Lasso My Heart (2 page)

* * * * *

After washing up at the outdoor sink, Josh shook the water from his hands and went inside. “Dixie!”

She didn’t answer. Moving through the rooms they were remodeling one by one, his mind worked over his current problem—how to make this anniversary a memory she’d cherish.

When he reached the bedroom and spotted the red slinky dress hanging on the closet door, he pushed out a sigh. “Dammit.”

He caught the music of water in the brand new bathroom he’d finished just in time to start pulling calves. Dixie would be standing naked under the rain shower head, her body glistening.

His cock jumped to attention. He kicked off his boots, stepped out of his jeans and then tossed away his shirt, leaving his clothing in a puddle on the floor. He’d catch hell for that too, but right now his mind—and cock—had one thought.

As he opened the door, steam rolled out. Through the glass shower door, he traced her outline with his gaze. When he stepped in behind her, she gave him one of her come-hither smiles.

He yanked her against him.. She was hot and slippery as the road to hell. Good thing she was his wife or he’d be a sinner hourly.

Burrowing his face against the crook of her neck, he rocked his hips against hers. They shared a groan, and she spun her arms around his neck.

One thing they’d always had was great sex. Better than great. She was an insatiable little minx at times, and he’d always teased her that someday he’d take a whole day and just make her come over and over.

As soon as I figure out how to take a real break from ranchin’.

She stood on tiptoe and stole his thoughts with her kiss. When Dixie kissed, his brain flew south. His cock strained, and he nudged the V of her thighs with a rock of his hips. She moaned, and he swallowed it, feeding her his tongue and nipping her lips for long minutes.

When she reached between their bodies and gripped his shaft at the root, he realized they were leaning against the tiled wall. His muscles forgot how to stand when she was in his arms.

He cupped her breast, rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Her eyes darkened a shade and she clung to him. “You need these little brown nipples sucked, darlin’?”

“Uhhhh.” She arched into his touch.

Leaning down slowly, he snaked his tongue over the tip. It beaded instantly, raising a growl from him. She was so damn perfect. Beautiful, sweet, smart and sassy.

He sucked her nipple into his mouth as he pinched the other. She started to sink down the wall, and he trapped her with a thigh between her legs. Her soaking wet pussy against his muscle damn near stole his control.

She rubbed herself on him like a cat in heat.

“Fuck yeah. Can you come on my thigh? Then I’ll lick up every drop of your juices before I plunge my cock into you.”

“God, yes.” She jerked her hips, drawing her pussy back and forth over his leg. As he worshipped her nipples, drawing them into tight peaks, he stole glances at her face. Features twisted in bliss, her mouth open in an O shape.

He could watch her work herself up all day—if he didn’t need her so badly too. He’d really neglected her for weeks, and a new wife who was unsatisfied was a big no. He dragged his finger up her seam. Wet folds parted, and he trapped her hard clit beneath his fingertip.

She cried out, rocking, taking what she needed from him. He knew by the change in her breathing that her orgasm was rushing up.

Unable to even blink, he watched ecstasy cloud her face. A wild cry tore from her throat, and he swooped in to kiss it off her lips as he stroked several contractions from her.

When she sagged, he did as promised—he sank to his knees before her water-slick body. He was quite a bit taller than she was, and there was no way he could fit his mouth over her throbbing pussy the way he wanted.

He cupped her ass and lifted her onto his face. As his tongue speared her soaking center, she screamed in abandon. Her cries echoed in the bathroom, spiking his lust five more notches. He needed to get inside her. But first, he was determined to taste her.

“I’ve fucking missed you,” he growled before lunging back in.

She quivered, breaths rasping. She tangled her fingers in his wet hair as he lapped her sweet pussy. When he felt her tense, beginning to climb again, he slowly lowered her to her feet.

Their gazes held as he stood. When he reached for her, she threw her arms around his neck and hitched her legs around his hips. In one smooth stroke, he filled her.

