three
for some reason, and walker knew exactly what that reason was, he found himself working side by side with Jolene for the next several days.
Subtle wasn’t part of Jolene’s makeup. Then again that was one of the things he admired about her. She was straight-out-forward about her needs, desires and wants.
Sometimes he wished she would hide those desires a little better, especially relating to him, because it was getting harder to resist her.
“Harder” being the right damn word.
What man wouldn’t want a woman who could run a ranch at the age of twenty-six, who could manage roughneck cowboys with a steely-eyed look and a cock of her hip, who could reduce the strongest man to a blubbering baby with her honeyed voice, who could get two dozen cowboys dragging their tongue in the dry dirt and willing to follow her anywhere as long as she’d cast a smile their way.
And the worst thing was, he really didn’t think she had any clue what effect she had on the men who worked for her. More than half of them wanted her, and she was oblivious to it all.
All of them except him. For some reason she wanted him, and damned if he knew why, since he’d done his best to completely ignore her. She could crook her finger at any one of half a dozen guys who worked for her and they’d be more than happy to give her anything she wanted.
Instead she had him glued to her side. Today they’d split up the hands to move cattle to richer pastures. It had been raining on and off the past few days, and this morning the sky had dawned clear and dusky, so Jolene figured they should move the cattle before another storm came in. They’d trekked off at dawn, six of them in one team, driving cattle from barren pasture into another rich and green with verdant grass.
Walker had to admit, he liked to watch her work, the way she directed the hands left, then right, hollering like a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and when.
Some men were intimidated by a woman in charge. Walker wasn’t. He just wanted to get her naked and show her what it was like to have someone else take charge. Or maybe see what she was like in bed, if she wanted to take charge then. Because he liked control, too, and the clash of two dominant forces between the sheets could be like two bolts of lightning slamming together.
Damn. His dick twitched at the mental visuals of what it would be like, and that wasn’t what he needed to be thinking about, because no way in hell was he ever going to get Jolene naked. Or have sex with her.
But it would be good. He knew it would. Right now she took off like hell for leather after an errant cow, whipping the reins from side to side, using her spurs to dig into her horse and race that cow down. She cornered it, turned her horse around and forced the cow back to the herd.
She didn’t sit on her ass and let someone else do the work. She dug in and did it herself.
Yeah, he’d sure like to see what she could do in bed.
Too bad he’d never find out.
They’d wrangled most of the cattle to the new pasture. Jolene sent the rest of the crew back to the ranch, then told Walker they’d double back to pick up any strays. With that many cattle, sometimes a few lagged behind or broke off from the herd, so double-checking was necessary.
Today was one of those odd spring days that dawned scorching and stayed that way. Coupled with the rain they’d had lately, it was downright hellish. Walker was hot and drenched under his clothes, and his horse had steam rising off his coat. The sooner they got back to the ranch the happier he’d be.
Despite sweat running down her back and drenching her shirt, Jolene didn’t seem to be bothered by the sun beating down on them. She rode easy, surveying either side of the land for wayward cattle. Walker contented himself with watching her backside in the saddle since they were on a narrow stretch of road, which meant they had to ride single file.
She sat erect in the saddle, her back straight, her hand holding the reins resting on her right thigh. Her shoulders shifted back, her head held high, her hat shading her face. Hell, she looked like she was showing the damn horse underneath her, not dragging like she should be. They’d all been up since before dawn and riding hard.
The woman had stamina. And there went his thoughts again, wondering how much stamina she’d show in the sack.
Shit. It might be hot as the infernal blazes of hell today, and his ass might be dragging, but he wasn’t too tired to think about sex. And his cock wasn’t exhausted. It was twitching and raring to go.
“There.” Jolene pointed off to the left, down the hill. “I saw one.”
Walker surveyed the area, a hill-swept valley dense with trees and a creek winding through. “I don’t see it.”
She lifted on the reins and hitched her horse to the left. “Follow me.”
She took off at a fast gallop toward the cow, Walker right on her flank. He spotted it—a calf—just as Jolene pointed for Walker to go around to the right. He did, cutting off the calf’s attempt at a mad escape. The creek prevented the calf from getting too far, though this area was muddy from previously rising waters due to the excess rain they’d gotten over the past few days, so their progress was slowed as they had to rein in the horses and step through the thick mud.
The mud also impeded the calf’s progress. Too much, apparently, because the calf was half sunk in a mud hole. Walker jumped off his horse and tethered it to a tree, and waded in toward the stranded calf. Jolene approached from the other side of the mud bank, both of them pondering the now bawling calf.
“Well, now what?” Jolene asked, loud enough to be heard over the calf that had realized the error of its ways and was crying for its mama.
“We sure as hell can’t drag it out of there on our own. That calf is too heavy, and the mud weighs it down even more.”
Jolene nodded. “I’ll get Paradise and some rope line. We’ll have to pull her out.”
While Jolene fetched the rope, Walker waded into the mud hole and promptly sank up to his thighs. Great. Just f*cking great. He lobbed over to the flailing cow just as Jolene came back with the rope.
Her lips twitched as she looked down on him. “I hear mud baths are good for the skin.”
Mud oozed into Walker’s boots. “You’re funny. Now get your ass in here and help me.”
“I don’t think so. You’re already in it up to your . . .” She tilted her head and inspected his body, her scrutiny lingering far too long for his liking. “Ass. I think you’ve got a handle on it.”
She tossed the rope at him. He caught it and looped it around the calf while Jolene tied it to the saddle horn on her horse. She climbed on and began walking her horse backward while Walker got the tail end of the cow and began to push. The cow, terrified, resisted.
