Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2) (12 page)

Becca
seemed surprised, but agreed. As the three of them left
the diner, Emma could feel the man’s eyes on her. The sensation made her feel
physically ill. She ju
st wanted to go home to Gabe.

Chapter Six

September
moved in quietly. The leaves were beginning to show their best colors. Red and
gold danced among the green. The air smelled of autumn. It wouldn’t be long
before colder weather set in. Emma smiled
to herself
as she walked toward the barn. She wanted to take one of the horses out and
thought she’d ask Gabe to saddle one for her since she didn’t want to risk
lifting the heavy saddle. He was shoveling out one of the stalls when she found
him. She allow
ed her gaze to travel over him and was
amazed how the man still made her heart stop. His T-shirt was drenched with
sweat and his jeans covered in dust, but he was one sexy cowboy. He must have
sensed her presence since he looked up when she leaned against
the stall opening. Gabe smiled when he saw her. Her heart
flip-flopped and fell to her stomach. He put the shovel down, and sauntered
toward her with that sexy cowboy swagger. Gabe removed his hat, swiped his arm
across his forehead, before he resettled th
e hat on
his head, pulling it down low on his forehead, and stopped in front of her.
“Hi, darlin’,” he greeted her with a big grin.

“Hi, yourself.”
Emma smiled. Gabe moved to put his arms around
her, but she backed away from him.

“Come
here.” He crooked hi
s finger at her and she knew he
wanted to kiss her.

She put
her hand over her nose. “You smell like manure, Gabe.”

He
laughed and reached for her again. “It never bothered you before.”

“I
wasn’t pregnant before,” Emma reminded him, covering her nose and mo
uth as she backed up. “Whew, you stink.”

Gabe
burst out laughing. “I’ll clean up later, and then we’ll talk about this.”

She
laughed knowing exactly how they’d end up talking about it. “Will you saddle a
horse for me? I want to go riding.”

The
smile left G
abe’s face in an instant.
“Absolutely not.”

Emma put
her hands on her hips, ready to do battle.
“Why not?
I’m an excellent rider, and it’s
not going to hurt the baby as long as I’m careful. Doc Anderson said it was all
right.”

“I don’t
give a shit about he
r saying you can. I’m saying you
can’t,” Gabe shouted.

She spun
away from him. “Watch me,” she exclaimed over her shoulder as she stomped away.
It took all of three seconds to hear him running after her. He caught her as
she rounded the barn. He grabbed he
r arm and pulled
her around.

“I said
no, Emma,” Gabe growled.

Neither
of them saw Wyatt standing near one of the stalls talking to a ranch hand or
noticed how both men quit talking to watch them. Emma pushed at Gabe. “You
cannot tell me what to do, Gabriel
Stone.”

Not
willing to give up a chance to ride because Gabe told her not to, she strode
away from him. Gabe caught up to her again, gently took her arm, and turned her
to face him. “I’m your husband, Emma, and I’m asking you…no, hell, I am telling
you
not to do this,” Gabe ground out.

Emma
looked to the ranch hand standing beside Wyatt. “John, will you saddle Ginger
for me?”

“Do it
and you’re fired,” Gabe snarled, his eyes shifting to John and back to her.

She
noted how John glanced back and forth betwe
en them
but didn’t move from his spot beside Wyatt. He knew who paid him and he
wouldn’t cross his employer. She gasped. “Fine, I’ll do it myself!” She jerked
away from Gabe and stomped her feet as she entered the tack room.

* * * *

Gabe
hung his head in
defeat, but jerked it up again when
he heard laughter, knowing he didn’t have to look far for its origin. He glared
at his younger brother. “Something funny, little brother?” he asked and then
watched as Wyatt turned his head away. Gabe could see his brot
her’s shoulders shaking. “You’ll get yours one day,” he
shouted at Wyatt before he trotted after Emma, calling out to her. “Emma,
please don’t do this. I’m afraid something will happen to you or the baby.”
When he heard Wyatt chuckle, he glared in his dire
ction.
“Don’t you need to go somewhere?” Wyatt shrugged. Gabe entered the tack room
only to find Emma gathering up a bridle and reins. “You’re really beginning to
piss me off, Emma,” he muttered.

“Just
beginning? Then I’ll have to work harder at it.” Emma
moved
to reach for a saddle.

He
huffed and put his hand over hers. “I’ll do it, but I’m going with you.”

Emma
beamed a smile at him. “That’s all you had to say.”

Gabe
hardly took his eyes off her as they rode in the north pasture. The sun peeked
through a
puffy cloud. The air was crisp and the wind
blew gently. Gabe saw none of it, he only saw Emma. She looked so good to him.
He shook his head. He shouldn’t really worry. She sat a horse well, and she was
a barrel-racing champion after all. She knew how to r
ide.

Emma
glanced over at him and frowned.

“What
was that for?” he asked.

“Quit
staring at me like
you’re
waiting for me to fall,” she
snapped at him.

“Do you
want to stop for a while?”

Emma
reined in her horse. “Gabe, we have stopped three times already.
I’m fine. If you ask me to stop one more time, I will spur
Ginger into a run.”

“You
wouldn’t.”

Emma
gave him a haughty smile, and he knew she would do just what she threatened so
he relented. He watched as she nudged Ginger again and trotted away from him.
He galloped his horse to catch up to her. After an hour,
she told him she was tired and wanted to head back. He was so relieved he
wanted to shout it. The whole experience was nerve wracking to say the least.
If anything had happened to her, he’d want to
die.
Good Lord! He’d fallen in love with her. When the hell had that happened? He
glanced over to find Emma looking at him with concern.

