Must Love Cowboys: This steamy and heart-warming cowboy rom-com is a must-read! (Once Upon A Time In Texas)

by Carly Bloom

  She wanted to devour him.

  Beau rose until she was staring at the fly of his jeans, which was perfectly framed by the chaps. He swiveled his hips, gyrating and yes . . . thrusting.

  Every other guy she’d seen doing the thrusting pelvis move must have been doing it wrong. Because what Beau was doing was just plain right. In every way. In fact, it was utterly delightful, and when he slowed down, she dragged her hands down his thighs.

  His hips stilled, and he tilted her chin up with a single finger. She looked up his long, lean, muscular torso to his mouth, which was set in a straight line. The upper half of his face was in the shadow of his hat.

  He leaned down and brought his mouth to hers. He hesitated briefly, just touching her lips, and Alice nearly rose out of her seat. “Beau, I want you,” she whispered.

  He crushed his lips against hers, lightly grasping her neck with one hand while tangling the other in her hair.

  She never wanted this to end. If Beau pulled away, she’d—

  He pulled away. And she had not had nearly enough. She wanted more.

  “God. Look at you,” he said, his voice low and sultry.

  Her lips felt swollen already, and her cheek was warm from his bristly stubble. Her hair must be a tangled mess. And Beau seemed to like it. A lot. His fingers trailed over the bulge in his jeans and then to the snap and zipper.

  “What do you want, sweet thing?” he asked.

  “You,” she said simply, reaching for his fly.

  Beau stood still as she slowly slid the zipper down. Her fingers trembled. What was she supposed to do next? Just reach in and grab it?

  “Let me help,” Beau said. He undid the button and pushed his underwear down. She could only see the back of his big hand as he lifted everything out, but then, when he took his hand away . . . There it was. Erect and pulsing slightly with the beat of his heart. Mesmerized, she slid her fingers along the shaft. The skin was so much softer and smoother than she’d imagined it would be. She longed to drag it across her cheek . . . across her lips. It was so very warm and she loved stroking it. But the best part about touching Beau’s penis was what it did to Beau.

  His head dropped back and he lost his hat. He flexed his stomach muscles and balled his hands into fists. His breathing was ragged and loud. When he looked back at her, his eyes were pleading.

  He gently pressed her toward him. She stuck out her tongue and touched the very tip of his penis, making him moan. “Oh, Allie. Please. Take me in your mouth.”

  She did. He was warm and salty. All of her fears and insecurities about knowing what to do disappeared into thin air. She just did what she wanted . . . And she wanted to devour him. She licked. She sucked. She took as much of him in as she could manage. She was completely absorbed in the taste and feel of Beau Montgomery.

  “Stop, Allie,” he said. “I don’t have the strength to pull away.”

  He pulled her to her feet and enveloped her in another crushing kiss. He moaned as if he liked the taste of himself on her lips, broke the kiss, and said, “Allie, darlin’. Come to bed.”

  Chapter

  Thirty-Two

  Alice lay on the bed surrounded by rose petals. The glow from the candlelight danced in her eyes. She looked like an angel, which made the fact that she’d just damn near tried to suck the life out of him all the hotter.

  He kicked off his boots and dropped the vest. Then he unbuckled his chaps, causing them to fall in a heap at his feet. Last, but not least, he stepped out of his jeans and underwear. Alice kept her eyes glued to his cock the entire time, as if she couldn’t wait to get her hands—and mouth—on it again.

  He was every bit as hungry as she was. Possibly more. But he had to slow down. He lay next to her, on his side, and ran a finger down her chest, between her breasts. He heard her breath hitch, but he kept going, stopping just above her pelvic bone. “Allie, I need you to tell me something.”

  “Okay,” she said, reaching for his throbbing cock.

  He took her hand and brought it up to his mouth, kissing her wrist. They needed to talk, and if she started giving him a hand job, conversation would be difficult.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I have to ask you a question.” He took a deep breath. “Are you a virgin?”

