Riding Out the Storm

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Riding Out the Storm

  ISBN 9781419921186

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Riding Out the Storm Copyright © 2009 Desiree Holt

  Edited by Helen Woodall

  Cover art by Syneca

  Electronic book Publication June 2009

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Riding Out the Storm

  Desiree Holt

  Dedication

  To my husband, who puts up with my crazy hours and sleeping with my laptop; to my friends Cindy Spencer Pape and Regina Carlysle, who are always there with a ready eye and ear; and as always, to the wonderful Helen Woodall, editor extraordinaire, who has a sharp eye and the patience of a saint.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Stetson: John B. Stetson Company

  Chapter One

  The rain was coming down in buckets, a wall of water so thick it was nearly impossible to see through. Jody Rush, soaked to the skin, stood at the edge of the road and peered at her bright red SUV lying nose down in a ditch filled with running storm water. Somehow she’d managed to push the driver’s door open and squeeze herself out, drenching every bit of herself as she fell into the ditch. Everything she’d packed in the vehicle, including her cell phone, was still in there, lying in the water that filled the vehicle.

  She had only herself to blame, she thought. She knew the storm warnings were out when she left San Antonio but she figured she could make the three-hour drive to A Beautiful You Spa before the worst of it hit. Bad judgment. The worst of it was, she knew she was less than half an hour away when she hit a bad patch of water on the road, hydroplaned and skidded into the ditch.

  Well, hell. Now what?

  Two foggy beacons of light piercing the water drew her eyes to the road. A car or a truck. Thank every god and goddess. Someone who could maybe help her. Surely no one would leave her stranded out here in this weather deliberately. But when the shimmery image of the vehicle pierced the wall of water, she was tempted to just sit down in the ditch and let the rapidly moving water wash her away. Of all people to come to her rescue.

  The big forest green pickup, a dually that rode high on the pavement with the Mitchell Ranch logo on the door pulled up within a foot of her and stopped. The door opened and six foot four of rangy male swung down beside her. Logan Mitchell fastened the slicker he wore and clapped his Stetson in his head, water immediately dripping off the brim.

  Of all the people she’d choose to come along and rescue her, the last one would be her best friend’s brother. The last time she’d seen him he was hightailing it out of her townhouse so fast she was sure she saw dust trailing from his heels. The crush she’d nursed since she was a teenager had blossomed into full-blown desire and when the opportunity presented itself, she’d simply fallen into bed with him.

  It was the most erotic night of her life. They did things she’d only read about in her romance books. Things she’d been dying to do—with Logan. So many things they’d barely slept. And what a big mistake that was. Since then he’d been scarcer than water in the desert. And now here he was. Rescuing her sodden self in this bitch of a storm.

  Well, hell.

  “Damn it all, Jody,” he rasped.

  Okay, here it comes.

  “Save it, okay?” she snapped. “I’m not too happy to see you, either. How did you happen along at this exact moment?”

  “I’m here because my sister was worried when you didn’t show up at that fancy spa of hers and begged me—no, ordered me—to find you. I told her I didn’t think even you would be stupid enough to try a three-hour drive in this weather but, hey, what do I know. It appears she was right.”

  Eden Mitchell had appropriated five acres at one corner of the vast Mitchell Ranch to build her dream, a state-of-the-art spa where women could come for a day, a weekend, a week, whatever they wanted. It offered every possible amenity. This weekend she had closed it to customers and invited five of her closest friends for pampering and a gabfest.

  Now, instead of lounging in a hot tub with Champagne, Jody was standing ankle-deep in water, chilled as the temperature dropped and probably courting pneumonia.

  “It wasn’t bad when I left San Antonio,” she told him, teeth chattering. “I thought I could outrun it.”

  “You didn’t think.” His voice was as hard as steel.

  “Are you going to stand here and lecture me,” she asked, “or help me get out of this mess?”

  “The first thing to do is get you in the truck, Good god, you look like you’ve been through a washing machine.”

  “You try standing in this rain and see what you look like.”

  “No, thanks.”

  In a swift movement he lifted her in his arms, carried her around to the other side of the truck and settled her in the passenger seat. In seconds he was behind the wheel, the heater going full blast.

  “B-but all my stuff is in my car,” she protested.

  “There’s nothing we can do about it now. I don’t think there’s much to salvage, anyway, with all the water inside it.” He put the truck in gear and began to move slowly through the curtain of rain.

  “Can you take me to the spa, then?”

  He laughed but without humor. “Not much chance of that. The road in is washed out. I barely made it out of the ranch so that’s out too.”

  Oh great.

  “So…where, then?”

  “There’s a line shack right at the fence line near the road that’s up on high ground. I think the truck will make it up there.”

