
think you'll last.
What's the harm?
If you do stay, you'll have a
top-notch ranch.
If you go, I'll get a place in good repair and
profitable, not something that's been left to decay."

What could it hurt?
She needed the help, she
knew it.
And if he volunteered, why not take him up on it.
He'd
find out sooner or later that she was in for the long haul.
Let him
help her.

"But no sex," she said, capitulating.

He leaned down and kissed her, long and
leisurely, his tongue's forays into her mouth causing her to
tighten all over.

The situation was positively decadent.
She
was lying practically naked beneath him, and he was fully clothed.
She moved experimentally.
She could feel every inch of him, and it
was driving her crazy.
She wanted him.
She wanted him almost as
badly as he seemed to want her.
She felt naughty and delighted and
oh, so erotic.

"Oh, yeah, sweetheart, we'll have sex.
As
often as you allow it.
I told you, it has nothing to do with
ownership of the ranch."

5

Trace stared out the kitchen window, sipping
the hot coffee that had just been brewed.
Josh and Josh were
loading barbed wire into the back of his truck.
The tools had been
tossed in a few minutes earlier.
Charlie came out of the bunkhouse
and hurried over to the men.

Shifting slightly, Trace tried to ease his
tight jeans.
They normally fit fine, but just being around Kalli
caused than to shrink several sizes.

Kalli.
He could still feel her moving
against him.
Feel the heat from her body, the ecstatic little
sounds she made while she was writhing beneath him.
Hell, if the
men hadn't been getting ready for the day's work, if they hadn't
been waiting for him in the yard, he'd have shucked his jeans and
made long, slow love to her all morning.

He shook his head, took another sip of the
scalding coffee as he clenched his free hand into a fist.
Damn, she
wasn't some long-legged blond beauty like the women he normally
favored.
She wasn't bigger than a minute, and was as dark as he
was.
She didn't make up to him as if he was some blasted hero like
the girls who had followed the rodeos.
What was she thinking about
in that pretty head of hers?

Hell, he had no business thinking about her
at all.
Not in bed.
He had to get rid of her.
He wanted this ranch.
He didn't want some entanglement with a feisty little lady with
stars in her eyes and boundless optimism.
Life in Wyoming was
rough.
Life on a ranch rougher.
She wouldn't last two weeks on her
own.

Why not enjoy her however long she does
stay?
The insidious thought crept into his mind.
He couldn't shake
it.
He had been a long time without a woman.
It wasn't easy having
an adult relationship with a young child to care for.
Especially a
girl-child.
And not many women around wanted anything to do with a
casual, part-time affair.
If he knew anything, it was that women
always wanted to tie the man up in knots, get their kicks, then
move on to the next sucker.
Just like Alyssa had.

He threw out the rest of his coffee and
headed for the yard.
One night.
That's all he wanted.
One night to
get her out of his system before she left.
Then he'd go back to
wanting leggy blondes who knew the score.

Kalli dawdled as long as she dared in
getting dressed.
She couldn't believe her response to Trace's
invasion of her bedroom.
She couldn't believe she had permitted the
intimacy he'd instituted, actually reveled in it.
She was still
flushed, her heart rate still rapid just thinking about it.
About
him.

The cool shower had not damped down the heat
deep within her.
Dressing only reminded her of the sensuous feel of
his clothes against her body.
Brushing her hair reminded her of his
fingers tangled in the thickness, of the feel of his hands holding
her head, caressing her, drawing the long strands through his
roughened fingertips as if savoring the very feel of each
shaft.

Finally she could stall no longer.
He said
everyone was waiting, what did they think she was doing?
With a
final look in the mirror, she groaned.
Her eyes were bright, the
color high in her cheeks, her lips slightly swollen.
She looked
well loved!

Loved, ha!
There was no love between them.
Trace wanted one thing, her ranch.
She had better never lose sight
of that.
Kisses and caresses and lovemaking were tools to achieve
his goal, not the reflection of some deep abiding affection for
her.
Just because his very presence made her feel more alive than
ever before, just because being with him was more exciting than
anything she'd ever experienced was no reason to lose control.
To
forfeit everything just to gain his approval.

She tried to work up her anger, tried to
feel used.
She knew he only wanted her ranch.
But she felt
glorious.
And deep inside she wished he'd kiss her again, hot and
wet and, oh, so devastating, just like he'd kissed her this
morning.

"Dumb move, Kalli," she muttered as she left
her room.
Angry now, but at herself for her own gullibility, she
stormed to the kitchen.

There was no sign of Trace.
The coffee had
been made, and its lingering aroma filled the room.
There was a
dirty cup on the counter.
Crossing to the window, she peered out.
Trace was talking with Josh.
The other men were busy loading his
truck.
A second pickup truck was parked beside Trace's, its bed
already piled high.

Taking a deep breath, Kalli moved to join
them.

"Good morning, ma'am," Josh called.
The
others greeted her cheerfully.

"Good morning." She smiled at each man.
They
had no problem with her owning the ranch.
They'd been nothing but
polite and enthusiastic when dealing with her.
But she avoided
Trace's eyes.
She just couldn't face him after what they'd done
just a few minutes before.

Her skin tingled at his proximity.
She longed
to take a quick peek at his face, just to see if he was feeling any
of the myriad emotions that chased through her.
But she was afraid
she'd only see the impassive expression that hid all feelings.
He
was so good at that.

"What are we doing today?" she asked, taking
in the rolls of barbed wire in the back of Trace's big truck.

