Back in the Saddle (2 page)
The song ended and again another one clicked into place. Chance made no move to lead her from the dance floor. Instead, he simply kept moving in place, the two of them swaying to the music. Molly found herself lulled by the melody and soothed by Chance’s touch. Her breasts were flattened against his chest, the nipples tender and pebbled from rubbing against his shirt. Her pussy quivered with a long buried need ignited by the touch of his fingers and the feel of his body against hers.
And that thick, hard cock pressed against her like an oversized branding iron.
His fingers continued their erotic massage at her neck, and his arm held her against him as if they’d done this forever. When the music stopped this time, so did Chance’s movement. Molly looked up at him with half-closed eyes. A dark flush stained his cheeks, and the look in his eyes was anything but that of a friend. Heat blazed like celebratory bonfire.
“We’d better get back to that beer before it loses its cold,” he murmured, his voice even deeper. “Nothing worse than warm beer.”
“Right, right.”
She let him lead her back to the booth, holding her hand until she was seated again. Neither of them said a word for a long few minutes, just watched each other across their mugs as they sipped at the golden liquid.
“So,” she said at last, setting her mug down. “Did my father tell you I might show up here tonight and you should keep an eye out for the poor, pitiful wreck?”
Something snapped in Chance’s eyes. “The only orders I take from Reuben Hayes have to do with the ranch. Be damn sure of that, okay? I like to hang out here because no one bothers me. And Molly? You’re far from a pitiful wreck.”
Embarrassment heated her cheeks. “Sorry. That was a dumb thing to say.”
He reached across the table and closed a hand over her free one. Heat sizzled up her arm.
“I know what it’s like to feel that way.” There was neither pity nor humor in his voice. “But I see a beautiful, desirable woman sitting across from me who had the misfortune to make one bad choice. Something a lot of us have done. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Beautiful? Desirable?
Chance fetched two more mugs of beer from the bar and coaxed her into more conversation. Molly had no idea why he was doing it, but she treasured every moment. And wished he’d ask her to dance again.
But when the beer was gone, he slid out of the booth. “I’ve had my limit for tonight. Morning comes early at the ranch.”
Disappointment stabbed at her until he reached out a hand.
“How about letting me walk you to your truck? I don’t much care for leaving you sitting here alone. And there’s no pity in that,” he assured her hastily. “Just doing what my mother taught me. Come on, Molly. We’ll follow each other home.”
Chance opened the door of the bar and stood back to let her precede him. The night had turned cool, a sharp breeze ruffling her thick brown hair, and she shivered against the sudden chill.
“You need a jacket,” Chance told her. “You probably forgot it gets colder at night here in the Hill Country than in that fancy city where you lived. Here. Come closer.”
He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her against him, his body heat flooding her.
Just a friend, just a friend, just a friend
, she kept repeating to herself as they walked to where she’d parked. But when they reached her truck and she turned to thank him, tell him goodnight, he cupped her face with his big, warm hands and leaned toward her.
“Molly?” His eyes burned into her like twin torches.
“Y-Yes?”
“I lied before. I don’t really want to be friends with you.”
She started to shake. Was this his way of brushing her off? Humiliating her so she wouldn’t bother him again?
“Oh, actually I do, but what I want’s a lot more than that. I’ve waited a damn long time to do this, Molly Hayes. I hope you don’t decide to shoot me for it.”
And then his lips were on hers, soft and a little rough, brushing against her mouth, and she was totally and completely lost.
Chapter Two
Chance had shocked himself with the bold move, but it seemed as if he’d been waiting to do this forever. Years ago she’d been too young, but time had shrunk the age difference between them to insignificance. He’d often wondered if his marriage might have worked differently if he hadn’t tried to marry a substitute. But then of course there was Lori’s reaction to the sex, to the things that turned him on. He wondered how Molly would feel if…
No.
The word shouted in his head, and he banished all thought as he poured himself into the kiss. Her mouth was soft and sweet, her lips full and sensuous. He drew back ad nibbled on her bottom lip, licking around the edges before thrusting his tongue back inside that hot, wet cavern. He felt the impact of her clear through every part of his body, his cock swelling and his balls tightening with a need that was almost desperate.
Molly’s fingers were wrapped around his wrists, and at first he’d thought she meant to pull his hands away from her. It was what he’d expected. Been afraid of. But in seconds, he realized she was as much into the kiss as he was. He could feel the hard points of her nipples even through the fabric of their shirts and the soft mounds of her breasts pressing against the hard wall of his chest.
Tentatively, experimentally, still keeping his mouth fused to hers, he slid one hand from her face down her slender arm, breaking her grip on him. Slowly, his hand inched up from her waist along her rib cage to touch the bottom swell of her breast. He paused for just a brief moment, again waiting to see what she’d do. When she gave another of those delicious little sounds, he cupped her breast, gently squeezing and rasping his thumb across the nipple.
Okay, he was in desperate straits now, his cock so hard it was painful, his body sending him urgent messages. But no way could he fuck Molly Hayes in Rusty’s parking lot. Or even in the truck. What the hell was he doing, anyway? Talk about a testosterone surge. He’d just spent such a long time imagining doing the things he loved with and to Molly that, for a brief moment, his mind had taken a vacation.
With great reluctance he moved his hand back to her cheek and pulled his mouth from hers. “God, Molly, I’m—”
“If you tell me you’re sorry, I’ll give you a hard knee to the groin,” she told him. Her face was flushed with desire, her eyes slumberous, her lips swollen from the kiss.
