Tied Up, Tied Down (33 page)

Lorelei James

Kade didn’t pay attention when his brother’s pickup parked next to his along the fence. He looped another pass in the field, trying to stay awake. On his third round, he saw Skylar standing beside Kane’s truck. He snapped upright, half-afraid he’d fallen asleep and was dreaming of her.

Then the apparition waved.

Holy shit. That
was
Skylar.

In the south hayfield.

Why?

Sweet Jesus. Something bad must’ve happened.

His heart slammed into his throat as his brain raced through all the awful scenarios.

Kade managed to park the tractor next to the nearest the fence. After shutting it off, he hopped to the ground and sprinted across the stubbly field.

Skylar met him halfway.

He clamped his gloved hands over her shoulders. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I just—”

“Is Eliza all right?”

“She’s fine. She’s with your mom.”

“So the rest of my family is okay too?”

“Yes.”

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“Then what…” He took a deep breath. Everything was fine. Thank God.

“Sweetheart, why are you here?”

She bit her lip and glanced away. A nervous gesture? From the always confident Skylar?

“What’s goin’ on?”

“Eliza rolled over today.”

He blinked with confusion and then he grinned. “She did?”

“Yeah, and little miss was mighty pleased with herself. You weren’t there to see it.

All I could think about was how you deserved to be there for every milestone in her life—big or small. And how badly I wanted you there for every damn one, not just for her, but for me, too.”

Sweet Lord, she looked like she was going to cry. “Hey, it’s all right.”

“It is now that I’m here with you.” Sky wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing against him as if she was trying to crawl inside his skin. “So I showed up because I missed you, Kade. I missed you so much. And I couldn’t wait another day to tell you that I love you. I love you like crazy. With all my heart, all my soul, with everything I am.

Please. I’ll do anything to make this right. Please come home.”

Kade closed his eyes and squeezed her tightly to make sure it wasn’t another dream.

“Say it again.”

“I love you. And I’m sorry, you were right about a lot of things. Not just the security stuff, which I have taken care of, much to my employee’s relief. What I accused you of was wrong. I panicked. Deep down I knew you wouldn’t take Eliza from me. Then you were gone and I didn’t know if it was for good. And I didn’t know how to make it right.

So all I can do is ask you to forgive me for being a pride-filled idiot, for not trusting you, or trusting in this.”

“If you’ve forgiven me for the Kane thing, I can forgive you.” He hooked a piece of flyaway hair behind her ear. “Skylar. I love you. I love you so damn much.” He just held her. Loving the way she fit him so perfectly in so many ways.

Finally, she said, “You aren’t going to leave me, ever, are you?”

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“Nope.”

“How long would you have waited for me to realize that?”

“Oh, fifty years, give or take.”

She looked up and her eyes were so serious.

“What, sweetheart?”

“You really are a true gentleman cowboy. A good guy, honest, steadfast, loyal and true.”

“You’re makin’ me sound like a damn preacher or something. I am who I am, Sky.

Who I’ve always been.”

“I know. That’s who I want. That’s who I love. And I’m too damn practical, because I suck at this kind of romantic stuff. But I did try to make this be special and spontaneous and…” Skylar stripped off his gloves and grabbed his hand. “Dammit. Come here. I have something to show you.” She dragged him to where she’d spread out a yellow blanket on the flat spot of ground between the ditch and the fence line. A red cooler anchored one corner of the blanket. Centered on the plastic cooler lid was a bunch of wild flowers.

“Here’s our romantic celebration. You like it?”

The woman who claimed not to be a romantic…had picked flowers for him? “Yeah.

It’s great.”

“That wasn’t a very convincing
great
, Kade. Sit down.”

He shuffled his feet and sighed.

“What?”

“I don’t wanna to sit on your nice blanket.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll ruin it. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m covered in dust and grime.”

“Hmm.” Sky gave him a head to toe once over. “Then you’d better take off your dirty clothes.”

