The Best Of Blaze - Six Sexy Romances

3

ACE KEPT HIS touch light on her chin as he tipped her head up to the sky. He wanted more. Hell, she was more addicting than his first taste of flying Mach 1 had been. But he wasn’t back for good and she deserved more than a summer fling.

He had always loved the stars and the sky but, more than that, the freedom they had represented. He knew life had been different for Molly. She’d had her dad and when her mom had passed she’d had Rina. She’d grown up in a house filled with love and support. He hadn’t. He’d wanted to escape and run as far away from Texas as he could get.

Ironic that he’d ended up finding his home in Houston. He’d thought he’d have to leave that city far behind to find peace, but he’d been wrong. It wasn’t the first thing he’d been wrong about and he doubted very much it would be the last.

“What am I looking at?” she asked. Her voice was soft like the gentle breeze stirring around them and her hair smelled of summer strawberries. He remembered the way it had looked falling in disheveled waves around her shoulders and was tempted to remove the elastic holding it in place now.

“Venus,” he said. “Venus takes only a fraction of one Earth year—225 days—to orbit the sun once, so we see it frequently in the night sky. Sometimes Jupiter and Mars line up with it—it’s rare, but you can see all three in a triangle in the sky.”

“Now?”

“No. Usually closer to sunrise,” he said.

“What’s it like to see the sunrise from orbit?”

He wasn’t sure he could put it into words. He wasn’t one of those poetic guys who turned their adventures on the space station into books. Despite his time with NASA, he was still more of a cowboy, he guessed, even if he didn’t want to be tied to the Earth.

“It’s awesome,” he said at last.

She chuckled.

“Awesome?”

“Yeah, got a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” she said. “Good to know that you haven’t changed all that much.”

For a moment he didn’t follow and then he remembered when he’d first come to the ranch. All he’d said to everything was awesome in a sarcastic tone.

“Forgot about that. I don’t use the word much anymore. Must be something about the Bar T that brings it out in me.”

“Must be,” she said, stepping aside. “I guess we should think about heading back.”

“If you do, you’ll miss the best part.”

“What’s the best part?” she asked, turning in his arms. She had her head tipped back and their eyes met in the inky darkness. It was hard to read the expression in hers and that made him feel a bit freer. She wouldn’t be able to read the expression in his eyes, either. He didn’t want her to see how much she affected him.

He traced one finger down the line of her neck. “You are so delicate-looking in the moonlight. Like the Carina Nebula.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” she said. Her words were soft, and he had the feeling she was waiting for something.

Him?

“It’s not as well-known as many of the other nebulas. It’s found in the southern sky.”

“South like southern hemisphere?”

“Yeah. Remember how I wasn’t sure where Montana was for the longest time?” he asked. He’d been so green when he’d lived here. When he was surviving on the streets, the only things that had mattered were food and staying away from the authorities. He’d never done well in school until he’d come to the Bar T and hadn’t had those worries anymore.

“I do. But you always knew the night sky,” she said. “Was it because of... I don’t know much about your family. Dad always respected the privacy of the guys who came here. Said if you wanted me to know your story, you’d tell me.”

“Nothing to tell. I knew the sky because I read a book when I was younger, before things got rough, about sailors who navigated using the stars. It just sort of stuck.”

“Probably like me and Misty of Chincoteague. If I hadn’t already loved horses, that book made me.”

He didn’t dwell on the past, especially his childhood. There was nothing but pain and humiliation there and the future had always been where he’d seen himself. But he realized now how much of the man he was today had been shaped by those events. He was a maverick, even in the Cronus program. Always pushing boundaries and going on missions that others thought twice about. It was why his boss was determined that he get back in top physical condition as quickly as possible.

He was realistic enough to know he probably wouldn’t be part of the Mars mission team since the first one wouldn’t likely happen for at least another twenty years. The test missions, though. The long-term journeys and a possible moon base. Those were all programs he was interested in.

