Chirp(54)

Gaze never wavering, she dug fingers into his hips and bucked against him. “All of it, please.”

A low growl came from deep in his throat. “Since the other night, all I’ve thought about was how good you felt wrapped around my cock.”

His words made her dizzy with desire. His touch rendered her senseless. Nothing mattered. Only him. Flesh pressed against flesh. His big hands moving over her.

He cupped her hips, tilted them until he stroked high into her. How did he already know how her body worked? He pressed, and she arched. He gave, and she took. And when she couldn’t stand it anymore, she shattered, locking her legs around him until he emptied into her.

They stayed that way for a long time, their bodies jerking with aftershocks. Lying pressed against him, Blaze closed her eyes. She loved him. More than she’d ever loved anyone. Now her only problem—how to get him to love her back.





25


Rance


For the first time in a while, Rance woke with a smile on his face. Last night all his macho bullshit about cuddling had been shot to hell when he’d wanted Chirp pinned right next to him. He loved feeling the rhythm of her breathing against his chest.

Barn. Hay. Storm. Mind-blowing sex with an almost virgin. First time he’d had that combination. Hell, a screenwriter couldn’t have written a more perfect scene.

A few stalls over, she hummed as she worked. The sounds of a satisfied lover. And she had been, multiple times. It’d been years since he’d gone down on a woman, so he was glad to know he hadn’t lost his touch.

Today she’d come home with him and forget all about leaving. And she understood the arrangement. Just sex. No strings. No promises.

His clothes were stacked and folded in the corner of the stall. Little Miss OCD strikes again. He got dressed and went to join her. Busy with the goats, she didn’t notice him, so he cleared his throat.

“Need help?”

She turned to face him. All bright-eyed and glowing. Damn, if she hadn’t gotten more beautiful overnight. “Do you know how to milk goats?”

“Never done it, but how hard can it be? All I do is wrap my fingers around a teat and squeeze, right?”

She took her bottom lip between her teeth. “You even make that sound nasty.”

He chuckled. “Not my intention, but I can see it got you going.” He raised his brows as he zeroed in on the front of her T-shirt where her nipples stood at attention.

Crossing her arms, she covered both breasts. “You’re terrible.”

In two short strides, he captured her in his embrace. “That’s not what you said last night. I remember you telling me how good I was. Several times.”

She looked up at him. “You were good.” She stood on tiptoe to reach his mouth and then kissed him like she meant it. Then her hands were everywhere. Under his shirt. At the top of his jeans. Lowering his zipper. And when she slipped her hand inside his boxers and circled his erection, he groaned. God help him. She was killing him.

He abandoned her mouth and trailed his lips to her breast to torture the nipple through the thin fabric. He’d never wanted a woman the way he did her, and that was wrong. But with her wrapped around him, it was impossible to wrap his brain around logic.

Within minutes, he had her naked, back in the hay going at him like a wild animal. And once he delivered her first orgasm, he twisted her beneath him, and she welcomed him inside her small body. When he finally broke the connection, she whimpered as if he’d taken part of her with him. He fell back onto the hay gasping. “Damn, Chirp. When we get home, I want you to move into my room.”

“Okay.”

He rolled to his elbow and traced a finger down her cheek. “Now talk to me.”

Her warm breath floated across his chest. “About what?”

“Everything. What you’re running from. Who’s after you? All of it. Whatever it is, I’ll protect you.”

At first he didn’t think she would say anything. But then she began. When she finished, he lay quiet for a moment, dealing with the part that bothered him most. Finally, he spoke. “So, in December when you turn twenty-one, you’re going back to Houston.”

“Yes. I don’t have a choice. Uncle Bill wants to retire, so even if I don’t want to run the company, I’ll have to pick someone to take over.”

“Can you do it? I mean, it’s a big job and you . . .”

“Why? Because I’m a woman?”

“No, that’s not it. You don’t have experience is what I meant.”

“Dad and I talked about this before he died. You’re right. I’ll need help, but it was his dying wish, and I promised.”

One thing missing from her story was the can of cash he’d found in her room. Wasn’t sure why. Maybe she didn’t completely trust him or figured he already knew. Either way, he’d heard the fear in her voice. Running a company was the last thing she wanted, but she was right. Her dad had built it from the ground up, and he’d want her involved. Rance shifted the conversation. “Never slept with an heiress before.”

Her brows scrunched together. “Heiress. Sounds funny.”

“You’ve never thought of yourself that way?”

“No.”

“Guess that comes from always having money.”