"Rafe is too smart for his own good."
โMolly Callahan, recognizing the seeds of mayhem in her
too-bright toddler
As Augusts in New Mexico went, it was a hot one. Rafe
Callahan stared at Judge Julie Jenkins in her black robe in
the Diablo courtroom and felt a bit of an itch. Was it the
heat, or was he just thinking about what they'd done in
July when his steer had gotten tangled in her fence?
"Counsel," Julie snapped to his brother, Sam.
"Why should I recuse myself from hearing
State
v.
Callahan? Have you any substantive reason to
assume that I could not hear proceedings in this matter
fairly?"
"Judge Jenkins," Sam said deferentially, "as you
know, your father, Bode Jenkins, has brought suit against
our ranch, invoking the law of eminent domain."
"Not my father," Julie said, her tone stiff.
"The State handles matters of eminent domain."
Yeah, Rafe thought,
and everyone but Julie
seems to understand that her father is in it up to his neck
with every government official and thief in the local and
state governments. Good ol' Dad can never do anything
wrong in his little girl's eyes, and vice versa.
Julie's gaze flashed to him, then away.
Guilt.
It was written all over her beautiful face. He knew what was
under that prim black robe, and it was the stuff of dreams,
a body made for the gods. He'd been lucky enough to find
the chink in her sturdy armorโa testament to the fact
that she couldn't resist him, Rafe thought smugly.
He'd made her guilty. Julie knew very well that their
night together meant she should step down from this case.
"Mr. Callahan," Julie said to Sam, after sending
another defensive glare Rafe's way, "it seems to me
that you have no good reason why I shouldn't hear
State v.
Rancho Diablo?"
Sam, the crack-the-whip attorney assigned to saving the
Callahan family fortunes, looked down at his notes,
marshaling his thoughts. It was important that Julie not be
the judge hearing this case, Rafe knewโas did all six
Callahan brothersโbecause she was completely partial to
her father. What good daughter would not be? But Julie
seemed to have it in her mind that the case was purely New
Mexico versus the Callahans, not Jenkins versus Callahans,
Hatfield and McCoy style.
Ah, but he knew how to bring little Miss Straitlaced to
heel. He hated to do it. She'd been a sweet love that
one night, and a virgin, which wasn't so much a shock as
it had been a pleasure he'd remember forever. He got
warm all over, and stiff where he shouldn't be at the
moment. There was something about those brown eyes and
midnight hair that just undid him, never mind that she had
enough sass in her to send up fireworks.
But this was war, unfortunately, and the Callahans needed
all the help they could get to draw level with Bode Jenkins
and his bag of crafty tricks. Rafe stood, and with
Julie's gaze clapped on him warily, leaned over to
whisper to Sam. He could feel her eyes on him, as well as
those of his brothers, his aunt Fiona and uncle Burke's,
and half the town, who'd come to hear today's
proceedings. Julie wouldn't want to be embarrassed in
front of the people who'd helped raise her after her
mother died. But it had to be done.
So he whispered some nonsense in Sam's ear about the
price of pork bellies, all the while knowing that Julie
thought he was telling Sam about their passion-filled sexcapade.
"Now act surprised," he said to Sam, and his brother
pasted a dramatic and appropriately shocked expression on
his face.
Julie said quickly, "Would counsel step up, please?"
Sam went to Julie, as did the lawyer for the State, a slick
Bode yes-man if Rafe had ever seen one.
"I'll consider recusing myself," Rafe heard
Julie say, her tone soft yet tinged with anger. His ear
stretched out a foot trying to hear every word. "But
I'm not happy that you've indicated I don't hear
cases completely fairly. I've never been asked to recuse
myself before, and I feel this is another case of Callahan
manipulation, for which they are famous."
Her accusing stare landed on Rafe, and he couldn't help
himself. He grinned. She stiffened, so cute in her judge
getup, but completely naked to his eyes. It was as if she
knew it.
After a long glare his way, during which time he noted her
pink cheeks, and her full lips pressed flat with annoyance,
she said, "Court will adjourn while I consider the
motion. We will resume in one hour. And Mr. Callahan,"
she said, her voice tight as she addressed Rafe,
"I'd like to speak with you in my chambers, please.
Counsel will not be required."
"You've done it now," Sam said in a low voice.
"She's going to eat you alive, scales and all.
