Once a Maverick

by Raine Cantrell

  “Forget what I said,” he murmured, his lips trailing kisses from her cheek to her jaw before tracing the curve of her ear. “All I want you to think about is us. No one else matters, Dixie.”

  For Ty the need to protect her was as strong as the need to have her admit she was his. He heard the underlying desperation in his voice as his murmurs drew dark, sensual images to life. But Dixie came to him like a desert bloom welcoming the rain as their lips met once more.

  Dixie could taste the need in Ty from his kiss. There was desire, strong and hot, a burning flame that swept through her. But through passion’s cloud, she still tasted Ty’s need to protect her.

  I love you. The most precious words she had ever longed to hear. Words that she never believed Ty would ever whisper to her. A small warning sounded in alarm, her own protective instincts trying once more to stop her from giving her heart to him.

  It was too late. From the first, her heart had known what her head had refused to acknowledge—Ty was the man she could give her love to, he was the one who would cherish it and keep it safe.

  Even as their kiss imitated the joining that would come, thoughts intruded. She fought them back. She didn’t want to think of being forced to choose between Ty’s love or her need for revenge against Thorne. She didn’t want to think at all. Desire beckoned, offering her the chance to escape into the passion that rocked both their bodies, to a place where only feelings dwelled.

  As if he had sensed her thoughts, Ty repeatedly whispered that she was to think only of them, nothing else and no one else mattered.

  Only them. Only hunger.

  She moved her hands to his chest, eager to slide open the buttons on his shirt, needing to touch his flesh.

  Ty broke their kiss, pressing his forehead to hers, as if he understood her need, not only to touch, but to be in control. He was right to bring her here, to this place that was as free and untamed as her spirit, a spirit that had caught and held him from the first.

  He felt the warm press of her lips against his chest as she spread open his shirt. He cradled her close and slowly rocked their bodies together as the desire heightened between them.

  Guilt surfaced. He had told her he loved her, and to him, that meant sharing everything. He hadn’t been able to tell her about Thorne, or what he planned to do. As she lifted her head and her gaze locked with his, Ty knew he never could.

  He freed her hair, spreading it over her shoulders. “I want to see you.” He noted the fine trembling in his hands as he began to unbutton her shirt. “I want us to be together as if there were no place but here, no one in the world but us.”

  Lowering his head, he kissed the pulse in the hollow of her throat. “I want to love you as if it were the first time…the right time for us.”

  “Ty?”

  With a kiss he stole the questing note in her voice, just as he stole her breath. His tongue teased the corner of her mouth, tantalizing her into wanting more, but his lips trailed fire down her throat.

  She arched her back, feeling his tongue trace the lace edge of her chemise, his dark whispers of wanting her, only her, flooding her body and her mind.

  His one arm caught her around the shoulders, supporting and half turning her as his other hand spanned her hip.

  “You’re strong and supple as a willow, Dixie. Wild and free as any spirit that roamed this land.” Ty trailed his fingers up her side, teasing her and himself for long moments before he encircled her breast.

  “Be wild for me, Angel. Just for me.”

  Through the thin cloth, Dixie could feel the heat of his hand. Gently, ever so gently and slowly, he began to brush his thumb over her nipple. She felt like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been pulled taut, every nerve demanding an end to the waiting.

  Her legs threatened to give in to the fine trembling of her body and she clung to his strong shoulders. His ragged breaths heated already flushed, sensitive skin beneath the cotton.

  “Ty, please…”

  He lowered his head, his tongue flicking over the erect peak, fighting his own need to suckle her with the desire that turned his blood molten. He wanted to cherish her, cherish each moment of loving her, making it last and last as if this were the only time, a forever memory. Ty beat back the knowledge that it could be true. That he might never again hold her, kiss her, hear the soft sighs of pleasure and whispers of more that spilled from her lips to entice him to hurry.

  He sank to his knees on a carpet of lush, thick grass, drawing her with him. The sweet, clean scent rose around them, but Ty drew in the heady fragrance of his woman’s skin flushed with passion.

