Ride a Cowboy (4 page)

sideways to let him pass. He inhaled her scent, a heady mixture of lemon furniture

polish and her, and tried not to notice when their chests met. The startled awareness

that bloomed red in her cheeks had him hardening in an instant. Walking through the

house, he was conscious of her shadowing his every step.

He stepped out onto the front porch, noting that she’d moved the trailer in front of

the porch steps. “You’ll have to tell me where you want me to put everything.”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean for you to unpack it all by yourself.” She moved to unlock

the trailer, but when she reached inside to grab the first box, he gently placed his hands

on her waist, eliciting a gasp from her. Picking her up, he deposited her back on the

porch.

23

Delilah Devlin

His hands burning from that quick contact, Daniel hefted the box high. Her waist

had felt taut, the muscles strong. “I’ll let you know when I need your help,” he said, his

voice gruff. “You just point me in the right direction.”

A frown knitted her eyebrows and her chin rose. “They’re all marked. That one says

bedroom, so take it on back to my room. You know where it is.”

He gave her a sideways glance, careful not to let his face show his amusement at

her irritation from his taking charge. “Yep, I’m not likely to ever forget that.”

Her face flamed red, and she stammered, “Well…well, I’ll just leave you to it then,”

before she escaped.

Chuckling, he continued on to her bedroom. Katelyn Carter was mighty cute when

she blushed. Fact was there wasn’t much about her that he didn’t find attractive. She

was just the right size—she could rest her cheek right over his heart. She wasn’t too fat

or too thin—just soft and sexy. Daniel had every intention of finding out just how soft

and cushiony those womanly curves, above and below, would feel pressed to his body.

He knew instinctively the real pleasure would be getting to know the parts of

Katelyn not visible to the eye.

Whistling to himself, he returned to the trailer again and again. Never a man to

question the vagaries of fate, Daniel knew his life had forever changed the first moment

he saw her. Tierney was a small town, and he knew most of the unattached women in a

hundred-mile radius. None had ever made his heart skip a beat, or tempted him to

wrap her in cotton wool and take every care off her slim, but capable, shoulders. There

was something fragile and wounded in her expression that was at odds with the defiant

tilt of her chin.

He wondered if she’d realized just how transparent her attire had been that

morning…

24

Ride a Cowboy

Katelyn tried to ignore Daniel’s presence in her kitchen as she continued to labor,

unpacking boxes throughout the afternoon. It was getting late when she heard the creak

of the floorboards behind her.

He once again had his hat in his hands. “Ma’am, I’m finished. I’d like you to take a

look at that door.”

She followed him back to the kitchen. The new door was in place, and he had

painted the casing surrounding it to match the rest of the frame. He opened it and

allowed the door to close shut again.

“It looks fine,” she said quickly, wanting to put more space between them. Standing

so close with darkness encroaching around them created an intimacy that undermined

her discipline. “How much do I owe you?”

“How about you just run a tab?”

Katelyn nodded, at a loss for anything else to say. He was doing it again—staring at

her with that look that made her tremble inside. She touched her hair. “I know I must

look a mess,” she said, and bit her lip.
God, did I sound like I was begging for a compliment?

He raised his hand toward her face, slowly, as though letting her get used to the

idea before his touch settled on her skin. His thumb smoothed over her chin, rubbing.

“You’ve got a smudge here,” he said, his voice a low, sexy rumble that produced a

prickling deep inside her pussy.

Her mouth parted around a tiny moan and his thumb slid over her lower lip. Before

she had a chance to think better of the idea, her tongue slipped out and lapped the

calloused pad, tasting salt, feeling the roughness that made her nipples tingle.

Daniel’s chest rose and his jaw tightened. His thumb pressed inside her mouth and

she sucked it. With a sharply drawn breath, he bored his gaze into hers. “Tell me you

don’t want me to kiss you, Katelyn.”

He’d said the words—torn away the flimsy barrier between unspoken yearning and

surrender. She shook her head. “I…can’t.”

25

Delilah Devlin

His hands cupped her face, gentle and reverent, as he leaned closer. His breath was

sweet and brushed her lips first, prompting her to open her mouth. When his lips slid

over hers, he murmured and closed his eyes.

Now, Katelyn had shared many kisses in her life. But Daniel’s tasted sweeter, made

her feel cherished, even beautiful. His fingers threaded through her hair and he pulled

her head closer for a deeper joining.

She stood still, letting the sensation of his mouth, pressing and molding hers, draw

heat like a small, smoldering ember into a flame that licked over the places he hadn’t

yet touched—her breasts, her pussy…her heart.

He raised his head, dragging in a deep breath. “I should go.”

“Yes, you should,” she whispered, staring into his heated gaze. Katelyn stood at a

crossroads, her destination hers alone to choose. Her body yearned for more of his soft

caresses, but she wasn’t sure she was strong enough not to want more.

Contrary to what her mind was thinking, she lifted her hand and placed it on his

chest, molding her palm to fit the curve of hard muscle that flexed as she caressed.

His body went rigid beneath her touch. “Be sure,” he rasped, his chest rising and

falling faster.

Be sure? Kate wasn’t sure of anything except she needed to be touched, filled—by

Daniel. Katelyn stepped closer, aligning herself, chest to hip with his body. In an

instant, stinging delight drew her nipples into tighter, distended points. She swallowed

and lifted her gaze to his. “This doesn’t mean a thing,” she said, her voice tight. “I don’t

want you to tell me sweet lies and this isn’t about forever.”

His nostrils flared and his head dipped, his lips hovering above hers. “Katelyn

darlin’, who said anything about forever? What about just having fun?”

26

Ride a Cowboy

Chapter Three

Torn between excitement and a dampening, perverse disappointment, Katelyn rose

on her toes to close the distance between their mouths.
This is what I want—
all
I want.

