Ropin' Hearts: The Boot Knockers Ranch, Book 4 (10 page)

“How much of a fortune?” He wanted to keep her talking, amused by her stories.

She grinned, revealing straight white teeth. “As much as a good horse at auction.”

“Sheesh. I’d rather have the horse.” He slapped her ass, and she jerked against him. They struggled for a minute until she leaned in and lightly bit his lower lip, reminding him of the sore spot she’d left him with the other night.

How had they ended up in his bunk? Hell, she shouldn’t be here at all. Yet he couldn’t turn her away now. He caressed the curve of her ass, staring into her eyes. “Are you okay after what we did?”

She understood his meaning, goose bumps breaking out on her arms. “Yes.”

“Good. Now cuddle up to me while I recover. Because we have a lot of hours between now and dawn.”

She hooked her leg around his middle, her pussy damp against his skin. “Are you up for an all-nighter? Because I don’t think you’ve got the stamina.”

“Baby girl, I’m going to make you pay for saying that.”

He thought that was exactly why she had.

Chapter Eight

Bree couldn’t get the saddle on Royal fast enough. The horse danced in place, as eager as her rider. “I’ve almost got it,” she said to the horse, then leaned forward and planted a kiss on its side.

She’d been lax in her nightly trick-riding practice, and while she had no intention of competing again, she missed it.

“There.” She tightened the last strap and grabbed the pommel. Royal knew just what to do. She took off in a slow trot, and Bree ran alongside—one of the first tricks she’d learned—for ten steps, twenty, before vaulting into the saddle.

From the nearby paddock where a ranch hand worked with other horses, a cheer rose. Bree stood in the saddle and waved just as she would in the arena. He waved back, teeth white in his very tan face.

Royal got up to speed, and Bree relished the breeze. Since she’d left Ty’s bed, she’d felt too hot. Not to mention too aware of the small pleasant aches from his lovemaking. His marks on her.

She had beard burn between her breasts after he’d worshipped them for half an hour. Her thigh muscle was strained from him placing it on his shoulder while sinking into her with maddening slowness. Not to mention the feel of him in her backside.

For a moment Bree lost her focus and let Royal gallop around the field.

What’s wrong with me? It’s just sex.

Then why was every other thought about Ty?

She’d replayed several moments on loop in her head, and strangely none of those involved the throes of ecstasy. She kept thinking about the in-betweens—his stories about his brothers or college.

Their discussion about ranching had really stimulated her, strangely enough. They’d compared notes on stock and the inner workings of a ranch. She’d finally trailed off, staring at the ceiling of the bunkhouse.

“What are you thinking?” Ty had leaned over her.

“I’m surprised at myself. I’ve never been too involved in the ranching. Daddy handles everything. I’m just a…” What was she? She belonged there, yes, but she didn’t have anything she did well. She sort of drifted, finding busy work to occupy her time.

“Just a gorgeous woman with a lot of talent in bed?” Ty’s drawl lured her from her thoughts.

She flashed him a grin. “Am I those things?”

“You’re fishin’ for compliments now, baby girl. Roll over so I can experience that talent.” Once he had her where he wanted her, he placed his mouth to her ear. “You’re a lot of things, Bree.”

“Like what?” She shivered.

“Smart-mouthed.”

She giggled, flexing her wrist in the grip of his fingers as he pinned her to the mattress.

“Funny.”

Her giggle relaxed into a big smile.

“Sweet.” He nuzzled her neck, and gooseflesh coated her every inch. “Daring. Too damn intelligent to get hooked up with some stupid ranch hand.”

She stilled. “Why would I do that? I don’t want to settle down with anybody.”

He nipped her ear. “Good.” He’d blown her mind after that, taking her to brand-new heights. But it was the conversation foreplay that stuck in her mind.

Did he really believe she was all those things?

She maneuvered herself in the saddle and did a forward bender, hanging off Royal, one knee bent. They looped. She thought some more.

When she flipped into the saddle again, she felt even less calm than she had before setting out to ride. Ty had knocked her off-balance. In giving her amazing pleasure he’d dug deep into her psyche.

She hung over the side of Royal again in a suicide drag, her hair and knuckles skimming the ground dangerously close to her horse’s hooves. She’d once seen a rider do this trick and have a huge chunk of her hair ripped out. She’d come off her horse bleeding and clutching her head.

Bree had run her to the medics and seen her into the ambulance. The girl had lost some scalp and needed a skin graft. As far as Bree knew, she had a normal patch of hair growing there now.

