Wildcard (12 page)

He squeezed her tighter to him while they walked up the front porch steps and said, “No regrets.”

When they came to a stop on the porch, Trace tilted her head back and smiled up at Jess. “The only regret I have is that we didn’t lock the door.”

“I was too anxious to get inside you.” The corner of his mouth quirked and his words made her knees weak. “And now I can’t wait to get you back into my bed.”

Trace slid her arms around his neck and reached up to brush her lips along his jaw line. “We didn’t exactly make it into bed, you know.” Smells of their sex and sweat filled her senses, making her pussy ache and her nipples tighten. Where Jess was concerned she was insatiable.

He gave a soft chuckle as he settled his palms on her hips. “No, we sure didn’t.” Sliding his hands lower, he cupped her ass and squeezed. “But we sure as hell had some fun.”

Trace purred as Jess pressed his hips against hers and she felt the hard line of his cock. He was just as insatiable as she was. She felt sore and well ridden in all locations, and yet she couldn’t wait to saddle up that cowboy and take him out for another hard ride.

He gave her a soft lingering kiss that left her breathless and wanting more. It took all her strength to force herself to break away from him. “I—I’d better get inside.”

Jess raised his hand to her ear and skimmed his knuckles along the row of gold earrings. “Sure you don’t want me to come?”

Oh, she wanted him all right. And she could think of lots of ways for him to come.

Instead she caught his hand in hers and pressed it close to her cheek. He opened his hand and she turned to press her lips against his palm and flicked her tongue against the calloused skin.

Jess’s fingers shot into her hair and he dragged her to him for a bruising kiss. He bit at her lower lip, just hard enough to cause her to cry out in surprise.

“Damn, woman,” he muttered when he finally released her. “I’m tempted to haul you off and fuck you again.”

Oh, my.

Trace’s knees wobbled as she backed away. “I’ll meet you at eleven for our ride up to the cave. In front of Dancer’s stall.” She opened the front door with one hand, her eyes still fixed on Jess as she slipped into the house. Just before she shut the door, she gave him a sultry smile and said, “I’ll bring lunch. You bring the condoms.”

Chapter Twelve

Holding her breath, as if that might help her slip inside without being noticed, Trace shut the door quietly behind her. Yes, she needed to face her sister and get it over with, but first she’d like to shower and change. She smelled like sweat and sex and barn dust, and she knew she looked like hell.

Of course Dee
had
just seen her with Jess’s cock in her ass.

She released her breath and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Jeez. At least when she had spied on Dee and Jake, they’d never caught her.

Pausing for a moment, she listened for sounds from the kitchen and heard nothing. After she quietly kicked her shoes off at the front door, Trace walked as silently as possible through the living room. The tile felt cool beneath her sock covered feet as she stole down the hallway and passed Dee’s and Jake’s closed bedroom door.

She slipped away into her own bedroom, locked the door behind her, then stripped off her soiled clothing and tossed it all into the hamper in the adjoining bathroom. While she ran the shower until the room filled with steam, memories of her wild evening with Jess continued to scroll through her mind.

Cripes.

No doubt she was becoming some kind of sex fiend. That’s all she’d been able to think about from the moment she’d met Jess. Not to mention that tonight she’d gotten off by knowing Dee had watched them.

Water pelted Trace’s skin as she climbed into the shower, the warmth chasing away the sweat of exercise and sex. From head to toe her muscles had the pleasant ache of being well fucked, her nipples and pussy tender. Even her ass felt different—like she missed Jess’s cock there, too.

The comforting smell of her peach scented shampoo filled her senses as she squirted a generous dollop into her hand and then washed her hair. When she rinsed it out, streams of lather flowed over her sensitized breasts and nipples, down her flat belly and over her mound. Traveling over her like Jess’s hands had.

She hadn’t been entirely honest with him about wanting to face Dee alone. Once she was away from the heat of the moment, away from her need to have Jess’s cock inside and his arms around her, fear had started to replace the desire. She needed space away from him, needed time to think about the future, her career,
everything.

What if she was pregnant? She definitely wasn’t ready to be a mother. Jess claimed he wasn’t about to let her go, but was that what she wanted?

He was a cowboy for goodness sake. What would they do? Live here on the ranch and raise a passel of kids? Not that he’d asked her to marry him, but what if he did…would she be expected to be a good little ranch wife who cooked dinner for her man?

Okay, so that was a bit stereotypical. Trace had to smile at her own generalization. She knew plenty of women ranchers, like her own sister, who ran an entire ranch operation on their own, or side-by-side with their men. Heck, on the other side of the mountain she knew of two women who ran their ranch together, as partners in
every
way. Renee Duarte and Shannon Hanes had one of the most profitable operations in the county.

