Slow Hand (Hot Cowboy Nights, #1)(38)

She gazed up at him with a dazed smile of repletion. “I think you’ve kept up your end of the bargain.”

“Been awhile?” he asked.

“Yeah, too long.”

“That so? Was that how you like it, Nikki? Hard and fast?”

Her mouth curved in the corner. “Hard, fast, slow, deep, I think I’d like you any which way.” Her brow wrinkled. “Do you know, I think you’re the first man who’s ever asked me what I like?”

He gave her a crooked grin. “Just aiming to please.”

She flicked her gaze southward and ran her tongue over her lips. “Then it seems only fair that I reciprocate.”

“All in good time, darlin’. First, I want to make you do that all over again.”





Chapter 11


Nikki opened her eyes to Wade’s warm body cloaking hers, his steady breath heating her neck. He mumbled in his sleep, dragging her closer, scraping a bristled jaw over her nape. She was afraid to move, almost afraid to breathe, for fear of breaking the spell. Had it all been just a wild erotic fantasy? But the air was still scented with sex. If that wasn’t already enough to jar her memory of last night, her mental DVR began playing back the preceding hours in vivid and breath-catching clips.

She’d never experienced anything even close to being wrapped in him, filled by him. He’d made her come apart so many times she thought she’d lose her mind. They’d had hard, fast, mind-blowing sex—and she’d fallen just as hard and fast. Now she was struggling to deal with the emotional upshot. It wasn’t just great chemistry; he was everything she’d ever dreamed of—big, strong, intelligent, compassionate, sexy, and with a great sense of humor. She couldn’t suppress the tiny hope that that just maybe he’d felt something more too.

He stirred again. His erection pressed up against her ass. She wriggled into it with a moan. “I want you again, Wade.”

“We can’t,” he murmured hotly against her neck. “I don’t have any more protection, but here’s a little reminder until I can be inside you again.”

His mouth came down at the junction of her neck and shoulder. He slipped his hand between her thighs, stroking and circling, making her crazy while biting softly, and sucking on her neck. She basked once more in his unselfishness, and even more in the mastery of his hands and mouth—until the sound of thunder shook the door and rattled the windows.

Startled, Nikki cried out. Wade jolted upright, scrambling blindly for his clothes.

More thunder sounded and then the door flew open, slamming against the wall with a thud. It was Dirk. A big, bad, glowering intruder casting his long shadow from the doorway.

His face hardened as he took in the scene. “Just f*cking great, Wade. You told me you were going to bring down the strays. Instead, I come all the way up here to find you two knocking boots!”

Wade yanked on his jeans and tossed Nikki his shirt before stepping toward the door, effectively blocking her from Dirk’s view. “What the hell are you doing up here anyway? I told you we’d bring them down and we will.”

“I’m playing the messenger boy for Allison Evans, that’s what. Seems she has a new offer on the table and needs you, Wade. She won’t go into it with anyone else.”

Nikki looked from one brother to the other with a sickening churning deep in her gut. “What’s he talking about, Wade? Who’s Allison Evans?”

“He hasn’t a friggin’ clue what he’s blabbering about,” Wade replied. “Allison is my partner’s daughter. She’s the ranch broker I’ve been working with. This is business, Nikki. Plain and simple.”

“‘Plain and simple’?” Dirk laughed outright. “Yeah, you just tell yourself that, little bro. Hell, it seems to me with such a fierce competition for that dick of yours, we should pin a blue ribbon on it.”

“Shut the hell up, Dirk!” Wade snapped and glanced back at Nikki. “And get out!”

“You done f*cking then?”

It was Wade’s turn to glower. “One more word and my fist is going to get mighty familiar with your face.”

Dirk’s eyes darkened, his body stiffened for a moment, but then he turned and stalked out.

“Look, Nikki,” Wade began as soon as the door closed. “This is nothing like it appears.”

You’re an idiot, Nikki Powell. You knew how this would turn out and you did it anyway. You deserve what you get for your stupidity.

“You don’t need to explain anything,” she said tightly. “I already knew this was a huge mistake even before it happened.” She shook her head. “No, make that a colossal mistake.”

She climbed out of the sleeping bag and snatched at her own discarded clothes.

“Sweetheart.” Wade wrapped his arms around her. “I’ve got only one reply to that. If you think last night was a mistake, I’d better try again until I get it right.”

She averted her face. “Last night was last night. Now it’s done. Over. It’s not going to happen again. There’s no point in continuing what never should have started to begin with.”

He gave an exasperated groan. “Please, listen to me. I know you must be feeling pretty raw after that * barged in on us, but don’t be getting wrong ideas about me and Allie.”