by Carol Finch
His hand swept down her jeans-clad legs in an erotic massage that paused on her thigh, then swirled around her calf. Katy’s breath faltered and her ribs threatened to shatter beneath the fierce thud of her heartbeat. Nate touched her tenderly, letting the eager anticipation build on itself, letting her experience each pleasurable sensation before she was assailed by another, then another. She felt herself arching toward his wandering hand, waiting as if she were the parched earth hungering for a sip of slow, gentle rain. She savored each raindrop of sensation he instilled in her, marveled at his unlimited patience and leisurely pace.
His lips skimmed over the slope of her shoulder, nuzzling against the sensitive point at the base of her neck. Katy shivered helplessly, then held her breath as his moist kisses glided deliberately over the swells of her breasts. His tongue grazed one rigid crest, then the other. Katy’s arms instinctively moved to encircle his neck, holding his head against her sensitized flesh as he suckled lightly, then playfully tugged at her aching nipple with his teeth.
Indescribable sensations rippled through her as Nate dedicated the same unhurried attention to the other taut nipple. She whispered his name on a broken sigh as pleasure intensified and channeled through every inch of her body, leaving her to burn from the inside out.
“Mmm,” Nate murmured against her supple flesh. He brushed the palm of his hand over the beaded peaks of her breasts, then swirled his fingertips across the silky terrain of her belly. “Definitely heaven to touch. But I’m feeling greedy, Kat. I want all of you. But only if you want that, too. If you don’t, all you have to do is tell me to back off and I will. No matter how difficult it is, I promise you I will.”
She arched helplessly against his hand and moaned in sensual torment. That was all the answer he needed. Although Nate felt desire rushing through him like floodwater, urging him to take what he needed, he clenched his teeth and vowed to set a snail’s pace.
He was used to that pace, wasn’t he? He had coaxed Katy from her self-imposed shell an inch at a time. No way was he going to turn this moment into a flashback from her tortured past. He wanted Katy to want him with every part of her being. He wanted her hot and aching and pleading for him to glide over her, to possess her at the same moment that she possessed him.
To that dedicated end, Nate gently pushed away her jeans, little by little, holding her in sexual suspense. He trailed his hand over the elastic waistband of her panties, then stroked the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh. He felt her tense when his hand skittered over the scars on her hip, but he reassured her by pressing his lips to the slick, reddened skin, kissing away her remembered pain.
When his hand glided back to the satiny flesh of her inner thigh, he tugged at her panties, letting the scrap of fabric become another kind of erotic caress. He groaned when he felt the moist heat of her desire luring him closer, tempting him to take what she freely offered. He nudged her legs apart to stroke the secret petals of her femininity. He felt the dewy softness of her desire bathing his fingertip, and he savored the scent and feel of the woman he longed to arouse until she came completely undone in his arms. He wanted Katy to remember nothing but his touch, his caress, his gentle kiss.
Though her wild responses nearly got the best of him, Nate reminded himself to take his time with her. He wanted this night to go on forever and ever, and he refused to deny himself the pleasure of enjoying each ardent response he called from her. He stroked her over and over again, teased her, aroused her until she gasped aloud.
“Nate?” she wheezed between panted breaths. “Come here.”
“I’m here,” he said, a smile in his voice. “There’s no place else I’d rather be.”
“You’re not close enough,” she whispered achingly.
“Soon,” he promised.
He bent his head to touch his lips to the most secret part of her, tugged at her until her body wept for him, caressed him in return. Sizzling pleasure pulsated through him when he probed deeper with tongue and fingertip, and she caressed him in the most intimate ways imaginable.
It only seemed right and fitting that the taste of her desire was the only taste he had known, for that’s as he wanted it, and he would treasure the secrets of her passion forever.
“Nate, please!” Katy clutched at his shoulders, drawing him above her. Her eyes glittered with such intense desire that Nate found himself hypnotized by the aching need he had summoned from her.
When her lashes fluttered down, as if she was embarrassed that he still held the very essence of her in his hand, Nate smiled tenderly.
