“But—”
“Shhh.” He placed a lingering kiss inches from his ultimate destination. “Let me love you.”
She groaned. “Okay! Just don’t forget you have to leave.”
“I won’t. I promise.” And he bestowed the most intimate kiss of all. She surrendered with such joyful abandon that he instantly regretted that promise.
Oh, this was going to be good. He savored the taste of passion on his tongue as he explored her slick heat. When she began to moan and thrash, he slid both hands under her hips. Holding her fast, he went deeper. Her body bowed and clenched until...yes. Amid the music of her wild cries, he drank the ambrosia of her climax.
The perfection of that moment helped him ignore the persistent throbbing of his cock and the painful tightening of his balls. But as her tremors subsided, he couldn’t ignore the ache any longer. He’d take her once more, just once, and then he’d go.
He moved away slowly with soft kisses and light caresses and climbed out of bed.
She struggled for breath. “Are you leaving?”
“Not yet.” He opened the bedside table drawer and took out one of the loose condoms. In the flickering light from the candles he glanced at the little clock sitting there. There was still time to do this right.
Tearing open the packet, he rolled on the condom.
“You’re beautiful.”
He glanced toward the bed. She’d settled on her side and her gaze was fastened on his package. Sliding back in beside her, he cupped her face and looked into her eyes. “No, you’re beautiful. I’m just functional.”
She smiled. “Are you planning to demonstrate that functionality any time soon?”
“I thought I would, but first, let’s undo this. I didn’t get around to that before.” He reached for the clasp of her bra and flicked it open.
“I enjoyed what you did get around to.”
“I hope so.” Looking into her eyes, he pushed her bra aside and stroked her warm breast. “I’m hoping you enjoy the next part, too.”
“I already am.” Her voice was a soft purr of contentment. “You’re very good with your hands, Mr. Slater.”
He cupped her fullness and squeezed gently as he brushed his thumb over her nipple. “I could touch you like this for hours.”
“This weekend.”
“Count on it.” He urged her to her back and moved over her. “I’ll be here.” Holding her gaze, he sought her entrance with his cock and slid effortlessly into her welcoming heat. “Right here.” Home. He hadn’t imagined the feeling last night. Nothing had ever felt so perfect.
Grasping his hips, she lifted up, cinching them in tighter. “I’ll be thinking about that all week.”
“Good.” He eased back and pushed home again as he watched her eyes darken. “Think about how it feels when I bury myself deep inside you like this.” He drew away and thrust forward. “And this.” Pumping slowly, he leaned down and grazed her lips with his. “Think about how you quiver and tighten around my cock.”
She moaned and held on as he increased the pace.
“Think about how my tongue feels when my head is between your thighs.” He lowered his mouth to hers and mimicked the steady movement of his hips with his tongue. He felt the quickening deep inside, the first twitch of her orgasm.
His climax hovered near, but he clamped down on the impulse. He could wait. Oh, yes, he could wait, knowing that she was almost there. He lifted his head and pumped faster. “Come for me.”
“Yes...” She gasped.
“That’s it. Let go.”
“Oh, Ty... Ty.”
He gritted his teeth as the waves of her orgasm rolled over his rigid cock. He wouldn’t come, not yet. He knew what he wanted, thought they could achieve it. Gradually her spasms eased. Drawing back, he pushed in again.
Her body vibrated in reaction. Good sign.
“You’re going to come again,” he murmured, gazing down at her.
She sucked in a breath and nodded.
“I’ll be with you this time.” Watching her eyes, he began to thrust with more force. Right on cue she shuddered and began to tighten and pulse in that lovely way that told him she was heading for another climax.
He responded with firm, steady strokes, building the tension as color bloomed in her cheeks and her eyes darkened. Her breasts quivered as she gasped for breath. And then he felt something change, as if she’d opened to him and he could touch her very core.
