Chapter Seven
Ethan lifted his head and stared into her eyes.
“You are so beautiful.” He kissed her lips again, soft, and slow. “I want to see you, Naomi. Please.” His hands found the front clasp of her bra. He unhooked it, lowered the straps off her shoulders, and stared at her breasts. His breath left his body.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Perfect,” he said, and leaned down to take a nipple between his lips. Her hands fisted in his hair.
He kissed his way up her chest, past her chin, and settled his mouth back on hers. Then he stood, lifted her, turned, and laid her on the bed. He stared down at her as she lay there in nothing but a pair of red panties.
He closed his eyes for a second and shook his head.
He kissed her again, then moved his mouth down her chest to her breast, then lower, trailing down her stomach to the elastic of her panties before he straightened. He was so hard he was surprised his zipper hadn’t given out.
He hooked his fingers in the elastic, tugged her panties down her legs, and tossed them across the room.
She laughed, which was the best sound he’d heard all night, and then she stopped laughing when he toed off his boot, unsnapped his jeans, and lowered the zipper.
He reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, removed a condom, and tossed it to her. She caught it with a grin.
He held her gaze as he shoved his jeans and boxer briefs down.
Her eyes went wide.
He ran his hands up and down her legs, then wrapped them around her ankles and pulled her to the edge of the bed.
He dropped to his knees and kissed his way from her ankle to the inside of her thigh, slow and deliberate, teasing her.
But her scent was driving him out of his mind, and he couldn’t wait any longer to taste her.
He slid his tongue along her slit to her clitoris and sucked on it until her moans filled the room and her fingers tightened in his hair. He sucked her until she cried out, then moved up her body, keeping his weight off her on his elbows.
When she reached between them and wrapped her fingers around him he clenched his jaw hard. Then she rolled the condom down over him, guided him to her and he eased inside as slowly as he could manage, until he could go no further.
Naomi wrapped her legs around his waist and he began to move. When she matched his rhythm he had to clench his teeth to keep from coming.
“Fuck, you feel so good,” he said against her neck.
“You do too.” Her voice was breathless. “Please, Ethan.”
He gave her what she asked for, moving harder and faster, then he felt her clench around him right before she cried out again. He groaned low in his throat and followed her over.
****
Naomi lay there staring at the ceiling with a smile she couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried.
She heard the water run, then he came back and stood in the doorway for a moment, looking at her. His nudity not bothering him in the least.
She looked back.
“Are you staying?” she asked.
He crossed to the bed, sat on the edge, and reached out to push her hair back from her face.
“I want to,” he said quietly. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea. Not here on the ranch.”
She looked at him for a moment, then nodded. She understood. She appreciated it more than she knew how to say.
“The men,” she said.
“I don’t want them thinking less of you.”
She sat up and kissed him softly. “You’re a good man, Ethan Harrison.”
He rested his forehead against hers for a moment, then stood and found his clothes in the dark.
She watched him dress, and when he was done he came back to bed, leaned down, and kissed her one more time, slow and unhurried, then straightened and walked out, pulling the door closed softly behind him.
“Goodnight, Naomi,” he said before the door latched.
“Goodnight.” She smiled.
She lay back and listened to his footsteps through the apartment until the door opened and closed. She pressed her fingers to her lips and stared at the ceiling in the dark.
Saturday morning, she woke early and decided to ride. She tossed back the covers, changed her clothes, and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.
She sat on the sofa, tugged her boots on, and headed downstairs.
The barn was quiet in the early morning light. She walked to Jewel’s stall.
“Good morning, pretty girl.”
“I could say the same thing.”
She turned. Ethan was coming down the aisle toward her, unhurried, his cowboy hat shading his face. He stopped beside her, his gaze lingering long enough to make her grateful she’d taken the time to pull herself together before coming down.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Good morning.” She rose up on her toes, kissed him, and he grinned against her mouth.
“Going out?”
“Yes. Want to come?”
“I wish I could. I’ve got a client in an hour.”
“That’s okay. I’ll go alone.”
“Take a walkie-talkie from the tack room. They’re all on channel four. You need anything, just call. Someone will hear you.”
“Alright.” She turned toward the tack room, then looked back at him over her shoulder. “I really wish you could come. We could stop at the cabin.” She grinned.
