Back to the Heart (9 page)

It took everything in Ana to contain the excited grin. But then her grin softened. What if he wasn’t telling her the truth? What if he was only saying he would stay so that she’d give in to him? She couldn’t allow herself to be fooled again.

“So you’ll go on your business trip, and then you’ll come back?”

“That’s the plan.” He nodded.

“How long will you stay after that?”

“However long it takes for you to realize what I knew from the moment I first laid eyes on you.” He was looking at her like a predator setting up for the kill. Ana’s heart beat faster in anticipation.

“And what’s that?” She lowered her eyes, avoiding the intensity of his gaze.

“That we’re meant to be together.” He caressed her cheek then, and she allowed herself the pleasure of his touch, pressing her face against his palm and closing her eyes. She wanted to believe so badly that this was how he truly felt. Because she felt it too. Any woman would be blessed to have his love. And maybe, just maybe, he was worth taking a chance for.

Ryan’s touch ignited something carnal and desperate inside of Ana, the need to feel sensual again, like a woman, not just a mother-to-be. Never in a million years had she thought she’d feel this passionate when she was pregnant. But here she was, sitting in the barn, waiting with bated breath for Ryan to take her to places she’d sworn she wouldn’t be going with any man for at least a few years after the baby was born.

His hand felt so warm as he caressed the nape of her neck, drawing her to him. “Can I kiss you?” he asked.

Yes! Don’t ask, just do it
. Now she was grinning so broadly that she was worried she wouldn’t be able to pucker up. That fear was unmerited, though. As soon as his lips were in range, she was stealing his breath, savoring the sweet taste of his mouth pressed against hers. If she had opened Pandora’s box the night before, now she was ripping the lid right off it.

Even if Ryan disappeared next week, she needed this to know that Rick hadn’t broken her. Fear had been holding her back, but if she were afraid of being betrayed for the rest of her life, then how would she ever learn to love again?

As Ryan lavished attention on her mouth, Ana reached up to begin unbuttoning his shirt. She knew what was under it—had longed to touch the hard muscle and smooth skin beneath. What she was more curious about was the rest of him. Any woman would be. In fact, she had seen more than one undressing him with her eyes. Now she was going to undress him herself.

Inch after inch of sun-kissed skin peeked out as she worked to unfasten one button after another, though she didn’t get to enjoy it until she finally pulled free from the kiss to push the shirt over his shoulders, her fingertips grazing the skin beneath. The sight of him shirtless and aroused took her breath away.

Once his shirt had been discarded on the hay bales behind them, he inched closer to Ana, wrapping his hands around her waist and sliding them up her blouse. She would have raised her arms to allow him to take it off if she didn’t miss his lips so much. After so few kisses, he was already like a drug to her. She couldn’t get enough of him. Every kiss made her crave him more.

Eager as she was, he was surprisingly cautious. He kissed her with passion, but she knew he was holding back. There was so much heat in his eyes.

“Put your hands on me, Ryan,” she whispered into his ear before taking his earlobe between her teeth and nipping it.

A groan left his throat, and he drew her closer, laying her back on the hay and kissing a path from her mouth to her neck. Ana closed her eyes and savored every touch, every gentle kiss. When his hand made its way to the bottom of her lace bra, she writhed to feel it go higher. “You’re sweeter than I could have ever imagined,” Ryan told her as his hand withdrew.

Greedily, she reached out to explore him, sliding her fingertips over the defined muscles of his chest and stomach, feeling them flex and move. Even with her eyes closed, she was mesmerized. But touching wasn’t enough. She wanted to taste him, too, so she sat up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to kiss his collarbone and slick her tongue across his skin, inhaling the intoxicating scent of his cologne.

His hands found their way into her hair, tugging her head back to nibble a path up her neck. Then his lips met hers again, and she melted into the kiss, feeling their tongues dance together as their bodies had moved to the music at Celia’s wedding. Maybe he was right. Maybe they were meant to be together. Because no man had ever fit more perfectly against her.

She yearned to take things further, to press the boundaries she had set up for herself. Her fingers raked down his chest, causing him to moan into her mouth. She brought them to the front of his jeans and began unbuckling his belt, needing to feel his arousal beneath her fingertips.

He pulled away from the kiss, resting his forehead against hers and grabbing her hand to stop her from undressing him further. “No.”

“No?” How could he say that?

“Not yet.” He looked up at her, his eyes dark with lust.

“But I’m ready for you. I want you. I want this.” Ana had never needed a man more than she needed Ryan right now.

“You wanted to go slow, and I want you to trust me. I won’t have sex with you until I get back from my trip.”

As much as she wanted to hate him for getting her all hot and bothered and then forcing her to simmer down, the fact that he read her so well only made her desire him more.

It would have been easy enough for them to continue, but if they had had sex, she would have been wondering if he planned on disappearing forever, using the business trip as an excuse to love her and leave her. The fact that he was pulling back now was just another sign that he meant what he said.

“When you come back,” she said softly, pressing her palms against his chest and feeling the beat of his heart, “I want this. I want you and me . . . like this.”

“I promise, Ana. When I come back, I’ll give you everything you want.”

Resisting a woman had never been harder in all of Ryan’s life, especially when Ana was so ready for him. He had wanted her from the first moment that he saw her, but he had to be careful. She had been hurt worse than he had imagined, and he didn’t want to hurt her again. But as he stared at her, the heat in her eyes, the way her skin flushed when he touched her, he thought it might kill him not to have her.

They were walking a thin line between careful and ravenous, and the dance wasn’t over yet. He still wanted to taste her lips, to feel her skin, to give her pleasures that she had been denying herself since she found out she was pregnant. Ryan wanted to show Ana he could give her those pleasures, and it wouldn’t cost her her heart.

