Too Close To The Fire/Too Hot To Handle (Montana Men 3) (18 page)

It
was all he said, her name a sigh on the wind, but a wealth of emotion was
crammed into the one whispered word.

Her
gaze shot to his mouth. She trembled. “Rafe, I…uh—”

He
held her against his erection. There was no mistaking the hard branding iron
inside his jeans. For an infinitesimal second, she responded and rubbed against
his ridged cock like a sinuous cat. She closed her eyes, groaned, and slid up
and down the hard length.

“Wait,
sweetheart,” he whispered. Rafe fumbled with the button on his jeans, eased the
zipper down and worked his cock out of his underwear.

“Ride
me, sweetheart,” he said and lifted his hips. He worked her up and down the
steel length.

She
shuddered, but she slid up and down his body, long and slow, grinding against
his aching rod. Her hesitant movements killed him. God, all he wanted to do was
strip off her jeans and bury his throbbing shaft deep inside her. “Faster,
baby,” he worked her steadily up and down, up and down.

Her
eyes popped open, widened with shock at her actions. She gasped and scrambled
off him. Her breasts rose and fell with agitated breaths. “Oh,
shit.”
She groaned the words.

He
yanked up his jeans, moaning. Behind the zipper, his cock throbbed in agony.
His balls felt near to bursting. If he hurt, it was his fault for rushing
things between them.

She
stood there staring down at him, at his crotch, as if he’d suddenly grown
another appendage. Her mouth worked. Her eyes welled with tears. “I’m sorry,”
she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Lacey
whirled and hurried toward the front of the barn.

Rafe
jumped up and took off after her. He caught her near the entrance.

“Lacey,”
he yelled. Grabbing her arm, he
turned her to face him. “Lace! Wait!” He squeezed her upper arms gently. “Lace,
you did nothing wrong. You have nothing to be sorry about. Please, don’t be
afraid of me. I swear to God I’d never hurt you.”

She
shook her head, her eyes round and stricken. “Let go of me, Rafe. Please.”

Shit!
She was terrified of him. He
should have better control of his body. He shouldn’t have unwrapped his dick
like it was her Christmas present and thrust it against her like he did. Damn
it to hell! He should never have let her realize how much he wanted her. They
were here alone. Isolated. She had to be frightened to death of him.

“Lace,
I’d cut off my right arm before I’d ever hurt you. I’m a man, sweetheart.
Getting hard, well,
fuck!
It happens
to me every time I’m near you. It isn’t your fault or anyone’s fault. It’s Mother
Nature rearing her head and shaking her fist at me. The fact is I’m so far gone
in love with you, I’ll never breathe normal again.”

Lacey
placed a trembling hand over his mouth.
“Sssh.
You shouldn’t say such things to me.”

Rafe
touched his tongue to her palm. She closed her eyes and deeply inhaled. He
didn’t move. She didn’t move. Lacey opened her eyes and he saw the raw need
there in the gold shadows of her eyes. Slowly, she lowered her hand to her side
and exhaled the pent-up breath she’d been holding.

“I
love you, Lace. I tried to stay away from you. I swear to God, I did. Every
time I left I swore I wouldn’t come back. I never meant for you to know how I
feel about you, but I came back because I couldn’t stay away. I can’t hide how
much I love you anymore.”

“Don’t.
I’m begging you.” Her voice trembled. “Don’t ever say you love me again. I’m
not free, Rafe. I can’t love you back. ”

“I
don’t care! If you’ll just allow me to touch you sometimes, let me kiss you,
hold you, pretend you’re mine. Lace, you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

Lacey
licked her lips. “Rafe.” She choked out his name on a strangled note and laid a
trembling hand along his cheek. “You don’t understand. It isn’t you I’m
frightened of.”

His
brows furrowed. His breath slipped away on a ragged sound. “Then who?”

“Me.”

Rafe
shuddered. He didn’t need any more words from her. He needed her. His chest
heaved with a ragged breath. Gently, he pulled her away from the opening and
deeper into the shadows of the barn. Their gazes locked. Without saying
anything, he backed her against the rough hewn slats of the barn wall and
cupped the sides of her face with his big hands.

“Jesus,
Lace, why did you make me wait so long?” Slowly, he dipped his head and covered
her lips with his. She didn’t resist, but laid her palms on his chest and
sighed gently into his mouth.

