Authors: Debbie Gordon
“More than ok” she whispered. He paused for a moment allowing her to adjust to him. She writhed beneath him, her body begging his to move. He pulled back and entered her again. She angled her hip upward, allowing him to go even deeper. She arched her back and moaned in sheer pleasure. He began to move faster with sure, hard stokes. God, she felt damn good, he closed his eyes and threw his head back savouring the feeling of her tight sheath engulfing his length completely. He felt like he had just entered the gates of heaven.
Suddenly, in one swift movement, Devon rolled them over bringing her on top of him. She gasped startled at the unexpected switch. Straddling him more tightly she looked down at him and smiled, remembering her best friend’s words
“ride that cowboy”.
She bent forward and gave him a quick heated kiss. She placed her hands firmly on his chest and began to move. She moaned and threw her head back, revelling in the control. She rode him faster and faster, bringing herself closer and closer to the edge.
Gripping her hips he groaned “that’s right baby, he ride me harder” he said threw gritted teeth. He gazed up at her; it was a beautiful sight; her head thrown back, lips parted and breasts bouncing sexily. She rode him until she reached the pinnacle of ecstasy, slipping over the edge. Her muscles contracted around him bringing him with her over the edge. Mary Lou collapsed on top of him, trying to catch her breath.
“That was mind-blowing”, Devon said after he had caught his breath. Mary Lou nodded in agreement, unable to utter a word.
He adjusted her in his arms so that she was nestled at his side, in the crook of his arms. Mary Lou interrupted the silence, “I just had sex with you, in a tent, after only knowing you for one day, Devon. What you must think of me” she said jokingly. “I have never done anything like this before; I’m not too experienced in the sex department.”
Devon laughed “I hope you aren’t having any regrets, because I sure as hell don’t. Not experienced? A sexy woman like you must have had a few boyfriends.”
“Would you believe me if I told you that in all my twenty-six years, I have only ever had one boyfriend?” she asked. “That sounds pathetic huh? It didn’t last long and ended badly. It was horrible actually.
“I’m sorry to hear that, the guy must be a complete idiot” Devon said “I’m a bit surprised though. You’ve only has one boyfriend?”
“I’ve always been an introvert, with zero confidence” she admitted “and not very outgoing so I was never in the position to meet anyone; and the one guy that I got involved with treated me like crap. So I kind of lost interest in having any kind of relationship with a man. I’m pretty much just a lonely, boring accountant. She sighed, “Oh, no I’m babbling on about my pathetic life, I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize darlin’, I want to know everything about you” he replied.
She looked him and smiled, “So what about you Devin? A fine specimen of a man like you must have the ladies have women falling all over themselves to get to you.”
He shrugged “Most women, upon finding out who I am are only interested in my money, so I’ve ever really had any lasting relationships worth mentioning. I’m ashamed to say, I only have a string of one night stands.” He gazed at her, gauging her reaction.
Mary Lou tilted her head and studied him, “Hmm, forget your money Devon Cooper, you are damn good-lookin’ cowboy” she said attempting a western drawl. A shocked expression crossed his face quickly replaced by amusement, he roared out hearty laugh. “You are delightful, Mary.” He drew her to him, still smiling. She fell asleep, her head resting on his chest but remained awake and alert, keeping watch.
The next morning Mary Lou’s eyes fluttered open, she stretched leisurely feeling deliciously sore. She forgot momentarily where she was, and then everything came rushing back. Holy crap she was laying in a tent, out in the middle of nowhere where she’d had steamy, wild sex with a sexy cowboy.
Who was she?
She realized that she was in the tent alone. Where was Devin? She quickly got dressed and stepped out of the tent. She spotted Devin pacing back and forth, rubbing his jaw in agitation. As she moved to closer to him, she could hear him muttering something about a horse being shot and the other stolen. He didn’t see or hear her coming and was startled when she asked “What about a horse being shot?”
