Tied Up, Tied Down (Rough Riders #4)(74)

“I’m gonna be busy at the ranch for a few days.” He shuffled his feet and looked anywhere but at her. “After what happened earlier today, and now with this, I decided we could both use a break.”


You decided? What about me? Don’t I get a say? Don’t we? Her hold on Eliza increased.

“You can reach me any time on my cell. I probably won’t check my messages until late, but if it’s an emergency, you can call my mom and she’ll track me down.” Kade stroked Eliza’s cheek. “Gonna miss you bad, sweet thang. Be good for your mama, okay?

I’ll see you soon.”


“You aren’t going to try and take her with you?”


“No.” His pain-filled eyes searched hers. “I’d never take her from you, Skylar.”


Oh no. What was going on with them? When had they returned to polite strangers?

“I thought…”


“I know what you thought and you were wrong. Some things that were said in the heat of the moment shouldn’t have been said at all.”


Immediately she wondered, things like , marry me?

Eliza protested her hungry state and Skylar took a step back. “I, ah, need to feed her.” She started down the hallway. The door closed softly, but it echoed in her head as loudly as if he’d slammed it.

After Skylar got up with Eliza again for her two o’clock feeding, she couldn’t go back to sleep. She paced in the hallway outside Kade’s room, wondering if it was the best thing for him to be sleeping alone. What if he had a head injury? Weren’t you supposed to check on concussed patients every few hours? Rather than risk waking him by knocking, she quietly opened the door and tiptoed into his room just to double check on him.

Kade was splayed in the middle of the bed. His right hand held the bag of ice on his right eye.

Sweat beaded on his skin. She leaned over to place her hand on his forehead. Damn.

His skin was hot to the touch. The poor man was burning up, no wonder he was completely naked. Sky went to the bathroom and returned with two wet washcloths.

She perched on the edge of the bed, which woke Kade up. “Skylar? What’s goin’ on?”


“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I came in to check on you and your whole body is feverish. How do you feel?”


“Like I got the crap kicked out of me.”


“You did. I thought you might like it if I cooled you down a little.”


“You don’t have to.”


“I know. I want to. Please. Let me do this for you, okay?”


No answer.

Well, he hadn’t barked no. That was a good sign. “Do you feel nauseous?”


He shook his head and groaned. “Except when I do that.”


“Then don’t do that,” she half-chided. “Hold still. I’m going to move this ice bag aside for a bit.” She sucked in a harsh breath and it froze in her lungs. Oh man. He was on track to a serious shiner.

“What?”


“Nothing. Just relax. This cloth might be cold at first.”


Skylar began with his forehead. Avoiding his swollen eye, she sponged the sharp planes of his face, cheekbones, temples, his generous mouth, lingering on his strong jawline. She wiped the long line of his neck.


He sighed deeply.

She continued across his collarbones and shoulders. Down his pectorals. He hissed, not with pain when the nubby washcloth drifted over his nipples and the disks hardened into little points. Skylar realized since she’d handed Kade control of their interludes, he’d never allowed her to spend much time exploring his beautiful, strong body. She hadn’t lingered on learning how he liked to be touched above the waist. She hadn’t traced the delineated muscles of his abs and stomach with her tongue. Which was a damn crying shame, and a situation she’d rectify pronto.

Skylar admired his meaty biceps and thick forearms as she ran the washcloth along his brawny arms. The back of his hands were scarred and scabbed; the palm side of his hands were callused and rough. The hands of a working rancher. She knew these strong hands could rein in a thousand-pound horse, or fix barbed wire fence or even knock a man out cold. But she also knew how unbelievably gentle these powerful hands could be on her body. On her face. On their child.

She switched washcloths and finished his torso, his rib cage, the flat belly and his narrow pelvis, spending time on that sexy, sensitive strip of skin stretching from hipbone to hipbone. Skylar circumvented his groin even when his full erection indicated he enjoyed her ministrations.

Kade’s legs were dusted with dark hair and were all sinewy muscle. She swept the cloth down his thighs, repeated the process for his ropy calves, but she avoided his feet.

When she finished, she half-expected he’d be watching her intently, but his eyes were closed. His breathing wasn’t slow and easy, but choppy, restless. She knew he wasn’t asleep.

Sky angled over his mouth and very very softly kissed his swollen lips. Then she followed the exact same path with her hands and mouth over his body that she had with the washcloth. Just as slowly. Just as thoroughly.

By the time she finished, his cock was weeping for her attention. Using the slick fluid leaking from the tip, she wrapped her fist around hot, rigid shaft and began to stroke.