Sharp Shootin' Cowboy (Hot Cowboy Nights, #3)(65)

“I’m not leaving you. What if you pass out?”

“I won’t. I’m fine. Now please go.”

He turned with reluctance, leaving the door cracked. Haley closed it sharply behind him. His sudden mother hen act was annoying as hell, but also mildly endearing.

After relieving herself, she clutched the sink and stared into the mirror, getting her first look at herself. Ugh! What a mess. Her hair was tangled in knots and scratches from the fall covered her face. She found a hairbrush and a toothbrush and set out to repair some of the damage. Although she’d washed her face, her body was still covered with dirt from rolling on the ground. She felt grimy and smelled like bear.

Thank God he’d taken it down before it’d gotten its claws into her. Grizzly claws were extremely lethal weapons. The memory of those fateful seconds struck her anew.

What if Reid hadn’t been there? Or what if he’d gone along with her wishes and left the gun behind? She didn’t want to think about it anymore. One confession of fault was her quota for the day. She couldn’t bring herself to make another. They’d begun a reconciliation of sorts, but a lot of things were still up in the air.

Haley was suddenly aware that Reid was waiting on the other side of that door, and she found herself stalling. They were alone together in his cabin. He’d even undressed her. Now what?

She glanced longingly at the bathtub. Although she didn’t feel stable enough to stand long enough for a shower, a bath would be soothing to her bruised body. She turned on the tap. Then knowing he’d probably bust down the door if she didn’t come out soon, she opened it.

“Reid?”

“What, sweetheart?”

“I’m going to take a bath.”

His broad shoulders suddenly filled the doorway. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea yet. I’m not about to leave you alone for that long.”

“Then come in here with me.”

His body stiffened and pupils flared. “In the tub?”

“No,” she flushed. “I mean in the bathroom. You can sit beside me while I bathe.”

“You’re really pushing my self-control. You know that?”

“I’ll pull the curtain.”

“Won’t make any difference. I’ll still know you’re naked in that tub.”

“Yeah, Reid,” she snorted. “I’m a truly irresistible sex goddess right now.”

He came to her then, cupping her chin and tilting her face. “I think you underestimate your appeal.” His big, warm hands dropped to her shoulders. “The thought of you wet and naked just switched off the thinking side of my brain.” Even if he hadn’t said it, the desire in his eyes was unmistakable.

He still wants me.

She swallowed hard, not knowing whether to respond to his remark or to the flicker he’d stirred to life inside her. The longer his gaze lingered on her, the stronger it became.

“I’m done thinking now too, Reid. Only hours ago I had my life flash before my eyes. I want to feel now.” She wet her lips and laced her arms around his neck. “I want to feel you.”

*

He exhaled an exasperated sigh. “As tempting as that offer is, I think we need to cool it for a while.”

“Why?”

“Because an intense desire for sex is a common response to trauma. The shrinks even coined a term for it—‘terror sex.’”

“Do I look afraid?”

His gazed tracked involuntarily south, lingering on her nipples. They tightened into peaks before his eyes, evoking a similar hardening in his prick.

“You might feel differently about this later,” he said. “I told you I’d give you some space. I intend to keep that promise. I’m not about to jump back into anything until I know exactly where I stand. I’m not taking that chance again.”

“Where do you want to stand?” She flashed a slow and sexy grin as she slipped out of her panties, sending a surge of blood from his head to lower parts. His mind was rapidly losing focus, finding it harder to answer her questions. “Then again,” she continued, snaking her arms around his neck, “we don’t have to stand at all. It’s much more comfortable sitting or lying down.”

“Quit it, Haley.” He reached up to encircle her wrists, bringing them behind her back, a position that pitched her breasts forward against his chest. Not helpful. At all. He abruptly released her. “One of us has to exercise a little common sense.”

“Fine then.” She jerked away, yanking the T-shirt over her head and throwing it at him. “Have it your way. You can just sit there and scrub my back, Mr. I-need-to-be-in-total-control-at-all-times.”

He dropped onto the toilet lid. He’d resolved not to take her up on her offer, but damned if he’d deny himself the pleasure of watching. She bent to shut off the tap, intentionally taunting him with a prime view of her delectable ass. He sucked in a sharp breath.

Her coy smile said she knew damned well what she was doing to him. “It was your choice, Reid.”

She reached a hand to his shoulder to steady herself as she dipped her toes into the water. Enough was enough.

He yanked her onto his lap. “Don’t play with me, sweetheart. I promise you’ll get far more than you bargained for.”

“But that’s exactly what I was counting on.”