Lauren Read online

  Lauren got a sick feeling in her stomach. “Have you dated her?”

  He barked a laugh. “Who hasn’t? Gorgeous, successful young women are always appreciated among ranchers.”

  She hugged herself again as they headed up the incline toward the barn.

  “We dated a few times after she came home from college. Then again about two years ago, we saw each other for a few months. Never went anywhere. She’s got a roving eye.”

  Licking her lips, Lauren hesitated as they came up to hay bales set like stadium seating around the barn. They were sprinkled with people, with a few around the campfire nearby and a few more hanging out in front of the barn doors. Inside she could see strings of bare bulb lights and a huge crowd of dancers.

  “Would you do me a favor?”

  “Of course, Fairy Queen.”

  She grimaced. He couldn’t protect her if she ended up seeing Sorrel. Looking over at him all manly and quiet there, she flashed to watching him maul her chest while holding her pinned to a tree. “Dance with me. Right now.”

  The band was going into a song she could honestly say she’d never danced to before—Johnny Cash’s “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.” He held out his hand. She took it, and he led her into the barn. It was almost humid inside. He threaded them into the couples until they were in the thick of the crowd. The ballad continued with the crowd chanting out the refrain. He wrapped her in his arms. She shivered remembering just how his brawny strength felt slamming into her from behind.

  He rocked them to and fro with an idle two-step on the beat, and she found herself sad to only have a week with him—confident that’s all they’d ever be. Nestled against Walt’s shoulder, she let her gaze drift.

  Sorrel stood at the edge of the crowd with surprisingly long, wavy hair. Her face held open regret, was etched with sorrow.

  Lauren’s heart took a hit. Fear. Pain. Sadness. She grabbed Walt tighter, and he cupped the back of her head. Sorrel. She was still pretty, lean, and vibrant. Lauren met her gaze again, and realized her anger wasn’t as raw. Walt turned them and she squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Kiss me,” she told her doubting cowboy. They’d fuck and they’d play but they’d probably never be anything close to what she’d had when she was young, what Sorrel and Tommy had ruined.

  Walt leaned over her, finger holding her chin lightly, and kissed her. His lips were soft. It was simple, sweet, holding the comfort of two people who already knew each other’s bodies. She relaxed, and the fear of Sorrel faded.

  She couldn’t keep herself from seeking the woman’s red hair as they came around again. Sorrel was still standing there, with a tentative smile, and a big thumbs up. Then she mouthed good taste and raised her beer bottle in salute.

  Turning her head away from the attempt, Lauren snuggled into Walt’s shoulder, chest whirling with conflicting emotions. A zing of satisfaction and relief blazed through her. Sorrel had seen her happy and well occupied. Walt might not want a real relationship, but she thought he’d be an excellent blind to block out the past with. Swaying in Walt’s strong arms, Lauren just danced.

  Congratulations. You have found the ending called Rancho Notorious. Click this link to return to the Choice Index. Dare to decide again!

  She hadn’t just spent an hour grinding her ass into this cowboy’s groin to turn down the rare passion she’d felt on the trail.

  “Let’s—” She couldn’t say it into a stranger’s face. “Let’s have sex.”

  “Naw, don’t do that. Let’s fuck.” His eyes were gorgeous, his jaw crisp. She thought he was a bit older than her, and she wondered at their experience gap. What was she agreeing to? “That word sounds hard and cold. I don’t like it.”

  “Sex is clinical, and sounds far colder to me.” He touched her cheek. “Fucking is honest.”

  “I don’t know you well enough to get crazy.”

  “But you want me.”

  Her belly clenched. “I want you bad enough for the word condoms.” This was turning into a philosophical conversation about language. Reaching to take his hand in hers, she stroked her thumb over the crisp hairs on the back. His fingers were callused. “Kiss me.”

  “No.” He stepped back, took his hat from her and set it firmly on his head. His hands on his hips, he looked at her, all of her, his gaze sliding down with lazy appreciation and burning back up with distinct greed. “You’re so tiny. With your hair all smooth and those fancy duds . . . I bet you’re big city.”