Closing her eyes, Trace turned her face to the water, letting it splash over her forehead and down her face. She’d worked so hard to get to where she was with Wildgames. Four years of busting her ass, working countless hours to rise to the top, and she was
this
close to being offered the position of Public Relations Director. After that, a few years down the road, she could be the next Vice President of PR.

She’d already made one monumental decision and had walked away from the caring man she’d dated for the past two years. Tossed that relationship right out the door after less than two weeks of knowing Jess Lawless. She’d left security and her comfortable world and headed straight into the wilds and the unknown.

What, am I insane?

With a groan Trace opened her eyes, grabbed the luffa sponge and squirted peaches and cream-scented shower gel on the pad. As she scrubbed her body, thoughts of Jess tried to push aside her doubts and fears. Memories of how he’d touched her, how he’d filled her.

Was sex enough?

Yet it wasn’t just sex that attracted her to Jess, or the way he looked at her and made her feel as though she was the most important thing in the world to him. She’d watched him interact with the other ranch hands, observed his leadership and fairness. And even though he’d been mad as hell at the arsonist, she’d seen the concern in his eyes for her and her sister the night the barn was set on fire.

But was that enough to make a relationship work? And was it worth leaving everything that she’d worked so hard for?

No matter how she tried to fight it, though, Trace knew she was falling in love with one cowboy named Jess Lawless. What she was going to do about it…at this moment she didn’t have a clue.

* * * * *

After Jess walked Trace to the front door of the ranch house, he headed straight to his cabin. If his quarters weren’t so close to the bunkhouse where the half-dozen ranch hands lived, Jess would have hauled Trace out here with him and kept her all night long.

‘Course the night wasn’t over yet.

When he faded into the darkness, out of sight from the house, Jess stopped and quickly retrieved the small firearm from the top of his boot. Even though he couldn’t stop thinking about his woman, he wasn’t so far gone that he would fail to ensure his building and surroundings were secure.

With practiced skill he listened for any unusual sounds, but all he heard was the faint creak of his leather chaps and the light brush of his boots over dirt as he continued toward his cabin and up to the front door.

As he checked to make sure his cabin hadn’t been entered since he’d left that morning, an impression in the dirt by his doorstep caught his trained eye. After a quick glance around, his senses on full alert, he examined the print.

Easily ‘bout the size of a woman’s booted foot, but a little smaller than Trace’s or Dee’s, he’d wager. He frowned as he dug his key out of his front pocket and checked the thin strip of paper he’d lodged between the door and the frame, close to the threshold. Still there, so likely no one had been in his place. Who the hell had been snooping around his cabin, and why?

After he’d done a quick sweep of the apartment and locked the door, Jess yanked his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed his partner.

“Santiago,” the man answered after one ring.

“Lawless here.” Jess ambled into the kitchenette as he spoke. “Got a lead I’m gonna check out tomorrow. In the mountains behind the MacLeod Ranch.”

“Yeah?” Santiago said over the whinny of a horse. The man must be doing some field work.

With his free hand, Jess yanked open the fridge and grabbed the carton of milk. “Gotta gut feeling we’re getting close.” He slammed the carton onto the counter and let the fridge close behind him.

The cell phone crackled, and he barely heard Santiago ask, “What’d you step into this time?”

Jess reached into the cabinet over the microwave, snagged the Wheaties, and set the box beside the milk. “Arson. Poisoned cattle.”

Santiago let out a low whistle. “Stomping on some toes, eh?”

“Could be.” Jess located a small mixing bowl before searching for a clean spoon, then realized they were all in the dishwasher that he’d forgotten to start.

“Where’re you headed?”

Silverware rattled as Jess looked in a drawer for something to use and found a serving spoon. Good as anything. “A civilian is leading me out to the location—apparently she’s the only one who knows where it is. I want to make sure I’m covered, but I’ve got to keep it under wraps.” He popped the Wheaties top and ripped open the bag inside. “I don’t want to take a chance on anything happening to her.”

Santiago chuckled. “Been going deep undercover with this one, eh?”

Jess gritted his teeth and shook the Wheaties so hard that half the box emptied into and around the bowl. “Just stay close to the Flying M. Keep your cell on.”

“Gotcha. Watch your ass out there.”

“Yep.” Jess punched off the cell phone and stuffed it into his pocket.

If it wasn’t for that boot print he’d noticed outside his door, he’d have felt a hell of a lot better. Who could have been sniffing around?

As he dumped a liberal amount of sugar onto his flakes, Jess considered what he’d have to do tomorrow. Somehow he’d have to let Trace know he wasn’t who she thought he was. He wondered how she’d take it when she found out that he was an undercover agent for the DEA.

* * * * *

When she’d finished taking her shower, combed out her wet hair, and had stalled as long as possible, Trace yanked on a comfortable pair of flannel pajamas and slippers and headed to the kitchen. It was close to ten but she had a good feeling she’d find Dee there.

