Wildcat (8 page)

* * * * *

Jarrod asked Catie to spend all of Sunday with him, but she insisted she had to get home and take care of her share of chores around the ranch. He had a feeling, though, that it had more to do with her fear of getting too close to him. Even after all that they had shared since last night, he could sense her pulling away from him, trying to distance her emotions and her heart.

After a leisurely breakfast, Jarrod drove Catie back to her ranch, and then walked her up to the front porch. She paused, her fingers gripping the handle of the screen door, and raised her eyes to meet his. “Thanks for the hot time, cowboy.” Her tone was light, but her eyes were so dark they were almost black—like she wanted him right this minute.

“I’m working this area for awhile.” He reached up and caught a wisp of her blonde hair, fingering the soft strands. “How ‘bout I take you out for dinner tomorrow night. I know a great Mexican restaurant.”

She shivered, as though unnerved by his nearness. “I thought you were worried about being mobbed in public.”

“It’s not so bad early in the week.” He moved in closer, pressing her up against the screen. “It’s easier to tell a few people to go to hell, rather than a large crowd.”

“I…I’m busy Monday.” Catie swallowed, her throat working. She put her palms against Jarrod’s chest, like she was trying to bolster her determination. “Actually, the whole week’s pretty tight.”

“Sure it is.” He brushed his lips across her forehead, breathing in her vanilla musk scent. Even though they’d taken a shower together, he thought he could still smell the scent of their sex, her juices and his come mingling together. “Change your plans.”

“Can’t.” Her response was barely a whisper as his mouth trailed from her forehead to her ear. She clenched her hands in his shirt and tilted her head back, a soft moan rising in her throat.

“My dad always taught me there’s no such word as can’t.” Jarrod moved his lips over hers. “Anything you truly want, you can have. Anything you put your mind to, you can do.”

“And you put your mind to taking me out?” Her breath was warm against his mouth, her gaze focused on his lips.

“Uh-huh.” Jarrod took possession of Catie’s mouth, his hands sliding around her slender waist and drawing her tight along his length. His cock was hot, throbbing with need again, even after having fucked her so many times. The woman was fire in his blood, singeing him, until she’d burned a permanent hole in his heart. No way was she getting away from him, no matter what she might think.

Her fingers gripped his shirt tighter as their mouths mated. His tongue gained entrance to her willing mouth, and her sweet taste swept through him like the warm rush of rain in a summer thunderstorm.

“Where the hell have you been?” A man’s voice growled from the other side of the screen door.

The sound of her brother’s voice startled Catie. She jerked her head back, breaking the kiss, but Jarrod held onto her, keeping her pinned to him.

“Dammit, don’t sneak up on me like that, Steve.” Her tone was slightly breathless as she turned to look at her brother through the screen door.

She glanced back up at Jarrod and saw a predatory look in his eyes. “’Morning, Wilds,” Jarrod said as he pulled her away from the door, giving Steve enough room to open it and step through.

Steve glared at Jarrod, that ‘protective older brother’ look in his brown eyes, then turned his frown on Catie. “Since when do you stay out all night without calling home?”

“You knew where I was.” Catie straightened to her full five-feet-four-inches and raised her chin. “I’m twenty-eight years old. I certainly don’t need to report in to you.”

“Well how about a bit of common courtesy?” He brushed past her and Jarrod and headed to the far end of the porch where an enormous box stood that she hadn’t noticed before. “You had me worried.”

“You could have called.” She pushed away from Jarrod, and felt relieved when he let her go. “What’s that?”

Steve dug in his front pocket and pulled out his pocketknife. “New water heater.”

“We can’t afford that.” Catie put her hands on her hips and frowned at her brother. “How in the hell did you pay for it?”

He shrugged and used his knife to slice the plastic straps around the cardboard. “Don’t worry. It’s taken care of.”

“What do you mean, don’t worry?” If there was one thing Catie couldn’t stand, it was to be told to butt out of something she considered to be her business.

“I said, don’t worry about it.” Steve spoke through clenched teeth and gave her ‘the look’ that said they’d discuss it when they didn’t have company.

Her gaze shot to Jarrod. He had his thumbs hooked through his belt loops and was watching Steve cut open the box. “Need some help getting that inside the house?” Jarrod asked.

“Sure.” Steve gave a quick nod. “If you have the time.”

“I’ve got all day.” Jarrod winked at Catie. “I can help you install it if you’d like. I’ve got some experience there.”

