Cowboy All Night (Thunder Mountain Brotherhood, Book 5) Read online

  He nodded slowly. “It’s good that you know that about yourself.” They were so different. He felt a deep connection to Thunder Mountain Ranch, but he didn’t need to make it his permanent home. Permanence was an illusion, anyway, although that wasn’t how she related to life. “Ready to lead your mare back in so I can get started on your van?”

  “Sure. But if you’re determined to wash Matilda, then I’m determined to help you.”

  He smiled. “Suit yourself.”

  They had Lucy and Linus tucked into the stall in short order. Brant checked that the automatic watering system was working and gave Lucy more alfalfa pellets while Aria loved on Linus some more. Once they left, mom and baby would likely take a nice long nap.

  “The wash area is behind the barn.” He worked hard not to smile as he said it. “I’ll go out there and make sure Cade’s left the bucket and towels while you drive around.”

  “I didn’t know it was behind the barn.” Judging from her expression the location made a difference. “I thought we’d do it in the gravel driveway by the house.”

  “This is way more efficient.”

  “And way more private?”

  “Well, yeah.” Finally he couldn’t hold back a smile. “Why do you suppose I’ve been so dead set on washing your van?”

  “Despite what you said before, I still thought it was a point of honor.”

  “Nope. I wasn’t kidding. I don’t give a damn about my reputation.”

  “I see.” She looked him up and down. “Then maybe I should worry about mine.”

  That slow perusal flipped a switch and he was suddenly ready to rock and roll. “Now your reputation is something I do care about. I would never—”

  “You wouldn’t? What a shame.” Turning, she sauntered down the aisle.

  He groaned softly. “Sexiest walk ever.”

  “I should hope so,” she said over her shoulder. “Since I’m putting some effort into it this time for your benefit.”

  He groaned. “Better be careful. I feel like something’s going to break.”

  “No, it won’t. I’m very sure-footed.”

  “I wasn’t talking about you.”

  She laughed. “See you around back.”

  Taking a deep breath, he willed his bad boy to calm down. Soaking her shirt and stealing a few kisses were all he’d had in mind for this episode. Chances were slim that someone could show up, but it wasn’t impossible.

  Yeah, too risky. He picked up the old canister vac from its spot near the back door and walked outside. Cade had left the bucket, a couple of sponges and the chamois for him. Some old towels were draped over the faucet and the hose was coiled and ready to go.

  A rock was sitting on the edge of the cement for no good reason. But when he moved it, he found a scrap of paper with “Have fun” scribbled on it. He’d suspected Cade had engineered this van washing by not lighting his last match. This somewhat confirmed it.

  Lexi wouldn’t interrupt them, either. She knew the score. Herb was in town running errands and Rosie would be busy in the house posting pictures online and getting lunch underway. That should give him a good half hour alone with Aria, maybe longer. As a teenager he’d learned that a lot could happen in thirty minutes.

  Just then, Aria drove around the end of the barn and parked on the cement. “How’s that?”

  “Perfect.” He unsnapped his shirt.

  “I’m taking off my boots,” she called from the driver’s seat. “I don’t want to get them wet.”

  “Take off whatever you want.” He hooked his shirt on a nail that had been put there for the purpose years ago. “I won’t complain.”

  “Considering we’re out here where anyone could see us, I think just the boots and socks are all I’m willing to strip off.” She hopped out and closed the door. “What about you? You don’t want your boots getting wet, do you?” She walked around the van and stopped short.

  Her wide-eyed stare and audible swallow did wonders for his ego. Usually he didn’t care what a woman thought of his body, but apparently with Aria he did.

  “You took off your shirt.”

  “I said I would.” He picked up the end of the hose and tightened the nozzle so it wouldn’t go everywhere...yet.

  “You did say that. I just wasn’t—”

  “Prepared for all this male beauty?”

  Her laughter made him feel great. Her dedication to her brother’s cause was admirable, but he sensed she’d let it rule her world for too long.

  “I’m worried about your boots, though,” she said.

  “Don’t be.” Maybe worrying about stuff was a habit with her. He hoped not. “They’re my work boots. They’re old and have been through all kinds of weather.” He turned on the water.

  “If you say so. What do you want me to do?”

  “Stand there and admire my manly chest while I hose down Matilda.”

  “Am I required to say ooh and aah at the same time?”

  Teasing was a good sign. “Wouldn’t hurt.” He activated the spray and moved it over the roof of her vehicle.

  “Ooh, ooh, you big strong man, you. Little ol’ me can’t reach the top of my van. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have someone tall and handsome to hose it down.”

  He flashed her a grin. “You’d get a stepladder.”

  “A stepladder wouldn’t look like you, though, would it? A stepladder wouldn’t have bulging biceps and an impressive six-pack. It wouldn’t have back muscles that ripple whenever you—”

  “That’s enough.” Yeah, she was teasing, but his libido didn’t seem to know that.

  “I don’t think so. I haven’t praised your sculpted pecs or the cute line of blond hair that leads a woman’s eye straight down to your—”

  “No, really. You can stop, now.”

  “Why? Are you getting uncomfortable?”

