The Maverick's Midnight Proposal

by Brenda Harlen

  She didn’t—couldn’t—respond, because his hands were stroking boldly and confidently over her body, sending delicious shivers of sensation to her core and wiping all rational thought from her mind.

  His calloused thumbs scraped over her rigid nipples, making her gasp with shocked pleasure. Then his mouth was at her breast, his tongue exploring the ultra-sensitive flesh. “Much, much sweeter.”

  His lips fastened around the tight peak. He suckled gently, and she moaned softly. Her fingers threaded through his hair, holding him in place against her breast, wordlessly encouraging him to continue. He suckled harder, and she moaned louder. Then he shifted his focus to her other breast and gave it the same close attention.

  She couldn’t remember when she’d last been with a man, except that it had been a very long time. So long that she’d almost forgotten how good a man’s hands could feel on her body. But Luke was reminding her now. So long that she’d almost forgotten how good a man’s body could feel under her hands. But she was remembering now. While he continued to taste and tease her breasts, she reached a hand between their bodies and wrapped her fingers around his hard, velvety length. This time, he moaned.

  She rocked her hips against his, wordlessly telling him what she wanted, what she needed. He rummaged around on the floor until he found his discarded jeans and pulled a condom out of his wallet.

  “You must have been a boy scout,” she said, partly teasing but mostly grateful that he was prepared for what was about to happen.

  “I can tie you up in forty different ways, if that’s your thing,” he told her.

  She laughed as she took the square packet from his hand and carefully tore it open. “Forty ways, huh?”

  “Well, I used to know forty ways,” he amended. “Now I probably only remember about half of them.”

  “Let’s save that for another time, then,” she suggested, carefully unrolling the prophylactic over his erection. “Right now, I don’t want props or tricks. I only want you.”

  “And I want you,” he said, rising over her and, finally, easing into her.

  “Oh.” She closed her eyes on a sigh of pure pleasure as he stretched and filled her, a glorious tension beginning to build deep inside her.

  His lips brushed against hers. “Okay?”

  She opened her eyes to find his on her.

  “Okay,” she confirmed.

  He kissed her again, his tongue mirroring the intimate strokes of his body as he began to move.

  Her hands glided over him, her fingers tracing the contours of his muscles, digging into his shoulders as, with each thrust, he pushed her closer and closer to the edge. She held on to him, her anchor in the storm of sensations that battered at her from all directions.

  She couldn’t think; she couldn’t speak; she could only feel. And the way he was moving inside her felt so good she never wanted him to stop. The pleasure continued to build with each stroke until it was an almost unbearable pressure inside her, almost more than she could stand.

  Then...finally...release.

  As her body shuddered with the aftershocks of pleasure, he groaned deeply and let his own climax take him.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.”

  Several minutes later, when Luke’s brain was capable of functioning again, they were the first words that came to mind. They spilled out of his mouth uncensored, surprising a laugh out of Eva.

  She lifted herself up on an elbow and smiled at him. “It was pretty spectacular, wasn’t it?”

  He stroked a hand leisurely down her torso, loving the softness of her skin—and the nakedness of her body. “I’m not ever going to be able to look at this tree without thinking about you and what we did here tonight.”

  “Good.”

  “And when my sister asks, on Christmas morning, why I’ve got a goofy smile on my face, I’ll tell her to ask you.”

  She was still smiling, too, as she shifted away from him and began to gather up her clothes.

  He found her panties before she did and held on when she tried to tug them from his grasp.

  “I’m going to need those,” she told him.

  “Not just yet.”

  She lifted a brow. “When?”

  “Later.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “Much later.”

  But instead of easing her back onto the blanket, he lifted her into his arms.

  “Where are you taking me?” she demanded.

  “Upstairs.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to make love to you in a bed...very slowly...and very thoroughly...and without worrying about bruises on your back or friction burns on my knees.”

  “That sounds like an incredibly appealing idea,” she agreed as he effortlessly carried her up the stairs.

  “I was hoping you’d think so.” He tumbled with her onto the bed, straddling her hips with his knees and catching her lips in another mind-numbing kiss.

  “You’re really good at that,” she said when he eased his lips away. “Which makes me wonder...”

  He nuzzled the sweet spot below her ear. “What are you wondering?”

  “How it is that...” She momentarily lost her train of thought when he nipped at her earlobe, then nibbled his way down the side of her throat, raising goose bumps on her skin and sending shivers of excitement coursing through her veins.

  “You were saying?” he prompted.

  “How is it that you can tie twenty different knots in a piece of rope—” she sucked in a breath when his hand slid down to the apex of her thighs and embarked on a leisurely exploration, but she made a valiant effort to finish her thought “—but you can’t wrap paper around a box?”

  “Is that really what’s on your mind right now?” he asked, his tone colored with amusement as he continued his sensual exploration.

  “Right now my mind is pretty much blank,” she admitted. “But earlier... I was trying to make sense of the...dichotomy.”

