Loving Cara Page 11

  I love that he lets me sleep in, but I’d love to wake up with him once in a while.

  I’ll have to request that sometime soon.

  I roll to my back and take a deep breath, registering the smell of coffee. Has he come back to the house to make me coffee again?

  A girl could get used to this.

  Excited to see him, I jump from the bed and pull on a pair of yoga shorts and a skimpy tank top and shuffle out to the kitchen quietly while I rub the sleep from my eyes. I turn the corner from the hallway to the great room, and there he is, with his back to me, facing the coffeepot, waiting for the last of the coffee to brew.

  Something about him seems to be different this morning, something in the tenseness of his shoulders, and I wonder if everything is okay. Did something happen with one of the animals?

  I move up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist, bury my face in the center of his back, just as on the other day when we took Seth to get his puppy.

  “Good morning,” I murmur, just as I realize that he smells . . . wrong.

  “Well, that’s one way to welcome Zack home,” a familiar voice mutters behind me.

  I jump back, my heart hammering and my face flushing as the man that I just had my breasts pressed against turns and grins down at me. His face is exactly like Josh’s, aside from that small bump on his nose where he broke it his senior year in high school. “Good morning, Carolina.” He laughs at my stunned expression.

  “Zack!” I wrap my arms around him and hug him close, happy to see him after all this time. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’ll never hear me complain about a gorgeous woman pressing herself against me first thing in the morning.”

  “Watch yourself, Brother,” Josh warns him, and pulls me out of Zack’s arms.

  “So that’s how it is?” Zack asks with a raised brow.

  “That’s how it is,” Josh confirms, and earns another big grin from his brother.

  “How what is?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on the sexy identical twins.

  “It’s a guy thing.” Josh kisses my forehead and then frowns down at my outfit. “What are you wearing?”

  “Seduce-Josh-in-the-kitchen clothes.” I shrug and laugh when his eyes glass over. “I guess I got the wrong brother.”

  “Go away,” Josh orders his brother, and buries his face in my neck and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into him, making us both laugh. I pull away and pour myself a cup of coffee.

  “You made good time, Zack. When did you get in?” I ask as Josh leaves the room and quickly returns with one of his oversize sweatshirts and pulls it over my head, his eyes hot with lust.

  “I don’t share this beautiful body with anyone, sweetheart, even my brother,” Josh whispers in my ear, then pours himself a cup of coffee, leaving me slightly breathless and a whole lot turned on.

  “Weather was good.” Zack shrugs, sits at the kitchen table as we join him. “Got in around three a.m. Crashed in J’s spare bedroom for a few hours.”

  “Have you seen Seth?” Josh asks quietly.

  “No.” Zack shakes his head and takes a sip of coffee. “I just got up not long ago. Thought I’d wait for him here.”

  “It’s Saturday,” I remind him. “He might not be down here for quite a while, especially now that he has a puppy to get into trouble with.”

  “Lost track of my days.” Zack gulps down the rest of his coffee. “I’ll go find him. Thanks for teaching him, Cara. Josh tells me you’ve been great with him, even when he’s had a piss-poor attitude.”

  “He’s a good kid, Zack.” I grip his forearm in my hand soothingly, earning a glare from Josh.

  What a caveman.

  “Thank you,” Zack repeats with a deep sigh. “I’ve missed him.”

  “If you missed me, why were you gone for so long?” Seth is standing just inside the front door, his eyes wide and angry, his hands in fists at his side and his pup whining at his feet.

  “Seth.” Zack stands and walks to Seth, who steps back angrily.

  “Don’t touch me!”

  “Seth, I was in Afghanistan. You know that.” Zack’s body is tight with anger, but his voice is completely calm.

  “Mom said you didn’t have to go, but you wanted to be away from us. You don’t care about me.”

  “That’s not true.” Zack’s brown eyes are blazing with anger now. “The army didn’t give me a choice.”

  Seth frowns and looks at Josh and then at his dad. “You never wanted to talk to me.”

