Boots and The Rogue: Ugly Stick Saloon, Book 10 (8 page)

Chapter Eight

Brody spent the morning with his paintbrush flying over the canvas, an image emerging as he combined color and texture in bold strokes. The subject, like the day before, was the woman who’d captured his attention that morning in a kiss he wouldn’t soon forget.

He hoped, by painting, to get her out of his mind. This painting turned out to be of her face as she looked up at him, her lips begging to be kissed. Rather than work her out of his system, the painting revved his libido and made him want her more.

Well past noon, he realized he hadn’t moved from his position in hours, and it was getting hot.

Stretching, he decided he needed a break to work the kinks out of his shoulders and maybe head back to the house for lunch. Colin would be gone for the day. Angus might be working his horses, and his mother… Oh hell, who knew what his mother was doing since she’d gone on strike.

Which left Jessie. Possibly alone.

He almost decided to stay and paint for the rest of the day rather than face her again. An apology was probably in order for taking advantage of her and kissing her like he did.

Brody capped his paints and moved the easel into the cabin, closing the door. He’d come back later and finish what he’d started. If only people and relationships were as easy to manage as a painting. He hadn’t realized just how warm it had become until he wiped the sweat from his brow.

Instead of hopping on the four-wheeler and heading back to the ranch house, he walked over the top of the next hill and down into the valley where the old swimming hole was located. After staring at Jessie for the past several hours, he could use a cooling swim.

He’d almost reached the tree line along the creek when a movement caught his eye. A horse emerged from the brush, a saddle on his back. As Brody neared, he recognized the brindle coloring of Jessie’s gelding. Fully saddled, the reins looped over the saddle horn, the horse bent to pull at a tuft of grass.

Where was Jessie?

Brody’s heartbeat kicked up a notch and he lengthened his stride until he was running down the hill toward the creek. Had she been thrown? If so, was she lying facedown in the water, drowning with no one to pull her out?

Fear wrapped around Brody’s heart and squeezed his chest so hard he could barely breathe as he pushed his way through the trees and bushes and emerged onto a giant boulder overlooking the old swimming hole.

Breathing hard, his gaze swept the water, searching…

A slim, pale figure surfaced and rolled over onto her back, the water glistening on her skin.

Jessie. Naked and natural, a water nymph gliding through a sylvan pool.

She lay on her back, staring up at the canopy, a slight smile curling her lips, her arms and legs skimming the water in graceful strokes.

Brody dragged in a deep breath to calm his rampaging pulse. It did no good. Desire replaced fear, and his heart beat on in a rapid staccato. Caught in a trance, he sank down on the rock, his gaze fixed to the beauty below, his cock hardening, his body on fire, aching to take the woman into his arms and hold her, surrounded by the water, the trees and the sparkles of sunshine finding a path through the leaves above.

Even as his body lusted for her, in the back of his mind he was naturally selecting the oils it would take to capture the magic of her image on canvas. She was the muse to his art.

His brothers would laugh at his strange thoughts. But they weren’t there. Brody had Jessie to himself.

She was halfway across the pool before she spotted him, her eyes widening, her arms and legs stopping their fluid motion. Then she sank beneath surface.

Brody leaped to his feet, kicked off his boots, shucked his jeans and shirt, and dove into the pool.

Jessie thrashed below the surface, apparently struggling to get her arms and legs in a position to help her.

Coming from behind her, Brody slipped his arms beneath hers and dragged her up for air.

Jessie twisted around, coughed, sputtered and clung to him as he slowly swam them to a shallower point where his feet could rest on the bottom.

Droplets streamed over her face and down her neck to her shoulders. She coughed the water from her lungs, clinging to his shoulders until she could breathe normally.

Then she stared into his face, her eyes widening again. “Holy hell, Brody!” Her glance darted to her breasts bobbing just beneath the water. “I’m naked and so are you!” With nothing to cover herself, she pressed her body against his.

He groaned at the way her skin slid over his, igniting a flame within. The coolness of the water around him did nothing to chill the rise of desire. His cock sprang to attention, bumping into her naked belly, making him even harder.

