by Sara Orwig
He raised his head slightly. His breath was ragged and his gaze was piercing. “You are unpredictable, unforgettable, special. I want this. Oh, baby, do I want this, but intimacy will change our friendship forever.”
“I know.”
His gaze faltered a mere second. “I’m not into commitment, Meg. Don’t think you’ll change me.”
She smiled at him. “I’m not planning on changing you. I know I couldn’t possibly. And you’re not going to change me. See, you’re being a friend right now. You know I don’t casually make love and you’re giving me a chance to stop and think twice. But, Gabe, I know what I’m doing.”
He stared at her as if weighing what she’d said and trying to come to a conclusion about how it would affect him. “I’ve never known a woman like you. I want you, darlin’, even though you complicate the hell out of life.” And with that he leaned down to kiss her and end their discussion.
While longing rocked her, she ran her hands over him. Her fingers worked swiftly to unbutton his shirt and push it away. As soon as she did, she tangled her fingers in a smattering of crisp chest curls while her other hand ran over his muscled shoulders. He was strong, fit, in peak condition, and his body was the perfect male specimen. She couldn’t wait one more moment for the intimacy, the closeness that she’d resisted.
With a trembling hand she unbuckled his belt and pulled it free to drop it with a clatter. As she did, he pulled her shirt over her head, unclasped her bra and tossed them aside. His jeans went next, and he paused to yank them off, along with his boots and socks. Placing his hands lightly on her hips, he held her away to look at her. His gaze was a slow perusal that made her tingle as if his fingers caressed her. Swiftly, he unfastened her jeans and pushed them down, along with her panties. As she stepped out of them, he cupped her breasts in his warm hands, stroking their rosy tips with his thumbs and making her gasp with pleasure.
“You’re beautiful, so beautiful,” he whispered. “You don’t know what you do to me.”
Closing her eyes momentarily, she clung to his forearms as he caressed her and streaks of pleasure stirred her, making her want him more than ever. It seemed right, to be with him and kiss and caress him.
She pulled away his briefs to free his thick, hard shaft. She drew a deep breath as she looked at his body, a body that thrilled her and made her ache to touch him.
He picked her up and carried her into her bedroom to place her on the bed. He lay beside her, drawing her into his embrace, tangling his legs with hers while he kissed her—a deep, insistent kiss.
Stroking her hair away from her face, he paused to gaze intently at her. “You can’t ever know how badly I’ve wanted to make love to you. You’re a beautiful woman. You’ll never know how much you excite me.”
She kissed him and his fingers tangled in her hair while his arm held her against him. He was hard and she wanted to touch and explore his body. Right now, his kisses were sending her pulse racing and making her want him more than ever. He was important to her, part of her life, and now they would be closer than ever, sharing intimate moments that she hadn’t expected to ever have happen. She had made love only a few times in her life, but never with anyone like him. She trembled with need and with wanting, more than she would have ever dreamed possible. She intended to seize the moment and make a memory that she would always have.
Shifting, he moved to caress her ankles, stroking, trailing his tongue slowly over her, kissing her as he moved up between her legs, running his tongue lightly on her inner thigh, making her writhe and want him more than ever. Her hands lightly drifted over his muscled thighs, higher over his hard butt and his narrow waist. His strong body was a marvel to her and she hoped to excite him as much as he excited her.
Arching her hips against him, she did what she could to give him more access, wanting to be touched more deeply.
Trailing kisses along her thigh, he moved higher while his fingers caressed her between her legs, stroking her, creating tension that built as she arched her back and thrust her hips against his hand.
Shifting her legs over his shoulders, he had access to her and ran his tongue over her. She gasped and cried out with pleasure, straining against him. “Gabe, please,” she cried. All her focus was on wanting him inside her.
They shifted and she sat up, getting on her knees. When she looked into his eyes, her heart pounded. Eagerly, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately, pouring out her hunger for all of him. She trailed her hands over him and then leaned away to pull him down on the bed.
Trying to excite him as he had her, she lightly stroked him while running her tongue along his throat, across his chest, down over his belly and then along his thick rod. Holding his hard shaft, she kissed him while her other hand drifted between his legs, stroking him, toying so lightly with him and making him writhe beneath her touch. He gasped and tangled his fingers in her hair while letting her continue to pleasure him.
With another groan, he sat up to kiss her passionately, his hands cupping her breasts. He shifted, kissing her ear and whispering, “You don’t know what you do to me. You’re gorgeous, so incredibly sexy.”
He leaned down to kiss first one breast and then the other, running his tongue over the taut peaks. One hand held her breast as the other hand went between her legs to stroke her.
She moaned with pleasure, trying to caress him in return. He paused to step off the bed and retrieve his jeans. Digging out a billfold, he returned to put on a condom.
Watching him, her heart raced. Exuding energy, he was every inch a strong, handsome, exciting man. She parted her legs, arching her back, eager for him as he came down to kiss her and press her back to the bed.
