Stony Creek Cowboy [Stony Creek] (Siren Publishing Classic) (27 page)

Troy then went out to the barn to feed the horses while Billie packed an overnight bag for her and Madison. She looked at her phone for the hundredth time. No messages from Jackson. She squeezed her eyes shut in a failing effort to stop the tears from falling. She just wanted to be in his arms. To be near him. Well, she had waited her whole life for him. She guessed she could wait a little longer to see him again. She had been strong and alone before in stressful times. She could do it again now. It’s just that she had gotten so used to Jackson’s commanding strength and take-charge personality. She could use it right now. She heard Troy downstairs playing with Madison and figured she had better go down.

“I have got some good news for you, Dr. Rothman. Mom just called me and told me Dad is home. Just a few more calves to drop and the big, stupid, ugly lug head will be home. I was told that I don’t even have to ride back out, so dry those eyes. Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”

Damn, these Powell men knew exactly how to get her. They should bottle their blood for other men to drink or something. Maddy didn’t stand a chance of avoiding falling for Troy!

Billie spent the next part of the day feeling weary in both body and soul. First she woke to screams coming from the room down the hall from hers and then followed by peals of masculine laughter. Billie, Lillian, and Bill all descended at 5:00 a.m. on Florence, who was in another guest room, to investigate the screams. Billie arrived last to see Bill crouched down on the floor, laughing so hard that there were tears coming out of eyes. Ignoring everyone and everything else going on, she knelt next to him in order to make sure he wasn’t having a heart attack or injured. Realizing he was just laughing hysterically, she stood quickly and took in the scene. Florence was yelling at Madison to get out of her bed and to stop kissing her. Lillian was trying to pull the two hundred pound dog off the bed to help her sister-in-law but was almost getting French kissed herself by a very affectionate Madison. Bill must have a warped sense of humor if he couldn’t stop laughing over this nonsense. What a crazy family! Who was she kidding? She loved them and wanted to be a part of it permanently.

Since she had gotten to work and explained to Julia what had happened the night before, she spent the day alternating between seeing patients and running across the street to see Zeus.

By the end of the workday, Lizzie had noticed all the coming and goings between the other women and naturally had to be a part of it. She burst into Maddy’s office and demanded to know what the heck was going on and why weren’t they including her. Billie and Maddy laughed as they told her the scary story of what had transpired the night before. Billie felt herself return the strong embrace from her friend as Lizzie realized that it wasn’t just fun and games that she had missed out on.

“I am so sorry that I wasn’t here last night to help you! You know you can stay at my place for as long as you need, Billie,” Lizzie offered. Billie was warmed with the support of her friend and surprised when she heard another offer from across the room.

“I know we don’t know each other for very long Billie, but I would be glad to offer you my company as well, for as long as you might need it,” Maddy volunteered softly.

“Thank you both so much. It means so much to me to have everyone’s support. Let’s just see how the day finishes out. Besides Lizzie, you did miss something interesting last night,” Billie said with a knowing smile.

“What? What did I miss? Tell me now!” Lizzie jumped to attention.

“Yes, what did she miss?” Maddy chimed in.

“Well, if I were to actually gossip, and I rarely do, then I would report that a certain Troy Powell was quite taken with a certain new veterinarian last night. No, not the proper description. Taken is too weak of a word. Perhaps, enthralled or attracted to or charmed or fascinated or…”

“We get the idea, Billie,” Maddy said with a flush. She didn’t look upset, though. On the contrary, she looked rather fascinated about the subject herself.

“I am just putting it out there that there was some serious window shopping going on by a certain Mr. Troy Powell last night,” Billie said smugly.

With a shake of her head, Maddy turned away slightly. “He must have just been flirting, though. He would never go for someone like me. He seems to like them, well, different from the sort of person I am, really.”

