Studs, page 22
“Ready?” Travis hooked his foot in a stirrup and swung up into the saddle.
He’s waiting. Do what he did. Copying Travis’ actions, she lifted her leg and put her foot in the stirrup. Grabbing the saddle horn, she hopped and pulled herself on top of the horse, swinging her leg over to the other side. Thank the Elders, I did it. I really did it.
“Let’s go.” Travis clucked at Lucky and touched his heels to the horse.
Okay, Diamond, listen up. I’m a virgin at this, so take it easy, okay? Be nice to me and I’ll be nice to you.
Diamond pawed the ground, turned her head to check out this person on her back, and then started after the other horse. Charissa swallowed a yelp and held onto the reins while gripping the saddle horn until her knuckles turned white.
Chapter Thirteen
“Damn freak storm came up fast. Too fast.” Travis pulled his horse to a stop to let Charissa bring Diamond next to him.
The pounding rain had long since flattened her hair and drenched her clothes. She wasn’t in the mood for explanations. “Ya think? I thought you said this ranch wasn’t very far. We’ve ridden for hours.”
“Nah, not hours. But we’ve gotten far enough that we shouldn’t go back.”
Why had she come with him? She didn’t owe him anything. But here she was, soaked to the bone, riding on top of an animal who much rather be back in her warm stall. “Then what do you suggest we do? Stay here and dance in the rain?”
He ignored her bad humor and pointed off to the west. “There’s a cabin not far from here where we can stay until the storm passes. It has a lean-to for the horses.”
“Not far, huh? Like the ‘not far’ to the other ranch? I vote no. Let’s turn back.” She’d taken all she could handle and Option Three sounded pretty good right now.
“First of all, this isn’t up for a vote. But I won’t force you to listen to reason. So suit yourself. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With a mumbled curse, he turned his horse and headed the direction he’d pointed.
Doaga, what a stubborn man! Charissa tugged on the reins and tried to get her horse to head back the way they’d come. But Diamond refused. Instead, the horse had a mind of its own as she ignored Charissa’s commands and started after Lucky. Fine. Have it your way. She let the reins fall to the horse’s neck, allowing her freedom to follow the leaders.
They traveled in silence except for the occasional boom of thunder and the steady drum of the rain. As she held on to the horn and let the horse do what she wanted, Charissa took the time to reflect on the mysterious storm.
When the rain had first started, she hadn’t thought much about it. After all, she didn’t have any experience with Texas weather. Maybe this kind of weather happened all the time. But when Travis started calling the storm a “freak of nature,” she decided to hunt for a possible explanation.
Rocking to the movement of her horse, she closed her eyes and let her senses search the atmosphere around her. Yes, it was there. The subtle hint of magic hidden underneath the smell of the rain-clogged air.
Could Rici have done this? She considered the possibility and then dismissed it. Unless her brother had suddenly developed much greater powers than he’d ever had before, he wouldn’t, couldn’t have performed this feat. So who could it be?
“We’re here.”
She opened her eyes to see a small cabin, aged through years of harsh weather, and flanked by a mud-dirtied pond. The gray coloring of its boards blended into the gray of the sky, giving the building a mysterious illusion. “I see.” She glanced around, hoping to see other buildings. Better buildings.
“I can tell you’re thrilled by the grandeur. Granted, it’s not much, but it’s better than slogging through the rain.” Without bothering to wait for her to explain, he dismounted to take his horse’s reins and then Diamond’s. She took the hint for her to dismount and did so, allowing him to lead the horses underneath the slanted roof of a shelter.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” She stomped through the mud toward the front door and stopped when at the odd look on his face. Had she used the expression incorrectly? “What?”
“Nothing. You go on in and made yourself comfortable. I’ll get the horses settled.”
Fine with me. If he thinks I’m going to help him, he can think again. She opened the unlocked door and stepped over the threshold. Jerking off her muddy boots, she set them to the side and examine their sanctuary.
