Learning the Ropes (27 page)

She was dying for him to touch her. Instead, his hands released her wrists only long enough to pull her shirt over her head, exposing her to an onslaught of his lips against her breasts. His breath heated her skin as his mouth trailed over her shoulders and down to her cotton bra, caressing every inch of her. She shifted, wanting to ask him to take her into his mouth but unable to find the words as her thoughts scattered as quickly as his lips changed course.

“Chris, please,” she whimpered. She groaned in agony as he avoided her breast, chuckling quietly against her skin.

“Please what, Ali?” His fingers reached back and twisted the clasp of the bra. He slid it up her arms to her wrists, freeing her to his reverent gaze. His fingers cupped her breast as he leaned closer, his breath caressing the taut point.

Alicia struggled against the hand holding her wrists, wanting to bury her fingers into his hair, to touch him and return the caresses driving her over the edge of sanity. His fingers tugged at the button of her pants and she wiggled against him. He growled deep in his chest and she knew his restraint was held by a thread as thin as her own. She heard the zipper release and felt his fingers slip just along the inside of her underwear, hesitating as he stroked the skin above her pelvic bone sending sparks of want to her core, igniting her. She instinctively squeezed her thighs around his hips. His hand moved to cup her rear and he pulled her against him.

She could see the adoration in his eyes and her heart lurched against her chest. She couldn’t hide the truth any longer, she didn’t want to keep it buried. She wanted to yell it from the rooftops, let everyone know that she loved Chris, that she had loved him for years. There was no turning back and it might leave her broken but not telling him would leave her just as fragmented. She tugged at her hands and this time he released them. She cupped his face and stared into his blue eyes, shimmering with longing and devotion. She was certain her eyes were already showing him the truth her heart was screaming.

“I love you, Chris. I always have. It’s always been only you.”

Chris closed his eyes, laying his cheek against her heated flesh, his sigh whispering over the skin, igniting the fire within her. She curled her fingers into his hair, touched by how it affected him to hear the words from her. His lips pressed against the soft curve of her stomach. Rising, he slid his boxers down his thighs before removing her jeans, his hands caressing her calves, behind her knees, the inside of her thigh, and the soft swell of her hips. He followed the path with his mouth and hesitated as his lips touched the tattoo on her hip, his fingers curling around the seam of material covering the heated core of her desire.

“Sexy as hell,” he said, smiling against her skin.

She tensed, her hands at his shoulders. “Wait, Chris—” A shiver of fear colored her words.

“Let me love you, Ali.” His thumb traced the folds of her heat, over her panties. He slid the slip of material down her thighs and his mouth hovered over her.

She clutched the comforter as his warm breath stoked the fire within, igniting a raging inferno. His finger traced the outline of her and her body shuddered, trembling with need barely held back. When his tongue darted out, gently at first, then more insistent, she quivered with ecstasy. He stroked her, touching, laving, and lashing her with expertise born of worship. Alicia quaked against him, unable to hold her release back. When his finger touched the center of her pleasure, she exploded in peaks of light, like fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Lying on her back, near comatose, she felt Chris’s weight leave her for only a moment before he returned, sliding up the length of her, his mouth on her breast, his hand fondling the other as his arousal nudged her. She tipped her hips toward him, silently demanding all of him, and gasped as he entered her slowly, filling her.

Chris drew back and hissed in self-restraint before his lips found her arched throat. She fought the need to cry out in delirium from the onslaught of pleasure. With each achingly slow thrust, Chris sent her farther over the edge until she lost control of her senses. Every part of her seemed to ignite at once, her entire body clutching at him, wanting all of him. Chris growled in answering passion and gave himself over to his release.

Alicia caressed his spine with her nails, pressing a kiss to his collarbone as the tremors in her body subsided. Lifting his head from the curve of her neck, Chris sipped at her lips, nibbling on them in sated bliss, surrounding her with contentment and making her feel treasured as his hands lazily swept over her body as if trying to memorize ever curve and valley.