  Dixie dug her hands into his hair and held his head against her. His lips sipped at her skin as he lowered the chemise and she shivered to feel the light rake of his teeth. His tongue moved gently to bathe her flesh, soft and wet and warm. And she knew he was holding back, trying to give her a gift of memory. It was all that held her silent when he drew her fully into his mouth.

  Her knee was wedged between his powerful thighs and she moved as he coaxed her to straddle his leg. His dark murmuring voice between exquisite love bites tightened the coil of tension inside her until she bit her lip to still a cry.

  “No. Don’t hold back. I like hearing the sounds you make.” Then in a softer, huskier whisper he added, “I want to hear you melt like sweet honey for me.” Ty dragged one sleeve of her shirt off, then the other. “We don’t need this between us.” The shirt went sailing off to the side.

  “And yours?” Dixie asked, already moving to discard his shirt. She couldn’t stop herself from touching him. Her fingertips caressed him from wrists to shoulders, feeling the same fine sheen of sweat on his skin that covered her own, measuring the strength of his arms. She looked up at him, her head tilted to one side, her long hair falling across one shoulder, her eyes mirroring the desire that vibrated through her. She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, laughing softly when he bent to capture it.

  Ty’s mouth twisted in a cocky grin. He was held in the grip of a need so fierce he ached from its power. But he sensed her wish to slow things down. While half of him cursed himself for recognizing it, the other half was delighted to please her any way he could.

  “A little hide-an’-seek?”

  “Ty, it’s just—”

  “I know, Angel. Believe me, I know. You feel like you’re dry timber and the fire’s gonna consume you.”

  She held his gaze with hers for a long moment. “Yes. Like the fever’s returned.”

  He leaned back a little and looked down at the thin chemise that still covered her. On one side the cloth was damp from his suckling, clinging to the hard tip. The sunlight filtering through the leaves of the cottonwood bathed her with a golden glow. He raised his hands to her waist, sliding the cloth of the chemise up very slowly.

  “It’s no fair for you to have this on. We’ll never see how hot the fire can get.” He scattered kisses over the skin he revealed, using his tongue to trace the undersides of her small, perfectly formed breasts. “An’ my lady’s a woman who wants things fair, doesn’t she? Share and share alike? Both of us equal?”

  “You’re teasing me.” The words ended on a moan. Dixie shivered to feel the edge of the cloth rub against the sensitive peaks of her breasts. Between them, his hair felt silky soft, another touch to tease and arouse her. She twisted to dislodge the cloth.

  “Impatient, are we?”

  “Yes. Damn you, yes.”

  “Then let’s get rid of this.” His hands slid up her rib cage, thumbs pressing against the sides of her breasts before he drew the chemise up and over her head. It too joined their shirts.

  “Now for a little fairness.” His husky laughter overrode hers when he bent her back over his arm and slowly lowered his head. His mouth fastened on her other breast and he wrung wild cries from her then, all he had wanted to hear, and more, for her cries became passionate demands.

  Ty forced himself to ignore them for the moment. He raised his head a little,
the subtle shift of their bodies bringing the feminine heat of her closer to his own violently aroused flesh. Brushing her hair back, he flicked his tongue against her ear, exploring the delicate curves as if for the first time. Knowing that she was as aroused as he was, he bit her lobe, instantly bathing it with the heat of his tongue.

  Dixie slid her hands down his arms. Her fingertips made a gliding caress around his waist. With a sliding motion, accompanied by sounds of approval, she combed the damp, silky hair on his chest. She twisted her head to escape his marauding tongue, only to lean forward and use her own on the small brown nubs she discovered. His groan was her satisfaction.

  “All’s fair,” she murmured, cupping his head to draw him down to meet her waiting lips. She held nothing back in her kiss, knowing how vulnerable it made her, knowing, too, that Ty had made himself just as vulnerable to her.

