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  “Shut up and fuck me.” Nicole wrapped her legs around Alex, her thighs gripping his hips tight. “God, yes. That’s it.”

  Sweat beaded on his upper lip and rolled down the side of his face. He moved one hand between her thighs and rubbed her clit, and that was all it took. Nicole’s orgasm flared within her and she shouted with the strength of it.

  Alex followed her moments later, his growl reverberating through her and causing her pussy to spasm even more.

  Chapter Six

  Nicole snuggled in the blankets, feeling sore all over like she’d had a good workout. The sheets smelled of Alex’s masculine essence and the lusty scent of their sex.

  She opened her eyes to early morning sunlight spilling through wooden blinds shading windows to either side of the oak bed. She rolled over, expecting to find Alex asleep beside her, but the bed was empty.

  Well, duh. He was a rancher, and ranchers tended to get up at the crack of dawn to do whatever it was that ranchers did.

  She eased out of bed, cotton sheets sliding over her bare skin and rasping her nipples. With a satisfied yawn, she stretched and caught sight of her reflection in a mirror over the bureau. She looked like a well-fucked woman, and she also looked like hell.

  Fifteen minutes later, Nicole had showered and was standing before Alex’s closet, trying to find something to wear. She finally pulled on a pair of old Levi’s and cinched them around her waist by tying a braided belt in a knot, the buckle dangling down her abdomen. Despite her efforts, the Levi’s kept sliding down her hips, but it was the best she could do. Of course the jeans were too long, even though she was a fairly tall woman, so she had to roll them up a few times just to reach the tops of her feet. She slipped on the same shirt he’d given her last night and let it fall over her jeans and down to her thighs.

  For shoes, she was just plain out of luck. She’d have to go barefoot for now. After she tied her hair back in a ponytail, using a scrap of cloth she tore off her ruined dress, she went in search of Alex by heading out the back door.

  Outside the rain-washed sky was a clear blue, reminding her of the color of her grandmother’s favorite mixing bowl, the one she used to make cakes in when Nicole was a little girl. The air smelled clean and fresh from the rain. The back lawn was soft and wet beneath her bare feet and a cool breeze brushed her cheeks.

  Not too far from the house were the corrals with a herd of white-faced Herefords. To the right was the bunkhouse and just to the side of the house stood the huge weathered barn.

  In the distance she heard the sound of male voices. Nicole shoved her hands beneath the shirt, in the front pockets of the Levi’s, and the jeans almost slid over her hips. She had to wrangle them back up around her waist while she walked toward one of the corrals behind the barn.

  When she ran out of lawn, she walked across damp earth, avoiding puddles and mud the best she could, but it still squished through her toes. She laughed. The water did feel good over her toes and the mud made her feel like a kid again. Like she’d been when she’d first met Alex.

  She could still remember his mischievous grin and the spark in his hazel eyes every time he teased her. Once in third grade he had pulled up her dress during recess and she’d started wearing shorts under her dresses to avoid the embarrassment of showing her underwear to everyone in elementary school again. In fifth grade he’d teased her about her first boyfriend, Greg Davis, who happened to be the smartest kid in the class. Then there was her freshman year, when he’d decked her prom date. She’d been so mad at Alex she could have spit fire. She never did find out why he’d given Ryan a bloody nose.

  She stared up at the sky and watched a hawk circle over the corrals. Alex’s teasing had started when she was in first grade and he was a couple of grades ahead of her. What was it? Oh, yeah. The Dancerina doll incident. Or was it the time he stole the cupcake her grandmother had made for her? No, it had to be the time he spread mud all over her face.

  Nicole had to grin. Alex Grand had been a real pain in the ass. Hell, he still was.

  She reached the wooden railing of one of the corrals and climbed up on it, the wood rough under her bare feet. Her gaze took in cowboys on horseback working cattle in the east pasture. Was Alex out there? She squinted, trying to make out his form, but she didn’t see those broad shoulders and lean hips that she now knew intimately. The mere thought of just how intimately made her body flush with desire and her pussy wet.

