Chapter Seven
If he were a man who took killing lightly, this might be the moment for it, Asa decided as he watched Elizabeth through the kitchen window. As sure as God made little green apples, there was a man sitting at his kitchen table, chatting with his wife, eating the last of his blackberry cobbler. As the man was neither old nor wearing a collar, he figured he’d get off lightly if the law ever caught up to him.
Part of him couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He hadn’t believed it when the guard he’d placed on the road had said there was a rider heading for the ranch. He hadn’t wanted to believe it when the guard had said it was a friend of Elizabeth’s, but it was hard to ignore when “it” sat at his kitchen table making free with his cobbler. Elizabeth was the first decent thing he’d ever obtained for himself, and already someone else was moving in.
Asa saw the man swirl his finger around the plate, cleaning crumbs off the edge. He said something. Elizabeth laughed, touched his hand with hers, and then got up to pour him some more coffee. The same as she’d done for Asa that morning. More than he resented the last of his baked goods going to the interloper, Asa resented Elizabeth fussing over the stranger. She was his wife, dammit.
Before he moved in to establish his claim, Asa took one last look at the stranger, noting his clean clothes, clean hands, clean everything. He remembered Brent’s fancy dress and lily white hands. He looked down at his own, caked with dirt and grime. While Elizabeth had married him because of his reputation, she obviously had preferences in a man. He watched as the stranger efficiently used the napkin before him, and winced when he couldn’t remember using his this morning. Clearly, given her druthers, Elizabeth liked a man clean and well-mannered. He knew enough not to wipe his mouth on a tablecloth, but was sure there were enough holes in his education for a woman with a fancy Eastern education to take note of. As for the dirt…he swatted at the dust on his denims. That came with the territory, but he guessed he didn’t need to track it daily into the house.
He stepped back from the window. Elizabeth seemed safe enough, and, as hunkered in as the stranger was, Asa figured he’d stay put for the time it took him to visit the pump.
* * * * *
Five minutes later, damp from the washing up, Asa stepped through the back door. As soon as he entered the kitchen, the laughter stopped. Elizabeth jumped up. It could have been due to guilt, or, more probably, to the way the door slammed in his wake.
“Evening.” He took off his hat, wincing when dust puffed out. His face and hands were clean, but a day’s labor clung to his clothes. The stranger was clean, presentable and comfortable. It irked Asa almost as much as the drop of water that slid down his neck.
Elizabeth came immediately to his side. “You’re home early.” She took his hat from his hands.
“One of the men said he saw a stranger headin’ this way.”
Elizabeth started, and then smiled. “It must have been the new man. Everyone else knows Aaron’s horse about as well as they know Aaron.”
Actually, it’d been Sam, and he’d recognized the horse, but Asa hadn’t found the knowledge that a male friend of Elizabeth’s was visiting any more calming than if he’d been a stranger bent on mischief.
Asa looked over Elizabeth’s shoulder at the man wiping his mouth on the napkin. He was probably in his early twenties and about as comfortable as a man could get.
“That blood bay gelding yours?” Asa asked.
“Yes.”
“Nice horse. Shame he’s gelded.”
“That’s what I thought when I bought him off an Easterner.” The man pushed back his chair. The same squalling chair Asa had been sitting on that morning. The darned thing didn’t even squawk. Asa took the irritation in stride as the man extended his hand in greeting. “Aaron Ballard.”
“Asa MacIntyre.”
“You have quite a reputation.”
Asa settled his weight onto his heels as he exchanged a civilized handshake. “People like to talk, especially when things get boring.”
Ballard didn’t let go of the subject as easily as he released Asa’s hand. “Any truth to the rumors?”
He shrugged. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Elizabeth fussing with his hat. “Enough so you needn’t be worried Elizabeth’s been left short-changed and flat-footed.”
The man opened his mouth, probably to grill him more, but Asa cut him off by saying to Elizabeth, “You know, darlin, I kinda like that hat just the way it is. I’ve got the dust settled just so. Keeps it nice and balanced in a strong wind.”
Elizabeth immediately stopped fussing with the brim. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled, liking how sweet she looked, how respectable. How wifely. “No harm done.”
Instead of putting it away, she smiled uncertainly. There was a soft side to her smile that had him wondering if she was glad to see him?
“Did you really post a guard on the house?” she asked. She was staring at him like he’d done something more extraordinary than taking care that his wife was safe.
