Chapter Nine

T all orange flames flickered toward the sky, shooting sparks into the black of night. Livia watched the waves of heat and sank deeper into her lawn chair with a satisfied sigh.

When was the last time she kicked back and relaxed this way? All the stress of running a busy bar and keeping the distillery from falling off the map weighed on her every single day.

Livia didn't have a degree, and her only job had been at the bar. She was proud to be a female business owner. She loved her work and was grateful that she had the bar to call her own. She didn't have to sling food and drinks for some other bar owner for low pay. But it meant she didn't take regular days off for fun or self-care. It had been so long since she did anything that didn't involve the bar.

Looking at the faces of her friends seated around the bonfire in various lawn chairs and on tree stumps, she watched some of their strain fade away too.

The ranch manager Zach Webb cradled his acoustic guitar and strummed a chord. The soft music didn't interfere with the conversations taking place between everyone. The ranch hands were joking and laughing, sharing a story about some mishap that had ended in a pair of jeans being ripped down the back and the ranch hand's ass being on full display.

Across from her, Meadow was cozied up to Colton. He'd slung his arm around her shoulders. She turned her face toward him and said something too soft for the others to hear. He smiled and pressed a tender kiss to her lips.

Livia's heart warmed at seeing her friend. Both Meadow and Ivy seemed to be finding happiness at long last. After the things they'd endured, losing their mom and then their brother, as well as the attacks on them, they deserved happiness more than most, in Livia's opinion.

She turned her attention to Carver—and froze.

Her heart lodged in her throat.

Why was he looking at her with fire burning in his eyes? As big and bright as the bonfire in the ring between them.

The past few days, having him around…it had been different for her. She worked alone and didn't really allow her fellow workers at Badlands to enter her life on a deeper scale. She was fine with being a loner. But that was good. Too many people walked out of her life. If she had nobody, there was nobody left to leave.

But Carver refused to leave. It was a wonder he even let her walk into the shower alone, he was so determined to keep her safe.

He had no reason for making himself her bodyguard either—he had nothing to gain from it.

His direct stare never shifted from her face. Her stomach dipped and seemed to melt into liquid heat that flowed between her thighs.

When he kissed her back at the bar, it took all of her self-control to keep from ripping off his clothes and tasting every inch of his big body.

That need spread through her belly, making it flip and flutter.

Her day with him and the others had been the best she'd experienced in ages. They had all come together for a big dinner eaten on the Graceys' deck, sharing good food and drinks and stories before the sun dropped behind the mountains and they moved to the bonfire.

She flicked her gaze up to Carver's. Their eyes locked and held. Several heartbeats throbbed between them.

Webb strummed some more chords on the guitar, and then he added his low, crooning voice to the notes.

A fairytale rose up in Livia's head. One that she had absolutely no business allowing inside her brain. Between Carver's steady gaze and the magic of the music, she was powerless to stop it.

Nights in the arms of her lover. Rolling. Fingers twisting in the sheets as pleasure crashed through both of them.

Of waking up to find him in bed next to her. Being able to reach out and touch him whenever she wanted to.

Sharing the workload at Badlands, talking, teasing and joking the way she'd seen Ivy and Hunter do together at dinner. Then going home together and starting all over again.

Having a person of her own to love who loved her back.

Tears suddenly stung at the back of her eyes. Normally, she'd blame it on the bright flames, but how could she deny this longing?

His gaze clung to hers, causing her heart to beat faster and out of rhythm. His fist clenched where it rested on his knee.

Her lips fell open on a soft gasp.

Then he pushed out of his chair. Each step he took to circle the fire toward her, she drowned in desire.

When he extended a hand to her, she clasped it. He pulled her to her feet.

He glanced around at the others. "We're heading home now."

They didn't make it twenty paces from the fire before Carver grabbed her. He locked her in his arms and kissed her until her toes curled in her boots. She threw her arms around his neck, leaned into him and kissed him back with all the fervor scorching through her.

Seven passionate kisses…then eight. And he finally tore away. "I'm driving."

She put the keys in his hand and allowed him to lead her on unsteady legs to the car.

As he drove, he sent her long looks filled with innuendo that seared her panties right off her body. Need tightened like a vise in her core. Her pussy throbbed and her nipples ached.

Inside her house, he grasped her by the shoulders. "I want you. Now. But I have to check the house first."

"By the time you get back, I'll be standing here naked."

His eyes gave a wicked gleam. "I'll be thirty seconds."

