The Circle Eight: Caleb (17 page)

“We’ll need to leave as soon as possible. Tonight if you’re up for it.”

She frowned. “How long have we been here?”

“Three days.”

Rory’s eyes widened. “And Garza hasn’t found us.”

It wasn’t a question. “No, we’ve been lucky but that’s gonna run out sooner or later.” He looked at Benjy. “Gather up as many of those berries you found and whatever else you scrounged. Let’s get everything ready to leave as soon as we can. Rory is going to want to get cleaned up so wait until I come get you before you come back in.”

The boy nodded and took a rag and the empty saddlebags, then disappeared back out the entrance to the cave. Caleb turned to find Rory staring at him, her expression dark.

“You took a big chance stopping for so long. Why?”

How could he explain when he didn’t understand? “We need to stay together to survive.”

“I don’t understand.” Her brows deepened.

Caleb leaned down and kissed her lips. She gasped in surprise, then returned the kiss. When he straightened up, she touched her lips, now moist with their kisses. What the hell was he doing? She didn’t say anything and neither did he. An uncomfortable silence pulsed between them.

“Can you help me wash up?” Her soft question knocked him sideways.

“Are you sure?” Foolish man that he was, he actually asked.

Her lashes swept down and he was struck again by how feminine she was when she wasn’t swinging a hammer or shouting at him. Aurora wasn’t classically beautiful, but all her parts came together to form a perfect harmony. One that sang to him.

“I’m sure. I need to get clean and you don’t seem to have anything else to do.” Her silly smirk made him chuckle. “I’d like some coffee too while you’re at it.”

He had to move away before he kissed her again. Damn, even his dick had woken up, straining at his trousers like it hadn’t ever seen a woman before. Rory was quiet as he stoked up the small fire and put the last of his coffee into the pot. Doing a mundane chore helped him get a bit of control back. Lack of sleep was affecting him. That was the explanation.

While the coffee heated, he took the rock bowl and set it on the other edge of the fire and poured water into it. It might not be the prettiest way to heat water but it might work. He couldn’t think about the fact he would soon be washing a very awake Rory. If he did, he might forget what he was doing and act even more foolish. Perhaps blurt words he shouldn’t be thinking or feeling.

He used one of the shirts to carry the rock bowl over to her and set it down. Her eyes were closed but he didn’t think she was sleeping. The coffee bubbled and he poured some into the tin cup he carried with him. He picked up the sliver of soap and the rag, then sat down beside her again.

“You’re staring at me.” She opened one eye and speared him with her gaze.

“I’m waiting for you to drink your coffee, your majesty.” He held up the cup and she looked surprised to see it.

“I didn’t think you had any coffee.”

“I always have some staples with me. I’m on the trail most days. What kind of ranger would I be if I wasn’t prepared?” He peered at her, looking for signs of the fever. “Can you sit up?”

She pushed with her hands slowly, and painfully if he were any judge, until she was half-sitting against the saddle behind her. This time the sweat on her brow was from the effort, not from a fever.

“I could have helped.” He handed her the cup.

She accepted it with shaking hands. “I wouldn’t have asked.”

He clucked his tongue in annoyance. The woman was stubborn as the damn mule. Perhaps that was why she kept the beast.

“Drink up so I can get you clean. We need to leave in a few hours.” He dipped the rag in the water, pleased to find it was still hot. The rock bowl kept it warmer than a regular basin. Too bad there wasn’t a smidge of room in his saddlebags or he’d take it with him.

She slurped down the coffee noisily then handed him the cup. “That was better than sex.” Caleb almost choked on his own spit. She shook her head at him. “What? I was being honest.”

Rory was a widow and she obviously had been with her husband. The fact she talked about sex was shocking. What other women did that? None that he knew of. Not even his outspoken sister did.

“Don’t you like sex?”

This time his mouth actually dropped open.

She smiled widely. “I didn’t think I would ever shock you, Ranger.”

Caleb shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman like you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She yawned widely.

“I, uh, guess we should get you washed up then.” He didn’t know what he’d do once he actually touched her. Not after the mention of sex and enjoying it. “Can you unbutton your shirt?”

She did as he asked, revealing her alabaster skin, large breasts and light pink nipples. He managed to swallow while she waited, her expression unreadable. He wrung the rag out and swiped the soap across it.

Caleb lifted her arm and began to wash her, telling himself it was like washing up his little sisters ten years ago. It was a far cry from brotherly duty though. He felt every stroke as though it was his hand touching her and not a rag. His body pulsed with need yet he continued on, washing her entire upper body, then rinsing her.

“You’re sweating, Ranger. You might need to wash up yourself.” Her voice had dropped into a husky whisper. He told himself it was the water, the cool air, or the rag that made her nipples hard. There was no way she was aroused.

“I’m not a saint, Aurora. I have needs like any man.” He met her gaze and let her see the hunger that prowled beneath the surface. She would either accept it or turn away.

“Take my drawers off and finish the job.”

Sweet Jesus. He dropped the rag into the bowl, his dick painfully hard.

“Are you sure?”

“You keep asking me that, I’m going to think you’re not interested.” She cupped her breasts and held them up.

It took sincere willpower not to pluck those dark pink nipples, hard and tight, a mere foot from his salivating tongue. He reached for her drawers, knowing he was about to cross a line with Rory and was helpless to stop.

She lifted her hips as he slid the plain cotton fabric down, revealing her pussy, covered with dark brown curls. He swallowed the need to taste her and focused on getting her clean first. Now his strokes were more sure, long sweeping ones designed to torture both of them. By the time he reached her feet, he had almost given up seven times.

