Faith in the Cowboy (Taming the Cowboy) (6 page)

She went tense again. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out.”

“Teresa.” He touched her hair, he couldn’t help himself. He’d kept his hands to himself all day. Well, since she’d left his bed. “I’ll take you. You just might have to wake me.”

She blushed when he winked at her, and she shifted away to push Noah again.

“Are you coming by tonight?”

She swallowed, and for a moment, he thought she’d refuse. But then she nodded, without looking at him. His shoulders relaxed and he took a swig of beer. Good.

*****

The knock on the door of his RV came later than he expected, but when he opened the door, Teresa stood below the step with a bag and a couple of hangers looped over her shoulder.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said, entering the RV. “I thought it might be easier to get dressed here than try to sneak back into the house.”

He hesitated. He’d never shared the RV with anyone in the morning, two people trying to get ready at the same time, but since morning was coming so early...he took the hangers from her and placed them on the hook by the bathroom. When he turned back, he saw her gaze riveted to his chest. She reached up, unsure, before sliding her palm over the thick ridged scar over his ribs.

“I can’t imagine how that must have hurt.”

He put his hand over hers, holding it to his skin. “It healed.”

She looked into his eyes and he saw her fears. He had to tread lightly or chase her off. He trailed his fingertips up her jaw to cup her face in his hand and bent his head, brushing his lips over hers until she sighed. He settled his mouth over hers, caressing lightly, letting her take the lead, wondering how he got so lucky that this woman who locked up so much opened to him.

She slid her arms around him, up his back so that she nestled against him, and teased his lips with her tongue before going deeper. He liked the way she stroked his body, her fingers lazy on his spine, the simple caresses shooting straight to his groin, which he did his best not to press into her.

She slipped her hands between them and around his neck to play with his hair, still damp from his shower. She gave a little tug and he pulled her closer, so her breasts were against his chest. He wanted her naked, and now. Her breathing deepened as she slid her hands down his chest, then up again. Lifting her, he set her on the counter. He nudged her knees apart, bracketing his hands around her wrists, holding them to her sides on the counter as he kissed her, her mouth just as wild as his. She tested his grip on her hands and he released her. She thanked him by curving her hands around the back of his head, hooking her legs around the backs of his thighs and sliding forward. He grunted and reached for the hem of her t-shirt, breaking the kiss only long enough to strip it over her head.

As he suspected, she wasn’t wearing a bra, and he cupped her pretty breasts in his hands, stroking his thumbs over her nipples. He kissed her mouth, then eased his mouth along her jaw to her ear, nuzzling the hollow beneath, making her gasp his name and dig her short nails into his shoulders. Smiling against her skin, he repeated the caress, tasting her with his tongue.

He lowered his mouth to the slender line of her throat, feeling her nipples tighten beneath his hands. Her breath shuddered and she released his shoulders to wind her fingers in his hair.

“West. Please.”

He dragged his fingertips down her belly to her jeans, unsnapped them, pushed the fabric aside to touch the soft skin of her hips above the waistband of her panties. She lifted her hips in invitation, and he tugged until she was naked on his counter.

Jesus, that was hot.

Her skin was red from his stubbled, her hair tumbled from his hands.

Really hot. Christ.

He unfastened his jeans, let them drop, sheathed himself, then guided his cock up, the head brushing against her inner thigh. He dragged her forward, wrapping her legs around him as he thrust up into her.

This time both of them gasped. She was slick and tight, and her muscles gripped him, adjusting. She shifted her legs around his hips, rising, bringing him deeper. He let the edge of the counter take most of her weight as he thrust, loving the sounds she made as he pushed into her, as she pushed against him, grinding down.

They found a rhythm that had the glasses in the cabinet rattling, the muscles in his thighs burning, his balls tight. But he couldn’t—didn’t want to come this way. He lifted her, his hand at the small of her back, bracing her against him.

“The bed,” he said.

