Skye Blue (Hell Yeah!) (4 page)

But when she framed his face, seeking his kiss, he realized she deserved more than to be taken on the floor. Hell, he’d never even asked her out on a date. Skye deserved to be wooed. With aching gentleness he immersed himself in her mouth, gentling her, taming her, slowing things down until they both were panting, breathless. “You’re right. We need to stop.” His cock was protesting his chivalry, vehemently.

Noah’s words were like a slosh of cold water. One second she was plastered to him from her lips to her thighs, and the next Skye wasn’t touching him anywhere. With a hand to his chest, she pushed back and turned away in one fluid movement. “Good.” He’d changed his mind. “Let me see if your jeans are dry.”

Without another word, she walked off and left him standing there.

She and Noah had no common ground. Over the last few months, she’d gotten to know the McCoy brothers and their women rather well. One couldn’t spend as much time with them as she had and not pick up on the family dynamics. Noah was famous for his strict interpretation of right and wrong. He tended to view the world only in the realm of black and white; he seldom picked up on shades of grey. In this man’s eyes family, reputation, their home and their legacy was paramount. Everything and everyone else was secondary. All the columns had to balance. There was no room for mistakes or lapses in judgment.

As far as Skye could tell, Noah didn’t believe in second chances.

In other words, if Noah knew the truth about her, he would get as far away from her as the east was to the west.

“Skye, come back!” Noah called.

“Just a second.” Folding his jeans and socks, she took a deep breath and put a smile on her face. If she knew what was good for her, she’d send Noah on his way and be out of central Texas as quickly as possible. Skye shook her head. She needed to make some decisions—and fast.

“Talk to me.” 

He’d followed her. “What’s to say? We stopped before we made a mistake.”

Noah turned her around and cut off her words with his lips. He kissed her hard and thoroughly. “I don’t know what you were thinking, but let me explain.” He took the clothes from her hands and threaded his fingers with hers.

He was so big and overpowering. She felt small and fragile, but not vulnerable as she had with her attackers. Noah made her feel safe.

“I think we ought to go out on a date before we...indulge.”

Her mind had been whirling so fast, she almost missed what he said. “You want to date me?” She repeated. “Why?

Noah closed his eyes, shaking his head. “God, you’re stubborn. Why does a man usually want to date a woman?”

“Well, I hesitate to say…” she began and he raised his eyebrows questioningly. She could have explained that she could count the real dates she’d been on with one hand and have three fingers left over. “Noah, I’d love to be your friend. I admire you. Having sex with you is extremely tempting.” At that, Noah grinned. “But dating and having a relationship, even just a casual one, is maybe taking it too far. I am not girlfriend material.” She crossed her arms and shook her finger at him. “You deserve a special woman who can be an asset to you.” She fussed at him like he’d forgotten the rules of his own game.

Noah didn’t know what to think. Nothing coming out of this woman’s mouth was making sense. “Who in the hell could be more special than you?” Yea, he could see the contradiction. Tell a man he can’t have something and that’s all he could think about.

Skye let him grasp her hands. She was making a mess of this. “Noah, I would love to spend time with you. But—”

Growl. The man actually growled. “Enough said.” He dipped his head and nipped her lip. “We can have a good time. We can fool around. That’s all I want. Just to spend time with you. No strings. Promise.” He held his hands up, palms out, as if he was surrendering.

“Let’s sleep on it and decide tomorrow.” Maybe by then, he would have come to his senses and maybe she’d be stronger. “In a few days, I have to leave anyway.”  

“What do you mean? Where are you going? I thought you were staying for a while.” 

“I need to do some soul searching, not only about my future, but about my life and my past…and my heritage.” He wouldn’t understand. If she didn’t ground herself now, Skye Blue would lose herself forever. 

“Where are you going to do this soul searching? And how long will you be gone?” Now that he’d tasted the sweetness of her kiss, Noah wanted more.

She looked away, unsure of his reaction. “Just a few days, and I won’t be far. I’m going just north of Fredericksburg. It will be sort of a vision quest. I want to reconnect with who I am.”

“Ah, a Native American thing.” He shook his head as if he understood.

“You don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, do you?” She smiled.

He laughed. “Nope, but I want to know.”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Noah! Are you in there?”

“What in the world?” Without hesitation, he stripped off the lounge pants and grabbed his jeans, and Skye got an eyeful.

“Oh my god,” she breathed. He was hung! She put a hand over her eyes.

Noah snorted, zipped his jeans, then cupped her nape, pulled her to him and kissed her soundly. “God, you’re cute. I hope you liked what you saw, ‘cause he sure as hell likes you.”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Noah!”

“Hell, it’s Joseph.” He took off for the front. Skye went with him.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“You don’t have to break the door down. I’m coming.” All Noah could think about was the night he’d awakened Zane in the exact same way. The night they’d received word Aron was missing. He dreaded to know what could have gone wrong now.

