Marie, Laura - Miss: Never Gonna Love Again [The Miss: Series] (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Laura Marie

  Is he for real? He’s not going to force me? That’s it? Whatever I want?

  Julianna leaned into his hold.

  Remaining silent for what felt like an eternity, Julianna laid her hand flat against Johnny’s bicep. The feel of solid muscle beneath her fingertips aroused her body. He was magnificent, and he was large in both a scary and appealing way. Gosh, how she wanted to press closer against him. To feel safe, protected from harm and every negative thought her mind could conjure up. But she couldn’t…Could I?

  The man was capable of crushing her body beneath him. Her small frame would be defenseless against his attack. The thought frightened her until she imagined being pinned beneath him while he made love to her. She lay a few inches above him, and she looked down at him just as his lips pressed against her collarbone. Methodically, he scattered kisses along her shoulder, down her arm, then across her chest to the cleavage between her breasts. Each sensation from his soft lips tattooed her flesh and would remain there to fantasize about as soon as she woke up from this current fantasy. He can’t be real…This can’t be happening.

  She took in a sharp breath, and she held his arms, practically dug her fingertips into his flesh. His demanding tongue rolled over the pink, protruding flesh on her breast. He was relentless as if on a mission, and he devoured her right breast as if it were his last meal. Instinctively, her hips wedged against his rock-solid stomach before the panic set in again.

  Watching his mouth suck, nibble, and tease her flesh to the point where she found herself gasping for air, she pleaded for mercy.

  “Johnny…please…we can’t do this.” Her head rolled back then forward as she gripped his shoulders. It appeared he was determined to change her mind as the intensity of his technique sent waves of want and desire through her body.

  She felt the sensation of his mouth’s slow release of her breast, and just as the panicked feeling subsided, his tongue rolled gently toward her other breast.

  The sensation took her breath away. Johnny broke down her defenses, sending shivers of heat and moisture to invade the femininity between her thighs.

  She moaned as his arms wrapped around her. Pulling closer to him, she grabbed hold of his cheeks between the palms of her hands. Staring down, witnessing the man’s determined expression, sent her on a roller coaster of emotions.

  Johnny’s mouth felt so good crushing against her flesh, nipping at the peak then licking away the sensual ache. Never once did she think of the human body as edible. Until now.

  Gently applying pressure to his cheeks she held in her hands, she attempted to grab his attention.

  “Johnny, that feels so good.” Slowly his mouth released her flesh, and before the sensation of relief hit her, she felt his warm breath collide with her skin. Julianna’s body reacted, revealing that her own body wanted more.

  Pink and blotchy, her breasts tingled for more. Johnny smiled at her as his palm glided over each mound, beginning a whole new tactic to get her to give in.

  Quickly she cupped her hand over his.

  “Johnny, I’m not ready.”

  He paused but didn’t remove his hand. He slowly sunk back down to the mattress, taking Julianna along with him.

  “Close your eyes, Jules. I’ll stay right here.”

  * * * *

  She felt like such a fool. Why did this sheriff have to be so confusing? Just when she thought he was a mean S.O.B., pain in the rear, he turned all Prince-freaking-Charming.

  Julianna slammed the bathroom door shut and quickly got dressed in her own clothing. Frustrated, she plunged her right leg into her blue jeans, then the other leg.

  From the moment she woke up alone in bed, she felt the annoyance and anger.

  The electricity wasn’t running perfectly yet, turning on for a half hour or more then turning back off. The snow was still falling, and there was no way for her to leave the sheriff’s home.

  Exasperated but feeling a lot better, she opted to get dressed and strip the bed. His bed.

  She looked at her reflection in the mirror while she held onto the vanity. Thoughts of the numerous women who shared the sheriff’s bed entered her mind. It looked custom-made to fit his large frame and length. As she stared at it earlier, she thought the bed was large enough for a group of people. Embarrassed by the thoughts that he could possibly share more than one woman at the same time, she felt the heat reach her cheeks and the tightness cause her belly muscles to clench.

  She was not into that, not by a long shot. A man as charismatic, rough, and large as Johnny might be into such a scene. Women probably threw their bodies at him, and he just swayed those hips of his into the room and pointed. “You…my bed…now!”

  Desire strung on her feminine strings. Hadn’t she had enough with rough guys, demanding and controlling men, and wasn’t her plan to evade men altogether?

  What happened?

  Johnny could get any woman he wanted. Why would he be interested in a tiny, defenseless girl?

  She stared into the large mirror. She looked at her figure. Sure, she had a lot of curves, and a large bust size, but she was petite, quiet, and not aggressive, especially when it came to men and sex. There was no room for what she desired or what she wanted except when she was in Johnny’s arms.

  Gliding her hand over the cloth-covered mound of flesh, the cleavage defined between the two peaks, she recalled Johnny’s touch. “Johnny,” she whispered, recalling the sound of his name, her whispering it to him in the heat of sexual arousal.

  Her cheeks felt flush, and once again, feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment replaced feeling desired by anyone.

  He looked at her with such desire and yet with respect for her feelings, for her reservations about becoming intimate with him. Julianna had never been made to feel that way.