It's your fault, too, for sitting there smirking at
her."
"I can't help it," Rafe said. "She just
looks so stiff and formal in that robe. I remember tacking
her hair to her desk in biology class, and chasing her on
the playground. It's hard for me to take her seriously."
"She's going to teach you the meaning of respect,
dude. Good luck. I'm off to get a hot dog." Sam
sauntered away, his conscience clear, unconcerned about his
brother's impending misfortune.
Rafe sighed and approached the chamber of doom.
"Judge?"
"Come in, please, Mr. Callahan, and close the door."
She sounded like a vinegary old schoolteacher. Rafe sat
down, and tried to arrange his face into the most respectful
expression he possessed.
"Mr. Callahan," Julie began, and he automatically
said, "You can call me Rafe. I'm not a formal guy."
She nodded. "As you wish. And you can call me Judge
Jenkins."
He nodded, reminding himself not to grin at her prissy tone.
The fact was, Julie was in command of their futures at
Rancho Diablo. If they could get her to recuse herself, they
could probably get a more impartial judge to hear their
case. This thought alone kept Rafe from smiling. He even
tried his damnedest not to stare at Julie's legs,
shapely stems skimmed by the black robe, and elongated by
high-heeled black pumps. Very severe, and very sexy. She
wore her ebony hair in a no-nonsense upsweep, which made her
look like a dark-eyed, exotic princess. She wore a lipstick
that was a shade off red, and he wanted to kiss her lips
until there was no lipstick left on her.
But he couldn't. So he waited for her ire to recede.
"Mr. Callahan," she began again, "you may be
under the misapprehension that because we have had an
engagement of a personal natureโ"
"Sex," he said.
Her full lips pursed for a moment. "You may be under a
misapprehension that I will tolerate disrespect in my
court."
"No, Judge. I have the utmost respect for you."
Her big brown eyes blinked. "Then quit smiling at me in
the courtroom, please. You look like a wolf, which you may
not be aware of, and it comes across as if you take this
proceeding lightly."
"I do not." Rafe shook his head. "Trust me when
I tell you that this proceeding is life-and-death to me."
She nodded. "See that you try to maintain a more serious
composure in the courtroom."
"I will." He nodded in turn, his expression as
earnest as he could make it. "And you're wrong,
Julie. Just because I let you seduce me in a field
doesn't mean I don't respect you."
She gasped. "I did not seduce you!"
He shrugged. "You're a powerful woman, Julie. Not
only are you beautiful and smart, you're sexy as hell. I
couldn't resist you." He shook his head regretfully.
"Ever since then, I've wondered if holding you in my
arms was a dream."
She glared at him. "You can be certain that I didn't
seduce you. Youโyou.. " She seemed at a loss for
words for once. "You seduced me/" she said in a
whispered hiss. "This is what I'm talking about,
Rafe. You Callahans always manage to twist things around!"
"Oh, Judge, it's every man's dream to be seduced
by a gorgeous woman. Don't burst my bubble." Rafe
smiled his most charming smile. "I wish I could seduce
you, but I'm pretty sure you're impervious to men."
She blinked. "That didn't sound very nice."
"Maybe you're just impervious to me." He sat on
her desk and swung a leg, considering his words.
"That's probably it."
"I don't even know how that happened that night.
But," Julie said, her voice low, "I'd appreciate
you not bringing it up again, and particularly not in the
courthouse."
"But was it good for you?" Rafe asked.
"That's a worry that's kept me up at night."
Julie drew back. He gave her a forlorn look. "Good for
me?" she repeated.
He nodded. "Did I make you feel good?"
She hesitated. "I guess so. I mean, considering it was
you, I guess it felt as good as it could have."
He tried not to laugh. She was lying like a rug, and in her
own judge chambers, just down the hall from where she made
people take oaths to tell the truth. "Ah, Julie," he
said, "there are nights when I wake up in a sweat
thinking about how sweet you are."
She appeared confused. Probably no one had ever said that to
her before. But he knew she was sweet. He took her hand and
tugged her close to him. "Seduce me again, Julie."
"No," she said. "You're bad news, Rafe
Callahan. My dad always says that, and it's true.
You're really, really bad, and I should never
haveโ"
He touched his lips to hers, stopping her words. "So why
did you?"
