Anything for a Cowboy

Wyatt arched a brow.

"Tease you? You mean like this?" he sucked her nipple into his mouth and heard her bite back a curse. "Or like this?" his hand slid between them, one finger thrusting into her pussy, now soaking wet and clutching at him, before ruthlessly withdrawing. "Fact is, I'm enjoying myself." his cock throbbed, but he ignored it.

"This can't be easy for you." she moaned.

"It's not." he said tightly, and then he kissed her again.

He waited until she was writhing in his arms, rubbing her breasts against him and fighting for freedom, her hips undulating against his before thrusting deep, in one violent stroke.

She came violently, screaming into his mouth, her hips shaking against him.

Unlike in the shower, his thrusts were slow and hard, moving his hips so he'd hit her g-spot on every stroke. He felt her hands claw at his, and her squeezing his cock in another violent orgasm before he suddenly found himself on his back.

"My turn." she said through gritted teeth.

Her hands were shoving his wrists into the mattress as she slowly sank down on him. Pleasure contorted her face as she began to rock back and forth on his cock, gradually picking up speed. She rode him like a woman possessed, her hips thrusting frantically, her back arched, all but offering herself to him.

The sight, the feel of it made him all the harder.

Since when, he wondered hazily, did the woman seemingly timid about all things sexual turn into a hellcat?

He couldn't think any further than that, for her inner muscles were squeezing his cock beyond rational thought, and her screams were more potent than any aphrodisiac.

"Touch my breasts." she commanded, yanking his hands up to caress her. It took only one pinch of her tight nipples before he heard a third orgasm tear through her.

His control shattered, and with a snarl he forced her to her back again, pumping into her until he felt her coming again. It was too much, and with gritted teeth, he buried his face in her neck and shattered.

*** Several hours later, when Wyatt had pulled her against him and fallen asleep, Aeryn quietly snuck out of bed and took a shower.

She never slept beside a lover.

Sleeping beside them was a sign of trust, snuggling a sign that a few hours of passion was something more. Aeryn was never a one to make assumptions, so she worked until dawn, refusing the temptation to crawl back into bed and feel his heartbeat beneath her cheek.

She was dressed and in the cookhouse long before Wyatt, ready to help with the morning meal.

At breakfast, his face was unreadable, but she thought she sensed hurt beneath the manly veneer. She wasn't used to that. Of the four men she'd slept with, nearly all of them had hoped for a swift exit, and after her first couple of mistakes, she'd gladly provided it.

Aeryn had long since accepted that men didn't fall for women like her. They liked women who were softer, prettier, more vulnerable, and an overload of rejection had taught her to be above the need for emotional intimacy and cut her losses early.

She wasn't sure how to deal with Wyatt, so she avoided him like the plague for the next few days, refusing to sit next to him at meals, and keeping the conversations brief and impersonal. It wasn't easy. She felt him watching her every move, and the memory of their night together had her fighting the urge to jump him.

He'd ordered Allen to teach her to ride. His second in command saddled Molly, a gentle, caramel coloured mare and gradually helped her overcome her fear of horses. In the afternoons and early mornings, she worked with Irene in the kitchen, learning the nuances of South Western cuisine.

Despite the new distraction, she couldn't shake the feel of him inside her, his taste on her tongue or the rumble of his voice. She wanted him again, and again, and again, but she wasn't the clingy type. Aeryn had learned a long time ago that amazing sex was just that, and to expect more was naive and stupid. She didn't need the baggage.

A romance would just be a needless and unnecessary distraction.

"What have you done to Wyatt?" Allen asked during day five of their lessons.

Aeryn stiffened.

"Nothing, why?"

"He's been irritable and snappy for days. In my experience, a man only gets that way for two reasons: women and money trouble. The ranch is secure, so the only logical conclusion is that you're behind his mood, and it's affecting everyone."

"That's bullshit." she said defensively. "I made it easy for him."

Allen arched his brows.

"How?"

Aeryn shifted uncomfortably in the saddle causing Molly to fret beneath her. Allen saw it instantly and moved to calm the horse.

"I don't see why it's any business of yours."

"I'm second in charge here, Aeryn." Allen said. "If something's affecting the boss, it IS my business. If you want to screw around that's your business, but find another victim!"

