"Well. I thought..."

"Ah. That's the problem. You're thinkin' too much." Cash walked to the door and locked it. Then he snagged a blue bandana off the counter. He folded it crossways in a long strip.

"What's that?"

"A blindfold. Then you won't know if you're in the kitchen, the living room or the bedroom. You'll be so busy feelin' what I'm doin' to you that you won't have time to think. Now close your eyes and turn around."

Gemma knew his wasn't a request. If she refused he'd take it as a sign she wasn't ready for this intimacy, and he'd leave her house and her employ. But she was ready. It'd taken her a full year to get to this point and she wasn't about to back down now. Blood pounded a warning in her head not to be stupid. She slowly spun toward the window.

The dense cloth covered her eyes and she felt a pinch in the middle of her skull as he tied it. He turned her back around. "Can you see?"

Gemma's heart rate kicked up as she opened her eyes to complete blackness. "No."

"Good. You'll leave it on? You won't make me tie your hands too?"

A picture formed in her mind of being trussed up, naked and at his every wicked whim. The thought made her absolutely dripping wet.

He chuckled again. "From the flush on your cheeks I suspect you'd like to be tied up. I'll keep that in mind for another time." Rough palms skated down her arms. Callused, thick fingers threaded through hers. Cash pulled her forward a few steps and they stopped. "Stand still."

He released her hands. Then those same rough palms circled her ankles, slid up her shins, and over her knees. When Cash's fingers breached the hem of her denim skirt, he ran the tips across the top of her thighs several times before he tugged on the material. "Off. Now."

With shaking fingers, she shimmied the skirt down to the floor. As she stood clad in pale pink bikini panties, waiting for his reaction, she was grateful for the blindfold.

Cash's warm breath tickled her ear. "No wonder you hide such great legs. Wouldn't want to start a stampede among all them young bucks at the rodeo grounds, eh?"

His sweet-talkin' made her sigh softly.

"Damn, Gem, I can't wait to feel these thighs wrapped around me tight. So tight I can't breathe. Just lookin' at you is enough to make my heart stop and make my dick stand up and take notice." His mouth moved across her jaw in a sensual glide. Automatically her lips parted for his tongue to sneak in and tangle with hers.

She moaned. He tasted sweet. Hot. One hundred percent hungry male. God. She'd missed that scratchy feel of a man's beard rubbing against her cheek. Missed that insistent hard body crowding away her reason, just allowing her to feel feminine, not to think like a responsible ranch woman. The sensations seemed ten times stronger when she couldn't see and had to rely on other senses.

Cash continued kissing her, each movement of his velvety tongue deliberately provocative; a game of chase and retreat. Liquid pooled in her panties and she found herself pressing her legs together. Wanting him to catch a whiff of her arousal. Wanting his hand stroking her, his fingers using her wetness to plunge deep inside her.

Finally he retreated from her mouth. Soft puffs of air drifted over her temple. He clamped his hand around her hips and lifted her, eliciting a gasp when her butt and the back of her thighs connected with the cool metal rim of the kitchen table. "Whoa. Cash, wait-"

"I got you." He gently pushed her shoulders.

She resisted. "But-"

"There's other places I wanna kiss you, so lay back and let me show you where."

"Oh." Gemma's token resistance evaporated. Her spine met the hard, flat surface of the table and her legs dangled off the edge.

Cash drew a blunt fingertip from her left hipbone to her right hipbone.

Her belly trembled and she arched.

"Easy." His fingers hooked the outside of her panties and he whisked them off.

She heard him drop to his knees. Felt his rapid breathing on her inner thigh. Sensed him staring at her blood-engorged pussy. A blush started from her cheekbones and worked down the length of her body to her curled toes. Never had she felt so exposed. She couldn't even study his face and watch his eyes to see if what he saw turned him on. She held her breath and herself rigid, wondering what he'd do first. Tease her with his hot breath and barely there kisses? Whisper dirty talk? Work her into a frenzy with his fingers?

Gemma was totally unprepared for the thorough swipe of his hot tongue straight up her creamy slit. She gasped.

Cash dragged his mouth across the inside of her right thigh, muttering, "Dammit. I know I'm supposed to take it slow, but Lord, winyan, you're already wet." He inhaled. "I want to taste you. Bathe in you. Suck these pretty pink lips and lick you until I feel you come against my tongue."