Catie raised her hands in exasperation. Here she thought she’d be escaping his incredible masculine magnetism, at least for the rest of the day. Sure, the sex was great, but she needed time to gather her wits. Needed space away from this man who turned her inside out and made her feel like a simpering little fool.

“All right.” She moved to the screen door and propped it open. “You two
men
enjoy tearing up the place. Just don’t expect me to serve anything fancier than a pitcher of iced tea and a box of macaroni and cheese.”

Jarrod flashed her a quick grin. “I like mine extra cheesy.”

“I’d like lemon, but no sugar in my tea, Cat,” Steve called out as he ripped the cardboard away from the new water heater.

Shaking her head, Catie headed into the house and let the screen door slam behind her.

Men
.

Chapter Seven

It was late Monday afternoon by the time Jarrod drove his truck to the Sheriff’s office. It had been a tough day all the way around.

Considering he hadn’t been able to convince Catie to go out with him during the week, Jarrod was in a pisser of a mood. How the hell was he supposed to wait until Friday to feel her, to taste her, to slide into her heat? His cock throbbed as he guided his truck into his designated parking spot, and he clenched his jaw as he threw the vehicle into park, got out, and headed into the building that housed his office.

He’d spent Sunday helping Steve Wilds put in the heater and had hoped for more time alone with Catie, but she’d managed to thwart him at every turn. Finally he’d told her he’d be there Friday night and would pick her up at seven, end of story.

Apparently it was going to take some work to tame his little wildcat.

Jarrod only nodded to the receptionist as he passed her, then shut the door to his office a little too hard before settling in at his desk. Brogan’s info was due—and sure enough, he found Rocky’s e-mails the minute he signed on. Frowning, Jarrod went through the facts on each suspect, one by one.

First up was Jake Reynolds, who wasn’t really a suspect in Jarrod’s mind, but Jarrod had spent too many years on the lines not to consider all his options. Reynolds had a virtually sterling record, first as a sheriff’s deputy and then as an agent with Customs for the past decade. The only tarnish on the man’s otherwise shiny profile was a drug deal that went bad while he was with Customs. Reynolds had been seriously wounded and ended up in the hospital for a good month, and the perp got away with the dope. IA had performed a thorough investigation, but Reynolds had come up clean.

His frown deepening, Jarrod continued on down to the next name.

Kev Grand had several tickets for speeding and had been thrown in the Douglas City Jail once, after a drunken brawl where the local tavern had been trashed. Grand was well known as a bit of a hot head and vigilante, taking matters into his own hands when it came to keeping UDAs, undocumented aliens, off his property. But the man had never been noted to use extreme measures and had not been cited for anything other than the brawl and tickets.

Jarrod stroked his fingers over his mustache as he brought up the next suspect…and then his blood boiled.

When Steve Wilds was nineteen, he had beat the crap out of a kid who’d apparently tried to force Catie to have sex in the back seat of his car at the drive-in. According to the police report, Steve had heard that Reggie Parker had been bragging he was going to “do her.” Steve tracked them down and found Catie trying to fight the boy off. Steve punched the living daylights out of Parker, who’d ended up with stitches and a busted jaw. Because Steve had been nineteen, and Parker seventeen, Steve had been charged as an adult for assaulting a minor.

Jarrod gritted his teeth—he hoped to hell that Steve had done some damage to that SOB who’d tried to rape Catie. As far as Jarrod was concerned, he owed Steve for that one.

He read on, finding almost nothing of note that he didn’t already know. Steve Wilds co-owned the Wilds Ranch with Catie, and had been operating in the red for the past few years. He’d spent some time in the hospital a few years back for a spinal cord injury, but with therapy he was back on his feet. Bank records showed normal fluctuations in the ranch and personal accounts until a sudden influx of cash—ten grand deposited last week.

Jarrod gave a low whistle. That was a good chunk of change for a rancher whose only known source of income was a spread running in the red.

When he clicked on information regarding the next suspect, Jarrod narrowed his eyes.

Jess Lawless had an absolutely clean record. Too clean. He was born and raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming, studied agribusiness at Auburn University, had an Arizona driver’s license, and that was it—no other information was available on the ranch foreman, not even a traffic ticket. From Jarrod’s conversations with Jake Reynolds, he agreed that something wasn’t quite right about the cowboy. The man moved and looked like a regular cowhand, but there was just something else in the way he worked that told Jarrod there was more to Lawless than met the eye. But likely he’d have to dig deeper to find out.

