Rocky Mountain Cowboy (29 page)

Behind her, Hawk cried out her name in one final plunge as his own release ripped through every inch of him. Drained and spent, he collapsed on top of her. Still on her stomach, sated and thoroughly spent, Jenny lay beneath his greater weight, content to support him as long as possible. She heard and felt his labored breathing, rushing in and out of his lungs. His heart was a fierce drum beat. She could feel that against her back, too. They were joined in such an elemental way, it was shattering. Heart to heart. Skin to skin. In that moment, soul to soul. They remained in that position so long, they nearly fell asleep until Jenny finally wiggled a little.

“Hawk?”

“Umm,” he mumbled.

“You can’t sleep on me all night.”

With a murmured, slurred apology, he rolled onto his back and took her with him, so that she was on top of him. “Then you sleep on me.” He didn’t give her a choice.

“Need to rest for a while,” she muttered, collapsing against his chest.

With a chuckle, he reached down and pulled the quilt up over their intertwined bodies. “Yeah, okay...for a while.” Jenny tried to slide off his chest and lie beside him, but he wouldn’t let her. “Just stay where you are, sleeping beauty. I plan to take advantage of this position later.”

“It’s been a long day,” she murmured drowsily, rubbing against him as she got more comfortable on top of him. “You’ll be dead in the morning.”

“We don’t have anything to do besides sleep, eat,and make love... maybe take that fast car of yours for a drive,” he reminded her, his fingers finding the cleft between her buttocks. “Besides, I’d die this way any day. Now go to sleep, so I can wake you up… in a while.”

She didn’t need him to tell her twice before exhaustion claimed her.

CHAPTER 17

Nestled against Hawk’s side, with her head lying in the crook of his arm, Jenny felt sinfully, unprecedentedly wonderful. His stamina had worn her out, and this morning, after their long night of lovemaking, most of her muscles ached.

Going to sleep and waking in his arms, snuggled warmly against him was the most fabulous thing she had ever experienced. The man was amazing, addictive; a habit forming indulgence she didn’t want to be cured of.
Quite frankly, he was a fabulously good lover. She felt even more certain this morning that she was falling in love with him. Despite her grief, she’d been attracted to him from the first moment she had laid eyes on him. He made her feel special, cared for, safe. She had no idea if he was in love with her, but he seemed to want her, with a passion that took her breath away. It was a beginning.

She listened to his softly hissing snore and cherished the intimacy of the moment. He was exhausted, and he was content. She’d been able give him some peace from all he’d been worrying about lately, and that made her feel good. He had been her re
fuge, and she wanted to be his.

Careful not to wake him, she shifted her body lower on his. From her new position, she could see the lower half of his long lean body— or at least the shape of it beneath the quilt that covered them. Gradually, she became aware of something else taking shape beneath the bedcovers. He was lying on his back, and below his waist, the quilt rose in a small tent.

Jenny gave him a quick look. He was still asleep, snoring lightly. His arousal intrigued her. She couldn’t resist investigating. She slid off his chest and scooted down, beneath the quilt.

Very gently, she fingered that part of him that tented the fabric, then, unable to resist, she gave him a quick touch with her tongue. He smelled like her, tasted like her. She loved the texture of him, so smooth; soft taut skin over hard bone. Her tongue swirled around him, as if he was an ice cream cone. Her teeth ever so gently scraped along his length. She wanted to explore every inch of him. Her own body began to tingle. She didn’t realize she’d disturbed him until she heard his deep throaty growl.

“Good God, woman, what are you doing down there?”

“Exploring.” Her voice was muffled by the quilt over her head.

“Exploring?” His short laugh became a strangled groan.

Jenny poked her head out from the quilt and smiled. “Don’t you like it?”

“Hell yes!” he hissed through clenched teeth. “But come up here. When I come, it’s going to be inside you.”

The promise of his words made every naked inch of her quiver. Grasping her under her arms, Hawk pulled her up onto him. When she was positioned where she wanted to be, she lowered herself onto his long, hard shaft and rose above him. Bracing her hands on his shoulders for balance, she began to rock back and forth. The velvety tip of him was pressed so high and deep inside her, it made her shudder violently.

Hawk moved her up and down on himself with such exacting accuracy that she was able to give herself up completely to his manipulations in exhilarating abandon. At some point, his hands moved from her hips to her breasts, and while his fingers kneaded and squeezed, the pads of his thumbs rubbed the erect peaks. She cried out with pleasure, calling out his name, her head thrown back in shivery delight, her long hair dangling down her back in wanton tangles.

Unraveled by the sight of her, he felt like he was touching her very womb. His release came seconds after hers.

Drained yet again, he crushed her possessively when she fell onto his chest. In the wake of their passion, they were silent. Hawk felt Jenny fall back asleep and followed her soon after.

By the time they woke up again, it was late morning. After a long tantalizing shower together, they decided to drive north to Leadville. They spent the afternoon in the historic mining town, visiting all the renovated Old West saloons, shops, and museums, then had an early dinner, and drove back. Like a kid with a new toy, Hawk drove the whole way, up and back with the top down. He opened it up a couple of times on isolated stretches of road, careful to keep an eye out for any state patrol.

The house was dark and silent when they got back that night. If Hank and Eli had returned from Denver, there was no sign of them. Alone one more night, they made good use of their privacy.

∞∞∞

The beginning of the week had Hawk, Jenny, Hank
, and Steve culling Scott Richard’s cattle from their own. It took a day to sort, then another to move them to the Box R ranch. Because it was across the highway, all of the cattle had to be loaded into a stock trailer to be transported across the busy thoroughfare.

Late Tuesday, driving his truck and empty trailer back from Scott’s, Hawk found himself thinking about the woman cuddled up, asleep, beside him. Her head was resting against his shoulder, and he rubbed his beard-roughened cheek against the top of it.