Hoisting herself upright, she skimmed her fingers under her hair, over the velvety spot she kept shaved. Not in honor of that old friend but her mother.

Tears smarted in her eyes, but she stared at the horizon and willed them away. She’d done enough grieving. Sure, she missed her mom but she rarely dwelled on her loss. Everyone had a sob story, after all.

She whipped through several more tricks until her muscles were warm and tingly from exertion. When she stood in the saddle for her final gallop, the ranch hands cheered. Usually she ignored them, but this evening she waved and smiled.

Heart full, she returned Royal to her stall and brushed her.

Her father poked his head around the stall. “You get those chickens fed yet, Bree?” His brows were drawn together, punctuating his displeasure. Irritation engulfed her.

Shooing him away, she went back to brushing.

He blocked the entrance, hands on hips, taking up the whole space. “Bree, if you aren’t pulling your weight on the ranch, you’re going to have to return to waitressing.”

God, she hated waitressing. Schlepping around with trays of food people complained wasn’t right, and when she got mouthy in return she got nothing for a tip but a reprimand from her boss.

With a sigh she looked at her father. “I’m not waiting tables when I have a father who owns a ranch.”

Immediately, she checked herself, almost looking around for Ty, expecting him to jump out and punish her for sassing. Sassing her father, no less. She met Daddy’s gaze.

Swallowing hard, she said, “I’ll go right now.”

As she fed the chickens and gathered eggs, she couldn’t help but wonder what Ty would have done to her if he’d witnessed the exchange with her father. A bead of perspiration rolled down her neck and into her collar.

Smart-mouthed.
When she sassed Ty, his eyes blazed. While he wore that look, she’d come to expect mind-spinning torment followed by dizzying delights. In a short time together, they’d fallen into a rhythm that excited her beyond belief.

But her father only got mad. Why
didn’t
she just do her chores in a timely manner? She wasn’t lazy. She just didn’t like being told what to do.

Unless Ty’s giving the orders.

Inside she washed and changed in time to sit down at the long table with all the ranch hands and her father. Cook struggled into the room, balancing a heavy tray with each hand.

“Let me help you.” Bree jumped up and took one of the trays. Cook smiled at her, face creasing in wrinkles. Bree moved around the table, dispensing baked beans and baskets of rolls.

As she neared the head of the table, her father cocked a brow at her. Not in question but in confusion.

Bree dropped him a wink and spun off to her seat. Once she plopped down between two burly men, she chanced a look at her father. He was still staring at her, a strange expression on his face.

She reached into the nearest basket and gripped a roll. “Think fast!” She tossed it right at her father’s chest.

His big hand snagged it from the air, and they shared a smile. The strain between them vanished.

After dinner, Bree sprawled on her bed with her phone. She hadn’t yet texted Ty, but he’d added his contact to her phone for a reason, right?

Heart thumping, she shot him a simple
hi
.

He responded instantly.
Hey, baby girl.

Liquid heat pooled low in her belly. Too easily she heard his deep voice rumbling those words that lit her on fire every time.

I’m going to sneak onto the ranch tonight.
She held her breath, bursting with mirth at the idea she was now telling him her intentions rather than just rolling under the fence and popping up someplace she didn’t belong.

No.

Yes.

Bree, I have something to do tonight. I can’t see you.

Her stomach plummeted to her bare toes. She gazed at the screen, twisting her lips. She didn’t like thinking of Ty doing his job. In the beginning, knowledge of the Boot Knockers’ duties sent a thrill through her. But after two nights in Ty’s arms, the idea of him with another woman was a green ribbon of unease that tied her up in knots.

She pushed out a breath, thumbs poised over the keys.
There are plenty of other guys on the ranch.

Like hell. No. Stay put.

Damn, she even liked him ordering her around via text. While part of her wanted to tempt him into saying he’d spank her for misbehaving, a deeper part wanted to please him.

Besides, he wouldn’t just tell her to stay away if he really could spend time with her. She pictured him in bed with another woman and made a face.

I’m coming.

If I find you on this ranch, you’re not going to like what happens.

No?

Try me and see. And don’t you dare get off until you’re with me.

She flopped onto her back, holding her phone above her face, burning. Maybe she should just call him.

I’ll text you later.

Damn, was he brushing her off?

At the risk of sounding like a prying girlfriend, she thumbed,
What’s going on?

Fight. Gotta go.

