The Cowboy's Texas Rose (The Dixons of Legacy Ranch 1)

They reached the bottom of the canyon, crossed the tumble of large rocks creating the arroyo bed, skipping from rock to rock to cross it, and began an ascent up the other side of the canyon. No path was demarcated, and they climbed over a sprawl of rocks and dirt and wove in and out of prickly plants.

“Keep an ear for rattlers,” he said over his shoulder.

It was hard to see a diamondback in these parts. They were the color of the ground, as nature had intended they evolve. Still, they climbed without incident. Sweat leaked down her forehead into her eyes, making the sunscreen sting. So much for sweat-proof. That sunscreen bottle had lied.

Finally, as they neared the top of the canyon and the terrain steepened, Toby stopped, propped his sunglasses on his hat, and pulled loose that faded handkerchief from his rear pocket.

“Come here. I’m gonna blindfold you.”

“What?” She stepped back, giving him the stink eye, but he chuckled and grabbed her hand, dragging her forward.

“Humor me, ’kay?” he said.

“You’re not some ax murderer, are you? Getting your kicks luring unsuspecting women to a remote cavern?”

He grimaced at her. “What the hell, woman? You’ve got some imagination.”

Shaking his head, he stepped closer to her until even in this blazing sun she could feel his added body heat. He dipped his head and captured her lips in a kiss. Sweet, unmistakably affectionate—if not a bit arrogant, too, judging by his assumption that he could kiss her when he wanted. Of course, he could, though she’d never tell him that. Their kiss yesterday had been enough to want so much more, and she’d ached for it. She’d hoped to kiss again ever since.

“Trust me, baby. I’m about to rock your archaeology-obsessed world. Where’s the playful Doctor Morales who makes nerdy jokes and talks shit about my Bronco?”

She laughed as he turned her around to tie the bandana around her head. “You know, they say men who drive big cars—”

“Trucks,” he corrected as he pulled strands of her hair free from the knot he was tying.

She rolled her covered eyes again. Man, this guy was shooting for a record amount of exasperation. “Fine, trucks. They say the bigger the truck, the smaller the man’s…er, well I’d say the Beast is pretty macho.”

He paused, then she felt his breath on her ear as he leaned in to whisper, the brim of his hat tapping the side of her head. She grinned, sensing she was getting the rise out of him that she wanted. God, she loved needling him. He’d never let such a statement go unchallenged.

“Is that a fact.” He nipped her ear, sucked it, his fingers sliding down her arm from behind and taking her hand in his. “Suppose I put those rumors to rest.”

My, how the mood had suddenly shifted. “Hmmm…maybe.”

His lips and tongue pulling upon her lobe, his breath sent a soothing caress across her skin like a cool breeze. She sighed. Then caught her breath to stifle the sigh, which had already escaped. Which was no good because now he knew she was turned on. This desert was suddenly hotter than before. He teased her skin between his teeth. Her breath grew shallow. Their kiss yesterday had been heavy and passionate, but this… This earlobe kissing spoke of nothing but pure sex and his ability to deliver on every innuendo he’d made to her since they’d met.

“‘Maybe’ nothin’,” he replied, his voice low and thick. “You seem like you need a case study to know for sure.”

“I’d like to see you convince me,” she breathed.

Gauntlet. Thrown. Down. What in the hell was she doing? She was inviting more of that toe-popping attention he’d teased her with yesterday was what. She’d loved it, even if it was reckless. Even if she’d just met this man. Already she felt as if she knew him. And dammit, but she wanted to believe that he wasn’t really like the first impression he’d given her. She was setting herself up for heartbreak, but it felt too good to resist anymore.

“Can’t see anything with a blindfold on, girl.”

His remark, laden with something unspoken about what was to come, skewed her thoughts again and made her pulse jump. What harm was there in indulging in just a bit of fun? Sage wasn’t here. Why not let herself go and see where the chips fell? His tongue feathered down her neck, tasting the saltiness of her sweat, and he made a soft, low groan of appreciation as he kissed his way back up to her ear. Butterflies zoomed through her stomach. Butterflies on fire. She was suddenly melting, and it had nothing to do with the sun beating down on them.

“Suppose we do a blind study,” he continued, giving the blindfold a tiny tug. “Since you’re eager to know the size of my…truck.”

“SUV,” she whispered, her mouth turning up.

He pulled her palm behind her and cupped it around his… Oh my God. She was palming the front of his jeans, her fingers curling between his thighs to cup his family jewels.

“You feel that?” he asked, his voice still deep and soft beside her ear.

She felt paralyzed. He kissed her ear again, feathered his tongue upon it, letting the lobe pop from his mouth, inducing a shiver across her skin. He squeezed her hand around his cock and nudged into her palm. She could feel the steady surging of blood pumping him to the full height of arousal, and those butterflies in her stomach turned to lashes of flames lapping at her insides, sending primal heat to all the places where she wanted him to touch her in return. Suddenly, her ear wasn’t enough. Her body didn’t give a damn about common sense. God, he felt heavy and perfect. She’d love to slip her curious hand behind his fly and cup him skin to skin and know what those family jewels felt like in her hand.

“That don’t seem so small to me.” His voice rumbled intensely, his lips dragging over her skin and making her legs tremble even though he’d only toyed with her ear. “I think your saying is a myth.”

She’d set herself up for that one, too, exactly what she’d angled for. She smiled, and she gave him a gentle squeeze of her own for good measure, feeling his stomach and chest against her back and his other hand holding her waist. He sucked in at her unexpected seizing of control and reacted with another buck into her hand, this one more of a reaction than a decision. Damn, this cowboy was well hung. Fire was consuming her. Wildfire devoured her insides as she itched to slip his zipper down so she might feel how thick his shaft was. So she might know what he smelled like and looked like and tasted like. She needed his hands upon her, now, to soothe away the tension he was building in her. It had been a long time since she’d been with a man. It had been a long time since someone had made her feel wanted.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I’d have to see it to believe it, and since this is a blind study…”

“Damn, girl,” he breathed into her ear, her remark ratcheting up his eagerness as he squeezed her hand around his cock with only desire driving him, all teasing and games cast aside.

He sucked wildly on her earlobe, nipped down her nape, and his other hand slipped over her stomach, sliding up to grasp her breast. He squeezed it, cupped it, exhaling reverently against her ear again. Yes. He’d read her need to be touched. She mewed her pleasure with relief, arching into his palm as he massaged it wildly, as he thrust with more rhythm into their shared grip upon his jeans, as he gave her nipple little pinches and brushed his fingertips over the hardened point to feel the result of his efforts through her shirt, making her squirm with need.

“Ever since I saw these pretty twins in my shower, I’ve been wanting to get my hands on them,” he groaned, squeezing her with more conviction now that she hadn’t pushed him away. “I didn’t bring you out here to get between your legs, but damn, baby, if it weren’t for the cacti and fire ants, I’d toss you down right now.” His breath was shaking and his words were spoken on a huff as he undulated into her hand that was now massaging him of its own volition. “You’re driving me crazy.”

She twisted around in his arm, her hand ripping free of him, and gripped his neck and head. Still blindfolded, she reached up on her toes to meet his dip of the head. Their lips collided. His tongue thrust hard and steady into her mouth as one hand gripped her crown, and the other slipped down her rear to nestle his fingertips between her thighs and pull her tight against him, as that cock begged her to release the zipper and let it spring free from its denim bondage.

Still, they only made out. An afternoon of dancing around each other’s hormones finally ebbed into a tasty simmering, until they mutually pulled apart.