12-Alarm Cowboys (155 page)

Titan raised his glass. “Stick with me, honey. There are layers to my personality. You have to peel them off one by one.”

Makenna giggled. “Like an onion.”

Titan roared with laughter. “Only you would say something like that.” He leaned across the table and kissed her. “I love you.”

The rest of the meal, as good as it was, was only a blur to Makenna. Titan Sloan had said he loved her. It wasn’t a romantic declaration, but it was the only ‘I love you’ she’d ever received that mattered.

On the ride home, they held hands, his finger brushing the inside of her palm suggestively. She’d never known such an innocent touch could make her so achy. “Thank you for taking me to the winery.”

“You’re welcome. Making you happy is my job.”

Maybe it was his husky voice or the hooded look in his eye—she wasn’t sure, but suddenly she couldn’t wait. “Titan, uh, could you find someplace to pull over?”

Titan reacted immediately to her request, finding a safe place to pull off the highway, a small deserted dirt road. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t wait.” Boldly, she placed a hand over his manhood. Even flaccid it was big, but once she touched it, she could feel it begin to grow. “I need you inside me.”

The very next moment, Titan was out of the vehicle and coming over to her side. Throwing open her door, he unfastened her seatbelt and picked her up. “There’s too much of me to have sex inside a truck cab.”

“Then, where?” she asked, thinking maybe the back of the truck or the hood.

He backed her up against the truck, his voice vibrating against her neck. “You let me worry about that.” Makenna began to quiver with excitement. Damn, the man was potent. He was fast becoming as necessary to her as oxygen.

“I know you’ll take care of me, you always do.” She lifted her head for his kiss. He captured her lips, sucking the bottom one between his teeth. Makenna took one of his big hands and placed it over her breast. Even through the material of her dress, his touch scorched her. As he kissed her, Titan cupped the eager globe, weighing it, rubbing his thumb back and forth across the nipple.

The dress she had on was held up by tiny straps, small bows tied at the shoulder. When he took one in his teeth, pulling it till it was loose. She gave a small gasp of pleasure. The sexy man kissed his way across her shoulder until he reached the other bow, undoing it in a similar manner. “You don’t have on a bra,” he growled, his hands caressing her chest as he eased the dress down her body.

“Built-in shelf bra,” she whispered, as if he cared. Her breasts were heavy, swollen, the nipples distended and aching. “Touch me,” she whispered.

Titan intended to touch her, right after he got his fill of looking at her. “Don’t rush me.” He lifted them, cradling them in his palms, swirling his thumbs over the nipples.

“No one can see us…can they?” Makenna was so turned on, she almost stuttered. The throbbing between her legs was now a demanding pulse.

“It’s dark, no one will see.” Sliding his hands beneath her bottom, he lifted. “Put your legs around me.”

“Feels good,” Makenna whispered as she ground her softness against his hard crotch. “Do you ache as much as I do?”

“My cock wants you all the time.” He bent his head and sucked a nipple deep into his mouth, his tongue twirling around the sensitive tip.

“I’m so wet. Feel.” Makenna didn’t know why she was talking like this. It was as if the darkness set her free. She’d never wanted to be fucked so much.

Titan smiled against her cheek, his hand finding its way between them. Pushing her panties out of the way, he massaged her slit, moving the cream he found there from the back to the front, petting her clit until she groaned. “Oh, you’re so hungry, aren’t you?”

“Fuck me, Titan.” She licked his neck, letting her teeth sink in.

She heard him growl, then the rasp of his zipper sounded loudly in the night. Waiting was sweet torture. Makenna clung to his shoulders while he freed his cock. In the moonlight, she could see desire branded across his face as he placed the tip of his cock into her opening and pushed. “Perfect, so fuckin’ perfect.”

Holding him tightly around the neck, Makenna pushed against him, taking more and more of his cock, loving the way it stretched her, the way it burned. “You feel so good,” she keened.

“It’s about to feel better,” he promised, lifting her, stepping away from the truck.

“Titan!” she cried, afraid for a moment that he’d drop her. But that wasn’t the case—he was strong, he was powerfully built. All she had to do was brace her hands on his shoulders and he did all the work, lifting her, lowering her, moving her up and down his solid pole.

Makenna rocked on him, moaning, shuddering, relishing every spine-melting stroke. “Harder,” she whispered, needing as much of him as he would give. How could she ever exist without him?

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. Bracing her with hands at her waist, he thrust into her again and again. She kept her legs wrapped around him, her heels digging into his hips. The friction he created within her was exquisite. “Titan!” she cried as her reality spun out of control. Digging her nails into the hard muscles of his arm, fire sparked across her skin. “Hold me, hold me,” she begged as her entire body melted.

Walking back to the truck, Titan braced her against the door so he could enclose her in his arms. He tunneled deep, a flash of heat washing over him as her pussy tightened almost unbearably around his cock. Her pleasure was his pleasure. “Come for me, baby,” he panted through clenched teeth.

“Yes, oh, yes!” she cried, her climax building, growing until it consumed her, her world flying apart with unparalleled pleasure.

Hearing her surrender, Titan closed his eyes, letting go, ecstasy slamming across his senses, pushing him over the edge. “I’d rather listen to you cum than breathe, Makenna.” He sighed, keeping her caged in his arms. They stayed, joined, until they caught their breath. “Ready to go home?”

