One Stubborn Cowboy (17 page)

When his hand brushed down from her hair to her side and tugged the shirt from her jeans, her heart lurched. Her own hands were frantic to open his shirt. She wanted his chest against hers, wanted to feel that wiry hair against the sensitized tips of her breasts. Wanted to feel his hard muscles against her yielding softness.

Ah, his hand was on her bare midriff. Her nerve endings tingled with his touch, longed for more. She pulled back a little to give him access to her breasts, her hand pulling his up her body.

"You're wearing a bra," he said as he leaned back and rolled her onto her side to unfasten it.

"I do sometimes," she said testily. Damn, why had she today?

With the release, she sighed and rolled onto her back, pushing his buttons through the last holes and spreading the shirt from his shoulders. Kit sat up and whipped off his shirt, flinging it across the room.

He pulled her up and stripped off her shirt and bra together, pulling her against him, her softness covered by his strength as he gently lay back down on top of her.

"If you don't want to get into more trouble than you can handle, we'd better stop now," he said as his mouth moved over one throbbing mound, his tongue licking the satiny texture of her skin, tasting the essence of her. He moved up the slope to the thrusting tip and hesitated, his eyes looking up into hers.

"I don't want to stop," she whispered, threading her fingers into his thick hair and urging his face down to her. She moaned softly as his mouth captured the aching nub and gently began to torment it. Sensations flooded through her as his touch excited, intoxicated. His mouth was seething with banked fires, passion she'd known only once before—in his arms.

He eased up and moved to the other breast while her hands moved lovingly over his strong shoulders, feeling the muscles tense and relax beneath her touch. When his hand moved across her abdomen and down to the edge of her jeans, Kelly moved her hips, twisting and raising up, wanting his touch all over her. His hard hands trailed fire in their wake and she wanted more. Heat rose from deep within her, and she was losing cognitive thought as her body began to float on an unexplored sea of sensuous delights, buoyed by emotions and tactile sensations never known before. Tantalized by the promise of wonders to come, she moved against him, dying for him to love her.

When he slipped down the zipper of her jeans and peeled the tight denims off her hips, a jolt like an electric pulse caused her to arch against him. She was drowning in the deep pleasure of her own body, the pleasure he alone brought.

She arched against him again, her hands learning his back, coming around the strong side of his ribs to rake her fingers against the crisp hair that covered his chest. Finding his own dark nipples, she caressed them, moving beneath him on the bed, wanting more, more.

His hand cupped her bottom, lifting her slightly, sliding over the smooth taut skin. Coming around to the front, he traced the junction of her thighs with her hips, slipping between them, fingers tangling in the soft curls that guarded her femininity.

Kelly's mouth opened wide for his kiss, tasting him again, drinking in the pleasure he offered. She functioned only at a sensual level now, his body in control, reveling in the touch of his skin, the hot male scent filling her nostrils, the taste of his mouth in hers.

Her hands roamed lower over his chest, down the hard muscles of his belly, finding and fumbling with the catch of his jeans. He paused and Kelly held her breath. She'd die if he stopped now. Dimly she remembered his warning at the picnic, that his scars were bad. But she didn't care. She wanted him—she couldn't stop now.

Ignoring his hesitation, her hands continued. Sighing in relief when the zipper was down, she pushed against the top of the jeans.

Kit hesitated only a moment, then he assisted and was soon as naked as she. Kelly opened her eyes to gaze into his. She was surprised at the passionate glaze in his look, the depth of the blue in his eyes drawing her in, bathing her with awareness, heightening the electric pulse that seemed to throb deep in her soul. She smiled seductively, slowly letting her eyelids drift down as her hand drifted lower on his body. Encountering the rough, scarred skin, she skimmed over it, seeking the heart of his being at the moment and gently encircling him.

She was hot and damp and ready. She moved against him to let him know how much she wanted him.

"Hold on." He reached across to his nightstand and withdrew a foil packet from the drawer. In only a second he was ready.

"Now, darlin'," he said, and moved over her.

The seething flame of his passion transferred to her as she was caught up in the storm of his lovemaking. His hands evoked rippling waves of erotic excitement through her nerve endings, his tongue mated with hers and her body met his thrusts, rising and falling in the rhythm as old as mankind.

He captured her hands and held them on either side of her face as he plunged into her, withdrew slightly and plunged again. She was alive, tingling with pure sensation. She had never felt like this before, never known there could be such heights. Knowing she would melt into a fiery mass of shivering ecstasy, Kelly reveled in the enchantment. She gloried in the feel of him deep within her, the spiraling sensations taking her higher and higher until she exploded into fragments of pure gossamer and light. Shuddering again and again, she moaned her release, never wanting the moment to end.

He drew his head back, arching against her as he reached his own climax, and Kelly gloried in his pleasure, deeply moved she could bring satisfaction to so virile a man.

He collapsed on top of her, both breathing hard. Releasing her hands, he slipped his hands beneath her back, arching her a bit so her breasts wore raised, and sank his head against her neck. Kelly encircled his damp skin, her fingers idly rubbing against the strong muscles of his back, her eyes closed, imprinting each separate sensation in her mind—the feel of his strong arms holding her, the hot breath puffing against her neck, the weight of him pressing her into the bed, the warmth where they were joined. She never wanted to forget. She knew she never would.

