Page 24 of The Wrangler

Jesse reached up to touch his cheek, forcing himself to take a steadying breath.

“Do that again, and you’ll regret it. From now on, this is how it’s going to be,” he said, his voice still rough. “Got it? You’re going to listen to me and do what I say.”

Keely swallowed, then licked her lips. “Depends.”

Jesse clenched his jaw.

Keely took a step forward, pulling up her leggings as she lifted her chin. “That all you got, cowboy?”

Jesse let out a low, rough laugh. Oh, she had no idea what she was asking for, but she would, and soon.

Jesse knew he had made a mistake the second he laid hands on Keely. Not because he regretted it—hell no—but because now that he’d touched her, he knew keeping his hands off her was no longer an option. Her warm, heated flesh had felt so right under his touch, and that was a problem.

Keely had always been a storm in a silk dress, a woman who knew exactly how to push him, how to make him want her even when he knew he shouldn’t. But this wasn’t some casual temptation. This was something far more dangerous, something Jesse had been trying to bury under rules and restraint.

Because Keely wasn’t just another woman. She was off-limits, the one woman he couldn’t have, the one woman he couldn’t afford to crave. Yet, here she was, standing in front of him, chest rising and falling, eyes burning with a challenge she wasn’t ready to take back.

"You really don't listen, do you?" Jesse's voice came low, dark, edged with heat.

Keely tilted her chin, her hands resting against the counter like she needed something solid to hold on to. "I hear just fine."

His gaze locked onto hers. "Then why do you keep testing me?"

She licked her lips, that wicked gleam in her eyes igniting something primal inside him. "Maybe I want to see what happens when you finally stop holding back."

Jesse let out a slow, measured breath. He could walk away now. Should walk away. Instead, he closed the distance in two steps, gripping the counter on either side of her. Keely’s breath hitched, but she didn’t back down.

“Is that what you want, darlin’?” His voice was rough, filled with promise. “You want to know what happens when I stop holding back?”

Her pulse fluttered against her throat. "I want you to stop pretending you don't want this as much as I do."

Jesse cursed under his breath, and then his control snapped completely.

His mouth crashed against hers, claiming, devouring, staking a claim he had no right to make. Keely moaned into the kiss, her fingers fisting in his shirt, pulling him closer, as if she couldn’t get enough. Jesse didn’t stop her. Didn’t try to slow down.

Because this wasn’t something he could control anymore. This was need, raw and unfiltered, burning through him like wildfire. He grabbed her by the hips, lifting her effortlessly onto the counter, spreading her legs wide enough to pull him in. He lifted her sweater and pulled it over her head, removing her bra before fisting her hair as he trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses down her throat, across her collarbone, down to the sensitive skin just above the swell of her breasts.

She was soft beneath him, pliant, her body a contradiction of defiance and submission, the perfect balance that had always driven him wild.

Keely arched into him, her breath coming hard and fast. “Jesse…”

His name from her lips was his undoing.

Jesse pulled back just enough to grip her jaw, forcing her to look at him. “You want this?”

Her wide pupils and kiss-bruised lips didn’t stop her from saying, “Yes.”

Jesse’s grip tightened, his thumb brushing over her bottom lip. “Then you take it my way.”

Keely shuddered. “And if I don’t?”

Jesse let out a low, dark chuckle. “Then you’re not ready for this.”

Her nails dug into his arms, her thighs tightening around his hips. “I was born ready.”

Jesse shook his head, pulled her leggings off and then scooped her up and carried her into the the bedroom, setting her in the middle of it and trailing long, slow kisses down her throat before continuing down her torso. She started to reach for him and he grasped her hands, bringing her arms over her head, placing them there firmly.

Her body lay splayed on his bed like a virgin sacrifice, but he didn’t feel like a monster about to devour her. Everything about her called to him. Everything about her felt like home.

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