Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (20 page)

He sounded like an irate father
dressing down a teenager taking his daughter on her first date. If the two men
hadn’t had clenched fists and looked like they wanted to brawl, Kerri would’ve
found it comical.

“I’ll be fine, Connor. Really. Now
go
,”
she said, turning him around and pushing him toward the door.

Five minutes later, she had a fresh
cola in her hand and the dancing had resumed on the moped up floor. But, try as
she might, Kerri couldn’t get Connor’s angry face out of her head, or the way
Duke had held such vehemence for the cowboy.

Was this still about Connor’s
ex-fiancée that Cole had mentioned? She was really beginning to wonder what
exactly had transpired between the two alphas.

An hour later, Duke pulled up to
the side of her apartment and let out a muffled curse.

A red pickup sat in the shadows.

He doesn’t quit!
  

Connor was leaning up against the
hood with his arms folded and one knee bent. With his booted heel hooked on the
bumper, he silently watched them.

“I can’t believe him,” Duke exclaimed.
“What does he think I am going to do?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t
appreciate his interference.” Kerri sighed, then smiled as an idea began to
form in her mind. “I think we need to teach my
big brother
a little
lesson. What do you say?” She focused on Duke’s face semi visible in the
moonlight.

He grinned and sat up straighter.
“Sure, I’d love to.  What do you have in mind?”

“Well, first I think I need to do
this.” Too busy wanting to teach Connor a lesson to worry about her
inadequacies, she cupped his chin and brought her lips to his.

Duke kissed her back gently, then
pulled away with a smile. “I think I’m going to like this. Now what?”

Not exactly a declaration of
passion, but it wasn’t a rebuttal either.

“Okay. Now you need to come around
and open up my door, then put your arm around me and walk me to the stairs,”
Kerri explained.

Duke’s eyes sparkled with mirth. “It
would be my pleasure.” He got out and rushed to her side and did as instructed.
Stopping at the bottom of the outside stairs, he turned her to face him and grinned.
“Now what?”

“Kiss me again.”

If she’d been in her right mind, Kerri
would’ve been appalled at her actions, but she was beyond right, she was
pissed. She caught a glimpse of Connor’s scowl through the corner of her eye and
inwardly smiled.

Good for him.

Kerri found Duke very obliging and
not a bad kisser either as she threw herself into the pretense.

When they finished, her heart was racing,
but not from Duke’s lovemaking. It was pounding because of the charade they
were pulling on Connor.

As they broke apart, she noticed the
cowboy was no longer leaning against his truck. He was now standing a few feet
from it, squinting and watching them intently.

Shoot
. He was supposed to
get mad and leave. Now what was she going to do?

Darn, stubborn cowboy.

Since he refused to leave, Kerri
had no choice but to take the game up a notch. 

Smiling sweetly, she pulled out her
keys and looked up at Duke. “Looks like we’ll have to go inside. He’s not
leaving.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Her date smiled, then
set his hand lightly on the small of her back to guide her up the stairs.

In the hallway, she glanced through
one of the windows and watched Connor stare at the door for a few seconds
before raising his hands in the air and walking around in a circle. Stopping,
he looked at the door again, and then angrily kicked at the gravel, spewing it
in all directions before finally getting into his truck.

Good. He’s leaving
. Kerri
thought she’d won until he settled back in his seat and made no attempt to start
the darn truck.

Her heart fell. Bugger was calling
her bluff. She was stuck. Had no choice. She had to take Duke into the apartment.

“He is one stubborn
brother,
”
Duke said from behind.

Turning around, she laughed as
nervousness started to set in. “Yes, he sure is. And I can’t very well send you
out there now. How long should we wait…an hour?” she asked, leading them into
her apartment.

A wicked gleam entered his eyes.
“How about two?”

She smiled. “Oh, I don’t know if I
can be that mean.” Although, after his
tramp
remark, maybe she should.

Duke helped her out of her coat,
then jumped when Bullet let out a low bark.

Kerri bent to pet the dog. “Hey,
it’s okay, boy.”

