by Joanna Sims
“Come to bed.” Nick beckoned to her.
Dallas climbed into the inviting bed; the feel of the soft mattress and the soft sheets seemed so decadent after years of sleeping in bunkhouses or in her converted trailer. What Nick was offering her was comfort beyond anything she had ever experienced in her life.
Nick pulled the covers over their bodies. “Are you comfortable?”
“Yes.”
Dallas squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on every wonderful sensation she was feeling. Nick curled his warm, masculine body around her, his arms holding her securely.
Nick was nuzzling his nose into her hair. She heard him sigh as his body curved around hers in the most comforting way.
“Nick?”
“Hm?”
How long had it been since she had been able to get these next words out of her mouth?
“I want to tell you somethin’ about me,” Dallas said quietly.
Nick lifted his head off the pillow. “What’s that, baby?”
Dallas pulled Nick’s hand closer to her body.
“When I was...” she started, paused and then started again. “When I was sixteen, I was—raped.”
The word that had always stuck in her throat—the word that made it hard for her to connect with men—came out.
Nick was so quiet that she thought for a moment that he had fallen asleep without hearing her confession. But then he tightened his hold on her, pulling her into his body as if to show her that he would protect her.
“I’m so sorry, Dallas.” Nick had a catch in his voice. “I’m so sorry.”
“Just—” she burrowed her head into the pillow “—be patient with me.”
Nick tightened his arms even tighter around her body. “Baby, we’ve got all the time in the world.”
Chapter Nine
Dallas woke up the next morning wondering if she had imagined Nick telling her that he loved her. She had been a little pickled with red wine and exhausted from her last race in Texas. The bed, a little slice of heaven, had enveloped her in a cloud of fluffy, fresh-smelling pillows, a plush mattress without springs and a heavy comforter that made her feel cocooned. And the best part, of course, was being held by Nick. As with everything in life, she was, and always had been, an independent sleeper—she liked her space. She had never been much on spooning and snuggling. But perhaps she was going to have to change her position on the whole spooning issue, because she had spooned like a champ last night.
“Coffee?” Nick held out a cup of black coffee for her. She had a feeling that he had already added the one sugar; the man truly did have a romantic streak and he seemed to remember every little detail about her. It was surprisingly charming and masculine. As if she were finally experiencing how a real man treated a woman.
Her eyes were open, but she was still completely engulfed in pillows and blankets. Nick smiled down at her.
“You talk in your sleep.” He reached out and brushed a rogue curl out of her eyes.
“Anything interesting?”
Nick sat down in a nearby chair. His normally on-point hair was mussed in a sexy way, there was a hint of morning stubble on his face and his shirt was unbuttoned, showing off a healthy patch of chest hair.
“If you’re Blue.” Nick smiled before he took a sip of his coffee. “I was hoping to at least rate a mention.”
Dallas pushed herself upright and shoved her wild curls back off her face. She knew that she had to look like a damn mess right now, but Nick had been with her at Lightning Rock when she was smelling and covered in dust and dirt and mud. Any point in her life, save death, would probably be a better look for her as compared to then.
“It’s not Lightning Rock coffee,” Nick warned her.
“Thank goodness for small favors.” She took her first happy sip, knowing that the caffeine would clear the cobwebs quick enough.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept late. After she decided to stay the night with Nick, she called a friend at the rodeo and arranged for them to make sure Blue got his breakfast. Nick called the airline and changed his boarding pass for a later flight. Now they had the whole morning to while away together.
“That is a beautiful view.” She had no idea that she was such a high-rise-view kind of gal. But the Houston skyline drew her eye and held it—and it was just as beautiful to her whether it was day or night.
“You’re a beautiful view,” Nick said easily.
Dallas brushed off his compliment with a scrunched-up face and changed the subject. “My stomach feels like it’s flopped upside down and inside out.”
“Room service or restaurant? Your choice.”
“Room service.”
She sat across from Nick and put away a man-size breakfast of two eggs, scrambled, bacon, a biscuit, a side of French toast and toast with jam.
Dallas stood up and lifted her borrowed T-shirt a little, showing her belly. “Look at this. Can you believe I stuffed all that food in there?”
Nick was smiling, as he often did, at her. Then his smile faded and his eyes homed in on something she often forgot about nowadays.
Dallas squinted and looked out at the skyline. She shook her head a little to keep unwanted memories from floating into her mind.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked when he noticed her shaking her head.
Sometimes her mind cycled back to the assault without her permission. At the sound of Nick’s voice, she forced those broken thoughts back into the darkness and gave Nick a small smile. “Absolutely nothin’. Now.”
* * *
While Dallas was in the shower, Nick cleared his emails so he could focus on his lovely companion. After he answered his final email, he closed his laptop and his thoughts naturally turned to Dallas. He couldn’t say that he was surprised when Dallas told him that she had been assaulted when she was a teenager—all of those puzzle pieces had been put in place to make a clear picture of the cowgirl. His heart ached for her. And, he knew now that he needed to tread very lightly with Dallas.
