The Circle Eight: Caleb (28 page)

Caleb pulled the blanket back and swung his legs to the edge of the bed. “There is no chance I am staying in this bed. I’ve been waiting for her to come see me and she’s been working? I’m done waiting. That woman is going to be wooed, dammit, whether or not she likes it.”

Chapter Ten

Rory walked through the entrance to the barn, leading the gelding back into the building. He’d been one of the most even-tempered of the equines on the Circle Eight. He belonged to Javier, one of the handsome Vasquez men. Both he and his brother had wide smiles to go with their wide shoulders and impeccable manners. They had been nothing but polite to her.

Everyone was polite. It was driving her mad.

Three days of staying away from Caleb and pretending she was happy shoeing horses. Not that she didn’t like taking care of the beasts, but it wasn’t what she needed or wanted. They were coming together, those needs and wants stuck in her heart and gut, pulsing with their own life. It took every ounce of willpower not to run in the house and confess to Caleb that she loved him.

It had taken every ounce of strength she had to accept her feelings as real. If she told him, she opened herself to another man, another potential loss in her life. She had lost everyone and everything she loved. Using the hammer helped her get rid of her frustration most days. She couldn’t quite do that at the Graham ranch.

No anvil, no forge, and only some horses to shoe. It left her antsy and grumpy. Javier had nearly run off when he dropped off the gelding to her half an hour earlier. She expected the snarl on her face had something to do with it.

She secured the gelding in his stall and closed the door. Leaning against it, she wished for the millionth time she was back home with all her familiar things. She was out of place and lost, nothing to anchor her but the hammer and tongs. They were nestled in the sack she’d carried them in, hanging off the side of her saddle, which sat unused on the saddle stand in the corner. The Grahams were so unfailingly nice. They had retrieved the rest of her belongings and took care of Cora for her.

The next person who asked her if she needed anything might get a right-hook to the jaw.

“What the hell are you doing?” Caleb’s voice cut through the air, throwing up a storm of dust motes around the barn.

She turned to find him in the doorway, his hair sticking up in a hundred different directions, dark whiskers on his chin, clothes buttoned wrong and a fierce scowl on his face.

“I could ask you the same question, Ranger.” She put one fist on her hip. “You’re supposed to be in bed recovering.”

“I’m done lying in that fucking bed.” He stepped into the barn, his movements more like stalking.

She stood her ground, excitement curling in her belly. “Your language is appalling.”

He waved his hand in dismissal. “I’ve heard worse out of your pretty mouth.”

Her lips twitched at being called pretty. “What do you want?”

“You.” He bit off the word. It hung in the air, dancing with the dust motes while she tried to think of how to respond to him.

“How nice for you.” She turned her back and walked deeper into the barn. If he came after her, it would be slow going. Truthfully, his injury gave her time to get her thoughts together. What if he asked her to stay? Could she and would she?

He snatched her off her feet before she’d gotten more than a few steps in. A squeak burst from her mouth as he pushed her up against the barn wall. A very hard male body kept her in place.

A shiver of excitement raced through her. Rory wasn’t the type of woman to be ordered around by a man or enjoy it, but this side of the ranger thrilled her. Deep inside where she told herself no one could see, she shivered in arousal.

“You’ve been ignoring me, Aurora.”

Aurora
. Her given name rolled off his tongue like a caress. She closed her eyes as her body warmed, thumping with heat.

“You were shot. I didn’t know I was supposed to entertain you. Didn’t your family take care of you?” She didn’t try to escape his hold, although she knew if she pushed back, he would let her go. She was safe but held in place at the same time. It was just as strange as their relationship had been since the moment she’d laid eyes on him.

“They fed me and changed my bandages, even emptied my piss pot. It wasn’t them I wanted.” He ground his cock against her ass and she was instantly wet and ready. For the first time in her life, she wished she wore a skirt so he could toss it up and bury himself inside her. Yet she had donned her stained trousers to work in the barn.

Perhaps she needed a dress or two after all.

“What do you want, Caleb?” She didn’t recognize her own voice, breathy and high.

“I want to hear my name on your tongue when I take you against this wall.” He nipped at her neck, kissing and licking his way to her ear.

She had never heard or experienced anything as arousing. A small moan escaped her throat. He stilled, his breath gusting on her ear. Her entire body was tight as a bow string, her nipples ached and her pussy throbbed. She needed him to make good on his threats. Now.

“All talk.” Rory pushed back against him. “Show me.”

This time he growled and she shivered at the sound. He stepped back, and the loss made her body follow him. She would describe his resulting chuckle as evil. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to have him up against her, pushing into her, making her call his name like he wanted.

Oh God, she wanted, so badly.

“Take off those damn trousers. I never even thought about how sweet a woman’s ass was until you paraded around in front of me with those on.”

She grinned at the wall, pleased to know she drove him as mad as he drove her. Made her feel feminine. Powerful. However, she still also needed to strip before her body imploded from need.

Rory made quick work of her trousers, pushing them down and yanking off her boots. A sudden thought struck her.

“What if someone walks in.”

“I’ll shoot them.” He grabbed her hips, his callused hands sliding down her skin to her thighs, then back up on the inside. She held her breath until his fingers dipped into her moisture. “You’re wet. I think you like this, Aurora.”

“Shut up and get busy, Ranger. I’m not standing here naked so you can tell me what I already know.” She wiggled her ass to emphasize her point.

He sucked in a breath and then a very hard, hairy, and naked male body pressed against her. She opened her hands on the wall, pushing against him. He felt good, more than good, perfect.