Trace’s stomach growled as she padded down the hallway—she hadn’t eaten since noon and she was starving. She passed the twinkling Christmas tree, rounded the corner and headed into the kitchen, and sure enough, there was Dee at the breakfast nook with a half gallon of Rocky Road and two spoons sticking out of the ice cream. Her sister appeared to be deep in thought, playing with her spoon in the Rocky Road.

The kitchen was spotless, but Trace caught the delicious smell of roasted meat—probably pot roast—and her stomach grumbled again. It was so quiet that the rumbling of her belly was the only sound Trace could hear other than the ticking of the kitchen clock.

As she approached her sister, Trace felt heat rise to her face. “Save any for me?” she asked as she sank into the chair opposite of Dee.

Dee looked up and smiled as she gestured toward one of the spoons. “Dig in. Unless you’d rather start with dinner.”

Thankful to have something to do with her hands and mouth, Trace shook her head and grasped the spoon. “This is most definitely the dinner of champions,” she replied as she dug out a particularly large chunk and then stuffed it into her mouth.

“So…” Dee’s voice trailed off, and Trace knew what was coming next. “You and Jess, huh?”

Trace shrugged, her face burning hotter than ever while she studied her spoon and slowly chewed the chocolate ice cream filled with marshmallows, nuts and fudge. The taste was welcoming and comforting, and somehow it had always made it easier to talk with her sister.

After she swallowed, Trace glanced from her spoon to her sister. “It all started that first night I came home. I met Jess at Nicole’s Christmas party.”

Dee raised one eyebrow. “You’ve been seeing him for the past two weeks?”

“Well, sort of, but not exactly.” Trace dug her spoon into the softening ice cream. “He’s been working on me, and I’ve been fighting the attraction,” she said before taking another bite.

Shaking her head Dee replied, “That sounds awfully familiar.” She winked at Trace. “And knowing Jess, when he sets his mind to something, he doesn’t give up. Not for anything.” She licked her spoon, a thoughtful look on her face. “So what about Herman?”

Trace swallowed the mouthful of Rocky Road and snorted back a laugh. “Harold.”

“Whatever.” Dee pushed the ice cream carton aside and leaned over the table, closer to Trace. “Neither suits him. Just that accent alone’s enough to give any woman the shivers. And he’s one
fine
looking man. When he came up to the house looking for you, it was all I could do to find my tongue.”

With a smile, Trace replied, “I sure fell for that refined British accent.” Her smile faded as she considered the reason why their relationship hadn’t worked. “I really think the world of Harold, but the problem was that he was
too
reserved. I know he cares about me, and probably loves me in his own way, but something happened in his past that caused him to lock away his emotions and feelings.”

Trace toyed with the spoon as she spoke, studying her upside down reflection on its shiny surface. “It wasn’t until I met Jess that I realized Harold was truly passionless. I realized that I need someone who’s able to feel and
live.
” She raised her eyes to meet her sister’s. “And I wasn’t the right woman to set him free.”

“Sorry about walking in on you and Jess.” Dee’s cheeks went pink and her hand moved to the peridot heart pendant at her throat. “I was feeding the horses and that devil Imp, when I heard noises in the office.”

“We should have locked the door.” Trace was sure her own face was Christmas red. “It was our first time, and we went kind of wild.”

Dee’s eyebrows shot up. “Your first time with him and he gave it to you in the ass?”

Resisting the urge to duck under the table and hide, Trace nodded. “Well, actually, that was after we did it the, ah, usual way.”

Her sister leaned forward on the table again. “So tell me. How did it feel? In the ass, I mean.”

Trace laughed and before she thought better of it, she said, “As wild as you and Jake have always had it, you’ve never tried anal sex?”

Dee frowned. “I’ve never told you about our sex life.”

“Oops.” Trace chewed the inside of her lower lip, then decided to spill the beans. “You know, back when you and Jake were dating…before he left?”

Dee’s spoon clattered to the tabletop and she clasped her pendant tighter. “You didn’t.”

Trace hid a grin and gave a solemn nod instead. “Up at that place you called your hideaway. There’s a cave hidden behind some bushes. I was curious and hid out there and watched you guys.”

“Oh. My. God.” Dee slowly shook her head, an expression of disbelief on her features. “I can’t believe it.”

“Let’s just say it was a real education for a seventeen-year-old girl.” Trace stuck her spoon into the ice cream that had softened to the point of turning into a mudslide instead of Rocky Road. “Better eat up. It’s melting.”

Laughter escaped Dee and she raised her hands in an I-give-up gesture. “Well, I sure don’t feel so bad walking in on you and Jess now.”

Trace snorted and giggled and then in the next moment the sisters collapsed into fits of laughter. Tears rolled down their cheeks, and Trace laughed so hard that her stomach ached.

God, but it felt good to laugh.

And it felt real good to be home.