Too Hot to Handle (14 page)

CHAPTER TEN

T
HE
GIRL
AT
HIS
SIDE
was talking so much that Shane couldn’t eavesdrop on what Merry was saying anymore. Oh, he’d heard her plea for sex clearly enough, along with every other man in a ten-foot radius. And her flirtation with Walker had been obvious. But now her head was dipped toward Grace as they whispered and laughed about something, and he had no idea what it was.

“And of course, I love the rodeo,” the blonde said.

Shane perked up. “Yeah? I heard Walker is a damn good cowboy, aren’t you, Walker?”

The woman’s eyes lit up and she shifted toward Walker. A stroke of genius on Shane’s part. Now he could ease closer to Merry and the big cowboy would be too busy to flirt with her anymore.

Merry ran a hand through her hair, and it slid back, dragging over her shoulders. They weren’t bare tonight, but he could picture them easily. She was tall and strong, her shoulders perfectly proportioned to curvy hips, and her skin had been so smooth under his hands. It had looked even softer where her breasts had risen oh so slightly up above the neckline of her tank top. He wanted to see that again. He wanted to see more than that, and apparently she was horny. Of course she was. It had been two years.

God, she was a damned torture device. Had she known how insane that would make him? Had she said that on purpose just to drive him crazy? Because he felt crazy now, imagining slipping a hand between her legs. How wet she’d be. Her gasps of need as he stroked her.

Shane shifted and cleared his throat.

He knew he shouldn’t sleep with her. Hell, everyone seemed to know he shouldn’t sleep with her. And on top of his own failings in relationships, he was lying to her about something big. But the lie didn’t feel like something real. It didn’t have anything to do with who he was or what he wanted from her.

There was something about her. Something sweet and right that had crept inside him over the days he’d known her. And then that kiss… Even though he was the one who’d initiated it, even though he’d been standing there, staring at her beautiful skin and thinking that he wanted to touch it, the kiss had still surprised him. Wanting to kiss her had felt like curiosity, but the taste of her mouth had overtaken him, had pulled him under, and turned him inside out. He’d wanted more. So much more.

Merry looked up and caught him watching. Her eyes slid to the blonde, then back to him and she offered a wide smile, as if she were happy to find him alone again. When he smiled back, her cheeks flushed and she looked away. He wanted to see her blush like that in his bed. Naked and pink and modest even as he put his mouth to her breast and made her sigh. He wanted to push her past her natural self-consciousness, arouse her so thoroughly that she forgot to be embarrassed.

“I’d better go,” he heard her say to Grace. “I’ve got to get up early tomorrow.”

“But tomorrow is Saturday! And what will I do without you here?”

Merry smiled. “Cole just walked in. I think you’ll do fine.”

“Oh!” Grace looked up with happiness in her dark eyes. She might not like Shane all that much, but he was happy for her, and even happier for Cole. Cole had almost lost everything, including Grace, but it had worked out. Of course, Cole was a great guy. Steady. Responsible. The kind of guy who’d make a good husband some day. The kind of man who’d never walk away.

For a moment, Shane wanted that for himself, and as Merry moved toward the door with a farewell wave for the whole group, he followed her. “Hey,” he said as he held the door open for her.

She looked up at him in surprise. “Oh, hi!”

“I thought maybe I should walk you home after your declaration. You might have a following.”

“Don’t tease me!”

“Sorry,” he said, offering her a wink. “What are you up to so early tomorrow?”

“Just work in Providence. I heard the best story tonight from a descendent of one of the Smith settlers. Did you know there was an ice house just inside the canyon beyond the town? I think I’ll go look for it tomorrow. This man was telling me how they used to cut ice during the winter and store it there in a little shack they built around a natural depression in the stone. It never got any sunlight, so it would stay cold all summer long, and sometimes the kids would sit in there on really hot days. They’d play games and hide from their parents.”

She gestured as she spoke, her eyes bright with happiness. Shane nodded politely as he opened the door of the Stud Farm and waved her in. He didn’t care about Providence stories, but he loved watching her tell them. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she laughed with delight at something about raspberries and fresh cow’s milk. Her teeth caught her bottom lip as she smiled, and Shane watched that tender flesh give to the pressure as she stopped in front of his door.

