Only Hers (31 page)

“Let go of me!”

“What?” The haze cleared and he stared down into Shannon’s angry face. “What’s the matter?”

“You lied to me.” She pushed out of his arms.

“I told you, I don’t lie.” Arms folded, she looked sultry and beyond beautiful in her long white nightgown. He wondered if she knew the diaphanous material revealed the curves and shadows of her body.

“What you care for is the meadow,” she finally said.

“I wouldn’t sleep with you to get the meadow.”

She snatched her arms to her side. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not as easy as the woman you obviously just left. Her perfume is all over you. Go back to her.”

“I didn’t go to bed with her.”

Shannon’s chin lifted. “Who you sleep with is no concern of mine.”

“Who
you
sleep with is damn sure my concern. If the scent on the shirt is bothering you, I’ll get rid of it.”

Pulling the shirt out of his pants, he unsnapped the fasteners in front, stalked to the door and tossed the shirt into the rain. When he turned, Shannon was watching him with wide, uncertain eyes.

Her gaze roamed across his chest, then lower where hair thickened and disappeared into his jeans. Lower still to his obvious arousal. She snapped her head up. She swallowed. Any other man she would have shown the door. Matt was too sensually masculine, too handsome . . .
and she loved him too much. She shook her head in silent defeat.

“You’re right about one thing, if I really wanted Irene I would have left. I used her as an excuse to get away from the table. For the first time in my life I was jealous of another man. I wanted to punch Daniel out and take you to the nearest bed.”

Her sharp intake of breath cut across the room.

“You scared me as much as you drew me to you. My ex-wife soured me on women. I was foolish enough to believe in everlasting love and fidelity. She taught me differently with any man who could buy her more than I could.”

“Matt, don’t.”

The words had been held in too long to be contained. “I was so blinded by lust, I would have done anything to make her happy. Working two jobs and riding the rodeo circuit on the weekends was worth it as long as she was happy.” His face and tone harshened. “I bragged to anyone and everyone what a wonderful, loving wife I had. Then I caught her with her boss at a bar next door to a motel I learned she frequented.”

Shannon went to him, her arms going around his waist, hugging him tightly. His hand brushed a lingering tear from her cheek. “She was a stupid, vain, petty woman. And she fooled me completely.”

Hearing the contempt and bitterness in his voice she leaned back and looked into his set features. His ex-wife had done more than make him mistrust women, she had made him doubt himself. “Her mistake, not yours. You don’t expect lies and deceit when you give love. She tried to ruin your life. Don’t let her succeed. I’d never use you.”

“Not intentionally.”

She frowned at his phrasing. “I wouldn’t hurt you at all.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” His head dipped, his lips finding the sensitive hollow in the curve of her neck.

Shannon shivered. “Matt, we need to talk.”

He nibbled the lobe of her ear. “Later.”

“No, now.” Using the last of her strength she pushed him away. Ebony eyes blazed down at her. “I need for you to believe me.”

“Shannon,” he said tightly.

“I need to hear you say it.”

“You won’t hurt me,” he said, his lips taking hers.

Shannon’s thoughts stumbled and fell. Matt’s arms went around her, she felt the softness of the bed against her back, the hardness of Matt above her, pressing her down.

Before she had time to be nervous, their clothes were gone and he was kissing her as if he’d never get enough of her. His mouth left hers and she whimpered at the loss. Then, his avid lips closed around her nipple and sucked. Shannon arched off the bed, a low moan coming from the back of her throat.

All her senses were alive to the touch, the lingering taste of him on her lips. Sweat beaded on her brow. There was something she had to tell him.

“Matt, I . . . I . . .”

“Shh. I want you to want me as much as I want you.”

“If . . . if you did, you wouldn’t torture me this way.”

He laughed, a deep, husky sound that teased her heated flesh. He feasted on her lips again. When she thought she could endure the aching hunger no longer, his mouth came back to hers and at the same time his hips thrust once, sharply.

The ache became pain. Her body tautened, her fingers flexed, then closed. Nails bit into his muscled shoulders.

His body stiffened. He stared down at her with a mixture of wonder, amazement, and joy. “Why?”

