Bound & Determined (Texas Cowboys Book 4) Read online

  When she glided over his back entrance, he jerked, drew a deep breath, and then relented, opening his knees wider, giving his silent assent for her to explore. She entered his ass on a gentle glide.

  With age came experience, something Tara had in spades. She crooked her finger and stroked deeper, rubbing over the little gland that gave her complete command over Cody’s arousal.

  Chapter Six

  ‡

  Cody gritted his teeth, torn between embarrassment and arousal so sharp it hurt.

  No one had ever dared touch him like that. He’d fucked his fingers and his cock into Tara’s ass a time or two, just to watch her climb the wall, but he’d never been on the receiving end.

  How had she ever stood it? The pressure against the tight little ring from the thrust of one slender finger burned. When she curled it and stroked a place only a doctor had ever touched during a physical, he nearly came unglued.

  “Easy,” he ground out again.

  Maybe she didn’t hear him. She seemed a little busy. Her head bobbed up and down his cock, surrounding him in moist heat. Her tongue swirled up and down his shaft.

  Her finger poked deeper then pulled away, but before he could even groan with relief two pushed inside. Together they stroked his prostate, circling on it, while his thighs trembled and his belly leapt.

  He curved his palm over the back of her head and pressed down, urging her to take him deeper down her throat.

  A soft, choked laugh was followed by a sexy murmur that vibrated around him, and Cody couldn’t help it. His thighs tensed, his buttocks hardened like steel, and he punched his hips upwards.

  She took the forceful jab, widening her jaws and opening the back of her throat to accommodate his thrusts.

  Surrounded by wet, silky heat above, prodded with wicked, hot thrusts and rubs below, he couldn’t resist her double-pronged assault.

  He pumped upward, helpless against the pressure building in his balls. Jerking up, driving past the back of her throat, he erupted with a shout that echoed against the walls while come spurted in thick, scalding bursts.

  Her throat clasped him as she swallowed it down, a snug, spasming caress that kept him driving upward well past the point his balls were wrung dry.

  When at last he lowered himself to the bed, his chest billowed with choppy gasps to fill his starved lungs. His fingers threaded through her hair and pulled hard, dragging her off his cock and upward, her head tilted toward his hand, her mouth open, as she scrambled up his body.

  He forced her mouth to his, mashed his lips against hers, and then drew back. “Don’t ever do that again.”

  “Again assumes I’ll let you come back to my bed.”

  Still breathing hard, he lifted his head, pressing his lips to hers and forcing his tongue between her lips—just to stop her from talking. She might not let me come back?

  Made sense, he guessed. He’d had seconds, thirds, fourths…

  Fuck, what is she doing now?

  Tara climbed over him, straddling his hips. Her hands reached between them to stuff his wilted cock inside her.

  She was drenched, inside and out. Her swollen tissues engulfed him, fine ripples working along her inner walls, urging him inward.

  Tara leaned over him, placing her face just above his. Then she began to slowly roll her hips, dragging on his semi-hard cock with an upward roll, relaxing her muscles to allow him to slide back inside with a downward curve of her hips.

  “This working for you?” he said softly.

  The expression on her reddening face betrayed her frustration.

  “Might have to wait a bit before I can give it to you the way you need, baby.”

  “Shut up, Cody,” she said giving him another sensual, snake-like roll. Her pussy ground against his pubic bone as she tried to increase the friction.

  “Baby, come over my mouth. Put that sweet cunt right over my face.”

  A shattered sob broke, moist air gusting over his face.

  “Let me eat you out,” he whispered. “Same as you did for me.”

  “I’m in charge.”

  “I’m the one chained. Can’t do a thing you don’t want. Give me your pussy.”

  Her belly and legs trembled over and around him, and she fell against his chest. Skin-to-skin their bodies combusted. A trickle of perspiration rolled from the edge of her hair; moisture pooled between their bodies.

  “God, Tara. Take the fucking cuff off.”