She’d expected better. Haellus, she’d expected at least two rooms.
A large, ugly orange and green sofa dominated the one-room cabin. On the far wall, was a kitchen. That is if anyone could call the four-foot strip of counter that boasted no stove, or oven or even a microwave, a kitchen. Everything from the shabby curtains barely hanging from the tiny windows to the lanterns scattered around the room appeared to have been discarded years earlier. But the biggest eyesore was the huge fireplace taking up most of one wall. Like a giant mouth, it called to her, bidding her to step through its huge opening and burn alive.
“Terrific. Absolutely terrific.”
Spying a dingy towel hanging on a hook by the kitchen, she crossed over, grabbed it and started drying her hair. Taking care, she strolled over to the fireplace as if she were sneaking up on a sleeping giant. Who knew what kind of wild animal could be hiding in its depths? Once she was in front of the massive hearth, she bent over and peeked into its interior.
“Yoo-hoo. Anybody in there?”
“Who are you expecting? Santa Clause?”
She jumped and spun around all in one motion at the sound of the voice. “Shat! Don’t do that to me! And who’s this Santa Clause?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Oops. “Right.”
The smug grin he wore fought to break out into a full-fledge smirk but, fortunately for him, he kept it contained. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Like shat you didn’t.”
“What does shat mean?” He knocked off his boots and put them beside hers. “I never heard the word before you started saying it. So what’s it mean?”
She decided to tell a bit of the truth to go along with her cover-up. “Oh, uh, it’s the same thing as shit, but I don’t like cussing so I changed it to shat.” When he paused, she wasn’t sure he’d bought her explanation.
“O-kaaay.” Walking over to the cupboards, he opened each one and examined the contents. “I didn’t know you minded. I’ll try and keep from cussing around you.” After a quick glance back at her, he returned to taking various cans out of the cupboards. “I’ll try and get the fire going in a sec. Not that we’ll need it for warmth but, as you can see, if you want hot food here you have to do it the old fashioned way.”
He continued to work in the kitchen, digging around under the cabinets for cooking utensils. Charissa waited until he’d ducked his head inside a cabinet and then nodded. A roaring fire burst into life within the monstrous fireplace and she scuttled away as the flames became too hot.
His mouth fell open when he stood up again. “How did you do that?” Before she could respond, he’d strode across the room and stood beside her to study the fire. “I’ve never gotten that thing going so fast. Or so big.”
She tried to act nonchalant as he scrutinized her. “Really? I didn’t find it so hard to do.”
“Obviously.” He stood in front of the fire and pulled his wet shirt away from his chest. “We need to get out of these clothes. Let’s put them on the hearth and keep a watch for sparks, and I think they’ll dry fast enough.” He unbuttoned his shirt and spread it out on the stones. The belt and buckle went next and he started to drop his jeans.
“Whoa. Hold on, cowboy. We hardly get our boots off and you’re already trying to get me out of the rest of my clothes.” She scoffed at him. “What? No romance? No soft music? No wine?” She grinned and added, “No shower?”
“Hey, I got you a fire. And I’ll light the lanterns for mood lighting. That’s romantic, isn’t it?”
She tossed him a look and crossed her arms. “Uh, excuse me. But I’m the one who got the fire.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot.”
“Forgot my ass.”
He was next to her before she could move. “I’d never forget your ass.”
Her heart and hands betrayed her then even as her brain tried to shut down the traitorous limbs. She reached out, grabbed Travis around the neck and pulled his lips to hers. He came willingly as he took off her shirt and let it fall to the floor. Without knowing when he’d done so, the rest of her clothes lay in a clump at her feet.
She shivered and he drew her closer to his body. “Are you chilled, Charissa?”
“Not in the way you mean.”
The warmth of his breath as he chuckled slid over her skin as he tipped his head to take her nipple in his mouth.
“Are you hungry, Travis?”
“Hmm. Not in the way you mean.”
He lifted her then, by surprise, and she let out a tiny yelp. Moving to the sofa, he laid her on it and took a moment to let his sight skim over her. “I want you naked.”