Shannon’s hands trembled as she touched his lips, the curve of his jaw. “Because I was waiting for you.” The same wonder, amazement and joy were echoed in her words.

He tenderly smoothed the hair from her sweat-dampened
face with a hand that trembled. “I waited just as long.”

Before she had time to decipher his words, he moved again, pulling away from her quivering warmth only to return, each slow thrust longer and deeper. Again and again he measured the velvet length of her, driving her to sweet madness, driving her closer to something she had never experienced before.

Her legs locked around his hips. Soon she felt her entire body tense, gathering like a giant storm cloud. When her release came it rocked her. A scream tore from her throat. Moments later Matt found his own release.

Shannon slowly surfaced from her haze. She opened her eyes to see Matt’s intent gaze on her. She shyly lowered her gaze.

“You all right?”

She nodded.

“You mind looking at me?”

Her eyelashes lifted. He was frowning. Her heart twisted. “I disappointed you.”

“If you had disappointed me any more, I’d have had a coronary,” he replied, a slow smile spreading across his face.

She threw her arms around his neck. He let her pull him down on top of her, their laughter filling the small room. She shoved him away again, her eyes shining.

“What’s the matter?”

“You never laughed with me before,” she confessed. “I can’t believe it. I wanted your smile and your laughter, now I have them.”

His brow quirked as if to say that wasn’t all she had. Shannon ducked her head. “W-would you like something to drink?”

“Not if it means I have to let go of you to get it.”

“I’ll get it,” she offered.

His thumb brushed across her lower lip. “You’d still be out of my arms.”

“I didn’t think of that.”

“Wonder what was on your mind?”

Her hips moved against his burgeoning arousal. “Same thing that’s on yours.”

He blinked, then laughed out loud. “You’re right, but that’s about as far as it’s going to go. My mind. I don’t have a way of protecting you again.”

Puzzlement turned to a smile. Once again, she was pushing on his chest. Matt moved off her. She picked her purse off the floor, rummaged inside, then without looking at Matt, handed him something.

Matt glanced down at the two small foil-wrapped packets in the palm of her hand and picked them up. Shannon plopped down on the bed, dragging the comforter with her, her gaze fixed on the flower arrangement.

His gaze followed. Shannon had turned the dingy cabin into a cozy room. His hand fisted. “You planned to move out of the house.”

“I planned to kidnap you,” she said quietly.

“What?” Thumb and forefinger turned her face to his. “Repeat that.”

“I figured if I could get you alone, you might forget you didn’t quite trust me.”

The foil crackled. “And these?”

“You never know what might happen.”

“Shannon?”

“Yes?”

“How many times can this happen?”

Grinning, she reached under the bed for a paper sack, then emptied the contents on the bed. Five boxes of condoms tumbled out.

Matt laughed and drew her down on the bed. “That’ll do . . . for a start.”

“No.”

“Come on, Shannon, it won’t be so bad.”

“How do you know? Have you ever done something like this before?”

“Of course not, but—”

“I can’t.”

Sighing deeply, Matt held Shannon in his lap, her head beneath his chin. She was the most stubborn woman he had ever met . . . and he cared for her more than he ever thought possible. “I’m not leaving you here alone.”

“You could stay with me.”

“If I stayed, we’d be in bed and I’d be loving you most of the night.”

Warm brown eyes stared up into his face. “Would that be so bad?”

Somehow he resisted the urge to kiss her. “Honey, I’ve been at you for most of the night. You need a warm soak and a soft bed. If we stay here, we’ll be back in bed with me inside you in no time.”

She wound her arms around his neck and kissed it. “I’m not complaining.”

“Shannon, stop that.” His tone brooked no nonsense. “You have your gown back on and we’re having this talk in this chair instead of bed, because my control is being held by a thin thread as it is. I’m taking you back to the ranch house.”

“I couldn’t face Octavia.” Snatching her arms down, Shannon stood. “She’d know, and so would everyone else.”

Standing, Matt pulled her into his arms. “No, they wouldn’t.”

“They’d have to be blind not to see when I look at you my legs get weak and I go limp all over.”

“Fortunately you have the opposite effect on me.”

