Midnight Ride (16 page)

In spite of all that evidence, and knowing down to his very soul she wanted him, he still feared she’d change her mind. At any second she could ask him to stop. Could tell him she wasn’t ready for this. If she asked, he’d stop. Put his pants back on, go downstairs, and maybe start cutting the other field, like he should be doing. But damn, how he hoped she wouldn’t.

He trailed one finger down between her breasts before he leaned over and followed the path with his lips. When he pulled back and glanced up, he saw the color rise in her cheeks. It made him smile. “You okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just . . . it’s daytime.”

“So?”

“I’ve never—” She swallowed. “Um, done this in the daytime.”

He tried not to let his surprise show. If he was married to this woman, he was sure they’d be at it day and night. But as unexpected as her revelation was, he was happy with it. He liked that he was the first to get her to loosen up enough to let go, even while the sun was bright.

“Get used to it.” He moved up her body, bringing his hand to her face as he pressed a kiss to her lips.

Coming inside from the heat of the workday to have the A/C blow cool air across their heated skin as the sunlight filtered through the curtains, sending shadows across her body—it couldn’t be any more perfect.

He’d thought it didn’t get any better than this until she ran her hands over his back and he felt her palms, warm and soft on his bare skin as she pulled him on top of her. Then he realized it could get a whole lot better.

Chapter Twenty-Two

He was hard as a rock, and she wasn’t just talking about that one part of him that she felt pressing against her thigh. He was cut. Ripped. Whatever those bodybuilders called it when a man’s body was all muscle and no fat, that was what Tyler was.

She finally understood the term
washboard abs
. It was impossible not to after running her hands up Tyler’s torso and feeling them for herself. And his arms, and his legs, and God, the perfection that was his back—he was all solid muscle. Hard as granite. She’d never had her hands on any man like him, much less had him undressed and in her bed.

And the tattoos—they were another thing she had no experience with, but damn, they were hot. Until today when he’d taken off his shirt, she’d never known what art was hidden beneath. Both of his shoulders, his back, and even one thigh sported designs she could happily study for hours.

It was hard to get a close look with him lying on top of her, not that she was complaining. She could catch up on her tour of Tyler’s tattoos later. Right now, she was having trouble concentrating on anything except what she was feeling. What he was making her feel.

The combined heat of his mouth and his hands was enough to quiet the nagging voice in her head. The one that kept telling her she was crazy to do this. It had been so damn long since a man had touched her, and it felt so good.

While his big, rough hands traveled over the bare skin of her hips, he trailed his mouth across her chest. The difference of rough and soft was enticing. Tyler moved his hands around her back and Janie felt her bra release.

Her eyes widened. “How did you do that?” She hadn’t even felt him touch the clasp.

“Talent.” He smiled and peeled the lace down. He drew her nipple between his lips and scraped his teeth over the sensitive flesh.

His groan vibrated through her breast, and a shudder ran through her. Thinking was nearly impossible. All she could do was feel. That was a good thing. She’d done entirely too much thinking lately.

Tyler slid his hand downward, and she drew in a shaky breath. He snaked his fingers beneath the waistband of her underwear, and then lower. Janie stilled, waiting for what she knew was to come. She might keep focusing on his age, or lack of it, but Tyler was all man, and he knew his way around her body. He connected with a spot that had her hips rising off the bed. It had been so long since she’d been touched like this, she felt as if she’d shatter from the sensations rocketing through her.

The heat of Tyler’s breath against her ear as his weight pressed her into the mattress, combined with the touch of his hands, drove her insane. Her breath began to come faster. He groaned above her.

“Yes, Janie.” His words, spoken softly against her hair while his hand continued to work her, were enough to push her over the edge.

The orgasm broke through her and, God help her, she couldn’t control her cries as they filled the small room. She didn’t recognize the sound of her own voice. It seemed too loud, too wild. It wasn’t until he’d eased his touch that she could think again, and they were only beginning. There was a lot left to explore.

The thought had her feeling needy all over again. She reached between them and ran her hand over his thick, hard length. Every part of this man was impressive. She should be embarrassed to think it, but this part in particular was exceptionally so.

With eyes that seemed unfocused, he watched her touch him through the cotton of his briefs. Then he reached down and there were no more briefs between them. He pulled them off and, leaning over the edge of the bed, he dropped them to the floor. He reached down for his jeans, and then he was back and holding a strip of condoms. She stared at what was in his hand as he separated a single packet from the strip and ripped into it.

