Second Burn Cowboy (Second Chance Series Book 6) (8 page)

Making his way to his room, frustration pounded through him. For as long as he lived, he’d never forget how beautiful she looked as she touched herself.

Muttering a string of curses, he threw his discarded shirt on the chair in the corner and jerked his belt buckle loose. His fingers paused when he heard the draining of water through the pipes. She was finished. His mind traveled down fantasy, she was toweling off her tight, rosy body flushed with satisfaction.

He tore his hand through his hair. They’d walked around the obvious attraction for days and his patience was thin. He’d caught her looking at him many times, interest filling her stormy eyes before she turned away.

Or, did he just hope the draw wasn’t one sided?

The bathroom door opened, soft footsteps sounded on the wood floor—his heart skipped a beat. He anticipated hearing her walk past his door to her bedroom, but when the knock came, he almost jumped from his boots.

Thoughts flicked through his brain. He could ignore her, pretend he was sleeping. It’d be the safer, less complicated route. But when did he ever run away from a challenge? Driven by the need to see her, he strode to the door and pulled it open.

My God, she is beautiful.

He inhaled her scent, but there was a mixture of fragrance. She’d used his lotion. And she wore his T-shirt. His blood boiled with desire. He didn’t think he could withstand much more agony.

Her eyes were the color of a perfect sky, her skin flawless and her lips were full and the same shade as her nipples. He wanted to explore her, every silken inch until she clawed his back in need.

To be the one to fill her with pleasure would be the closest to heaven he could get here on Earth.

Would he ever
get the opportunity to hold her, touch her, make love to her?

If looking at her would be his only salvation, he was a doomed man.

Tension spiraled through him. “What are you doing?” 

Her gaze narrowed and her hands planted on her hips.

****

His menacing tone drove through Elsa like poison. Her brain scrambled for words, but her tongue was thick and her nerve endings raw. “Deckland…what are you doing here?”

“This is my bedroom. And that—” he pointed his head at the shirt she wore “—is mine.”

Sweeping a shaking hand down the material of the T-shirt, vulnerability crushed its way through her. “I-I forgot to grab my clothes before I went into the bathroom. The shirt was there, so I grabbed it.” She couldn’t tell him that she wore the shirt because she wanted to be close to him.

He licked his lips. “That doesn’t explain why you’re here, in my room.”

She pushed through the numb paths of her brain, searching for an answer as heat flooded her limbs. “You saw me, didn’t you?”

His lips curled. “The bathroom door was open. Did you do that on purpose? As if you walking around here in my clothes, smiling sweetly, isn’t enough to tease me to the edge of insanity.”

Blinking, she crossed her arms over her chest. Humiliation was exchanged for irritation. Having him here, staring at her
, gorgeously annoyed and eyes as dark as a blustery sky made her tension roll back into place.

“No answer?” His arrogance and husky tone was so arousing
that she wanted to rip his jeans from his body and drag him between her lips. His naked torso was an ultimate temptation, each coiled muscle and flat nipples to the triangular patch of crisp hair. Weak with wanting him, she leaned against the door to steady her wobbly knees.

What would a man who prided himself on being a gentleman do if she pushed him back on the bed, demand
ed he kiss the hell out of her then explored every perfect inch of his burliness?

But she remained steady.
And damn was it hard. “If you believe for one second that I’m playing a game with your emotions, or desires, you have no clue who I am.” Her voice shook, and she hated that she couldn’t hide her inner turmoil.

A menacing dark brow lifted. “If the shoe fits...but in this case, if the T-shirt is on your body…” His voice was flat.

“Fine!” Reaching for the hem of the shirt, she pulled it up and over her head. “Take it back!” Throwing it, he caught it against his chest. His eyes narrowed and his jaw ticked. Turning on bare foot, she stomped down the hall and into her bedroom, slamming the door in fury.

She wasn’t surprised when the loud rap came
seconds later.

Pulling the robe from the end of the bed,
she put it on and tightened the belt then tugged the knob. Deckland’s brows were tapered and his lips were thin. Silence governed for a long grueling moment. She wanted to slam the door in his face, but in truth, she’d only be running. She was tired of hiding from her emotions and needs.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“What?” She glued her gaze with his and her bottom lip trembled.

“Your bath?” His hypnotic eyes locked on her, steady and pensive.

She knew what he asked. “Yes, I did.”

“I’ve never seen something more lovely.”

Her heart raced. “Me taking a bath?”

“Pleasuring yourself. You’re beautiful.
Your body…I’ve never seen anything better.” A smile played at the corner of his mouth.

Cheeks heated, she refused to back away from the lure. “I shouldn’t have left the door ajar. I didn’t think you’d be back until much later.”

“It’s possible you did it on purpose,” he drawled.

She squinted. “Why would you think that?” Yet, what he accused made sense.
She grasped she was lying to herself. She knew fully well when she climbed into the bath that he could come home any time. With the realization, she clutched the robe close to her chest.

“Were you hoping you’d push me past the limit and I’d finally do what your eyes have begged from me since the moment we met?”
He drew in a ragged breath.

Swallowing the tightness in her throat, her stomach rolled. She had no defense. “I think it’s best I go to bed now.”

“Is that what you want?”

“I think it’s the smartest thing to do.
We agree there’s a connection between us, one that could easily get out of control.”

He took a step closer, his gaze full of need, and he brought his hand up to trace her jawline. “
When will you ever allow yourself pleasure, from another person?”

She
was startled by the truth of his words. His touch burned into her flesh, breaking through the walls she’d spent so much time erecting. “I wish I could explain,” she whispered. “I’m sorry that I’ve brought you unhappiness.”

