Thunderstruck Read online

  “No, no. It’s not that deep. I just like her. We like each other. We’re not even close to your and Lexi’s territory.” The idea that Cade thought he might be gave him a moment of panic.

  “Look, if you’re developing feelings for her, just say so.”

  “Nope, not in the way you’re talking about. Like I said, we’re on the same page about my leaving next week.”

  Cade glanced at him and smiled. “Make sure you shower off before you join her on that page, or in that bed, or whatever is the next step for you two. Are you going on to the cabin or back to her house?”

  “Her house. I don’t know what kind of bed she has, but it’s gotta be larger than my bunk.”

  Cade laughed. “Guaranteed. Anyway, don’t get carried away until you hit the showers.”

  “It’s that bad?”

  “Yeah. Mud is not a good look on you, bro. Get rid of it as soon as you can. And now I’m off to see my lady love. I’ve kept her waiting long enough.”

  “I understand. Thanks for the ride and the tow. And like I said before, Phil and I can drive in together tomorrow morning. We’ll make it early so Rosie won’t have a clue.”

  Cade grinned. “I didn’t want to mention this to you before and rain on your parade, but that’s so not going to work.”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “Are you going to make Phil drive you there before breakfast? Because Rosie will be up way before dawn scrambling eggs and making coffee like she always does. If you’re not in her kitchen ready to eat it as usual, she’ll know something’s going on.”

  Damon thought about that. Asking Phil to get them there an hour early in order to save his reputation didn’t seem very gentlemanly. He could wander over and have breakfast in Rosie’s kitchen, but what about Phil? Was she supposed to grab a piece of toast before leaving her house while he enjoyed a full ranch breakfast? “I guess sneaking around isn’t the best idea.” He sighed. “I’ll have to talk with Rosie.”

  “There’s really no sneaking around behind her back. She knew about our secret blood-brother ceremony fifteen years ago, and she’s even better at detection now than she was then. She has great instincts and eyes in the back of her head.”

  Damon nodded. “Yep, she does.”

  “Just tell her and get it over with. If she asks me for my opinion, I’ll support your decision to keep your life the way you want it. Maybe if she hears it from both of us, she’ll adjust her thinking. Anyway, I’m off.”

  “Thanks again.” Damon clasped Cade’s hand in their ritual handshake. Then Cade walked back to his truck and Damon turned and headed in the opposite direction.

  Phil leaned out the window. “Thanks, Cade!”

  “Welcome! Have fun!” He climbed in his truck and drove off.

  Damon walked up to the driver’s side and gestured toward his muddy clothes. “All things considered, I should probably ride in back.”

  “Don’t be silly. I put a blanket over the seat like you suggested. Go ahead and get in. It’ll be fine.”

  He shook his head. “Okay. Your truck.” And he was glad he wouldn’t be riding in the back all the way to her house. He might be muddy, and his hands were dirty from handling the chain, so he couldn’t touch her, but at least he could check out this silk outfit of hers.

  When he opened the passenger door the dome light came on and he got his first good look at her. His breath caught. Her hair was loose around her shoulders. The blue and green swirling pattern of the silk brought out some subtle shading in her eyes that he hadn’t noticed before. They weren’t just blue. They were a mixture of blue, green and turquoise.

  His attention moved to where the shoulder harness was strapped diagonally across her chest, which pulled the material tight. Maybe it wasn’t transparent, but it was damned close.

  “Pretty stupid, huh? Driving around with practically nothing on. I won’t be doing that again soon.”

  He swallowed. “Too bad.” He could stand here forever watching the silk shift with each breath she took.

  As the silence stretched between them, the rhythm of her breathing changed. Her nipples, which had only slightly dented the material before, became clearly outlined. “We...we should go.”

  He met her gaze and found the same hunger there that was creating a heavy ache in his groin. “The cabin’s closer.” And he wouldn’t have to worry about getting mud all over her house.

  She hesitated. “You’re right.” Then her eyebrows arched. “Getting in?”

  He didn’t have to be asked twice. But as he sat on the blanket she’d spread over the seat, something on the floor crunched under his boot. “Uh-oh. What did I just squash?”

  “Condoms.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No. Buckle up.”

  He reached down and picked up the mangled box before he fastened his seat belt. “You weren’t kidding.”

  “Nope.” She pulled out onto the deserted road.

  Holding the box, he looked over at her. “You didn’t trust me to have any?” That bothered him more than he would have expected it to.

  “I didn’t know if you would or not.”

  “You didn’t? After all the emails where we talked about attention to detail?”

  “That was construction. This is—”

  “No different. I’m a detail-oriented guy, whether I’m talking about building a house or going to bed with a woman. I wouldn’t have shown up at your house without these. I’d pull mine out of my pocket to prove it except my pocket’s muddy.”

  “I believe you have them. I should have known you wouldn’t forget something that important.” She glanced at him. “I insulted you, didn’t I?”

  “I just thought you knew me better than that.”

  “I guess I have trouble believing I’ve found somebody so much like me. I brought them because I’m a detail-oriented woman.”

  He took a deep breath. “Right. I know that about you. This box shouldn’t surprise me at all.” He was still turning her other comment over in his mind—that they were very much alike.

