by Diana Palmer
Luke pulled Rocky to an abrupt halt. “Are you all right?”
“Just shaken up,” Maris said hoarsely. “What happened?”
“Blackie ran under Mother’s hooves. Scared her.”
Maris shivered. “Not as much as she scared me.” Luke was holding the reins with one hand and Maris with the other. His solid body and arms felt like sanctuary, and asking to be put down on the ground never entered her mind. “Thanks,” she whispered raggedly. “You’re very quick.”
“Quick in some things, slow in others,” he said with his lips sunk into her hair, which had the most arousing scent he’d ever encountered. His reply was a reference to his dull-witted refusal to go to college when he’d had the chance, though it was also a hint of how he would like to make love to her. “You’re not comfortable,” he said huskily. “Put your left leg over the saddle horn. We’ll head back.”
“Maybe I should ride behind you.” It was a sensible suggestion, arising from the recognition of the intimacy of their embrace. It was an embrace, make no mistake. His body cradled hers, and with her legs separated by the saddle horn she felt extremely vulnerable.
“Are you afraid of me, Maris?”
“No, of course not, but…”
Luke’s lips thinned slightly. “Maybe you should be. We’re getting closer to making love every hour that we spend together, and you have to know it as well as I do.” He clucked his tongue and got Rocky moving. “Say something, Maris.”
Her heart was beating like a jackhammer. “I…I’m not sure what to say. Do you really believe that?”
“Wholeheartedly,” Luke said, grim lipped.
“Have I said or done anything to give you that idea?”
“Yeah, you have. You’ve smelled sweet and looked beautiful. You’ve smiled and worked hard and treated Keith kindly. You’ve cooked my meals and washed my clothes. You’ve worried in front of me and worried even harder when you thought no one was looking. You don’t have the remotest understanding of how pretty you are, and you’ll turn sometimes, unexpectedly, and dazzle me with the beauty of your face and smile. And when I kissed you, you kissed me back. Yeah, you’ve said and done a lot to give me that idea.”
Maris gulped and whispered, “Not intentionally, Luke.”
“You’ve watched me working with the horses, Maris.”
“Only because I was interested in your methods.”
“You do most of your watching when I’m working without a shirt.” He transferred the reins from his right hand to his left, which was the arm supporting her back. Then he stopped Rocky and tipped Maris’s chin with his fingertips to look into her eyes. “I want you, lady, and you want me.”
She couldn’t move, merely sat there in his arms, on his lap, absorbing his maleness and declaration of intent. “I don’t know how to deal with you, Luke,” she whispered.
“Yes, you do.” His mouth brushed hers once, gently, then settled into a serious kiss. She felt hunger in that kiss, from him and within herself. Her own happiness, for which she had once held such high hopes, was only an old memory and seemed so far away as to have involved a woman other than herself. This was real and happening now. A man’s strong arms around her. His mouth moving on hers, molding it, urging it to open for his tongue. His scent, the feel of him.
Luke lifted his head. “See? You know exactly how to deal with me.” Before she could even think of a reply, let alone say it, he kissed her again. Somewhere within the maelstrom of wildly beating hearts, which she could hear, and labored breathing, another unique and sensual sound, and kisses, another and another, she was vaguely aware of Rocky moving, heading for home.
Regardless of the solidity and strength of the man holding her, Maris was becoming too dizzy to put much trust in her perch. She clutched at Luke’s arm and turned her head to break their kiss. “Please…let me get down. I have to get down, Luke.”
He readily grasped why she had made the request. Making love on the back of a moving horse was utterly ludicrous. Especially when the horse had been completely green no more than two weeks ago and still wasn’t all that certain about people climbing all over his back. Rocky was skittish and prancing sideways instead of honing in on a straight line for the ranch.
“Whoa,” Luke commanded the horse while pulling on the reins. “We’ll both get down and walk back. It’s not that far. I’m going to dismount first so I can help you down. Hang on to the saddle horn for a second.” Swinging his left leg over the horse’s rump, Luke slid to the ground. Because he wasn’t completely positive of Rocky’s reaction to all of this unfamiliar maneuvering, Luke tied the reins around a small tree before assisting Maris.
