One Night with a Cowboy (Paint River Ranch) (Entangled Indulgence) (3 page)

Chapter Four

The amazing electricity running through him had to be because he hadn’t had a kiss like this in longer than any real man would care to admit. He craved it. The way Sophie sank into him spoke more than her voice could have. She needed this too, it seemed. He liked her spunk and her softness and the way she took up a challenge, but she had a timid side that warned him to slow it down, even thought his body wanted him to charge ahead.

He pulled back. “Soph, are you sure you want to be doing this?” Tucker ran strands of her hair through his fingers. She looked up at him with a dazed expression, eyes heavy and clouded, her lips swollen from his kiss.
Not nearly swollen enough
, he thought. Hell, she was gorgeous and exactly the distraction he’d love to have tonight. Her wide, soft mouth and pert little nose gave her a feminine beauty he craved. But there was something about her, something he wanted to dig deep to reveal. Maybe it was the sound of her voice or the way she teased him; but something under her sexy layers resonated with him.

Sophie cleared her throat and he hoped like hell that he hadn’t just ruined their time together. It shouldn’t bother him if she changed her mind, but it did. Sophie would be damn hard to walk away from. She smoothed her hair with one hand.

“Yes. Do you?” Her fingers were still teasing the base of his neck. Tucker couldn’t look away from the heat in her eyes.

He took her face between his hands. “Oh, yeah.”

She lifted on tiptoes and kissed him softly. This was new. He usually did the chasing, the maneuvering, and convincing. He couldn’t remember a time a beauty was ever quite this forward with him. When she reached up and kissed just beneath his ear with a breathy whisper, he nearly came undone.

“Your move, cowboy.”

Tucker wrapped his arms around her, lifting her slightly until his lips bumped hers. “My move includes finding a soft place to lay you down, getting rid of this dress and kissing your body until you scream yourself hoarse.” Her quick intake of breath fanned the demon inside him further. “If that sounds like the move you’re after, then I’m all in.”

Her body softened in his arms, and Tucker swore she melted a little. “Checkmate.”

He set her down, grabbed her hand and twined their fingers. She giggled as he pulled her through the crowd, both hands hanging on to his. The gesture made his heart jump. He looped one arm over her shoulders as they left the carnival and stepped into the quiet street.

“Where are we going?” The unsteadiness in her voice made him smile.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged lightheartedly. He didn’t. He hadn’t planned for this. Usually, he let a woman take him to her place, but he assumed Sophie didn’t have a place save for her sister’s, and that wasn’t going to fly. Tucker thought briefly to Paint River Ranch, but he quickly dismissed it. That was his safe zone, his no-one-night-stands-happen-here zone, and he wasn’t going to let Sophie’s sexy temptation infiltrate that. Tucker considered taking her to his truck, but then he saw it.

A hay wagon sat in shadow across the street, lined by a dark expanse of trees against the sidewalk. Probably used for giving rides to carnival goers earlier, the wagon was deserted. She caught his gaze, gave a sly, knowing smile, and offered no resistance when he pulled her across the street. When they approached it, Tucker noticed the interior walls were lined with a double stack of hay bales, leaving the middle open. They could sneak inside and be completely hidden from the street.

Tucker’s fingers pressed into her chest, gently driving her back against the rear bumper of the wagon. He slid his hands down her arms, his thumbs smoothing over the backs of her hands and knew there would be no rushing this.

…

Just the feel of Tucker’s long, hard fingers woven with hers was delicious. When he released one hand to curve it behind her neck and lift the weight of her hair, Sophie let out pent up breath. He was exactly what she wanted. Not safe. Not expected. Wild and sexy, and filling her with sweet anticipation that, for a little while, could make her forget so many things.

Tucker’s head dipped fast, his mouth covering hers, leaving no room for reservations. Not that Sophie had any. She didn’t. His hand left her chest to smooth around the ball of her shoulder, softly, with just enough pressure to let her know his fingers were claiming her skin. Then he edged her hips up and back until they slid deep inside the interior of the wagon.

Hay crunched beneath them as he placed one knee between hers, and drew her up against his chest. Aggressive and claiming, his lips parted and demanded even as she willingly gave what he wanted. His mouth was heady with the taste of beer and mint, an intoxicating blend that made her crave more.

