yet, trevor wasn't completely passive. his cock bumped against her belly, leaving a slick, intimate kiss. the muscles on his body's lower half were tensed, primed and ready for action. she did the unexpected and rubbed her toes down the outside of his calves.

his upper body bowed off the bed. trevor's breathing was decidedly ragged as his lust-filled blue gaze caught hers.

chassie pressed a moist kiss to the vulnerable spot below his ear. when goose bumps broke out across his flesh, she did it again. and again. breathing on the spot until trevor could scarcely lay still. she zigzagged her tongue over the curve and hollows, stopping to nibble on corded tendons.

still hanging above him, she shimmied backward and kissed the dark blond trail arrowing the way to her destination. she didn't detour to tease his nipples. she didn't plunge the tip of her tongue into his belly button. or nip the tender skin between his hipbones; she kept a southward progression.

"chassie. baby. you don't have-"

she angled her head, placed her teeth on the inside of his left thigh, and bit. hard.

"fuck!"

"i can do a matching one on the other side if you wanna keep talkin'?"

he shook his head.

"good. watch me."

chassie licked up the length of his shaft.

he hissed.

she poised her lips at the weeping tip. her tongue darted out and circled the plump head. she felt the slick pre-come on her tongue, but didn't taste it. just let the wetness build-hers, his-until her mouth was watering. then she swallowed his cock in one smooth, deep gulp.

trevor's hands fisted into the sheets and he bit his lip to stop from crying out. or from swearing like a sailor, as she sucked and deep throated him exactly as he liked it.

having his cock in her mouth always made her wet and ready. although this foreplay was minimal, she didn't want to wait. chassie scooted up, aligned her sex to his and sheathed his cock to the root.

"uh, ah," burst from his mouth instead of words.

her palms were flat on the mattress by his head and his hands were still clenched in the sheets. she put her lips on his ear. "trevor. touch me."

immediately those working-man hands she loved were on her shoulders and sliding down her back.

a shiver of desire prompted her to move on him, a gradual push until that stiff organ was buried deep. a side-to-side grind teased her clit perfectly, a slow slide as that male hardness eased out.

he said gruffly, "kiss me while you're lovin' on me, chass. please."

she rocked on him slow and easy; the kiss was languid and sweet. they were adrift in the pleasure of the friction of damp bodies, the gentle creaking of the old bed, the familiar scent of skin and sex and body-warmed cotton sheets.

when trevor's body tightened beneath hers, he broke the kiss. she gloried in hearing her name repeated on his lips as his pelvis arched, bathing her insides with heat. as she bore down, prolonging his orgasm, prolonging the moment when he belonged only to her, her own release tumbled her straight into the abyss with him.

keeping their intimate connection, she nestled against him and closed her eyes.

they might've dozed. they might've fallen into the blank space where lover's time is static.

trevor kissed the top of her head. "you warmed up now?"

"mmm."

he whispered huskily, "i love you."

"i know."

"you do?"

chassie lifted her head from the warm haven of trevor's chest. "yes, i do. you loving me is not the issue."

"i figured." trevor tugged on her braid, wrapping the thickness around his palm. "i didn't sleep much last night. i wandered up here and went right back downstairs to crash on the couch." he smooched her wrinkled brow. "alone. i couldn't stand that you weren't here. it was like part of me was gone. i've never been so goddamn happy to see your piece of shit truck as i was when we pulled up."

"sweet talker. where were you guys?"

"we headed over to gus's to take another look. don't know why the hell i torture myself."

"you told edgard about us wanting to expand?"

"yeah. asked his opinion. come to find out gus knew ed's grandparents."

chassie kept her expression neutral. the bit about wyoming being rife with coincidence and everyone knowing everyone else wasn't as unusual as closed-mouthed trevor discussing their private business with edgard. "what was edgard's take on the land?"

