Paradise.
“So you tired?” he asked in a husky tone that dripped with bedroom prowess.
“Not at all.”
“Good.” He tugged her to her feet, stalking her with another show of masculine grace, backing her down the hallway with such raw possession she could scarcely breathe. No man had ever looked at her like that.
After he shut the bedroom door, she said, “Where’d you go?”
Brandt shucked off his coat. He tossed a box of condoms and an unopened tube of lube on the bed.
“Kept them in my truck. Just in case.” He offered her a shy smile. “I never assumed anything, just wanted you to know that.”
No, like a true gentleman he wouldn’t assume, but like a true boy scout he was prepared. Another little shiver of desire rippled through her. “Oh. Well, we don’t have to use the condoms, if you’d rather skip it. I’m on the pill.”
“Why? When you haven’t…”
“Keeps my cycle regular. But if you’re used to using them, then that’s okay with me.”
“No condoms.” He slowly dragged his hungry gaze over her body with a terse, “On the bed on your hands and knees.”
When Jessie hesitated, Brandt made the warning growl that meant there was no room for argument.
Okay, the big, bad wolf was back. She faced the headboard. The mattress dipped as Brandt joined her.
She flinched when his big hands circled her ankles and widened her stance.
Brandt stilled behind her. “Jess? Am I scaring you?”
“No.”
“Why’d you flinch when I touched you?”
“You surprised me.”
He draped his body over hers—his chest to her back.
“You’re cold.”
“It is November and I was just running outside nekkid.” He brushed aside her hair and kissed the back of her neck.
She shivered.
“Now that’s the kind of shiver I like,” he murmured. “I want you. You ready or do I need lube?”
97
Lorelei James
“I’m ready. Are you ready?”
Brandt answered by sliding into her slowly to the hilt. He continued to pepper warm, soft kisses across the slope of her shoulder.
She savored the sensation. Nothing in the world compared to this heat and fullness and connection.
“I love it when you kiss me like that.”
“I could spend hours kissing every inch of your skin. Next time, I will.”
She turned her head and looked at him when she noticed his body vibrated. “Are you still cold?”
“No.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
“Because I’m tryin’ not to rut on you. I’m not feelin’ real…gentlemanly, if you wanna know the truth.” His lips tickled her ear. “I know this is our first time but it doesn’t change my body wantin’ to fuck you hard.”
That admission caused a gush of moisture to flood her sex. She moaned.
He sucked in a swift breath. “The thought of me fucking you hard makes you wet?”
“Everything you’ve done to me so far makes me wet.”
“Reach your arms above your head.”
Jessie pressed the side of her face into the mattress as she gripped the rungs on the headboard.
“Look at you, so goddamn sexy stretched out like that.” His calluses scraped her skin as he swept his hands down the length of her back to circle her hips. He pulled out and slammed back in quickly.
She hissed, “Yes.”
In this position, every time he thrust, the flannel sheet abraded her nipples. The simple eroticism of Brandt’s sure and steady movements as his cock tunneled in and out of her pussy forced a whimpering sigh from her lungs.
“So tight. God that’s good. Not gonna last.”
She closed her eyes, allowing the sensations to wash over her, sensations exclusive to sex; the rhythmic squeak of the bed, harsh male breathing on her back, rough-skinned hands gripping her hips, the heat, wetness, the sounds of their body parts meeting, the friction of the sheets on her knees, elbows and nipples.
But it was more than that. And she couldn’t find the right words to explain it because the push and pull lulled her to a floaty plane where need and satisfaction were in perfect balance.
He plunged faster, muttering, jarring Jessie from her fog of pleasure. As soon as she felt his cock jerking against her inner walls, she bore down on his shaft, earning a
holy fuck
and then another groan.
Followed by another louder
holy fuck
and another longer groan.
Then his stillness.
Between panting breaths, he said, “Jess. I know…you didn’t…”
98
Cowgirls Don’t Cry
Brandt pulled out and flipped her onto her back, imprisoning her arms above her head. He sealed his lips to hers, as he slid his length of his shaft along her cleft, rubbing the rim of his cockhead directly on her clit.
