by Tina Leonard
He hardly dared to hope.
Until she walked to him, leaned up on her toes, and pressed her lips against his.
And then he allowed himself to hope.
Chapter Nine
The first thing Creed noticed about Aberdeen was that she was a serious kisser. There was no shyness, no holding back. When he pulled her close and tight, she melted against him.
That was just the way he wanted her. Yet Creed told himself to go slow, be patient. She’d been married to quite the dunderhead; Creed wanted to come off suave, polished. Worthy of her. He would never get his fill of her lips, he decided, knowing at once that Cupid’s arrow had shot him straight through.
She only pulled back from him once, and stared up into his eyes. “Are you sure about this?”
He gulped. That was usually the man’s question, wasn’t it? And here she was asking him like he was some shy lad about to lose his virginity. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“Then lock the door, cowboy. Bar’s closed for the rest of the day. And night.”
He hurriedly complied, and then she took his hand, leading him upstairs. Creed’s heart was banging against his ribs; his blood pressure was through the roof. Let this be real, and not that horny dream I’d promised myself. When Aberdeen locked the bedroom door behind them, he knew he was the luckiest man on earth. “Come here,” he told her, “let me kiss you.”
If he had the whole night, then he was going to kiss her for hours. He took her chin gently between his palms, his lips meeting hers, molding against her mouth. She moaned and he was happy to hear that feminine signal, so he turned up the heat a notch. She surprised him by eagerly undoing his shirt buttons, never taking her lips from his until she had his shirt completely undone. Then she pulled away for just a moment, her hands slipping his shirt off, her gaze roaming over his chest, her hands greedily feeling the tight muscles of his stomach and the knotted cords of his shoulders.
She looked as though she was starving for love and affection. He’d never made love to a preacher lady, but he’d figured she would have all kinds of hang-ups and maybe a go-slow button. Aberdeen acted as if he was some kind of dessert she’d promised herself after a month-long fast. And he didn’t want to get drawn in to any lingering firefight between her and Re-ride, if that was what was going on here. He caught her hands between his, pressing a kiss to her palms. “Aberdeen, is everything all right?”
She nodded up at him, her eyes huge. “Yes.”
“You’re sure you want this?”
She nodded again. “Yes, I do, and if you don’t quit being so slow, I’m going to be forced to drag you into my bed, Creed.”
Well, that was it. A man could only play the fire-fighter so long when he really wanted to be the raging fire. So he picked her up and carried her to her white bed, laying her gently down into the softness. Slowly, he took off her sandals, massaging each delicate ankle. He unbuttoned her sundress, every white button down the front of the blue fabric, patiently, though it seemed to take a year and he wasn’t certain why a woman needed so many buttons. He kissed her neck, keeping her still against the bed, his shoulders arched over her body, and still she kept pulling him toward her. In fact, she was trying to get his jeans off, and doing a better job of it than he was doing with the dress, but Creed was determined to have her out of her clothes first and lavish on her the attention he’d been so hungry to give her. Slipping the dress to the floor, he moved Aberdeen’s hands to her side and murmured, “Don’t worry. I’m going to take good care of you,” and she sighed as though a ton of burdens had just slid off her. He slipped off her bra, delighted by the tiny freckles on her breasts, which, he noticed, happened to match the same sprinkles on her thighs. He took his time kissing each freckle, then slowly slipped a nipple into his mouth, tweaking the other with his hand. She moaned and arched against him, but he pressed her against the sheets again, keeping her right where he wanted her.
“Slow,” Creed murmured against Aberdeen’s mouth. “I’m going to take you very slowly.”
She tried to pull him toward her, but there wasn’t any way he was going to be rushed. He captured her hands in one of his, keeping them over her head so he could suck on her nipples, lick her breasts, tease her into readiness. Every inch of her was a treasure he’d been denied for so long; he just wanted to explore everything, leave nothing behind. She was twisting against him, her passion growing, and he liked knowing that she was a buttoned-up lady for everyone else but him. He let her hands go free so that he could cup a breast with one hand, shucking his boots with the other, and then started the heavenly trail down her stomach.