Lizzie looked at Maddy and offered, “Yeah, he ‘seems’ to like them dumb, stacked, and loud. Maybe he doesn’t want to ‘like’ you. Maybe it’s time for some love for Mr. Troy. That requires something different, and Maddy, you might be just what the Powell ordered!” She burst out laughing. It took the look of shock on Maddy’s face to have all three women practically in tears from laughing. Zeus joined in by wagging his tail, but when a mastiff that is lying down wags, it makes a racket like someone beating on a metal drum!

Just then, the sound of several diesel engines became audible. Maddy laughed as both Lizzie and Billie banged into each other in their effort to get to the front window to see if they were the trucks that they were interested in. The joy in their gasps was heard in the office as the Powell parade of ranch hands, relatives, and neighbors all rode into town in the beds of three duallies. Lizzie got to the door first quickly followed by Billie. She tried to calm her breathing down. She reminded herself that she was in public and Jackson may not appreciate her attacking him the moment she laid eyes on him after so long apart. She lost sight of Lizzie, who had broken out into a run to find the object of her interest. Billie felt her filmy dress swirl around her calves as she made her way through the crowd of people who were congratulating the Rugged Hill Ranch family as though they were conquering heroes. All of a sudden, time stood still, and just like in the movies, the people parted and she saw him. He stood about a half a block away in the middle of the street. Billie no longer heard the voices around her and didn’t see the flashing lights from Nat Winston’s patrol car controlling the traffic. She just heard her heartbeat as she locked gazes with a very hungry-looking man. She felt starved herself as she took him in visually. He looked tan and tired but had a predatory look on his face that made her begin to trickle juices from her feminine parts as if on command. He wore the heavy cable-knit fisherman’s sweater that she had bought him for the holidays. He stood out, not only because of his hulking height but also because he was the only man not wearing a cowboy pearl snap shirt and belt buckle. What he wore made him look like a man who wanted her to notice that he missed her. Boy, did she miss him.

With trembling knees she started for him first, willing her legs to continue to move forward. Her breathing hitched as she felt her heart pounding in her chest and her body begin to hum with arousal at the sight of his. Electric sensations started to bounce around her belly and groin from anticipation of what would happen when they reached each other. Jackson stood at the other end of Main Street like a gunfighter in an old west shoot-out.

Jackson almost couldn’t believe his eyes. She was here and looking so gorgeous it took his breath away. He had finally admitted to himself by the third week away from her that he loved her. Loved her desperately. He knew the other men wanted to kill him for his ill tempers that particular realization had caused him while they were up in the line shacks. He spent his days working himself to the bone, but she was always in his thoughts.

It was the nights that had been the worst kind of torture. No matter how exhausted he was, sleep was difficult in coming. Every night he lay on his bunk, the sounds of other men’s snores in his space, and there he was, hard as a rock and in pain. Every damn night. For her. He missed her laugh, her loving looks, her kisses, her cooking, and her cunt. He thought he would never make it. He felt frustrated that he had finally fallen in love, truly and desperately in love, and now couldn’t be with her.

Now, as he gazed at her hungrily, it felt like all his blood had rushed to his cock. He felt himself harden with such urgency that he almost bent over from its painful surge against his clothes. He needed her, right now. He began to walk toward the most amazing woman he had ever met. He knew then that he would never want another. His gaze never left her face as he took her in. The dark-red dress she wore ignited his already-heated body to boiling. It was a V-neck but showed only a delicate hint of cleavage. It was cinched at the waist with a wide, black belt and had a flowing skirt that fluttered in the breeze as she, too, walked toward him. He read her facial expression as a mixture of excitement, longing, and lust. It was his favorite cocktail. His body tightened with further hunger as he watched her abundant breasts bounce as she made her way to him. He felt consumed by a surge of possessiveness while taking in her raw sensuality. She is mine, he thought. Forever, she will be mine. The wind blew her skirts against her legs so much that he could see the outline of the firm thighs that he knew were coated in cream just for him. His mouth began to water but it was his heart that really held his attention. He stopped walking as he felt almost faint from the rush of emotion he felt at seeing her.

