Roping Your Heart (22 page)

“I’d still like to come out Thanksgiving week if that’s all right with you,” he said. “I’ll stay in a hotel and work something out with you to take her out for the holiday.”

“That’s fine,” Sally said. “One last thing.” She sounded serious again. “Tell Cat thank you.”

He nodded. “I’ll do that.”

“I need to get to my AA meeting,” she said. “I’ll have Demi call you tonight.” Then Sally disconnected the call.

He lowered the phone and closed his eyes before giving a broad grin. He opened his eyes and whooped loud enough to startle a flock of birds that had been resting on a nearby fence rail.

Cat closed the short distance between them and he caught her up so that her thighs were around his hips, her arms around his neck. Her eyes sparkled and she looked nearly as happy as he was. He swung her around, grinning, and she laughed.

“My little girl is coming home,” he said and felt his eyes burn again. “She’s coming home.”

Chapter 25

Cat walked hand-in-hand with Blake from the stables in Montana, leaving the horses to be brushed down by the stable hands.

Blake squeezed her fingers as they walked by the lodge and in the direction of their cabin, and she looked up at him and returned his smile.

“This has been the best honeymoon.” She leaned into his arm. “Cat Hayden McBride. Has a great ring to it.”

“Yes, it does.” He caught her by the chin and tilted her face up and kissed her. “I have the most beautiful wife.”

“And I have the sexiest husband in the west.” She grinned. “Heck, the sexiest husband alive.”

He laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. She didn’t think she could ever get enough of being close to him. It was June, a little over a year after Cat had first run into Blake at the 4-H horse club meeting. School was out, and Demi was with her mother while Blake and Cat honeymooned.

“When you talked with Demi, she sounded like she’s having fun with her mom,” Cat said as they approached the cabin. “I think Sally has come a long way during the past seven months or so.”

“She has.” Blake gave a nod. “I feel a lot more comfortable now letting Demi stay with Sally for an extended period of time. Even though I still miss my daughter.”

“I think she’s really enjoying going to the horse races with her mother and stepfather.” Cat swung hands with Blake. “Pretty cool that Sally’s husband has friends who have racehorses and that he likes to go to the races.”

“Demi certainly loved the Kentucky Derby,” Blake said with a nod. “Gives her something in common with her mom now.”

“She has rodeo with you and horse races with Sally.” Cat smiled. “I guess she has the best of both worlds.”

“Mrs. Belleview seems to think your granny is doing well these days.” Blake squeezed Cat’s hand.

She nodded. “Grandma Hayden is pretty amazing, the way she’s pulled through it all. She’s so tough, nothing can keep her down.”

They reached the cabin and Blake opened the door. He caught Cat off guard as he swept her up in his arms and she giggled as they walked through the door and he kicked it shut behind him.

It was called a cabin but it was pretty amazing with its huge vaulted ceilings, skylights, hot tub, and so much more. They would have been happy to spend their honeymoon together in a bare one-room cabin, but this had been a fun place.

Still carrying her in his arms, he headed up the stairs to the huge loft with the massive bed beneath the skylights. When he reached the bed she squealed with laughter when he tossed her onto the middle of the mattress.

He grabbed something from his duffel bag that was in the closet and then he eased onto the bed. She saw what it was as he straddled her.

“Rope?” she said as she grinned up at him.

He grasped her wrists and pulled her arms over her head. “I promised you that I’d tie you up. I need to show you that you’re mine.”

She laughed as he tied her wrists to a wooden rail of the headboard. “I’m already yours.”

“Just making sure that you know it.” He unbuttoned her blouse as she squirmed beneath him. Full sunlight shone through the skylights and she looked up at his hard but handsome face.

When her blouse was unbuttoned, he pulled her red bra beneath her breasts and her nipples tightened. He brushed them with the back of his hand and she bit the inside of her lip and arched her back, wanting him to do more than just touch her.

“You want more?” He dipped his head and sucked on one of her nipples.

She moaned. “Lots. And lots.”

With a low laugh he said, “That’s what I have in mind for you.”

He eased down her body until he reached the foot of the bed, then grasped one of her boots and tugged it off. He removed her other boot, then pulled off each of her socks.

“Now that I can have my way with you, what should I do?” he murmured just before he tickled the bottoms of her feet.

She wriggled, giggling. “Noooo. Not that.”

He grinned and tickled her more, causing her to laugh so hard she could barely breathe. She begged him to stop once again and he moved back up her body and braced his hands on either side of her as he looked down at her.

“Will you behave?” he said, still grinning.

She nodded vigorously as she tried to stop laughing. “I promise.”

He reached for the button of her jeans and unbuttoned them before drawing down her zipper. That calmed her laughter as she met his gaze and saw the smoldering look in his eyes. He adjusted himself so that he could strip off her jeans.

When she was left in her red panties, he ran his finger along the waistband. “You know how I love it when you wear red.”

She nodded. “I wear that color just for you.”