“I am naked.”
He tilted his head toward her feet.
Socks? He doesn’t think I’m naked if I have socks on? “Socks? Then take ‘em off me.”
He did and skimmed her body with his heated gaze again. “Now you’re naked.”
She shook her head and spread her legs. “I thought you said you were hungry.”
He stepped out of his jeans, grinned at her and walked around to the side of the couch.
Had she said something wrong? “Uh, what’re you doing?”
This.” With one lunge, he wrapped a hand around each ankle and yanked her body down the length of the sofa to hook her legs over the armrest. With her pelvis resting on the top of the rounded edge, he bent and dived in.
“Oh, shat!” She arched as his mouth slammed onto her. “Oh, wow!”
Positioning her legs over his shoulder, he licked, sucked and nipped her into a quick frenzy. She writhed as he held onto her, controlling her, keeping her at his mercy.
“Travis. Oh, oh, Oh!”
As he continued to lavish her with his tongue, he added two fingers and increased the attack. She moaned as her body tensed, already climbing to the brink of release.
“I’m coming. Oh-shat-Travis-I-uh-I’m-going-to—”
As she hovered on the precipice of climax, he left her, shaking, wanting, needing him. He wiped his mouth as he stood up and came around to the front of the couch.
“You’re an evil, evil man, Travis. How could you leave me like— Ahh!”
She never finished her sentence as she found her face up, close and personal, with his cock pointing toward it. He’d jumped on her, his head already buried in her pussy while he stretched his long legs on either side of her head and over the other armrest.
She wrapped one hand around his shaft while her other cupped his balls. Between pants she stroke him, teasing him with the tip of her tongue. As she reached a quick climax, she pulled him into her mouth, running her tongue in a circle around the throbbing manhood.
He moaned against her flesh, adding a new dimension to the feel of his lips on her skin. As she rocked her wetness against his tongue, he moved his pelvis up and down, matching her steady rhythmic motion with the slide of his cock going in and out of her mouth.
Thunder shook the cabin and, for a moment, she wondered if her screams of ecstasy had shaken the walls around them. Had she ever had such a lover before? Would she ever again?
After drinking a flood of her juices, he twisted his head to watch her. His eyes sparkled as she continued to pump him, drawing the beginning of his seed from him.
Until he drew his body away from her.
“Will you stop getting up?” She licked her lips and reached out for his shaft as he pushed to his feet.
“Don’t worry. I’m not stopping.” He flashed another quick grin at her, held out his hand and pulled her to stand beside him. Squeezing her ass, he walked her around the couch. Turning her back to him, he placed his hands on her shoulders and bent her over the sofa. As her hands landed on the seat cushion, he ran his hand down her sides, over the roundness of her hips and onto her butt. He spread her buttocks then and she gasped as his tongue slid in between the slit of her ass and over one plump cheek to bite her.
“Hey, take it easy, cowboy.”
“How about if I just take it?”
His fingers found their mark as he reached under her to open her other folds, find her clit and start massaging her. He pushed her higher then and his tongue added to the work of his fingers. “Damn, but I want you. You taste so sweet.”
Shoving herself back over the back of the sofa, she heard his growl of complaint before turning around to face him. “I want you, too.” Taking his shaft in her hand, she checked to see if he was ready, put her hands on his shoulders and hopped up. He caught her, understanding what she wanted and carried her, legs wrapped around his waist, to place her back against a wall.
“Nail me, Travis. I want to feel like you’ve hammered me against the wood.”
He shifted her, adjusting her to a better position, and put his shaft next to her mons. “Lady, when I’m through with you, you’re going to have splinters in your back.”
She yelped as his penis entered her. Each of his thrusts, she answered in kind, gripping him around his neck as his fingers dug into her buttocks. He grunted as sweat broke out on his back, but he kept up the passionate pounding, pressing her body between his and the wall to keep her with him.
