Rocky Mountain Heat (26 page)
“Shitfaced?” he supplied with a soft snarl.
“No, I was too mortified you’d witnessed yet another man who found me as sexually lacking as my husband had,” she said without flinching.
But Brandt flinched. “Jessie that’s not—”
“True? Yes, it is. Yet, I know you would’ve tossed me a pity fuck if I’d asked.”
That shocked him. But he recovered quickly. “You sure?”
“No. I’m not sure of anything. Except I can’t get you out of my head since you’ve moved in. All that mundane household shit that oughta be boring and I hated doing by myself? I look forward to doing it with you. Even when you’re driving me crazy with lust.”
“Crazy with lust?” His dark eyebrows winged up. “That’s a stretch, ain’t it?”
His skepticism might’ve sent old Jessie scurrying to her room to hide. But new Jessie soldiered on. “Every night after you get out of the shower and the scent of your shaving cream drifts out of the bathroom I fantasize about you rubbing your face and that scent over every inch of my skin.”
Surprise and something else like…desire flashed in his eyes, which spurred her to keep going.
“Sometimes when you’re talking to me? I’m so busy staring at your mouth, imagining your kiss that I don’t hear a single word you say.”
With that, his surprise changed to recognition. So Brandt had noticed her attention to his lips whenever they were within kissing distance.
“But know what really twists me into knots? Seeing the way you look at me now.”
“And how’s that?”
“Like you no longer see me as sweet, innocent Jessie. That if you ever got those big hands of yours on me, the last thing you’d be with me…is sweet. You’d get a thrill pushing past my boundaries, the ones I had before Luke and the ones I’ve erected since Luke. You’d derive great pleasure in showing me facets of sexual intimacy that I’ve been denied—or denied myself.”
“Fancy talk.” Brandt cocked his head, as if he was trying to study her from a new angle. “I’ll admit, you’ve got me pegged better than I ever thought you would. With one exception.”
“Which is?”
“If we set this in motion, I’ll demand more than just physical intimacy from you. It ain’t only gonna be about scratching an itch, Jess, because I can get that any time I want.”
How had Brandt picked up on her plan to prove to herself that she could experience sex without the pesky emotional ties?
Because he knows you better than you’ve ever given him credit for.
“I’ll expect a different kind of intimacy than what we’ve had in the past. A connection between us that has nothin’ to do with Luke.”
She looked away.
“What?”
“It’s a nice thought, but this connection has everything to do with Luke and there’s no way we can ever get around that. Besides, you brought Landon into my life, Brandt, and he’s connected to Luke. We wouldn’t be in this situation if not for him. And maybe Landon’s presence has forced us to deal with this—” she gestured to the space between them, “—so I’m done denying the pull is there.”
“Is this ‘pull’ something you recently realized? A proximity thing? I’m a man, I’m here, I’m good enough to fuck for a few months?”
Jessie twisted her fingers together. “It’s more than that and you know it. After you made that pass at me, I convinced myself you were exactly like Luke—biding your time until your charm earned an invitation into my bed. You’d get your fill of me, work me out of your system and move on. And no, you can’t fault me for that mindset, because of my limited experience with men, and my experience with Luke in particular. Plus, I wasn’t so sure you wouldn’t be using me to settle a score with Luke.”
“You really think that lowly of me?” he bit off.
“You really think I’m a clichéd horny widow desperate to screw the first man who smiles at me?” She didn’t bother to bank the anger in her eyes when she met his glare head on. “If that was true, I wouldn’t have waited two goddamn years, would I? I wouldn’t be asking you to touch me, would I? I could’ve found another man to scratch that itch in the four months since we last saw each other. But I didn’t. Something held me back.”
“Again, nice sentiment, but spell it out for me.”
“I want nostrings sex for these four months we’re together. At the end of those four months, we’ll walk away.”
“Just like that?”
Be strong, be confident.
“Can’t we try it and see?”
“What do we tell people? Because you know my family, they’re gonna ask.”
“We are living together, even if it’s temporarily. People are already gonna assume we’re sleeping together, especially in the gossipy McKay family.”
“So if Skylar comes right out and asks you if you’re with me? Will you tell her that we’re just fuck buddies?”
She couldn’t confess that Skylar encouraged her to get naked with him. “What would you rather I told her? That we’re attracted to each other, but we’re keeping our hands off each other because it’d be like Luke was in bed with us?”
She’d struck a nerve with that. She hadn’t meant to but there was no sense in apologizing now.
“I’m not Luke.”
“Then stop acting like him,” she snapped. “Quit trying to tell
me
what I’m feeling is wrong. I’m being completely honest with you. I’m telling you this because I realized if we start this, I’d own my sexuality for the first time in my life. I want that. With you. Starting tonight.” Jessie took a breath, figuring she’d said enough. Too much probably.
He studied her more intently than she was used to. With an edgy stillness that seemed totally foreign to him.
The longer she stood before him, the more her paranoia built.
Finally, Brandt pushed to his feet. His dark eyes remained on hers as he deftly skirted the coffee table and the pile of Landon’s toys. He stopped in front of her, his big hands clenched at his sides. “Starting tonight, but especially this first time, I call the shots. All of them.
I
own your sexuality. We clear?”
Talk about being the big, bad wolf. Jessie nodded.
“Say the word so there’s no misunderstanding between us.”
She swallowed and said, “Yes.”
Brandt slanted his mouth over hers. But he didn’t kiss her with lust-fueled passion. He drank her in—with his eyes, with the short, choppy breaths he pulled into his lungs.
Although Jessie was pretty sure he wanted to take a possessive kiss, he didn’t, which indicated his monumental control.
His tongue darted out and slid along the plump inside curve of her bottom lip. A leisurely, sensuous glide across the sensitive flesh that caused her mouth to tremble even as her lips parted in invitation. But he didn’t dive in for a greedy, openmouthed kiss. He lightly swept his damp lips over hers. Repeatedly. Male hunger and hot breath, tempered with softness that was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
He gauged her responses and inched closer, but didn’t allow their bodies to touch. Heat shimmered between them.
Jessie actually felt dizzy from want. What would he do if she fisted her hands in his T-shirt and just took the kiss she craved? His warning,
This first time, I call the shots,
forced her to truly surrender to him.
And that’s when Brandt kissed her.
Rocky Mountain Heat
Vivian Arend
He’s the one who taught her to ride. Now all he wants is to ride her.
Six Pack Ranch, Book
Blake Coleman is old enough to know that acting on impulse causes nothing but a heap of trouble. But when trouble’s a western-hat-wearing blonde with slim legs that go on forever, what’s a man to do? Wanting the sweet girl next door is just wrong. The responsible thing to do is keep his hands off.
Jaxi has other plans for Blake’s hands, and his heart. She may have once considered him a big brother, but that was a long time ago. She’s all grown up now and ready to convince him that she’s perfect for him. Except he can’t seem to see past the big “don’t touch” sign that’s apparently still hanging around her neck.
When Jaxi ends up living right under Blake’s nose, the undeniable heat between them slides off simmer and leaps up to barn-burning levels. However, a few of the younger six-pack Colemans have decided Jaxi’s brand of trouble is worth risking a few busted bones.
That is, if Blake’s finally ready to let go the reins and fight for what he wants…
Warning: Sexy cowboys seducing and being seduced in trucks, pool halls and barns. Droolworthy country charm, a little double-teaming, a few secrets and a whole lot of brothers to look forward to. Anyone wanna go for a ride?
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Rocky Mountain Heat
Copyright © by Vivian Arend
ISBN: –-
Edited by Anne Scott
Cover by Angela Waters
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First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: November
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