“No, you’re not.”
“Oh, yes, sweetheart, I am.”
She simply stared at him for a moment and then asked in a cautious and quiet tone, “Why?”
“Because you are the only woman I want,” he said.
“But love has nothing to do with it?”
He knew he had to be completely honest with her. He didn’t want to give her false hope or misguided illusions. “No. Love has nothing to do with it. But we’ll have something just as important.”
“What?”
“Respect for each other and a sense of caring. I do care for you, Lucia, or I wouldn’t be here.” There. He’d painted her the picture he intended for her to see. She loved him and had admitted to doing so and he had no reason not to believe her. But he knew a woman’s love went deep and things could get rather messy if she expected or anticipated those feelings in return. She wouldn’t get them.
“Are you willing to accept being the only woman in my life in a long-term exclusive affair, Lucia?”
She stared at him, not saying anything and then as if to be certain she’d heard him correctly and clearly understood the perimeters of what he’d proposed, she asked, “And during that time you won’t be involved with any woman but me?”
“Yes, I give you my word on it. Something I’ve never given any woman I’ve been involved with in the past. You are the first woman.” It was on the tip of his lips to add, Just like I was your first man.
Lucia sat there, staring at Derringer and searching his face for any signs that he was being anything but aboveboard. Was he giving her a line? She drew in a deep breath. He had given her his word, and most people knew that the Westmorelands’ word meant everything to them. But could it withstand temptation? What if he got tired of her and was tempted to test the waters elsewhere with someone else?
“And if you change your mind about this exclusivity thing, you will let me know? I wouldn’t find out from others?”
He shook his head. “No, you wouldn’t find out from others. I wouldn’t do you that way, Lucia. If and when I get ready to end things between us, you will be the first to know.”
He paused for a moment and then inclined his head. “So, if you fully accept those terms, please come over here for a second,” he murmured in seductive invitation.
She hesitated, still uncertain. She knew there was sexual chemistry between them, she could feel the snap, crackle and pop even now with the distance separating them. On what was probably the coldest day in Denver this year, he was sitting over there looking hotter than any man had a right to look, and he got finer and finer each time she saw him. His dark eyes were pulling her in, mesmerizing her down to her panties. And that luscious mouth of his seemed to be calling out to her, tempting her in ways she really didn’t need to be tempted; especially when she went to bed each night dreaming of him.
She would be the first to say that his offer of an exclusive affair surprised her because she knew that’s not how he operated. In fact, that was not how any of the single Westmorelands handled their business with women. So why was he treading off the beaten track?
One thing was for certain; his blatant honesty about the kind of relationship he wanted with her had caught her off guard. He wasn’t promising love, although he was well aware of how she felt about him. Instead of offering her love in return, he was offering her an exclusive affair.
Suddenly something happened that she hoped she didn’t live to regret. At that moment, she began listening to her heart and not her mind. Her heart was telling her that she loved him too much not to take him up on the offer he’d laid out to her. She would be entering the affair with both eyes open and no expectations except one. He would give her advance notice when he was ready to end things between them.
That meant that while things lasted she would spend all the time with him she desired. She would be the only woman sharing his bed. The one and only woman claiming Derringer Westmoreland’s full attention. She glanced down at her hand and accepted the fact that the only drawback was that he would never put a ring on her finger.
She glanced back up and her gaze returned to the deep, dark eyes that were staring at her. And waiting. And as she returned his stare, she was getting wet just thinking about all the things they would probably spend their time doing together as an exclusive couple.
She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue and watched his gaze take in her every movement as she slowly stood. And then he stood and at that moment she realized what he was doing. Something she hadn’t expected. He was meeting her halfway.
He began walking toward her the moment she began walking toward him and they met in the center. “I wasn’t sure you were going to take those steps,” he whispered throatily when they stood face-to-face, his mesmerizing dark gaze locked on hers.
“I wasn’t sure either.”
He then cupped her face in his hands and took possession of her mouth in the way she’d gotten used to him doing.
When Lucia began responding to his kiss that had liquid heat flaming inside him, he knew what they both wanted and needed. And this was the perfect day for it. He broke off the kiss and swept her off her feet and into his arms and purposefully moved toward her bedroom. Wanting her this much was the epitome of insanity, but he might as well get used to it.
He placed her on the bed and stepped back to quickly remove his clothes, sending them flying all over the place. And then for the first time since they’d made love, he took the time to use a condom.
When he returned to the bed, he captured her hand and drew her toward him to remove her clothes, slowly stripping her bare. Today she was wearing a pair of white panties, but they weren’t of the granny style. They were bikinis. But the style or color of her undergarments didn’t matter to him.
“Nice panties,” he said, picking up his jeans and placing the panties in the back pocket.
“Why are you doing that? You have two pairs of mine already. Is there something I should know?” she asked when he tossed his jeans back to the floor and eased down onto the bed to join her.
“Yes,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I go to sleep every night with them under my pillow.”
