Her Right-Hand Cowboy (Forever, Tx Series Book 21) Read online

  “What would three drinks do?”

  “Might make me smile wider,” she answered with a wink.

  Maybe it was okay to come in for that drink, Mitch decided. “I’d like to see that,” he told her. “Okay, you talked me into it,” he said, following her inside. “Just remember, this was your idea.”

  “Funny, I seem to remember that this was yours,” she said innocently, closing the front door behind him.

  “I don’t mean going to the celebration in the first place,” Mitch told her. “I’m talking about having a nightcap.”

  Turning on the light beside the door, Ena crossed to where she knew her father used to keep the liquor. There were still a couple of bottles in the cabinet.

  “Less talking, more doing,” she said, taking out a half-filled bottle of Wild Turkey whiskey. There were a few mismatched glasses on the counter; she selected two.

  “You know, someone else might point out that that’s a really loaded statement,” Mitch said as he watched her fill two glasses halfway with the amber liquid.

  “Someone else?” she echoed, handing him his glass. “But not you?”

  He accepted the glass from her and took a sip just to strengthen his resolve. Maybe it was just his imagination, but she looked even more desirable than usual in the low light.

  The liquid coursed through his veins, doing little to subdue what was going on inside of him.

  His eyes met hers and he could feel his pulse quicken. “You’re making it really hard for me to remember my place, boss lady.”

  Ena shifted. She was only inches away from him. There was just enough space for a breath of air to come between them.

  And then even that space was gone.

  She had yet to take a sip of her drink. Instead, she raised her eyes to his. “And just what is your place, Mitch?”

  Her low voice instantly undulated all along his skin.

  “Back in the bunkhouse.” He nodded vaguely in the general direction.

  “But you’re not back in the bunkhouse right now,” she pointed out quietly. “You’re here, with me.”

  Heaven help him, good intentions or not, he was really losing ground here, not to mention he was also losing his resolve. The only way he had a chance of doing the right thing was to say something clumsy and crass to her to make her back off.

  “Are you trying to seduce me, boss lady?” he asked her.

  Rather than take offense, or back off the way he thought she would, Ena merely asked him, “What makes you think that?”

  “Every fiber of my being,” he answered. Mitch was really struggling now not to just grab hold of Ena and pull her into his arms, giving in to the waves of desire that were insisting on persistently washing over him and drenching him.

  Damn, he should have stayed firm and not come in, he thought. Instead, all he could focus on now were her lips as she spoke to him, drawing him in further and further.

  “So what’s stopping you?” Ena asked.

  He was brutally honest in his response. “My sense of self-preservation.”

  Ena rose on her toes, her tantalizing mouth within an inch of his. “I’m not planning on destroying you,” she whispered.

  He could feel her breath on his skin, could feel himself weakening as desire blossomed full bore within him, growing so quickly in proportion that it stunned him even as it took him prisoner.

  “You might not be planning on it,” he told her, his throat growing dry, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.”

  She turned the tables on him and said the one word that he had said to her when he was trying to get her to attend the party earlier.

  “Scared?”

  His answer wasn’t the one she was expecting. “Terrified,” he confessed.

  She wasn’t sure she understood. “Of me?” she asked in disbelief.

  “No, of me,” he told her. He curled his fingers into his hands. “If I let go right now, I’m not sure if I can stop myself. Or even manage to hold myself in check.”

  Ena put her hand on his chest. Warmth instantly generated from the points of contact. “What if I told you that I’m not afraid?”

  “I’d tell you that you should be.” He said the words so quietly they sounded more like an invitation than a reason for her to flee.

  “Let me be the judge of that,” she told him, her lips so close to his now that he could almost taste the words as she uttered them.

  And that finally did it. Mitch lost what little control he was trying so desperately to hang on to.

  The next second, he was no longer attempting to block his urges. Instead, he pulled Ena to him, his arms wrapping around her as he lowered his mouth to hers.

  And then he did what he’d been wanting to do since the very first moment he had laid eyes on her back in high school, more than ten years ago.

  He kissed her.

  His kiss deepened to the point that he lost all concept of anything beyond the small circle that the two of them created. Lost himself in the taste, the feel, the very scent of her.

  * * *

  This was exactly the way she had imagined it would be, Ena thought as her heart leaped up.

  Better.

  The delicious taste of his lips against hers reduced her to a mass of swirling, molten desire.

  Her arms went around his neck and she completely lost herself in him, experiencing not just the rush of desire but all the vast cravings and appetites that were created in its wake.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she had even had any time to enjoy the company of a man in her life, much less want to make love with him the way she now ached to do with Mitch. Work had always seemed so much more important to her than just a passing dalliance.

  But that was because none of the men she had encountered while building up her professional life had ever been anything like Mitch.

  There was something about Mitch that made her want to break all the rules she had set for herself and not give a damn that they were being broken.