Bullet didn’t bark or growl again,
but he remained by her side. She straightened and turned to Duke. “You might as
well have a seat. I’m sure we can find something to watch. If not, I have a few
DVD’s,” she told him, then smiled. “How about some popcorn?”

“Buttered?” he asked with a hopeful
gleam in his eyes.

“Of course.”

“Sounds good to me.” He smiled,
then walked away, but turned around. “Aren’t you worried what people are going
to think with one cowboy sitting outside and one in the apartment?”

She snickered, highly doubting
anyone would take notice at all. They were pretty much in a commercial area
with all the shops already closed. “No. People can think what they want. I know
nothing’s going on.”

Kerri didn’t miss his raised brows,
so she pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you go getting any ideas or I’ll be
forced to use kung fu on you. I do hold a black belt, just so you know.”

Well, almost. Jordan had insisted Kerri learn self-defense before she had gone to New York. Her sister taught some
great moves and that had sparked Kerri’s interest. After her divorce, she’d
started lessons and was currently a second degree purple belt. Her training
would have to wait until she returned to the west coast.

Another casualty of the earthquake.

“I won’t. I promise.” Duke backed
away, hands up with a smile on his face, while Bullet never took his eyes off
him. “Beside, you’ve got the Terminator sitting out in the parking lot, and
Cujo right here.”

True.

A bag of popcorn, a comedian’s
videotaped routine, two cans of cola and one hour later, Kerri and Duke headed
for the stairs.

On the way down the outside hall, Kerri
carefully peered through the window. “I wonder if he fell asleep yet.”

“Connor? Not a chance.” Duke’s scathing
voice filled the space between them. “Will you be all right when I leave? McCall
can be a bastard,” he spat, contempt filling his gaze.

“I’ll be fine,” she reassured. “But
I need to do something first. I’ll be right back.”

She headed back into her apartment,
kicked off her shoes, removed her pantyhose, then took the clips out of her
hair. Shaking her head upside down, she ran her fingers through it before
standing up again. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed it looked wild enough,
so she rushed back to the long hallway.

Duke’s eyebrows rose and mouth
dropped. “Wow. You don’t play fair, do you?”

“Nope.” She grinned. “I learned
from the best.”

Yes, Jordan would be quite proud.

“I
t’s about damn time,”
Connor muttered inside his truck when the building’s door finally opened after
an hour of pure hell.

A half a dozen times, he’d been
ready to rush up to the apartment, but managed to hold back. Barely. The last
time had been ten minutes ago. He even had his hand on the door knob as images
of Duke forcing himself on Kerri had finally gotten the better of him. They had
him out of his truck, up the stairs, down the hallway and in front of her door.
The sound of her laughter was the only thing that had stopped him from bursting
inside. The only thing.

Relief had washed over him in waves
as her giggles signaled her safety. It was on his way back to the truck that
raw fury took over. 

How could she make love to Duke
knowing he was outside worrying about her?

Connor pressed the button to
illuminate his watch and his anger increased. She took her damn time, too!

Thrusting a hand through his hair, he
expelled a breath, trying to get a handle on his temper before the lovebirds reached
the bottom of the stairs.

What the hell was wrong with him?
Seriously. He needed his head examined. Kerri’s love life was none of his damn
business.

He’d had no intensions of following
her tonight, but before he knew it, he was pulling up in front of the Gulfport restaurant with Ashley, and the rest was history.

Christ. The thought of Kerri with
Carver made him fucking sick.

Visions of Kerri being made love to
filled his mind. Her hair down and tossed about, a soft flush to her cheeks and
her luscious lips moist and swollen from passion. Connor’s gut clenched at the
thought of Duke bringing Kerri to that state.

It should be him.

Maybe they didn’t do anything.
Maybe they just talked.  He got out and leaned against his truck, watching the
couple walk to the bottom of the stairs.

His wishful thinking disintegrated in
the moonlight.
Shit
. Her hair was now loose and tangled down her back,
and the fact she stopped at the bottom step brought his attention to her lack
of shoes.

