He accepted her.
Liked her.
Loved her.
She forced aside the ridiculous notion. She wasn’t silly enough to believe there could be a happily ever after with Cole. They had different lives. Different futures.
No, this wasn’t about tomorrow.
This was about right now.
She watched as he stood and shed his jeans completely. He settled back down on the lounge chair and motioned for her.
“Come here,” he murmured, his voice raw and husky and oh so stirring.
Anticipation rippled through her and every nerve in her body tingled. She straddled him again, her knees and calves cushioned by the padded canvas of the chair.
She slid the swollen bud of her clitoris against his engorged penis until she reached the head. She rubbed from side to side, feeling him pulse against her most tender spot. She gasped when his teeth caught one nipple and he closed his lips over the sensitive peak. He drew her deep into his mouth and sucked so hard that she felt the tug between her legs.
She moved a fraction higher and pressed the wet opening of her body over the head of his erection. His hold on her nipple broke as a raged gasp escaped his lips. She pushed down slightly, letting him stretch her, fill her just enough to make her insides tighten, and then she withdrew.
He bucked beneath her and she did it again, pushing down just enough to make her body crave more before pulling back and gasping for air. His hands slid down her back and his large fingers pressed into her bottom as if to pull her back down. But he didn’t. While he was now an active participant, this was still her ride, her chance to discover her wild side and unleash it at her own pace.
She kissed him then, sucking at his tongue the way her body grasped at the head of his erection.
Over and over.
His muscles bunched tight beneath her fingertips, his body hard and stiff beneath her, until she knew he couldn’t take any more.
With a shudder, she slid down over him until she felt the base of his shaft fully against her. The soft silk of his pubic hair teased the sensitive lips of her vagina. He pulsed inside her for a long, heart-stopping moment before he gripped her bottom with both hands and his hips lifted.
He slid deeper. The sensation of being stretched and filled by the raw strength of him stalled the air in her lungs for several heart-pounding moments.
The pressure between her legs was sharp and sweet. But not half as sharp and sweet as the sudden tightening in her chest when he looked at her, his gaze so fierce and possessive, as if he never meant to let her go.
As if.
Nikki dismissed the thought and fixed her attention on the desire coiling tight in her body. She rocked her hips, riding him with an intensity that made her heart pound and her body throb.
She held his gaze with each movement, determined to brand his every expression into her memory. Until sensation gripped her, so wild and tantalizing, that her breath stalled and her heart all but stopped beating. She couldn’t help herself. While she wanted to watch, the only thing she seemed capable of in that next instant was feeling. Her eyes closed. Her head fell back.
He held her tight as he pushed down around him. Her body released a warm, sucking rush of moisture. He groaned then, his hands digging into her bottom as he bucked beneath her. His eyes blazed a feverish gold. The muscles in his neck tightened as she surged one last and final time, burying himself deep as he exploded.
She collapsed against him, her head in the curve of his shoulder as she tried to catch her breath. His arms tightened around her and he simply held her then, stroking her back and her bottom as her heart slowly returned to normal.
Oddly enough, it was those stroking, soothing moments afterward that stood out in her mind long after Cole had helped her into her clothes, led her down the side of the RV and back inside. While her orgasm had been earth-shattering, what had followed had been life-changing.
Because Nikki had never felt as beautiful, as cherished, as loved as she had when Cole had cradled her beneath the stars.
She grasped the feeling close and refused to acknowledge the small voice in her head that told her she would never, ever feel that way with any other man.
It wasn’t about the future. It was about making the most of the next few hours until they reached their final destination and Cole realized that she’d lied to him about knowing her mother’s whereabouts.
He would go back to distrusting her and she would go back to denying her feelings, and they would both return to their separate lives. He would head for the next rodeo and she would pack her bags for Houston, and that would be that.
The end.
But not yet. They still had a little bit of time and she intended to make the most of it and store as many memories as possible.
19
COLE HAD BARELY opened the door of the RV when Nikki backed him up against the nearest wall, dropped to her knees and reached for his jeans. The door rocked shut and the interior plunged into darkness. The only light came from the overhead skylight.
Moonlight fell across her face as she stared up at him, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to see every expression, feel every reaction, hear every thought.
Groping to his left, he found the light switch. The overhead lights flicked on and a pale yellow glow pushed back the shadows and illuminated her face. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink and her lips trembled. Her eyes glittered with desire as she reached for him again. He didn’t stop her this time. The air stalled in his lungs as he waited. And watched.
She slid the button free and worked the zipper down.
His erection sprang hot and greedy toward her. A drop of pearly liquid beaded on the ripe purple head and she reached out. She caught his essence and spread it in one sensual stroke of her fingertip from tip to root. A growl vibrated from deep in his chest and rumbled up his throat.
She wrapped her hand around him and he arched into her touch, his iron-hard sex dark and forbidden against her slender, pale fingers. She smiled up at him before she leaned forward. Her expression faded into one of serious intent as she lapped at him with her tongue, once, twice, before taking him into her mouth.