She always smelled like lavender or honeysuckle or mountain wildflowers. Her flowery scent never failed to tantalize his senses, overwhelming them the way she had overwhelmed his life this past month.

As he headed home, his head was filled with images of their last week together; the way she looked naked, her long lithe body writhing with desire beneath his; her thick mass of auburn hair cascading over her full round breasts and down her arched back as she rose over him; her deep chocolate brown eyes darkened to near black when she was on the
verge of an orgasm; her voice husky with passion as she called out his name at the moment of her release; all the little cries he drug from her before that. All he ever wanted to do anymore was get back in bed with her and lose himself in her sweet heat.

But it was more than sex. Jennifer Fletcher was more than a beautiful woman whom he enjoyed in bed. She had a sense of humor, and she was bright and and capable. Once she began a task, she completed it. She was a strong, empathetic woman; one he thoroughly enjoyed being with her. That was more than he could say for a lot of the women he’d dated, including Cindy Caldwell, who outside the bedroom, could b
e an emotional roller coaster.

Tom’s daughter had swiftly become the most important thing in his life. What was he going to do if she went back to L.A. permanently? It would leave a hell of a big hole in his life. Taking her to bed had probably muddied the waters of their potential business relationship. But, hell, leaving her alone had never really been an option. He’d been way too attracted to her right from the beginning. And now he wanted her in his arms every night and working beside him every day.

He wondered if he could let her go if she decided to leave. He wanted her to stay. He wanted to form this partnership with her, but he didn’t want her involved in this trouble with Brad Caldwell. That was something he would deal with himself because he was the reason the trouble existed at all. The acquisition of their property for the resort was simply an excuse for Brad, a real one, but still an excuse. Caldwell would probably always find ways to cause him trouble. The lifelong acrimony between them had never faded.

On Wednesday, Hawk was in the study working on the computer, when Jenny found him. He looked up from the screen and watched her close the doors behind her, then walk across the room. As usual, she was dressed in her snug western jeans, boots, and this time, some lacy white camisole with a short red cardigan sweater over it. Her hair spilled over her shoulders in fat loose curls. She was so lovely, even in work clothes, she always made his heart catch whenever he saw her. Right now her big brown eyes were sparkling with devilment, and he figured he wasn’t going to get much more work done.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she moved to stand behind the chair he was sitting in.

“Checking the Internet for the best cattle prices. We have stock to sell pretty quick.”

“Umm....” She bent down and looked over his shoulder, at the screen, but that didn’t hold her interest long. After weaving her long fingers into the hair at his shirt collar, she started to message the back of his neck. “You’re way too tight here.”

Her gentle ministrations felt wonderful. Hawk sighed and closed
his eyes. “Hmm, not for long.”

Soon, she was blowing in his ear. “You smell good,” she murmured. “Spicy.”

“Do you like spicy?”

“Umm, very much,” she purred, nibbling on his earlobe. “You taste good, too. My favorite flavor.” From behind him, she slid both hands down his chest, then back up again. “You feel good, too.” Giving himself up to her explorations, he felt her slipping the buttons of his shirt free from their holes. Then her hands were inside his shirt, running over warm bare skin. “I think you should take a break, don’t you?”

Before he could answer, she came around to the front of his chair and reached for his hands to pull him up. When he was standing in front of her, she finished unbuttoning his shirt then started on the metal buttons of his jeans.

Hawk let her complete that, then pushed her sweater off her shoulders and down her arms. “You won’t need this to keep you warm any longer.” Backing her up against the desk, he pushed aside the papers on it with a sweep of his hand, then began to
unzip her jeans and push them down to her thighs. With the necessary garment loosened and opened, he lifted her onto the big oak desktop.

“Here?” she said breathlessly. “On top of your desk?”

“Oh, yeah,” he responded, then positioned her and entered her with such swift and startling accuracy it ended all further teasing and talking.

The next day’s chores were interrupted pretty much the same way. This time she found him at the back of the barn, in the tack room. When one of their mares was foaling or some other animal needed round the clock attention, whoever was on duty could catch a few hours of sleep on the narrow bed that they kept in the room. Hawk was sitting on it, repairing a saddle, a halter, and a bridle when Jenny came in. It wasn’t too long before she became a major distraction.

He let her tease him for a little while, then got up to lock the door to the room. For a few moments, she pretended she didn’t want anything other than to keep him company. Playing her game and enjoying it as much as she was, he stalked her around the saddle blocks, then caught her, giggling in his arms, and hoisted her over his shoulder to carry her to the bed. She was breathless with laughter and so beautiful, she thoroughly enchanted him. All play aside, he quickly stripped them both and made love to her on the narrow cot, smothering her cries of ecstasy with his kisses.

At the end of the week, on Friday, they went into town for groceries, and since this time Eli didn’t go with them, they detoured on the way home and parked in a thick stand of trees down by the river, where they stopped to make love in the front seat of Hawk’s pickup. With her jeans off and her blouse and bra opened, Hawk seated her on his lap, facing him, opened his own jeans, and pushed himself into her, then kissed her as she rode him to an exquisite explosion. It was more erotic than anything he had ever done in the front seat of a pickup as a teenager.

He slept with her every night in his arms, sometimes in his room, most often in hers, although sleep was not something they got a lot of. For some unfathomable reason, Eli, who was usually always around, gave them unprecedented privacy. It gave them opportunities to make love whenever they wanted, and to cook and eat all their meals alone together. As new lovers, they had precious time to explore one another physically and emotionally. It was probably a bit like a honeymoon, Hawk supposed; a few stolen days together to simply enjoy and discover one another; a brief respite that he sorely needed, he realized.