“Something wrong?” he asked.
She looked up to see he’d straightened. “The hooks are stuck.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure I can’t get out of this without help,” she said.
He groaned, and she was certain he wouldn’t volunteer to undress her. But he closed the distance between them and slid his thumb between the corselet and her skin.
She surrendered to a telling shiver and pressed her palms against his warm firm chest. A moan escaped her lips as he freed one hook then another.
“Damn,” he said, though it was barely a whisper of sound.
She slid her palms up his chest, marveling at the muscles shifting beneath her palms. This is what she’d craved, to touch him as he’d touched her before.
“You make me feel things I’ve never felt before,” she said.
“You’re doing a fair job on me too.” The corselet fell away and his palms cupped her bosom. “Maggie, you might as well be naked.”
Just what she’d said to Miss Jennean. “Good idea for both of us.”
She dragged her palms down to his waist and skimmed her fingers beneath the belt. He stiffened and hissed a breath, but he didn’t back off. He didn’t stop caressing her through the scrap of silk either.
The most intense need she’d ever felt seized her. She leaned into him, hoping Miss Jennean was right. Hoping he’d take the initiative and make love to her.
She lifted her face to his. Instead of the sweet kisses he’d treated her to before, his mouth came down on hers with a hunger that robbed her of breath.
That first dart of his tongue in her mouth shocked her. But the shock wore off quickly, replaced with an explosive raw need.
She clung to him and mimicked his hot kisses, wanting more, giving herself to him fully. He didn’t disappoint.
But he didn’t make any move to go beyond torrid kisses and bold caresses. The fear of rejection taunted her and robbed her of the pleasure she felt in his arms.
She couldn’t let history repeat itself, not after she’d opened herself up to him. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons on his jeans, but the damn things held tight.
And then the thing she feared most happened. He broke off the kiss and stood back, eyes pinched shut and chest heaving.
“No,” she protested.
“It’s too soon,” he said.
“You can’t mean that,” she said and stroked the hot skin below his belt. “You can’t stop now.”
He jerked and moaned, and his eyes blazed into hers. “Maggie mine, if I don’t stop now there will be no turning back.”
“I know.” She ran her palms up his corded arms since he wouldn’t let her get closer. “I know,” she repeated, hoping her voice was softer and inviting.
He muttered something and dropped his hands from her. She winced and bit back a sob as her seduction seemed doomed to fail.
Before she crumbled into that cold reality, his hands skimmed up her torso and swept the corset cover from her. She was too startled by his change of heart to feel embarrassed by standing here with her breasts bared.
She stared into his eyes that had gone dark with passion. His hands paused at the ties at her waist.
“Last chance to back out, Maggie.”
“I’m not taking it,” she said. “Kiss me, Dade.”
He did, sending her transparent drawers sliding down her legs with one quick tug. This kiss dominated her, stripping away any lingering inhibitions.
She battled another moment of panic that this was moving too fast. Stupid really, since she feared if he didn’t get on with it he might change his mind again.
He scooped her up in his arms, and that first crush of bare breasts to chest sent a jolt of electricity arching through her. Before that delicious charge ended, he laid her on the bed and followed her down.
The solid weight of him covering her felt good and natural and so arousing that she couldn’t remain still. She pressed against the solid heat of his body, clinging to him like she’d never clung to anyone in her life.
She’d never felt so vulnerable, so afraid of rejection. But with Dade she was willing to risk her pride and offer herself, body and soul, to him.
He tucked her against him, his hands as greedy as her own. One thickly muscled leg slid between hers, and she tangled her legs with his too, arching her back to get closer.
She relished running her hands up his back, testing the power in his shoulders, and sweeping down his spine to glide over his firm butt. She loved being close to him, feeling his heart pounding against her own.
The fact that he was still wearing his pants gave her cause to worry. He still could stop. He could leave her aching and wanting him so badly she’d die.
He could still reject her.
His mouth pulled from hers to skim down her neck, then her bosom. She was drowning in the new sensations each bold kiss and caress evoked. She trembled in his arms, desperate for his total possession. But he seemed in no hurry.
So she did as Miss Jennean had suggested and let her emotions guide her. “Please,” she said, reaching down to release the buttons on his trousers and feeling empowered when his manhood sprang free on a guttural groan–slick, hot, and oh, so long. “I can’t wait any longer. Please.”
Chapter 18
Dade slipped his arms around Maggie, buried his face in the valley between her breasts, and tried to slow down. His heart slammed hard and fast with the urge to pound into her.
But this wasn’t some whore he’d paid for a night’s pleasure. This was Maggie Sutten. Sweet innocent Maggie who’d decked herself out tonight to tempt him to take her.
This was why she’d wanted a word in private with Miss Jennean. That lady of the evening had obliged Maggie and hopefully told her what to expect.
But she’d given her some pointers on seducing a man too, and that had him trembling like a boy again. Still he wouldn’t claim her innocence this quickly. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, but he was determined to give her pleasure first.
That damn sure wasn’t going to happen if he didn’t control the lust pounding through him. The way her sweet little hands explored his cock wasn’t making this any easier for him to be a generous lover.