She nodded, a little frantically, and he staggered down the narrow hall, trying not to bump her into any walls. He curled his hands around her back and lowered her to the mattress, slipping out of her for a moment before finding home again, not as deep, his knees on the edge of the mattress, giving him leverage as he pumped into her, so good, so good. He almost lost himself in the sensation, in the scent of her, the scent of them. He kissed her, feeling her bow beneath him, pushing her breasts into his chest, her whole body pressed against him, her arms around his neck. She strained against him, her body growing wetter with each stroke.

He pulled out of her and lowered his mouth to her breast, sucking it deep into his mouth, dragging his tongue up the underside before pulling on the nipple, hard, making her whimper.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked against her breast.

She shook her head, and just so her meaning was clear, she held his head to her. He reached between them and pushed his fingers into her, two at first, all the way. When he pumped his hand, she squirmed, her breathing ragged.

“Do you want me to make you come?”

“Yes, but—” She wriggled some more, then grabbed his wrist. “Not like this. With you. With you.”

He drew his hand out, slowly, and stretched out over her, dragging his body along hers, trapping his dick against her mound, framing her shoulders and face with his arms.

“You want me inside you?”

She touched his face, rubbing her fingertips over his bristly jaw. He liked the way she touched him, thought about it all damned day. She looked into his eyes and those pretty lips curved.

“Yes.”

“Do you want me to fuck you, Teresa?”

She drew in a sharp breath.

He touched his thumb to the corner of her mouth. “Do you want me to fuck you, Teresa?”

“Yes.”

Her face turned a pretty shade of pink. He shifted his hips so his dick rested on her thighs, poised to come into her.

“Tell me to fuck you, Teresa.”

“I—can’t. I can’t say that.”

He rubbed against her with a flex of his hips. “Say it.”

A flicker of panic crossed her face, and for a moment, he thought he’d pushed too hard. She wasn’t like other women he’d slept with. He opened his mouth to take back what he’d asked, but then a glimmer of lust lit her eyes.

“F-fuck me, West.”

Jesus. The word shot straight down his spine to his dick, and he entered her, maybe rougher than he should, but she wriggled against him, bringing him deeper. She lifted her legs high on his waist so he could press flush against her pussy. He thrust a few times, then ground against her, repeated the pattern. She moaned, wound her fingers in his hair, and pushed back, as much as she could with her legs under his shoulders. God she was so open, so eager, and he slammed his mouth down on hers.

She started shimmering beneath him as he dragged out of her, shaking when he pushed back in. Another thrust and she shattered beneath him, tugging at his hair, breaking the kiss so she could cry out, her head back, her throat exposed, so beautiful. He kissed the soft skin there as her pussy squeezed him, contracting in a rhythm that put him out of his mind, fucking harder and faster, wishing this sensation could last forever. But his balls tightened, and while he held on as long as he could, well, it wasn’t long enough, and he came, the pleasure gathering in the small of his back before shooting out along his arms and legs, tightening his muscles. Then all the tension melted away and he covered her mouth again, this time, more tender, taking her sighs into his lungs.

Her fingers untangled from his hair and smoothed over his shoulders as he dropped over her. He stroked his thumbs against her temples, then rolled off of her, pulling her against him.

“So fucking sexy,” he said, his hand on her hip. “So pretty.”

And just the kind of woman that he couldn’t screw and leave.

So what did that mean for him?

*****

West wasn’t a morning person, Teresa discovered as they rode down the dark country roads. She’d made coffee in his little coffee maker, and wished they had time to stop at a coffee house. As it was, she was going to be late. She dug her fingers into her book bag and tried to think of something to say.

She didn’t know how she was going to work today without her thoughts drifting to him, to his hands, to his mouth, to the way he made her feel. How was she going to hide what she’d done this weekend from her partner teacher? The two women worked so closely together, there was no way Belinda wouldn’t notice.

“You hungry? I’m sorry I didn’t have anything for breakfast.” His words startled her and she looked over to see him illuminated by the dashboard lights.

“I’ll get something from the cafeteria.”

He made a face. “I hope it’s better now than when I was a kid.”