Sophie whimpered in protest when Tucker pulled back. He licked her lips with the tip of his tongue and gave her a gut-wrenching, self-satisfied smile.

“I wasn’t looking for this tonight, Sophie.” He nipped her jaw, his hands burying into the hair at the base of her neck. All the nerve endings in her scalp raced to life. His chest rose and fell against hers, the movement intimate and promising. The buttons of his shirt would come undone easily. His skin would be hard and perfect under her hands, the muscles gliding and flowing with each movement. He had serious fire in his expression, dark, with an edge that clearly displayed he walked a fine line between control and letting go. A flicker of fear passed through her, filled with the promise of being taken, and of letting him. “But I’m damn glad I found you.”

“Me too.” Sophie tipped the hat off his head and slid her hands into his hair. The thick waves were the perfect grip between her fingers. She took his lower lip between her teeth, shivering as he growled. Tucker’s hands braced her shoulders and nudged her farther back on the wagon. They edged behind the perimeter of stacked bales, completely hidden from view. The hay pressed against her skin softly rustled as Tucker laid her back, his body hovering over her with one arm braced on either side of her head. Every inch of him vibrated with intensity. Her body responded in kind, jacking the brazenness that was so unfamiliar, but so very, very welcome at the moment.

“I don’t do gentle.” The warning shot a hot ache straight between her legs.

“Then don’t be.” She took big handful of his shirt and ripped it up from the waist of his jeans. Tucker popped the buttons with one hand, revealing inches of hard chest that didn’t come into view nearly quickly enough. His body was swathed in moonlight as he shrugged the shirt off in one swift movement. Sophie’s insides incinerated at the shadow-highlighted outline of each hard muscle, his skin pulled smooth and tight over square pecs and the rippled outline of a six-pack she couldn’t wait to touch.

“Holy shit, Tucker.” She reached for the cut contours of his chest, her fingers tingling with anticipation of all that male skin. Heat radiating from his chest permeated her palms right before he gently gripped her wrists and brought her hands over her head before she could touch him.

“Hands up there,” he whispered firmly in her ear. Her mind was clouded with the pulse of this crazy, wicked desire. Out here, with a man she’d just met but wanted anyway, in a hay wagon. A hay wagon…where he was pulling down her dress. God, she’d never done anything like this in her life, and each second brought her closer to the realization that she was very glad about that, because Tucker was the perfect accomplice to help her step out of her safe little box.

Cool air rushed over her bikini-top as he yanked the dress down to her navel. Her nipples—already hard as sin—were positively begging.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you.” Tucker kissed her, one hand finding her breast and flicking the nipple through the bikini. Sophie arched into his hand as he deepened the kiss with a tilt of his head that meshed their mouths in a bruising connection.

Oh, yeah, she’d be bruised in no time. Bruised and happy if he kept this up.

Tucker untied the string around her neck, pulled the top down to bare her breasts. She should have been uncomfortable, embarrassed even. But she wasn’t. She craved his eyes on her; craved his hands and mouth even more.

His lips whispered a path down her neck, stopping to place a hot kiss in the dip, before moving over her chest and between her breasts. His mouth claimed a breast, tongue swirling her nipple in hot circles. Sophie forgot to breathe. Her hands found his hair as he moved from one breast to the other, taking time to tease each until her head throbbed from the sensation. His hands moved to her sides, fingers hooking in her dress and sliding it down. He grabbed the sides of her bikini bottoms and slid them down with the dress, flinging both beside them in the hay. Sophie shivered. She’d never been undressed so fast in her life.

Tucker moved lower, his chest gliding over her nipples, his lips blazing a trail between her ribs, taking sweet time to kiss her belly while his palms pressed against her hips. He kept moving down, the soft hairs on his chest tickling her skin, until his hot breath washed over the apex of her thighs. Tucker’s long fingers caressed her from hips to knees, and slowly climbed back up on the sensitive insides of her thighs. Sophie arched with a flicker of panic at the force of need racing through her. It was potent and maddening and insane. She wanted to touch him, to feel his skin under her palms and let his body anchor her into the moment. Right now, she felt wildly out of control, spiraling like he’d plunked her on the fastest carnival ride in the park and left her alone.

