Rock Star Romance: Dan (Contemporary New Adult Rockstar Bad Boy Romance) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 4) (12 page)

Ava was quiet as Noah
walked over to where she stood, still gently stroking the horse.

“What do you say we
let Maggie have a rest?” he asked, stopping just inches away from her.

Ava nodded, wondering
what he had in mind once Maggie was resting.

“Then, tell her,” he
told her, walking over to the gate and opening it up without attaching the rope
the horse had worn when she was brought in.

Ava panicked a
little; it was one thing to guide the horse around an enclosed pen, but it was
something else to be responsible for her out in the open.

“Remember, all you
have to do is know what you want, and you can have it,” Noah's voice was
soothing but she was beginning to think he might also be an expert in double
innuendos.

Using the motions
Noah had taught her, she focused her attention on the task at hand and lead
Maggie out of the pen, through the open field and into the stable. Once there,
Noah secured the horse in her stall and then turned to drape the rope over one
of the hooks on the stable wall. Turning to follow his movements, Ava caught
sight of the wall and her eyes grew large, noticing a multitude of strange and
cruel-looking implements there, including a row of whips like the one John had
been holding earlier. Noah recognized her response before she could cover it
and he smiled devilishly.

“They're not meant to
harm the horse. At least, they shouldn't be,” he told her, lifting one of the
whips off of its hook. “See,” he told her, letting the end of the whip dangle,
sliding it slowly up Ava's arm, across her bare shoulders and down the length
of her other arm.

“That doesn't hurt,
does it?” he asked, leaning close to whisper in her ear as he moved in slow
circles around her wrist with the whip's end.

“No,” she admitted,
her whole body tingling with arousal. “But, I don't think that's how it's
supposed to be used.”

“Maybe not. But when
something can feel good, why use it for anything else?” he asked, his eyes
meeting Ava's gaze.

She didn't think what
Noah was saying had anything to do with horses anymore, and that was fine with
her. “Two can play at this game,” she thought, a smile curving up the edges of
her full lips.

With her free hand,
she moved to Noah's wrist, trailing her fingers up his arm slowly, across his
broad, muscular chest and down his arm to the hand holding the whip. “But why
use anything else? Wouldn't you rather touch me...wouldn't you rather feel me
beneath your fingers?”

“Let's find out,” he
said easily, returning the whip to its hook on the wall. He started at her neck
this time, allowing his fingers to slide down over her collarbones. He slowed
as he reached the upper swells of her breasts, hovering there for a moment, and
he watched as Ava's body moved, her chest jutting forward just slightly of its
own volition, trying to spur on his descent. Instead, he traced the outline of
her breasts, gliding down her sides to her hips.

“I think you may be
right, but I'd like to explore more to be sure,” he whispered against her ear
before his hands started sliding upward. This time as he reached her breasts,
he didn't detour, his palms grazing over her nipples, amplifying the arousal
coursing through her and making her throb with desire. Noah leaned forward, his
lips hovering just a hair's breadth from her own, so close her lips began to
quiver in anticipation   

Voices sounded
several yards from the barn, barely audible at first but growing louder as a
group of four or five men approached. Ava closed her eyes fighting against a
wave of frustration as Noah gritted his teeth, his hands leaving her body.

“Noah? You in there?”
one of the voices asked, the group now not more than three or four yards from
the barn. “One of your guys came looking for you. Says there's a problem on one
of your ranches.”

“Damn!” Noah cursed
silently. Not only had they interrupted at the most inopportune time, but they
were hollering out information he didn't want Ava to have. Sure, his gut told
him there was something different about her, but he wasn't banking two weeks of
gold-digging on it.

“Sorry, Ava. But I
guarantee you they're going to come barging in here in about a minute and a
half,” he smiled ruefully all the while his hands itched to touch her again, to
explore all the areas he'd yet to discover.

She nodded, looking
around for another exit. Finding none, she looked up at Noah quizzically.

“I don't suppose
there's a secret door hiding in one of these stalls?” she mused aloud.