Every day of his life he thanked the universe that she was his partner, lover, best friend. “I’ll make it up to you all night long, darlin’.”

“Damn right you will.” Her inner walls clutched his cock, nearly milking his release from him. He ground his teeth, fighting for control. But she wasn’t letting him slow. She raked her nails over his shoulders and kissed him.

He fucked her deep and hard, pounding her up the wall. Pressure spread through his groin, nestling at the base of his cock. He opened his eyes and watched Dixie’s beautiful face as she started to pulsate.

“Needy wench. I kept you waiting too long.”

“Don’t keep me waiting now. Let me come.”

With his hands on each plump ass cheek, he spread her to take his every inch even as he buried his finger to the knuckle in the backside. She burst with a throaty cry, and he took a second to revel in the grip of her pussy and ass right before following her over the cliff into a sea of pleasure.

* * * * *

Dixie lay nude on the bed, toying with her nipple. It tightened and goosebumps broke over her skin. Beside her, Josh lay as if dead. She nudged him with her thigh. “You aren’t done with me.”

He grunted a laugh. “No?”

“Not remotely. By my tally, we didn’t have sex for fifteen days. That means you owe me fifteen orgasms.”

“Oh you only need one a day now? That’s never been the case.” When he looked at her with those blazing blue eyes, she fell in love with him a little more each time.

Gripping his wrist, she brought his hand to her pussy. He stroked the few curls on her mound before walking his fingers down her lips. She let her thighs fall apart, and he took immediate control.

Thrusting two fingers into her core while grinding her clit under the heel of his hand. Her chest rose and fell, and he captured one nipple between his lips. Shivers of need rolled through her, and she snuggled closer. Often after he’d pleasured her, they lay like this.

“Fucking gorgeous woman. Are you going to come already?”

“S-soon,” she panted. She bit into his hard shoulder, tasting pure, clean male. “I’ll come on your fingers and then see if the mouth trick perks you up.”

His cock hardened against her hip, and her laugh broke into a moan as Josh’s fingers hit a particularly good spot.

“God, yeah, darlin’. Tip your hips. Let me in.”

She obeyed, giving him access to all of her. He sank another finger into her ass and jerked his hand wildly.

The added stimulation sent her flying high.

“You want my cock in your tight ass, don’t you?” His dirty talk skimmed her senses, his tongue working the outer shell of her ear.

“Yes, yes,” she cried, holding on to the sensations he gave her. Heat bloomed in her belly, and she was right there again. Juices soaked his hand and her body twitched in ecstasy as he finger-fucked her pussy and ass.

When she opened her eyes, he was staring into her eyes. A heartbeat throbbed between them before he surged up the bed to poise his cock at her lips. “Take it, little slut. Show me how bad you want my cock in your ass tonight.”

With a mewl of desire, she wrapped her fingers around his shaft and drew him into her mouth. As his inches spread her jaw, she flashed her eyes at him. He groaned and wrapped her hair in his fist.

For long minutes she sucked and teased him with her tongue. Then she wiggled downward, trailing her tongue to the area between his balls and the base of his shaft. His cock jerked as she hit his sensitive spot.

Pursing her lips, she lightly sucked as she slid his length through her hand. Pre-come oozed from the tip, and she swiped her thumb through it, spreading his cream as she focused on the area that would drive him crazy.

It didn’t take long. He grabbed her upper arms and hauled her up his body.

“But I want a taste,” she pouted, slid back down and took without asking. When his cock head struck the back of her throat, she swallowed reflexively.

“Hell. I can’t last if you do that.” He rolled her beneath him, poised at the heat of her and filled her once more.

Minutes later, she peeled herself off the ceiling and traced the hard lines of her husband’s abs. Each tanned ridge under her fingers felt like speedbumps to heaven. “That’s four orgasms. You have eleven to go,” she said.

“Insatiable woman. You’ll get your eleven, but I need to recover.”

“I’ll give you a few minutes. But only because you did just pull a calf.” Energized, she bounced to the edge of the mattress then to her feet. As she sashayed to the door, completely naked, she tossed a look back.

