Page 24 of One Night Rodeo


  all around her.

  They’d been hauling and stacking wood for the last two hours. Day started to fade, turning the horizon the hazy purple color exclusive to a twilight winter sky. Normally it was Kyle’s favorite time of day.

  But the scenery paled in comparison to Celia. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Wearing stained Carhartt coveralls over a girly pink thermal shirt. She’d donned a neon orange Elmer Fudd hat, and pushed the earflaps out, the bill of the cap tugged down so low he could barely see her eyes. Her gloves were new and she kept tugging on them, so every once in a while he’d get a glimpse of her wrists. And his cock would pulse against his zipper.

  Which made him feel like an idiot. Celia’s wrists turned him on, for chrissake.

  “Kyle! Are you even paying attention?” she yelled.

  No, little wife of mine. I’m too busy admiring the beautiful flush on your cheeks, and the sexy way your braid swings against your ass.

  “Yes. Stop nagging me.”

  She harrumphed.

  During his next two trips to the woodshed, he decided to call it a day. Drag her inside. Fuck her until neither of them could walk. Hope that outstanding sex—lots and lots of body-rocking sex—would keep her interested in sticking around.

  Smack. Something hit him in the middle of the back. When he whirled around, a snowball hit his chest, and snow exploded in his face. He stared at her dumbfounded for a millisecond, before another blast of snow hit his forehead. “Jesus, Celia. What the hell?”

  “I’m not hauling this wood by myself, while you’re lollygagging.”

  As soon as the word lollygagging exited her mouth another snowball hit him in the neck.

  “That’s it!” Kyle bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, forming a ball as he charged her.

  Celia shrieked, and ducked to grab from the stack of snowballs she had stockpiled at her feet. When the hell had she had time to do that?

  She let fly with deadly accuracy.

  By the time Kyle was within ten feet of her, he looked like the Abominable Snowman.

  Laughing, she bobbed and weaved, taunting him, continuing to cover him in snow. She’d run out of ammo and was just flinging handfuls of snow at him.

  So she was very surprised when he dove for her feet, knocking her off balance. Celia landed on her butt. Before she could roll away, Kyle pounced on her. Immobilizing her legs, he pinned her arms above her head. Then he swept his free arm across the freshly fallen snow, spraying her face.

  “Stop!”

  “You started it.”

  While she was still sputtering death threats, he scooped up a glove full of snow and shoved it down her shirt.

  Celia screamed bloody murder, thrashing beneath him like a bull in a bucking chute. “That’s cheating!”

  “Shoulda thought of that before you declared a snow war.”

  “I was just trying to get your attention.”

  “Well, you’ve got it now.” He put his warm mouth against her cold ear.

  She writhed, attempting to squirm away while gasping for breath.

  Then Kyle put his cold nose at the base of her throat where her shoulder met her neck. He opened his mouth on that sensitive sweep of flesh and sucked.

  “Oh God. That’s not…fair.”

  Her skin was warm, but cooling from the snow melting on her chest. He growled at the taste of her sweat and the heady aroma of her damp hair. He slid down between her thighs and rocked his pelvis into hers as he feasted on her skin.

  Celia moaned as his mouth followed the collar of her shirt to the top of her coveralls. He couldn’t dip his tongue any farther and she released a frustrated groan.

  He pressed kisses along her jaw to her other ear when she arched back, offering him her throat. “I want you all the time, Celia. But fuck, I want you right now.” He licked the hollow of her throat. “Say something.”

  “You’re crushing my ribs,” she whispered.

  “Shit. Sorry.”

  As soon as he’d relaxed his hold, Celia lifted her hips, twisted her shoulders, and flipped him onto his back, using her considerable body strength to hold him down.

  Son of a bitch.

  She laughed seductively and then her mouth was on his. Feeding him such hot, openmouthed kisses he could almost forgive her for her trick.

  Almost.

  Kyle freed one arm and yanked off her hat.

  When she raised her head, he gained the advantage, hooked his leg over both of hers, and rolled her.

  But Celia was ready. They tumbled across the snow like a couple of runaway logs before coming to a stop with him on top.

  He eased back to gaze into her eyes and felt that sharp jab in his gut. Not merely lust but something primal. Helpless against that feeling, he took her mouth in a desperate kiss. Passion that’d been on simmer boiled over. Gloves flew. He unhooked the fasteners on her overalls and she attempted to pull off his coat. He rutted on her and she met each long grind of his pelvis with one of her own.