Oh. Wow. This was something new for her, but Brandt knew exactly what he was doing. He skipped the gradual buildup, going straight for the high point. With his relentless attention, she ripped her mouth free from his, unable to breathe or gasp or even whimper as the orgasm pulsed in short, intense bursts and he rode every wave of it with her.
After her brain clicked back on, she peeked at Brandt. “What?”
“I could get very used to watching you come.” He kissed her. Sweetly, tenderly, but with the hunger that let her know he wasn’t done with her. “Regrets?”
“Not a single one.” She twisted her wrists as a hint for him to release her.
“Good.” He pushed up. “Are you sore?”
She said, “No,” a little too quickly.
His eyes narrowed. “Dammit, if I was too rough on you—”
“I would’ve said something. I’m not fragile, Brandt, remember that.”
“You’d say that even if you were bleeding, Jessie.”
Sometimes it surprised her how well he knew her.
“I need a drink,” he said rolling off the bed. “You need anything before we go for the round two?”
“Round two?”
“Uh-huh. Because we’re just getting started.”
99
Chapter Ten
Brandt gulped two glasses of water in the kitchen and took a minute to grasp the situation.
Holy hell, he’d just had sex with Jessie.
Jessie.
It boggled his mind.
Not only that, she’d initiated sex.
Not only that, she hadn’t wanted gentle lovemaking—she wanted to be fucked. Hard.
Not only that, she hadn’t balked when he’d called her on her bravado, pushing her to put her money where her mouth was.
Holy hell, talk about a mouth that could own him body and soul. How he’d managed to hold out for more than fifteen seconds when those soft, warm lips circled the base of his cock while she sucked his shaft also boggled his mind.
How he’d managed to keep his cool when he got his first taste of her pussy was another miracle.
Because damn, she’d been so wet that he could’ve stayed buried between her thighs, licking away that sweet juice, feeling her come against his mouth, all damn night.
Brandt’s mental play by play fired his blood and he knew he’d have Jessie at least one more time tonight. Maybe in straight missionary position.
Boring. Don’t you want to blow her circuits with your sexpertise? Show her every position you’ve
ever tried and some you’ve only seen in porn?
Hell yeah. No. Hell no. That cocky attitude made him sound like…Luke, actually. He never wanted the comparison, especially not from Jessie. Not ever.
He could admit he’d taken her from behind for their first time because he worried she might whisper Luke’s name in his ear during a moment of passion. Maybe he feared he’d see regret or sadness in her eyes.
But he’d pushed aside those worries when the primitive side of his brain seized control and he flipped her on her back, just to see the look on her face when he made her come.
A look he couldn’t wait to see again.
He refilled the water glass and he walked to the bedroom. For some reason his heart sped up and he lingered in the doorway. Had he left her alone too long? What if she’d fallen asleep?
“Brandt?”
Cowgirls Don’t Cry
He found her resting on against pillows propped against the headboard with the comforter tucked beneath her armpits. “You want a drink?”
“Sure.” She drank half before handing the glass back. “Did you check on Landon?”
“Nah.” He set the glass on the dresser. “I thought I might wake him up and he’s not included in the plans I have for you.”
She smiled. “What plans?”
“That depends on if you think we need to talk about anything that just happened.”
“We’ve done enough talking.”
“I agree. Let’s go to plan B.”
“Which is?”
“It’d be easier to show you.” Brandt ripped back the covers and crawled over her body, until he was hanging directly above her. He whipped aside the pillows so she laid flat on the mattress. He angled his head over hers, seeing her eyes spark interest and heat as his lips closed the distance between their mouths.
Jessie released a soft moan, which reverberated in his mouth as he kissed her. Her lips were warm and eager. Her tongue as curious to explore as his was. They kissed, drawing out the pleasure by switching between hungry openmouthed kisses, sweet nibbles, teasing nips and soft smooches.
Brandt gazed down at her.
She caressed the side of his face. “Man, I could kiss you for days.”
