Cowboy Crushin' (Dalton Boys Book 3) (8 page)

She stopped breathing. Witt had arranged this? “I don’t understand.”

“I’d be in shock too if I knew a gorgeous Dalton man was after me. Their father was dashing in my day and I remember him well. You’re a lucky woman. Now get packed and don’t worry a bit about your shop. I’ll take good care of it while you and Alex spend time with the Daltons.”

“Wait—this can’t be true.”

“It is. He’s rolling into town in about half an hour, by my estimation. You’d best get ready.”

Shelby jumped up and looked at her son. He didn’t know what was going on, but he caught her excitement and bounced on the sofa, hopping the length and back like a big bunny. He’d love spending a weekend with the Daltons.

She reached out and caught his shoulder to still him, and he didn’t even try to shake her off.

Heart full, she said to Nell, “Thank you so much. I owe you several days off this upcoming week.”

“Don’t worry about that—just enjoy yourself. Byeeee!”

She blinked at the phone in her hand.

“What is it, Mom?” Alex touched her face, his warm, rough little boy fingers sending her into floods of tears. She threw down the phone and wrapped him in her arms. He snuggled close and she rocked him back and forth twice before he wriggled free.

Typical little boy style but not at all distant as he’d been.

“You said you wanted to see Kiser.”

“I do!” He started the bunny-hop again.

“That was Nell. She says Witt is on his way to pick us up. We’re going to the ranch for the weekend.” A wave that felt strangely like intoxication struck her. Witt was coming. He hadn’t forgotten about her or Alex.

“Can I take my stuffed dog?”

“Yes, you can. We have to pack. Let’s hurry!”

“Where will we sleep?”

Thoughts of snuggling against Witt’s strong naked body ignited her, but she pushed them away. “I’m not sure, buddy, but we’ll figure it out. Go get your dog.”

As Witt loaded Shelby’s and Alex’s overnight bags into the back of his truck, he was fully aware of the liquid heat that had become his heart. For days he’d been out of sorts. Though he’d gotten a lot of work done around the ranch, he’d been irritable enough Momma had pulled him aside and suggested he bring the people he loved to him for the weekend.

People I love.

Until he’d looked into his mother’s eyes, he hadn’t admitted his feelings. He enjoyed Alex—hanging out together and teaching him about ranching. And he hungered for more of Shelby.

He got into the truck and twisted to look over the seat at the boy who was bouncing up and down like a jackhammer. “You ready, dude?”

“Yes! I want to see Kiser first. I bet he’s missed me.”

“He has. He was being mighty stubborn this morning, and that’s probably why.”

“He was?”

“Yep.” Witt pivoted to look at Shelby. His breath was knocked from him.

She was stunning, long hair trailing over her shoulders, eyes like blue flames. And she was smiling.

He couldn’t resist reaching across the cab and cupping her jaw. She stared at him, lips parted. Lust slammed him. He almost came off the seat and dived for her. Getting a taste of those sweet lips was all he could think about for five maddening heartbeats.

“Thank you for doing this, Witt.”

He stroked her jaw with his thumb. “I’m glad you said yes.”

She laughed, the sound crystalline. “You didn’t exactly ask. You just showed up.”

“Not true. Nell called and did my dirty work.” He shot her a wink and put his hand on the gear shift before he didn’t trust himself to stop touching her.

“What will we do on the ranch, Witt?” Alex asked.

“Wellll, I bet we might eat some birthday cake.”

“Who has a birthday?” Shelby asked, sounding worried.

“Beck.”

“I don’t have a present. Swing by the shop and give me two minutes to fill a candy box.”

“Sure thing. Do you have any of those apple pie delights?”

The sun was setting, drenching her in golden light, but her flushed cheeks were evident to him. “I do.”

“And those dark chocolate raspberry things you like.”

They shared a look that told him she was thinking about him kissing the hell out of her while sampling the goods too.

“I’ll make an assortment for everyone to share.” Her voice was breathy, and Witt’s jeans grew damn uncomfortable.

“I like the bonbons with the candy alien eyeballs,” Alex added, and they both laughed.

“Looks like we’ll make it home in time for evening chores. You ready to feed animals, Alex?”

After that question the boy didn’t stop talking. He went on about the barn cats and why wouldn’t his mom let him keep one? Shelby rolled her eyes. Then he prattled on the last few miles about various kids in his class.

Witt enveloped Shelby’s fingers and she didn’t pull away. The weight of that seeped into him.

When he’d started making trips into Vixen to see her, he hadn’t given much thought to the future. He’d been driven to be close to her but hadn’t analyzed the why. Now that his thoughts had shifted onto a new path, he was contemplating the things he might have one day—a wife, family…and that piece of land his parents had promised him. It all might be within reach.

He couldn’t see her agreeing to marry him quickly as Charlotte had with Hank. And Cash had won Maya in a different way—she’d needed help and marriage had given her citizenship, though the way they couldn’t keep their hands or eyes off each other verified it was a love match.

But no, Shelby had a life established without Witt.

He’d have to do some wooing.

She tipped onto one hip and pulled her cell free. As she thumbed the screen, jealousy rose inside him. Was she still attached to these men who texted her all the damn time, or was she just addicted to her phone?

He bit off a low growl.

At the house, Momma ushered Shelby inside with her boxes of candy and Witt took Alex under wing. The child worked hard to please him, which only convinced Witt more that he needed the boy in his life. He never wanted to let Alex down either.

By the time the sun was sinking out of sight, Alex’s eyes were drooping. Witt flipped him over his shoulder and carried him like a grain sack into the house with Alex giggling all the way. He plunked him down and Shelby took over, whisking him into his PJs and then tucking him into a cot in Witt’s room where she’d be sleeping too. Witt would take the bunkhouse.