He entered her slowly, in control while he thrust in her and then almost withdrew. She gasped and cried out, pulling him closer as electrifying pleasure streaked through her. He filled her, still going slowly, building her excitement and desire. She gasped, wanting him, trying to pull his hips closer as he withdrew slightly again and was still, need making her desperate for him. She wrapped her long legs around him and pulled him closer while he again thrust slowly into her.
“Gabe, I want you inside me, all of you,” she whispered, running her hands over him and raising her hips to meet him.
He thrust deeper, withdrawing slowly and then moving faster while she cried out and clung to him. In seconds he pumped faster, building her need.
She clung tightly to him, her legs locked around him as finally he let go of his control and pumped hard and fast. Her world was sensation and need that tore at her until she cried out with pleasure.
Release burst in a climax, her pounding heart shutting out other sounds as they still rocked wildly together, and then he shuddered with his own climax, taking her to another one. Pleasure spilled over her and she dug her hands into his buttocks as she moved with him.
Hot and damp, she gradually slowed while still gasping for breath. She held him tightly in her arms, her legs still clasped around him, both of them still united, and for this moment they were one.
Joy filled her as much as physical satisfaction. She embraced him tightly, still tingling and satiated. For this moment in time, she didn’t want to let him go. Holding him pressed against her heart with their bodies joined, she wanted to keep him close for a while longer and not have to think beyond the moment.
Her breathing and her pounding heart were beginning to return to normal. Gabe turned his head to shower light kisses on her face and throat. While he did, she ran her fingers down his smooth back and over his buttocks, down on his muscled thighs, feeling the short curly hairs on his thighs against her palms.
Her hands came up again, traveling over him, and she tangled her fingers in his hair at the back of his head.
He rose up slightly to look into her eyes. “You were right. We’re awesome together,” he said solemnly. His
usual joking and humor had disappeared as he looked at her intently.
“I keep catching you looking at me as if you have never seen me before in your life,” she said softly.
“I wonder if I have. Your kisses blow me away. Making love is the best. I’m reeling in shock again. You did it with your first kiss. You stunned me again with your makeover. This is the third big surprise.”
Smiling, she ran her fingers lightly along his jaw, feeling the short stubble. “It was fantastic. I don’t quite have the experience you do to make comparisons, but sometimes you know something’s special without having to compare it to anything else.”
He turned on his side, holding her close so they faced each other. Their legs were entwined, their arms wrapped around each other.
She reached up to comb unruly locks of black hair off his forehead with her fingers. “It’s crazy to think I just had the best sex of my life with my best friend in the whole wide world. I think my best friend should be female, but we won’t tell anyone.” She laughed and he did, too. “I know I’ll always be able to count on you. You can count on me. If you need me, you let me know.”
“I may need you again tonight,” he said, grinding himself against her.
She smiled. “That wasn’t what I was referring to.”
“You know, I suspect when the dust settles, I’m going to discover that you’ve complicated my life beyond belief.”
She shook her head. “I will do no such thing. Soon you’ll say goodbye and you’ll call and keep in touch.”
“That might not happen quite as soon as you think.”
“It’ll happen when we can call off our fake engagement—which I think may be sooner than the end of the month. My mom got it. I’m sure Justin will be so furious that he’ll stop pursuing me in spite of all his dad’s offers. With that stupid old feud between our families, my parents will certainly be happy that I didn’t marry you. They don’t know how adorable you are.” She tweaked his nose. “Back when we were little and you were at our house a lot, my mother and grandmother thought you were adorable, so I don’t think they really dislike you as much as they dislike your dad.”
“Frankly, I hope you’re right. I really don’t like to get blamed for things he’s done.”
Gabe pulled her close to hold her and she nestled against him.
“Tonight, I want you to stay right here with me,” he said.
“It’s where I want to be also,” she said, smiling. “I’ll stay tonight.”
“I’m thinking,” he mused aloud. “Maybe we shouldn’t go back to Dallas until Wednesday.”
“We should stick to our original plan. We go back Tuesday and announce our engagement. I’ll be staying at your house so it won’t matter whether we’re on the ranch or in Dallas, unless you have something pressing here.”
“No, I don’t. I just don’t have as many interruptions here and I really don’t want interruptions—or to share you with anyone.”
“That’s nice,” she said, drawing her fingers over his shoulder and bicep, down along his arm. “You’ll have to share me because I have a business to run,” she pointed out. “We need to go out Tuesday night and that’s when we’ll get engaged and tell everyone. But when we go back to Dallas, I’ll be staying at your house.”
“So far, that’s the best part of this plan,” he said, winding long locks of blond curls around his fingers and letting them fall to pick them up again. His fingers lightly brushed her ear, every contact making her tingle.
“Later in the week or over the weekend, take a day so we can come back to the ranch. I want you to myself. You can get a day off because you own the business. Better still, take a couple of days off so we can be uninterrupted.” He nuzzled her neck while he ran his fingers across her narrow waist then drifted lower, until she caught his hand and placed it at her waist again.
