Just Shoot Me (Cowboy Way, #1) (18 page)

Dean was right, in a few days she’d be back in
Dallas, and he would be here. She was going to take advantage of
the opportunity too.

“
Where’s the deer stand?” she asked
and he finally smiled again as he helped her up. Dean dropped his
arm over her shoulders and hugged her to his side, as he led her
deeper into the woods.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tina’s shoulder was suddenly cold, but her
lower body felt like it was pressed against a furnace. She rolled
toward the heat, and her face rubbed against what felt like
sandpaper. Soft snores and hot breath tickled her ear. She opened
one eye and panic shot through her, until the events of last night
clicked through her mind. She smiled and her other eye opened.
Looking around the rough wooden deer stand in the morning light,
she thought it was more like a kid’s tree house. The flap on the
wall was shut right now, so she couldn’t see outside, but daylight
peeped through the spaces between the boards. That told her it was
early morning.

After the night they spent up here, Tina was
surprised the damned thing was still up in the tree, and that both
she and Dean Dixon were still alive. The man sure hadn’t lied when
he said he wasn’t done with her yet. He more than proved his words
once she got past her fear and climbed the rough steps up to the
stand. Dean had loved her fifty ways to Sunday. And then twice more
on Sunday.

Tina stretched her legs and bit back a groan
as her sore muscles protested. Dean’s arms tightened around her,
and his hand moved to cover her breast. He snuggled his chin into
her hair and pulled her closer. Tina decided to catch a few more
winks to supplement the ten she might have gotten since yesterday.
Besides, she wasn’t quite ready to let him go yet.

She turned her face into his neck and inhaled
deeply of the few remnants of his delicious cologne that were mixed
with sexy male musk. That’s what she wanted to remember. How this
man smelled, how she felt when he was inside of her. Those sexy
growls he made when he got excited. The way he said her name like a
prayer when he came. The cute nickname he’d pinned on her.
Buttercup. Tina’s heart did a little wiggle in her chest, and she
mentally cursed herself for letting that make her think he might
care about her a little.

Whether he did or didn’t wasn’t important. Her
life was in Dallas. His was here. Last night hadn’t been about
promises, or the future. They had both needed what happened. Tina
knew it had gone a long way to improve her outlook on things. Dean
had some serious problems to contend with now, and she hoped it
would help him be more optimistic about overcoming those obstacles
too.

A soft kiss landed on her forehead, and Dean
gave her a squeeze. Pleasure floated through her and she cuddled
her face into his neck deeper. “You were playing
possum…”

If he could be this affectionate, maybe Dean
Dixon wasn’t as prickly as he wanted the world to think he was. Or
maybe she had slid under those sharp quills of his for a few hours
last night. Whichever it was, Tina liked this softer side of his
personality she would never imagine he possessed.

“
Morning, buttercup,” he said in a
sleepy gravelly voice that grabbed her right in the center of her
chest. She felt him smile into her hair, and smiled herself. His
morning erection pressed into her hip, and Tina couldn’t resist
turning on her side and sliding her calf over his hip so he was
positioned right where she wanted him. Again. Even after last
night. Even though she was sore already. She felt sure when she
stood, she would have trouble walking. But it was so worth it to
have him inside of her just one more time, before the fantasy
ended.

Tina wiggled her hips and he sucked in a sharp
breath. Before she knew what was happening, he lay on his back and
she straddled him. Stretching his arms above his head, Dean slid
them under his head and grinned up at her.

“
Ride me, baby,” he invited in that
deep sexy drawl of his.

Tina smiled, shifted her weight, and grabbed
him. Slowly she eased her body down over his stiffness, taking him
inch by agonizing inch, knowing from experience it would drive him
crazy. Dean sucked in a sharp breath, then it hissed out between
his teeth as she finally settled herself on top of him. He was so
deep, she was so full, Tina felt impaled, totally connected to
him.

