Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) (26 page)

He nodded. “I know. And I
appreciate it, darlin’.”

“And you’re okay with me leaving?”

“Sure.”

“You don’t have a problem with me
being a city girl?”

He smiled. “Nope. This time it’s
different. This time I know up front you’ll head back to the city.”

She searched his eyes. They
appeared to be earnest, and heated and
dang,
she was not equipped with
the ability to fight the strong attraction flowing between them any longer. Not
when they’d laid out all their concerns and considerations.

And why the heck should she fight
it? They both wanted a
friends-with-benefits
relationship. A mutually
satisfying one.

“So…what do you say?” he asked, forehead
pressed to hers, lightly running his hands up her arms again, gaze hopeful, and
yeah, still heated.

“Okay.”

He stilled, then drew back. “Okay?”

“Yes, but don’t say I didn’t warn
you. I really don’t know what I’m doing.”

His smile broadened until his
dimples glared. “Don’t worry, darlin’. I’ll teach you. Starting right now.”

And her heart nosedived into her
ribs while her pulse soared sky high. The combination made Kerri sway and
clutch at his shirt. Apparently this was okay with him because he lowered his
mouth to hers and kissed the rest of her senses into oblivion.

If possible, he tasted even hotter,
hungrier, more potent now that they’d dropped all their barriers. And heaven
help her, she was sunk. She moaned and did that climbing thing again, to which
he cupped her bottom and lifted while she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Hot dang, it felt good.

Still kissing, he turned them
around and walked to the island where he set her down near their forgotten ice
cream. Breaking the kiss, they drew in air, still touching and feeling. His
forehead met hers again.

“You take the lead, Kerri. What do
you want to do to me?”

“Me?” she practically squeaked.
“I-I told you, I-I don’t know.”

He smiled that dang sexy, lop-sided
grin as his hands ran up and down her thighs. “Oh, but you do. Listen to your
body. Trust me. A guy is going to enjoy anything you do to him. So, what do
you
want?”

She wanted…her gaze traveled over
him. She wanted him naked. She wanted… “To lick my ice cream off your chest.”

Oh crud
. She hadn’t meant to
say that out loud, but a second later, he’d ripped off his shirt and between
her dangling legs, a glorious, bare torso awaited her pleasure.

Her mouth watered
—
and
other parts further south
—
at the sight of him. With a
wicked grin, the sexy cowboy shoved the pint of melting ice cream into her hand.

“Have at it.”

So she did.

Tentatively at first, then she got
both of her hands in on it, reaching into the pint before slathering the
sticky, cold, delicious confection all over his broad chest and each individual
ridge of his abs. God, he looked good enough to eat.

So she did,

Kerri leaned forward and began to
lick that magnificent chest, delighting in his inhales and the way his hands
tightened on her thighs as he stood while she licked him clean.

“Are you done?” he asked, voice
strained, gaze dark and hungry.

She shook her head. “No.” Then
wiped a fresh coat of ice cream across his bottom lip. “There’s still a little
left,” she said, then cupped his face and pulled his mouth close enough to
lick.

His control snapped. He groaned and
grabbed the back of her head while his mouth devoured hers, eating, drinking,
plunging until she quivered with so much need she didn’t know what to do with
herself.

Then his hands were on her shirt,
unbuttoning, driving her wild with each brush of his knuckle across her
breasts. She wanted his whole hand there. And…and maybe his mouth. Yeah. Definitely
his mouth. He eased the shirt off and stood back. Her body shivered under the heat
of his gaze.

“Purple. Nice,” he said, then
tugged the bra straps down her arms until she sprang free.

He inhaled, and reached behind to
unhook the bra and toss it aside. “God, you’re beautiful,” he muttered, lowering
his head. A second later, he was kissing her cleavage, a nipple, and when he
caught the other between his thumb and finger and squeezed, she cried out and
arched into him.

Lance had never done these things.
He’d touched her, but not so lingering. Or greedily.

Connor lifted his head, eyes dark
and practically glowing before he took her mouth. She nearly climaxed from the
erotic sweeping of his tongue while his hand tweaked her nipple and the other strayed
further south to stroke between her legs.