“Matt, be serious.”

He kissed the top of her head. She fit perfectly against him. He felt protective and possessive. His woman. Only his.

“Once we get to the ranch house you’ll go straight to your room. In the morning I’ll tell everyone I went to your room to apologize for last night and discovered you weren’t feeling well. In light of how I acted, I insisted you stay in bed the rest of the day.”

“I can rest here.”

“And everyone will be worried. Octavia and Cleve are probably tossing in their beds worrying about you,” he reasoned. “If they see your car in the morning that will put their mind at ease. Think of them.”

She bit her lower lip. “They were worried and so was Daniel.”

Matt hadn’t wanted to include Daniel. Matt took her dress from a nail hook and handed it to her. “Hurry up. I’ll tidy up the place.”

She gathered the light rayon dress to her chest, but made no move to take off her nightgown and put it on. “I couldn’t stand it if they looked at me any differently.”

The uncertainty in her face tore at his heart. “That won’t happen.”

Still clutching the dress, Shannon walked to the bed and slipped off one shoulder of her nightgown.

Temptation was a woman called Shannon.

Clutching Matt’s hand, Shannon followed him through the front door of the ranch house and up the stairs. With every step she expected Octavia to appear and ask where they had been. Or more to the point, what they had been doing.

To make matters worse, she had been so worried and distracted, she didn’t realize she hadn’t put back on her panties and strapless bra until they were outside the cabin and the rain-scented air touched her skin. She had been nervous all the way to the ranch house, and her nervousness increased with each beat of her heart until they were in front of her room and Matt opened her door.

“See. No problems.” He handed over her quilt. “Rest and sleep late. That’s an order.”

Shannon watched Matt turn away without so much as a kiss on the cheek. She needed his kiss, his touch, to reassure her things would work out for them.

Halfway down the hall, he glanced over his shoulder. In several long strides he was back by her side. “Stop looking at me that way.”

She dropped her gaze and heard him swear. She flinched at the harsh sound.

“If I kiss you, we’re going to be in your room and in your bed and I won’t care if the entire county comes banging on your door. Do you understand?”

She did. She felt the same way when he touched her, out of control and loving every second of it. “Yes.”

“I can see I’ll have to do this myself. Come on.”

Shannon followed him into her bathroom. Hunkering down, he turned on the faucet over the tub, then dumped in a generous portion of bath salts. Foaming bubbles immediately formed, but Shannon was more interested in the play of muscles on Matt’s shoulders and the loving way his jeans cupped his hips.

Matt dipped his hand in the water, then held the fading bubbles to his nose. “My tub is bigger. We’ll have to use it sometime.”

The picture of them naked in the tub weakened Shannon’s legs and sent desire racing through her. Her hand gripped the corner of the built-in wash basin to keep upright.

Swiping his damp hand on his jeans, he came to his feet. “Do I need to make sure you get in?”

“No,” she choked out. “Thank you.”

“Good night.” He brushed past her.

The bedroom door closed. Shannon released her grip on the quilt, slipped off her dress, and stepped into the scented water. She’d never understand Matt’s mood changes. He went so quickly from caring and gentle to gruff and distant.

Some time later, Shannon climbed out of the tub and dried off. Putting her clothes away, she slipped into a white satin nightshirt. Although she was tired, she didn’t want to go to bed. Walking over to the window, she stared out. Except for the single light in her room, darkness surrounded her.

She had never felt so alone and lonely in her life, not even when her grandfather died. Tears stung her eyes, but
she told herself she wouldn’t cry. Matt did care for her. Letting her rest made perfect sense; she just wished leaving her hadn’t appeared so easy for him. Eyes closed, she fought the tears and loneliness.

The creak of her door opening snapped them open.
Please don’t let it be Octavia.
She couldn’t stand—“Matt.”

His gaze captured hers and they simply stared at each other. Wearing only black pajama bottoms, his hair damp from the shower, he looked as uncertain as she felt. That small hint of vulnerability touched her as nothing else could.

The tears she had been trying to contain slipped from her eyes and rolled down her cheek. Closing the door, he was across the room in seconds, holding her securely against his bare chest.