“Look at me, Katy,” he whispered. “Never be ashamed of the magic between us. I want to watch you come alive in my arms when we’re one. I want you to see what making love with you does to me.”
Katy was unaccustomed to such openness in lovemaking. It required courage to meet those dark eyes that stared intently at her while her body shimmered uncontrollably in response to the intimate caress of his hand.
He smiled at her tentative expression, then bent his head to kiss her, letting her taste her desire for him. With each languid stroke of his fingertip Katy felt need coming uncoiled inside her, expanding, burning, bursting with immeasurable pleasure.
“Oh…oh…” Katy gasped when another wave of phenomenal sensations swamped and buffeted her. “Nate—”
His mouth came down on hers, silencing her cry of urgency. She needed him now, this very instant, and he was still wearing his jeans!
Nate felt her trembling with need, felt her feminine body crying out to fill the aching emptiness…. And hell! Here he was, still wearing his boots and jeans. Not to mention that he was flat out of protection. Double damn it!
Swearing at himself, he kicked off his boots and jerked down his jeans. He held himself above her, just barely—so close to going over the edge that he wanted to scream in torment.
“Nate?” she whispered. Her questioning gaze searched his face.
“No protection,” he muttered in frustration. “I wasn’t expecting this to happen. And damnation, here we are, acting as irresponsibly as we did as kids.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she murmured shakily. “All that matters is that I’ve never felt like this before. I want you so bad it hurts, Nate.”
She drew his head steadily to hers, then kissed the breath right out of him. When she arched toward him, he moved instinctively, burying himself inside her, feeling her holding him so sweetly, so gently that he cried out when the blinding rush of ungovernable passion slammed through him.
Nate didn’t know what happened next, because intense pleasure bombarded him, scattering conscious thought. Vaguely, he was aware that Katy’s nails were digging into his shoulders while she chanted his name.
And then, wham! He was driving against her, and she was answering him thrust for frantic thrust. He felt her convulse around him, and suddenly he was free-falling through space. Incredible pleasure expanded, surged through every cell of his body. Nate swore it couldn’t get any better than this…and then a tidal wave of passion swamped him, and he realized it could get even better—because it just had.
Was he grinning like a Cheshire cat? Yup, he must’ve been, because he swore the muscles in his face were about to snap. Oh, yeah, he had been Mr. Gentle and Sensitive, hadn’t he? Not hardly! He’d just driven himself into Katy until he could go no deeper, no harder, no faster…and then he’d lost it.
What the hell’s the matter with you? Nate scowled at himself. He had intended to make certain that Katy had been thoroughly satisfied, but he’d become overwhelmed by the fantastic sensations of pleasure and plunged headlong into oblivion.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled against that soft, sensitive spot he’d discovered beneath her left ear. “Guess I got a little carried away back there.”
She chortled as she trailed her hand down his spine. “Guess I did, too. Forgot to feel threatened. Must’ve been that Channing magic at work. It was nice.”
“Nice?” Nate lifted his head, grinned at th
e smile that curved her lips upward, then decided she was pretty okay with how things turned out. Maybe he hadn’t disappointed her too badly. “Nice? Just…nice?”
“You looking for spectacular, Tex?” she teased, blue eyes dancing with mischief.
“Well, yeah. At least it was spectacular from up here.”
“Yeah?” she said hopefully.
“Absolutely spectacular. Fireworks, bells clanging, and all that,” he said convincingly. “You?”
She looked very thoughtful, though he thought he detected another twinkle of mischief in her eyes. He wanted to shout to high heaven. Here was the Katy he remembered so well. Sweet and playful, a dozen indefinable pleasures radiating around her.
“Well, I’m not sure,” she said. “I sort of lost track of time and sanity there for a few minutes.” She peeked up at him through that fan of long, curly lashes. “But maybe if we do it again I’ll remember to pay more attention next time.”
