by Katie Lane
He glanced down at her breasts and all the moisture left his mouth. She was wrong. Dead wrong. He desired to go there. He dreamed about her sweet breasts every night. He dreamed about taking them in his hands and testing their fullness. He dreamed about burying his face in their softness and breathing in their scent. He dreamed about kissing every inch of their pale skin and learning the taste of their nipples.
But moving his dreams to reality was a good way to lose his job . . . and his sanity.
He lifted his gaze. “Rubber baby buggy bumpers . . . rubber baby buggy bumpers . . . rubber baby bubby—dammit!”
“Aww, that’s a shame,” she said. “You were so close too.” She turned and carried Queenie into the house.
“Dixie!” He followed her inside and promptly tripped over the threshold.
She glanced over her shoulder and grinned an annoying I-told-you-so smile. “You can take my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch this time.”
Dixie’s bed was like sleeping on a cloud. The pillow top mattress was firm. The white cotton sheets were soft and crisp. And the pillows were the kind of foam that conformed to your head and supported your neck.
And yet, Lincoln couldn’t seem to get comfortable.
Probably because he had a hard on that could pound nails into concrete and had ever since he’d come out of the bathroom and found Dixie making up the couch in a tiny pink nightie that barely covered her ass. He’d planned on insisting on taking the couch. But with all the blood in his body pooled in his dick, he hadn’t been able to put two words together. So he’d quickly exited into Dixie’s room and shut the door.
Now there he lay so horny that there was no way he was going to sleep.
Unless he got some release.
He glanced at the door before he eased down the waistband of his boxer briefs. As he took himself in hand, he closed his eyes and tried to come up with a good fantasy. Of course, the only good fantasy that came to mind included the woman sleeping in the next room.
He let it play out.
“Lincoln,” Dixie says in a sexy whisper. “Are you awake?”
She walks in and stands at the end of the bed in her skimpy little nightie. “I want you. I’ve wanted you since I first set eyes on you. You’re not only the best lawman in the state of Texas, but you’re the hottest man I’ve ever seen.” She strips the nightie over her head and reveals all those luscious curves. “Give it to me. Please. Or better yet, I’ll give it to you.” She crawls onto the bed until her mouth is positioned right over my throbbing—
“Lincoln? Are you awake?”
His eyes pop open to see Dixie standing in the doorway, the hall light shining through her little nightie displaying every one of her curves. It took a second for Lincoln to realize that this wasn’t part of his fantasy. His dick didn’t realize it at all. Even after he jerked up his boxers, it was still hard with need.
He quickly pulled a pillow over his lap as Dixie walked into the room. “So you are awake.” She crawled onto the bed and he almost swallowed his tongue. “I couldn’t sleep either. My mind just won’t stop thinking about . . .” He held his breath, thinking she was going to say “sex.” Or maybe he was hoping she was going to say that. Instead, she said, “the fire.” She crossed her legs in front of her, the nightie hiking up on her thighs and pooling in the spot between her legs. “I know you don’t think Sam had anything to do with the Dailys, but I just remembered something that might change your mind.”
His mind definitely needed to be changed. It was on a sexual track that he couldn’t seem to get it off of. Especially when within reach were two breasts that hung beneath the thin material of the nightie like ripe fruit on a tree just begging to be plucked.
Dixie was completely unaware of his predicament. “When I took Cheyenne home after she shoplifted, I wanted to make sure Cal wasn’t too angry at her so I told him some of my funniest pageant stories to put him in a good mood.” She paused. “Is it hot in here? No wonder you can’t sleep.” She gathered the mass of her thick hair in both hands and lifted it off her neck, which, in turn, caused her nightie to lift and display a skinny little triangle of black lace between her crossed legs. He’d thought all the blood was already in his penis. He’d been wrong.
“Are you hot?” she asked.
He was fuckin’ burning up.
