He heard several gasps, including one from Ella.
“Are you crazy?” she asked in a whisper.
The thought that he could very easily be crazy about her popped into his head.
“So, anyone going to try to beat that?” Liam asked from the stage.
Silence answered him.
“Okay then, strawberry tarts to Austin Bryant.”
Austin moved to the stage to claim the tray of tarts, then returned to Ella, who still looked stunned that he had spent so much. She wasn’t the only one, but she seemed to have a way of making him act out of character. And he liked it.
“What do you say we go try these out?”
She nodded and led the way toward the exit.
Despite the fact it was still warm outside, it felt better than the stuffy confines of the music hall. Plus, he’d a million times rather be alone with Ella than the object of either curiosity or condolences in the crowd.
“Want to go sit at the park and give these a try?” he asked.
“You know you’re crazy, right?”
He shrugged. “There are worse things to be.”
They walked the short distance to the park beside the lake. On the hill above it, the lights of the Wildflower Inn shone in the darkness.
Austin placed his hand at the small of Ella’s back and guided her toward one of the picnic tables. They sat on the same side, facing the lake. The reflection of the quarter-moon seemed to reach out from the lake toward them.
He pulled the wrapper off the tray of tarts and extended one of the strawberry treats to Ella. As she took it, their fingers grazed each other. Ella’s gaze rose to meet his.
“Why did you pay so much for these?”
“I had to get out of there before you made me dance again.”
She laughed. “There was zero chance of that.”
“Ouch.”
Ella smiled then bit into her tart. She made a sound of appreciation that caused everything that made him male snap to attention.
When he took a bite of his own tart, he understood her reaction. “This is good.”
“And the award for Understatement of the Year goes to...”
He bumped her shoulder with his own. “You want me to start spouting off poetry about it?”
“That might be interesting.” She propped her head on her upturned hand as if she couldn’t wait to hear his attempt at being a poet.
“Don’t hold your breath.”
“Tease. You go and get me all excited for odes to desserts, and then back out.”
“How about this instead?” He lowered his lips to hers, cradling her head against his palm.
After a moment of surprise, she kissed him back with her strawberry-flavored lips. He’d meant for it to be a quick kiss, but her reaction fueled his barely banked desire. The truth was he’d been attracted to Ella from that first day. Just looking at her made his temperature rise and his hands itch to hold her, to take her.
Ella placed her hand against his chest and pushed away a little. “I thought we were here to have dessert.”
“Tastes pretty good to me.”
She laughed a little and smiled up at him. Something about seeing her in the moonlight made her even more beautiful. It was more than just physical attraction, though. He liked her as a person. He admired her work ethic, and she made him laugh and relax. Maybe it was so noticeable because he didn’t normally do either enough.
“You can’t taunt a gal with a great dessert and not let her finish it.”
He leaned back, letting her go. Despite the fact that the tart was really good, all he could think about was tasting Ella again. And the longer he sat and thought about it, the more he wanted to sample more than her lips.
“Really, why did you pay so much for these?” Ella asked as she wiped strawberry topping from the corner of her mouth. “I mean, I’m sure the rodeo team appreciates it, but it’s a lot of money.”
In truth, he’d done it before he’d thought it through. He knew how it would look to everyone else in the crowd, but in this moment he didn’t care.
“You wanted them, and I wanted to get out of that crush of people.” He cupped her jaw and ran the pad of his thumb over her lips. “I wanted to be alone with you.”
He was treading on dangerous ground here, but he couldn’t deny that the pull toward Ella was stronger every time he was around her.
“Oh.”
He smiled. “You’re not normally a woman of so few words.”
“My brain isn’t usually this scrambled.”
“Is that a good or bad thing?”
Her smile looked nervous, shaky. “Good.”
He couldn’t keep his hands off her anymore, so he pulled her close to him on the bench and kissed her again, deeper this time and more full of the fire she’d lit inside him. Ella ran her hands up his back and pressed even closer to him.
He moved his mouth to her neck and kissed a trail down to where her breasts swelled at the top of her dress.
“Oh.”
Ella’s single word, the way she said it as if the mere touch of his lips could bring her to climax, damn near did it to him. She dug her fingers into the muscles of his back, and the next thing he knew she was crawling up on him, her thighs straddling his leg.
“This is crazy,” she said in a husky voice before she threaded her hands in his hair, knocking off his hat, and kissed him the way a man liked to be kissed.
She was right. This was crazy, and he liked it. Before he flattened her on the picnic table and took her under the moonlight in a public park, he broke the kiss.
“Come back to my room with me.”
“Someone will see us,” she said into his ear, sending even more heat surging through his body.
“You’re killing me, woman.”
The sound of her giggle made him growl and capture her mouth again. When he had to take a breath, he said, “We’ll go in the back. Half the town is at the music hall, and the other half is asleep.”
The hesitance he felt in her made him pull back and caress her shoulder.