Kerri moaned and let him lay her
back, tensing briefly when her bare skin met the cool counter.

He pulled away to look down at her.
“Gorgeous,” he said, gaze traveling down her body then back up. “But you have
on too many clothes.”

Strong, sure fingers were undoing
her jeans, and before she could change her mind, or help, he had them down to
her ankles while he removed her shoes. Which he did with startling efficiency,
before he yanked off her jeans and socks.

Now that heated gaze of his devoured
her purple lace bikini. “They’re not grandma panties,” he said, a smirk tugging
his lips.

She smiled. “Nope. Not today.”

“Wouldn’t matter. These aren’t
staying anyway,” he said as he hooked both sides with his forefingers and
slowly tugged them down her legs until they joined the rest of her clothes on
the floor.

Can you say, self conscious?
Heck yeah. Big time. She swallowed, and her face heated. Cripes, she was
practically laid out like a buffet on her own kitchen island.

Ew,
she was going to have to
disinfect later.

“God, you’re so damn beautiful, Kerri,”
he breathed, his gaze slowly running up her body and back down again.

It sent all thoughts of cleaning
from her mind.

Okay, seen it once, no reason
for another pass
.

Her entire being screamed for her
to cringe, to curl up and cover up. And
because
she wanted to roll away
and hide under the quilt on the couch, Kerri forced herself to remain where she
was and waited.

Forget breathing. That wasn’t
possible. Not with the gorgeous Connor McCall taking in every inch of her.

“Mouthwatering,” he said, his gaze
finally reaching hers. “God, Kerri, the things I want to do to you…”

K
erri could feel Connor
shake as he gripped the counter and bent down to kiss her lips. The fact he was
so turned on caused her to shake in response.

Something cold and sticky hit her
chest. She gasped, and he drew back and smiled, holding up his ice cream
covered hand.

“My turn,” he beamed, and proceeded
to slowly drive her mad with a barely there touch that circled her breasts, but
not the nipple.

She inhaled and gripped the
counter.
Not fair.
He did it again, each time coming closer, but never
quite touching her firm peaks. She grit her teeth and held back a groan while
she squeezed her thighs shut in an attempt to block the aching need.

It didn’t work. The hunk of a
cowboy was standing between her legs.

“Connor.” The need forced his name
from her lips.

“What, darlin’? Tell me what you
want.”

God, she couldn’t. But then his
tongue was on her, licking, teasing, hovering, yet never taking her into his
mouth until she thought she’d scream.

“Connor, please.”

His head lifted. “Tell me.”

Lance had never touched her like
this or teased or licked. It was incredible and annoying and if he didn’t put
his mouth on her nipples soon…

His warm lips closed over a tight
peak, licking, sucking until she writhed about.

“Is this what you want?”

“Yes, yes, that’s what I wanted.
Thank you.”

He stiffened, then lifted his head.
“Hey, hey, darlin’ you don’t have to thank me. Surely you know all of this
foreplay is for me, too.”

But she didn’t know. Lance had
never done it. Had never seemed to need it, and since he’d only touched her a
little, she never knew there was more.

God, had she ever been wrong.

“Give me your hand,” he said,
taking the one nearest him to rub over his thick arousal.

She gasped again. He was so hard.
It had to hurt.

“Trust me, darlin’. I am enjoying
this every bit as much as you. Maybe even more, knowing this is your first
time.” He smiled down, tenderly brushing a piece of hair off her face. “I like
that I’m bringing you pleasure.”

She reached up to touch his face.
“You are. I can barely catch my breath.”

His smile broadened. “Good, then
I’m doing it right.”

She laughed. “Yeah, like there was
ever any doubt.”

He leaned down and kissed her, long
and slow and deep.
Hot chocolate.
He tasted hot and like chocolate, and
she closed her eyes and moaned. One big, calloused hand closed around her
breast, all of it, even the nipple.