He whipped around, “Mary, I didn’t know you had woken up” he gave her a tender look that caused her heart to flutter.
She smiled up at him “Good morning. Are you ok? You seem upset. I heard you say something a horses being shot and stolen. What’s going on Devin?” She looked around noticing their horses were nowhere in sight. “You haven’t found the horse?” she asked with growing concern.
His eyes darkened, “I found one.” She looked him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. He didn’t want to alarm her with news of what he had found; but she had her arms folded, foot tapping, giving him a look that said if he knew what was good for him, he’d better spill. He sighed and reluctantly continued, “I found Lucy, but she’s been shot.”
Mary Lou’s eyes widened “Oh my God is she...dead?” She asked, eyes welling up with tears when he nodded. “Who would do such a thing? “Where’s the other horse.”
“Stolen” Devin answered grimly.
“How do you know?”
“I thought they had somehow gotten loose but when I examined the scene, the rope was still tied to the tree. Someone cut it. I found Lucy’s corpse some distance away from here, whoever cut the ropes, must have shot her after finding out that she was injured and was of no use.”
Mary clutched her chest “My God, Devin that means we could be in danger if whoever it was comes back.”
“I haven’t seen anyone, whoever it is must be long gone by now”, he assured her. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but kept it to himself, there was no need to alarm Mary Lou any further. Besides he didn’t want to waste any more time talking about it, they had a quite a journey ahead of them. “I still have no cell reception. Looks like we’ll be walking back to the ranch”, he announced.
Mary Lou groaned and muttered
“Great.”
She turned to go back to the tent to retrieve the blanket, flashlight and basket, but before she had a chance to walk off, Devin grabbed her arm and whipped her around toward him. He caught her startled gasp with his mouth as his lips crushed hers in a brief, fierce kiss. He lifted his head and amusement in his expression, “That
had
to be done; now we can go.”
She rolled her eyes playfully and sauntered off, yelping as he swatted her on the ass.
They walked for what felt like forever. The morning sun burned making it feel like they were trapped in an inferno. Mary wiped at the sweat running down her face. She tugged at her clothes, wondering if she could rip them off and walk naked, it’s not like anyone, except Devin would see her anyway.
Where’s the subway or a freaking taxi when you need one
she thought.
Devin could hear Mary’s breath coming out in short puffs. He glanced at her and immediately decided that they need to stop and rest. She was damn near hyperventilating, he felt guilty for pushing her too hard. He should have kept in mind that she probably didn’t do much walking in the big city, with their trains and buses everywhere you looked. “Let’s stop for a minute” he insisted when they reached a shaded area beneath a tree. Taking out the last bottle of water left in the picnic basket he handed it to her. She gratefully accepted, taking a few big gulps then offered him some. He shook his head in refusal “I’m fine.”
Mary Lou leaned against the tree and took a deep breath, letting it out loudly. “Wow! I won’t need to exercise again as long as I live after this workout, honey!” Devin smiled in amusement at her exaggeration.
She straightened and shot him a serious look. “Devin, I’m still thinking about what happened to the horses. It just seems so... fishy.”
“I know darlin’, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. We just need to focus on getting back to the ranch” he said. “Why don’t you just concentrate on the beauty around us and try to forget about what happened this morning. I’ll get someone to investigate later.”
She nodded “Yea, ok.” Devin was right there was nothing they could do about it now. She took his advice stepped out from under the tree, she need to take all that nature has to offer out here in the country, because she would be leaving it behind in a few days. The thought of leaving almost stopped her breath, or rather the thought of leaving Devin. Oh no, she had gotten way too attached in the short span of time they had been together. Hell, she thinks she was falling in love him. What was she going to do when she had to leave on Saturday? She put that thought out of her mind for the time being as she peered over the vast territory, they were now standing on a hill like area, so she had the advantage of viewing a wider range. She noticed movement out on what looked like a ridge. She squinted, shading her eyes with her hands to block the glare of the sun. She turned to Devin who was still sitting beneath the tree, “Hey I didn’t know you had activities other than the guest ranch going on your land” she called.