“Merry,” he murmured.

“I know. I’ll shut up. I just love all the—”

He dipped his head and stopped her words with his mouth. Her voice died on a small gasp then the gasp turned into a tiny little moan as she opened for him and took him in.

He stroked her tongue with his, tasting her and the sweet drink she’d been sipping. His body responded immediately, reminding him that he’d tasted her before and that he wanted more. He spread his hands over her waist and her warmth seeped into his hands. It was like a drug, the feel of her, penetrating his skin and going immediately to his bloodstream. His heart beat harder. When Merry’s arms went around his neck and she deepened the kiss, Shane nearly groaned with relief.

Keeping her tight against him with a firm hand across her back, he reached past her to open his door, relieved that he hadn’t bothered locking it earlier. He walked her backward and kicked the door shut behind him.

Her nails dug into his neck. She pressed her hips to his and the pressure made his cock swell. He suddenly felt like he was the one who hadn’t had sex in two years…desperate and wild.

Breathing her name again, he slid his mouth to her neck and sucked at her skin as he slipped his hands beneath the back of her shirt.

“Oh, God. Shane. That feels…”

Yes. It felt too good for words. It felt right and he spread his fingers over her back and moved them higher. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he said against her neck before he bit her and felt her shiver in his arms.

“Oh,” she breathed.

When he pushed his hands higher, she lifted her arms, and suddenly her shirt was off and Shane felt stunned. He kissed her shoulder, breathed in her scent. “Is this okay? Please tell me it’s okay.”

“It’s okay,” she said, a smile in her voice.

“Thank God.” He moved a hand behind her legs and picked her up, laughing when she screamed. “Have I ever shown you my hand-carved headboard?” he growled.

“Ha! I bet you use that line on all the girls.”

He didn’t, actually. He wasn’t usually friends with the women he slept with. Just long-term acquaintances. Or short-term ones.

He laid her on the bed and laid himself on top of her, his hand sweeping down her belly just to feel her skin. Her hair fanned across his pillow in a dark sweep. “I’ll go slow, all right? I’ll go slow, just…let me, Merry.”

“Yes.” Her eyes dropped shyly away, but she reached for the buttons of his shirt.

Shane held himself still and watched her fingers work, freeing first the top button, then the next. It was a terrible pleasure, watching her move so slowly, knowing that when she was done she’d touch him. When had he become so desperate for this? When had it changed from idle curiosity about a cute woman to a need that made him shake?

She finally pulled his shirt free of his jeans and spread it open, her fingers trailing pleasure over his shoulders and down his arms. Then she really touched him. She pressed her palms to his chest and smiled. “You’re kind of…furry.”

He looked down at his chest as if he’d never seen it before. “I guess I am.”

“I like it.”

He glanced up and smiled into her shy eyes. “Good.” He kissed her while she was still laughing, and then each touch blurred together into the next. His belly against hers, her ribs beneath his hand. And then he unclasped her bra and swept a palm over her breasts as her breath came harder.

Oh, God, she was soft and sweet and her rose-brown nipples puckered under his touch. They tightened even further when he dipped his head and kissed her, circling her with his tongue before he sucked gently. He loved that. The way she arched into him, the way her hands clasped his head as he rolled that deliciously hard nub against his tongue.

He wanted inside her. Now.
Needed
it. But he’d promised to go slow. She deserved that. If he couldn’t give her a commitment, he could at least make this good for her. As good as he possibly could, his own needs be damned.

And fuck, this was pleasure on its own, listening to her soft sounds of need, teasing her until she tightened her hold and pulled him closer. He pressed his teeth gently against her nipple and was rewarded with a tight gasp. When he lifted his mouth, she whispered, “Don’t stop. Please,” and he smiled as he tipped his head to her other breast and sucked her into his mouth.

This sigh was louder and edged with a high note that gratified the animal howling inside him. This time, as he teased her, he slid his hand down her belly and unbuttoned her jeans. Her stomach sucked in in surprise. He felt her tense, but when he scraped his teeth over her nipple, she grew wild again, and seemed to forget that he was pulling her zipper down.