He rolled the latex over himself and moved to crawl over her. He glanced up, saw her watching him, and stilled in midmotion. “You okay?”

Rather than slowing as she came down from her orgasm, her heart rate sped at the realization of what was to come next. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Good.” His relief at her answer was clear as he rolled to settle between her legs and ran his palms up each of her thighs.

Lifting her hips, Tyler was inside her with one sure thrust.

Janie’s eyes closed as she pressed her head back against the pillow. She forced her lids open again so she could see him over her. Since she was actually going through with this craziness, she didn’t want to miss one moment of it.

A frown formed a deep crease between his brows and his eyes were squeezed tightly closed in concentration. Then he opened those eyes and she was drawn into the depths of his deep blue gaze.

Tyler was handsome on any given day. Unbelievably, he was even more so now, as he moved above her—inside her—all while he held her captive in his stare.

Leaning low, he kissed her, taking her mouth softly at first and then deeper as he thrust his tongue between her lips, and the motion of his hips increased.

He leaned back, rising above her as he ran his hands down her legs. He lifted her knees and thrust deeper, and she welcomed every one of his strokes.

Each plunge of his body inside hers made her want more. Tyler gave her what she wanted, what she needed, until it became impossible not to close her eyes and grasp at the sheets beneath her as she was consumed by the pleasure gripping her body.

Janie had no idea how long she lost herself in the moment. It could have been mere minutes, or as long as half an hour, before Tyler finished in a frenzy of motion that left them both breathless and sweaty, clutching each other like life preservers on a sinking ship.

It was by no means a brief encounter. Still, she didn’t want it to end. Of course it had to, but maybe that didn’t matter. She spied the rest of the condoms he’d tossed onto the bed. He’d come prepared for more than just one time.

Finally, Tyler rolled to his side, but his arms remained wrapped around her, pulling her with him so they lay facing one another. He brushed his fingers down the side of her face, and the intimacy of being his sole focus hit her again. She wasn’t used to really being seen. Studied.

It had been a long time since she’d worried too much about how she looked. With Tyler, she feared her hair was a mess, and God only knew what he thought of the few extra pounds she was carrying.

Self-conscious, she redirected her focus and ran her fingers over the black ink of the American flag and eagle decorating Tyler’s shoulder.

He glanced down. “I got that one last year.”

It hit her that she didn’t know much about this man or his past. Had he served in the military? Did he just get out? She knew the taste of his skin, and the feel of his muscles beneath her hands, and so many other things, but his history was probably something she should have learned before she invited him to her bed.

“It’s um, very patriotic.”

He smiled. “Yeah, it is. My brother was missing in Afghanistan. It was driving me crazy to just sit there, waiting days for the army to tell us if he was dead or alive. So I got in the truck, drove to my tattoo guy, and told him to do this. I knew it couldn’t help Tuck any, but doing something—anything—felt better than doing nothing.”

Janie’s stomach twisted at his words. He’d talked about his brother visiting, but did he have more than one? “But he was okay, right?”

“Yeah. He came back safe and sound. He’s the one I had dinner with last night.”

Janie exhaled in relief and tried to calm herself. “Good. I’m glad.”

“Yeah. Me too. He can be annoying, but he’s my only brother and I love him.”

His stomach growled, a deep, loud, disgruntled sound that lightened the heavy moment. After all the times he’d teased her for blushing or some other thing that amused him, this time it was her turn to smile. “Hungry?”

“Little bit.” He pressed his lips together. “All right, I’m starving. I guess I just hadn’t noticed that when I had more important things on my mind.”

His heated gaze settled on her face and confirmed her suspicion that the important item on his mind had been her. The whole situation seemed surreal.

Not sure how to act around him now, she needed a diversion. Cooking seemed the perfect thing.

“I’ll go finish supper.” She sat up as best she could with Tyler half on top of her. He groaned in protest and didn’t move the leg thrown over hers, pinning her lower half in place. She laughed. “You’re hungry. You’ll have to let me up so I can cook.”

He sighed. “Okay. As much as it kills me to do it, I’ll let you get out of bed.”

Tyler rolled onto his back and crossed his arms behind his head. He watched as she pulled shorts and a T-shirt out of a drawer. She might as well dress comfortably. He’d already seen all of her and he looked pretty comfortable himself, lounging naked as the day he was born on her bed while she dressed.

She wasn’t about to complain. Tyler had a really nice body. The kind of body that made the words
really nice
seem much too weak to refer to both him and how she felt looking at him. She’d need a thesaurus and probably a week to paw through it to come up with just the right words to describe him.

