A Winter Wedding(74)

That wasn’t much of an excuse for breaking his own rules, but the need he felt to protect her from anything negative, even his own rejection, was working against him...

He circled her waist with his hands, bringing her up higher, so he could kiss her more deeply. Part of him hoped such an aggressive action would startle her, that she’d back away and take the onus off him. But she didn’t. If anything, she seemed to like the intensity of what he’d done. She groaned as if she was enjoying every second—and he knew then that he was in trouble. He hoped she wasn’t expecting him to put a stop to this.

Soon, all kinds of warning bells were going off in his head. This was exactly what he’d decided he wouldn’t do! For someone like him, she was way out of reach—a shooting star, streaking across the sky. If he tried to catch her, he’d get dragged along for a short time before being dropped painfully back to Earth.

But right now he felt even one night with her might be worth the coming crash. Three long years since he’d been with a woman made him want to lay her down and settle himself between her thighs...

He’d break this off in a minute, he promised himself. But it was a halfhearted promise at best, and one he didn’t keep. He went on kissing her, doing all he could to make sure she lost her mind the way he was losing his.

Her hair fell over his hands. “We can’t do this,” he murmured as he rubbed his face in those silky waves. “We’re just friends.”

“And you think I’m too young.”

“You are too young.” Nine years was a lot. He would’ve been twenty-five when she was only sixteen. That was nearly a decade. But it didn’t stop him from continuing to kiss her.

“I’m old enough,” she murmured. “Besides, it’s been a long time since you were with someone. So...I’m willing to help you out.”

He slid his lips down her neck. “That’s kind of you.”

“I might as well be the one to end your sexual drought. Someone needs to. And what can it hurt—as long as we both know not to expect anything after it’s over?”

“Right. We both understand,” he breathed as he licked her soft skin.

“People have casual sex all the time.” She sounded breathless as she reached up under his shirt.

“I’m sure they do. And casual is casual.”

“Do you have birth control?”

“I’ve got a few condoms in the bedroom.” He moved his hands lower, to the curve of her hips and around to the swell of her behind. It seemed as if he’d wanted to touch her ass for ages...

“That’s good.” Her voice rose as he used his tongue to caress her breasts where they disappeared into her dress.

“Good?” He didn’t know if she was talking about the condoms or what he was doing to her, but he didn’t really care. Letting go of what little restraint he had left was beginning to sound safe. They had an understanding. They also had some privacy. Where else could someone like Lourdes Bennett go for this type of encounter? She hadn’t had sex for over a month, probably missed it. Kyle remembered how badly he’d missed the physical aspects of a close relationship after Olivia had moved away. Being that active and then having it all come to a halt was hard.

At least Lourdes could trust him not to give her some disease. Or hurt her. Or share intimate details when it was over...

“I’ll take care of you,” he promised.

“I know you will. The way you kiss... It makes me tingle all over. I swear, if every man could kiss like you...”

She never finished that statement, but what she’d said was enough. Hearing such praise made his own excitement skyrocket. Lord knew this type of thing didn’t happen to him every day, not in a place like Whiskey Creek. He’d be a fool to miss out.

Once he’d slid her dress up over her hips, he fingered the silky scrap of fabric that was her underwear, then pressed her lower body more tightly against his.

“Sometimes friends make the best lovers,” she said.

He wondered if she had any experience with that. Because he didn’t. He liked the encounter so far, though. “Feels good to me.”

“Great. Then we’ll just...get rid of these clothes.” Her hands were shaking, and he wasn’t feeling any steadier. “I have to admit I’ve wondered what you’d look like,” she said as she pulled off his shirt.

“You have?”

She kissed his chest. “Haven’t you wondered about me?”

“Only every night.” He caught her hand as she unfastened the buttons on his jeans. “But are you sure this is going to be okay? There’ll be no regret in the morning?”

“No, of course not,” she replied, and that was enough for him. As far as he was concerned, they’d reached the point of no return. He realized now that he’d wanted her from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her, and he was so charged up at finally being able to touch her in this way that he could no longer form coherent thoughts, let alone come up with an argument that might make him choose a different course.

“God, I’m glad the furnace at the farmhouse didn’t work,” he said and brought her down the hall to his room.

*

Lourdes hadn’t slept with anyone except Derrick for...years. Before him, she’d been too focused on her career to get involved with anyone. And she’d never been the type to take the risks associated with random hookups. There’d been her high school boyfriend. Then the guy she’d lived with when she first moved to Nashville. They’d had a rocky on-again, off-again relationship that had stemmed mostly from physical attraction, since they’d had nothing else in common. After she broke up with him and moved out, she’d gone long stretches without a love interest.