Brave are the Lonely Page 11

  Her dark gaze stroked over him and for the first time in months, his cock stirred to life. It was the anger, the threat, the danger and the survival.

  But leaning in close, fighting the wolf’s urge to tear out her throat, the musk of her desire stiffened his cock to full and needing. She wanted him.

  No! The wolf raked his claws inside Cody’s soul, desperate to sink his teeth into the soft, womanly flesh in front of him until she screamed with agony.

  Cody leashed the wolf. In all their years together, the two worked in concert, but the wolf’s urges grew stronger as they grew older. The wolf’s basic needs were simple, but it wanted a mate. The selection of Scarlett occurred when Cody wasn’t paying attention, he adored his sister, but the wolf wanted more. He’d failed to control the beast once and he’d scared his sister as a result.

  Not this time. The rapid rise and fall of her breasts against the red corseted top of her dress drew him. The heavier musk of the heat between her thighs wet his mouth. He wouldn’t touch her, but even as he taunted her, she lifted her chin, challenging him.

  His cock jerked at the thought of sinking between her thighs. It had been months since the last time he’d taken a woman. A whore in a border town, she stank of other men, he’d made her bathe and forced her to look away as he mounted her from the rear. Her auburn hair looked red if he blurred his vision, but he’d found little satisfaction for his soul in his body’s release.

  He and the wolf hadn’t been able to get away fast enough.

  He’d dumped Mariska in the wagon, ordered her to strip. He spared a glance at Kid. The boy’s easy snores and relaxed expression soothed him. He’d strip Mariska and leave her naked, then they’d be on their way.

  Two humiliations would be enough.

  The wolf snapped and he shoved the beast back again. When the thin chemise dragged away from her warm, honey tanned flushed skin, his cock protested. Her nipples were the color of summer raspberries, dark, heavy and puckered with need. All the moisture fled his mouth.

  Uncertainty mingled with want in her eyes and her shyness melted beneath the two. Naked want gleamed up at him, the scent of her musk filling his nose. Ignoring the wolf’s irritation, he glided his hand up the warmth of her thigh to hook one finger into the single piece of cloth standing between him and her wet sex.

  Cody would strip it away, then he would walk away.

  That’s what he told himself.

  The fabric took a single tug and it tore, exposing her skin paler around her soft belly. Black curls framed a v dipping between her thighs, but he could see the pink, swollen lips peeking from beneath them. The sunlight filtering through the canvas opening gave them a shiny sheen. The lips flexed, her body clenching.

  “No touching for you,” he warned when she reached out her hands. The wolf’s barely contained fury would lash out at her if she touched him. The wolf didn’t want her.

  But Cody did.

  “Lay down.” He repeated the command when she hesitated.

  He couldn’t move until she obeyed him, if she fought him, if her pride reared and she challenged his authority, the wolf’s hot rage would consume them both.

  Walk away. Kill her. Take her.

  “Hold the edge.” His voice sounded thick, but when she lifted her pained arms and reached behind her to the cot’s edge, he leapt into the wagon. Gazing down at her, his cock ached. He wanted her to spread her legs, wide, so he could feast his eyes on the pink flesh of her slick sex.

  She was soaked with wanting.

  “Don’t let go. If you do, I’ll stop.” One last warning. One last chance to leave her.

  Walk away.

  The wolf was silent on the matter, retreating to the shadows of his mind as angry with him for holding him back as he was with the woman beckoning Cody forward. The withdrawal of rage left only need behind. With one last glance at her eyes, he closed his palm over her right breast and gave into the pointed nub begging for his attention on her right.

  One kiss.

  The turgid nipple rasped against his lips and his teeth scraped it gently. Her body bucked with the caress, but he was far from done. Palm spread across her right breast, he massaged a warning, torturing the little point until her heart slammed a fast rhythm against her chest. Her skin tasted of honey, clean rivers, cool air and cinnamon. The cinnamon scent swirling around her teased his nostrils.

  He tugged the nipple, suckling until her thigh lifted and brushed his hip. His cock strained downwards, the damp heat moistening the air between their bodies. He stopped at her touch and he heard her low, hum of frustration.