"Oh-" The rest of her sentence was lost on a long wail as Cash did exactly what he described.

No slow build up and then teasing withdrawal. He widened her knees and settled his mouth on her throbbing sex. Licking and sucking, focusing all his attention on her clit. Before she had time to brace herself, an orgasm rocked through her. Even as she lifted her hips for more, Cash sucked her clit harder, deeper, using his teeth and tongue until cries spilled from her throat.

As Gemma floated back to earth, a slight sense of embarrassment surfaced that she'd been so quick on the trigger. She stifled the urge to giggle when Cash's lips zigzagged up her ticklish belly. Instead, she scrambled up on her elbows, to better see him, forgetting about the blindfold. As she sat completely upright and reached for the tie at the back of her head, Cash's fingers circled her wrist.

"Leave it. We ain't close to done."

Chapter Six.

Cash scooted Gemma to the end of the table. "I'm doin' this all wrong, I should be takin' my time."

"You already said that once. There's no hurry."

"Maybe not for you, but I ain't got a lotta patience left. This go around is gonna be short, to take the edge off, so to speak." Then he gently flipped her, so her stomach rested on the table and the white globes of her upthrust ass was the same level as his cock. She was pretty, and he also knew she was pretty much at his mercy. It humbled him, having this strong, fine woman at his command-right where he wanted her. He tugged the drawstring on his sweatpants and they dropped to the floor. He kicked them under the table.

"Cash?" Her voice was strangely subdued.

"I'm here, hang on." He angled across her back, kissing the lovely curve of her neck as he reached for the box of condoms he'd set on the table. He ripped a package open and rolled the latex down his stiff cock.

"Wait. I want to touch you."

"Next time. Been a long time for me, and you're so damn sexy." He noticed her body had tensed and he whispered kisses down her spine. "Come on, sweets, spread your legs for me. Yeah. Just like that. Hold tight."

Gemma's arms stretched until her fingers curled around the opposite edge of the table.

Holding her hips with one hand, he aligned his cock and slid into her slick heat an inch at a time. He closed his eyes, savoring the moment he'd been dreaming of for two long years.

When he was fully seated within her, she arched up. "Oh. That feels good. More. Don't stop."

"Yeah?" He withdrew slowly and slammed home three times. "How 'bout like this?"

She moaned. "Just like that. The harder the better."

Cash glanced down. Damn, but it was sexy as hell, watching his dick tunneling in and out of her hot pussy. As he pounded into her, he snaked his hand around, placing the heel of his palm on the rise of her pubic bone. His middle finger found her clit and he stroked in time to his thrusts.

"Yes," Gemma hissed. She pushed back into him, meeting his increased pace, flexing her hips against his finger. "Faster. I can't believe I'm gonna come again. Oh."

He rubbed her clit more rapidly and his balls drew up. Gemma gasped and he felt her clit pulse beneath his stroking finger as she came apart. Between her erotic cries and the supplicating way she was splayed before him, Cash didn't stand a chance of staving off his own orgasm. He threw back his head and groaned, lost to the greedy satisfaction of hot spurts shooting from the end of his cock, her slick walls spasming around his hardness, extending his orgasm until he felt woozy from the sheer blinding pleasure.

When the throbbing in his groin stopped, and the dots faded from his vision, he looked at her. Gemma's face was smashed into the side of the table, her cheek flushed with color and damp with sweat. A small, secret smile lifted the corner of her lips. A wave of tenderness swamped him and he leaned over to nuzzle her neck. "You okay?"

Gemma made an affirmative noise.

He pulled out. "Stay here and catch your breath, I'll be right back."

After disposing of the condom, he grabbed two more from the box and gently slapped her ass. "Roll over."

"I don't think I can move."

Cash fought a sense of unease. "Did I hurt you?"

She laughed softly. "In a good way. You wore out this old-timer, cowboy."

He slapped her ass again. Harder. When she made a squeak of pleasure, he grinned. So Miz Gemma didn't mind his hand on her ass? Interesting. "I don't ever wanna hear talk like that because next time there will be consequences." Flipping her over, he emphasized his point with a fiery, prolonged kiss. When he released her mouth, he whispered, "Wrap them sexy legs around me. Let's find someplace a little softer for round two, eh?"