  “You might say so.” He ignored the pressure building behind his fly as he wrangled the hose so he could rinse off the hood and the other side.

  “I hate it when that happens, don’t you?”

  “I’m not sure you can even understand the concept, given your different setup.”

  “Sure I can. I—” She rounded the back of the van just as he directed the spray there. “Oh!”

  He’d soaked her unintentionally. The intentional part was supposed to come later, after they’d accomplished most of the task. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you were in motion!”

  “It’s okay.” She stood there smiling at him, drops of water sliding down her cheeks and chin. Her T-shirt was transparent and her nipples jutted forward, clearly outlined through the fabric of what must be a thin bra and shirt. “Isn’t this supposed to be part of it?”

  He twisted the nozzle and shut off the water. She looked so sexy standing there that he could barely breathe. If he ditched the hose and picked her up, he could prop her against the van and repeat that amazing kiss they’d shared in the barn. He could fondle those tempting breasts, maybe even taste them.

  But the van might never get washed. “Um, yeah, but I figured we’d at least get the van mostly—”

  “How likely is it that somebody will show up back here in the next few minutes?”

  He cleared the hoarseness from his throat. “Not very likely.”

  “Maybe later?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “Then give me that.” She grabbed the hose, twisted the nozzle and turned it on him.

  “Hey!”

  “Fair is fair!” She shut off the water before lowering the hose to the cement.

  He wiped his face. “Okay, we’re even.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to be even. I want to be ahead.” She grabbed his belt. “Come here, cowboy.” Pulling him closer, she began licking the drops of water from his chest.

  He groaned. “Aria...”

  She paused in mid-lap. “You don’t like it?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Good.” She didn’t stop.


  Belatedly he remembered that a grown woman might have more moves than the teenaged girls he’d played the car-wash game with years earlier. The unexpected blast of cold water followed by the warmth of her lips and tongue created a sensation he’d never experienced before, and despite his halfhearted protest, he didn’t want her to quit.

  “You can’t strip off your shirt and not expect a woman to want this,” she murmured. Hanging on to his belt, she sank lower, lapping and kissing, nibbling and sucking.

  Naturally he began imagining how her mouth would feel on another part of his anatomy, and before long he was hard as a fence post. He figured she could tell when she dropped to her knees. He shouldn’t allow her to continue.

  He opened his mouth to tell her to stop and nothing came out. He blamed it on the erotic feel of her tonguing his navel. No guy could think of the right words to say when a woman did that. She kept it up while she unbuckled his belt and worked down the zipper on his damp jeans.

  After that, he had no choice. His cock was doing all the thinking. He braced both hands against her van because otherwise he might fall.

  And then...oh, dear God. His fantasy of how this car wash situation might turn out hadn’t gone nearly far enough. She took her time at first and he understood that. He was a little intimidating. But she didn’t stay intimidated for long. Eventually she took in most of what he had to offer and drove him right out of his mind.

  He fought against coming too fast, but it was a losing battle with Aria in charge. From the beginning he’d pegged her as a goal-oriented person, and apparently her goal at the moment was to make him come.

  Although he wanted to believe he’d held out for minutes, the actual time might have been seconds. He climaxed spectacularly but quietly because sound carried. His breath hissed out between his teeth when she swallowed. As he stood there gasping for breath, he knew this moment would stay with him forever. He would never forget Aria. Maybe that had been a foregone conclusion all along.

  Gently she tucked his extremely happy cock inside his damp briefs, tugged up his zipper and buckled his belt. Although he watched her do it and understood intellectually that this must have been real, he still thought it could have been an outstanding dream and he’d wake up any minute.

  Dream or not, he leaned down and offered her a hand up, the gentlemanly thing to do. He remained at a loss for words, though.

  She smiled at him as he lifted her to her feet.

  Searching his dazed brain, he tried to come up with something cool to say. “I...that was very...”

  “Nice?”

  He shook his head.

  “It wasn’t nice? From the way you reacted, I thought—”

  “Way more than nice.” He drew her into his arms. Her wet T-shirt was refreshingly cool against his overheated skin. “I can’t think of any word that applies.”

  Her eyes sparkled with new awareness. “I wanted a preview of tonight.”

  “Oh, God.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Please don’t judge my staying power on what just happened.”

  “I wasn’t talking about that.”

  “No?” He opened his eyes. “What then?”

  “Length and girth.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re pretty big, but I think I can handle you.”

  “I think you just did.” Dipping his head, he gave her a quick kiss. “And now it’s my turn to get even.”

  8

  ARIA WASN’T USED to someone with Brant’s strength. He picked her up with ease and, when she automatically wrapped her legs around his waist, he carried her to the side of the van as if she weighed nothing. Supporting her with one arm, he pushed open the sliding door and lowered her to the seat so she was facing him.

  “What about washing my van?”

  “Don’t worry, lady.” He leaned in and cupped the back of her head. “I’ll wash Matilda. Right after this.” His mouth claimed hers as he deftly unsnapped her jeans.

  Her pulse rate shot into the red zone. The zipper came down next, adding fuel to a fire that was already raging. The hose had soaked her jeans, but her panties were wet for a totally different reason.