  Technically she was his boss, but she didn’t want Mitch to think of her that way now. She just wanted them to be on the same equal footing for one precious evening.

  She wanted to make love with him—and to have him want to make love with her, as well as to her.

  Suddenly, Ena felt herself tottering on the brink of disappointment when Mitch drew his head back and looked at her.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked.

  “Are you having second thoughts?” she heard herself asking. Maybe he didn’t find her desirable and here she was, forcing herself on him. The thought stung more than she would have imagined.

  She had no idea how to pull out of this tailspin that was about to claim her.

  And then Mitch said, “Oh, Lord, no. You’re a beautiful, desirable woman and no sane man would want to step away from you, much less have second thoughts about what’s happening here. But I don’t want you getting the wrong idea,” he told her, even though just voicing those words cost him, because more than anything in the world, he didn’t want her pulling away from him.

  Ena’s heart was racing so fast she thought it was going to break her ribs and leap out of her chest. She also knew that she was in danger of totally crumbling if he stopped what was about to happen right now.

  “What’s the right idea?” she asked in a barely audible whisper.

  Oh, to hell with it, he thought. He’d done his best to be noble but he was only human. “The right idea is that I’m having trouble keeping my hands off you because I’ve had fantasies about you from the very first time I saw you.” Then, to prove that this wasn’t just a line, he told her exactly when that was. “February 6, second-period English class.”

  And just like that, Ena melted. “Damn,” she murmured, “you couldn’t have said anything sexier if you tried.”
/>   His eyes crinkled as he smiled at her. “Guess I’m doomed.”

  Ena threaded her arms around his neck again and smiled up into his eyes. “Guess you are.”

  This time when their lips met, she secretly marveled that something akin to a spontaneous combustion didn’t occur. There was certainly enough heat being generated between them to cause it.

  She felt his lips slip down her throat, then press warm kisses along first one side of her neck, then the other, creating all sorts of havoc within her stomach and limbs.

  Lost in the sensations he was creating, she reached for the buttons of his shirt, but Mitch shifted and suddenly, she felt herself being swept up into his arms. He started walking.

  Dazed, confused, she looked at him.

  “Felicity might come down for a midnight snack,” he told her, heading toward the stairs. “We wouldn’t want to broaden her education,” he warned.

  Ena suppressed a giggle.

  She realized Mitch was taking her up to her room. Her excitement increased twofold as anticipation of what was to come once her door was closed took hold of her.

  She managed to keep herself in check until Mitch reached the landing. The moment he did, she let her ardor loose.

  He had to stop walking for a second as her hot kisses landed on his face, his neck, the lobes of his ears, everywhere she could reach.

  The sound of his increasingly heavier breathing told her that she was getting to him, which in turn made her even more excited.

  “You are driving me totally crazy,” he gasped, trying to catch his breath. His arms tightened around her to avoid dropping her, but, he discovered, it wasn’t easy maintaining his hold on her.

  The second they were in her room and he had closed the door with his elbow, he crossed to her bed and laid her down. The next second, he joined her, hardly breaking their contact for more than a fraction of a second.

  He eagerly undid the zipper at her back, then tugged at the material, sliding her dress down the curves of her body until it was just a discarded scrap of material on the floor.

  He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  “You’re overdressed,” she breathed, tugging on his belt and the shirt he had tucked in beneath it.

  “I am,” he agreed, or at least thought he did. His head was spinning, intoxicated by her to the point that down was up, and up was down, and anything beyond the bed didn’t exist. He didn’t know if he said the words out loud or only thought them.

  All he knew was that he wanted her.

  His fingers flew over the buttons of his shirt, undoing whatever she hadn’t already opened. He pulled off his boots in what seemed like one uninterrupted movement. His jeans quickly followed his boots, leaving him only wearing one last small article of material.

  And then it was her turn again.

  Mitch swiftly removed her bra and underwear in what seemed like one fluid motion.

  His eyes devoured her. “You’re so beautiful it hurts.”

  “Now that,” she murmured as she linked her arms around his neck again and brought him down to her, “is a compliment.”

  She could almost feel his smile as it spread along his lips. “Glad you approve.”

  “I do. I do,” she declared before she sealed her mouth to his again.

  They melded, a tangle of arms and legs and sealed hot body parts, rolling around on the bed and reveling in the sizzling press of two bodies searching for at least a temporary moment of salvation.

  He surprised her by not immediately taking her. Instead, Mitch further impressed her by showing her how patient he could be. He made love to her by degrees, kissing her over and over again, priming her body for the final ultimate moment.

  Mitch artfully heightened her anticipation until she was certain she was going to explode waiting for him to make them one single unit.

  Just as she was about to take the lead because she couldn’t wait any longer, Mitch was suddenly right over her. He was balancing his weight on his elbows. Then, his eyes on hers, he parted her legs with his knee.