"I don't know," she said, not pulling away from
him. "I have no idea why I even let you talk to me,
Rafe. I shouldn't have done it, though, and I can tell
you it will never happen again."
"I know." Rafe framed her face with his hands.
"And it makes me so damn sad I just don't know what
to do." He kissed her gently, then with more
thoroughness as he felt some of the stiffness go out of her.
"We geeks never get the beautiful girls."
She blinked, pulling back. "Geeks?"
"Yeah. You know, those of us who think too much, when we
should be men of action." He moved his hands down her
shoulders, down her arms, and began kissing along her neck.
God, she smelled good. He had a stiff one of epic
proportions sitting in his jeans, and the call of the wild
firing his blood. "I'm guilty of thinking too much,
when I should be going after what I want."
He circled her waist, holding her to him, and kissed the
hollow of her throat.
"Rafeโ"
"Mmm?"
"Is this about the court case?"
He pulled back a moment. "Is what about the court case?"
"This."
He looked into her dark eyes, completely confused. His mind
was totally fogged by Julie, her sweet perfume, her sexy
mouthโand then he realized what she was asking.
"God, no, love. I compartmentalize much better than
that." He couldn't help the grin that split his
face. "I may be a thinker, but I'm not that good,
sweetie. This is all about trying to get under the robe of
the most beautiful girl in
Diablo."
Julie seemed to consider his words. Rafe was pretty certain
he should strike while the iron was hot. Clearly, she was of
two minds about letting him kiss her, and the fact was, he
wasn't about to let Julie out of his grasp. He
remembered far too well how wonderful it had felt to be
inside her. So he did what any normal, red-blooded man would
do when faced with an uncertain female: he staked his flag
on Venus. Pushing up Julie's robe and dress and
everything else that was in his way, he slid off the desk
and kissed her soft tummy. She gasped, and he ran his hands
under her buttocks.
"What are these?" he asked, staring at the darling
little pink straps holding up her stockings. Julie looked
like a Victorian saloon girl, and he was pretty certain he
was so hard right now diamonds couldn't chip him.
"Garters," Julie said. "And a thong."
"Pretty," Rafe said, and moved the thong so that he
could kiss her the way he wanted to. Gently, he licked and
kissed and tasted her, and when her knees were about to
buckle, he pushed her into her desk chair where he could
kiss her to his heart's content. He'd waited a long
time for this moment, and when he could tell she was about
to rip his hair out by the roots, he licked inside her,
taking great pleasure in her gasping cries as she climaxed.
He wanted to just sit and look at her for a second, all
disheveled in her black robe, but she shocked him by
grabbing his belt. "Wait," he said, "just a
minute, Julie. I don't want you to do anything you
don'tโ"
She cut off his words with urgent kisses. Okay, he wanted
her to do everything. She was pulling at him, trading places
with him, and the next thing Rafe knew, he was sitting in
the tall-backed black leather chair and Julie was sliding
down him, clutching his shoulders as if she was afraid he
was going to disappear.
What could he do but give her exactly what she wanted?
"Hang on," he said, crushing her bare buttocks in
his hands so that he could hold her tightly to him. He
thought he was going to black out from the pleasure. Julie
gasped against his neck, then tore off the judge's robe
and threw it on the floor.
"Let me help you." Rafe undid the frilly white
blouse she had on, tossing it away. That left a sweet ivory
bra, but he was a pro with bras, and he had that hanging
over a law book before Julie could realize that she now was
seated on him wearing nothing but a soft peach skirt, pink
garters and black heels.
I'm living a dream,
Rafe thought, taking in Julie's breasts, which were
beautiful, shapely, peach-nippled. He wanted to grab them,
but his hands were full of her soft buttocks and he had her
right where he wanted her, so when she rose on a thrust and
wrapped her arms around his neck, and her breasts engulfed
his face, he was profoundly grateful. He sucked in a nipple
before it could get away, and Julie stiffened on him, giving
him a very pleasurable jolt where it counted.
"Oh, Rafe," she murmured. "Oh, God, don't
stop."
He didn't. He suckled, and thrust, and touched, and
invaded. And when Julie tightened up on him, giving a tiny
muffled shriek of pleasure as she came, Rafe held on for
just a moment longer, making sure he'd never forget this
moment, before letting himself surrender to the magic of Julie.
He was pretty certain he'd rested his case, and that the
jury had found him more than irresistible.
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