Her hair brushed against his belly. The soft, sweet-smelling strands teased his skin and stoked the fire that burned inside of him. Cole caught her long, silky hair and pulled the shimmering curtain away from her face. He watched as she sucked and licked and caused a pleasure so fierce he didn’t think he could stand it.
He did.
He grew harder, hotter, heavier and she relished her effect on him. He saw it in the confident way she held him and the purposeful slide of her mouth up and down and... Damn, she felt good.
She took all of him, relished him, until he came so close to exploding.
“No!” He gasped and jerked back, catching himself just in time. He drew a shaky breath that did nothing to calm his thundering heart and everything to stir his hunger that much more. The scent of her—so potent and sweet and sexy—filled his nostrils, stirred his nerves and shook his already tenuous control. “Not like this.” His cock throbbed, the feeling just this side of painful, and his balls ached, but he drew on what little control he had left. He grasped her shoulders and set her away from him.
She stared up, her eyes hot and luminous, mirroring the desperation he felt inside. But there was something else—the insecurity she tried so hard to hide with her racy comments and scandalous clothing.
Yeah, right, buddy. She might have been pretending, but that didn’t mean that she felt anything for you other than the fear that you would run your mouth and ruin her bad reputation. Not then and sure as hell not now. She’s out of here just as soon as she aces her finals and you call it quits with this farce of a marriage. And there isn’t a damned thing you can do about it.
Like hell. He could change her
mind if he wanted to.
If.
But Cole had his own commitments. He was headed to the next rodeo, and the next. He lived out of a suitcase and he liked it that way. He sure as hell had no intention of settling down. Not in Lost Gun, and certainly not in Houston. The noise. The pollution. The clutter.
Hell, no.
He liked his space. His freedom. His spread outside of town suited him just fine. When he was home, that is, which wasn’t very often.
No, he had a life to live, a career, and loving Nikki Barbie didn’t figure into his plans.
He knew that, but it didn’t stop him from picking her up and striding to the large bathroom. He wanted to touch every inch of her luscious little body in ways no man ever had or ever would.
Because Nikki Barbie was his.
At least for tonight.
He set her on her feet and turned on the water. Hot steam rose in the marble and glass enclosure. But the heat didn’t come close to touching his rapidly soaring body temperature.
“I’m already wet,” she told him with a smile. “You don’t have to go to this much trouble.”
“This isn’t about trouble, darlin’. It’s about erogenous zones.” He grinned. “Since you aren’t really all that experienced, I figured I’d give you a few lessons to get you back on the naughty list. Now,” he said as he reached around for the straps of her sundress, “the female body has lots of hot spots.”
“Such as?”
“Your neck for starters.” He unfastened the halter-like top and let the straps fall away. The material fell to her waist, exposing her full breasts and rosy nipples. His gaze remained fixed on hers as he trailed his fingertips down either side of the smooth column of her neck, to where it curved into her shoulders.
She trembled. “What else?”
“Well, there are the obvious hot spots.” He plucked the ripe tip of one nipple and drew a gasp from her passion-swollen lips before trailing a fingertip under the fullness of one breast, over the few inches of exposed skin until he reached the material bunched at her waist. He eased his fingers inside and pushed the dress over her hips until it slid down her legs. He stroked her bare mound with the pad of his thumb and watched her gaze darken.
“And then there are the not so obvious.” He dropped to his knees and unfastened her shoes. His fingers lingered at the tender arch of one foot after he removed her shoes. “The feet are packed with nerve endings.” He stroked the inside from her ankle to her toes before cupping her ankles with either hand and massaging gently.
“That does feel good.”
“Just good?” He worked his way up her calves, the backs of her knees, her thighs, until he reached her sweet ass. He kneaded her, teasing the seam with his fingertips until she moaned.
“I’ve thought about touching you so many times like this since the night of the wedding,” he told her. “Too many times.”
“I’ve thought about it, too.”
He glanced up and caught her gaze. Her eyes were bright blue, fueled with desire and a dozen other emotions he couldn’t name.
But he wanted to.
He wanted to know what she was thinking. Everything she was thinking.
“If you were dreaming this up right now, if this were your fantasy come to life, what would happen next? What would you want to happen next?”
She didn’t even have to think. “You pick me up and carry me into the shower. We soap each other or we kiss. Or both.”
He gave her a slow, lazy grin that made her blush despite her boldness. “I’ll see what I can do.” He stood, picked her up and stepped into the shower.
The door closed and the steam engulfed them. Hot water pelted his back and flowed over his skin. Easing her to her feet, he enjoyed the slow glide of her body down the slick, hard length of his.
“Turn around.”
Nikki heard his deep voice, but she couldn’t seem to comply. She’d pictured just this situation before and she was anxious to see if it lived up to her imagination.