“Sorry. Only one way
out of here, but it'll be fine,” he assured her, having no doubt that every
ranch hand knew of his no-fraternizing-with-the-vacationers policy.

Nearly one and a half
minutes later on the dot, the big stable door opened as four men of various
ages walked in. They came to an abrupt halt, most of them eyeing her
appreciatively while the eldest of the group turned a quizzical eye toward
Noah. It was obvious that none of them had been expecting to find anyone inside
with Noah, but he was already leading her toward the now-open exit. He stopped
when he reached the group, casually telling Ava how to get back to the cabins before
turning his attention to the group, talking quietly as she continued on
outside.

Ava padded back to
the cabin, tiptoeing up the steps of the front porch. The last thing she wanted
was to have to explain herself to Christie. She entered the cabin, opting for a
night on the living room sofa rather than disturbing her friend in the shared
bedroom. Every inch of her body was revved up, still sensitive even to the
brush of the sofa's canvas-like fabric. The rub, so different from the feel of
the fingers that had grazed over her skin just moments before, reminded her of
the whip Noah had wielded. God, that was naughty. She'd never been much of a
whips and chains kind of gal, but the way he had teased her with it—that was
unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.

Breathing deep, she
tried to cool down, knowing she wasn't getting a moment's sleep in her current
state. She contemplated taking matters into her own hands, letting her fingers
graze along her thighs, but it wasn't her own hands she wanted to feel touching
her body, and so it only served to intensify her frustration. She debated
sneaking back out to the barn to pick up where they had left off, but she
figured she'd just come off as the desperate, sex-starved city girl. Besides,
the guy probably had a whole flock of women at his beck and call; Ava had just
been within convenient proximity at the time. By now, he was probably long
gone, crawling into bed with one of his eager followers.

“Arghhh!” she fumed,
shifting to try to find a more comfortable position on the sofa.

It wasn't that Ava
was a glutton for sex; she had resignedly accepted that her studies didn't
provide her with a whole lot of time for a romantic life outside of the
occasional weekend fling. It was the damn, sexy cowboy that was throwing her
hormones out of whack. Burying her head beneath one of the sofa's throw
cushions, she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing pictures of the latest runway
designs to fill her mind and drown out the images of the too-hot wrangler.
Finally, sometime before the sun began to lighten the sky, Ava's body succumbed
to sleep. In slumber, though, she lost command over her thoughts as wild and
wanton fantasies filled her dreams, making the night about as restful as a
marathon.

She awoke before
Christie the next morning; she'd forgotten that her friend could sleep eight
hours through an earthquake and still squeeze in a nap during the aftershocks.

“That girl sure loves
her sleep,” Ava mused silently as she rubbed her shoulders trying to ease the
tension that had built over night from her heated dreams and the makeshift bed.

She tiptoed to the
bathroom, not wanting to risk even the slightest chance of facing Christie just
yet, she started the shower and hopped in, letting the cold water cascade down
her body and cool her overheated flesh. Wrapped in a towel ten minutes later
and hoping her luck would hold, she grabbed her suitcase from the bedroom
quietly, bringing it out to the living room. Pulling out one of her favorite
dresses, she slipped it on the near-replica of the iconic Marilyn Monroe dress.
It was a white, halter-style with a tight-fitting bodice that plunged low,
revealing ample cleavage. The ruffled skirt fell to her knees and made her feel
like a movie star every time it blew in the wind. Sure, it wasn't the most
practical choice for a day on the ranch, but it was just Ava's style, whether
she was sketching her newest idea or walking around training pens with the sexy
as hell Noah.

She'd just finished
brushing out her long locks when Christie sauntered out into the living room.
She had to hand it to her friend; she hadn't seen her wearing a smile before
noon since Michael Duncan waved at her in the gym at a senior year pep rally in
high school. She really did love it here on the ranch. 

“Good morning,
Sunshine,” Ava chirped, trying to join in on Christie's good mood.

“Morning Marilyn,”
Christie teased, looking over Ava's outfit. “I didn't think you'd be up
already. I figured you'd be sleeping through every minute you could,” she
smiled.

