Rough Rider (Hot Cowboy Nights, #2)(73)

*

Janice sensed that he was intentionally testing her, trying to make her feel as exposed and vulnerable as he felt, but she wasn’t about to retreat. She’d told him before that it was gonna be all or nothing. If he wanted a show, she’d give him one.

She leaned forward to kiss him, using her breasts and hips to tease him as she dragged her body slowly up his. Her mouth sought his hungrily, but she didn’t prolong the kiss, instead withdrawing from it the moment he would have pulled her deeper in. Wordlessly, she brushed her fingers over his damp lips.

His blue gaze darkened in instant understanding. He caught her hand, drawing her fingers into his mouth one at a time, licking and sucking and then slowly releasing. He watched with a spine-tingling intensity as Janice cupped her breast with one hand, toying with her nipple as her other hand crept down her belly toward her nest of short curls.

“Oh yeah, just like that, sweetheart,” he murmured hoarsely. His pupils flared when she dipped into the wet folds of her cleft.

Feeling increasingly shy and embarrassed, she shut her eyes but continued to stroke and tease herself until her body quivered with the first tiny orgasmic tremors. Throbbing to feel him inside her, filling her, she rubbed her mons up and down his shaft.

He gripped her hips almost painfully tight. His hip bucked beneath her, but he still held back. “Don’t stop.”

She squeezed her lids tighter, imagining him pumping into her. Her climax hit like a tsunami. She let loose a low moan, rocking her hips rhythmically as it washed over her in breathless waves. She opened her eyes to find him staring up at her with a ravenous look.

“Holy shit.” His voice was low and gravelly. “Do you have any idea how hot that was? How hot you are?” He pulled her down for a long, deep kiss that sent a series of aftershocks resonating through her.

“Please, Dirk. I need you,” she whispered urgently. She wrapped her hand around him, guiding him toward her aching core, dragging his shaft through her wetness. Holding him primed at her entrance, she slid her hips slowly forward and back, then circling and teasing until he emitted a long groan that made his body quake beneath her. But just when she thought he’d finally lose it, he usurped control from her.

The next thing she knew, she was trapped beneath him, his arms caging her head and his mouth devouring hers. They gasped in unison when he entered her in a single, breath-catching thrust.

She wrapped her legs tightly around his flanks, urging him deeper. “Please don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

*

Hours later, Dirk found himself once more staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so content…or so confused. In just a few short days, she’d turned him upside down and inside out.

Her head rested on his shoulder and his left arm had gone completely numb, but he didn’t want to chance waking her. He glanced down to find her gazing up at him with a sleepy smile. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m trying not to,” he said. “Thinking seems a highly overrated activity compared to others.”

“Yeah, you might be right about that.” She chuckled and then rolled on top of him, plying soft kisses to his face. She then worked her way lower, trailing her fingers and mouth over the various scars on his body.

He winced under her touch.

“You don’t like that?” she asked.

“It’s still uncomfortable for me,” he admitted.

“I’m sorry, Dirk, but I’m afraid you’re just gonna have to get used to my hands on your body.”

Janice had a habit of pushing him too hard and too fast, but she also held nothing back. For the past four years he’d believed he could never have a normal life again. Now he wondered if that was true. He’d also told himself he’d never find a woman who’d accept him without reservation, but by the looks of things, it seemed he might have been wrong about that too.

*

Morning came way too fast for Janice. The only saving grace was that they checked out early enough that she was spared the walk of shame she’d dreaded the night before. They drove home in a thought-filled silence broken only when they stopped for coffee at a drive-through. Had Dirk not held her hand on his thigh for almost the entire drive, she might have worried about his lack of conversation, but they both needed the quiet time to digest, and to adjust. Their night together had changed everything, had put their relationship on new ground. Now they both had to regain their footing.

The sun was only starting to crest the horizon when Dirk pulled up in front of the house. She was glad to see the lights were still off. Hopefully, she’d have time to sneak upstairs and change before her mother or Cody caught sight of her. Janice reached for the door, but Dirk pulled her back. “Guess this one’s for good morning instead of good night.” His lips met hers in a slow and tender kiss. He released her with a smile. “Will I see you later?”

“I’m working at the Pioneer the next two days, but I’ll be out on Sunday with Cody…that is, if the offer is still open.”

His brows drew together. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

She replied with a nervous shrug. “Didn’t know if you might need some time alone…after everything.”

His frown deepened. “You saying that for my benefit or yours, Red?”

“I don’t have any regrets if that’s what you’re asking.”