"Incredible!" Kit said softly against her skin, his lips nibbling the column of her neck. He raised up on his elbows, tilting Kelly tighter against him, and looked down at her.

She was floating wanting only to savor the magic they'd just made. She looked up at him, knowing the love that consumed her must be reflected in her eyes, but unable to hide it. She smiled and nodded slightly, slowly, her lids drifting closed. She could stay like this forever.

Kelly slept.

Kit watched her, fascinated by every move she made. He never should have gone so far. Not that it hadn't been wonderful. Incredible, just as he'd said. But now he was in a fix. Slowly Kit withdrew and rolled over on his side, his eyes still on the sleeping woman beside him. She was incredibly lovely, flushed rosy from love, sleeping so trustfully beside him. He reached across her and drew the side of the coverlet over her to keep her warm. Punching up his pillow, he scooted against it and crossed his arms over his chest. What would she do when she awoke, though? When she saw the extent of his scars, when the irrationality of passion had waned and cold hard reality faced them.

His stomach tightened. He knew. She'd try to pretend it didn't matter, but he knew better. He looked with frustration at his jeans and shirt, scattered across his room with the force of his throw. There was no way to get them and put them on by himself without waking her.

And he hated the thought she'd see him.

Yet there was nothing he could do except steel himself against the pain, try to pretend it didn't matter. That he only wanted one time with her. That he wouldn't give all he owned to be a whole man who could love her to the end of time.

She murmured in her sleep, turning to her side seeking him.

He had to be ready when she awoke, but he had until then to pretend things were normal. And he was only human, he thought as he gazed at her with a deep hunger in his eyes.

Gathering her close, he lay down, resting her head against his shoulder, draping one of her arms across his chest. He flicked the covers so they sheltered them both. And closed his eyes, relishing the feeling of this soft, sexy woman in his arms.

* * *

When Kelly stirred, Kit was awake. He tightened his arm a second before relaxing and moving away. The time was here and he still wasn't ready.

Her hand moved against his chest, moved lower and dipped into his navel. "Are you going to show me how to hook Sam up to the cart?" she asked softly, loving the feel of him against her skin, the steady rise and fall as he breathed, the heat that still burned her.

"Hitch. Yeah, that's why you came, isn't it?"

She kissed his chest and tilted back her head to see him. "Maybe."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Why else?"

"Is this an act, or are you naturally this dumb?" she asked, teasing him.

"Now why would I think that after an afternoon of making love you'd be all sweetness and light and forget the insults for a while?"

She laughed. "I should be fawning all over you, shouldn't I? Telling you how wonderful you are and how grand the afternoon's been and how I can't wait until next time…."

"Shut up."

She sat up, pushing her hair out of her face and looking at him, her head inclined consideringly. Seeing the vulnerability behind his eyes, her heart ached.

She touched his arm lightly. "It was the most wonderful experience I've ever had in my life," she said sincerely.

"Yeah, well, I gave it my best shot."

"It was the best. Are we going to see Sam now?" she asked.

"Sure. Get dressed, then I'll come out when I'm dressed."

"Oh, no, buster. If we are intimate enough to undress each other, we are intimate enough to dress each other!" she said firmly, bouncing off the bed and walking around the room picking up their clothing.

Kit said nothing, keeping the coverlet firmly across his waist as he watched her. She moved unselfconsciously as she leaned over or stooped to gather shirts, jeans, underwear. She put than all on the bed and drew her own panties on first. She caught his eyes watching her and smiled, holding his gaze as she slowly drew on one sock, then another, her breasts free and pert under his gaze. Then she drew on her jeans, sliding them over her hips, and leaving the zipper undone.

Kit swallowed. It was as exciting as a striptease. She was sexy as hell and must know what she was doing to him. Leaving her bra on the bed, she slipped the shirt on over her head. Pulling it down, she smoothed over her breasts, the nipples pushing against the soft cotton as if asking for release.

"Your turn," she said, handing him his jeans and briefs.

"Kelly..." he said with a hint of desperation in his voice.

She moved near the head of the bed and pulled down the right side of her jeans and panties. "Here's my scar," she said, pointing to a thin line approximately four inches long. " Where are yours?"

Kit took a deep breath and tossed back the covers, exposing the crisscross of scars along his hip, thigh and stomach.

"If that isn't just like some damn macho cowboy, always wanting to top everybody," she said in disgust when she saw the puckered skin and scar tissue.

Then she leaned over and dropped a kiss on the worst of them. Kit was shocked. Even more so when she looked up at him and said, "I'm sorry you were hurt, but if it kept you from Althea and saved you for me, it wasn't all bad."Then she pulled up her jeans and zipped them closed.

"Hurry up, I want to see Sam," she said.

"These are awful," he said, stunned at her lack of revulsion.

"If you say so. I want to go see the pony. If you want me to get sick or have a hissy fit, it'll have to be later." She put on her shoes and sat in his wheelchair while he dressed, fascinated to see how he managed.