“Let me catch my breath,” she said. She nestled against him, loving the feel of his arms around her, enjoying being with him, talking, touching and kissing each other. It was an idyll that would end when the fake engagement ended.
“This will be a big week in my life,” she said. “It already is a big week because I’m here in bed with you. I think by the end of the week I’ll be ready to take a day or two off. That’s probably a good idea in a lot of ways.”
“I think it’s a fantastic idea, darlin’. A day we both need.”
She smiled. “You don’t need any such thing,” she said. “It’s a day we both want.”
“Oh, I need you, Meg. You’re special in my life,” he said, his words warming her all over.
“How I wish that were true, Gabe, but I know better.”
After a moment, during which time she continued stroking his back and winding her fingers in his hair, she said, “I’ve been thinking. I’m sorry that this is going to hurt my family, but they’ve pushed me into a corner trying to get me to marry someone I don’t love.”
“By this time next year you won’t give any of that much thought, so don’t worry too much about it now.” He looked into her eyes, making her heart skip a beat, before he leaned closer to kiss her.
She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back, their tongues stroking, hot and wet, each touch making her want to make love again. She held him tightly, enjoying being happy in his arms and refusing to think about the future. In minutes he rolled on his back and lifted her on top of him. She kissed him, sitting astride him.
As he fondled her breasts, making her need him again, she felt him harden beneath her. In minutes, each knowing when the other was ready, she rose up, then eased down on him. As he entered her, she closed her eyes and threw her head back, riding him as he bucked beneath her.
He thrust slowly, making her moan with pleasure as he fondled her breasts. She pumped with him, moving faster, tension and need building with her until she could not contain it.
When she climaxed, she cried out. Thrusting faster, he reached his climax. Then, finally, she fell on top of him. She held him and turned her head to kiss him, feathery kisses along his shoulder, his neck and his jaw.
Exhausted but well sated, she was held against him. Their bodies were hot, damp from exertion. She smiled and toyed with the unruly locks of hair that fell on his forehead. “Do you ever run out of energy? I can’t move. But I’m so happy.”
“Darlin’, you can’t imagine how happy I am,” he said, running his hand lightly over her bare back. “And if I have some extra energy, it’s because I’m with you and you tease it out of me. You’re beautiful. I want you here in my arms the rest of the day and night. Don’t get out of bed.”
She smiled. “Ridiculous man.”
“I used to give you marbles or chocolate to bribe you to get you to do what I wanted. How can I bribe you to stay in this bed with me all day?”
“Promise me we can touch and feel and kiss all day,” she answered in a sultry whisper while she ran her tongue over his ear.
He groaned, crushed her against his chest and kissed her hard. She wrapped her arms around him to kiss him in return.
Finally, she pushed against him, putting some space between them. He gave her a questioning look and she placed her hand on his jaw. “Hold it, cowboy. You’re going to wear me to a frazzle and I think we missed some eating along the way.”
“I’d like to eat you up,” he whispered, kissing her throat.
“Whoa. Do you hear my stomach with a rebuttal? I would like to have dinner. We have been in this bed almost the whole time since we got here and my stomach is definitely hungry.”
“Let me feel and see what I think,” he said, rolling her over beside him so he could lightly rub her stomach.
When his hand dipped a little too low, she slipped out of bed and walked completely naked to the bathroom.
As she showered, she thought about Gabe. In a few days s
he would be engaged to him. And in a few days she would be telling her family. She dreaded it, because doing so would cause a firestorm of arguments.
She refused to let those fears bring her down, so she turned her thoughts to Gabe and their lovemaking that only made her want him more than ever. She was lost in memories of the past few hours. Because she was wrapped in euphoria from making love it was hard to know the extent of her feelings and how much they had shifted after becoming intimate with him. All she really did know was that she couldn’t wait for tonight, when she got to share his bed and do it all again.
* * *
It was Tuesday when they returned to Dallas. Gabe drove and listened to Meg babbling about their plans. She was excited, bubbling with so much eagerness she could barely sit still. She’d called home and talked for almost an hour to her mother on Sunday, so her mother knew she’d been visiting Gabe’s ranch and they were returning to Dallas today so she could go to work.
Filled with mixed feelings, Gabe thought about them as he drove. Early in the morning he had stirred while Meg was still asleep. He still wanted to look at her constantly because she was gorgeous. That wasn’t all that’d had him staring at her while she slept. She was the most exciting woman to kiss and the most sensual and sexy in bed. Just thinking about it now could get him aroused and he took a deep breath, trying to focus on what she was saying and on watching the road as he drove.
He had a strange feeling that he might be getting in over his head. He hadn’t ever had a woman in his life like her. She came into his life like a whirlwind and he suspected she might leave it the same way—with his life in a shambles when she was gone. He didn’t want commitment and he couldn’t commit to anything with her because they really weren’t compatible when it came to lifestyles.
Frustrated when he hit some traffic, he wished he wasn’t in the car. This long drive was ridiculous. She just needed to get on a plane and find out how easy it was to fly to Dallas from his ranch or to the ranch from Dallas, but she wouldn’t fly.
