Sharp Shootin' Cowboy Read online

  The moment she reached that brink, when her body signaled the onset of orgasm, tensing in his hands and under his mouth, he backed off again. “Don’t stop now. Please, Reid,” she sobbed. “Don’t. Stop.”

  “No need to fret, sweetheart. I’m gonna give you what you want…what we both want.”

  He rose and wiped her juices from his mouth with his own trembling hand before finally claiming her lips with a ravenous kiss. She met him eagerly, moaning as their tongues met and tangled, engaging in a frantic thrust and retreat. She hooked her leg over his hip, grinding herself against him with a needy sound.

  Her hands moved feverishly over his chest, tearing at his shirt buttons. She moved south then, toward his crotch, fumbling for his zipper. “Please, Reid,” she pleaded. “I need you inside me. You don’t know how long it’s been.”

  “I know damned well,” he growled. His need was almost blinding. He could hardly think beyond it, but he still held himself in tight check. He reminded himself how it had been before. Five years ago, he’d taken it slow and easy, treating her like a skittish colt, only to have her lay waste to him. He’d tried to win her heart, only to be left with a gaping hole in his—a hole that had never quite healed. He refused to let it play out like that again.

  He clasped her wrists behind her and backed her toward the bed. He’d pleasure her with his mouth. He’d screw her senseless, but no way in hell was he gonna lose himself in her again.

  “Turn around,” he commanded. “I want you from behind. I want to watch as I enter you. I want to see myself inside you.” He bent her across the bed, shoved a pillow under her belly, and then angled her hips. She raised her ass to him in readiness and looked over her shoulder with a needy sound that was almost his undoing. He shuddered with a rampant wave of raw lust and prayed he wouldn’t explode the second he penetrated her.

  Too impatient even to remove his clothes, he quickly unzipped and peeled his jeans off his hips only far enough to release his throbbing dick. Fisting his length, he gloved himself in latex with his gaze locked the whole time on that sweet, beckoning ass. God, he loved the curve of it.

  He shut his eyes on a hiss as he guided himself into her wetness. Circling and probing, he teased until she squirmed, rubbing herself along his length. His lungs burned with the effort of restraint, as he penetrated by slow, agonizing inches, stopping only when he was seated to the root. He exhaled in a long rush, his cock pulsing in time with his own pounding heart. He began to move, slowly and deliberately. His balls ached like hell, but he was determined not to lose it.

  She rocked her hips into him with another needy cry.

  “You want more?” he ground out through his teeth, still fighting the primal instinct to ram repeatedly into her.

  “I love how you feel inside me, Reid. Please don’t hold back. Give me all of you.”

  His restraint snapped. He withdrew and thrust. Hard. She met his thrust with a cry of pleasure. Squeezing her hips, he plunged in and out. Short jabs. Long stabs. Deeper. Faster. His mind locked. His vision blurred. His pulse roared as he pumped in a mad, manic frenzy.

  * * *

  This Reid wasn’t the warm and tender lover she remembered from so long ago, the one who’d first taught her pleasure. This version of him was more controlling and almost dangerous, and his carnal ravaging told her that the lessons were far from over. Filling and stretching her almost to capacity, he thrust with nearly brutal strokes. It was a feral, almost illicit coupling, but still not wrong. Sweet Jesus. Anything but wrong.

  It felt so good. How his body fit hers.

  The air surrounding them filled with their mingled moans, strangled gasps, and the sound of slapping flesh. Her world contracted and closed around her until nothing existed beyond the marrow-penetrating pleasure of his pistoning hips.

  Her climax came hard and fast, ripping through her until she clawed the sheet and bit into the pillow to stifle her cry. His release was almost simultaneous, hitting the moment her core began squeezing him in orgasmic spasms. He muffled his own groan as he came, collapsing against her back with his sweat-coated chest, his panting breaths hot and humid on her neck. After a moment, he nipped her earlobe and withdrew.