But Cronus was close to his dream mission. They’d be taking up the components for the first base between Earth and Mars. They’d establish the way station and each mission would continue to test human endurance in space.

“Like that,” he agreed. But he wasn’t thinking about their conversation anymore. He was thinking about Molly. And how she’d always been just out of his reach. He had been afraid he wasn’t good enough for her as a teenager, and he realized now that he’d also been running from anything that hinted at a normal life. Still was.

But in the moonlight, with the horses neighing behind them, it was easy to see that none of that mattered. He cupped the back of her head and lowered his mouth to hers. Slowly, in case she wanted to pull back. But she didn’t.

She rose on her tiptoes and put her hands on his shoulders. She held him loosely for balance and he felt the brush of her breath over his lips a second before their mouths met. He moved his lips over hers and closed his eyes.

He knew he couldn’t stay, that this could never be more than a few moonlight kisses, but somehow that seemed perfect to him.

* * *

THROWING CAUTION TO the wind wasn’t her MO, but this was Jason. And she knew no matter what happened with his health, he wouldn’t stay here on the Bar T Ranch for long. He had always been destined for bigger things.

She sighed and almost let her thoughts derail her, but then she shook her head. Shook herself. Not tonight. Like she’d promised herself earlier this evening when she left her bed...no regrets.

Pushing her fingers into his hair, cupping his scalp, she tilted her head to the side to deepen the kiss. Now that they had been out here riding and talking, he tasted different to her. More like adventure and the promise of things she’d never be brave enough to take for herself.

He tasted like a man who was leaving, the same way he had that long-ago summer when she’d wanted to be sophisticated enough to seduce him into staying.

She pulled back.

“What is it?”

How could she tell him that suddenly she felt too silly, too foolish for him? She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. “Nothing.”

“Dammit, Molly. It’s just a kiss,” he said, his Texas drawl stronger than it had been earlier.

It couldn’t lead anywhere—that was the problem. Opportunities for real, lasting romance were lacking in this town and maybe she was tired of it. There weren’t a lot of men in Cole’s Hill that she would consider dating. Mainly because they were either ranchers like herself and busy with their own land, or she’d dated them in high school, or they weren’t her type. And she was here with Jason...Ace. It was hard to think of him as Ace.

“You’d think that I could just let go and have some mindless fun, but even now, with nothing left to lose, I can’t do it.”

He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. Just held her close. She wasn’t crying like she had been earlier. That flood of tears thankfully wasn’t near the surface. But the loneliness she’d felt lately, as she’d come to accept that her dad was truly gone, was back.

She turned her head to the side, rested her cheek against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was strong. Steady.

“Just once I want to be like one of those brash women on TV who takes what she wants and smiles as she resumes her normal life.”

“Aw, Molly,” Jason said, tipping her back and dropping a sweet, butterfly kiss on the end of her nose. “That’s not you.”

“More’s the pity,” she said.

He rubbed his thumb over her jawbone. His hands were firm but not rough. Not like hers, calloused and hardened from years of working with cattle and the land. As he touched her a slow heat began to burn deep inside. A shiver went from her jaw to her neck, then over her shoulder and down her arm. Her lips parted.

As Jason stared down at her, she wished she could read the expression in his eyes. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and she didn’t want to do something...what? Dumb? Too late. It had been too late since the moment her father’s attorney had revealed that she and Jason were jointly inheriting the Bar T. It had been too late since she’d realized he would be coming back and something feminine and needy had awoken inside of her.

She stared up at him, his eyes silvery pools in the dim light, and realized that she was a coward. All this wanting to be someone else wasn’t true to her. She was hiding because she was afraid.

She was twenty-nine. Well past the age when she’d thought she’d let fear drive her. She felt the wash of his breath over her and she closed her eyes—somehow everything seemed easier with her eyes closed. Then she felt his thumb rub over her bottom lip.