  But she couldn’t bring herself to whisper the precious words he had given to her. She couldn’t tell him that she loved him. The belief was too strong within her that once those words fell from her lips, Ty would feel she was trying to shackle him into promises of tomorrow. She could show him that she loved him. Show him the force of the desire that swept through her as he lowered her to the grass and covered her with his body.

  Ty braced himself on his hands, rising above her, his eyes studying her features. “I’ve never seen anything more lovely than you at this moment.”

  “Ty.” His name was all she could manage.

  “I want to capture this image forever and I want you so badly I’m shaking.” He rocked back on his heels, his hands sliding down the length of her legs. With his gaze locked on hers, he eased her thighs apart, making a place for himself. He could feel the trembling that rippled over her body as he lowered his head and kissed first one thigh then the other.

  “Mine,” he whispered, his breath and kiss laying claim to the damp heat of her.

  She wanted to touch him in return, but he forestalled her by moving down to take off her boots. His fingers tangled with hers as he opened the buttoned fly of her pants, paying homage with lips and tongue to each bit of flesh he revealed.

  Her cry shattered the silence. Bathed in sunlight and shadows, Dixie held his head against her in the quaking aftermath. She had never dreamed of such intimacy with a man. Never knew that a man could love a woman without taking his own pleasure. She couldn’t do more than murmur his name, even the effort of opening her eyes was beyond her. The moment Ty moved his head, she released him and heard the rustle of his own clothing being cast aside.

  He came to her then, beneath the sky, all sleek heat and taut muscle, his voice whispering a litany of I love you, I love you until it was all she heard, and he was all she knew.

  With his kiss she knew the tender lover was gone. There was urgency and desperation and possessiveness as he took her mouth with his. He drove into her with one powerful thrust and she held him tight, her fingertips digging into his shoulders.

  Upon feeling the welcome her body offered him, the tight leash Ty had kept on his control snapped. She was sleek and tight, a fire burning bright. She wrapped her legs around him and he groaned, no longer able to separate sensations, no longer wanting to. Loving Dixie took him into uncharted territory. He had never felt as if his heart, mind, body and soul were joined so completely with another woman. The tiny ripples of release began for her all over again, drawing him deeper, until the world narrowed to a place where white-hot fire burned him to the marrow of his bones.

  And she called to him with her woman’s song, one older than time, a song filled with her joy and pleasure, and her unspoken love that entreated him to join her where she waited.

  In the blinding moment before he spilled his seed into her, Ty knew he could never, ever let her go out of his life.

  Awareness returned slowly to Dixie. Like gossamer veils, sensations and thoughts layered one upon the other.

  The lightest of breezes came from the river, cooling heated skin and teased her with the scent of the sweet crushed grass beneath her body. Ty still lay upon her, his weight a warm heaviness she did not want disturbed. Each shaken breath she drew brought the dissipation of desire’s mist that clouded her mind.

  She refused the effort it took to open her eyes, content to remain still beneath him, measuring the slowing beat of their hearts. He lay with his face pressed against the side of her neck, his uneven breaths soothing to her ear.

  My lady…I love you…think of you…only us…

  The fragments rose from memory. There were no regrets mingled with repeating Ty’s words to her. Dixie knew he had made a claim on her, there was no doubt that he loved her. No doubt at all that he had never said those words to another woman.

  But why had he whispered those words to her without wanting something more? How could Ty tell her that he loved her and not want marriage? He had offered his land. It was almost as if he were leaving and not coming back.

  She couldn’t bear thinking about that. It brought pain and made her sigh a broken thread of sound.

  A sound that roused Ty. Dixie used one hand to hold his head in place, unwilling to look into his eyes. And she was just as afraid to have him see what her own eyes might reveal.

  She stroked his damp, silky hair, instantly noting the change in his breathing. He shifted his body, the move a subtle one, but expert enough to make her aware that they were still joined, still a part of each other.

