Riding West (5 page)

“Really?” Parker tried to seem bland. He gave her what he hoped was a questioning look, still braced on his elbows above her. “This I‘m dying to hear. What did she say?”

“Actually, she told me the absolute truth in pretty accurate anatomical detail.” Celia‘s dark blue eyes were amused. “I was horrified, if you want to know, and I really didn‘t believe her. I have to say when described, the whole process of sex sounds rather disgusting.”

Considering she lived on a working ranch, she couldn‘t have been completely ignorant even before her mother‘s lecture. Parker gently slid free from between her legs and rolled over on his back, settling next to her. He really couldn‘t remember being more content in his life. “You‘ve seen the stallions cover the mares. Not to mention the bulls with the cows.”

“That‘s not a particularly gentle act and not at all the same thing.”

“I wasn‘t exactly gentle a few minutes ago, either.” He felt a little guilty, for she surely had to be sore from the night before. “I hope I didn‘t hurt you in any way.”

“No, you didn‘t. Or if you did, I didn‘t care at the moment.”

“You‘re sure?”

Celia, as usual, had the ability to unsettle him. She rose up on one elbow and brushed his mouth with a light kiss. Lush and gorgeous, with his sperm gleaming on her pale thighs in glistening rivulets, she whispered against his lips, “I liked it.”

God help him, he was completely at her mercy.

“Me, too,” he said in husky response and pulled her into his arms.

The fence had been cut. This wasn‘t the first time, either.

John Evans swung off his horse and studied the tracks with a practiced eye. There had been about five of them as far as he could tell, and a good amount of cattle had been herded through the gap.

Parker West, when he got back from his little impulsive outing with Celia, was going to be livid. They were all losing stock, but their own operation and the West ranch had borne the brunt of the rustlers‘ attention.

True, the Wests ran more head than they did, but they were definitely both targets.

John wondered if he didn‘t know why, for he‘d be damned if he didn‘t have a pretty solid suspicion of just who might be behind the recent upsurge in stolen cattle. He‘d been thinking about it for some time but had been reluctant to say anything.

Joshua trotted up on his bay and swore softly, taking in the damage. “Fucking lowdown thieves. Parker is going to be pissed as hell.”

Out looking for a stray mare that had escaped their pasture, they‘d ridden all over the West ranch to see if she might have ended up there. This wasn‘t the only place that had been used to steal stock.

Taking out a paper and his bag of tobacco, John deftly rolled himself a cigarette with one hand, pouring the tobacco with the pouch between his teeth. He tucked the pouch back in his pocket. “I‘ve got a theory about all this,” he drawled.

“Oh yeah?” Josh slid off his horse, squinted at the tracks with an expression of disgust, and shook his head. “Enlighten me whenever you‘re ready, little brother.”

“Colter‘s doin‘ this. Well, not him specifically, but he‘s backing them.”

Josh was built like their father, heavy in the shoulders, and had a shock of brown hair, but they‘d all inherited their mother‘s signature blue eyes. His eyes narrowed. “Rance Colter‘s rich. He doesn‘t need to rustle cattle.”

John gave his brother a level glance. “Ever wonder how exactly he got so rich? I have. Besides, Rance Colter has been panting over Celia for the past year and she won‘t have anything to do with him. Has it never struck you as odd that we‘re losing cows right and left now that she snubbed him, and even more odd that Parker‘s getting it even worse? No one else seems to be having much trouble. Oh sure, here and there maybe, just for appearances, but we are definitely being singled out, Josh. Colter claims his cattle are being rustled too, but I don‘t trust that son of a bitch any farther than I can toss his sorry ass. I bet if we rode all around his property, we‘d find his fences just as right as rain.”

“Maybe.” Josh looked thoughtful.

“If it is Colter, he‘s not goin‘ to be real happy when Parker and Celia come back married. Because believe me, Parker is smart enough to know when he brings her back, there had better be a ring on her finger.”

“I‘ll kill him myself if there isn‘t.” Josh said it with conviction.

The afternoon was warm and John gazed out over the grass to where the mountains rose above the valley. “I have a fair idea where he‘s taken her.”

“Do you?”

