Free Rawhide and Roses by Maddie James Page B

raking against the underside of her breasts as he held her close and whispered in her ear to be quiet, was nearly his undoing. If he only hadn’t made that crack about a certain area of his anatomy being thick, he might have faired a bit better in the whole damn scenario.
    Because that’s when she’d bit him, and that’s when he’d been the one to yelp.
    He released her in an instant.
    Kim spun away, clambering for her shirt and quickly jerking it around her upper body. “What the hell are you doing in my tent?” she gasped. “In my sleeping bag?”
    Thad let the dark between then reign with silence for an expanded moment. The tension in the air was as dense as the dew he expected on the ground in the morning. Finally, he answered her, choosing his words carefully. “Just doin’ as instructed, Ma’am.”
    “What?” Kim’s voice flew up an octave at his ridiculous comeback.
    “Just gettin’ things ready for you as you requested, Ma’am,” he returned in his most obedient, gentleman-cowboy demeanor.
    “What are you talking about?” Kim repeated.
    He thought about continuing to goad her, that he was only following her orders from earlier in the day—the thing about warming her tent—but thought better of it. He sat up, rubbing his left palm, and angrily flung the sleeping bag away from him. “Hell. You’ve got the wrong tent, Ms. Martin. This is my tent.”
    “What?” she hissed and backed up on her knees toward the other side. “Get out, now!” He watched her arms cross over her chest, and he was sure was trembling.
    Hell, he was trembling.
    “Believe me,” Thad continued, “I never intended sharing my tent with you. Or my sleeping bag. Somehow, I don’t think that would be too pleasant for either of us. However, you need to be the one to leave. This is my tent.”
    “No… Mack told me this was mine.”
    “Then Mack told you wrong.”
    “But why would he do that?”
    Thad waited a second before answering. “That, Ms. Martin, is exactly what I intend to find out. Now, I’ll turn my back while you gather your things and get dressed. Your tent is next to the dining fly. That’s where the cook sleeps. Always. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some shut-eye.”
    Thad did exactly what he said he would do. He couldn’t see Kim…not really. But he turned and could hear her, and in his mind’s eye he could see her pulling on her clothing. That image did unsettling things to his libido.
    Very unsettling things. Particularly when he could still feel the heat of her skin on the palms of his hands.
    She left and he was thankful for that fact.
    Come morning, Mack Montgomery was going to pay. And pay dearly.

Chapter Seven

    Kim started awake at the sound of her tent flap being zipped open. Pouncing to her knees, jerking the sleeping bag up around her, she gasped as she saw someone sneak through the opening. A shaft of moonlight penetrated through the space illuminating the intruder and the insides of the tent.
    “Kim...?” the figure whispered.
    She relaxed. “Jillie! You scared the shit out of me. Get in here.”
    Jillie entered and let the tent flap slap down. She thrust her arm, and something else, toward her. “Here. Who else did you think would be sneaking in your tent in the middle of the night?”
    Kim took a jar of something out of her hand. “No one,” she grumbled. No way in hell she would tell Jillie about Thad invading her tent earlier. And doubly no way she would tell her that she’d been dreaming about him doing incredible things to her body just before Jillie woke her.
    “What’s this?” she uncapped the jar.
    “Salve.”
    Kim silently blessed her. She’d tossed and turned the last couple of hours trying to find a comfortable sleeping position. She didn’t even want to think about tomorrow. “Thanks.”
    “Are you really sore?”
    She shot a look her way. “What do you think?”
    Jillie giggled. “Feels like you’ve had wicked sex all night and had none of