Slow Hand

by Victoria Vane

  “Care to narrow it down a little?”

  He pursed his mouth and then took a thoughtful sip of his beer. “Tell me why you despise cowboys.”

  “I don’t really,” Nikki finally confessed. “Truth is, men in hats and boots have always been a fatal attraction.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Fatal? Care to elaborate?”

  “Not particularly,” she said. “I already told you I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes.”

  “But you promised to answer my questions.”

  She sucked in a big breath and blew it out on a resign sigh. “You really wanna hear this?”

  “I do. I want to know what I’m dealing with.”

  “All right. The first one was named Donnie. He was a hotshot bronc rider I met at the Toccoa Rodeo. I was seventeen and moonstruck. He got me drunk and took my virginity in the back of his horse trailer. Not five minutes later, he asked me to blow his best friend while he watched. I refused and he dumped me for a more willing buckle-bunny.”

  “Ah,” he said. “I guess that explains your earlier concern about voyeurism.”

  “Yeah. I’m a bit gun-shy about stuff like that.”

  “And after Donnie?” he prompted her.

  “Unfortunately, my cowboy addiction didn’t end with him. After I left home, me and my girlfriends got into line dancing and started hitting the honky-tonks. We went to Wild Bill’s in Duluth every Friday night and the Electric Cowboy on Saturdays. ’Course you can guess the kinda guys I met at those places—a long string of drinkers, liars, cheaters—all of them wearing tight Wranglers, boots, and hats. The last one was the worst though—the one I thought I was going to marry.”

  “What happened?”

  “I caught him in bed with my roommate. I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t want to. I kicked them both out and they married six months later. The worst part of it wasn’t the boyfriend but losing my best friend since grade school. We’d always dreamed of being each other’s maids of honor one day. Needless to say, I didn’t get an invitation to their wedding—not that I would have gone,” she added dryly. “That was the last cowboy I dated.”

  “I’m sorry… Well, about the best friend, not about the fiancé,” he confessed.

  “Me too. It’s hard to get over a betrayal like that. So you see why I’ve sworn off cowboys?”

  Wade shook his head with a snort. “Hate to burst your bubble, sweetheart, but a Stetson and a pair of Tony Lamas doesn’t make a man a cowboy.”

  “I think maybe I’m starting to know the difference,” she said.

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “My turn now,” she said.

  Wade shrugged. “I’m an open book.”

  “So you claim, but somehow I doubt that.”

  “Try me, sweetheart.”

  “All right. There are several things I’d like to know.”

  “Oh yeah?” He poured her a second glass of wine.

  “For starters, is there a particular reason why you don’t drink?”

  His hand froze. His expression hardened. “Yeah…there’s a reason.”

  “Does it have anything to do with your brother?” She wanted to know him so badly, to understand him, but judging by his hardening expression, this was dangerous territory.

  His gaze narrowed. “Why would you ask that?”

  Nikki tried to affect an offhand manner. “Just something your mother said.”

  Wade stared up at the ceiling. “There’s a helluva lot of history behind our antagonism.”

  “Care to elaborate?”

  “Not particularly,” he echoed her earlier reply.

  “You’ve already broken the rules. I just answered half a dozen of your questions. You can’t expect me to lay out my history for your inspection without reciprocation. Doesn’t seem fair, Wade.”

  He inhaled and then released it with an exasperated sound. “Look, it’s nothing personal, Nikki. I’ll talk about anything else, but I’d rather forget that entire chapter of my life.”

  “And you think I enjoyed dredging up mine?” She looked away, picked up her glass, and drained it.

  They finished the meal in a strained silence. The dinner was excellent, much better than Nikki had expected. The Kobe beef accompanied by the Shiraz had been a particular delight to her taste buds, but now she could hardly taste it. She stared at her plate, idly pushing the food around.

  Leaning in close, Wade covered her hand with his. He said nothing for a moment, as if he waited to see if she’d snatch it away. When she didn’t, he brought her palm to his lips and kissed it.

