Teasing Annie: The Temptation Saga: Book Two

by Hardt, Helen;

  God I want him to be my man.

  “Take me, Cowboy,” she said against his mouth. “Make love to me.”

  With a single hard thrust, he was inside of her. Sweet stroking. Smooth joining. Like nothing before. Annie arched to meet every plunge, urging him deeper and deeper into her body. She wanted to merge with him. Join not only their bodies but their souls. She looked into his eyes and was surprised to find them open.

  “That’s it, Doc. Take me in. Take all of me.”

  “God, yes.”

  “Look at me. Watch me love you.”

  She fixed her gaze onto his and lifted her head to look between their bodies. She quivered at the rhythmic beauty of his body joining to hers. “Oh, Cowboy. We look beautiful together.”

  “Yeah, Doc. My sweet Doc.” His jaw clenched. “I can’t last much longer. You feel so good. Like you were made for me.”

  Annie was near completion herself. “Don’t wait. Come for me, Cowboy. I’ll come when you do. I want us to come together.”

  One. Two. Three more thrusts, and his cock began to pulsate against her sensitive walls. Annie let go, the sparks tingling across her body and propelling outward until ecstasy claimed her. Dallas moaned her name, and she moaned his, and together they exploded in a fiery embrace.

  Afterward they lay together, a tangle of arms and legs.

  “That was amazing,” Dallas said. He stroked her tousled curls and brought one to his nose. “Every part of you smells good. Your hair. It’s like a coconut grove.” He smiled. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

  “Do you even have to ask?”

  He laughed. “Even as a young man, a night like this would have put me out cold.”

  “Oh?”

  “But now, I’m middle-aged, and all I can think about is making love to you again.” He nudged into her with his erection. “See?” He let out a raspy chuckle. “There are still a few places on your body that I haven’t tasted yet.”

  “Oh, my gorgeous Cowboy.” Annie caressed his taut back, his firm buttocks, and her breath caught at his male beauty. “It’s going to be a long, sweet night.”

  * * *

  Dallas propped his head on his elbow and gazed at the woman in his bed. She slept soundly on her stomach, the moonlight from his window veiling her in a shimmering cloak. The sheets were rumpled at her waist. He smoothed his hand over the glowing skin of her back. She was so soft. He’d never known a softer woman.

  He had made good on his promise to taste every inch of her—every inch of her was delicious, too, like a fresh peach pie—and she’d paid him back in spades. He smiled, remembering. Then he’d made love to her again. Slowly this time. A lingering and sensual coupling followed by a climax so intense he’d nearly wept with the pure joy of it.

  It scared the hell out of him.

  Annie DeSimone was like no one he’d ever known, certainly not the type of woman he thought he’d ever fall for. But she was beautiful, intelligent, funny. An amazing and generous lover.

  He was falling hard.

  He sighed and raked his fingers through his disheveled hair. Why think about that now? Why not just enjoy the moment? His night with this beautiful and unbelievable woman. He snuggled up to her warm body and fell into a deep sleep.

  * * *

  He awoke when the sun rose and shone through his window, the rays warming his skin. Annie’s back was snuggled against his chest, spoon fashion. Jet waggled up to the bed, wanting attention. His tongue darted out to lick Annie’s face.

  “Go on, boy,” Dallas said, waving him away. “She’s mine.” He brushed his lips against Annie’s smooth shoulder and reached between her legs. She let out a small squeak as he stroked her, and when he slid into her, she sighed, her eyes still closed.

  “Morning,” he murmured and kissed the sensitive spot below her ear.

  “Mmm.” She wiggled her bottom and gave him better access.

  “Sleep well?” he asked.

  “Mmm,” she said again. “Perfect.”

  “Me too.”

  Languidly he made love to her and cherished the sweet suction as her walls hugged him. He had always enjoyed sex, but since when had it felt this good? Since when had he been able make love to a woman three times and still want more? He smiled into her neck.

  “You’re something, Doc.”

  “Mmm. You too, Cowboy.”

  He moaned in her ear. “I can’t last much longer.”

