One Night Rodeo (29 page)

At the very bottom of the box was her collection of My Little Ponies. She remembered her horror at seeing them strung up in a tree where she couldn’t reach, followed by anger because she knew exactly who’d done it.

Kyle.

Her eight-year-old self would be appalled that she’d married him.

In the second box were odds and ends. Fancy tablecloths and hand towels. A crocheted tissue box cover. Yards of lace and skeins of yarn. Her mother’s sewing box. More piles of fabric her brothers hadn’t thrown away. She closed the lid, just as unsure what to do with this stuff as they’d been years ago.

Celia knew the last box wouldn’t contain her parents’ things because they’d given everything away, just another sad memory she’d buried.

The door to their Mom and Dad’s bedroom had always been shut, the room off-limits to kids. It’d remained shut after they died.

One afternoon, a few months after their deaths, Abe stormed into that room. He’d ripped their clothes out of the closet and thrown them in the hallway. Then he’d dumped out the dresser drawers in the hallway too. He’d removed every item belonging to them and ordered Hank and Celia to bag it up.

She’d been resentful that she and Hank had to clean up the mess Abe had made. She’d stepped over the piles, intending to give Abe grief, but she found he was already grieving. Her invincible brother was on the floor in their parents’ closet, crying silently.

Abe had been so gruff and emotionless after they died. She’d thought he hadn’t cared, but that day was when she understood how much Abe
did
care. How hard it was for any of the Lawson siblings to show emotion unless it was anger.

How had she forgotten that?

She’d never said a word about what she’d seen. She’d just quietly and quickly bagged up the leftover physical reminders of her parents’ lives. When Abe had claimed that bedroom as his, she’d moved downstairs. Because she couldn’t look down that hallway and pretend her parents were away for a while. She finally understood they weren’t coming back.

She opened the last box. The wedding ring quilt from her parents’ bed.
The fabric had been mended over the years, new patches sewn in where old sections had torn. This quilt had been passed through four generations of women in her family.

Now it was hers. Celia knew she should feel something like pride or thankfulness about this heritage, but all she could muster was sadness. The first three women who’d slept under the quilt with their husbands had been widowed at a young age. Her parents had died far too young. She didn’t want to put this quilt on their bed and doom their marriage from the start.

But that was kind of a moot point, wasn’t it? Hadn’t she doomed it by insisting that it end at the six-month mark? How did she even begin to bring it up with Kyle that she’d changed her mind so early on in their agreement?

She unfolded the quilt, spreading it on the guest bed. It fit this old-fashioned room. She closed the boxes and carried them to the basement. Out of sight, out of mind.

Kyle’s voice reached her in the basement. “Celia?”

“Hang on.” She bounded up the stairs and found him alone. “Where are my brothers?”

“Janie needed Abe to come home, so they said to tell you they’d be in touch.” He wandered to the guest bedroom. “What was in the boxes?”

“Kid stuff. Things of my mom’s.” She pointed to the bed.

“I remember that.” Kyle looked at her. “You sure you want it in here and not our room?”

“I like our bedding.”
It’s not cursed.

He curled his hand around her neck and pulled her close. “You all right with everything that happened today?”

“I’m glad they came to us and apologized. I was beginning to wonder if they would.”

“Me too.”

“Did they say anything else to you?”

“Not really.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“I swear. We’re guys. They apologized. I accepted. End of story. But
you…” His thumb stroked the pulse point on her throat. “Seem a little melancholy. Luckily, I’ve got the perfect cure for that.”

“Which is?”

Kyle brushed his mouth over hers. Once. Twice. Then his lips slid to her ear. “It has to do with you handling some hard…wood.”

“I’m up for that.”

He slapped her on the ass. “Good. Get your warm clothes on. ’Cause there’s a pile of logs we need to split and stack.”

“You sneaky jerk! I thought we were gonna get naked and wild.”

