Branding the Virgin Page 3

  My mouth starts working before my brain has a chance to stop me. “Come ride me.”

  If possible, her cheeks burn even redder and she looks away. “What?”

  I clear my throat and try again. “Come out to the barn with me. You can see the horses and maybe go for a ride.” I want to kick myself in the ass for blurting out what my dick thought was appropriate, but I try to rein it in. “I can show you the office stuff later.”

  “I, um, don’t know about riding a horse. But I’d like to see the ranch.” She looks up at me, and I see her hands twitch at her side like she wants to wring them together or hold on to something.

  “You ever ridden before?” I can’t help how deep my own voice is, thinking about what that question might mean. Fuck, Ty, get it together.

  “No.” She looks away, and I see the hint of a smile she’s trying to hide.

  “Good. I’ll be the one to show you how.”

  Without thinking, I hold my hand out to her, and I stand there as she looks down at it. For half a second I think she won’t take it, but she reaches out and places her small hand in mine.

  “Maybe you should finish getting dressed.” Her voice is breathy, and I watch as she licks her lips.

  I look down and see my shirt is still open and my chest is exposed. I forgot to button it in my hurry to get to her, and for some reason I don’t feel like closing it. I like her eyes on me. I like the way her body is leaning a little towards mine and the way her pulse is vibrating between our hands right now.

  “It’s hot out. I think I need to cool off.”

  As I put on my hat and pull her outside, I could almost swear I hear her say, “Me too.”

  I show Mary-Jane, or MJ, as she introduces herself to the guys on the ranch, how the place runs and what I hired her for. The guys seem to know right away to keep their distance, and I don’t know if it’s because I step in front of her every time one of them tries to shake her hand, or the fact that I pull her away every time one of them tries to ask her a question.

  I’ve kept her hand in mine all day, and I can’t bring myself to let it go. Not even when she tugged at it so she could open the door to one of the buildings. If she needs a door open, I’ll do it for her. No need to let go of my hand.

  I’ve also kept my shirt open because I like the way she looks at me. Plain and simple. I like her eyes on me and only on me, and if I have to walk around half naked to get them on me, then so be it.

  “This is the new mare I got. I haven’t broken her yet. She’s been a real handful.”

  We walk up to the fence, and Mary-Jane looks in awe at the snow-white horse. “What’s her name?” she asks, looking over at me with bright eyes.

  “She hasn’t got one. Think you could do the honors?”

  “Seriously?” The pure excitement in her voice has me wanting to let her rename the whole goddamn place. Anything to put a smile on her face like the one she’s wearing now.

  “Yes.” My voice is husky, and I watch as she bounces a little, shaking her cleavage and making my cock ache.

  “She’s so pretty. She looks like Rarity.”

  “Who?”

  “You know, from My Little Pony. I think that should be her name.” She beams at me, and in this moment, I would never deny her anything.

  “Rarity. Guess that’s her name now.”

  We spend most of the day walking around the ranch and talking about the place, and she asks questions about me. I want to know about her, but every time I’ve tried to steer the conversation that way, she changes the subject. I want to push for more, but I have a feeling there’s something she’s not telling me.

  “Can I cook supper tonight?” she asks, another hopeful note in her voice.

  “Yes.” Why would I ever tell this woman no?

  We walk hand in hand back to the house as the sun starts to set. It feels like I’ve known her so much longer than a day. There’s still a lot I don’t know, but something is happening here. It’s not just her magic touch and all that I feel when I’m beside her. There’s something deeper and sweeter, and it’s shaking me to the core.

  I’m not a man that changes very often. I like things the way I like them, and then I keep them that way. But it feels as if Mary-Jane is about to turn my world upside down.

  7

  Mary-Jane

  I move about the kitchen, feeling Ty’s eyes on me the whole time. I’m not sure what to think about today. It was fun and easy but a big contrast to the man I met yesterday. Sometimes he’s still short and abrupt with things, but not so cold. Something has changed, and I can’t put my finger on it.

  He hasn’t let me out of his sight since he took my hand this morning. He even started to follow me to the bathroom at one point. I bite my lip and look over my shoulder at him. His eyes are on my ass. I feel myself blush and turn back to the pork chops I’m frying. One thing is for sure: Ty likes me, sexually at least, and I don’t know what to do with that.

  Sure I’ve had men hit on me, but it’s never been anything like Ty. Ty didn’t really hit on me. He just did what he wanted. If he wanted to touch me, he did. If he wanted me standing right next to him, he just moved me there. If he wanted to look at my ass, he looked and made no apologies about it. The way he easily touches or moves to get closer to me. It’s no soft flirt. It’s possessive, and it’s doing something to me. Maybe that’s why I’d never shown much interest in men before, because none of them acted like this man. Because whatever it is Ty is doing, it’s working, and that’s scaring the shit out of me.

  Every time he touches me, I feel my body come alive. At first I tried to break away from some of the touches, shy and unsure of what they were making me feel. But as the day wore on, I found myself leaning into them, wondering when I’d get another. It was becoming addicting, and that was another thing to add to my scary list.