He cocked a brow in response to her provocative grin. “And maybe you also forgot that I went skydiving without a parachute. That’s pretty risky business, Kat. So much for being responsible adults.”
Nate’s reference to a lack of protection made Katy burst out laughing. The sound went all through him like charges racing through an electrical circuit. God, he loved the sound of her laughter. He basked in the sunlight of her smile. He adored that cute dimple that creased her cheek.
No matter what happened in his effort to win over this town, Nate had rediscovered the younger version of the Katy he’d known in the past. The world could go to hell in a handbasket, but Nate would savor this treasured moment. No one could take this precious memory away from him. He felt young again, as if in this bright, glorious instant of time he had revisited the past and recaptured the best part of his youth.
Then his cell phone rang, and Nate cursed Alexander Graham Bell’s disruptive invention. Nate considered not answering, just letting the moment glide past the interruption. But Katy glanced down at his tangled jeans where he’d tucked his phone.
“Are you going to answer it?”
“I’d rather not,” he mumbled. “If I was packing a pistol I’d just shoot the damn thing.”
“It might be important,” she told him.
“As important as this? No way.”
In Katy’s opinion, Nate couldn’t have said anything that could make her feel better at that moment than what he’d just said. As important as this? No way. For that, and so much more, she adored him. His poignant words had gotten Katy past any uncomfortable moments that might have arisen in the aftermath of shared passion.
Reluctantly, but knowing it was necessary, she reached for the phone that shrilled from beneath the pile of discarded clothes.
Nate grumbled when Katy leaned over the edge of the bed and handed the damned phone to him. “Hello? Channing here,” he said begrudgingly.
“Nate? Sorry to bother you, but there’s something I thought you should know.”
It was Chad Parker. There was an urgency in his shaky voice that sent up a red flag in Nate’s mind. Nate eased away, then sat up on the side of the bed. “What’s wrong, kid?”
“It’s Jake,” Chad said quickly. “He went off half-cocked.”
So join the club, thought Nate. He wasn’t the model of restraint tonight, either.
“He’s really pissed off at Lester Brown because the old bastard harassed him earlier tonight. Jake borrowed his kid sister’s bicycle and rode out to Lester’s place. He’s all heated up about telling Lester that you aren’t any of those things the old coot says you are.”
“Damn. I’m on my way. Are you with Tammy?”
“Yes, sir. I’m calling from the Coyote Grill,” Chad reported.
“I don’t want you or Tammy anywhere near Lester’s place. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Katy bolted up in bed. “What happened?”
Nate clicked off the phone. “Jake thinks he needs to give Lester his version of a character reference on my behalf. I thought I had that knot-headed kid convinced that fists don’t solve problems, they only create new ones.”
Nate tried to scramble into his clothes as quickly as he had jerked them off. He muttered when he got his jeans on backward and had to start all over again.
“I’m coming with you,” Katy announced.
“No, you aren’t” he said very insistently. “I don’t want you to get involved in this mess.”
“Not involved?” she sputtered, offended.
“We are involved,” he was quick to assure her. “I’m crazy about you, in case you haven’t figured that out. And because I am, I’m probably overprotective. But I’d rather take a bullet in the chest than see you hurt in any way.” He stared at her as he zipped his jeans. “Stay here, Kat. Please. You want me to beg? I’m begging. I’ll call you the first chance I get.”
“Promise.”
“Cross my heart.”
“Sure you won’t let me follow through with my dastardly murder plot? It’s a humdinger,” Katy insisted, forcing a smile, though he could see the apprehension and concern in her expression.
Nate relaxed a bit. Knowing Katy wasn’t going to fight him on this made him feel a smidgen better. He didn’t want to hightail it out to Lester’s place to intercept Jake, knowing he had annoyed Katy so soon after he’d made love to her and then was forced to leave her in a flaming rush. He’d like to deal with one crisis at a time in his life, thank you very much!
“If I can’t resolve the potential problem, I’ll call you, and you can relay the details of your humdinger plot,” Nate said before he bent to give her a swift kiss.
“Nate?”
