Rogue Cowboy (6 page)

Without me even telling it to, my head leans forward, seeking him out.  His mouth joins with mine and he kisses me.  Oh, god, does he
kiss me!
  My fingers find purchase on his sinewed shoulders and my nails dig in as my legs finally give out.  One strong arm wraps around my waist, taking my weight, as he pulls me flush against his body, not leaving even the breath he’s stolen from me between us.

All too soon, he pulls back slightly, warm puffs of air skating over my nose with each breath he takes.  “Come on, I’ll walk you back to your place.”  His voice is husky, and at the sound of it, my nipples pucker into painfully hard peaks.

Words evade me and all I can do is nod, and touch my tingling lips, savouring his taste.

“Sienna?” he prompts, when I remain still, staring into nothingness.

“Oh, yeah, um, right.  Yep, let’s go.” I stumble out.  He grins and I want nothing more than to throw him down on the floor, climb on top of him and ride the smile right off that gorgeously handsome face of his.

Taking my hand in his firm, warm grip, he leads me out of the office and toward the rear door of the pub.  “Is everything locked up?”

“Yes.”  I look up to answer his question and then my eyes immediately dart back to the floor so I can continue thinking about the kiss he just gave me, our
date
(whenever that will be) and what exactly this all means.  Perhaps I’m
over
thinking, but I can’t help it. 

Once bitten, twice shy.
  I should have that tattooed on my inner arm so I can see it all the time.  It might serve to give me a little more restraint – something I seem to be lacking when in the presence of Zeke.

“You’re awfully quiet,” he comments as we come to a stop outside my cabin.

“Taking a leaf out of your book,” I murmur distractedly, my mind still replaying how good it felt to be held in his arms…how amazing it felt when his tongue brushed across my lips…how secure I feel whenever he’s around.

Wait. 
What?!
 

How secure I feel whenever he’s around.
  What the fuck is that all about?  I need to think about that in great detail when I’m alone.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course.”  I attach a fake smile to my reply.  It doesn’t fool him, I can see it in his eyes, but he doesn’t push.  Instead, he brings his free hand up to cup my jaw and brushes his thumb across the apple of my cheek.

“God, you’re so beautiful, Sienna,” he says with awe.

My cheeks heat and I try to duck my head, but he holds my face still and looks deep into my eyes, his blue depths shining with sincerity.  “You are beautiful, Sienna,” he repeats, more firmly this time.

“Thank you,” I say, feeling incredibly awkward.  I’ve never been one to take compliments well from men, considering I haven’t often been the recipient of them.

“What time are the interviews tomorrow?”

“I have the first girl coming in at eleven,” I tell him.  I’m hoping to have all three interviews done and dusted (and three new employees!) by noon when the pub opens.

“Right then.  I’ll pick you up at eight.”

“Eight?”

“Yeah, a.m.  For our date.”

“You’ll pick me up at eight a.m. for our date?” I ask, shocked.

“That’s right.”

“Eight a.m.  As in, in the morning?  As in, ten hours from now?”

He grins broadly, my porch light illuminating the twinkle shining in his eyes.

“A breakfast date,” he confirms.

“That’s, um, isn’t that a little unusual?”

“Maybe,” he concedes.  “But, you work through lunch and into the night, and I work from ten until six.  So, unless we want to eat lunch at the bar while Skip listens in, or have dinner after midnight, breakfast is our only option.  Until you get some employees, that is,” he adds. 

It sucks that he makes so much sense.

“We could wait until after I hire some people?” I suggest, hating the way not one little piece of me hopes he agrees.

“No way,” he rebuffs immediately.  “Tomorrow, eight a.m.”  He leans down and kisses me softly, the slight stubble coating his cheeks brushes against my own in a stark contrast to the tenderness of his full lips.  His other hand reaches up to hold my face, so I’m cradled in his palms, at mercy to the way he tilts my head to control the kiss.  I love the way it makes me feel treasured, though I don’t know why I feel that way.

My body aches for more and I can’t stop my arms as they reach up and wrap around his neck to pull him closer to me.  A moan slips past my lips and he swallows it down with a growl before pushing me into the door and taking the kiss deeper. 
Way
deep.

“Zeke,” I whisper breathlessly as he pulls back, breaking the kiss.

“Go to sleep, baby.  I’ll see you in the morning.”  His voice is rough and deep, his breathing as shallow as my own.  A shiver runs through my body and a small smile plays on his lips.  He bends down, brushes his nose across my own and then he disappears into the dark night.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and then unlock my door and walk inside.

