Page 37 of Overdue for a Cowboy

Dodge shook his head and sat back down on the bed. He leaned down and gave her a tender kiss. “No, Maisie, darlin’, you are doing everything exactly right. So right that I figured I needed to stop to grab some protection.”

“Oh shit,” she said, not usually one to swear, but thought this occasion called for it. “I don’t know if I have any. There might be one at the bottom of my makeup drawer, but I don’t know how old it is. Do condoms have expiration dates? Is the drug store still open?”

His soft chuckle was warm against her neck. “It’s okay. I think I’ve got one in my wallet. I pray I do, anyway. That’s why I was reaching for my pants. I wasn’t leaving you.”

Not yet anyway.

The quiet thought snuck into her brain.

Stop.Don’t think about tomorrow or all that stuff he said about not being the guy for me.

Dodge Lassiter was in her bedright now—and he wasnaked. She needed to focus on that and the incredible feelings coursing through her body. Feelings that he had caused by touching her, by wanting her.

He found what he needed in his wallet then climbed back into the bed. She parted her legs, a silent signal of consent, but he still asked for it before ripping into the package and covering himself.

“Yes,” she told him, already aching again with tight anticipation. “A thousand times yes.”

He positioned himself between her legs and hunger burned from his eyes as he gazed down at her. His voice was raw with need as he whispered, “You are so beautiful.” Then a growl vibrated from the back of his throat as he buried himself inside her.

He moved slowly at first, then increased in tempo as they found their rhythm. She took everything he gave her and cried out for more. It was as if someone else had taken over her body, someone who was brave and wanton and knew how to get what they wanted.

Her senses were so deliciously heightened, his every movement sending a hot current of desire to her core. Then she was climbing as pleasure radiated through her, savoring the delicious torment of every single sensation that had come alive in her body.

Everything else fell away—everything except the relentless ache between her legs. An ache that built in intensity until the sensations rushed up, seizing every muscle, and her resistanceshattered. She cried out, surrendering to the exquisite stirrings of pleasure that pulsed through her.

He caught her gasps in his mouth, kissing her as she broke apart beneath him, greedily swallowing her blissful moans and soft whimpers of pleasure.

Then his fingers gripped her shoulders, pulling her closer, his teeth grazing her shoulder, letting out another growl as his body tensed and shuddered as he let go with his own release.

Collapsing on the bed beside her, he drew her to him, pulling her against his chest and pressing his lips into her hair.

She had never felt like this before—sensual, reckless, wanton,awakened. And she couldn’t wait for more.

But for now, she was happy to be next to him, snuggled together, her head tucked into his shoulder. As they lay there, both the cat and the dog jumped onto the bed with them and each one curled on either side of their feet.

He let out a soft chuckle as he pulled her closer.

She tilted her head up to look at him. “What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking about those literary pickup lines that you used to seduce me.”

She covered her face with her hand. “They were pretty bad.”

He cuddled her closer. “I kind of liked them. And I was thinking of one myself.”

She laughed. “Give it to me.”

“I was thinking that Charles Dickens might have given usGreat Expectations, but you just met all of mine.”

She cringed then laughed with him. “I’m not sure nerdy bookworm lines are the sexiest. But I can tell you as a librarian, I was wayoverduefor a cowboy.”

They laughed together, and she couldn’t have felt any happier. True, the bookish pickup lines were maybe a little over the top, but she still couldn’t wait to see what happened in their sequel.

Chapter Seventeen

Dodge woke the next morning to a naked woman spooned against him, his arm around her and his hand cupping her lush breast. Her round ass curved perfectly into his hips, and the feel of it was making another part of him wake up.

For just a moment, he let himself enjoy the feel of this woman, let himself imagine that he could wake up to her every morning, naked and in his arms, after spending the night together. He allowed himself a moment of illusion where he got to have a life like this.

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