He looked up as his fingers brushed her curls. Sophie jerked at the contact with a little moan. His lips curled into that crooked smile, barely visible in the dim light.

“Am I going too fast?” Tucker asked as his fingers parted her. His head dipped and a stream of heat washed over her tender flesh. Sophie tried to respond, was pretty sure a whimper was all she managed. Arms splayed at her sides, Sophie grabbed fistfuls of hay. It scratched and poked against her palms as she gripped and released clumps of it and arched her hips. He took it for the answer it was.

His face disappeared between her legs a second before lightning heat streaked straight over her clit and forced fireworks behind her eyes. Blindsided by the pleasure, Sophie tensed in response. Tucker’s hands pressed her hips gently down into the hay as his tongue laved over her with soft, long strokes. His fingers kneaded the tops of her thighs, sliding to her belly in soothing motions until she relaxed with a deep sigh.

Too much. It was too much but not enough.

Sophie lifted her pelvis to meet his mouth, loving the sharp prick of his fingernails digging into her skin while his tongue swirled and paced over her nub. Hay bunched and poked her bottom, but she barely realized it as a torrent of sensation built inside. Tucker didn’t disappoint as he increased the pace to even, quick strokes. When she arched her back and cried his name, he marked circles of heat around her, pushing her faster, bringing her to the edge. Tucker nipped the tender flesh with his teeth, causing a sharp clench mixed with ribbons of pleasure through her center. Just when she thought she was going to fall, Tucker pulled back.

Sophie looked down at his shadowy form working such sweet, agonizing magic on her body. He placed little kisses along her outer thigh, to the knee and back. Nuzzling her curls with his mouth, he nipped just inside her thigh, quickly soothing it with a slow slide of his tongue. The ebb of pain and soothing calm barely had time to mingle when Tucker’s tongue pressed against her again, pushing her fast and hard back into the tornado of sensation. Sophie cried out; Tucker chuckled.

And then he left her hanging.

Again.

“Undo my jeans,” he demanded, kissing her neck with the glide of slick, wet lips. Barely able to breathe, Sophie fought the brain fog to do as he asked. She ran her fingers over his firm abdomen, desperate to touch him. Tucker grabbed her hand with a discouraging sound and placed her hand on the waist of his jeans. Her brain didn’t want to take the time to figure out why he was so reluctant to be touched. She was too damn needy to care.

The belt buckle took more concentration that she wanted to spend, but after a moment, it popped open, giving easy access to the button and zipper. Sophie’s palm brushed against the bulge of his erection through the denim. Her brain fog cleared up in a hurry. Just to double-check, she palmed him again. Her heart lurched. Nope, not dreaming. He was big everywhere.

“My purse,” she flung an arm over her head in the direction she thought her purse might be. Tucker grabbed it for her. With a sly smile, she pulled out a small pink fabric pouch. Her friend had filled it with condoms and stuffed it in Sophie’s purse. Just in case Sophie decided to have a little fun. She pulled out a pink condom, very happy for her friend’s foresight, especially when Sophie hadn’t imagined something like this for herself.

Tucker gave an amused shake of his head when she handed him the condom. Even in the dim light, it was hot pink. His lips moved like he was going to ask or make some smart-ass comment, but he refrained, took the condom with a wink and then pulled her right back into his intensity.

Tucker pulled his jeans lower and settled between her legs. Tipping her pelvis and supporting her hips, he nudged his cock at her entrance. Sophie caught his eyes as he slid inside. Her brain exploded in a cascade of sensation. This fullness,
his
fullness, was more than she’d ever experienced and the way her body adjusted and settled around him caused a cacophony of feeling.

His forehead tipped to her shoulder. “God, Sophie.” Tucker sucked in a breath and held still to let them both adjust. His hands slid up her body to cup her breasts. Then he gripped her hands, twining their fingers again and holding them out to the sides as he rose a little higher between her legs, driving just a little deeper. Sophie cried out, her hips thrusting up in desperation. He needed to move, fast. Hard. To complete her before her brain exploded from frustration.