Josh lay there like a cowboy god, taking up a lot of room on their king-sized bed. His brown hair tumbled over his forehead, and his unshaven jaw cut a dark line against the sheets.

“Where’re you going?”

“I have an anniversary dessert in the fridge. Maybe it will be the sugar high you need to take care of this.” She ran her palm over the curve of her ass and left the room to the sound of his heated groan.

Chapter Two

Dixie dipped her hand into the bowl of chicken feed. Grains ran through her fingers, and she flicked the meal, scattering it. The chickens flocked around her—a mishmash of breeds.

They laid shades of brown, cream, pale green and a beautiful blue. The hues had inspired her paint colors in their house. Which reminded her, she wanted to get started on the next remodeling project.

The steady swish of the shovel in the barn gave her a feeling of guilt. How could she be thinking of another project when Josh was already worn ragged? The man worked far too much.

At least she’d dragged him back to bed for their anniversary celebration. It wasn’t exactly the day she’d planned, but his words had been the perfect ending to their special day.
We’ve got a great story to tell our kids and grandkids.

With a smile, she tossed more feed. Feeding chickens had always been her job growing up. Doing it now for her own ranch and family gave her a sense of satisfaction. She just wished Josh would let her do more.

She rode with him to check the herd most days. She’d repaired a lot of fence on the property too. But some of the work was beyond her capability. And some she just plain refused to do—like cleaning stalls.

The shovel noise never stopped though her man hadn’t gotten much sleep, and she’d added to that last night.

A shiver rolled down her spine as she recalled every long stroke of his cock in her ass. They both loved anal sex but lately they hadn’t come together as often as she liked. While she hadn’t gotten her eleven orgasms, she knew he was good for them.

When a chicken flapped its wings against her leg, urging her to give them more feed, she laughed. Tossing the rest of the bowl’s contents, she said, “Greedy things. You’d better lay me some pretty eggs.”

After returning the bowl to its home, she wandered into the barn. The interior was lighter than most barns—Josh had insisted on adding more windows. Squares of sunlight dotted the floorboards and dust circulated in the shafts of light.

Her husband was in one of the back stalls. From over the wooden side, she only saw his head and shoulders. Hat askew as it was sometimes when he worked. His shoulder muscle bulged against his plaid shirt with every move.

Stomach fluttering from the sheer testosterone he displayed, she grabbed a shovel from the corner and moved forward. At her boot step, he tossed her a look. His eyes were in shadow from his hat, but she read surprise on his hard mouth.

“Darlin’, you don’t need to help here. I know how much you hate it.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“God, I love your sassy mouth.”

“You really loved it last night.” She went into one of the stalls and started shoveling out old hay and manure. The horses were all out to pasture.

He grunted with amusement. “I’ll never deny what an amazing lover you are.” He stopped shoveling and she scooped two more shovelfuls before realizing he was staring at her.

She brushed some hair out of her face with her gloved fingers. “What is it, babe?”

Over the side of the stall, their gazes locked. He didn’t speak for several heartbeats.

“You’re not telling me something,” she prompted.

“I’ve been thinkin’. We’ve got some money saved from last auction.”

“Yeah, and that tractor money.” During the winter Josh had fixed up an old tractor abandoned on their property and sold it for a small sum.

He nodded.

Worry rooted under her breastbone as seconds ticked by and he still didn’t say what was on his mind.

“Out with it, Josh.”

“I feel mighty bad I ruined your anniversary, Dixie.”

She shook her head. “It was your anniversary too, and it wasn’t ruined. Like you said, we have a story.”

“Yeah, but I sure would have liked to see you in that dress.”

Suddenly her throat clogged and she was the one who couldn’t find words.

He went on, “I’ve been working long hours and I’ve been neglecting you.”

“Josh…”

“No, it’s true. You deserve to be kissed, cuddled and worshipped. Which is what I plan to do.”

