Cougar in Texas: 3 (Rugged and Risque) (9 page)

“Good Lord,” she said in a breathless tone. Her body continued to tremble and her inner muscles clutched his cock.

“You’re not making it easy for me to keep it together here, sweetheart.”

She giggled as euphoria seeped through her veins. “Sorry. Just savoring the moment.”

“Give me a few minutes and you can come again.”

With that, he flopped her onto her back while he was still inside her. He kept one hand on her ass and propped himself up on the other elbow.

“I do like you between my legs,” she said, deliriously happy to feel his weight on her.

“I enjoy being here.”

He went back to his steady, sensuous rhythm. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. His hand swept up to her breast and squeezed the mound, then teased the nipple. Her body bowed off the bed in her effort to get closer to him. His hand returned to her cheek and he held her to him, plunging deep inside her.

Tearing her mouth from his, she said, “I don’t think you need a few minutes.”

He whispered against her temple, “Come as many times as you want, darlin’. I’m in no particular hurry to leave this spot.”

His words tugged on her heartstrings, as did everything about the man.

Interestingly he’d given her exactly what she’d needed when he’d fucked her. He was topping that by a mile as he made love to her.

Her fingers skimmed over his jaw and across his lips. He stared deep into her eyes as he moved inside her.

“I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you,” he said. “I can’t explain it. You make me feel as though I could do anything. Rule the world, even.”

She smiled. “World domination would mean fewer nights such as this.”

“Yeah, I’m not willing to make that sacrifice.”

He kissed her again and thrust a bit deeper, causing a moan to lodge in her throat. He gently kneaded her ass cheek as his long, full strokes inched her toward the precipice of another orgasm.

Dragging her mouth from his, she said, “Come with me. I want to feel you come inside me.”

He groaned. “I don’t need much more encouragement than that.”

Increasing the tempo, he drove into her while his mouth swept over her neck, his lips brushing the skin, his teeth lightly nipping.

“You have all the right moves,” she murmured. Her heart rate accelerated. Her breathing turned jagged. She rolled her hips and clenched his cock, then released it. He grunted sexily and she did it again.

“That’ll put me over the edge,” he whispered against her throat.

“I’m there too.” She followed his lead, keeping time with him as he pushed them a bit harder, a bit faster. “Oh, Caleb.” She moaned. “Just like that. Yes. Oh God, yes.”

Another beautiful release consumed her, stealing her breath.

“That’s it, darlin’. Squeeze me tight.”

Her pussy throbbed as she did his bidding. His body tensed and then convulsed.

“Ah, Reese. Damn it, sweetheart.” He let out another groan, this one low and deep. “Jesus, you feel so good.” His hips bucked as he came and his cock pulsed and surged inside her.

She held him to her, her inner walls holding him captive. Tremors rocked his body for several seconds before he eventually stilled in her arms, his face nuzzled against the side of her neck, his warm breath blowing against her skin.

Reese grinned. “Better than world domination?”

“Hell, yes. By a long shot.”

She held him to her for endless minutes.

Finally he whispered in her ear, “This isn’t a one-night stand, right?”

As difficult as it still was to imagine moving toward a relationship with him, particularly since they didn’t know that much about each other—and they clearly had their own murky waters to wade through—somewhere along the line, she’d conceded the attraction between them warranted the chance to see what it might blossom into.

“Definitely not a one-night stand.”

He kissed her, then mumbled against her lips, “So you’ll be sleeping here tonight?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“Goes without saying.”

Her heart swelled.

“But I should get off you before I crush you.” He started to pull away.

“Wait,” she said, urging him back down until his chest pressed to hers again. “Not so fast. I like you on top of me.”

“I’m too heavy for you, Reese.”

“No. You’re just right.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and reveled in his heat and masculine scent. His closeness and the intimacy of the moment. When she eventually released him, he disappeared into the bathroom, then returned to the bed, his body curling around hers as they spooned.

He kissed her temple and said, “Sleep tight, darlin’.”

She had a feeling it’d be her first sound sleep in ages.

Chapter Five

Reese left the B&B after making breakfast for Caleb and serving him. She’d had an awful time trying to keep her smile light, instead of giving into the ridiculously giddy one that continually threatened her lips.

Arriving at church for the early sermon, she couldn’t find the nerve to make eye contact with anyone, knowing she blushed from head to toe—and fearing she wore a deliriously happy expression that would give her away. Whether she was thinking of Caleb in general or their night together, she flushed—and knew it was visible.

She sat in her usual pew and pulled a hymnal from the rack mounted on the back of the pew in the row before her. Practically burying her face in the book while everyone filed in, she tried to get her emotions and her euphoria under control.

No such luck. Jess scooted in next to her and Ginger stepped around Reese to sit on her other side, the two of them effectively trapping her.

“No use trying to hide it,” Jess said. “You look guilty as sin.”

“And we had better get all the juicy details,” Ginger added in a low voice.

Reese sank lower in her seat, as though that might keep anyone from noticing her. “Ladies, please. We’re in the house of the Lord. Show some respect.”

“Uh-huh,” Jess quipped. “And do you plan to confess all to Reverend Bain?”