Her gaze swept the length of him. His broad shoulders framed a wide chest sprinkled with crisp, dark hair that stretched from nipple to nipple in a V-shape. The brown silk narrowed and funneled down his abdomen and pelvis to disappear in the thatch of dark hair that surrounded his massive erection. His legs were braced apart, his thigh muscles taut, sprinkled with the same dark hair that covered his chest. His gaze was a bright, brilliant purple. His big, powerful form filled up the shower stall and blocked the spray of water. Water hammered the back of his head and ran in tiny rivulets over his shoulder, down his chest and abdomen to drip-drop off his swollen testicles.
She watched as he reached for the soap. He rubbed the bar between his large hands. Lather squeezed between his fingers and trailed down his powerful forearms.
“Turn around,” he said again.
She obeyed this time and he stepped up behind her. She glanced down as his arms came around. His dark hands spread the white lather over her pale stomach. He cupped her breasts and slicked the soap over her nipples. She gasped.
He plucked and rolled the hard peaks until she trembled with sensation.
He paused then to reach for the soap. He didn’t just lather his hands this time. Instead, he slid the bar down her quivering stomach, over the bare flesh of her sex.
“You’re so soft and smooth,” he murmured, his voice as thick as the erection pressing into the cleft of her buttocks.
He stroked her, rubbing the bar of soap in a sweet circular motion before moving down between her legs.
“Spread your legs for me.” She widened her stance, giving him better access. The hard edge slid along the soft folds between her legs. The soap brushed her throbbing clitoris and intense pleasure rushed through her.
“Is this what happens in your fantasy?”
“No.” He went still and her body hummed in expectancy. “It’s better than any fantasy. Sweeter. Sharper. More intense.” She felt his muscles ease. And then he moved, doing wickedly delicious things to her with the soap that told her he’d not only been waiting for her response, but he’d liked it.
He liked her.
He soaped her from head to toe, giving extra attention to every hot spot until Nikki shook with a need so fierce she couldn’t stand it. She turned in his arms, desperate to feel him.
She touched everywhere she could reach, slicking her palms up and down his hard shoulder and hair-roughened chest. His taut hips and muscular buttocks. When she cupped his testicles, he growled.
He turned and flipped her water off. He grabbed a towel from a nearby shelf and hooked it around her neck. Where the past few moments had been wild and fast, the brakes came on and everything slowed to a nice and easy and nerve-racking pace.
The fluffy white towel moved over her aroused body with an incredible slowness that made her want to scream. She didn’t. Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, he pulled away. He wiped the moisture from his own body, scrubbed at his damp hair and then tossed the towel to the floor.
Before Nikki could draw breath, he reached for her. He pulled her flush against him. His hard length pressed into her stomach and he rubbed himself while his mouth devoured her in a deep, lusty kiss that made her insides clench and her nipples tingle.
Gripping her buttocks, he lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. His hard, pulsing flesh grazed the sensitive area between her legs. The length rubbed against her slick folds as he turned and stepped from the shower stall.
He kept kissing her as he walked the few feet from the bathroom to the bedroom and eased her down on the king-size mattress.
Rounding the end of the bed, he grasped the shorts he’d shed. His shoulders bunched and his muscles flexed as he leaned down and retrieved a small foil packet from his pocket. He came to stand besi
de the bed, towering over her as he rolled the condom down his thick length with a swiftness that amazed her.
In that next instant, he was right where she wanted him, between her legs, his weight pressing her back into the mattress. His erection slid along her damp flesh, making her shudder and moan and arch toward him. He slid his hands beneath her, gripped her bottom and tilted her to take all of him. He plunged deep.
A shudder ripped through him and she touched him, trailing her hands over his hard buttocks, pulling him more securely inside. Her body clasped him, convulsing and quivering when he finally retreated. But he didn’t leave her empty for long. He thrust into her again and again, building the pressure and pushing them both higher until, finally, he sent her soaring over the edge of ecstasy.
Nikki cried out Cole’s name and dug her nails into his hard muscles as wave after wave of pure pleasure washed over her, drenching her senses for several heart-pounding moments.
She opened her eyes to find Cole poised above her, a fierce look on his face, his eyes gleaming with an intensity that reached inside of her and tugged at her heart.
When she gave him a blissful smile, he pounded into her one final time and let himself go. Every muscle in his body went rigid and his deep groan echoed in her ears.
He rolled over without breaking their intimate contact and cradled her on his chest, her head nestled in the curve of his shoulder. Large hands stroked up and down her back in a reverent motion that brought tears to Nikki’s eyes.
But she didn’t cry. There would be plenty of time for that later when everything was said and done. When Cole discovered the truth and turned his back on her once and for all.
For now, she held tight to the joy that rippled through her and focused on the man beneath her, the warmth of his neck against her cheek, the steady thud of his heart against her breast, the feel of his powerful arms locked around her.
Texas Outlaws: Cole Page 12