His mouth relaxed then eased up at corners.
Tina relaxed too and sat up on him a bit more, just enjoying the
fullness. “You feel so damned good,” she purred and her eyes fell
to his mouth. That mouth that had been all over her body last
night. But where she liked it most was on her own. The man knew how
to kiss. When he kissed her, Tina felt connected to him on a
different plane. It wasn’t just physical then. This fantasy was
going to come to an end soon, and she wanted to hoard every memory
of that mouth on hers that she could. It was unlikely another man
would kiss her like that. None had to date.

She was greedy though. She didn’t want to lose
his fullness to get those kisses. But she was too short to pull
that off. “I want to kiss you.”

Dean’s eyes heated, and he surprised her when
he sat up, grabbed her hips and put his back against the wall of
the stand. “Wrap your legs around me.”

Tina did as he asked and draped her arms
around his neck. Dean lowered his mouth to hers, and Tina leaned
in. Their mouths met in a hot, sweet kiss that short-circuited her
brain, so much she thought he said her name, and it sounded like it
was coming from outside the stand.

“
Hmm?” she murmured, nibbling at
his lower lip, while he sucked her upper lip into his mouth. She
heard a female voice call Dean’s name and knew it wasn’t her doing
the calling. Panic shot through her and she jerked back. His body
tensed and he listened too. A male voice joined in the name
calling, then another.

“
Holy shit,” Dean hissed and leaned
his head back against the wall. Tina looked back at him, and
started to scramble off his lap, but he held her in place with his
hands at her hips. His blue eyes met hers and they glittered with
intent. “Just sit still,” he said holding her in place. “Be quiet
and kiss me,” he whispered. “They won’t find us.”

After a minute, his grip on her hips loosened
and he smoothed his hands over her waist up to her breasts. He
thumbed her nipples, while he kissed her senseless. Tina was
breathing hard when he pulled back. An evil grin spread over his
face, and his eyes sparkled as he stretched her back over his arm.
Tina held her breath as he lowered his hot mouth to suck her nipple
into his mouth. Her inner muscles clenched around him, and she
shoved her hands into his hair trying to push his head
back.

He sucked harder and Tina bit her lower lip to
stifle the scream dangling on the tip of her tongue. All night
long, while they made love, Dean had encouraged her to be vocal.
Now she had to be quiet while he turned her inside out. It was
sensual torture, and Tina didn’t know how long she could hold out.
She had incentive though. If they heard them up in the deer stand,
this fantasy would be over. Reality would come crashing down on
them in the most abrupt way.

Dean pulled his mouth back slowly to release
her nipple with a wet pop. Tina whimpered, and closed her fists in
his hair. He blew on the wetness he left behind and her nipple
became painfully hard. She tugged his hair to urge his mouth toward
her again. Dean took it between his wet lips again, but instead of
sucking he nipped her. Tina wailed, but it was quickly muffled when
he covered her mouth with his hand.

“
Shh…” he reprimanded. He eased his
hand from her mouth to move it to her breast then kneaded her for a
second, studied her as if he had all day, or was trying to commit
her breast to memory. His dark head lowered and he sucked her into
his mouth again. His tongue began tracing maddening circles around
the engorged tip. Around and around, over the same path again and
again. Tension built inside of her, her breathing became shallow,
and her body clamped down on his rigid cock.

The fullness between her legs, his irritating
raspy tongue on her breast became pleasure mixed with sensual pain.
Agonizing and exciting at the same time. The longer he continued,
the less she heard anything around her. The calls of the people
outside were covered by the pounding of her heart in her ears.
Dean’s hot mouth on her body became her sole focus. He was in
control of giving her that pleasure pain. She stayed very still so
he wouldn’t stop. She was scared to even breathe. God he couldn’t
stop. The sensation finally became unbearable, and a scream built
inside her chest along with the orgasm that was barreling down on
her.

Having to be quiet while he did this to her
increased her discomfort. The knowledge that they could be
discovered if she made a sound ramped up her pleasure. His hand
moved up between her shoulder blades and he cupped her neck. Tina
wondered what he was doing, but wasn’t about to ask. His other hand
suddenly clamped down over her mouth at the same time he bit her
nipple hard. Tina’s body went into shock, vibrating uncontrollably.
Her arms, her hands, her legs, her insides shook as she screamed
into his palm.