  “I’m sorry, Nikki. Please understand I’m not trying to be secretive. I just didn’t expect any of this to come up tonight. Something happened four years ago that part of me is still dealing with, and I’m not ready to talk about it yet. Can you please try to understand that?”

  The pain in his eyes was unmistakable.

  Her resentment evaporated. “Yes,” she answered softly. “I can understand. There’s a number of things I’m trying to work out too. It’s part of the reason I came here—to figure things out.”

  “I promise you I’m trying real hard to work through it all.”

  “I’m sorry I pressed you.”

  “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. I’m the one who said I’d answer your questions and then reneged.”

  “Let’s just agree to let it go. I’m OK with that. Really,” she insisted.

  Wade moved to pour her another glass of wine.

  “I think I’ve had enough already.”

  “It’s a shame to waste a good wine.”

  “What? Are you thinking to have your wicked way with me?”

  “I was more hoping you’d want to have yours with me.” His answering look made her mouth go dry. “You devastate me, Nikki. Do you know that?”

  “Me?” She gave an incredulous laugh.

  “Yes. You. I haven’t wanted anyone this bad in a very long time. Hell…” He raked his hair with a self-deprecating laugh. “I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted anyone this bad.” His gaze slid down to her mouth while a half smile hovered over his. “I’m sitting here looking at you with my mind bursting with all the things I still want to do to you.”

  “Even after this afternoon?” She was growing flushed and it definitely wasn’t the wine.

  “This afternoon only whetted my appetite for more. Hell, if this table had a decent cover on it, I’d slide my hand up those sleek, smooth thighs of yours right here and now.”

  Nikki stifled a gasp and squeezed her thighs against the sudden warm gush.

  His mouth curved into a slow, knowing smile. “Am I making you wet? So easily, Nikki?”

  “Yes, damn you!” she hissed.

  He chuckled. “Then, darlin’, I’m making it my personal goal to have you squirming in your panties before the check comes.”

  “Oh really?” She arched a brow. “What if I’m not wearing any?”

  She noted his heavy swallow with a surge of satisfaction. “Are you sure you want to go there, Wade? I thought I’d already demonstrated that two can play these games.”

  “I’m up for it all right.” His grin stretched wide and sexy. “Bring it on, darlin’…gimme all you got.”

  Paula arrived a moment later with the check. Wade reached for his wallet, but Nikki stalled him. “You know, on second thought, I think I’d like some dessert.”

  “Anything in particular?” Paula asked.

  “Yes. I have a sudden craving for some fresh fruit. Do you have any peaches or nectarines perhaps? With cream.” She slanted Wade a sultry look. “I love nice, juicy peaches drowning in cream, don’t you, Wade?”

  His pupils flared. He wet his lips.

  “I’m so sorry,” Paula said, “but we don’t have peaches. Could I tempt you with someth
ing else? We have a luscious triple chocolate terrine or crème brûlée. We also have a mascarpone, dark chocolate, and hazelnut cannoli.”

  “Cannoli?” Nikki’s gaze darted to Wade. “You mean those wonderful Italian pastries that you eat with your fingers?”

  “Yes. These are excellent.”

  “Perfect.” Nikki smiled deviously.

  “Coffee with that?”

  “No, thank you. Just the cannoli.”

  “Oh no you don’t,” Wade murmured in warning the moment Paula departed.

  “Oh yes, Wade. I love cannoli. Especially if they’re big and long and so filled to bursting that they explode in your mouth.”

  His jaw twitched. “Stop. Just stop now or I’ll make you so sorry.”

  “No, I’m going to savor the hell out of my dessert. I’m going to lick and nibble all the chocolate off the outside, and then swish my tongue on the inside. And after that, I’ll suck out all the filling…and you’re going to watch me.”

  “The hell I will!” Leaping out of his chair, Wade threw a wad of bills on the table. He then jerked Nikki to her feet, hauling her out the front door before dessert ever arrived.

  * * *

  They’d barely made it to the car before he pinned her up against the passenger door. He dipped his head and groaned, “I told you I’d make you sorry.”

  She licked her lips with a shiver of excitement. “How?”