“God, your mouth,” she moaned. “It feels so good.”

Shane’s pulse drummed so hard it almost drowned out her words, but he heard them and they twisted through his head and joined up with the knowledge that he was about to touch her. He felt mad. Tortured. His hand shook against her stomach as he flattened it to her skin and slid it beneath her panties.

His fingers touched soft hair as her belly pulled in again. Shane raised his head and looked at her. Her wide eyes watched him with a slightly unfocused gaze. Her pink lips were parted, her breath coming fast. Shane’s hand slid lower. He brushed her wet heat, and her eyes squeezed tightly shut as her hips tipped up. “Oh,” she said, her mouth forming a perfect circle of surprise. “Oh,” she gasped again as he slipped his fingers along her.

He watched her face, stunned by the beauty of her pleasure as he touched her clit. She looked young and somehow pure. It made no sense, of course. There was nothing pure about the wetness that soaked his fingers or the way his cock throbbed with every heartbeat. There was nothing pure about the way her neck arched as her hand curled around his biceps. She clutched him as if she were falling. It was lust on her face. Need. Hunger. But it still managed to be
pure
.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he growled.

She shook her head and spread her knees wider.

Merry needed more and so did he. He needed her naked and open for him, but it was damned hard to stop touching her. To tear himself away from the sight of her face, flushed and tight with gorgeous tension. But he was going to have to force himself if he wanted inside her, and he wanted that more than anything in the world. More than life. Because he’d die if he didn’t feel her. Soon.

He went to his knees to tug her jeans down. Merry didn’t stop him. In fact, she lifted her hips and twisted as he pulled, and then she was all bare legs and black panties. Jesus, she was lovely.

Looking down at her, he slowly eased her panties down, hardly able to breathe when she was finally naked before him. Her thighs were the color of cream and looked like they were made to cradle a man’s hips. And just above, a dark triangle of curls that made his mouth water.

She’d pressed her thighs tight together, as if she wanted to hide from his gaze, but that only made him want her more. Made him want to tease her, coax her, touch her until she lost all sense of modesty and begged him.

The thought of that made every nerve in his body strain toward her. He wanted to shove his jeans down, free his cock and be inside her
now
. He needed it. But he clenched his jaw and lay beside her again.

Slow. Slow.

Her eyes were still closed, as if she didn’t want to see him, but this time when he touched her, she sighed with relief and her legs parted. He stroked her, coaxing those gorgeous soft sounds from her again, but this time, when her hips tipped desperately up, Shane slid a finger inside her.

She cried out, and his heart tripped over itself. She was hot and wet and tight around his finger, and Shane groaned. Oh, God. How had he imagined he could go without this? How could he have walked away?

He pushed slowly in and out of her, feeling her relax for him. He tipped his head down and kissed her neck as he eased another finger inside her. God, she was tight. He didn’t want to hurt her, so he slipped out and touched her clit again, circling her with his wet fingers until her hips pushed toward him again. When she seemed desperate, he eased his fingers deep, loving the way she cried out.

“Does that feel good, sweetheart?” he whispered.

She nodded, her lips pressing tight together to try to stop a moan.

He smiled against her skin. For once, Merry was speechless. Working his fingers slowly in and out, he listened to every sigh, every trapped groan. She didn’t want him to hear, but he needed those sounds. He fed on them until he couldn’t think anymore, until her hips worked rhythmically to take his fingers deeper. She was so wet for him. So lost.

“I want to be inside you, Merry.”

She nodded again, eyes still squeezed tightly shut.

Shane unbuttoned his jeans and dug a condom from his wallet as he toed off his boots. When he was finally naked, he eased between her legs. “Merry.”

She kept her eyes shut, but her hands clasped his back to pull him closer.

His cock brushed her heat and Shane had to close his own eyes for a moment, fighting the impulse to surge forward, to take her like some caveman staking a claim.

“God, Merry.” He took himself in hand and stroked his cock over her. “Open your eyes.”

She shook her head. “Please, just…” She gasped when he dragged himself along her clit.