The Cowboy's Claim (16 page)

The last time he’d been with her he’d been consumed with grief and despair. This time he wanted to make love to her with joy and the fullness and wonder of life between them.

When they reached his room, she paused in the doorway and dropped his hand and for a moment he was certain she’d changed her mind. And if she had he was okay with that, although his need for her burned bright and hot through him.

“You know this won’t change anything between us,” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper. “We’re Garrett’s parents, but this won’t make you be anything more in my life.”

“All I’m asking for is this night,” he replied. Could she hear his heart? Pounding with such an intensity that it seemed to fill the entire room? Could she feel his need, so intense it left him almost breathless?

His answer seemed to satisfy her, for she took several steps toward him and once again buried herself in his arms as their lips met in a fiery kiss.

As their kiss lingered he gently caressed her slender back as her full breasts pressed evocatively against his chest. The scent of her stirred him on every level, evoking old memories of making love with her and heightening his anticipation to repeat the intimate act.

When his hands reached the bottom of her T-shirt, he slid them beneath and caressed upward against the warm bare flesh of her back. “Take it off,” she whispered as she stepped mere inches away from him.

She didn’t have to ask him twice. He grabbed the bottom of the T-shirt and pulled it over her head. He tossed it to the nearby chair and then gazed at her beauty. Her breasts were definitely fuller than he remembered, a residual effect of her pregnancy.

“Now take yours off,” she said.

He smiled at her. “Yes, boss.” He pulled his own T-shirt off and they came together, bare skin against bare skin.

“You’ve always felt so right in my arms,” he whispered as he moved his lips down the slender column of her neck.

Her only answer was to drop her head back to allow him full access to her throat. He loved the way she tasted, but it wasn’t long before he wanted more...more.

He stepped away from her and tugged her toward the bed, mindful that he needed to be gentle with her because of the physical trauma she’d suffered two nights before.

She stopped by the edge of the bed and stepped out of her shorts, leaving her clad only in a wispy pair of white panties. Nick nearly came undone. Never had he seen her so sexy, and he hurriedly shucked his jeans, tore off his socks and yanked down the navy bedspread to expose the white sheets beneath.

It all felt like a dream to Nick as he slid under the sheets next to her. This was a dream he’d entertained since the moment he’d first met her. To have her, to hold her, not in the confines of a stable in the old Yates barn, but rather in his own bed in his own house.

She moved back into his arms, the only barrier between them her little panties and his boxers. Their bare legs entwined as their lips met once again.

Her skin was soft and silky, just as he remembered, and he wanted to touch her everywhere. He felt the need to hurry, as if at any moment the dream would shatter and she’d jump up and run out of his room.

Forcing himself to take his time, he broke the kiss and instead moved his lips once again down her throat, across her collarbones and to the erect tip of one of her breasts. As he teased and flicked, she tangled her hands in his hair, as if in an attempt to pull him closer...closer still.

There was no talk. The room filled with the sound of sweet sighs of delight, deep moans of desire, and that was all the communication necessary.

His hands remembered where she loved to be stroked, his mouth knew where she was most sensitive, and by touching, by kissing there he would elicit an intense response from her.

He not only loved making love with her, but making love
to
her. His desire was to give her the most pleasure, to give her moments she would never forget, to somehow mark her as his own for the rest of their lives.

Still, she was certainly not a passive participant. She took off her panties and then yanked his boxers off him. Nick was on fire and ready to possess her, but he had no intention of doing so until she had enjoyed a climax.

He slid his hand down her stomach, below her hip bones and to the place where he knew his touch could bring her the most pleasure. She sucked in a deep breath as he placed his fingers intimately against her.

Every muscle in her body stiffened as he increased his movements against her, and her back began to arch, letting him know the waves of pleasure sweeping through her were about to peak.

She began to shudder, a low deep moan escaping her lips as her climax claimed her. It was only when the last of her shudders had left her that he moved on top of her.