  “You refused to take my calls, not the other way around.” Zack is still standing back from Seth, but his face is lined in anguish. Clearly, he desperately wants to pull the boy to him and reassure him.

  But Seth would not accept that right now.

  Seth shakes his head, ready to argue some more.

  “Why don’t you guys go spend the day together?” I suggest softly. “Go fishing, or ride the horses or something.”

  “I hate horses and fishing,” Seth insists, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Josh is a tense ball of fury, sitting silently next to me, letting his brother handle the young boy, and I have a newfound respect for the man who constantly needs to be in control.

  “You love those things, Seth,” Zack reminds him calmly.

  “Not with you,” he spits out, and runs out of the house, Thor following close behind.

  We sit in silence for a few long minutes, not sure what to say.

  “Well, that went well,” Zack finally says, and roughly rubs his forehead.

  “He’ll come around,” I murmur. “He just needs to punish you for a little while before he’s ready to hear you out.”

  “It’s working.”

  “Can I make you guys breakfast?” I offer.

  “No.” Zack shakes his head. He grabs his keys and wallet from the kitchen counter. “I’m going to go take care of some business in town, give Seth some space.” He waves and slams out the front door, fires up his Mustang, and speeds off toward the highway, the rear tires kicking up gravel as he drives away.

  “It’s just us,” I mutter to Josh.

  “I want to take you somewhere today.” His face is perfectly serious, and I’m instantly curious. “Let those two circle around each other. I finally get you all to myself.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I want to show you my ranch on the ATV today because I don’t think you’re ready for a full day on horseback.”

  “It’s going to take us all day?” I ask incredulously.

  “A good portion of it.” He nods. “I’ve packed a lunch and some supplies. I want to share my home with you.”

  “You have been.” I walk to him and sit in his lap, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. I press my lips to his softly. “You have been sharing your home with me.”

  “There’s so much more than what you’ve seen.” He leans his forehead against my own and sighs. “Let me show you.”

  “Okay, let’s go.” I lean back and grin down at him. “Do I get my own ATV?”

  “Hell no, you get to sit behind me and wrap those sexy arms around my waist.”

  “We’ll see.” I bounce up to go get dressed. “Maybe you’ll sit behind me and hold on to my waist.”

  “You’re feisty this morning.” Josh laughs and pivots in his chair, watching me with humor-filled brown eyes.

  “You haven’t seen feisty yet!”

  * * *

  He wasn’t kidding when he said it would take all day. I had no idea Josh and his family owned so much land.

  “This place is huge.” He’s parked the four-wheeler beside a row of cabins and cut the engine, giving us a chance to sit and look around. “I didn’t know you offered hunting cabins in the winter.”

  “You’re not much of a hunter, are you?” He tucks my hair behind my ear and kisses my forehead.

  “Uh, no. Not unless it’s a spider that needs to be killed.” I glance back at the well-kept, simple cabins. The sun is shining brightly
, making me thankful for my tank, but I long for my shorts rather than the long blue jeans that Josh insisted I wear today. My hair feels heavy on my neck and my brow sweaty.

  “Like I said earlier, the ranch is more than beef cattle. We offer these cabins for tourists who want to hunt, along with a guide. I’m hoping Zack will want to guide this winter.” Josh throws me a grin that says that he’ll talk his brother into it.

  “Do you get a lot of customers?”

  Josh nods. “We’re booked solid through next hunting season.”

  “Wow, good for you.” I rub my hand up and down his back, ridiculously proud of Josh and his family. “Maybe Seth would like to join Zack and the hunters this winter? He’s old enough to take hunter’s education this fall.”

  “You’re right. I’ll mention it to Z. Seth would love that.”

  Josh starts the ignition again and I happily link my arms around his middle and snuggle up against him.

  “I have a special place I want to show you.”

  He rests one hand on my thigh and drives us through the brush with one hand, leading us behind the cabins and into the woods again. The canopy of evergreen trees gives us a reprieve from the hot summer sun, and I sigh in relief.