  She nodded. “New York.”

  “So listen, City Fairy. Here’s how it works best. You fuck me. You hold the reins and lead us both. That’s safest all the way around. So be clear, be honest, and take what you want from me, but don’t expect me to try to feel you out, because that’s just a waste of time. Pretty days like this are a gift. So, you gonna fuck me or not?”

  Lauren had no words for his carte blanche. She licked her lips. He licked his. Her chest was heaving with the force of her breathing, so she tore off the orange tee and dropped it on a rock. He slowly, one button at a time, undid his shirt, then peeled the wet fabric off and tossed it on the ground.

  “I’m not sure what to do.”

  “Anything you want.”

  Her next breath sucked in audibly as she fought not to have a heart attack. “I want you to come over here and kiss me hard and wild.”

  He closed the distance and kissed her, and her body slammed the cage shut on her brain. Freefall was this. She was water shot over a cliff, and she didn’t want a moment of worry to mar the experience of his hot mouth moving over hers. His lips commanded, his tongue teased, and his teeth scored her jaw line with serious intent.

  Icy trails of water from his hair seeped down over her cheeks to her neck, in fierce contrast to the torrent of heat he’d triggered within her. He gathered her up and squished her in a damp hug, soft mounds to hard muscle. She wound her arms around his neck and dropped her head back, loving the way he kissed down her throat with his open mouth. He set her on her feet, his hands petting her spine softly.

  She looked up into the shadow of his hat, his eyes glimmering with green. He licked his lips. She licked hers.

  “What’s next, Lauren?”

  Her hands coasted up the dips and valleys of his chest. It had a dusting of hair on it, the perfect amount. She toyed with his nipples, thumbed his abs, and generally got the sense that he’d have stood there and let her touch him like that for hours. He was a full foot taller than her, so she had to raise her arms way up to touch his neck, to trace his jaw, pinch his earlobes. “Can you . . . pick me up?”

  His knees bent and he hoisted her, his palms holding her ass boldly but securely. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He wasn’t a lean man. He had a deep chest and thick core. As she toyed with his ears some more, her fingers brushed the thick, battered brim of his brown hat. “You gonna keep the hat the whole time?”

  “You tell me.”

  She froze, finally understanding that he had put her fully in control. A shudder rolled through her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and this time she kissed him, angling her face to avoid the hat. Her lips brushed his, over and over, soft, dragging her mouth across his hard breaths, while he held still. Only when she pressed her lips to his and worked to open his mouth did he kiss her back.

  He held his mouth open, and it was she who sent her tongue into his. Amazing how used she was to the reverse. Pushing her tongue in against his felt bold. It was lovely. Their mouths clung harder, longer, and she held his head while she pushed it back with the force of her taking. Her tongue owned his mouth, insisting on what she wanted. It made her feel like a predator.

  “Lift me higher,” she gasped. She knocked his hat from his head. “Your mouth on my breasts. Now.”

  His hands slid up her ribs to clasp her chest just under her armpits. Holding her gaze, he pressed her straight up in the air.
Watching the muscles of his shoulders leap into focus while being the object of so much controlled strength had her crying out. She threw her head back as he brought his head forward and began to kiss her chest. His breath was so very hot, and his mouth so very soft.

  His arms were trembling before she’d even begun to enjoy the position so she ordered, “Set me against a tree.”

  In two strides she was set hard against the smooth bark of a white tree. He shifted his hold, pushing on her ribs to hold her there, and switched to her other breast.

  She writhed for a moment, not knowing what to do with her feet. His strength was as exciting as his mouth. He set her down.

  Oh. Aggression blazed through her. That wasn’t nearly enough. “Go get the condoms.”

  He turned, grabbing up his hat, and setting it on the saddle horn. As she watched him open his bag, she sat on her discarded T-shirt where it lay on the rock, and got her boots and socks off. Then she stood and shimmied out of her jeans. They took her panties with them.