He reined in his overwhelming need to claim her and kissed her instead, loving her mouth tenderly, walking that line, trying not to plummet over the edge. His hands slid up the front of her blouse again, daring to go higher. Even if they weren’t going to have sex, it didn’t hurt to get more acquainted with her body.

Ana let out a soft, sensual moan as Ryan’s thumb brushed the lace at the bottom of her bra. The sweet sounds made it even harder to hold himself back from ravishing her like some beast. She was the girl he wanted to marry, and everything had to be done with the utmost care.

He grabbed the hem of her blouse. Ana lifted her hands above her head as he pulled the garment up and tossed it next to his own shirt. The sight of her torso made his sex throb in his jeans. He felt like a teenager all over again, looking at a girl for the first time. It took everything in him to contain the arousal building within. She was so sweet, so beautiful, and so wanton.

Ever impatient, Ana reached for Ryan’s hands and placed them over the swell of her breasts, closing her eyes and tossing her head back as he took control, groping the soft, pliable flesh through the lace. He kissed her neck as he slid his thumbs into the cups of her bra, letting them glide across her taut peaks, causing her to arch her back and gasp from his touch.

As the seconds ticked by, Ryan’s resistance began to crumble. He needed to feel more, see more, taste more. In a moment of weakness, he grabbed the cups of her bra, pulling them down and watching her full breasts spill over them. She slid her hands into his hair, drawing him to her as he bent to lavish attention on one of her nipples, taking it between his lips and sucking before giving it a tug with his teeth. She tasted like heaven and smelled like sin, intoxicating him with her sensuality.

“You make it so hard for me not to have you right now,” he breathed against her skin, trying to calm the intense need racing through him.

“Duly noted,” she purred, and he couldn’t help but grin.

He pulled away from her to look up into her eyes, which were hooded with lust. “How did you ever get to be so irresistible?”

“Less talking, more kissing,” she teased as she took his face in her hands and engaged him in a passionate kiss.

The bra was a hindrance, so Ryan removed it. The sight of Ana unencumbered only increased his arousal. Even though she was pregnant, Ryan had never seen a more beautiful body.

Ana moaned his name as he returned his attention to her chest, kissing and nibbling and sucking as his hands found their way to her jeans, and he began unbuttoning them. It wasn’t supposed to go this far, but he wanted to see all of her. Undressing her was like unwrapping a much-longed-for Christmas gift. The best gift in the world.

She was more than willing. Her defenses were completely down. Even though he had told her they would wait to make love until he came back from his trip, he knew she would give in if he wanted her to. All the restraint was in Ryan’s court, and it was so hard to hold on.

He pulled her jeans down to her ankles and she made soft sounds as he slipped a hand between her legs, feeling the heat there, the desire. Ana bowed her thighs. The invitation was there. He needed to tread carefully, oh so carefully, before he slipped into carnal instinct.

Ryan claimed Ana’s lips again as he pulled her lace panties aside to trace the seam of her sex, and she rewarded him with a moan, whispering his name in a way that made all of his senses come to life. Too bad it wasn’t his real name.

Ana bucked her hips against Ryan’s hand, pressing for more, so he gave it to her, slicking his finger across her wetness to touch the hot little bud that was begging for attention. She wrapped her hands around his neck then, tossing her head back, and Ryan was certain it was the sexiest thing he had ever seen.

“You don’t play fair,” she half moaned, half whimpered as he began teasing her with his fingers.

“Today is all about you.” He leaned forward and kissed her neck, inhaling her scent, like flowers and honey.

“What if I want to touch you?” She grinned, closing her eyes and grinding against his hand.

“Next time,” he promised, nuzzling her collarbone as his finger drew tight circles around her pleasure button. There was no question that she was on the edge. Her breathing had picked up, and he could feel her pulse through her skin. Never before had he seen a woman so aroused and full of life. “Come for me, Ana. I want you to fall over the edge for me.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but a tiny gasp came out instead as she granted his wish. Ryan loved the way her cheeks flushed when she climaxed, the soft part of her lips, the way her brow knitted slightly as waves of pleasure crashed over her, the length of her neck as she craned her head to the side. Gorgeous. All of it.

And in that moment, he lost himself completely. The gentleman disappeared. Making her come with his fingers wasn’t enough. He needed more.

Ryan’s hands hooked around Ana’s hips, and he pulled her closer to him, feeling momentarily guilty for the small noise of discomfort she made as the hay scratched against her backside. Within seconds, he had her panties around her ankles and his face buried against the hot wet skin that had just finished its first round of contractions. Ana’s back arched, and she pressed up into him, clawing her fingers into his hair as she cried out in pleasure.

He loved her with his tongue, with his lips, tasting and savoring, kissing and teasing and plunging. All he could think or feel or breathe was her, and it made his cock throb so hard that it was almost painful.

“You taste absolutely exquisite,” he breathed into her before filling her with his fingers.

“Ryan.” She purred his name, looking blissful, her cheeks a warm shade of pink. Ana reached up to play with one of her nipples, and Ryan thought it was so hot he might go over the edge himself.

“Come for me again,” he whispered before dipping back down to take her up the heights. He loved how receptive she was. The moment his mouth touched her, her breathing picked up again, and she writhed beneath him.

He moved his fingers in and out of her as he sucked on her bud, drawing out her orgasm. Within seconds, she was gasping and tightening her grip on his hair as she shattered beneath him. Ryan stayed there until he was sure he had taken all that her body had to give, then he kissed her inner thighs and sat beside her, helping her back up next to him.