Unbridled and Unbranded (17 page)

“Not a problem. We can decide on this later. For now, why don’t you go up and take your bath.” Bo leaned in and kissed her perfect mouth.

Her face scrunched up. “All by myself?”

“We can help you or we can leave you to relax alone.”

Callie leaned into Bo. Her breasts pressed into his body. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. Maybe the two of you can stay with me for a change.”

Bo was helpless to stay away from her.

He’d be absolutely distraught when she left for good.

Chapter Ten

Callie led both Rafe and Bo up to her bedroom. It was only late in the afternoon. She had a hundred other things she should do right now, but found she lacked the will to do any of them.

She stripped her clothes off piece by piece the moment she crossed the threshold of her bedroom. She didn’t look behind her, but one of them shut the door.

She was surprised they didn’t leave her bedroom door wide open. Although if any of the cowhands came in, open or shut, they’d know where she was and who she was with anyway. It probably wasn’t a national secret.

By the time she walked into her bathroom, she was naked. Bo followed close behind her. He went straight to the claw-foot tub and turned both spigots on full blast. The ancient plumbing in her house made some clanging noise before an unimpressive flow of water came spilling out of the old fixture. It would take a good twenty minutes or more to half-fill the tub.

Bo picked up some scented bath salts and sprinkled a generous amount into the tub. The fragrance of cherry blossoms filled the air. It was her favorite scent. Once upon a time, it had been Bo’s favorite scent, too.

Rafe had shed his shirt and boots before entering the bathroom. Bo turned away from the tub and stared at her body. “You are so beautiful, Cal.” He nodded once. “Turn around so I can see your back.”

Instant understanding made her swivel around. The tattoo. She looked over her shoulder at Rafe. “Want to get a Magic Marker?”

Rafe laughed. “Maybe later on.”

Bo stroked both hands down her back until one rested on the tattoo. Callie watched him from the full-length mirror next to the tub. The moment his hand covered the letters, his eyes closed as if reverent that she would mark herself with his name.

She’d never regretted it. Not once. And especially not lately. Now that he knew about it, he never failed to stroke it when she was naked.

He spun her around suddenly and kissed her tenderly. He stroked his tongue in her mouth and pulled her hips against his now fully erect cock. His hands were secured on her bare hips.

She wasn’t ready to end the kiss when Bo slid his lips from her mouth and trailed kissed down her body. He stopped to lick and suck each of her nipples until they hardened into sensitive peaks.

He went to his knees and buried his face against her belly. She brushed his burnished locks of hair with her fingers before pushing them through the soft strands, raking her nails across his scalp.

Before she knew it, Bo had slipped his face lower. His tongue licked her exactly on her clit. He never failed to find her hot spot with the first lick, like a homing pigeon zeroing in on the home base target for an expert landing.

Callie’s legs shook as he continued licking her. Before she could voice the fact that she was about to fall on her ass, Rafe slid behind her and held her up. He also started pinching and rubbing her extended nipples.

The sound of water filling the tub with the fruity scent swirling in the misted air had combined with her sudden moaning. Bo’s clever fingers slipped between her legs and into her pussy like a stealth lover.

Wide fingers penetrated and stretched up inside of her body as his tongue stroked and sucked her nearly to release.

Callie remembered the look on Clay’s face earlier in the day. She memorized his expression the moment she flicked back her hair and noticed him watching.

Jaw clenched, eyes bright and zeroed completely on her face, Clay had the look of a man who wanted. Whether he desired her or just to watch, she wasn’t sure. But the look in his eyes said he was interested in some way.

She knew enough to know he wouldn’t ever be her lover in the traditional sense, but she did want to entertain the idea of him bringing her off. One time.

Callie leaned back into Rafe’s strong arms. He kissed her neck and whispered lovely endearments as Bo did naughty things with his wicked tongue.

Bo’s fingers pushed deeply into her pussy just as he sucked her clit hard between his lips and licked her forcefully with his tongue.

The roller-coaster ride of a day she’d endured culminated in so many things both good and bad. She suddenly let her day fall away and inhaled deeply. The scent of the floral bath salts Bo had added to the water came into her head.

The feel of his rough, wide fingers in her pussy ultimately undid her. She bucked and came in a rush of pleasure so profound she would have slid to the bathroom tile were it not for Rafe holding her up.

She moaned long and loud as tendrils of ecstasy rushed thick and warm through her veins.

Bo growled and pulled his face away. His fingers remained buried in her pussy.

“I love the feel of your climax against my fingers,” he murmured.

Once the thousand or so waves of pleasure finished rollicking across her body, Callie was able to answer. “I also love the feel of my climax against your fingers.”

Rafe said, “That makes three of us.”

* * * *

After last night’s evening with Callie, Bo decided he needed to take further action with the idea that they must all stay together. He pondered his creative yet farfetched plan some more and took the next step to see it through.

