Newmar, Lola - Rhett's Branding [Scarlett Rose and the Seven Longhorns 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (3 page)

Chapter 2

Scarlett settled into the bench seat of the pickup, kicking off her pink ballerina flats to pull her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her shins as she gazed out the window, looking forward to the lovely country views along the way to the city. By the time they’d finally left the ranch almost a half hour ago, it was almost eleven, and now the afternoon sun fully shined overhead.

She was glad she’d chosen to wear something comfortable for the long car ride. The nearest store to the ranch that sold woman’s clothes was a Target about fifteen miles out. Since sweet Denzel had been the last to go to the store for her, Sonny graciously volunteered to do the job this go-round. He had done his very best, picking out a couple of simple sundresses, light shirts, and shorts.

After her mates had made love to her that morning, she settled on a pair of white terry cloth shorts and a pink-and-white gingham-print button-down shirt that she tied to rest just at her navel. She felt like a little country girl in it, sexy but laid back.

Suddenly, her body tingled, and she knew Rhett was stealing glances at her as he attempted to keep his eyes on the road. Judging from the low grumble to come from Rhett’s chest, he was likely finding her a tad distracting.

“Can you suck my cock, baby?
Please?
” he blurted out, giving her a goofy grin and seemingly trying his best to look sweet and innocent as he asked.

“Ugh!” She rolled her eyes and let her head fall back against the headrest in frustration. “You know, you could be a little more romantic about it, Rhett.”

A pained grimace crossed his boyish features as he roughly grabbed at his giant erection through his jeans. “Oh, come on, candy pants. You know I’m not too good at that kind of stuff. Now I’ve been sporting this big, bad boy for several miles now, and I can’t take it anymore. It’s starting to chafe against my pants.”

Glaring at him, she tried her best to look as intimidating as a small woman could. “Look,
candy pants
, I may not be much of a lady, but you could at least humor me.”

He mock pouted his lips and put his work-roughened hand on her thigh. “Aw, honey. Don’t talk like that. Of course you’re a lady.” His eyes traveled down her body and slowly caressed her curves as he sensually licked his lips. “You’re
all
lady.”

“
That’s
what I’m talking about, Rhett!” Her hands flew in the air in annoyance as she turned to face him in the seat.

“Look, Scarlett,” he released a heavy sigh, “mushy words and gushy sweet nothings are not my style. Besides, you got Levi and Sonny for that, right? You know, when we were touring in the rodeo, all the buckle bunnies nicknamed Levi Panty Charmer because he could charm the panties off—”

“Rhett Lenox!” she hissed as her head snapped toward him. “Spare me, will you? Hearing about my fiancé’s sexual past isn’t my idea of a vacation. And it isn’t helping your argument none, either, cowboy.” She pulled her knees back to her chest as she stared through the windshield.

Several long moments passed before she spoke through the awkward silence. “Rhett, I know you love me.” She turned back to him with a serious expression on her face. “Tell me you do.”

* * * *

Rhett couldn’t fight the itching urge to shift in his seat at the uncomfortable restlessness in his legs, apparently ready to go into full flight mode. “Well, yeah, darlin’, of course I love you. You know that’s not the issue.”

“Then tell me what is.” Putting on that Sassy Scarlett Stance, she crossed her thin, ivory arms over her luscious, creamy tits, the position pushing them a tad higher, if that were possible, her left eyebrow arched in challenge.

And then
—Fuck!
He knew he was dead meat the moment the corners of his lips twitched and a smirk fought through his facial muscle resistance.

“What the
hell
is so funny now?” she snapped, her eyes flashing with rage.

He licked his lips before responding, “I’m just remembering how you gave me that exact same look the first night you spent at the ranch after I made fun of you for being a virgin.” He laughed, slapping a hand loudly on his knee. “Damn, baby, you sure were pissed. You stood up to me when most women I know would have shrunk at my teasing.” He watched her try to fight her own urge to smile, but she failed. “You know, when it comes to a shifter loving his mate, he has absolutely no choice in the matter, but not every shifter has to
like
their mate. But when I saw that gorgeous chest of yours puff up to me as if you were trying to challenge me to a bar fight, I knew then I really liked you.”

As if unsatisfied with his answer, she rolled her eyes and sighed as she seemed to ponder on that thought a little. “I guess coming from you, that’s pretty damn romantic.”

He shrugged, a little unsure of how to tell her just how special that really was. Yeah, so maybe he was an insensitive pig at times, but she brought out something soft in him. “To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever told a woman that before.”

That Sassy Scarlett Stance returned when she snapped her head back toward him, her arms crossed. “You’re telling me you never told a woman you
liked
her?”

Rhett scoffed as he thought about all the ex-lovers who went a little baseball bat happy on his pickup over the years. Suddenly, the nice guy he had to pull out from deep, deep inside shrank back. “Really, darlin’, you shouldn’t ask things you know the answer to.”

“You know, Rhett, you really shouldn’t be such an arrogant son of a bitch,” she snapped.