He raised a brow. “During the day? When there’s work to be done? Surely an experienced ranch woman such as yourself knows better than that.”

“You suck.”

Another slap to her ass. “No sassing me. Get cracking.”

Chapter Fourteen

H
is wife was so fucking hot it was a miracle the snow wasn’t melting all around her.

They’d been hauling and stacking wood for the last two hours. Day started to fade, turning the horizon the hazy purple color exclusive to a twilight winter sky. Normally it was Kyle’s favorite time of day.

But the scenery paled in comparison to Celia. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Wearing stained Carhartt coveralls over a girly pink thermal shirt. She’d donned a neon orange Elmer Fudd hat, and pushed the earflaps out, the bill of the cap tugged down so low he could barely see her eyes. Her gloves were new and she kept tugging on them, so every once in a while he’d get a glimpse of her wrists. And his cock would pulse against his zipper.

Which made him feel like an idiot. Celia’s wrists turned him on, for chrissake.

“Kyle! Are you even paying attention?” she yelled.

No, little wife of mine. I’m too busy admiring the beautiful flush on your cheeks, and the sexy way your braid swings against your ass.

“Yes. Stop nagging me.”

She harrumphed.

During his next two trips to the woodshed, he decided to call it a day. Drag her inside. Fuck her until neither of them could walk. Hope that outstanding sex—lots and lots of body-rocking sex—would keep her interested in sticking around.

Smack
. Something hit him in the middle of the back. When he whirled around, a snowball hit his chest, and snow exploded in his face. He stared at her dumbfounded for a millisecond, before another blast of snow hit his forehead. “Jesus, Celia. What the hell?”

“I’m not hauling this wood by myself, while you’re lollygagging.”

As soon as the word
lollygagging
exited her mouth another snowball hit him in the neck.

“That’s it!” Kyle bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, forming a ball as he charged her.

Celia shrieked, and ducked to grab from the stack of snowballs she had stockpiled at her feet. When the hell had she had time to do that?

She let fly with deadly accuracy.

By the time Kyle was within ten feet of her, he looked like the Abominable Snowman.

Laughing, she bobbed and weaved, taunting him, continuing to cover him in snow. She’d run out of ammo and was just flinging handfuls of snow at him.

So she was very surprised when he dove for her feet, knocking her off balance. Celia landed on her butt. Before she could roll away, Kyle pounced on her. Immobilizing her legs, he pinned her arms above her head. Then he swept his free arm across the freshly fallen snow, spraying her face.

“Stop!”

“You started it.”

While she was still sputtering death threats, he scooped up a glove full of snow and shoved it down her shirt.

Celia screamed bloody murder, thrashing beneath him like a bull in a bucking chute. “That’s cheating!”

“Shoulda thought of that before you declared a snow war.”

“I was just trying to get your attention.”

“Well, you’ve got it now.” He put his warm mouth against her cold ear.

She writhed, attempting to squirm away while gasping for breath.

Then Kyle put his cold nose at the base of her throat where her shoulder met her neck. He opened his mouth on that sensitive sweep of flesh and sucked.

“Oh God. That’s not…fair.”

Her skin was warm, but cooling from the snow melting on her chest. He growled at the taste of her sweat and the heady aroma of her damp hair. He slid down between her thighs and rocked his pelvis into hers as he feasted on her skin.

Celia moaned as his mouth followed the collar of her shirt to the top of her coveralls. He couldn’t dip his tongue any farther and she released a frustrated groan.

He pressed kisses along her jaw to her other ear when she arched back, offering him her throat. “I want you all the time, Celia. But fuck, I want you right now.” He licked the hollow of her throat. “Say something.”

“You’re crushing my ribs,” she whispered.

“Shit. Sorry.”

As soon as he’d relaxed his hold, Celia lifted her hips, twisted her shoulders, and flipped him onto his back, using her considerable body strength to hold him down.

Son of a bitch.

She laughed seductively and then her mouth was on his. Feeding him such hot, openmouthed kisses he could almost forgive her for her trick.