  He’d thought so, too, until he’d laid eyes on her and decided they couldn’t be as alike as he’d thought because...because she was a woman? Whoops. Not cool. He didn’t like admitting Rosie might be right about his attitude.

  Maybe they were alike in the way they thought and the way they worked a job. But holding this box of condoms emphasized an important difference, one he planned to take full advantage of once he’d ditched the muddy clothes. He might not be used to working side by side with a woman, but he was very familiar with being in bed with one.

  Too bad about the bunk situation, but driving all the way back to her house would have been torture, at least for him. She’d agreed to the alternate plan so quickly that she’d probably concluded the same thing. Once again, they thought alike.

  Thank God they were almost there. “You’ll want to take the back road around to the cabins,” he said.

  “I’d already planned on that.”

  “Did I just insult you?”

  “Not really. You’re the one who’s afraid of getting in hot water over this, so naturally you’re the one who’s the most worried about someone seeing my truck here tonight.”

  “About that. I’ve decided to talk to Rosie first thing in the morning. She’ll find out about us, so I might as well level with her.”

  “If she gives you a hard time, you’re welcome to send her to me.”

  “Cade said he’d back me up, too. Maybe at last she’ll get the picture that I’m not interested in getting married.”

  “And that’s your right.”

  He looked over at her. “How about you? You planning to settle down with someone?”

  “Eventually, if the right guy comes along.”

  “He’d have to be really special.”

  She smiled. “Thanks.”

  “No, I mean it. You’re amazing. It’ll take a hell of a guy to be worthy of you.”

  “That’s nice
of you to say. At the very least, he can’t be threatened by the fact that I can operate power tools better than he can.”

  “Like I said, no average Joe for you.” They’d reached the edge of the meadow. “Can you pull around by the bathhouse? My shirt got the worst of it and I’d rather take that off in there. I can also wash the stink of metal off my hands.”

  “Maybe I like a metallic scent on a man.”

  “Do you?”

  “I don’t know.” She pulled up next to the bathhouse and parked. “I just don’t want you to take too long getting neat and clean.”

  His body responded with a rush of heat. “Then come in with me. That should hurry me along.”

  They met at the front of the truck and walked toward the bathhouse. Ordinarily at this point he would have held her hand, but he had mud all down his sleeve, and he didn’t want to ruin that sexy silk.

  Her feet made slapping sounds as she walked.

  “Are you wearing flip-flops?”

  “Boots didn’t seem to go with the outfit.”

  He laughed. “Guess not. I like the way it swirls around you. What did you call it again?”

  “A caftan. It’s a one-size-fits-all that just goes over your head.”

  That’s how it would come off, too. His cock thickened. He thought about the condoms in his pocket. No, that wouldn’t be an elegant way to begin, in a utilitarian bathhouse, for God’s sake. Shame on him for even thinking it.

  A dusk-to-dawn light illuminated the entrance and filtered into the interior, but if he wanted any more light, he’d have to turn on an overhead. He couldn’t imagine anything less romantic, and besides, he didn’t need to see very well to take off his muddy shirt and wash his hands.

  He stepped into the semidarkness and she followed him in. He’d never been in here with a woman before. It felt more illicit than he’d thought it would, especially when he started unfastening the snaps on the cuffs of his shirt.

  Her breathing picked up. “This feels sort of risqué, being in a public bathroom with a guy.”

  He was startled that she’d thought the same thing he had. Apparently, they were very much alike. “I won’t be long.” He popped open the snaps running down the front of his shirt and took it off. Some of the mud had dried and it flaked off onto the floor, but he’d clean that up in the morning.

  “Take your time.” Her voice had a husky quality.

  He was learning to cherish that huskiness. It meant she was thinking about sex. Excellent topic. He rolled up his shirt and used it to brush off dried mud from his jeans. “Stand back. I don’t want to flick dried mud on you.”

  “No worries. Feeling better?”

  “Much. My jeans didn’t get hit as hard as the shirt. Once I wash my face and hands, I’ll be fairly mud-free except for my boots.”

  “Well done.” Her comment was low and sultry.

  He sure did love listening to her when she sounded like that. He’d like it even more when they were both naked in his bunk. “We might as well leave the truck down here and walk back to the cabin.”

  “Fine with me.”

  He tucked the shirt on the shelf running across the row of sinks. Then he laid his hat on top of the shirt. He’d retrieve them in the morning, too. Nobody came down here except him, anyway.

  His image in the closest mirror above the sink was shadowy. That was okay. He could still wash his hands and face. In the process he’d make sure he didn’t have mud in his hair.

  “Almost done.” As he soaped and rinsed his hands and face, he realized he didn’t have anything to dry with. “Could you hand me that towel by the shower, please?”

  “Sure thing, cowboy.”

  He felt a brush of silk against his bare back, and then she reached around his waist to hand him the towel. Nice move. “Thanks.” As he dried his face, she reached in with her other hand and spread her palms over his abs.

  “Mmm.” She nestled against him from behind. “Very nice.”

