Naked Desire: Naked Cowboys, Book 5 (6 page)

“Oh, yeah.” Amy winked. “How are things going there anyway?”

Cyn busied herself cleaning up at the stove. “The store’s coming along great, as I’m sure you saw.”

“We’re not talking about his construction work.” Reenie lowered her voice. “We want to know if he’s as good with his hands at other things.”

Cyn carried the empty pan to the sink on the opposite wall and made a supreme effort to keep her voice as normal as possible.

“He’s doing the work on my store, ladies. That’s it.”

“Uh huh.” Amy chuckled. “Is that why when you walked by him he looked as if he wanted to eat you up with a spoon?”

“I’m not discussing this.” She turned on the water, sure if she looked at them the expression on her face would give her away.

Reenie moved up next to her and gave her a hug. “We’re not trying to make you uncomfortable. But Jesse’s a good guy besides being hot. We think you could use a little fun in your life.” She lowered her voice. “And am I wrong, but does the air sizzle when you walk by him?”

“It’s your overactive imagination,” she mumbled, wishing now they’d leave already.

“Okay, okay.” Amy gave in. “But we’re just sayin’. You know?”

Pretty sure she had herself under control now, Cyn turned to them. “And I love you for it. But please, there are so many complications with that. And right now my entire focus has to be on the business.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

At last, they left and she could clean up the mess from cooking.

She couldn’t seem to get their comments out of her head though. Had she put too much damiana in the recipe? Would it affect everyone who’d tasted it? Would they think the rub was doing it?

And what about Jesse and their comments?

Heat flashed through her body at the memory of the previous night together, better even than the first one. She didn’t even seem to mind the lack of ambience in the storeroom or the very unromantic tarp and hard floor. His hands had such a magic touch as they played over her body, and his mouth lit a trail of fire wherever it touched her. She had never felt so worshiped in her life as she did with him. Even now, her nipples peaked into tight hard buds and her pussy clenched, her liquid dampening her thong from nothing more than the thought of him.

“Want to come take a look at the place with no one around now?”

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts she hadn’t heard Jesse come up behind her. It startled her when she felt his hands on her hips and the brush of his lips at the nape of her neck. Every nerve snapped to life as her already-aroused body clenched with need. She gripped the edge of the sink and tried to steady herself.

We can’t keep doing this in the store. Besides, it’s still light out.

“I don’t know what you put in that rub,” he murmured, “but ever since I ate that sample, I’ve been harder than a railroad spike. It’s a damn good thing I had that counter to hide behind when your friends were here.”

Should she tell him what she’d done? Would he get angry with her? Be upset?

“Everyone’s gone. The front door’s locked.” He licked the side of her neck. “I could eat you up faster than those incredible ribs you made.”

She melted against him as he banded his arms around her to press her to his body. The thick, heavy ridge of his erection branded her even through the denim of their jeans.

“I don’t know what’s the matter with me,” she whispered. “I seem to lose all my common sense when you touch me.”

“Good. Keep doing that.” He turned her to face him. “I want to take you someplace, Cyn. And when we get there, I want to
really
take you.” He nipped her lower lip.

“Y-You do?”

“Uh huh. I want someplace besides this hard floor and a paint-stained tarp. You deserve much more. Much better.”

“I don’t think—”

“Good. Don’t think. I’ll do all the thinking for both of us.” His smile disappeared and his features set in a serious expression. “I know you’re nervous about people finding out what’s happening. I think you don’t give them enough credit for accepting things, but I get where you’re coming from.”

“The store—”

“Will be open in four weeks. I heard Jinx. That’s a good timetable. The store will be ready way before then, you can get your advertising out, your shelves stocked. But I don’t plan to wait that long to get you naked again.”

“Y-You don’t?”

“Uh uh.” He slid his hands up beneath the material of the apron to cup her beasts.

He pinched her nipples and she gasped at the cascade of sensations.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Tomorrow is Saturday. I think you need to tell Georgie you want to do a little sightseeing in Austin. Get away from things for a while. We’ll meet someplace where you can park your car safely and indulge in a hotel suite and room service. What do you say?”

He rubbed his cock back and forth across her buttocks while he kneaded her breasts.