She sighed again.

He pulled her more fully against him, her breasts resting on his chest and their hips lightly touching. She felt the brush of his lips over hers. The intimacy of it heightened because the only senses she used at this moment were taste and touch. His body heat surrounded her. His arms were strong as he held her close.

His lips were warm and firm, and as he opened them over hers she let go and just experienced Jason. The way his tongue brushed hers slowly and then pulled back. The way he kept one hand gently on her shoulder, his finger stroking the pulse at the curve where her neck and shoulder met. The way he let the kiss develop between them with no rush or agenda.

She felt safe.

She felt like they could stand there all night rediscovering each other and the passion she’d been too young to really understand all those years ago.

She rubbed her tongue over his and he moaned a little, shifting her stance. He put one of his hands on her back and drew her even closer so that she was nestled in the cradle of his legs. He cupped her butt, caressing it through her jeans, and she shivered as sensation washed through her.

She put her hands on his hips, holding him as much to steady herself as to feel him. He was solid, muscled. And for the first time since he’d set foot back on the Bar T, she acknowledged that she wanted him, needed him to stay right here with her. But she knew he never would.

* * *

MOLLY FELT SO GOOD. He didn’t have a lot of time in his life for romance. He dated—well, if one-night stands and vacation flings could be called dating—but he had dreams that no woman could compete with. That had been true for longer than he could remember.

But Molly tempted him. She wasn’t casual—no matter how much he wanted to pretend otherwise. And he was tied to her and to this land until they could come up with a solution that would satisfy them both.

Then there was his health. He glanced up at the starry sky again and then cursed and closed his eyes. There was no place to run from this.

And at the moment Molly was the only thing that felt real to him.

He put his hands on her face. Felt the softness of her skin. The scent of her perfume surrounded him and his eyes drifted closed as he let go. Really let go of everything.

Her lips were soft under his, pliant. Her tongue rubbed over his and he sucked it gently into his mouth. One of his hands left her head and moved down her back, his fingers testing the resilience of her hips.

He groaned at the way her curves fit against him. It was as if she was custom-made for him the way his space suit was. He shifted back, lifting her off her feet.

She clung to him as she tipped her head and her tongue plunged deeper into his mouth. He hardened in a rush, rocking his hips forward until his erection was nestled at the top of her thighs.

Her legs parted and she wrapped them around his hips. He staggered backward and then realized there was nothing to lean against. He carefully knelt down and lowered Molly to the ground beneath him. He braced one hand on the soft grass and shifted so that he straddled her.

She turned her head to the side.

“My ponytail is uncomfortable,” she said.

He reached beneath her head and pulled out the elastic. Burying his fingers in her thick hair, he fanned it out around her head.

He stretched out next to her on the grass and drew her up on her side so that they faced each other.

“There’s an easier way to do this, but I wanted to see your hair down,” he said.

“Why?” she asked, her voice was quiet, shy almost.

Not the Molly who could tame a wild horse or quell an ornery ranch hand with just a glance. This was the woman he’d always wondered about. The one who sometimes wandered into his dreams before he sent her on her way.

“It’s beautiful.” He rubbed a few strands between his thumb and forefinger.

“No. It’s nothing special. Just sort of average.”

In her words he heard the implicit belief that she was average. And that shook him because she’d always been anything but.

“You know you’re not average,” he said.

“I think for this area of the country I am.”

“Nah, you stand out, Molly Tanner. You always have. Your eyes are like dark chocolate—a man could lose himself staring into those eyes—and your hair...it’s so silky and soft and I just want to bury my face in and breathe in the sweet strawberry scent.”

She stared at him. He wondered where the words were coming from, as well. Was he saying this because of the moonlight? Because for the first time in his entire life he had no idea what he was doing next and getting lost in Molly seemed like as good a path as any?

God, he really hoped not.