  “No!” She jackknifed up. Her thighs tightened around him, jamming him deeper inside her. Then her features relaxed, and her breaths evened. A new look entered her eyes.

  As close to begging as he’d ever seen her, he watches as her eyes filled and her lips trembled. Slowly, she rose over him, dragging off his cock one last time until it fell against his belly.

  She crawled up his body, placed both knees beside his shoulders, careful of the awkward angle of the tethered arm.

  When the slick vee of her thighs edged over his chin, he turned his face and kissed her inner thigh. “Hold onto the headboard.”

  As Tara reached to grasp the headboard, her breaths rattled harshly inside her chest. Slowly, she settled her pussy directly above his mouth and waited.

  Lips latched onto the hot, furled inner lips and nibbled. She leaned her flaming face against the cool wood. “Christ, don’t tease me, Cody. Not now.”

  Fingers parted her, his tongue swept inside her entrance, lapping in circles as though he licked melting ice cream. He burrowed his nose and tongue into her sex, newly shaved cheeks still adding a dash of surprising scrape until the gentle convulsions shimmering up her channel began again.

  A callused finger toggled her clit, rubbing over it, pressing on it, until it grew so hard she ached and jerked at each teasing caress.

  “I’m close,” she sobbed.

  His lips glided upward, opening to suckle her clit. Fingers, three of them, wedged up inside her pussy and delivered quick, insistent strokes that scraped knuckles and fingernails along her molten walls.

  He sucked harder, and her head fell back. Her thighs stiffened, and her body jerked then held perfectly still as her orgasm exploded, flowing outward from her cunt and rippling up her channel to her womb.

  She gasped and bit her lip to hold back her cry. Quivering all over, she sagged against the headboard.

  Cody released her clit, and then dove into her cunt to gently lick the fluid her body had released. His hand clutched her buttock and squeezed. At last, he fell back, his face glistening.

  Quietly, slowly, she climbed off him, accepting the offer of his open arm to snuggle beside him.

  He pressed a kiss against her forehead. “I really do have to piss now.”

  A short laugh nearly choked her, and she turned her face into his neck and slipped an arm across his chest to hold him. “I’ll be sure to get that jar.”

  She nearly fell asleep, lying beside him like that. As she drifted away, she realized they’d never been like this. Quiet for so long. Holding each other.

  She cleared her throat to warn him. “Is this so bad?”

  His chest stilled. He’d heard her, but he remained silent so long, tears began to flood her eyes.

  “I better find that key.”

  His arm tightened around her, his hand sliding up and down her back. “Don’t go.”

  Tara tilted her face to watch his as he stared straight ahead.

  His chest rose high then sank. “I was raised in foster care. My mother gave me up when I was ten. She drank too much.”

  Another deep breath lifted her on her chest, but she kept silent, letting him tell whatever he felt she needed to know about why they shouldn’t do this.

  “I wasn’t an easy kid. I started fights at school. My grades were bad. I went through four foster families until I landed in Rita Jenning’s home. I was sixteen.

  “Rita took one look at me and told me she knew I was trouble. Her husband worked at night, slept all day. She signed me up to work at a ranch just o
utside of Uvalde to keep me busy. I liked the work. It was hard, dirty work, but I was good with animals. I grew nearly half a foot in a year, and then Rita joined me in the shower one day.”

  Tara’s hand soothed over his chest as bile burned the back of her throat. Still, she stayed silent.

  “I thought the world of her. Thought she was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. I thought what we had was love. But she regretted it. Was ashamed every time she snuck into my room at night, more so when she left early in the morning.

  “One day, she had my bags packed beside the door. She said she’d found work for me at a ranch where they’d see I finished school. And that was it. I never saw her again.”

  Tara didn’t know what to say. Her throat closed tight.

  “Now, will you get that key?”

  Tara started to move away, and then hesitated. “Do you see me as Rita?” she asked, her throat tightening. “Another older woman taking advantage of a younger man?”

