Wrangled and Tangled (21 page)

The initial burst of passion or whatever had led Tierney to make the first move, ebbed, and the kiss slowed. Sweetened. She gave him a lingering smooch, resting her forehead to his.

He managed a husky, “What?”

“I really should’ve taken my glasses off first.”

“Keep kissin’ me like that, I promise to clean the smudges and steam when we’re done,” he offered.

She slid her hands to his shoulders. “Even when a spoiled daddy’s girl isn’t your type?”

“I’m beginning to think that ain’t such a bad thing.” Renner bent forward to place an openmouthed kiss on the side of her neck. “I wish you’d forget I ever said that.”

“Keep kissing me like that and I’ll probably forget my own name.”

He paused. “Speaking of names . . . how did you end up with a name like Tierney?”

“Like Renner is common,” she pointed out.

“Renner was my granddad’s mother’s maiden name. Now spill it.”

She fiddled with the top button on his shirt. “Because my father’s name is Gene and my mother’s name was Jean, they had this brilliant idea to pass the ‘Gene and Jean’ theme along to their offspring. So they named me Tierney, after Gene Tierney, and my sister Harlow, after Jean Harlow.”

“That is kinda wacky. But the name suits you perfectly.”

Her nose wrinkled. “How’s that?”

“Gene Tierney was a smart-mouthed, dark-haired bombshell. You’re just like her.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so.” Renner teased her neck with soft-lipped kisses. Her sexy little moan instantly made him hard. “I want you.”

He felt her smile against his cheek. “You do have a certain economy of words, Renner.”

“And I’m hopin’ to get a firsthand demonstration of your other oral skills, Tierney.” He brushed his mouth across the shell of her ear until she shivered in his arms. “Soon.”

“Soon enough, but not tonight.”

He sighed. “Damn. I’d rather you were sore from ridin’ me, not a horse.”

“I’m sure you’ll live.” She kissed the tip of his nose.

This time he didn’t try to stop her when she moved off the couch and stood by the hearth.

“The fire’s almost out.”

He didn’t bother to bank the heat in his eyes. “Not all of them.”

Tierney studied him. “I’ll see you in the morning?”

“You probably won’t. I’ve gotta help Abe and Hank move cattle tomorrow. It’ll take all day. By the time I get the cow shit scraped offa me, it’ll be time to mingle with the guests.”

“Then I guess I’ll see you when I see you.” She ducked out of view, but not before he caught her strange look of determination.

Chapter Seventeen

T
rue to his word, Tierney hadn’t seen Renner all day.

It’d taken an hour to pep talk herself into attempting an impromptu seduction—which just proved how not spontaneous she was, having to plan to be impulsive.

Her gaze stayed on him as she entered the main lodge area. Surrounded by a group of men, Renner was spinning some yarn, keeping them enthralled. The man had a way with people, any age, shape, size, nationality that produced a spark of envy.

Correction: just looking at him in his cowboy gear—jeans, boots, a Western pearl-snap shirt, black hat—caused a spark of lust to supplant the envy.

Janie chatted with a couple of the men’s wives, and Tierney ignored her attempt to grab her attention.

Starting a fight to get the man to kiss you, Tierney? Pathetic.

But she wanted to feel Renner’s mouth on hers. God, how she wanted it. Craved it. Another taste of that explosion of passion she’d never experienced. The hum of desire he triggered just by staring at her so hotly with those intense blue eyes.

Eyes, which were wary as she approached. Did Renner know what she was up to? And the question was: if so, would he play along?

“Tierney,” he drawled when she stopped before him, “you’ve got that look in your eye that means I’m in trouble.”

The men in his group laughed.

“Am I in trouble?” he prompted.

“It depends. Anything you want to confess? Something you’ve done wrong lately to save me the bother of guessing?”

Renner smirked. “So you’re narrowing the list to what I’ve done wrong
lately
? Hell, in that case . . . nope. It’s still gonna be a fairly long list.”

Another round of chuckles.

“I figured you might say that.” Tierney glanced at each male guest and smiled. “Gentlemen, I need to have a few words with Mr. Jackson, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m expecting they’ll be pretty choice words, Miz Pratt,” Renner drawled again. “But duty calls. Enjoy the rest of the evening. Remember, your huntin’ guides are gonna be at the lodge at five a.m.”

“Guess we’ll be calling it a night soon,” said the brawny biker with a Santa Claus beard.

“Good luck tomorrow.” Renner placed his hand in the small of Tierney’s back and steered her toward the curved staircase.

The heat from his palm seemed to sear a hole through her clothes, straight into her skin. Desire zinged up her spine. Every nerve ending in her body flared with anticipation. Halfway up the stairs, she turned and looked at him. His jaw was clamped together so tightly his lips had nearly vanished in the hard set of his mouth. “Renner—”

“Not a fuckin’ word until we’re in the office.”

Maybe he thought this was real. She’d never done a covert seduction, or any kind of seduction before. What if she’d hosed it up? “But—”

He bit off, “Not. Another. Fucking. Word. So help me God if you look at me like that again I will not be responsible for my actions. And that will not bode well for either of us, especially given where we are, understand?”

She swallowed. Managed to nod. Purposely added distance between them as they ambled down the hallway. With the open floor plan, everyone on the lodge’s main floor could see them from the waist up.

When they reached the office door, she unclipped the lanyard from the belt loop on her trousers. Her hand shook so much she couldn’t insert the key in the lock.

Renner swore and took the key from her, without touching her hand at all, and angrily jammed it into the keyhole. He pushed the door open and said tersely, “After you.”

Tierney marched past him, head held high. Two seconds later the door slammed. Hard. She had no idea how she’d heard him engaging the dead bolts above the hammering of her heart.