He and Parker West were the same age, had been neighbors all their lives and they were solid friends. Parker had told him about the cabin a few years ago, but John wasn‘t sure exactly where it was located. West could be pretty private about some things and he liked his solitude now and again.

“I think I could find them. He‘s got a place he goes to hunt and fish and told me once where it was.”

“So?” Josh scuffed the trampled soil with his boot. “What are you going to do, bust in on them?”

“No.” John frowned. “Of course not. I‘m just wondering if I‘m the only one who knows where they might be.”

His older brother‘s jaw tensed and his eyes flashed. “If you think for a minute Celia‘s in danger, you‘d better say so right now.”

They were all protective of their two younger sisters, but there was no question that while Rose was practical and demure, Celia was neither. Oh yes, she was a lady, their mother and three years at a private Eastern school had seen to it, but she had an underlying reckless streak that was not easy to rein in. Coupled with the fact she was so pretty, it made for a combustible combination.

Parker—if he had his way and actually got her to the altar and everything tied up right and tight—was going to have his hands full.

“He keeps the cabin pretty secret,” John said after a moment of contemplation, uneasy, but not uneasy enough to ride up there. “I doubt anyone else knows about it.”

“I wish the entire territory didn‘t know he up and took her,” Josh muttered, staring at the mangled fence. “If you‘re right about Colter, it might set off something I have no desire to deal with. Colter has lots of friends. We could have ourselves a little range war damned easy.”

“They aren‘t exactly his friends,” John pointed out, gathering the reins in his hand and swinging into the saddle. “Let‘s keep in mind he has lots of money, which buys loyalty, but only so far. Shit, this could be a mess. I‘d guess he owns every judge between here and Denver. Even if we could somehow prove he‘s behind this sudden increase in our stock being rustled, we can‘t fight this legal—it isn‘t going to work.”

Josh grinned, vaulting on to the back of his big gelding. “Then we‘ll fight it the other way. Come on, let‘s follow those tracks.”

———

The pool was cool and deep. Celia sank in, feeling the water rush over her thighs and then her breasts. Her first reaction was a shiver, but then she sighed with pleasure. The stream was a fast-moving rush of water, but this sheltered nook, bordered by a small drop-off and some large rocks, was a very nice place to bathe.

Rinsing her hair, she washed afterwards, the crystal water turning foamy from the soap before it ran clear again in seconds due to the current. When her soapy hands slid over the curves of her breasts—an act she‘d done many times before as she bathed, but had never enjoyed—she felt a languid sense of pleasure and her nipples hardened.

What has Parker done to me?
she wondered. Experimentally, she brushed her nipple again, rubbing lightly. It pebbled further under the light press of her fingers and between her legs she felt suddenly warm.

He could do that to her instantly. With a glance or the lightest touch. They‘d been at the cabin for three days now and it seemed all they did was make love. Her body had become attuned to pleasure, and she was both sexually curious and eager to learn more about this sensual world she had no idea existed before this trip.

Not, she thought with a small smile, that Parker seemed to have any trouble obliging her. He looked at her with a pure male hunger in his eyes she found as arousing as the actual feel of him inside her.

However, he still hadn‘t told her he loved her. Neither had he officially proposed again.

Leaning back against a flat rock, she semi-floated in dreamy contentment, letting the stream run over her skin.

“Now that‘s any man‘s dream come true.”

Her lashes lifted at the familiar timbre of the deep voice. She knew he was nearby, because despite their seclusion, he refused to leave her unguarded at any time. Parker stayed fairly close to the cabin even when he was doing necessary chores like gathering kindling or hunting. Celia smiled lazily, a deliberately provocative curve of her mouth. “I was just thinking about you.”

He stood on the bank, his blue eyes slightly narrowed as he examined her nude body through the running water. He‘d been out earlier looking for game, and his rifle was still in his hand. “Were you?”

“Yes.” She moved upright so her breasts bobbed in the water, drawing his gaze.

“Care to tell me more?” There was a slight husky edge to his voice she now recognized. The dappled sunlight gleamed off his dark hair.

“I was thinking about how much I like it when you fuck me.” It wasn‘t a thing any lady would say and her mother would faint if she heard, but Celia gave him a provoking grin and said it anyway.