He needed to talk to Rafe before doing anything final, but now even more than before, Bo knew he couldn’t be without Callie. He wouldn’t let her get away from his life a second time.

Clay had asked Rafe to help him with something at the DRMC ranch property. He didn’t know what the two of them were doing, but would corner Rafe sometime tonight or tomorrow to discuss the pros and cons of his crazy plan. He hoped Rafe would agree it was the best way or offer a better solution to their love life problem.

Bo exited the Ryder Bank and Trust having spoken to the property loan officer. As he walked toward the exit, Bo noticed that the head of the bank, Everett Collins, promptly marched over to the loan officer he had talked to. Bo hoped his inquiry was confidential, but it was likely that as the senior bank manager, Everett would put his nose in Bo’s business. No matter. It wouldn’t change anything.

The minute he stepped outside into final rays of the sun sinking behind the mountains, Callie grabbed him around the waist. He would have startled, but her scent hit him seconds before she did.

Bo hugged her back, surprised she was here in town already. “Wow. I didn’t expect you to be here yet.” There was still an hour left before they were supposed to meet for dinner tonight.

“I needed a break from my ranch. Your kind offer of a fancy dinner in town tonight made me lazy and long to get away from the job I hate.” She put a hand up to protect her eyes and looked west toward the mountains. “It’ll be dark soon. But it sure is pretty for now.”

Bo squeezed her tight, unworried about the very public display of affection. He loved Callie. He glanced at the sun dropping all the way behind the dark mountain peaks then put his focus back on Callie. She was more beautiful than any sunset.

Bo whispered, afraid to break the silent view. “We can head to the restaurant, but we have a bit of time.”

She turned to him quickly with bright lovely smile. “Then we can sit at the bar, drink wine, and flirt with each other.” Bo’s heart thudded hard in his chest.
Could she hear it?

Bo looked down into her eyes. He was glad to see the defeated look she’d worn for a bit already gone. “Deal.”

“So what were you doing in the bank?”

Bo held his face as impassive as possible. He didn’t want her to have a hint of what he might be up to. He shook his head. “Not much. Just checking on some investments.”

“Good news?”

He shrugged. “I suppose.”

“Anything we can celebrate and drink to?”

He shrugged. “Not quite yet.”

Bo was only one property sale away from launching his plan into reality. If Rafe was okay with the massive changes to their workload and life, he’d go forward. If not, he’d do his best to convince him it was the only way the three of them could be together. He would have called, but wanted to see his face when he brought it up. Better to assess his true feelings that way.

“Oh, I meant to call you earlier, but I got busy.” Callie took a sip of wine.

“What’s up?”

“I got a strange e-mail this morning,” Callie said. “It was sort of from you.”

“Really? I didn’t send one. What did it say?”

“It wasn’t sent to me directly. It was like you’d sent a message to your accountant asking about liquidation of funds to make a property purchase. You aren’t trying to buy my property, are you, Bo?”

“What? No. I didn’t send anything like that to you.”

“It wasn’t sent to me. It was a copy of a message sent to your accountant regarding a fair asking price on my property. But I won’t sell my land to you. I thought I made it clear.”

“You
did
make it clear. I promise you I didn’t send that message to my accountant. I don’t know anything about it.” Bo hoped she was convinced. He
had
actually sent a message to his accountant today about a liquidation of funds. How had she gotten a copy of that e-mail?

Callie looked up into his eyes. “I’ll miss you if I ever even get to go anywhere. Sometimes I’m so torn.”

“I know. And the truth is, I’m loathe to let you get away from me this time around.”

“But you won’t stop me from leaving?”

Bo shook his head. He wouldn’t lie to her. He didn’t plan to force her to stay when he knew she needed to go.

“No. I won’t. I swear it.”

They walked hand in hand to the restaurant tucked away on a side road right off Main Street. The small icon of a restaurant in the center of Ryder catered mostly to the local rich and was strictly
reservation only
. There were often celebratory personal dinners, the occasional tourist would wonder in to dine, and more than a few people had popped the question in the upscale locale.

Bo liked that the place had been around all his life. He and Callie had come here once a long time ago. He wondered if she remembered.

Home from college on a break, they’d celebrated their first anniversary as a couple in this restaurant. Or more explicitly, the first time they’d ever made love. After dinner they’d gone to her ranch, driven out to an old, rarely used barn, and climbed up to the loft.

Callie had set the place up with a stack of blankets and a couple of old lanterns. They’d made love twice, once fast and once slow, before leaving in the dead of night.

Fond memories assaulted his gut with a warm twist like butterflies massaging his soul.

Inside, they waited at the bar drinking wine until their table was ready. Bo had requested the same one they’d shared so long ago. His intent had been to tell her about his idea, but he wouldn’t because he hadn’t spoken to Rafe. He’d only received the final information before coming to town today and verifying more information at the bank. It was completely possible Callie wouldn’t agree to his fanciful plan either.