He wasn’t perfect. There were calluses on his hands and a scar on his upper lip. His second toe on each foot was too long to be in proportion with the rest, and when he smiled it was a little bit crooked. It was his imperfections that seemed to make him more perfect, which made no sense.

Janie yanked her eyes off him, but that was easier than getting him out of her mind. “I’m gonna head down.”

Finally, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the mattress. He hooked a thumb toward the bathroom door. “Can I jump in your shower real fast? Then I’ll come right down and help you.”

“Sure, but no rush. Take your time.”

“Nah, I’m quick . . . when I want to be, that is.” His grin told her he was very pleased with himself when his innuendo made her blush. He was probably pretty pleased with what they’d done together and how long that had lasted, as well.

She couldn’t help laughing even as she shook her head, but she didn’t play into his hand and respond. All she said was, “I’ll be downstairs.”

“Okay.” He headed for the bathroom, whistling as he went.

If she didn’t feel in grave danger of getting too attached to this man, she might have been inspired to whistle a happy tune herself.

Chapter Twenty-Three

He couldn’t get enough of Janie. Even after controlling himself long enough for them to cook and eat dinner last night, and tumbling her into bed right after the dirty dishes were dumped into the sink, he still woke up next to her dreading having to leave.

It wasn’t just sex, either. He wanted to be near her. It didn’t matter what they were doing. Eating. Sleeping. Tending the horses. He was content as long as he was by her side. That, coupled with a physical need so powerful his body craved her like a drug, was almost frightening.

It was still dark outside, but he was awake, hard and needy once more. With his arms around her as she slept on her side, her back to him, he felt Janie breathing, deep and steady. He should let her sleep, but dammit, he couldn’t resist pressing closer against her.

A low grumble vibrated through Janie. “What time is it?”

“Don’t know.” He moved her hair and kissed her neck. “Don’t care. As long as it’s still dark, I know I don’t have to leave for work yet.”

He moved his hand down to her thigh and pulled her leg over his, giving clear access for his persistent morning hard-on.

“You are insatiable.”

“Is that a complaint?” he asked with a smile.

“No.”

“Good.” He reached for a condom on the table and made quick work of that necessity before sinking into Janie. A shudder ran through him. Even after being with her twice last night, he was still amazed at how perfectly matched they were. “I gotta warn you. Mornings take me a while.”

She laughed. “Longer than usual?”

“Yup.” He moved his hand across her belly, all the way to connect with the spot that had her drawing in a sharp breath. “This okay?”

She let out a shaky exhale. “Mmm-hmm.”

Her answer, tinged with a moan, had him smiling. “Good.”

Moving his fingers in a slow circle that had Janie letting out a sound that cut straight through to his core, he hoped the sun never rose.

 

 

Tyler hadn’t been lying when he’d issued the warning that things could take a while. He’d loved her until the morning light streamed through the window blinds and he knew he was going to be late. It had killed him to leave her, looking all sleepy and satisfied in her bed. He ended up running out of her place much later than he should have.

There was no time to go home and change. He’d showered at her house the night before, so he slapped some of her girly deodorant under his arms and took off for Rohn’s place.

Thank God she lived right next door to his job, so he didn’t have far to travel. As it was, he arrived after Colton. And after Justin, who finally had been cleared by the doc to come back. That was a good thing, not only for Justin, but for Tyler, too. His return after being out healing for weeks would take some of the attention off Tyler sliding in way after the others.

“Here he finally is.” Justin took a step forward to greet him, and Tyler couldn’t help but notice he still had a limp.

Colton’s brow shot up. “Better late than never, I guess.”

Ignoring that, Tyler clasped Justin’s hand and pounded him on the back with the other. “How you doing, bro?”

“Good enough to convince the doc to let me work.” Justin grinned as he pulled back.

“And ride?” Tyler asked.

“Not yet, but I’m working on it.”

Tyler laughed. “You’re following doctor’s orders for once? What’s up with that?”

“I was wondering that my own damn self.” Colton laughed.

Justin shrugged. “Kind of have to. My mom begged me not to ride until I was completely healed.”

Tyler dipped his head in a nod. “Understood, bro.”

Unlike Tyler’s family, who’d had the life scared out of them when Tuck went missing but ultimately got him back, the Skaggs family hadn’t been so lucky. Justin’s brother didn’t make it home alive from his deployment.

