His Cinderella Housekeeper 3-in-1

by Various

  She was giving up her dreams to go back to teaching school for a chance with Win. A small town like Sunshine Springs was never going to hire an ex-bartender who was living with her lover to teach their children. She could practice discretion, she supposed, but doubted that would last very long. Besides, she didn’t want to hide her love for Win from the rest of the world. She had the feeling that he needed her public commitment as much as she needed to know where she stood with him.

  “You’re my woman.”

  She digested that. “For how long?”

  His eyes widened in shock. “You want me to put a time limit on our relationship?”

  “No.”

  “Then what do you want?” Frustration radiated off him in waves.

  What did she want? Some sort of commitment. A promise, but not marriage. She didn’t know.

  “You’re the one that said there’s all sorts of ground between a one-night stand and marriage. I just want to know what ground we’re talking about. Is that so much to ask?”

  “There is a lot of ground between the two. I’ve just never had to define it before,” he said with exasperation.

  Dread snaked through her. She pulled her hands from him and scooted back in the large chair.

  “Have you had a lot of situations where you might have had to, but they didn’t ask?”

  If she sounded confused, that was only fair. After all, she felt confused.

  “No! I told you. There haven’t been that many women.”

  “Believe it or not, your attitude is not helping to set my mind at ease,” she replied, her own frustration lacing her words.

  He smiled ruefully. “Look, honey, I don’t have a string of lovers in my past. It’s been so long since my last date that Shorty was starting to get worried.”

  Somewhat mollified, she nodded. “Okay, then. I can see that defining what our relationship is might be a little difficult for you. You obviously need some time to think about it.”

  He swore. “You aren’t going to let me make love to you tonight, are you?”

  She stood and indicated the door with her hand. “You need time and I’m willing to give it to you. Goodnight, Win. Go get some sleep.”

  He didn’t go. He stood too and towered over her, his entire body emanating male desire. He fixed her with a piercing blue gaze and settled his hands on her shoulders, the heat of his fingers burning through the cloth of her shirt.

  “What I need right now, honey, is you. The question is, are you ready to put me out of my misery?”

  Chapter 10

  CARLENE shivered at the suppressed desire in Win’s voice.

  Was she willing to put him out of his misery? Was she willing to risk letting him make love to her without defining their relationship?

  His face took on a serious, almost feral, expression. “I don’t know the words for what we have, but I can show you, if you’ll let me.”

  She couldn’t speak. She wanted him so much and suddenly the idea of talking didn’t hold all that much appeal. He didn’t want marriage, but he did want her. Not a nameless, faceless woman to warm his body, but her. And she loved him.

  In all her dreams of love and a family, they never included this desperate edgy feeling. This despair and pain mixed with joy and desire. They might not be married, but she knew with every pulse of her heart that she belonged to him. Completely. Her heart. Her body. Her desire.

  They were all his. If she refused to let him make love to her, that would not change. If he made love to her tonight and then walked away tomorrow, that still wouldn’t change the truth of her love.

  She loved him.

  She needed him.

  She wanted him.

  His thumbs brushed the sensitive skin of her neck up to the underside of her chin. “Please. Let me make you mine tonight.”

  For the second time that night, her proud, arrogant cowboy was reduced to pleading with her.

  She reached up and curled her fingers over his wrists, awed by the strength that held her so gently. “Yes, Win.”

  His eyes turned stormy blue and his nostrils contracted. He didn’t waste time asking if she were sure or saying anything else at all. He closed the distance between their mouths and locked his over hers in a possessive kiss that shook her to her toes. Flicking his tongue over the seam of her lips, he silently demanded entry into her mouth.

  She gave it without so much as a thought.

  She expected him to sweep her mouth with branding passion, but, from the moment he entered her mouth, his kiss gentled. He explored her with lazy thoroughness letting her adjust to his possession while she relearned his taste.

  Wanting more, but not knowing how to get it, she released his wrists and tunneled her fingers into the black silk of his hair. She tugged against his head while trying to press her body against his. The hold on her shoulders prevented her. She moaned in protest.

  Now that she’d decided to make love to Win, she wanted it all. Immediately.

  He refused to be rushed and kept going with that slow, tantalizing kiss. Heavens, the man knew how to use his mouth to advantage. Her nipples grew tight and aching, though he hadn’t so much as touched them. The confines of her bra and shirt seemed too much all of a sudden. She wanted them off.

  Now.

  She tried to let Win know without breaking that incredible kiss. She squirmed. She made needy little sounds low in her throat, but she couldn’t make herself break contact with his lips. Maybe if she touched him, he’d get the idea.

  Reluctantly, she slid her fingers from his hair; mourning the loss of one erotic touch even as she lowered her hands to grasp his shirt near the waistband of his jeans. She tugged until she could get her hands under the hem. She brushed his stomach and the muscles under her fingers tightened convulsively.

  Win growled and let go of her shoulders to yank her closer, trapping her hands between their bodies. The relief of having her breasts crushed against the work-hardened muscles of his chest was short-lived. It just wasn’t enough.

  She wanted skin on skin, but couldn’t even move her hands against the bare skin of belly, he held her so tight.

