He pulled his lips away, rained kisses along her jaw and then her neck. And this, too, rocked him back on his heels. She was sweeter than the candy bears he used to love as a child. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter.
“Maverick,” she muttered, tipping her head back.
Goose bumps had sprouted on her skin. He could feel them beneath his lips. Her response gave him courage to nibble at her flesh, sucking for a moment before moving on, drawing closer to her ear. When he pulled the soft lobe into his mouth he felt her move, and for a second he panicked, but it was just to reach up and clasp him around the neck, drawing him closer.
He didn’t remember moving her toward the bed, but when they were there, he paused again.
“All you have to do is tell me to stop,” he told her softly.
Her cheeks were flushed. Even with so little light reaching in from outside he could see that.
“I’ll take it as slow or as fast as you want it,” he added. “You set the speed.”
She nodded and he went to work on her shirt, pulling the red fabric up and over her head. They both kicked off their boots. He started to do the same thing—take off his shirt—but she stopped him, starting at the top, undoing one button at a time. It seemed to take forever, and every time her fingers brushed him Maverick thought he might combust. She could have no clue what she did to him, her innocence evident in her eyes, but he couldn’t stop himself from groaning when she pulled the bottom of his shirt out from his jeans, touching a spot that sent heat throughout his entire body.
“You’re killing me.” But he’d never been more turned on in his life. Touching her. Holding her. It did things to him he’d never experienced before, lit up nerve endings he didn’t even know he had.
“Oh.” Her hands fell away. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. She looked so worried that he quickly kissed her. “It’s a good kind of killing me.”
She didn’t move and he worried he’d spooked her, so he closed the distance between them, bringing the bare portions of their bodies together. Her heat nearly caused him to gasp again. Instead, he pulled her up close to him, nuzzling her hair with his chin.
“You amaze me,” he said softly. “You’re so brave. This can’t be easy for you.”
She leaned back. “You make it easy for me, Maverick. You make me forget.”
Did she have any idea how hard it was for him to hold back? How badly his hands shook? His whole body thrummed in anticipation unlike any he’d ever felt before.
She shifted and he felt a hand again, her fingers pressing him there, right there, and he gasped as if it scalded him, and in a way it did. Her hands were like a lightning rod. One touch and he lit up.
He guided her onto the bed, sinking down next to her and kissing her, this time harder than before, his hands skating up her side, but he was afraid of touching her in the wrong way, afraid of triggering memories. So he made sure to touch her gently, trying to show her without words that he wouldn’t hurt her. His fingers skated across her belly, which contracted in response. He knew what he wanted to do then, pulling his mouth away, kissing her along the jaw again before sinking lower, bypassing her breasts for fear of spooking her, keeping his lips soft and gentle as he moved lower and lower.
“Maverick,” she said again, squirming.
This was what he wanted, her on the edge of control. He wanted her to forget everything about her past, wanted her to start anew, with him. He wanted to show her what it was like between a man and a woman, what it should be like.
He pulled on her zipper, his mouth kissing each inch of exposed skin, pulling slowly down. There might have been one moment when she froze, when she felt the cool air on her flesh, maybe, when she realized this was it. He had almost completely undressed her, and so he stopped, waited. Only when she began to wiggle, her meaning obvious, did he go back to kissing her, first on the thigh, then climbing higher, hovering over her lace panties.
He wanted—oh, how he wanted—to pull the lace panties off her body. Instead, he pressed his lips against the fabric. This had to be perfect for her. Nothing had been more important to him in his life, and he shook with the effort of controlling himself. Never had he felt such a keen sense of longing, but this wasn’t for him, he reminded himself. This was for her.
He dipped one side of the lace down, slowly edging them off. He glanced up at her. She stared at him through heavy-lidded eyes. Nothing in her body language told him to stop and so he kept pulling and tugging, slowly easing the fabric off, one inch at a time, his lips following the progress all the way down her legs. She shook. He could see her quivering by the time he’d finished. Goose bumps peppered her skin. He followed a trail of them back up her leg, pausing for a moment at the top of her thighs, gently nuzzling and kissing until she relaxed beneath him.
“I want to kiss you there.”
“I know,” she gasped.
He pressed his mouth against the center of her.
She cried out.
He stopped, terrified he’d done something wrong, but then she said, “No, don’t stop,” the words a plea, her body opening for him.
He kissed her again. She cried out once more, but he recognized the sound for what it was. A moan of satisfaction. So he didn’t stop. He kept going. He’d never wanted anything so badly in his life as to please Charlotte in a way that would show her without words that she could enjoy herself. His own body quivered with need, but he ignored it, watching for any little sign that she wanted him to stop. That didn’t happen. She wiggled beneath him, her back arched, and her hips came up off the bed.
Her cries grew louder and louder, and the sound did something to him. The need to bring her pleasure grew greater than his own need. He wanted her to feel the pulsing spasms that came with release.
“Maverick,” she screamed.