He was as hard as a rock; ready to take her hard and fast, but he also didn’t want this all to end so quickly. He slid into her and hissed a sigh of pleasure as he felt her completely surround him.

He felt as if he was home, and he closed his eyes to fight for control. It was at that moment he realized he’d never stopped loving Courtney.

She’d been in his heart, in his soul since the moment he’d let her go and left Grady Gulch. Even though he’d tried to move on, she was still as firmly implanted in his heart as she had been the day he’d left.

Moving against him, she arched her hips to meet him thrust for thrust. He kept his rhythm slow, wanting to stay inside her forever, but as she gripped his buttocks with her hands and urged him to go faster, his control snapped.

Together they moved in a frenzy until she cried out with another orgasm that sparked his own. Moments later they lay gasping to catch their breaths.

“Some things just get better with age,” he finally said as he stroked a strand of her dark hair.

There had been a time when he’d believed he knew what she was feeling, what she was thinking, but as he gazed down into her green eyes, he realized he had no idea what was going through her mind.

“I’m on birth control pills,” she said, making him realize that he hadn’t even considered any kind of protection. “And I haven’t been with anyone since the last time we were together.”

“I haven’t been with anyone since then, either,” he confessed. She looked at him dubiously. “It’s true, Courtney, and to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t have minded another slipup between us if the result was another boy like Garrett or a little girl like you.”

Again he found it impossible to read her. She didn’t reply but slid away from him and off the bed. She grabbed her panties from the floor and then disappeared into the adjoining bathroom.

Nick stared up at the darkened ceiling, the only illumination in the room spilling in from the hall light. Without her presence next to him his thoughts went to dark places.

Despite the fact that he wanted her physically, that he was still as in love with her as he had been two years ago, he couldn’t forget that she was now back in his life for two reasons: Garrett and the fact that she no longer had a relationship with her parents.

Neither life-altering event had been of her own choosing. If Garrett hadn’t been born, she probably wouldn’t be here with him now. She wouldn’t be seen with him on a date or at her work. As much as she’d once professed to love him, she’d never chosen him over the approval of her parents.

And on the day he’d needed her most, as his precious sister had been buried, she hadn’t been standing by his side. Rather, she’d been at a tea party her mother had given for her little-town society friends.

He shook his head, as if mentally dislodging the bitterness of the past. His body was still warm from hers, and her sweet scent lingered on his skin. He didn’t want to think about anything but what they’d just shared.

He turned his head as she came out of the bathroom, a dark wraith in white panties. “Are you okay?” he asked, wondering if maybe he’d hurt her during their lovemaking or something he said had upset her.

“I’m fine. Just tired.”

“Want to hang around and cuddle for a little while? As I recall, you were always a great cuddler.” He was hoping to pull a smile to her face, and to put some distance between himself and his momentary negative thoughts about the past.

They were here now, and that was all that mattered. They had a son who would keep them bound together in one form or another for eighteen years and beyond.

“I think I’ll just head on into my own room with Garrett,” she said, disappointing him. He watched her walk to the bedroom doorway, and then she turned and faced him once again. “This changes nothing, Nick. You’re my son’s father, but I can’t allow you to be anything more than that to me.”

She didn’t wait for his response, but instead turned and disappeared down the hallway. Nick stared after her and wondered why he had even entertained the idea that there could be more between them.

He’d never really been what she wanted, what she needed, and her words were just a reminder of that. Besides, why would he want a woman who had kept him a secret for seven long months, who had refused to take him out of the shadows and into the sunlight?

He knew he wasn’t the same man he’d been when he’d left Grady Gulch. During his two years away from home he’d matured, he’d figured out what was important in life and what wasn’t.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t be sure Courtney had changed at all. Maybe she was still her parents’ daughter after all, looking for a man who had the kind of respectability within the community that Nick would never manage to achieve as a simple rancher.

Nick had never been a fool for anyone or anything, and he’d be a damned fool to want anything from her except the coparenting arrangements they eventually made.

