Chapter Six
Morgan
There's a rhythm and flow to ranch life that's fascinating.
Everyone is always up before the sun, trudging to work with a kind of steadfast determination that I find soothing.
No one bothers me much. If they wonder why I'm here, they don't ask.
They just invite me into the fold, accepting that I'm here now.
The morning after I arrive, I help Letty in the kitchen. At least, I try to help. But after burning my second pan of sausage and actually setting the stove on fire, Letty shoos me out with a laugh.
I don't blame her. Cooking isn't really my forte.
I spend the morning wandering around, just taking it all in. The ranch is massive, and everyone seems to have a job to do.
When I find Wade trying to corner a calf, I try to help. Somehow, that ends with him facedown in the mud and the calf running free in the pasture. It takes three cowboys and a lasso to finally wrangle him. They, wisely, don't let me help.
Gunner tries to teach me how to use the lasso afterward. The only thing I catch is the side of his face with my fist when I try to throw the dang rope. I'm pretty sure he's going to have a black eye. He isn't mad about it, but I feel guilty.
I'm not very good at this ranching thing.
They offer to let me watch them castrate a bull, but once they explain the mechanics, I quickly decide that is not something I need to see and scurry off.
I find Blaze repairing a roof on the west side of the property.
I stand in the shadows of a tree for a while, just watching him. He's shirtless, and so damn beautiful I want to cry a little bit. The way he moves is fascinating, like he was built for manual labor.
After a while, I get lost in the rhythm of his work. So lost, I don't even realize he's noticed me watching until he hops down, sauntering toward me.
"Calamity," he murmurs, his eyes locked on my face.
"Hey. Hi," I squeak. "I was just, um…looking for something to do."
"Yeah?" His eyes glitter with mischief. "Did you find anything?"
Yes, you.
"Nope," I lie, shoving my hands behind my back. "Nothing at all." It's probably better not to tell him how my morning went. Just in case he decides maybe I don't belong here, after all.
He chuckles, drawing to a stop in front of me. "Is that so?"
I try not to watch the rivulet of sweat running down his chest, really, I do. But my eyes lock onto it anyway, fascinated by the way it rolls down the stark lines of ink painted into his skin.
I want to follow that same path with my tongue.
My core clenches at the thought. I think I even whimper.
He groans softly, reaching out to tilt my head back. "You should go inside, baby. Before you burn."
"I'm fine."
"You're red."
It's definitely not from the sun, but I think he knows that. He's teasing me, with this look in his eye that says maybe he thinks I'm a little bit beautiful, too.
Maybe that's why I turn my head, letting my lips brush against his thumb. Maybe that's why I feel something reckless and wild bubbling up in my stomach. I don't know. I just know that I want this man in a way I've never wanted anything.
He groans when my lips touch his thumb, heat flaring in his eyes. The way he looks at me…God. I just want him to keep looking at me like that forever.
Wait. What?
Crap.
"I…uh…" I step back quickly, my heart hammering. "I should get inside."
"Yeah," he practically purrs, his eyes burning holes straight through me. "You definitely should."
"Have fun pounding nails."
He groans through a chuckle, and I flee.
What the hell is he doing to me?
The most terrifying part isn't that I don't know. It's that I think I do.
Iavoid him for the rest of the day and most of the next, trying to get my head on straight. But my luck runs out when I get out of the shower the following night and run right into him, like he's been standing outside the door, just waiting for me.
"Wha—?"
That's as far as I get before I'm in his arms and his lips are on mine. He doesn't kiss me like he did the day I got here. He kisses me like a man on the edge, all heat and hunger and greed.
I can't even pretend that I don't kiss him back the same way. I do. God, I kiss him like I'm going to die if I'm not breathing his air right now. My hands tangle in his long hair, holding him to me as he sucks on my tongue, his hands planted on my ass.
I feel the hard ridge of his erection against my belly, and my whole body ignites.
"Fuck," he growls, nipping my bottom lip before he pulls back just enough to rest his forehead against mine. "Jesus, Calamity."
"That's not my name," I whisper, my voice shaking.
He palms my ass in response, yanking me closer. His breath pelts my lips in a rough chuckle. "Believe me, baby, I'm aware. But it suits you."
"Calling me a disaster is rude, Blaze."
He tilts my head back, meeting my gaze. "You aren't the disaster, baby. It's losing you that would be a fucking catastrophe."
"I…" I gape at him, at a loss for words because he means it. I see the truth painted across every stark line of his face. It glitters in the softness of his eyes, too.