  Senseless and satiated, she rolled onto her back, watching him disappear into the bathroom. She shut her eyes on a satisfied sigh, wondering how long it would be before they could do it all over again.

  * * *

  Hours later, Haley shivered and grabbed for the covers, only to realize she’d never crawled beneath them. She opened her eyes to a darkened room. Had she really fallen asleep?

  “Reid?” She sat up and called out to no answer.

  Her gaze darted over the room. Had he left her without a word? Her stomach tightened as her mind raced over the past few hours. Although he’d defended her earlier, he’d said he wasn’t on her side. Had she been wrong to trust him? Was this whole night an act of revenge for the license suspension? Had he purposely set her up in order to destroy her reputation? Her credibility?

  She clutched the sheet to her breasts as fear and shame hit her in a nauseating wave. She’d have to face them all tomorrow. Would they all know? Was he even now giving the outfitters a blow-by-blow account of how he’d done Dr. Haley Cooper? And how she’d begged him for more?

  Dear God. A shower. She desperately needed a shower.

  After that, she’d pack her stuff and drive back to Cheyenne. It was cowardly to slink away, but she refused to let him humiliate her in front of all her colleagues. She cursed him with angry tears streaming down her face, ferociously scrubbing her body, only to get soap in her eyes. She then cursed herself. How could she have been so naive? So stupid?

  She shut off the water, grabbed a towel, and proceeded to rub her skin raw. Although cleaner, she didn’t feel any better. She raked a comb through her tangles and stared at the hair dryer, remembering their first weekend at Coronado Island and his silly obsession with her hair. She’d never known anyone like him, but he was so different now. Not just older but jaded, hardened, and cynical—so different from the man she’d knowingly hurt five years ago.

  Her throat went raw, and her eyes burned all over again. She plugged in the dryer, but then froze at the sound of voices coming from the bedroom. The television? But she hadn’t turned it on.

  Wrapping herself in a towel, Haley cracked the bathroom door and peeked out. Her heart leaped into her throat at the sight of Reid, sprawled full length on the bed, a pizza box on his lap and a beer in his hand. He was back. All her fears were unfounded. Hit by a tsunami of relief, she shut her eyes and slumped against the wall.

  * * *

  Reid glanced up to find Haley standing in the doorway with arms folded. “You left without a word,” she accused.

  “You were sleeping, and I was starving.” He flashed a grin. “Strenuous activity tends to do that to a man. I got pizza. Want some?”

  Her stomach answered with an unmistakable growl.

  Her gaze flickered to the box. “What kind did you get?”

  “This one’s everything meat.”

  She curled her lip.

  He pointed to a second box sitting on the table. “I got you the veggie special. I thought you might be hungry too when you finally woke up.”

  “Thank you.” She softened. “That was very thoughtful.”

  “There’s mineral water too, unless you’d like a beer.”

  “Sounds great. I love beer with pizza.” She grabbed a slice from the second box, a bottle of Coors, and joined him on the bed, settling back against the stack of pillows. She still wore only the towel. Not that he minded. “What are you watching?” she asked.

  “X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It’s part of a marathon.” He reached for the remote to turn it off.

  “Don’t.” She stayed his hand. “I love X-Men.”

  Reid did a double take. “You’re kidding.”


  “Why so surprised?” She took a bite of pizza. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

  “True enough. But I never would have figured you for a Marvel Comics fan.”

  She grinned. “What’s not to love about mutants?”

  He studied her for a long moment and shook his head. “Nope. I’m still not buying this, Haley.”

  “Why? You think girls only watch Disney movies and read Harlequin romances?”

  “That’s what my sisters did.”

  “I’m not like your sisters.”

  “That’s for sure. All right then,” he quizzed, “which is your favorite of the X-Men?”

  “Mystique,” she blurted without a beat. “She has way better mutant powers than any of the rest. I always wanted to be her. She’s so cool.”

  “She’s blue.”