So
soft, God, she felt so damn soft in his arms. Sweet. All woman. His woman. He
couldn’t get her close enough. He wanted to feel them skin to skin, his body
covering hers, his shaft buried deep inside the velvet channel of her
womanhood. He wanted to hear her cries of pleasure, hear her calling his name

His
heart pounded. Rafe shuddered when she touched the tip of her tongue to his
lips. The burning ache spread through his body until he thought he’d die. He crushed
her against his body , and deepened the kiss.

Rafe
eased his tongue between her lips and tasted what he’d longed for so many years
to taste. The pure sweetness of her flavor on his tongue felt like manna from
heaven to him. He tore off his leather gloves, unbuttoned the top button at her
waist and slipped his hands inside the back of her jeans, inside her panties, cupped
her cool bare ass, and lifted her against his straining erection.

She
sobbed and wiggled urgently against the hard length of his cock until he
thought it’d all be over before it hardly began .

Lacey
groaned and bucked against him. Clenching his teeth, he let her ride the iron length
behind his zipper, encouraged her by lifting her hips and giving her freer
access to the hard ridge. Tiny, kittenish whimpers tore from her throat and
sent heat washing over him like a flash fire. She dug her fingers into the
denim of his coat, then clung to him and shuddered.

Her
breath sounded raspy in his ears. He held her tight, let her body slowly cool
and relax against his.

“Aw,
God…I—” Lacey opened her eyes. Her breaths escaped in short bursts that matched
his. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her face. “Oh, Rafe. Oh, my God!
What have I done? What are we doing?”

“I
don’t know, but it feels damn good.”

He
saw the utter shock and embarrassment on her face because she’d climaxed so
quickly with very little stimulation from him. He trapped her mouth with his,
swirled his tongue between her lips and battled for the right to love her, to
win her love. He slid his hand under her shirt. No bra. The woman drove him
insane. She never wore a bra.

He
squeezed her firm breasts and impatiently tore her denim coat off her, ripped
her shirt down the middle and tossed it aside. With an urgency that quaked
through his entire body, Rafe claimed the candy-pink nipples with his mouth and
tongue. He licked the tight buds, circled them with his tongue before slowly
wrapping his tongue around the left one and sucking on it.

She
arched her body, giving him free access to her breasts, moaning as he drew
deeper and deeper on the tight nipple.

Sliding
one hand to the front of her panties, he traced his fingers through the nest of
soft curls hidden there. She whimpered as he held her against the barn wall and
started to work her jeans down her slender hips. She locked her fingers around
his thick wrists. “No, Rafe. No. We can’t do this!”

Leaning
back, he swore softly. “I’ve wanted to make love to you for so long,” he
whispered. “Let me in you, baby. Let me take you all the way, let me love you.”

“I
can’t.” She pushed him away and crossed her arms over her bare breasts. Her
nipples stood at attention, tight, tiny buds of tempting pink-ice. She looked
around a little wildly. Her hair was mussed, her lips swollen from his kisses.
Her cheeks flushed. Tears spilled freely. “I can’t,” she whispered brokenly.

Rafe
nodded, unable to speak. He swallowed back his need. She wasn’t ready to accept
him or accept him in inside her body. He’d rushed her. “Here” He slid her arms
inside her denim jacket and pulled the edges together. He glanced at her shirt.
It was hopeless. He left it on the barn floor and pulled her close. “When you
make up your mind you can, let me know. I’m not up for games, honey. I’m not
playing games. I’m dead serious about you. We’re both adults, consenting
adults. I want to fuck you, yes, but not just once. I love you. I don’t want to
use you just to get off, so don’t think once I’ve had you, it’s done,
finished.”

She
shook her head. “I used you, Rafe. I needed to feel a man’s mouth on mine, a
man’s hands on my body. I needed what you gave me. I took from you and gave
nothing back. I’m sorry.”

“You
didn’t use me. You didn’t take anything I wasn’t willing to give. I meant for
you to take what you need. Hell, I couldn’t wait to pleasure you, honey.”

She
looked away, shame etched on her face. When she looked at him again, he saw it immediately
in her eyes. Rejection. Denial. She wasn’t ready to face what was happening
between them or accept what just happened.