He returned to Rocky’s right side, reached up and laid his hands on Maris’s waist. “Put your hands on my shoulders,” he instructed.
She obeyed and he lifted her down from the saddle. Only he didn’t immediately set her feet on the ground. Instead, he brought her up against himself and let her slide down very slowly. A small gasp escaped Maris. The friction of clothing against clothing and body against body created a rippling thrill that took her breath.
The “Don’t, Luke” she whispered came from her sane and sensible side; something else inside of her prevented her from physically moving away from him. The reactions of her own body to Luke Rivers were startling, and yet she understood them. She had lived without a man’s love and affection for so long that her system was bound to respond to so much male chemistry, wise or not.
“Maris,” he whispered, drawing her closer still, seeking her lips. His kiss was hot and heavy, and she found herself leaning into him and kissing him in the same hungrily demanding way. His hands moved on her back, from shoulders to hips and up again. Her breasts were chafed, almost harshly, by the pressure of his chest, and there was no ignoring the power of his arousal moving suggestively against her abdomen.
She knew she should break this up and didn’t seem to have the strength to do it. Maybe the full moon was making her a little crazy, she thought. Certainly kissing a rootless man and reveling in the delectable sensations dancing and darting within her own body was an extreme departure from her usual behavior.
But it felt so good and she felt so alive, so glad to be alive, and she raised on tiptoes to nestle against him. Luke’s response was a deep-throated growl of pleasure. He pulled the bottom of her blouse from the waistband of her skirt and growled again when his hands glided over the smooth, hot skin of her back. A deft flicking of his fingers unhooked her bra, then he stepped away from her only enough to permit his hand to squeeze between them.
His hand on her bare breast brought a gasp from Maris, but the small sound neither intruded upon nor hindered their feverish kisses. It had never been like this for Maris before, where everything within her burned with sensation and yearning. Even during the early months of her marriage, when she had doted on Ray and responded to him in bed, she had never felt so overwhelmed by desire.
But it wasn’t right. She shouldn’t be standing in the middle of a dark field under a full moon and making love with Luke Rivers. Yet even knowing with every certainty that she was inviting future heartache, she couldn’t leave his arms. Couldn’t resist one more kiss. Couldn’t stop his exploration of her body.
Instead she moaned while he caressed her breasts and aroused her nipples into hard peaks, and then let him unbutton her blouse so he could bend his head and lavish kisses to each sensitized crest. He gently tugged one into his mouth and sucked. Her fingers curled into his hair while her mind spun dizzily. “Luke…oh, Luke,” she whispered raggedly.
Straightening his back, he brought her close again and mated their mouths for a long kiss that had her clinging to his shirt for support. Lost in sexual turmoil, Maris only vaguely registered her skirt being drawn up. He caught the elastic top of her panties and slid them down her thighs, and then his hand was seeking her most private spot. She jumped when he found it.
“Relax, honey,” Luke whispered thickly, though he suspected neither of them would
relax again until they had finished what they’d started tonight. No, that was wrong. The excitement between them had begun long before tonight. Their first kiss might have been the beginning, or maybe it went clear back to the day he’d come to the Wyler ranch looking for Ray to collect on that IOU.
When it began was immaterial. They were together now, single-minded and focused on the grand finale. Kissing her sensual mouth, his hand lingered between her legs. Her every reaction raised his own blood pressure another notch. Then he whispered, “Now, Maris, right now, right here.” He unzipped his jeans.
Her body was in flames and caught in a whirlpool of intense longing. But the sound of his zipper created a chink in her dazed mind. “Wait…Luke…wait,” she stammered huskily.
He lifted his head and looked at her. “Wait for what, honey?”
“I…please…this isn’t right.”
He snorted out a brief, disbelieving laugh. “What isn’t right?”