Hell, he couldn’t recall ever being this horny before. Couldn’t remember a time when a woman commanded so many of his thoughts.
“Maggie, what the hell are you doing to me?”
“I could ask the same of you,” she said, her voice breathy, one hand sweeping up his back in long caresses that fired him up more while her fingers played his cock like a flute. “I’ve had so few choices in my life. I want this tonight. That’s all.”
“First time will be a bit rocky,” he said, tugging her hand from between them with a wince. “So let’s go slow and enjoy each other.”
“I don’t want slow.” Her eyes were huge and glittering like deep blue pools in the lamplight.
If he hadn’t been full to busting he’d have taken his time fondling her, but he was fast losing control. Still he slipped a hand between her thighs, a play of fingers on smooth warm skin. Her legs trembled apart, and that slight hesitation was a reminder for him to temper his lust.
It’d be easier to stop a stampede, but he clenched his jaw and fought the urge to thrust into her. This was going too damned fast. Hell, she was likely dry as the desert with nerves.
He ran a hand down her belly, taking in the shivers and tightening of young, strong muscles. She was long and lean and pale and felt like heaven beneath him.
She deserved a slow lover. A man who’d take his time bringing her to pleasure before slaking his own needs. But that sure as hell wasn’t going to be him tonight.
He’d wanted her too long to hold back much longer. Still he fingered the moist cleft at the juncture of her thighs and heaved a breath of relief that she was ready for him.
Easy, he thought. But he couldn’t swear if he was or not as he kneed her thighs apart more and settled between them, captur
ing her mouth in another long, drugging kiss that sang through his veins. God, she was sweetness and hot desire all wrapped up in sheer red silk that he’d loved ridding her of.
“I can’t wait any longer,” he whispered against her lips.
“Neither can I.”
He braced on his elbows and cradled her face in his palms, thinking he could drown in those big blue eyes of hers. His lips captured hers as he rocked forward hard and fast.
She flinched and dug her fingers into his back, and he softened his kiss and went still. He’d never hurt a woman in his life and to think he had now made him feel like shit.
“I’m sorry, Maggie mine,” he said, meaning it and unsure how to make her feel better.
Her fingers eased the punishing grip he surely deserved and made one slow sweep down the deep valley of his back. That gentle touch made him weak in the knees.
“It’s all right,” she whispered against his skin.
And then she did the thing that made him come undone. She pressed a warm kiss to the pulse in his throat.
“Thank you,” she said.
He groaned and captured her lips, sinking into her more. Somehow he managed to go slow so she could adjust to being joined to a man, then he found a rhythm that she seemed to understand, moving with him as if they were truly one mind, one soul, one desire.
That alone nearly goaded him to take what he wanted and be done with it. He hadn’t given of himself in too long and never like this with a woman.
Damn, but this was the most exquisite torture he’d ever endured in his life. And sweet Maggie–
She’d dropped all the barriers and given freely of herself.
He could count the gifts he’d gotten on one hand, and this was better than any of them. This touched him deep inside and scared the hell out of him.
In so many ways this was a first time for both of them. First for her being with a man. First for him having a sweet young woman who’d wanted him to be her first lover.
Who’d be the second man?
He faltered over that, hating the image that formed in his mind of her lying beneath another man with affection glowing in her eyes. His thrusts grew more forceful, as if he were trying to stake his claim to her–mark her as his own.
His woman. He liked the sound of that. But it couldn’t be so, at least not now. Would it ever?
Dade shook off the uncertainty nagging at him and stared down into Maggie’s luminous eyes. She deserved the best of him. He aimed to please her for as long as he had her.
Somehow she found the frantic tempo he’d set and met him thrust for thrust. They clung to each other and still strained to get closer, as if this was the last moment they’d be together, as if each was trying to crawl beneath the other’s skin.
As if he wouldn’t take her again later after they’d rested.
He would, because once would never be enough of Maggie.
She quivered in his arms, eyelids fluttering and the most pleased look on her face that he’d ever seen on a woman. Then she arched, her muscles tightening around him as she exhaled the breathiest sigh he’d ever heard in his life.
Masculine pride swelled his chest because he’d done this to her. He’d brought her to completion and nearly waited too long to withdraw.
With a hoarse shout he eased from her and followed her over, holding her fast as he spilled his seed into a linen. He rolled off her and sprawled on his back, chest heaving and body humming with pleasure.
He couldn’t believe what had just happened.
At long last a woman had chosen Dade Logan.
When they were growing up, Reid tended to attract the ladies with his dark swarthy looks and devil-may-care attitude. Trey never lost that boyish charm that women seemed to think signaled he needed mothering–and more.
Dade?
He was the middle man. He’d had a family and lost it. He wasn’t one to be conned by the promise of a home and family because he knew it was a damned lie. Yet he’d agreed with the majority rule when Kirby offered to take them in.
He’d gone with Kirby Morris, Reid, and Trey to Wyoming, not balking when Kirby made him his foster son too. But all along he’d known one day it’d all fall apart. And it had.