She watched him with eyes that asked too many questions he couldn’t answer, so he took her mouth in a kiss that was deep and filled with passion. That left no room for thinking—for either of them.

He pulled her into the curve of his body, felt her drape her thigh over his top leg and he nestled his throbbing cock against the center of her body.

The night deepened around them and still they lay there in the grass, kissing and caressing until his horse wandered over and nudged him in the back. He sat up and Molly sat up next to him.

It was too soon to take this any further. They were business partners...maybe friends...and sex wasn’t the best idea to keep things uncomplicated.

“I guess we should be heading back,” she said.

“Yeah. We don’t want to be out here when the hands start riding the fence and moving the cattle.”

“Definitely not.”

He helped her to her feet and they both brushed themselves off. She bit her lower lip and looked over at him. Questions, he saw them again in her eyes.

“Thank you for riding with me,” he said to divert her.

She was stubborn, and for a minute he didn’t think it had worked. But in the end she just nodded. “No problem.”

They rode back to the barn in silence and both of them stabled their horses without saying a word. He wasn’t as practiced as Molly and when he looked up from putting away his tack she was gone.

Gone.

It was probably for the best. But he already missed her.

4

MOLLY WASN’T HAVING the best day. Jason had left a message with Jeb that he was going to camp out on the land that evening and that he’d meet her at the lawyer’s office the next day. A horse had reared when she’d been trying to saddle it and its hoof had come down hard on her booted foot. She was pretty sure she had a deep bruise and hoped there were no broken bones.

So when she rounded the house and saw the big late-model Ford Bronco sitting in the circular drive she almost turned around and walked back to the barn.

The last person she wanted to talk to this afternoon was Wil Abernathy.

But the driver’s-side door opened before she could leave and she wouldn’t give him the impression she was running away.

“Afternoon, Molly,” Wil said as she came closer.

Wil was five years older than her and about as tall as Jason’s six-foot frame. He’d spent his life on his family’s ranch and the years had been good to him. Their derricks were still pulling oil from the ground and the Abernathys ran one of the largest and most successful stud farms and insemination programs in the country.

Wil was okay. A little too slick for her taste. The girls she’d gone to school with in Cole’s Hill had always said Wil, with his thick blond hair and blue eyes, looked like Brad Pitt. He had on his dress jeans—she could tell because they were dark blue denim and not faded at all—hand-tooled boots and a Stetson. All the Abernathy men wore Stetsons.

“Afternoon, Wil. What can I do for you?”

“I’m here to sweeten the offer I made your father,” he said. “Maybe we could go inside and discuss it?”

“I’m fine right here.”

“Damn. You are just as stubborn as your dad was,” he said. “I was sorry to hear about his death.”

“Thank you. Thank you, also, for the flowers you sent. I noticed you and your sister at the funeral service, as well.”

“Mick was a good guy and, despite the fact that he didn’t get along with my dad, I never had any problems with him.”

“He was a good guy,” Molly agreed. “I’m not selling.”

“You haven’t heard my proposal yet,” Wil said.

“Okay. Tell me,” she said. Sweat was dripping down the back of her neck and she felt every inch the working cowgirl talking to Wil. If she hadn’t been so determined to keep him out of her house, she could be inside drinking iced tea in the air-conditioning. But her father had always said no Abernathy would set foot in the house...and she was honoring that.

“I want to lease some of your land for grazing,” he said. “Damn, it’s hot. Want to sit in my Bronco if we can’t go inside?”

She shook her head. “Do you know why Dad was so insistent on keeping you and your kin out of the house?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think it has something to do with your mom,” Wil said. “My pops just said that the Tanners were sore winners.”

It was another story she’d never know since she hadn’t thought to ask her dad about it, really push him to tell her what had happened. But she was hot and tired and Wil was here offering her an olive branch.

“Why don’t you have a seat on the east-facing porch? There are ceiling fans and we get a nice breeze from the creek. I’ll get us something cold to drink.”