  Alice sighed, as if that were a silly question. “I told you, virginity is a social construct.”

  “Have you had sex before?”

  “No,” she said quietly. “I’ve never done any of this before.”

  “Any of it?”

  Alice was already a little flushed, but now she turned scarlet. He’d embarrassed her, and he hadn’t meant to. But he was overwhelmed with emotion. Concern and empathy for Alice, but also a deep and gutting sense of responsibility. If he’d known she’d never touched a man’s penis before . . .

  Damn. He wouldn’t have whipped it out and stuck it in her face while she sat in a chair getting a lap dance. He wished he could do that part over.

  “Could you tell?” she asked quietly.

  “Oh God, no, darlin’. I had no idea. It felt great. I didn’t want you to stop.”

  She smiled. “Whew.”

  He kissed her forehead. “But I’m just wondering . . .”

  “What?”

  “Why? I mean, you’re sexy and gorgeous and funny and smart and—”

  “Whoa there, cowboy. You’re trying too hard.”

  “I’m not trying at all.”

  “I think . . .”

  “What?”

  “You might be the only person who sees me that way, Beau.”

  How the fuck could she think that? Surely, she wasn’t completely clueless as to how other people saw her. “That’s not true—”

  She brushed a strand of hair off his forehead with a casual sense of familiarity that rocked him to his core and made him forget the rest of the sentence.

  “I think I’m smart. And sometimes I’m funny, but honestly, as Carmen pointed out once, I’m usually not trying to be—”

  He laughed.

  “Like that,” she said. “It was clearly funny—you laughed—but I wasn’t trying.”

  He kissed her nose, because she was precious. And then he rubbed his against hers, which was a silly little thing that Nonnie used to do with him when he was little, and it shouldn’t feel appropriate at a time like this, but it did. And it made Alice giggle.

  “Anyway,” she said. “I don’t think I’m unattractive, but sexy and gorgeous aren’t attributes of mine. And I’m fine with that.”

  “Do you know what’s sexiest about you?”

  “What?”

  “Your confidence.”

  Alice smiled. “I almost never feel confident.”

  “But you know so much. And you’re never afraid to say what you think—”

  “Here’s a news flash, Beau. I memorize things and spout a lot of facts because I often don’t know what else to do. I think most people find it awkward and weird.”

  “I find it attractive. Here’s some hard evidence,” he said, placing her hand on his cock.

  Alice stroked him with a sly smile, and for someone who hadn’t ever done it before, she did it very well. “So, you never answered my question,” he said with effort. “About why you’ve never . . .”

  He lost his train of thought.

  “Been intimate with anyone?” she asked.

  All he could do was grunt.

  “I used to think it was just something I’d never gotten around to. Like I was busy with school and then with a job and then I woke up and bam! Thirty-two years old and a—”

  Beau raised an eyebrow at her. She’d almost said virgin.

  “Thirty-two years old and never been touched,” she said.

  Until him. He was the only one. He tried to sort out what he was feeling. Was it pride? That was stupid. Ownership? That was horrible, and if Alice caught a whiff of it, she’d be out the door before he could get his boots on. No, it was something else that he couldn’t quite f
igure out.

  He wouldn’t adore Alice any less if she’d been with a thousand other men. He didn’t have those kinds of hang-ups. He loved experienced women. Loved knowing them. Loved being with them. Loved their confidence. Loved their skills . . .

  But being Alice’s first made him want to bang on his chest and shout Mine! Mine! Mine!

  It was a bunch of hairy macho bullshit, but there it was. Right in the center of his chest. And it didn’t feel like a one-way street. Because, after all these years, she’d chosen him.

  “I think I was just scared of intimacy.”

  Beau brushed a strand of hair off her forehead. “You want to hear something funny?”

  “Sure.”

  “Being afraid of intimacy is why I’ve had so much sex. I never wanted to let anyone get too close, because if they did, they’d eventually find out how stupid I was.”