“Hell, no,” she shot back. “That would mean I’m repentant. And I assure you, I am not.”

Ginger snickered. “Rang your bell, did he?”

“And then some.”

They quieted down as the pew in front of them filled. Luanne Dunham turned to face Reese and sweetly asked, “How’d your peach cobbler work out?” Her tone suggested she was inquiring about dessert of a different variety.

Reese felt her blush deepen. “Just fine, thank you. You know your peaches.”

Luanne grinned, then turned back around.

“Everyone in this town seems to know I cooked dinner for Caleb last night,” she whispered.

“Filet mignon from what I hear,” Ginger concurred.

“And they’re all speculating about what happened
after
dinner,” Jess said, lifting her brows. “Serves Tommy right for spreading rumors yesterday about you and Caleb getting it on at the B&B.”

She gasped. “He didn’t!” This said a bit too loud, for many heads snapped in her direction. Reese clamped a hand over her mouth and resisted the sudden urge to run from the church. But the gazes she met were not the least bit judgmental.

“Stop thinking you’re doing something wrong,” Jess insisted when the indiscreet attention shifted away. “And as for Tommy, you are bouncing back with a man he could never compete with—so more power to you. And these people know you deserve someone with more common decency than that country rat ex of yours.”

Reese tried to tamp down her extremely uncomfortable self-consciousness. Difficult to do with people shooting her sideways glances. And her discomfort mounted as the reverend took to the pulpit and started his sermon—on the sins of infidelity, no less. It also felt as though his lecture was directed toward her when he said those with a higher moral fiber would rise above the pain inflicted upon them by those who had trespassed against them. The strong would prevail, he said, as if to reassure her.

She pressed the edge of her fingertip to the inside corner of her eye to stymie a tear. Maybe the good folks of Wilder really were behind her. Admittedly, her humiliation had made her think she’d done something wrong—that her neighbors would look to place the blame on her shoulders for not being able to keep her husband happy and in her bed—not sending him off to someone else’s. Figuratively speaking, of course, since
all
the beds at the B&B belonged to her.

Sitting a little taller in her seat, she listened to the rest of the reverend’s sermon with her head held high. So what if people gossiped over whether or not Tommy’s rumors about her were true? What single woman wouldn’t mind headlining the grapevine with a man like Caleb Bennett?

After church, the three women stopped into Wade’s Saloon for Sunday brunch. One of Liza’s brilliant ideas that had the congregation flocking to the joint in droves. Ryan was on patrol and George had been called into the office to perform an emergency root canal, so the ladies found a table by the buffet and Liza served them champagne. She’d certainly “classed up” Wilder since her arrival, right down to the designer clothes and shoes she wore.

“How was dinner?” she asked with a mischievous look.

“I barely remember the actual dinner part,” Reese teased in a soft voice.

Jess hooted. “Finally, we’re getting to the good stuff.”

“Oh it was
all
good,” she assured them. “Especially Caleb,” she added with a playful wink. Seemed the verve she’d lost long ago had returned to her this morning.

Ginger said, “I suppose you’ll be needing a wardrobe update.”

Reese knew she wasn’t talking about anything other than new lingerie. But she said, “Unfortunately I have drawers full of items I never bothered to waste on Tommy after I found out about him and Amy. Most of the stuff still has the tags on.”

“So now you have a reason to put them to good use.” Jess raised her glass and the others followed suit, including Liza, who’d briefly joined them. “Here’s to Reese’s steamy new romance. Too hell with what anyone has to say about it.”

She thought of her ex as they clinked glasses and added, “I think he’s getting his comeuppance, as the reverend so astutely pointed out this morning.”

“What he deserves,” Liza said, “is a solid knee to the balls.”

Reese nearly spewed champagne. Sputtering and her eyes watering, she managed to say, “Agreed. But my cutting the ties and moving on ought to be equally effective—and even more pleasurable for me.”What with Caleb keeping her company and all…

Damn that flush that crept up her! But she couldn’t deny she liked having her “steamy” new romance.

Following brunch, the women stopped into the fabric store to pick up the bolts of tulle and silver satin ribbon delivered for Ginger. Then they gathered at her house and spent the rest of the day, and the better part of the evening, working on the oversized fluffy mass of tulle that would eventually be accented with blooming dendrobium branches and white hydrangeas tucked into the wide ribbon in front of the tall sweep of white netted fabric. A thin silver ribbon in the back, looping from left to right and lightly glued to the material, offered a hanger for the various places Ginger had selected for the decoration.

Reese suspected Ginger would cover every square foot of the Elks Lodge in tulle if she could get away with it, to help detract from the dingy gray paneling on the walls. And Reese wouldn’t be surprised if she opted to do that in the long run. Unfortunately, Wilder offered no larger facility for big weddings, so one had to make do with what was available, particularly given everyone knew everyone, so small ceremonies were always out of the question.

When the women’s fingers were practically numb from the first phase of wedding preparations, Reese returned home. She still didn’t feel like sleeping in her own bed, so she curled up on the sofa again with her sci-fi book.

