Page 81 of Rancher's Return

He walked back into the bedroom, and she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Second thoughts?”

She stood up and walked toward him, then she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him toward her, claiming his mouth. When they parted, she was breathing hard. “Hell no.”

Chapter Five

They were past the point of no return. And she was so glad. So damned glad. All she wanted was to have him. To have this. Now that she had fully admitted it to herself, it was like the floodgates had opened. Need and desire were a driving force within her; there was no room for nerves.

It was actually like being young again. Because she had been completely inexperienced the first time she had made out with him. And she had still ended up getting him half-undressed.

She could still remember, with a rush of adrenaline, how she had gone down on him in his truck, in the driveway of his dad’s place. She had never felt nervous. She had always just felt... Like she needed him. She had wondered if she might feel awkward her first time, since at this point, she had waited longer than she had intended. But she didn’t. Instead, she felt like they were picking up right where they left off.

“I’m ready to get to home base,” she said.

“What does that mean?”

“We went to third base, right?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Do people still use that baseball metaphor?”

“I don’t know. I don’t do anything with anybody. So, I always have used it, but maybe it’s outdated.”

“Well, I don’t care,” he said. He pushed her down onto the bed, his weight over the top of her, and it was her turn to squeal like a 1930s movie heroine. She was a breath away from swooning.

She stripped his shirt up over his head and pushed him onto his back so she could look at him. He had changed. He was more muscular now; there was hair on his chest. Her heart skipped several beats.

He was just far too beautiful for his own good. For her own good. For anyone’s sanity.

His golden good looks had always left her senseless, breathless. She kissed his neck, all the way down his chest, down to the waistband of his jeans, where she undid his belt, the button on his jeans, lowering the zipper.

“Indulge me,” she said. “For nostalgia’s sake.”

Then she exposed him to her hungry gaze. Lord.

He was... She pressed her palm against his hardened length and dragged her hand down to the base of him. Then she leaned forward, tasting him with the tip of her tongue. He groaned and arched his hips upward, and, flushed with memory and need, she took him deep into her mouth.

He pushed his fingers through her hair; his hold wasn’t tight or insistent. He let her direct the movements. Let her explore.

Somehow, she felt like this was about her. That his body was her playground, her domain. He was hers.

She knew that with certainty. Even though she knew she wasn’t the only woman to ever touch him, to ever do this for him, she had the feeling so strongly then, and still, that it had never been the same for him. That it still wasn’tthis.

“Enough,” he said, his breathing ragged.

“Why?” she said, raising her head, then she kissed his hip bone. “Because we’ve done this. I need you.”

Then she found herself flipped onto her back as he shucked his jeans off the rest of the way. As he stripped her shirt up over her head, unclipped her bra with expertise. He stripped her entirely bare, and she wasn’t embarrassed at all. She felt powerful. She felt perfect.

And he looked at her like she was a treasure. He kissed her neck, her breast. He cupped her, sliding his thumb over her nipple, and she remembered how he used to do that in his truck. The first time he had touched her bare breasts. Only this time, he didn’t stop there, he lowered his head and took her nipple into his mouth, sucking hard. She gasped, pleasure lancing her.

Then he moved his hand between her thighs and found her wet and ready for him. His touch was like white lightning against her flesh, and she arched against his hand as he pushed a finger inside her, making her shake with her desire for him. It was Colton.

How could she have ever thought of him as forbidden? When he was hers.

He had always belonged to her.

He kissed his way down her body, his hands still wreaking havoc between her thighs. Until his mouth found that sensitized pearl there, until he began to lick her like she was the most delicious thing he’d ever tasted.

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