He drew back, lifting his weight from her, and she held his shoulders, not letting him move too far. Alicia pressed a kiss to his chin and smiled up at him. “Well, I suppose the fact that we actually made it to the bed is progress.”

She felt him stir, coming to life again within her, and he laughed quietly. “Maybe this time we can make it past the side of the bed.”

“This time?” Her body clutched at him, greedy with desire, and she moaned softly as he inched forward.

“Honey, you didn’t think you’d actually be sleeping tonight, did you?”

C
HRIS HEARD
A
LI’S
cell phone ring and slipped out of the bed, retrieving it from her jeans on the floor and pulling his pants on. He recognized Tim’s number and stepped into the hallway to answer it without disturbing her.

“Chris?” Tim sounded momentarily confused. “I just heard back from the lender. The offer was accepted. In the coming weeks, you and Ali are going to be the proud owners of a ranch.”

“Already?” Chris thought they’d have more time for him to break the news to David. “I thought you said it would take them a while to get back to us.”

“I guess the seller is highly motivated. He wants to close the deal as soon as possible. Even asked for a faster escrow but I wanted to check with you both before I said yes. I know Alicia wanted to move in quickly but—”

“That’s fine,” Chris interrupted, hearing Ali stirring in the room. “Tell them we’ll move as quickly as they need. We’re heading to Reno today to a rodeo. I’ll have her call you on Monday when we get back.”

He disconnected the call. Of course, Colt wanted a fast closing. He was notorious for his gambling habit, even though David and his brother thought they’d been able to hide it. He had to tell David this weekend and he had to explain the situation to Ali. She needed to understand what sort of predicament they were in before David blindsided her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his niece watching him from her doorway, her head tipped to the side. He squatted down on his haunches and held open his arms. “Come tell me good morning.”

She hurried into his arms, throwing her little arms around his neck and squeezing as tightly as she could. “Oh, that’s a big hug,” he teased, standing with her. “Do I get a big kiss?” She pressed her pursed lips against his cheek roughly in a loud smooch.

Chris sensed Ali behind him without turning. Her warmth seemed to radiate from the doorway. “And what about the pretty lady behind me? Isn’t she going to give me a good morning kiss?” Chris asked, turning to find her eyes soft and liquid as she watched him with Kassie.

Her dark eyes practically sparkled with delight as she mimicked Kassie and pressed her lips against his other cheek.

“Mwah,” she voiced, giggling with the little girl. “Good morning.”

Chris didn’t want to ruin the touching moment with the discussion he knew he was going to have to have with her so he slipped her phone into his pocket. He tipped his finger under her chin and kissed her gently. “Right back at you, beautiful.”

It thrilled him to see her blush at his compliment. As much as she tried to put on a show of bravery, he loved her vulnerability. It made her trust that much more valuable.

“Break it up,” Scott exited the room at the end of the hall, shutting the door quietly. He came and scooped Kassie from Chris’s arms. “You two are going to warp my child,” he teased as he headed down the hall with his daughter in his arms. “Come on, princess. Let’s go feed the horses and make your mother some toast.”

Ali snuck her arms around Chris’s waist, looking up at him with a contented smile. She was so pretty with her hair mussed and smudges of eye makeup under her eyes from their love-making throughout the night. He felt his body harden and warm in response to the memory of her under his hands, his mouth tasting every inch of her. He bent his head, intent on tasting her again when she stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He didn’t want to do this now.

She narrowed her eyes, squaring her shoulders in preparation to fight for the truth. “You’re not telling me something. I can see it in your eyes.”

He loved that she knew him well enough to see beyond the surface, even as the trickle of dread crept down his spine. He kissed her quickly. “Nothing is
wrong
but can we talk about it on the way to Reno?”

She didn’t look happy with his answer but sighed in resignation. “Fine, but I need coffee before we head out.” She slipped from his grasp and headed down the stairs leaving him to contemplate the best way to break the news that her dream was going to be overshadowed with ruining their friendship with David. Chris rubbed his temple feeling the start of a migraine already. This might prove to be a long day.