He dips his head, brushing his lips across mine. "Get some sleep, baby."
I stumble out of his room when he releases me, my mind reeling. No one has ever said anything like that to me before, not and meant it.
But he did.
"What is happening to me?" I groan, pulling the covers up over my head as soon as I'm in my bed in the small guest room. I think I know the answer, though. And it's the same one that made me stay when he called this place my home.
Itoss and turn all night, my mind and body refusing to relax into sleep. As soon as I'm almost there, the way he kissed me comes surging back to the front of my mind, and my whole body clenches.
Eventually, I give up trying to ignore it and slip my hand into my panties. I'm soaked, my sex dripping. I bury my face in the pillow, desperately trying to quiet my moans as I get myself off, replaying the way he touched me and the way he kissed me.
I pretend it's his hand between my legs, his fingers inside me.
And even with my face in the pillow, part of me hopes that he hears me when I shatter, whimpering his name into the dark.
Before I finally drift off, I think I hear the floorboards outside my door creak.
When I wake up, Bishop, a giant of a man covered in tattoos, is already gone. But Blaze is in the kitchen, drinking coffee.
I stop in the doorway, my stomach clenching at the sight of him. Was he outside my door last night, or did I just imagine the sound? I'm not sure.
"Morning," he says, grinning at me.
"Morning," I mumble, pulling my hair back into a ponytail. "Where's Bishop?"
"Some of the cows are on the lam, so he went to wrangle them up."
I stare at him. "Seriously? They ran away?"
"It happens," he chuckles. "They find a weak spot in the fence and get loose. We try to wrangle them back up before they cause problems." His blue eyes twinkle. "A herd of cattle roaming free is chaos waiting to happen."
"I bet," I mumble, shaking my head. Ranch life is wild. It's also kind of beautiful, too. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"What am I supposed to do here?"
He eyes me over the rim of his mug. "What do you want to do, Morgan?"
I shrug helplessly. "I don't know, but I feel like I should do something."
He nods thoughtfully and then drains his cup before setting it in the sink. "You want breakfast?"
"No?"
"Come with me," he says, striding for the door.
I hesitate for a minute, then shrug and follow after him.
He leads me out to the cow barn, purpose in his steps.
I hang back, watching warily as he gathers a bucket and a stool before approaching a white cow with a black splotch on her side.
"This is Bertie," he says, gesturing at her. "We're going to milk her."
"We…seriously?"
"Yep." He grins. "Get your pretty ass over here, baby."
I hesitate for a split second and then shrug, striding forward. He helps guide me onto the stool and then kneels beside me, coaching me through it.
I think Bertie has something against me, though. She produces milk just fine for him. But when I try, I get nothing…at least not until he leans closer, trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I get milk then. It sprays right in his face.
Gunner and another cowboy see it and end up on the barn floor in hysterics.
"You did that on purpose," Blaze growls, swiping the milk from his face with his fingers. There's this look in his eyes that screams trouble.
"I didn't!" I cry, scrambling up from the stool. "I swear, I didn't."
"Yeah?" He hauls himself to his feet, his head cocked to the side, a big wet spot in the center of his chest. "Then why are you running, Calamity?"
"I'm not," I say, backing toward the door even as the lie leaves my lips.
He stalks toward me, one purposeful step after the other. My heart is a bird, beating like a wild thing against my ribcage.
"Stay right there," he says.
I should probably make it easy on myself and listen…except I don't. My feet are moving before he even finishes the sentence.
I race out of the barn, breathless and wild.
I'm not a very fast runner, but some insane part of me actually thinks I stand a chance of escaping him when I feel the wind on my face and see the bars of the corral in front of me. Triumph soars through my veins.
Only to collapse into a shocked squeal when his arms close around me from behind, lifting me off my feet.
"I'm sorry!" I cry through laughter, flailing uselessly.
He spins me around, his eyes wild in the split second that I see them before his lips are on mine. He kisses me like no one is watching, one hand in my hair to hold me steady.
And, God help me, I kiss him back the same way. I pour everything into that kiss, clinging to him like he's the only thing that exists in the world.
Right now, it feels like he might be. He's the only substantial part of it anyway. The rest is just mist and fog. But he's the sun, burning so damn bright, I feel him everywhere.
"You're mine," he rasps against my lips, his heart pounding against mine. "You are so fucking mine, Calamity."
As terrifying as it is…I know he's right. I know it all the way to my damn soul.