Almost.

Kyle freed one arm and yanked off her hat.

When she raised her head, he gained the advantage, hooked his leg over both of hers, and rolled her.

But Celia was ready. They tumbled across the snow like a couple of runaway logs before coming to a stop with him on top.

He eased back to gaze into her eyes and felt that sharp jab in his gut. Not merely lust but something primal. Helpless against that feeling, he took her mouth in a desperate kiss. Passion that’d been on simmer boiled over. Gloves flew. He unhooked the fasteners on her overalls and she attempted to pull off his coat. He rutted on her and she met each long grind of his pelvis with one of her own.

Kyle tore his mouth from the sweet heat of hers, panting for air. “Now. Goddammit. I need you. Right. Fucking. Now.” He pushed back and unzipped
his coat, flinging it aside. Next came his shirt. He popped to his feet and lifted a brow in challenge as she hesitated.

“Strip out here in the yard? Where anyone could drive up and see us?”

“Be adventurous, little wife of mine.” Kyle removed his boots and started on his jeans.

Celia’s eyes were firmly on his crotch as he slid his jeans down. “I love your body, Kyle.”

He froze because he had the vague hope she’d intended to say she loved him.

But not another sound exited her mouth.

Brusquely he said, “Same goes, so get up, and lemme see you. All of you.”

“You’re hard,” she said when his briefs were off.

His feet were freezing. He held out his hands and pulled her upright. “Take ’em off or I tear ’em off.”

“Help me.”

“Baby. You’re shaking,” he murmured.

She toed her boots off and was jerking her overalls down her legs. “You do this to me. Every time you touch me.”

“Are you wet?”

“Besides where you shoved snow down my shirt?” She shivered after she peeled down her yoga pants. “Yes. So wet my panties will probably freeze once you rip them off me.”

Kyle unhooked her bra, tossing it aside.

As soon as her underwear and socks were off, he swept her into his arms and walked across the snow to the hot tub.

Celia peppered his cheek with kisses, making needy little moans.

He shifted his hold on her to remove the hot tub cover. Then he gently tossed her into the water.

She hissed as her body absorbed the temperature shock.

Kyle flipped the jets on and hopped in, taking a moment to bask in the heat and steam. When he opened his eyes, he found an owl-eyed Celia watching him.

They stayed on opposite sides of the hot tub as the veil of night fell around them. Reflection from the snow offered the only illumination.

When Celia started toward him, he met her halfway. As much as he ached to return to passion, he needed a moment to savor her.

Celia seemed strangely hesitant to touch him as they faced each other on their knees.

Kyle circled his arm around her waist, bending his head to her neck. “I love the way you taste, right here.” His tongue followed the tendon down her neck to her clavicle. “I see that trickle of sweat and I get hard. I wanna put my mouth there and catch every droplet on my tongue.”

“Kyle.”

“Mmm?” He nuzzled her ear and filled his lungs with her scent.

“Fuck me. Hard and fast. Bend me over. Do me any way you want, but do me now.”

Dirty words drifting from that angelic mouth did it for him in a bad way. “Wrap yourself around me, baby, and take me in.”

The buoyancy of the water allowed her to hold on to his shoulder with one hand and circle his cock with the other as she guided him inside.

No slow start for his eager kitten. As soon as his shaft was fully seated, she pushed her body up and plunged down until his balls swung into her ass.

Kyle groaned, loving how she’d just taken control, hating how this wouldn’t last long for either of them. Her ankles were locked beneath his buttocks and her chest brushed his in a sensual tease as water sloshed over their shoulders.

Her wet lips skimmed his ear and he shuddered at the hot and cold sensation.

He gritted his teeth against his instinct to push her against the edge and plow into her. Kyle reached for the side of the hot tub and held on as she gained momentum. Wrapping her braid around his hand, he tugged her head back to bare the section of skin at her throat that had become his obsession.