His “Yes” was drowned out when the stranger said, “Of course he did, Elly! What man worth his salt wouldn’t make sure the ranch house was safe? This is where you keep the money.”
Asa wanted to shoot the yahoo when Elizabeth’s smile dropped from sweet to disappointed. “Of course.”
Though her expression was poker-faced, he knew he’d never get the brim of his hat to recover from the death grip she had on it. In the most practical voice he’d ever heard her use, she told him, “You haven’t seen it yet, but there’s a safe in the office. It’d take dynamite for anyone to get money out of there.”
Now, there was a picture to soothe his nerves. Strange men with dynamite in the house with Elizabeth. He shook his head, reached out and removed his hat from his wife’s hands. “Well, if I ever get to the point in my life where I worry more about money than my family, I’ll be sure to keep that as a comforting thought.”
Asa would offend the devil himself to hear that uncharacteristically shy “thank you” of Elizabeth’s. Darned if she didn’t look as if she didn’t know what to do with his concern. He drew her gaze with a touch to her cheek. “Everything’s okay?”
“Oh, yes.” Her gaze clung to his. She was nervous, startled and happy. All because he’d done the decent thing? Damn! The woman needed someone whether she showed it or not.
“Aaron is a long time friend and neighbor,” Elizabeth said, as if to fill the silence that sprang up.
Which could explain the possessive air the man had about him.
Elizabeth waved her hand between them. “Aaron, this is my husband, Asa MacIntyre.”
“Elizabeth,” Ballard sighed with exasperation. “We already introduced ourselves.”
“Oh, yes.”
To Asa’s way of thinking, Aaron didn’t have to point out the obvious, but since he had, and since Elizabeth was looking like she’d love a hole to dive into, Asa passed his hat back into her keeping. As she grabbed it and darted to the peg by the door, he asked Aaron, “You say you live here about?”
“The Bar B runs the length of the Rocking C’s western border.” Ballard took a couple of steps forward and intercepted Elizabeth on her return. He put a proprietary hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “Elizabeth and I are more like family than friends as we grew up together.”
The man was looking to lose an arm, that much Asa could see. Elizabeth stepped away. Asa slapped a smile on his face as congenial as the one Aaron was sending him. “Then I guess I need to thank you for helping her out after her father passed on.”
“Everyone did what they could.”
Which, from what Asa could determine, was about nothing. “Well, I’d like to pay you for your time.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“I insist. You just tally up the work and send the bill over.”
“Why don’t we just say you owe me like for like?”
“I reckon I can settle for that.” Easily.
“It’s settled then.”
Elizabeth stepped between them. Her hands kept smoothing her skirt over her hips in a nervous gesture. Asa figured it was a habit she’d be breaking herself of if she knew how it drew a man’s imagination to wander.
“Could I get you a cup of coffee?” she asked him.
“That would taste good. Just let me signal the men everything’s fine and get Shameless settled, then I’ll be back.”
“I could do that for you.”
“Signal the men?” He smiled. “Darlin’, if you tried to shoot off that gun of mine, you’d be dirtying the back of your skirt, not to mention sporting a bruise the size of Texas on your shoulder.”
“Elizabeth’s a darn good—” Aaron interrupted.
“I’m sure it can’t be that hard,” Elizabeth cut off the neighbor’s interjection. “But I was referring to putting Shameless away.”
She was wearing that perfectly calm expression which Asa was beginning to realize meant she was annoyed. He reached out and plucked his hat off the peg by the door where Elizabeth had put it. “I reckon I got just enough energy to settle Shameless as long as you set out some of that cobbler from last night to go with that coffee.”
“Sorry, neighbor. Elizabeth was kind enough to share the last piece with me.”
The words were polite, but the man wasn’t sorry about anything. Asa settled his hat on his head. “Well, now, that is a shame. The thought of that cobbler kept me going all day.”
“One area where Elizabeth never makes a mistake is the kitchen.”
The implication being that there were areas where she did mess up. One of them in her choice of husbands? Asa waited a heartbeat for Elizabeth to lay into the man, but, to his surprise, she just stood there. Mouth shut, face tight, accepting the barb. Was she that fond of the yahoo?
“Funny,” Asa drawled, keeping his annoyance in check. “The one thing I picked up right away is that Elizabeth is one capable woman. Makes a man stay on his toes so as not to be outshined.”
It might have been his imagination, but he thought Elizabeth sidled his way a bit. He slid his hand to her back in silent encouragement in case she had a mind to take an actual step.