  Cody’s glance sliced her way. “Fuck no. I’m trying to tell you why I don’t trust what I feel.”

  “Do you think all I want is this with you? That I’d have taken up with any handsome cowboy to scratch an itch?”

  “How can it be anything more?” he asked, a ragged, aching quality to his voice. “We don’t have a thing in common. I can’t offer you anything you don’t already have.”

  Tara wanted to shake him. “I don’t have another man who wants me. Who can look past the lines on my face and still see me. Inside, I’m not a middle-aged woman. I’m just…a woman.”

  Cody’s face turned toward her. His jaw flexed, and he hugged her close. “You can do better. You should expect better than me.”

  Her mouth trembled. “You’re an idiot, Cody Westhofen.”

  A bitter smile curled one corner of his mouth. “I’m just a cowboy. And a man-whore. Everything you’ve been thinkin’ all along, sweetheart.”

  Tara knew stubborn when she saw it. She’d looked it in the face every morning of her life. Cody cared, but it might be a long-haul kind of job to convince him he was worthy of love.

  Patience wasn’t something she’d ever been accused of having, but the warmth of the body stretched beside her, the shadows in those startling blue eyes, made her ache to prove him wrong. “I’ll find that key. Both of us need showers.”

  “It’s late. Why not just take me to my truck?”

  Tara leaned over him and kissed him, giving him a small smile. “You haven’t worked off that debt, cowboy. I promise. No more talk.”

  He grunted. “My stomach’s rattling.”

  “I’ll grill steaks.”

  He pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “Are you asking me to stay the night?”

  She mustered up her brightest smile. “Just consider it the down-payment.”

  *

  Cody eyed her warily throughout dinner, looking for some clue of what she might be thinking about what he’d told her.

  She didn’t seem disgusted. Oddly, she appeared happy, puttering around the kitchen as she fried steaks and eggs, adding fresh tomatoes and thick slices of bread to their plates.

  They didn’t talk much during dinner, but that might have been because he inhaled his meal while she looked on with amusement.

  “I got something on my face?” he asked, catching her glance again.

  She shook her head. “No. It’s nice watching you eat. You really enjoy it.”

  He waggled his eyebrows. “Have to keep up my strength.”

  “I’ll let you sleep,” she drawled.

  By the gleam in her eyes, there’d be no rest for the wicked. “Wouldn’t want any complaints come morning.”

  “Cody, you’re the man who says he never leaves a woman unsatisfied.”

  “Do have a rep to uphold. Any requests?”

  She planted an elbow on the table and rested her chin on her curled fingers. “Gonna give me a menu? Let me choose my poison?”

  “I’m feeling pretty generous. Lady’s choice.”

  She chuckled softly. “I’ll let you know.”

  He picked his napkin off his lap and laid it next to his plate. “What’s for dessert?”

  Tara laughed, throwing back her head. “Cowboy, you just polished off your steak and half of mine.”

  “And your point is?” He grinned, satisfied when he’d elicited another throaty laugh from her.

  She sat across him in a fluffy yellow robe, her hair mussed and curling around her shoulders looking as warm as sunshine. A sweet ache settled in his chest.

  He’d like to linger here a few more weeks, maybe months. Give it a try at being a one-woman man for as long as she could stand to have him underfoot.

  He lunged from his chair, quickly stepped around the table, and shoved her chair to face him. Then with a quick bend, he grabbed her arm and pulled her over his shoulder.

  Rich, deep laughter followed him all the way down the hallway to her bedroom. He dropped her on the bed and covered her, stretching over her and capturing her arms with his hands and urging them around his shoulders. “Hold on tight.”

  With a little clumsy maneuvering, he opened her robe and his pants and plunged right inside, groaning at her wet welcome.

  Even though he didn’t give her a lick of practiced finesse, her face soon grew red, strained, her lips pursing as she blew hard.

  Cody pounded inside her, rucking up her legs, shoving his arms under her knees and moving her inexorably up the mattress with each concentrated thrust.