  “S’okay.” She grabbed his hand and led it to her clit.

  He stroked her until she started to convulse, and then he let himself go.

  He wrapped her in his arms and snuggled into her until his heart rate returned to normal. Absently he thumbed her nipples, pinching and fondling them. Her contented sounds told him he pleased her.

  “Hey, Cowboy.”

  “Hmm?”

  “I need to get up.”

  “Later.” He inched his fingers lowers, drawing invisible circles on her taut belly, tickling her navel.

  She giggled into her pillow. “I don’t think there’s anything I’d rather do than spend the entire day in bed with you, Cowboy, but I have a horse to check on.”

  “I like the first idea.” Dallas pressed his lips to her neck and inched his fingers lower. “You smell like tulips in springtime.”

  “Cowboy?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What if it were your horse?”

  “Hittin’ me where it hurts. That’s not fair, Doc.”

  “I thought that might get you.” She removed his fingers from her nest of dark curls. “Oh, I do hate to get up.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “I need a shower.”

  “What if I refuse to let you use my bathroom?”

  She turned over to face him and slapped him playfully. “Then I may wet the bed, Cowboy.”

  “I have a full-time housekeeper.” He grinned at her. “She doesn’t ask questions.”

  “You’re impossible.”

  “I thrive on it.” He took her mouth in a scalding kiss. “I can’t get enough of you,” he said against her lips.

  “I know the feeling.” She returned the kiss with a searing one of her own. “But I really. Have. To. Get. Up.” She pushed at his chest and broke his hold on her. “I’m sorry. Truly.”

  “Not half as sorry as I am.”

  She walked, naked, toward his bathroom. Damn, she’s perfectly formed. His cock twitched again.

  “Put your tongue back in your mouth,” she said jovially, her back to him.

  “What makes you think I’m watching you?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Hell, yes.” He hooted in laughter. “Any red-blooded male who wouldn’t watch you any time he could is a lunatic.”

  “Or gay.” She laughed. “Or blind. Or too old to—”

  “I get the idea.” He sat up and stretched, his blood bursting through his veins. He couldn’t remember when he had felt so well rested. Odd, since he hadn’t done much sleeping.

  When he heard the whoosh of the shower, he stood up, imagining streams of water pelting down that gorgeous body. If she was going to shower, he was damn well going to shower with her.

  She was massaging shampoo into her hair when he sneaked into the shower behind her. He smoothed his fingers over her shapely bottom and she jumped.

  “Sorry, Doc.”

  “You might warn me next time. Damn, I got soap in my eye.”

  “I’m sorry, gorgeous.” He turned her to face him. “Here. Let me.”

  He grabbed a washcloth, wet it, and gently rinsed out her eyes. He turned her into the water stream, rinsed her hair, and brought her back around to face him. Her hair hung in dark wet ringlets, clinging to the swell of her breasts. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her hard.

  When she encircled her arms around his neck, he knew she had surrendered. He lifted her off the ground and she wrapped her legs around his hips. He entered her with one swift thrust.

  “Mmm, Cowboy,” she said. “You’r
e insatiable. You can’t be thirty-six. Are you sure you’re not nineteen?”

  “I can’t seem to get enough of you,” he said through clenched teeth. “Damn. I’m sorry, Doc. I’m coming in for a landing.”

  “I’m right there with you.” She panted and moaned his name, and every spasm of her walls clamped him in sweet tightness.

  Annie lowered her legs and slowly slid down his body. She laid her cheek against his chest and twirled her tongue around a hard male nipple. His whole body trembled.

  “Mmm,” she said. “For a cowboy and a gentleman, you’re an awesome lover, Dallas.”

  He knew he had a stupid grin on his face. He couldn’t help it.

  * * *

  “Did Joe say when your car would be ready?” Dallas asked Annie over breakfast.

  “No. He probably won’t even get to it until tomorrow. I assume he takes the weekends off.” She petted Jet’s soft head and fed him a scrap of scrambled egg.

  “True. Only us ranchers work the weekends around here. I’ll drive you over to the Bay place this morning, and then I’ll take you home.”

