He held her tight as she pushed down around him. Her body released a warm, sucking rush of moisture. He groaned then, his hands digging into her bottom as he bucked beneath her. His eyes blazed a feverish gold. The muscles in his neck tightened as he surged one last and final time, burying himself deep as he exploded.
She collapsed against him, her head in the curve of his shoulder as she tried to catch her breath. His arms tightened around her and he simply held her then, stroking her back and her bottom as her heart slowly returned to normal.
Oddly enough, it was those stroking, soothing moments afterward that stood out in her mind long after Rance had helped her to her feet and into her clothes, and led her back to his hotel room. While her orgasm had been earth-shattering, what had followed had been life-changing.
Because Deanie had never felt as beautiful, as cherished, as loved as she had when Rance had cradled her on the moonlit beach and the water had whispered behind them.
She grasped the feeling close and refused to acknowledge the small voice in her head that told her she would never, ever feel that way with any other man.
It wasn’t about the future. It was about making the most of the next few hours and storing enough memories to last her for the rest of her life.
A life without Rance McGraw.
RANCE HAD BARELY OPENED the door of his hotel room when Deanie backed him up against the nearest wall, dropped to her knees and reached for his shorts. The door rocked shut and the room plunged back into darkness. The only light came from the French doors that opened out onto a large balcony filled with potted palms.
Moonlight fell across her face as she stared up at him, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to see every expression, every reaction, every thought.Groping to his left, he found the light switch. The lamp on the nightstand turned on. His gaze snagged on the phone that sat next to it. The message light blinked and he felt a twinge of guilt. He knew it was Shank with a reminder about tomorrow. The man had already left two others on Rance’s cell phone and there were sure to be many more because Rance had yet to call him back and reassure him that he would be on his way to the Land Down Under by noon the following day.
He would, he reminded himself. It wasn’t as if he could just walk away.
Even if he suddenly wanted to.
He vowed to call Shank first thing in the morning, hit the erase button to kill the blinking light and turned his attention back to Deanie.
The pale yellow glow pushed back the shadows and illuminated her face. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink and her lips trembled. Her blue eyes glittered with desire as she reached for him again. He didn’t stop her this time. The air stalled in his lungs as he waited. Watched.
She slid the button free and worked the zipper down.
His erection sprang hot and greedy toward her. A drop of pearly liquid beaded on the ripe purple head and she reached out. She caught his essence and spread it in one sensual stroke of her fingertip from tip to root. A growl vibrated from deep in his chest.
She wrapped her hand around him and he arched into her touch, his iron-hard sex dark and forbidden against her slender, pale fingers. She smiled up at him before she leaned forward. Her expression faded into one of serious intent as she lapped at him with her tongue, once, twice, before taking him into her mouth.
Her hair brushed against his belly. The soft, sweet-smelling strands teased his skin and stoked the fire that burned inside of him. Rance caught her long, silky hair and pulled the dark curtain away from her face. He watched as she suckled and licked and caused a pleasure so fierce he didn’t think he could stand it.
He did.
He grew harder, hotter, heavier, and she relished her effect on him. He saw it in the confident way she held him and the purposeful slide of her mouth up and down and…Christ, she felt good.
She took all of him, relished him, until he came so close to exploding…
“No!” He gasped and jerked back, catching himself just in time. He drew a shaky breath that did nothing to calm his thundering heart and everything to stir his hunger that much more. The scent of her—so potent and sweet and sexy—filled his nostrils, stirred his nerves and shook his already tenuous control. “Not like this.” His cock throbbed, the feeling just this side of painful, and his balls ached, but he drew on what little control he had left. He grasped her shoulders and set her away from him.
She stared up, her eyes hot and luminous, mirroring the desperation he felt inside. But there was something else—the insecurity she tried so hard to hide with her makeup and her new clothes and her high heels.
It was still there because she was still there.
Still the same Deanie.
Still hopelessly and desperately in love with him.
The thought struck and his heart missed its next beat.
Yeah, right, buddy. She’s all grown up now. She’s out of here tomorrow and there isn’t a damned thing you can do about it.
Like hell. He could change her mind if he wanted to.
If.
But Rance had his own commitments. He couldn’t just walk away.
He knew that, but it didn’t stop him from picking her up and striding to the large bathroom. He wanted to touch every inch of her luscious little body in ways no man ever had or ever would.
Because Deanie Codge was his.
At least for tonight.
He set her on her feet and turned on the water. Hot steam rose in the marble and glass enclosure. But the heat didn’t come close to touching his rapidly soaring body temperature.
“I’m already wet,” she told him with a smile. “You don’t have to go to this much trouble.”
“This isn’t about trouble, darlin’. It’s about erogenous zones.” He grinned. “We still have one workshop left. Now,” he said as he reached around for the straps of her sundress, “the female body has lots of hot spots.”
“And you know this because of your vast experience, right?”
“That, and I read the course description posted on the internet. They give several examples.” He knew she’d probably read the same, but she played along.
She arched one perfectly-shaped eyebrow. “Such as?”