“Lace,
I—”

“I’m
sorry,” she said with a quietness he’d never heard in her voice before. She
held up a hand as if she believed it’d prevent him from speaking or would hold
back their feelings. He believed she cared for him. She would never have
responded to his kisses, his touch if there wasn’t something there between
them. “This is my fault,” she continued. “I shouldn’t have let you kiss me.
Touch me. Oh, God.” Her lips quivered.
“Let
you kiss me.”
She laughed and he heard the hysteria building in her words.
“I did a little more than that. Didn’t I? I practically attacked you like a
wild
bitch
in heat. I didn’t mean to lead you on or cause
you to–to—” She broke off and glanced in the direction of his zipper. “Cause
that
to happen. You got nothing out of
this, and I’m leaving you aching, I know. I’m not a tease. Oh, God, I’m so
sorry.”

“I’m
fine. I might hurt, but I’ll be fine, and sweetheart, I know you aren’t a
tease. You aren’t to blame for any of this. This didn’t happen because I kissed
you or
you
fell on top of me.” Rafe dropped his hands
to his sides. “It’s not going to stop or go away, either. This hunger’s here
between us, Lace, these feelings, these needs. I want you. I think you want me,
too.”

Lacey
shook her head in denial. “No. This is insane. You’re wrong.
This
is wrong.” She tried to pull free
of his arms. He tightened his hold about her waist. “Rafe, I need to go.
Someone could drive up . I need time to think.”

“Not
yet, Lace. I’m dying to taste you again.”

Panic
flared in her eyes. “Rafe,” she whispered his name. “No. Please. Let me go. Forget
this ever happened. It can’t go any further…it can never happen again.”

Reluctantly,
he dropped his arms to his sides, but he knew beyond doubt she was now
screamingly conscious of him as a man. The sexual tension, the desire between
them wasn’t something she’d be able to continue ignoring or deny much longer.
He’d taken the edge off her need, but she was far from satisfied. He knew it.
She’d had a taste of him. It wasn’t going to be enough for her. He’d had a
taste of her. He wanted more.

Lacey
stared at him with both wide-eyed innocence and utter devastation. The look in
her gold eyes told him she was stunned by what had taken place between them,
shocked she’d let him touch her so intimately. Kiss her. Wild color stained her
cheeks. Her hand trembled as she swiped back a swath of hair from her face.
“I’m sorry,” she said again in a shaky voice.

“Don’t
be. I’m sure not.”

“Rafe.
I love Danger. Please. I don’t want to have to choose between you.”

“Honey,
you just did.”

“No!”
She shook her head in a burst of denial.
“I can’t do this!”

Rafe
watched her beat a hasty retreat. He dragged fingers through his hair.
“Fuck!”
Punching the barn wall, he
moaned and shook his hand.

Choose
between them?

He
took some deep breaths, ordered himself to calm down. Lacey didn’t accept it
yet, but she would never have let him kiss or touch her just now if she hadn’t
already subconsciously made a choice.

She
hadn’t hurried to escape him, not at first, and she’d definitely savored the
feel of his hands cupping her ass and stroking her breasts. Hell, she’d
climaxed! Fast. So fast, it had even caught him off guard.

Lacey
Blackstone might believe she still loved her husband, but she’d responded to
his
touch. She hadn’t meant to, but
obviously Danger wasn’t doing his homework. She’d reacted as if she was starved
for sex. He’d felt it clear to his toes and by the immediacy of her response. She
was a hungry woman. Yeah, she might love Danger, or think she still did, but
the woman in her needed
him
.

Rafe
shook his head and cursed himself for moving too fast. He wanted to be inside
her so badly he’d rushed things. When the opportunity presented itself again,
he knew he’d do the same thing. He wouldn’t hesitate to take full advantage.

He
wouldn’t give her time to think about what was happening between them. He
intended to screw her every single chance he got, and he intended to see he got
plenty of opportunities in the following hours.

Lacey
thought to deny what just happened, deny what was growing between them. He’d
let her get by with fooling herself for a little longer, another two or three
hours. But when it came down to it, she had no choices left, other than to walk
away from Danger and him. He didn’t think she’d do that. He believed in his
heart she’d make a choice.

Danger
had thrown her away.

When
she realized it, Rafe intended to be there to pick up the pieces of her
shattered heart and put them together again.