Forrest, Dawn - Sweet Water Wedding: Sharing Shannon (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (10 page)

Suddenly reanimated, he responded energetically, “Of course I know who you are Shannon, Rachael has spoken of you. Sorry, but my mind was a bit preoccupied just now, and we weren’t expecting you so soon. I’m afraid that you’ve missed Rachael, but come on in, I’ll get your bags and you can wait here.”

He swept past her, liberated her suitcase and laptop from the trunk of the car, and paid and dismissed the taxi driver. Without further ado he hustled her up the steps and into the house. Shannon ditched her first impression that James was slow, but was now wondering if he had bipolar disorder or schizophrenia because one minute he’d been apparently struck dumb, the next he’d become a man of action, and now he was being charming. She was getting mental whiplash trying to keep up. Perhaps it was her fault, she was tired, confused about already missing Luke, and James’s beautiful torso displayed by his open shirt was so very, very distracting.

She tried not to look too closely at the fabulous body of the man as he led her into a large kitchen and pulled out a chair at the breakfast bar for her to sit on. Rachael had only briefly mentioned James, but Shannon knew that he was going to be his brother’s best man at the wedding. Shannon decided that, in terms of looks, he’d be the best man anywhere.

* * * *

James wrestled to get his thoughts in order as he launched into damage limitation mode. It had taken him a minute to get over the shock of meeting Shannon. Oh he’d made a great first impression, behaved real smooth, staring at her and grinning like the farm idiot. Holy crap, he’d even blushed. It was almost unheard of.

“Can I get you anything, Shannon, a coffee perhaps? I bet you’re tired after your journey.”
Or because you were up all night screwing.

“Thanks, yes, a coffee would be great. I am tired, but not from the journey. I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” She sighed with a satisfied, faraway look in her eye. “I’ve just arrived from Houston. I was there for two days on business before coming here, that’s why I’m early.”

“Oh, I see, strange bed and all.”
With a strange man.

She gave an almost undetectable small chuckle, “Yeah, you could say that.”

Indeed I could, you sexy vixen.
James was thinking about what Luke had told him. Now that he had the lovely Shannon in front of him he was finding it hard not to overlay those erotic images.

“Rachael and Josh are visiting a neighbor. I bet you tried to call, but her mobile—”

“Is dead?” Shannon interrupted.

He nodded with a smile.

“Aye, that’s my girl Rachael, it used to drive me crazy at college.”

“You and my brother both,” he chuckled.

She grinned. “I first went to the Vet Practice, but the very nice receptionist said it was Rachael’s day off. Then I went to her cabin, ‘Flora’s Place,’ but she wasn’t home, so here was the next logical choice.”

“Well I’m glad you made it. How’d you like your coffee?”

“Strong with milk and one sugar, please.”

He secretly smiled to himself as he remembered asking Rachael the same question two months ago. Her answer had been strong, dark, and not sweet
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definitely Joshua. He thought that Shannon’s choice described him better.

* * * *

She sat at the large breakfast bar feeling a little unsettled and tense in the company of James. As he moved close-by to grab a mug from an overhead cupboard she couldn’t miss the enticing aroma of fresh, healthy, male sweat. Instinctively she sniffed and further inhaled his musky, outdoors scent. It evoked unfamiliar feelings of longing and desire and her heart rate increased. James turned in response to the sound.

“I’m sorry if I smell a bit ripe, I’ve been working hard in the paddock,” he explained apologetically. “I’ll go get freshened up once I’ve made your coffee.”

“No, no, please, you don’t smell bad at all,” she rushed her words, mortified that he’d heard her.

“I don’t? Well, how would you describe it?” He turned to meet her gaze straight on with open interest and perhaps intent, putting her on the spot, unbalancing her.

She sensed that something was happening, that barely perceptible underlying shift in space, where a single action changes the course of a life, changes everything.

“Er, not unpleasant. Good actually.” She slowly inhaled again deeply through her nose, closed her eyes, and described his fragrance. “Wood, hay, musk, autumn.” She began to lose herself with every breath and conscious intake of his scent. “Virility, male, sex.”

Jesus, what did I just say?
Shannon couldn’t believe her own words and kept her eyes tight shut as she cringed with embarrassment. She heard his sharp intake of breath and felt the heat of his body as he drew nearer. His scent, even stronger now, triggered an involuntary, soft moan. She sensed the warmth of his close proximity and felt the tentative touch of his lips on hers, gently melting away the tension. She relaxed and their mouths mated, molded in perfect symmetry as if made for each other, missing pieces finally slipping into place. It was only a first kiss and yet with it was a future promise, the absolute inevitability of sweet, final surrender. It was enchanting and exquisite, conveying everything that meager words could not. Shannon felt overwhelmed, even more so than when Luke had kissed her last night.
Luke. Bloody hell, what’s happening to me?
Here she was kissing a virtual stranger five minutes after meeting him and less than twelve hours after making love to another. What a floozy. Her eyes flew open and she forced herself to lean away.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, breathless in a voice that sounded small, even to her own ears.

James looked equally baffled, his blue eyes were hooded and unfocused and his breath was shallow. He shook his head slightly, whether in response to her apology or some inner conflict she didn’t know. Abruptly he turned to pour her coffee, when he set it down in front of her she noticed his hand tremble.