“Nonsense. I've come
to find a thing or two here that makes getting out of bed worthwhile.”

“Oh? And does that
thing happen to be the hot guy who was checking you out yesterday?” Christie
asked with a grin.

“What would make you
say that? Couldn't I just be happy to be here with you?” Ava feigned
exasperation.

“Sure, you could. But
if he had been checking me out, I'd be a hell of a lot happier getting his
attention than yours,” she smiled in jest.

“Ha!” Ava dismissed
the subject. “How about you get dressed so we can go get some breakfast?”

Five minutes later,
the two headed out the cabin's front door, Ava stealing a surreptitious glance
around in search of a certain cowboy. Seeing no sign of him, she turned her
attention back toward the house, watching as Will opened the door, already
anticipating their arrival.

“Good morning ladies.
Sleep well?” he asked them cheerfully.

Ava just nodded,
smiling as Christie filled him in on her opinion that the country air served to
provide a better night's sleep.

“Funny,” Ava thought.
“I guess the two of us weren't breathing the same air last night,” she mused
silently, remembering all the time she spent tossing and turning.

Once seated, the same
woman wheeled in a cart laden with breakfast foods, everything from biscuits
and fruit to bacon and fried eggs, and arranged them on the table. The small
group conversed amicably while they ate, but not five minutes before the meal
was through, Noah walked in through the far entrance, a devilish smile briefly
crossing his features as he met Ava's gaze.

“Morning, Noah,” Will
greeted him easily. “You know, I was hoping to show Christie the new extension
we've been working on behind the stable. Why don't you give Ava an inside tour
of the property?” Will suggested casually, though she could easily spy the
twinkle in the matchmaker's eye.

Noah nodded, but
there was something less than pleased in his disposition; not angry or
disappointed, but rather like he felt uncomfortable with the arrangement
somehow. Ava tried to think of an excuse quickly to let him off the hook, but
Will was already getting to his feet and Noah was there, offering his hand.

“Ready for a
behind-the-scenes look at running a ranch?” he queried with a boyish grin, mock
enthusiasm in his tone.

“As long as
'behind-the-scenes' doesn't mean mucking out stalls or chasing chickens,” she
remarked in good humor.

Noah smiled, waving
to Will and Christie as he lead Ava out of the house, down the front steps and
toward the training pen he'd had Maggie in last night. It wasn't that he didn't
relish the idea of a few hours with Ava—he could think of a thing or two, or a
dozen, he'd love to do with her—but he really did have work to do and that
meant there wasn't opportunity for anything but conversation with her right
now, and the chance to run into at least a dozen other workers who could give
his secret away.

“So, Noah...if you
have things you have to do, you don't have to keep me in tow all morning,” Ava
interjected into his silent worry.

Good. He was off the
hook. He could send her on her way to go catch up with Will and her friend
right then.

“It's about time you
see what ranch life is all about, don't you think?” “What the hell was that?”
he wondered silently. So much for off the hook. She'd given him an easy out and
he'd been poised to take it, so why the hell didn't he? Because she was
enthusiastic, feisty and brave...and God how he wanted to touch her...to loosen
the knot of fabric securing her dress behind her neck and watch it fall away
from her breasts...to slide his hand up her thigh, pulling the skirt's fabric
up as he went, revealing inch after inch of her soft flesh...

“So, you've really
never spent any time in the country?” he inquired, trying to steer his thoughts
elsewhere.

“Nope. I went from an
apartment in Dayton, Ohio to an apartment in Providence, Rhode Island, and
nowhere else in between. That's it,” she replied simply.

“Not much for travel,
are you?”

“Actually, I love it.
I'd spend half my life in an airplane if I could. It was just never in the
cards, that's all. When I'm finished with school, it'll be different. At least,
that's the plan,” she smiled easily. “What about you? Ever spend any time in
the city?”

“Some. My parents
retired in Florida, and my brother's in New York. I get down to see them when I
can.”

“I guess Will keeps
you pretty busy?”

“I guess you could
say that,” Noah replied, but that same discomfort she'd sensed back at the
house crept into his tone once again.