Page 27 of The Cowboy Takes A Bride

These feelings, this headiness of want were so overwhelming, Meredith wasn’t sure how to handle them. She’d never been in this situation before. She knew what she wanted to do, more,wanted him to do to her, only she wasn’t sure how to make that happen.

Meredith let her eyelids drift down until they were closed and hoped he would read the sign correctly.

A low rumble of laughter penetrated her haze of need, and she snapped her eyes open. Jace was staring at her, a full grin across his face. He bit the inside of her palm with a small nip then entwined his fingers with hers and pulled her hand from his face to his chest.

“Let’s lay some ground rules, Meredith. Anytime you want me to kiss you, you just come up and take a kiss. I’ll never turn that away.” He jerked her forward, and she came to a stop against his chest. He cupped the back of her neck.

“Now you can close your eyes,” he whispered before putting his lips to hers.

He didn’t kiss her roughly, but not gentle either. His kiss was weighted with need, or perhaps that was what she felt.

Need.

An insatiable desire to explore and learn. Though nervous, she had nothing to lose.

She removed her hand from his and wrapped her arms around his neck, situating herself closer. He snaked an arm around her back and pressed her against him.

Meredith was sure the heat would consume her, and she’d expire in a ball of flames.

When his tongue swept through her mouth, she was a goner. Moaning, she adjusted to face him head-on and felt his hands on her rear as he lifted her up to straddle him, the steering wheel at her back, her wedding dress and coat pooling to the sides.

“If we had met out or through mutual friends, I have no doubt we’d be doing this exact same thing right now,” he mumbled against her lips.

What a great fantasy. She was like any normal twenty-four year old, making out in a truck with a hot guy.

It felt so right and so wrong. It was glorious.

He trailed a path of kisses across her jaw and down her neck. Wanting him to touch more of her, she arched to give him greater access. His hands came from around her waist to run up her sides, coming to rest level with her breasts. His lips hovered over the pucker of skin at her throat, then he brushed them softly against it. “One day I want to know why you have this.” He kissed the scar again.

She never wanted to talk about the scar. With it came too many bad memories. “If we’d met out, there would be no chance we’d be doing this. My father wouldn’t let me out of his sight.” She sighed when he did a suck-kiss on her collarbone. “Thank God, my father isn’t here.” She dragged her hands through his hair as he moved lower and kissed the swell of her breast. His thumbs stroked over the top of her dress, teasing the nipples underneath.

“Sounds like you didn’t get a lot of opportunity to make out in a car,” Jace said as he moved a sleeve off her shoulder, lowering the neckline. His lips followed the path down.

“I’ve never made out in a car before,” she said, trying to not pant.

A loud blasting horn made her jump away to the other side of the truck.

12

Movement from across the prairie caught Jace's eye. Tuck’s truck was coming his way.

“Shit,” he mumbled, reached over, and pulled her dress back up her shoulder.

“What?” She'd gone from looking satiated to panicked in one breath.

“It’s okay, but my ranch manager is headed this way. I’d rather he not know what we were up to.” Meredith sat up straighter; her once perfectly styled hair was cascading wildly around her face, curls resting on her shoulder. She was flushed, her lips swollen from his roughness, her eyes light. She looked like a woman who’d been sexed. He couldn’t wait to see how she looked once he got about doing it properly.

She jerked the seatbelt across her in a rush.

He took her shaking hand in his after she clicked the belt into place. “Meredith, it’s okay. Tuck and I have been friends our entire lives. He’s a nice guy who’s likely wondering where I’ve been and why I haven’t done my share of the work today.”

“You didn’t tell him you were getting married?” When he shook his head, anger flashed across her face.

Her indignation pleased him. Hidden within her, ready to be set free, were a backbone and an expectation of how she wanted to be treated. He would enjoy watching her come into it. So long as it wasn’t directed at him like it was right now.

“I stupidly hadn’t thought the act all the way through. Had I foreseen it would have gone like it had, I would’ve had Tuck and his wife at the ceremony.”

“Oh.” Her lips made such a cuteo,he wanted to kiss her again. “Sorry.”

---