She believed the lie when his hands closed around her hips to hold her still while he

pressed the ridge growing beneath his zipper into her belly. She rose higher, straining

closer to his hardness.

He broke the kiss and pushed her away, his gaze burning. “Turn around and face

the wall.”

Katelyn’s eyes widened and her body thrilled to the curtness of his tone. She

thought she’d craved a softer, more romantic joining all these years, but the electric

excitement, prickling every erogenous zone she possessed, said her body was delighted

at his coarse command. With deliberate, breathless slowness, she turned away.

“Put your hands against the wall.” His voice was closer, stirring her hair.

Katelyn shivered and braced her hands against the wall, and then waited, her heart

pounding so hard she heard her own heartbeat in her ears. The tips of her breasts

pressed achingly against her bra. Moisture dampened the crotch of her panties.

She jerked when his hands gripped the notches of her hips and a leg slipped

between hers. He nudged her feet, one at a time, until they were shoulder width apart.

Her breaths were shallow, her excitement rising. Although fully clothed, every part

of her was accessible, open for him to explore.
Where will he start?
Should I tell him where

I need his touch next?
Instead, she bit her lip.

Daniel’s hands slid around her belly and slipped beneath her T-shirt. The heat from

his palms and the scrape of his calluses set her stomach quivering.

27

Delilah Devlin

“Easy now,” he whispered, his body pressing closer to her back. His fingers found

the clasp of her bra and opened it. The cups parted over her breasts, and in the next

breath he held both mounds, squeezing her gently.

Katelyn moaned and pressed harder into his hands, gasping when he thumbed an

aching nipple. Her head fell back against his shoulder and his lips slid along her cheek

to her jaw and neck as he massaged her breasts, kneading until she whimpered, weak

with delight.

“Easy,” he whispered. One hand slid down her belly to the top of her shorts and his

fingers crept under the waistband, flattening against her stomach until he reached her

curls.

His hand rubbed in drugging circles, until she thought she’d scream if he didn’t

reach deeper. “Please, please, touch me,” she whispered.

“Yes, ma’am.” The snap opened and the zipper rasped, and then his fingers slid

inside her shorts to cover her sex. His fingers swirled in the wetness seeping from

within her, and one long, thick finger slipped between her lips to push just an inch

inside her pussy.

Katelyn’s whole body trembled and her knees gave way. If not for the arm clamped

around her belly, she’d have melted to the floor.

“Tell me what you want,” he said, his voice harsh now.

A question she’d never been asked and hadn’t the capability to answer, she was so

carried away with the feelings swamping her body and mind. A strangled, “Inside me,”

was all she could manage.

“Put your foot up on the box.”

“Box?” she parroted and looked down, surprised to see the wooden case with her

silverware on the floor. She lifted a foot and the distance and angle of her stance opened

her further.

His fingers reached deeper into her clothing.

28

Ride a Cowboy

Katelyn sucked in a breath and her belly, dying by inches for him to touch the part

of her that wept and clenched.

Fingers combed through the short curls, tugging gently, easing, then tugging

harder, until her abdomen trembled again.

“Like that, do you?” he rumbled.

“Uhnnn,” she moaned, but she widened her legs again, inviting him deeper

between her legs.

When at last his fingertips scraped her wet, outer labia, she arched, her hands

leaving the wall in front to reach behind her. She needed an anchor, his body to touch.

She found his shoulders and neck and draped her body across his front, her bottom

rubbing his erection.

One large, rough hand squeezed her breast harder, while the other delved deeper

until he parted her and rubbed around her opening, rimming her vagina.

Katelyn’s pussy tingled and quivered, and her hips moved forward and back as she

silently begged him to enter her.

Then his whole hand cupped her, warming her cunt, two fingers sliding deep.

Liquid gushed from inside her to coat the thick digits and seep beyond to soak his

hand. “Katelyn,” he said, the word sounding like he’d dragged it from deep inside his

chest. “You’re so damn wet. Do you know how much I want to taste you?”

Her heart pounded, her throat closing against a sudden rush of emotion. In all the

years of her marriage, her husband’s voice had never held that note of anguished

desire—
for her
. A sob escaped, and he murmured against her hair, the hand cuddling

her breast released it, pulling out of her shirt. Gently, he turned her face upward.

Her cheeks flushed hot and her eyelids dipped. She felt drugged, surrounded,

overwhelmed. Her heart beat in her ears to join the sound of her shallow breaths and

the wet, succulent sounds below as he drew lush excitement from her body. Her

channel convulsed as the moment built, pulsing, clenching around his fingers.

29

Delilah Devlin

He twisted and stroked, deeper and deeper—three fingers filling her now.

Then a rising blackness overcame her. Her whole world exploded in sliding

caresses and the pumping of her hips. She cried out, unable to hold the sound inside.

“That’s it, baby.
God!
You’re so beautiful.”

When she opened her eyes, his were closed tight, his nostrils flaring. She felt the

ridge of his cock grinding into her bottom, and she knew pleasuring her had caused

him pain. “Daniel?”

He opened his eyes and shook his head, drawing his hand from her panties. He

turned her in his arms and held her, pressing her face to his shoulder. “Give me a

minute,” he said, his voice gruff.

“Why?” She was ready. If he asked her to lie with him now, she would. She wanted

more of his kisses. Wanted his cock to fill the empty space inside.

“Because this was for you—and I moved too damn fast.”

She grew still in his arms, barely breathing. “I don’t understand.” Part of her was

elated that a strong, younger man wanted her so badly. Another part, not so ready and

just plain scared, cried inside, “No, no, no!” She didn’t want him thinking this meant

any more than it was—sweaty, consensual sex.

He hugged her close one more time and then set her away, his gaze sliding from the