Then Maggie had barged into his life with her lies and bravado. She was the best thing to come his way in years. But he couldn’t offer her a damn thing but hard work and uncertainty. That’d crush her. Crush her dream.
Maybe one day she could be his. But not now.
All he could give her was a brief affair. Four weeks at the most, and then he’d deliver her safely to St. Louis and this school she had her heart set on.
Her fingers skimmed down his arm, lighter than down. Charges of energy quivered over his skin.
Her fingers slid over his and slipped between them, not holding on. Just tangling with his. Like their limbs had done earlier. Like lovers basking in the afterglow.
Dade turned his head and stared into her eyes. There was wonder there as well as pleasure. But he caught that shadow of doubt lurking there too, and that tempered the joy of the moment for both of them.
“Regrets?” he asked, turning his hand palm up so her smaller fingers rested more naturally between his larger ones.
She laced her fingers with his, and he felt that quiver of desperation pass from her into him. “None. Is it wrong of me to want more than just this one time?”
He smiled at that, for the same thought had crossed his mind. “Nope. Way I see it we have one month together. We can do damn near anything we want in that time.”
“I know that.” A faint flush stained her cheeks. “I meant can we do this again tonight.”
He’d surely die if they didn’t. “If you’re willing, I’m more than ready to oblige.”
And with a wink, he pulled her atop him and kissed her with all the longing pounding away in his soul. She could set the pace this time, and the slower the better would suit him just fine.
Maggie had still been lolling in the wonderment of lovemaking as well as bleary from lack of sleep when they left the Crossroads at dawn. She enjoyed just sharing the quiet morning alone with Dade, but by noon that pleasure had faded.
She hurt. There was no other way to put it. Her back ached, the muscles in her thighs kept trying to cramp, and her woman’s place felt raw. Bouncing in the saddle for several hours had her ready to scream with pain.
But she didn’t complain. She’d been the one to initiate their lovemaking last night, and had asked to partake of the pleasures of the flesh not once but four times.
Now she was paying dearly for her wanton streak.
“You about ready to stop for lunch?” Dade asked as they neared a stream.
She had been ready three hours ago. “I’d enjoy that.”
Or at least she hoped to.
Just getting off the horse for a while would be a relief. In fact, she’d almost prefer walking for an hour. Anything but straddling this horse again.
He reined up near a thicket of trees that clung to the banks of the creek. She envied his stamina as he swung from the saddle and strode to her, giving no indication that the ride had left him any worse for wear.
In fact the amorous gleam in his eyes hinted he would enjoy a bit of diversion with his lunch. If she hadn’t been hurting in more places than she could name, she’d laugh at the irony of it.
“Let me give you a hand,” he said.
She planted her hands on his shoulders and tried not to cringe when she swung off the horse, but the movement needled her legs with pain.
“You’re hurting,” he said.
“A bit.”
“A helluva lot,” he said. “What hurts you the most?”
“It’d be easier to list what doesn’t hurt.”
Dade set her on her feet but didn’t drop his hands from her waist. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She sighed, seeing no sense in putting up a brave front now. “Because we couldn’t afford to waste a day while I rested.”
&
nbsp; “I should’ve known better.” He stepped away from her and scanned the area. “Damn, I don’t like the idea of making camp out here in the open.”
Neither did she. “How much farther till the next town?”
“Hard to tell,” he said. “Since we forded the Pawnee River some time back, I’d guess we’re a little better than an hour’s ride from Ravanna.”
Hopefully it had a hotel or boardinghouse, though as tired as she was she’d settle for a hayloft. “Then I say we set off for Ravanna as soon as we’ve eaten our lunch.”
The look he gave her said he wasn’t sure she could hold up to more riding. But Maggie was serious about moving on.
“I feel vulnerable here,” she said.
“You’re not alone.”
There was nothing around for miles but unbroken prairie. They’d be able to see for miles while they had light, but at night their campfire would be a beacon. She didn’t wish to make it easy for the bounty hunter or some other outlaw to find them.
Maggie washed up in the stream and returned to find Dade had spread a blanket and set out their lunch. Though this was all done out of necessity, she allowed herself to daydream that this was what it’d be like if Dade were courting her and they’d taken off for a picnic.
She settled down across from him and bit back a wince when her muscles protested this position too. He handed her one of the sandwiches Miss Jennean’s cook had prepared.
“How did you and your foster brothers manage to survive when you ran away?”
“We scrounged for food and begged for handouts,” he said. “Nighttime was the worst because we had to sleep on the street. We took turns sleeping so if a sodomite happened on us, we stood a chance of fighting him off.”
She couldn’t imagine the fear they’d felt. “It’s a wonder you all survived.”
He snorted. “Things were mighty bad right before we crossed paths with Kirby Morris. It was getting on winter and mighty cold. We’d taken to walking the alleys, looking for discarded food.”
She stopped chewing, stunned to realize he’d been reduced to fighting rats for his meals. It was a wonder the three boys hadn’t frozen to death.
“That’s when you happened on Kirby Morris?” she guessed.
In a Cowboy’s Arms Page 24
