The Rancher's Rules

If only Tyler had let her get dressed when he’d first got there. But in his misery he had been oblivious to her scanty covering. Men.

Feeling annoyed at men in general and Grant in particular, Zoe stepped back into the shower. In her pique, she refused to rush herself. Grant could just wait for her, and for any explanations she might deign to give him.

Half an hour later, Zoe reentered the kitchen. This time she was fully clothed, in a pair of comfy cotton pants she had batiked the year before, a matching mock turtleneck and an oversized sweatshirt from her alma mater. Her tennis shoes squeaked as they hit puddles of water left from her dripping body earlier.

Grant sat at the kitchen table, a mug in his hand. The set of his shoulders and his thin lips let her know that he had not gotten over his initial reaction to finding her in the kitchen with Tyler. She frowned at him, letting him know she did not appreciate his attitude.

She walked by him and grabbed a paper towel from the counter. Going back to the puddles of water on the floor, she knelt down and wiped them dry. “You can stop glaring at me. Tyler and I were not in the middle of some hot and heavy loveplay when you got here.”

Grant’s chair scraped the linoleum as he pushed away from the table. “You could have fooled me. You were wearing nothing but a towel and Tyler when I walked in.”

Zoe looked up to meet Grant’s gaze. Mistake. His eyes were filled with fury and he loomed over her like an avenging angel. Trying to scoot back and gain some distance, she lost her balance and fell back onto her bottom with a plop. “Correction. I was wearing the towel and hugging Tyler. He needed comfort.”

“If you comfort every guy who needs it with your naked body, I’m surprised your reputation isn’t already shredded.”

Putting her hands beside her and her feet under her, she pushed up from the floor. She landed two inches from Grant’s chest. She met his eyes unflinchingly, giving him glare for glare. “That was a rotten thing to say.”

She was so close she could see his nostrils dilate, a sure sign that Grant was furious. Zoe prepared for a rip-roaring argument with him. Instead he wrapped his arms around her, settling one hand on the small of her back and the other behind her head. Yanking her forward, he lowered his head and stopped.

Zoe felt like a deer caught in her daddy’s headlights. She knew this meant danger, but she was too shocked to move. “Grant, I don’t think—”

His mouth cut off the rest of her words. His lips were warm and she could taste coffee on his tongue. The tongue he roughly plunged into her mouth, still open to finish her statement. It felt good. He tasted wonderful.

Using the hand on the small of her back, he pulled her body into alignment with his. Electric shocks sizzled along her front where her legs, pelvis and breasts made contact with the hard contours of Grant’s body. Of their own volition her arms lifted, and she locked her hands behind his neck.

The bones in her legs turned to warm candle wax and would not hold her up. They didn’t need to. His mouth was no more possessive than his hands. He held her against him like a vise.

In the back of Zoe’s mind, she knew this would not last. Anger had prompted Grant to do something he had made it very clear he did not want to do. Kiss her. She already felt the pain of his withdrawal, although it had not happened yet.

Refusing to give in to it, she determined to enjoy the sensation of being in his arms while it lasted. Relaxing against him, she gloried in the feel of his tongue branding her mouth, his hands holding her so strongly. She moved her lips under his, exulting in the groan that issued from him. He lowered his hand and cupped her bottom.

She could no more stop herself from rocking her pelvis against him than she could hold her breath under water indefinitely. She needed this. Too much.

He responded to her movements by backing her against the counter. He lowered his other hand to her bottom and lifted her until she sat on the very edge of the counter, her thighs open and Grant between them.

He didn’t waste any time getting as close as he could get with only the layers of clothes separating them. He pressed his hardened shaft against the juncture of her thighs, and with only a small wiggle of her backside he was hitting her where it counted most.

She moaned at the feelings that rocketed through her at the contact. She wanted to be naked, with him buried deep inside her.

He squeezed her breast. She could not get enough air. Twisting her mouth from his, Zoe gulped in necessary oxygen. Grant moved his mouth to her ear and pressed wet, breathy kisses against it. Zoe felt herself spiraling out of control. She had never responded this way before, and if she didn’t know better she would think she was about to climax.