“I’ll turn on the air conditioner,” she said. “But first I need to finish telling you about my theory. Anyway, after I told Cal the stories, he said they were better than any of the stories he’d heard when he worked at Cotton-Eyed Joe’s before he moved to Abilene. And since Cheyenne is thirteen and it probably took a few years for Cal to meet her mom and get married that could place Cal working at the bar right around the time Sam was here. Maybe Cal saw something. Maybe that’s why someone set his trailer on fire.” She released her hair and it fell around her shoulders like spun gold. One strand fell over her right breast and curled perfectly around the nipple that poked through the soft material. “So what do you think?” she said.
He thought that the time of being able to avoid his desire for Dixie was up.
With a groan, he reached out and slid a hand through her hair and jerked her to his waiting lips.
Chapter Fifteen
There were only a few times Dixie had ever been struck speechless. This was one of those times. Not only because she had never expected what was happening to happen, but also because she couldn’t talk when Lincoln’s lips were burning through her like greedy flames. She’d wanted him to lose control and that’s exactly how he was kissing her—with unleashed passion.
His hands fisted in her hair as if he never wanted to let go as his lips devoured hers with hungry need. She wanted to feed that need. She wanted to offer herself up like a banquet and let him eat until there was nothing left but a few paltry crumbs. Although with the way he was feasting, she didn’t think there would even be crumbs left when he was finished.
One hand slipped from her hair and palmed her breast in a firm grip that send a shock wave tumbling through her. More followed when his thumb stroked her nipple through the thin material of her nightie. He strummed it to a tight, aching bud before he pinched it hard. The intense feeling that ricocheted through her body caused her to tremble. He moaned against her tongue as he jerked the top edge of her nightie down and cupped her naked breasts in his warm, callused hands. He caressed and strummed and pinched until she was the one who lost control.
She pulled from the kiss and spoke against the strong-corded muscles of his neck. “Lincoln, please.”
He answered her plea by lowering his head and feasting on her breasts with his hot, greedy mouth. He licked and sucked and nipped until her bones turned to butter and her body shook with the need for release. His hands slipped beneath the hem of her nightie, his fingers trailing tingling heat up the sides of her thighs. When he reached her panties, he hooked his thumbs in each leg hole and tugged them down. She gasped when his large hands palmed her butt cheeks and squeezed. The tips of his fingers brushed the crevice between, and she quaked all the more when he traced the crevice down.
“Mmm,” she moaned as he stroked a finger along the wet seam between her legs while never once stopping the attention he was giving her breasts. The combination of heated mouth sucking and heated finger stroking was too much for Dixie. When he brushed over her clitoris, she catapulted into the most amazing orgasm of her life.
She yelled a few choice cuss words as she gripped his head and pushed against his hand. Before the last little twinkle of tingling sensation had fizzled, she was lying flat on her back with Lincoln looming over her.
His dark hair was tousled from her fingers and his eyes were even darker than usual with passion. “Tell me now if you don’t want this.”
She felt the hard length of him pressing into her still quivering center. But no matter how much he needed release, she knew he would stop if she wanted him to. She didn’t.
“Don’t you dare stop, Officer Hayes. That’s an order.”
/>
A look of relief filled his face and he smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”
He took orders well. Within seconds, Dixie was completely naked. His hot gaze wandered over her and he made a sexy growling sound deep in his throat. “You are so damned beautiful.”
His words made her feel more beautiful than any beauty contest win. He kissed her gently as he lowered himself over her. She prepared herself for the pain her mama had warned her about. But it never came. As he slid in, there was just a slight twinge of discomfort that was quickly covered by a deep, satisfying stretching that made her start tingling all over again. She arched her hips to get more, but Lincoln had frozen. He pushed up to hands, his biceps bulging impressively as his dark eyes stared right through her.
“You’re not a . . .” He left the sentence hanging, but she finished it for him.
“A virgin.” She smiled. “Not anymore.”
