Cowboy Proud. Kelli Ireland

storm. I wanted a picture of the storm. I’ve never...”

      “Never what?” he asked, urging her to finish her statement.

      Without breaking her gaze, she set her camera bag in her seat and wrapped her hand around the nape of his neck. “I’ve never experienced anything similar to this. Never encountered anything so wild and free, something that acts without consequence or—”

      “There’re always consequences.” His voice had devolved into a gruff whisper. “Always,” he repeated, tracing his thumb over her bottom lip.

      “I’ll live with them,” she said, voice husky.

      “All of them? Just like that?”

      “Every. Single. One.”

       So be it.

      * * *

      EMMA COULDN’T LOOK AWAY. Cade’s voice, sultry and wanting, had wiped out her every effort to maintain her composure. From the moment she’d met him, he’d had her heart rate speeding up in all the right ways. And for the last hundred miles, she’d been crossing and recrossing her legs in an effort to assuage the mild ache in her core. Then he’d sung. Just a few notes. That’s all it had taken to push her over sanity’s edge.

      Driven by madness or not, she couldn’t give him complete control. No one held that over her head. Not ever. She would manage the way this happened—and it would happen. The undisguised desire on his face, that same face that had been so passive since meeting her, now empowered her. It was the type of desire a woman didn’t want to discount any more than she would the impressive bulge fighting to destroy his zipper.

      She tossed her glasses onto the seat beside her before tipping up the rim of his cowboy hat. Tracing her fingers along the rough stubble lining his jaw, she leaned forward and laid her cheek next to his, her lips against his ear. “Just so I’m completely clear. You’re not involved at any level? Because I’ll never be anyone’s other woman or second choice.”

      “Not involved, and you’re far from my second choice. You’re the first woman who’s ever crawled under my skin like this,” he replied, tension threaded through every word. His grasp on her hip tightened.

      “That’s a powerful statement.” She nipped his ear. “Power is seductive, is it not?”

      His breath came out in a rush. “You’re playing with fire, darlin’.”

      She couldn’t help but agree any more than she could stop the rush of heat up her neck and down through her belly. This man was sin incarnate, from his boots to his jeans to his very, very fine body. Everything about him appealed to her. She’d never experienced this crazy rush of desire, the raw cravings that made her want to accept his stupid challenge and discover just what two weeks might bring. With absolutely no intention of falling in love, she could still enjoy the chase, the seduction, the touching and... She shivered.

      Then she smiled, the stubble on Cade’s cheek leaving a slight whisker burn on her delicate skin. “I understand exactly what I’m doing, darlin’. I may be single, but I’ve never been celibate. I take liaisons as more than a casual fling but less than a plea for serious commitment. Clear?” She pressed closer, her lips brushing the shell of his ear. “And as for fire? You have no...idea...just how good it would be to burn with my particular brand of heat.”

      Cade silently worked his jaw, the muscles and tendons in his neck standing out in sharp relief. She’d balanced herself by placing one hand on his headrest and the other against his ribs. Beneath the one hand, his heart pounded out a hard, fast rhythm. And she’d caused it.

      Satisfaction rolled through her. It blazed, reducing any remaining hesitation to ash and clearing the path for her to touch, to taste, to experience this man who’d clearly kidnapped her common sense. This so wasn’t her norm. She was adventurous and fun loving, yes. To do her job, she had to be. But in her private life, she was far more cautious, always weighing the risks. Because once two people crossed a certain line, there was no going back. Ever.

      “Hold on,” Cade snarled before he braked rapidly and yanked the wheel. Hard.

      Emma tightened her thighs around his to keep from being tossed across his lap. She clutched his shirt in one hand and wrapped her other arm around his rigid shoulders, clinging to him and not sorry for the action or the opportunity.

      They hit the dirt road at speed.

      A shout of exhilaration escaped her as he wrestled the fishtailing behemoth into submission before stomping the accelerator. This, this was what she’d been so sure he could give her. In a lifetime of structure and boundaries, she was suddenly living, alive in a way she’d never been before.

      They flew down a two-track dirt road, kicking up an impressive dust trail. The walls of the canyon rose around them and grew steeper the farther they went. They crossed a cattle guard so fast the truck hardly chattered over the pipes, but Cade still accelerated. Images outside the windows became blurred. But all she could focus on was the fierce, untamed expression that had taken over his entire appearance.

      Daylight had abandoned them almost completely. They rounded a curve in the road and, before Emma realized what was happening, Cade left the two-track lane and headed across a wide field. She shifted to watch as the headlights flashed over a huge copse of aspens, their white bark startling in the halogen glare.

      Canyon walls closed in tighter around them and drew the eye up, showcasing the building storm. Thunderheads roiled. Lightning flashed, nature’s strobe, and thunder rumbled a bass line. The storm would roll over them in minutes, but at the moment? The sliver of deepening night sky that could be seen was filled with brilliant pinpricks of starlight.

      Cade rolled down the front windows.

      The smell of rain and the charge of electricity in the air filled the cab.

      Her last coherent thought fled, leaving nothing but instinct in its wake. She yanked at his shirt to pull him toward her, or her toward him. She wasn’t sure. Didn’t matter. The hem pulled free and her knuckles brushed down the edge of his abs and into a gutter created by his lats. She’d been relatively certain he was built. Now she had to revise her opinion to acknowledge he was honed and defined in a way that could make a woman’s common sense take a vacation while her body enjoyed the fruits of his labor—thick cords of muscle, ridges and valleys of definition, smooth skin interrupted by only the thinnest line of hair from his belly button and disappearing into his pants.

      His arm banded around her.

      She instinctively tightened her grip on him.

      He slammed on the brakes, sliding the truck to a stop amidst the trees. A dust cloud rolled over them, but it was quickly blown away by the storm’s volatile winds.

      Thunder boomed louder.

      Ozone tickled her nose.

      Cade shoved open the door and, pulling her into his arms, took her with him when he hopped down from the cab. He carried her with sure steps to the rear of the truck before he set her down.

      She wobbled, her heels sinking into the dirt. “My shoes—”

      “Stay on,” he said, blindly reaching for the tailgate handle and lowering the impromptu seat. Raw need made his smooth voice deeper, giving it a rough, commanding edge. His eyes darkened.

      The first drop of rain hit her bare arm. She shivered. “This is crazy.” She took a step back and her ass hit the edge of the tailgate.

      He reached out and wrapped his hand around her neck, tightening his grip. “Insane.”

      Emma nodded her head, the movement minute. “There’s a zipper on the side. Pull it.”

      Cade found the zipper tab and hesitated. “Do you want this, Emma? Say no and it all stops.”

      Her pulse fluttered faster than a hummingbird’s wings. “And if I say yes?”

      A flash