Vivian Arend: Rocky Mountain Heat

She may have lost her stiffness, but he’d found every single bit of it. His shoulders tensed, his abdomen muscles went taut, but it was his damn cock that betrayed him the most. Against his will, his erection rose to meet her. Harder than granite in less than five seconds—from the moment her hands brushed the front of his groin.

He wasn’t getting excited because it was Jaxi. Simply because there was a female touching him. That’s what he tried to tell himself. No, it was strictly an automatic male reaction. It wasn’t because this was Jaxi and Blake had dreamed of this for longer than he wanted to admit.

He wasn’t the kind of asshole to sit and let his brother’s feverish, soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend fondle him at the side of the road. He wasn’t such a jerk he’d actually try to justify keeping her nestled tight to him for a couple more seconds because it was the best thing he’d ever felt in his life, her hands pressed innocently against the ridge of his now fully engorged cock.

About then he realized he didn’t quite know how to deal with the situation once he did stop her. What if he spoke? Having her suddenly clue in he wasn’t Travis like she imagined—what kind of shock would that be? She’d be so damn embarrassed.

“So cold.” Another shiver rocked her and he instinctively cradled her. “Warm me up.”

He didn’t need to be any warmer. He was going to burn in hell forever for this. Her lips touched his neck again, and he attempted to twist out of reach. Impossible. They were trapped between the back of the bench and the steering wheel. With a little more room to manoeuvre, he could open the door and get them both out. Hopefully the cooler air outside the cab would bring her back to her senses. He reached around her to disengage the wheel lock. Jaxi wiggled, moving over him with a killing touch, slipping her palms against his chest as her hips settled tight over his groin and the erection he shouldn’t have.

He was a bastard. The split second he paused, savouring the sensations rippling through his body, turned his self-loathing to high. He forced himself to continue to swing the wheel away. Finally with enough room, Blake leaned forward and reached for the door release.

He was yanked to a stop as Jaxi buried her hands in his hair and bit his neck, slowly undulating her heated crotch over his aching cock. Blake wrapped his right arm around her and pinned her in place, ignoring the way his balls throbbed with need.

How this innocent trip home had digressed from uncomfortable to totally fucked up he had no idea. Forget going to hell, he was already there, being tormented by Satan himself as the old boy directed the little fever-induced drama happening on the side of the Secondary Highway.

A quick glance to be sure no cars were in the immediate area was all he spared before shoving his foot hard at the door as he yanked the release handle. The frame swung open in a rush, recoiling to hang in the line of traffic.

A cooling breeze struck his sweated brow the same moment Jaxi sucked his skin. Blake bit back a groan and twisted them both, his legs absorbing the impact as he cradled her close and escaped the confining quarters of the cab.

She tucked her heated forehead into the crook of his neck, right where she’d been sucking on him only a second before. Another shiver took her, and he turned his back to the wind to provide protection.

“So thirsty.” Jaxi lifted her face, and he examined her flushed cheeks. She licked her lips, her eyes half-closed with heavy lids. Her head lolled back slightly, and he raced to deposit her on the bench seat and find her a drink. Her hands shook as she tilted the water bottle, and he reached to help her before she sloshed the contents all over.

When she crawled away from him to the passenger side of the truck, wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and settled her cheek on the seat, he was tempted to dump the remaining liquid in the plastic bottle over his head to cool his own raging fever.

Blake leaned on the side door and adjusted his dick, willing the damn thing to admit defeat and retreat. That hadn’t been too bad. Behind him, Jaxi moaned and his cock jerked. No, not too bad at all if he was a masochist. His only hope lay in her feverish confusion to last long enough she thought he was Travis. As long as she didn’t talk to Travis in the next while about trying to ride him like a pony on the trip home.

Oh hell, he might as well face it. He was dead.

Blake crawled into the cab, wincing a little at the tight confinement of his jeans. Jaxi wiggled closer, resting her head back on his thigh, the tangled strands of her loose blonde hair covering his crotch. He brushed the wisps away carefully in the hopes she wouldn’t wake from her stupor.

“Oh, Slick, what a mess.”

He glanced up and adjusted the rearview mirror that had gotten bumped during their tangled encounter. A bright red mark on his neck caught his eye, and he groaned in frustration. Like he was going to be able to explain that one easily. He shook his head and aimed the truck for home. In his lap, Jaxi’s feverish cheek burned a hole into his thigh while his unanswerable lust burned a hole in his conscience.

Rocky Mountain House, three years later

“I’m fine, boys, stop your fussing.” Marion Coleman shook her good hand at the twins as they hovered nearby. “I didn’t need the wheelchair. It’s a silly hospital policy.” She shot to her feet, batting Jesse and Joel away.

Blake offered his help, and she smiled, the edges of her mouth remaining tight and the lines at the corner of her eyes deep. She might make light of the situation but it was clear her arm hurt. A lot. She tucked her fingers around his elbow and dragged him across the hospital parking lot, her rapid pace unhampered by the heavy cast covering her right arm from wrist to shoulder.

They stopped beside one of the huge crew-cab ranch trucks, the twins scrambling into the backseat. Marion stared in disgust at the hand pull she couldn’t reach.

“Why did you boys all have to grow to over six feet? None of you own a nice little Jetta or Mustang for me to be able to slide into. Just these monster trucks. I have to use a ladder to reach the seat.”

“You fed us too well.” Blake worked at remaining gentle as he lifted her to the bench, careful not to jar her arm. He’d closed the door and stepped around to the driver’s side before he realized it was impossible for her to buckle her seat belt with the cast in the way. He slid behind the wheel and reached to help her. “Let me get it, Ma. You’re going to find things a bit awkward for a spell.”

“I hate this.” Marion stared past him out the window, a touch of fury in her eyes.

“Maybe you should have waited for help picking the apples,” Joel piped up from the backseat.

“She did ask, you jerk, remember?” Jesse said. “First we had to finish the back field before the weekend, then Dad asked us to—”

“This is no one’s fault. You boys are all busy, with the hay ready to be cut and the animals to care for. I wanted to get the apples before you had time to help me and, well, I’ve never fallen out of a tree before in my life. Been climbing that one for years.” His mom wiggled around in her seat to shake a finger at her youngest sons. “It was an accident. I don’t blame either of you, so don’t you think you did something wrong. But now I’m going to need some help. Not only do I have a bushel of apples to deal with, there’s the garden that needs to be put up, laundry for the family and the cookin’ and…” She returned her gaze to the window. “I’ve caused a mess, boys, and that’s the plain truth.”

Blake touched her hand softly. His ma was a hard-working woman and not just at the ranch. She’d toiled beside his father for over thirty years, doing everything inside the house, plus caring for and raising six boys, gardening and dealing with the livestock. In addition to her chores at home, she’d always been there for the community, for newcomers and new babies, and whenever a person needed a helping hand.