Home. Makenna smiled. “Yes, I’m ready to go home.”

*

Not since the
Memorial Day floods had a storm took a toll like the one that swamped Hays County over the accusations and charges mounting against Captain Damien Wade. To say the town was split was putting it mildly. Everyone had an opinion and all of them were being voiced loudly. There was a camp who felt Damien was being framed, if not by Makenna, then by Titan or someone else in the unit.

Since that night, Makenna had been pulled from pillar to post. She’d been subjected to questioning after questioning. A team of investigators came in from the capital and reopened the records of the fires that Damien had conveniently come upon and fought so valiantly. Of course one investigator didn’t hesitate to point out that Titan had done the same thing with the Langston fire. He managed to keep his cool and was vindicated when several people spoke up about him being at the livestock auction during the time the fire was started.

There was no trace of Damien, either. It looked like Titan had been right. There was no telling where he was by now. She tried to stay calm, tried to keep her focus. The pregnancy test was still in her purse, she hadn’t found the courage to take the test yet. She wanted Titan and she wanted his child, but the turmoil of the last few days made her doubt everything.

“You can’t let this bother you.” Titan tried to comfort her. “People love to talk. It doesn’t mean anything. All of this will blow over soon.” He rubbed her arms, trying to instill confidence. “In the meantime, come out to my shop. I finished your knife.”

“You did?” She was thrilled Titan had created something just for her. “I wish I was talented enough to make you something besides brownies.”

“You don’t have a clue. You do make me something.” He insisted with a smile.

“What?”

“You make me happy.”

Makenna didn’t walk to the shop, she floated.

Once inside, he told her to close her eyes and he guided her right to the place he wanted her to stand. “Now, hold out your hands.”

Obediently, she did and she felt an object being placed in her palm. Her fingers closed around it and she felt it smooth, solid and heavy in her hand. Rubbing her thumb across the handle, she felt an unevenness. “Did you carve something on it?”

“Look at it.”

Her eyes sprang open and she found an elegant silver knife with beautiful ivy scrollwork etched on the side. Makenna was engraved on the handle. “It’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed.

“Open it.” He showed her the little release and the blade opened slowly but fully.

“It looks sharp,” she said, wanting to test it on something. “What can I cut?”

“You’re going to be dangerous. Here.” He pointed her to a thin piece of plywood he’d hung on the wall. “Carve something.”

Smiling, she walked over and held the knife carefully, drawing an M, a T and an F. “There!”

“What does that stand for?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Makenna’s cheeks flushed scarlet. “Well, technically it’s my initials, or at least that’s what I told Damien. Makenna Tess Flynn. My maiden name.” Giving him a shy smile, she licked her lips, buying time. “When a girl likes a guy, sometimes they write their name over and over, like if I wrote Mrs. Titan Sloan or Mrs. Makenna Sloan.”

If she’d been looking at Titan, she would have seen his breathing quicken.

“I couldn’t do that,” she continued to explain, “so I wrote my initials, MTF. Only it didn’t stand for just my name, it stood for Makenna and Titan forever.”

Titan didn’t say a word. He just pulled her close and kissed her until she sighed with contentment.

‡

“I
’m nervous, I
can’t believe I’m meeting your family.” Makenna squirmed in her seat, staring out at the Texas countryside as the miles flew by.

“They’re going to love you.”

He said it as if their approval was a foregone conclusion. She waited for him to add, ‘just like I do’—but he didn’t. Although she’d waited, he hadn’t told her he loved her again, not since that time in the restaurant. All Makenna could conclude was that it had just been something to say, he hadn’t meant it for real. “I hope so,” she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. This didn’t seem like the right time to meet his family. Makenna still wasn’t sure what their relationship entailed. Her divorce had been granted, all that was lacking was Damien’s signature and if he couldn’t be located, the lawyer said a special hearing would be held to deal with it. But the cloud of her soon-to-be-ex still hung over her head. If she wasn’t right with Titan, she spent her time looking over her shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

There was also the question of her missing period. Makenna had set herself a deadline. She planned on taking the test in the coming week. And if she was pregnant…well, she didn’t know what she was going to do. Telling Titan was inevitable, as was keeping the baby—but there were a whole lot of what ifs in the mix.

“Are you sure the dress I’m wearing is okay?” She couldn’t help but worry as she fingered the black material of her faithful dress. He’d said this was an awards dinner at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in downtown Austin. The Rodeo Austin Association was dolling out scholarships to worthy students. It seemed like a highbrow affair to her.

“You’re absolutely beautiful,” Titan said, meaning every word. She’d refused to let him buy her a dress and her friend Allie had been called away on a family emergency. The dress she wore might not be new, but she was perfection as far as he was concerned.

“So, what are we going to do?” she asked nervously. “Prepare me.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about. We’re going to meet my family at the ceremony, then we’ll have dinner with my parents.”

“Do they live in Austin?” Makenna realized she didn’t know that much about him, which would never do.

“They do, on the west side off Capital of Texas Highway.”

The address didn’t mean much to Makenna, she didn’t know the state capital that well. “Are we staying in a motel?” A tinge of panic made her stomach queasy. She hoped they weren’t staying with his parents.

“There’s a guest house at my folks’ place. I lived there while I was in college. It’s completely separate and…” he winked at her, “we’ll be completely alone.”