Rough in the Saddle (7 page)

Chapter
Eleven

Travis
was losing his fucking mind. He wanted Pearl, and he knew this wasn’t just
about having his dick inside of her sweet body, yet he wasn’t quite sure how he
knew that. There was a part of him that just wanted to see what it was like to
actually give
himself
to a woman, to care for her, be
with her for more than just screwing. He wanted to show her off, have her on
his arm as he took her into town and they went on … dates.
Yeah,
fucking dates.
He couldn’t remember the last time
he’dgone
on a date.

He
smelled her again, inhaled deeply and let out a low growl. She smelled fresh,
clean, like lemons and honey. Damn, he wanted her body covered in honey, wanted
to lick her flesh until she was a wet mess of arousal beneath him. His cock was
hard, insistent to be buried in her tight, hot, wet pussy.

Taking
another step toward her, he felt the heat from her body, felt the warm puffs of
air leave her mouth as she breathed out. “I’ll be honest, since seeing you in
that bar all those nights ago I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
The sound of her inhaling, as if maybe his words shocked her, came through and
filled his head. “I won’t apologize, won’t say I’ll stay away either, because I
won’t.”

“I
won’t be a pussy on demand for you,” she said in a soft voice that was slightly
shaky.

“I
can get pussy anytime I want, and that’s not an arrogant jab, but a fact.” He
lowered his gaze to her mouth. “I want your pussy, no fucking doubt about that,
but I also want you, Pearl.” He ground his dick into her, loved that her
softness cushioned his hardness. “I want to have you in
my
bed, under me and all sweaty as you cling to my body. I want to
be the only cock that is in your tight little cunt from this point on. I want
to have
my cum
in your pussy, want you smelling like
me, tasting like me, and only me. I don’t want any other woman, Pearl, and I
don’t want you to be with any other man. As fucking crazy as this sounds, as
crazy as hell that I’m jumping in like this and professing what I need, it’s
the honest truth,
darlin
’.”
 

“This
is insane.” She breathed out. “What you’re saying is crazy, Travis.”

He
grinned, knowing that was the truth, but right now he was just going for what
he wanted. Before he could say anything, or maybe take her right here on the
kitchen counter, the sound of
Jace
and Colton’s
voices on the front porch came through. Seconds later the front door was
opening and banging shut.

Travis
stepped away from Pearl, adjusted his dick so it wasn’t that obvious he was
sporting a hard-on, and went over to the table to sit down. He was hungry, but
not for sandwiches. He ate, but his focus was on Pearl. He loved the way she
worried her bottom lip, tugged at the flesh until it was slightly swollen and
glossy. Travis wanted to suck that lip into his mouth, lick at it, nibble it,
and
make
it sore and abused, but have her begging for
more.

“I
better go to the store and get more cleaning and cooking supplies.” And then
she was hauling ass out of the kitchen and was in her car minutes later. He
smiled, sensing her unease, but not because she was uncomfortable with him, but
because she was hot for him.

“Damn,
Pearl can sure cook,”
Jace
said as he went for
another helping of macaroni salad.

“The
house looks livable,” Colton said and started chuckling when Travis flipped him
off.

He
thought back to Pearl again when his brothers started talking about heading up
to the mountains for the weekend for some fishing and hunting. They’d stock up
the smoker and cure and dry the meat, having a nice supply for the rest of the
year.

All
he could focus on was Pearl though, what she did to him and how she made him
feel. Yeah, she wanted him, maybe for more than just some dick, and he’d be
more than happy to show her that if she gave him a shot he’d treat her like his
Queen.

****

A
week had passed since the incident with Travis in the kitchen. The truth was
Pearl had been trying to get her head wrapped around everything. She stayed
busy, had the main house cleaned and it was staying that way, and the other two
houses were also on their way to being cleaned.
Jace’s
was done, but Colton’s was going a bit slower since it seemed Colton had never
heard of a mop. The dirt was so thick it was a wonder there weren’t potatoes
growing in every corner.

She
left the house, cleaning supplies and bucket in hand, and headed toward the
main house once more. She was about to leave for the evening, had the weekend
off, and knew the guys would be gone as well. She’d heard that they’d be
heading out tomorrow morning to go into the mountains for fishing and hunting.
She’d never been one that enjoyed the hunting aspect of living in the country,
but she also knew that the guys hunted for food, not for trophies.

She’d
heard their stories over the last week about the various trips they’d taken
deep into the forest, their gear, horses, and mule in tow. They spent several
days in the wild, and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to just go off into
the nothingness like that. Maybe one day, but right now she was content being
around people all the time, even if those people were three very rough and
tough cowboy brothers.

She
stored her things in the cooler that was attached to the back of the
four-wheeler and climbed on. It was important for her to use the ATV they
provided, especially if she didn’t want to make the mile or so trek between
each house. Besides, it was fun riding around on this thing. She’d never been
able to be on anything aside from a bike or in a car, and riding the
four-wheeler, going over the bumps and dips of the ground, had her feeling like
she was a kid again.

Once
she was back toward the main property she saw the guys loading up their gear
and checking on the horses they’d be using for the trip.
Jace
and Colton were running brushes over the two mares, Lucky and France, and the
stallion that Travis was using, Rocco, was busy eating from a bale of hay. She
brought the four-wheeler to a stop before them, and sat there for a moment,
just watching them work. They didn’t have shirts on, and the sun was especially
hot that day, beating down on them and having sweat glisten from their toned,
golden skin.