“They have cereal. You know, to sugar the kids up.”

“At least you’ll be on even ground that way.”

She smiled. “I suppose.”

“What time do you get off?”

“Three. If you can’t come get me—”

“I’ll be there.”

He turned onto a street with lights. “Is this the way you come every day?”

“Yes.”

“Kinda dark.”

“Only for part of the year. It was bright until the time changed.”

“Still.”

She shifted on the seat. “I know you haven’t seen it, but I do take care of myself.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“I don’t like asking for favors.”

“I get that, Teresa. You don’t have to apologize for something I offer to do.”

She wished to hell she had the ability to stand on her own two feet, that she didn’t have to keep leaning on people. One day, once she had Emily, she’d pay everyone back for the kindnesses they showed her, starting with Grace.

He turned onto the street alongside her school and into the parking lot as the sun was rising over the back of the building. Parents were already dropping their kids off, so he had to wait in the drop-off line for her to get out.

“Can you find it again okay this afternoon?” she asked, her hand on the door.

“I’ll be fine.” He stretched across the seat, his meaning clear.

She felt the blush from her toes, and considered not kissing him, just making her escape. But she thought of how he’d crawled out of his warm bed this morning to help her, how he’d treated her ever since he’d known her.

How much she wanted to have someone like him in her life, someone to kiss hello and good-bye.

She touched his shoulder and kissed him lightly, maybe a little longer than she should have in a school parking lot. But when she eased away, they both were smiling. He brushed his thumb over her cheek.

“I’ll see you this afternoon,” he said in a voice that sent tingles all through her.

She blushed at the wicked thoughts running through her head, and slid out of the truck.

To see three teachers huddled together, watching and grinning.

“Who’s that, Teresa?” the fourth grade teacher, Melissa, asked.

Teresa looked over her shoulder to see West give them a wave as he drove off. She hadn’t expected to have to explain him, hadn’t thought anyone would see them.

“A friend.”

Vivian, a first grade teacher, grinned. “My friends don’t kiss me like that.”

Teresa’a blush deepened. “I have...breakfast duty. I’ll see you later.”

If she’d thought she’d have time to think about West during the school day, she was way wrong. The weather must be about to change because the children were rowdy, and they wouldn’t all nap. Belinda was frazzled enough that she didn’t notice Teresa’s change in temperament.

But when Teresa walked out to meet West, several teachers lingered in front of the building, purportedly on dismissal duty even though most of the kids were gone. It was only when she heard West’s truck pull into the lot and saw the other women straighten and crane their necks that she understood why they were standing here.

Dear God, they were waiting to see West. Just what she needed, to get in the truck with him and have them barrage her with questions tomorrow.

But what was she going to do, just let him sit in the truck and let everyone stare at him?

So she smiled at the teachers, gripped the handle of her purse and walked to the truck. West’s grin as she approached made those zings in her blood pick up right where they’d left off, and she felt—literally felt—her heart lift as she crossed in front of the truck to get in the passenger side.

“Hey. Have a good day?” he asked in that rough voice that scraped along everything sexual in her.

“I did.” She placed her purse and lunch bag on the seat between them, a barrier of sorts.

He didn’t move the vehicle. “You’re not going to kiss me in front of your friends?”

Of course he’d notice. Well, the women weren’t actually being subtle.

“I don’t really want to be the subject of gossip.”

“No? They’ll probably talk about you anyway. Kiss me, Teresa.”

He had a point, and she had been thinking all day about him, kissing him, seeing him. She leaned over and kissed his full lips. She meant to keep it brief, but he curved his hand over her jaw, his forefinger stroking her cheek lightly, his tongue touching her bottom lip before he eased back, looking into her eyes a moment. If his kiss hadn’t been breathtaking enough, the look in his eyes was. Despite herself, she choked out a little giggle, which made him grin.

A horn behind them gave her a jolt, and she remembered they were in the drive-thru at her school. Good Lord, what had she been thinking? West eased behind the wheel, put the truck in gear, then waved to the gaping teachers as he drove off.