Still, despite the fact that she had given no indication that they would ever have a real future together, despite the past that occasionally rose up to burn in his gut, he wanted her. Not just for a night, but for a lifetime, and he supposed that made him all kinds of a fool.

* * *

She knew it was a mistake. Being here in his home had been mistake enough, but falling into his arms, into his bed, had been the worst thing she could do.

She got into the bed in the room where Garrett slept peacefully in his crib and stared up at the ceiling. It had been just like she remembered with Nick—exciting and wonderful...sheer magic.

It had been as if each and every piece of their bodies had remembered one another. Everything had been so natural, had felt so right, and she’d wanted to spend the entire night in his arms and awaken still in his bed in the morning.

She’d wanted that so badly it had frightened her. She didn’t want to love Nick. She didn’t want to depend on Nick. But it would take her a very long time to forget the magic of being in his arms, of feeling his body move intimately against her own.

Even now she could smell the scent of him lingering on her skin, and she wanted nothing more than to get out of her bed and join him in his, to be held by him the rest of the night.

In the time he’d been back in town, he’d definitely surprised her in the way he’d stepped up for her and Garrett. There was a new maturity about him that was as appealing as his easygoing charm.

It would be so easy to fall in love with him again if she allowed herself. But she’d sworn she would never be vulnerable to anyone again, especially a man like Nick.

It had been easy to date Grant, because on some level she’d recognized he’d never own her heart. She hadn’t been vulnerable to him and so had felt safe.

Nick made her feel physically protected and mentally threatened, and she knew when morning came she had to leave here. She didn’t trust him, but, even more, she didn’t trust herself not to repeat the past.

She awoke with the slant of the sun letting her know it was late...later than she’d ever slept since Garrett had been born. The crib was empty, and she knew Nick must have crept into the room to get Garrett before she awakened.

She took advantage of knowing Garrett was taken care of and lingered in bed, her thoughts in turmoil. Bits and pieces of troubling moments whirled through her head... The day in the park when she’d felt as if somebody was watching her and the box of toys that had appeared out of nowhere. And she still couldn’t shake the feeling that her missing memories were the result of more than just the car accident.

Had she suffered some sort of blackout, some brain disturbance that she knew nothing about? Was she sick in some way? More frightening was the thought that one of the blackouts could happen again, when she was alone with Garrett.

It was after ten when she showered, dressed and headed into the kitchen, where she heard the sound of Garrett’s laughter floating out.

She peeked in to find both of them seated on the floor. Nick had a red plastic colander on his head and Garrett wore a plastic tub that had once held something called Baker’s Barbecue Beans.

As she watched, they exchanged “hats,” and Garrett giggled with delight. Nick caught sight of her and patted the floor next to them. “Look, here comes Mommy.” He held out a lightweight green plastic mixing bowl. “And here’s Mommy’s hat.”

Courtney had left the bedroom with every intention of telling Nick she was heading home and packing things up. But, as she looked at her son, whose big blue eyes were filled with mirth, and Nick, whose eyes twinkled with humor, she suddenly wanted to join in their make-believe world.

“Mommy, hat!” Garrett exclaimed and then giggled once again as she plopped down on the floor next to him and placed the mixing bowl on her head.

“Does this strike you as a little bit ridiculous?” she asked Nick.

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “I guess in the privacy of my own kitchen it’s okay to be a little ridiculous with a fifteen-month-old. Oh, and this is kind of like a game of musical chairs. When he claps his hands and points, we change hats.”

As if on cue Garrett clapped. The colander went on Garrett’s head, the mixing bowl on Nick’s and the bean container to Courtney. Garrett laughed so hard he tipped backward, kicking his feet in the air with amusement.

They played the game for about ten more minutes and then Garrett finally got bored and began to stack the containers. “How about some breakfast?” Nick asked as he got up from the floor and held out a hand to help Courtney up.