  As quick as his arousal spiked, his orgasm thundered through him, drenching her in his come.

  Tara, game as ever, held on tight, the quickening of her own ascent pulsing around him, caressing him with quivers that rode his shaft until she came, too.

  When he’d spent the last of his strength, he lay over her, his head beside her on the bed. “Not so bad, at all,” he whispered, echoing her earlier comment.

  Lips pressed soft kisses against his shoulder and cheek. Hands stroked over his damp skin.

  “Don’t go to sleep just yet. Better get out of your clothes or you’ll wake up tangled in those pants,” she whispered.

  Cody didn’t bother opening his eyes, he just smiled.

  Chapter Seven

  ‡

  Tara felt something cold encircle her wrist and came instantly awake, knowing exactly what the ornery cowboy had just done.

  “’Bout time you woke up,” he said, smiling down at her. He sat next to her on the edge of the bed. Naked. “I’ve been playing with your pussy for ten minutes, and you snored all the way through it.”

  Tara turned her head toward the window. Sunlight peeked through the parting of the curtains. “It’s morning? And I do not snore.”

  “How do you know?”

  She yawned and reached to cover her mouth, only to come up short. “Cody…”

  “Now, Tara. You had such a good time last night, I thought I’d give it a try.”

  Tara turned her head to find a length of material, neatly braided and tied around her wrist. A deep cobalt blue braid. “You cut up one of my night gowns?”

  “I’ll get you another.”

  The spread of her legs was unnaturally wide, and she didn’t need to pull against the tethers to know he’d taken her idea and run wild with it.

  “Now, how much fun can this be for you if I can’t participate?”

  “The fun’s in seeing how far you’ll let me go before you start begging.”

  She huffed a breath. “I don’t beg.”

  “Like you don’t snore?” A wicked grin inched across his face.

  Tara pretended irritation, wrinkling her nose at him, but she relaxed against her ties, eager to see what he had planned.

  “You do know you’re the only woman I don’t wear a condom with, right?”

  “You promised me that. I believe you.”

  “Just wanted you to know you never have to worry.”

  “Are you trying to make me nervous?”

  Cody rea
ched to the floor beside the bed and pulled up pillows they’d tossed because they’d gotten in the way. He held one between two hands. “I need a little cooperation.”

  “You’re the one who tied me up. Can’t backpedal now.”

  He snaked an arm beneath her hips and shoved the pillow under her butt, then scooted her feet upward until the makeshift ropes tightened. “Guess that’s all the give they’ve got. I’ll make do.”

  Make do? With her pussy in the air, her knees spread wide, she figured he had plenty of access for whatever wickedness he had up his invisible sleeve.

  He’d bathed. His skin glittered with moisture he’d haphazardly swiped with a towel. He smelled of her floral soap.

  “I think I like this,” he said softly coming to the end of the bed and eyeing her open legs. He climbed onto the bed, his slow crawl and the predatory gleam in his eye awakening a heavy, pulsing throb at her center. “You’re completely open. Vulnerable. Trust me still?” he murmured.

  Tara swallowed hard, her breaths coming faster, shallower. Her thighs tensed as he skimmed knuckles along the top of one knee.

  He leaned over the bed again and picked up something else from the floor, which he cupped in his hand, hiding it from her.

  “What do you have there, Cody?”

  “Close your eyes.”

  “Aren’t you tired of playing games?”

  “You played. Now, it’s my turn. Close your eyes, or I’m going to go eat breakfast while you think a bit.”

  No way was he leaving her like this, aroused, her legs sprawled open with nothing sliding into the pussy he’d already primed for his pleasure. She shut her eyes, frowning so he’d know she wasn’t completely in his thrall.

  A low hum started, and she moaned. He’d found her stash of toys. The ones she used when he wasn’t there to fill her.

  Something cool and moist was rubbed beneath her pussy, smoothed by the tip of a rough finger lower, between her buttocks in drugging little circles over her sensitive back entrance.