Born to Be a Cowboy Read online

  “Noise? It’s a wicked storm, Finn. Strong enough to blow this cabin down. And it’s erupting right over our heads.”

  “But only for a while. Before you know it, it’ll blow over and let loose up in the hills.”

  Another bolt of lightning flashed, and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the thunder. When it came, her fingers dug into his back, holding on for dear life.

  He pressed his mouth to a tangle of hair at her temple. “Trust me. You’re safe here, Jess.”

  She shivered and opened her eyes. “I know. At least I want to believe it, but…”

  “Believe it.” Hoping to soothe, he ran soft, feathery kisses from the corner of her eye to the tip of her nose, and from there to the corner of her mouth. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Finn…”

  “Shh.” He found himself enthralled by her lips. The shape of them. The texture. The invitation.

  He hadn’t planned any of this, but she was so close, and soon his mouth was on hers, moving, tasting. Taking.

  She sighed and relaxed against him, offering more.

  And he took, no longer nibbling, but feasting.

  Devouring.

  “You’re delicious.” He paused to look at her as he rubbed a thumb over her mouth before dipping his head and kissing her again. “Absolutely delicious.”

  “And you’re…” Her arms tightened around his neck and she poured herself into the kiss.

  When they came up for air, his pulse rate had gone up several notches. “You’re doing it again, Jess.”

  “Doing what?”

  He ran his hands across her shoulders, down her sides. “Making me wish I didn’t have to behave professionally.”

  The corners of her lips curved. “Sorry.”

  “No you’re not. Judging by that impish grin, you’re enjoying my discomfort.”

  She laughed. “You’re right. I’m not sorry. Well, I am about the storm. But if I have to wait out a storm, I’m not sorry about having my very own big, strong cowboy here to help me get through it.”

  “And who’s going to help me behave?”

  “Who says you should? Maybe it’s time to just ignore that Goody-Two-shoes conscience of yours and ravish me, Counselor.”

  Though he was smiling, his eyes narrowed on her with a look so fierce, she could feel the hunger, the heat pouring from him into her, inflaming them both.

  “As long as you want this to happen, I don’t see how I can resist any longer.” He dragged her so close she could feel the thundering of his heart inside her own chest as he kissed her long and slow, taking her on a roller-coaster ride that had her world tilting at a crazy angle. And all the while his wonderful, work-roughened hands moved over her, inviting, seducing.

  His thumbs followed the swell of her breasts, teasing her already taut nipples, despite the barrier of her clothes.

  “Wait.” Her breath caught in her throat.

  “Too late.” He flashed a devilish grin. “I’m enjoying myself way too much. How about you?”

  “Umm.” In answer she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him full on the mouth.

  “I’ll take that for a yes.” His heart was pumping furiously as he reached for the buttons of her shirt.

  He managed the first two before, on a wave of frustration, tearing the next ones in his haste to remove it from her.

  She was laughing as she tugged his shirt over his head and let it fall to the floor. “Mmm.” She ran her hands over his muscled chest and felt his quivering response to her touch.

  He shucked his jeans and boots. “My turn.” He unhooked the bit of lace, freeing her breasts and gave a sigh of pure pleasure. “God, Jess, you’re beautiful.”

  He ran nibbling kisses down her throat, pausing at the sensitive little hollow between her neck and shoulder.

  She arched her neck, loving the feel of his mouth on her skin. But when he began trailing kisses lower, then lower still, she forgot to breathe. And when he took one erect nipple into his mouth, she felt a spear of need so hot, so potent, she gave a guttural moan.

  As the pleasure continued building, she clutched at him blindly. “Oh, Finn. I don’t think I can wait.”

  He slid her jeans down. As she stepped out of them, he glanced at the tiny lace bikini panties she wore beneath. A slow smile spread across his face. “You do know how to feed my fantasies, Jess.” As he slid them from her, he whispered, “I hope you have a whole lot more of these. I’d love seeing you every day in them. Or better, out of them.”