Aaron laughed. “You only say that because you’re newly married. Just wait around a bit. As a man who’s watched her grow from diapers to pinafores, I’d say you’ve got a few surprises coming.”
“I’m looking forward to them.”
“She has more than a bit of her mother in her.”
Beneath his fingers, Asa felt the start go through Elizabeth’s body. In the wake of the ripple, her muscles pulled taut. He didn’t know why, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out the barb about her mother hurt.
“If her mother was half the woman Elizabeth appears to be, I’ll count myself lucky.”
Aaron’s mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “It’s that appearance that’s going to do you in.”
Elizabeth’s small gasp cut through all Asa’s pretensions toward manners. He slid his hand across Elizabeth’s back until he could curve his fingers around her shoulder and pull her into the protection of his side. “Mister, I don’t know what you were looking for when you came here, but, if it’s trouble, I think you just found it.”
The bastard had the gall to look offended. “Excuse me?”
“I never knew Elizabeth’s mother. I never met her father. But I’ve met Elizabeth and I’ve met you, and, from that, I’m willing to lay money that you figured I was too ignorant, and Elizabeth too much a lady, to comment on an insult you slid into the conversation like it was just another how-de-do.”
“I only meant to say—”
“I have no interest in what you say. I’m more interested in how you say it.” Asa stroked his fingers down Elizabeth’s arm. Damn the son of a bitch! Her muscles were still hauled up as tight as a bowstring.
“Where I come from, if a man plans on picking on a woman, he damned well better expect her husband to come calling.”
“I wasn’t picking on Elizabeth.”
“Uh-huh.” Beneath his hand Elizabeth’s muscles pulled tighter. Probably because she could feel the tension in his own muscles and figured he had more to say on the subject. She’d be right, too. No one was going to take pot-shots at her while he was around. “So, why exactly are you here?”
Asa watched as Aaron bit back his hostility before admitting, “I came to check on Elizabeth.”
No way that was the only reason he was here. “And?”
She assures me she’s fine. The look he sent Elizabeth said he had his doubts.
“Good.” Asa tipped his hat at Aaron. “Then, seeing as you’ve got what you came for, you can be on your way.”
Beside him, Elizabeth gasped. In front of him, Aaron smoldered. In his eyes, Asa read his fury. He also read, for whatever reason, he wasn’t going to push things. That was a pity. Asa would have loved to gut-punch the yahoo. For what he’d said to Elizabeth, and also for eating the last of his cobbler.
“I’ll see you later, Elizabeth.” The man nodded to Elizabeth.
“Thank you for stopping by,” she answered calmly as if the two men on either side of her weren’t bristling with hostility.
The woman had style. She was also quick on her feet. She’d managed to shift so any blows he and Ballard wanted would have to happen over her head.
“I’ll see you out,” Asa volunteered, putting himself between Elizabeth and Ballard.
“That won’t be necessary.” Ballard tipped his hat to Elizabeth. “I know the way to the door.”
Asa smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of upsetting Elizabeth by not showing you out. She sets store by good manners.”
Instead of bristling obligingly at the shot, Ballard visibly relaxed and sent him a glance of what could only be called approval. Asa shook his head as the man retrieved his hat from the rack by the front door. Didn’t anyone around here react predictably?
“If you need any help, don’t hesitate to call,” Ballard offered as he settled his hat on his head. “We’re only an hour’s ride away.”
“I’ll do that.” When hell froze over.
“Say hi to Patricia and little Ron for me,” Elizabeth jumped in.
“I will.”
Affection softened the other man’s face as he looked at Elizabeth. Asa wanted to break the man’s fingers as he brushed them down the side of her cheek and said, “Take care, runt.”
Her “I will” was just as soft, sending knife blades of jealousy ripping into Asa’s guts. Was there more than friendship between the two?
Ballard stepped out the door. Elizabeth quietly shut it behind him. When she turned back to Asa, it didn’t take hard looking to see she was mad as a wet hen. The hands on her hips and the angry flush on her cheeks were dead giveaways. And he knew exactly what she was mad about. She didn’t like the fact that he’d threatened her friend.
“That was completely unnecessary.”
“That yahoo had no right coming in here and hurting you.”
“He’s my friend.”
“Then, honey, you need a new set of friends, ‘cause with friends like that, you sure don’t need to go hunting up enemies.”
“Is that an order?”