  “But she can turn into anyone. I always wanted to be able to do that.” She took another bite of pizza. “Shape-shifting kicks ass, Reid.”

  “You think so? Who did you want to turn into?”

  “When I was young? Anyone but me,” she replied softly.

  He digested that tidbit.

  She handed him her bottle. “Would you open this for me, please?”

  He popped the top with a thumb and handed it back to her.

  “I’ve never seen anyone do that before.”

  He smirked. “My mutant power. It’s pretty lame.”

  She covered her mouth on a laugh. “So who did you wanna be?”

  “I wasn’t a big fan of X-Men.”

  “No?” She sat back and squinted at him. “Wait! I know. You’re an Avenger, aren’t you? Captain America, right?” She giggled. “You are totally Captain America, Reid. I can so picture you in his costume too. You’d look incredibly hot in it.”

  He gave a derisive snort. “Given a choice, I’d much rather be Cyclops so I could nail Emma Frost. For the record, you’d be smoking in her costume too. Gotta love all that white lingerie.”

  It was all too easy to imagine. She leaned forward to adjust the pillows and her towel slipped, revealing a hint of dusky areola. His prick reacted instantly. His interest in the movie quickly waning, he reached once more for the remote.

  She gripped his hand. “Wait just a sec. This is the good part. Wolverine’s about to make his big buck-naked escape. Do you think he used a stunt double? Or did Hugh Jackman really streak for the entire world?”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care.” Reid shrugged and clicked it off.

  “A lot of them do that you know. Use body doubles. You happen to be a particularly fine specimen of Homo sapien. You should go to Hollywood, Reid. You could make a fortune as a booty double.”

  He scowled at her. “You’ve been ogling my ass?”

  “Well, yeah.” She grinned. “It’s an exceptionally nice one. Women like butts. A lot. Did you know that? Most females are attracted to men with blue eyes and firm, shapely buttocks. So that makes you two for two.”

  “Do you make a habit of studying male anatomy?”

  “No. But yours just happens to be very hard not to notice. Since we’re on the subject”—she pushed the empty pizza box onto the floor and peeled away her towel—“there’re parts of you that most definitely merit closer study.” She straddled him and wet her lips.

  Every ounce of blood rushed to his groin.

  She leaned forward until her nipples brushed his chest, then moved up his neck, licking, sucking, and then biting his earlobe, sending a dizzying jolt of sensation surging through him. She reached for his belt but struggled a bit with his zipper. He was already fully erect.

  “Lift your hips, Reid.”

  He complied with gritted teeth. He’d sworn he was going to stay in control, but he ached to be inside her mouth. He wanted it down to his marrow, but there was no way in hell he’d be able to keep it together once she wrapped her lips around him.

  Shit, Everett! You are fucking screwed.

  She jerked his jeans to his knees and then began working down his body with her mouth, kissing, licking, teasing, and seducing him with her lips and tongue.

  He shut his eyes as his only defense, but that just seemed to magnify the sensations—her warm, wet tongue, her teeth on his nipples, his erection nestling in the valley between her breasts, her hands caressing his chest and thighs as she laved around his navel with her tongue. She moved lower until she was sprawled out over his thighs.

  His anticipation ramped to a whole new level with the moist, hot caress of her breath over his prick. He shuddered at the first warm, wet rasp of her tongue that explored his balls while she wrapped her hand around him. She slid it slowly up and down his shaft as she kissed his head and then circled her hot tongue around his glans, probing the slit and then teasing the hell out of him with flicks and darts.

  He groaned and squeezed his eyes even tighter. Don’t look, asshole. If she even glances up at you while sucking you off, you’re a fucking goner.

  “Tell me what you like, Reid. I want this to be good for you.”