  “We all have different talents,” he told her.

  “Apparently,” she said as he zeroed in on the bull’s-eye and, within minutes, sent her soaring.

  “That was a pretty impressive display of talent,” she commented when she’d finally managed to catch her breath and form a coherent thought again.

  “That was just the warm-up,” he said.

  And he proceeded to prove it to her.

  * * *

  “What time is it?”

  Luke opened one eye to glance at the glowing numbers of the clock on the bedside table. “Almost midnight,” he said in answer to Eva’s sleepy question.

  “It feels so much later.”

  “We’ve had a busy day.” And hers had been even busier, as she’d started the morning baking at Daisy’s.

  “But a good day,” she said, a smile in her voice.

  “A very good day,” he confirmed.

  After another few minutes, just as he was starting to think that she might have fallen asleep, she spoke again. “I should go.”

  “I wish you didn’t have to,” he said, surprised to realize it was true. While he wasn’t ready to analyze his feelings too deeply, there was something about being with Eva that just felt...right.

  And though their lovemaking had been beyond spectacular, he didn’t just mean between the sheets. He truly enjoyed spending time with her—wherever they were and whatever they were doing.

  He’d never enjoyed shopping. And, for the past dozen years, he hadn’t enjoyed Christmas, either. The season that brought families together only served to remind him that his family had been torn apart—that he’d torn his family apart.

  Now, with Eva, he actually felt as if he might be able to move past his grief and his guilt.

  But even if h
e finally managed to dump the emotional baggage that had weighed him down for so long, he suspected that his heart would still bear the effects, like the bowed back of a pack horse never relieved of his burden. But when he was with Eva, he almost believed that she could fix whatever was broken inside him. In fact, he almost believed that, if she could love him, maybe he was worthy of being loved.

  “I wish I didn’t have to go, either,” she said. “But I need at least a few hours’ sleep before I have to be at work.”

  He wanted to suggest that she could sleep right where she was, but he knew that she couldn’t. While her mom and dad seemed to respect that she was a grown woman, he was sure they wouldn’t approve of her spending the whole night in a man’s bed. And although he would prefer to stay exactly where he was, with Eva’s naked body in his arms, he didn’t want to cause any conflict in her relationship with her parents.

  “And people think that ranchers work crazy hours,” he noted.

  “I don’t mind the early mornings,” she said. “In fact, I like being in the kitchen when it’s quiet, watching the sun rise as I sip my first cup of coffee.”

  “I’d need gallons of coffee.”

  She smiled at that. “I’m well aware of your caffeine addiction.”

  “And even with gallons of coffee, I’m not sure I’d make it through the day,” he admitted.

  “I sometimes sneak a nap in the afternoon,” she confided.

  “Why don’t you sneak over here so that we can have that nap together?”

  She laughed. “When I say nap, it’s not some kind of code. I actually mean sleep. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be helping at Sunshine Farm tomorrow?”

  “I’d much rather nap with you,” he told her.

  “I appreciate the thought,” she said. “But right now, I’d really appreciate a ride home.”

  * * *

  It was 12:39 a.m. when he pulled into the driveway of her house, and she exhaled a grateful sigh of relief when she saw that the porch light was on but the living room was dark—confirmation that her parents had already turned in for the night. Though her parents weren’t thrilled about the amount of time she was spending with Luke, she knew that they wouldn’t express any outward disapproval. But she also suspected that her mother would take one look at her and know she’d had sex, and Eva wanted to keep that joyous event to herself for just a little while longer.

  So she unlocked the door, turned to wave goodbye to Luke, then tiptoed up the stairs to her bedroom.

  When he got back to his sister’s house, he sent her a text message to let her know, and she hugged the phone to her chest where her heart was beating in a crazy erratic rhythm, like some kind of cardiac Morse code that spelled out her feelings for him.

  He’d been completely honest and up-front with her about his plans—and he didn’t plan to stay in Rust Creek Falls. She’d known that before she kissed him the first time, but what she knew in her head didn’t hold much sway over her heart. She’d fallen in love with him anyway. All the way, head over heels in love.

  But even if she ended up with her heart broken, she wouldn’t regret giving it to him. She still hoped that he might change his mind about leaving and decide to make Rust Creek Falls his home once again, but if he didn’t, she hoped he would look back on the time he’d spent with her and smile at the memories they’d made together.

  * * *

  The bed that Luke had been sleeping in, comfortably and soundly, for the past two weeks, suddenly seemed cold and empty without Eva beside him. He wished she could have stayed the night—so that he could make love to her one more time before they fell asleep and again in the morning.

  But he understood why she had to leave. Not just because she lived with her parents but because she was a part of the community. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting everyone to know that she’d gotten naked with “the oldest Stockton boy”—as he was referred to by many residents.

