Long Hard Ride (Rough Riders #1)(71)




“I still like you. I just don’t know why I’m here.”


Colby kissed her crown. “Because I missed you. Talkin’ to you.


Touchin’ you. Getting to know you. We’ve had fun learnin' about each other, haven’t we?”


“Do you mean in the biblical sense?”


He tapped her ass. “No. I meant in every sense. I want to be with you, Channing. And not just with my dick in your mouth.”


She leaned back, allowing his solid warmth to seep into her. “You didn’t like it?”


“I loved it. But I don’t know why you felt you needed to distract me. I wanted to touch you, too. Lord, I’m achin’ to put my hands on you. But I can wait until you’re ready. And. Ah. It don’t have to be tonight.”


That shocked her. Wasn’t this thing between them supposed to be about sex?


Colby whirled her to face him. A hint of hesitation darkened his eyes.


“Are you comin’ to the afternoon rodeo tomorrow to watch me compete?”


“I’d like to but I don’t have a ticket. I’ve heard they’re pretty hard to come by.”


“I bought one for you today.” He sifted her hair through his hands.


“Your hair is so soft. You smell so good. Everything about you is soft and warm and sweet.”


Channing was melting. Giving in.


“And after the rodeo I’ve planned something special for us.”


“Do we get naked for it?”


Colby scowled. “Maybe I’d like to spend time with you with our clothes on, Chan.”


“That’d be a first.”


“You’re pushin’ your luck, darlin’. I’m tryin’ to be civilized. Givin’ us a chance to talk this out.”


Channing stood on her tiptoes and licked his neck. “I like you uncivilized and wild. Talk is overrated. I’d rather f*ck it out.”


Another weighty pause. “Your choice. But now that you’ve made it you don’t get to change your mind.”


Then he was on her. Kissing her, tearing at her clothes. In the blink of an eye she was naked and at his mercy.


They crashed to the bed in a tangle of arms and legs. Colby crushed her to his chest and rolled with her so she was writhing beneath him.


He scissored his legs on the outside of hers, immobilizing her lower half. He encircled both her wrists together in his large hand and pinned them above her head.


Colby’s free hand slid between them. He plunged two fingers inside her wetness. He coated his shaft with her juices, guided his cock to her entrance and drove in.


Channing groaned. Yes. This is what she wanted, what she understood about this man. The primal need.


Body to body, forehead to forehead, he thrust into her. Long, hard deep strokes. Not fast, not slow. Just strong and steady and true.


“Why haven’t you ever let me love you like this? Face to face? Heart to heart? So I can look in your eyes while I’m makin’ love to you?”


Because it’s not lovemaking, it’s just sex.


“What are you afraid of?”


That you’ll see my feelings for you and cut and run.


“Look at me, Channing Kinkaid.”


She angled her chin up an inch.


“What I said the other night? I meant it. Maybe it was crudely put instead of poetic, but I meant every damn word.”


Play it cool, play it dumb. Breezily, she said, “Oh. Remind me again what you said. I don’t remember.”


A calculating look came into his eyes. “Oh I’ll remind you all right.”


Channing realized she’d made a huge mistake baiting him.


“I told you that you are mine. You belong to me. Remember now?” He rocked his hips with short, precise thrusts.


Her body softened for his, yet her mouth remained clamped shut as a rusty well cover.


“Maybe I should repeat it. Then you can say it back to me so I know you understand. And remember.”


God. He was relentless.


“Say it. Say you’re mine.”


Channing blinked as he thrust. In. Out. In. Out. In a compelling rhythm as exotic as it was arousingly familiar.


“Say it.”


She couldn’t believe he was doing this. Pushing her emotions as he pushed her body to the limit.


“You’re mine. Say it.”


She stared at him, pretending a detachment she didn’t feel.


No change in his expression. No change in the solid motions of his thrusts. No change or concession in the words he demanded from her.


“Say you’re mine.”


Channing turned her head away.


With his chin he forced her face back level to his and peered in her eyes. “Goddammit, Channing. Say it.”


She watched him warily. Physically, she wasn’t scared of him, but at some point in the last hour, on an emotional level, he’d set out to conquer her. Completely. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he had her total surrender. And she was teetering on the brink of submission.

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