Page 37 of In Bed with the Rancher

After he shed his slacks and shorts, he sheathed himself with a condom and walked back into her embrace, and she could feel his thick manhood, hard and ready, pressing against her.

“I’ve thought about you constantly,” he whispered between showering kisses on her throat and down to take first one nipple and then the other in his mouth. He ran his tongue over her and teased her with slow, wet strokes, his warm breath on her while he cupped her breasts in his gentle hands.

She gasped while each stroke of his fingers heightened her desire.Urgency built to make love, to have him fill her, to love her until she felt she would burst with her climax as only he could bring her to.

With a cry, she brought his head up. The desire she saw in his brown eyes made her stand on tiptoe and kiss him while she caressed his manhood.

When he picked her up, she locked her legs around him as he let her down slowly and entered her.

She gasped with an aching need for his loving.

As they kissed, he pumped hard and fast while she moved on him and held him tightly. Longing built, driving her. He went harder and faster while she clung to him and finally cried out with her climax, consumed by bliss. He thrust one more time and followed her into ecstasy.

When she finally lowered her feet to the floor, she was grateful for his embrace because her legs felt too weak to support her. Perhaps sensing it, he swept her up in his arms.

He carried her to his shower, switching on lights as he went. Unaware of her surroundings, she could see only him as he gazed down at her while he carried her through his condo. Basking in the afterglow of the orgasm he’d given her, she showered light kisses on his throat and his ear, as her hand played across his nape and she wound her fingers in his thick hair. He was a marvel to her, their lovemaking carrying her to heights she had never been.

“Sexy man, so, so sexy,” she whispered.

He stopped walking, turning his head to kiss her passionately again while he held her tightly against him. Finally he raised his head and continued into a large bathroom with a king-size shower. As they showered together, she ran her hands over his exciting body. They dried each other with thick, fluffy red towels, then once again he picked her up and carried her into his bedroom.

In minutes they were in each other’s arms in the bed with a sheet pulled over them and a low light on a table beside them.

“Ava, I’ve thought about you constantly since the last time we made love. You’re special,” he said, showering feathery kisses on her face. He leaned away to look at her. “I don’t want to ever hurt you.” She shifted so they were facing each other and he toyed with her hair, his brown eyes intent on her.

“You won’t hurt me,” she said, certain he wouldn’t. He had been considerate of her feelings since the first time they were together.

With his fingers he combed long strands of her hair from her face and gazed at her seriously. “Ava, I want to tell you something right now. You’ve been hurt badly by your ex-fiancé. I don’t want to add another hurt.”

Suddenly Ava felt chilled and wondered what was coming because he looked solemn. Whatever it was, he probably hadn’t remembered it until he got back to Dallas, to his home, and his memory returned. It couldn’t be a wife, so she was puzzled, but she had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be good news. He looked far too worried.

“You should realize now at least to a degree what my twin is like. He has made my dad’s life miserable too many times. Dad has heart trouble and I told you that when he was fifty-two, he had a stroke. I blame Wynn for the worries our dad has had. Wynn made Jack’s life miserable when he was a little kid, and he was mean to Lucy. He did stuff to me, too, but I’m his age and could beat him in a fight when we were kids. But he didn’t stop when we grew up, posing as me, like he did now. I was going out with Olivia until I left for the fishing trip. I was planning to break it off with her, so I’m glad she’s happy with him, but if I’d been in love with her, I would be livid with him now.”

“I would think she would be because of his deception.”

“Oh, no. He can be charming and she was through with me, too. Wynn got what he wanted—Olivia. That was the whole purpose of this switch.”

“I understand, Wade. I know you have no feelings for Oliva. If that’s what you’re trying to tell me—”

“No, Ava, there’s more.” He took a deep breath and when she saw the darkness shield his eyes, she braced for the bad news.

Nine

“What I’m working up to tell you is, because of my brother, I have never wanted to marry and I sure never want to have kids.”

“Wade, you’re not like your brother, and a child you raise wouldn’t be like him. Your brother wouldn’t have any great influence on your child.”

“Influence matters, but genes—you have to live with them and you can’t change some things that you inherit.”

“You don’t inherit a mean disposition when you’re around nice people all the time.”

“I’m very much like my dad who raised me,” Wade said. “Wynn isn’t like him one bit. We had the same dad raise us. We have the same blood in our veins, but there are qualities Wynn has that I don’t have and vice-versa.”

“Wade, you’re cutting yourself off from so much joy. Family is everything. You have a brother and sister and parents that you like, right?”

“Yes, I do, but I’ve watched Wynn ruin my dad’s health by simply worrying him constantly when we were growing up. He still does, for that matter. Look at this latest escapade.”

“I don’t think you’re looking at the positive things. I’m alone. You have no idea what it’s like to have no family. And you have a good family—all the other members. Lucy and Jack are friendly and nice. Your parents are warm. And Wynn—well, he’s not a monster, Wade. I know he causes the family trouble, but he isn’t dangerous. You seem to deal pretty well with him. And I don’t think any child you’d raise would ever be like him. I don’t think his jealousy, or whatever motivates him, is something a child of yours would inherit. You don’t inherit jealousy.”

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