Chance blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I’m just recovering from five years with a man who apparently didn’t find me as appealing as I thought. Don’t make things worse by telling me this was a big mistake.”
Chance blinked again. Was he hearing right? She
wasn’t
upset with him? Or was he misreading the signals.
He had to make sure. “You’re not mad that I kissed you?”
She stared at him as if trying to decide how to answer him. She hauled in a deep breath—making those wonderful breasts poke out at him—and let it out slowly. “I’ve wanted you to do that since I was fifteen years old.”
He chuffed an unsteady laugh. “Molly, when you were fifteen I was nineteen and hadn’t yet learned to kiss like that. Besides, you weren’t even legal and your daddy would have had my hide.”
He still had her up against the side of the truck, his hands gentle against her cheeks. For a brief moment, he had a vision of her stripped naked, spread out on the hood of the truck, her pussy temptingly open to him.
Jesus, McDaniel. Get your head out of your pants.
“I didn’t think you even looked at me.” Her voice was slightly unsteady, heat still flashing in her eyes.
“Oh, I looked at you all right. But you were off limits to me.”
“And now?”
“Now I want to do things with you that…” He stopped, shook his head. “This is not good, Molly. You’re just coming off a bad divorce—although I can’t imagine there’s ever a good one—and not thinking straight.”
“Me? I’m thinking straight for the first time in years.” She smiled at him. “If this is a mistake, it’ll probably be the best one I’ll ever make.”
“Your father—”
“Thinks you do a terrific job and probably wishes I’d married you instead of Boyd.”
Chance sucked in a deep breath. “Molly,” he began.
She touched her fingers to his lips. “Don’t say a word. Let’s not spoil this.”
“I was going to say if you keep looking at me like that, I’ll forget all my good intentions and strip you naked right here at Rusty’s.”
Her laugh was tremulous. “Funny. I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Molly, will you come home with me? Now? I don’t want to make things awkward for you with your father. My house is pretty far away from the main house and has its own little driveway. No one would see you—”
“It’s okay. Dad left for Forth Worth this afternoon. There’s no one to spy on me.”
He couldn’t help the smile that crawled over his face. “Well, now. Isn’t that fortunate? Will you follow me?”
He held his breath, waiting for her to change her mind. Decide this was a bad deal for her. He had absolutely no idea where her head was at this particular point in time. After all, he’d only offered her tonight.
For now.
“Right on your heels, cowboy.”
****
I’m crazy. That’s the only explanation for this. I have lost my freaking mind.
Molly repeated it over and over like some kind of mantra as she followed Chance down the narrow gravel driveway. His house, built on the edge of Hayes Ranch property, sat well back from the road. It was concealed further by ancient oaks that rose in his yard like mammoth sentinels.
When she pulled in next to his truck, for a moment panic seized her and she nearly turned around and raced back to the safety of the ranch. But she’d wanted this for so long, dreamed about it for so many years, she wasn’t about to run away from it now. Still, as she climbed down from her truck she was a little shaky.
Chance was right there beside her, helping her, his hand warm on her arm. His face was in shadow, the brim of his hat shading it from the moonlight, but there was no mistaking the heat radiating from him.
“Still time to change your mind, Molly.”
Was that an edge of uncertainty in his voice? No, not him. Not the completely confident Chance McDaniel.
“Not a chance,” she said, grinning at her play on his name.
His fingers tightened slightly on her arm, then slid down to lace with hers as he led her to the house.
Molly knew her father had built this for Chance when he’d gotten married. He’d just been promoted to foreman, following Jerry Russell’s long overdue retirement, a sign of her father’s confidence in someone so young. That obviously meant he’d lived here with his wife, whose name Molly had made it a point not to remember. Would there still be touches of her in the house? Mementoes of the brief marriage?
What had gone wrong between them, anyway? Her father hadn’t said much and she hadn’t asked questions. And Chance had made it perfectly clear tonight the subject was off limits.
As soon as he turned on a table lamp in the living room, Molly got a clear picture of a very masculine home. Comfortable wood and leather furniture. Polished wood floor with a colorful woven rug to give it warmth. A big flat screen television hanging over a stone fireplace with a wide heart.
Off to the left she could make out a dining room and kitchen and straight ahead was a short hallway.
The bedrooms.
Covertly she looked around to see if there were any lingering feminine touches, but this was definitely a place where a man resided, even to the stack of newspapers on the heart, the jacket draped over a chair and a coffee cup on the table in front of the couch.
“I’m usually much neater than this.” His voice held an apologetic tone.
“No, no. It looks fine. Just fine.”
Then he was in front of her, arms winding around her, his warm breath like a soft breeze on her face.
Molly pushed her hands flat against his chest, panic suddenly washing through her.
“Wait, wait, wait,” she squeaked. Squeaked? She actually squeaked?
“What is it?” His mouth was so close she nearly forgot what she was trying to say.
“I…I haven’t done this for a while. I mean…”
“It’s okay, Molly. Just like I said about dancing. It’s no different than riding a horse. You never really forget.”
Then his lips brushed against hers, soft as a feather, and his tongue traced the outline of her mouth. She trembled with a need greater than anything she’d ever felt before, desire blooming in the fluttering walls of her cunt and the swollen points of her nipples.
His hands were like hot gloves on her back, his fingers splayed against her spine, one hand traveling to her nape to thread his fingers through her hair. When his tongue danced along the seam of her lips, she parted for him, welcoming him, opening her mouth wide. His teeth scraped gently along the surface of her tongue, and bolts of electricity struck at every nerve.
