Turn and Burn (Blacktop Cowboys 5)

He groaned and then his mouth was back, overwhelming hers with passion. Not sloppy, wet, I wanna f**k you kisses. But hot, hungry kisses that drove her to another level of need. This wouldn’t be a one-off f**k. The first time might be fast. But the second time wouldn’t be. Nor would the third time. The fourth go around would be spectacular.

Looked to be a long, sweaty night.

And she couldn’t freakin’ wait.

She slapped her hands on his cheeks to pull his mouth off hers. When she stared into his face and saw that devilish gleam, she smirked back.

“What?”

“Didn’t you say something about throwing me over your shoulder and getting us outta here?”

“Let’s go.”

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Chapter Two

Tanna woke up in a panic, sheet clutched to her naked chest. She looked around wildly until she realized she was in her motel room, not his. She sagged into the pillows with relief when she remembered making her escape after he’d fallen into a deep sleep.

Escape. She’d forced herself to leave because she hadn’t wanted to. It felt wrong lumping the guy in with her other one-night stands. The sex had been fantastic. A little hard and fast wham bam—which she loved—and then he’d switched gears, drawing out their mutual pleasure. Words beyond yes, now and more had been unnecessary. They’d let their bodies do all the talking.

So maybe she wished they’d exchanged names. But it was too late now. She glanced at the clock. Nine a.m. Man, she’d slept in this morning. She headed straight for the shower.

After checking out of the motel, Tanna walked two blocks to the truck stop’s gravel parking lot where she’d ditched her truck and horse trailer. Didn’t appear anyone had messed with it, which was a good thing since all her earthly possessions were contained within the horse bay. She tried not to feel pitiful; a former world champion barrel racer without a horse. A former world champion without a home. A former world champion barrel racer without anything, really. She’d lost so much in the two years since her mother had passed on it still seemed surreal.

Shaking off the melancholy, she climbed in the cab of her Dodge, cranked up the tunes and plugged in the GPS coordinates for the Gilchrist Ranch.

The minute she reached the nicely kept ranch house, Celia Gilchrist opened the front door and stepped onto the front porch to greet her. Celia’s husband Kyle exited the house and stood beside her.

Tanna jumped out of her truck and landed hard on her right leg. She bit back a curse and a cry of pain. She feared she’d never be at one hundred percent again. As soon as she straightened up, Celia was there, hugging her.

“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re here, Tanna.” Celia stepped back and gave her a critical once-over. “Damn, I forget how gorgeous you are. You don’t look like you’ve been through nine months of hell.”

Tanna poked Celia’s pregnant belly. “Speaking of nine months . . . how you feelin’, mama?”

Kyle stood behind Celia, setting his hands on her shoulders. “She’s ornery half the time and crying the other half.”

“Not true.” Celia elbowed him in the gut. “I’m feeling great now. I was damn happy to see the ass end of morning sickness.”

“You look beautiful.” Tanna wasn’t just blowing smoke. Celia had a glow about her. A happy vibe surrounded her and Kyle. Tanna would be jealous except Celia and Kyle’s road to love, marriage and a baby carriage hadn’t been a cakewalk. “So, you’re at what? Five months now?”

“Yep. My due date is the first part of September.” Celia shot Kyle a wry look. “Be interesting to see how it is with a baby during calving.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great.” Tanna looped her arm through Celia’s. “You are up to giving me the grand tour of your ranch?”

“Sure. We’ve made a lot of improvements in the last two and a half years since Kyle inherited it.”

“I can’t believe you guys have been married that long.”

Kyle grabbed Celia’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “Been the best two and a half years of my life.”

Celia made goo-goo eyes at him and Tanna couldn’t resist making gagging noises.

After a quick tour on four-wheelers, they returned to the house and sat in the cozy breakfast nook. Tanna immediately reached for the sugar upon discovering the iced tea wasn’t presweetened.

“When do you start working?” Celia asked.

“Monday. I’ve got orientation on Sunday.”

“If you’ve got tomorrow off, then you can come to the branding.”

“You need help?”

Kyle shrugged. “You know how it goes. The branding itself don’t take long. It’s the rounding up and we could always use more calf wranglers.”

“Sounds like fun. I’ll be here unless I have to start work a day early.” Tanna broached the subject, no matter how loudly her pride screamed to let it go. “How is it that a Texas girl was offered a job at the Split Rock Ranch and Resort in Wyoming?”

Celia fidgeted. Then she looked Tanna in the eye. “I know you struggled after your mom’s death. And then to suffer the type of injury you did nine months ago . . .” Her eyes brimmed with sympathy. “There’s no need to pretend things haven’t been rough on you. After the accident you took that job at Billy Bob’s Texas because you didn’t have a choice. So that means you’ve got experience with retail sales and tending bar, which makes you the perfect temporary solution to the Split Rock’s staffing issues.”