Last was Ryan Forrester. When the deputy had been unavailable the first time an intruder was spotted on the MacLeod Ranch, an alarm had been triggered in the back of Jarrod’s mind. He’d kept an eye on Forrester since then, and had become more suspicious and aware of the man’s actions and mannerisms.

Jarrod shifted in his seat as he looked through the window of his office into the control room. He saw that it was still midday empty and returned his gaze to the computer.

Forrester’s record was nicked and scarred, but nothing that would relieve him of duty. He’d been questioned for use of excessive force, but everything had been cleared. Bull Stevens, the previous Sheriff, had reprimanded Forrester for not being in his assigned location a couple of times. And Forrester had filed for Chapter thirteen bankruptcy protection the previous fall.

But what caught Jarrod’s attention was the information that Brogan had dug up that wasn’t in the deputy’s work record.

Apparently, Forrester had the gambling bug.

* * * * *

“Oh, yes.” Catie sighed with pleasure as she eased into the old-fashioned footed tub and luxuriated in the warm bathwater. “That’s more like it.”

After a long, tiring, Monday from hell, it was heaven to take a bubble bath. First she’d gotten into an argument with Steve because the big jerk refused to tell her where he’d gotten the money for the water heater; then one of the heifers had apparently eaten some locoweed and had to be put down; she’d ripped another good pair of jeans when she repaired the barbed wire fence that had been cut again; and on top of that, it looked like they were missing another ten head of cattle.

“Not going to think about any of that crap right now.” Catie grabbed a luffa sponge from the soap tray and squirted her favorite vanilla musk gel on it. With energetic strokes, she scrubbed her skin until her body tingled.

It had been so long since they’d had hot water that she’d forgotten how wonderful it felt to relax in the tub after a hard day of ranch work. Even though he was keeping his trap shut on where he’d gotten the funds, she could almost forgive Steve for springing for the luxury of a new water heater.
Almost.

Taking a deep breath of the vanilla-scented bubbles, she closed her eyes and leaned against the back of the old-fashioned footed tub, enjoying the silky feel of warm water against her skin. Water lapped at her nipples, causing them to harden into tight little nubs, reminding her of the way Jarrod had licked and sucked them to attention. She moved her hands to her breasts, cupping them, imaging that he was with her now, his muscular body pressed into hers, his cock as hard as cordwood against her belly.

But for once her own touch and mental fantasies failed to satisfy her. It was Jarrod that she wanted… She
needed
to have the man’s hands on her body. She’d had the real thing, and now her imagination just wouldn’t to. At least ‘til she got the man out of her system.

“Dammit.” With a frown she opened her eyes and scooted up in the tub. It really was starting to tick her off that she couldn’t get him off her mind. What the hell was the matter with her? He was just a man, nothing special.

Yeah, right.

Instead of enjoying a nice, leisurely bath, Catie ended up rushing through the rest of it. She kept trying to shove Jarrod out of her thoughts, but the bastard kept returning, not leaving her alone.

When she’d toweled off, she threw on her old cotton robe, yanked a comb through her wet hair and marched into her bedroom. She was pissed and horny,
not
a good combination. She’d put Jarrod off until Friday night and it was only Monday. How the hell was she going to make it until Friday without a good fuck?

But at the same time, she wondered how he’d managed to convince her to attend a dinner with the mayor. The
mayor
for crying out loud.

The piercing ring of the telephone was like a screech through Catie’s mind. She checked the caller ID, but didn’t recognize the number, and no name was shown. Catie snatched up the cordless, ready to take out her pent-up sexual frustration on the telemarketer who dared to interrupt her mental tirade. “Wilds.”

“Yes. You are,” Jarrod’s deep voice rumbled over the phone.

“Jarrod.” Warmth flushed over Catie, heating every cell, every pore on her body. “I’m what?” Dammit, but her brain always took a hike around him.

“Wild…in bed and out.” His tone was throbbing with sensuality, and if she’d had panties on right then, they’d be soaked. God did he ever make her hot. “Sure you won’t change your mind about dinner before Friday?”

It took all her resolve not to beg him to come over
now
. Instead, she somehow managed to keep her voice light and teasing. “It’s a busy week, cowboy.”

“What are you doing right now?”

A spark of mischief skittered through her belly. She grinned and perched on the edge of her bed. “I’m lying in my bed…absolutely naked.”