“What?”
She folded her arms across her chest and asked him calmly. “Are you ordering me to not be friends with Aaron?”
He’d forgotten about requiring her promise of obedience. “Hell, no.”
As he headed down the hall toward the back door, she fell into step beside him, and asked, “Where are you going?”
“I’ve still got to signal the men and put my horse away.” He paused at the door. “Unless you have objections?”
He hadn’t expected her to come with him, but as she showed no signs of slowing when she reached the door, he held it open for her.
Her nose lifted two inches. “Of course not.”
As she passed, her scent of vanilla, beeswax and tantalizing woman drifted up to tease his nostrils. When she reached the top step and started to unwrap Shameless’ reins, he said, “Is there something you want to say to me?”
She turned, reins in hand. He stepped off the porch, cleared his rifle from the saddle scabbard, and fired off two shots that signaled the all clear. As he slid the rifle back into the scabbard, she answered, “Yes.”
He took the reins from her hands and slid his free arm around her waist. “Keep me company to the barn and you can tell me all about it.”
As if she had any choice, Elizabeth thought. The man wasn’t a bully, but he sure had a laid back way of getting what he wanted, which, apparently, was her company. As he shortened his strides to match hers, she felt his fingers slide up her side.
“I thought I told you not to wear one of these.” His fingers tapped the bone of the corset. It made a slight “tick” sound.
She took a steadying breath. His scent filled her nostrils. She braced herself for the repugnance she usually felt at the way a man smelled. It didn’t come. Asa smelled of horses, leather and the outdoors, but he also smelled pleasantly of something else. Something elementally him. Something she liked. “You didn’t tell me not to wear a corset. You asked me not to wear one.”
He sidestepped them around a manure pile. “You don’t feel that’s a bit of hair splitting?”
“No.” She glanced up in time to see a smile flirt with his lips. The man was an enigma, taking offense at the slightest things, and at others, having the patience of a saint.
“You want me to order you not to wear it?”
“Not hardly.”
“Why not? The thing seems darned uncomfortable.”
“It is.”
“Then why wear it?” He stepped aside to let her through the barn door first.
“No proper lady would be without one.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What does that mean?” The warm scent of the barn enclosed her in a welcoming hug.
“That’s polite for ‘I’ve never heard such bull in my life’.”
“It’s true. Being seen without a corset would be scandalous.”
“My reputation could probably survive the scandal.”
“Mine wouldn’t.”
He tied Shameless to the hitching post and made short work of the cinch. He had nice hands, Elizabeth decided. Long-fingered, broad across the back, and very agile.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but, now that we’re married, isn’t your reputation mine?” He swung the heavy saddle clear of the gelding’s back.
“Sort of.” It was a blatant stall. His teeth flashed white in the sun-dappled interior, letting her know he was aware of it.
“Well…” He tossed the saddle onto the wooden support leaning against the wall. “Seeing as how my reputation doesn’t give two hoots about anyone else’s opinions, I guess you could chuck that contraption into the old well tonight.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” He picked up a rag and started to wipe down Shameless.
“Because none of my dresses would fit.” She grabbed a curry comb and moved in beside him, currying where he’d finished wiping. Beyond a quick glance in her direction, he didn’t say anything.
“Hadn’t thought of that.” He moved to the other side of the horse and repeated the process. “Might be time for you to get a new wardrobe.”
“You truly don’t mind if I don’t wear one and everyone notices?”
He folded his arms along the horse’s back and regarded her across the breadth. “Let me put it this way; if you needed to move in a hurry, could you get the job done with that thing on?”
“Not hardly.” She was lucky to manage bending over to get biscuits out of the oven.
“Then I don’t mind a bit.” He flicked his finger at her nose, and went back to wiping down the horse.
It took her a minute to put it together, it was such a novel concept. “You’re concerned about my safety.”
“It’s a husband’s job to take care of his wife.”
As he was wiping the sweat from Shameless’ underbelly, she couldn’t see his expression, but that was just as well since he couldn’t see hers. The man didn’t give two hoots about convention if it meant her safety. She was flabbergasted and, well…warmed.
She bit her lip, weighing the pluses of never again having to have those bone stays cut into her flesh against her moral obligation to protect her husband’s reputation. “People would talk.”
“I’d survive.” He tossed the rag into the corner. He grabbed a water bucket, and slapped Shameless’ shoulder. “Bet you’d like some water, big fella.”