Yes
, she silently rejoiced.
The other skimmed her belly, over her hip, then thigh, thumb brushing her
center. He released her mouth to kiss her neck and she stilled, then moaned
when he slid a finger inside. His hand was big, his finger was thick, and she
was so close to climax she was already seeing stars.

He groaned against her neck.
“You’re so wet.”

No kidding. He was making her
crazy.

His finger circled, then slipped
inside. Yeah, no, Lance never did it that way. Too bad. It felt so much better.

Now Connor was kissing a path down
her shoulder, her breast, lingering on her nipple before heading down her body
toward his wicked hand, his slight scruff feeling like a little bit of heaven
on her skin.

He pulled his finger out and stood
back slightly, still between her dangling legs. Kerri’s stomach clenched. He
spread them wider and stared down at her. Jeez. He was looking at her
practically spread eagle. His gaze lifted to meet hers, and
oh Lordy
were his eyes hot and fierce.

“You’re beautiful. I can’t wait to
taste you.”

Taste me? Dear God, surely he
didn’t mean…

But that was exactly what he’d meant,
because a second later, his hands slid up her thighs spreading her even wider
for his shoulders to fit.

For the first time since they’d
started, uncertainty washed through Kerri. She’d never done this. The thought
was actually kind of gross.

“Connor,” she said, not sure what
she wanted.

“It’s all right,” he said.

His finger was back, brushing over
her, spreading her open for…

At the first touch of his warm
mouth she lifted right up off the counter. He drew back, and a large hand
palmed her belly and gently held her down.

“Easy there, darlin’,” he said.
“Just relax.”

Relax?
Easy for him to say.
This was all new to her. She was spread wide open and all her good, tingly
parts were there for…
oh, man
. His tongue tickled and licked. He felt
good.
Real
good. In fact. If he didn’t stop…

“Connor.” She touched his head. “If…stop…I
won’t be able to.”

He lifted his head, and the
sexiest, wickedest grin crossed his handsome face, and her heart literally
rocked against her ribs.

“I don’t want you to stop. I want
you to come for me, darlin’.”

And before she could respond, his
mouth was back on her, licking, stroking, sucking, then he added a finger,
causing her to moan.

Eyes closed, she lay there,
uncaring that she was completely naked and he wasn’t. That they were sticky
with ice cream and sweat. That she was on the counter, wide open for him to
explore, and
oh Lordy,
was he exploring.

Heat was building, her body was
trembling, and she was enjoying all the new sensations he introduced. And when
he reached up and caught a nipple between his finger and thumb, she felt the
erotic sensation straight down to her center where his mouth and finger pleased.

That was all it took. She exploded
into a shattering climax, and the talented cowboy drew it out for several beats
before he let her down slowly.

When it was over, he kissed a path
to her neck, where he lifted his head to look into her eyes. “Better than
strawberries,” he said with a grin.

Then he kissed her, long and deep,
and again she should’ve been repulsed by the fact she could taste herself on
his lips. But she wasn’t. She kissed him back, running her hands up over his
warm shoulder blades, then down around to the front of his jeans where she
traced his bulge with her fingers.

He groaned and broke the kiss.
“You’re killing me.”

She smiled, still touching him.
“You have on too many clothes.” Her initiation into such blatant intimacy made
her bolder. “I want you naked.”

His dimples appeared with his
lop-sided grin. “Yes, ma’am.” He backed up, kicked off his boots and stripped
down right in front of her in her kitchen.

Holy Texan
, he was bigger
than she’d remembered seeing in her youth. And magnificent. Well proportioned
for his large frame, and heaven help her, she wanted him inside her.

“Not boxers,” she said when his briefs
hit the floor.

He stepped out of them and shook
his head, his grin broadening. “Nope. Not today.” Bending down, he fished a
foil packet from the pocket of his jeans, then stood and set it next to her on
the counter. “Now, where were we?”

She reached for him, needing to
take him into her hands. Hot, hard, smooth, he was like satin over steel. “We
were about to take care of
you
.”

He hissed a breath. “Me? Darlin’,
make no mistake, we’re about to take care of us both.”