Free Rawhide and Roses by Maddie James

gone their separate ways for the night, she welcomed the help, but found Tim a little annoying.
    Tired, she was appreciative of his help and told him so, although it was a little aggravating. She wasn’t in the mood to be charming and entertaining. She just wanted to get the dishes washed and go to bed.
    She was dead tired, so after they’d secured the equipment as per Mack’s instructions and turned on the battery lantern under the dining fly, Kim again told Tim thanks. Feeling like she was giving him the big brush-off at the door of the dome tent Mack had pointed out as hers earlier in the evening, she quickly unzipped the opening, stepped inside, and closed it securely behind her.
    In the dark, she could see nothing. Tim’s flashlight had lit the way to the tent, but now, it was going to take her eyes a few moments to adjust to the black cavern in front of her.
    She sank to her knees and groaned. Never in her life had she been so exhausted. Never. Not even during sorority rush week in college. Not even during the horse shows. Not even during late nights of grading semester exams.
    Having never slept in her clothes before, she found the idea extremely tempting. She didn’t feel like fumbling around in the dark for the sweat suit she’d been given and knew that she really didn’t even have the energy to search. All she wanted was to snuggle down deep inside her sleeping bag and sleep, oblivious to everything around her, until morning.
    It was warm outside, she justified. The sleeping back would ward off any night chills, so she quickly slid her fingers down the placket of her borrowed western shirt and sloughed out of it. The bra came next. Then after unbuckling the too-large belt she unzipped the jeans, shoved them half-way down her hips, then realized she hadn’t take off her boots.
    “Damn boots,” she whispered to herself in the dark. “Too stinkin’ big. My feet hurt, by butt hurts, my thighs hurt. Damn old trail ride. Damn Jillie Abernathy,” she mumbled angrily. “I’ll tan her hide when I get hold of her. Where in the hell is she with that salve, anyway?”
    Kim moaned as she squirmed around to sit with her legs in front of her. Fumbling with the boots, she finally removed each, one by one, pulling and tugging until at last, with a grunt, each came off her sweaty feet. A wadded up sock flew out of one and hit the opposite side of the tent with a pop, then slid to the floor.
    “Geez. Now I’ll have to find that in the morning.”
    Finally, she removed her jeans, left her panties on, and crawled around on hands and knees trying to find the sleeping bag. Within a few seconds, she touched the edge of the thing.
    “Well I’ll be,” she exclaimed. “He unrolled it for me and everything. I guess something finally sank into that thick, stupid skull of his.”
    Kim let her fingers work over the zippered edge, making her way to the top. Finding it upzipped, she grasped the bag about half way down, breathed a long sigh of relief, and flipped the top toward the wall.
    Nearly falling into it, she expected her flesh to meet with warm flannel. But that wasn’t exactly the case. Her flesh met with warmth, all right. Warm, hairy flesh. Her body shivered at the heat that flesh radiated to hers.
    “My skull isn’t the only thing that’s thick at the moment. And if you don’t move pretty damn quick, I can’t be responsible for my actions.”
    Kim started to scream and jump back, but a firm hand clasped over her mouth before she could. Another dragged her back down against him, a hairy arm encircling her waist, grazing her nipples as he grabbed her, sending tentacles of anticipation through her body.
    She was trapped against hot male flesh which smelled slightly of perspiration, coffee, and wood smoke. And something spicy. Another tremor passed through her body and ended in the pointed peaks of her nipples, recalling the sensation of his skin against them seconds earlier.
    “Don’t scream,” he whispered into