Chapter Nineteen

C
HRIS WAVED TO
his sister and Scott as he headed for the driveway. “See you in a few days,” he promised.

“You’d better bring home a buckle,” Scott teased.

They’d no more pulled onto the highway again when Ali turned to him. “Well?”

He gave her a sideways glance and grinned. “You’ve just been waiting, haven’t you?”

She sighed and frowned. “Maybe.” She took a sip of the coffee in her travel mug. “So?”

“We got the property.” He grinned as her eyes widened in surprised delight.

“We did? Already? So AC Rodeo School is really going to happen?” He could hear the tremor of frightened excitement in her voice.

“I didn’t have the logo made up on a whim,” he teased. Chris paused and took a deep breath. “I think we should add David as a business partner. He and I were supposed to start this school but he had to pull out at the last minute.”

She looked across the cab of the truck at him. “Then why would he want in now?”

“He only pulled out to loan his dad the money to save their ranch.”

“He told me. Isn’t he still loaning his dad the money?”

“His father’s ranch was sold and it’s going to be a rodeo school.” He waited for her to realize the full implication of what he wasn’t saying. Chris knew when he saw her shoulders slump and she looked skyward.

“Why didn’t you say something when we went out there?” He heard the defeat in her voice.

“What was I supposed to say, Ali? I didn’t know until after we’d already put in the offer and we went out to the property.”

Ali covered her eyes with her hands, rubbing her temples. “And the guest house is David’s? The son who lives there when he’s in town,” she repeated Tim’s words.

Chris nodded at her. “I haven’t told David about our partnership yet which would be bad enough but I can’t tell him we’re the reason he’s homeless. I can’t do that, Ali.” It pained him to even think about telling David. He was like a brother.

“How did I not see this?” She turned toward the window.

Chris prayed she would be understanding, that she and David had stayed on good enough terms after their breakup, that she would realize how much it meant to him to be able to do this with the man who’d been his rodeo partner and best friend for the last five years.

“Ali, say something.”

“I don’t know if I can do this, Chris.”

He never wanted to delve into the details behind her breakup with David. He’d rather not know if she still had feelings for David, but hearing her hesitation made him second-guess her feelings for him.

“Why?”

She turned to him. “I care about him. Have you stopped to consider what it might be like for him to see us together? This partnership was supposed to last only a year.” She covered her eyes with her hand. “Maybe this is all a mistake,” she muttered under her breath.

His heart stopped in his chest. Was she still thinking of them in terms of their business partnership? Or did she still expect him to skip out on her? He wasn’t letting her get away. Not now or a year from now. She was his but the suggestion that she might still want out of their arrangement next year was like a fist squeezing his lungs.

D
AVID SAW
C
HRIS
pull into the participant area of the arena and park his truck. He walked past a group of barrel racers when he heard a familiar voice. “Hey there, cowboy. Remember me?”

He turned to find Delilah strutting toward him in a thin camisole, her breasts nearly falling out of the shirt. She had so much makeup on he wondered if she applied it with a trowel. She sidled up to him, winding her arms around his waist and pressing a kiss to his cheek. He wiped at it, his hand coming away a bright red he assumed now streaked his face.

“Hi, Delilah. I didn’t expect to see you down this far north.”

He had never been the kind of guy to be deliberately rude to anyone but the way she treated Ali bothered him. He couldn’t wait to get away from her clutches. How had he ever managed to end up in her house? He thanked whatever fate had been on his side that night that he’d passed out on her couch before she ever managed to get him to her bed. His reputation might take a hit but it was better than the alternative—that he might have shared her bed.

She laughed loudly, grating on his nerves. “I’m sure some of these barrel racers were hoping the same thing.” She looked directly at Alicia exiting Chris’s truck. “Like your girlfriend.”

“Ali’s not my girlfriend,” David corrected, feeling a tug of jealousy. “At least, not anymore.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. You poor thing,” Delilah gushed, running her hands up his chest provocatively. “And she dumped you for your best friend.” She pursed her lips at David. “Then they went and formed a rodeo school. I thought you and Chris were going to do that?”