  Lifting his head, he glared up at her. “No touching.”

  “I didn’t mean too…” her pink tongue glistened over her lips, white teeth flashing as she spoke.

  “Then mean to stay still.” He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and as much as he wanted to return to tasting her, the open, undisguised pleasure that captured her mouth in a silent gasp slid through him to tug at his balls. One motion and he could be deep inside her, but he wasn’t in a hurry.

  Leave her. He ignored the wolf’s whisper, fascinated with her reactions. He left her breast and slid his hand between them, dipping two fingers through the silk of her curls to spread the lips of her sex.

  Mariska’s eyes widened, shock, fear and wonder warring for her expression. Tilting his head he glided his fingers along the wet slit, teasing the throbbing little nub he could feel pressing against his thumb, but one gentle scrape and her body bucked upwards again. Her arms flexed, the knuckles whitening where she held the cot and her thighs spread wider, knees pressing to the outside cot.

  A slow smile worked its way across his mouth. He rewarded her obedience with another gentle roll of his thumb. Sweet musk filled the air, a rush of wetness gliding against his fingers. Dipping his head down, he nipped at her breast before laving his tongue over the nipple. The turgid point throbbed against the swirls of his mouth. As much as he enjoyed the succulent little raspberry nipples, he wanted to watch her eyes.

  Easing himself up to his knees, he rose above her. “Let go and sit up.”

  “What?” Her glazed eyes met his.

  “Let go of the cot and sit up.” He followed her slow rise, hand cupping her sex, thumb teasing her nub with each little jerk of her body. The little gasps were hard puffs of air that seemed to tug at his balls. Upright, she faced him.

  “Don’t cover yourself.” He warned when her arms went to cross in front of the full, lush ripeness of the globes that swelled in front of him. She lowered her arms and let her hands rest on the cot.

  “Now watch.” He ordered. Nudging her thighs wider as he pressed the full weight of his palm against her sex, he fingered the tense little opening, nudging his index finger inside of her.

  Mariska stopped breathing. The bewildered emotion filtering through her face flushed pleasure down to his groin. Yes, he started this as punishment, but her sweet, artless reactions spurred him onwards. The wolf growled from the darkened corners of his mind before it fled fully.

  Cody was alone with Mariska and his cock throbbed with wanting her. He was going to punish her until she couldn’t walk from the pleasure of it. Some rational part of his mind argued that wasn’t punishment, but he closed it all out.

  He shut out the memory of red hair and sassy smiles. He dismissed the loss. He turned away from the past. The world existed inside this wagon, in the silky, wet heat gripping his finger and the woman he was going to wrap around his cock.

  Mariska’s startled gaze jerked up from his hand in her sex to his gaze as her hips rose from the cot. He pinched the nub.

  “Why?” the word rushed out on a gasp of air.

  “I told you to watch.”

  “But I want to watch you.” At her protest, he withdrew his hand and she let out a little scream.

  Blood surged in his temples, his cock vibrated with the need to replace his fingers. His smile fled and he glared at her. “Then watch me walk away.”

>   His body protested more vociferously as she did. Her hands clamped the sides of the cot and she leaned toward him. “Please…I’m sorry, I’ve never done this before…”

  Guilt slashed his heart. The absolute truth cut deep. No Cody, she’s never done this before and you’re being an ass. You were supposed to walk away, remember?

  The irritating voice of reason clucked at him. The wolf, however, was silent for a change. It had given up on making him walk away. He didn’t want to walk away, he wanted to take her hard and ride until his body went lax. Months of needing built up in his balls, swelling them until he thought he might burst from it.

  “Then watch.” Gentleness eased his gruff tone. His slid his hand back up her thigh to the glistening, beckoning sex. The thud of her heart pumped against his fingers as they glided home, a second finger joining the first. He knew his hands were thick and callused from long hours working outside and riding, but she was all satiny heat and silken softness.

