Is this widowed rancher ready to take another chance on love?
Or is the red-haired, big-city spitfire playing him for a fool?
HUNTER’S PRIDE is Book 2 of the Redheads & Rancher series, and it tends to be a bit overlooked, kind of like a middle child. Which is a shame, because in some ways, I think it might be the best of the series.
Hunter McFall is a fifth-generation Idaho cattle rancher. He’s been approached to sell a small fraction of his land to a big-city real estate developer. Something he has no intention of doing. He’s agreed to hear out the firm’s lawyer, but that’s the end of it. To his surprise, it’s just the beginning.
Red-haired Manhattan business attorney Poppy Chastain is determined to make the most of her first opportunity to show her bosses what she can do. Slade & Howell have sent her to the boondocks of Idaho to convince the hard-headed rancher to part with a tiny plot of his property. She didn’t count on the sizzling attraction between them.
Together, they find a passion they weren’t even looking for. But their love is threatened by a covert scheme to separate Hunter from his land by any means necessary. When he finds out, he’s sure Poppy has played him for a fool. Can she convince him otherwise, that what they’ve found is real?
If you love hot cowboys, sassy redheads, and steamy, romantic happily-ever-afters, you’ll love Hunter’s Pride.
Here’s a steamy little teaser from HUNTER’S PRIDE.
Just as she dropped another log on the growing fire, the front door banged open, startling her. Hunter, dripping wet, stood in the doorway stomping to remove mud from his boots. Poppy clutched her blanket around herself and hurried over, offering him the other blanket. He handed her his hat, which she hung beside her own as he pulled off his boots and left them outside the door.
“Hurry and come in,” she told him. “I have a blanket for you, and the fire’s getting warmer.”
Another bolt of lightning illuminated the whole place as its simultaneous deafening thunder shook the whole cabin, causing them both to cringe. Hunter stepped inside, and Poppy pushed the door closed while he peeled off his soaked undershirt and hung it on a vacant peg. Poppy opened up his blanket and stood on her tiptoes to place it around his shoulders.
He looked over his shoulder gratefully. “Thanks.”
She grabbed his elbow as he drew the blanket around himself. “Come on, come by the fire.” She dragged him to the front of the fireplace where the air was much warmer than it was by the door.
“How are the horses,” she asked him.
He nodded shakily, eyes locked on the fire in the fireplace. “Al-alright,” he chattered. “I d-dried them best I c-could, threw blankets over them.”
Clutching the blanket around himself with his right hand, he held his left as close to the fire as he could without actually touching the flames.
Poppy watched as he shivered uncontrollably. Impulsively, she wrapped her blanket around him, then ducked under his arm, pressing herself against his bare skin, wrapping her arms around his waist. His skin felt cold to the touch, and she rubbed her hands up and down his back in an effort to warm him.
Grasping both blankets, Hunter closed his arms around her, tucking her beneath his chin and holding her tightly. They stood in silence while the storm raged outside, all but drowning out the crackle of the fire in the fireplace.
With her face pressed against his bare chest, Poppy inhaled the familiar masculine spice she’d noticed while wearing Hunter’s shirt. As she pressed her lips to his skin, she felt his sharp intake of breath. She did it again, pressing her body more tightly against his, feeling the burgeoning erection trapped by his soaked jeans.
When she kissed him a third time, a low growl rumbled up from his chest and she peered up at him. His eyes were all heat and desire, and she knew hers were the same. She slid her hands up his chest and around to the back of his neck while at the same time pushing up on her tiptoes to capture his lips in hers. She’d been buzzed the previous night, but she was completely sober now. And she wanted him.
As she deepened the kiss, he released his grip on the blankets and slid his hands down her back, cupping her ass and lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist without breaking the kiss. Tongues tangled, and Hunter slid his hands up her back, stopping at the band of her bra which he expertly unhooked. Lips still on his, she shrugged off the straps, not caring where the garment fell.
Slowly, he walked them the four steps to the bed, where he leaned down to lay her on top of the covers, for the first time breaking their kiss to straighten up and gaze down at her. Poppy met his heated stare, raising her arms above her head and resting them there.
“Hot damn,” he breathed, leaning down to take one pert pink nipple between his lips. Poppy closed her eyes as a soft moan escaped her lips, delighting in the fact that he paid her other breast the same attention. Then he kissed his way down her belly, a sensual mixture of soft kisses and scratchy beard, until he came to the waistband of her jeans.
He looked back up at her and lifted an eyebrow in an unspoken question. She nodded, and a lazy smile curled her lips as he deftly undid her rain-soaked jeans and in one motion, removed them and her panties as well.
Dropping them in the general direction of the fireplace, he returned his attention to her, devouring her with a hungry gaze. Poppy pushed herself up on one elbow and watched as he unbuckled that silver oval belt buckle and slowly shucked his jeans. As he pushed them down his thighs, his massive cock bobbed into view. She chewed her lower lip in anticipation.
Jeans discarded, Hunter crawled up the bed between her legs. For a moment, he held himself over her, and she watched the fire rage in his eyes. Then he lowered his head to press his lips to hers, hungrily consuming her.
She responded with fervor of her own, her core aching to have him inside. His cock pressed into her thigh and she shifted slightly, urging him home.
“Poppy.” Breathless, he released her lips. “I don’t have a…”
She met his hooded eyes. “I don’t care. Do you care?”
A slow smile graced his lips as he shook his head. “No. I don’t care.”
“Then please,” she whispered.
It was all the encouragement he needed. He captured her lips once again as parked his tip at her entrance. Slowly, he pushed forward and Poppy gasped lightly as he continued until he’d buried himself to the root. “Oh, yes,” she murmured into his ear.
He drew back, then pushed forward again. This time Poppy drew up her knees, willing him to go as far as he could. Hunter wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck and nipping at her as he thrust faster.
It had been long, so long, since she’d had a man fill her so completely, so perfectly.
“Oh, shi-” Poppy hissed as her moment built. “Harder.”
“Harder, the lady says,” he grunted. “I’m happy to comply.” With that he pushed up, supporting himself over her as he pounded into her wet core.
“Oh, shit, I’m there,” she cried as her orgasm thundered over her, a thousand sparks dancing behind her eyelids.
Hunter gave a final thrust and held himself still, grunting his release.
After a moment, he released a shaky breath and leaned down to kiss her tenderly. Then he carefully disengaged himself and lay beside her, drawing the blankets over them and pulling her to himself.
“That was a bit of something,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple.
“Mm-hmm,” she sighed, curling into his warm embrace.
Breathing in unison, they lay in their warm cocoon of blankets listening to the rain on the roof and the rolling thunder that continued to rumble through the mountains.
HUNTER’S PRIDE by Pandora Spocks
Pandora Spocks 