She started at his mouth, kissing his lips, his cheeks, his jaw, and then under his chin. She trailed down to his chest, his stomach and after lavishing her attention there, descended even lower. While she touched and ministered to every inch of him, he clung to bent and broken stalks of bracken, willing himself not to go over the edge. Finally, she straddled him and lowered herself, inch by agonizing inch onto the length of him.
From the look on her face she was almost as undone by the whole affair as he was.
"You feel good," she said. "So good." Her teasing tone was gone.
He bit his lip. He wanted to tell her what she was doing to him, how much he loved her, how he wanted to spend his life with her. He could only nod.
She began to ride him, lifting up and sliding down again, over and over, slowly at first, and then much faster. Her breasts swayed in rhythm with her hips, her head tilted back and her lips parted. She was a glorious sight and he loved her, wanted her, needed her…
With a wild cry she bucked against him and Jamie came, too, caught up in her abandon. He swallowed his groans but he couldn't stop his orgasm. It rocked through him from toe to tip, leaving him shaken, shuddering, and longing to do it all again.
Claire slumped forward against him and it killed him he couldn't embrace her and whisper all his thoughts into her ear. When she sat up again and disengaged from him, he smiled weakly.
"That was nice."
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The moment they reached the stable, Jamie knew something was wrong. Autumn was waiting for them, a worried frown creasing her face. Rob and Ethan were already seeing to the other horses. The guests were trailing up to the front porch. He and Claire had ridden the rest of the way home silently, but quickly, twin silly smiles on their faces. Jamie had no idea what had happened back there. Was Claire only trying to win the bet? Or had her sensual attack meant something more? He'd hoped she would tell him before they got back to work, but from the look of things, any discussion would have to wait.
"Claire? Can I talk to you?" Autumn said.
Claire turned to him. "Can you take care of the horses?"
"Sure – go on." But as he watched her walk away, he wanted to stay by her side. Autumn hadn't brought good news – that was obvious – and he didn't want Claire to face whatever it was alone.
Jamie got to work. The horses needed to be unsaddled, rubbed down and checked to make sure their hooves hadn't picked up any stones during the ride. As he pulled the saddle off of Storm and went to put it in its place, he was surprised to see Adrienne leaning against the stable door, waiting for him.
"Can I help you?"
"We didn't get a chance to talk today. Claire was monopolizing you."
Jamie shrugged. "We had some things to discuss."
"But I'm the one who's paying for your time. How about you give me a little attention." She touched his arm, running her hand over his muscles.
"That's not exactly what you're paying for, is it?" he said, pulling away with a quick look over his shoulder. He didn't want Ethan to see what she was doing. "And if I don't see to these horses, they're going to suffer for it."
She pouted. "I'm not so hard to look at, am I? That's all I'm asking for – a little of your attention."
He stopped and met her gaze. "Really? That's all you're asking for?" He refused to look away until she was the one that broke the staring contest.
"Fine. You got me. I am asking for a little more. This is my vacation – my chance to get away and blow off steam."
Jamie returned to the horses and began to undo Storm's saddle. "I bet you usually don't have any problem finding someone to help you with that." When he looked her way, she was smiling.
"No. Not usually. You're proving a harder nut to crack, though."
"Maybe you ought to be trying to crack another nut."
Adrienne laughed. "Maybe. But I like a challenge. I think I'll keep trying to crack you." She intercepted him as he crossed the stable again. "Come on. No one has to know."
"Look, Adrienne. You're a pretty woman. You know that – you don't need me to come on to you so you can feel good."
"You're right, I don't. But I do need you to fuck me so I can feel good." She put both her hands on his chest and rose up on tiptoes to kiss the underside of his chin. "I bet you can make me feel real good."
Wow. He had to put a stop to this, fast. Obviously, she wasn't the one who'd left him the note – she wasn't patient enough to wait for midnight. All he needed now was for Claire to walk in on them.
He caught both of her hands and pushed her aside. "I don't want to be rude, Ma'am, but you haven't given me a choice. I've got a woman already, and I'm not looking for any more company."
"Who – Claire? What's a man like you want with a cold fish like her? She's not going to keep you warm at night."
"You'd be surprised." He hauled the saddle off of Walter and put it in its place. "I've got work to do, Adrienne. I'll see you up at the Big House."
"Fine. Be a wet rag. There's plenty more where you came from." She stalked out of the stable and Jamie heaved a sigh of relief. He hoped that was the end of it – at least with Adrienne. He needed to keep Rob closer to hand for emergencies like this one. At least he'd fend off his midnight caller's advances. Maybe it was time to hire all the Matheson brothers on for the rest of the week. That'd be four guests kept busy. And Angel wasn't going to bother anyone.
* * * * *
"What is it? What happened?" Claire asked, her heart beating hard. She was still shaken from her interlude with Jamie – shaken in a good way. She'd never made love to a man like that – taking all control. It had been one of the most sensual experiences of her life. Maybe someday they could turn the tables – what would it be like to be entirely under Jamie's mastery? The thought left her a little breathless.
"There's a police officer on the phone for you. From Billings," Autumn said and led the way indoors, handing her the house phone when they got to the kitchen.
"Hello?" Claire said.
"Claire Cruz? I'm officer Bradley with the Billings PD. We got a call from your subletter – Carrie Ellis. There's been a break-in at your condominium. We tried your cell, but couldn't get through. I'm glad we got a hold of you."
"Oh, my God. When? What'd they take?"
"This morning, we think. And we hoped you'd be able to help us figure out what's missing. Carrie mentioned you had a lot of boxes in the main living area? How many of them were there?"