"Start countin', cowboy."

* * * * *

Rapid-fire, Carver checked every corner and closet of the house. The burn to get back to Livia and see if she made good on her promise to be naked and ready for him flared strong.

As he exited the bathroom after a sweep of the shower stall, he looked toward the place where he'd left Livia.

His tongue dried out and glued to the roof of his mouth when he spotted her.

Her skin glowed in the faint golden light of the lamp she'd flicked on. She'd tucked her mass of long red hair over her shoulders, leaving nothing to restrict his view of her sexy body.

Curves for days swelled from her breasts, nipped in at her waist and flared again at a pair of hips just made for a man to grip while sinking inside her tight heat.

His cock jerked against his fly, suddenly pounding with need.

"All clear?" She ran her tongue across her bottom lip, leaving a glimmer of wetness he could see from where he stood feet away.

"All clear." With slow, deliberate steps, he closed the gap between them.

They stood inches apart. His chest heaved with the effort to take this slow. She deserved slow, no matter how much he wanted to throw her down on the bed and fuck her until everyone in Eden, Montana knew his name.

"One of us has on too many clothes." Her voice sounded as a soft purr that stroked him as if she'd touched him with her hands.

He let his gaze dip over her small, perky breasts. Mouthwatering. "That's not you."

She shook her head, hair swishing over her shoulder and caressing her nipple. Under his gaze, it shriveled to a small point.

"Fuck, darlin'. You're the sexiest woman I've ever seen." He gripped the hem of his Badlands T-shirt and whipped it over his head. He tossed it on the couch, but it slid to the floor.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a hint of white fur as the cat came out from behind the couch to loaf on his shirt.

He turned his attention back to Livia. She cut her stare over his chest, across his pecs and down his abs to the waist of his jeans.

"Still too many clothes."

"Let me remedy that." With a flick of his fingers, he popped his fly and eased down the zipper. Next, he worked off his boots. It meant bending over to untie them, which brought his face deliciously close to Livia's bare thighs.

Dark need jolted through him like he'd gripped a live wire.

He had. That live wire was the woman he was about to claim every… single …inch of.

He kicked off his boots. Unable to stop himself, he brushed his lips over the front of her thigh, mouth moving upward toward her pussy as he straightened.

She sucked in a gasp and dug her fingers into his hair. Holding her gaze, he hooked his thumbs in his boxer briefs and jeans and shoved them down in one go. As he stepped out of the puddle of clothing at his feet, Livia's eyes hooded in appreciation.

"Don't forget the socks." Her words ended on a squeal as he tossed her over his shoulder and brought the flat of his palm down on her round ass.

"You need to let go of that bossy streak. When it comes to the bedroom, I am the one in charge." He strode toward the bed.

With a huff of defiant attitude, she wiggled on his shoulder. He clapped his hand over her cheek again.

"You jerk!"

He let her slide down his body. She landed on the mattress, her glare hot on his and her lips twisted as if prepared to come at him again.

He braced his hands on the bed and kissed her—hard. The thorough sweep of his tongue through her mouth had his cock leaking precum where it bobbed on his abs. When he broke the kiss, he wrapped her hair in his fist and forced her gaze to his.

"You like wearing my handprint. Admit it."

A shudder coursed through her. "Never!" Her hot whisper washed across his lips.

Then they were kissing again, and he pushed her back on the bed. Her blunt nails raked over his spine.

"I can leave marks of my own."

Goddamn, he liked the sound of that. He couldn't wait to get inside her, but first, he planned on giving her an orgasm that would leave her screaming.

Throwing her ankles over his shoulders, he delivered a slow lick to her pussy, burrowing through her sweet folds and locating her drenched opening. When he thrust his tongue inside her, she bucked into his mouth and issued a cry.

Her flavors coated his tongue. Need exploded in him.

Gripping her hips, he brought her in closer, sinking his tongue deeper. She rocked and dug her nails into his shoulders deep enough that he knew when he looked in a mirror, he'd be wearing the crescent marks left by her nails.

Throwing himself into giving her pleasure, he tongued up her seam to her stiff clit. Trapping the bundle of nerves under his tongue, he took her higher and higher. She went wild.

When he speared her on two fingers, she stopped breathing. Slowly, he withdrew them through her slick walls, feeling the ripple of her response.

"Oh god! Carver!" She shook as her orgasm struck, pulsing around his fingers and tongue. She screamed his name a second time. The sound echoed in his ears…

But his heart absorbed the shock.