He huffed out a laugh. “I think I’ve created a monster.”
“There is no doubt about that. It’s all your fault.”
“How is it my fault? You were there too.”
“I thought I had good sex before.” She shook her head. “Then you had to go and be a show-off.”
Ethan chuckled. “Should I say I’m sorry?”
“No because you’re not.” She turned toward the tack room. “And trust me, I’m not either. I’ll see you later.”
“Be careful out there.”
“I will.”
She pushed open the tack room door and spotted the walkie-talkies lined up on a shelf at the back wall, each one on its charger. She unclipped one, hooked it on her belt, then hefted the saddle and headed back to Jewel.
Jewel was already watching her over the stall door, ears forward, eager.
“I know,” Naomi said. “Me too.”
She had her saddled and bridled in short order, then led her out into the morning. The sun was barely up, the air was still cool and smelling of grass and dew, the kind of morning that made you glad you’d gotten out of bed early.
She mounted and turned Jewel east; toward the trail she was starting to know by heart.
They walked at first, Jewel settling into the familiar rhythm beneath her, and Naomi let her mind go quiet, as it only did on horseback. No thinking about last night, no thinking about what came next. Just the mare beneath her and the wide Montana sky above and the grass moving in the early breeze.
She let Jewel pick up a lope along the fence line and leaned into it, feeling the ground pass beneath them, and she laughed for no reason except that she was happy.
She couldn’t remember the last time it had been this simple.
When she reached the meadow she slowed to a walk. The creek caught the morning light ahead of them, and beyond it the tree line stood dark and still.
She turned toward the cabin.
She tied Jewel to the rail outside and pushed open the cabin door. It looked different than it had the first time, smaller somehow, and more charming for it. The stone fireplace, the worn leather sofa, the fishing rods lined up neat against the wall.
She smiled to herself and walked to the window that looked out over the creek. The water was low and clear, catching the light, and a pair of ducks were working their way along the far bank without a care in the world.
She stood there for a while, just looking.
She thought about Ethan and last night and this morning. The way he’d looked at her in the barn, how he’d kissed her before he left. The way he’d gone out of his way to protect her reputation with the men without making a big deal of it.
She was falling for him.
She’d known it for a while if she was honest with herself, but standing here in this cabin in the morning light it felt undeniable. Real. She hadn’t let herself feel in a long time.
She took a breath and turned away from the window.
She wasn’t going to panic about it. She was just going to let it be what it was and see where it went.
She walked back out into the sunshine, untied Jewel, and mounted.
“Come on, sweet girl,” she said. “Let’s go home.”
****
Ethan walked the aisle, checking on the horses, his mind only partly on what he was doing.
He kept thinking about Naomi out there on her own.
He didn’t love the idea. The property was big and the wildlife was unpredictable, mountain lions, the occasional bear working down from the tree line in summer. Things that could spook a horse without warning.
But she was a grown woman, a capable one, and he’d learned that fast enough. He’d seen her handle a difficult horse without blinking and he’d seen that temper of hers come out the very first day they met. She wouldn’t appreciate him hovering and he knew it.
Didn’t stop him from glancing toward the barn door every few minutes.
He checked his watch, then moved on to the next stall and told himself she was fine.
He heard the truck pull up right on time and walked out of the barn to meet it.
The man who stepped out was somewhere in his fifties, weathered and solid, the kind of man who’d spent his life outdoors. He extended his hand as Ethan approached.
“Mr. Harrison. Carl Pruitt. We spoke on the phone.”
“Mr. Pruitt.” Ethan shook it. “Good to meet you. Come on in.”
He led him into the barn and down the aisle to the stall of a bay mare he’d had in rodeo competitions for the two years. She was good. Better than good.
“This is Copper,” Ethan said. “Five years old, fifteen and a half hands. She’s been running the rodeo circuit for two years. Her times are consistent and she’s got a good temperament. Doesn’t spook easy.”
Carl leaned on the stall door and looked the mare over with the unhurried eye of a man who knew horses. He was quiet for a long moment.
“Can I see her run?”
“That’s why you’re here.” Ethan unlatched the stall. “Give me a few minutes to get her saddled.”
He saddled Copper himself and led her out to the outdoor corral where Rowdy had the barrels set up. Carl followed and leaned against the rail without a word.