A Cowboy Returns

You never forget your first cowboy

Eli Covington erased all traces of his cowboy upbringing to become a high-powered attorney. Then his father dies, and his brothers need him to rescue the family ranch. So, after fourteen years, Eli returns to the life he left behind—and the one woman he can’t resist.

Veterinarian Reagan Matthews was furious with Eli for leaving her all those years ago, and yet she was never quite able to let him go. Their attraction is as incendiary as ever, and Eli is very good at stoking the flames. But Eli doesn’t belong in her world, any more than Reagan belongs in his. So until Eli leaves for good, why not take her pleasure where she can? Pleasure only her cowboy can provide...

She should have said something...

Eli’s hands wove through Reagan’s hair and kept her face turned up to his. “You never have to apologize for looking at me, Reagan. Ever.”

“Things are different now, Eli. We both know it. If we can just get through—”

His hands tightened in her hair the second before his mouth crushed down on hers. Lips and teeth and tongue, all demanding and wanting and wet heat. She ached with need and hunger, ached in a way she’d forgotten she could feel.

Every thrust of his tongue demanded her response, refused to allow her to think, gave her no quarter except to touch him and move with him, to feel the hard muscle under his soft skin. She wanted everything he offered. Everything.

Reagan had missed this ravenous sexual ache; she’d hungered for this fire that branded her. It burned her from the inside out and turned her reservations to ash.

Eli freed one hand from her hair and, gripping her belt loop, yanked her closer.

And, God forgive her, she fell willingly into her first love’s embrace...

Dear Reader,

It’s with absolute pleasure I am able to introduce you to Harding County, New Mexico. It’s a land of grassy plains that give themselves up to the beauty of the Sangre de Christo Mountains, a range that is in some places sparse and in others the most beautiful country you’ve ever seen.

When his father passes away, Elijah, the oldest of the three Covington boys, comes home after fourteen years away. He’s reunited with the beautiful Reagan Matthews, the woman he loved and left behind—the only woman he’s ever loved. And it’s an emotional, passionate, thoroughly satisfying ride!

Having lived on a ranch myself in New Mexico after marrying my very own cowboy, I have to tell you that there are a few things in each of the Covington books that I’ve experienced firsthand, but I’m not telling which ones. Rest assured that every character and every situation is entirely a product of my imagination, though.

The one thing I can tell you with certainty? New Mexico’s cowboys are every single bit as sexy as anything Texas has turned out.

Happy reading,

Kelli

A Cowboy Returns

Kelli Ireland

www.millsandboon.co.uk

KELLI IRELAND spent a decade as a name on a door in corporate America. Unexpectedly liberated by Fate’s sense of humor, she chose to carpe the diem and pursue her passion for writing. A fan of happily-ever-afters, she found she loved being the puppet master for the most unlikely couples. Seeing them through the best and worst of each other while helping them survive the joys and disasters of falling in love? Best. Thing. Ever. Visit Kelli’s website at kelliireland.com.

This book is for Vivian Arend, one of the absolute best mentors a writer could ever hope to find.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

Extract

Copyright

1

ELIJAH COVINGTON NEVER thought he’d find religion on a commuter flight, but when the tiny plane plummeted the last fifty feet to the runway, he prayed. Little more than a closed-cockpit crop duster, the little plane skipped down the cracked asphalt runway hard enough to compress his spine. He would have given anything for the firm’s corporate jet and his chiropractor right about then.

Of course, he should probably just be grateful they weren’t landing on a dirt strip. They’d had to circle several times while the neighboring rancher retrieved his cows from the runway. That had been bad enough.

The flight attendant made an inane joke at the pilot’s expense, but Eli only half listened. Thumbing his smartphone on, he waited for a signal. His service indicator showed a single bar. A single bar.

“I’m in hell,” he muttered, but that wasn’t true. Hell undoubtedly had better cell service.

Scrolling through emails, he ignored the flight attendant’s glare. He might have been obligated to come home to manage the distribution of his father’s estate, but that didn’t require he cut himself off from civilization entirely. With any luck, he could get to the ranch, go through the estate paperwork, file the will and be gone within the week. Had his old man been remotely organized, this could have been done by mail. And had the estate been reasonably solvent, they could have hired someone to manage the distributions altogether. No doubt, there wouldn’t be any money.