She met his gaze. Before he kissed her and sucked her nipples—then her clit—she believed she knew how deep his eyes really were. Now she saw so much more. They resembled two green forests. The trees at the front appeared lighter, but the closer she looked, the more she saw the darker shadowed areas deep within.
A quiver began in her lower belly and slipped down between her legs.
“I guess they do think of me as important. Until next year when someone else makes a discovery.”
“I don’t think they’re going to top you, Pippa. And that means one thing to me—that even after this, you’re still in the spotlight. You’re not out of danger.”
A shudder rippled down her spine, icy fingers digging in and spreading over her skin. “Well, you can’t be my bodyguard forever,” she said with a light laugh to cover her nerves.
Ross fisted a hand and brought it to his mouth as if to trap any words from escaping.
Chapter Eight
Saying Pippa was different from the girl he’d known would be like saying the sky was down and the earth up.
She set him off-balance.
She drove him crazy.
And he fucking loved every minute of it.
Part of his reason for wanting to hear her cuss resulted directly from him loving how she’d grown in the past decade. Hearing her say the F word or beg for his mouth on her reminded him that she was not the kid who hung out with him and his brothers on the ranch.
Yet she was still off-limits. To hurt her would invite the wrath of not only her father but his own, along with every Wynton in Stone Pass. Hell, even his buddy Silas would give him hell for breaking Pippa’s heart.
All he could offer her was a one-night stand, like all the other ladies he’d been with. He was at the prime of his career. He couldn’t take time for relationships, family and all the crap that came with it. He’d seen enough of what his little brother, Noah, went through with his ex-girlfriend, before he found the love of his life Maya Ray.
Ross couldn’t only pump the brakes when it came to stopping his crazy libido where Pippa was concerned—he slammed them.
The second time he passed a sign for a canyon, he pulled out his phone and dialed Roman.
“What’s happening?” Roman asked.
“I’m going to make a stop.”
Pippa pushed her glasses up her nose as she often did when thoughtful.
“Next exit? At the canyon?” Roman asked.
“Yes.”
“Your gas tank low? I thought you filled up.”
“I need a break. I’ve been driving for hours.”
“I’m right behind you,” Roman said.
When Ross ended the call, Pippa spoke up, “I can drive for a bit.”
“You’re injured.”
“You said yourself it’s only a graze. I’ve had deeper cuts from shaving.”
His real reason for wanting to stop wasn’t because he’d spent long hours behind the wheel—he really wanted to spend a few minutes of solitude with her. Take in the beautiful scenery and maybe make a memory.
His thinking was a complete one-eighty from minutes before when he made the decision to back away. Yeah, his judgment might be more than a little clouded by all her cute little mannerisms like pushing her glasses up or chewing at the same fingernail. Not to mention the breathy cries of pleasure echoing through his mind.
The road to the canyon pitched steeply, but then leveled off in a place where they could park. When he got out, Roman did too. Ross nodded to him as he checked the gun at his waistband, ensuring he had a good grip if he needed it.
When Ross opened the passenger door, Pippa twisted to face him. “Am I allowed to get out and walk around?”
Christ, her beauty stole his breath. Those plump lips had a natural pink flush that made him want to kiss her harder—to use her mouth—just to see them turn red.
Their gazes clung. Finally, he held out a hand to her. She slipped hers into it, and he assisted her to the ground.
She winced at the first step, and he stopped. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I need to move. My butt’s falling asleep.”
One look at her backside told him that he was very much alive and kicking, at least. The rounded globes begged for him to cup them and lift her against his erection. Fuck, what had he been thinking to stop and sightsee?
He slowly led her across a rocky path leading to a lookout over a canyon. The white sky against the gray rock and dark pines stole his breath—or so he thought before his gaze landed on Pippa.
His heart caught. Hell, it beat out of time.
She twisted to meet his stare, and what she saw on his face made her lips part.
“I’m sorry in advance.”
She blinked. “For what?”
“This.” He hooked a hand around her nape and drew her mouth to his. Dark passion loomed beneath the surface, and it burst out the moment he tasted her.
A soft moan escaped her lips, snatched by the wind, but he took the next one and fed it back to her with a groan of his own. With a hand on the small of her back, he drew her against him. As she twisted the cloth of his coat, his heart gave another hard jerk.
“Ross,” she murmured between sweeping passes of his tongue.
“Pippa…” His own tone came out like gravel under his boot.
“Don’t ever apologize for this.” She leaned into him.
He pulled away with no intention of going back for more—but he did. What about her drove him to the brink of insanity? His brothers would believe he jumped into the gorge before they’d buy a story about him stopping to woo her in a beautiful place.
Cupping her face, he applied pressure to her chin, causing her to open wider for his tongue. When he plunged inside, there wasn’t any turning back from this now. He’d torn down too many fences, and now the bull was in the pasture, so to speak.
Ross would have her, if only for one night of madness.
When he withdrew, he slowly peeled his fingers off her one at a time, each fingertip reluctant to leave her body. He took a step back.
Her hazel eyes glimmered with the heat he’d only given her a few short minutes to experience.
“I wish I could take a selfie of us here. It’s beautiful,” he rasped.
“You’re not looking at the scenery.”
“I have better things to look at than a bunch of rock walls.”
Her soft smile and the way she tucked her chin swelled his heart.
Taking her hand, he led her back to the truck. Roman leaned against his SUV. Seeing them, he straightened and circled to the driver’s door. If he had questions about what they were doing—or had seen them—he didn’t say.
Ross broke the code of honor a bodyguard lived by. If one of his employees at WEST Protection laid a hand on his ward, Ross would fire him, brother, cousin, friend or otherwise. Rationalizing that he and Pippa would be equally as attracted to each other if she’d come to the ranch for a friendly visit wouldn’t make it right, even if it was absolutely true.
As he assisted her into the truck, he saw her wince. “You’re taking painkillers.”
“Fine, but I only need a couple pills, not the morphine in your first-aid kit.”
He quirked a smile at her and retrieved the kit from the back seat. After he handed her a bottle of water and dropped two pills into her cupped palm, he couldn’t resist reaching out and brushing his thumb across her lips.