There were cute freckles there, too. Aberdeen gasped, her fingers tangling in his hair. He could feel her control completely slipping, which was the way he wanted her, wild with passion. Looping his fingers in the sides of her panties, he pulled them down, bit by bit revealing the hidden treasure.
And there was nothing he could do once he saw all of Aberdeen’s beauty but kiss her in her most feminine place. She went still, surprised, he thought, but he had more surprises in store for her. She was too feminine to resist, and he’d waited too long. Her body seemed made for his; she felt right, she fitted him, and he couldn’t stand it any longer. He slipped his tongue inside her—and Aberdeen cried out. He spread her legs apart, moving to kiss those pin-sized freckles on her thighs, but she buried her hands in his hair again, and it sure seemed like begging to him, so Creed obliged. He kissed her, and licked her, holding her back, knowing just how close he could get her before she exploded, and then, knowing she was too ladylike to beg—next time, he’d make sure he got her to totally let go—he put a finger inside her, massaging her while he teased her with his tongue.
Aberdeen practically came apart in his hands.
“Creed!” she cried, pulling at him desperately, and he fished a condom out of his wallet, putting it on in record time. Holding her tightly, he murmured, “Hang on,” and kissing her, slid inside her.
She felt like heaven. This was heaven. “If I do this every day for the rest of my life, it won’t be enough,” he whispered against her neck, and when Aberdeen stiffened in his arms, he moved inside her, tantalizing her, keeping her on edge. She was holding back in spirit, in her heart, but as Creed brought her to a crying-out-loud climax, he kissed her, thinking she had no clue that she couldn’t run him off as easily as she’d run off Re-ride. He just wasn’t that kind of shallow.
“Aberdeen,” he murmured, his mind clouding, nature taking over his body. He’d only pleasured her twice, but he couldn’t stand it any longer. He rode her into the sheets, the pressure commanding him to possess her, never give her up, take her to be his. She cried out, grabbing his shoulders, locking her legs around him, crying his name, surrendering this much passion, he knew, against her will. When he came, he slumped against her, breathing great gulps of air, and murmured her name again. It was engraved in his heart.
Aberdeen just didn’t know that yet. She’d be hard to convince. She’d have a thousand reasons why they couldn’t be together.
But if he knew anything at all, if he understood one thing about his destiny, it was that Aberdeen Donovan was meant to be his by the glorious hand of Fate.
And he was damned grateful.
ABERDEEN LAY UNDERNEATH Creed practically in shock. Never in her life had she experienced anything like that. She hadn’t even known making love could be such…so much fun, for one thing. If you could call that fun. She felt as if she’d had her soul sucked from her and put back better.
She wiggled, trying to see if he had fallen asleep on her. Her eyes went wide. Was he getting hard again? It certainly felt like he was. He was the hardest man she’d ever felt, like steel that possessed her magically. All she had for comparison was Re-ride, and that wasn’t much of a comparison. Aberdeen bit her lip as that thought flew right out of her brain. Creed was getting hard inside her again! She’d figured he’d want her once and go on his way, the way her ex had—
and then she’d pack the things she needed and head to Montana.
He wouldn’t miss her—he wasn’t that kind of guy. He probably had women in every town. So she hadn’t felt too guilty about seducing him. She’d just wanted a little pleasure, something for herself, an answer to the question she’d had ever since she’d seen his admiration for her burning in his navy gaze. He was too good-looking and too much of a rascal—a bad boy a woman fantasized about—for her not to want the question answered. She wasn’t an angel. And right now she was glad of that, because he was hard, and he wanted her, and even if she hadn’t planned on making love to Creed twice, she wasn’t about to say no.
Not after the pleasure he’d just given her.
He looked deep into her eyes, not saying a word. She didn’t know what to say to him. He made all the words she ever thought she might say just dry up. He made a lazy circle around one of her breasts, and she could feel him getting even harder inside her. He kissed her lips, sweetly and slowly, and Aberdeen’s breath caught somewhere inside her chest.
