Cowboy Secret (The Dalton Boys Book 4) (10 page)

She thrust her arms over the fence to take the baby.

Beck eyed her with a grin. “You have a bigger chance of falling with him walking back to the house in those heels.”

“Shut up. I’ve had a long, hard day and I’m not in the mood for your jokes. Are you ever serious?”

His smile fell away. “I can be, but life’s short. Now quit taking out your frustrations on me and tell me about your job hunt.”

Her big brown eyes were far from soft and doe-like. Right now they held enough gunpowder to blow a man off the face of the earth.

Beck opened the gate and passed through. After shutting it behind him, he took Sabrina by the arm and led her to the house. Once she was more stable on her heels, he passed Owen into her arms.

With a small noise of relief, she burrowed her nose against his baby skull. “I missed you today.”

Owen cooed and Beck wished he were the one getting sweet words from the woman. He wasn’t in the mood to put up with a tongue-lashing, especially when she still wore that knee-skimming skirt and the top that conformed to her round breasts.

Heat started to build in his groin and he was powerless to stop it.

Sabrina turned to him. Their gazes met. She opened her mouth to say something sassy, and he couldn’t let that happen.

He dipped his head and claimed her mouth. A puff of anger left her, and he bit her lower lip, tugging lightly. Between them, Owen babbled. Sabrina swayed near.

Beck tipped his head to the side and sank his tongue between her lips. Sweet essence of female filled his mind—stole it, more like. She’d had a hard day and all he wanted to do was make it better.

As he plundered her mouth, he pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist. When he felt the tip of her tongue touch his, they shared a primal growl.

The sound of footsteps barely registered until Kade said, “Oh shit. Pardon me.”

Beck ripped his mouth free. “Here, take the baby.” He thrust Owen into his brother’s arms. Then he sagged to hook Sabrina under the knees. In fifteen steps they reached the staircase. Another ten and he kicked open her bedroom door.

“Leave the pieces, Beck!” Kade’s laugh followed them.

Ignoring his brother and the fact that his parents were downstairs probably totally aware of what he was doing, Beck fell onto the mattress with her.

For a long second, their gazes held. Then she did something totally unexpected.

She locked her arms around him and pulled him down.

Dark need twisted him in knots. As he plunged his tongue into her mouth, he used a knee to part her thighs. When he gripped her bare legs and opened her to cradle his hips, he bit off a groan. She tasted so damn good. Felt so right. Why couldn’t they make this work? Convincing her that he wasn’t an incompetent father and all around shitty person wouldn’t be easy, but now that he knew what was needed, he’d do his best at it.

He rocked his hips, his aching erection angled right at her pussy. “You’re driving me crazy in this little skirt.”

She pressed urgent kisses down his neck, but he couldn’t hold back. He had to taste her.

When he slithered down her body, kissing her cleavage and around the outer curve of her breast, she seemed to stop breathing. His heart slammed his ribs and his cock battered his fly. He needed her like a gallop across the fields at dawn. Like the sweet air after a rain.

He tugged up her top and made a lap with his tongue around her bellybutton. Then he threw up her skirt and buried his face between her thighs.

As he rested his nose along the seam of her pussy, he dragged in a deep breath. Maybe that rain-scented air wasn’t so good after all. She quivered as he used his tongue to ease under the elastic of her panties. When he skimmed her pussy lip with his tongue, she cried out.

“Shhh.” He pulled the crotch of her panties aside and opened his mouth over her pussy. Wet. Juicy for him. His cock throbbed and he closed his eyes to hold in the bliss of the moment.

She bucked upward. He licked a path up to her hardened nubbin. Too well he recalled how crazy she went when he found the knot of nerves. He looked up the length of her body to her beautiful face and swirled his tongue exactly where she needed it most.

“Oh God,” she gasped.

He rumbled a reply and threw himself into loving her. Tasting her arousal, his own need hammering him. But he could wait. He wanted to make her come several times before he took his ease.

Passion flowed from his lips and tongue. She fisted her hands in his hair and with a shock he realized he had no idea where his hat had gone. He sank his index finger deep into her pussy.

The inner walls clamped around him, raising a fire so hot he’d never be able to douse it. He fucking loved her. He wanted her in a forever way, and he was damn well going to make her see him for who he really was.

Her pussy contracted and her inner thighs quivered. He ran his tongue around and around her straining clit.

When she burst, he closed his eyes and felt her release pulsating up his arm and shoulder and down into his chest. Elation filled his soul.