“I, um, say that might work. But what if Georgie—”

“Darlin’, Georgie had her own problems when she came here. She’s gonna smile and tell you to have a good time.” He cupped her cheeks, his eyes blazing into hers. “I promise.”

Chapter Six

Slipping away unobtrusively proved to be as difficult as Cyn feared. She’d intended to have her morning coffee in the kitchen with Georgie as usual and then give her the sightseeing story. That went down the drain when Amy and Reenie descended on the B&B at nine the next morning as Cyn was finishing one of Georgie’s delicious cinnamon rolls.

“I really, really, really want to know about that rub, Cyn.” Amy giggled as she and her sister-in-law burst in through the back door.

“Yeah, so do I,” Reenie chimed in.

They helped themselves to coffee from the big urn on the counter and joined Georgie and Cyn at the kitchen table.

Cyn studied her coffee cup, weighing her answer. Should she tell them? When she looked up, she hoped she’d managed to arrange her features in a blank expression.

“I’m glad you love the taste so much.” She smiled. “You can help pass the word when I open the store.”

Amy leaned forward in a conspiratorial pose. “That’s not what I mean. Oh, the taste is beyond incredible. I will absolutely pimp it to the world. But that’s not what I mean.” She glanced toward the dining room where some of the other guests were still socializing before taking off for the day. “I mean whatever
extra
you put in it.”

“Yes.” Reenie crowded her on the other side. “Cyn, Matt’s for sure no slouch in bed, but last night I think I attacked him as if we hadn’t done it in weeks. His eyes were crossed by the time I let him go to sleep.”

“Same for me,” Amy added in a low voice. “Buck has the stamina of our prize bull, but I think last night I managed to make him cry uncle. We want to know the secret, Cyn Dellinger.”

Caught!

But maybe they could give her advice about keeping the secret ingredient in the mix or taking it out.

Cyn’s hands shook slightly and she set her mug down to keep the coffee from sloshing over the sides.

“Okay, I, uh, um…”

“Come on,” Amy coaxed. “Spit it out.”

So she told them about the note written in the old recipe book. “My great-grandmother finally insisted they leave it out because, well…” She spread out her hands in a helpless gesture. “Because of exactly what you said.”

“Damn!” Georgie raised her eyebrows so high they nearly met her hairline. “Now I’m sorry I didn’t get to the store for the samples yesterday.”

“Oh.” Reenie snickered, “like you and Cade need any help at all.”

Georgie’s face turned a becoming shade of pink. “Just sayin’, at my age I can use all the help I can get. Right?” She nudged Cyn. “Don’t you agree?”

She ducked her head. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Oh, right,” Reenie hooted. “You could fry yourself in the air when she and Jesse are within three feet of each other.”

“Hey.” Amy set down her coffee mug. “Did Jesse get to taste the samples yesterday? If he did, I’ll bet he was horny as hell.”

“I’m not discussing this.” Cyn pushed away from the table and carried her mug to the sink. “Maybe I’ll go ahead and take the damiana out of the mix.” She frowned. “Although it’s such a minute amount it’s hard to believe it has such a strong effect.”

“How many people did she give a taste to yesterday?” Georgie wanted to know. “I’d love to know if it affected all of them.”

“If what affected who?” Cade Hannigan strode in through the back door. “Did I miss something?”

“No,” the women shouted at him.

He grinned. “Obviously, I did.” He pulled Georgie in to him for a hot kiss despite the others in the room. “You know I hate to be left out of anything.”

She batted her hand at his chest, her slender blonde figure a contrast to his tall, lean dark-haired one. Cyn thought again what a striking couple they made. It was obvious how deeply in love they were, and she wondered if she would ever find anything like that or if it was too late for her. Of course, she and Georgie were almost the same age, so….

Unbidden, an image of a naked Jesse blasted into her mind and she blinked her eyes to wipe it away. She was positive if these women took a good look at her they’d know what she was thinking.

“Well,” she said in a bright voice, turning back to face everyone, “I think I’ll fetch my things and get going. It’s a beautiful day for sightseeing.”

“Sightseeing?”

Two pairs of eyes studied her while Georgie swallowed a grin.