"That's not fair!" Aeryn said, dismounting. "HE came on to ME, not the other way around. Forgive me for assuming he wanted a quick romp in the sheets, but I wasn't going to stay up crying because he didn't want more!"

Allen took a step back studied her face.

"You never gave him a chance." he said softly.

"That's enough." came a voice from behind the fence.

Aeryn's spine stiffened and she turned and saw him leaning on the fence, watching her.

She felt a tug in her gut, and carefully swallowed it down.

"Feel like going for a ride before supper?" Wyatt asked.

Allen's expression told her it would be bad idea to turn him down, but Aeryn refused to be pressured.

"No thank you." she said, and turned to walk away from him.

She didn't know whether to laugh or scream when the loop of rope fell over her and tightened securely around her waist.

Laughter won out.

"You idiot!" she laughed as he pulled her to him. Though he was smiling, his eyes were locked on hers. When she was close enough, he cupped the back of her neck. Aeryn stopped laughing.

"Put Molly in the stables, will you Allen?" he said against her lips.

"Sure thing, boss."

Then he kissed her, and the kiss drained every thought she had.

The next thing she knew, they were on his horse, which was picking his way through the ranch lands.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Wyatt asked.

Aeryn stiffened in front of him.

"I thought I was making it easy on you. We agreed on one night so I didn't bother you after that. I didn't think you wanted more."

Wyatt nodded, for normally one night was enough. He didn't fully understand why he wasn't sated, but he wanted more, he needed more. In case she had any doubts, he pulled her closer, forcing her ass against the hard-on he'd had since she'd gotten on the horse in front of him.

Aeryn gasped.

"I want more." he said softly against her ear, and felt her shiver in response. "A whole lot more." let her chew on that for a while, he thought. "I never asked you what you write."

"Some articles here and there, some short stories, but that's not where most of my money comes from."

"Oh?"

Aeryn shifted uncomfortably.

"Romance novels." she muttered.

Wyatt burst out laughing and hugged her closer. He didn't even mind the painful elbow to the ribs.

"I'm guessing you're not going to take me seriously anymore." she said bitterly.

"It's not my place to judge how a person makes a living, Aeryn. I gave up a career in medicine to become a cowboy."

"Then why the hell are you laughing?"

"You seem so cynical." he replied. "I never would have pegged you as the type to make your living writing fantasies."

"Maybe I'm just exploiting a weakness." she said defensively.

"I don't think so." he said softly. She had a romantic streak, whether she liked it or not, and it was such an adorable contrast to the cynicism that it made her all the more endearing.

He was pissed about her running away from him, but was too charmed to press the issue. She wasn't going to run from him anymore.

He needed her in his bed tonight, and for however long he could have her.

He stopped near a tree in the corner of a meadow and pulled her off the horse. They stood in the grass, staring at one another, and then her control seemed to snap. Her lips were on his in a heartbeat, as though she'd was letting loose a week's worth of need.

Aeryn was aggressive this time, all but attacking him with lips and tongue over his neck, his chest, his cock, causing his eyes to cross as curses tumbled from his lips. She didn't give him a chance to assert his dominance. The woman he had this time was pure hellcat, riding him until she was trembling, screaming, coming around him; riding him until he was thrusting upward, coming deep inside her.

It was as he dropped her off at the cookhouse and went to put Boxer in the stable that Wyatt finally figured out why he couldn't get enough of her.

As she went to help Irene put the finishing touches on supper, she turned and gave him a cocky smile, and then shook her head as though questioning her own sanity.

The truth of it hit him like a ton of bricks.

Wyatt, the tough as nails rancher, had fallen hard and fast for the nerdy writer he was supposed to be taking care of. It was stupid and foolhardy, but he'd long ago accepted that people didn't choose who they loved.

It just happened.

Then he thought about how much he liked her, and how easily she'd fit into his life and with his men. She was tough, gambled like an accomplished hustler, and could cook, too.

He also knew that writers could work from anywhere.

He just had to convince her.

***

There was something different about Wyatt.

