Loving Laney Read online

  Their embrace was like a blanket they huddled underneath against the clamor of noisemakers and strains of “Auld Lang Syne.” They owned the dark, the passion and the promise.

  The old was made new. And when Austin lifted his mouth from hers, she felt more than sudden, unexpected desire. There was also the innate fear that she might never be kissed that way by Austin again, and the excitement that maybe she would.

  She bit her lip, plumper now from his kisses.

  He tipped his hat, bowing slightly and her heart fell when he started to walk away.

  Her independent spirit willed her not to run to him, while at the same time her caring nature compelled her not to disturb the horses she loved so much.

  She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Where are you going?” she called out.

  He turned around and seemed unperturbed by what had just occurred between them. His world was unshaken, while hers tilted crazily on its axis.

  “Home.”

  Laney arched a brow. She knew Austin had a large estate that included two huge stables just outside of Dallas. But she couldn’t just let him leave, at least not until she found out why he had kissed her.

  “Now? But what about the party? Aren’t you a sponsor?”

  Austin nodded, and then chuckled. “I think the festivities will go on without me.”

  He was moving away from her again, easing toward the door, away from something he had started.

  She took a few hurried steps and managed to tap his shoulder before quickly drawing back. It was hard and muscular under the black cloth of his tux.

  “You probably shouldn’t be driving,” she advised. “It’s New Year’s Eve and it could be dangerous on the roads.”

  Austin folded his arms and smiled. “Don’t worry about me, I’m staying close tonight.”

  “Really? Where?” she asked, for once not caring if she sounded overly curious.

  Austin pushed open the service door and leaned against it. “A couple of years ago, I sold the owners of this estate two of my best thoroughbreds, both of which have made them a ton of money recently on the circuit. In exchange, there’s a little cottage on the grounds and they let me stay in it.”

  “Wow. That’s really nice. Much better than a hotel.”

  He nodded and there was a sudden gleam in his eye. “Yeah, it comes in handy those times when I’ve partied a little too hard. But I’ve been good tonight.”

  Laney thought back to the lukewarm champagne and smiled. “Me, too.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Well, in that case, would you like to see it?”

  Although she didn’t know Austin very well, he wasn’t a total stranger. He was a friend of the Browards and highly regarded by her mother, Gwen. Still she knew it was crazy to go with him. But something inside her wanted to go against the grain of her own personal conventions. It was, after all, New Year’s Eve.

  She let her eyes travel across Austin’s broad shoulders. If she couldn’t be in his bed, she had the odd wish to be positioned under it, hidden from view. She wanted to listen to him breathe and feel the weight of his body dangerously close to hers.

  She looked into Austin’s eyes and nodded her answer.

  What would Mara and Robyn think? she thought.

  They’d be jealous as all get out.

  Laney hid a brief smile as they emerged into the chilly air. She hitched up her dress slightly and followed him down a wide dirt path.

  The sky was clear and brilliant with stars and the temperature seemed to drop even more as they walked. By the time they arrived at the little home, which was located adjacent to a large pasture, she was shivering.

  Laney rubbed her bare shoulders and read the hand-carved sign on the door. “‘Shepherd’s Cottage.’ Cute name. What does it mean?”

  She stepped inside and Austin closed and locked the door behind them.

  “This place was built a long time ago for people hired to mind the cattle. If they didn’t want to go home, they could sleep here. Since this ranch is now primarily used for breeding and raising horses, the owners use it as a guest house.”

  She rubbed her bare shoulders again and shivered when Austin ran his hands down her arms. Her skin immediately goose-pimpled under his gentle touch while his reassuring smile warmed her in places his eyes couldn’t see.

  “I’m sorry it’s so cold in here. It will only take me a minute to get the fireplace going.”

  He shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and helped her into it. “In the meantime, you can wear this.”

  His jacket was way too big, but it was warm. She wrapped it around her body and inhaled the hint of spicy cologne that came with it.

  “Make yourself comfortable.”

  She nodded and took a few steps forward. As she looked around, she realized that the cottage had only one room.

  On her left, fairly close to the door, there was a sitting area facing the fireplace, a galley kitchen with a breakfast nook and a door she assumed led to the bathroom. The white-washed walls held various pen-and-ink drawings of landscapes, horses and mountains.

  She pivoted to the right and spotted a small alcove with two steps leading up to an old-fashioned iron bed, covered in a thick ivory satin duvet.

  Cozy was one word that came to mind.

  The other caused her to bite her lip. She quickly turned back toward the living area. Austin was down on one knee, tending to the fire. The muscles beneath his shirt rippled under the white fabric as he arranged the kindling and the logs. Her breath caught in her throat as he struck a match and set the wood aflame.

  But it wasn’t until Austin stood up, grasped his Stetson with one hand and placed it on a peg by the front door in one fell swoop, that she lost it. To her, that simple gesture meant that he was home, and just for tonight, she was right here with him.

  “Why did you kiss me?” she blurted.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “Why did you kiss me back?”

  Laney opened her mouth, as if an explanation would simply form without any thought. Kissing Austin back wasn’t that simple. Neither was the reason.