  “I’m going to make you whimper and beg, Nikki. I’m going to reduce you to a puddle of moist, hot mayhem.” His hand was already sliding up her dress and gliding over her thighs.

  “You can’t! We’re in the parking lot.” She protested on a gasp at the paradoxical softness of his calloused hands.

  He nuzzled her neck, lightly abrading her skin with his deliciously bristled jaw, his breath a heated caress against her skin. “It’s dark enough…and I’m blocking you from view. Hmm. I like these, Nikki. A lot.” He traced the lace band at the top of her stockings with his fingers. “Now I’m wondering…”

  She knew what he was thinking. Her remark about her lack of panties was meant to drive him wild. She hissed when he probed higher and dipped into her wetness with a grunt of deep satisfaction. But he didn’t stop there. He slid deeper, his fingers exploring her passage, his thumb slowly circling, swirling the wetness around her clit.

  He took her ear lobe between his teeth. “You’re going to sob for mercy, Nicole.”

  Dear God, we’re in a freaking parking lot!

  But he wasn’t about to let her off the hook. No indeed-y. Not after how brazenly she’d teased him. Her heart raced. His fingers plunged, working in and out of her sheath. Her breath came in short pants. Her legs felt like jelly. She clutched his shoulders for balance as her climax formed low in her belly, like a storm gaining momentum by the minute.

  “Please, Wade,” she whispered.

  “That wasn’t good enough, Nikki.” He swirled his hot tongue in her ear. “How about ‘pretty please with sugar on top’?”

  “Yes. Yes. With sugar on top,” she whimpered. He settled into a ruthless rhythm that was making her mind melt. “You have to stop this now.”

  “You want me to stop, darlin’? Maybe I wasn’t clear. I want you to beg me to make you come. Here and now. Then you’re going to straddle my lap and ride me cowgirl-style until we fog every damned window in that SUV.”

  His words were all it took to send her toppling over the edge. She buried her face in his chest until the ripples ceased. She watched on wobbly legs, growing more breathless at the dark glitter in his blue eyes as Wade prepared to make as good on his second promise as he had on the first. Opening the passenger door, he adjusted the seat all the way back. Then, instead of handing her up, he climbed inside and pulled her onto his lap.

  “Wouldn’t the backseat be easier?” she asked.

  “Not how I want you,” he growled, yanking her shoes off and throwing them over his shoulder. “I gave you yours, sweetheart. This one’s all mine. Turn around. Straddle me,” he commanded, his manner brusque, his actions almost rough as he guided her into the position he wanted—facing away from him.

  She heard the metallic slide of his zipper and then felt his hips rise and shift as he shoved his jeans down. She felt the release of his hard hot flesh as it sprang free, slapping her ass. She reached behind, eager to feel it in her hands, but he stopped her.

  “Hands on the dashboard, sweetheart. You’re gonna need it.”

  He reached under her dress, pushing it up over her hips and held it there, his big hands holding her firmly at the waist. He thrust into her. Hard. Deep. Giving her no time to catch her breath. The next seconds unfurled in a frantic and feral frenzy. Squeezing her waist and jerking her hips, Wade pounded mercilessly into her from behind, the slap of flesh filling the air even as Nikki’s gasps painted clouds all over the windshield. He climaxed fast and hard, his lungs emptying with a primal roar. She immediately followed, pulsing around him as he came in searing surges until they both slumped into the seat, still joined, but sedated and spent.

  It was raw, animalistic, and probably the hottest sex she’d ever known.

  Chapter 14

  After recovering sufficiently from their mutual post-climactic coma, they drove back to Sheridan. Nikki’s hand was on his thigh this time. His arm was curled around her shoulders and her head rested against his chest while a Josh Turner ballad played on the radio.

  Nikki shut her eyes, basking in his warmth, his generosity, and his strength. She still marveled at how Wade had been there for her ever since she’d arrived in Montana. She wasn’t used to having anyone stand up for her. But as a total stranger, he had come to her rescue when she desperately needed someone. In three short days, he’d managed to turn her world inside out and upside down; more than any man she’d ever known.