“Why are you here? Why are you holding me?” she demanded. Her fingers fluttered across his shoulders, her face tipped downward, her cheeks bright pink. “I thought I was alone.”

“You went under. I was afraid you might drown.” He forced himself to shrug when his entire body was tense with need.

“Let go of me.”

He immediately released her and looked down as she slid into the water.

Before her head went under, she grabbed for him and pressed her body against his again. “On second thought, don’t let go. You’ll see me.”

“Sweetheart, I saw all of you from up there on that rock.”

Her brows furrowed. “You didn’t have to look.”

“I found your horse wandering without you in the saddle. What was I supposed to think?”

“I don’t know, but you shouldn’t have been sitting up there gawking at me.” Jessie glanced over her shoulder. “No one was with you, I hope.”

He shook his head. “I’m by myself.”

He avoided putting his arms back around her waist, afraid that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to let go a second time. Her body fit him perfectly and he loved the way her skin felt against his.

“So what’s it to be? Are we going to stay in the water all day to spare your modesty? You didn’t seem that shy when you were floating on your back, staring up at the sky.”

“The sky doesn’t judge.” Jessie’s forehead wrinkled. “Brody McFarlan, how long were you sitting there?” Her belly bumped into his rock-hard cock.

“Long enough.” He reached out and gripped her around her slender waist. “You have a beautiful body.”

Her hands on his shoulders tightened. “You shouldn’t have looked.”

“Well, I did, and I’m not at all sorry.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “What are we going to do about it?”

“If you were a gentleman, you’d close your eyes while I get out of the water and dress.”

“I would…” he grinned, “…if I were a gentleman.”

She bit her lip. “I’ve never swum naked in a pool with a man.”

“Seems you’ve been missing out.” He tugged her closer. “Tell me to let go, and I will.”

Jessie trembled, her nostrils flaring, her fingers digging into his shoulders. For a heart-stopping moment, she didn’t say anything as she stared into his eyes. “I want you to…” Again, she bit down on her lip, her chest rising and falling on deep breaths, the tips of her nipples sliding across his skin.

“What?” he whispered, circling her back, his hands splayed low, brushing the swell of her ass. “Jessie, what do you want?”

She released the breath she’d inhaled. “I don’t know. You confuse me.”

Pulling the reins on his rampaging lust, he nodded. “And it’s probably a good thing.” As hard as he was, he had to give her the opportunity to back away. What he wanted to do and what he should do were diametrically opposed. “You work for me. I have no right to touch you.”

“No. You don’t.” She paused, and then continued in a whisper, “Unless I give you permission.” She slid her hands from his shoulders upward and linked them around his neck.

“Sweetheart, even if I weren’t your boss, whatever we’re feeling won’t last. I might not stick around.”

“What do you mean?” Her brows puckered. “You live here.”

“Not for any longer than it takes to convince my mother not to sell the ranch.” He still had his hands on her back. “My home is in Seattle. I’m going back.”

Her hands remained on his shoulders as she slowly shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking about tomorrow. And I might not be looking for commitment. I have my own life to get in order.” She tugged his head down until their lips almost touched. “I don’t know how to flirt or play games. I’m not a girlie girl, but since what happened in the kitchen, I find that I really want to kiss you again.”

Brody groaned. “Sweet Jessie, kissing isn’t all I want to do to you.” He fought to hold back. “Babe, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re naked and your body against mine is making me all kinds of crazy.”

“I’m feeling a little crazed myself.” Her gaze on his lips, she threaded her fingers through his thick hair and stopped. “I’m over twenty-one, I’m on the pill and this is the first time in my life I’ve come close to seducing a man. If you’re not interested, I’ll understand.”

“What part of making me crazy didn’t you get?” He slipped his hands down over her ass and pulled her legs up and around his waist, his cock nudging her entrance. “And just who is seducing whom?”

“I’m seducing you.” Jessie cupped his face with one hand, the other applying pressure to the back of his head. “Tell me what to do. I learn quickly.”

“You’re already doing it.” He crushed her lips with his, giving in to the lust washing over him in a tsunami of sensations. Yet he hesitated before penetrating her. Breaking off the kiss, he whispered against her ear, “You’re not a virgin, are you?”