In the pit of my gut, I can feel it.  A strange sense of foreboding, and I know deep down, that after that kiss,
everything
has changed.

The thing that scares me the most is I feel my armour, my resolve, slipping further and further away from me.

And I don’t even know if I really want it back.

“That was delicious, thank you,” I say, wiping my mouth with a napkin.  “You really out did yourself.”  I’m lying, of course.  I know The Coffee House catered for breakfast, but I don’t want to damage Zeke’s ego.  After all, I’m not sure he could take it.  I almost scoff out loud at the thought!

He picked me up about an hour ago – promptly at eight a.m., on a
fucking motorbike!
– and we rode to a secluded picnic ground on the outskirts of town.  The entire trip, I was thanking my lucky stars for the opportunity to sit, pressed up tightly against him.  My hands were laced around his stomach, and I could feel his muscles ripple every time he moved; it was heaven!

I’m not going to lie, I think I’ll fantasise about the way he looked on that Harley until the day I die.

Once we arrived, he laid out a picnic blanket and placed a spread before me.

I’ve got to say, I was impressed, and not only from the amount of stuff that can be squeezed into his bike’s saddlebags!

Bacon and egg rolls, Danish pastries, ham, tomato and cheese croissants and a thermos of tea for me, and a bottle of Coke for him.

“Are you full?”

“God, yes.”  I clutch my stomach and fall backwards.  “I’ll have to pop my buttons if I want to fit anything else in,” I laugh.

“That would be a bad thing?” he teases, moving to lie down beside me.

“It’s nice out here,” I muse, closing my eyes and revelling in the morning sun beating down on my skin, warming me.

“Mum used to bring us here every weekend when Luke and I were kids,” he shares.

“That would have been nice,” I say quietly.

“There’s a billabong down behind the trees.  We used to swim there.”

“Weren’t you afraid of crocs?” I ask, horrified.

“Nah.”  He laughs.  “No crocs down there, babe.”

“Oh.  Well, I’d still be scared.  I’ll stick to the pub’s pool, thanks,” I say through a smile.

“You scared, Sienna?  I’d protect you, baby.” His tone is teasing but when I crack open one eye to glance at him, there’s a protective gleam in his eye that’s unmistakeable.

I snap my eye shut again and chew the inside of my bottom lip while trying not to let him see the awkwardness I’m now feeling.

“Hey,” he says, his tone gentle.  “What’s wrong?”

Damn.  Sprung.

“Where did you live when you left Pine Creek?” I ask, hoping to rid myself of the vibe that is consuming me.

“Mainly up at Jabiru.”

“Jabiru?”

“I’ll show you one day.” 

I sit up, bending my knees and leaning my forehead on my hand to shield the bright sunlight.  “Were you alone?”

“Nah.  Lived with the Yarrawonga tribe.”

“Wow.”  He lived with a tribe of Aboriginals? For years?  “So, I guess you wouldn’t have known what an iPhone was when you came back to civilization,” I joke.

“Nope.  And I still don’t have the hang of those fuckers.”

I laugh and shake my head.  We sit quietly, talking for a while, getting to know each other on a more personal level.  Before I know it, it’s time to head back into town so I can open the pub.  For the first time in forever, I actually wish I didn’t have to open the pub today.  I could sit here for hours with Zeke, in silence or in conversation.  It wouldn’t matter, because the end result would be the same; he makes me forget.  The entire time I was with him, I didn’t have Jake in the back of my mind, lurking, waiting to ruin the moment.  He wasn’t there.  He was completely gone, and that confuses me a little. 

Zeke stops his bike by the curb out the front of the pub and we climb off.  “Just in time.” He breathes a fake sigh of relief, wiping his brow dramatically. 

I glance down at my watch and see it is ten minutes until the girls are due to arrive for the interviews.

“Lucky.  I might have had to punish you if you got me back late.”  Immediately, I flush at my provocative words.  God, I’m such a flirt – and a bad one at that!

His brow arches and his blue eyes pierce me. “Babe,
I
do the punishing.”  He leans closer, his face a breath away from mine.  “And I can’t fucking
wait
to have your arse bare, in the air, and turning pink from my palm.”  His tone becomes huskier and my breathing becomes heavier.  “Your pussy will be dripping.”  My lips part and my core clenches.  He drags his tongue across my lips before continuing.   “And I’ll lap it up until you come over my face, and then I’m gonna sink inside you and you’ll be begging me to never leave.”

Holy shit, I want that,
now!

The sexual tension surrounding us is suffocating, and I can’t get enough.  It’s too much, but I want more.  My nipples are hard, straining against my bra.  My panties are soaked and my breathing is shallow.  I think I might come just from his words.  From his
presence.
  The entire world fades away and it’s just us.