“Yeah?” he said over his shoulder, on his way out the door.
“I’m pretty crazy about you, too,” she told him. “I want you back in one piece, so don’t do anything that falls in the valiantly heroic category. Okay?”
“Deal.” He winked at her. “I’ll be the perfect coward, if that makes you happy.”
When he disappeared into the hall, Katy slumped back on the bed. She didn’t believe him about that coward business, she was sorry to say. Nate Channing didn’t have a cowardly bone in his big, brawny body. If Jake Randolph got himself in harm’s way, Nate would go the distance to protect the kid. That, Katy could count on, because she was convinced that Nate Channing was the kind of man you could always count on, no matter what the risk to himself.
Katy hurriedly donned her clothes and battled the fierce impulse to follow Nate, just in case he needed backup. Twice, she headed for the front door, then cursed mightily. She had made a promise to Nate, and she couldn’t go back on her word, as much as she would have liked to in this instance.
If Lester Brown harmed one single hair on Nate Channing’s head, she would personally dedicate her life to making Lester’s existence on Earth a living hell. And that, Katy told herself as she paced the floorboards, was one promise she would definitely keep!
Nate spotted the bicycle reflectors when he turned into the gravel driveway that led to Lester’s farmhouse. The place was a junkyard, Nate noted. Two old-model pickups were sitting on concrete blocks—the tires were missing. The lawn was thick enough to bale. The storm door sagged on its hinges, and the miniblinds had yawning gaps between the slats. Nate was granted an unhindered view of Lester, who was dressed in a sleeveless undershirt. He was lounging in his chair, sipping from a longneck.
The man was a slob, and he had a mouth the size of Texas. For a second, Nate toyed with the temptation of just clobbering the cantankerous son of a bitch until his lips swelled shut. Too bad Nate couldn’t follow through with that plan without bringing more trouble down around his ears.
Before Jake Randolph could climb off the bicycle and stalk to Lester’s front door, Nate honked the horn. The kid halted in his tracks, then whirled around. Nate studied Jake in the bright beams of the headlights, seeing the clenched fists, the hostile thrust of chin, the swelling around his eye. The kid had worked himsel
f into a fine lather. Nate wondered if the kid had gotten knocked around at home by his old man, and then decided to pass along a punch to a deserving target.
“Whoa, Jake,” Nate called as he bounded from his car. “Wait up.”
“How’d you know where I was?” Jake growled.
“Lucky guess. It’s Saturday night. Knew you’d be anxious to visit with your favorite friend in the whole wide world.”
Jake scoffed at Nate’s attempt at humor. “Yeah, right.”
At close range Nate could see the purplish bruise and swelling around Jake’s right eye. He swore under his breath, wishing he could return the favor to whoever had taken his frustration out on this kid.
Before Nate could say another word, the porch light flicked on and Lester appeared behind the sagging storm door. The look on Lester’s face was priceless. He assumed he was about to be pulverized.
Nate sorely wished he could accommodate.
“Evening, Lester,” Nate said cordially.
“Whaddya want?” Lester sneered, then flipped the empty longneck in his hand, holding it like a weapon. “You hoodlums better get out of here or I’ll call the sheriff.”
“Call the sheriff what?” Nate asked flippantly.
Lester bared his yellowish teeth. “Watch that smart mouth of yours, Channing.”
“Oh, sorry. Don’t know what came over me,” Nate replied, his tone nowhere near apologetic.
Suddenly, inspiration struck Jake. He decided to turn Lester’s devious tactics of twisting the truth on him and see how he liked it.
Nate hitched his thumb toward Jake. “My young friend tells me that you popped him in the eye. That true, Lester?”
Lester reared back as if he had been sucker-punched. “’Course not!”
“His word against yours, Lester,” Nate pointed out. “I know for a fact that you’ve been spreading lies about me, so it stands to reason that you would lie about this, too. The kid’s gonna have a real shiner. You wanna go ahead and put your autograph on it, so we can show it to the sheriff when he gets here?”
