All Night with the Cowboy

by Soraya Lane

  “Sounds delicious,” Tanner murmured.

  And even in the dim light, he was certain he could see Lauren’s cheeks flush a deep, cute-as-hell pink.

  “Stop looking at me like that,” she whispered when they were alone again.

  “Like what?”

  “Like you’re about to eat me alive.”

  He laughed, not bothering to respond. She clearly knew him too well.

  They ate in silence, her stealing glances at him that he couldn’t help but notice as he downed his dessert and patiently waited for her. She devoured every last bite and then slowly, almost shyly, met his gaze.

  “How’s your body feeling?” she asked.

  “My body?” he laughed. “My body is feeling great right now.”

  “I mean how are you feeling post-treatment? I’m really hoping the turmeric will help with your recovery and combined with—”

  Tanner stood and held out a hand, pulling Lauren up to her feet and then placing a finger across her lips. “Stop talking.”

  She kissed his finger and he shook his head, not expecting her to flirt with him so unashamedly when before she’d been blushing.

  “Come with me,” he said, taking her hand and linking their fingers. Tanner nodded his thanks to the waiter and led Lauren away, down the beach heading for the Beach House. She dropped her head to his shoulder and it took him back in time, back to the woman who’d driven him crazy with lust.

  When they were almost there, Tanner stopped walking and turned into Lauren. It was completely dark out, but the flaming torches provided enough light to illuminate the sand they were walking on and for Tanner to make out the features of Lauren’s face. There was something about relaxing into a routine with her, their days full of nothing other than sunshine, rehabilitation, and … whatever the hell was going on between them.

  He cupped her cheeks, looking into her eyes as he dipped his mouth to hers. Her arms encircled his neck and her mouth met his, lips hungrily searching out his as they kissed. Tanner rubbed the pads of his thumbs across her skin, then slowly released his hands and let them skim down her shoulders and to her waist. When his hands stopped, she leaned into him, drawing him closer, fusing their bodies together, chest to chest, hip to hip, thigh to thigh.

  Tanner knew they should start walking again but he didn’t want to stop. Her lips, her butt as he ran his fingers further down and stopped at the delicious curve, her soft moan against his mouth. It was already shaping up to be one hell of a rematch and they hadn’t even started taking their clothes off yet.

  It was Lauren who finally pulled back, her hands slipping between them and resting against his chest. Tanner’s heart was beating rapidly beneath her palms, and when she tilted back to look up at him, he could see a desperation in her eyes that he recognized only too well.

  “Take me to bed, cowboy,” she whispered.

  “Honey, I’d sweep you up into my arms if I could, but tonight you’ll have to settle for an arm around you.”

  Lauren nestled under the crook of his arm, her hand slipping into his back pocket as she settled in snug to his body. He dropped a kiss into her hair and walked as quickly as his awkward limp would let them.

  Chapter 12

  LAUREN stood in the bathroom, trying not to double over. She stared at herself in the mirror, knowing that if she didn’t give herself a damn good pep talk soon, she’d end up chickening out of this entire … she didn’t even know what it was. Sex. That’s what it was.

  “Sex,” she whispered to herself, looking into her own eyes in the reflection and wishing they looked more confident and less scared little mouse. “You don’t forget how to do it, girl. It’s like riding a horse.”

  It hadn’t been that long, had it? She thought back to the last guy she’d been with and shuddered. Oh yeah, it had been that long. It seemed like only recently they’d ended things but … she gulped. But this was Tanner. If she’d needed a boost to her libido, then he’d already done it, but actually walking out that door and into his naked arms? Her pulse started to race again. She should have drunk more at dinner, and then maybe she wouldn’t be having such a panic attack.

  Knock, knock. “Everything okay in there?”

  Holy shit. She needed a paper bag to breathe into or a big glass of whisky or …

  “Lauren?”

  She sucked back a breath. “Everything’s fine,” she said, hearing the hesitation in her own voice.

  “Can I come in?”

  She didn’t answer, just kept staring at herself for as long as she could until Tanner appeared and she turned around.

