I must have fallen asleep despite the caffeine, but at some point in the early morning, I was woken up by the sound of the zipper of my sleeping bag sliding open and to cold hands rubbing briskly over the skin under my shirt. I blinked my eyes and tried to get them to adjust to the dim light but all I could see were gray eyes looking back at me and the slash of that heart-stopping smile daring me to take a chance.
“What are you doing? Where’s Em?” The tent was too small for three of us, it was barely big enough for him to stretch out all the way, which he did . . . on top of me. His hands found my unrestrained breasts under the soft fabric of my long sleeved T-shirt and I bit down on my lip to keep the strangled sound that lodged in my throat back as he squeezed the plump weight and then brushed his fingers over the rounded sides.
“Sutton showed up a half hour ago. Ran right into camp because he was following the river the whole way to where he thought we would be. Lane’s taking over the watch and Em was helping Sutton get his horse settled. She said she couldn’t sleep so she was going to head to the river and try and catch some fish for lunch since our plans have changed and we won’t be stopping as many times for the rest of the ride. One of my brothers will go down to the water with her.” His nose nuzzled into the side of my neck and it made me shiver. He was cold and blazing hot at the same time. “If they fight over who gets to go with her then we have a problem.”
The hand caressing the side of my breast moved so that his palm was rubbing slow, agonizing circles over my nipple. The peak pulled tight and poked enthusiastically into his touch.
“Do they do that? Fight over the same girl?” The words were breathy and broken as his teeth dipped into the collar of my shirt and started to nibble on the side of my neck. I shifted my legs restlessly under the weight of his, which had him grinding his hips into the cradle of mine. There was a bulge behind his zipper that refused to be ignored.
“Not usually, but your girl is a stunner and knows how to handle a rod and a reel. That makes her something worth fighting over around these parts.” His teeth dragged down the entire side of my neck as I leaned to the side to give him room. He nipped languidly at the pulse throbbing and ready at the base of my throat and pulled his hand out from underneath my shirt so he could work on getting the barrier off over my head. I put my hands around his wrists to still him.
“Em could be back any minute.” And while she had gotten a basic rundown she didn’t need to walk in and get an eyeful of everything Cy was working with.
“She’s not gonna interrupt. She knew I was headed your way and your girl has your back.” He chuckled and I felt it move all the way across my skin. “And my brothers know better. Not much in life I take for myself, so when I find something I want, they don’t get in the way of it. It’s too early for anyone else to be up yet so be quiet . . . or don’t. I don’t give a shit either way.”
“You want me.” It wasn’t a question because the answer was clear in his shimmery eyes. I exhaled and curled my fingers into the strong tendon on the back of his neck as he started to tug on the waistband of the soft sleep pants that hardly kept the heat coming off of his erection from scorching my skin. Once I was naked and sprawled underneath him he reared up and began working on his own clothes. He shrugged his black Henley off with an impatient jerk while I tackled his belt and getting his jeans out of the way of that impressive arousal. Somehow, we twisted and ended up with him half-dressed and trapped below me while I ran little kisses all over his chest and across his defined abdominals. It was like sitting on top of a stone statue but his cock felt like velvet and silk where it pressed into the apex of my legs. I moved myself lower down his torso, intent on having all that hard in my mouth.
I practically snarled his name when he diverted me from my very pleasurable task and pulled me back up his body so that he could plant a searing kiss on my pouting lips. He ran his hands up and down my sides while looking up at me from under lowered brows.
“We gotta ride out in just a few hours and I need to get some sleep. There isn’t time to play those kinds of games, as much as I’d love nothing more.”
I lifted an eyebrow at him and reached down to put my hands on the strong well of his pecs. I loved the way the light dusting of his chest hair felt under my palms.
“Your cock in my mouth is a game?” I was teasing him but I could see that he did look tired and his fleeting smile was gone.