“How do you plan to find more time? You’re already stretched thin, babe.”

“I know. I can’t do it all myself and devote enough time to our marriage, so I plan to hire someone to help around the ranch.”

She blinked. “A hand?” Early on they’d created a strict budget for their first years of ranching, and the plan was to do all the work themselves until they were on their feet.

“I thought I’d put out the word among the old guys at the feed store.” Their small-town store came equipped with several wooden chairs where the older generation of ranchers spent their mornings, drinking coffee and bull-shitting while their sons and hired hands ran their operations.

Dixie braced a hand on the wall between her and Josh. “You think we can really afford that already?”

He covered her hand with his. Through their work gloves, she still felt his heat. Her heart warmed just by his nearness.

“I think we can manage. At least on a trial basis. We can offer three months’ wages. At least get us through the tougher months of haying and hauling water.” With the dryer months in Texas came the need to drive out to a spring on the edge of their property and fill a tank to bring back and water their cattle. It wasn’t a hard job, but it did take an extra hour each day.

An hour he could be fucking her silly.

“If you think we can swing the expense, I’m all for it.”

He jerked his head with surprise. “Just like that? I thought I’d have a harder time persuading you.”

“You didn’t persuade me. The thought of the things you can do to me with all your spare time did.” She went back to shoveling as if he didn’t affect her a bit.

A second later he crowded into the stall with her. She dropped her shovel just as he lifted her against the side, trapped her hips with his and ground his point home—literally. She tossed her head back with a gasp.

When he captured her open mouth beneath his, she angled her head and kissed him with all the love and fire inside her. Too soon he pulled away, staring down at her with those sparks in his blue eyes.

“I could stand here all day and kiss you.”

“But you’d better not.”

“At least let me finish the stalls, Dixie. I know you hate shoveling.”

She leaned in and pecked his angular jaw. Her nipples pebbled at the sensation of rough hair under her lips. “I’m helping. Besides, you need to finish quick so you can make a trip to town.”

“Maybe I’ll take you along and buy you an ice cream at Debbie Lee’s.” He dropped his gaze to her lips and back up to her eyes—a signature move that had hooked her from the start. The desire in his eyes always burned hot and bright. And she loved to feel desired.

“Strawberry cheesecake ice cream?”

“Double scoop, darlin’.”

“One more kiss and we’ll work.” She barely spoke the words and he was swooping in, claiming her mouth.

And her heart all over again.

* * * * *

When the wrench slipped on the bolt for the third time and busted Josh’s knuckle also for the third time, spittle and some very bad words flew out of his mouth. “Fucking hell!”

He dropped the wrench and stuck his bleeding knuckle in his mouth. The dirt shed floor beneath him was uncomfortable as fuck, he was exhausted, hungry and wanted his comfortable sofa and his pretty little wife.

The tractor was necessary to make hay, and now that he’d survived calving season, he was stuck under the piece of shit tractor well into the night.

He cast a look at the door and the house beyond. Dixie had left the porch light burning for him. Was it his imagination or was she swaying on the porch swing? His heart twisted so hard it hurt.

“Son of a bitch.” He picked up the wrench and beat the bolt for five solid minutes, hoping to loosen the rust. He’d sprayed it with everything on his garage shelf and had decided only dynamite would take the thing off.

What he needed was a ranch hand with a major passion for tractor mechanics. And Herculean strength.

Besides a heavenly beam of light from the tractor gods, he wanted to make it up to Dixie. She’d been nothing but sweet about his late hours and neglect, but he was starting to hate himself more and more for it. At this rate, they’d be divorced by their second anniversary.

I won’t let that happen. I’ll sell the damn place first.

Still, his dream…both of their dreams…would be shattered if they let it go. Pushing out a sigh, he attacked the bolt once more. Rust sprinkled over the backs of his fingers but he didn’t feel it give one bit.

At the scuff of a boot, heat bloomed in his chest. He lowered the wrench and rested his head on the floor out of sheer relief that Dixie had come out to the shed, probably to tell him to stop.