  Big hands grabbed her waist from behind, startling her, and causing her to yelp.

  “Looking for me, hon?” Alex’s deep voice rumbled in her ear.

  “Admiring the view.” She held onto the top rail and leaned back against his broad chest, confident he wouldn’t let her fall.

  She shivered as his lips moved close to her ear. “How would you like me to make you come now, while you watch my men at work?”

  Liquid heat rushed between her thighs. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  He slipped his hand beneath the huge shirt she was wearing, and around to the baggy waistband of the Levi’s. “Want to bet on it, sweetheart?”

  A low moan was Nicole’s answer as he slipped his fingers into her wet folds. She knew his men wouldn’t be able to tell what he was doing to her under that shirt, but it heightened her arousal beyond belief.

  “You are one wicked man,” she managed to get out, despite the fact he was fingering her clit, bringing her to the brink of orgasm in just a few strokes. She gripped the railing tighter, but at the same time her body sagged against Alex’s muscular chest.

  In the distance she saw the men riding their horses, rounding up cattle. She heard their whistles and shouts. But her vision began to blur and her hearing faded, and all she could do was feel. A violent orgasm took her and a cry left her lips before she could hold it back.

  Dimly she became aware of her surroundings and Alex’s low laughter. Heat rushed to her cheeks and her body gave a jerk as he gave her clit another tweak.

  “Alex,” she said under her breath as a couple of the cowboys turned their heads. “Get your hand out of my pants.”

  He slid his fingers up her belly and she felt the trail of moisture he left behind. She was afraid he was going to go for her breasts and that the cowboys would see, but he slipped his hand from beneath her shirt.

  He brought his palms up to her shoulders and began kneading them through the shirt and she relaxed into the massage. “Anything else you’d like to bet me?” he said close to her ear.

  She shook her head and felt her ponytail brush his face. “Not on your life.”

  Alex slipped his right hand from her shoulder, up her neck and to her nose. “Smell your desire for me. Even after all the times I’ve already fucked you since last night, you want more.”

  She breathed in the sweet and salty scent of her own juices on his fingers and her belly flipped. He moved his hand from her nose and she turned just enough to see him slip his finger into his mouth.

  “Damn fine tasting, too,” he murmured.

  Nicole’s stomach was doing some major somersaults now.

  He lifted her off the railing and turned her so that her chest was flush against his. “Let’s go have breakfast.”

  This time Nicole cooked for the two of them. She didn’t have much to work with as far as Alex’s supplies, but she was the owner of a bed-and-breakfast and an excellent cook. She could make do.

  Alex took a shower while Nicole whipped up a potato, egg, and cheese breakfast casserole. While it was baking, he came back into the kitchen and sniffed the air like a man who hadn’t eaten in a month of Sundays.

  “Something smells damn good.” He came up to Nicole and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You look terrific in my kitchen.”

  “I’ll just bet.” She pushed him away and snatched up a couple of potholders she’d dug out of a drawer earlier. “You’d like having someone around to cook for you.”

  Alex winked and grabbed a couple of mismatched plates from a cabinet, along with a pair of fork
s out of a drawer. “Can you blame a guy who can’t cook worth crap?”

  Nicole never saw a man eat so much so fast in all her life. She had a decent-sized portion that was enough to fill her up, but Alex had at least five times as much and she swore he would have licked the pan clean if she hadn’t been sitting there watching him eat.

  After his last mouthful, Alex settled back in his chair looking like a man who’d just had the best blowjob of his life.

  The corner of Nicole’s mouth quirked. “Had enough?”

  He shook his head. “Still hungry.”

  When she raised an eyebrow he stood and drew her up out of her chair. “I’ve a mind for a little something more.”

  With a quick movement that caught her totally by surprise, he picked her up so that his arms were wrapped around her legs and her hands were braced on his shoulders.

  She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “What do you think you’re doing, Alex Grand?”

  He gave her a dark and sensual look. “Finishing off breakfast.”