  Heat spread through her. His lips found all the small sensitive places on her ear and neck that brought shivers of sensual awareness. Dixie tightened her hold on him, her body eager to respond to the slow grinding move of his hips.

  “Love me, Ty,” she whispered, arching her neck and turning her head to an angle where their lips could meet. “Love me,” she repeated, sealing her demand with a kiss.

  If she loved him long enough, hard enough, she would have memories to last a lifetime.

  “Anything, Angel. Everything you want.” Ty could feel the tension that lay claim to her. There was a desperate, possessive neediness in her kiss that found its mate in him.

  And he made a vow as he rolled onto his back and took her with him. He’d kill to keep her safe.

  But now wasn’t the time for thoughts of what he’d do to Thorne.

  It was the time to show his woman that his words were not lies.

  She straddled his hips, the sleek, damp heat of her thighs a flaming caress to his skin. “Share and share alike, Angel,” he whispered. “Turnabout’s fair play. Everything equal.”

  Dixie smiled at him. She felt no shame, no fear, for loving Ty was as natural as breathing, as if the Lord had created her for this one man. She tossed her hair back as Ty settled his hands on her hips. For the first time she felt the feminine power that was hers. She could bring him pleasure. She alone. The knowledge was there for her to see in his eyes.

  Secrets. He could see them in the gleam of her eyes, the sweet curve of her mouth as she began to ride him.

  “Glory, Angel. Sweet, wild glory is what we share. What we’ll always share.” Ty closed his eyes as she lowered her mouth to his. And he buried his lie of always a little deeper, until it joined his guilt about Thorne.

  The day was branded with forever memories. Dixie cherished each moment. Sharing the bread and cheese he had thoughtfully brought along, drinking the cold, sweet mountain water, the teasing kisses that erupted into passion scorching enough to put a hot spring geyser to shame.

  Ty was every dream she had ever had come to life. His tales of harrowing exploits to avoid Conner’s belief that hard work and responsibility would be the making of him had her sides aching with laughter. In turn, she regaled him with adventurous stories of life with her father as they moved from place to place.

  There were sober moments, too. The shared memories of childhood gave way to the awkward years. For Dixie, it was her need for a home, the longings that filled the dreams of her nights. For Ty, it was the need to find out who he was besides Conner’s little brother and Lo
gan’s tag-along-for-trouble sidekick.

  The heat of the sun rivaled the heat of the desire between them, and a shallow pool beckoned them for a swim. It was Dixie who began the childish play of splashing and ducking, and Ty whose challenge for a race ended in a kiss so cherishing she ached with the need to cry.

  Later, wrapped in a blanket, Dixie rested her back against Ty’s chest, her legs curled between the cradle of his. She told him of the night her father was killed, and the terror and guilt she had lived with ever since. And when she was done, he lowered her to the grass. With a tenderness that amazed him, as much as it demanded even more from him, Ty showered her with the most tender lovemaking until she cried from the exquisite beauty they could create together.

  There was no past, no future, only the hours they spent together beneath the sky while a lone red-tailed hawk soared above them. Dixie chased the ghosts from his soul and he brought peace to hers.

  Shame had no place here, and when she confessed her fear that her breasts were too small, Ty worshiped her with words, hands and mouth until she believed that perfection began and ended in her lover’s eyes.

  Dixie stopped counting the times he murmured that he loved her.

  Ty was determined to wring those same words from her lips before he had to leave her.

  She feared the growing tension in him came from his dread that she would demand marriage. She swallowed each I love you that rose to her lips.

  A countdown of the hours he had left with Dixie added a dark and dangerous edge to his need for her. The more he attempted to bury his awareness of the lowering sun, the deeper the shadows played themselves over his lover’s body.

  Dusk laid its warning blanket over the land and, with reluctance, Ty urged her to dress. They made a last game of it—though neither one spoke of the need to go back—and shared last kisses, last touches before donned clothing brought the first separations to them.

  “Ride with me,” Ty whispered as they ended yet one more lingering kiss. “I want to hold you in my arms for every moment I can.”