Rhett slammed on the brakes and put the truck in park on the empty road before unsnapping his belt and using his shape-shifter speed to ambush her against the passenger door. “Don’t form an opinion if you don’t know the whole story, candy pants.” He allowed the rage he felt over her judgment turn his eyes blazing orange, and he growled deeply.

To his astonishment, the mouthy minx just raised that pretty, heart-shaped chin to him, seeming not the least bit intimidated. “You think you’re a badass because you fuck girls then leave them? Lie to them then break their hearts?”

“And what the fuck was I supposed to do, Scarlett? Drag them along, lying to myself and to them that we’re meant to be, just so that I won’t hurt their feelings? I understand that to you, as a human, dating other people is an expected phase before you find the one you want to marry. But to many shifters, dating is pointless. The sex is unsatisfying, the chemistry is never there—no matter how much you try to work on it—and it all feels so forced, unnatural.”

Suddenly, she didn’t seem too mad anymore. “And with me?” she asked in a sexy, husky tone as she reached up and lightly brushed a finger along his top lip.

“Being with you is like coming home after a long time away,” he replied as he pressed his lips against the small pad of her finger. “Everything about it just feels right, like the universe is finally balanced.”

For a moment, he couldn’t read her face to tell what she was thinking. She only looked his features over slowly as if trying to gauge his honesty.

“Now that wasn’t so bad, now was it?” she teased with a smirk.

The restless feeling returned, and he briefly removed his red cowboy hat to run a hand through his wild blond waves. “I’m trying over here, darlin’. It’s harder than it looks.”

“Sure is,” she purred, arching her body toward him so that her large tits pressed against his chest.

His cock twitched at what she implicated as she dropped her gaze to his aching hard-on and bit that juicy, red bottom lip of hers. “Since you were so willing to try my kind of romance,” she began as she unbuckled her seat belt and scooted closer across the bench seat, “I guess it’s only fair I give you a little of yours.”

“Road head?” he asked with hope and excitement. His heart skipped a beat when she smiled and nodded. He started the truck and pulled out into the road as she scooted even closer.

He felt like a giddy virgin on prom night as she reached over and ever-so-slowly unbuttoned his jeans then lowered the zipper. He could feel each ridge of the zipper press against his rock-hard cock, and he groaned at the way his balls tightened in response. He wrapped an arm around her dainty shoulders, following her as she lowered her pretty brunette head down to his crotch.

Hmm, so let me get this straight. I tell her how much she means to me, and both she
and
my cock come out happy? Talk about an incentive to express my feelings!

The heat of her breath danced around his hard cock, teasing him with the piece of heaven she was about to deliver. He cursed his decision to wear his boxer-briefs instead of going commando that day as he felt her moist, hot tongue glide across his cock, over the thin fabric. His big erection jumped at her, desperately seeking the nearest wet orifice on her smoking-hot body. He groaned when she lightly grazed her smooth teeth along the length from base to tip.

Sitting up a little straighter for a better look at the road, he then grabbed the steering wheel tightly with both hands. Thankfully, it was a slow day on the road, so the danger factor went down a little with them being the only car within seeing distance.

She finally reached her cool fingers inside the little slit of his boxer-briefs, fishing out his eager cock. “So big,” she said softly, a hint of awe in her voice. “Almost too big.”

Now he really needed to get a hold of his focus. Even though he’d always been confident and sure of his endowment, hearing Scarlett say it stroked his masculine ego, making it that much harder to multitask while operating heavy machinery. He silently laughed to himself as he pictured a sticky label on her bare ass.

Warning: May cause drowsiness, slurred speech, and irrational thinking. Do not operate heavy machinery.

But—
damn!—
the way she twirled that magical, slick tongue around the head of his cock as she encased the shaft little by little with her sucking mouth, he had to focus on not losing the concentration needed to drive the pickup as safely as he could.

Fuck this.

Just to be on the safe side, he pulled his white pickup back over onto the street. Leaning back in the seat to get more comfortable, he hissed and groaned as she added her hands to the action.

“That’s it, baby. I love the way you make sure every inch of me is soaking wet, like you’re
begging
me to come hard in that sweet mouth.”

One hand cupped his sac, alternating between gingerly rolling his balls and lightly grazing her manicured, blunt nails across the sensitive skin there. The other was wrapped around the base of his cock, following her mouth in an up-and-down pulling motion. His hips bucked against her lips, her spit coating every inch of his cock, allowing it to glide in and out with delicious ease.

He’d gone so long driving with the raging hard-on, he could already feel his balls drawing up into his body, preparing to release his hot cum. He huffed out several harsh breaths, trying his very best to control the urge to blow his load just a little longer. He didn’t want this to be over any time soon.

Just as he felt the tightening in his cock veins begin to loosen, the naughty little minx lifted the thumb of her pumping hand in a thumbs-up position, placing firm pressure on the sweet spot right on the underside of his cock as her mouth increased its sucking pressure. Instinctively, one of his hands shot down to the back of her head and fisted her silky, dark hair.