“Your neck for starters.” He unfastened the halterlike top and let the straps fall away. The material fell to her waist, exposing her full breasts and rosy nipples. His gaze remained fixed on hers as he trailed his fingertips down either side of the smooth column of her neck, to where it curved into her shoulders.
She trembled. “What else?”
“Well, there are the obvious hot spots.” He plucked the ripe tip of one nipple and drew a gasp from her passion-swollen lips before trailing a fingertip under the fullness of one breast, over the few inches of exposed skin until he reached the material bunched at her waist. He eased his fingers inside and pushed the dress over her hips until it slid down her legs. He stroked her bare mound with the pad of his thumb and watched her gaze darken.
“And then there are the not-so-obvious.” He dropped to his knees and unfastened her shoes. His fingers lingered at the tender arch of one foot after he removed her shoes. “The feet are packed with nerve endings.” He stroked the inside from her ankle to her toes before cupping her ankles with either hand and massaging gently.
“That does feel good.”
“Just good?” He worked his way up her calves, the backs of her knees, her thighs, until he reached her sweet ass. He kneaded her, teasing the seam with his fingertips until she moaned.
“I’ve thought about touching you like this so many times since that night down by the river,” he told her. “Too many times.”
“I’ve thought about it, too.”
He glanced up and caught her gaze. Her eyes were bright blue, fueled with desire and a dozen other emotions he couldn’t name.
But he wanted to.
He wanted to know what she was thinking. Everything she was thinking.
“If you were dreaming this up right now, if this were your fantasy come to
life, what would happen next? What would you want to happen next?”
Her expression seemed suddenly guarded and he knew he’d guessed at least some of what was going on in her head. “I thought we were doing erogenous zones, not Fantasy 101?”
“Trust me, there will be plenty of erogenous zones involved in what we’re about to do.”
“And what are we about to do?”
“You tell me.” He cupped her face. “In your most erotic thoughts, what happens next?”
She didn’t even have to think. “You pick me up and carry me into the shower. We soap each other or we kiss. Or both.”
He gave her a slow, lazy grin that made her blush despite her boldness. “I’ll see what I can do.” He stood, picked her up and stepped into the shower.
The door closed and the steam engulfed them. Hot water pelted his back and flowed over his skin. Easing her to her feet, he enjoyed the slow glide of her body down the slick, hard length of his.
“Turn around.”
Deanie heard his deep voice, but she couldn’t seem to comply. She’d pictured just this situation before and she was anxious to see if it lived up to her imagination.
Her gaze swept the length of him. His broad shoulders framed a wide chest sprinkled with crisp, dark hair that stretched from nipple to nipple in a V-shape. The brown silk narrowed and funneled down his abdomen and pelvis to disappear in the thatch of dark hair that surrounded his massive erection. His legs were braced apart, his thigh muscles taut, sprinkled with the same dark hair that covered his chest. His gaze was liquid gold and just as mesmerizing.
His big, powerful form filled up the shower stall and blocked the spray of water. Water hammered the back of his head and ran in tiny rivulets over his shoulders down his chest and abdomen to drip-drop off his swollen testicles.
She watched as he reached for the soap. He rubbed the bar between his large hands. Lather squeezed between his fingers and trailed down his powerful forearms.
“Turn around,” he said again.
She obeyed this time and he stepped up behind her. She glanced down as his arms came around. His dark hands spread the white lather over her pale stomach. He cupped her breasts and slicked the soap over her nipples. She gasped.
“See? I told you we wouldn’t forget about the erogenous zones.” He plucked and rolled the hard peaks until she trembled with sensation.
He paused then to reach for the soap. He didn’t just lather his hands this time. Instead, he slid the bar down her quivering stomach, over the bare flesh of her sex.
“You’re so soft and smooth,” he murmured, his voice as thick as the erection pressing into the cleft of her buttocks.
All of a sudden, the humiliation and pain involved with a full “beauty” session at the hands of Romeo’s one and only waxing specialist—Miss Ethel from Ethel’s Day Spa—seemed a small price to pay for Rance’s admiration.
He stroked her, rubbing the bar of soap in a sweet circular motion before moving down between her legs.
“Spread your legs for me.” She widened her stance, giving him better access. The hard edge slid along the soft folds between her legs. The soap brushed her throbbing clitoris and intense pleasure rushed through her.
“Is this what happens in your fantasy?”
“No.” He went still and her body hummed in expectancy. “It’s better than any fantasy. Sweeter. Sharper. More intense.” She felt his muscles ease. And then he moved, doing wickedly delicious things with the soap that told her he’d not only been waiting for her response, but he’d liked it.
A lot.
HE SOAPED her from head to toe, giving extra attention to every hot spot until Deanie shook with a need so fierce she couldn’t stand it. She turned in his arms, desperate to feel him.