“You…and me. Like this.” Her whole body felt damp and prickly. Her clothing was half on, half off. His hand was still between her legs, and some erotic portion of herself that she hadn’t even known existed was in control of her physical side. Her brain, however, was objecting, albeit dimly and rather ineffectively, to such audacious behavior.
Luke brought his hands up to cup her face. He gazed into her eyes. “We’re adults and unattached, both of us, and we’re doing nothing wrong.”
She was embarrassed by the turn of her thoughts, but couldn’t stop herself from expressing them. “But…you only want me for tonight.”
Luke went very still. “Meaning?”
“You have to know that I don’t…What I mean is…”
“Do you want me for more than tonight? And please don’t deny the wanting. I can feel it, Maris. I can see it on your face.”
“In other words,” she said in an agonized whisper, “you would consent to an affair with me while you’re here.”
“Consent?” Luke emitted a short, clipped laugh. “Hell, yes, I’d consent. Why wouldn’t I?” His eyes narrowed on her face again. “Why wouldn’t you?”
“Is it really that simple for you?”
“It’s not simple at all.” As if to prove it, he took possession of her mouth in a kiss that wasn’t even slightly simple. Within it emotions flowed back and forth between them, sizzling emotions, complex emotions. Maris’s entire life didn’t exactly shoot through her mind, but she was suddenly bombarded with a hundred fleeting glimpses of herself before meeting Ray and after meeting Ray. Influencing every image was her present loneliness, which was probably the only reason she was in Luke’s arms this very minute. At least he wasn’t devising lies about being in love with her, or making false promises not to leave her in September.
She wasn’t in love with him, either, she remembered, and maybe it was time to stop being so rigid and straitlaced. Accept him as he is, a voice said in her head. He’s handsome and sexy and just possibly the kind of man you need right now. You certainly aren’t looking for another husband, are you?
Indeed she was not. The mere thought of legally tying herself to another man put a bad taste in her mouth. Being independent had many more pluses than minuses. Sure she had her moments of loneliness, but Luke was more than willing to remedy that particular affliction, and so what if it was only a temporary cure?
She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled against his hard body. Breathlessly she whispered, “Forget everything I just said, Luke. I don’t want to talk at all, not about anything.”
Holding her, Luke frowned in surprise and then smiled, just a little; he didn’t want to talk, either. Maris’s cheek was against his chest and she could hear the hard, fast beat of his heart. “We won’t talk,” she whispered. Talking would change everything. As a logical thinker, she looked for logic in moods, attitudes and actions. There was no logic in tonight’s activities and talking would only confuse her.
She tipped her head back and Luke promptly kissed her upturned lips. In seconds she felt as though there had been no interruption, no doubts at all. She wanted Luke simply because he was a powerfully attractive, sexy man, and because she desperately needed closeness and intimacy with another human being. It had never happened to her before, but she was no longer questioning its logic.
“Luke,” she whispered, and started unbuttoning his shirt. The shadowy planes of his muscular chest were finally hers to explore, and she ran her hands over his smooth, taut skin and into the triangular patch of hair between his nipples. “You’re a dangerously handsome man.” Her voice was low and not very steady.
Luke laughed softly, deep in his throat. “Are you calling me dangerous because I make you feel like a woman? That’s not danger, Maris. This is the way it should be between a man and a woman, exciting, thrilling, erotic.” He covered her hands with his own and pressed her palms to his chest. “I like you touching me.” He paused, then added, “I like everything about you.”
Her eyes lifted to lock with his. “You do?”
Without warning, Luke moved away from her. “I do.” Taking off his shirt he spread it out on the grass. On his knees, he looked at her. “Give me your skirt and blouse.”
He was making them a bed, Maris realized. Mesmerized by him, the beautiful night and her own aching body, she stepped out of her skirt and handed it to him. Her fingers undid the few remaining buttons of her blouse he hadn’t already opened, and she slid the garment from her shoulders and dropped it near the makeshift bed. Luke stopped to look at her in the moonlight. “Damn, you’re beautiful,” he said hoarsely. “Come here.”