Her back arched. Her hands fumbled for something, although what he didn’t know. He just kept kissing her until she gently floated back to earth.
She shifted, reaching for him, pulling him up. He cradled her, holding her, her heart pounding so fiercely he could feel it against his chest.
“So that’s what it’s supposed to feel like.”
Her words made him still.
“I had no idea.”
He closed his eyes, pulled her closer, a sadness overcoming him when he realized just exactly the type of abuse she’d suffered through. How dare someone hurt her like that? He hadn’t been kidding when he’d told her he wanted to beat up the bastard who had done this to her. She was too special, too precious a gift to the world to have had such a terrible beginning.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
It didn’t matter that his own thirst had yet to be slaked. There would be time for that later. Or not. It didn’t matter. Right now he wanted to hold her, to quiet the anger beating in his heart, to show her without words that he would never hurt her.
Holding her had another effect on him, though. It soothed his heart. Made his eyes grow heavy to the point that even though he would have thought it impossible, he somehow managed to fall asleep. And even then, with barely a conscious thought, he pulled her close to his heart.
* * *
She awoke with a start.
Charlotte opened her eyes, adrenaline sending a jolt to her heart.
Where was she?
She turned her head. Maverick lay next to her and the noise was a scratch at the bedroom door. Sadie, she realized. She must need something.
Her clothes lay in a heap along the side of the bed. Light from outside illuminated the interior of the room and she spotted how ruffled his hair was, though she couldn’t remember him taking off his hat last night. He slept so soundly and he looked so handsome lying there sleeping, his face softened by sleep, a darkness sprouting along his jawline. He needed to shave.
And she needed to breathe.
She pulled her clothes on, and Sadie greeted her at the door with a wag of her tail and a canine grin. She headed for the front door, hoping it was all right to let Sadie out. When the dog slipped outside, she did, too, taking a seat on a hanging porch swing he must have just installed. Dawn was just painting the sky with pink and blue hues that reminded her of an Easter egg.
Last night had been a turning point in her life. She’d never been brave enough to be intimate with a man. Not until Maverick. She’d always thought that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the act, but, boy, had she been wrong.
Sadie came back to the porch and sat down next to her.
“What am I going to do?” she asked the dog. For the first time, she reached her hand out to pet the dog, surprised when Sadie tipped her head into Charlotte’s hand as if silently saying, Pet me.
“I never thought it could be like this.”
Sadie shuffled even closer, resting her head on her lap, peering up at her with eyes that seemed to hold all the souls in the world. She tipped her head a bit more, trying to lick Charlotte’s hand, and it made Charlotte duck close to her.
“I always just sort of assumed I’d be alone my whole life.”
A dog paw joined the head on her knee and she would swear Sadie understood what was in her heart. She scratched her head, the dog’s eyes closing in contentment, which gave Charlotte courage to rub her even harder.
“This changes everything,” she told her.
How long she sat there, contemplating what had happened and where this whole thing might take them, she couldn’t say. She sat there rubbing Sadie and thinking she’d been missing the boat when it came to dogs.
“I think I should take you home with me.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you heard her snore.”
She jumped, turning to her right. Maverick came around the corner of the porch, two cups of steaming coffee in his hands, and Sadie’s tail thumped in greeting. He handed a mug to Charlotte.
“Are you hungry?”
She shook her head. “Thank you.”
“Do you want cream or sugar or froufrou-flavored stuff? I have it all.”
“No. That’s okay.”
He sat down next to her, and Sadie shifted her head to his knee.
“Traitor,” she told the dog.
“I’ve been thinking about breeding her. Maybe you’d like one of the puppies?”
“You know, I think I would.”
They both sat sipping their coffee. She could get used to this. The thought came in for a landing out of nowhere. She could get used to this, but it would change her life in ways she wasn’t certain she wanted. He would expect things from her. He’d made that clear from practically the first moment they’d met. He’d built this house for a family and a life she’d never imagined.
“You doing anything today?” he asked.
She’d been afraid to look at her phone. She had a feeling she’d have a million messages after last night’s event. But it was Saturday, and, gosh darn it all, someone else could handle an emergency placement or getting prospective foster parents their paperwork. For once she wanted to untether herself from the outside world.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Stay here,” he said, putting down his coffee cup and whistling for Sadie. “I’ll be back in about a half hour.” He bent, and her whole body jolted when he kissed her cheek. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Chapter 18
A wagon.
That was what he’d gone to retrieve. Charlotte couldn’t believe it. The horse’s leather harness jingled and jangled, the wheels kicking up small puffs of dust. There he sat, riding high on a bench seat, Sadie next to him, and what looked like bales of hay on a flatbed behind him.
“Wow.”
“I thought you could help me feed.” He smiled. “And before you think I’m crazy, this is the latest addition to the ranch. My aunt’s idea. We’re going to use it for parades and holidays. Been trying to hitch them up whenever I have the time.”