  She slanted him a sidelong look and found him gazing back at her, a soft smile stretching his mouth—a smile that enveloped her in its warm cocoon. He pulled her tighter against him. She nuzzled her face into his shirt just to breathe in his heady musky male scent. God, how she wished again that this could last forever—but she was leaving in a matter of days. The thought jarred her, shattering her serenity as effectively as his voice broke the silence.

  “There’s something weighing on me, Nikki. Something I think you deserve to know.”

  Shit! Damn it all to hell! She should have known he was too damned good to be true. Part of her had been waiting for just this moment. Her pulse roared in her ears as she waited for the other shoe to drop. “There’s someone else?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “It’s nothing like that, but there’s something that’s had me real messed up for a long time. I told you at dinner that I wasn’t ready to talk about it, but maybe it’s time to unload my own baggage. I don’t want to screw up again. It’s too important to me. You are too important to me.”

  His words made her heart skip. She waited in silence for him to continue.

  “I’ve been stuck in the past for almost four years, but I really want to get over it now. I want to move on and put it all behind me. You’ve made me want to do that, Nikki. Can you understand?”

  “I’m not sure I do.” Her gaze searched his face. “You wanna explain?”

  “There’s a lot more to the story I told you about my brother and me. There’s a shitload more.” He drew a breath, and then exhaled. “Damn, this is hard.”

  “Is it about Rachel? Your mother told me how she came between you and Dirk, but I still don’t understand how your rivalry over a high school sweetheart could destroy your relationship.”

  He hesitated again, his mouth firming. “She wasn’t just a girlfriend, Nikki. Rachel was my wife.”

  Nikki’s head reeled as if she’d been struck by a two-by-four. His confession just didn’t fit. It distorted everything she thought she knew about him. “Your wife?” she repea
ted once she found her voice again. “You were married?”

  “Yup. For three and a half years. I took up with her right after Dirk left for the Marines. We got engaged six months before he was scheduled to come home. I think I was afraid she’d dump me as soon as he returned so I married her.” He gave a bitter laugh. “I made the biggest goddamn mistake of my life at twenty-four years old—and we all three paid for it.”

  Nikki studied the planes of his face, grown harsh in the shadows. As hard as it was for her to hear all this it was much harder on him. “Did you love her?” she asked softly.

  “Thought I did, but it was really a mixed bag of infatuation and ego.”

  She was almost afraid to ask but still had to know. “What about her?”

  “She wanted him.”

  “So she only used you to get back at your brother?”

  “Damn right she did. She was hurt and resentful and wanted to hurt him back. I should have known better, maybe deep down I did, but dumb-ass that I was…I married her anyway.”

  “But if he left without any promises, did he really want her? Did he love her?” Nikki asked.

  He shook his head with a dry laugh. “That’s the million-dollar question.”

  “He didn’t try to stop it, did he?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “Not a word. I think that’s what Rae was secretly hoping for—that he’d show up and put an end to her and me, but he didn’t.”

  “So he didn’t come home for your wedding?”

  “No. When he heard the news he re-upped for another three years.” Wade stared straight ahead at the road. “And then got half his leg blown off in Afghanistan.”

  “I begin to understand the rift,” she said. “But it was his decision, Wade.”

  “But would it have happened if I hadn’t done what I did?”

  “You can’t know either way and it’s not worth torturing yourself over. So what happened after you and Rachel married?”

  “We lived in Denver for a couple of years until after I passed the bar. I was still clerking for Evans then—that’s Allie’s father,” he explained. “After that, I got a good job offer back East. I probably would have accepted it if the economy hadn’t taken a major nosedive. That was in 2008 when everything went to shit and the ranch had to turn most of the help loose. Dirk was still in Iraq and the ol’ man was on the verge of losing everything, so I came back home to do what I could. The marriage was already shaky before I started doing double duty, trying to get established in Bozeman while still helping at the ranch on the weekends. Maybe it could have worked out between us had we gone away, but family loyalty rooted me here.”