  Her breath caught in her throat as he entered her, her heart all but slamming against her rib cage. The next moment, he began to move, slowly, deliberately, each pass increasing in rhythm and speed.

  He was going faster and faster. Ena found herself racing with him, determined to reach that final pinnacle when he did. And when they reached it, the explosion shuddered through their bodies. A feeling of joy all but drenched her. The sensation was so much more intense than anything she might have anticipated.

  Her arms tightened around Mitch as he held tightly on to her.

  She felt his smile against her neck as he slowly descended back to earth, reaching it at the exact same moment that she did.

  She didn’t want to move. Instead, she just wanted to savor the moment and pretend that it was never going to end.

  Even though she knew it would, all too soon.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mitch shifted his body, moving to the side so that his weight was no longer on Ena. Propping himself up on his elbow, he smiled at her.

  “You were magnificent,” he said, his voice caressing her.

  “Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you,” Ena teased.

  Mitch gently brushed his fingers through her hair lightly framing her face. “I was inspired.”

  Ena raised her eyebrow, amused. “Oh?”

  He heard the mischief in her voice and grinned as he drew her closer. “Give me a couple of minutes and I’m sure I’ll be inspired again,” he promised.

  “A couple of minutes?” Ena questioned. “That seems like a long time,” she commented, punctuating each and every word with a kiss.

  “You’ve got to remember,” he told her with breathless effort, “that you took a lot out of me.”

  “I know,” she said, her eyes crinkling as she continued kissing him between each word she uttered. Pausing for a second to look into his eyes, she resumed pressing kisses to his face and throat. “And I loved every minute of it.”

  His resistance evaporating, Mitch took hold of her, pulling Ena on top of him. The next second, without any warning, he suddenly reversed their positions so that she was beneath him.

  “No more than I did, Ena,” he assured her.

  And then there was no more talking. Instead, he lost himself in her, taking her back across the wild, passionate terrain they had already crossed only a few memorable moments ago.

  Ena slipped into the warm, welcoming embrace that lovemaking created, reveling in the way being with Mitch like this made her feel.

  * * *

  Ena blinked, trying to focus her mind and her eyes as she slowly woke up. Moving her shoulders against the mattress, she stretched, doing her best to come to.

  When she did, she realized that the space beside her was empty.

  Mitch was gone.

  Well, what did you expect? That he was going to serenade you with banjo music the second you opened your eyes? You had a great night, but now it’s back to normal, she told herself.

  Now the best thing that she could do was to act normal. No muss, no fuss and definitely not anything that would make anyone else suspect that they had spent the night together.

  Throwing the covers aside, she got up and quickly got ready, telling herself over and over that this was just another day on the ranch and that there was work that needed to be done.

  Work, Ena reminded herself, that now could be done because she had managed to get the bank to grant them that much-needed extension.

  She caught herself humming as she went downstairs.

  “Well, you certainly look happy,” Felicity said, greeting her when Ena walked into the kitchen. The woman’s dark eyes swept over her. “Did you have a good night?” the housekeeper asked.

  Ena had no idea if Felicity was making idle c
onversation or if the housekeeper had somehow sensed what had happened between Mitch and her last night and the woman was making a general comment on it.

  Hoping it was the former, Ena decided to throw a few specifics into her answer. “The party at Murphy’s was very lively, so yes, I had a very good time.”

  The knowing look in Felicity’s dark eyes told her the housekeeper wasn’t really referring to that, but at least for now, to keep things simple, Ena decided that was her story and she was sticking to it.

  “By the way,” Ena said innocently, “did Mitch come by already?”

  Felicity shook her head. “No, I did not see Mr. Mitch. He and the caballeros are working as usual.” Making something on the stove, she briefly glanced in Ena’s direction. “Horses need to be fed and groomed. They do not care if it is the weekend or not.”

  “Very true,” Ena agreed. She picked up a piece of bread to put into the toaster. “I’ll just grab a piece of toast,” she told the woman.

  Felicity turned from the stove and gave her a very frosty eye.

  “No, you will sit down and have breakfast like a civilized person. Engines do not run on air. They need fuel,” the housekeeper declared, leaving absolutely no room for argument.

  Ena didn’t even have to think about it. “Okay, I’ll have breakfast,” she said, surrendering.

  She felt too good to get into an argument with the woman—all she wanted to do was be able to get out and find Mitch as quickly as possible—not to say anything in particular, just to prove to herself that last night had really happened.

  Felicity set the plate down in front of Ena and then stepped back as the latter began to eat. The woman’s thin lips puckered into a disapproving frown.

  “You are not a vacuum cleaner,” Felicity said sharply. “You are supposed to chew your food, not gulp it down in a chunk.”

  “I am chewing,” Ena told the housekeeper, consuming the food the woman had placed in front of her as quickly as possible.