Surely she was joking. “Sky—”

“If you hadn’t noticed,” she mimicked, “I’m trying to seduce you. But I’m fine with skipping the mushy romantic stuff and getting straight to the hardcore sex.”

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“What?” He glanced around. “In the middle of the damn field where anyone can see us?”

“Yep.”

“No way.”

“Oh. I see. It’s okay when you make
me
strip down so you can have your wicked way with me, any time, any place. Need I remind you we had sex in my front yard, McKay?”

Shit. He was so totally screwed.

The triumph shining in her eyes made him half-wary and completely hard. Skylar fisted her hands in his shirt and pulled his mouth down to hers for a fiery kiss that should’ve set the hayfield on fire.

Kade groaned. God he loved kissing this woman.
His
woman. He loved her taste. He loved the way she curled her tongue against his. He loved the softness of her lips. He loved the sharp nip of her teeth. Mostly, he loved the fact she loved him.

She broke her mouth free but not her hold on his shirt. “I want you.”

“And I want you. I always want you. Let’s go back to the house, I’ll get cleaned up, Ma can watch Eliza for a bit longer and we can—”

“No. Right here, right now.”

“But I don’t think—”

“Know what I think? That you don’t
want
to think. You want a woman who will drag you off that damn tractor to fuck you in the weeds any time she pleases.” Sky brushed her lips across his ear in an erotic glide that made him shiver. “You want a woman who doesn’t care if you’re covered in dirt because she plans to fuck you in the mud like an animal anyway. You want a woman who gets all hot and bothered by your possessive primal male declaration of ‘I protect what’s mine’ and then balls your brains out in the barn.”

His cock went rigid.

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“I like the way you smell, fresh off the ranch. I like the way your tired muscles feel, flexing beneath my greedy hands.” She licked his throat. “I like the way you taste.

Everywhere.”

“Sky—”

“Kade,” she imitated his tone. “The naked rule is in effect. Strip.”

“Wait a sec—”

“Nope.” Buttons flew as she ripped his shirt open.

“Skylar!”

She’d focused on unbuckling his belt as she rained kisses down his belly. “Damn T-shirt. Why do you have to wear so many layers of clothes?”

Why
did
he? Hell. He could not think. “Ah. Um. Protection from the bugs and sun.”

“This little scrap of cotton isn’t gonna protect you from me.”

Kade groaned again.

“Fine. Half-naked works. You want to leave your boots on?”

Kade’s head was spinning with,
what the hell had gotten into her
? Followed by,
why
are you resisting?

“I take that as a yes.”
Zip
. His fly was undone.
Yank
. His Wranglers and boxers were down past his knees. She looked up at him. “Are you gonna lay back on that blanket?”

When he didn’t move, her eyebrows rose in challenge. “Or am I going to have to push you down?”

Somehow, he managed not to stumble and ended up flat on his back, his cock sticking straight up like a divining rod, as he stared at the stunning cloudless blue of the big Wyoming sky.

Then an even prettier Sky was above him. “With your jeans around your boots, you’re hobbled, cowboy. You can’t get away from me.”

“You put your hand or your mouth or your pussy on my cock and I guarantee I ain’t gonna try to get away.”

She grinned, looking as carefree and wild as he’d ever seen her. “Have I mentioned that I love you?”

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“Once or twice, but I wouldn’t mind hearin’ it again. And again.” He reached for the tie on her hair. The shining waves fell around his face like a curtain of silk. He crushed a handful of the sweetly scented strands and inhaled deeply.

She slowly unbuttoned her blouse, letting it flutter to the ground. Her rosy nipples were completely visible through the lacy pink bra. Skylar threw her leg over his hip, scooted back and lifted her skirt.

He caught a glimpse of a dark triangle of curls between her milky white thighs.

“Good Lord. You ain’t wearin’ panties?”

“Nope. Since you usually rip them off anyway, I took them off in the truck.”

“Hopin’ to get lucky, were you?”

“I already knew I was the luckiest woman in the world when I saw you on the tractor. When you came running across the field to meet me.”