  Kyle tore his mouth from the sweet heat of hers, panting for air. “Now. Goddammit. I need you. Right. Fucking. Now.” He pushed back and unzipped his coat, flinging it aside. Next came his shirt. He popped to his feet and lifted a brow in challenge as she hesitated.

  “Strip out here in the yard? Where anyone could drive up and see us?”

  “Be adventurous, little wife of mine.” Kyle removed his boots and started on his jeans.

  Celia’s eyes were firmly on his crotch as he slid his jeans down. “I love your body, Kyle.”

  He froze because he had the vague hope she’d intended to say she loved him.

  But not another sound exited her mouth.

  Brusquely he said, “Same goes, so get up, and lemme see you. All of you.”

  “You’re hard,” she said when his briefs were off.

  His feet were freezing. He held out his hands and pulled her upright. “Take ’em off or I tear ’em off.”

  “Help me.”

  “Baby. You’re shaking,” he murmured.

  She toed her boots off and was jerking her overalls down her legs. “You do this to me. Every time you touch me.”

  “Are you wet?”

  “Besides where you shoved snow down my shirt?” She shivered after she peeled down her yoga pants. “Yes. So wet my panties will probably freeze once you rip them off me.”

  Kyle unhooked her bra, tossing it aside.

  As soon as her underwear and socks were off, he swept her into his arms and walked across the snow to the hot tub.

  Celia peppered his cheek with kisses, making needy little moans.

  He shifted his hold on her to remove the hot tub cover. Then he gently tossed her into the water.

  She hissed as her body absorbed the temperature shock.

  Kyle flipped the jets on and hopped in, taking a moment to bask in the heat and steam. When he opened his eyes, he found an owl-eyed Celia watching him.

  They stayed on opposite sides of the hot tub as the veil of night fell around them. Reflection from the snow offered the only illumination.

  When Celia started toward him, he met her halfway. As much as he ached to return to passion, he needed a moment to savor her.

  Celia seemed strangely hesitant to touch him as they faced each other on their knees.

  Kyle circled his arm around her waist, bending his head to her neck. “I love the way you taste, right here.” His tongue followed the tendon down her neck to her clavicle. “I see that trickle of sweat and I get hard. I wanna put my mouth there and catch every droplet on my tongue.”

  “Kyle.”

  “Mmm?” He nuzzled her ear and filled his lungs with her scent.

  “Fuck me. Hard and fast. Bend me over. Do me any way you want, but do me now.”

  Dirty words drifting from that angelic mouth did it for him in a bad way. “Wrap yourself around me, baby, and take me in.”

  The buoyancy of the water allowed her to hold on to his shoulder with one hand and circle his cock with
the other as she guided him inside.

  No slow start for his eager kitten. As soon as his shaft was fully seated, she pushed her body up and plunged down until his balls swung into her ass.

  Kyle groaned, loving how she’d just taken control, hating how this wouldn’t last long for either of them. Her ankles were locked beneath his buttocks and her chest brushed his in a sensual tease as water sloshed over their shoulders.

  Her wet lips skimmed his ear and he shuddered at the hot and cold sensation.

  He gritted his teeth against his instinct to push her against the edge and plow into her. Kyle reached for the side of the hot tub and held on as she gained momentum. Wrapping her braid around his hand, he tugged her head back to bare the section of skin at her throat that had become his obsession.

  The heated water kept their bodies below the surface warm but the air temp, after the sun went down, turned frigid. After lavishing attention on that wet skin, he realized his face was icy, as was hers. Kyle snared her mouth in a blistering kiss. Which increased the frenetic pace of her movements.

  “More. Harder.” Celia changed the angle of her pelvis and rode him faster, rubbing the top of her mound and that sweet little clit against his pubic hair. “So close.”

  “What will get you there?” he murmured in her ear.

  “That. Oh God. Just like that. I swear I can come just from your voice whispering in my ear.”

  “Fuckin’ sexy as hell when you tell me what’ll get you off. I’m addicted to that sound you make just before you come.”

  Celia’s nails scored the back of his neck and then she was gasping, her body rigid as her pussy spasmed around his cock.

  He was nowhere near close to coming; he greedily watched her face as the orgasm consumed her. She was so beautiful lost in passion. Until she winced.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Cramp in my right side. Oh shit. That hurts.”

  He eased out of her and unwrapped her legs from his body. “Lay back in the water. Relax and let me rub it.”

  She rested her neck against the edge. Her chest came up, her nipples constricted the instant the air hit them. Then she was floating, eyes closed, entrusting herself to him completely.