  His gaze stole over her face, at the quick pucker of her lips, the tensing of her jaw and when his thumb began to massage her nub, she arched her back. But she stayed still, she didn’t reach for him and even as her eyes darted, she focused on his hand, watching him touch her.

  Pleasure rolled through him. Pleasure and pride. She was stubborn, spitting mean and dangerous, but her obedience beckoned him with a tighter grip than her soaking sex. Denying her the right to touch left his cock throbbing with its own needs. When she arched again, he sensed the coming explosion smashing through her, but she wouldn’t go without him.

  No.

  Withdrawing his hand, he leaned in and kissed the deliciously bouncing breasts and laved his tongue over the nipple. “Turn around,” he murmured, hovering in close. The awkward position forced her to twist and rub against him, breasts to his braced arm, a thigh along his and her rounded buttock scraping his hips.

  “Can I look back?” The low, sultry question thrilled him.

  Lifting her legs until he could slide between them—her wonderfully rounded bottom, sweet and smooth beneath his fingers—he considered the question. She was on her hands and knees, her head bowed. His wildcat, sweet and submissive.

  “You may,” he met those dark, seductive eyes with a grin and thrust himself into the hot furnace of her body. Resistance met the first thrust. He slowed, allowing her body to adjust, stretching to accommodate the length and breadth of his need. His cock swelled harder and his hips jerked forward, but he gripped her ass, holding them both still.

  Mariska trembled with hard pants, he knew it hurt and waited, letting the pain pass. The urge to punish completely gone, all he wanted was to feel her pleasure, feel her heat gripping him as he thrust into her. He wanted to fill her, stretch her beyond comprehension and shove them both over the edge. But he had to wait, gradually she relaxed and he leaned forward, testing further.

  While he waited, he massaged the smooth curve of her back, the skin as supple and tan as the rest of her. She was born with this—sun-kissed, sweet candy wrapped in a deliciously soft package. He stroked her sides and leaned over her until her bottom was firm against his belly, his cock throbbing as he took full possession. Bracing one arm against the cot’s edge, he allowed his free hand to wander her chest teasing the little nipples until her pants came harder.

  “Still hurt?” He murmured the low question against the back of her neck, nuzzling his way through her spill of hair until he could taste her skin against his lips.

  “A little,” she moaned, pleasure thickening her voice. “But…”

  “But?” He tugged the little nub, almost wishing he’d allowed her to stay on her back so he could suckle the hard bud while her velvet glove boxed in his cock, flexing and squeezing around him.

  “It feels…good…I never…”

  “It’s okay,” he crooned. “It’s going to feel better.”

  “How—?” Her question broke in half as he drew back, gliding until he nearly escaped her body and then drove into her again.

  By all that’s holy, she’s so fucking tight…

  Cody didn’t try to hide his groan, toying with her breasts as he began to pump into her body. Every thrust seemed to take him deeper. Her hips surged back to meet him and she foundered, her tiny little fists pounding against the cot and he shifted forward pulling her up until she was straddling his lap.

  His hands were free to stroke her breasts and her hair spilled around him, drenching him in her scent.

  “Ride me,” he ordered, teasing his hand down her belly.

  Freed from the order to not move, his little hellcat lifted her hips up once and then down, gliding along his length in a slow, agonizing friction. He pinched her nipple.

  “Harder.”

  She didn’t have to be gentle with him. He didn’t want gentle. Arching her bottom she rose and then slammed down against him, his cock bound in wet, slick chains of need. He urged her up with his own hips, rising and falling with her. Hand splayed against her belly, he bit the back of her shoulder, a scraping of teeth as his thumb found the swollen bud and rolled it.

  She came apart next to him, bucking up and down. His cock slammed home again and again. She threw her head back, mouth open in scream and Cody grimaced, wild heat bursting through him and he came, hot seed jetting up into her bucking sex, the muscles clenching and milking him.

  Shuddering, he kissed the dimpled skin of her shoulder, the red mark of his teeth clear and defined.

  Beautiful.

  Obedient.

  Mine.