He licked her softly, bringing her down as small squeaks left her. When he moved up her body to kiss her, he found that soft look he craved.

“If you tell me you don’t want this, I’ll stop. But you need to say it now before I lose control,” he panted.

She searched his eyes for so long, he knew her answer several heartbeats before she said it. “I’m not sure, Beck. I want you so bad, but…is this right for us? For our son?”

He rolled off her. What an ass he was. Taking advantage of her vulnerability. He didn’t want her to ever think she needed to give out for room and board.

“Beck.”

He sighed.

Tipping onto one hip, she threw a leg over him. His cock surged in response, but he couldn’t do this. Gently he took her by the upper arms and placed her on her back again.

“No, honey bun. Not this way. I want you unlike I’ve ever wanted anyone in my life, but you have to know why.”

Confusion moved behind her eyes but damn if her lips didn’t look as if she’d been biting them. He counted to ten before he spoke.

“I want you, Sabrina. To sink into your body and lose myself to you. I want to put you on that piece of land and not only because I need a wife to get the deed. No, it’s you I want. The woman who takes such good care of our son and drives me wild arguing with me. The smart, pretty teacher who cares so much for her students and who brings a ray of sun to my day when she talks about lesson plans. The woman I’ve never been able to get out of my blood.”

“I…” her throat worked, “…don’t know what to say.”

He stared into her eyes, still tasting her on his lips and wanting more, more, more. “Don’t say anything. Think about me and what I have to offer. Not just security and a father who’s there for Owen. But me.” He thumped his chest. “I’m different.”

She gulped. Nodded.

Seeing there was nothing left to say, he rolled off the bed, took a deep breath and left her room. He hoped like hell it rained tonight—he needed a cold splash of water over his entire body. But it wouldn’t be enough to dampen his desire.

Chapter Seven

The big ranch house felt unbearably crowded. After Beck slammed the front door, everyone in the Dalton family knew he was upset. Because of her.

Embarrassment mingled with unspent desire. She hungered for more from him. If he hadn’t put the brakes on, she would have fallen into his arms and let him love her all night long. What had she been thinking?

She hadn’t been—that was the trouble. She lost her mind around Beck. Then he went and said soft things that made her heart flutter.

After cutting some of the redness on her face with cold water, she went downstairs in search of her baby. She needed to hold him close and talk to him. To rock him to sleep.

Kade had him in the highchair, handing him various spoons to chew on. When she entered the kitchen, he held up both hands as if she were the sheriff. “I swear I didn’t feed him anything.”

She gave a sad laugh. “Thank you for entertaining him during my temporary moment of insanity.”

Kade gave her a sharp look. She’d hardly said a dozen words to him in her life, but she felt she needed to explain to somebody. “He’s a sweet kid. Not like Hank’s oldest at this age. He cried a lot and never stopped messing his pants.”

Sabrina took a seat on the bench beside Kade. Owen banged a spoon, drool connecting his lower lip to the tray. Now that she’d made the decision to talk to a Dalton about her situation, she didn’t know what to say.

“Beck’s in the barn if you want to talk to him.”

She shook her head, tears suddenly too close to the surface. “No. Not yet.”

“Look, I don’t know your history. Your past seems messier than Hank Jr.’s pants. But I’ll tell you something about Beck.”

She looked at him, waiting.

“In the past year or so he’s different.”

“I see it,” she said quietly.

“And he’s crazy about you.”

Her throat worked against a sob. “I see that too. I just don’t know if I can go there again.”

“Nobody can make that decision except you, but I think you’re crazy about him too. Why are you fighting it?”

Emotion rushed into her chest—flooding her heart. Happiness and love overflowed, and they could be hers if only she would reach out and snag them.

Kade got up. “I’ll tell you one more thing. If I ever look at a woman the way Beck looks at you, I’m damn well putting a ring on it. Happiness doesn’t come to everyone, and if you get a chance in the rodeo, you jump into the arena with both feet.”

Sabrina rested her elbows on the table and dropped her face into her hands. “I’m afraid I’m messed up. All I know about relationships is from my parents. Even divorced they were terrible for each other, and I was in the middle. My father was immature and I saw those traits in Beck. At least then I did. Now he’s…different, as you said. As he said.”

Owen cooed and she glanced up. Then looked around. The kitchen was empty. How Kade had sneaked out without her realizing was a mystery. It didn’t matter—he’d still listened, at least to her thinking.