His brows shot up. He said dryly, “That might just make me the luckiest man on this earth, but we are going to have to do something about your language, sweetheart.”

“I thought all the rules were suspended here. You‘re sure acting like they are. Besides, at home, I have to be the perfect proper young lady my parents think they raised. As far as I can tell, nothing proper has happened between us since you tossed me on your horse.” She was only half-teasing, for she did feel a certain lovely sense of liberation, and not just sexually. On the ranch, someone pretty much kept track of her all the time, and a lot of it was simply her older brothers were so protective of her. She appreciated their concern, but it was stifling at times. Lately they wouldn‘t even let her take an afternoon horseback ride on her own.

She wouldn‘t mind a ride of an entirely different sort now.

“We‘re going to have to go back soon, you know,” he told her.

She did know, but at this moment, she simply felt needy in a way that was as old as man and woman. “Well, if I‘m not mistaken, right now we‘re here, and we‘re alone. If you want to
truly
feel lucky, come on in.” She stood up, giving him a full view of her naked torso, droplets running off the curves of her breasts and pearling against her skin. Cool water swirled around her waist.

“There‘s an invitation I‘m not likely to turn down.” Parker set his rifle aside carefully in the soft springy grass by the side of the stream, and his gaze suddenly glittered.

Celia watched him undress, anticipation weighing her limbs with a delicious potent languor. He stripped with efficient swiftness, and she saw that he was hard already, his erection stark against the flat taut plane of his stomach, lifting the full sacs of his testicles. When Parker waded into the water, he stopped and swore briefly, giving her an accusing look. “I forgot how cold this water is.”

“You get used to it.” Celia moved toward him. Where he stood, the water was only about thigh deep and she could feel the sandy bottom under her feet. Unmoving, he let her come closer, the ripple of the current gushing around the well-muscled contours of his legs.

Reaching out, she slipped her fingers around his blatantly aroused cock, registering his slight gasp. “Is my hand cold?”

“Yes, but I don‘t care.” His voice sounded strangled.

She had already learned he liked it when she touched and stroked his testicles and cock. In fact, it gave her a certain sense of power whenever she caressed him so intimately, for it was clear how vulnerable he was to just her touch. Running her fingers up and down, she explored the velvet-tight skin of his stiff erection, felt the distended veins and the smooth hardness. The engorged tip seeped a clear sticky droplet and on impulse, she bent and licked it off.

His whole body jerked. “Jesus!”

It didn‘t taste bad, she decided, and his reaction was definitely worth it. “Don‘t women do this?” she asked curiously, giving another small swipe of her tongue over the swollen crest. “You do it to me.”

“Some women do.” His powerful body was tense as a bowstring. “But I would never ask
you
to do it.”

“Why not?” She glanced up from under the veil of her lashes, her mouth still just an inch or so away from the crest of his erection. “Doesn‘t it feel good?”

His broad shoulders lifted a fraction and his response was ragged. “It feels…I can‘t find the adequate word to describe it, so yeah, I guess I‘ll say it feels good. Too damned good, but…”

“But what? Tell me what to do, Parker.”

“Celia, you can‘t ask me that.” It wasn‘t more than a whisper but his eyes were half-closed and she could feel the surge of his penis in her hand in response to her question. He definitely wanted her to do it, she decided, but as usual was too polite about the whole thing.

She said tartly, “I guess I‘ll have to give it a try and see how it turns out.”

It felt wickedly naughty to drop to her knees in the streambed and let the cool water caress her back and shoulders as she took the tip of his cock in her mouth. Parker‘s hands wove into her wet hair and he groaned. It was pretty easy to guess he wouldn‘t ask her to do it because proper young ladies didn‘t put their mouths on a man‘s erect sex. No matter all that had happened between them the past few days, he apparently still thought of her that way.

She liked to unsettle him, and old habits were hard to break. Besides, maybe in the past her flirtatious teasing had left him frustrated, but he certainly wasn‘t going be left unsatisfied this time.

Celia took as much of his length to the back of her throat as possible, licking, tasting, gently sucking. He mumbled another incoherent protest, but she ignored it, her hands grasping his thighs for balance. It wasn‘t long before he gasped out, “Stop.”