She touched everywhere she could reach, slicking her palms up and down his hard shoulders and hair-roughened chest. His taut hips and muscular buttocks. When she cupped his testicles, he growled.He turned and flipped the water off. He grabbed a towel from a nearby shelf and hooked it around her neck. Where the past few moments had been wild and fast, the brakes came on and everything slowed to a nice and easy and nerve-racking pace.
The fluffy white towel moved over her aroused body with an incredible slowness that made her want to scream. She didn’t. Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, he pulled away. He wiped the moisture from his own body, scrubbed at his damp hair and then tossed the towel to the floor.
Before Deanie could draw breath, he reached for her. He pulled her flush against him. His hard length pressed into her stomach and he rubbed himself while his mouth devoured her in a deep, lusty kiss that made her insides clench and her nipples tingle.
Gripping her buttocks, he lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. His hard, pulsing flesh grazed the sensitive area between her legs. The length rubbed against her slick folds as he turned and stepped from the shower stall.
He kept kissing her as he walked the few feet from the bathroom to the bedroom and eased her down on the king-size mattress.
Rounding the end of the bed, he grasped the shorts he’d shed. His shoulders bunched and his muscles flexed as he leaned down and retrieved a small foil packet from his pocket. He came to stand beside the bed, towering over her as he rolled the condom down his thick length with a swiftness that amazed her.
In that next instant, he was right where she wanted him, between her legs, his weight pressing her back into the mattress. His erection slid along her damp flesh, making her shudder and moan and arch toward him. He slid his hands beneath her, gripped her bottom and tilted her to take all of him. He plunged deep.
A shudder ripped through him and she touched him, trailing her hands over his hard buttocks, pulling him more securely inside. Her body clasped him, convulsing and quivering when he finally retreated. But he didn’t leave her empty for long. He thrust into her again and again, building the pressure and pushing them both higher until, finally, he sent her soaring.
Deanie cried out Rance’s name and dug her nails into his hard muscles as a wave of ecstasy washed over her. A tidal wave, it seemed, because the sensation went on and on, drenching her senses until she was left floating.
She opened her eyes to find Rance poised above her, a fierce look on his face, his eyes gleaming with an intensity that reached inside of her and tugged at her heart.
When she gave him a blissful smile, he pounded into her one final time and let himself go. Every muscle in his body went rigid and his deep groan echoed in her ears.
He rolled over without breaking their intimate contact and cradled her on his chest, her head nestled in the curve of his shoulder. Large hands stroked up and down her back in a reverent motion that brought tears to Deanie’s eyes.
But she didn’t cry. There would be plenty of time for that tomorrow when she said her goodbyes and walked away from Rance.
For now, she held tight to the joy that rippled through her and focused on the man beneath her, the warmth of his neck against her cheek, the steady thud of his heart against her breast, the feel of his powerful arms locked around her.
This man. This moment. This.
12
THE SUN WAS just coming up when Rance opened his eyes. He felt Deanie’s warmth next to him, her bottom nestled against his penis, her back flush against his chest, her full breasts cushioned by the arm he’d tucked around her. She sighed, snuggling more securely against him. The sound echoed in his head, making his blood thrum and his heart beat faster. His senses felt alive with the sight, the sound, the taste, the feel of her.
He felt alive.A wave of pure satisfaction rushed through him. It was a feeling unlike anything he’d ever felt before. With any woman. Any competition.
Shit.
Rance eased away from her and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He pushed to his feet and paced to the French doors. He hauled open the door and the morning breeze wafted in, but it provided little relief to his hot body.
&nb
sp; Hot, of all the friggin’ things. His skin itched and his muscles bunched and his dick twitched in memory of the past night and the awesome sex. And damned if he didn’t want more.
What had happened to working her out of his system?
He raked a hand through his hair and fixed his gaze on the breathtaking view. Orange fingers of light played across the horizon and cast fiery rays on the glasslike water. The beach was practically deserted except for the small group making their way toward the far end and the marina.
Erica. Rance knew it was her even before he spotted her familiar blond hair. He remembered her invite and his promise to join her and her group of friends. Oddly enough, he didn’t feel the usual rush of adrenaline at the idea of climbing onto a wakeboard and riding hell-bent for leather across the ocean.
His heart didn’t pound and his pulse didn’t race and he didn’t feel the slightest bit of excitement at the prospect.
Rather, he yearned to crawl back between the sheets, pull Deanie into his arms and kiss every inch of her body until she opened her eyes and smiled at him.
Holy shit.
He walked back into the room and retrieved a spare set of clothes he’d purchased at the clothing store downstairs. He pulled on the army green board shorts and did his best to ignore the inviting picture Deanie made curled on her side, her delectable bottom facing him.
He wasn’t going to scoot up next to her, gather her close and drink in the intoxicating aroma of her—
The thought stalled as she rolled onto her back. The sheets twisted, tugging down around her waist as she moved to reveal her pale breasts tipped with taut, rose-colored nipples. Her dark hair lay spread out on the crisp white pillow. Her eyes were closed, her face calm and serene. Her full lips were pink and swollen from his kisses. She looked so beautiful and sexy lying in his bed.
Tall, Tanned & Texan Page 13