She cleaned the drool off Owen’s face and took him out of the highchair. Then she fixed him a bottle, put him in a dry diaper and pajamas and rocked him to sleep. Once he was sleeping soundly, she went downstairs. She had to find Beck and make things right.

Or at least ease tensions.

No, that thought is worse.
The knot in her core was still pulled so tight it was distracting. But she didn’t need to get naked with Beck—talking was a priority.

She slipped outside. Darkness had fallen, and the warm purple shadows pulled her into their embrace. Crickets raised a thousand voices, but she heard the creak of the old swing.

Barefooted, she walked the length of the porch to reach the swing. The man seated there slid over to give her room. He pushed off with a boot heel and they started to sway.

When she slid her hand into his big, rough one, he gave a start. “I’m sorry, Beck. For all of it.”

“I’m not.”

“I’m not talking about earlier. I mean for running and not telling you about Owen. It was wrong of me, and I hope you can forgive me.”

In the dimness, his eyes were as black and shiny as coal. “Only if you can forgive me for being an ass. And missing the opportunity to show you what you really meant to me.”

A smile touched her lips—a strange feeling when they were discussing mistakes and the harder moments of their lives. But sharing them was freeing.

He dragged his thumb over her lower lip, stealing her smile but replacing it with burning need. The memory of his mouth bringing her to the pinnacle of ecstasy was too raw in her mind.

She clasped her hand. “I’m not sure what will happen, Beck, but I’m considering what you said to me.”

His nod was jerky. “That’s all a man can ask.”

Taking a chance, she rested her head on his shoulder, feeling that same rush of emotion for this big, hunky cowboy. Lust had driven their relationship in the beginning but since coming back here, Beck had been so good to her and Owen, there were many more layers.

“Thank you for letting me go on that job search today.”

“Any leads?”

She shook her head against his shoulder, and the scents of cotton and man filled her nose. “Nothing worth talking about.”

“Good. The night’s too pretty to talk about work. Let’s swing.”

* * * * *

Beck crept past Sabrina’s bedroom door as quietly as possible. Waking her and Owen wasn’t a good idea, even if everything in his being urged him to go inside and curl up with the two people he loved most.

A muffled cry sounded through the door. He strained to hear and caught a second noise.

Holding his breath, he opened the door and peeked into the room. Owen’s bed was in the glow cast by the nightlight. He kicked and his little arms waved.

Beck shot a look at the sleeping Sabrina. Lying on her side, hair covering her whole face, she was oblivious their son had awakened. Beck tiptoed across the room and picked up the baby.

Carrying the fuss-pot down the stairs, he wondered if he could get away with feeding him a bottle and putting him back to bed. He couldn’t exactly take him out to feed cows—Owen’s momma had made it quite clear how she felt about a baby on horseback.

“What are you doing up so early, hmm?” he asked the baby as he fixed a bottle.

Owen rubbed his fists into his eyes then opened his mouth wide as if to bellow. Beck shoved the nipple in his mouth and he clamped his lips around it, sucking greedily.

“I thought I heard a baby.” Momma’s throaty voice sounded from the doorway. She shuffled into the kitchen, hair sticking up and robe tied haphazardly. She made a flicking motion with her hands. “Give him to me. Go get your work done.”

“I can take care of him.”

His momma’s eyes had always had a way of piercing through Beck. Suddenly he felt ten years old again. “I know you can. You’re doing well, son.”

A long sigh trickled from him. “That’s good to hear. I feel like I’m on the back of a bull, bucking my way across a field.”

Owen clasped his ears and closed his eyes, taking long, sucking pulls on the bottle.

Momma’s brow crinkled as she observed the baby. “That’s parenting for you. I think if you settle your business with Sabrina, you’ll feel better about your role as a father.”

Beck jerked his gaze to hers. “You and Pa haven’t said much about it.”

“We try to stay out of your personal life, but I see your struggle and it’s time to intervene.”

“Speak your piece then.” He held his breath, praying she didn’t say Sabrina was all wrong and working out child visitation was the best course. Beck couldn’t live with those things.

Momma cleared the sleep from her throat. “Marry her, Beck. You love her.”

His throat tightened. “I do.”

“Don’t dawdle. Love is the power between you—and this child is the glue binding you. Do what’s right and everything else will fall into place. Look, he’s nearly asleep again. Give him to me and get into the field.”

Gently Beck placed Owen in his mother’s arms. He bent to brush a kiss over her cheek. “Thanks, Momma.”