“Sweetheart—”

“Let me finish. I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love in a month. But I do love you. Not because you’re Eliza’s father but because you’re you.”

“A month? I gotcha beat, babe, by a country mile. Do you know I’ve been in love with you since our second date?”

“No, but I figured it was a possibility when I found that letter you sent today.”

“You found it? Where?”

“It’d been shoved in a pile of junk mail. I’ve gotta say, for the strong, silent type, you certainly have a way with sweet words.”

His cheeks heated. “You didn’t think it was dumb? Or corny?”

“It was beautiful. And hopeful. And perfect.”

Kade twirled a section of her hair around his palm as he composed his thoughts. “If you hadn’t found that letter, would you be here?”

“Yes. It wasn’t that I thought you were lying about writing it. It’s just the way I am, Kade. I’m the type of person who needs proof in order to believe.”

“Believe what?”

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Lorelei James

“Believe you were with me because you cared about me, and wanted me for me, not just because of Eliza.”

“I only told you that about a dozen times. You want more tangible proof that I love you?”

“No. That’s not what I meant.”

“Hang on.” In one quick movement he whipped off his T-shirt.

Her eyes narrowed on the square of white gauze on the left side of his chest. “What happened? How did you get hurt?”

“Self-inflicted. It’s not completely healed, so you can’t touch it yet.” He peeled the adhesive tape and lowered the protective gauze so she could see his brand new tattoo.

Skylar’s eyes widened, then pooled with tears. “Kade. You did that? For me?”

“Yep.”

“Why? You hate needles.”

“When you came to me the other night, and left your marks all over me, I knew they’d fade and I wanted to prove that you’re a permanent part of me.” He glanced at the puffy red skin, and the heart with
Skylar
scrolled in the center.

She squinted. “Is the outline of that heart supposed to look like…barbed wire?”

“Yeah. Your sister has a bizarre sense of humor.”

Tears splashed on his chest. Her mouth trembled.

“Baby, don’t cry.”

“But I don’t deserve you.”

“See, that’s the thing, you do. Believe you deserve me, because I finally believe I deserve you. All you have to do is look in my eyes to know the truth. I’ll always be your tangible proof.” Kade wiped her tears and curled his hand around her face, bringing their mouths together for a long kiss. He rested his forehead to hers. “Skylar. I love you.”

“Show me. Please. Show me now.”

“That I can do.” He braced his arms behind him as she lowered herself until they were joined completely. He kissed her as she rode him, slow and easy, sweetly. She 268

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freely and lovingly gave him all of herself, and she showed him tenderness he didn’t know he’d needed.

In one magnificent burst, the explosive physical pleasure they always brought to each other became the true intimacy they’d both been searching for because it came from love.

He flopped back, still inside her, taking her with him so she was sprawled across his chest.

Scarcely a heartbeat passed before she put her lips to his ear and demanded, “Marry me, Kade McKay.”

“About damn time you came to your senses, woman.”

“So, is that a yes?”

“Absolutely, it’s a yes.”

For the longest time, Kade was content to lay in the middle of the land he loved, with the woman he loved. He was content to just…be. To exist in the moment of perfect happiness and look forward to going home.

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About the Author

To learn more about Lorelei James, please visit
www.loreleijames.com
or send an email to
[email protected] join her Yahoo! group to
join in the fun with other readers as well as Lorelei James at
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Look for these titles by Lorelei James

Now Available:

Rough Riders:

Cowgirl Up and Ride

Rode Hard, Put Up Wet

Long Hard Ride

Running With the Devil

Dirty Deeds

Beginnings Anthology: Babe in the Woods

Coming Soon:

Wicked Garden

Rough Riders:

Rough, Raw and Ready

It was just a little innocent research…

Erotic Research

© 2008 Mari Carr

Romance writer Julia Martin is fine with her life, just the way it is. Her simple apartment, successful career and Thursday-night pizza dates with her too-hot-for-words editor Ross are more than enough for her. At least, that’s what she thinks until her cat dies.