  Alice stopped stroking him. “You’re not—”

  “I know that now. I didn’t understand dyslexia when I was a kid. And I took those feelings of stupidity and absorbed them right into the fabric of my being. Not being able to read very well is kind of a big deal in our society, Allie. Everybody I knew could do it. I just thought there was something bad wrong with me, and that nobody would want me if they knew.”

  “I want you,” she whispered. “I want you so badly.”

  “I’m glad. And I’m happy to be your first, darlin’.” It means you’ll never forget me.

  Alice started stroking him again. “I don’t want you to feel any pressure.”

  “Pressure?’

  “At least sixty-five percent of women can’t achieve orgasm through intercourse—”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. And it’s nobody’s fault. Some of it is anatomical, of course. And some of it is psychological. But mostly—”

  “Allie?”

  “Yes, Beau?”

  “Keep talking if you must, but I’m going to give you an orgasm now.”

  Alice was all in for orgasms. Orgasms for everybody! Especially if Beau was going to deliver it in the same manner that he did last time. Cunnilingus was probably the only way that she could actually reach an orgasm without some kind of mechanical stimulation from a vibrator.

  But if she didn’t have an orgasm, she wasn’t going to let it stress her out. Because while she knew her own body well enough, Beau didn’t. Not yet, anyway.

  “I just want you to know I don’t have ridiculous expectations, Beau. I’m going to enjoy the experience, wherever it leads.”

  Beau kissed her neck, just below her ear, and worked his way down to her collarbone, where he trailed his tongue, leaving behind a trail of goose bumps that quickly broke out over her entire body.

  She was already tingling, and he hadn’t even gotten to—

  He brushed his fingers over her nipple, and then slipped the negligee down until her breast was exposed. “Why have you stopped talking, Allie?”

  He really liked to toy with her. Instead of answering, she pushed his head down to her breast. She remembered what his mouth had felt like, and she wanted to feel it again.

  “I’m sorry,” Beau said. “But you’re going to have to use your words. Communication during sex is important.”

  He wasn’t going to make this easy on her.

  “Is there something specific you want me to do with my mouth right now, Allie?”

  “Breast,” she said. “Mouth.”

  “I see we’ve regressed to caveman talk. You’re lucky, because I’m fluent.”

  He was a smartass. A sweet, hot, delightful smartass. And when his mouth finally enveloped her nipple, Alice’s language skills regressed even further, until all she could produce was a low moan.

  Her clitoris tingled with every lick and suckle on her nipple. It was amazing how all those nerves were connected, and how touching your nipples yourself did not elicit the same response.

  Sex was definitely better with another human. Especially when the human was Beau Montgomery, who was attentive and humorous and considerate and looked dang good in a pair of chaps and thought her confidence was sexy and—

  Beau pulled the gown up to her waist, and then his big, warm hand trailed up her inner thigh. “Cat got your tongue, Allie? You’re being awful quiet.”

  “I’m busy producing dopamine and noradrenaline.”

  “I don’t think that’s legal,” Beau said, brushing his fingers over her skin.

  She opened her legs to give him better access, and he dipped his fingers between her labia, stopping just outside the entrance to her vagina. He placed his lips at her ear and whispered, “I’m going to finger-fuck you now, and I’m going to watch your face while I do it.”

  She was starting to appreciate Beau’s expertise at dirty talk.

  He kissed her deeply, and when his tongue entered her mouth, his finger entered her vagina. She gasped as he moved it slowly in and out, pressing against the inside of her pelvic bone.

  He broke the kiss and she opened her eyes to see his face, inches above hers. And while she could easily stare at that face all night long, her eyes drifted shut again when Beau moved his finger inside her, in a circular motion that she matched with her hips. She couldn’t stay still. There was no way.

  “Mm, Allie,” Beau whispered. “You’re so wet.”

  She wanted to say something about the importance of lubrication, but that would require stringing words together and there was no way that was happening right now.