He just stood still and opened his arms wide for her to come to him. Billie didn’t need any other encouragement. Uncaring of who saw her or what anyone else thought, she gathered her skirts in her hand and took off in a run. The huge smile that appeared on his face warred with the obvious lust that he did nothing to hide. His huge erection was tenting his jeans and he evidently didn’t care who took notice of it other than her. She stopped right in front of him and let out a sigh of pleasure as the scent of his cologne swirled around her for the first time in almost seven weeks.

Jackson was the first to break the silence. “Baby.” He took one more step to her, laid his hands lightly on her shoulders, and leaned down to kiss her upturned lips gently. He felt as they both shuddered with the electricity that chaste kiss had rocketed between them. With no further preamble, Jackson bent and slipped one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, effectively swinging her high up into his arms. His lips again descended to hers but this time with much more determination. He swooped down to cover her mouth with his.

Billie felt like her blood had turned to liquid fire as his tongue swept into her dark recesses to taste and torture her. She felt him groan like a man in pain as he plundered her moist opening again and again. She felt like he was starving man and she was to be his meal. Billie returned his passion, readily mewling in her delight.

“Jackson, oh, Jackson. You are here, really here. I missed you so.” Billie ripped her mouth away to cry out against his.

Jackson, ignoring the hoots and catcalls as he made his way to Billie’s office, tightened his hold on her sumptuous body. He longed to throw her up against the wall of the sheriff’s office and sink into her warm, wet heat. Unfortunately, he also knew that Sly Mulligan would likely throw his ass in jail for daring to deface his office unless he, too, was a part of it.

Jackson continued making his way to her office while trying to disregard the feel of her breast that was pressed up against his chest or her soft lips that were torturing him by placing soft, feathery kisses up the side of his neck. He kept hearing her sigh after she took a deep breath. She had mentioned many times to him how his scent drove her wild at the same time making her feel comfortingly safe. It made her soft sighs that much more precious to him. He felt his cock pulse at the knowledge that she felt safe in his arms. He pitched a fit when he heard from Troy and his father what had happened last night. He would take care of it, later. Much later.

He leaned down as they got to the front door of the office and opened the door. Without pausing in his movements, he shut it again and heard the locks click. He turned the lights out as he made his way silently back to her private office and shut the door. Once inside, he just shut his eyes for a moment and nuzzled her neck affectionately. Since his eyes were shut, he felt rather than saw her clasp his face in her hands and pull his sensual mouth back down to hers.

He felt as she wound her slim arms around his neck and melted into the kiss. Jackson’s stomach jumped as her lips ran along the plump lower fold of his and caused him to hiss. He deepened the kiss momentarily by thrusting his tongue into her mouth, trying to devour her with his passion. He sat on the arm of her dark-brown leather couch, shifting to clasp at her buttocks. He had a look of rapture as he less than gently groped at her, wishing it were her naked skin.

Billie could sense his barely restrained arousal and decided to ignite it further. With an almost desperate intention, she ran her hands over his chest, reveling in the feel of his muscled strength. She shifted to stroke his arms, practically coming from the raw power she felt in his colossal biceps. It had her dripping from her pussy in such gushes that she was sure the back of her dress was soaked wet from it. As Jackson lifted his face from hers, she could see the dark carnality of his need. She was sure that he could smell her arousal from his position if not feel it as well. Billie felt swept away with waves of her own raw need for Jackson. Like a woman possessed, she felt herself pull the fabric of her skirts up her legs to bare her thighs to his heated gaze. She felt her body shiver with arousal as his hands roughly skimmed up and down her legs as though trying to brand her as his again, reacquainting them their softness and shape. She moaned at the sensations that his less than gentle handling evoked. She threw her head back in ecstasy as she felt him yank her skirts to her waist and her soft mound was bared to his gaze.