A hayride. Well, sort of.
“Is it safe?”
“Sure it is. The guy we bought the team from has been teaching all of us how to drive. We’ve been using it to feed the cattle from time to time. My dad loves it.”
As she stood there looking up at him, she admitted he made her feel like a little kid again. Back when she’d been ten or so, before all the ugliness of Rodney and what he’d done to her, her foster parents had driven through Via Del Caballo during Christmastime. The sight of the little town all dressed up was one she had never forgotten. Nor had she forgotten the carriage rides being given by a local horse person. She’d wanted to ride in one so badly, had begged her foster parents to stop, but they hadn’t, and to this day she remembered the feeling of keen disappointment. Funny that she hadn’t thought about that in years. And that she’d never really realized that the happy memories were part of the reason why she’d settled in the tiny town.
“Come on up,” he said, motioning toward the foot pegs on the side of the carriage.
She would finally get to ride in a carriage and it made her spirits lift in a way she hadn’t felt in, well, a long, long time. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face.
“There you go,” he said, helping her to settle down next to him. “And there it is at last.”
“There what is?”
“The smile I’ve been looking for.”
She had no time to react because with a “git” and a cluck he sent the horses forward, and she had to grab the edge of the seat to keep from rocking back.
“I can’t believe you guys have a carriage.”
“It’s actually called a buckboard. This is a pretty good-sized one, which is why it takes two horses in the traces. We bought it a few months ago. Been fun to feed off the back of it from time to time. Aunt Crystal swears one day we might need it. She’s a big believer in zombie apocalypses.”
“You’re kidding.”
He smiled. “I am. Sort of. It is kind of ancient technology, and good to have around. Been a great hobby for my dad to learn. Good stress reliever to learn something new.”
It was a gorgeous morning out, the sun blocked by the mountains to their east, but still painting the valley with shades of pink and orange. She could smell some kind of herb in the air, the grass around them dry in some patches, little yellow flowers peeking up from between tufts. For some reason, she wanted to hug her knees to herself.
“You mentioned before your dad had heart problems. Is he okay now?”
“Yeah. He’s fine. Got lucky. Spends his days meandering around the ranch and riding and showing cutting horses all over the country. So does my brother Flynn. That’s why you hardly ever see them. They’re gone most of the time. So are my brothers Shane and Carson. As I mentioned before, they both rodeo full-time. And my sister lives off the ranch, as you know, and so do my cousins, so it’s really just me and my aunt and uncle.” He smiled ruefully. “Like I said the other day, Flynn’s in charge of the horse operation, so he’s probably here more than anyone else. I manage the cattle operation and I’m Flynn’s backup when he’s gone. Means I pretty much work from sunup to sundown seven days a week.”
“Don’t you have help?”
“Sure. I have some and my cousins do, too, on the viticulture side. But we’re still really busy. We grow hay, too, you know. So then there’s harvesting. Hay in the spring. Grapes in the fall. We all help out with that. But even with all our help it’s still a big job.”
So this place was his life. “I know how that feels.”
He glanced over at her. Behind him the trees had opened up, revealing a large pasture and cattle behind a rock wall. She recognized the place from her first visit. Beyond the pasture was the pond he’d shown her that first day.
“Is your job pretty demanding, too?” he asked. “I kin
d of had a feeling it was. You called me on a Sunday that first time.”
“I pretty much work seven days a week, too.”
He stared at her curiously and she felt the need to explain. Or maybe she tried to warn him, and to remind herself of how impossible this whole thing would be.
“Every time my phone rings I wonder if I’m about to meet someone like me, or someone like I used to be, a child who has nowhere to turn and no one who will listen to them. I remember what that feels like so vividly that just talking about it makes my stomach turn, and so I’ll always be there, waiting to answer the phone, determined to help whoever needs me.”
He pulled back on the reins. She had to clutch the seat again, but he never looked away from her.
“You’re amazing, you know that? You’ve overcome so much. I can’t imagine what it must have been like.”
The look in his eyes pinned her to her seat, made her breath catch.
“It’s why I’m so passionate about what I do.”
Was she trying to warn him? She had to look away, felt her eyes grow warm, blinked because she didn’t want him to see how close to tears his words had brought her. She took a deep breath, trying to get ahold of her emotions.
“And I hope you know,” he said softly, “if you ever need me for anything, I’m here for you.”
He wrapped the reins around something and pulled back on a lever, which she realized was a brake of some kind. He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek again.
“I’ll be right back. Need to open the gate.”
He left her and she couldn’t look away, couldn’t stop her heart from beating out of control, couldn’t help but think if ever there was a man that she could fall in love with, Maverick Gillian was it.
If only.
* * *
He had a hard time focusing. Maverick knew it had something to do with what she’d revealed. He didn’t have much time to think about it, though, because a few dozen heifers—babies at their sides—were headed right for him, which meant he’d have to move fast.
Home on the Ranch: Unexpected Daddy Page 14