Her skin had heated beneath his touch, the small hairs rising to meet him. He put the rag in the bowl and then finally touched her. Really touched her with his hands. He slid his fingers up her legs, reveling in the softness of her skin. She was softer than flower petals, exquisitely so. Her muscles were sculpted from the finest artisan.

When he finally reached her core, he dipped his fingers into her wetness and groaned. He circled her clit with his thumb and thrust two fingers into her warm core.

“Oh, that’s better than a bath.” She hissed out a breath.

Caleb kissed her stomach all the way up her sweet smelling skin until he reached her breasts. The two things that had haunted him since the second he’d seen them days ago. They were perfect, round and large. The puckered nipples begged for his mouth so he obliged them.

He lapped at the right, nibbling and sucking while his hand continued to pleasure her. She growled her approval, arching up into his mouth. His mouth closed around her nipple and he sucked hard, pulling her deep.

She made a gasping sound and her pussy closed around his fingers. A keening cry, barely a whisper, greeted his ears. She scratched at his shoulders, her body shuddering and clenching as she found her pleasure. He gentled his movements, bringing her down from the heights.

Caleb finally kissed her and she wrapped her arms around him. This time there was no surprise, no fumbling kisses. It was hard and deep, tongues clashing and rasping against each other in tune with his pulse. He wanted to plunge into her, lose himself in the depths of the hot pussy he’d just brought to orgasm.

When he came up for air, she made a mewling sound of protest, but let him loose. He looked down into her face, never more pretty than she was at that moment, sated and full of bliss. Her eyes were at half-mast and she couldn’t quite stifle a yawn.

He would hate himself for this but he released her and sat up. She frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“If we do this, Aurora, I want you completely awake when we do.”

“I am awake.” Another yawn.

“Barely. Take the next few hours to sleep. When we ride it’ll be hard. I don’t want to contribute to your, ah, discomfort in that area.” He danced around the words, trying to maintain his status as a gentleman, or something like that.

She smiled wanly. “There is a good thought underneath that ranger jackass.”

“Sometimes I surprise myself.” He kissed her forehead then helped pull her drawers up, brushing her fingers away when she tried to button her shirt. “Now sleep.”

She took his hand and kissed the palm. “Thank you, Caleb.”

It was the first time she’d said his name. He found he liked the sound of it on her tongue. Foolish man that he was, he held her hand until she slept, then sat there a few minutes longer watching her sleep.

Caleb finally got up and went in search of Benjy, knowing he left a piece of himself behind in that cave, tucked into the hands of a lady blacksmith.

Chapter Seven

Although she still dreamed of Caleb’s touch, his callused hands and talented tongue, she still wanted to punch him. He drove them relentlessly, barely allowing time for necessities. He had warned her it would be a hard ride, but her body was still weakened by the wound and the subsequent fever. She was no weakling and could endure quite a lot.

What she couldn’t endure was the ranger ignoring her requests one more time. She had to stop and take care of business or she would piss herself right there on Cora. Benjy had long since fallen asleep, drooping in front of his brother on the saddle. The sun painted the sky pink and orange as it rose in the east.

“If you don’t let me stop, I’m going to hit you with my hammer,” she said through clenched teeth. “I mean it.”

He didn’t even turn his head. “This area is too open. There is a line shack up ahead about two hours. Belonged to a rancher who lost everything about five years ago. Land has gone to hell but the shack is still there.”

“Two hours? I will not mess my drawers because you don’t want the world to see my bare ass.” She pulled Cora to a stop and managed to slide off the saddle although her legs quaked. A couple bushes nearby were all she needed. She managed to pull her trousers down and squat when the ranger appeared in front of her. “You want to watch me piss?”

His cheeks flushed, which she found amusing as hell. “No, I want to spank your ass for being so stubborn.”

“Get in line. My father did it, so did my husband. Nobody is going to smack the stubborn outta me.” She held her own, never giving into any man. Sooner or later they accepted her the way she was and stopped trying to change her. The ranger was a slow learner.

“Dammit, woman. You try my patience. Do you know that Garza could have a sharp shooter ready to take your pretty head off your shoulders at any moment?” His face was tight with anger and what she would only assume was worry.

His words sank in and she had to take a minute to finish her business before she spoke. No one had ever accused her of being pretty nor shown such concern for her. It was another piece of the puzzle that made up Caleb Graham.

She used a few leaves to finish and then stood up. After she buttoned her trousers, she walked back to Cora with the ranger hot on her tail. His hot breath nearly set her neck on fire. When she reached the mule, she whirled around to face him.

“You called me pretty.”

He blinked quickly, then opened his mouth and closed it. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Nobody ever call you pretty before?”

She gestured to her trousers and her shorn hair. “Not hardly. I am plain as dirt, Ranger. If you think any different, then you might need spectacles.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. You might be the one who needs to see better.” With that cryptic remark he took her arm and scooped her into his arms to deposit her onto Cora’s back.

She bent down to whisper as he took his hands away. “We’re not done talking about this.”

The ranger, of course, didn’t respond. She wanted to kick him but he was already vaulting back onto his horse with more grace than she had in her little finger. They started riding again until the sun was bright in the sky. By then Rory’s ass was numb. Her entire lower half was numb and she wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. If she couldn’t feel then she didn’t feel pain but she also wouldn’t feel a snake sliding up her trouser leg either.

True enough, a small shack appeared in the distance. Half taken over by the trees that surrounded it, it was about the same size as her house. A lump formed in her throat at the thought she might not ever see her own small shack again. However, she had made the choice to help him because it was the right thing to do. Benjy didn’t deserve what had happened to him but if her actions helped right a wrong, then she couldn’t regret it.