  At that, they came together, flesh to flesh as the heat rose up between them, fueling their needs.

  His hands moved over her, lighting fires wherever he touched. And he was free now to touch her everywhere.

  She could feel him in every part of her body, and still it wasn’t enough.

  Reading her mind he took her on a wild, dizzying ride, taking her up to the very pinnacle, and then over. Giving her no time to recover, he continued an assault with teeth and tongue and fingertips until she managed to whisper, “The bed…”

  “Too far. I’ll never make it.” He pressed her against the rough wall and lifted her.

  In her frantic need she wrapped herself around him, framing his face with her hands. Her eyes were focused on his, loving the fact that she could see herself reflected in those dark depths.

  His hands, those rough, calloused rancher’s hands, were driving her mad with need.

  “Please, Finn.”

  When he thrust inside her, she let out a cry, and for a moment he went very still. “God, Jess. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “No. You didn’t…you’re not…” She sucked in a breath. “Whatever you do, just…don’t…stop.”

  His eyes, so hot and fierce, softened with a smile. “Don’t you worry, babe. I won’t. Just hold on.”

  And then he began to move, to thrust. Slowly, deliberately, until she thought her body, already so highly sensitized, might explode with the fireworks rocketing through her. She could feel that same need pulsing through him as his movements became more urgent.

  Heart racing, breath burning her lungs, she moved with him, climbed with him, higher, then higher still as she soared to the heavens, until she could feel herself flying free.

  Her eyes closed against the blinding lights going off in her brain as, together, they reached a shuddering, shattering climax.

  Like fragile crystal, she could feel herself splintering into tiny pieces as she floated ever-so-gently back to earth.

  It was the most amazing journey of her life.

  Finn’s face was buried against her throat. “Sorry.” The word vibrated through her skin.

  “Is this that old ‘sorry I wasn’t professional’ hang-up?”

  He chuckled, and she absorbed another vibration through her already highly charged body. “I meant, sorry I couldn’t make it to the bed.”

  “Oh.” She ran a hand through his hair before allowing it to drop limply. It was the only movement she could manage. “Maybe next time.”

  He lifted his head enough to look at her. “You want to go again?”

  “Whenever you can manage it, Counselor.”

  He gave her a sexy grin. “I might need a few minutes.”

  “You’re bragging. It isn’t like you.”

  “Not bragging. Just fact. I’m ready any time you are.”

  She couldn’t help laughing. “If you don’t mind, just hold on to me for another minute or two. I’m not sure my legs will hold me.”

  “Weakling.”

  “All your fault. You wore me out. You were…really something.”

  “You think so?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Now you’re looking for compliments.”

  “Just the facts, ma’am.”

  “Okay. You’re good.”

  “We’re good. Together.” He ran kisses from her earlobe to her throat. “I can do even better. Next time, I’ll slow down. Promise.”

  “Finn, I neede
d fast. I was way too needy. But I like the way you think. I’ll go for seconds when I build up my strength a little. Now let’s see if I can stand on my own.”

  As he ever-so-gently eased her down until her feet touched the floor, she could feel his response to the intimate press of her body to his.

  She arched a brow. “Why, Finn Monroe. You weren’t kidding, were you? You’re as good as your word. You really are ready for seconds.”

  He gave her that sexy smile that did such strange things to her heart.

  With a laugh she caught his hand and led him across the room to the bed, just as a series of lightning strikes lit up the sky, followed by a long, low rumble of thunder. “I can’t think of a better way to help me forget my fears of the storm.”

  He wiggled his brows like a mock villain. “Thank heaven for Mother Nature and her violent temper tantrums. Without that, I may have never had the opportunity to violate my code of ethics.”

  Laughing, they came together in a storm of their own as the wind and rain raged beyond the walls of the little cabin.