He stripped off her panties and now all she wore was the open shirt with her bra beneath her bared breasts and her arms tied over her head. As he watched her with a look of intense hunger, he stood and shucked off his boots and his clothing.

Her mouth watered and her body ached for him as she studied his incredible form and his erect cock that was hard just for her.

He moved between her thighs and braced himself over her again. His expression grew more serious. “I love you, Mrs. McBride.”

She thought she’d melt from the way he was looking at her. He untied her wrists and she looped her arms around his neck and smiled. “I love you, Mr. McBride.”

He slid inside her then, causing her to gasp with pleasure. Slowly he moved in and out and she rose up to meet his every thrust.

Feelings of love swirled with the sensations whirling within her body, so intense she could barely focus on his strong features.

“Come with me, KitCat,” he said. “Now.”

She cried out as she climaxed and he shouted and shuddered with his own pleasure.

When he could control his breathing, he wrapped her in his arms and adjusted her so that he was on his back, her head on his chest.

“We have a lot of time to make up for,” he said as he held her.

She smiled. “We certainly do.”

# # #

Also by Cheyenne McCray

“Riding Tall” Series

Branded For You

Roping Your Heart

“Rough and Ready” Series

Silk andSpurs

Lace and Lassos

Champagne and Chaps

Satin and Saddles

Roses and Rodeo

Lingerie and Lariats

Lipstick and Leather

“Altered States” Series

Dark Seduction

“Dark Enforcers” Series

Night’s Captive

Lexi Steele Novels

The First Sin

The Second Betrayal

The Temptation

From St. Martin’s Press:

“Night Tracker” Series

Demons Not Included

No Werewolves Allowed

Vampires Not Invited

Zombies Sold Separately

Vampires Dead Ahead

“Magic” Series

Forbidden Magic

Seduced by Magic

Wicked Magic

Shadow Magic

Dark Magic

Single Title

Moving Target

Chosen Prey

Anthologies

No Rest for the Witches

Real Men Last All Night

Legally Hot

Chicks Kick Butt

Hotter than Hell

Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romances

Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romances

Excerpt…
Branded for You

Cheyenne McCray

The afternoon was cooling off as it turned to dusk and then darkness descended on them. They each grabbed a light sweat jacket from the camper and slipped them on.

Ryan took a couple of steaks out of the cooler to cook over the fire. Megan sliced the potatoes and wrapped them in foil with butter and seasonings and put them in the coals first. Ryan buttered, salted, and peppered the corn on the cob and wrapped them in foil, too. When it was time, they placed the corn along the edge of the fire. Ryan had cored out the onion and put butter in the center and wrapped it in foil and put it in the coals, as well. The steaks went on last, when everything else was just about finished cooking.

When it was ready, they sat on the camping chairs in front of the fire and ate dinner.

“This is unbelievable,” Megan said with a smile.

Firelight flickered on her pretty features, casting shadows in the darkness as they ate. He thought about what he’d said to her earlier.

“I might be falling for you, Meg.”

He didn’t regret his words. He’d dated a lot of women in the past but there’d just been something missing. Something intangible that he hadn’t been able to name.

He’d never been a love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy, but some thought so. He just wasn’t going to hang in there with someone if he knew she wasn’t the right one.

He’d never felt the same way with anyone that he did with Megan.

Last night he’d taken her hard and rough, and the memory caused his groin to ache. Damn she’d been amazing. But she needed to know that he wanted more from her than a night of good, hard sex.

When they finished dinner and had cleaned up, he brought a blanket from the camper and handed it to her before he put out the fire. After he extinguished the fire, he lit a candle within a glass and metal hurricane lantern.

He took her by the hand. “I’ve got something I want to show you.” Her hand was warm in his.

She smiled up at him, her smile causing something deep inside him to stir. He led her into the forest, candlelight from the hurricane lantern lighting the way. The candlelight was much gentler than a regular camping lantern and the shadows from it bounced from tree to tree.

“I saw a place somewhere over here,” he murmured as they walked through the forest then came to a stop. “Here we go.”

A small clearing lay on the other side of a fallen tree, a bed of leaves at the center of the clearing. They stepped over the tree and then he found a sturdy place to set the hurricane before taking the blanket from Megan and spreading it out on the leaves.

He slipped out of his jacket and set it on the fallen tree. “I’ll keep you warm,” he said as he held out his hand.

She looked up at him, slid off her sweat jacket, handed it to him and he set it on top of his own.

He sat on the blanket and beckoned to her. She eased onto her knees beside him and he cupped her face in his hands and lowered his head and kissed her.

Her kiss was sweet and his desire for her kicked into full gear. He wanted to take her hard again, right now. But more importantly, he wanted to show her that it wasn’t only about rough sex with him. It was all about her.

When he drew away from the kiss, her lips were parted, hunger in her pretty green eyes.

“You’re an incredible woman.” He brushed his thumb over her lips, which trembled beneath his touch. “I’ve loved every minute of this weekend.”

“So have I,” she said, her voice just above a whisper. “I wish it didn’t have to end.”