She laughed out loud and eased down over him, taking him into her. “Not since I was sixteen in the bed of Jimmy Rae Wharton’s pickup truck. I haven’t been with many men since.”

Brody frowned. “How many?”

She smiled. “Enough to know where things go, but not enough to wear things out.”

Brody laughed and wrapped his arms around her, thrusting deep inside her.

The walls of her channel fit around him, slick and tight.

“Damn, you’re tight,” he said, his voice low, guttural.

“That’s good, right?” Her breath caught and she closed her eyes. “Oh my.”

Brody stopped before thrusting again. “Did I hurt you?”

“Yes. No.” Her eyes widened, the gray-blue deepening. “Dear Lord, don’t stop now.” She pressed down on his shoulders, raising up and lowering herself on his staff.

Needing leverage, he backed her against the boulder and sat her on a shelf of rock beneath the water’s surface. Hands free, he tucked them beneath her thighs and pumped in and out of her until she clung to him, her head thrown back, her breathing labored.

“Is this how it’s supposed to feel?” she cried.

“Good or bad?” he asked.

“So good it should be bad, but it’s not.” She clutched his buttocks and slammed him home. “Just don’t stop, unless you want to see me all kinds of crazy.”

Every nerve and blood cell raced for the finish line, while wave after wave of sensations swept over him until his body tensed, his muscles bunched and he exploded in a sparkling array of fireworks. One last thrust and he buried himself deep inside Jessie and stood still for a long, glorious moment.

When he could think with his brain again, he rested his forehead against hers. “You’re amazing.”

“Is it always that intense?” she whispered, her breathing ragged, her eyelids still at half-mast. “I mean, that was incredible.”

“And I haven’t even begun to please you.”

Jessie’s belly fluttered and her pulse leaped. “What do you mean? I
was
pleased.”

“Not as much as you could be.” He raised her off him and settled her higher on a rocky ledge protruding over the pool. Brody slid his hand between her knees, parting her legs.

Jessie’s eyes rounded and her core burned white-hot. “What are you doing?”

His big, calloused fingers rested on her knees, a sexy smile curling the corners of his mouth. “I want to make you as crazy as you made me.”

“But I
was
—”

Brody stepped between her legs and, with his tongue, flicked a path along the inside of her thigh toward her center.

Jessie’s nerve endings jumped, sending an electric current zinging to her core. Jessie’s breath caught on a gasp. “Oh.”

Brody’s chuckle sent a whisper of warm breath across her opening.

Her legs spread wider.

With his thumbs, he parted her folds.

Barely able to catch her breath, Jessie stared down at his dark head.

Brody darted his tongue out, flicking the nub of flesh.

Fire shot through her groin and outward to the tips of her fingers, her entire body trembling on the edge of…of…

He slid a thick finger into her throbbing, wet channel and flicked his tongue over her clit again.

Jessie grabbed his head in both of her hands, twisting her fingers in his hair. “Oh sweet heaven,” she cried.

Another finger joined the first, stretching, massaging, pumping in and out. Brody sucked her clitoris into his mouth and flicked her, again and again.

Her cries rose above the water as the wind rippled through the trees above, the warm air wrapping around her naked body. How could it get more exquisite?

Then his tongue stroked her, swirling around that tightly packed bundle of highly agitated nerves, sending her over the top, spinning out of control.

Jessie rocketed into the stratosphere. “Brody!” she screamed, her voice echoing off the rocks and the canopy of leaves. She held on to his hair, her hips rocking with the thrusts of his tongue until her insides exploded into a million tiny fragments. Her body froze—everything, including her heart and lungs, seized for that moment.

Then the world came rushing back and she dragged in a ragged breath, her muscles going limp, her bones liquefying. Too drained to hold herself up, she sank back against the rock, her hand draping over her belly, her eyes staring vacantly at the leaves above.

Brody climbed out of the water and stretched out on the rock beside her. He leaned over her, a frown denting his forehead. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice weak, her body trembling.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No.” She dragged in a steadying breath. “For a moment there…I think I died.” Then she turned and smiled at him, her heart filling with light and joy. “But I didn’t.”