At the Cowboy's Mercy by Emma Jay

caress her breasts through her sweatshirt, then back down to shove at her pants, peeling them down her legs. The sound of tearing foil was her only warning before he angled his hips and entered her.  
    She gasped against his mouth as he slid into her in short strokes, deeper each time, not saying a word as he lifted hie head to look down at her, one hand braced on her pillow, the other at her side. He was gentle, but didn't touch her, didn't say a word. Somehow his silence made her hotter, wetter, and his thrusts grew faster, his breath more ragged. She wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing him deeper, angling so his groin pressed against her swelling clit with each drive. She circled her hips and met his thrusts, until finally he cupped her ass in one hand, holding her as he fucked her, the wet sounds filling the room, the scent of their bodies filling her senses. She was excited but nowhere close to coming, and his thrusts were more erratic. He was going to come without her.
    Just when she was certain of it, he shifted his hand on her ass, his thumb sliding down the cleft to rest against her opening, stroking so lightly that she didn't see the orgasm coming until it hit her with the force of a freight train, carrying her off the bed and against him, her body clasping greedily until she felt the pulses of his own climax.
    He held himself over her for a moment, trembling on his arms, then withdrew, pulled up her pants and collapsed beside her, his arm over his eyes, all without a word.

CHAPTER TEN

    Four weeks later

    Luke drove through downtown Gonzales heading out to his land. He'd stopped in front of the diner, but Kennedy hadn't been working. He hadn't gone in, but where else would she be but at the house?  
    He wouldn't relax until he saw she was safe and sound and warm.  
    Well, he didn't have to worry about the last part. It was March now, and he drove with the windows down, even thought about running the air conditioning as he turned onto the gravel road.
    The neatly trimmed gravel road. Both the grass and trees had been cut back, making the place look--lived in.  
    He'd left her in the morning four weeks ago, before she'd awakened. He'd put five hundred dollars--all he'd been able to get out of the ATM--with a note that she should spend it on living expenses, and one of those cellphones that didn't need a contract. He hadn't called her on it, tempted though he'd been to check up on her. He just--couldn't. Maybe that made him an idiot, but it wouldn't be the first time.
    He slowed as he approached the house, the neat grass along the road and the side of the barn. He braked behind another truck in the road, just before his attention was captured by movement near the barn.  
    As he watched, Kennedy sashayed from the barn, ponytail swinging, long bare legs in denim cut-offs eating up the ground. Behind her bounded a gray kitten. She hadn't noticed him yet, and called to someone on the porch. He shifted to see a man on a ladder who twisted to look over his shoulder at her. Jealousy tightened Luke's gut at the grin the man gave her, and her answering one. Who was this guy, and just how well did he know Kennedy?
    What the hell was wrong with him that it took him until now notice his own house? The windows had been reframed and--were those curtains blowing in the windows? The screened windows? And...plants on the front porch? He shut off the engine and opened the truck door, and finally she noticed him.  
    Her whole face lit up and she called his name as she ran toward him. He'd barely braced himself before she launched herself at him, wrapping her legs around him and covering his mouth with hers.  
    She tasted like sunshine and freshly mown grass and springtime and home, damn it. Part of him wanted to push her away, but a bigger part, the part that had dreamed about her every night, had him reaching for her every morning, pulled her closer, his hand over her ass. He heard a man's voice, then another, teasing by