His mouth found hers again and he tugged at her lower lip with his teeth. She couldn’t think any longer, could barely breathe, preferring to close her eyes and experience everything through her other senses.
Tightening her vagina around him, she clenched and unclenched, bringing him more pleasure. Fighting to breathe in a regular pattern, she delighted in the smell of him, the musky blend of heated skin, male testosterone, sex, and her own smells mixing to form a totally new smell, uniquely their own.
His back tensed as he groaned again and she knew he was almost spent. She tensed with him, letting her juices flow over his cock as she climaxed, her clit throbbing with multiple orgasms. As he shouted in release, she held on, enjoying the ripple after ripple of his climax breaking through him. When they were both sated, he lowered her feet to the floor.
“Well, I hope you have tweezers.”
He chuckled and held her face between his hands to gaze into her eyes, but kept his hot body pressed to hers. “Splinters, huh? I don’t know about tweezers, but I’ll get them out. Even if I have to use my knife.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
“Uh, don’t get too excited, big guy. I’m just kidding.”
“Uh, me, too.”
“Good.”
“Charissa?”
Please don’t let him tell me he loves me. “Yes?” Liar. You know that’s exactly what you want him to say.
“How about I pull out the sofa bed and we get some rest. From the sound of the storm, I think we’re here for the night.”
She glanced at the ugly couch that now didn’t seem quite as ugly as before. “Sounds like a plan to me. But don’t you think we should call the ranch and let them know what happened?”
“Did you bring your cell phone? Because I forgot mine.” The tips of his mouth twitched.
“Again? You know, Travis, I’m starting to think you planned this whole thing just to get me alone. Again.”
“Again? Hmm. Is that what you think?”
“Yeah. I guess we’re stuck.”
“Again?”
She puffed out a “who’d have thunk it” expression and shrugged. “Yep. Again.” She shared his mischievous grin as they broke apart and headed for the couch.
****
“They’re all right. Travis knows what he’s doing.”
Riciseon unhooked Terey’s desperate clutch from his arm and tried to keep her from regaining her hold on him as he argued with Jim. He’d given up on trying to hide from her when he’d discovered Charissa’s absence. “Maybe so, but the storm was a major one with flooding everywhere.”
Jim scowled at him as Terey planted a quick kiss on Rici’s cheek. “Damn, people, get a room.”
“Yes! Let’s go into the house and get in a room, Rici.”
Rici wiped her lipstick from his check and maneuvered her off of him. “So Travis does this a lot? Goes out riding with a woman and doesn’t come back until the next morning?”
“No. But that doesn’t mean anything. They probably made it to the other ranch and decided to wait out the storm there. Phones and power are still out so they can’t contact us yet.”
“Oh? And what about their little phones?”
“Cell phones?”
“Yeah, those.”
“I don’t know. Maybe they forgot them. Or their batteries are shot. Or they’re in a dead spot.”
The lump in Rici’s throat grew another centimeter. “Dead spot? What kind of spot dies?”
Jim started to answer the curious question, but Terey interrupted him. “They never made it to the Lazy W.” Terey tiptoed her fingers over Rici’s chest as he attempted to swat her away. “I already called the Lazy W Ranch to check on them. So, they’re lost.”
Both Rici and Jim turned to her in surprise. “You could’ve mentioned this information a little earlier, you know.”
“You act like you don’t care about your brother going AWOL.” Jim snarled at her. “Maybe if you stopped drooling over this guy you’d remember your family.”
“How can Travis go into a wall?”
Now it was Terey and Jim’s turn to gawk at Rici. If the look Jim shot him hadn’t been so intense, Rici would’ve laughed.
“Where are you from? Who doesn’t know the term AWOL? It means Absent Without Leave, you idiot.”
Rici tried hard to remember Jim’s anger was misdirected. “Sorry, I didn’t know. So shoot me.”
“Don’t push me, buddy.”
The two men stepped together, their chests barely an inch apart.
“Guys, stop acting like assholes.”