When Shelby descended the stairs, his heart drummed a wild beat. He drifted close and took her hand. “Everything settled?”

She smiled softly. “Yes.”

“Walk with me?”

She nodded and he led her out into the moonlight. As they crossed the field, neither spoke. They didn’t have to—he felt a hundred percent comfortable, and he suspected she did too. Not a trace of tension lingered in her body.

“This is nice,” she sighed at last.

He followed her gaze upward to the crescent moon hanging in the spangled sky. “This is Paradise.”

Her lips tilted up. “It is.” Then she began to talk about where she’d come from and how life was so different in Vixen but even more so here. Witt listened hard and heard things she wasn’t saying.

Like how much she enjoyed being here. Their shoulders bumped, and they stopped walking.

He tipped up her beautiful face to receive his kisses. Long, slow strokes of his tongue and more insistent passes that started the burn low in his gut. Then forceful nips as he devoured her.

They tumbled into the grass and he braced his weight so he didn’t crush her. Every soft inch of the woman was trapped beneath him, and his body came alive.

“Witt,” she gasped.

He licked a path around her ear and down her throat. Her skin prickled in the wake of his passion. He tongued the depression above her collarbone and continued down to the slope of her breast.

She tore off his hat and threw it. He rumbled a laugh until she twisted his hair in her fingers. Sobered and as hard as stone, he rocked his erection into the V between her thighs.

She issued a moan that dug deep into his psyche. He lost it.

He clamped his fingers around her distended nipple and lightly squeezed. She arched into his touch. He teased her nipple into a sharper peak while she worked at his shirt buttons.

“I want to feel your skin against mine,” she breathed.

He raised his head and looked into her eyes. “I won’t claim you until I know where your heart is.”

She nodded. “Okay. I just…please, Witt.”

He didn’t need more urging. He tugged her top off and popped her round breasts free of her bra cups. Her nipples strained.

Fighting a roar of need, he rose onto his knees and stripped off his shirt. She sank her nails into his spine and drew him back down, her kisses wild.

The first brush of her scorching hot breasts against his chest sent him into a tornado of want. His head spun and his cock ached. He bathed her throat and the tops of her breasts in kisses. Then he drew one bunched nipple into his mouth.

She stopped breathing as he swirled it with his tongue, learning which way to give her maximum pleasure. Pressure built in his groin and their hips smacked together.

He grazed his teeth over her nipple until she writhed.

“So good so good so good,” she chanted.

“Mmmm,” he vibrated her sensitive bud. Then he trailed his tongue between her breasts down to her stomach. A few silvery stripes stood out on her skin—stretch marks from having Alex. But they only made her more beautiful to him.

As he pressed kisses to each one, she guided his head. When his lips brushed the waist of her jeans, he stopped dead, his breath rough and his cock weeping pre-come. “I want to taste you so damn bad, woman.” He stared up her body into her eyes. “But not yet.”

“Witt.”

He plucked at her button and it popped open. Every grating tug of the zipper sent electric desire through his system. He snaked a finger into the opening he’d created and ran it over the silk of her panties.

She sucked in a harsh breath. God, she was stunning, eyes glassy, lips swollen from his kisses.

“Let me touch you. I want to make you burn for me.”

His voice was a rough stroke to her senses. How had she gotten out here under this huge open Texas sky, lying under the most glorious man she’d ever seen? Her panties were soaked and her pussy squeezed as if beckoning him to touch her.

The cooler air dried his kisses onto her skin, making him part of her. She wanted this bad—wanted him. What would happen in the morning though?

He pressed a soft kiss to her belly right above her mound. Need spiked.

“Yes.” She didn’t even care that she sounded as if she were begging.

He dragged her jeans down, towing her panties with them. Grass prickled her backside but she ignored it when he slid a finger up the wetness of her pussy. Her folds split for him, and they shared a loud groan.

“You’re soaking wet.”

“Uhhh.” Coherent speech was beyond her. All she could focus on was his burning touch on her clit. He circled it with crazy slowness then pinned it with a fingertip, grinding her aching flesh into her body.

She let her knees fall apart, still hampered too much by her clothes. She threw her head back and reveled in every mind-altering stroke of his finger. He toggled her stiff flesh back and forth then moved down to her opening. With his finger poised at her entrance, her mind floated far, far away.

All she wanted was to feel him moving within her, to know his every hard inch.

To have Witt.

He speared her with one long finger. She cried out, thrusting upward. He growled in response and moved up her body. The crush of his lips against hers stole all thought. Dizzy with his flavors and his finger working her deep, then shallow, she lost herself to the feel of the heel of his hand grazing her clit again and again.

She started to climb. Throwing her arms around him, she dragged him down, loving his weight, his scent, every flip of his tongue and thrust of his finger.

In a rush she came. Blinding pulsations pulled a primal noise from her. He answered. Stroking, taking her higher, kissing her silly. Juices spilled over his fingers and she jerked under his touch.

As the last pulsation ebbed away, she opened her eyes to stare into his—and found she liked the stars in his eyes so much better than in the sky overhead.

He brought her down slowly, expertly, his fingers moving in a slower rhythm as he kissed her with a tender passion that made her throat constrict.

When he pulled his hand free, he gave her a crooked smile she felt all the way to her toes.

Then he flopped onto his back and stuck his fingers in his mouth.

Brand new lust sliced through her as she realized he was savoring her taste. His tongue flicked down his knuckle and between his fingers, gathering every drop. Scorching heat stole over her. Panting, she twisted her gaze from the beauty that was Witt and looked at the bejeweled sky, so dull in comparison.