  “Getting too warm?” he asks.

  “A little.”

  “Good thing we put sunscreen on you.”

  I blush furiously and bury my face in Josh’s back as I remember his slathering the coconut-scented lotion on my arms, shoulders, neck, and face right before we left the house.

  Only Josh can turn basic skin care into an erotic event. I’ve been turned on all morning, damn him.

  I can feel the vibrations from his laughter against my cheek as he pulls the ATV to a stop and kills the engine, whose sound is replaced by the sounds of water and a light breeze blowing through the trees overhead. Birds sing as Josh and I stay where we are, sitting on the four-wheeler, me leaning against him, breathing in the fresh air.

  Finally, I kiss his back and lean away from him, swing my leg over, and hop off, and he follows suit.

  “This is a great place,” I murmur, and turn in a complete circle, taking everything in. The forest is thick here, but with a clearing by a wide pool of water, which is being fed by a creek that empties into it via a beautiful waterfall about twenty yards away. Slabs of rock frame the pond, making a natural ledge to sit on and enjoy nature.

  “This is where I’ve always come whenever I’m happy or mad or just need to think.” Josh wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses the top of my head.

  “You brought me to your happy place?” I ask, half kidding, and turn my head to kiss his biceps. I can’t seem to keep my lips off this man.

  And he doesn’t seem to mind.

  “It seems that anywhere you are is my happy place these days, Carolina.”

  I gasp and look up into his soft brown eyes.

  “So, I brought the person who makes me happy to my happy place,” he clarifies.

  Well . . . wow.

  Before I can respond, he kisses my lips quickly and then pulls away to grab a blanket out of a saddlebag. He takes me by the hand and leads me up onto the rocks by the water. He spreads the blanket out and pulls me down next to him.

  “Are you hungry?” he asks, and pushes my hair back over my shoulder.

  “Not quite yet.”

  He nods and his eyes heat as they rake down my face, my neck, and over my tank top, which I know shows off the girls nicely.

  If he is going to keep me perpetually turned on today, I am happy to return the favor.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispers, and leans in to claim my mouth. His lips are gentle and soft, sweeping across my own rhythmically yet slowly, sending shivers down my arms and making my stomach clench.

  He has only touched me with his lips and my panties are wet. I’m panting, ready for him to take me right here, in the middle of nature.

  He cups my cheek in the palm of his hand and pulls me closer, sinking into the kiss, but then he abruptly pulls back, his brows pulled into a frown.

  “You really are warm,” he mutters, and feels my neck and forehead.

  I laugh at him as I rub my hand up and down his firm chest. “It’s hot outside, Josh.”

  “Let’s cool off.” He smiles down at me wickedly and begins to peel me out of my clothes.

  “We might give the wildlife quite a show,” I warn him mildly, excitement coursing through me.

  “That’s the plan.” He winks at me and quickly strips out of his own clothes. He pulls me up onto my feet and peels my jeans and panties down my legs.

  “Now what?” I ask with a wide smile.

  “Now we cool off.”

  Before I can think, he lifts me into his arms and tosses me into the pond. I immediately swim to the surface and sputter, gasping for breath at the shock of the cold water.

  “It’s so cold!”

  “It’s mountain runoff, of course it’s cold.” He’s treading water beside me. “We’re cooling off, remember?”

  “You just wanted to skinny-dip,” I accuse him, and playfully narrow my eyes at him.

  “I wanted to get you naked,” he corrects me. “It worked.”

  He pulls me to him and kisses me hard and then dunks me under the water. He’s laughing when I surface and I swim after him. My body has adjusted to the temperature of the water, and it feels cool and refreshing on my skin. I latch onto Josh’s back, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, and he swims around the pond, carrying me around piggyback.

  After playing in the water like kids for a while, Josh leads me to the edge of the pond and shows me where to step to safely climb out. Despite the canopy of trees, the air is warm. A light breeze blows across my wet body, sending more shivers through me and raising gooseflesh.