At supper he was always touching her: her hand, her arm, her knee under the table. When he entered the cookhouse with the other hands, he grabbed her and planted a kiss on her lips, hugging her briefly to him with easy affection. At supper he sat directly across from her, and the whole time watching her with a knowing smile, like he knew something she didn't. It wasn't the behaviour of someone in it for the sex, and it made her stomach clench with nerves, arousal, and something else she refused to acknowledge. So she sat at her laptop and buried herself in her work while Wyatt took his shower. She had the outline for her latest book typed up along with a few character sketches before she heard the shower turn off. She felt his hands descend on her shoulders and rearing up for a fight, she put her laptop aside.

"What the hell was that all about?" she demanded, jerking from his hold.

Wyatt looked innocently at her, and she didn't buy it for a second.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean the touches, the smiles, and the hugs." it took everything she had to ignore the tiny towel about his hips.

"You didn't like it?"

"That's beside the point! I thought this was just sex! "

"Don't you like me?"

"Don't be an ass. Of course I do, but--!"

Aeryn never finished her sentence, for Wyatt simply grabbed her by the front of her jeans and yanked her to him, throwing her off balance. His mouth was on hers, seducing the anger right out of her.

Trying to remember why she was angry, she jerked her lips from his, only to find his teeth rasping her neck, and then easing the sting with his tongue.

"Oh sweet Jesus!" she cursed, her eyes closing, gritting her teeth against the assault. "Wait a minute! We need to talk!"

"Later." Wyatt rumbled.

Aeryn opened to her mouth to protest, but Wyatt pulled back and laid a finger on her lips.

"I missed you this week." he said softly. "Let me show you how much."

She looked in his eyes, her chest clenching, and knew instantly she was a goner.

Wyatt must have seen it, for he scooped her up and carried her down the hall to his bedroom and set her on her feet.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" he asked, pulling off her glasses. He stripped her of her T-shirt and bra and unsnapped her jeans.

Aeryn shook her head.

"Soft skin, the colour of warm honey." as he spoke he slid her jeans and panties down. "And here." he said, cupping her breasts in his palms, "so soft, and sensitive. They fit in my hands like they were made for me."

He ran calloused thumbs over her nipples and she sucked in a breath.

"You can't say that to me." she moaned as he eased her back onto his bed.

Wyatt laid a deep, soft kiss on her lips and entwined his fingers with hers.

"Why not?" he asked, raising her arms above her head.

"You'll make me care." she groaned, arching against him as the hair on his chest teased her breasts.

"And what if I want you to care?"

Aeryn couldn't answer that.

She felt the cuff snap onto her wrist a moment too late, for by the time she realised his intent, he'd already buckled her other wrist to the post of his bed.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded, struggling against the restraints.

Wyatt smiled slowly.

"I'm making sure you don't run."

Wyatt moved to kiss her, but she turned her head away from him, too outraged to kiss him back. He didn't seem overly offended, for he moved down to nibble on her neck and lick his way over her collarbone.

His mouth moved down her chest to breast, licking the sensitive aureole before drawing the tip into his mouth for a long slow suck. Her breasts were extremely sensitive, and she arched her back, the breath hissing from between her lips as she tried to force more of her nipple into his mouth. The pleasure was addictive, and she needed more.

"I want you." he said roughly, his voice a torture in and of itself. "I want you here." his finger slid deep inside her, forcing her hips upward with the need for greater penetration. "And here." his lips moved over her chest, stopping to plant a kiss directly over her heart. "Especially here."

"You can't!" she said, her voice panicked despite her arousal.

"I do." he returned, placing his hand over her heart while kissing his way down her stomach.

Aeryn tried to buck him off, but Wyatt wouldn't have it, and the chains held firm. He bit her belly in retribution, and the edge of pain only added to her arousal.

His head slid between her thighs, those strong hands spread her wide, and the vulnerability of her position made her all the wetter. She felt his breath over her sensitive flesh seconds before his tongue touched her clit. Aeryn's stomach muscles tensed as his tongue worked her to madness. She tried once again to buck him off, but his hands held firm. "You try that one more time," he drawled, "and I'm going to tie your legs, too."

Aeryn could only whimper in response, her thighs shaking as worked her clit with skill that had her screaming, begging for release that was just a heartbeat away. Her hands pulled at her restraints, every muscle tensed, as he thrust two fingers deep inside her.