To her surprise, he rolled her over on her stomach, and she went, trusting him. He reached for another condom, and kissed her shoulders, as if he wanted to calm her, soothe her. So she waited with held breath as he kissed down her spine, finding points which seemed to intrigue him. He kissed her bottom reverently, took a nip here and there, licked the curve of her hips.
And then the hardness filled her again as he slid inside her. She tried not to cry out, but oh, she couldn’t stop herself. He held her gently, not demanding, not passionate and eager as he’d been before, and he rocked her against him, filling her with him. He tweaked a breast, rolling it between his fingers as he kissed her neck, and she couldn’t stop her body from arching back against him. She didn’t know exactly what she wanted, but when he put a hand between her legs, teasing her, the combination of steel and gentle teasing sent her over the edge again. “Creed,” she said on a gasp, and he said, “Say it again,” against her neck, and she obeyed him as he drove her to another climax. And when she said his name a third time—she heard herself scream it—he pounded inside her, taking her until his arms tightened around her and his body collapsed against hers.
But still he didn’t let her go.
And now, she didn’t want him to.
WHEN ABERDEEN AWAKENED, Creed wasn’t in her bed. She rose, glancing around the room, listening.
There was nothing to hear.
He’d left. He’d gone back to New Mexico. Her heart racing, Aberdeen crawled from the sheets, sore in places she couldn’t remember being sore before. And yet it felt good, a reminder of the passion she’d finally experienced.
No wonder the Callahans were famous. She peeked out the window, but his truck was gone. Her heart sank, though she’d expected him to head off. Men like Creed didn’t hang around. Hadn’t she learned that from Shawn? Oh, he’d come back in the end, but he hadn’t really wanted her. She’d figured that out quick enough when Shawn proposed to her.
She’d told him she had custody of her nieces, and he’d told her he didn’t want to be a father. That had inflamed her, and she’d told Shawn that if he didn’t get out of her room, out of her house, she’d set Creed on him.
Those were the magic words. Her ex had run as though devils were on his tail.
Aberdeen got into the shower, thinking she had a lot to be grateful to the Callahan cowboy for. She’d known there was no future for the two of them—there were too many differences in their lives—but still, she wished he’d said goodbye.
She took a long shower, letting the hot water calm her mind. She didn’t want to think about her nieces at the moment, or custody, or cowboys she couldn’t have. Raspberry body wash—her favorite—washed all the negative thoughts away, and she grabbed a white towel to wrap around her body and began to dry her hair. If she hurried, she could leave in an hour. She’d close up the bar, put on the security alarm, and drive to the next phase in her life. She doubted she’d ever see Creed again. A tiny splinter of her heart broke off, and she told herself she was being silly. Just because she’d slept with him, that didn’t mean they could be anything to each other. But still, she’d started to think of him as someone in her life—
She heard the door downstairs open and close. Her pulse jumped. Creed had left, but surely he’d locked the door. She’d seen the closed sign in the window when they’d come home.
Boots sounded on the stairs. Aberdeen froze, holding her towel tightly around her. She could hardly hear for the blood pulsing in her ears.
When Creed walked into the room, her breath didn’t release, as it should have, with relief. If anything, she was even more nervous. “I thought you’d gone.”
He smiled at her. He’d showered, but he must have used Johnny’s room, which made sense. His longish hair was slightly wet at the ends. His dark-blue eyes crinkled at the sides.
“Did you dress for me, Aberdeen?” he asked, his voice a teasing drawl.
Blush heated her face. She decided to brave this out. “As I said, I thought you’d gone.”
He nodded. “I didn’t want to wake you up when I went out. You were sleeping like a princess.”
Of course he was well aware he’d made her feel like a princess. Her defenses went up. “Why are you here?”
His gaze swept her toes, up her calves, considered the towel she clutched before returning to her face. He gave her a smile only a rogue would wear. “Do you want me to leave?”