  Line shack. Right.

  Jody had visions of a bare cabin without electricity or plumbing, stuck there for who knew how long with a man who she had a rocky history with. Life was not smiling on her today. At the moment, however, it didn’t appear she had much choice.

  Logan drove with concentrated care and skill and they managed to make it up the rise to the cabin under the trees. Without asking he lifted her out of the truck and carried her inside. Fishing in his slicker pocket, he struck a match and lit an oil lamp.

  “Power’s out,” he explained.

  Jody looked around, pleasantly surprised. The place was rustic all right but the inside log walls were polished as was the plank flooring, A stone fireplace climbed one wall, a couch and chair facing it, and on another wall was a miniscule but efficient kitchen setup. There was a small chest of drawers and an open door through which she glimpsed wha
t had to be a very small bathroom.

  But what drew Jody’s eye like a magnet to iron was the big bed in one corner. The painted spindled headboard was flush against the wall and the bed was covered with a colorful quilt. Plumped against the headboard were more pillows than she’d ever seen on anyone’s bed. This didn’t look like something cowboys used when they were out driving cattle and she said so.

  “This isn’t for the hands.” He was busy lighting two other lamps. “I use this. For myself.”

  Oh!

  And exactly what did that mean?

  Logan pulled off his slicker, hung it on a peg and turned to her. “Take off your clothes.”

  Every nerve in her body snapped to attention. “Excuse me?”

  “You’re soaked. You need to get out of those wet clothes and into something dry.”

  She just stood there, clutching her wet collar and shivering so hard she thought her bones would break.

  “Listen.” He stood and turned to her. “We’re stuck here until the damn storm blows through, which could be an hour or three days. I don’t want you dying of pneumonia on me.”

  Of course. She should have realized the less he had to do with her the better.

  But three days? As much as she’d hugged her anger at him to herself, she knew three days with Logan Mitchell was dangerous. He was pure, sinful sex and her willpower was only so strong. She stood there, wondering again how the hell she’d been stupid enough to get herself into this position.

  Now,” Logan barked. “I’m going to turn on the hot water heater. It runs on propane. In a few minutes you can take a hot shower.” He opened a door in the wall that led into a tiny bathroom, pulled a big towel from somewhere and tossed it to her. “Here. Get out of those clothes. I mean it.”

  He disappeared into the bathroom and Jody took advantage of the momentary privacy to strip off her wet things and wrap the towel around her. But when Logan came back into the room and his eyes raked over her, lighting up, she felt more naked and exposed than if she were totally nude. Every moment of the one night they’d spent together slammed back at her and she only wished the floor would open up and swallow her.

  Logan’s mouth turned up in a smile straight from the devil. “Yeah, I remember it too. I’ll finally have the chance to talk to you about it.”

  “Talk? What is there to say? You figured you’d add your sister’s little friend to your list of one-night stands. Thanks for the ride.”

  She turned away from him but a big hand clamped on her shoulder, pulling her back to face him. The chiseled face was like a slab of granite but the silver eyes beneath the thick black hair were burning with hidden fires.

  “You are so wrong, Joanna Diane Rush. You don’t even have a clue what happened.”

  “Oooh, the full name. I must really be in trouble.” She tried to wrench herself away from him but his grip was too firm.

  He dropped his hand but didn’t move away from her, his eyes boring into hers. “You are trouble.” He blew out a breath. “Go take your shower. The water should be hot enough by now. Meanwhile I’ll call Eden on the satellite phone and tell her you’re safe. She’ll probably worry that I’ll murder you and hide the body.”

  “And would you?” she teased.

  Heat flared in his eyes. “You have no idea what kind of things I want to do with you but murder is definitely not one of them. Go take your shower.”

  “I don’t have anything to put on,” she pointed out. “Unless you expect me to hang out in this towel.”

  The light flared in his eyes again. “You don’t know how tempting that is. But here.” he grabbed a shirt from a drawer in a low chest, “this ought to cover the essentials.”

  Definitely not wanting to piss the man off, Jody hurried through her shower, drying herself off with the big towel then pulling on the plaid shirt Logan had tossed to her. He was right. The essentials was all it covered. The material came halfway down her thighs and she had to roll the sleeves four times. But underneath it she was acutely aware of her nakedness and she was sure Logan would be too.

  Towel drying her hair as much as possible, she finger combed the wet strands, pasted a fuck you expression on her face and opened the door.

  Her breath caught in her throat.

  Logan had started a fire in the fireplace and stripped to his boxers, his sun-bronzed skin reflecting the flames. She remembered all too well the hard muscle wall of his chest covered with dark curls. The boxers rode low on his lean hips, doing little to hide the bulge of the largest penis she’d ever seen.