  The last thought choked in his mind, the wolf surging upwards. Cody pushed her forward, careful to not hurt her and let his cock slip free. His body protested, but he was done. She lifted her head, but he ignored the question in her eyes and climbed off the cot and out of the tent. Her scent coated his skin, burrowing into his soul.

  The wolf prowled forward, anger surging and Cody spared one look at the still sleeping Kid before he made it to the river and dove into the cold water.

  The wolf wanted her scent off now.

  Chapter 13

  “You were going to tell me Cody wasn’t on the mountain, when?” Scarlett leaned against the side of Katie, her paint mare. After nearly two months of babying, the mare was up for short rides and Scarlett worked with her every day.

  Buck coiled the rope, barely hesitating at the too even question. Despite her best efforts, Scarlett hardly possessed the coolest temper in the group. “When you needed to know.”

  “When I needed to know.” The repetition of his phrase didn’t move him. Scarlett was best handled by not catering to her temper until they had too.

  “Give it a rest, Scar.” Jimmy returned, two buckets of water balanced in each hand. He’d scooped them up when she’d made her beeline toward them. They were clearing out one of the empty cottages and its accompanying horse shed.

  The Flying K boasted a population of nearly twenty different families and another twenty-five to thirty unmarried men at any given time. Throughout the nested valley cupped by surrounding hills, houses had been built for the families. The family who’d lived in this one had headed back east when the wife’s father passed away.

  Jed Kane seemed determined to keep them busy and since the boys didn’t much care for the big house, they were clearing the cottage with its four rooms to make a home away from the mountain for themselves.

  It was a fair trade.

  It would also keep Noah from testing Jed’s temper where Miss Lena was concerned. He seemed hopelessly smitten with the young woman, but she wasn’t having much to do with him in return.

  Scarlett’s cool green eyes flicked to Jimmy and she stuck her tongue out at him. “I will not give it a rest. Cody’s out there alone and you kept it to yourselves.”

  “Well, he’s not alone, exactly.” Buck knotted the end of the rope and hung it on a peg next to the door. The former owner had been a lead ranch hand, taking on Micah’s duties when Micah traveled. That task would fall to Buck for the time being. He preferr
ed the horses to the people, so he thought he could handle it.

  Jimmy set the buckets down on the porch and leaned against the hitching post. Buck hid a smile. If her temper flamed up, Scarlett was going to get soaked.

  “Who’s with him? Ike? Rudy? Oh, hopefully not Rudy. They fight too much.”

  “Nope. Ike and Rudy are back at the mountain with Quanto and Wyatt.” Buck tested the doorframe. “This is a little loose. We’ll need to check the windows, too. How long ago did Jed say they moved?”

  “Before summer. So it’s been sitting empty for about four months.” Jimmy pulled out a slender piece of wood and his whittling knife, the sun was hanging high to the west, but would begin its descent soon. They’d been up since daybreak repairing fences before heading over here to start assessing what repairs they’d need to make.

  “Then who is he with?” Scarlett prowled up onto the steps and looked down at them, hands on her hips.

  “Off.” Jimmy jerked his thumb back to the dirt path in front of the little cottage. The creek running behind it provided easy access to water and a pair of old oaks framed the house with shade, but the building was wood.

  “Rude.” She frowned at them.

  “Yes and when you aren’t likely to burn our new home to the ground, I’ll happily welcome you inside. Until then, Mrs. Kane, get your ass off the porch.” Jimmy met her glare for glare until she flounced down the steps and rolled her eyes at him.

  “Better?”

  “Much. Thank you.” He went back to his whittling and Buck ignored them to check the windows. Both frames were sturdy, but the glass would need to be cleaned. The interior needed a solid sweeping. Old mud prints decorated the wood porch.

  Wolf prints.

  “Hey, this is where Kid brought you to meet with Cody.” Buck recalled the story, but the location hadn’t been the important piece. Cody ventured across the barrier that repelled all of them, in wolf form, alone to fetch their sister. The barrier surrounding the Flying K had surprised them all, none more so than the Kanes themselves. Apparently, a long-standing friendship with a Shaman earned them such protection, but they’d been unaware of it until the brothers tried to fetch Scarlett home.