The blood sang in his veins. This, this was the ultimate connection. He drove in over and over, glorying in each moment he returned to that haven.
She trembled, poised on the edge, so close...there. She cried out. With a roar of triumph he plunged into her again and they both came, swirling in the wild release together, clinging to each other and gasping for breath.
Her face became a blur as his eyes lost focus. Then gradually, as he stopped shaking, his gaze found hers. She looked as dazzled as he felt. For a while they just stared at each other.
Finally she took a ragged breath. “Okay, I’ll go first. Are you an alien from outer space?”
He laughed. Whatever he’d expected her to say, it hadn’t been that. “Why do you ask?”
“See?” She smiled. “You must be or you would have denied it right away.”
“I’m not an alien from outer space. I’m a lawyer from Cheyenne.”
“Sorry, but I don’t believe you. The sex just keeps getting better and it was amazing to start with. I may not be the most experienced girl, but I’ve had a couple of decently equipped boyfriends with good skills. You just blew them right out of the water.”
“Yeah?” He couldn’t help grinning. “That’s great to hear.”
“Well, I think you’re an alien. That’s the only thing that explains all these incredible orgasms. Feels as if you’ve burrowed deep into my psyche. Like we have some cosmic connection when you’re inside me, especially this last time when we came at the same time.”
He took a deep breath. “I feel that way, too. And it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not like we’ve known each other for years, or even for months. We saw each other a couple of times a week at the coffee shop.”
“So what’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. “I guess we can think about it for the next few days. Right now I have to go. I promised.”
She glanced over at the clock. “Yikes. Yes, you do. At least it’ll be clear tonight. I checked the weather report. No more snow for at least a few days.”
“I checked it, too.” He left the sweet warmth of her body. “Next storm’s due around Friday.”
“Maybe it won’t hit then, or at least not until after you get here.”
“That’s my hope.” He left her bedroom with its romantic candles and cozy bed fragrant with sex. Much as he didn’t want to leave, maybe he needed some time alone to think this through. He was getting in deep, and damned fast, too.
After disposing of the condom, he went back to grab his clothes. She’d put on a robe and was picking up his stuff from the floor where he’d dropped it.
“Here, I can do that.” He scooped his jeans up along with his briefs.
“I don’t want you to be any later than you already are.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Whitney, I wanted to be with you tonight. I’d even go so far as to say I was frantic to be with you tonight.” As he said it, he felt a little uneasy because it was true.
She gazed up at him. “That bothers you, doesn’t it?”
“Um...”
“It does, I can tell. I’m a little freaked out by how well we mesh, too. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but what if we take a rain check on this weekend and plan on the weekend after that? That’ll give us both a chance to get our bearings.”
It was a sensible idea but he had trouble being sensible when they were both naked. “Let me get dressed. I think better when I’m dressed.”
“We probably both do.” Stepp
ing back, she folded her arms. “That’s why this is a good idea. You tried to put the brakes on in the beginning, remember? You wanted us to get acquainted before we got horizontal.”
“Which we did, sort of.” He pulled on his briefs and then his jeans.
“Maybe if we’d ended up spending the night in my apartment like we planned, we wouldn’t have fallen into this scarcity mode where we’re scrambling to be alone.”
He located his shirt and shoved his arms into the sleeves. “All the more reason to spend a whole weekend together and get over that.”
“I’m not so sure. We set it up so that we’re hiding out from everybody. That makes it like a lost weekend, as if we have to spend every available minute in bed.”
He chuckled as he tucked his shirt into his jeans. “That’s pretty much how I envisioned it.”
“But it’s sort of clandestine, as if what we’re doing is forbidden, and you know what they say about forbidden fruit.”
“I think I’ve heard that a time or two.” Leaning against the dresser, he pulled on his socks and his boots.