  Logan was unmistakably horny.

  But at the sight of him so was she.

  Oh shit. Big trouble here.

  * * * * *

  Logan heard the bathroom door open, turned to look at Jody and make sure she was all right and his heart nearly stopped beating. Fresh from her shower, her damp hair curling about her face in sexy disarray and his shirt reaching halfway down her thighs, his cock instantly hardened to the point of pain. Knowing there was nothing but Jody beneath that shirt not only aroused him but took him back to the night they’d been together.

  Impulse. He always got in trouble giving in to impulse.

  In San Antonio on business, he’d thought what trouble could he possibly get into taking Eden’s girlfriend to dinner. His brain completely blocked the fact he’d had a major hard-on for her since it seemed forever and done his best to hide it. Dinner and a good wine and here they were, tangled in her sweaty sheets, trying to touch as much of each other as they could.

  He tried to discipline himself, take everything nice and slow. This was Jody, after all, the object of his teenage wet dreams. The untouchable because she was Eden’s best friend. But now he was touching her plenty. With this fingers, his hands, his mouth. Despite his good intentions the minute they tore each other’s clothes off he had her flat on her back, his tongue probing her cunt to make sure she had enough moisture. His hand shook as he rolled on the condom and then he drove inside her with a quick thrust.

  Jesus!

  Heaven. Paradise. Utopia. And every other place where the ultimate awaited him.

  Her pussy was so tight around his swollen shaft it was like being squeezed by a hot fist. Manipulating her clit to bring her to her peak, the moment he saw it in her eyes that she was ready to come he pushed once, twice and took her over the edge with him in an orgasm that shook them both with unbelievable force.

  He brought her to climax twice more while his cock rested, licking every inch of her body, nibbling on her nipples and her clit, driving her wild until she screamed his name. When he rolled on the second condom, he slid into her slowly, finally able to take his time.

  Her hands played with the hair on his chest, twisting his flat nipples and scraping the skin around them with her nails. Her hips moved in cadence with his, back and forth, each pull a delicious scraping against his hard shaft as the walls of her pussy dragged at him. Her legs were over his shoulders, her legs spread wide to give him greater access to that heated channel.

  Adjusting his position so the hair surrounding his cock dragged at her clit each time he moved, he increased the rhythm of his thrusts, watching her eyes for signs she was nearing orgasm. Her feet locked behind his neck and her fingers dug into his shoulders as he rode her and rode her.

  He saw the light blaze in her eyes and the walls of her pussy flutter around him at the same time. Gripping the cheeks of her ass harder and pulling her more tightly to him he gave a final push and exploded with her. He held himself still, his cock pulsing furiously as Jody bathed him with her liquid heat, screaming his name.

  He barely had strength to pull the covers up over them and roll her into his body before falling asleep.

  God, he thought, looking at her now. All the things he’d wanted to do with her. Introduce her to his kind of sex. Fuck her in ways she hadn’t even begun to imagine. The fist of desire and possession griped him so tightly it scared the shit out of him. Which was why he’d run like hell the next morning
, needing breathing room. Needing to get his head on straight.

  And now here they were, trapped by a storm that rivaled the one raging inside him. With no place to run or hide. And Jody, standing in front of him looking like the most delectable morsel in the world.

  Oh god, he was in such big trouble.

  Chapter Two

  For a moment Jody wanted to run back into the bathroom and lock the door. Then Logan turned to her and motioned to the chair.

  “Come sit by the fire. I made coffee and even had some brandy to spike it.”

  He was being nice to her? Why?

  She moved very slowly in his direction, trying to erect sufficient walls around herself. But all she could think of was the night they’d spent together when she’d learned how little she really knew about sex and how much she wanted it again.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  “Come on, Jody,” he coaxed. “I won’t bite.” He gave her his devil’s grin again. “At least not right away.”

  She edged herself onto the chair, knees pressed together, shirt clutched around her. “Coffee sounds good.”

  He handed her one of two mugs sitting on the tiny counter then sat down on the fireplace ledge, much too close for her comfort. For a long moment he stared at her, his eyes sweeping over her from her face to where her nipples poked at the soft fabric of the shirt to her thighs, knowing it was just Jody under there. Her traitorous body was selling her down the river, her nipples hardening almost painfully and liquid seeped from her cunt onto the insides of her thighs.

  “Are you ever going to explain to me what happened in San Antonio?” she blurted out.

  He raised an eyebrow. “I’d have thought it was pretty plain.”

  She huffed an exasperated breath. “I’m not talking about the sex. I want to know why you beat the hell out of there and have avoided me ever since.”