His eyebrows lowered and she knew he was going to pull out. She couldn’t let him do that. Not when she finally had Lincoln exactly where she wanted him. Using one of the moves she’d learned at the state police academy, she hooked her leg around his leg, slipped an arm between their bodies, and flipped him over to his back. Before he could get over his surprise, she sank down on his erection, sheathing him completely.
Lincoln groaned. “Dixie, stop.”
“Not a chance, Officer Hayes. Someone once taught me that when you have someone where you want them, never give in.” She slowly lifted her hips, then sank back down. He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut as if he were in pain. She took that as a good sign and continued rocking her hips. Slowly at first and then faster as her need for friction grew. But she couldn’t seem to move fast enough to appease the ache growing deep inside.
“Lincoln,” she moaned his name in frustration. A second later, she was on her back again. His breathing was harsh and voice ragged as he spoke.
“Tell me you’re on birth control.”
“Of course. I might’ve been a virgin, but I’m still a smart southern woman. Now quit the interrogation and get moving.”
He started to move, but not nearly hard enough or fast enough for the need that clawed at her insides wanting release.
She bucked beneath him. “Faster, Lincoln. Please”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he spoke through clenched teeth.
“You’re hurting me more by not giving me what I want. Now move your ass, Officer Hayes!”
He growled and slammed into her deep and hard. Again and again until the bed frame banged against the wall and Dixie saw stars. Literally. There were little twinkle lights in her vision when she finally hit climax and screamed out her release. He caught the scream in a kiss and it fizzled on their tongues as he pumped into her a final time and shivered out his own release. He rested his head against her neck and sighed. It didn’t sound like contentment as much as frustration.
“I guess you’re feeling guilty for taking my virginity,” she said.
He lifted his head. “Hell yeah, I am. That’s something you shouldn’t give to just any man, Dixie. It’s something you should reserve for someone special. So why the hell would you give it to me?”
It was a good question. Dixie had been guarding her virginity ever since high school. At first, she refused to have sex with boys because the pastor at her church regularity preached a hell, fire, and brimstone sermon about the sin of sex before marriage. But right before she went to college, her mama sat her down and corrected their pastor’s sermon. “Sex without a wedding band isn’t a bad thing, Dixie Leigh. In fact, with the right man, it can be pretty amazing. I’m not sayin’ you’ll only find one right man. You might find a few. Just make sure the men you choose are good men worthy of such a special gift.”
So Dixie had waited. And waited. And waited for a worthy man. One she knew she could trust to make her first time special. And she’d found him. She’d found him in a tall, dark, Texas Ranger who was honorable, kind . . . and deeply wounded. Because of those wounds, Lincoln couldn’t be her forever man. She knew that. But he would always be her first. While her heart wished for so much more, her soul was grateful for what she’d gotten.
She cradled his whiskered jaw. “You are special, Lincoln Hayes. You might not think so, but I do. Now can you quit scowling at me and just accept that this is your lucky night.” She gave his serious mouth a quick kiss. “Now get off me before your big ol’ body suffocates me.”
He rolled off of her and acted like he intended to get up, but she pulled him back down. “Where do you think you’re going? After a woman gives you her sweet cherry cobbler, she expects a little cuddling afterwards.” She lifted his arm and scooted under it, resting her head on his chest where she could hear the steady thump of his heart. After pulling up the sheet, she flopped a leg over his, wiggled to get comfortable, and then sighed with contentment. “Now that’s better.”
There was a long stretch of silence, and she thought he had gone to sleep. She was about to join him when she heard a deep rumbling in his chest. It took her a moment to figure out Lincoln was laughing.
She lifted her head to find his eyes crinkled at the corners and a smile lighting his face as he silently chuckled. Lincoln happy was a beautiful sight. She couldn’t help smiling back.
“Just what’s so funny?”
He opened his mouth to say something, but a bellowing laugh escaped instead. “Sweet cherry cobbler?” He held his sides. “I hate . . . cherry cobbler. It’s my least favorite dessert ever.”