  Alex carried her into his bedroom and tossed her on the bed. She laughed again as she bounced on the mattress, but her laughter turned into a groan as he shucked off his jeans and underwear, and stood in front of her. His cock was erect and her mouth watered at the thought of slipping her lips over his length and taking him deep.

  He jerked her jeans off, which slid easily over her hips. Next went her shirt, and then he was braced over her, his hot male body pressed to her. Again he caught her by surprise when he grabbed her and rolled so that she was on top. Her long blonde hair spilled over her shoulders and he ran his fingers through the length of it.

  “Sixty-nine, hon.” Alex’s voice was a low rumble. “I want to taste you.”

  Fire licked Nicole’s insides and she eased around so that her mouth was over his cock, and her pussy against his mouth.

  She cried out the moment his tongue swiped her folds and he thrust two fingers inside her. With the way he was licking her pussy and finger-fucking her, it was all she could do to concentrate on slipping her mouth over his delicious cock. He smelled so good as she took him deep. She worked his erection with her hand, from the wiry curls around the base of his shaft to her mouth, and back again.

  Nicole moaned around his cock and squirmed as Alex devoured her folds. Damn, but he was good. He licked, he sucked, pounded her pussy with his fingers—shit. So close to orgasm, so close—

  And then he stopped. She slipped his wet cock from her mouth, “Goddamn it, Grand, don’t stop now, you bastard.”

  He gave a low growl, and in a fast movement flipped her over again and in a smooth movement rearranged himself so that his face was now over hers.

  Whoa. “You’re a man of many talents,” she murmured. And she wasn’t talking about the way he’d just turned her around. “Now, show me what else you’ve got.”

  Alex kissed her. He still tasted her juices on his tongue that mingled with the flavor of her sweet mouth. He’d never get enough of her sweetness. No doubt in his mind that she was becoming just as addicted to him as he was to her.

  His tongue probed the depths of her mouth and she made those moaning sounds that he loved. Her pebble-hard nipples rubbed against his chest and the curls of her pussy caressed his balls.

  Nicole grabbed his cock as they kissed and brought it to the opening of her wet channel. She arched up at the same time he drove into her.

  Gasping, Nicole broke away from his kiss and her eyes nearly rolled back in her head. “So deep. So damn good.”

  “Your tight pussy feels like heaven around my cock,” he said as he thrust into her. “I could just fuck you all day.”

  She raised her hips to meet his. “God, it turns me on when you talk dirty.”

  Alex hooked his arms around her knees and moved her legs so that her ankles were around his neck. “Do you want me to tell you what beautiful tits you have, hon? And your pussy. So hot and so wet, just for me.”

  Nicole’s cries became louder the harder he thrust into her.

  “I like the feel of your ankles around my neck.” He pounded into her and the headboard banged against the wall. “And I love how deep you take me when I fuck you like this.”

  “I’m going to come.” Nicole’s voice trembled as her gaze locked with his. “Don’t stop fucking me.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He increased his strokes, slamming his cock into her core, his balls slapping against her pussy and their flesh smacking together.

  Nicole went rigid and let out a scream like he’d never heard before.

  “That’s it, hon,” he said as he continued his thrusts. “Ride it out.”

  Her body bucked against his, her eyes wide, and she kept making those sexy cries that drove him closer to the edge.

  A few more thrusts and he gave his own cry of release. Black spots swam before his eyes, his climax was so powerful. He continued working his cock in and out of her pussy until he was drained, then rolled onto his side, taking Nicole with him.

  “We’re all sweaty again. And sticky.” Her breathing was still ragged. “And we smell like sex.”

  Alex tried to catch his own breath. “Hon, you better plan on plenty of sweat and sex when you’re with me.”

  She grinned. “You’ve got a deal.”

  Chapter Seven

  Come Sunday afternoon, Nicole truly was so sore she could hardly walk straight.