“Then here’s what I think would be better. We skip next weekend to have some breathing room. Then the following weekend you drive up but let Rosie and Herb know. You stay at the ranch the first night and I drive out for dinner. Then maybe the second night you come to my place, but we don’t make it a secret. I don’t think you’d really be comfortable coming to town without telling Rosie and Herb.”
“Maybe not.” He snapped the cuffs on his shirt. “But just know that Rosie’s a true romantic and wants her boys paired up”
“All the more reason for us to slow down. If I read her right, if she found out we’d secretly spent the weekend together, she’d be planning the wedding.”
Ty gazed at her and sighed. “I can’t deny it. And she would find out. She’s like a bloodhound that way. Good luck ever keeping a secret from Rosie.”
“Neither one of us is ready for that kind of matchmaking pressure.”
“No.”
“So it’s settled, then? You’ll plan a trip to Sheridan in two weeks and we’ll get together then? That will telegraph to Rosie—and ourselves—that we’re easing into this relationship instead of leaping into it.”
He looked at her standing there in her fluffy red robe, her hair tousled from making love, her lips rosy from kissing and her eyes sparkling from all those orgasms. What she’d said was absolutely the right course of action but... “I want to be with you next weekend. I want to hold you, and kiss you, and—”
“I know.” She swallowed. “I want you, too. But if we really do have something special going on, we should allow it to develop slowly over time. Red-hot affairs burn out. At least that’s what I’ve heard.”
“Okay.” He rubbed the back of his neck and wondered if he’d unconsciously counted on having a red-hot affair that burned out quickly. It would be less likely to detonate any land mines than a prolonged relationship. “I’d love to see you next weekend, but okay.”
“The time will go fast.”
With a groan he eliminated the space between them and pulled her into his arms. “It’ll go agonizingly slow and you know it.” Capturing her mouth, he vented every ounce of his frustration in the heat of his goodbye kiss. And because he knew she was naked under the robe, he loosened the tie and stroked her breast until she pushed him away, gasping for air.
“Get out of here, cowboy, before I drag you back to bed.”
If he hadn’t promised, he would have let her do it. But he was a man of his word. “See you in two weeks.”
He made it outside in record time and when the cold hit his overheated body he groaned. Maybe he’d needed that blast of icy air the same way people needed a hard slap. Time to face reality.
On the drive back to Cheyenne he admitted that when it came to Whitney, he was confused. He didn’t know whether to jump in with both feet and hope for the best or run like hell from emotions that kept him off-balance. This cooling-off period that he’d fought against might be exactly what he needed.
Naive as it might have been, he’d always imagined that someday he’d meet a woman who was perfect for him and they’d live happily ever after. That someday was now and Whitney was the one. He’d probably known that the first time she’d filled his coffee order. He should be ecstatic that he’d found—as Rosie would put it—the love of his life.
And on one level he was. Their shared pleasure was effortless and magical. She obviously loved being naked with him and he loved being naked with her...physically. But he had a bad feeling that eventually she’d expect him to be naked emotionally, too. And that terrified him.
He simply wasn’t capable of that kind of soul-baring intimacy, not even for someone as terrific as Whitney. Maybe if the sex was good enough and their time together was filled with laughter and easy companionship, she wouldn’t ask to see into the dark recesses of his psyche. That wasn’t a particularly solid plan, but the alternative was giving her up and he couldn’t do it.
13
TY HAD BEEN absolutely right. The two weeks away from each other were endless. Whitney couldn’t say she’d had much insight into their situation during that time, either. But she did find it interesting that at first he’d wanted to slow down and then she had.
Maybe they both realized this wasn’t an ordinary love affair. Their passion for each other was explosive, not to mention the underlying deep connection they both felt when they were locked together. That kind of emotional power should be handled with care so they didn’t blow each other to smithereens.
Still, she missed him terribly. When she thought of his kiss, his touch and his beautiful body—and she thought of all those things on a regular basis—she ached for him.