  She shrugged, a little too hard, and his tux jacket fell to the floor.

  “I think we both need to find out,” he said, approaching her. “Don’t you?”

  His low voice, a rich undercurrent to the pop and hiss of the kindling, made her knees shake.

  A moment later, Laney felt herself nod, so intrigued by him that she found herself holding her breath as he unbuttoned his shirt.

  He shed it quickly, not saying a word, not inviting her to look away. Somehow he knew that her eyes had been opened to something that needed to be explored.

  The white T-shirt he wore cloaked those muscles that she knew were always there but could never touch. When he stood in front of her, so tantalizingly close, she couldn’t help herself. She reached out and ran a finger down the middle of his abdomen. The ridges there were tight and hard, yet pulsed with barely contained energy.

  He groaned and his hands grasped her waist as he pulled her against him. At once, she pressed her lips firmly against his neck and froze, plying his salty skin with her tongue, while his fingers deftly manipulated the zipper of her evening gown. It slid to the floor and Austin stepped back, yet not so far that she couldn’t see the well of desire in his dark eyes as they swept over her lace bra and panties.

  The answers they sought lay in the crackle of wood and the gentle hush of their breathing, yet for a moment, neither moved.

  Austin took a step back, hesitating now, but Laney pulled him back, not willing to let him go.

  For reasons she didn’t fully comprehend, she needed to know him. She needed to feel this. His hard length, still clothed, rolling against her bare stomach. She weaved her body against him until he grunted and
threaded his fingers in her long hair. He kissed her deeply, his tongue on a mission with no map. She was his guide, opening herself to him, allowing him to drink of her, knowing innately that he would never be satisfied, wanting him to keep on needing.

  His mouth worked down her neck, his fingers twisting in her bra straps, kneading her shoulders, unhooking her bra. That male energy pulsed tight against her, making her yearn to take him in her mouth, to feel that energy spread through her body.

  He lifted his lips and his hands spanned her bare back, drawing her even closer to him, and her nipples rubbed against his bare chest.

  Laney moaned and Austin lifted her up in his arms. She allowed herself to be carried by him, not fighting the primal urge to be dominated by this man.

  She wanted this.

  Although they couldn’t voice it to each other, deep down they had a common goal: to discover and to forget.

  Austin laid her gently on the bed and she watched with wide eyes as he unzipped his trousers. Eased off his briefs. At the sight of him, she gasped. The length, wide as a river; smooth as glass on top, hard as a rock underneath, power coursing through unbidden. Her mouth began to water and she reached for him. Austin lay upon her, his smile almost imperceptible, his body elongated and seemed to never end. In the firelight, his skin was dark bronze, moist with sweat, firm with muscle. She trailed her fingers down his back and over his round buttocks and spread her legs in anticipation.

  Their lips ground together again, tongues darting and playing, as they both sought to prolong their desire and their time together.

  Austin’s fingers tweaked one of her nipples and she writhed beneath him, wanting more of his touch and more of him.

  Sensing her need, he ended the kiss, cupped her breasts and lapped at her large nipples until they were hard. She looked down at the wet, swollen peaks and bit her bottom lip, as Austin pursed his lips and gently blew them dry.

  Moving downward, Austin tongued her belly button, making her laugh. Her giggles quickly turned into gasps as he kissed her inner thighs, causing her muscles to quiver uncontrollably.

  Laney moaned as his tongue hungrily darted across her skin, swirled briefly into her wet core, and out again, landing firmly on her ultra-sensitive pearl. Like a marionette on an invisible string, his gentle lips controlled her, beckoning her to buck. It only took a few moments and when she did, the satin sheets rolled underneath them. She cried out, fisting and clutching at the duvet, now a stage, barely able to contain her ecstatic agony.

  After protecting them, Austin laid upon her once more, grunting low, murmuring softly in her ear. As he slowly, so slowly, inserted his length into her, she squeezed her eyes shut, her mouth going slack.

  Laney opened her eyes and Austin stilled above her, breathing heavily, his arms stock-straight, palms flat against the mattress. The firewood shifted with a loud hiss, but neither of them flinched. His dark eyes gazed into hers and she bit her lip again at what she saw in them. No more a calm river, but a whirlpool of lust.

  He began to move inside her so rapidly that she brought her hands to his massive shoulders, afraid she would fall off the bed. She tried to palm them, but gave up and settled on his shoulder blades. When she found a spot, she held on, like a mountain climber grasping sheer, slick rock, never letting go, never looking down, for fear of dying.

  Her hair fell down around her face and she thrashed her head from side to side, moaning. She opened her legs wider, so Austin could climb higher, bore deeper.

  He impaled her as his own, over one erotic threshold and then another, scaling and moving together, until she cried out again, desperate for more.

  The freedom Austin was giving her, those undulating waves that were no match against fear, taking her outside of herself as their mutual pleasure rose to almost unbearable heights.

  “Don’t hold back, Laney,” he urged, breathing hard. He found her lips and groaned. “Because I can’t.”

  His neck corded as he slammed into her one last time and lifted his face to the sky. His chin jutting forth, eyes squeezed shut, as he froze in place.