He headed to the pump just outside the barn door. Elizabeth watched him go, words hovering on her tongue. She moved around the other side of the horse and started currying. Shameless let out a huge sigh. She patted his neck. “Feels good, huh?”
In response, he nibbled at the sheaf of hay on the floor. Over his neck, she watched Asa pump the handle that would bring up the water. It took a fair amount of effort. Through his shirt, she imagined she could see the play of muscles. Her husband was a strong man. The thought didn’t dismay her the way it had yesterday. As a matter of fact, it was kind of intriguing, watching the way his shirt stretched and clung to the muscles bunching beneath. The sight caused a funny sensation in her belly. He turned to bring the bucket back in, and she hastily dropped her gaze, which was silly as he couldn’t see into the cool interior from the bright sunshine. He set the water in front of Shameless who promptly blew suspiciously across its surface before drinking.
“I have a compromise to suggest,” she said.
“I’m listening.” He picked up the bristle brush and smoothed the hair on the opposite side of the horse.
She stopped currying, bit her lip, then took the plunge. “I’ll only wear the corset when we go into town.”
He glanced at her. “You sure?”
“As long as you make me a promise.”
“Thought there might be a catch.”
“If it ever starts to bother you, I’d like you to let me know before you make any decisions.”
“Decisions?”
“Yes. I’d like the opportunity to rectify the problem before you draw the obvious conclusions.”
He straightened from checking Shameless’ hoofs. “Conclusions?”
She felt the heat creeping into her face, but she held her ground. “Yes, before you decide my lack of corset indicates a lack of moral character, I’d like the opportunity to commence wearing it again.”
He laughed. “Darlin’, if finding you entertaining good-looking men in my kitchen in the middle of the day doesn’t get me thinking along those lines, I doubt your not strapping yourself into that contraption is going to get me doubting your ‘moral character’.”
“Aaron just stopped by to make sure I was all right.”
He came around to her side of the horse. He picked up Shameless’ front hoof and set to work with the pick. “He heard the rumors you married up again.”
“Yes.” She wished she could see his face. “He was concerned.”
“He was jealous.”
She laughed. That would be the day! “Aaron and I are just friends. He has a wife and a two-year-old son.”
He shot her a knowing glance over his shoulder. “Those things have nothing to do with his wanting you.”
“You misread the situation.”
She stepped back as he slid his hand down his horse’s side to get to the rear hoof. “I’ll allow one of us has a hold of the wrong end of the stick.”
It was clear from his tone that he thought it was her. “Does this mean you’re going to forbid me to continue our friendship?”
He dropped Shameless’ foot back to the ground and stood to his full height. “Everybody’s got to make those kinds of decisions for themselves.”
He put the pick back in the tack box behind her. She turned with him, wanting this settled. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means,” he said, reaching out to tuck a strand behind her ear, “that time has a way of making clear who your friends are.” He took a step toward her. Suddenly, he was too close. She took a step back and came up against the warm barrier of Shameless’ side.
“You’re going to smell all horsey after this,” he informed her.
After what? she thought desperately while saying aloud, “I like horses.”
“I can see that.”
His hand cupped the back of her head. His fingers were doing something to her nape that sent chills down her spine. She couldn’t tell from his expression whether he was angry or amused. All she could tell was that he was very intent.
“You burrowing into Shameless’ side because you’re afraid?” he asked.
“I don’t understand you!” she burst out.
He smiled a slow smile that captured her attention, it was so lazy and full of promise. “You’ll figure me out eventually.”
She’d prefer now. He stepped forward, until the toes of his boots touched the toes of her shoes. Her heartbeat throbbed in her throat. Was he trying to get even with her for Aaron’s arrogance? “I’m sorry Aaron said what he did.”
He stroked his finger around her ear. She couldn’t hide the shudder that went down her spine.
His smile broadened. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you apologizing for Aaron? He’s a grown man.”
“He’s a little protective.”
“I have a good idea who Aaron is and what he’s up to.”
She swallowed as he shifted forward a bit more. “I don’t think you understand the situation.”
“As I said before, time has a way of clearing up these matters.”
His breath whispered across her brow. It suddenly dawned on her that he was planning seduction, not retaliation. “You’re going to kiss me!”
She wished the words back as soon as they popped out of her mouth.
His lazy smile spread to a full-fledged grin. “Like I told your neighbor, you keep a man on his toes.”