His hand reaches up and he cups my jaw gently.  “I want you so bad, Sienna.”

God, I want him, too
. 

“I’m not going to take you until I know you’re ready,” he whispers.

“I’m ready now,” I tell him, my voice desperate, even to my own ears.  I’m too turned on to be ashamed though.

“Not yet.”

“How do you know?” I clench my teeth. I start to get angry.  The kind of angry you get when you’re desperate for release and you’ve just be rejected.

Maybe humiliated is a better word…but angry suffices right now.

“The first time I’m between your thighs, both of us will know I’ll be the last man there.”

“What?” I gasp.

“You haven’t accepted that you’re mine, yet.  Until you do, I’m not going to fuck you.”

“I have to go.”  I try to scramble away as quickly as possible but my damn feet get tangled together and I almost fall on my face.  Finally, I right myself, only to almost trip up the fucking curb.  It is surely the most embarrassing exit ever.  I don’t look back to see if Zeke is standing there laughing.  I correct myself and quick-walk to the front door.  My heart is racing and my hands are shaking, and I desperately need to find a quiet place so I can sit and go over everything Zeke just said.  I can’t think about it now though, I just need to get inside, away from him.

My hands are shaking so hard I can’t get the fucking key in the lock.  I huff, frustrated, and will myself to calm down.

Warm, strong hands close over my own and he gently inserts the key into the lock, turns it and the door swings open.  Slowly, he turns me by my shoulders and then tilts my chin up until my eyes find his.

“Thanks for a great morning, baby,” he says softly, his gravelly voice filling my ears, right before he leans down and gently touches his lips to mine.

With a will of its own, my body melts into his, savouring his taste, revelling in his touch.  A car driving past, beeps its horn and I’m suddenly brought back to the moment.  Pushing away, I stumble inside the door and slam it behind me, resting my back up against it and breathing heavily.  My lips tingle from his touch and my heart is racing.

What is this man doing to me?  Why is he breaking down all my defences with no effort?

“You’ve got a client due in ten minutes and another straight after.  I’ve set up both rooms, so they’re ready to go, since you were late,” Bella informs me as I walk through the front door of Premier Ink.  I glance up as she delivers the last part of her jibe, to see a grin on her face.

“So, how was the date?” she asks in a sing-song voice.

“I don’t do girl talk, Bella,” I reply, strutting down to the first room to prep for my client.  I smile when I hear her huff and grumble something about me being a dick because I’m not keeping her in the know.

Kicking the door shut gently with my foot, I walk over to the basin and wash my hands before rubbing on some antibacterial gel sanitiser.  All the while, my mind plays over my morning with Sienna.

Damn, if only she knew how much she affects me, surely she’d take advantage.  She just has no idea.  I’m pretty sure I’m getting through to her, though.  I just have to work a little harder.  That’s fine by me, because the groundwork I’ve laid so far was far from an effort on my behalf. 

Wiping my hands on some paper towel, I snap my gloves on just as Bella taps on the door and pokes her head through.  “Heather’s here.”

“Send her in.”

Five seconds later, my eyes nearly pop out of my head when Heather, my first client of the day, walks through the door.

“Hi, Zeke,” she purrs.

“Mornin’,” I reply.  “What can I do for you today?”

She teeters over to me in her stupidly high wedge heel things that girls wear and comes to stand beside me, a little too close for my liking, so I subtly step a little to the left to put some distance between us.

“Well, I had this design in mind,” she starts, before reaching – I shit you not – in between her tits to pull out a folded up piece of paper.  She glances up at me and I will my body not to visibly shudder as the sound of a cat being swung around in circles by its tail fills the room….
oh, fuck, that’s just her giggling.
 

I cock my eyebrow and then rub my thumb against it while trying not to curl my lip in disgust.

“Sorry, this outfit doesn’t really have any pockets.”  She bats her eyelashes at me.

“Right, well, show me what it is.”

“It’s a butterfly,” she explains, unnecessarily, because I can clearly see the fucking butterfly on the printed out picture.  “I wanted the colours red, purple, and blue, with a little pink around the outside here.   And, can you add in some of those star things right around the outside, so it kind of looks like it’s flying through the stars in the sky.  Like a space butterfly.”

God, kill me now.

“Sure, if that’s what you want.  Uh, where do you want it?”  Fuck, I’m afraid to hear her answer.

I cringe as she spins, and lowers the waistband of her short-as-fuck skirt so the top of her arse crack is showing.