“Come on, you dumbass, we’re trying to help you here.” Walker pushed, Jolene pulled, and finally the cow’s brain engaged and she cooperated, heading for the sloping bank of the mud hole. Then she was scraping her hooves on the sides, kicking up mud into Walker’s face as she mooed and scrambled for solid ground.
The cow made it, and Walker slipped, falling face-first into the mud. He came up sputtering and spitting out the foul, thick liquid, wiping his eyes to find Jolene standing at the foot of the mud bank, laughing her ass off.
“Think this is funny, do you?”
“Freakin’ hysterical,” she said, whipping off her hat and wiping the sweat from her brow.
Her inattention gave him just enough time to grab the ankle of her boot and pull, which sent her sliding down the already slick embankment. All he had to do was step out of the way and let her enjoy the ride.
She was lucky, because she went in feet-first, but the slope was steep and he’d pulled her right on her ass with enough force to send her under. He stood there watching, his arms folded together when she came up spitting curses at him.
“You son of a bitch!”
He smiled as she wiped mud from her eyes and glared at him.
“What the hell did you think you were doing?”
“I hear a mud bath is good for the skin,” he said, crossing his arms to smirk at her.
She rolled her eyes, turned and started crawling up the side of the mud bank. Without traction or footing, she slid right back down, her nails scraping the wet side of the bank.
“Goddammit, Walker, help me out here.”
“Yes ma’am.” She started the crawl up again, and this time he shoved his shoulder in her butt and boosted her up. She fell onto the grass and rolled onto her back. Walker followed, digging the toes of his boots into the soft side of the slope as he pulled himself out of the mud.
“You’re a mess,” he said, realizing he was an equal disaster as mud squished out of the top of his boots.
“No shit,” she said, yanking off her boots and tossing them aside. She pulled off her socks, then stood and went for the zipper of her pants.
Walker stood, too, and gaped as Jolene fumbled with muddy fingers for the buttons on her shirt. “What the hell are you doing?”
She stared at him like he was the dumbest cowboy on the planet. “Stripping, moron. What does it look like I’m doing?”
She bent over and retrieved her boots and socks, then headed toward the creek.
Walker followed behind her. “Are you serious? The creek has got to be icy cold.”
“I don’t care,” she said as she peeled off her shirt, then the sleeveless tank she had on under that. She started to shove her pants down next as she turned around to face him. “I am not taking that long ride back with twenty pounds of mud stuck to me.”
“Your clothes will still be muddy.”
She shucked her jeans to the ground and stepped out of them, leaving her wearing only a bra and panties. And damn if her body wasn’t even more perfect than what he’d imagined. Long legs, curved waist and breasts nearly spilling out of the cups of her bra. His mouth watered.
She grabbed the clothes and started rinsing them in the creek.
“No, my clothes will be wet,” she said. “But in this heat they’ll dry fast. And I need a goddamned bath. This mud stinks.”
She rinsed her clothes and boots and laid them on a large rock in the sun. Then she turned to Walker and unhooked her bra, letting it fall to the ground.
Walker tried to swallow, but he had no spit left.
And when Jolene dropped her panties, she might have been covered in mud, but she was still naked.
And he didn’t think he’d ever seen a woman more beautiful than her.
She turned around and walked into the creek. And there on the base of her back was that tattoo, some kind of tribal symbol full of the same variations of colors that glittered in her eyes.
“Coming, Walker?”
He could. Easily. Just watching her strip had made him hard as a rock. Her body, face and hair covered in mud, she should have been one wreck of a sight. Instead, she was sexy as hell. And that body? Jesus Christ, what man could resist it? All curves, beautiful breasts with light pink nipples, a triangle of dark blond hair covering her p-ssy and the tightest, most perfectly formed ass he’d ever seen.
She disappeared under the water and came up right away, shaking her hair loose, droplets flying everywhere.
“It’s not too bad once you get in it,” she said. “Temps have been warm enough and it’s hot today. Come on in.”
Walker unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. “This isn’t appropriate.”
She cocked her head to the side, bobbing up and down in the water, her breasts hidden, but the sweet swell just visible. “What isn’t appropriate?”
“Us getting naked together.”
She laughed. “I don’t recall propositioning you.”
He bent down at the water’s edge and rinsed his shirt, then pulled off his boots and washed out the mud.
“Walker. Strip down and get in the water.”
Tempting. Too damn tempting. “Is that an order?”
“Maybe.”
“I don’t think I’ll follow that order.”
She rolled her eyes. “I promise not to touch you. You know, in case you’re afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Jolene.”
“Could have fooled me the way you’ve been acting lately. But I’m not the big bad wolf, Walker. I won’t attack you. You don’t have anything to be afraid of.”
Afraid? She thought he was afraid of her? That did it. Months of repression had taken its toll. Between denying what he wanted and her impromptu and obvious striptease of a few minutes ago, Walker had taken all he was going to take from Jolene. He pulled off his T-shirt and unbuttoned his pants, then slid the zipper down.
Jolene didn’t take her gaze from him, instead watched him strip. And he didn’t bother to hide his erection as he let his jeans fall to the ground and pulled off his boxers. It jutted out high and hard as he padded to the cold water and dove in headfirst.
The water felt damn good. He surfaced a couple feet from Jolene, found his footing on the bank and waded over to her. She was resting on a rock, submerged from the waist down, her breasts out of the water and glistening under the sun.
He didn’t bother to say anything to her, just sloshed through the water and swept her into his arms.
He pulled her off the rock and jerked her against him. Her lips parted with her gasp. Then she smiled and wrapped her legs around his waist, trapping his cock between them.
“It’s about goddamned time, Walker.”
“Shut up, Jolene.” He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her, hard.