His knee crept between her knees and moved her legs apart. He kissed her neck again and reached around to cup her breasts.

“I dreamed about these, you know. Your tits are flawless, round and ripe, perfect for my mouth and my hands. One day I might try my dick between them.” He pinched her nipples and she gasped in pleasure. “You like that?”

“Better than coffee.”

He chuckled against her skin. “I can’t wait any longer, Aurora. I need to fuck you.”

She tightened at the naughty words, her body more than ready to receive his. “Then fuck me.”

He drove into her body in one stroke. She let loose a scream that spooked a few horses but he didn’t shush her. No, he pinched her nipples again.

“Next time I want to hear my name.”

Her eyes about rolled back in her head as he thrust into her, again and again. Harder. Faster. The wall rocked with the force of their joining. Her body tightened around him with each moment, her slick passage welcoming his hard cock. She scratched at the wall, her breath coming in short bursts.

A coil of pleasure tightened in her belly each time he pulled out completely, then filled her again. A moan built inside her as her release approached.

“I won’t last long, honey. You need to come for me.” His voice was rough and breathy.

“Close, so close.” She spread her legs a bit farther, pulling him deeper.

They both groaned at once. His pace increased and she knew he was about to find his release. To her surprise, he reached between her legs and pinched her clit. Her orgasm ripped through her with the force of a twister, pulling her this way and that, pure ecstasy, sweeter than any moment in her life.

“Caleb!”

He gripped her hips and drove into her, touching her womb, her heart, her soul. She shuddered with shocks of pleasure as her body accepted his. Her heart thudded hard enough to block out all sound but her blood rushing around her body. He laid his forehead on her shoulder, his breath hot and heavy on her neck.

“Holy shit.”

She chuckled, joy and satisfaction warring for control of her. “I second that.”

“I came out here to ask you something but now I’ve taken you against the wall.” He pulled away and his warm seed trickled down her leg.

To her consternation, he was also pulling away from her emotionally. “I wanted you to.”

“Doesn’t mean I should have done it.” He buttoned up his trousers and moved back a few feet. “You should get dressed.”

She whirled around, furious with him. “No.”

His brows went up. “If you want to sashay around half-naked, that’s your business.” His tone said something entirely different than his words.

“I am your business and you are mine.” She approached him, poking at his chest with her finger. “You came in here to tell me you loved me and ask me to marry you but you’re too much of a chicken to do it.”

His eyes widened. “Pardon?”

“You heard me.” She cupped his whiskered cheek. “If you’re going to be a coward, then I’ll do it. I love you, Caleb Graham. Marry me.”

He threw back his head and laughed, a gut-busting guffaw that made him double over, hand on his still healing wound. “Woman, you… I can’t…”

Rory had made a terrible mistake. One of epic proportions. Her body ran ice cold, every sliver of pleasure frozen in the wake of his rejection. As her heart broke into a thousand pieces, she yanked on her clothes and ran from the barn as fast as her legs could take her.

The shaking started in his legs, then traveled up to his gut and soon he trembled from head to toe. What the hell had just happened? He staggered, bracing his hand against the same wall the woman he loved had just been scratching while he fucked her. His fingers traced the marks she’d made in the wood while he tried to stop himself from wobbling around like a newborn calf.

He dropped to his knees and took a deep breath before he landed on the floor face first. What kind of fool was he? Apparently the jackass she had accused him of being. He had treated her like a whore, then let her walk away.

She might even walk right off the Circle Eight.

Caleb had done some dumb things in his life but this was the worst. Matt had tried to tell him to do the right thing. Yet Caleb had done the opposite, letting his dick lead him around instead of his heart.

“Are you yanking at your pecker?” Nicholas’s voice came from behind him.

Caleb glanced at his brother. “I’m trying not to puke.”

“Shouldn’t you be in bed? I thought you got shot.” Nicholas stood with his hands on his hips, pants tucked into shit-covered boots. Maybe if Caleb asked, his little brother would kick him. He sure as hell deserved it.

“I was trying to, well, I fucked it up good.” He got to his feet carefully, swallowing back the bile that coated the back of his throat.

“Fucked what up?” Nick pushed his hat back.

“My marriage.”

“Your what?” His brother’s eyes almost popped out of his head.

“I have to find her and make her understand.” Caleb took a deep breath and spotted Cora’s saddle. “You went back for her things?” He ran his hand along the old, smooth leather.

“Of course we did. She helped find Benjy didn’t she? Besides, we wasn’t gonna leave her things for someone to grab.” Nicholas gestured to the saddle. “We took care of the mule carcass too. Damn, she ran that thing into—”

“Remember you’re talking about my future wife, Nick.” Caleb’s voice was more of a growl, his protective instincts jumping up and down on his heart.

“Jesus, fine. I won’t talk about it then.” Nicholas held up his hands. “I came to find you since Eva about had kittens when she found you gone from the bed. Olivia had the baby.”

Caleb blinked at the rapid change of subject. “What?”

“Liv, your sister, she had the baby. It was a boy. Brody sent over one of his farm hands to let us know. The girls are fixing to head out in an hour.” Nicholas turned to leave the barn. “Eva was worried to leave you alone. I’ll tell her you’re acting like your normal self and not to worry.”

“Wait, what’s my normal self?” Caleb knew the answer before his brother spoke.

“Like a jackass.”

Caleb stood there and stared at the saddle, his mind whirling with the possibilities of what he could do to convince her he wasn’t the jackass he had been. Then he noticed the burlap bag and knew she wasn’t really gone. Rory wouldn’t leave without her hammer and tongs. She’d told him more than once how important they were to her.

He still had a chance.