Because she was resourceful when it came to beating the blues, she filled her spare time buying Christmas presents for her family, including something for the Secret Santa exchange they did every year. Then she contacted Phil to set up a time to tour Thunder Mountain Academy.
They played phone tag and didn’t find a time to get together until Thursday afternoon, the day before Ty was scheduled to drive back up from Cheyenne. That was just as well. She and Ty had managed a few phone conversations, but they always seemed to deteriorate into suggestive comments that created even more frustration.
When she had a little more than twenty-four hours before his ETA, any distraction was welcome. She met Phil at the ranch house, and Rosie joined them. As they walked from the house to the meadow where the cabins were located, Whitney glanced up at the sky and the gray clouds moving in.
“Don’t worry,” Rosie said. “This’ll blow through. I checked the weather this morning. Ty will make it up here, no problem.”
“I’m sure he will.” Whitney didn’t believe in buying trouble, but she’d lived in Wyoming all her life. Those looked like snow clouds. She’d been watching the forecast all week and what Rosie had said was correct according to the weather gurus. She hoped they were right because she was desperate to see that cowboy.
They toured the rec room first, the most recent addition to the meadow. The heat was turned way down in all the buildings to conserve energy so they all left their coats on.
“Damon should really be here for this part because the rec room is his baby,” Phil said. “But he made a quick run to Billings today. A guy’s selling a barely used table saw and Damon thinks we need a replacement for the one we have. The guy does love his tools.”
Whitney glanced around the mostly empty room. “This place is huge!”
“It seems that way now,” Rosie said, “but wait until we get a bunch of teenagers in it. We’ve ordered a second pool table that should arrive any time, plus tables and chairs for meals, but it’ll also double as a classroom.”
“I can’t wait,” Phil said. “I just know they’re going to love being at the ranch.”
“I’ll bet they will.” Whitney had no trouble imagining it. “A small group of kids around the same age, all focused on a subject
they’re really interested in—what could be better for learning? It’s like Hogwarts for horse lovers.”
Phil laughed. “That’s a perfect description. I’ll remember that when I’m talking to people about it. No magic spells or incantations, but if you’re a kid who loves horses, this place will be magical.”
“It will.” Whitney gazed around the empty room and pictured it with classes in progress. “I have a cousin who would eat this up with a spoon. I’m not sure my aunt and uncle can afford it, though.”
“We’re looking into getting sponsors to donate scholarships,” Rosie said. “Boot and hat companies are on our list. We’ve had interest from feed companies, too. Ben Radcliffe’s doing so well with his saddle business he’s thinking of offering one scholarship per semester. Is your cousin a good student?”
“Oh, yeah, Dee Ann’s amazing. Honor student, into all kinds of school activities, loves horses. I’ll mention it privately to my aunt and uncle and let them know scholarships might be a possibility. A semester here would be an incredible opportunity for her.”
“She sounds like exactly the kind of young woman we want to enroll in the program,” Phil said. “Come on. Let’s go see the cabins. Then you’ll get even more excited.”
Phil’s enthusiasm was catching. Instead of simply looking around one of the cabins, Whitney climbed into a loft bed to check out the room from that angle.
“Good idea. I’ve wanted to do that ever since they were built.” Rosie took the one across from Whitney.
“They really are fun.” Phil claimed the bed next to Rosie’s and sat there swinging her feet. “I don’t think you ever outgrow your love of the top bunk.”
Whitney flopped onto the bare mattress. “Takes me back to my slumber party days, only the setting wasn’t as awesome as this. My sister and I—” She caught herself. She hadn’t meant to mention Selena to anyone in Sheridan, but maybe it was time to start. This might be as good a place as any.
“I didn’t realize you have a sister,” Phil said. “Does she live in Cheyenne?”
Propping herself up on her elbow, Whitney looked over at Phil. She wanted to be able to assure her new friend that the question and the necessary answer wouldn’t cause a problem. “Selena died in a car accident when we were sixteen. We were twins.”
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