  This time Finn showed her, with soft, easy touches and slow, drawn-out kisses, with whispered words and gentle sighs, another side to his lovemaking.

  Chapter Eighteen

  At a distant rumble of thunder, Jessica automatically reached out in her sleep, only to find the bed empty beside her. She was fully awake at once.

  Sitting up, she shoved her hair from her eyes and looked around the darkened cabin, illuminated only by the glowing embers on the hearth.

  The mattress sagged as Finn sat on the edge of the bed holding two Champagne flutes.

  Her smile bloomed. “I guess I fell asleep.”

  “Me, too. We wore each other out.” He handed her a glass. “This ought to restore our energy.”

  She lifted the glass. “What’ll we drink to?”

  He touched the rim of his flute to hers. “How about to timely storms?”

  “To storms.” She was laughing as she took a sip. “I’ll probably think of you every time I hear the rumble of thunder.”

  “And I’ll see you in every lightning bolt.” He drank before setting aside his glass and slipping into bed beside her. “And I’ll always see you like this.” He took the glass from her hand and set it beside his before gathering her close. Against her temple he whispered, “Naked. Gorgeous. And mine.”

  “I’m all yours.” She offered her lips and he took them with a sort of reverence.

  “Now, Counselor,” she murmured against his mouth before twining her arms around his neck, “since I’m awake anyway, I believe I’ll let you have your way with me.”

  His dragged her close, his tone gruff with passion. “Woman, you do know how to make me lose control.”

  She gave a husky laugh. “Promise?”

  And then there were no words as they tumbled headlong into the eye of yet another storm.

  “It sounds like your childhood with your aunt was a happy one.” Finn lay back against the pillows, his fingers tangled with Jessie’s, the other hand behind his head.

  It wasn’t yet dawn, and they’d spent the most incredible night loving, dozing, and then waking to love again. Once they’d opened the floodgates, they couldn’t seem to get enough of the passion they’d worked so hard to deny.

  “Looking back, my childhood was so happy. And surprisingly normal.”

  He chuckled. “What’s surprising about being normal?”

  She shook her head in wonder. “I remember being so afraid when my parents died, and I realized they weren’t coming back. I didn’t really understand death. But through it all there was Aunt Nola, taking me to her ranch, feeding me, sitting with me at night until I fell asleep. At first the ranch seemed so big and terrifying, but as the days went by, I started to lose my fear and enjoy the fact that it was so different from my life before. My aunt was up at dawn, and she always took me with her to the herds up in the hills, or to the barns for chores. One of her wranglers, old Billy…” Her voice lowered. “He’s dead now, but he was so good to me, and he was always doing special things, like making me miniature tools. A pitchfork, a rake, so I could work alongside Aunt Nola. And when I wanted to ride, he brought me a pony and walked it around and around the corral until Aunt Nola agreed I was ready to ride with her.” Jessie smiled, remembering. “And no matter how hard the work, she always managed to find time to talk, to listen, to answer my questions. Looking back, I marvel that a woman with no husband or children of her own could instinctively know how to make me feel safe and loved.”

  Finn squeezed her hand. “I can see why you love her so much.”

  Jessie nodded. “She became my whole life. All the love a little girl could have for her parents was transferred to Aunt Nola. I find myself wondering what sort of life I’d have had without her.”

  She turned to Finn. “I guess you’d know a little about that. What about your childhood?”

  He shrugged, and she could feel a subtle shift in his emotions. As though trying to decide how much he could comfortably reveal without exposing too much.

  To fill the silence she said, “Zachariah told me you and your brothers were hellions when you first came to the ranch.”

  He managed a quick grin. “Yeah. Total juvenile delinquents. We couldn’t say a single sentence without swearing. It was the only way we knew how to communicate.”

  Again the silence stretched out, and Jessie worried that she’d overstepped her bounds. “I’m sorry, Finn.” She sandwiched his hand between both of hers. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. It’s really none of my business.”