  “Hey,” he said. “You look—”

  “Scared?” she whispered, knowing how pathetic it was that she’d talked the talk but was now holed up inside his bathroom. She inhaled the smell of his cologne, still clinging to the bathroom from when he’d showered and gotten ready to go out for dinner. As he stepped closer, she could smell it all over again, only this time it was mixed with the masculine smell that was all Tanner.

  “Why are you scared?” he asked, stopping a foot or so in front of her. He held out a hand and she raised her own shaky one to his. “If you’ve changed your mind, it’s okay. All that talk about me being the boss after dark, it was just talk.” His smile was sweet, just like she remembered, and when he opened his mouth to say something else, she rushed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his. Tanner didn’t miss a beat, his arms encircling her, pressed to her lower back as she lost herself in the feel of him kissing her.

  Lauren tasted him, her tongue touching his, hands running down his back and exploring the firmness of his body. To hell with doubting herself and feeling scared, she was a single woman and if she wanted to reunite with her ex for a steamy couple of weeks, then why the hell couldn’t she?

  “It’s like riding a horse,” she whispered against his mouth.

  Tanner pulled back a little. “What?” he murmured.

  “Nothing. Just shut up and keep kissing me.”

  A noise deep in his throat might have been laughter, but it also sounded a whole lot like a moan as her fingers skimmed the hem of his T-shirt and lifted, breaking their kiss to tug it up. Tanner lifted his arms as she pulled it over his head, dropping the soft fabric straightaway so she could explore his chest. It was smooth and hard, his shoulders and biceps bigger now, broader and more muscled than she remembered them being. She traced her fingers through the light smattering of hair on his chest and then over his shoulders down his back. When she curved them back around she gasped, realizing she’d just traced over the scars from where the bull had caught him.

  “Sorry,” she murmured.

  Tanner ignored her and tilted her chin up, fingers locked beneath it, his mouth crushing down on hers and not giving her a chance to gasp for air. He walked her backward, her butt connecting with the vanity, and he grunted as he boosted her up, hands cupped beneath her.

  She wondered if his wrist hurt, if he was sore, but Tanner wasn’t giving her time to worry about the state of his body. She kept her hands on his bare skin, wanting to touch every inch of him, loving the feel of his hard, male body against hers. But Tanner wasn’t going to let her have all the fun. His mouth dropped to her neck and he kissed down her chest, lips touching the top of her breasts, making her gasp.

  Lauren’s dress was riding high and Tanner pushed into her, forcing her legs to part even wider as he stepped into her space, lips still teasing her. The moan she heard in the distance must have come from her, the sounds of pleasure she couldn’t keep quiet as Tanner slowly pushed one strap of her dress off her shoulder and then skimmed across her skin to the other side.

  With a little coaxing, her dress fell down to her waist, exposing her breasts, and Tanner’s mouth moved lower, kissing her, plucking at her skin, before passing slowly, softly over her nipples.

  “Tanner,” she whispered, wriggling into him, trying to push his head up so she could claim his mouth and kiss him again. She wanted her lips to his, wanted to taste
him more, to feel his tongue teasing her mouth.

  He ignored her and went back to her breasts, but she flicked her fingers around his jaw and forced his head up, quickly moving her mouth against his and pressing her breasts to his chest. The warmth of him was in contrast to the cool of the vanity against her butt, and she wrapped her arms around him.

  As a senior in high school, her favorite thing to do had been kissing Tanner. She’d liked everything with him, but his full lips had driven her crazy, that lazy way he could kiss her—as if he had all the time in world—had driven her crazy. And he still kissed the same—as if there was no reason to hurry, like he could do it all day.

  But Lauren had been waiting a long time and she wasn’t going to settle just for kisses. She reached down and fumbled with his buttons, trying to keep her lips to his as she worked on ridding him of his clothes. When she’d succeeded she tucked her fingers beneath the waistband of his boxers and pushed them down.

  “What’s the hurry?” he asked, sounding amused as he murmured against her skin, stepping out of his underwear.