An orgasm the likes of which she’d never had
before paralyzed her brain, as wave after wave of pain and pleasure
warred for control inside of her. Dean hugged her to him and held
her tightly until the tremors lessened, then stopped. Tina dragged
in a breath and dropped her forehead to his shoulder as she tried
to gather her senses.

She felt out of control, and her emotions took
over. Pressure built in her chest then moved up her throat to burn
her eyes. Before she could stop it a small sob escaped. One hot
tear dripped out of her right eye, then a twin followed the same
hot path down her face. Tina was afraid being with Dean Dixon had
ruined her for life. She would never find another man as exciting,
as good at loving her. He just seemed to know exactly what would
take her higher than she’d ever been before.

Dean pushed her back from him and cupped her
face in his palms. His eyes were dark and tortured. “Did I hurt
you?” he demanded. She shook her head from side to side, but he
pulled her tightly to his chest. His breaths were short and
agitated, his heartbeat erratic in his chest. “Fuck, I’m so sorry,
baby…please don’t cry.”

Why the hell
was
she crying? Tina asked
herself. That was the best, most intense orgasm she’d ever had. She
should just appreciate last night for what it was. When she made
the decision to make love to him last night, Tina knew what would
happen this morning. So why did the thought of leaving this man,
this place make her heart hurt so badly?

“
Hey, ya’ll. I found her skirt!
Where the hell are they?!?” Tina’s eyes teared up again at hearing
Cord’s voice outside. She refused to let the tears fall and upset
Dean. This was all her problem, and she would deal with it. She
knew the score when she allowed this to happen. She sucked in a
shuddering breath then pushed away from him. He was still hard
inside of her, but Tina made herself get up. As his body slid from
hers, it felt like she was ripping her heart out too.

“
We have to go,” she said softly,
and he grabbed her hand.

“
Look at me, Tina,” he said darkly,
and her eyes met his.

“
Yeah?” The indecision in his eyes,
his sudden tenseness told her he was struggling to find words. She
had a feeling she knew what he wanted to say.

When he looked away, she knew she was right.
“Um, last night was…”

Dean Dixon had a lot of problems, and Tina
wasn’t about to add to them, or make him feel guilty about last
night. “Amazing,” she said lightly with a smile she definitely
didn’t feel. “But a one-time deal.” Tina laughed, instead of
sobbing. “We have a problem though.”

His eyes flew back to hers. “What?”

“
I don’t have underwear or a skirt
to climb back down that ladder. If I do it now, everyone will see
my bare ass. My bra is down there too.”

Dean pushed up to his feet, then grabbed his
jeans off the floor. He’d managed to remember to bring them,
because his supply of condoms was in there. He had used every
single one of them. Thank god he hadn’t come inside of her that
last time. Dean hadn’t even thought about a condom that last
time.

“
I’ll go get them.” He shoved his
legs into the jeans, then managed to zip them over his engorged
cock without injuring himself. His underwear was down there too,
and his boots and belt. His family was probably having the lake
dragged for their bodies. He’d heard Cord’s friends’ voices as they
yelled for them out there too. Dean had no idea how he was going to
explain this one to them. He wasn’t going to explain. He was a
grown man, and didn’t care what they thought. Last night was the
best night he’d had in three years.

No, it was the best night he’d ever had in his
life.

Dean glanced back at Tina, and he didn’t want
to open that damned door to go down there. What he wanted to do was
to keep her up here forever. He could stay here with her, and
they’d make love. Pretend the outside world wasn’t slowly killing
the man he knew he needed to be. The man he was before his ex-wife
had destroyed him.

If he stayed up here though, Cindy would
finish that job. Dean had to figure out how to hang onto his son.
Tina was right. Jeremy was his son, even though they didn’t share
genes. He was going to fight Cindy with everything he had to keep
him from getting hurt again. And his family was depending on him to
figure out how to hang onto the ranch.