  “It’s all right.” He moved his hand from beneath his head and closed it over hers, as though needing that connection. “I’m not used to talking about the life I had before Mac. It’s not something I like to remember. It wasn’t pretty.”

  She could feel the tension in him as he began to speak haltingly.

  “Like you, I was too young to realize what was happening. One day I was part of a happy family, with a father and mother and two older brothers. Then one day my parents were gone and we were taken from the only home we’d ever known to live with an uncle we’d never met.”

  Finn paused before saying, “He was the meanest man I’ve ever known, and I’ve known my share. Ben said he was our mother’s brother, but they’d had a falling-out years before she married. Looking back, I realize he resented having to take in her kids. And he let us know, every day that we lived with him, just how much he resented us. He withheld food for the slightest infraction of his rules. And he had a wide leather belt he enjoyed using on us. One night when we were sent to bed without supper, Ben stole a box of cereal from the cupboard and sneaked it up to our bedroom. When our uncle walked in and found us eating, he brought out that belt and I swear I thought he wouldn’t stop until we were all dead.”

  “Oh, Finn.” Jessica couldn’t hide the horror she felt.

  “I warned you it wasn’t pretty.” Finn squeezed her hands. “Maybe that was our first salvation. When Ben’s teacher saw his welts and bruises, we were taken away from our uncle. At first we were so glad. But then our initial joy turned to despair when we found ourselves in the system. Because we’d already become mean and defensive, the authorities separated us and sent us to different foster homes. I’m sure no family would take in three tough kids like us. I didn’t see my brothers again for nearly six months, and then it was only for a supervised visit before we were separated again.”

  “You were all so young. And you’d already lost your parents. I can’t imagine being separated from your brothers. That’s too cruel for anyone to endure.”

  Finn nodded. “It was rough. I could tolerate most of the rules set by all the different foster parents in the following months and years. Some allowed only three stingy meals a day and no snacks. Some ordered all chores completed before school, which meant getting up at dawn. I could even take the bullying and the occasional beating from the worst of them…”

  Jessica i
nterrupted. “You were bullied and beaten?”

  He took a minute before answering. “Yes. And hungry a lot. And teased at school when I had a black eye. There was also the time I showed up with a dislocated shoulder and the school nurse called in the authorities to have me removed from a particularly cruel rancher who wouldn’t even take me to a clinic after shoving me against the barn wall so hard it broke some boards. He knew if a doctor saw the evidence of his brutality, I’d be removed from his care, and he’d lose his chance at having free help around his place.”

  “That’s just despicable.”

  “The physical abuse toughened me up fast. I had to learn how to fight back, or I never would have survived. My brothers were the same. We were tough as nails, always ready to defend ourselves without fear. But the one thing I couldn’t handle was the threat of never seeing my brothers again. And one day, during a supervised visit, I discovered that they felt the same way. So we made a pact to run and never look back. That’s how we landed at the Monroe ranch in the middle of a blizzard.”

  “And found sanctuary.”

  He managed a smile. “Yeah. A haven. To kids like us it felt like heaven. But we weren’t ready to trust Mac. I’m afraid my brothers and I put him and those sweet old men through hell before we were willing to believe Mac wasn’t going to use us either as free labor or as a punching bag. Or else send us back when he’d had enough of our smart-ass attitude. We had a lot of anger stored up, and we didn’t trust any adults.” His tone softened. “Then one day we went to court with Mary Pat and Zachariah, Roscoe and Otis, and right up to the last minute, I figured it was all a setup and we’d be sent back to juvenile detention. Then a judge declared us legally sons of Mackenzie Monroe, and Mac gave us his word that there was nothing we could ever do that would cause him to stop believing in us.”

  Finn sighed. “It’s not something I’ll ever forget. It ties with the day I called him Dad for the first time.”

  Jessie felt tears flood her eyes but refused to pull her hands free of his, leaving the tears spilling unchecked down her cheeks.