  “Thanks, Cowboy. You’re a darned cute chauffeur.” She loved teasing him. What was it about this man? “But I need to go home first. I promised Catie I’d take over the rest of the mare’s medication.”

  “Not a problem.”

  She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his sexy mouth. “I am really glad I met you, Dallas McCray.”

  “Me too, Doc, and not just because of the sex.”

  “I don’t know. The sex is pretty good,” Annie said, teasing.

  “Hell, yeah. But I like you, Doc. You’re special.”

  “I like you too, Cowboy.” Oh yes, she liked him. She really liked him. She downed the last gulp of her water. Dallas didn’t have any tea or herb tea in the house, a problem he had promised to remedy before her next visit.

  “You still cooking me dinner tonight?” He rose and took his plate to the sink.

  “Sure. If you want me to.”

  “You bet.”

  “Then take out two pounds of round steak to defrost. I’ll bring the rest.” In her mind, Annie began planning an elaborate Italian menu.

  “You sure? The grocery’s not open on Sundays.”

  “Crap.”

  “Small town, Doc.”

  “I didn’t think of that. Do you want a rain check?”

  “Nope. You can use what I have here. You said so last night.”

  “Okay. That’ll work,” she said. “But right now, we need to get over to the Bays’, and then I need to get home. I still have a lot of unpacking to do.”

  “Need help?”

  “Not that kind of help, Cowboy. If you stay with me all day, do you really think I’ll get any unpacking done? Besides, last time I checked you have a ranch to run here.”

  “True. Plus, the rodeo starts up in a couple weeks.”

  “Rodeo?”

  “Yeah. It’s regional. Held here for six weeks every summer. We get some pretty good cowboys, though not as many as the national stock show in Denver.”

  “Do you…rodeo?”

  He laughed, his gorgeous eyes crinkling. “I used to, a little. Not any more though. It was never really my thing.”

  “What is your thing, Cowboy?”

  “Shooting, I guess. I’m a crack shot.”

  “A cowboy who doesn’t ride.”

  “Oh, I ride. I just don’t compete. That’s more Zach and Chad’s thing. They still compete, and Dusty used to.”

  “Dusty? Sweet little Dusty?”

  “Sweet little Dusty is a hell of a bull rider.”

  “No kidding?”

  “Yeah, believe it or not. Competed as a barrel racer. Was darn good at it too, but she gave it up when she got pregnant.”

  “Good choice.”

  “We all thought so. I’ll be happy to take you to the rodeo. Opening night.”

  “Sounds great. I’ve never been to one. This may surprise you, but we don’t have many rodeos in Jersey.” Annie giggled. Then, “Oops, I almost forgot. Could you hand me my pocketbook?” She motioned to her handbag on the counter.

  “Pocketbook?”

  “Yeah, there.” She pointed again.

  “That’s a purse, Doc.”

  “In Jersey it’s a pocketbook.” She took it from him. “I need to take my pill.”

  “Pill?”

  “Just my birth control pill. I take them in the morning. You’d think after all these years I’d remember. I’m terrible about forgetting. I keep an extra month’s worth in my purse for just such an occasion. After last night, I sure don’t want to be even a few hours late taking it.”

  “Yeah, that could be a problem.” He tossed her the purse. “After all these years? So you and your husband never wanted kids?”

  “Oh he did. I did too. Just not with him.”

  “Oh?”

  “I decided I didn’t want to get pregnant. After a while, he assumed I was infertile from—” She cleared her throat. She didn’t want to get into that. “Anyway, I was always on the pill.”

  Dallas’s lips pressed together and the muscles in his face tensed. Had she angered him?

  “You all right?”

  “You didn’t tell your husband you were on the pill?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I had my reasons.” None of which she cared to discuss with him. Or anyone.

  “I see.” He stood up and fisted his hands around the back of his chair, his knuckles white with tension.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Let’s get you to the Bays’, Annie, and then home. You’re right. I have tons of work to do around here.”

