Taking On The Cowboy

Part 9 - Chapter Eight

Gage turned at the sound of his name, covering the distance back to the cabin in a few long strides. Coming out of the darkness towards Tara. Tara almost glowed in the doorway, illuminated by the light from the room behind her. Her legs looked impossibly long from Gage's viewpoint at the bottom of the steps. Wearing only short shorts and a strappy singlet she seemed so much more bare silhouetted against the night, than she had inside the cabin.

He wanted her so badly it hurt. He could feel the strain in his jeans and would have stopped to adjust had he been able to stop himself covering the last few feet to the bottom of the stairs.

Stepping onto the bottom stair he found himself level with Tara. Her green eyes broadcasting her own hunger more than even his name called into the darkness had.

She reached out to him, ran her fingers along his jawline, his skin just a little rough with evening stubble. Their eyes locked, both of them finally acknowledging the charge that seemed to run between them. Inescapable, no matter how inappropriate it was for them to want each other.

Gage caught her wrist as her fingertips brushed his chin, brought them to his mouth and kissed them. Letting go of her hand, he moved up a step, lowered his mouth to hers, slowly so that she could move away if she chose to. She didn't.

Gage's lips met her own gently at first, moist and soft, and when she welcomed his kiss with her own, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight against his body, inhaling the scent of her. Tara met his desire with her own, kissing him hard, opening her mouth to meet his advance. He tasted as good as he looked and smelled.

Holding her in tight against him, she could feel his desire for her, straining against the denim of his jeans.

Gage kissed the delicate skin where her jawline ended, running his tongue across the slight hollow beneath her ear, breathing in the now familiar fresh scent of her shampoo. At the warmth of his tongue on her neck Tara drew in her breath sharply.

Letting out a deep sigh Gage released her back to her top step.

Tara couldn't believe what she'd just let happen. She spoke quickly, before he could, turning away from him.

"I wanted to give you the plate to take back." Disappearing back into the little cabin she never saw his cheeks flush red. Returning with the plate and cutlery, she passed these to him without making eye contact, being careful not to let her fingers make contact with his.

Tara closed the door quickly, banishing Gage from her view. She leaned up against the cool wood of the door, exhaling deeply. What was she thinking! She wasn't thinking. She was letting her libido run wild. She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering how it felt to have him hard up against her tummy, his big hand pressed into her lower back. He had wanted her. She'd been able to feel the hardness in his jeans. This couldn't happen. It was all so confusing. The last thing she needed was another complication. Things were confusing enough as it was.

She didn't even know whether to believe Gage's story. It was clear that he believed it, but was it true? Had she been blaming the wrong man for the past three years? She needed time to process this new information. Falling in to Gage's arms was definitely not the way to go about sorting her head out. But boy did he feel good. His strong arms around her. The warmth of his mouth, and those beautiful eyes. He certainly was the best looking bearer of bad news she could imagine.

Gage stormed back to the ranch through the night. How could he have got it so wrong? Who in their right mind would do what he had done? Hey Tara, you know how you thought your brother was the good guy? Well he wasn't. He was the drink driver. He's the bad guy not me. So how about it? You and I?