  She forced herself to tear her mouth from his. “Please, Win. I need…I want…” She couldn’t make herself say it.

  She’d never made love with a man. Her experiences with Win were the closest she’d ever come and she didn’t know how to tell him she wanted him to touch her body.

  He rocked against her, sending jolts of pleasure rocketing through her feminine core. “What do you want, baby? Tell me.”

  “I can’t,” she wailed.

  He let his hands slide down to cup her bottom and squeezed.

  Oh, my goodness, that felt good.

  “Sure you can, honey. Tell me what you want.”

  She shook her head, but he ignored the refusal and just kept tormenting her with almost touches.

  He’d press his erection against the juncture of her thighs and then pull back. One erotic squeeze of her bottom and then his hands would move back up to knead her back. All the while he kept her hands trapped against heated, tantalizing flesh.

  “I want you to touch me like you did in the courtyard,” she finally blurted out when she could take no more of his teasing. Once she got started, she couldn’t stop. “I want you to take off my top and my bra and touch my breasts. With your hands and your mouth. I want you touch me between my legs. Only this time, I won’t make you stop. I want to touch you too.”

  She brushed her thumbs up and down, moving them as much as the tight position they were in would allow. His arms tightened around her and he groaned.

  “That’s good because I want to do all those things and more.”

  More? What more? She almost asked him, but decided she probably wasn’t prepared for the answer. She’d let him show her. “Then do it,” she all but shouted.

  He chuckled. “You’d better keep it down, honey.”

  She stifled a scream of mounting frustration.

  And then she for
got her frustration as Win pulled away and started undressing her. He tugged off her top, pulling it over her head and letting it fall to the floor.

  When he’d looked at her before, there had only been the illumination of moonlight. Now they were in her room with both the overhead light and the lamp on. Embarrassment heated her skin.

  She wanted his touch, but she didn’t want him looking at her. She crossed her arms over her chest and gazed fixedly at the black T-shirt covering his torso.

  “Look at me, baby.” The words were spoken soft and low, but held such an unmistakable air of authority that she raised her head.

  His eyes were midnight blue pools of wanting. “I want to see you. Will you let me?”

  She nodded her head, but still didn’t move her arms.

  He waited.

  She chewed on her lip. “Could we turn off the lights?”

  He shook his head, but said, “I’ll compromise.”

  And he walked over to flip down the switch for the overhead light, leaving the room bathed in the soft yellow glow from the reading lamp by the bed.

  Then he waited. Right where he was. On the other side of the room and somehow the distance between them gave her the courage to lower her arms.

  His focus did not at first waver from her face and she was grateful. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, mute.

  “Good.” Then he let his gaze slide down and she felt as if he were touching her breasts with his fingertips.

  Her nipples, already tight, puckered further against the lace of her bra.

  “Take it off,” he demanded in a guttural voice.

  Taking a deep breath, she reached behind and unhooked the clasp of her bra. Then, shrugging her shoulders, she let it fall to the carpet with her shirt.

  His breathing turned shallow and raspy. “I’m really glad you didn’t listen to your mom.”

  For a minute his words confused her and then she remembered telling him about her mom suggesting a breast reduction. “They’re not that big.” And they weren’t. Certainly not large enough to justify surgery, even if she’d agreed with her mom.

  “They’re perfect.”

  She felt her mouth tip in a smile and for the first time she was glad her body was built like a centerfold instead of a schoolmarm. “Thank you.”

  His hands fisted and then relaxed at his side as if he wanted to reach out and touch her, but had stopped himself.

  “Your turn. Take off your T-shirt.” She waited to see if he would comply.

  He did. With a sexy smile that made her toes curl into the carpet. He did it slowly, revealing an inch of his rock-hard chest at a time until he finally pulled the black knit over his head and tossed it aside. The partial striptease had a direct effect on the spot between her legs and she could feel herself growing wetter.

  “Now your pants,” he said.

  She thought about refusing, unsure if she could strip for him, but then realized that he would remove his too and the anticipation of watching such a spectacle made up her mind for her. She unsnapped her jeans and following his lead, unzipped her fly one little centimeter at a time. By the time she had the zipper down and had started pushing the waistband over her hips, Win had a fine sheen of sweat on his body.

  He swallowed convulsively as she pushed the colored denim completely down her legs and kicked it away. She stood naked except for the silky panties covering her most feminine place.

  Could he see how wet they were?

  “Now you.”

  He didn’t make her say it again, or explain what she meant. He had to take off his boots first.

  Then his socks. The only sound in the room was their breathing as he unbuttoned his placket one brass button at a time until he could pull the worn blue denim completely off. He wore knit boxers that fit like a second skin, outlining the awesome length and breadth of his erection.

  She knew she didn’t have a lot of experience with men, had never actually seen a man’s engorged penis up close, but he looked big. Really big. Being inquisitive by nature, she’d seen pictures and none of them had prepared her for Win in the flesh.

  She swallowed and then licked her lips, unable to break her gaze away from his manhood.

  Laughter rumbled in his chest. “You look like you’re staring down a bobcat, hoping it won’t attack, baby.”