  Chapter Eight

  He had promised his mother he’d come for supper. On a Sunday evening. That was the excuse Dallas gave Annie when he broke their date for her to cook him dinner. No offer to take her with him to meet his sainted mother. No offer of a rain check.

  He had hardly spoken to her as he drove her to her office to get medication for Catie’s horse, back to the Bay ranch, and then to her apartment. If he hadn’t wanted to be with her, why hadn’t he just taken her home and let her make her own way over to the Bays’? Sure, she had no car, but she had a feeling Catie or her brother would have gladly driven into town to fetch her.

  Because Dallas had said he’d do it, and he wouldn’t go back on his word. He was the consummate gentleman.

  It was starting to get on her nerves.

  She thought back on their morning. He had made love to her twice, had all but begged her to stay with him for the day, and then suddenly he had become distant.

  What had they been talking about? The pill. She was on the pill, and had been on it all through her marriage to Riggs. For good reason. Why would that upset him?

  He had kissed her goodbye, but it was a light brush of his lips on her cheek. Then he had cupped her face in his hands and stared into her eyes for a few seconds. He had wanted to kiss her. Thoroughly. She was sure of it. His need and desire were so thick she could feel it in the air, but he had backed away.

  “I’ll see you around, Annie,” he had said. Not “I’ll call you later.” Not “When can I see you again?”

  He’d called her Annie, not Doc.

  He probably wanted time to think. Sure. That was it. Time. They had only just met. She could give him time. Hell, she should want time herself.

  But she didn’t. She wanted to be in his arms. In his bed.

  She sighed and picked up the box containing her college degree and her veterinary doctorate. Time to hang them in the office downstairs. She pulled out the framed and matted diploma.

  Annalisa DeSimone Riggs. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

  She made a mental note to contact the university and get a new copy of her degree, minus the Riggs. She didn’t want to think about him every time she glanced at the wall in her office.

  She plunked into her office chair and raked her fingers through her curls, matted f
rom perspiration. She inhaled. Sweaty horse. Riggs had hated how she smelled after working with animals. He’d hated so much.

  Damn him. Damn Logan Riggs.

  And damn Dallas McCray. Stupid cowboy. The truth cut through her heart. He didn’t want time. He had just wanted sex. It had been about the sex all along, and now he was done.

  Were all men truly assholes? Why couldn’t she catch a break? Again, she dropped her gaze to her veterinary degree.

  Annalisa DeSimone Riggs, the doctorate jeered. The print pulsed against the stark white contrast, mocking her. You’re nothing but a whore, a goddamned bitch. Only good for a fuck.

  Only good for a fuck. Clearly, Dallas saw her the same way.

  She threw the framed degree against the wall, her heart thundering. As shards of glass speckled the carpet, Annie burst into tears and cried for a long time.

  * * *

  He didn’t call.

  By Thursday Annie had resigned herself to the fact that her affair with Dallas McCray had been just that—an affair. A one-night stand that had lasted for a weekend. A glorious weekend of mind-boggling sex. That was it.

  She was no stranger to disappointment. She could get over this hurdle. All things considered, it was nothing. She hardly knew Dallas McCray.

  So why did she feel such an acute loss, like a limb had been ripped from her body?

  The vibration of her cell phone against her hip jolted her out of her barrage of self-pity. What was wrong with her anyway? She had long ago learned how to pick up the pieces of her life and move on.

  “This is Annie.”

  “Hi there. It’s Dusty McCray.”

  Crap. A McCray.

  “Hey, how’s Nigel doing?”

  “All better, thanks to you.”

  “Glad I could help.”

  “Oh you did. Though it was an interesting couple of days.” Dusty’s voice rippled with laughter. “Anyway, I was wondering if you’re free this Saturday.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. Zach and I are having a barbecue out at the ranch. My brother’s coming into town. I’d love for you to meet him.”

  “Well…” She didn’t need to ask the question. Of course Dallas would be there. He was Zach’s brother. She cleared her throat. “Sorry. Frog.” She hesitated again. Then, “I don’t know, Dusty. I’ve still got a lot of unpacking to do.”