  He came back toward her, a chain of three condoms dangling from his hand. She swallowed. He stopped a yard away and swallowed as well. His gaze went down her body like a forest fire.

  Her breasts were small and up-tipped, with dark nipples. She plucked them. The hard twists she used sent prickles under the skin of her belly. Looking around, she realized she was at a loss for where this could happen. The earth was loamy and covered in ferns, sticks, and plants. Rocks scattered the area, but none were big enough to stretch out on. There was no way this wasn’t going to happen.

  Walt strode back over. He was really something to behold, disheveled brown hair, face of carved granite, torso tanned all over, but slightly darker on his forearms and neck. Even his farmer tan was sexy.

  Wiggling her painted toes in the earth, she said, “I’m not sure where to go.”

  “Don’t worry about that. Once we’re in it, it won’t matter.”

  She gasped and pinched her nipples harder. Then she cupped herself and offered them to him. His finger came up and did the same twisting pull she’d used.

  She smiled at him. “Hi, Walt.”

  “You’re absolutely gorgeous.” His fingers were darker against her skin, big.

  “I want more of your mouth. Like before, but much more.”

  She wasn’t sure how it happened, but in a flash she was once again mashed against the tree, dangling from his hard grip on her ribs, his mouth slithering over her chest like danger. His cheeks and chin were stubbled and the coarseness burned in a very good way. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and she moaned. The pleasure he lapped through her skin was sweet, but when he sucked at her nipples it was a sharper sting. Even sharper was the scratch of tree bark against her spine.

  She squirmed and said, “Put me down.”

  “Just one more.” He switched breasts again and the wide, hard licks left her speechless. Or maybe it was the way his whole mouth enveloped her entire crest. Now he could both lave with his tongue and suck.

  She ground her head back into the tree, thrashing at the crazy sweetness. “I need it lower now. Touch me lower, Walt.”

  He put her down finally and his hand dove right between her legs. His fingers swirled through her soft flesh, then pushed deep. He twisted his wrist, plunging even deeper. His arm was around her shoulders, holding her close, and her breasts burned against the soft hair on his chest. “Goddamn I love hoedown night.”

  She shook her head, laughing, almost choking on the way his touch lit up her belly. He stepped away from her, ripping open the plain brown belt he wore by unlatching the oval buckle with a mountain range on it. His jeans were undone, his tighty-whities shoved down to his thighs, and his erection was out, pointing to the sky, thick and straight.

  He stopped. “Are we clear? You’re going to have me?”

  She suddenly had a vision of two gunslingers squared off in a dusty boomtown street. “It’s high noon, Pardner,” she quipped. “Draw.”

  He drew faster than she could comprehend. In less than ten seconds, he’d snagged a condom from his back pocket, ripped the foil square with his teeth, and sheathed himself with a downstroke of his fist. His pistol still pointed straight at her.

  She licked her lips. The water howled in her ears. Her thighs shook the same way they’d done when she’d gotten off of Wheezy, and her clit throbbed.

  “You melt when I hold you. Have you ever fucked standing up?”

  She shook her head. “Show me. I want to feel how strong you are.”

  He came at her. Lauren reached for him, aching for his touch. He grabbed her hips and tossed her up in the air. She gasped, holding his hips with her legs, hands clamped to his shoulders. His hand dipped between them, and then his hot cock was tucked into her valley. His hands palmed her ass cheeks and he stood braced as she began to ease down over him.

  “Ah!” She twitched in his arms, but he stayed silent and still. With a tuck and a twist, she eased farther over him. Her body surrounded his, wet and deep. She was joining this powerful man and so desperate to come she panted. His face was a mask of tension, his mouth a thin line and eyes almost closed. Clawing at his back, she forced herself closer, legs straining to hold him. Her breasts and belly sizzled as she clamped closer.

  Then his fingers bit painfully into her ass, and his hips began to thrust with a forceful forward pop that would have made any hip-hop video proud. She cried out, stunned with the first strike of pleasure. His cock dragged in and out with shockingly fast pumps. Her legs trembled.