"Fixing some of the fencing," Trace replied.
He nodded to Josh and Jose.
"They'll take that truck and work along
the wash near the river.
Charlie and I will take mine and work near
the Flying Cloud boundary."

She looked at his chin.
"Wouldn't want any
Triple T stock to wander on that land, now, would we?
Might give
the owner ideas.
I'll go with Josh and Jose, then." She turned to
glance at the dusty truck.

"Nope.
You'll stay home today."

She swung back to meet his eyes at that,
startled at the look he gave her.

"I'm not-"

"Shut up, Kalli.
You'll do as you're told.
You stay home and bring the records up to date."

"Forget it, I'm going.
Might I remind you,
Trace, that this is still my ranch and—"

"Excuse me, boys, I'll be right back." So
saying, he gripped her upper arm, turned her smartly around and
hurried her to the kitchen, not saying a word until the screen door
banged behind than.

"Trace, you can't tell me—"

"Kalli, for once since I've known you, be
sensible.
You can't work on fencing, you wouldn't have a clue what
to do.
It's too dangerous.
That’s why you have hired hands.
You pay
them for doing that kind of work.
Anyway, you need to get the
records caught up.
Once they are, the process won't take much
upkeep."

"I'm the owner here, I'll say what I can and
can't do.
You're so bossy!
You don't own this place."

"Yet."

"Never!
If I want to help with the fencing,
I'll do it!" He made her so angry sometimes she wanted to spit.
"Why's the fencing dangerous?"

"First of all, you're not big enough.
It's
demanding, physical work.
If the wire snaps when being pulled taut,
it can whip around like a knife blade, cutting anything in its
way."

She glared at him and opened her mouth to
set him straight when he ruthlessly continued without giving her a
second to speak.

"Second, it's almost payday.
Don't you think
you should get your records up to date so you'll know if you have
enough money in the bank to pay the men?"

She blinked, stared at him, thinking
furiously.
Put like that, it made some sort of sense.
She didn't
want it to— she wanted to say she'd work the fencing if she damned
well pleased.
But she wasn't a fool.
And truth to tell, she was
still stiff and sore from all the recent riding she'd done.
Heat
flashed through her as she thought of the aching muscles she'd
ignored earlier when they'd been on her bed.

"I'm sure I have enough money," she
grumbled, tugging on her arm.
She wanted to put some distance
between them lest she fling herself against him and beg for another
kiss.
Or sock him once for being so damned bossy.
"How did they get
paid before?"

"From the estate, Richard paid them from the
account.
Now that you're officially signed on, you have to pay
them."

"How did you know..." She trailed off.
Small
town news.
Was nothing secret around here?

"We'll be gone most of the day.
Will you be
okay here alone?" he asked, his fingers easing their grip, moving
slowly along her arm, feeling her warmth beneath the cotton of her
shirt.

"Of course." She drew herself up to her full
five feet two inches and tilted her chin.

He nodded, his eyes dark and fathomless.
Slowly he leaned over and brushed his mouth against hers.

Don't kiss him back, Kalli told herself,
even as her own lips softened and parted slightly.

He pulled away and released her, turning to
leave.

"Trace?" she called.

"Yeah?"

"Don't let any barbed wire snap."

He nodded and left.

Kalli walked to the window and watched as
the men finished loading what they needed, then climbed into the
two trucks and drove away.
Once the sound of the engines faded, it
was still, quiet.
Feeling lonely for the first time in ages, Kalli
turned to fix her breakfast, torn between being angry at Trace for
telling her what to do, and oddly pleased he was protective of
her.

Not that it changed anything.
She would
learn all she could about ranching, to free herself of her
dependence on him.
Her uncle had left the ranch to her.
She would
make it work on her own!
And her attraction to the rugged cowboy
who wanted her land would take second place.
If he could keep the
two issues separate, so could she.

By mid afternoon she was almost blind from
working at the computer.
She saved all she'd done and leaned back
in the chair, massaging her aching shoulders and neck muscles.
God,
she was tired.
Staring out the window to ease the strain in her
eyes, she smiled.
The sight was breathtaking.
The granite of the
Grand Tetons rose mightily in the distance, stark and rugged
against the clear blue sky.
The hills were green with spring grass,
the aspen near the house shivered in some unseen breeze.

Slowly she stretched.
She felt better, not
so stiff.
Maybe she'd go for a short ride.
Maybe even ride out and
see how the fencing was coming.
Of course, there was the problem of
saddling the horse.
She'd have to figure something out.

She clicked off the computer and wait to put
on her boots.
In only moments she was ready.
As Kalli left the
house using the back door, Becky Longford rode into the yard, her
small Appaloosa filly just the right size for her.

"Hello," Kalli said as the youngster drew up
near her.
She should see about getting a smaller mount like
Becky's.

"Hi.
I came to see my dad," Becky said,
looking around toward the barn.

"He's out fixing fences," Kalli said.

"Oh.
Do you know where?"

"On the property line between our two
ranches, I think.
Didn't you see him as you rode over?"

"I came around the road for the most part.
It's not too far that way.
Which way did they go?" Becky asked.

"If you want to wait a minute, I was just
going to go for a ride myself.
I could ride with you for company if
you like." And see Trace.

Becky hesitated a moment, then shrugged.
"Sure.
Why not?" She turned her horse toward the barn, walking
alongside Kalli.
"Need any help saddling your horse?"

The offer surprised Kalli.