  He raised his head to gaze into her eyes. “The jeans need to come off.”

  “Are you sure?” Much as she longed for whatever he had in mind, she wasn’t happy about taking off her jeans. “What if somebody comes?”

  He smiled. “I’m counting on it.”

  “Brant! I mean—”

  When he stopped her protest with a kiss, his mouth was very persuasive, almost as persuasive as his fingers sliding in through the open zipper and stroking whatever he could reach. He breached the barrier of her panties just enough to taunt her with the possibilities.

  Like a magician, he dissolved her misgivings. She broke away from his kiss and dragged in air. “Okay, okay. Get rid of the jeans.”

  “Lie back and lift up.”

  The three-passenger seat gave her room to lie down and lift her hips. As luck would have it, her panties came off at the same time.

  “Perfect.”

  She thought he was referring to the maneuver that had left her completely accessible. But when she propped herself up on her elbows, she noticed his rapt expression and the focus of his attention. Self-consciousness started to take hold.

  He drew in a deep breath and let it out. “You’re so beautiful...everywhere.”

  The awe in his voice was exactly what she needed to claim this moment. He’d given her the power to excite and arouse him and she decided to use it. Sitting up again, she peeled off her T-shirt. Next she unhooked her bra and tossed that away, too.

  He swallowed. “My God.”

  “Come here.”

  He didn’t have to be told twice. Ducking his head, he leaned inside and cradled her face in both hands. “Maybe I won’t wash your van, after all,” he murmured. Then he guided her back down to the seat and kissed her so thoroughly that she wondered if she’d have an orgasm just from that.

  She didn’t, but she trembled on the edge of one as he moved his attention from her mouth to her throat and finally to her breasts. Gripping his shoulders, she arched upward, straining toward the sweet suction, the swirl of his tongue and the nip of his teeth.

  He swept a hand over her belly and between her thighs. One deep thrust of his finger and she came, pressing a hand to her mouth to keep from crying out. But he wasn’t finished. Sliding down her body, he wedged his shoulders under her thighs.

  While she was still quivering from her first climax, he settled his mouth over her slick entrance. The stroke of his tongue made her moan. “I can’t.”

  He kissed the tight bud nestled in her sensitive folds. His breath was hot against her moist skin. “Sure you can.” He raked the same spot lightly with his teeth. “Relax and let it happen.”

  She couldn’t imagine relaxing when every nerve was vibrating. Then he began massaging her thighs with his gentle hands while he pressed lazy kisses in a circle around that trigger point. Gradually the tenseness left her body except for the growing ache right where he was kissing her.

  And she wanted...more. Clutching his head in both hands, she surrendered to needs she’d never acknowledged before. She wanted to be taken, possessed, ravished. “Now.”

  “Yes, now.” His cupped hands supported her, holding her steady for his assault.

  She thought he would turn her inside out, so intense was the pleasure. He burrowed deep and the connection became so intimate that had she not been writhing in ecstasy she might have been shocked. Instead she abandoned herself to loving more passionate than she’d ever known. She came quickly and almost forgot to muffle her cries.

  In an endearing display of tenderness, he stayed where he was, kissing her damp thighs and pressing his hand where his mouth had been as if to steady her descent. Earlier she’d been worried that someone might discover them like this. Now she didn’t give a damn. Some things were worth risking embarrassment.

  Gradually the chirping of birds and the rustle of wind t
hrough the nearby pines reminded her that a whole world existed beyond the confines of the van. Someone might eventually show up and wonder why it was parked here with two comatose people inside, including one who was completely naked.

  The outrageous nature of what they’d just done began to penetrate her lust-fogged brain. She’d never had sex in a semipublic place in the middle of the day. She’d never had sex in a semipublic place in the middle of the night, either.

  Brant lay with his cheek against her thigh and his eyes closed.

  She stroked his hair. “That was wonderful.”

  “Mmm.”

  “But we should probably move.” The precarious nature of their situation had finally dawned on her.

  He snuggled closer.

  She patted the top of his head. “Really. We can’t stay like this.”

  No answer.

  “Are you asleep?”

  “No.” His eyes remained closed. “But I’ve found my favorite place and I don’t want to leave it.”

  “Sorry, but your favorite place is about to go. I’m getting dressed.” She tried to extricate herself.

  “Wait.” His big hand closed over her thigh, pinning her down.

  “I really think we need to make ourselves presentable.”

  “We will, but let’s not rush it.” He opened his eyes and looked up at her. “Man, I love this view. And, FYI, you may think you’re done with the program, but your nipples say otherwise.”

  As usual, he made her laugh. “They don’t speak for me. I say it’s time to put some clothes on.”

  “Promise me this. Once you’re inside the cabin tonight, you won’t wear clothes until you’re ready to leave in the morning.”

  “Easy promise. I like being naked with you. It’s the rest of the population I’d rather not face.”

  “Actually, I’m okay with that reservation.” He pushed himself up on his forearms. “Having an exclusive sounds excellent to me. Let’s get you covered up.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. The heat they’d generated had burned away all her inhibitions, but now they came surging back. “I’ll need some help finding things. I have no idea where you put my panties.”