“I...don’t know.”
He sensed an inner struggle going on, her mind against the rest of her body. “I won’t push, but I also won’t lie. I want you, Ella. Bad.”
Again, she hesitated. When she finally slid off his leg and stood, he envisioned the ice-cold shower he was going to be forced to take. But then she extended her hand to him, and he couldn’t follow her fast enough.
* * *
ELLA KEPT SCANNING her surroundings as if she were a burglar trying not to get caught. After telling Verona that she and Austin weren’t a couple and considering the fact that he was leaving in a few days, the last thing she wanted was to be caught sneaking to his hotel room.
More than once she considered digging in her heels, stopping this madness before it went past the point of no return. But each time an increasingly loud voice in her head told her to go for it, to capture whatever pleasure and happiness she could when she could because you were never guaranteed another day in this life.
She held on to Austin’s hand, trying not to slip in her little sandals. He led her toward the side entrance to the Wildflower Inn, the tray of strawberry tarts in his other hand. When they reached the door, he peeked through the small window.
“Nobody in the hallway,” he said, then released her hand to slide his key card through the reader and open the door.
Ella held her breath as he reclaimed her hand and led the way inside. With each step she took, she feared someone she knew would come around a corner and catch her. It would be as obvious as stripes on a zebra why she was there in a hotel with a man holding her hand and leading her toward his room.
She still couldn’t believe she was doing this, but excitement an
d anticipation pumped through her. Why did Austin’s room have to be so far from the exit? Was he right next to the flipping lobby?
Finally, he stopped in front of a room halfway down the corridor and again released her hand to unlock the door. Despite the fact that she was anxious to not be seen, she hesitated outside the room. But then she met Austin’s beautiful blue eyes and saw hunger in them. It fanned the flames of her own and she stepped into his room.
Despite the desire she felt radiating off him, he slowly slid the tray of tarts onto a small table then walked toward her. He stopped only inches from her.
“Do you want this, Ella?”
Again, she hesitated, but not as long this time. No matter what happened in the days ahead, she wanted this now. Wanted every bit she could share with Austin before reality came crashing back down on top of her.
“Yes.”
He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her slowly, deeply. But the fire burning within her demanded more, faster. She ran her hands up his chest, then started unbuttoning his shirt.
Austin chuckled against her lips. “In a hurry?”
She leaned back just enough to meet his gaze. “Yes.”
His expression changed from amused to aroused. In the next moment he captured her mouth again, but this time it was as if he were starving and she was the only meal for miles. He backed her against the wall as she finished with the buttons, exposing his flesh to her questing fingers. The warmth, the texture, the thumping of his heart made her moan into his mouth.
Austin responded by running his hands underneath the bottom of her dress. The feel of those male hands, roughened by recent work on the ranch, was almost enough to make her climax right there. His lips left her mouth and traveled downward. This time, however, he didn’t stop at the swell of her breast. Instead, he shoved the cup of her bra aside and took her between those hot, moist lips.
Undiluted pleasure shot through her, causing her to throw her head back, thumping it into the wall.
“Are you okay?” Austin asked, a concern in his voice that just made him so much sexier, which didn’t seem possible.
“I will be if you go back to what you were doing.”
“With pleasure.” Not only did he return to the delicious working of her breast, but he unhooked her bra and gave the other breast equal attention.
Ella’s legs began to shake. In response, Austin shoved her dress up and over her head. She let her bra fall to the ground and kicked off her slip-on sandals, leaving only her underwear. He pressed his body against hers, and it was obvious that he was as turned on as she was.
The way he caressed her face as he looked down at her made Ella fall a little more for him. Yeah, she was falling, she couldn’t help it. But she’d deal with that later. She wanted this man so much she thought she might burst from it. He seemed to be asking with his eyes if she was sure. In answer, she shoved his shirt off his shoulders and ran her tongue slowly up and across one of his nipples.
Austin growled like an animal and spun her away from the wall and up into his arms. He stalked to the bed, then set her on her feet right beside it. Feeding off his hunger, she kissed him again as her hands went to his belt and pulled it free, then lowered the zipper on his jeans. She slipped a hand inside and grazed the hot, hard length of him.
“Stop,” Austin hissed between his teeth. “Or this will be over before we even get in that bed.”
She liked the feeling of power that came over her. “What do you propose I do instead?”
“How about get rid of these?” He slid his hands beneath the edges of her underwear and started pushing them down her legs.
When she felt them fall around her ankles, she nipped at Austin’s lower lip. “Your turn.”
He took a step backward and shoved his boots off, then his jeans and underwear. She’d never seen such a beautiful man in her entire life. How were there not women lined up from here to Dallas waiting and hoping to find their way into his arms, into his bed? She couldn’t believe she was the one here.
Austin closed the distance between them and urged her back onto the bed. He followed and at the feel of all that skin on skin, it was as if firecrackers started popping all over her body, from where his mouth captured hers to where her toes rubbed against the lower part of his leg.