  The unexpected caress sent his blood straight to his cock, which pushed against his fly. He dropped the towel into the sink. “Phil...”

  “What?”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “I know exactly what I’m doing.” She rubbed her silk-covered breasts against his back. “Do you?”

  “I think...you’re seducing me.”

  “Bingo.” She reached for his belt buckle.

  “Here?”

  “For starters.” She had his buckle undone in no time.

  He braced his hands against the sink and let her complete the job. Only a fool would stop a woman intent on getting her hands inside his... Ah, yes. Heaven was having Phil wrap her fingers around his throbbing cock.

  As she fondled him, she ran her tongue along his backbone. Naturally, that made him think of what else she could do with her tongue, but he wasn’t going to ask. He couldn’t ask. He was having trouble breathing, let alone talking.

  She didn’t seem to have that problem. “I think you need to turn around.” And she withdrew those magic hands.

  He turned. Cupping her face, he kissed her with an intensity that might have worried him if he’d thought about it. But he was way beyond thinking. He craved the feel of her mouth against his. He needed to thrust his tongue deep inside and hear her moan.

  And oh, did she moan. She also continued her sweet assault, reaching inside his briefs to stroke and squeeze until he gasped and broke away from the kiss. If she kept it up he was going to come, and he didn’t want that. Not yet.

  “Easy.” He struggled to get the words out. “Or this will be over too soon.”

  Her soft chuckle seemed especially erotic in this setting. “Feeling like a teenager again?” Her thumb nestled against the tender cleft beneath the head of his cock.

  “Yes, and you know how they are.”

  “Ready to walk to the cabin?”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Then maybe we’d better see what’s in your pocket.”

  He wouldn’t have chosen this as their first time, but he was out of options. His climax pounded at the door and rattled the windows, wanting to be turned loose. He dug a condom out of his pocket, ripped open the package and rolled it on.

  In the time he took to do that, she’d whipped her dress over her head and hung it on the hook where his towel used to be. Then she kicked off her flip-flops. He regretted that he couldn’t see her better. He knew she would be magnificent.

  But the moment was upon them. She clutched his shoulders as he braced himself against the sink, cupped her smooth bottom and lifted her up.

  She propped her feet on that same sink, her thighs tight around his waist. “I hope your plumbing is sturdy.”

  “It is.” And with that he lowered her onto his rigid penis. He’d never been this hard or this desperate for release. But as she sank down, enveloping his urgency with heat and urgency of her own, he fought his natural instinct to push upward and let go.

  Instead he stopped moving and just stood there while he regained command of himself. That wasn’t an easy task, with heat sizzling through his veins and every muscle in his body screaming for release.

  She leaned back and gazed at him, although she couldn’t possibly see much. “Come if you need to.”

  “Oh, I need to, but I won’t. Not yet. Do you need to?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then that’s what will happen. Work with me, Philomena.”

  Her response was part laughter and part moan as she used the sink and his shoulders as leverage. He steadied her as she moved up and down, massaging his aching bad boy with every stroke. It was torture, but the sweetest torture he could imagine.

  Somehow he held back until she came, arching against him and clenching her jaw against the cries that carried far too readily in the cool mountain air. The firm grip of her climax pushed him past his limit and he surged upward, claiming his reward. He swallowed a groan of pleasure so great that he wanted to shout it to the world.

  As
they trembled in the aftermath of their first shared climax, he vowed that very soon he’d find a place and a time where they could make all the joyful noise they wanted. Something this good deserved to be celebrated.

  Then a little voice inside his head whispered that something this good was worth hanging on to. But he refused to listen.

  6

  THE NIGHT WASN’T turning out anything like Phil had anticipated, but she couldn’t complain. She’d had amazing sex in a dark bathhouse, of all places. And a very short time after that, she found herself stretched out on Damon’s narrow bunk. Bathed in the glow of a small desk lamp, she trembled in anticipation as he nibbled and kissed every inch of her.

  He was exceptionally good at that. His attention to detail on the construction site carried over into his lovemaking, and she was the happy recipient of his thoroughness. He found the sensitive spot on the inside of her elbow, and taught her that even the spaces between her fingers were erogenous zones.

  She had a pretty fair idea what his ultimate plan was for this kiss-fest, but she didn’t know how he’d accomplish it in such cramped quarters. No way could he prop himself between her thighs and be comfortable. Most of him would be hanging off the end of the bunk.

  As it turned out, he had an alternate plan. Dropping to his knees beside the bed, he settled her crossways on the mattress with her feet on the floor. They didn’t stay on the floor for long, though. Soon he draped her legs over his broad shoulders, and she was enjoying the agility of his nimble tongue in her most erogenous of all zones.

  How she wanted to make noise! But she didn’t dare. The cabin’s windows were open to catch the breeze, and the ranch house windows undoubtedly would be open, too. So as Damon provided one shattering climax, and then another, she grabbed his pillow and smothered her cries.

  While she was still quivering from that second whirlwind experience, he gently guided her back onto the bed, rolled on another condom and slid easily into her drenched channel. Dazed with pleasure, she looked into the warmth of his gray eyes.

  “Tell me if you’re getting tired.” He began a slow, easy rhythm.