“Sure, because once you get me off then I have to make sure I get you off even better and even longer. Then once I’ve recovered from having your mouth around my cock, I’ll fuck you until neither of us can see straight. I could get off just thinking about your mouth on my dick . . . in fact, I did. You were there for it.”
The image of him handling the pulsing cock I was perched over made my insides clench and my mouth water. He was the sexiest thing ever and he was mine for the taking.
“You want me to give you a goodnight kiss and leave you alone?” I figured he had more involved plans since he was the one who stripped me out of my clothes and woke me up with wandering hands and an impatient cock.
That smile that was brighter than the sun on a perfect day moved across his face. It was devastating. “No. I want you to climb on my cock and ride it hard and wild. Fuck me stupid and fuck me fast. I want you to turn us both inside out, and when you’re done then you can give me a goodnight kiss.” His hands squeezed the flesh at my hips and urged me lift up so that his tapered tip could run through folds that were already warm and wanting. I was slick and ready as his shaft glided through the valley and knocked into my anxious clit. The little tap made me jolt on top of him. He gave me a knowing smirk and repeated the motion until his cock was shiny and covered in the liquid desire rushing to meet him.
I clamped my knees to the side of his hips and reached between us to capture him, rising up enough that I could line him up with my entrance. His eyes watched me with hungry anticipation and I started to lower myself down the ridged shaft. I loved the way my body had to adjust to him. I knew he was there, that he was making a place for himself inside of me. The stretch felt hedonistic and erotic. It was another way he made me burn.
He wanted me to fuck him fast but I had to take my time getting him where we both wanted him to be. That glide down his erection felt like it took forever. Agonizing minutes while I clenched around him and squeezed him tight. When he was inside of me my body didn’t want him to go. I was trying to hold on and the torture of it made him sweat and had his chest rising and falling at a crazy rapid pace as he waited for me make my next move.
Perched on top of him, I leaned forward and put my lips on his as I began to do what he told me to do. I rode him hard and I rode him wild. I rocked my hips back and forth in a frenzied pace and lifted myself up and down in a rhythm that had us both breathing fast. I was leaning on his chest, fingers digging into muscles hard enough to leave marks in his dusky skin. My hair fell around us in curly copper waves that Cy seemed to love.
“So, fucking hot, Leo. I haven’t been this warm in years. You really are sunshine.”
His words made me move even faster and I tossed my head back as he hit a spot that I didn’t even know I had. I was trying to stay quiet so I swallowed a moan and had to bite the tip of my tongue when his hand was back at my breast while his other one moved to where we were joined. His thumb hit my clit with sniper-like precision and began to do a circular dance that had pleasure curling low at the base of my spine and spiraling outward in shivery waves.
“This pussy was made for me.” He said the words with confidence and assurance. Maybe he was right. No one filled it or made it feel as important and essential as he did. He made me hyperaware of how female I was next to all his masculinity. He also made me ridiculously aware of how powerful all that femininity was.
I put a hand over the bare nipple that he wasn’t tugging on and rubbed the soft point with a much lighter touch than he was using. The opposing stimulation had my head spinning and body spasming in delight. We
were melting together, pooling into nothing more than puddles of passion and lust.
It was totally frantic and furious. The entire tent was moving around us and I couldn’t keep the soft noises of gratification from squeaking out. It was indulgent and gluttonous the way we took from each other. There wasn’t enough time or space for us to get everything we wanted but we made a valiant effort.
His hand left my aching breast and traveled up to my throat. He didn’t squeeze it like he did before. He simply put his thumb over my pulse and lightly brushed it. It was a soft touch, one I barely felt but it was a touch that spoke volumes. He was putting his hands on my heart in a very literal sense and getting off on the way he made it react with his body and his words. He pulled me closer so that his lips could feather across mine.
“So close, Sunshine. Give me all you got and break us both.” The veins on the side of his neck bulged and his eyes practically glowed silver in the dim morning light.