Noah opened the door.

Joseph McCoy stood there, one door on the jamb, a sly smile on his face. “Whatchadoin?”

Shit. “None of your damned business,” Noah growled, realizing that whatever was wrong wasn’t life-threatening. “What do you want?”

“Jacob took Jessie to the hospital. A new McCoy is on the way.”

CHAPTER TWO

Noah was so tired his ass was dragging. He walked next to the corral, wiping the sweat off his brow with his shirt sleeve. First thing this morning, he’d had a meeting with Lance, trying to decide the next step in Aron’s dream of making the ranch run on solar power. If they could install solar panels in strategic places, they could be programed to open gates, run stock tank pumps, irrigation—a myriad of uses. They’d made progress, but something was definitely up with Lance. His foreman was normally a happy-go-lucky guy and lately he was preoccupied and seemed sad. Noah hoped it had nothing to do with Skye.

Of course, they all had more work and more worry. The family just refused to give up. At least one of the brothers stayed on the road coordinating the search efforts with the PI, so they were short-handed at the ranch. Random tips kept coming in on Aron and while none of them had panned out yet, the family couldn’t ignore any of them. At the moment, Isaac was traveling with Roscoe, checking out a lead. Their search area had been extended and all means at their disposal were being used.

To top it off, Jacob was with Jessie in the hospital. Her water broke and they were trying to induce labor. The proud father-to-be was so nervous he made a pressure cooker look calm. The whole family was on pins and needles, waiting to hear about the baby.   

Noah fed the horses, put a part on the hay-baler, reattached a shoe on Shawnee and now he was about to see if he could find the leak in the line which fed the soaker hose around Libby’s roses. Every time he walked near the bed, it seemed like he was wading in mud.

Damn, it was hot. Peeling off his shirt, he laid it to one side and bent over to see if he could see any evidence of water bubbling up.

THUNK!

“What the hell?” Noah jumped, almost falling on his head. Something had hit him square in the ass! He straightened up and
THUNK!
Another shot to the rear! He was being attacked! What the hell? He picked up the offending weapon. Someone was shooting him with foam arrows. “Nathan!” 

Looking toward the barn, he expected to spy his brother. Instead, he saw someone else entirely. Skye was peeking around the barn and was about to let another one go. “Wanna play cowboys and Indians?” she asked with mischief in her voice.

THUNK!
This time he caught it. “Definitely. Are you on the warpath, Princess?”

“I’m tracking big game.”

Instantly, Noah was aroused. “Big is right.” He began walking toward her. She looked like a breath of fresh air. “I’ve missed you. Did you get my text this morning?” He’d spent the night at the hospital, but Skye had never left his mind.

“Yes, I did. And I’ve come to deliver my answer.” Skye walked up to him. The water droplets on his chest shone in the afternoon sun. The man was magnificent. Broad at the shoulder, narrow at the waist and completely lickable in between.

“What’s the verdict? Will you go out with me tonight?”

After several hours of intense self-examination and playing worst case scenarios through her head, Skye had decided to take a calculated risk. “Yes. I accept the gift of your company.” Skye placed a palm on each of his pecs, rose up on tiptoe and kissed him on the mouth. She was about to step back when he caught her to him, feasting on her mouth.

“Good. Go get ready. We’re heading to the Cattle Barron’s Ball.”

“Really?” Skye spun in a circle, a look of absolute excitement on her face. “Me? Are you sure?” She touched her chest.

“Absolutely.” With all of the things going on, the charity event had slipped their mind. But the McCoys were great supporters of cancer research, the reason for the ball. Not attending was not an option.

“I’ll have to curl my hair. Oh, and I know just the dress I’ll wear.” She grabbed his hands. “Do you think it’s okay I made it myself?”

Noah smiled. “You’ll be the most beautiful woman there, no matter what you wear.” She grabbed his face and kissed him hard. “Thank you! How’s Jessie? Do we have a baby yet?”

“No, not yet. I’ll call you when I hear something.”

“Thanks.” Gracing him with a bright smile, she took off. He watched her run away like a graceful gazelle. Spending an evening with Skye would be a pleasure. She’d been so excited, almost grateful. In some ways Miss Blue was an enigma. Returning to his task, he located the hole and repaired it, all the while thinking how wonderful it was going to be to dance with Skye in his arms.

“Noah! There’s a man here to see you.” Nathan came running up.

He pulled his shirt on. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know, but he didn’t want to talk to Joseph or anyone else, just you.” Nathan was sweating.

Noah smiled. “What have you been doing? You’re out of breath.”

Nathan looked sheepish. “I was working out.”

“Oh, really!”

“Yea, I’ve been lifting weights.”