“Gotta keep Mom happy.” Colton slapped Justin on the back. “But I’m glad to have you back here. Working alone with only this sorry ass for help for all those weeks sucked balls.”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Like you’re so wonderful to work with.”

“At least I don’t wander in late, rush through the day, and leave early.”

“Oh, really? Rolling in late—and looking like you didn’t get a whole hell of a lot of sleep—and sneaking out early?” Justin’s brows rose as he scrutinized Tyler a bit too closely for his liking. “Sounds like little Tyler’s got himself a girl.”

“Ah, shut up.” Tyler tried to act like it was a ridiculous notion, hoping the truth didn’t show all over his face.

Colton turned to Tyler with the look of a man who’d just had a lightbulb turned on over his head. “Oh, my God. Do you? And you didn’t tell me? What the hell?”

“So what?” Tyler shrugged, trying to figure a way out of this mess. “If I did, maybe, have a girl, and I’m not saying I do, what’s it matter?”

“It matters because we’re supposed to be friends. But besides that, I’m the one who had to wait around here after work for the blacksmith to come yesterday because you cut out early. And one of the horses he shoed was yours.” Colton’s eyes widened to drive home the point.

“Shit. Sorry, man. I totally forgot about him coming.”

“Because you snuck out without telling me, or I would have reminded you. So where were you going?” Colton folded his arms across his chest and glared at Tyler, clearly waiting for an answer.

Sometimes a man had to throw in a little bit of the truth to cover up a bigger lie.

“A’ight. I’ll tell you. I’m helping Janie Smithwick with her hayfields. She was going to try to do it herself, even though she’s got no experience. So I offered to step in.”

“Why didn’t you just say that in the first place? Jeez. She’s got no hired hands, so of course you should help out.” Colton let out a snort and turned to Justin. “You knew Tom Smithwick, right?”

While Tyler breathed in relief that Colton was satisfied with his story, Justin nodded. “Yup. Not well, but I knew him.”

Colton let out a slow whistle. “Let me tell you, his widow is a hell of a looker. I’m trying to convince Rohn to ask her out.”

“And what’s Rohn got to say about that?” Justin’s eyes cut to Tyler even as he addressed Colton.

“He’s dragging his feet, like he usually does when it comes to any new idea.” Colton shook his head.

“He’s not gonna ask her out.” Tyler screwed up his mouth. “They were friends with each other’s dead spouses. They can’t date now.”

“You’re nuts.” Colton scowled at Tyler. “They’re perfect for each other.”

“No, you’re nuts.” Tyler frowned.

“Whatever. I’m going in for coffee before we get to work.” Colton let out a snort and stalked toward the house.

Colton needed to get off this matchmaking kick before Rohn actually took his advice and asked Janie out, only to be shot down when she said no. There was no way in hell that Janie would say yes to a date with Rohn after the night—and morning—they’d had together.

Tyler glanced up to see Justin smirking. “What’s up with you?”

Justin shrugged. “Nothing. Just thinking how Colton missed asking the most important question.”

“What the hell you talking about?”

“He asked where you went when you left here yesterday. What I wanna know is where’d you come from this morning? Because I’d be willing to bet this week’s paycheck that it’s the same place.”

“What? No.” Tyler nearly choked on his denial.

“Mmm-hmm. Okay. If you say so.” Justin grinned. “By the way, I’ve met Janie. I don’t blame you one bit.”

“I’m not—”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell Colton if you don’t want him to know.” Justin’s gaze dropped to Tyler’s throat. “You might want to try and hide that bite mark on your neck, though.”

With a grin, Justin turned toward the house while Tyler flashed to the memory of Janie’s mouth on him during their second time together. How amazing it had been when she’d come so hard with him inside her that she’d latched onto his neck. How he never even considered stopping her because he’d liked it. A lot.

He didn’t want Colton to know he was sleeping with Janie. Hell, he didn’t want anyone to know yet. Once they were a couple, fine, but not now. He knew he didn’t have the best reputation with the guys when it came to women, but Janie was different. He was different with her. And he didn’t want his past to cast a shadow on her reputation. She shouldn’t be judged because of him and what they did together. She didn’t deserve that. But if he didn’t tell Colton, the idiot would keep pushing Rohn toward Janie.

Damn. Justin was more observant than Tyler had given him credit for. This was way more complicated than he’d thought it would be.

The sick part was, even with Justin guessing, Tyler wouldn’t exchange his time with Janie for anything in the world. And as soon as he got out of there, he was going right back over for more.