  She thought about Lawrence, and the tears stung her eyes. Lawrence dominated her in every sense of the word. He told her how to dress, when to speak, when to flirt with his clients, when to stay put, when to go, when to suck, and when to spread her legs. Everything she said and did had to be condoned by him.

  She had been foolish enough to think he loved her and that was all that mattered.

  What did Johnny want from her? Did he want to bang the latest community member? To stake claim so the other cowboys in town would have to get his permission?

  Her body had been so responsive to his everything.

  Red cheeks of embarrassment looked back at her, like some silly high school girl who fell head over heels for the much older…much more worldly man.

  She closed her eyes, instantly seeing the sheriff. What an amazing body, a toe-curling voice, and hands…hands that she wanted over every single inch of her own twenty-four-year-old body. His size and his demeanor should be threatening, but they weren’t. The content feeling of safety, empowerment, and energy was too powerful. In his arms, all sadness dissipated, mistrust evaporated, and the fact that she could close her eyes—naked against his body—and fall asleep was stunning. She wanted to make love to him, have that large bulge between his legs reveal itself and take her deeper under his spell.

  Her eyes popped open. If I keep this up, my cheeks will turn purple.

  Julianna felt her heart pounding and about to jump out of her shirt and…

  “Strangle you. You’re an idiot,” she whispered aloud.

  Next came the thoughts of negativity. Like a ticking clock, her obsessive-compulsive, organizational self had to always be pessimistic and negative.

  “You didn’t even know his name was Johnny.” She practically growled the words at her reflection.

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” Every time she let her guard down she made a fool of herself.

  She thought about Shelby, about her back-stabbing best friend Kate, about Lawrence and Johnny.

  The sound of his name lingered in her mind along with the circumstances that led to last night.

  No man would want her for more than a roll in the hay. Not with her scars, not with her past, and defin
itely not with her inability to trust.

  It was no use. She was just too damn exhausted to even try to play the game, to even think that there was even the slightest possibility that he could…

  She stared into the mirror long and hard, and reality set in.

  Never. He’s perfect and I’m nothing.

  The electricity went out at that very moment, and Julianna closed her eyes to embrace the darkness and the loneliness she felt she deserved. A formidable chuckle escaped her lips as the tears threatened to pour from her eyes. She was losing her mind and talking to mirrors. Searching meaninglessly for the slightest bit of hope that would never come was getting her nowhere. For if it did, the past proved that along with the hope would come disaster.

  “Julianna!”

  She heard his voice and quickly wiped her eyes.

  She took a few extra seconds to pull herself together. She could practically feel his presence just beyond the bathroom door.

  Was it wishful thinking that perhaps they were already connected somehow? The hope disappeared.

  She headed out the door and back into the bedroom.

  The room was somewhat bright from the natural light outside shining through the open shades. It was gray and overcast and the snow continued to fall.

  “What did you do?” he asked, motioning towards the bed and the pile of sheets on the floor.

  She walked past him, picking up the pile of laundry on the rug.

  “If you just tell me where the laundry room is?”

  “It’s down the hall. But no power, remember?”

  “Oh.” She dropped the pile back onto the floor and glanced around the room, anything to keep her eyes off of him.

  She felt him walking towards her, and she quickly turned to face him. “How about clean sheets? I can remake the bed for you.”

  Her eyes wandered over his body. Dark, relaxed-fit jeans covered athletic thighs. A dark button-down shirt covered his massive chest, the chest her breasts felt snug against just last night. He wore a pair of dark-colored socks, no boots. Her stomach quivered. He was so damn sexy and nerve-racking as he stared down at her from above.

  She sensed him staring. Somehow he touched her with his eyes alone. Finding enough nerve, she looked back up at him, and he reached towards her and gently took a strand of her hair between his fingertips.

  “You should be resting.”

  His command sounded sensual. She was a damn walking hormone around him. She tried to move away, but now his hands were on her shoulders.

  The look in his eyes was sincere and firm as he closed the small space between them.

  “Why are ya always tryin’ to run away from me?”

  She was silent, unsure how to respond to such a direct question.

  The man was so appealing, so enticing on every level, that her mind couldn’t focus, couldn’t pull away from the imaginary cord that connected them.

  “I…I’m not. I just don’t need…I mean, I…” The words were all twisted inside. She didn’t want to say she didn’t need him because that would be a flat-out lie. She needed him, she wanted him, but she couldn’t trust him. Therefore, she couldn’t have him. What were his true intentions anyway?

  Her thoughts were interrupted as the sheriff softly cupped her chin in his hand.

  The warmth and strength of it against her skin was electrifying. Why did he have to be so sexy, so mysterious?

  His arm wrapped around her waist, distracting her train of thought and pulling her to him, merging their bodies.

  She took a quick intake of breath at his sudden move before looking up toward him.

  His hand held her chin in place. “You’re so beautiful. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

  She failed in her attempt to pull away, to shake her head in denial of believing his words, and felt the palm of his other hand press firmly and snugly against her waist and backside.

  “Please don’t.”

  “Don’t what? Talk to me, Jules. Tell me why you’re so afraid of me.”

  The tears filled her eyes and threatened to escape.