Her mouth dropped. “You’re kidding, right?”
He smiled. “No, I’m not kidding, and before you ask, the answer is no. I’ve never collected the underwear of other women, Lucia. Just yours.”
He saw the confused look on her face and thought she could dwell on what he’d confessed at another time. He needed her full concentration for what he intended to do to her right now.
Now that she was his, he wanted to get to know each and every inch of her body. Reaching out, he cradled her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his gaze again. He could tell she was still trying to understand what he’d said earlier about her panties.
He smiled, thinking this was where he needed to shift her focus.
Lucia saw the sexy-curvy smile that touched Derringer’s lips and knew she was in trouble in the most sensual way. For some reason, she knew this lovemaking session would be different, but she didn’t know in what way.
“We’re staying in all weekend,” he whispered in a voice so low and hot that a burning sensation began at the tips of her toes and moved upward through her body.
She was trying to understand what he’d said about staying in all weekend. Was he letting her know that he intended to keep her here, in this bed, the majority of the time? Before she could think further about it, he lifted his hand and went straight to her breasts and his fingers began toying with a darkened nipple.
“I like your breasts. I especially like how well defined they are and how easy they can slip into my mouth. Like this.”
He lowered his head and his stiffened tongue laved the nipple, licking all around it a few times before easing the firm pebble between his lips, and began sucking.
Her eyes fluttered closed as a multitude of sensations pulled at the juncture of her thighs in response to the pulling motion to her b
reasts. His mouth was like a vacuum, drawing her nipple more and more into his mouth as his hot tongue did all kinds of wicked things to it. He switched breasts, to take on nipple number two, and she watched through hooded eyes as he continued to devour her this way.
Moments later, he drew away to lean back on his haunches to look down at her with a satisfied smile on his lips. It was then that she sensed a need in him, and the thought of him wanting her that much sent a rush of excitement through her bloodstream.
“Now for your pillows,” he said, reaching behind her and grabbing both to place under her hips. She didn’t have to ask what he was about to do and groaned softly at the vision that flowed through her mind. When he’d gotten her in the position he wanted, with the lower part of her elevated to his liking, he just continued to gaze at that part of her.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “All over. But especially here,” he said, reaching out and gently tracing a hand inside her inner thigh, slowly letting his fingers work their way toward the feminine folds that she knew were wet and ready for his touch.
She couldn’t help but respond, and moaned as his fingers continued to lightly skim over her most intimate parts, causing sensuous shivers to flow through her. By the time he inserted two fingers inside her, she let out a deep groan and threw her head back, unable to help the way her hips rolled against the pillows cushioning them. And when he lowered his head, her fingers sank into the blades of his shoulders.
“Scent is closely linked to taste,” he whispered, his breath hot against her womanly folds. “You’re so wet here,” he said softly, and proceeded to blow air through his lips onto her. “Since I can’t blow you dry, that means I’m going to have to lap you up.”
His words turned every cell in her body into a wild, unrestrained state. Instinctively, she bucked wildly against his mouth and he retaliated by grabbing her hips and diving his tongue between her womanly folds.
“Derringer!”
Her hands left his shoulders to grab hold of his head. Not to push him away, but to keep him there. Right there at that perfect angle, that most sensuous position as his mouth devoured her as if she were the tastiest meal he’d ever consumed.
She continued to cry out his name over and over, but there was no stopping him. He used his mouth to brand the woman he wanted. And the mere thought that that woman was her made her become more and more deeply entranced with every stroke of his tongue.
And when she couldn’t take any more and her body began shuddering violently in the wake of one gigantic orgasm, he wouldn’t let up, but continued to make love to her this way until the last jolt passed through her body. It was then that he quickly removed the pillows from beneath her body before mounting her.
“Lucia.”
Her name was a whispered hunger from Derringer’s lips. Hunger that had only slightly been appeased. And when she opened glazed eyes to look up at him the exact moment he slid into her, his nostrils flared and he felt his shaft thicken even more inside her. He knew she felt it the moment that it did.
“Take me, baby, hold me, clench me. Get everything out of me that you want,” he prodded in a deep, guttural voice.
And from the way her inner muscles began clenching him, clamping down tight, compressing him, he could only throw his head back, knowing he was about to enjoy the ride of his life. This was one mating he would never forget.
He began moving, thrusting in and out of her, and when she began moving in rhythm with him, the sound of flesh smacking against flesh, he let out a ragged groan. And when she locked her legs around him and rubbed her breasts against his chest, he leaned close to her mouth and captured her lips with his.
There was nothing like kissing a woman while you made love to her, he thought. Knowing your body was planted deep in hers, knowing sensual aches were being satisfied and an earth-shattering climax was on the horizon. And when she moaned deep within his mouth, he pulled back, looked down at her, wanting to see the exact moment an orgasm ripped through her.
He watched in breathless fascination as the pleasure he was giving her contorted her features, made her tremble, almost took her breath away. It was then that he felt his own body explode, and he thrust into her deeper than he’d ever gone before.