She wasn’t sure if she wanted his mouth or not. She expected him to pull her away from the horse. That’s why she wasn’t prepared for his kiss when it came, because, instead of pulling her into his arms, he slid up against her, easing her into an embrace. His mouth brushed hers as his chest settled onto her breasts. Her gasp puffed against his lips. His chuckle vibrated against her chest.
“You got any objections?” he asked as his mouth slid across her cheek.
“Yes. No.” Was he actually nibbling on her neck? Goosebumps chased down her arms. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed and confessed on a high squeak, “I don’t know.”
She felt him pull aside the collar of her shirt. “That’s what I figured.”
He kissed the spot where her collarbone met her neck. She never knew anything could feel so good. She felt his whole body shift as he draped his arms over Shameless’ back. The move brought his entire body the length of hers. The sensation was so sublime as to be sinful. “Are you sure we should be doing this?”
“Absolutely.”
“I meant here.”
“This barn’s off limits for a couple of hours.”
“A couple of hours!” What in the world did the man intend to do? Last night hadn’t taken more than a couple of minutes!
“Yup.” He shifted his torso from right to left and then back again. “A newly married man gets to make all sorts of requests.”
She opened her eyes to find his face eye-blurringly close. “You knew I’d come down to the barn with you?”
“Gotta admit you made that part real easy.”
“Why the barn? Why not the house?”
His features blurred to nothing as he kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re such a practical thing.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
His shrug did strange things to her equilibrium. “Always wanted to spark a girl in a barn.” His mouth brushed hers again in one of those teasing touches. “You ever been sparked?”
“No.” It was a humiliating confession to be making at her age.
He leaned back. “Now, that’s a darned shame. How old did you say you were?”
“I was twenty-two last April.”
His fingers brushed her temple as he clicked his tongue. “Just a baby.”
“A lot of women have four or five kids at my age!”
“I’ll get to work on that right away if you’re set on competing.”
He tilted his head and pressed a gentle, yet strangely intense kiss on the side of her neck. “I was just making a point,” she gasped.
His lips parted. She felt the touch of his tongue before he sucked softly, and her knees turned to jelly. “Oh my God!”
“Easy, darlin’. I’ve got you.”
His “got you” was the insertion of his knee between her thighs. With a hitch, he lifted her until she was suspended there, straddling his hard thigh, the horse at her back, Asa’s mouth on her neck. It was the most astounding moment of her life.
“You like that?” he asked. His breath on her neck sent a new spray of goose bumps down her arms.
She bit her lip and nodded.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She couldn’t begrudge the smile she heard in his voice. Her neck felt bereft when he left it to place his mouth on hers.
“Open your mouth, darlin’.”
She didn’t hesitate.
“That’s good.” The words breathed into her mouth didn’t prepare her for the sheer pleasure of his kiss. “Put your arms around my neck.”
She dragged her arms up from her sides. She felt so lethargic it was hard to do, but she found it much more satisfying when she did. It gave her the leverage she needed to prolong his kiss when he would have pulled away. When he paused for a moment, she tipped her head back, hoping he’d resume his attention to her neck. His response was a chuckle and a total commitment to the task. A restless feeling filled her. Her stomach pulled taut and the area between her thighs felt equally tight and aching. She shifted, trying to ease the sensation. Or increase it. She was no longer sure.
His big hands splayed over her hips. “Like this,” he whispered in her ear.
He arched her back, pressing her hips into his thigh while her head rested against Shameless’ side. The sensation as she slid down his leg was breath-stealing. Though his hand in the small of her back kept her as he wanted, his lips on her neck were a far better anchor.
“What are you doing to me?”
“Just a little innocent sparking.”
There was nothing innocent about what he was doing to her. It was as sinful as all get out and it was probably a lack in her moral character that she demanded more. “Do it again.”
“You do it.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Like this.” He nipped her neck. The sharp jolt of pleasure ricocheted through her torso up into his. The jerk of her hips dragged her pussy across the rough denim of his pants, abrading her sensitive flesh deliciously.
“That’s right,” he drawled in her ear when she threw her head back and moaned. His hands on her hips encouraged another slide against his thigh. “Just like riding a horse. Move with me.”