"find any way to buy it. even if it means borrowin' from my pa." trevor scowled. "i doubt the old man would consider a short-term loan, even when i know damn good and well he's lent my siblings money to build their places. i'm almost scared if i tell pa what the money is for, he'll suck up to gus and buy it right out from under me, just so he can fuck up my life."

that statement wasn't trevor being paranoid. from what he'd told her, chassie wouldn't put any dirty, nasty trick past tater glanzer when it came to getting the upper hand on his offspring.

"but, it don't matter none, 'cause unless you've hidden a winnin' lottery ticket someplace, we're fucked. ain't no way we can come up with the down payment."

"trev. it's okay."

"no, it ain't." a bitter snort stirred her hair. "i'm some great catch, ain't i? never made enough from rodeoin' to buy more'n a lousy horse trailer. i'm livin' on your ranch.

i can't find the money to buy gus's acreage. and my former partner-no less than a male lover-shows up and you realize i've kept a pretty goddamn big secret from you. hell, chass, maybe colby was right. maybe you are better off without me."

"colby said that?"

"not in so many words."

chassie placed her hand over his mouth. "this ranch isn't mine; it's ours. you've cared more in the last two years than either dag or dad did in the last twenty years. this is our home, where we get to make the rules. yeah, i'd like to have gus's land, but if we don't get it, then we weren't meant to have it. all things happen for a reason."

he gave her a considering look. "do you really believe that?"

"i do. just think, if you hadn't filled in on the circuit as dag's partner, we wouldn't have met. i wouldn't have been able to keep the ranch by myself after dag and dad both died. so after we got married this place became ours. and havin' you in my life is worth way more than any piece of land."

trevor kissed her. "and you wonder why i love you so damn much." his eyes flickered to the window. "and what about edgard showin' up? you think that happened for a reason? you haven't changed your mind about my worth?"

"i ain't gonna lie, it knocked me for a loop." she managed a small smile. "might sound stupid, but yeah, there is some cosmic reason ed showed up now. i'm workin' on understandin', trev. i really am."

"that's all i can ask." he kissed her again, and gently separated their bodies. he sat on the edge of the bed and looked over his shoulder. "why don't you laze in bed a bit longer? get some shut-eye and i'll finish a couple things." he dressed and slipped out of the room.

chassie snuggled beneath the covers and was glad to be home, even if everything in her life, all her perceptions and misconceptions about love were about to change dramatically, whether she was ready for it or not.

chapter thirteen

a spicy aroma greeted her as she entered the kitchen. "that smells great."

edgard turned. "hope you don't mind me taking over your kitchen."

"mind? i hope you don't mind if i lay a big, wet, sloppy kiss on you for fixin' supper."

a strangely hopeful look flickered in his eyes. "i wouldn't mind that at all."

before she lost her nerve, she walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "thank you.

trevor has a lot of great qualities, but cookin' ain't one of them."

"did he wow you with his chili? or his recipe for cowboy beans, which actually is-"

"chili," they said in unison, and then laughed in unison.

"needless to say i do all the cookin'."

"does that bother you?"

"not at all. why?"

edgard shrugged. "because in this day and age lots of men cook. i like to cook."

"have you always cooked?"

"my mother made sure i knew the basics and i took it from there. i lived by myself and it was either learn to cook, or i'd be eating spaghetti, chili and frozen burritos forever." he shot her a considering look. "it's no longer the norm around here? sticking to those old gender roles?"

"not at all. see, it's not that trev and i are stickin' to traditional roles in this marriage, but i'm better in the kitchen than he is. i don't mind, since i can't fix machinery worth a damn." chassie peered at the pan on the stove. "but if you tell me that's a pot of chili, i'm gonna brain you with the lid."

he grinned. "it's not. it's brazilian style stew."

"whatever it is, it smells damn good. thanks."

"you're welcome."

"where's trevor?"

"had to help gus with something."

"oh." chassie glanced at the clock. her nap had lasted longer than she'd expected because it was almost five o'clock. "would you like a beer?"

"if you're having one."

"yep." chassie planned on having a whole lotta beer. she definitely needed alcohol to get the conversation started and probably an entire case to follow through with her plan. she took two bottles of bud light from the door and passed one to him. snick, hiss, pop echoed, as the lids were untwisted.