  Maybe it would be different if he planned to stay in Rust Creek Falls, but he didn’t and it wasn’t. So he would take whatever moments she would give him, enjoy whatever pleasures they found together. At some point last night, he’d decided to accede to his sister’s request—and his own desire—to stay through the holidays. But after the New Year, he would go back to Cheyenne as he’d originally planned.

  He fell asleep, refusing to admit—even to himself—that there was a part of him that wanted to change that plan.

  And he dreamed of Eva.

  * * *

  Eva was seriously tempted to hit the snooze button when her alarm beeped only a few hours later. Unfortunately, the doughnuts and pastries wouldn’t bake themselves, so she forced her weary body out of bed and stumbled to the shower. She closed her eyes as the hot water poured over her, easing the unfamiliar stiffness in her muscles.

  Not that she was complaining. Not at all. Because aside from a few aches, she felt good. Better than good. For the first time in a long time, her body felt sated.

  It was her heart that continued to yearn.

  She’d promised Luke that she didn’t want anything more than he was offering, because she’d wanted it to be true. But she’d lied, perhaps to herself as much as to him, though that had never been her intention. She hadn’t known, maybe hadn’t wanted to know, that her heart had already opened to him, wholly and completely.

  Unfortunately, his heart was still intent on heading back to Wyoming after the holidays—and the New Year was now less than two weeks away. Which meant that she needed to make Luke fall in love with her before those two weeks were up. A daunting task, perhaps.

  Or maybe—her lips curved as a plan began to take shape in her mind—a piece of cake.

  * * *

  Eva decided that cookies were more practical than cake, and she was carrying a tin when she walked into the barn where Danny and Annie were planning to get married. There had been a lot of volunteers at the property over the past few days as they raced against the clock to get the venue ready for the big event. Today, however, there were only a few vehicles parked by the barn, which suggested that either the work was almost done or the crew had given up.

  When she muscled open the door and stepped inside the cavernous space, she knew that her first guess had been correct.

  “Wow,” Eva said. “This place looks great.”

  Luke stepped down off the ladder he’d been perched on and crossed the room to meet her. “You look great,” he said. “This place looks like a barn.”

  “Because it is a barn,” she reminded him.

  “Uh-huh.” He dipped his head and touched his lips to hers. “I thought you were going to nap this afternoon.”

  “I was, and then I thought that the bride and groom might need a couple of extra hands—”

  “Always,” Annie interjected.

  “—and a snack to keep everyone going.”

  “Snack?” Danny echoed hopefully.

  Eva pried the lid off the tin.

  “You mentioned sugar cookies yesterday,” she reminded Luke, and though her words were deliberately vague, the mischievous twinkle in her eye told him that she had a clear and specific memory about when and where he’d been thinking about the treats. “So when I was baking this morning, I made an extra batch to bring out here.”

  “That was incredibly thoughtful,” Annie said, peering into the tin at the snowflake-shaped cookies decorated with glossy icing and colored sugars. “Oh, but they almost look too pretty to eat.”

  “No, they don’t,” her fiancé denied, reaching over her shoulder to pluck one from the tin. “But they taste as good as they look,” he said around a mouthful of cookie.

  Annie rolled her eyes, but she chose one and nibbled on a corner. “Oh, these are good,” she said. “Maybe we should have opted for cookies rather than cake for the wedding.”

&nb
sp; “Cake is traditional,” Danny noted as he reached for another cookie.

  “It’s about the only part of our wedding that is,” Annie pointed out. “Well, that and the bride in a white dress.”

  “Speaking of which,” her fiancé said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket to check the time, “we’re supposed to pick up your dress at the bridal shop in Kalispell this afternoon.”

  Annie cast a critical glance around the room. “Or I could go there while you string up the lights here.”

  “I could help Luke with the lights,” Eva volunteered.

  “It’s a big job,” Annie said worriedly.

  “I think we can figure it out,” Luke told her. “If not, I’m sure there are sketches in your wedding folder.”

  The bride-to-be’s cheeks flushed, confirming the accuracy of his guess.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?” Annie asked.

  “They’re sure,” Danny said, taking her arm to steer her toward the door, eager to make his escape.

  But he did pause long enough to grab a few more cookies from the tin on his way out.

  “Wedding folder?” Eva asked when they’d gone.

  Luke shook his head. “You don’t want to know.”

  She helped herself to a cookie. “I thought there would be more people here. I didn’t realize the work was almost done.”

  “I guess that means more cookies for us.”

  She put the lid back on the tin. “After the lights are done.”

  “While I appreciate the offer of help, it’s not really a difficult job so if you don’t want to stay—”

  “I do want to stay,” she said.

  A few hours later, the muscles in her shoulders and arms were protesting her decision as she reached up to catch the final coil of lights that Luke dropped from the top of the ladder. “It’s been fun to watch this place transform from a livestock shelter to a wedding venue.”

  “All the twinkling lights in the world aren’t going to make this place look like anything but a barn with twinkling lights,” he said as he began his descent. “And why anyone would want to get married in a barn is beyond me.”