  It would not be good to fall into something with Ty and have it blow up in my face. It was already going to be hard to split my time with a child if I had to, but what if I fall for Ty and it doesn’t work? One’s heart could only take so much loss. To watch the family I’ve always wanted slip right through my fingers would break me.

  “Dinner will be done in just a little bit,” I tell him, not looking back at him. I can still feel the blush on my cheeks. He’s been getting me to do that all day. It was even worse when I met some of his hands on the ranch. He was very territorial of me, and I’m not real sure what to think about that, but at least he wasn’t snapping at me anymore. That was a nice change. I’d even caught his dimple out a few times when I was looking at him. His eyes would go soft and his smile would lighten his face.

  “It smells real good, darlin’. Haven’t had a home-cooked meal since Dolly took off to college,” he says. I take the chops out of the frying pan placing them on the plate next to the stove. Picking it up, I take it over to the dining room table, and notice his eyes follow me the whole way.

  “She seems sweet.” I hope Dolly will be around more. She’s the only other woman I’ve seen here. And I like the bite back she gave Ty this morning—something I’m probably going to have to learn to do myself. It’s one of my flaws. I have a problem with being snippy back. It’s just not in me. It isn’t my nature. I go back to the kitchen, grabbing the mashed potatoes and rolls I made, and bring them to the table, too.

  “She’s a handful.” The way he says it makes it sound like that doesn’t bother him. It’s light, and I can tell he loves her.

  “First year of college?” I ask, motioning for him to take a seat at the table, but he comes over and pulls a seat out for me. I take it, and he sits in the seat right next to mine. Then he starts putting food onto my plate. I look over at him. It’s a sweet and intimate act that I wasn’t expecting.

  “Yeah, her first year. It was a fight to get her to go.” He turns to look at me and catches me staring at him. “She didn’t want to leave. This kind of life is bred into your blood. If it was up to her she’d just stay here and train the horses.” />
  “Then how’d you get her to go?”

  “I bark and people tend to jump to.” He raises his eyebrows at me teasingly.

  “I noticed,” I laugh. He’s barked a few times, which made me jump. “What about your parents? Did they want her to go?” I see something flash in his eyes and I know what’s coming. “I’m sorry. My parents are gone, too.”

  He reaches out, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. He’s done that a million times today. I’ve never had someone touch me so easily. It’s like he’s been doing it forever. Everything he does kind of seems that way, and I wonder if that’s just how he is. If I had to guess, I’d say yes. Ty seems like a man who just does what he wants.

  “I’ve been looking after my family for a while now. I’m not real sure what Mama would have wanted for her, but I want to make sure she has options. Shit.” He leans back in his chair, taking a breath. “I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing or not. To be honest I have no fucking clue, but I’m trying.”

  I smile at him. A warm feeling settles deep because Ty just gave me so much more than he knows. He might come off hard and a little cold, but he cares about his family. Wants to make sure that his sister has everything she might need. He’d have to be the same with a child that’s his, right? Or maybe he already has too much on his plate. I push that thought aside, wanting to grab ahold of this little spark of hope.

  I find myself leaning into him. Then his lips are on mine.

  8

  Ty

  I can’t help myself as my mouth molds to hers, my hands going to her waist and pulling her closer to me. I feel myself pull her from the chair as her mouth opens in surprise, and I sweep my tongue in, taking advantage. I have her in my lap at the table, and I feel her curves against me. My hands move up and down her back as if to push her against my chest so tightly that we become one.

  “Mary-Jane,” I whisper and go back to kissing her like I’m desperate for it. And I am. From the second my lips landed on hers, I’ve been lost to the sensations that are running through my body.

  I taste her soft tongue against mine, and I hum with desire. Lightning runs through my veins, and my cock throbs and pulses with each beat of my heart. Blood flows through me, and I feel like I’ve gotten a shot of adrenaline as excitement makes it almost impossible to sit still. I try my best to hold on to feeling simultaneously calm and wild. Having her in my arms feels crazy and wonderful all at once.

  One of my hands roams her soft hip and down her thigh to the hem of her dress. The other hand is still firm on her lower back, pressing her into me further. The hand that reaches the end of her dress feels the soft silk of her skin and needs more. I push the dress up, just a little, and slowly move my hand up.

  The kiss deepens and I feel her hands move to my chest, then around to my neck. She’s pulling me closer to her, and the need between us grows impossibly stronger.

  When the tips of my fingers reach the edge of her panties, I feel Mary-Jane stiffen in my arms. I spread my palm out on the top of her thigh, halting my motion. Kissing her softly now, I move my mouth down her chin and to her neck.

  “Slow, darlin’. We’ll go real slow.”

  Rubbing the side of her thigh, I feel her relax in my arms as I place soft kisses across her collarbone and back up to her ear.

  “There’s something about you that I can’t seem to control. But I can’t shake this need, and to be honest…” I pause to pull back and look into her eyes. “…I don’t want to. I like how your hand feels in mine, and I like the way you fit in my lap. This is fast, and I don’t know what you’re feeling, but for me, this has never happened before.”