Her smile faded. What was he saying? Was he saying that taking her virginity hadn’t been good? It made sense. It was her first time and she hadn’t really known what to do. Still, it was very unkind of him to laugh and point it out. Obviously, he hadn’t been the right man after all.
Her tempered flared. “Why you no-good, lowdown snake!” She picked up a pillow and hit him hard in the face. It only made him laugh harder. She got up on the bed and hit him repeatedly. “Out! Get out of my apartment right now. I don’t care if you’re drunk as Cooter Brown. I don’t want you here one second longer.”
Instead of leaving, he grabbed the pillow and tugged until she tumbled over his hard body. She didn’t mean to knee him in the family jewels.
“Sonofa—” He rolled to his side and cupped his balls.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to knee you. Although you deserve it for laughing at me. I realized I’m not very good at sex, but it was hurtful for you to point it out.”
He took a few deep breaths before he sat up. “I wasn’t laughing at your performance, Dixie. It just struck me as ironic that you’d named your virginity after a dessert I despise. Because I sure as hell didn’t despise what happened tonight. I just wish you had told me before we got started.”
“If I had, we never would’ve started.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it. “Good point.”
“So you liked it?”
He stared at her in disbelief. “Liked it? It was phenomenal.”
“Phenomenal?” Her anger completely disappeared and was replaced by a giddy feeling. “I thought it was pretty phenomenal too. And I’m sorry I got so upset. I just hate people laughing at me.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “I doubt that happens a lot.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Who laughed at you?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll go get you some ice.” She started to get off the bed, but he stopped her.
“It does matter. Who laughed at you?”
She smiled at his angry, concerned expression. “Do you think you need to protect everyone?”
“It’s a character flaw. Now answer the question? Was it someone in town?”
“No. It was just a kid thing that happened at school. I’m dyslexic and letters and words get all scrambled up sometimes and come out wrong when I read aloud. I guess it was pretty funny.”
Lincoln didn’t crack a smile. “If the teachers knew you were dyslexic, why were you reading with
the other kids? My best friend was dyslexic. He had a special class he went to with children that were reading at the same level he was. I’m surprised your overprotective father didn’t make sure you had the same opportunity.”
“How do you know my father is overly protective?”
He paused for a moment before he shrugged. “You’re an only child. It makes sense. So why didn’t he make sure you got the special help you needed?”
She had already told Lincoln much more than she’d ever told anyone else. If she had trusted him with her virginity, she knew she could trust him with all her secrets.
“Daddy doesn’t know I’m dyslexic. Mama thought it was best if he didn’t know. So he thinks I’m just another brilliant Meriwether who can ace law school and follow in his footsteps. He doesn’t realize that I didn’t get the Meriwether brains. I’m just a pretty face with a below average IQ.”
She tried to say it in a lighthearted manner, but she could tell by the sympathy in Lincoln’s eyes that he had read through her lightheartedness. Up until this moment, she hadn’t felt the least bit naked in front of Lincoln. But now she did. Now she felt totally exposed and vulnerable.
She quickly got up and grabbed the robe draped over the chair. “I’ll just go get that ice.” She left the room without waiting for a reply.
Once in the kitchen, she chided herself for telling him more than she should have. Now he probably did think she was a complete ditz. He was no doubt lying in bed right now trying to figure out how he could get out of there without hurting the pathetic woman’s feelings.
Which was why she let out a squeak of surprise when she closed the freezer after filling a baggie with ice and saw Lincoln standing there. He was still naked, and her insides flushed with heat at the sight of all his hard maleness. But she refused to add sex-crazed to ditzy.
“Here’s your ice.” She held up the baggie. “And since you seem to be sober, you probably—”
He stepped closer, forcing her back against the refrigerator. He slid a hand in her hair and tipped up her chin to meet his hot mouth. The baggie slipped out of her hand. When his kiss had melted her bones like the ice cubes scattered all over the floor, he drew back and looked at her.