“I can arrange that. But first…” Brandt let his hands skim over her skin. “I want to touch you.
Everywhere. It might take a while, because I’ve been living for the day I got to put my hands all over you.”
He stretched out, propping his head on his left hand, figuring it’d take twice as long to acquaint himself with her body if he limited himself to one hand.
“You still trying to figure out all my ticklish spots?”
“No. I wanna figure out which spots make you squirm and which ones make you moan.” He let the rough tips of his fingers follow the line of her delicate neck down to the base of her throat. Then his thumb swept across her collarbone to her shoulder. Her skin was pale, he’d expected to see more freckles or moles, but it was just a silky smooth expanse of white.
His palm cupped the ball of her shoulder, traveling down to squeeze her firm biceps. He traced the bend in her elbow, first with his fingers, then with his tongue.
“Oh, I…wow. That feels good.”
“Tastes good too.” Brandt’s fingers drifted down the inside of her forearm to her wrist. He threaded his fingers through hers and brought their joined hands to his mouth, lightly kissing each fingertip. He reversed course back up her arms and did the same thing, bestowing the same diligent treatment to the other side, except he dragged it out a little more.
101
Lorelei James
Jessie’s body wilted when he skimmed his fingers up and down her side, in a feather-light caress, from her armpit to the curve of her hip. She managed not to squirm too wildly when he wrapped her fingers on the rungs of the headboard and zigzagged openmouthed kisses down that same tender section of skin.
Twice.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly with the marked increase in her breathing. His cock was so hard it pained him to bend over as he moved down the wonders of her body, but Brandt would not be rushed. He’d take his time, even if it damn near killed them both.
He paid no attention to her breasts or her nipples. Instead, his mouth brushed over every rib in her ribcage. Then down the centerline of her belly, past her belly button, to that sensitive span of skin between her narrow hipbones. When he put his mouth on her there, her entire belly rippled. So he did it over and over until she huffed out an impatient breath.
“What are you doing to me?”
“Memorizing you.” He pressed kisses around the triangle of strawberry blonde hair at the juncture of her thighs. Again he allowed his fingers to map the muscles in her legs, tease the skin on the inside and smooth his palm over the curve from hip to ankle.
He kissed the tops of her thighs. He lifted her leg to nuzzle the back of her thighs and to trace the bend in her knees with his tongue. He peppered kisses down her shinbones, which were covered in bruises from Landon smacking into her all the time. When he reached the top of her foot, he sucked at the delicate skin and Jessie shot up off the bed so fast she almost kicked him in the face. “Easy there,” he murmured.
“I heard that toe sucking was erotic, but this…this is way better. I never knew that would make me…”
“Make you what?”
“Tingle. My God. My whole body is tingling.”
He switched feet just to see her come unglued.
“Okay, and now in addition to making me tingle, you’re making me wet. Really wet. In fact, I think you should check it out,” she purred.
Brandt chuckled. “I believe you. But I’m not finished yet.” The same time he lifted her right ankle for a kiss, he noticed the tattoo. He outlined the shape of the butterfly with the pad of his thumb. “When did you get this?”
“The first time a bunch of us went in and India gave us all McKay brands.”
He’d heard about his cousin’s wives getting inked with the McKay cattle brand, but he’d never seen Jessie’s. He’d been too busy noticing other parts of her body.
“But last year, about the time I…quit grieving for Luke so hard and realized our life wasn’t as perfect as I’d made it out to be after he was gone, I wanted the symbol of his ownership gone too. So India designed this one, using the original tat, but you’d have to look really hard to see it.”
102
Cowgirls Don’t Cry
The colorful butterfly emerging from a land cocoon fit Jessie’s personal metamorphosis. Yet, it bothered him that she’d had the McKay brand removed. Why not just get a new tattoo? Keep the old one as a reminder of a past life event? If he thought about it too hard, he might take offense to it. Like Jessie no longer wanted to be associated with the McKays. Like she wanted to erase any part of her life with them.
If that’s true, why did she keep the McKay name?
“Brandt? What’s wrong?”