“Right here,” she purrs. “In the centre.”  She looks over her shoulder at me and winks.  It doesn’t look sexy though, far from it.  It looks as though she’s got a strand of her blonde hair caught in her eye and she’s trying to get it out.  She looks downright ridiculous.

“Climb on the bed then, on your stomach.”

She complies immediately.  Crawling up onto the table in what I’m sure she thinks is a sexy manner.  I turn away and busy myself before she can flash me her arse.

“Can you just pull your undies down a bit, level with your skirt?”  I ask awkwardly.  Her g-string is hanging out the top of her skirt, which she’s pulled down to expose her bare arse cheeks.

“Oh, sure, sorry.”  She lifts her arse in the air almost flashing me her pussy.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter.  “Here, I’ll fucking do it,” I growl.

“If you insist,” she says sweetly.

I clench my jaw as I fix her skirt and then prep her skin before applying the transfer.

“Give that a minute to dry and then you can check the placement.”  I storm out of the room and grab a Coke from the bar fridge in the break room.

“What’s up, Z?” Bella asks, concerned.

I turn a murderous glare to her and seethe.  “That fucking woman in there.  That’s what’s wrong,” I say, jabbing my finger in the direction of the room.

“Is she giving you trouble?  Do you want me to come sit in?”

I scull half the bottle before answering.  “Nah, should be right.  She’s just making a play for someone who’s not in the game.”

“Wow,” she gasps.  “Holy shizz!  Seriously?”

“Fuckin’ hell, Bella.  Get to work.  I’m not sitting here gossiping with you.”  I can’t help but smile, but it’s soon wiped off my face as I walk back to the room where
Heather
awaits.

Taking a calming breath, I open the door, and rather than close it all the way when I clear the threshold, I only partially close it.  Don’t want her getting any ideas. 

“Okay, that should be dry.  If you just want to jump up and check out the placement in the mirror, we’ll go from there.”

“Okay.” 

Rather than watch her flash her arse again, I turn my back to her and begin pouring the ink into pots.

“I’m happy with it.  It’s going to look so awesome. I can’t wait.  Maybe you could do some more of those stars down over my cheek…like a trail that leads to my
milky way
.”

It takes all I have not to piss myself laughing.  Fuck, this chick is a piece of work!

“Ah, I don’t reckon that’ll work real good.  Overkill, you know.”  I shrug, biting back my laughter.  She looks thoughtful for a moment and then sighs.

“I guess you’re right,” she says thoughtfully.  “You’re the
professional
, after all.”  Jeez, anyone else notice how this bitch tries to make every word coming out of her mouth sound sexual?  She’s failing miserably.  Fucking idiot.

“Ready to go then?”

She nods.  “You might have to help with my panties again.”  She giggles and this time I can’t contain the shudder that works its way down my spine.  I quickly rub my ear with my finger, trying to ease the feeling of razor blades being shoved down my ear canal, then I walk over to stand beside her and tatt her up so she can get the fuck out of my studio.

“Oh, my gosh, Zeke, it looks
ah-mazing
.  You’re so talented with your
hands
.”  As she says ‘hands’, she gives my hand a squeeze and bats her eyelashes. 

I bet right now she’s thinking,
if he’s that good with his hands, I wonder how good he is with the rest of his body.
  My hands may be good, but I’m even better with my cock and my tongue, if I do say so myself.  Not that Heather will be finding that shit out for herself.  I wouldn’t touch her and her fake-arse body with Luke’s dick, and that’s saying something!

“Glad you like it.  If you head on out to Bella, she’ll handle the payment and give you some aftercare instructions.”

“Thanks so much again, Zeke.”

“No problem.”  I turn and open the door fully so she gets the hint to leave.  When I turn back, she wraps her hands around my neck and brings her mouth up to mine.  Sticky fucking lip gloss coats my lips before I can shove her off me.

With a disgusted snarl twisting my face, I growl, “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Oh, I get it,” she whispers.  “You don’t like making out in the workplace.  That’s cool, baby.  Here’s my number.  Call me when you get off, and then I’ll
get you off
.”  She raises her eyebrows at me suggestively.

“Get the fuck out now.”

“I can’t wait to see you bring that animalistic passion to the bedroom. 
Rawr
.”  She makes a cat scratching gesture and then giggles as she’s leaving.

I turn around and grab an antibacterial wipe to scrub my mouth with.  Pink, glossy lip shit coats the wet cloth as it comes off my mouth.  Then, just to make sure, I swish some mouthwash around in my mouth to get rid of any nasties that might have gotten in there.

Stupid fucking bitch.  If she ever comes back, Luke can deal with her.