I didn’t want to break us. I wanted to fix us so that maybe there was a way for us to walk away from this fire unscathed instead of scarred.
I pulled away from his challenging tongue and nipping teeth. I arched my back and managed to get into a position where I could keep up my rise and descent and still reach behind me so I could snake a hand between his slightly spread legs. His eyebrows shot up as I worked my hand between the fabric still twined around his hips and got to the cushiony globes between his legs that were drawn tight with pleasure.
It only took a little caress, the slightest scrape of my nails over the sensitive surface to have him lose his mind. He snarled my name, wrapped an arm around my waist and rolled us so that he was over the top of me and pounding into me like he was trying to drive us both into the ground. Skin slapped together, pelvises hit hard enough to bruise, and my body went wet and loose as his kicked rock hard and ready.
His face blurred above me as his head bowed back and his neck tightened. The biceps braced on either side of my head quivered and his nostrils flared. It was primal and so goddamn hot that I orgasmed just from watching him hit his release. Pride chased pleasure and desire from my head to my toes. I made him look that shattered and satisfied. I made him look that soft and replete. I wasn’t sure if that was what broken was supposed to look like, but if it was, it looked a lot like love.
I whimpered and shook my way through my own climax with his name on my lips and his body surrounding mine, inside and out. It was brilliant and unforgettable.
He lowered himself so that he was lying over me like a gigantic, muscular blanket and rubbed his bristly cheek against mine. We were still joined in a way that felt unbreakable, and he ran a hand down my thigh and lifted it to rest on his hip. I used my foot to help him get his pants the rest of the way off and caressed his spine as he yawned loudly in my ear.
“I’m ready for that kiss.” Sleepy humor colored his tone so I turned my head and met his lips with my own.
“Let me up and I’ll let you sleep.” His arms tightened around me and his scruff scraped my skin as he shook his head in the negative.
“Not letting you go.” His eyes were closed and he was already breathing slower.
I sighed and wrapped my arms across his wide shoulders. “You want me.” I still couldn’t fully absorb the full impact of how much that meant to me.
He let out a long breath and kissed my temple. “I deserve you. I deserve the way you make me feel even if it’s only temporary. Stay with me for a little bit. We don’t have a lot of time.”
The reminder killed but it also settled me into a more comfortable position in his arms when he turned us on our sides as the sorrow for everything I would leave behind hung over me like a rain cloud. Sex with Cy didn’t break me; it made me feel whole and renewed.
I wiggled away from Cy an hour later when his grasp finally loosened and his arms went limp around me. It took some effort to get dressed without bumping into him, especially considering he took up the majority of the space, but I managed even with my weak wrist. I made my way over to where the morning fire was already going with a pot of coffee resting on the coals. Sutton stood on one side and Em sat on the other. They didn’t seem to be talking to each other but it was obvious something awkward was going on. Very interesting. It was something I was going to ask her about. When I finally reached them, whatever sexual, tension-filled vortex they were locked in broke.
Em gave me a quick grin and Sutton greeted me with a lifted cup and his typical scowl. Em offered me a cup of coffee and brushed her shoulder against mine as I sat down next to her.
“You look . . . well rested.”
I rolled my eyes at her but couldn’t hold back a grin, a grin that died when Sutton muttered, “Another vacation fling that’s going to crash and burn. I keep waiting for him to find a woman who might actually stick around.”
I cocked my head to the side and considered him for a long minute. “Maybe he purposely picks women who can’t stay because he doesn’t want a repeat of what happened with his wife. When you know the other person has to leave it hurts less watching them go.”
The coffee cup in his hand lowered and his brows lowered. “He told you about Selah?”
I nodded but didn’t get into any more detail as he continued to watch me, speculation and curiosity clear in his leafy green eyes, because Em turned to me with wide eyes and told me, “Sutton said that while he was in town picking up his daughter he heard a rumor that the park rangers pulled a body out of the river a few weeks ago.”