  The sound of his voice broke her reverie and she looked up to meet amused blue eyes. “I sort of feel like it, if you want the truth.”

  All amusement melted from his expression. “I’m not going to hurt you, baby.” Then he grimaced. “At least no more than absolutely necessary. I’ve heard it isn’t a picnic the first time for a woman.”

  “You’ve never made love to a virgin before?” Only the Lord knew why, but that knowledge comforted her.

  “No, but I’ll take care of you. I promise.”

  “I believe you, Win. I trust you.”

  He nodded. “Good.” Then he smiled. “Enough to take off those sexy little panties?”

  Her hands shook as she gave him her answer with action. Hooking her thumbs in the side elastic, she shimmied the silk down her hips until it slipped off and landed in a puddle at her feet. She stepped out of it.

  He didn’t wait for her to remind him it was his turn before following suit. Once his boxers were off, his erection jutted out from his body in imposing, bold glory. Bending down, he drew a foil packet from the pocket of his jeans and she wanted to tell him not to bother, but the dream for marriage and a family was hers. He didn’t share it and for just a moment pain cut through her excitement.

  Then he ripped open the packet and slid the protection over his hardness, bringing her attention back to his manhood. Somehow that was supposed to fit inside of her. She didn’t see how it could be possible, but she’d read romance novels. She wasn’t a complete innocent. Women stretched to accommodate their lovers, or so she’d read. She sure hoped that part of the romance wasn’t fantasy.

  He put his hand out. “Come here, baby.”

  She knew what he was asking. He wanted her to trust him. To come to him and show him that she knew she belonged to him. The message was in his eyes as his hand reached toward her.

  Without conscious volition, her feet started to move toward him, taking the rest of her body with them.

  When she reached him, he bent down and kissed her lips with surprising force.

  “You belong to me.”

  “Yes.” She couldn’t deny it and even if she had, he would know the truth.

  He swung her up into his arms, high against his chest, and carried her to the bed. “Hold my neck.”

  She did and he released her back in order to pull back the bedspread, blanket and sheet.

  Then he laid her with infinite care onto the cool sheet of the bed. She didn’t release his neck and he came down on top of her, allowing her to feel the entire length of his body against her own for a full minute before rolling to the side. She protested the lack of contact with a soft murmur that turned into a moan as his hand cupped her breast.

  Then he touched her, just as he had in the courtyard, only this time she felt as if each whisper of his fingertips were a branding iron making her more completely his. His hands would not leave behind any marks, except on her heart, but she would be his all the same.

  And she would make him hers. She would brand him with her touch so that he would never be able to find fulfillment with another woman.

  She reached out and circled one turgid, small, male nipple. The hand on her breast tightened.

  Pleased with that response, she leaned forward and made the same circling motion, only this time with her tongue. He groaned and she did it again. Then, because she couldn’t help herself, she took that small, hard nub into her mouth and sucked.

  He shouted her name and pushed her away. “No more of that. I’m hanging on by a thread here, baby, and I can’t handle any more assaults from that talented little mouth of yours.”

  She didn’t argue, but she had every inten
tion of assaulting him all over his body. Later. Right after she caught her breath from the feelings coursing through her as his mouth closed over her nipple. He suckled her softly at first, his hand on her other nipple, gently rolling it between thumb and forefinger. She squirmed against him and he increased the pressure of both his fingers and his mouth.

  The sensation was so exquisite, so overwhelming, she didn’t know if she could stand it. Her pelvis rocked off the bed, seeking, needing, wanting. “Win.”

  He sucked harder and she bit back a scream. Then his hand was no longer on her breast, but had slid down her body to claim her feminine flesh. He continued the suckling of her nipple while slipping one hard finger between the folds of her tender flesh. She pushed against that invading finger, until it slid into her wet heat.

  Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow. “Win. That’s too…It’s way more…I can’t…” She couldn’t finish a sentence to save her life.

  It just felt so good. He slid in and out of her tight channel, stretching the previously untouched flesh, and she almost cried from the wonder of it. Then his thumb pressed between her lips at their apex and made a slow circle around the aroused bud there. She arched off the bed, the sensation so strong that she shook with it.

  And a delicious feeling began to throb within her. She felt as if nerve endings attached to her feminine core were radiating outward with a pleasure she’d never known. “Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please. Don’t stop. Win. Just don’t stop.”

  And then she was convulsing and crying and shuddering and he wasn’t stopping, even when she begged him. Even when it was so intense she thought she’d die from it and then he moved down her body until his mouth was where his thumb had been and he slipped two fingers inside of her. And it felt too tight, but she couldn’t make herself say so because his tongue and teeth were touching her intimately and it had begun all over again. This time her body went rigid and then it shook, and shook, and shook. Tears spilled over from her eyes, their damp warmth making tracks down her temples into her hair.

  Then she went limp. Unbelievably, bonelessly limp.

  He swarmed up her body, laying on top of her, dominating her flesh, though he hadn’t yet entered her. His mouth rocked over hers in a claiming kiss, his tongue thrusting inside. She tasted herself and she should have found that distasteful, but she didn’t. She reveled in the carnality of his kiss, in the heated eroticism of his tongue in her mouth.