  “Are you cold?” he asks as he guides me back to our blanket.

  “No, I’m naked, wet, and there’s a breeze.”

  We are standing in the center of the blanket, on the highest rock above the water, for all of God’s creation to see. He’s holding my hands in his, but has stepped back so he can look his fill, his heated eyes traveling up and down my nakedness, and I’m thrilled by the lust and the want I see on his handsome face. When his gaze meets mine again, I offer him a shy smile, and his breath catches as he swallows hard.

  “Carolina,” he whispers, and steps to me, keeping his hands linked with mine, but now I can feel his body heat and I yearn to feel him against me. “I love your body. I love every curve on you, how soft you are, how smooth your skin is.”

  He’s seducing me with his soft words, and if we weren’t standing so close, the mountain breeze would have blown the sound away.

  “But the sexiest curve on your body is your sweet smile.”

  My breath catches and I feel my eyes go wide as he smiles softly down at me, and in this moment I know without a shadow of a doubt, I’ve fallen in love with Joshua King.

  He lightly pulls the backs of his knuckles down my face and cups my jawline in his palm. With my hands now freed, I link them around his waist at the small of his back. I can’t look away from his eyes. Droplets fall from his wet hair and run down his cheeks. I want him to kiss me silly. I want him to touch me everywhere.

  I want him inside me.

  “Josh.”

  “Yes, love.” He kisses my forehead tenderly.

  “I’m gonna need you inside me now.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing.” He guides me down onto the blanket-covered rock and onto my back, but rather than cover me with his large, hard body, he kneels between my thighs and kisses the insides of them. He cups my right calf in one hand and runs his other hand up and down the length of my leg.

  “Have I told you how great your legs are?”

  “You’ve mentioned it,” I reply dryly, enjoying the sight of him looming above me, the sunshine poking through the trees overhead. “But I have short legs. I’m a short girl.”

  “They don’t have
to be long to be amazing.” He kisses my calf and then pays equal attention to my other leg, kissing and kneading the flesh. He’s sitting back on his heels as he skims his lips over my ankle and then starts the journey up the other leg, and my gaze lands on the impressive erection jutting from his body, bobbing with his movements. I reach down between my legs, wrap my hand around him, and pump up and down the length twice.

  His heated gaze finds mine as he pulls out of my grasp, grinning as I moan in protest, and nibbles on the inside of my left thigh, working his way up to my center.

  Instead of burying his face in my folds, he runs his forefinger from my anus, through my labia, and over my clit, then holds it up for me to see. It’s dripping with my juices.

  “You’re always so wet for me, baby.” He sticks his finger in his mouth and licks it clean. “I love that.”

  With that, he leans down and follows the path his finger just took with his tongue. He repeats the motion three times before he circles the tip of his tongue around my clit, lifting the hood with his thumb so he can lick it more deeply. I push my hands into his hair and grip him hard, rocking my hips up against his face.

  “Oh, God.”

  I feel him grin against me before he pulls the lips of my labia into his mouth and hollows his cheeks to suck on them, softly at first, then more firmly, making me squirm and moan.

  He finally pushes two fingers inside me, sweeping his fingertips over that tiny rough spot that makes me lose my ever-loving mind.

  “Josh!”

  “That’s right, baby,” he whispers, and moves his fingers faster, presses his lips against my clit, then licks it hard with the flat of his tongue, making me see stars.

  “I’m gonna—” I can’t complete the sentence. I don’t even know if I spoke it out loud. I can’t hear the rush of the water anymore, or the birds, or anything except the roaring of blood in my head and my desperate groans.

  Josh growls against me, the vibrations shooting me out into orbit, and I come hard, my pussy spasming and clenching around his thick fingers, my hips rocking against his face, shamelessly asking for more.

  When my body calms, he pulls his fingers out and licks me again, along the length of my sex, then licks and kisses his way up my torso. He kisses and pulls on my already firm nipples, making me moan again.