Her control snapped, her hips rocking violently back and forth, loving the pleasure of being stretched and filled as she came, her whole body shuddering under him, squeezing his fingers.

But it wasn't enough.

"Take me..." she breathed her voice dry and raw from screaming.

Wyatt had already moved into position, wrapping her leg about his hip. She thrust her hips forward, trying to take him in, but he simply moved back out of her reach, even as her heel dug into his spine.

"Not until you tell me this is more than sex." he said.

Aeryn's eyes snapped open, and the emotion she saw in his had her shutting her eyes and turning her head, refusing to acknowledge it.

"I can't!" she moaned.

Wyatt thrust the head of his cock inside her, and then withdrew, leaving her desperate and aching.

"You can." he said, his voice thick and pained. "You more than like me, Aeryn, it's written all over your face." his fingers caught one of her nipples, pinching until the pressure made her gasp and open her eyes.

"Tell me." he commanded.

He thrust inside her one more time, going a little deeper this time, and while the pleasure was blinding, it wasn't enough.

"Please." she gasped, thrusting her hips at him, and hearing his pained laugh.

"I'm tempted, sweetheart, but I won't give you what you want until you give me what I want."

"You asshole!" she hissed, now beyond desperation. "It's more than sex, alright! It always was!" the words were forced from her even as she saw the triumph in Wyatt's eyes.

Aeryn moaned gratefully as he slid deep inside her, the strokes, slow and powerful. Blood rushed to her cheeks and her hips thrust up at him, meeting him beat for beat. The pleasure was so intense she didn't care if she came as long as he kept on thrusting, but her body had other demands, and suddenly she was coming, screaming even as he slid his lips over hers, capturing the sound.

She came until she thought she couldn't take it anymore, and just when she thought she die from it, she felt him get bigger inside her, on the brink of his release. Her body tightened around him, her thighs grasping his hips even as he slid a finger between them and teased her clit.

Aeryn tore her lips from his, screaming. She felt his teeth sinking into her neck as he groaned, his arms tightening around her as he came.

***

Aeryn awoke with a start, only to hear Wyatt grumble sleepily and pull her back on top of him. Sometime in the night, he'd released her cuffs, and she'd lain beside him, free to leave as she pleased, but she hadn't.

Aeryn Salma, the woman who never slept beside a man, had fallen asleep in Wyatt's arms, lulled by the slow and steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her cheek.

The damage was done.

She knew she'd liked him from the start; he was honourable, adorable, had a light, teasing sense of humour that matched her sarcasm, and in bed he was everything she ever wanted: dominant, uninhibited, and a born tease.

Despite all this, she'd done everything in her power to protect her heart from him, and in one night, Wyatt Destry had managed to make it all crashing down.

Aeryn had to get out of there, but when she tried to wriggle out of his arms again, he simply rolled on top of her and started nibbling her neck.

"If you wanted another round, Darlin', all you had to do was ask." he drawled, sleepily.

She was going to protest, but his mouth slid down to her breasts and he spread her legs, and she forgot all about it.

It was much later, when he kissed her and announced that he needed a shave and shower, that Aeryn saw her opportunity.

She worked like a maniac, throwing her belongings in a bag, yanking on jeans and shirt and making a run for the door. Aeryn made it as far as her car when the loop of rope fell over her, tightening around her waist and pinning her arms to her sides. Her bag hit the ground, as she was yanked back.

"This is getting SO old!" she said, trying to dig her heels into the ground. It was a wasted effort, as Wyatt strong arms jerked her back against him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, wrapping his arms around her back even as she cursed and fought.

"What the hell does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting the hell outta Dodge!"

"Why?"

Aeryn tried to step on his foot, but he moved it aside without breaking his hold on her.

She felt tears well up and hated herself for it.

"Because I'm falling for you!"

She felt Wyatt go very still behind her. Aeryn tried once again to break free, but his hold remained unrelenting.

"Will you let me go already?"

She felt his lips against her cheek, and his arms tighten around her.

"Not a chance." he said.

"You have to!" she cried, hating herself all the more. "If you make me stay here, I'll hang all over you and eventually you'll get tired of me!"

"Not possible."

Aeryn struggled even further, the tears now falling unheeded down her cheeks.

"Why the hell not? They all do."

"Because I'm in love with you, you crazy woman!"