  Kyle found the knotted muscle. Celia groaned when he began to work the spot. He couldn’t take his eyes off this complex woman he’d married. There were times when she looked at him that he swore she felt the same way he did. Should he be the first one to take a chance and tell her he loved her?

  Right after she said, “That’s good, it’s gone,” he refocused on the physical pull between them. He suckled an icy nipple into the heat of his mouth, rubbed his cheek between her breasts. Then he climbed out and lifted her into his arms.

  “You c-c-an’t c-c-carry me.”

  “I am carrying you. No need for you to walk through the snow.”

  “But our c-c-clothes—”

  “Will be fine.”

  He carried her into the bathroom. After drying them both off, he led her to their bedroom. He stretched her out on her belly with a stern, “Don’t move,” as he grabbed the lube from the nightstand.

  Celia was shivering when he pulled the covers over them.

  He layered his body over hers to warm her, nestling his erection in the crack of her ass as he kissed her nape. Then his tongue inched down her spine one vertebra at a time. His fingers slid beneath her hip and stroked her slit with the same teasing motion his tongue used on her back.

  She shifted and Kyle gave her a stinging slap on her ass that made her gasp.

  “Stay still.” His mouth returned to teasing her ear. “I will touch you however I want, whenever I want, wherever I want, remember?” He slapped her other butt cheek. And then dragged her onto her knees, leaving her chest on the bed, stretching her arms above her head. Kissing the edges of her shoulder blades. Her skin had retained the warmth from the hot tub. Every section was so soft. Had he ever been obsessed with any woman’s body the way he was obsessed with hers?

  No. Celia was an absolute feast for his senses and he wanted to gorge himself on her. Two, three, ten times a day. Every day. For the rest of his life.

  Grabbing the bottle of lube, he poured a generous amount on his fingers and gently inserted them into her pussy. His needs teetered between tenderness and roughness—wanting to spread her and impale her, but the thought of hurting her in a moment of lust-fueled haste made him slow down.

  He slicked up his cock, circled the tip around her opening and slid home.

  Celia sighed.

  Kyle watched his cock tunneling into her pussy. Felt the intimate kiss when those inner muscles tightened around his dick. He layered his body over hers, absorbing her every reaction. His chest against her back made her arch closer. His face nestled in her nape sent gooseflesh cascading across her skin. His hands slid up her arms until he threaded his fingers through hers. “Hold on.” He eased out and slammed in.

  Celia groaned. “Kyle. That feels…”

  “For me too.” They both loved the quick pace, but he wanted something else for them this time. “I can’t hold off any longer,” he panted, stopping completely.

  “Don’t stop. Please.”

  “I wanna come like this. Us touching from head to toe.” Kyle barely pumped his hips. Everything slowed down, but that somehow increased the intensity of their connection.

  She turned her head toward his mouth. Their kisses were as languid as the movement of his body on hers, and just as hot. Celia came in a series of strong pulses that left her gasping his name.

  That pushed him over the brink and he spiraled into bliss. His orgasm triggered something inside him besides a burst of physical pleasure. And he mumbled, “Christ. I love you.”

  A beat of silence passed. “Kyle? What was that noise you just made?”

  Afraid she might attribute his declaration of love to hot sex, he lied. “Crap. I have a butt cramp.”

  She laughed. “We’re gonna wear out our body parts if we keep this up, Kyle.”

  “That’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “There are a lot of people here for this baby shower,” Celia said to Kyle as they pulled into the nearly full parking area at the Split Rock.

  “You sure there’s not a ball game goin’ on in the lounge?”

  “You wish. But there will be plenty of games to keep you entertained.” She gave him a smug smile.

  “I don’t like that look, Celia.”

  Baby-shower virgin Kyle was in for an interesting afternoon.

  Lainie burst outside as soon as they cleared the front steps. “Oh, good, you’re here. Let me take that.” She snatched the baby gift bag from Celia’s hand. “We’re running a little behind.” She pushed open the massive doors and paused in the slate-floored foyer. “Hand me your coats. Stay right here. I’ll be right back to show you to the dining room.” She disappeared around the corner.

  Celia and Kyle exchanged a look. “Did she forget we know where the dining room is?”

  He shrugged. “You’re the baby shower expert.” He invaded her space and stole a kiss. “How long will this shindig last?”

  “A couple of hours probably. Why?”

  “Because I’ve got plans for you.” He tipped her head back to nibble on her throat. “Naked plans.”

  A wave of want washed over her.

  “Goddamn, I love that sexy little noise you make when you’re turned on.”

  “I make it a lot around you.”

  “I know. Means I’m doin’ a great job with my husbandly duties.”