Anne Rainey - Touching Lace (19 page)

Anticipation

Deidre Nelson has never forgotten the man who stole her heart so effectively a decade ago. When circumstances bring her back to Ventura, Texas to look after her parents' B&B, she prepares to face Jonas Mendez, the sexy wrangler-turned sheriff, with growing anticipation.

Deidre’s engaging smile and seductive gaze has haunted Jonas for ten years. But life’s cruel ironies pepper his past, leaving him guarded and wary. He vows to keep his interaction with Deidre strictly professional while she's in Ventura.

But when vandalism at the B&B turns life-threatening, Jonas finds himself intimately involved with the one woman he has always wanted but never touched.

As a decade of built-up anticipation becomes reality, suddenly the line between protector and possessor begins to blur.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Anticipation
:

Once she’d locked the door and walked down the stairs to stand beside Jonas, the air around them grew strangely quiet. He slid his hands around her waist. She relished every second of his warm palms touching the bit of skin below her tank top as he easily lifted her up on his horse.

Deidre tried to sit sidesaddle, but Jonas squeezed her waist. “You’ll have to sit astride, darlin’, or it’ll make for an uncomfortable ride.”

She squirmed nervously at the idea of sitting astride in a skirt. “I really should go change clothes—”

Before she could finish, he gripped her hip with one hand and slid his other hand up her calf, pushing her skirt up until her thigh was bared. “Lift your leg over.”

At his soft command, she did as he asked and moved her right leg over the horse’s back. Without a word, Jonas swept up on the saddle behind her.

“Comfortable?” She tilted her eyebrow, casting a quick gaze over her shoulder. “Not quite,” he whispered in her ear. At the same time, he used his thighs and hips to

slide her body forward until her bunched skirt was all that sat between her pubic bone and the saddle horn.

Molding his chest to her back and his thighs around her hips, he put his arms around her waist and unwound the reins from the top of the saddle horn. “Now I’m ready.”

The sensation of the hard horn between her thighs and the cowboy’s muscular body surrounding hers sent her heart rate soaring. Deidre gripped the top of the saddle horn and let out an edgy laugh. “Just don’t gallop, ’kay?”

Jonas urged the horse into a walk toward the trails behind the B&B. “We’ll take it nice and slow, I promise.”

As they entered the darkened woods, Deidre shivered at the change in temperature. Even though the evening sun slanted through the canopy of trees, bathing her skin in ribbons of diluted golden warmth, the forest’s shade brought an exciting coolness in contrast to Jonas’ body heat radiating against her back. She closed her eyes, enjoying the

sensual combination.

“Does this trail lead to the Mendez property?” she asked.

“Mmm, hmm.” His chest rumbled against her back as he rubbed his nose along her neck. “Do you want to know how many times I’ve thought about you?”

She jerked her eyes open, surprised by his question. “How many?” His left hand spread across her exposed thigh and his fingers tightened around the

bare flesh. “I’ve lost count.”

Jonas’ sincere admission caused the butterflies in her stomach to stir in haphazard abandon. Earlier today might have been about emotional limitations, but tonight was about confessions, she realized. “I’ve never forgotten you.”

He gripped her thigh harder. “I never cheated on her.”

Deidre understood the anguish in his voice. She placed her hand over his, her heart tripping at a rabbit’s pace. “I know. Your integrity was one of the things I admired so much about you.”

His body tensed behind her. “I’ll never say the words ‘will you marry me’ again.” The vehemence in his words told her just how much his ex-fiancée’s betrayal had

hurt him. Deidre’s heart went out to this strong, self-contained man. Even though his statement tore her up inside, she admired him more for being honest with her upfront.

Running her hand across his warm one, she laced their fingers together and let out a soft sigh. “We’ve both had our share of disappointments in life. I just want to feel your arms around me. I don’t have any expectations beyond that.”

Jonas brushed her hair to the side and buried his nose against her neck. “I’m sorry, Deidre. You blew me away the moment I saw you again after all these years. There needs to be pure honesty between us.”

“No expectations, Jonas….just anticipation,” she said at the same time the tiny niggling voice in her mind dared to rear its ugly head.
I hope I haven’t built you up in my mind to be a bigger-than-life, beyond exceptional lover. But the throbbing ache between
her legs reminded her that the man definitely knew how to leave her wanting.

“Anticipation,” he said in a husky tone as he laid the reins across Admiral’s neck. The horse continued to plod along without guidance as if he knew the trail well.

Deidre’s pulse thrummed when he placed his hands on her legs then slid her skirt higher, exposing her thighs completely.

He cupped his fingers along the bend of her legs and began circling his thumbs on her muscles just above her knees. She bit her lip to keep from moaning at the sensations rocking through her.

As he moved his hands higher, massaging her muscles in small circles, tiny tremors started in her inner thighs and slowly wound their way to her sex. With a low growl rumbling in his chest, Jonas shifted his weight forward in the saddle, forcing her body fully flush against the saddle horn until she literally rode the hard surface.

Each dip and sway of the horse’s movements caused her mound to rub and bump against the saddle horn. Agonizing friction built and ricocheted through her sex, tensing her lower muscles. Deidre tightened her thighs around the horse and swallowed a moan.

“I feel your tension. I know you’re holding back. I want to hear your excitement,” Jonas said at the same time he gripped her inner thighs and forced her legs open wider. His action no longer allowed her to stop the constant pressure against her sensitive parts. Deidre began to pant then gasp each time the horse’s movements made her body meet the molded surface.

Jonas moved his thighs behind hers, keeping her sex flush with the horn. The sensation of his hard cock pressing against her backside made her want to whimper.

“Your sweet ass rubbing against me is a helluva cock-tease,” Jonas said in a husky tone. His hands slid up her rib cage until they covered her breasts. “Do you feel how much I want you?”

As his fingers brushed across her hard nipples, exquisite pleasure shot through her breasts and down her center. Deidre let her head fall back on his shoulder, shutting her eyes tight. The heat radiating from his hard erection seeped right through their clothes. She’d never been more stimulated.

“Yes, and it’s definitely mutual,” she managed to babble out while a multitude of arousing sensations battled within her. The horse had slowed, but each step became a sensual punctuation to the built-up emotions roiling inside her. Her panting turned rampant as her sex began to throb, ready for release. “Jonas… I’m…”

“I know, sweetheart. Let go. I want to hear your scream,” he said at the same he slid his fingers forward and pinched her nipples hard.

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