And my mother considered naming me India?”
“Seriously?”
Macie nodded. “India the Indian. My mom was slightly nuts.”
India whirled on AJ. “If you tell me you have a monarch butterfly tattooed above your butt crack, I’ll freak out.”
“Nope. Sorry. No tattoos.”
India smiled slyly. “We’ll see about changing that tattoo virgin status sometime soon.”
Macie’s grin rivaled India’s. “Losing one’s virginity is always a good thing. Nice meeting you, India. Keep in touch. If all goes according to plan, we’ll start the remodel in about four weeks.”
On the way back, AJ managed to keep Macie talking about Carter’s upcoming art show, the horses Cash expressed an interest in, and not the situation between her and Cord McKay.
“Do you mind if we stop at Carolyn and Carson’s house first before I take you home? I’m feeling a little woozy all of a sudden.”
“No problem.” It drove home the point how intertwined her life was with the McKays’ when she noticed Cord’s truck parked out front at his folks’ house.
Her stomach pitched. Be hard to act normal around him after last night.
Carolyn McKay was in her usual spot in the kitchen. She beamed at Macie. “Hey, sweetie, how’d it go?”
“Great. But I actually feel nauseous from the excitement. Do you mind if I lay down before supper?”
“No, go ahead. Can I get you anything?”
Macie shook her head and made a mad dash for the bathroom.
Carolyn’s worry lines faded when she saw AJ. “How are you?”
“Good. Any problems with the lawyer today?”
“Nope. Once the money is squared away and Florence pens her signature to the deed, you and your mother are officially squatters on McKay land.”
AJ’s face fell.
“Oh, honey. I was kidding.”
“Nice goin’, Ma,” Cord said dryly. “Got salt in your hand, wanna throw that in her eye too?”
“I need to get going.” AJ purposely avoided the word “home”. She frowned. “Shoot.
I don’t have a car.”
“I’ll take you. I’m headed that way.” Cord pecked his mother’s forehead. “Behave.
No pesterin’ Macie about you-know-what.”
“Like I have a choice. Carter made me promise.” Carolyn winked at her. “Have fun at your girls’ night. Call if you need a designated driver, but I believe you’ll be the only one drinkin’.”
She and Cord didn’t speak at all until they were in the truck and a mile down the road. “Macie told me she and Carter will be living in my old house.”
“You okay with that?”
No. “I guess. Thanks for suggesting Macie tell me.” She looked out the window. “So are the McKays officially land barons? Buying up everything in Crook and Weston County?”
Cord didn’t answer.
“Sorry. It’s just hard.”
He slowed down at the next pullout and parked. “C’mere.”
AJ buried her face against his chest. He didn’t say a word; he just held her.
After a while, he said, “I wanna be with you like this, dust devils swirlin’ around us in the late afternoon heat. Just us, sneakin’ some alone time. What do you say?”
She nodded.
Cord slipped out and climbed back in the passenger’s side, pulling her on his lap.
“Let me love you up. You look a little lost.”
I am. Oh, she’d like it if he loved her, but she accepted the only type of love Cord could offer her was physical.
He kissed her softly, sweetly, running his rough hands up her spine beneath her damp shirt. The languorous kiss seemed endless. Cord seemed equally content just to touch her. He eased away from her mouth and whispered, “Lord, I’m gettin’ addicted to your kisses, AJ. I feel plain, damn drugged when you’re kissin’ me. I feel plain, damn lost myself when you ain’t around.” Then he dove in for another thorough taste of her mouth.
When his erection twitched, she fumbled for his belt. “Pants off, cowboy.”
“Hang on.” He lowered the bench seat back. “Scoot to the middle for a sec.” He shimmied his jeans down his legs. “Now you. Take them britches completely off.”
AJ kicked her sandals to the floorboard.
“And the shirt and bra.”
“If my shirt comes off, then so does yours.”
He grabbed the hem and yanked. “Now come here, cowgirl up and show me how good you can ride.”
Bracing her hands on the sculpted muscle and hardness of his chest, she straddled his pelvis and began to lower down.
His hand curled around her hips. “Slow. I wanna see your body takin’ me in. Oh yeah, that’s so goddamn sexy. Bring those pretty tasty ni**les to my mouth.”
Immediately Cord expelled a groan and began to lick and suck, not in his usual, forceful way, but with as much languor as he’d kissed her mouth.
Witnessing the sheer joy on his face as he suckled, feeling him gliding deep—
touched something inside her. Every rapid inhalation of the air in the cab filled her lungs with the scent of him. Of them. Of dust, hot sage, wool seat covers, sunshine and home.
A bead of moisture zigzagged down her chest and Cord lapped at it, following the wet line back to the source behind her ear.
He whispered, “Need it faster, baby doll. Let’s move from a canter to a trot.”
She rocked her hips more briskly, gripping the headrest above Cord’s head. Each downstroke ground her clit against his pelvic bone and she moaned in complete abandon.
“Such sexy noises. Arch back. I wanna watch your face as I make you come.”
Cord cupped her br**sts and squeezed, latching on to the right tip as his thumb scraped across the left.
The swirling sensation in her groin gathered momentum and the next wave catapulted AJ over the edge. She closed her eyes, losing her sanity as the pulses in her ni**les synchronized to the deep pulses inside her.
He rolled his pelvis, his hands clamped her ass and he thrust hard three times. Cord hid his face in her hair, his groan a husky rasp of pleasure.
They stayed plastered together until their breathing evened out. “You fit me so damn good. Maybe we could just nap like this for awhile.”
“Last time we napped together, I woke up at five a.m. I don’t particularly want old Sheriff Comas finding us naked. Old guy might have a heart attack.”
“True. And I do have chores to finish.” His mouth grazed the inside of her arm. “I’m gonna miss you tonight.”