She wanted him, and he knew it. He was toying with her. “I don’t know why I would want you here,” she said, “I’m leaving today, and I’m sure you have places to go.”
He took off his hat and laid it on her vanity. Her heart jumped inside her, betraying her inner feelings. “I do have places to go, things to do,” he agreed.
She didn’t trust the gleam in his eyes. Tugging the towel tighter against her, she lifted her chin. “Where did you go?”
“Out for a little while.”
He didn’t move closer, so Aberdeen felt on firm footing. “Did you come back to say goodbye? Because if you did, you can say it and go. No guilt.” She took a deep breath. “I know you have a long drive.”
He nodded. “I do.”
She waited, her heart in a knot, too shy suddenly to tell him she wished everything could be different—
“I didn’t come back to say goodbye,” he said, stepping toward her now. “You need breakfast before you leave, and I need you.”
She stood her ground as he came near, and when he reached out and took hold of the towel, she allowed him to take it from her body. He dropped it to the floor, his gaze roaming over her as if he’d never seen her body before. He seemed to like what he saw. He took her face in his hands, kissing her lips, her neck, and Aberdeen closed her eyes, letting her fingers wander into his hair as he moved to her stomach, kissing lower until he licked inside her, gently laving all the sore places until they felt healed and ready for him again. She moaned, her knees buckling, her legs parting for him, and when Creed took her back to her bed, laying her down, Aberdeen told herself that one more time enjoying this cowboy in her bed was something she deserved. She couldn’t have said no if her life had depended on it. He made her feel things she’d never felt before, and she wanted to feel those things again, and he knew it.
He took out a new box of condoms. Aberdeen watched him, wanting to say that he wasn’t going to need an entire new box since they both had places to be—but by the time he’d undressed and gotten into bed with her, murmuring sweet things against her stomach, telling her she was a goddess, Aberdeen slid her legs apart and begged him to come to her. And when Creed did, she held him as tightly as she could, rocking against him until she felt him get stronger and then come apart in her arms, which somehow felt better even than anything he’d done to her.
She was in heaven in his arms—and she didn’t want to be anywhere else.
Chapter Ten
Time seemed to stand still for Creed, suspended between what he wanted
and what was realistic. The sleeping woman he held in his arms was what he wanted. Realistically, winning her was going to be hard to achieve.
He had to give it everything in his power. There were a hundred reasons he could think of that Aberdeen had to be his—but convincing her would take some serious effort.
It would be worth it, if he could convince her.
He realized she was watching him. “Hello, beautiful,” he said, stroking her hair away from her face.
She lowered her lashes. He liked her a little on the shy side; he enjoyed tweaking her, too. She was so cute, tried so hard to be reserved, and then she was all eager and welcoming in bed. “I want you again,” he told her. “I don’t know how you have this spell on me.”
She stroked a hand over his chest. He kissed the tip of her nose, and then lightly bit it. She pinched his stomach, just a nip, and he grinned at her, giving her bottom a light spank. She jumped, her eyes wide, and he laughed, holding her tighter against him. “I could stay here with you for weeks, just making love to you. I don’t even have to eat.”
He would just consume her. He kissed her lips, taking his sweet time to enjoy that which he’d wanted for so long.
“I have to go, Creed,” Aberdeen said, “as much as I would love to stay here with you.”
He grunted, not about to let her go this moment. There was too much he still needed to know. “What happened to Re-ride? Why did he take off?”
She gazed at him, and Creed couldn’t resist the pain in her eyes, so he kissed her lips, willing her to forget the pain and think only of the pleasure he could give her.
“He got cold feet,” Aberdeen said.
“How cold?”
“Ice.” She looked at him. “Arctic.”
“He said he was going to marry you again.” Creed palmed her buttocks, holding her close against him so he could nuzzle her neck, feel her thighs against his. She slipped a thigh between his, and he nearly sighed with pleasure. She was so sweet, so accommodating. He really liked that about her.
