“AJ. Look at me.”
She opened her eyes. Sweat trickled down Cord’s face. His jaw was tight. She traced his profile, amazed by him, by this intimacy. “What?”
“This.” Cord squeezed his hands on her butt, buried his face in her throat and drove his cock inside her to the hilt.
As he groaned, her inner tissues were so swollen and sensitized that she felt the tip of his sex twitching as he bathed her insides with his hot seed.
She couldn’t think of a more ideal way to lose her virginity.
Chapter Ten
Cord raised his head and gazed at AJ’s face. Her long black lashes fanned her flushed cheek. Her well-kissed lips were curved into a smirk.
He tickled that sassy little mole with his beard.
She sighed. “A virgin no more.”
“You sore?”
“A little.”
“Then I’m not pullin’ out because I can’t wait to have you again.”
AJ blushed.
“Hang on.” Cord rolled until his back was flat on the mattress and she was on top.
“Better. Now I don’t hafta worry I’m squashin’ you.”
“I don’t mind.” She laid her head on his chest and sighed again.
Such a heartfelt sigh. He knew the feeling as he let his palms drift up and down her naked back from her ass to her shoulders.
“What was your first time like?” she asked.
“Fast. Happened in the back of a car out past the rodeo grounds when I was fifteen.”
AJ looked up at him. “I’m glad I waited. Thank you. This was…spectacular.”
“Except for the fact you didn’t come.”
“I did before when we were in the living room.”
“That don’t count.”
“Why not?”
“A good lover will always see to your needs first. Besides, I wanna feel you come around my cock. I wanna watch your face when you feel the difference.”
“There’s a difference in orgasms?”
Right after she said that, his dick twitched to life.
Her eyes widened. “Whoa. I can feel that. I thought it’d take like fifteen minutes for you to get hard again.”
He lifted a brow. “Why? Because I’m old?”
“No. That’s what it said in Cosmo. Besides, you’re not old, stop saying that. God, you’re twice as sexy and hot as any man…” Embarrassed, she averted her gaze.
“What? I was likin’ the way the conversation about me was goin’, baby doll,” he teased.
“I can’t believe I’m really here with you, Cord McKay. I’ve had a crush on you for so long.”
Cord grinned. “Really?”
“Yeah. But you’ve never noticed me.”
“Not entirely true.” He twisted a section of her baby fine hair around his index finger. “What would you have done if I’d chased after you down at Carter’s wedding last year and taken you up on your offer after kissin’ me so sweetly?”
“Probably would’ve lost my virginity in a car with you at the Bar 9.”
“Jesus.”
“And as long as we’re confessing things…a couple of times when I babysat Ky?
After I put him down for his nap, I came in here and laid on your bed. Wondering what it’d be like to be in this bed naked with you.”
“Don’t tell me stuff like that.” He paused and studied her face. “Did you touch yourself when you were layin’ on my bed?”
“Geez, Cord, no. I was babysitting. I imagined you touching me though. I gotta admit my imagination didn’t do it justice.”
He captured her face in his hands. “No need to make your imagination work when I’m here. I’ll admit I’ve been fantasizin’ what you’d look like on top of me. Naked.” He nudged her upright and murmured, “So, ride me, cowgirl.”
Panic flashed in her eyes. “But I don’t know how—”
“Your body will guide you better than I can. Bring your knees by my hips.”
She maneuvered herself around.
“That’s it.” Cord placed her hands on his shoulders. “Fast or slow as you wanna go.
You’re in total control.”
“But what if I do it wrong?”
“No such thing as wrong. Do whatever you want. Do what feels good. I ain’t gonna complain or say no.”
AJ’s eyes met his. “What will you be doing?”
“Watchin’ you.”
She was so tentative, hardly moving, unsure where to put her hands. Not trusting her body to find a natural rhythm. Again, her innocence was more arousing than he’d expected. His thumbs rasped her nipples. He was dying to suck them until she screamed, but he worried his attention would be a bigger distraction to her sense of imbalance.
When AJ leaned over to kiss him, her * rubbed the top of his groin. She blinked with surprise. “Oh. That feels good.”