“Dixie, I’m sorry, darlin’. I’m coming in now.”

A male throat cleared roughly, and Josh smacked his head off the steel he lay beneath. “Fuckity fuck.”

Laughter.

“Who the hell’re you?” he snapped, pushing himself out from under the hunk of junk.

As soon as he spotted the dusty boots, his stomach clenched. His gaze traveled over worn jeans to a big, shiny belt buckle heralding a win for one Tucker Lee, championship bull rider. Josh had quit counting his friend’s wins a long time ago, but apparently he’d gotten pretty far recently.

Tucker extended a callused hand, and Josh took it. He launched to his feet, and Tucker yanked him into a back-thumping hug.

“If it ain’t Josh Thorpe in the flesh. How the hell are you, man?” Tucker leaned back to meet his gaze.

Something passed through Josh—fear with a trace of emotion he didn’t want to think about.

He took a step back, needing a bit of breathing room. His chest felt as though the tractor had fallen on him, crushing him beneath the weight.

“I’m fine,” Josh heard himself say, rubbing his head where he’d smacked it. “What the heck are you doing here? Did the PBR finally kick you out?”

“Somethin’ like that.” Tucker dipped his head so Josh couldn’t see his eyes, but his tone oozed with pain. After a few seconds he looked Josh in the eyes and forced a bright smile. “I’m mighty sorry to be coming to your door so late, but I caught a ride.” He hooked his thumb in the direction of the far-off highway.

“You hitchhiked here?”

“You’d be surprised how many people really are normal. That old warning our mothers gave us about hitchhiking are wives tales.” A bit of the old smile Josh knew so well quirked Tucker’s lips at the corner.

“Damn. You’ve got balls coming here.”

Tucker grabbed his set and thrust his hips out. “You know it. Managed to keep them both even smashing them off the backs of bulls for five years.”

Five years. Had it been that long?

He grinned at his friend. “It’s good to see you, Tucker. How’d you find me?”

“Stopped at your old house. Your pa told me where to find you. ‘Follow the road to the end,’ he said. And here I am.”

“Did you go up to the house first? Did Dixie send you down here?”

Tucker’s face changed. His features rippled and he couldn’t seem to settle on one expression. Finally he cocked his head. “Dixie Hellcat Parsons?”

Josh chuckled and ran his fingers through his sweat-damp hair. “Dixie Thorpe now. And the Hellcat is not something you wanna call her to her face.”

Tucker laughed, his features relaxing. He shook his head. “Man, you married Dixie? I can’t believe it. I never heard.”

“We had a quiet wedding. And you’ve been traveling for five years. A city every two days? A new bull and a new girl every night?”

Tucker scuffed his knuckles over his beard-rough jaw. “Somethin’ like that. But no, I didn’t go up to the house. Saw the light in the shed and figured only a hardworking rancher would be under his tractor at this time of night.”

Josh examined his busted knuckles. “Yeah, I’m about done. Come up to the house with me. Dixie will still have coffee and she makes a mean apple pie.”

“Now how can I say no to that?”

Josh started to walk away, but Tucker remained fixed in place. When Josh threw him a look, he sensed more. “You didn’t hitchhike here for a slice of Dixie’s pie, did you?”

“No. I heard you’re looking for some help around the ranch. I…” He paused, throat working.

That strange feeling overcame Josh once more, and he was frozen. Unable to move or look away from his friend. They’d rodeo’d together right out of high school. Josh had done it for prize money, but he’d never earned more than a few bucks. It was Tucker who had all the talent. He was a legend in the circuit. A household name.

“Wait. You’re here looking for a job?” Josh gaped at him.

He hitched his thumb in his belt, letting it ride close to the buckle. “Yeah, I am.”

Josh stared at him. “What the hell happened?”

“Took a hit in Missoula. Got tossed up in the air and came down on my feet. Shattered both my legs.” He shifted them, and Josh tracked the movement. “All healed now, but I’m out, Josh.”