Maris sank to her knees on her own skirt. Luke finished removing her bra, and she felt the burn of his hot gaze on her bare breasts. Then he yanked off his boots and socks, and slithered out of his jeans and undershorts. She stared and stared, entranced by the utter beauty of his maleness.
But he was doing the same with her, drinking in the sight of her body without clothes. They sat there looking at each other—then, quite suddenly, it wasn’t enough to merely look.
Luke pulled her down, placing her on her back. His kisses started out tender and gentle, but quickly became rough and hungry. He took a breath of air deep into his lungs and told himself to take it easy. At this rate, things would be over almost before they’d begun, and that wouldn’t be fair to Maris. There were all kinds of women in the world, he’d discovered through the years. Some deserved teeth-gritting patience from a man, some didn’t. Maris was in the first category. In fact, Maris Wyler was in a class all her own. He had never—never—felt this way about any other woman.
Frowning slightly, he lifted his head to see her face. Her eyes, even though dusky with shadows, held a dreamy cast. She touched his cheek. “What is it, Luke?”
He had no glib reply, no immediate answer of any sort. Recognizing special feelings for a woman was foreign to his experience. “Um…nothing important,” he mumbled, deliberately blocking out everything but the woman beneath him. She was beautiful in the moonlight, beautiful and sensual and eager to make love. Why in hell was he wasting time?
His kisses began at her forehead and moved slowly down to her nose, her lips, her throat. Her hands moved over him, lingering on the muscles of his back, then sliding down to his hips. “Touch me all over,” he whispered. “I want to feel your hands on me.”
The images behind Maris’s closed eyes were of Luke working in the corral without a shirt, his sweaty skin glistening in the sun, the leather gloves on his hands, the snug fit of his jeans. Those mental pictures were as arousing as having Luke naked in her arms. In one tiny corner of her mind lurked the knowledge that she would regret this tomorrow. But tomorrow seemed so far away. For once in her life she was going to live for the moment.
Luke’s mouth glided down to her breasts, where he gave each perfect mound equal attention. “Sweet…so sweet,” he whispered.
“It…it’s torment,” Maris moaned as he gently sucked on her nipple.
“Do you want me to stop?
”
“No…no. I couldn’t bear it if you stopped now.”
“Then it’s good torment.”
“Yes, oh, yes.”
Luke’s hand slid down to the soft hair at the base of her belly, and then farther, deep into the secrets of her body. “Is this good torment, too?”
Maris groaned. “You know it is.” She couldn’t lie still. Her hips arched upward. “Luke…please…”
He knew what she was asking for in that husky, ragged tone, but he also knew that once he entered her he wouldn’t last very long. “Easy, honey,” he whispered, and lay down beside her. Nimbly he adjusted her position, placing her head in the crook of his left arm so he could kiss her mouth while he made sure she reached the pinnacle with his right hand.
Writhing beneath the incredible stroking of his fingers, Maris felt a gathering in her lower abdomen, the beginning of the end, a radiating pleasure. “Luke…oh, Luke.”
“Go with it, honey,” he whispered. “Don’t fight it.”
She could do nothing but go with it. The spiraling thrills were consuming her, so strong and overpowering she could barely breathe and had to tear her mouth from Luke’s to gasp for air. Then, moaning, she buried her face in the curve of his neck and shoulder and savored the delicious sensations rippling throughout her body.
Luke held her for a few minutes, giving her time to come down from that awesome peak. But he knew that too much time would completely deplete her desire, so at a huge release of breath from Maris, he moved on top of her. Watching her face, he slowly slid into her. Her lips parted. There was a look of bewitchment in her eyes. Luke couldn’t know it, Maris realized, but never had she felt so wanton before, so completely submerged in lovemaking.
Her hips lifted to meet his first thrust. Taking his face between her hands, she brought his head down for a breathy, passionate kiss. “You are an amazing lover,” she whispered.