  “Can I add another finger?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  He did, and then he crooked them, and began performing a deep vaginal massage that had Alice humming. The clitoris was actually a fairly sizable organ internally, and Beau was mapping uncharted territory with his fingers, stimulating pleasure receptors Alice didn’t even know she had.

  Sex toys didn’t compare.

  She drew her knees up and grasped Beau’s arm. Her eyes briefly fluttered open, and there he was, watching her. He increased the rhythm, and the pressure, and suddenly her thighs were tingling along with her nipples. Hormones were definitely being dispersed. He was about to take her to a plateau higher than any she’d ever climbed with a vibrator.

  She gasped and panted and reached for that plateau . . . Her body felt electric, like she might actually be glowing. And a pleasant ball of pressure expanded inside her, filling her with warm tingles. She wondered if she could hold it. Maybe she’d explode—

  “Just stay right there,” Beau whispered.

  She did. In her mind’s eye, she was right on the edge of a cliff.

  But then, Beau removed his fingers.

  Alice opened her eyes, “I wasn’t ready for you to stop—”

  “You’re actually super ready,” Beau said, reaching inside the nightstand drawer. He pulled out a condom packet and held it up.

  “Oh,” Alice said. Because this was it. They were going to have intercourse now, and she tried to tell herself it was no big deal, but it felt like a pretty big deal.

  “Hey, Allie. Do you still want to do this? I mean, you’re physically ready, but are you emotionally ready? Once you cross this line, there’s no going back.”

  “It’s an imaginary line, Beau.”

  “I guess that’s true. My cousin Ida goes back and forth over it all the time. One week she’s dating Jesus and she’s a born-again virgin, and the next week she’s dating a truck driver named Earl.”

  Alice snorted. “But she’s the same person, no matter which side of the line she’s on, and that’s my point.”

  “Point taken. But you haven’t answered my question. Do you still want to do this?”

  “Oh yes,” Alice said. “Yes, yes, yes. And hurry.”

  Beau laughed and slipped the condom on quickly. “Enthusiastic consent. That’s what I like.”

  He kissed her deeply, and she felt his arousal as he pressed against her body. She also felt the smile on his lips, the general good humor that always seemed to surround him, and it made her hear
t flutter sporadically.

  He broke the kiss and his smile disappeared. He moved so that he was on top of her, between her legs, and she felt his penis against her bare flesh. “I’ll be as gentle as I can—”

  Alice put a hand on his chest, pushing him away. “Wait, Beau. No.”

  Chapter

  Thirty-Three

  Oh God. She’d changed her mind.

  Beau did his best to arrange his facial features as to not show his disappointment.

  Alice laughed. “Don’t look so sad. I just want to make a suggestion.”

  So much for controlling his facial features. And of course, Allie wanted to make a suggestion. “What is it darlin’?”

  “I want to be on top.”

  Every time he thought Alice couldn’t surprise him anymore, she . . . Actually, no. This wasn’t surprising at all. This was pure Alice, and he loved it. “That’s not exactly a beginner’s move, but if it’s what you want, I’m game.”

  He rolled over on his back, and Alice sat up. “It actually should be a beginner’s move,” she said. “I’ll have more control, and research indicates I’m at least twenty percent more likely to achieve an orgasm in that position.”

  Beau was simultaneously turned on, amused, and educated. And when Alice leaned over and kissed his belly, he had a hard time forming a thought, much less a response. “Whatever you say, professor.”

  She slid her tongue up to his chest, where she paused to flick a nipple before adding, “And you don’t need to worry about hurting me. It’s not like I’ve never had anything in my vagina before.”

  “Like what?” he croaked. Because he could hardly talk. “What have you had in your vagina before?”

  “You mean besides your fingers?” Alice asked.

  He couldn’t tell if she was asking a serious question or if she was trying to talk dirty, but either way, it had the same effect. He was so turned on he thought he might pop his cork if she so much as looked at him, which wouldn’t help Alice’s odds, no matter what position they were in.

  “Yes, besides my fingers.”

  “Well,” Alice said. “I have a hot-pink dildo I’m pretty fond of—”