“You feel good,” he said between kisses.
“So do you.” But she knew what would feel so much better. She rubbed her foot up the back of his leg and lifted her body up into his.
Austin froze. “I’m trying to go slow here.”
She ran her tongue along the edge of his ear. “What if I don’t want to go slow?”
He grabbed her behind her knees and pulled her legs apart. “Then I guess I’ll have to give you what you want.”
She gasped as he captured her mouth again, devouring her as his hand slid between her legs. Raw need had her pressing up against his hand, her yearning throbbing inside her. He made quick work of readying her, which caused her to whimper when he rolled away. Before she could verbalize a protest, however, he was back and so close to giving her what she wanted.
“Ella—” There was something in his voice, like he might be about to ask her if she really wanted this.
She didn’t want to think, didn’t want him to either. They were grown-ups, not overwrought teens, and they had grown-up needs. She hoped he understood that when she placed her finger over his lips, stopping him from saying whatever he’d been about to give voice.
“I want you,” she said.
That was all it took to send him over the edge. He pushed inside her with a thrust that had her throwing back her head, this time into a blessedly soft pillow instead of the unforgiving wall. But the thought flitted through her mind that it was going to be difficult to keep this quiet, not when she ached to give full volume to the pleasure.
Ella’s mind spun and her body reached for fulfillment. Each stroke brought her closer, and from the way Austin’s movements were increasing in speed, he was likely on the verge, as well.
“Yes,” she breathed into his ear. “Now.”
Her breath came in gasps and pants. Austin held her close as he urged them both toward completion. Just...a...little...more.
Ella cried out as she peaked. The pleasure increased as she watched Austin’s neck and torso stiffen and him throw his head back with his eyes closed as he climaxed. She had never seen anything more magnificent, more arousing. She knew in that moment that she was in trouble. She was falling in love with Austin Bryant.
Austin collapsed beside Ella, trying to catch his breath. Beside him, Ella lay on her back in a similar state. That had been, no exaggeration, the best sex of her life. Every touch, every stroke, every sound of pleasure had added high-octane fuel to the fire burning within her.
“Well, I don’t think that was as quiet as I planned,” she said.
* * *
AUSTIN BARKED OUT a laugh and rolled to face her. “I guess we’ll have to find a bag for you to wear over your head when you leave.”
He was so attuned to the slightest change in her body now that he felt her stiffen. Did she think he was about to kick her out? Not likely. He didn’t want to think about leaving this room anytime soon. He pulled her close and kissed her.
“Thank you,” he said between kisses.
Ella ran her hand over his shoulder. “You’re thanking me for sex?”
“Yes. I know it’s a big deal for women.”
She stiffened again. Good grief, he couldn’t say anything right. Before she pulled away, he caressed her face.
“That was the best I’ve ever had.”
Austin realized he should probably keep tonight to actions and not words, but something deep inside him felt right telling her, even if this ended up being the only night they spent together. But he hoped it wasn’t. He had a fe
w more before he left, and he couldn’t think of a better way to spend them than in bed with Ella.
She curled up close, her cheek against his chest. “Me, too.”
Two of the simplest words in the world, but they sent a surge of pride and happiness through him that was so potent it made him want to beat his chest like a gorilla. He placed a kiss atop her head and pulled the comforter over them. He wasn’t letting her go until he had to.
Chapter Ten
Ella woke disoriented. The bed didn’t feel right—too soft. The feel of warm, male skin pressed along her back, bottom and legs brought a rush of hot memories back.
Austin. The most awesome sex imaginable. She replayed it in her mind, the result being she wanted a repeat performance. A glance at the clock revealed it was a little after two in the morning. She needed to make her way back to her truck while it was less likely she’d be seen, but she just couldn’t move yet. If she left, she might never be able to experience this with Austin again. Though she knew she should leave before she fell any harder, instead she rolled toward him.
Feeling more daring in the darkened room, she kissed the curve of his jaw, ran her hand slowly down his chest and across the flat expanse of his stomach. He stirred and mumbled, “What are you doing?”
“I’d think that was obvious,” she said, feeling quite unlike herself. “Seducing you.”
She’d never seduced a man, never made the first move, and she had to admit it was intoxicating. Though chances were good she’d die of embarrassment when she had to face him in the light of day. But she’d deal with that when the time came.
Ella crawled atop Austin, placing a leg on each side of his hips. His body sprang to attention as his eyes widened. She guided him inside her and set the pace, starting slow and sensuous.
Austin grasped her bottom and rose to meet her gliding movements.
“Damn, you’re beautiful.”
Her heart filled with joy. It wasn’t wise and she’d pay for it later, but she was pretty sure she loved this man. To keep from thinking about losing him, she increased the pace. When Austin lifted his upper half and captured one of her breasts in his mouth, she was lost.
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