“Lucia!”
No woman had ever done this to him; reduce him to a ball of fiery sensations that had him bucking wildly all over the place. He gripped her hips as sensations continued to tear into him, enthrall him, and each desperate thrust only called for another.
And when she came again, he was right there with her and together their bodies quaked violently as unrestrained pleasure took them over the edge.
“How are we going to explain things to your family, Derringer?”
His eyes popped open and he shifted his gaze to look over at Lucia. They had taken a nap after their last lovemaking session and she was leaning down over him, still naked and with strands of her hair hanging in arousing disarray around her shoulders. He glanced beyond her to the window to look outside. Was it getting dark already? He hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch yet.
“Derringer?”
His gaze returned to her and he saw the anxiety in her eyes and the way she was nervously biting her lower lip. “We don’t owe them any explanations, Lucia. We’re adults.”
“I know that, but…”
When she didn’t complete what she was going to say, he decided to finish it off for her. “But they’re going to think you’ve lost your mind for getting involved with me.”
He knew it was true and really didn’t like the way it sounded. His family knew of his reputation more than anyone, and for him to have talked Lucia into an affair wouldn’t sit too well with them. But as he’d told her, he and Lucia were adults.
“They’re going to think you’ll eventually hurt me,” she said quietly.
“Then I guess it will be on me to prove otherwise, because I’m not letting what they think cause a rift between us. Besides, they know we’ve been out a couple of times, and once they see how taken I am with you, they’ll start minding their own business.” And he was taken with her, he’d admit that much. He was taken with her in a way no other woman could claim. He couldn’t help but smile when he then said, “But I’m not the one they need to be concerned about. Zane’s and Canyon’s womanizing ways are probably right up there with Raphel’s.”
“Your great-grandfather? The one who was married to all those women?” she asked.
“Well, we’re still trying to figure out what’s fact and what’s fiction. So far, the women we thought were his first two wives actually weren’t. Dillon gave all the records he’d accumulated to Megan. She’s determined to find out the truth as to whether Raphel actually lived all those lives,” he said, pulling her down to him before he would be tempted to take one of her nipples into his mouth. As much as he loved tasting her, he figured they needed to eat something more nourishing now.
“I think I’ll shower and then go into your kitchen to see what I can throw together for us,” he said.
She looked surprised. “You’re going to feed me?”
He couldn’t help but smile, thinking that wasn’t all he intended to do to her. “Yes, but trust me, I have a reason for doing so. I meant what I said earlier about keeping you inside all weekend, sweetheart.”
And then he leaned down and locked his mouth with hers. This was one snowstorm that he would never forget.
Eleven
“So how are things going with you and Derringer?”
Sensations of excitement rippled in Lucia’s stomach at the mention of Derringer’s name. She and Chloe had decided to do lunch at McKay’s, and as soon as the waitress had taken their orders and moved away, Chloe had begun asking Lucia a number of questions.
The weather had started clearing up a little on Sunday night, and Derringer had talked her into going to his ranch and leaving for work on Monday morning from there. He had even helped her pack an overnight bag. What she hadn’t expected was his siblings a
nd cousins showing up early Monday morning to check on him because no one had seen or heard from him all weekend. She hadn’t missed the look of surprise on their faces when she’d come down the stairs dressed for work, giving everyone a clear idea of how he’d spent those snowed-in hours and with whom.
That had been a couple of weeks ago. “So far, so good. I enjoy spending time with him.”
And truly she did. He’d taken her to the movies several times and picked her up from work on several occasions, and had spent the night over at her place a number of times as well.
Chloe beamed. “I’m glad. Ramsey is too. Already he’s seen a change in Derringer.”
Lucia raised a brow as she took a sip of her iced tea. “What kind of change?”
“Peace. Calm. He seems more focused. Less untamed and wild. Not only Ramsey but the other Westmorelands think you’re good for him.”
Lucia nervously nibbled at her lower lip. “I hope they aren’t getting any ideas. I told you what’s between me and Derringer is only temporary. He made sure I understood that, Chloe.”
Chloe waved her words away. “All men think nothing is forever at first, only a few have love on their minds initially. Callum was an exception. He knew he loved Gemma before she had a clue.”
“But Derringer doesn’t love me. He’s said as much. I’m in this relationship with both eyes open.”
Later, back in her office, she recalled her words to Chloe as she sat staring at the huge arrangement of flowers that was sitting on her desk that had been delivered while she was at lunch. The card had simply said, I’m thinking of you.
Just the thought that he was thinking of her made everything inside her rock with anticipation to see him again. It was Friday and they were going skating again tonight and she couldn’t wait.
The intercom on her desk went off, almost startling her. “Yes?”
“Someone is here to see you, Ms. Conyers.”
Excitement flowed in her stomach. The last time she’d received flowers from Derringer, he had shown up at her office later. Was he here to see her now? “Who is it, Wanda?”
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