“Any particular reason?” Noah wanted to give his brother a hard time, but he decided against it.

“For my health?”

Nathan looked so guilty Noah couldn’t hold back. “What’s her name?”

“Tina.”

“Good for you! If you need some pointers, I’ll be glad to help.”

They began to walk toward the house. “When’s the baby coming?” Nathan asked.

“Soon, hopefully,” Noah answered.

“Cady, Libby and Avery are over at the hospital now.”

“I’ll take you over tomorrow to see the baby.” He promised his brother. “Are you excited about being an uncle?”

“Yea, I am. I’m gonna teach him how to do all kinds of boy stuff.”

When they got closer, Noah could see a big dark-haired guy with a military hair-cut. He didn’t recognize him.

“Hey, I’m Noah McCoy. May I help you?” Noah patted Nathan on the shoulder, letting him know he could go on into the house.

“Yea, I’m Revel Lee Jones and I’d like to talk to you about a woman.”

***

“I’m going to be a laughing stock.” Skye gazed at herself in the mirror. What had she gotten herself into? She’d let her hunger to be normal override her better judgment.

“Nonsense. You’re going to be the belle of the ball.” Lance looked at his sister. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. Of course, she’d done a lot of growing up while they were apart. Before their reunion two years ago, he hadn’t seen her since she was twelve. Then to find out what she’d gone through, Lance had almost lost his mind.

“Hardly. Women will be wearing Versace, Dolce and Gabbana or Chanel. I’ll be there wearing—”

“You’ll be there wearing an original Skye Blue. One day that name will be whispered with awe on red carpets everywhere.”

Skye laughed. “Oh, yea. I can see that happening.” She turned sideways and studied the back of the silk column dress. She had designed it to fit through the hip. It was a simple cut, sleeveless with a scoop neckline and slightly cut-in shoulders. Metallic silver beads dripped from the neckline like fringed icicles. Tiny turquoise beads were scattered in with the silver, giving the impression of sleek meets sleet. Maybe she wouldn’t embarrass Noah.

“You need to have faith in yourself. Nothing that happened to you was your fault.”

Skye hugged her brother. “You know, having you come back in my life was the silver lining to my nightmare. I don’t know what I would have done without you. You saved me.” She and Lance had the same mother, a beautiful woman by the name of Janie Boyett. Lance’s dad was her mom’s first husband, Deke Rogers. Skye remembered all the happy stories Lance had shared about his childhood. They’d lived on a ranch north of Enchanted Rock called Shenandoah, which Deke had inherited from his family.

“Believe me, you did your own part in saving me.” He stared at the flames of the fire he’d built for her. The day was chilly. “Make sure you take a wrap. These hill country nights can turn cold quick.” As she scurried around, putting items in her purse, he let his mind wander to how they got to where they were. Shenandoah had made their family a decent living. But Deke had a weakness—gambling. For most of his father’s adult life, he’d been lucky. But the day he met a man named Slade Lambert, his luck changed. Over a series of weeks, playing Texas Hold’Em, Deke lost everything including the ranch to Lambert. The family had to move to a trailer park and his mom took a job waitressing to make ends meet. Deke couldn’t find work. He started drinking and ended up being killed in a car wreck. Between losing his home and his father, Lance had been bitter. He’d been twelve years old.

Skye looked at herself in a compact mirror as she applied lipstick. Putting make-up on was strange. She hadn’t bothered in Eddie Warrior. “I worshiped the ground you walked on Lance, you know that.”

“I never should have left you.” Lance patted the couch beside him. “If I’d stayed with you and Elijah, none of this would’ve happened.” 

At the mention of her father, her own memories surfaced. Elijah Blue had married Lance’s mother. He’d moved the woman and her son to Chickasha, Oklahoma to be near his relatives. Elijah was Choctaw. They were happy and as far as she knew, her dad was good to Lance. In a few years, she’d been born. Lance had loved her. She’d doubted a lot of things over the years, but never that. “Please don’t have regrets. I’m just grateful you’re my brother.”

“That’s right, I’m your brother. I’m your protector, but I let you down. And I let Mother down. If I’d been there, maybe she wouldn’t have died.”

Skye hugged Lance. “I miss her, too. But the doctors never said she could’ve been saved. That was Daddy’s damning himself.” Lance had blamed him, too. Her brother and her father had become estranged and she ended up paying for their hard feelings—over and over again.

“I realize that now,” Lance admitted. “If I’d had any idea you’d be treated the way you were, I would have kept you near me the whole time.”

“I’m near you now.”

“Yes, you are. And if I have my way, you’ll settle down near here. How about in the McCoy main house? I presume you like Noah McCoy or you wouldn’t be going out with him.”

Skye threw a sofa pillow at Lance. “Stop it. I’m going on a date, not setting a date.”