  He bent his head lower, holding her gaze, parting his legs, bending his knees slightly to reach her lips with his own as strong thighs merged with her hips. Tight denim rubbed against her stomach.

  The kiss was soft, gentle, and too damn short.

  In an attempt to maintain some composure, she tried to deny the situation and attraction.

  “Why are you doing this? What is it that you want?” She pleaded for an answer. Her words sounded shaky.

  Silence fell between them, and the sheriff appeared determined.

  His thumb caressed her chin then his fingertip caressed her lips. She held her breath, waiting for the answer, for some logical, direct answer that would explain or announce the sheriff’s true intentions. Honesty is what she wanted. Was it too much to ask for some damn honesty?

  The sensation of strong, callused fingertips penetrated the softness of her lips. She dare not tighten her expression to ward off the effect his touch had on her. Any plans to fight it were lost the second their gazes locked and his lips parted.

  “You. I want you.”

  Julianna was shocked to say the least. His words were unexpected. A reply of any sort was lost in the silence after Johnny’s declaration.

  She released a shaky breath. She had hardly gotten a full inhale before his lips pressed against hers softly. She felt him pull her body more snugly against his own as the warmth and pressure of his lips increased against her lips and she reached for him. She held on just as tightly as he was. She let her hands travel over his shoulders as she stood on tiptoe to reach his neck and face. The smell of his cologne, his manliness, infiltrated her senses.

  Then his kisses intensified. Her body floated from the floor, his tongue penetrated her mouth, and her heart pounded in her chest.

  Somehow, somewhere between his evadingly erotic kisses, her legs managed to wrap around the cowboy’s waist.

  She pressed her hands against his shoulders. Felt the power, the manliness of his size and potential abilities. It turned her on and made any remaining reservations about him melt away.

  Alternately, he used his lips and tongue like weapons against her body, pulling the desire, the mutual need she felt, from deep within her, leaving her naked for his taking.

  “Johnny. Johnny.”

  His mouth applied more pressure to the sensitive skin against her neck. The palm of his hand was flush under her backside, sliding her body further up his own to make her breasts more accessible to his mouth.

  She laid her palms against his shoulders, and she watched him caress her breast, knead and pinch the protruding flesh, causing tingling sensations to reach between her thighs.

  Their breathing grew more rapid with each touch, each sensation and realization of just how intense this thing was between them.

  He lifted his mouth up away from her neck, and he whispered, “Jules, you taste sweeter than honey.”

  Lost in his embrace, she was in his arms one moment and the next their bodies slid down to the bed.

  Julianna held her legs tighter against his waist, feeling the hardness through his jeans, and knowing that she wanted to touch it, to feel the manliness. She never craved or desired anything more in her life.

  * * * *

  Johnny let his hand travel over the curves of Julianna’s body from her ankle to her thigh, then up her button-down shirt and between her breasts.

  “You’re all woman, darlin’. All woman, the way I like it,” he whispered then kissed her lips softly.

  Johnny stood on his knees between her legs, wanting to have better access to her body.

  Filled with an intense desire, a need and want of being more than just lust or sex, he locked gazes with her. He felt Julianna in his heart, a heart he thought had been cold, lost, and only serving the purpose of keeping him alive. That was before. Before Julianna.

  He unbuttoned her shirt, slowly forcing the last two buttons that wouldn
’t release cooperatively to move from confinement. Johnny felt Julianna catch her breath as his fingers brushed against her belly. A warm sensation filled him, and he was confident she felt the heat between them.

  He lowered his head to kiss her chin then her neck while he took his time rubbing the plump enticing mounds between the palm of his hand through the silky material of her bra. He kissed her lips softly then more deeply while his other hand undid the front clip of her bra. Her supple breasts emerged plump and ready to be devoured.

  The grateful feeling that the clip was in the front was instantly overtaken by his desire to taste each of the beautiful breasts with his mouth. Licking his lips as Julianna watched him, waiting for his next move should have been enough to make him tear the rest of the garment from her sensational body.

  He was in sensual overload. He wanted her in every way.

  He used his tongue, and he caught the full, round flesh in his mouth, delighted that there was no possible way he could fit his entire mouth around one, but knowing he would try anyway.

  He felt Julianna respond to his techniques as he let the palm of his hand glide across her naked, flat belly then between her legs, while his mouth and tongue continued to perform wonders on her breasts. He felt the heat of her femininity, her body’s response to his touch.

  * * * *

  Julianna grabbed at Johnny’s shirt, pulling the buttons as best she could while his mouth worked wonders on her nipples and breasts. Hands she had described earlier as steel and strength were now gentle yet demanding of her core.

  He was more amazing than any fantasy she ever created in her mind. He was thorough, and her breasts felt full and sensitive.

  He drove her wild with desire. She rubbed her hands up and down his solid chest, under the denim shirt. The feel of muscle, skin, and soft hair thrilled her to her core. He was a God, and he was with her. She let her fingertips play with the small, pink, protruding flesh. His response was breathtaking as she felt the bulge in his jeans grow larger. He was a big man in every sense of the word, and the fluttering in her stomach increased with the thought of him being inside of her.