“That’s what she told me,” the blonde said with a knowing grin on her face. “She decided to see what Austin’s all about.”

Amy frowned. “By yourself? Maybe one of us should go with you.”

Cyn held up a hand. “Please. I appreciate the offer, but you all have things to do. I think I can manage an overnight in Austin by myself. I’ve heard so much about the city that I want to take a look for myself.”

“But—” Reenie protested.

“It’s fine,” Cyn insisted. Lord, could she please get out of here? Now? She tried not to look at her watch. She was supposed to meet Jesse at eleven and it was already ten fifteen. “Guys, I appreciate every single thing you’re doing for me. The fact that you’ve taken me in and made me a part of your group means more to me than I can ever tell you. But I need to get away for a few hours to clear my head before the interior of the store is finished and all my merchandise starts to arrive.” She looked from one to another. “So are we good?” She smiled at them. “I promise to check in now and then.”

“So you’re doing this all by yourself, right?” Georgie’s voice was tinged with skepticism.

“I’m fine,” was all she said. “And I really want to get going.”

“So what are you going to do about the rub?” Reenie called after her. “Maybe I can get you some feedback from everyone else.”

Three women burst out laughing.

“We’ll talk about it later. Much later.”

She knew every pair of eyes in the room bored holes in her back as she made her escape.

Jesse stood by the barn where he’d told her to meet him and leaned against his truck, arms folded across his chest. As soon as she pulled up, he walked over to her car.

“Any trouble getting away?”

Cyn rolled her eyes. “Don’t ask. Amy and Reenie showed up this morning, and between them and Georgie, they did their best to get all up in my business.”

One corner of his mouth quirked up in the hint of a grin. “Those ladies are like sharks when they smell blood in the water.” He tipped her face up to him. “You know they’ll find out sooner or later.”

“I know, Jesse.” She wet her lips. “But I want to get the store open and have people in this town see me as an established resident before we open that can of worms.”

“I think this will go a lot better than you think, Cyn. But I want to be with you badly enough that we’ll play it your way. For now.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much, Jesse.”

His kiss was as soft as an angel’s wing.

“Meanwhile, we’re burning daylight. Let me put your car away, get your bag and we’ll get going.”

“Whose barn is this anyway?” She looked around for a house or a cabin, but all she saw was an endless stretch of pasture.

“My grandfather’s. Well, it’s on the piece of property he left to me, so I guess it’s mine.”

She gaped at him. “You
own
this?”

“Uh huh.” He climbed into her car to drive it into the barn.

“Are you going to do anything with it?” she persisted. “All this land?”

“One of these days. Let’s get going.”

Cyn couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. The drive to Austin took them through rolling acres of ranchland and Jesse kept her entertained with anecdotes about most of them as well as some of the established landmarks they passed along the way. Austin itself was a bustling city full of life, a lot like Memphis, only with its own unique Texas flavor.

Jesse had chosen a small boutique hotel right in downtown Austin. The interior was a combination of uptown sophistication and old west, and their room had a balcony that looked out over the landscape of the city. Cyn was familiar with hotels like this with their understated opulence and a spaghetti strand of guilt wiggled through her.

“Jesse.” She turned to face back into the room. “This place has to be costing you a fortune. We could have stayed at an inexpensive motel and I’d be happy. I can’t let you spend this kind of money on me.”

He pulled her close to him, close enough that her breasts pressed into his hard-muscled chest, and she could feel his erection against her mound.

“No, we couldn’t.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I have plenty of money, Cyn. I get paid well for my work and I don’t spend much of it. And I want to spend some of it on you. I don’t want you to have less than you were used to.”

Embarrassment heated her cheeks. Could she possibly have sounded more patronizing? It was hard to think with their bodies pressed so close together, but she forced her brain to function.

“First of all, nothing I was used to before ever made my life better or happier. I learned a very hard lesson in my marriage. Money means nothing if your life sucks. I’m not the same person I was before. At least I hope I’m not.” She tried to wriggle free of his arms, but he just held her more tightly.

“You’re definitely not that person,” he told her in a soft voice.

“And I certainly didn’t mean to sound like some kind of snob. I wanted to make sure you understood that I’m here because I want to be with
you
and not for anything you can give me.”

