“Sometimes,” Grayson said, his gray-green gaze shifting to watch Avery walking out, “you discover a new entrée that kills your taste buds for everything else.”
Connor grunted, a taunting smile curving his lips. “Sap.”
Tires screeching to a halt broke through Tamara’s misery and she lifted her tear-streaked face from her arms, somehow not surprised to see Connor hopping out of his truck and striding toward her. He’d been riding to her rescue now for seven years, and each time her heart thudded a little faster when those blue, blue eyes zeroed in on her with a look of exasperated fondness and overrated concern. She tried smiling up at him from her perch on the high school’s front steps, but her mouth wobbled instead.
“Hi,” she sniffed,
As he squatted down in front of her, she couldn’t help noticing the bulge of his thighs and the glint in his eyes as he caught her distressed appearance in the dim lighting. “What’s up, sweetie?”
“Boys,” she muttered.
“Be a little more specific, please.”
She tightened her hand on her bodice, heat enveloping her face. “Billy Wilcox is a jerk.”
His jaw went rigid but his hand was gentle as he cupped her chin, checked her face and then slid his eyes down to the popped buttons on the top of her green satin prom dress. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she sighed, refusing to lie. “He just made me mad when he wouldn’t stop kissing me after I said enough. This,” she looked down at her top, “wasn’t on purpose. I pulled away from him…”
“That’s enough. Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
“Okay.” Feeling better already, she pushed to her feet and leaned against his tall frame, a strange shiver rippling through her. He boosted her up into his truck and leaned over her to fasten the seatbelt himself, his breath warm on her neck.
A longing swept through Tamara as he settled behind the wheel and wrapped one arm around her shoulders to pull her close as he drove. Her body felt strange, hot and cold all at once…
Tamara groaned and rolled over, shifting uncomfortably as she struggled to get back to sleep without plaguing memories haunting her. She drifted off again, this time her mind shifting to a later time and different scene, tiredness pulling her back under and leaving her powerless to stop the replay.
Her nipples beaded into tight pinpoints just from listening to Connor’s commanding voice, her pussy went damp from eyeing his taut buttocks clenching as he drove into the woman bent over the stack of hay bales. Sweat popped out along her brow and her legs grew cramped from her crouched position behind the door to the barn. The woman’s low moans switched to high-pitched wails as they climaxed together, the sight enough to make her fingers itch to slip inside her pants to tease her own orgasm to the surface as she eyed the bound, clenched hands of his willing partner. Bondage. So, the rumors were true. She was still assimilating that fact and picturing herself in the woman’s position as he helped her stand and Tamara noticed the bare flesh of her labia sported the same pinkness covering the woman’s buttocks.
Tamara grew hotter and her vaginal muscles spasmed as she imagined the pain of being slapped on such sensitive flesh. A sound escaped her tight throat, alerting the couple to her presence. Uh, oh…
Tamara awoke the next morning in a sweaty tangle of sheets, her body still shuddering from dreams that refused to leave her be, no matter how much time elapsed between the memories or how far she distanced herself from the man. Giving up on finding answers, she tumbled out of bed and padded into her attached bathroom. Amy ended up staying with her sister an extra day and planned to return today. It wouldn’t do to let her stepmother see her in such a befuddled state. Amy knew of her infatuation and wouldn’t need another reason to bring it up.
She felt better after lingering under a hot shower and downing two cups of coffee. Unable to put it off any longer, she entered her father’s office and took a seat behind his desk. Blinking back tears, she pulled up the ranch books and spent the morning going over the ledgers, noting the losses where rustlers had made off with a few head of cattle and the gains from the last sales. Profits remained marginal, but with any luck, Galahad’s offspring would bring in some extra cash by this time next year.
The Dunbar Ranch was almost four times the size of hers and from what she’d read, they had suffered a significantly higher number of losses from the thieves, so she counted herself, Amy and their few employees lucky in that aspect. It was no wonder Connor’s frustration pushed him into going off half-cocked after them.
Spending time with him again had reinforced how much she’d missed him, her reaction to one look from his searing blue eyes confirming she’d made the right decision in calling off her engagement. She was fond of Jeremy, but she couldn’t marry one man when she was in love with another. Her tepid responses to him during sex should have alerted her much sooner that it would never work, and she accepted full responsibility for the hurt she’d caused him. She knew only too well what it felt like to be regarded as nothing more than a friend.
Her phone signaled an incoming text, a reminder from Nan about their one o’clock get-together. Since Amy hadn’t returned yet, Tamara left her a note about her whereabouts and gladly set aside the rest of the ranch business for some much-needed girl time.
Chapter 4
Twenty minutes later, Tamara pulled her compact Mitsubishi SUV into a parking space in front of Nan’s teashop. Behind her, the fountain centered in the middle of the town square gurgled with a bubbly flow of water. Now that the air hinted of warmer temperatures soon to come, the fountain was only one of the things popping back up after a long, cold winter. Rising above the historic, three story brick buildings, the mountains appeared greener amidst the snow-capped elevations.
Sliding out of her vehicle, she took a deep, appreciative breath as she stepped up on the walk and reached for the door handle. A set of tinkling chimes pealed as she pushed it open and saw Nan standing at one of the quaint, wrought iron tables, talking with a redhead and brunette seated on the matching chairs. All three women looked up, Nan smiling and waving her over.
“There you are. Come and meet Sydney.” She nodded to the green-eyed redhead before waving her hand to the other woman peering at Tamara through black-framed glasses. “Avery moved to town a short time after Sydney.” The other girl’s light brown eyes shone in welcome.
“Hi. Nice to meet you both.” Tamara took the empty chair Nan nudged out with her foot.
“Tamara and I go back to grade school together.” Nan picked up Sydney’s left hand so Tamara could see the sparkling engagement ring. “The rock is from Caden Dunbar. Their engagement is just one thing you’ve missed since your last visit.”
Tamara ignored the reprimand in her friend’s voice as she leaned in for a closer look at the ring. “It’s beautiful. You must be special if you’ve tamed Caden.” Even before she had witnessed that scene in Connor’s barn, she had heard the rumors surrounding the wild Dunbar brothers and their kinky passions. She’d never been able to forget her first and only glimpse of Connor’s dominant side, or the interest and vivid dreams it had stirred.
Sydney laughed. “Trust me, Caden is not ‘tamed’.” She finger-quoted the word tamed. “But I wouldn’t want him to be. I fell for him just as he is.”
“Well, congratulations,” Tamara said, not sure how to respond to that.