Cowboy Take Me Away (Rough Riders 16)

Totally bewildered, she asked, “Why?”

“Because you deserve more for your first time than me rutting on you on top of a rickety picnic table and getting slivers in your ass.”

“Oh.”

He pulled her against his chest. “With the way I look at you and the way I was touchin’ you tonight can you honestly tell me you thought I didn’t want you?”

“I thought you did…then I wasn’t sure.”

“That’s one thing you can be very sure about.” He kissed the top of her head and smiled at her. “You ready to go?”

She nodded.

They walked back to the truck in silence. Carson held her hand but she could tell his mind was elsewhere.

The silence continued on the drive back to her car. After he parked, he kissed her—more chastely than she was used to from him. “I want to see you tomorrow night.”

Her mouth opened before her brain engaged. “Where and when?”

“This same parking area around seven?”

How would her father react if she told him she was going out again?

Do you really care?

No.

Can he stop you?

No.

Carolyn wreathed her arms around Carson’s neck and kissed him greedily. He had the skills to seduce her completely, but from this moment on she’d be a full participant in that seduction. He didn’t get to call all the shots. She didn’t relinquish his mouth until she’d had her fill of it.

For now.

She smiled and kissed that spot on his throat that made him groan. “See you here tomorrow night at seven. Don’t be late.”

Chapter Six

Carson

Carson leaned against his pickup, his elbow resting on the box, trying to look casual as he waited, even when everything inside him was wound tighter than a ball of baling twine.

Goddamn he had it bad for her. So bad he’d damn near sliced off his finger today. He’d been so lost in thought, remembering his hands roaming over the smooth expanse of Carolyn’s belly, that he’d nipped his knuckle with the wire cutters and it’d bled like a sieve.

After he’d returned from the lake last night, he’d suffered through a lecture from Cal about slowing things down with Carolyn. Which Carson had taken to mean break it off with her. That hadn’t gone over well; until Cal explained he’d meant slow as in proceed with caution, not as in come to a complete stop.

Which just proved how f**king antsy and touchy he was about her. How crazy in love he was with her.

After six f**king days.

Her car appeared on the horizon. He remained in place, watching as she parked, his pulse quickening when she climbed out.

Grinning, he held his arms open and she launched herself at him.

As soon as she’d wrapped herself around him, nestling her face in his neck with a soft sigh, Carson closed his eyes as he squeezed her tight. Yeah, this woman was his.

They remained locked together, not speaking, just…being.

His fingers twined in her hair and he tugged her head back to get at her mouth. He focused on tenderness with her. Brushing his lips over hers. Teasing and nibbling. Sucking her sweet breath into his lungs.

Impatient, Carolyn tried to wrest control. Framing his face in her hands and pulling him closer.

But Carson wrapped his fingers around her wrists and gently removed her hands. “Sugar, what’s the rush?” he whispered against her lips. “All day I’ve been lookin’ forward to takin’ my time to enjoy this.” He lightly licked the seam of her lips; his tongue followed the bottom of her teeth. She tasted like sweet sin.

When Carolyn released a shuddering sigh, he slowly kicked up the heat level of the kiss from warm to molten. By the time he broke the seal of their mouths, sweat dampened his skin and his c**k pressed against his zipper.

Whoa. Her hands were on his ass, holding his pelvis to hers, forcing the teeth of his zipper to bite into his c**k as her lips trilled over every hot spot in his throat.

“Uh, Caro?”

“You always smell so dang good.”

“You wouldn’t have said that earlier when I was covered in dust and sweat.”

“Wrong. You’d still smell good. Like earth and man.”

He groaned when her sassy tongue flicked his earlobe.

“I like that I can get you to make that noise,” she said softly.

“You make some pretty sexy noises yourself when my mouth is on you.”

She stilled. “Last night wasn’t a dream, was it?”

“No.” He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. “You still all right with it? No regrets?”

“Just that you stopped.”

Jesus. “I didn’t wanna stop. You know that.”

“I know you’re worried we’re going too fast. But I’ll bet if I was any other woman, besides a virgin, you wouldn’t have reined it in.”

“You don’t compare to other women and not just because you’re a virgin.”

“Then why?” she demanded.

Because you look at me like no other woman ever has. Like you see beneath the surface of a hell-raising cowboy to the man inside. The man I want to be.

“Carson?”

“Because you’re you. From the moment I met you I’ve thought of nothin’ but you. I can’t explain it any better than that.”

“I’ll let it go…for now. But please don’t treat me like I don’t know my own mind, okay?”

“Okay.” He fused his mouth to hers and the kiss soothed the restless parts of him. Parts he hadn’t realized needed soothing. “Come on. Let’s hit the road.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He boosted her into his truck on the driver’s side and slid next to her. She rested her head on his shoulder and her hand on his thigh.

“What did you do today, rancher McKay?”

“Besides check cattle? Fixed fence.”

“Didn’t you do that yesterday?”

“Yep.”

“Do you do that every day?”

“We could. We should. But we don’t. Just happened we did it two days in a row.”

“What does fixing fence entail?”

“A fifth of Jack Daniels.” He grinned at her. “Kiddin’. It’s a tedious job that’s never ending.”

“Because the McKays have so much land?”

“Not that as much as there’s a lot of fence. No matter how well the fence is installed, the elements and the cattle make a mess of it. Summer is slow until haying starts, so that’s when we do the majority of the repairs.”