  Burying her face in his neck, she draped herself over him. The sensation of hanging in space while his cock surged into her was magnificent. Her body tightened, strained. Her nails scored red tracks across his shoulder blades, and then he fired his hips into hers so hard she felt the hit echo up into her lungs.

  Breathless, she came. Her moan was long and low, jostled by his continued voracious movements.

  The forest whirled, and then her ass landed on the rock covered by her tee. He was on his knees between her splayed thighs, but she was already more swollen and it took several thrusts before he pressed deep. She gasped for breath, body shivering, shocked with an ecstasy a heck of a lot stronger than what she’d been finding in other sexual explorations.

  “Sorry,” he gasped out. “Sorry. Got too excited and almost fell.”

  Laughing, squirming over the presence of his tip in the soft, gooey center of her, she shook her head. “I forgive you. Are you okay?” She knew she was petite, but she was still over a hundred pounds.

  “Fine,” he gritted out. Wiping a forearm across his head, he rasped, “More?”

  She slid her hands around his ribs to grab his ass, scooting on the rock to find a comfortable position. “More!” she agreed.

  He grabbed her outer thighs and pressed until she was arched back over the rock, stuffed full. He froze for one moment, adjusted his hips to gain another pinching inch inside her, and then continued to power his hips against hers, swinging his whole body in a way that reminded her of the swaying walk of the horse. He slowed, but not by much. She slumped against the rock, arms out in abandon, the sun slicing through the trees to blind her, lost in sensation.

  After a few moments, she began to stir, coming aware from her prior orgasm. Her hands stroked his ribs, arms, and chest. She leaned up on her elbows and kissed his taut throat. His body sailed back and forth inside hers, pushing in surges that made her feel like flying.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, panting.

  “Hell, yeah.” Her voice sounded like she’d downed a liter of tequila.

  “That’s good because I can’t stop.” At least he was out of breath.

  “No one’s asking you to.”

  “I like seeing you laid out like that.”

  Lauren managed to process the words, and went back down on the rock. But this time she stretched her arms up to twine
in her hair, and arched her back to roll her chest at him. Splaying her legs even wider, she sizzled with power as she watched his gaze slide across her face, throat, breasts, belly, and finally land on where he entered her. Watching him watch them jumped the heat up a whole other step.

  His hands slid around to the inside of her thighs. He opened her wide, lifting her folds away so he could see his pumping cock even better. Back up on her elbows, she strained for the view he’d revealed. Her hips were lifted enough to see him entering her, but mostly she saw his erection as he dragged it out, the white rim of the condom a line around the forceful muscle he used in her.

  Cock. The part of him that was so other, so ugly, yet felt so incredible. “I love your cock,” she rasped out.

  She was a little stunned he had this kind of stamina. He was still thrusting so fast, so hard against her. She could feel the pinch of her next orgasm wind up.

  “I’m gonna come,” she warned him, begging, “Oh, God. I want you harder. Deeper.”

  She took one hand and grabbed at her clit, desperate to close off the harsh climb she was on. It was too much. She rubbed and pinched, circled and—

  He pulled out before she finished. Her body stuttered, seeking the end. Flushed and sizzling, she shivered. Her mouth hung open, breath sawing.

  He backed up on his knees, his cock shining wet and still pointing high. “To get deeper I need you on your hands and knees. Can’t take you any harder like this.”

  “O-okay.” Shell-shocked, she managed to ooze off the rock and crawl toward him, turning to present her ass.

  His hands smoothed over her cheeks, sweeping in hard circles. “You’ll get deeper like this, but are you sure you can take harder? You’re so damn tiny.”

  She arched her back. She was beyond processing this moment. “Yes. Everything.” Shifting her knees wider, opening herself, she waited, body thrumming.

  He entered her in a long decisive slide and his hands locked on her hips. A stick jabbed her in the elbow, and she stared at a beetle scurrying out of the way through the itchy ferns, but when he began to slam against her hips, her mind blanked out.