Page 28 of Claimed By the Cowboys
Her hands on me only made the situation better. “Don’t mistake me, Piper. I’m just pissed that my pack mate made a move before me.”
She stilled, gaping at me, like the notion that I wanted her was absurd. Fuck, I had been obsessed with her since the first time I saw her in the store.
“But…” She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
“Now, you can tell me to fuck right off, and I’ll walk out that door and stop pestering you, but I am interested in you, Piper. Your job is safe, even if you think we’re a bunch of idiots and want nothing to do with us, but I refuse to tiptoe around the topic.”
“But I’m…”
“Stunning, smart, caring? It really baffles me how you see yourself. You’ve been in this house mere weeks, and I can see clear as day that you’re all those things.”
“Well, I…”
She wasn’t pulling away. In fact, her body was leaning into mine, only bringing us closer. From this distance, her scent was potent. That little hint of fruitiness and musk from what she had just been doing with Zeke set me on edge.
I wanted to taste her.
Unable to stop myself, I crashed my mouth down on hers, devouring her. I wasn’t particularly gentle, like I should have been, but I needed her more than air. Being smothered by her scent sounded like the perfect way to go.
The realization that she tasted just as good as she smelled was thrilling, to say the least. My body hummed with need, and I wanted nothing more than to pull her deeper into the room and find out just how she smelled as she came on my knot.
She was soft. Her skin under my hands, her lips, every curve of her body was perfect.
Pulling back, I smirked down at her. Her pupils were blown, breaths uneven.
“You’re a sweet woman, and we very much want to get to know you better, is that clear? Again, if that’s what you want.”
“I want…” she said through swollen, pouty lips.
The grin on my face probably matched that of my pack mate’s not long ago, but I honestly didn’t care.
Chapter 14
Montana
When I finally closed the lid of my laptop and kicked back from my desk, it was already dark outside, a passing storm bringing down the rain, along with a good showing of thunder and lightning.
Luckily for us, Clay had already gotten Maisie to bed, her little brain and body all tuckered out after a busy day. Otherwise, getting her to lie down to sleep while all the grown-ups were home and watching TV in the living room would have been an ordeal.
I dragged myself into the kitchen and opened the fridge in search of a well-earned cold beer and one of those cookies Dakota had found earlier.
Before Piper, I couldn’t remember the last time there had been freshly baked goods in this house that didn’t come from Evelyn taking pity on us and bringing something by during the holidays.
I reached for the circle of golden brown, studded with chocolate chips and toasted pecans, and closed my eyes as I took a bite.
Damn, that woman could cook—andbake, apparently. The blondies she’d served at lunch the other day were delicious, but the cookies had them beat. I could scarcely imagine what she could do with a cherry pie or a birthday cake.
The fact that she was so attractive, on top of her skills, made her almost irresistible. But as one of Maisie’s dads and her boss, I shouldn’t even have been indulging the thought. So I scarfed down the rest of the cookie and popped open an ice-cold brew.
I was fully ready to set myself down on the couch for some much needed mindless TV time to unwind when Dakota came flying around the corner into the kitchen, nearly knocking me on my ass.
“Watch it, Kota!” I snapped at him, my beer sloshing dangerously in my hand.
“Chill, Monty,” my twin laughed, stepping around me to get to the fridge and his own cold beer.
I was about to give him hell about nearly causing me to waste a perfectly good beer when I caught a whiff of sweet honeysuckle mixed with Dakota’s fresh mineral-petrichor undertones.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” One of my hands snapped out to grab a handful of Dakota’s collar, reeling him toward me so I could get a good sniff.