His fingers dropped to the open V of the robe, brushing her bare skin with his knuckles. A touch had never brought her more longing
—an urgency to break all of the rules.

He continued to stare at her with wicked craving, sending waves of yearning crawling through her. “Elsa, you must know that you being here could never bring me
unhappiness.  You fill me with desire, a need I’ve never known. Invisible chains bind me and I have no clue what I’m supposed to do. One minute I think you want me too, and then you push me away.”

His admission astonished her.
Confusion marred his features. If he could open up about his feelings, so could she—at least some. “I like being here with you. I do. I feel warmth every time you’re near and my resistance is fading.”

“Resistance?”

“I’ve wanted to throw caution to the wind, but I have my own invisible chains.” The confession seemed right, but an alarm buzzed in the back of her conscious.

“
I understand.” He sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. His shoulders slumped. “No, maybe I don’t—not entirely. I know since you’ve been here I’ve realized what I’m lacking. For that, I can only be grateful.”.

Impulsively, she reached for him, clutching his shoulders and leaning in.
She brought her hand to his cheek, enjoying the raspy stubble of his beard against her sensitive skin. “What do you need?”

A sparkle flashed through his gaze.
“I want to slip this—” he gently tugged at the fabric of the robe “—from your body.”

She dropped her hand boldly to the waist of his jeans, dipping her fingers in,
inspired at the sensation of his warm skin under her fingertips. A thought blared in the back of her mind that falling into his arms could be a mistake, a risk. Her body screamed that giving into the lure could ruin her, but she wanted him more than she could even understand.

And knowing he reflected those same emotions gave her a power she never wanted to relinquish.
No one had ever looked at her in a way of complete hunger.

“I want to hold you, make sweet love to you. Do you want me to pleasure you?”
The husky tone of his voice made her heart flutter.

Lust rose to the surface of her flesh. He smelled good, and she guessed he’d taste even better. Kissing his chest, she darted her tongue out, lapping up masculine saltiness.

“Answer me, Elsa.” He slipped his hand down her arm, circling her wrist with his fingers. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her knuckles. “Tell me what you want from me?”

“I’m frightened
,” the words slipped easily from her.

“Of me?” His gaze met hers, questioning.

“No, never of you. You’re kind and giving, but these feelings raging through me are new.”

“Same here, sweetheart.”
His desire was written all over his face. She could sense it. His thumb smoothed over the pulse point under her thin skin as he studied her mouth, as if he debated if he should kiss her. “I’m afraid of this blast of emotion too.” He brought his free hand up and cupped her nape, his long fingers splaying wide and tangling in her hair. He gently tilted her head back and stared down at her with a smoldering gaze. “I should be angry that I can’t get you out of my mind—out of my blood. I’m battling a storm between right and wrong. You’re a sweet poison that has seeped into my body, controlling me. It’s painful, yet the best feeling I’ve had in years—hell, if ever.”

His words were a driving force she couldn’t deny. She melted against him and l
ooped her arms around his neck, her breasts pressed against his chest. Her nipples tingled. “Kiss me, Deckland.”

A breath dragged through tight lips before he lowered his mouth and captured her with tense passion. His tongue rolled across her bottom lip, nibbling the flesh gently between his teeth. A groan escaped her as she moved her tongue, tangling with his.

Everything around them disappeared, all barrier. Only need remained. He held her in his embrace until all she knew, all she could focus on, was his touch, his smell, the deep desire.

CHAPTER SIX

HE THREADED HIS
fingers through her damps locks, rubbing her scalp as he buried his tongue deeper, swirling in her sweetness.

Her body against his made him tremble with pent up
agony that searched for release. Her soft, sexy lips on his and the throaty whimpers floating from her throat fueled him with passion.

The need to have her, to be inside of her, drove Deckland. Her scent filled his nostrils and he couldn’t get enough
—he could never get enough. He pushed at the satin fabric until it fell from her shoulders and dropped at their feet. The hard tips of her nipples brushed his chest and he moved his hand to the firm mounds.

Her movements became greedier, her breathing heavier, as she darted her tongue in and out of his mouth. He rolled his thumb along
one pert bead, again and again, until she stood on tiptoes against him in invitation.

Grabbing her thighs, he lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her to the edge of the bed and easily
placed her in the center of the comforter. She stared up at him through her lashes, her chest rising and falling with each breath, her inner thighs trembling as she parted them slightly, revealing slick, pink pussy.

A groan escaped him and his cock, rock-hard, threatened to break through the zipper if he didn’t release the tension.

Pushing off his boots, he loosened his jeans, yanking them and the boxers down his thighs and to his ankles, giving them a kick across the room. Her eyes dipped to his erection and the tip of her tongue darted out to roll across her bottom lip.

“You’re so freaking beautiful.”
His cock stretched to its fullest and saluted the ceiling.

A naughty smile curved her mouth.

Crawling over her, he braced himself on elbows , connecting gazes. Their quick breaths mingled, he could hear the beating of her heart. “Elsa,” he whispered her name, needing her permission to continue. Her pale eyes turned turbulent, her moist lips were swollen from his kiss as she reached for him, wrapping her fingers around his girth. He sucked in a ragged breath, all restraint gone.

W
ith tenderness he didn’t know he was capable of, considering the lust raging through him, he smoothed his hand over her chest and lower until he reached the steamy warmth at the apex of her thighs. He parted her moist lips and eased two fingers over the slick heat. Her back arched and he hungrily roved his eyes over long, slender neck, delicate collarbone, mouthwatering breasts and further down where his dark hand looked stark against her pale flesh.