***

“What can I do for you, Mr. Jones?” The name Revel was ringing a bell in Noah’s memory. But he couldn’t place where he’d heard it. “Have we met?”

“No.” The serious faced man sat down where Noah directed. “I’m from over around Lafayette, Louisiana and I contacted your Sheriff a few weeks ago. He said he would pass along my request, although I’m not sure if he did. I’m looking for Harper Summers.”

The name hit Noah like a sledge hammer. Immediately, he went on the defensive. “If you’re one of those Doms who likes to dole out pain, you can just head back down the road the way you came.”

Jones stood, and when he did, he and Noah were looking at one another eye to eye. “I am not a Dom. Harper is important to me. I haven’t seen her in years, but I understand she’s in trouble and I can’t rest until I find her. Do you know where she is?”

Noah backed down. He sighed and finished buttoning his shirt. “No, sadly, I don’t.” He motioned for Revel to sit and asked, “Do you want some coffee?”

“I’ll drink a beer if you have one.”

“Now you’re talking.” Smiling, Noah went to the wet bar in the corner. They were in the McCoy man cave, their word for a den decorated in leather and stone with Aron’s bronzes on full display. A massive fireplace covered one wall and the furniture was big, well-built and comfortable.

“You dated Harper?”

It wasn’t hard for Noah to detect a note of jealousy in the man’s voice. “Yes, we dated. Harper changed during the time we knew one another. She became a girl I didn’t recognize. She got involved in a lifestyle I couldn’t condone.”

“I heard about what happened and I know about Ajax and your brother, Isaac.”

“Don’t use my brother’s name in the same sentence with that jerk, Ajax.” Noah handed Revel a beer, but he gave him a hard stare. “My brother is a good man.”

Revel popped the top. “I’m not judging anyone. BDSM is not my style either, but I love Harper. I’ve loved Harper forever. She’s always on my mind. And if I can help her, if I can pull her back from the brink, I’m going to do it.”

Respect for Jones grew in Noah’s mind. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. I wish only good things for Harper.”

“So, you have no clue as to where she went?”

“No, when Zane started putting together the case against Ajax, he could have used Harper’s testimony. She was nowhere to be found. Luckily, I could provide enough evidence to get him ten years behind bars.”

“Was there anywhere she ever mentioned, a particular place where she felt safe?” The concern on Revel’s face made Noah sad.

“Well, let me think.” He sat back and swigged his beer, racking his brain for anything that would help. “Her parents are supportive, but Harper hasn’t confided in them in a long time. You know?” Noah placed one booted heel on his knee. “You might check out Galveston. Harper loved the beach. Several times she would rent a cabin down there and just sit on the porch and watch the tide roll in.”

Revel rose. “Thanks a lot.” He shook Noah’s hand. “No hard feelings. No jealousy. Whatever Harper has done, I forgive her. Whoever she’s been with is in the past. I want to be what Harper wants until I can convince what she needs most is love. And me.”

“I hope you find her and I hope she’s happy.” Noah showed Revel out and watched him leave. In his heart, a door closed. Some of the guilt he felt about Harper eroded as he realized she wasn’t for him. Revel Lee Jones was Harper’s soul mate and he wished them well.

***

Noah knocked on the cabin door. He was driving one of the ranch cars, a dark brown Mercedes sedan. When Skye opened the door and he saw how beautiful she was, he was glad he’d thought about the car. Skye Blue deserved to go to the ball in style. A pick-up for a carriage would never do. “My God, you’re stunning.” And she was. He took her hand and twirled her around. “I can’t believe how beautiful you are.” Her dress was a vision, but the woman inside of it was a dream. She had braided silver beads into her hair and her eyes sparkled like diamonds. The make-up she wore was subtle with just a hint of sparkle over her eyes and on her lips. “I am one lucky man.”

“Please, Noah.” Skye blushed. “You look good yourself.” The western cut tux he wore was sharp and fit his body to perfection. Dressed in all black, Noah looked handsome, sexy and totally dangerous. A thrill shot through her and she felt goosebumps rise on her skin. “I’m so excited,” she confessed with a smile.

Lance walked up behind Skye. “You two be good now. Call me if you need me, Sis.” He teased.

“I’ll take care of her.” Noah promised him. He couldn’t deny she was a treasure worth protecting.

***

Glitz and glamor were pale words for what awaited Skye when they stepped off the elevator into the Grand Ballroom of the Driscoll Hotel. The whole room was awash in millionaires, waiters flitted around the room carrying trays of caviar and champagne. Elegant women danced with well-groomed men in western cut formal wear, all decked out in cowboy hats and boots. Tables, dressed in white linen, were laden with every kind of party food imaginable. A band played country music and as soon as Noah led her across the dance floor, a slightly inebriated gentleman tapped him on the shoulder. “May I cut in?”