  She looked him up then down, seeing exactly how much he wanted her. Tanner’s smile told her he knew exactly how impressive his package was, and when he slipped his hand under her dress and slid her panties down, she didn’t try to stop him.

  A ripple of pleasure surged through her and she knew how silly she’d been to worry. She might not have been intimate with a man for a while, but her body knew exactly what to do and everything about Tanner was pushing her to the edge. She wanted him and she wanted him now!

  “Do you have any protection?” she asked.

  “Shit, no,” he swore, looking panicked when he stared down at her. “But I’m clear. I had an STD test when I was in the hospital.”

  “I’m on the pill.” She hesitated, not about to elaborate and tell him that pregnancy wasn’t actually something that was likely to happen anyway. “We’ve got nothing to worry about.”

  His fingers dug into her thigh as he tugged her forward, his mouth finding hers again, and Lauren sucked on his bottom lip as she wriggled all the way forward, one hand on Tanner’s shoulder and the other bracing herself from behind. She slid down onto him, making him groan, neck arching back in ecstasy.

  “Geez, Lauren,” he whispered, “you want this to be over in two seconds?”

  She laughed and matched his thrust, loving the feel of him, wrapping her legs tight around him. “We’ve got all night, don’t we?”

  Tanner made a low growl in his throat and thrust harder, making her moan as she clung on to him. If she was hurting him he never said, although maybe he couldn’t feel the pain through the pleasure.

  “Lauren,” he murmured, and she dug her fingers into his butt, forcing him forward, pleasuring herself against him as he thrust forward.

  * * *

  Tanner grit his teeth, trying to hold back. Damn her! The little vixen had taken him by surprise, and he would have put an end to it, would have insisted on slowing things down, but the pleasure on her face was abundantly clear. He refused the urge to shut his eyes as waves of pleasure pulsed through him—he wanted to see her. Who would have thought he’d be butt naked in a bathroom in Fiji with Lauren goddamn Lewis.

  “Harder,” she mumbled, biting into his shoulder as she tightened her grip around him, legs wrapped tight around his torso.

  “No,” he ground out, refusing to give in when he was so close to climaxing. He pulled back and sucked in deep breaths, wishing to hell they’d put the air-conditioning on before they’d gone out to combat the humid air. “Bedroom, now,” he ordered, pointing to his bed through the open door. His ankle protested when he turned and stretched, but not before Lauren noticed that something was wrong.

  “Crap, did I hurt you?”

  “You haven’t broken me yet, sweetheart,” he said, slapping her on the backside and laughing as she ran ahead and flopped down on the bed. He stalked after her, not giving a damn about any pain in his body as he looked at naked Lauren lying so invitingly on the bed. Her hair was all around her as she lay on her back, full breasts sending him wild, but with her knees still together. She parted them, only just, and he roughly pushed one leg down and dropped to his knees.

  His hip hurt then, grinding as he bent to kiss Lauren, and he rolled to his side instead, arms wrapped around her and taking her with him.

  “I did break you,” she whispered, looking worried.

  “I’m not broken,” he replied, reaching up and stroking her long hair as it fell forward, toward him. “I just need you to do all the work for a bit.”

  She leaned down and kissed him, slowly, teasing him with her tongue. “Sounds good to me.”

  Tanner placed his hands on Lauren’s lips as she eased down onto him and rocked back and forth, her long hair teasing across his chest, like a feather tickling his skin. She threw her head back and her hair went over her shoulders, brushing his thighs when she leaned back.

  She moved faster and he lifted one hand to cup her breast, loving the heaviness in his palm as she leaned forward a little, her eyes opening and fixing on his. Lauren stared at him as she pleasured herself, and he smiled up at her, wondering how he’d ended up with her in charge when the nights were supposed to be his. But he wasn’t about to complain, because this was turning out to be the perfect kind of night, regardless of who was in charge. And best of all it wasn’t making his injuries flare up—he could enjoy every second of it.