  She bites her lip and looks away before looking back at me and nodding. “Me neither, Ty. I’ve never felt this way before.” Worry sparks in her eyes, and for a second I think she’s going to tell me something. Instead she releases a breath and tucks her chin against her chest, so I can’t see her face. “Maybe this is too fast.”

  I take my hand out from her dress and put it under her chin to make her look at me. “We’ll go as slow or as fast as you want, darlin’. But I aim to keep you.”

  “There’s so much you don’t know.”

  The sound of her voice makes my chest ache. It’s like there’s something she wants to say but she’s nervous. But there’s also hope there. There’s something she wants to tell me and she wants to be accepted.

  “You got something you want to say to me?”

  Her mouth opens, but then closes again. For a long pause I wait, but she just smiles at me and puts her head on my chest. “I’ll get there soon enough. But not yet.”

  “Just as long as you stay, you can take all the time you need.”

  We spend the rest of the dinner sitting in the same position, with her on my lap. I feed her and then feed myself, and we laugh as we talk. God, I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve laughed, and the thought feels strange. I didn’t know that I wasn’t smiling until she walked into my life and made me do it. It’s like one day she showed up and my life truly began.

  After dinner, I wash dishes and refuse to let her help. So she sits on the counter next to me as I clean up the kitchen.

  “I could get used to this,” she says, leaning back and drinking lemonade as she watches me work.

  “Glad to hear it. Because you’re going to have to.” I give her a serious look, but she just laughs it off.

  “You keep saying you’re going to keep me. Should I be afraid you’re telling the truth?”

  I put the last of the dishes in the cabinet and walk over to where she’s sitting. I move slowly so she sees what I’m doing, and push her knees apart. Taking a step in between them, I pull her ass to the edge of the counter, making her let out a little squeak.

  Her hands go to my shoulders, and a laugh leaves her lips.

  “I love hearing that sound.”

  I grasp her waist, and at this height we’re about eye level. I stand there for just a moment, marveling at her beauty and thinking about what she’d look like with her dark curls spread out over my bed.

  “What have I done coming here like this?” she whispers. It’s like she’s talking to herself, but I answer anyway.

  “You’ve come here and opened my eyes for the first time in my life. Don’t make me close them again.”

  With that, my lips land on hers, and we stay that way, kissing in the kitchen until the crickets tell us it’s time for bed. I carry her to her room and summon all the strength inside me to leave her there and say goodnight.

  After I close her door, I press my forehead to it, willing my body to walk away while my heart stays put. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but knowing when I wake up she’ll be here gives me hope.

  9

  Mary-Jane

  I wake to a warm body melded around me, and a face buried in my neck. Ty’s slow, even breathing lets me know he’s still asleep. His earthy smell wraps around me, and I find myself pushing into him further, soaking up the comfort of him.

  I can’t remember a time when I’ve lain in a bed and been cuddled. I should be mad that he snuck into my room, but I was sad when we parted last night. I’d wanted to lie down in bed with him, to fall asleep in his arms. Yesterday was more perfect than I could have imagined. The change in him was crazy, and I still don’t know what to make of it. He’d still seemed grumpy with others, but not with me. I oddly like that only I get that side of him. His words are always soft and low when he talks to me. Almost like I’m something precious he could startle. He’s handling me with care to avoid spooking me.

  I’m falling for him and I’m not sure I can stop it. I can still feel his lips against mine. After I’d gotten out of the shower last night, I’d stared in the mirror for a long moment.

  My lips were still swollen from his kisses, my belly was swollen with his child, and I looked how I’d always dreamed—happy after finding a man who loved me and excited to create a family with him. But it isn’t real. I have to be careful no
t to get carried away. Things haven’t gone as planned, and I’m scared to pop this little bubble. I’m wondering how things will change when Ty finds out. I wonder if he even wants children. He’s already spent a good chunk of his life helping raise his brothers and sister. His sister is barely out of the house, and to have a baby dropped on him might be an unwelcome shock.

  I feel his lips start to move against my neck. The stubble on his face brushes against my skin, making goosebumps break out all over my body. The softness of his lips paired with the roughness of his beard feels perfect. Even his kisses are like him. First you feel his roughness, then the softness he hides in there comes out. He lazily presses his kisses against my neck. I tilt my head a little bit, wanting him to keep doing what he’s doing. Wanting those kisses everywhere.

  “I could wake up like this every morning,” he mumbles, and I just let out a little moan. I feel him smile against me. “Sorry, I tried to stay away. I don’t know why, but I just can’t seem to.”

  I feel one of his hands start to rise up my thigh, his rough palm feeling good against my skin. My legs part just a little of their own accord. He takes the opening to slide between my thighs, cupping me. I gasp at the contact and my body comes awake. Any remaining sleepiness is washed away as I feel my pulse start to pick up.

  My hips rise, wanting what he’s doing. His finger drifts back and forth, slowly teasing me, and I hear myself whimper.

  “You want me to keep going, darlin’?” he asks, a gruffness to his voice, and I wonder if he’s as turned on as I am. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before. Every part of me aches.

  “Please,” I say so softly I’m not sure he can hear me. My shyness is taking over. But then his hand slips under my panties from the side. One of his legs wraps around mine, pulling me open for him.