Devin looked up in confusion, “I don’t.”
“Then what are those men doing down there?” she asked pointing down the hill.
Devin made his way to her side and followed her gaze. “See? It looks like they’re working on something to me” she said. There were about seven men, moving about in a flurry of activity.
“That’s strange; no one is supposed to be working on anything out here without me knowing about it.” They stood watching the men for a few minutes trying to figure out what they were doing down there. Just then Devin realized that one of the men had stopped moving, he appeared to be looking up the hill directly at him and Mary Lou. He pointed up at them and must have said something to the others because they all stopped to look in two’s direction. Devin pulled Mary Lou out of sight, back under the shade of the tree. He instinctively knew that something was not right about the men’s activities. He was even more concerned that they had been seen. If those were the culprit s responsible for stealing his horse and shooting the other, they were potentially dangerous. As soon as they got back to the ranch, he would call the authorities. He grabbed Mary Lou’s hand “Come on, time to get moving.”
She had to run to keep up with him, “Hey slow down, will you. Is something wrong? Are you worried about what we just saw?” She gasped “Are they doing something illegal?”
He slowed down to a more accommodating pace, he gazed over at her “My my, you are just full of questions, aren’t you?” He shook his head “To be honest, I don’t know what the hell those men were doing Mary, but I don’t think it was anything good or legal for that matter. Devin hoped he could get to the bottom of the whole and take care of it speedily. The Guest ranch was set to open in four more days and he didn’t want anything or anyone jeopardizing the success of the newest ranch. He and Abe had worked too hard on the project and he was determined that nothing would mar his father’s legacy.
The couple walked on in silence, not bothering to make anymore stops. When they reach the point where the cabins of the guest ranch could be seen relief washed over them both. It had seemed like their journey would never end. Mary’s entire body ached and she was sure she smelled awful. She just wanted to shower, fall into bed and stay there until it was time for her to go back to Detroit; and she wouldn’t mind if Devin wanted to join her.
Chapter six
Devin and Mary Lou entered the ranch from the back. Mary wanted to drop to her knees ground and kiss. They were only stranded in the middle of nowhere for one night, but to Mary it felt like days. “Thank God we made it back” Mary Lou sighed. “I am heading straight for a shower “she announced.
“Ok, go and shower, I’m going to see if any of the employees are here as yet, and make some enquiries about the men we saw out in the fields earlier.
“Ok” Mary Lou said, disappointed that he would not be joining her.
Mary Lou had washed off the dirt and sweat from her body in the standing shower before she sank down in to the luxurious bath tub. She turned on the body massaging jets and laid back. It felt like heaven, the warm water soaked her aching limbs. Unaware that she was slowly drifting off, she awoke with a start when she heard Devin’s voice.
“It seems you have the dangerous habit of falling asleep in filled bath tubs and leaving your doors open” he said disapprovingly, leaning against the door frame, studying her with folded arms.
“I didn’t realize I was drifting off, and I left the door open so you could come in, in case I was still in the bathroom” she defended.
“Ok. Come on time to get out of there, you need to eat little lady.”
She stood up in the tub, water running down her sleek body. “Hand me a towel please?” She asked looking his way.
She heard Devin’s sharp intake of breath as his eyes swept the length of her body, before he moved to pick up a towel.”Thank you”, she said sweetly, knowing full well the effect she was having on him but couldn’t help tantalizing him. She ducked her head to hide the small smile that formed on her lips. When she entered the bedroom, she spotted a tray perched on the night stand, with sandwiches and canned sodas for two. “We will have to make do with more sandwiches” he announced “the place is still empty, anyone else is yet to arrive, which is strange. Its mid afternoon, I thought someone would have made it out here by now.”