  “Tanner,” she whispered, stopping and moving down, her hands landing on either side of his head as she skimmed her lips to his. He kissed her back, not noticing the wet of her lashes against his cheek immediately. It wasn’t until she sat back up that he realized there were tears in her eyes.

  The moment passed and Lauren was arched back again. He ran his hands down her back, fingers pressed to her butt to make her move faster, and the more he watched her, the more he fixed his eyes on this gorgeous creature sitting astride him, the closer he got to the edge.

  “Lauren,” he cautioned, about to tell her to stop, that he wanted to last longer.

  Her smile was wicked as she placed a hand flat to his chest and refused to slow down. She pushed him to the edge and he gave in, as likely to stop his climax from shuddering through him as he would have been able to stop a storm from swirling through the sky.

  She stayed on top of him, rocking more slowly, eyes still shut as she basked in what he hoped was the same level of pleasure that he’d just experienced.

  “That was amazing,” she whispered as she collapsed down on top of him, elbows bracing her as she stared down into his eyes then rolled over.

  Tanner propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at her; at her flushed cheeks and the relaxed way she had one arm flung above her head, hair all mussed up and covering the pillow.

  “I’ve waited a long time for that,” he said, grinning when she play-punched his arm.

  “I’m exhausted,” she mumbled, rolling over and snuggling into him. “Can I lie here for a minute? I just…” Her voice trailed off and Tanner lay back down, letting her tuck in against his chest. He shut his eyes and wondered what the hell he was doing, in bed with the woman who’d caused him so much damn grief.

  Exhaustion settled in—from their training, from the mental fatigue of trying to push his body, and from the sex. Hell, it had been good sex. He smiled as he drifted off, deciding to rest for just a minute before getting up to take the turmeric tablets Lauren was so darn insistent he swallow morning and night.

  Chapter 13

  LAUREN yawned as she woke, stretching her arm out and slowly opening her eyes. She was so warm and cozy, the bed so comfortable and … She gasped, realizing she was tucked up to Tanner’s warm chest. How had she ended up spending the night in his arms?

  She wriggled a little, but his arm tucked tighter around her. So much for sex only—she’d snuggled into him for the night like he was still the love of her life, not her summer fling.

  “Morning.”


  Lauren looked up at the deep, husky voice and into Tanner’s eyes as he blinked and yawned, his thumb brushing her shoulder.

  “Morning,” she murmured back.

  Tanner stretched his arms up and she took the chance to scoot over a little, turning onto her stomach so her breasts were pushed into the bed. She tucked the pillow up tight to her chest as she looked over at him.

  “So much for a quick rest,” he said, laughing and reaching out for her.

  Lauren froze at his touch, not sure what to do as he ran his fingers down her hair, still staring at her. When she’d locked herself in the bathroom the night before, it had been because she wasn’t sure what to do, what all this meant, whether she’d be able to follow through with her flirtations. Well, she’d sure as hell managed the follow-through part okay, but she was feeling in need of that paper bag to breathe into again about now.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stay in here all night, I just…”

  He gave her a weird look. “Are we okay? You look worried.”

  She sighed when he reached for her, fingers on her shoulder, tugging her toward him. “I don’t know what the rules are with this kind of thing. I mean, is this okay?”

  His laughter was gruffer this time and he leaned in and claimed a kiss. “No idea, but we’re the one writing the rules, so who gives a damn?”

  His lips were as warm and soft as the bed sheets wrapped around her, cocooning her and making her forget everything else. She kissed him back, still keeping the pillow tucked to her breasts as a familiar flutter in her stomach told her she still wanted Tanner just as bad this morning as she had the night before.

  “Oh shit, we’d better stop,” he said, pushing her back a little.

  “Why, did I hurt you again?” she asked. “I’m the worst therapist around!”

  The humor in his gaze made her glare at him. “What?”

  “It’s just that I thought day time was for workouts and training. Not my PT taking advantage of me in the bedroom.”

  Lauren swatted at him, but he caught her wrist and placed a kiss to the inside of her palm.