“You’re welcome, son.”

“Is it too much to ask for omelets for breakfast?”

“Pfff. I’m giving advice before dawn and now you’re asking for omelets? Don’t press your luck.”

* * * * *

Sabrina woke to shrieks. She leaped out of bed before her eyes even opened. Adrenaline surged through her system. She’d never heard screams like these.

Owen was in pain.

She grabbed him from the bed and looked him all over. He bowed his back and stiffened his legs. Then he tugged his ear and understanding dawned on her.

Someone knocked on the door then it opened. Relief filled Sabrina’s veins to see Maggie. “I think it’s his ears.”

“I wondered about that when Beck had him downstairs earlier. Come with me.” She disappeared.

What? Beck had Owen up this morning? How had Sabrina managed to sleep through him coming into the room and Owen being awake? Guilt clouded her mind as she followed Maggie down to the kitchen.

The woman was rummaging through a metal box with a lid. She held up a little bottle of red liquid with a dropper. “Charlotte left this here after Hank Jr.’s last ear infection. You could dose Owen and then take him to the doctor in Vixen.”

An hour away. Yes, she couldn’t have Owen in terrible pain, screaming for a whole hour in the car. Sabrina switched him to one arm while she fumbled with the medicine dropper.

He spit the pain reliever out and geared up for another shriek. She looked up at Maggie. “Do I try again?”

“Let’s try some warm milk. Sometimes sucking helps ear pain. Why don’t you get dressed so you’re ready to put him in the car?”

Flustered, she handed Owen to his grandmother and shot up the stairs. She’d handled everything alone before now, but somehow losing her job, her home and her life left her feeling needy. In her old town she would have run down the street to the urgent care. No big deal. But out here, they were so isolated.

Another reason to move.

She threw on jeans and a clean top. When she ran downstairs, the kitchen was quiet, Owen’s cries silenced.

“Oh thank God.”

“The pain isn’t gone and he can only drink so much before he pops like a tick. Are you okay to drive him alone?”

“Of course. After he finishes his bottle, we’ll go.”

She threw a look at the window. Judging by the sun’s position, it was nearly time for second breakfast. While Maggie cuddled Owen and held his bottle, Sabrina threw together breakfast. The sausage patties were still frying when Owen’s wails sounded once more.

“I’ll take over the sausage. You get to town.”

Sabrina placed a hat on Owen’s head, wrapped him in a blanket and hurried to the car. Then she realized the baby seat was still in Beck’s truck. “Dammit.”

She jogged to the truck and peered inside. Old habits died hard—he’d left his keys in the ignition again.

She fastened Owen into the seat and climbed behind the wheel. This time when she saw the ranch in the rearview mirror, a pang of despair left her. Leaving this place would cut her deeply, but she’d do whatever was best for Owen.

* * * * *

“Where’s my omelet?” Beck stomped to the sink and let the water flood over his hands.

Momma turned from the stove. “No omelets today. Sausage and scrambled eggs.”

“I knew I was your least favorite son.” His tease fell flat as he spotted Momma’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Owen might have an ear infection. Sabrina’s rushed him to the doctor.”

“What?” He swiveled to the window. “Her car’s out there.”

Realization spread through his mind, as thick as honey. “The baby seat was in my truck. She must have taken it. Damn.” He doffed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “This is all my fault. I keep forgetting to put a hat on him.”

“Oh Beck, it’s not your fault. We don’t even know if it’s his ears. It could be teething or a mild cold.”

He pressed his lips together and stared at his boots. She hadn’t tried to find him to go along to Vixen. Maybe she didn’t want him there or felt he was still too unreliable.

“Sit down and eat your breakfast, son.”

The others came in and washed up. Then their pretty little wives took seats around the table. Beck could barely stomach the good food. There was a hole in the house without Owen and Sabrina.

“Hoof rot’s clearing up with this drier weather,” Pa said to no one in particular.

Cash took up the conversation with a word or two from the other brothers. Beck was glad they were all around the table today—he couldn’t concentrate on hoof rot when his son and the woman he loved possibly needed him.

“I might go into Vixen,” he said.

Everyone looked up.

“You’ll probably pass Sabrina on the way. Wait it out, Beck. Owen will be fine,” Momma said.

He racked his brain. Was his gas tank filled? If he’d sent her an hour away on fumes, he’d never forgive himself. They could be stranded right now. Maybe he was still an ass.