  Even after Alex finished fixing her car, for some crazy reason she found herself procrastinating. She should have been heading back to Bisbee and to her bed-and-breakfast first thing that morning, but she and Alex had gone another round, this time in the hayloft. Over the weekend they’d used every position she could think of, and a few she’d never imagined.

  But when it came down to it, she knew she needed to keep her distance from the man. She was not about to get seriously involved with anyone. Sex and sex only—that was it. For one month.

  And what a wild month it promised to be.

  After showering and dressing again in Alex’s shirt and jeans, and grabbing her purse, they headed out to her ‘vette, now parked outside the front yard of the ranch house.

  She was barefoot, her spiked heels and dress fragments already stowed in the trunk, thanks to Alex somehow managing to get her keys out. He walked her to the car and caught her by the arm before she could slide behind the wheel. She almost dropped her purse in a puddle of water beside them.

  “Hey.” His tone was low and husky as his hazel eyes met hers. “Dinner tomorrow night. You pick the place.”

  Nicole tossed her long hair over her shoulder and gave him an appraising look. “You just want another good fuck.”

  He raised his hand and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. She shivered at the intensity in his gaze. Not a look of lust, but a look of caring. A look that scared her absolutely to death.

  “Seven. I’ll pick you up.”

  Even as she started to shake her head, words spilled through her lips she didn’t intend to say. “We’ll eat in. My B&B.”

  His hand moved from her cheek to cup the back of her head. Their lips met in such a slow and completely sensual kiss that it literally stole her breath away. They’d never seemed to be able to slow things down between them and their sex had been wild and rough, the way she liked it.

  But that kiss…it thrilled her. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if he took it slow and easy with her.

  When he broke the kiss, her breathing was shallow and uneven. She couldn’t take her eyes from his. “Don’t be late.”

  He ran his thumb along her lower lip. “Never.”

  It took a lot to tear herself away from that touch and to slide into her car. Alex waited until she started the engine, and then he shut the driver’s side door and stepped back. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and watched her, a serious expression on his face. As she drove away she checked the rearview mirror to see him striding away, back into his house.

  She must be going out of her m
ind.

  Nicole braced her hands on the vanity dresser in her bedroom and counted to ten.

  She was not nervous, and she was not thinking anything but carnal, lustful thoughts about Alex Grand. This was all about sex for a month, and no strings attached. She was Nicole Landford, the woman who did not get seriously attached to any man, the woman who enjoyed sex for the sake of sex, and was unapologetic about it. She got a kick out of men, loved everything about them, but she never had a problem separating sex from emotion.

  Then why hadn’t she been able to get the man off her mind from the time she left him until now, fifteen minutes before he was supposed to arrive? She kept getting lost in thoughts of what they’d shared this weekend. That day she’d managed to screw up a reservation, put double the amount of coffee beans in the grinder, water a fake plant, and put sugar instead of salt in the omelet she made for one of the B&B’s guests.

  And here she was, dinner set up on the round table in her huge bedroom, with enough food to feed all the B&B’s guests, including herself and Alex. She’d cooked and baked all day. She had settled for more traditional fare, rather than anything too fancy. For appetizers she’d made extra-spicy hot wings, and stuffed jalapeños, since she’d learned Alex loved hot foods. For dinner there were barbequed baby-back ribs with her own spicy sauce, her special creamy mashed potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, hot corn muffins straight out of the oven, and a huge salad. For dessert there was her famous death-by-chocolate cake that everyone in Bisbee raved about.

  She only hoped she hadn’t used salt instead of sugar in that recipe.

  Nicole rolled her eyes to the ceiling of her bedroom. She really was losing her mind.

  Today she’d e-mailed her cousins Bri and Lily to tell them how things were going on her part of the bargain. All she’d written them was she had found someone to have a real good time with. One thing she wasn’t about to tell them was how she kept thinking about Alex, after just one weekend. Instead, she’d been her usual flippant self. Of course she mentioned that she still didn’t think Lily would hold up her end of the deal. That girl was seriously in need of some good fucking. She was way too uptight.