She sat up quickly. "Round two?"

"Yep. I warned you 'bout my savage appetites. Now that I've got you naked." He planned to keep her that way. He wanted her so mindless, so occupied, that she wouldn't have time to think or have time for regrets.

Or to wish he was someone else.

Gemma yelped when he picked her up and carried her into the dark living room.

Cash plopped on the couch, keeping her straddled across his lap.

"Can I take off the blindfold now?"

"No. But let's get rid of the shirt. Lift." In one quick movement her tank top disappeared. He eyed the front closure on her pink bra. Well, well. This presented an intriguing opportunity. "Lean back and put your hands on my knees."

She did so without arguing.

Cash nibbled on her lips, not quite kissing her as he unhooked her bra. The cups split and he slid the straps over her shoulders and down to her wrists. Three quick twists and he lifted his foot to step on the thicker back strap, leaving her wrists trapped in the stretchy arm bands.

Gemma froze. "What are you doing?"

"Makin' sure you can't get away. I wanna take my time tasting these." He flicked his tongue across her nipple. "And I know you're a little squirmy." He blew on the wet spot he'd created and watched the coral-colored skin tighten into a pointed tip.

She jerked back.

"See? I gotcha right where I wantcha." His hands curved around her ribcage and he swept his thumbs back and forth across her beaded nipples. "Tell me what you like."

She arched into his hands and rolled her chest closer.

"Huh-uh. Don't go shy on me. I'll do whatever you want, but you gotta tell me first."

"Suck them. Put your mouth on me, Cash. Please. It's been so long..."

While drawing lazy circles on her left breast, he bent his head and latched onto her right nipple. Suckling deep and long until she whimpered and thrashed. He used his teeth and his tongue until he smelled her creaming again. Then he switched his attention to the left nipple and started the process all over. Slowly. His cock stirred as she ground her wet pussy into him and made sexy, needy moans.

But Cash wouldn't be rushed no matter how much she pleaded. He took his time, learning every nuance of her reactions. What made her sigh. What made her clench her thighs. What made her curse and gyrate her hips. As he licked a path up her neck, she shuddered and gooseflesh appeared beneath his tongue.

"Cold?"

"God, no. Please. You're torturing me."

"What do you want?"

"Take the blindfold off. Untie my hands. I feel so helpless."

"Mmm. Ain't it a bitch to have no control?" He growled against her throat, "This is what I've been feelin' since the first time I saw you. You've had me all tied up in knots, Gem. Just thinkin' 'bout all the things I wanted to do to you. Now that you're right where I want you, I ain't inclined to let you go."

She buried her face in the curve where his collarbone met his neck, trilling her lips across his skin until he shivered. "I'll make it worth your while. Lord knows there are other places on you I wanna kiss too."

"Got a specific place in mind?"

"Uh-huh. Need a hint?" She blew in his ear.

He smiled. "Why, Gemma Jansen. You offerin' to blow me?"

"Yes." She scraped her teeth down the cord in his neck. "Please."

"No." Cash took her mouth in a consuming kiss. After he broke away, he said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm dyin' to have those sweet lips wrapped around my cock, watchin' you takin' me deep in that hot mouth, feelin' your throat tighten on the head as you swallow every drop I give you, but it ain't gonna happen tonight."

"Why not? Because you're showin' me who's boss in the bedroom?"

Her pouting attitude didn't help her cause. "Yep. I warned you I planned to be in charge. You agreed. That's all you need to remember." He reached for a condom package, ripped it open and rolled it down the length of his erection. "Scoot your knees closer."

"Why?"

"So you can ride me, cowgirl."

"Oh."

"I'll even let you take the reins-" he nipped her chin, "-this time."

Gemma kept her balance, even though the bra straps stretched more tightly around her wrists as she maneuvered in position. She canted her hips and sank down on him.

The slick feel of her pussy tightening around his cock made him grind his teeth together to stop from howling his satisfaction like a beast. "You're so wet for me. Do you know how sexy that is? You bein' so slick and hot again?"

She groaned softly in his ear.

He smoothed the hair from her cheek. "What?"

Resting her forehead to his, she said, "Kiss me while you're fucking me, Cash. I wanna be skin to skin and mouth to mouth with you when I come."

"Whatever the lady wants."