“Then keep doin’ it.”
“But I wanna touch you. I’ve been dying to get my hands all over you for so long.
Too long.”
AJ ground her pelvis into his, keeping his cock deep inside as she rocked over her *. Her hot tongue made circles around his nipples. She licked and sucked his neck and collarbone until he wanted to explode. His thighs went rigid when she bounced faster.
He clenched his ass cheeks to keep from thrusting into her, letting AJ learn how to get what her body needed.
She threw her head back, closed her eyes and gasped with surprise as she came without warning.
Cord gritted his teeth as he felt the spasms tightening around his cock. Hold off hold off. The second her eyes blinked open after the last orgasmic ripple, he flipped her on her back.
“Now I’m gonna ride you.” He pinned her arms above by the headboard and drove into her.
Stroke after stroke they were spiraling higher, both covered in sweat. Both breathing hard. Both lost in the moment.
He put his lips below her ear. “So f*ckin’ wet. So f*ckin’ tight. Feel how hot and hard you make me burn.”
“Cord—”
“Come with me this time.” He changed the angle of his hips and hammered into her.
She shrieked and he shot his load. His vision blurred, his throat closed. Her greedy sex milked every drop from his cock until he was completely inert.
Still, he sought AJ’s mouth. She pressed her chest to his, breaking free of his handhold to run her hands all over his body.
Cord rested his sweaty forehead to hers. “Whoa.”
“Yeah. I think you blew out all the pleasure receptors in my brain.” He shifted his weight to pull out of her and she hissed.
“I got a little carried away. You’re probably sore.”
“I like that you got carried away.”
“I’m glad you don’t mind. I can be rough.”
“I’m not nearly as delicate as you think I am.” AJ looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “Is that really the time?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Because I’ve gotta go.”
“Why?”
“Caring for my mom, remember?” She bounced off the bed and snatched her clothes.
Cord returned from the bathroom with a washcloth. “Let me clean you up first.” He wiped between her thighs and tried not to wince at how swollen she was. “That’s weird, you didn’t bleed.”
“You questioning whether I was a virgin?”
“Not at all.”
“Good. Because I’ve been on horseback my whole life, which has been known to break a hymen. Plus, I’ve been using tampons for years—”
“No need to get defensive.”
Cord tugged his wrinkled Wranglers over his naked flanks. Part of him wished she could stay in his bed all night. Another part was glad to see her leave. A lot of shit had happened in a short amount of time and he needed some quiet time to process it all.
He followed her downstairs, flipped on the yard light and gave her a long kiss.
“Drive safe. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“But—”
“No buts. You will be here. Period.”
Chapter Eleven
“What would you say if I told you I was thinking about selling the ranch?”
The knife in AJ’s hand froze above the cutting board.
You knew this was coming.
She sliced the ham sandwich, arranged it on a plate alongside a home-canned dill pickle, tossed on a handful of potato chips and slid it in front of her mother.
“I’d say the future of the ranch is your decision.”
“Telling me what I want to hear and honestly answering the question are two different things, Amy Jo.”
“I know. But Daddy left the ranch to you. Do I hope you sell it? No. But do I understand why you’d want to? Yes.”
AJ made her sandwich and sat down, wondering if she could swallow bread through a tight throat.
Lunch was a somber affair.
Table cleared, coffee poured, the last of the sugar cookies between them, her mother addressed the issue again, just as AJ expected she would.
“Neither Jenn nor Alan showed interest in ranching. If you were married—not that I’m wishing you were—and this place was supporting you and a husband, I wouldn’t even bring it up. But with you off at school, Jenn looking at starting over someplace else, and me half-crippled, it’s past time to talk about it.”
“Which means you’ve made your decision.”
“I have. After your daddy died, I promised Carson that the McKays would have first crack at buying it. No doubt they’ll give us a fair price, plus they have the same philosophy about ranching, so I don’t worry the land will be well cared for.”
AJ stared out the window at the place she called home. The elm and cottonwood trees beyond the driveway wavered in the blustery summer wind. The midday sun bleached all color from the blue sky, but the dazzling brightness would return before sunset.