“I do. And that’s why I want to do this.”

The kiss he gave her scorched her clear to the soles of her feet. When he lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

“So,” he went on, “let me enjoy doing this and hope
you
enjoy the day. Deal?”

“Deal.”

She’d had the idea that the moment they hit the hotel room, Jesse would tear off her clothes and spend hours ravishing her, but apparently he had other ideas.

“I want to show you how good we can be together,” he told her. “With things other than sex.”

Was that even possible?

Cyn could not remember when she had relished a day more. Jesse took her to what he referred to as a Tex-Mex restaurant for lunch, where she ate the best tacos she’d ever had and listened to Mexican music through the hidden speaker. They walked all over the downtown area, and when she protested that her feet hurt, he drove them to Lake Lady Bird and took her out in a canoe. Gliding over the smooth surface of the lake, reclining in the canoe, trailing her fingertips in the water, Cyn could almost pretend that the last fifteen years of her life had never happened. That she had arrived full grown in Saddle Wells, Texas, and met the man of her dreams.

The man of my dreams?

She almost startled herself out of the canoe.

Take it easy, Cyn.

But it was getting harder and harder for her to remember why this was a bad idea. Because right now she couldn’t think of a thing wrong with it.

She remembered to text Georgie twice during the day, assuring her she was having fun and not to worry about her. And asking her to pass the word to the others. Then she deliberately shut off her phone and shoved it into her purse.

They had dinner at a steak house with paneled walls and an open pit where they could pick out their own meat. After that, they were off to a bar where Cyn stumbled laughingly through a lesson on the Texas two-step to a local country music band.

Back in their room, she wondered if she’d be able to do anything except fall into bed. But Jesse had his own routine in mind. While water filled the spa tub in the bathroom, he carefully removed her clothing, kissing her skin as each inch of it was exposed. When she stood naked before him, he took a long moment to drink in every inch of her, his gaze so hot and hungry she could almost feel it touch her.

Then, with his own clothes discarded, he lifted her in his arms, carried her to the tub and eased them both into it. He pinched the button for the jets, turning the setting to low, and immediately the surface of the water turned into a layer of froth. She leaned back against his chest, his thighs bracketing her, arms beneath hers as he cradled her beasts in that familiar touch. He gave her nipples a light pinch with thumbs and forefingers, rolling the tips until they hardened in his grasp.

The water was soothing, relaxing, but Jesse’s touch was something else altogether. She had thought her body too tired to respond to him, but in an instant, the muscles in her tummy contracted, the walls of her pussy vibrated and lust speared through her like an arrow of flame. She gave an unconscious hum of desire and Jesse bit lightly on her neck in response.

She hummed louder and wriggled against his body. His cock flexed behind her, pressed against the crevice of her ass. When she pushed back, he tightened the pressure on her nipples.

“Slow, darlin’,” he murmured low in her ear, his voice pulsating through every nerve and muscle. “We’ve got all the time in the world tonight. Go on, lean back and let me pleasure both of us.”

“I thought maybe you were trying to wear me out today.”

He chuckled. “Trying to take the edge off all that nervous energy is more like it.” He grazed his teeth along her shoulder. “Tonight, I plan to take it slow and easy.”

He was as good as his word. While the warm water bubbled around them and the jets tickled her skin with bursts of air, Jesse played her like a musical instrument. Lifting her legs, he draped them over his thighs so she was completely open to him. No part of her body was left untouched. Her breasts, her nipples, her tummy, her navel, the inside of her thighs. Every place he touched her skin tingled, even in the embrace of the water. The blood in her veins crackled like sparkling wine, sparking the ends of her nerves as if firecrackers were skipping over them.

Jesse’s touch was slow and deliberate, caressing here, teasing there. The bathwater mingled with her own liquid to make her cunt slippery so his fingers eased over the lips as if sliding on glass. A pinch to her clit, a tug, and her pussy cried for more. Silently begged for him to fill it. When he lightly rimmed her opening with the tips of his fingers, she tried to arch her hips upward to pull him inside but that low, sexy laugh rumbled in his throat and he kept on tormenting her.