She’d been riding since she was three. Catching his rhythm was as natural as breathing. His mouth returned to hers, less gentle, more demanding. More in tune with the sensations charging through her body. Her breath came in gasps. Her grip tightened around his shoulders. Her hips took over the rhythm, freeing his hands from the obligation. Her pussy swelled and pouted, increasing the pleasure, the ache. The fire consumed her, spiraling higher. She tore her mouth from Asa’s. She needed air. She needed the freedom to express the feeling exploding through her body She’d have been embarrassed by the moans escaping her if he hadn’t been whispering in her ear how he liked them. How he wanted more.
His fingers climbed her torso, counting the ribs of her corset. When he reached the fullness of her breast where it swelled over the top of the garment, he flipped his hand and used the tender point of her nipple to count the ladder of his fingers.
She buried her face in the curve of his neck, afraid of where this was leading. Afraid she wouldn’t care. “Asa!”
He released her hips. His hands cupped her breasts, weighing their fullness. With a squeeze, he tested their resiliency. “You’re doing fine, darlin’.”
His thumbs rubbed her nipples, gliding over her cotton shirt in a caress so light, it was almost illusionary. She needed more. She froze when he grasped both nipples simultaneously between his fingers and thumbs. For the space of two heart beats, he did nothing. In those two seconds, she discovered anticipation could be agony.
When she opened her eyes, he was watching her. The blush started at her toes, but she didn’t look away. She couldn’t. All the feelings she struggled to contain, he wore openly. Proudly. And she wanted to release all that passion, to experience it. To feel it pour over her in a sensual rush. She slid her fingers into his hair. The strands were cool and soft against her flesh. A balm to her over-stretched nerves. “Please,” she whispered, holding his dark gaze with hers.
The pressure on her nipples increased, stopping just short of pain, holding her on the edge.
“Just lean back and trust me,” he drawled.
She couldn’t. She wanted to, but she couldn’t give up the pleasure she’d attained. If she moved back, it would be gone.
He bent his head. A sharp twinge in her breast immediately blossomed to pleasure, surprising her enough to scoot back. She stared into Asa’s face. His smile was sensuous. His expression intense.
“You bit my bubbies!”
His breathing was as labored as hers. “Lean back and I’ll do it again.”
She did, and he did. Gently. Thoroughly. It was almost too much. He squeezed and tugged her nipples with his lips as his hands worked her on his thigh. She tossed her head from side to side, trying to find release from the agony within. “Asa!”
“Jesus!” He was lifting her, tugging at her clothes, pushing her skirts away from between them. His hands were hot under her thighs. Even through the thin cotton of her pantaloons, she could feel their power. He lifted her. His teeth on her breast through her shirt distracted her from the intimacy of their position. She wrapped her fingers in his hair and forced his mouth harder on her breast.
“Put your legs around me.”
She did, mindlessly obeying. The hard ridge of his cock burned hot and huge against her crotch. The pulsing pressure took her higher. Every nerve stretched to the breaking point. Reaching for release. “I can’t stand it,” she gasped.
“Not yet,” he ordered, his face inches from hers, every plane etched with the passion taking them both.
“What?”
“I want to see.”
She had no idea what he was talking about, but when his mouth left her breast, she groaned and pulled, but he didn’t respond. His hands gripped her hips anew. With relentless force, he slid her pussy over his cock. >From top to bottom, he let her slide. Her pantaloons, slick with her juices, caught at her pussy lips, tugging at her already sensitive flesh, adding another biting element of sensation. She moaned and twisted, pressing harder. Striving.
“That’s it, darlin’. Ride me. All the way.”
He repeated the motion, elongating the contact, forcing her to take more. Their combined gasps filled the barn, drowning out the soft sounds of horses shifting and pigeons roosting. The world dwindled until it only consisted of his touch, his breath, his will. She locked her ankles and pulled closer. It wasn’t close enough. Every thought, every sensation, her world focused on the point where her hips met his. The pleasure built until it was too much. Something was happening.
“Help!”
“Go with it,” he whispered hoarsely. She opened her eyes. His gaze locked with hers. Had she not been so far gone, his expression would have frightened her. He shifted their bodies until his hand could reach between them. His fingers grazed her swollen flesh, tracing the curves lightly, sending whispery darts of delight weaving through the heavy drive of pleasure grinding through her loins. With a firm tap on her clit, he forced all the sensation rampaging through her body to coalesce in one burning, aching, unbearably sensitive point of agony.
“Now,” he ordered. At the same time, he thrust his hips into hers, grabbed her swollen clit in his fingers, pinching and tugging with relentless demand. One she was helpless to refuse. Her senses shattered on a scream that echoed forever.