Before she uttered a sound, she was spun around and her back hit the door. Any protest was lost in Renner’s mouth as he plastered his body to hers and kissed her wildly.

No sweet kisses. No tender touches. Just raw hunger.

He tasted different than he had last night. A heady mix of male need and a hint of bourbon.

She kissed him back with equal ferocity. Wanting more. Wanting everything this man could give her. Could show her. Could do to her.

His rough-skinned fingers braceleted her wrists, forcing her arms by her sides as he inhaled her. Wordlessly proving he was in control, whether or not she liked it.

Oh, she liked it all right. She’d imagined his fiery passion but she’d failed to factor in one teeny detail in her girlish fantasies.

Renner Jackson under the influence of lust was not the Renner Jackson she’d ever seen before. It didn’t matter she was sexually inexperienced. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, being intimate with him, even one time, would change her forever.

He ripped his lips from hers to softly snarl, “Damn you.” Then his mouth savaged hers with powerful kisses and she whimpered when he stopped. “How can I want you this fucking much?” More, hard, deep, passionate kisses followed, giving her no chance to answer his question.

If it even was a question.

The plastic pieces from her glasses dug into the sides of her nose when Renner changed the angle of the kiss. She gasped at the sharp pain and he pulled away. “What?”

“I need to take my glasses off.”

His hands traveled up her arms, over her shoulders and neck to cup her face. He very carefully slipped her glasses off and set them on the ledge below the light switch.

The brightness from the outside sodium lights cast a soft orange glow through the window. Or maybe the glow started inside her, as this man was filling her with so much heat she feared she’d combust.

Renner muttered, “Sassy mouth of yours drives me insane,” and returned to burning her up with hot, wet kisses.

Since he’d freed her hands, she touched him across the breadth of his wide shoulders. Dragging her fingertips down his spine. Dipping below the waistband of his jeans to mold his butt cheeks in her hands. Oh, he had a firm ass. She remembered just how drool-worthy his ass had looked framed in a pair of fringed chaps.

She brought her palms around his hips to his lower abdomen, feeling powerful as the rock-hard muscle rippled beneath her touch. Her greedy hands followed the plane of his long torso, caressing his pectorals hidden under his shirt. Her fingers slid sideways to squeeze his biceps. Not the bulging type from hours spent pumping iron in a gym, but steel bands forged from hours expending physical labor required to run a livestock operation.

Renner’s hands remained flat on the door by her head throughout her all too brief exploration of his body.

Wanting more body-to-body contact, Tierney twined her arms around his neck, spearing her fingers through his hair, amazed the wiry-looking gold and light brown strands were so baby soft and carried a deliciously male scent.

That’s when he changed the pace of the kiss, morphing from an openmouthed inferno into an erotic tease. She gasped softly when the very tip of his tongue stroked the roof of her mouth, never imagining such a simple touch had the power to make her entire body tingle. His bottom lip traced the inside line of her upper lip, and again, the simple changeup had butterflies taking wing in her belly.

Renner eased back until their lips were barely touching. His breath as choppy as her own.

“Want to touch you,” he whispered. “Now.”

“Yes.”

Her head buzzed as his thick fingers circled her wrists. Her limbs nearly floated to land beside her hips and he flattened her palms to the coolness of the wooden door.

“Keep them right there.”

Then his hands were at her waist, tugging her blouse from her pants, unbuttoning her shirt from the bottom up. He nibbled along her jawline to her ear: hot breath and hotter kisses. He peeled her shirt back.

She would’ve expected him to go straight for her breasts, but Renner let his tongue track the line of her collarbone from the hollow of her throat to the dip in her shoulder.

Every wet flick of his tongue, every heated pass of his mouth sent her spiraling into pleasure. She was so focused on absorbing every nuance of his seduction that she didn’t feel him messing with the front clasp of her bra until it popped open.

Tierney fought the urge to cover her small breasts.

When he growled, “Damn, you’re perfect everywhere,” and hungrily closed his mouth around her nipple, paranoid thoughts of her unimpressive cup size vanished completely.

Once he ascertained what she liked—not a hard task since she liked it all—he used his lips and tongue to ensure she squirmed. Whimpered. Grew so moist and hot at her core she couldn’t help but move her legs together restlessly, looking to assuage this new ache.

Renner lifted his head from her nipple and looked at her. His eyes were dark with want. Then he bent his mouth to her other nipple and repeated the delicious process.

His hands went from cupping and stroking her breasts to a featherlight caress of his thumb on the sweep of skin below her belly button. Tierney knew his next move would be to unhook her pants.

Much as she wanted that intimate touch, she understood if he slipped even a single finger into her, he’d suspect her innocence. She needed to turn the tables and doubted he’d stop her explorations once her hand connected with his cock.

Tierney shifted free of his kiss. “It’s my turn to touch you.”

“Bossy thing.”

“But I didn’t hear you say no.” Her lips grazed his earlobe.

Renner groaned. “And you won’t because in cases like this, I don’t mind bein’ bossed around.”

In a smooth move that defied her usual clumsiness, she reversed their positions, pushing Renner’s back flush with the door.

“Whoa. You’re serious about this.”

“Yes, I am.” She attacked the freshly shaven skin of his throat with persistent kisses, demanding, “Unbuckle your belt.”

The pulse in his neck leapt beneath her lips. Her fingers made quick work of his shirt snaps as he unfastened his belt.

Tierney was determined not to let her nerves get the better of her, praying her enthusiasm would make up for her lack of expertise.

Since that day he’d dropped the towel she’d wondered how his shaft would feel in her hands. How it would feel gliding across her tongue.

When the weight of his belt dragged his jeans to the tops of his boots, Tierney awkwardly dropped to her knees.