“Are you
all right?”

He
nodded and smiled. “I’m fine.”

When
they rode into the yard, Gabe told her to go lie down and h
e’d take care of the horses. He helped her down from
Ginger’s back, and she rewarded him by standing on tiptoe and kissing him
before heading into the house. He stared after her, rubbing a spot over his
heart. He loved her, of that he was sure, but what if
she didn’t love him? Sure, they got along great, most of the time anyway, until
that damn temper of hers emerged. She used to be such a shy woman, now she
didn’t back down even when he towered over her. Gabe grinned. He liked the
spunky woman she’d become
and he loved it when she
tried to push him around. He chuckled under his breath. He didn’t budge but she
didn’t care, she tried anyway. How many times had she told him not to manhandle
her? He chuckled again. Hell, he couldn’t keep his hands off her.

Late
r, when he entered the kitchen, he as always appreciated
the changes Emma had made since coming to live there. It looked like a home
now. She’d put up new curtains, and there were hanging plants everywhere. Her
perfume flowed throughout the house. Entering
their
bedroom, he’d expected to find her asleep on the bed, but she wasn’t there. She
took quite a few naps lately. It had scared Gabe to the point he’d called her
doctor. Doctor Anderson had reassured him it was normal, and laughed when he
made her promi
se not to tell Emma he’d called. He
heard a soft splashing sound in the bathroom. Emma was in the bath. The thought
made his heart flutter strangely. So this was what being in love felt like.
Smiling, he crossed to the bathroom.

* * * *

Emma was
soaking
in the huge tub with her head resting against
the back with the bubbles up to her chin and she was enjoying it very much
after her ride. She loved this tub. It resembled an old claw foot tub but it
had jets in the bottom and sides. Anytime she got in the t
ub, she stayed until the water became cool. There were
times when she was in it Gabe had to insist she get out because the time
slipped away from her. She was just about to close her eyes and let the tub
take her away as the old commercial used to boast, w
hen
she heard the door open. She glanced behind her to see her husband enter. She
smiled up at him.

“How
long have you been in there?” Gabe asked as he stripped his dirty T-shirt off.

“Not too
long. I don’t look like a prune yet, do I? The water hasn’t
cooled down completely.” Emma smiled enjoying the sight of
her husband without his shirt.

Gabe
squatted beside the tub and put his hand in the water. “You’re not using the
jets?” She shook her head. “You have three speeds you know.” She raised an
eyebrow a
t him, and he grinned. “Low, medium, and who
needs a man.”

She
burst out laughing. “I’ll always need my man.”

Gabe
leaned in, kissed her, and then whispered against her lips, “I’m going to take
a really fast shower, and then you’re getting out of there, Em
ma Stone.”

Emma
nodded and watched him strip out of the rest of his clothes. Her heart
fluttered and pounded in her chest as she listened to him move about the
shower. After what seemed like only a few minutes, she heard the water shut off
and the shower d
oor open. Without waiting for him to
ask, she stood up. Gabe grabbed a fluffy towel and wrapped her in it, lifting
her from the tub, and setting her feet on the fluffy floor mat. He rubbed the
towel over her, lingering on her breasts, and then between her
legs. Emma had her hands on his shoulders to steady her
when he dropped to his knees and kissed her mound of curls. She was unable to
stifle a low moan. When Gabe slipped his tongue through her curls to her
clitoris, and then moved his mouth on her, she gr
abbed
fistfuls of his hair while she rested her butt on the edge of the tub. He
spread her legs and feasted on her until Emma whimpered as her orgasm hit.

Gabe
pushed to his feet, scooped her into his arms, carried her to their bed, and
gently laid her on
it. She watched him as he gazed
down at her with damp hair, and smelling fresh, clean, and so masculine. Before
he lay down beside her, he leaned down to kiss her, but Emma grabbed his strong
arms, pulled him down, and pushed him onto his back. She smiled
down into his face before leaning in to kiss him. She moved
her tongue into his mouth and tasted him thoroughly before her lips trailed
across his cheek to his ear, down along his neck before moving to his chest.

She felt
Gabe thrust his fingers into her h
air as her lips
moved down his six-pack abs and lower. She wrapped her fingers around his stiff
shaft, and slowly moved her hand up and down the length. She liked how he grew
harder in her hand. She put her lips to the head and heard Gabe hiss in a breath.
Smiling, she ran her tongue under the rim of the head, and
then slowly down the length. Gabe groaned. Feeling powerful and in control,
Emma put her mouth completely over him, and sucked.

“Christ!”
Gabe’s hands tightened in her hair.

Feeling
daring and emp
owered, Emma slid her mouth up and down
his length, taking him in as deep as she could. Her hand slid down to cup his
balls. Gabe’s hips began to move up and down in rhythm with her mouth. When she
slid him from her mouth and lingered at the tip to run her
tongue around it again, Gabe jackknifed up, and grabbed
her.

“You
have to stop, Emma…now,” Gabe groaned as he reached under her arms and pulled
her up over his chest. He was breathing hard, his chest rising and falling fast
against her breasts. Emma kisse
d his lips, reached
down, wrapped her hand around him, and slid her body down over him. Firmly
seated on him, she rocked her hips and soon Gabe moved his hips into hers too.
He put his thumb on her clitoris and the sensation sent her over the edge. She
cri
ed out his name and collapsed onto his chest. Gabe
kept pumping until his orgasm shook his entire body. She pushed against his
chest and looked down at him. She smiled in satisfaction.