  Laney opened and closed her legs around his waist, and then finally locked them around his slick body. She moved her hips greedily to claim every drop that poured forth.

  Emptying him.

  Filling her.

  So forbidden, so wanton, so unbelievably good.

  The fire continued to crackle, and the beads of sweat that rolled from their bodies did not dampen their desire. No longer uncertain and not wanting to waste another moment, Laney and Austin began to eagerly explore each other again. Neither one considered, nor cared, what the new year would bring.

  Chapter 1

  “It was the kiss that changed everything,” Laney whispered.

  Stella Rose nuzzled her neck. Named after her favorite lead character from the play A Streetcar Named Desire, and her favorite flower, Stella Rose was Laney’s prized thoroughbred and her closest confidante.

  “Not yours, silly,” Laney exclaimed, giggling. “Austin’s!”

  She gently patted Stella’s chestnut mane. “Only you know how I truly feel about him,” she whispered. “That’s a secret between us girls.”

  Her newly minted sister-in-law, Brooke, who’d married Laney’s older brother Jameson, knew the biggest secret of all.

  Laney was four months pregnant with Austin’s child.

  All because of one night that she would never forget.

  Ever since New Year’s Eve, Austin was the focus of her dreams, and they were naughty indeed. So much so, she’d often wake up in a sweat and it was difficult to control her thoughts for the remainder of the day.

  But if she were honest with herself, the fact was that on most days she didn’t know how she felt about Austin. Only that she was scared to tell him the truth. First, she had to get through the process of telling her family.

  “I sure wish they were as easy to talk to you as you are, Stella.” She grabbed the leather reins. “Come on, girl. Let’s get you groomed before you get as antsy as I am.”

  Laney’s boots made a sucking sound as she led the horse through the pasture. Spring and early summer was rainy season in Montana. It was great for the soil and the vegetation, but terrible for her long, straight hair, which she kept tucked up under her taupe cowboy hat to try to avoid the frizzies.

  When she reached the rough-hewn log fence, she leaned against it and took in the blessings before her eyes.

  She had her own home on the huge Broward family homestead, complete with a large stable and plenty of pasture for her horses to graze. The white square-shaped clapboard farmhouse, circa 1930, was just the right size and suited her ideal of “organized simplicity.” Beyond, prairie grasses swayed gently as far as she could see. Farther still, a ridge of mountains jutted against the blue sky.

  But it was the air she loved the most. Breathe in clean, fresh Montana air and everything seemed right again. At least for a little while.

  Laney unhitched the fence gate and led Stella Rose out of the paddock. She was almost inside the barn when she heard tires crunching on the long gravel driveway.

  She looked up and saw Brooke approaching. Everyone she knew in Granger had a truck or an SUV and at least one horse. Brooke had all three, plus a Jeep, the vehicle that she was slowly driving into the clearing just to the left of the stable.

  “Hey,” Laney called out, patting her waist. Even though she was wearing jeans one size larger, she was oddly relieved that there was barely a bulge. It had become a habit to check and she was glad to know that even this far along, she still wasn’t showing.

  Keeping a firm grip on the reins, she drew Stella Rose to one side and patted her nose with her other hand to calm her. Although with her ranch hands coming and going, the horse was used to cars in close proximity, Laney wasn’t taking any chances. Horses st
artled easily, sometimes for reasons that only they knew.

  Brooke exited the car. “Hay is for horses,” she quipped, tossing her long curls over her shoulder.

  Laney rolled her eyes. “Ha-ha. You creative types have the corniest sense of humor.”

  Brooke, in jeans and an oversize yellow button-down shirt with a clay stain on it, put her hands on her slim hips. “That reminds me. Did I ever tell you the one about the elderly printmaker and the nude model?”

  Laney held up her hand. “No, and please don’t. I’m pregnant, remember? My stomach is very sensitive.”

  She loosened the cinch that secured the saddle. “Now enough with the jokes. Come help me get Stella Rose settled. She and I just finished a nice ride. It’ll be our last...until the baby comes.”

  At the thought of not riding her horses for another five months, something welled up in her throat. The further along she got in her pregnancy, the more risks there were with riding, and at her last visit, her doctor had ordered her to stop.

  Her eyes burned with tears and she turned so Brooke couldn’t see her face as she led Stella Rose away.

  Riding was her life, and although the safety of her baby was her number one priority now, the sacrifice still hurt. She just needed some time to get used to it.

  Back in the stall, Brooke’s hazel eyes flitted down to her abdomen. Laney wanted to squirm with unease. She guessed she’d have to get used to people looking at her stomach all the time, too.

  She led Stella Rose into her stall, unbridled her and put on her halter.

  Brooke followed. “Is everything okay? I haven’t seen you in a while and I’ve been worried.”

  Laney took off Stella Rose’s cinch and hung it on a hook outside the stall, warming at the sentiment. Her initial reaction to Brooke’s sudden marriage to Jameson had not been positive. However, she’d lived up to her role as the “neutral” and “quiet” one in the Broward family and had not said a word.