Page 29 of The Rancher's Cinderella Bride

Her heart raced and she couldn’t get her breath. She only wanted to kiss him, hold him close and run her hands over his marvelous male body.

He held her tightly, his lean, muscled body solid against her, his kiss sending her into a dizzying spiral. She thrust her hips against him. He leaned over her, kissing her and holding her while he caressed her with his other hand. His hand drifted over her nape, then down her back and beneath the shirt she wore. She had promised herself she wouldn’t do this. She was putting her future, her heart at risk. She was taking the peace that she had finally achieved, turning right around and risking it all for Gabe’s kisses. He could break her heart. If she made love with him, she would be in love with him, and that would lead to the worst kind of heartbreak because she had known him all her life and he was important in her life. Every second she touched and kissed him, she was wading deeper into a dangerous pool of heartbreak. She had never been emotionally invested in Justin. She was in Gabe. And that put her in danger.

Yet how badly she wanted his arms around her and his mouth on hers. Just a little longer, she told herself. How bad could it be? How could she lose her heart over kisses? Over just one night of love? Or was she simply fooling herself in order to shut out the sensible warnings of disaster?

Right now she couldn’t answer that, not when her heart hammered with excitement, when desire burned hot through her fingertips that ran over his chest.

“You’re a beautiful woman, darlin’. You can’t imagine what you do to me,” he whispered.

He kissed her again, stroking her sensuously with his tongue as he toyed with her breasts, his breath warm, his attention exciting. She ran her hands over his strong shoulders, wanting to pull him even closer, wanting him inside her.

She pulled back to drag in air. “You’re pure temptation,” she whispered. “You’re taking me where I vowed I wouldn’t go.”

“I’ll stop when you tell me to,” he rasped out, his hands and tongue roaming over her. “Ah, you are so beautiful, so hot.”

He tangled his fingers in her hair, tilting her face up so he could look into her eyes. She felt caught and held again by his blue eyes that mesmerized her and flashed so much blatant desire she couldn’t get her breath.

Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her tightly against him. He was on fire, his manhood thick and hard and ready to love.

This would be a commitment for her while it would be no such thing for Gabe. Was that what she wanted? If they made love tonight, she would feel a bond with him that he would never feel. Could she live with that? Was she moving closer to a big heartache? She was torn between wanting him and being sensible and keeping her distance.

She ran her fingers over his nape, aching to have him inside her, wishing to be one with him, desiring all of him. She wanted his loving all through the night and she knew he would give her that if she let him. But that tiny voice of caution would not remain silent. It kept calling out to her, begging her to be wary.

Gabe would never want anything long-term and she wouldn’t want it even if he did. She couldn’t deal with his wild ways, so why was she getting herself more entangled with him by the minute?

“Gabe, wait,” she said, leaning away from him. “This is too fast and too far for me. I just can’t take making love the casual way you do.”

She placed her hand on his chest as she shook her head. “Besides that, suppose we have sex and it’s the most fantastic sex ever, like our kissing is fantastic. Suppose sex between us is that way. How are you going to live with that?”

Gabe blew out a hot breath and she felt his arms loosen their hold on her. “Darlin’, you sure know how to kill the moment. Holy hell.”

“I have definitely and obviously not killed the moment for you,” she said, glancing down at the hardness in his slacks. “We’re going to be together for a while. I’m going to live at your house, maybe for the rest of the month. We have time. There is no need to jump into bed tonight. Let’s stop and think. Suppose sex is the most spectacular thing ever between us—”

He groaned and placed his hands on his hips. “You can stop. We’ll quit for now. C’mon. I’ll see you upstairs and tomorrow will be another day, as someone famous said.”

She frowned, staring at him. “You think about us, Gabe.”

“As if I could think about anything else.”

She faced him, taking him in. His hair, a tangle of dark waves, fell on his forehead. His broad shoulders made her draw a deep breath as her gaze ran across his well-muscled chest.

“Meg, my life was quiet and peaceful and uneventful until you came back into it. I’ll tell you, in all my experience with women, you’re unique.”

“I find that a compliment.”

“Take it how you will. You were a fun special friend when we were kids, but I never thought of you as unique. Tonight’s a first in my life. I’ve never been asked to stop for the reason you gave me. The hell of it is—you make a degree of sense. Are you even listening to me?”

“Of course I am,” she said, looking up at him.

“Sleep is shot to hell for the next few hours. I’m going to have an icy shower and come back here and drink a beer. If you want to join me, you’re welcome to.”

“I doubt if I’ll sleep, either. I’ll join you here in a little while,” she said. She took one last long look, her gaze running to his toes and back up to find him watching her.

“You’re incredibly sexy,” she whispered. “I’m going while I still can.”

“Thank you, I think, for the ‘incredibly sexy’ remark, although that parting shot isn’t doing anything to cool me down.”

“I’m gone,” she called over her shoulder, hurrying out of the room before she walked back into his arms and into his bed for the night.

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