For several long minutes she waited for more, but nothing came. A fight? Was Ty in the middle of it? She recalled him and the other Boot Knocker rolling in the mud, hard bodies slicked as they tried to hurt each other—because of her. Then Ty and the Dom in the auditorium…

If that was happening again, she needed to be there.

She sat up and swung her legs off the bed. But before she sank her toes into her plush carpet, she thought better of it. If Ty found her on the ranch, he really might be displeased enough to block her out. Not only keep her off the ranch but out of his bed.

Easing back to the bed, she ran her hands up and down her torso, then over her breasts that Ty didn’t find lacking at all. Her nipples pebbled at the light touch, but she wasn’t thinking of Ty’s hands on her skin.

She was replaying the conversation about the good he saw in her, one more time.

Bree crowded closer to Ty, enveloped by his warmth. The wool blanket beneath them prickled her bare arms. “Is this a horse blanket? It’s scratchy.”

“Yeah, but a clean one. A cowgirl like you oughta be used to rough things.” His voice was amused.

She skimmed a finger down his shirt buttons, all the way to his belt buckle. His abs seemed to ripple beneath her touch. “I like it rough.” Did her blush sound in her voice? Crap, it did.

Ty squeezed her waist. Then in one swift move, he rolled her atop him, settling her against his every hard inch. She throbbed from his nearness—and her deprivation. She hadn’t gotten off in two days, just as he’d commanded. A thrill went through her.

As she looked down into his face, her breath caught. Had she once thought he looked too boyish for her? His rugged, chiseled features were anything but boyish. And he hadn’t shaved, which lent him the dangerous air she needed.

She brushed her fingers over his jaw. The rasping noise seemed to reach deep inside her and pluck chords she’d never heard before. “I love your five o’clock shadow.”

“I know.” His hard mouth quirked up at the corner.

She fought a shiver. “How do you know?”

“Because of your response when I rub it over you.” His slowly drawled words lit her fires.

She pressed her aching breasts against his hard chest. “Why haven’t you touched me tonight?”

“Looking at the stars isn’t enough?”

She wriggled. “Maybe for someone who’s had release in the past two days.” It upset her to think of what Ty had done without her this week. She burrowed her nose against his cotton shirt and inhaled his spicy scent. Really, when had she become such a drippy female? She’d always prided herself on boldness and fearlessness. Her resistance to attachment had been part of the package, and she wasn’t losing who she was because her stupid brain told her to be jealous.

He looked past her at the heavens above. The night sky swirled with stars and clouds and shadows on the moon. Yeah, it was beautiful, but more interesting than she was?

She jerked her knee, jabbing Ty’s inner thigh.

He growled. “Don’t try that again.”

Lowering her head, she sank her teeth into the center of his pec, right over his nipple. He didn’t flick an eyelash.

Pissed, she rolled back onto the itchy horse blanket, glaring at the sky.

A shadow covered her as he leaned over, but two could play his game. She didn’t look at him.

“Pouting won’t get you what you want.”

“Neither does being nice.”

“Aww. Were you being nice, baby girl?”

Her gaze flashed to his, and she set her jaw.

“I know this hot, little body needs release. I see your nipples poking your shirt and smell your arousal from under this miniskirt.”

His voice sent scorching spikes of need through her. She breathed shallowly, turned on beyond belief by his words.

He continued, holding her gaze, evoking memories of his length buried deep in her core. She fisted the blanket.

“You need me.”

She couldn’t speak.

“Say it.”

Whatever mind game he played teased her into a frenzy. “Yesss.”

He didn’t lay a finger on her, yet she felt the lick of his gaze and remembered his tongue in other places. “You’re throbbing for me right now, aren’t you?”

She whimpered; the burn tripled between her thighs.

“Remember whom you’re throbbing for. Whom you’ve thought about for two days.”

Irritation washed over her, and she found her voice. “Why do you want me to only think of you? There are plenty of Boot Knockers who want me.”

If he was angered, he didn’t show it. His eyes remained calm, binding her up inside. “That’s true. Anyone would want you, but you’ll only be thinking of me and what I do for you.”

She grunted. “Anyone can make me come.”

“Yes, but can they make you quiver like I am right this second?”

It was true—she quaked with need and excitement. His very voice aroused her.

“What if I tell you that I want you to fuck another man?”

Shock ripped through her. She pushed back onto her elbows then into a sitting position. He remained where he was, lounging on one side, a smile playing around his lips. “What are you talking about?”