She
looked at Travis, saw he was watching her, and her whole body became hot. She
shifted on the seat, which was already warmed from sitting out in the sun, but
hell, she felt like the damn thing would catch on fire from how overheated she
suddenly was.

“You
all set for your trip?” she asked, looking at Travis, but addressing them all.

He
stood to his full height of well over six feet tall, and moved toward her. He’d
been working on checking his guns, packing up his bullets, and the thought of
his big hands smoothing over the rifles, of the skill it took to shoot them,
aim them so the kill was clean and painless, made her feel very feminine against
his masculinity. He placed his hands on the handlebars of the ATV, and grinned
down at her.

“I
think I’d much rather be staying here for the weekend,” he leaned in an inch,
“you wrapped around me, and our bodies exhausted because we fucked hard.”

She
felt her mouth drop open, snapped her eyes over to where
Jace
and Colton watched them, and knew they’d heard what Travis had said. Before she
embarrassed herself and said something that would either encourage him to
continue or offend him because he was technically her employer and shouldn’t be
saying those things, she started the four-wheeler and headed back to the main
house.

Once
inside she went over to the sink and ran the tap, splashing water on her face
and trying to breathe. She didn’t know how long she stood there, but long
enough that when she finally opened her eyes it was to see the sun had set, the
guys were heading to their houses, and she was still at Travis’s place. She
should have been long gone by now.

Pearl
told herself she could work through this job, push her desires aside, or maybe
block them out enough that they wouldn’t affect her, but the truth was she’d
done a lousy job of that. She couldn’t distance herself from Travis, from her
feelings, but she didn’t want to, and that was her biggest issue.

“I
thought you’d be gone by now, especially after what I said and you acted all
pissed.”

She
turned around and faced Travis, felt the water drip from her face, and grabbed
a paper towel to dry her skin off. “I should have been gone, should have
slapped you for saying that in front of your brothers and embarrassing me.”

He
didn’t grin, like she thought he might have, but instead leaned on the
doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked filthy from working
outside all day, but it was the good kind of filth. “I’d like to talk to you,
Pearl. Will you let me shower real
quick
and then we
can have a conversation without sexual innuendos from me?” He did grin then, a
teasing note in his voice.

She
should have said no, but instead she found herself nodding. He pushed away from
the doorway and left her alone in the kitchen. For the next twenty minutes she
busied herself with cleaning the same counter space over and over again. She
kept thinking about what Travis could possibly say
,
if
he was going to proposition her for some kind of fuck buddy status, or maybe
tell her that working here was just too hard for him and it wasn’t going to
work out.

God,
maybe she should just leave before that conversation started, because even if
he was a man with desires, needs that were pretty potent before she even came
along, she wasn’t a woman that would just sleep with him to pass the time.

Then what is it that you want
from him? You want him to tell you he cares for you, too, that he wants more
than just the incredible sex you guys obviously have together?

She
grabbed her purse and was about to take the weak way out and just leave, but
before she made it out of the kitchen Travis was stepping out of the bedroom in
only a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. His dark hair was wet, the short
strands slightly sticking to his forehead. He dried the rest of his hair with a
towel, tossed it back in the room, and looked at her.

“You
were running off?” he asked and lifted a brow in question. She looked down at
her bag. She knew leaving was the childish, weak thing to do, but she was
afraid about how she’d react with him, about what he’d say. Could she even
handle if he asked her to be his fuck friend? She wasn’t a slut, but she liked
having sex with him, liked the way he made her feel.

“Yeah,
pretty bad, huh?” she said and set her bag back on the table. She took a seat,
watched him walk in the kitchen and sit across from her at the table, and rest
his big forearm on the scarred wood. He was so big, so imposing and muscular
that she felt small compared to him, feminine.

“Why
were you going to just leave?” he
asked,
his tone
neutral, void of emotion.

She
shifted in her seat, looked at the clock on the wall above his head, and tried
to think of a good, not immature response.

Just tell him the truth, tell him
what you want.

She
opened her mouth, maybe to tell him the honest
truth, that
she wanted more from him even if it sounded crazy, but the words stalled in her
throat. He leaned forward, clasped his hands together in front of him, and she
looked down at the veins that moved over the back of his hands and ran up his
thickly corded forearms.

“I
want you,” he said flatly, hard, dominating. “I want you as mine, to do with as
I see fit, but also because you want that, too.”

Her
heart beat so loud that she heard it in her ears, felt it in her throat, and
became lightheaded because of it. “I’m not a woman that just puts out easily.”
God she sounded ridiculous saying that seeing as she’d brought him home on the
first night of meeting him. “What I meant was that I’m not going to make this
an easy access
fuckfest
for you because I’m here and
we both want each other.”

“
Fuckfest
?” he said with an amused smile on his face. He
stood, slowly made his way toward her, and when they were only inches apart he
stopped. “And we both want each other?” He lifted an eyebrow again, a
trademarked move she was coming to be familiar with.

Travis
had her out of the chair and pressed to his chest moments later. He kissed her
senseless, grabbed a chunk of her hair behind her head, and fucked her mouth.
God,
was he fucking her mouth. She pushed away from him, not
able to think clearly, let alone process what was happening.

“I
can’t,” she said, not sure why she was saying it or what she was saying she
couldn’t do. Feeling foolish now, her lips tingling from the kiss, her body
filled with adrenaline, she took off, left out the front door, and moved over
to the side of the house. Her car was just right there, escape so close she
could taste it, yet she stood there.