* * * * *

Caleb wrapped up with the various contractors after sunset and had dinner and a couple of beers in town with his new construction project manager, Lance Bauer. The two had hit it off immediately and Caleb was anxious to get the work underway.

He returned to the B&B after ten. The porch light was on, along with one in the kitchen. Thinking Reese might still be awake, he entered the house through the main door.

“Just me,” he said, so as to not startle her, lest she think it was her ex barging in.

She popped her head up from the sofa. “Hey.”

He crossed to where she’d settled in with a pillow and a thick comforter. She’d been reading and placed the book on the end table.

With a furrowed brow, he asked, “You planning on sleeping here?”

“Yes. I’ve decided this house is mocking me.” With a sigh, she sat up. “Every room, including my own. I heard all over town Tommy and Amy did it in every bed in this B&B and now that he’s back, I’m constantly reminded of his screwing around. Taunted by it, really.”

Caleb sank into the cushion next to her. “Darlin’, he’s not worth all this angst.”

“I know that. And I’m not letting him get to me. I’m just…having trouble looking at this house objectively at the moment. Particularly the bedrooms.”

“He was the fool for cheating on you. I’m not saying it’s easy to get over. I’m saying it’s not worth stressing yourself out. I guarantee you, in a year or so you’ll be madder than you are now that you let him consume so much of your time and energy.”

Her lips twisted in contemplation.

He continued. “I know what I’m talking about. I’ve known plenty of women who were mostly interested in my money. They didn’t give a damn about the stuff that mattered to me—like volunteering or following a dream. When I lived in Dallas, dating me always came with benefits. Invitations to the premier social events, dinner with my parents at the most expensive restaurants and country clubs. You get the picture. They jumped on those things. But try to get just one of them to an equestrian event or on a horse? Forget it.”

She stared at him with a hint of pain her eyes. “Plain and simple, that’s bullshit.”

He laughed heartily at her use of his phrase. He’d said it about her ex’s cheating when he’d first met her, and it certainly applied to his situation too. “Yes it is. But it happens all the time. That is, it
did
happen. Right around the time I turned twenty-three, I decided nothing was going to change unless I stepped out of that environment completely and walked my own path. That’s when I started researching how to build this horse shelter.”

She sighed. “You are so admirable. I wish I had a calling. A purpose. It’s not the B&B, I know that now. I struggled to keep the house because it was my money that bought it, but maybe the reason I haven’t pushed for more marketing or tried to get more people to stay here recently is because the whole concept is tainted. From the moment I learned Tommy was screwing around—here in this house—I stopped caring about the business. That’s not right. You should be passionate about what you do.”

A change of scenery might do her some good, so he asked, “Would you come out to the Painted Horse tomorrow?”

“Of course,” she said without hesitation. “I’d love to hear what you have planned for the ranch.”

Her tawny irises glowed enthusiastically and she had a sweet smile for him. A genuine smile. He didn’t have to second-guess her intentions or motivations. He’d dealt with enough false women from way back in his youth to know an earnest one when he met her. Reese Middleton was the real deal. And, hands down, he was completely taken by her.

He leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek. “You are damn special.” Mist instantly covered her eyes. She looked away but he gently turned her head back with a finger under her chin. “Just because one man didn’t see that about you doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“I really like you,” she said, surprising him. Though perhaps he shouldn’t have been—she was an honest woman.

“I really like you too.” He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “A lot.” He kissed her, long and deep. When he pulled away, he said, “I need another cold shower.”

She swatted playfully at him. “It was just a kiss.”

“It’s everything about you.” He groaned, wanting her as bad as he wanted his animal shelter. Wasn’t that enough to know he’d find a way to have both?

With a smile, she said, “It’s kind of late and I was just dozing off, but… Do you want to join me?”

“Hell, yes.”

She threw back the enormous comforter, half of which covered the cushions on the sofa. The other half had covered her. She wore silk pajamas in ivory, yet feminine as they were, there was barely an inch of flesh showing below her neck. He wanted to feel her skin against his, but didn’t want to push to get her naked—he didn’t want her thinking all he sought from her was sex.

“You comfortable?” His gaze dropped to her the button-down top.

With a knowing look, she said, “How about you give me your shirt?”

He stripped off his navy-colored tee and handed it to her.

She brought the material to her nose and inhaled deeply, then sighed. “Smells like you.” Setting it aside, she stood and slipped out of her PJs—which she wore nothing beneath, his gut, groin and libido noted—then pulled his shirt over her head.

Caleb undressed to his briefs before settling on the wide sofa with her. He lay on his back and she snuggled next to him, pressed against the back of the sofa. She rested her head on his shoulder and splayed a hand over his stomach. He pulled the comforter over them, enveloping them in a warm and cozy cocoon.

“This beats curling up with a book any day of the week,” she said in a charming tone.

“And I would’ve hated sleeping alone after holding you last night and waking up with you in my arms this morning.”

She left a few kisses on his chest. “You really do say the sweetest things.”

“Aw, shucks,” he whispered.

Reese relaxed against him. His arm draped over her shoulder under the blanket, and his other hand lay in the dip of her waist. Their legs tangled.