Jealousy ripped through his gut as
he bore witness to their kiss and lingering embrace. If possible, smoke
would’ve come out of his ears. Duke caressed Kerri’s face before leaving her to
walk to his car. Then the bastard saluted him.

Carver fucking saluted him!

Connor’s knuckles cracked into
fists as Duke got into his car and drove off with a honk of his horn.

No good rotten bastard!

Expelling the breath he hadn’t
known he was holding, Connor focused his attention on Kerri who was half way up
the stairs.
Oh, hell no
. As swift as sin, he raced up the stairs and beat
her to her door. No way in hell was she going to just go inside and ignore him.

“Oh no you don’t,” he ground out,
using his body to block her.

She sighed. “Connor, move out of
the way. I am not in the mood.”

The woman had some fucking nerve to
say that to his face after keeping him waiting outside while she fooled around
with Duke.

His fury was insurmountable, and as
she pushed passed him, he quickly followed her in before she had the chance to
shut him out.

Kerri stared at him through weary
eyes. “Connor, please leave.”

“No,” he said. “We need to talk.”
As if knowing this, Bullet got up then disappeared down the hall.

“Talk?” Her voice rose. “After the
way you acted tonight, I have nothing to say to you.” She dismissed him, and
then walked further into her apartment.

“The way I acted?
You
were
the tramp tonight, Kerri, not me.” He followed closely behind and nearly bumped
into her when she stopped dead.

Twisting around, her hair was wild
about her face, and browns eyes flashed with temper.
Christ
. He knew he
shouldn’t be thinking this, but God, she was beautiful.

“That’s the second time you called
me that tonight, Connor.” Her chest rose at a rapid rate. “Don’t make the
mistake of doing it again.”

His temper returned to unsafe. “Yeah,
well if the shoe fits, darlin’.”

She smiled a damn wicked smile. “But
I’m not wearing any shoes.” Then stuck her foot out for his inspection.

“Exactly,” he grounded out as a
fierce emotion took over. One he didn’t recognize.

Her eyes lost their mirth and grew
even darker, and a second later, her hand made contact with his face. Catching
her wrist on its decent, he ignored the stinging of his cheek and pulled her to
him.

“Let go.”

She tried to yank free, but he held
on and backed her up against the wall before she could strike again. Trapped,
she glared up at him, eyes wild, hair wild, cheeks flushed, and his groin
tightened at the erotic sight. She was so damned beautiful and sexy that his
hunger grew out of control, as did the bulge in his jeans. It was too much.
Just too damn much.

He grabbed the back of her neck and
brought his mouth down on hers. Hard. She resisted for a mere second until he
ran his tongue over her lips. Hot damn, her moan granted him access to the
sweetness he knew she had hidden inside.

Pressing his body to hers, he
groaned when she swept her tongue into his mouth. His whole body was on fire.
He picked her up and carried her to the living room, making sure not to break
contact with her mouth.

Once there, he followed her down
onto the couch and pulled his lips away so they could drag in air. She stared
at him through dazed eyes, and God, he knew exactly how she felt. Off kilter.
Hungry. Hot. He lowered his lips to her neck, and as she moaned and clutched
his back, his need to feel more of her intensified.

Things got crazy. His hand glided
over her dress, enjoying the feel of her breast against the silky material as
he teased her nipple into a tight peak. She wiggled underneath him, tugging his
shirt free so she could run her hands over his bare back. God, she was so
responsive. His mouth sought the bared flesh of her cleavage, and she arched
into him while pressing his head to her chest.

So damn responsive.

Blood pounded through Connor’s head,
and his heartbeats drummed an A
lleluia
he’d never heard before. He knew
he should stop. Things were way out of hand, but he couldn’t. God, no. He
needed to touch more of her.

His hand reluctantly left her
breast and made its way over the delicious curve of her hip, down to her thigh.
She let out a little whimper that nearly did him in. He pulled her dress up and
his palm met with warm, soft, supple leg.

Bare leg.

Shit. Her stockings were gone.

He jerked back, and for the first
time since entering her apartment, he took in the details of the room. There
were pillows on the floor.