I looked back at Sutton who shrugged. “I took Daye to the Big Horn, one of the only restaurants in Sheridan, and while we were having dinner, no less than five people stopped by the table to ask if I’d heard about the body. The ranch is far enough out of the city we usually miss all that kind of gossip and talk unless the guests bring it with them. I assumed it was a hiker who got turned around and lost or a kayaker who got into a bad part of the river. Rodie Collins, who just happens to be with the sheriff’s office, mentioned that the body had bullet holes in it.” He grunted. “Not appropriate dinner conversation for a five-year-old but we don’t usually have violent crime like that around here. I think he was excited to actually have a crime to solve. He said they couldn’t identify the guy but they’ve been working on it.”
I pushed some of my hair off my face and frowned. “When Boss bolted through the woods we stumbled into a massive pot farm cleared out in the middle of the trees. Cy thinks the people who put it there are the ones doing their best to get us to move on in a different direction. I wouldn’t be surprised if that dead body and hidden drug fields go hand in hand.”
“Probably, which means whoever wants to keep people away isn’t afraid of using violence to keep their grow site safe. We need to get a move on it so you guys are out of the line of fire and we can get you someplace more controlled.” Those were almost Cy’s exact words, which meant the middle Warner brother also thought this was a situation that could quickly get out of hand.
Shivering, I ran my hands over my arms and inclined my head toward the tent. “Cy was up all night, give him another hour to sleep and then we’ll go. We should get everyone else up and fed so that we can hit the trail as soon as he gets up.”
Finally, the harsh expression on Sutton’s ridiculously handsome face lifted. His lips quirked up in a sideways grin and I heard Em suck in a breath next to me. The Warner men were hard to resist, that was a fact.
Emrys and I finished our coffee and then made our way around the camp shaking tents and getting everyone up and ready to go for the day. The rest of the group grumbled about the ridiculous hour, but by the time Cy finally made his appearance looking rumpled and still tired, the horses were packed and ready to go, minus my tent. Lane shoved a granola bar at his brother while they discussed the best course of action to get us all back to the ranch.
Em and I were working on getting the fire out and properly covered when the first pops sounded. I wasn’t really sure what was happening but all of a sudden the hors
es were freaking out, rearing up on their hind legs, neighing loudly as they pulled at the tethers holding them in place. Evan screamed and wrapped her arms over her head as her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the closest tree away from the wide open riverbank we were camped on. The girl’s father took a flying leap to land behind a tent while everyone else scrambled to find safety.
Sutton dove across the fire pit and took Em down to the ground. They rolled when he hit her and he made sure to keep her covered as more loud shots filled the air, sending pieces of earth chunks of bark flying as bullets pinged and popped all around us. Cy grabbed my arm and pulled me with him as he bolted for the tree line, as well. Lane was hot on our heels pushing Evan’s little brother in front of him, stopping and pulling the young boy up when he stumbled.
The two men stood in the center of camp while Sutton barked at them to take cover. The older one ignored him while the younger one dashed to his horse. He struggled to dig something out of the pack hanging on the side while the horse tugged and pulled to get free in its panic. The older man seemed to be scanning the dense forest line in search of where the shots were coming from, unconcerned about the bullets zipping past him. The gunshots continued to pepper the open camp but I was more alarmed with the fact that something warm and viscous was sliding down Cy’s arm and over my fingers where I held him as he kept me trapped between his body and the trunk of a large pine tree.
“What the fuck is that idiot doing?” The words were growled in my ear as more of his weight pressed into me. I craned my neck as far as I could to see what Cy was swearing about.
Webb and Grady were both standing in the center of the temporary camp, now armed and returning fire at the invisible assailants. The sound of gunfire was deafening as it echoed off of rocks and trees. I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed as close to Cy as I could. I tried not to worry too much about the blood dripping over my fingers since he didn’t seem overly bothered by it. I became startlingly aware that although this man seemed impenetrable, he wasn’t actually bulletproof.