  He made the fatal error of opening his eyes—straight into hers, all deep green and soft, shadowed behind the lock of pale blonde hair that had fallen in her face. He homed in on her lips, moist, swollen, and smiling shyly at him. The erotic vision squeezed all the air out of his lungs in a brutal gush. Good? He was already out of his fucking mind. He knew he’d last about five seconds once she started sucking. His heart slammed against his chest. He’d thought he could control this. Who was he kidding? He’d never stopped wanting her. And the more he got, the more he wanted. But he wanted more than animal sex.

  “Come here.” He reached for her.

  She drew back with a taunting grin. “Nope. Not yet. It’s your turn to suffer now. Turnabout is fair play, Reid.”

  “This isn’t a contest,” he said.

  “Is that a complaint?” she teased. “Are you offended at the thought of being used for hot sex?”

  “Not at all.” His pulse raced, but he kept his tone passive. “As long as I’m calling the shots.” He cupped her head and dragged her back up his body. Flipping her onto her back, he caged her beneath him.

  “What are you doing, Reid? What are you trying to prove?”

  “Why are you with me?” he demanded.

  “You know why,” she answered, panting beneath him.

  “Is this only about sex for you?”

  “If we’re both getting what we want, what’s wrong with that?”

  “I don’t know why the hell you showed up here when you did, but I’m taking it as a sign.”

  “A sign? What are you saying?”

  “I knew what I wanted back then, and I haven’t changed my mind. This is more than just a fuck to me, Haley.”

  Her brows pulled together in a scowl. “Do you think you own me just because we’ve slept together?”

  “I don’t recall any sleeping. I don’t sleep. Haven’t in years.”

  “You know what I meant,” she snapped.

  “It’s real simple, Haley. I need to know if it is gonna be just you and me from here on out.”

  “Don’t be such a caveman, Reid. It’s not a crime to want to enjoy sex without any attachments.”

  “Not what I needed to hear.” He rose from the bed, snatched up his shirt, and jerked on his jeans.

  “You’re leaving? Why? I don’t understand this. What do you want from me?”

  “Same thing I wanted five years ago—for us to be together. If you don’t want it too, I’m not wasting any more time. Now I’m gonna ask you again. Why are you with me? What do you really want?” His gaze bored into hers, searching for the answer as his emotions made war inside him. He’d tried to deny it, but it was no good. He still had feelings for this perplexing woman. But he’d be damned if he’d let her tromp on his heart again.

  She looked away. �
�I’m not ready for this kind of conversation, Reid. Why are you pushing me like this?”

  “Because I’ve already sacrificed too much. I need to get on with my life. If you don’t want to be a part of that, we’re already done.” He flung his arms into his shirt and stomped into his boots. “I’ll pick you up in the morning. Introduce you around. You’ll have an easier time of it.”

  “No need to trouble yourself on my behalf,” she said, choking back tears.

  He stiffened against the sudden urge to go back to her, to take her into his arms. Instead, he reached for his hat. “It’s the least I could do to repay you for the fuck.”

  * * *

  Trying to tune out her own thoughts, Haley turned on the television. The original X-Men was playing now. She muted the sound and stared at the screen with burning eyes, seeing nothing. She still couldn’t believe he had walked out on her like that. How could he?

  And why the hell had she taken up with him again? Was it gratitude because he’d helped her out of a fix? Or just sheer sexual frustration from months of abstinence? Maybe it was a combination of both, but if that was really all there was, why did she have this hollow ache in her chest? Once more, a night with him had turned her inside out.

  She’d left California believing that a return to fieldwork was the answer, but she hadn’t counted on Reid. How could she stay here now knowing she’d continue to run into him? Sure, she could try to avoid him, but he was an area outfitter. It was inevitable that their paths would eventually cross again. Was this whole move to Wyoming a huge mistake?

  Her instincts screamed to pack up and go back to California, where she could go to a restaurant and order edamame. Where she lectured for people who smiled back and wrote big checks. She wanted to return to the place where people understood her and didn’t challenge her; the place where she was comfortable. Where she belonged—the place where she’d become disillusioned…complacent…and bored.