“Sounds good,” Wil said.

Molly heard him walking behind her as they went up the steps and she gestured to the right so he knew where to go. “Do you mind if I change out of these clothes?”

“Take your time. I scheduled the entire afternoon to be out here.”

“Thank you.”

She opened the front door and as she closed it behind her she tipped her head back and let the air-conditioning sweep over her. “Rina!”

“Yeah?”

“Wil is on the east porch. Will you bring him some iced tea?”

Rina poked her head out of the kitchen and looked down the hall at her. “Abernathy?”

“Yes. Be nice. He’s got an offer to lease some land. It might be the cash influx we need to bail ourselves out of this mess.”

“What about Ace?” Rina said, wiping her hands on her apron as she walked toward Molly.

“What about him?” Molly asked. “He’s not here and Wil is. I’m going to take the fastest shower in history and be right back down.”

Rina patted her shoulder as Molly sort of limped by her. “Okay, sunshine. I’ll keep him entertained until you come back down.”

“Thanks,” Molly said, walking past Rina up the stairs. She felt that urge to cry again. Not because of the pain or the situation but because her dad wasn’t here. She wanted to know what had happened between him and Wil’s father. Was she betraying him by even agreeing to listen to Wil’s proposal?

But he wasn’t there. She showered off the day and felt better for it. She pulled on a denim skirt and a sleeveless top then put on her flip-flops, inspecting the bruise on the top of her left foot. Pulling her hair into a ponytail, she went out to the porch where Wil waited for her.

He had a slice of lemon icebox pie and a half-empty glass of iced tea next to him on the table.

“Okay, Abernathy, tell me about this idea of yours,” she said as she sat down.

He leaned back in the rocking chair. “My sister wants to raise Scottish Highland cattle. It’s a small herd and I’d like to keep them separate from our stock and the bulls. Leasing the grazing rights to your land—the section that borders our ranch—would allow me to do that.”

He told her more about his plan and what he would pay. She took his proposal, which he’d thoughtfully typed up for her, and told him she’d get back to him with an answer in a few days. The deposit he offered wouldn’t be enough to clear their debt, but it would put a nice dent in it.

It was an option she should definitely consider. Actually, it was probably the best option she had right now.

She couldn’t help but think that she might have liked Wil if there wasn’t a family feud between them. He was a nice guy. Solid. The kind of man who knew what ranch life demanded and was happy to live it.

Not like Jason. Ace, she reminded herself.

Molly put the file in her office. She kept looking out the window, hoping to see Jason come walking up, but he wasn’t going to. He’d made a point of putting distance between them after the intimacy of last night. She knew she had to give up the idea that he was going to ride to the rescue. She was on her own.

* * *

DINNER HAD BEEN a loud affair with the hands all giving their opinions on what she should do with the ranch. It was going to affect all of them and she thought they should know that the ranch was in financial trouble. Even though she wanted to ensure their jobs, there would have to be changes. Jeb was the quietest man she knew and he’d just sat there listening to all the ideas. Most of the men weren’t too keen on a dude ranch and if Molly was being totally honest, she wasn’t, either. She didn’t want to have to cater to people on vacation.

“I’m just out of ideas,” she said at last.

“Something will come to you,” Jeb said. “It always does. In the meantime, I’m going to put some of the hands on land clearing. The acres down at the edge of our property haven’t been touched for a while and we should get them in shape for whatever you decide to do.”

“Thanks, Jeb.”

He nodded.

“Also, Dad left the ranch to both me and Jason McCoy. So he might be around over the next few months as we are figuring out what to do,” she said. No use pretending the decision was just hers, even if it did feel that way. She’d called Rupert’s office earlier and he’d made it clear that the will stipulated she and Jason had to make any decisions for selling or changing the purpose of the ranch land together.

“He’s a little rusty, but I think he might make a decent hand eventually,” one of them said.

Guffaws of laughter spread around the table.