At that point Keely’s knees buckled.
He chuckled against the upper swell of her breast and began a full out sensual assault.
His tongue rasped her ni**les. As his fingers f**ked her, his thumb flicked her clit, barely there and then persistent. He’d bite down on her nipple. Suckle the sting. When she started to anticipate the pattern, he changed it.
Bastard.
It drove her mad. She loved it. She hated it.
Jack’s rapid exhalations across her wet skin brought forth another full-body shiver. “You ready to come for me now, cowgirl?”
Keely couldn’t seem to find her voice. She nodded.
His mouth was on her ear. “Now I know exactly how to make you speechless.” Jack’s hair brushed her jaw, throat and breastbone as he licked the water trickling to her ni**les. He ruthlessly suckled her, impaled her on his clever fingers and stroked her clit.
She threw back her head and screamed as every nerve ending between her br**sts and her pu**y throbbed in orgasmic harmony.
He held on.
After she floated back from the realm of bliss, she blinked the water from her eyes and looked at Jack.
Smiling, he pushed wet hanks of her hair over her shoulder. His finger traced the vein still pounding wildly in her throat. “Good thing I put in a bigger water heater.” Jack brushed his lips over hers. “I’ll let you finish your shower.” Then he was gone.
Keely felt too relaxed to waste brain cells fretting about how quickly the power had shifted in their relationship. Or deluding herself she’d ever had any power at all.
Jack filled her favorite mug with his precious coffee. He scrambled her brain with a prolonged good morning kiss. He even made the bed.
Guys were total putty after a blowjob.
Keely braided her hair in a single plait. She zipped a ripped pair of Levis, buttoned a faded flannel shirt over a long john top, and slipped on her oldest pair of ropers.
She exited the bedroom and saw Jack perched on the edge of the couch, papers strewn across the coffee table. His hair was mussed from repeatedly running his fingers through it—a sign of frustration.
Jack looked up and his gaze swept over her.
She braced herself for a “country bumpkin” comment and crafted a couple of snappy comebacks. But she needn’t have bothered.
He merely inquired, “Where are you off to?”
“My folks’ place. They’re out making the rounds on Sunday and it’s the only time I can exercise my horse. Then I do whatever needs done in the barn as payment for boarding Rosa.”
“Rosa?”
“Rosamonde’s Red Dream is her official name, but I call her Rosa.”
He sagged into the sofa cushions. “I had a horse when I was growing up. Buster. I thought he was the coolest thing ever. Drove my dad crazy that all I ever wanted to do on the farm was ‘ride that damn horse’.
He got rid of it the week after I left for college.”
Keely gasped. “So you came home and your horse was gone?”
“Yeah. No big deal. I’d moved on by then, in many ways.”
How sad for him. She wondered if his dad’s attitude played a role in driving Jack from the family farm. “Well, the years I lived in Denver or I was on the road, my parents never suggested getting rid of Rosa.”
“Isn’t it unfair to expect them to take care of her?”
“They’ve bred her and made enough from the foals to cover her boarding costs. But even if she hadn’t dropped a single colt or filly, they would’ve kept her. Eventually I’ll build my own place and have room for her and the stud Jessie keeps for me.” She grinned. “My current landlord is a real hardass about me keepin’ pets in the building.”
“Funny.”
Keely snagged her Stetson off the hat rack and slung her messenger bag over her shoulder. Halfway to her truck she realized not only hadn’t she said goodbye to Jack, she hadn’t asked him to come along.
The day was unseasonably hot and she’d overdressed. By the time Keely finished her ride with Rosa, they were both sweating.
Keely brushed Rosa down and treated her to some oats before turning her out into the pasture. She straightened the tack, cursing her dad for leaving it such a mess week after week.
Growing up the only girl in the McKay family had been a test of her mettle. Her father’s and brothers’ first instincts were to stash her in the house, under her mother’s watchful eye. Sure, Keely wanted to learn to cook, can, sew and figure out how to wield charm to get her way like her mother did. But Keely also wanted to help with calving, branding, haying and butchering. She wanted to learn how to fix fence, shoot predators and rope strays.
Carson McKay and his sons worked hard so Keely didn’t have to. The men in her life preferred her to be pampered. To know enough about horses and horsewomanship only to win rodeo queen pageants and hook a decent husband.
Ugh. Keely McKay had never aspired to the title of queen of the rodeo, much to her father’s dismay.
From an early age, Keely smiled prettily and followed her own agenda. Her brothers and cousins blustered and threatened but always gave in to her wheedling when she begged them for help. A mix of bribery and blackmail was how Keely learned to run the haying machine and other equipment from Cord.
How to rope, ride and tie from Colby. How to birth a breech calf in the dead of night from Colt. Cam taught her how to fix fence. Then he dragged her off and taught her how to fish. Carter showed her how to read the stars, start a fire from flint rocks and whittle. Kade taught her about vaccination and how to pick a good bull. Buck taught her how to dress a deer. Quinn and Ben showed her how to pregnancy-check cows. Chase let her climb on the back of a bull. Luke snuck her into the bar and taught her how to play pool. Brandt shared his extensive knowledge of horses. Tell and Dalton taught her to ride dirt bikes and how to use a beer bong.
Even her males cousins on the West side of her family furthered her life education. Her cousin Dag taught her how to chew tobacco and spit. Dax forced her to learn to water ski. Chet and Remy demonstrated how to run power tools. Nick patiently showed her how to reload ammo. Blake let her bottle feed lambs and shear sheep. Harris and Lief drilled self defense moves into her. Sebastian offered educational and financial advice.
All important things. Things her dad wouldn’t have taught her.
But he taught you other things. How to two-step. How to shoot. How to break a horse. How to drive a car—a manual transmission truck and a four-wheeler. How to play cards. How to cheat at cards. How to laugh.