Jarrod sucked in his breath, and it was a good heartbeat before he responded. “You’d better be careful, little wildcat. I’ll be there faster than you can make yourself come.”

Catie pulled at the tie of her robe, his words giving her an idea. “Have you ever had phone sex?”

“Uh, no.”

“Ah.” She slid off the robe and settled against the pillows on her bed. “So you’re a phone sex virgin.”

Jarrod gave a soft chuckle. “Been a long time since I was called that.”

“Well it’s time you lose that cherry.” Catie cupped one of her breasts with her free hand. “I’ll tell you what I’m doing. I’m playing with my nipples, imagining that you’re sucking them.”

“Damn, woman.” Jarrod groaned, and she could visualize the raging desire in his expression. “I can picture your pussy. So pink and wet, just for me.”

“Oh, yeah.” Moisture flooded her core and cool air brushed her pussy as she spread her legs. “Where are you right now?”

“In my study,” he said like he was gritting his teeth, “with a hard-on the size of Texas.”

Catie laughed. “Well, then. We need to do something about that.”

“You coming over here, or am I going there?”

“Neither.” She rubbed her hand up and down her flat belly. “Take off your clothes, cowboy.”

A pause, and then he said, “Honey, I don’t know what you do to me, but I can’t believe I’m actually considering it.”

“Just take off your clothes, big guy.”

“Hold on.” Jarrod grunted and she heard the rustle of fabric, the faint thump of boots on tile.

While she waited, Catie closed her eyes and tweaked first one nipple, then the next as she pictured his hard muscled body, naked and waiting for her. A part of her wanted to give in and meet with him before Friday. But she couldn’t take the chance of starting to like the man
too
much, or give him the wrong idea—that they were anything more than friends and occasional lovers.

“Ready.” Jarrod’s voice interrupted her train of thought. “I just need your pussy here so that I can fuck you senseless.”

“Mmmmm.” She squirmed on the bed, dying for the feel of him inside her. “Grab your cock and imagine that my tongue is licking over it like you’re a super-sized ice cream cone.”

“And woman, do you ever have a talented tongue.” he murmured. “My turn. I want you to finger your pussy.” Jarrod paused and she dipped her fingers into her slick folds. He lowered his voice and added, “Now taste yourself for me.”

A small gasp escaped Catie’s throat at what he suggested and she hesitated. She’d smelled her own musk on her hand, and tasted herself on Jarrod’s tongue, but lick her own fingers?

“Come on, honey.” His groan was low and primal.

“All right, just for you.” She smiled and brought her forefinger to her mouth and sucked on it with a smack loud enough for him to hear over the phone. “Mmmm. It’s like tasting myself on your cock.”

“Damn but you make me hot.” Jarrod’s breathing was growing harsh. “I want to fuck you. I want to fuck you more than anything.”

A thrill coursed through her, a heady feeling of power. The knowledge that she could turn this man on as much as he turned her on was addicting, like the most potent of drugs.

“Are you stroking your cock?” Her fingers found her clit and resumed the familiar motion that made her feel so good. “I’m fingering myself, Jarrod.”

“Yeah. I want to come inside you, Catie.”

“That’s good. So good.” She clenched the phone tighter as her arousal grew. Her own breathing became more labored as her finger dipped into her core and she spread her juices over her clit. “I’m picturing you and that big cock of yours. You’re sliding it into my pussy and you’re fucking me hard and fast.”

“What if I put my finger up your ass while I fuck you,” Jarrod murmured. “Would you like that?”

A wild moaned slipped through her lips at the thought of having him in her ass and her pussy at once. Her fingers stroked her clit harder and faster, bringing her closer to the peak.

“Would you, Catie?” His tone was gruff. “Or how about if I rammed my cock in your ass, would you like that?”

“Yes, dammit.” She had to force the words out as she began to climax. “I’d like you to fuck me every way possible.” The orgasm took hold of her body, her muscles clenching from head to toe. “Jarrod!” she shouted as she came. Her fingers continued, drawing out her orgasm, while her body shuddered and trembled.

Through the rush of blood in her ears she heard Jarrod’s groan of release, his heavy breathing, and then his husky laugh.

“You’re amazing.” He sounded sated, but like he could go another round or two. “No other woman on the face of god’s green earth could make me jack off while on the telephone.”

Laughter and pleasure filled Catie. “Thanks for the great phone sex, cowboy,” she murmured. And then she hung up on him.