“I think I’ll take a cool shower anyway,” he rasped. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes, why don’t you sit in the living room or out on the back veranda where it’s more comfortable?” He indicated the general direction to go and then beat a hasty retreat out of the kitchen.

Shannon blushed with horror and embarrassment at her behavior and the fact that James had felt the need to leave her presence so fast that she was surprised to not smell burning rubber from the soles of his boots.

* * * *

James almost ran to his wing of the house, putting distance between him and Shannon. Once he was safety behind the thick internal door he leaned heavily against it and let out a low groan. The experience of that single kiss had been monumental, in a signal changing, tracks realigning, and life altering way. His train was now hurtling in another direction, destination Shannon.

One kiss and he’d nearly lost it. He could have taken her there, in the kitchen, seduced her with their mutual desire overriding any possible objections. Being such a responsive woman she would have yielded. He knew it would have been a fierce and passionate mating. The problem was that he didn’t know her and how she would feel about it all later. She might be sorry afterwards. That was one of the quintessential differences between men and women
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regret and how they dealt with it.

James stripped off, sighing in relief as he unbuttoned his jeans and loosened the constricting material. Judging by the achingly hard state of his dick and the heaviness of his balls he knew that he would have to gain at least a temporary reprieve. Cupping his weighty sac in his left hand, he spat on the right and gripped himself firmly. He didn’t want to make this last long; he just needed to ease the throbbing. With no movements designed to tease, he established a regular rhythm of squeezing and pulling and thought of Shannon. Within five minutes his seed spewed into his fist.
What a waste with prime pussy not twenty yards away. Now for that cold shower.

Chapter 8

Shannon seriously considered the merits of hightailing it away from the Sweet Water ranch and waiting at Rachael’s cabin, but the taxi had gone and she hadn’t noted the number. She considered accessing the internet via her mobile and finding a taxi company to come and get her, but that would take ages and defeat the object of quickly putting some space between her and James Ryden. The weight of that kiss scared and unsettled her. The significance of it was quite possibly too huge to contemplate.

On unsteady legs she wobbled through the beautiful house, eyeing the spacious yet comfortable living room with big leather sofas that begged to be flopped down and curled up upon. Double doors led onto a shaded veranda area that continued to form a deck and patio around a swimming pool. The surrounding larger garden area was stunning. She noted with appreciation how the outer boundaries carefully blended away into the natural landscape. It was the perfect place to relax, so she chose a lounger in the shade and attempted to do just that.

Who was she trying to kid? She couldn’t relax one iota with the knowledge that the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on was twenty yards away, naked under a shower. She tried to convince herself that she was capable of controlling her reactions.
I’m a twenty-nine-year-old woman of the world and I can handle a randy rancher.
Except he wasn’t the only one feeling randy.

She decided that her behavior must be due to tiredness and overstimulation by all that had happened over the last forty-eight hours. What bugged her was how James had reacted to her. Did it signify that he had experienced something similar? Or was he used to adoring women throwing themselves at him and assumed that she would fall the same way? When she’d broken the kiss he must have thought that she was a rotten tease and he regretted doing it, hence the hasty retreat.

Shannon sipped her coffee, and gave a little moan of appreciation; it really was good. She bet that he did most things well. Her thoughts slipped to Luke, who was similar in a way, but calmer and more serious. It was bloody typical, men
were
like buses, you waited in vain for one but then two turn up at the same time. What was it Luke had said? “Texan prime beef.” That described a few of the men she’d noticed around here. She was beginning to understand her friend Rachael’s actions a whole lot better. Shannon closed her eyes and waited for the caffeine to hit her system.

* * * *

After a quick shower and change of clothes James rang his partner, Luke, and filled him in on the events of the morning.

“I’m telling you she’s right here and you’d better get your ass back double quick.”

“What’s happened? What have you done?” Luke sounded worried.

“Nothin’ much yet, but it’s going to be a struggle to keep my paws off her.”

“You feel it too then?”

“Hell yes. I haven’t been as intimate as you, but I’d like to be,” he admitted.

“I’ll be home tomorrow morning. She’ll want to see Rachael today, so it’ll be hard to get her alone with just the two of us. Use this brief time you have to get to know her.”

James agreed and went in search of Shannon. He found her reclining on a lounger in the shade of the veranda. She really was a good-looking woman with an understated beauty. He didn’t think that she needed to spend a lot of time in front of the bathroom mirror. He suspected that she wasn’t inclined to either. She had that distracted air of a woman whose time and attention was probably directed on other, more interesting things.

“Hi again,” he drawled.

Shannon jerked in surprise. She’d obviously been daydreaming with her eyes closed and hadn’t heard his approach.

“Oh, hi.” She gave him a tentative smile.

At least she didn’t seem upset or annoyed with him. He leant against the doorframe and hoped that he looked relaxed and happy, as he told a little white lie.

“I can’t seem to get through to Josh, he must be out of cell phone range, but they should be back for lunch and I’ll keep trying.” He dropped his gaze for a moment and added lightly, “I should say I’m sorry for kissing you, darlin’, but I’m not. I am sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable though.”