Page 46 of Willing to Wed the Rancher
How had this happened?
She scrambled to find an answer, but she couldn’t think past the blur in her brain. It didn’t matter how she’d ended up there—she needed to get up immediately. Before he roused and realized she’d joined him in bed. Or maybe he’d slipped in beside her.
She shifted back just a little and realized her hands were flattened against his shirt and his chest. She could feel every hard muscle and even the solid beat of his heart. How had she dared to be so bold as to let herself touch him this way?
A flush worked its way into her cheeks.
She had to find a way to slip out of the bed without waking him up. But how could she do that with his arms surrounding her? What would Franz think when he awoke to find her there?
“I could wake up like this every day.” His whisper was gravelly.
She jerked her sights from his chest back to his face to find that his eyes were still closed, but his lips were slightly turned up in the beginning of a satisfied smile.
He wasn’t upset they’d somehow ended up like this?
Her memory spun back to the last few moments before she’d fallen asleep—the long and difficult night and how she’d stumbled into the bedroom, exhausted and in tears. He’d been so kind and tender with her.
He’d likely been as weary as she’d been, and they’d succumbed to much-needed sleep.
With his eyes closed, she admired his features: his lean cheeks, his hard, carved jaw, and his distinguished chin. His hair was scattered and messy, the sunshine turning the light brown to a pale wheat color. A shadow of unshaven scruff made him even more handsome.
As she let her gaze trail across his mouth and its solid lines, the hint of his smile faded away. And beneath her hand, she could feel his heartbeat pound harder and faster.
When she lifted her gaze, she found herself peering into eyes that were blue and clear and bottomless. Why did his features have to be so appealing?
Ever since he’d arrived, she’d tried not to stare at him, tried not to focus on how handsome he was, tried not to let herself become swept into his piercing gaze. Now, with the full force of that blue pulling her in, she didn’t want to resist any longer.
What was he thinking? He’d said he liked waking up like this. But what did it mean? Did he like being with her?
“I can see all those questions in your eyes.” He held her gaze for a second longer before his eyes made a trail around her face, starting at her forehead, moving to her nose, then jaw, and lingering on her cheek. Was he remembering that he’d kissed her there on their wedding day?
His gaze came back to her eyes. “May I answer the questions?”
She nodded.
He leaned his head closer to hers, and his hand on her back drifted up her spine.
The feathery touch of his fingers sent a cascade of pleasure tingling over her skin.
As he bent in further, her heartbeat began to race. When his lips softly touched against hers, she didn’t know what to think. What was he doing? He’d said he’d answer her questions. She’d assumed he’d say something, but maybe she’d been wrong.
His hand on her spine shifted higher to her neck, and as his fingers touched her bare skin above the collar of her shirt, she gasped. But his lips pressed in at that moment, capturing the gasp, capturing her mouth, and capturing her soul, all at once.
His lashes fell, but not before she caught a glimpse of the darkening desire there.
Oh, sweet heavens. He was really and truly kissing her on the mouth. The gentleness and the sweetness of his lips against hers sent that same pleasure swirling deeper into her body, so that like him, she closed her eyes, the pure bliss of the moment overwhelming her.
His hand upon the back of her neck seemed to be guiding her head to just the right angle for the kiss, and his lips tugged at hers so tenderly that she forgot to breathe.
She was kissing Franz Meyer. She, Clarabelle, who’d never had the attention of a man, much less had one want to kiss her. How was this possible?
He broke away slowly, as if he wasn’t quite ready to do so. He didn’t move very far back, still close enough that she could feel his breath upon her lips.
She didn’t open her eyes and didn’t move. She wanted more from him, but she wasn’t sure how to express that.
“Did I answer your questions?” His voice was low and did strange things to her belly.
She lifted her lashes to find that his face was still close enough that their noses were almost touching. She tried to read his eyes, tried to make sense of what he was saying. But she was too lost in his nearness and the sensation of the kiss he’d just given her to understand anything else.