Nick got out of bed because he felt ridiculous waiting for the cowgirl as if he were expecting to make love. He wanted to make love to her—his body wanted her—but the last thing he wanted was to make her feel pressured.
But, to his surprise, Dallas wasn’t dressed when she came out of the bathroom. Her hair was twisted into a turban on top of her head, and her body was wrapped in the hotel-provided robe. She smiled at him shyly and got back into bed. He loved the way her face looked freshly scrubbed—it was pink and dewy and pretty to his eyes.
“It’s all yours. I saved a towel for you.”
Nick showered, shaved and brushed his teeth. He followed her lead and pulled on a fresh pair of boxers but didn’t get dressed. Before he left the bathroom, he hesitated over his travel case before grabbing a condom and taking it with him. If, by chance, Dallas was willing to make love, he didn’t want to ruin the mood by having to go find protection.
He quickly dropped the condom in the drawer next to the bed and joined her under the covers.
“I just needed a little while longer,” she admitted to him.
“I wish we could stay for another night,” Nick said. This was the longest he snuck away from his life since he had been surprising her in Texas. It still felt too short.
“Hmm,” she agreed, turning on her side toward him.
Tonight, he would be back in Chicago getting ready for another week of work, and Dallas would be hauling Blue back to Montana. They would be far away from each other, heading in opposite directions, once again. This time, Nick didn’t know how long it would be before he had a chance to see his Montana wildflower again.
The thought of not seeing Dallas for a while made Nick want to get closer to her now. He reached for her hand, threaded their fingers toget
her.
“Have you told anyone about us?” he asked her.
“Don’t really have anyone to tell.”
“Clint.”
“Yeah—but he’s married to your sister.”
He’d had a feeling that Dallas had kept this from her best bud because if his sister knew that he was traveling to Texas to pursue the barrel racer, Taylor would have been blowing up his phone.
Dallas pulled the towel off her hair and he caught the honey-and-lemon scent of the hotel’s signature shampoo. The cowgirl surprised him by turning her body toward him, scooting closer and putting her head on his bare chest.
He craved this closeness with her; he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her sweet-smelling head. Could she feel his heart starting to beat harder for her? Every part of his body, including his groin, was responding to the woman in his arms. He had gone to sleep with a hard-on, he’d awakened with a hard-on—he was so hard now it felt like his skin was going to split apart.
Dallas tilted her face up, and his lips naturally found hers. Their kisses began innocent and light, but he needed to deepen those kisses. He threaded his fingers through her damp hair, holding her head in his hand as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth. Kissing Dallas was like coming home—her lips were so soft, she tasted so clean and minty. He lost himself in those kisses.
His hand moved down to her hip; he squeezed her hip in his fingers and pulled her body closer into his. This was the moment he had been wishing for—the moment when Dallas relaxed into his arms and let him get close enough to love her the way he had been wanting.
Nick kissed the side of her neck, then her collarbone. Dallas had her hand on his chest, her nails lightly scraping through his chest hair. The robe she was wearing slipped open and he caught a glimpse of her small breast with a hardened, rosy nipple. Dallas didn’t recoil from the light touch of his fingertips on her breast; she pressed her breast into the palm of his hand, which he took as an invitation to keep right on loving her.
“Yes?” Nick met Dallas’s eyes as his hand moved to untie the robe’s sash.
Dallas gave a slight nod before she kissed him.
They explored each other with their hands and their lips, keeping their bodies close together beneath the covers. Nick had a sheen of sweat on his chest and on his legs, but Dallas had started to shiver in his arms, so he kept the blanket pulled up over their bodies.
“Are you okay?” he asked the woman in his arms.
“Shhh.” Dallas put her fingertips on his lips.
Nick kissed her fingertips as his hand moved down to her muscular thigh. He’d never been in bed with a woman who was built like Dallas—her butt, her thighs and her arms were packed with muscle from her sport. He wanted to know what it was like to have those arms wrapped around him—he wanted to know what it was like to bury himself between those strong, beautiful thighs.
Dallas made the tiniest gasp when he slipped his hand between her thighs. She was wet with desire; if he had doubted her response to him because she had been so quiet, that doubt fell away the moment he felt how hot and slick she was between her legs. He was so focused on the feel of her that Dallas caught him by surprise when she snuck her hand through the front flap of his boxers.
Nick groaned with pleasure when she wrapped her fingers around his erection and squeezed tightly. He couldn’t stop himself from moving back and forth in her hand; it felt so good to have her touch him.
“Hold on.” Nick stopped moving when he felt his body wanting to climax. “Hold on.”
He closed his eyes and held his body still until he pushed the feeling aside. Nick kissed Dallas deeply, before he said of the robe between them, “Get rid of this.”
Dallas did his bidding and shrugged out of the robe. Her eyes were on him when he stood up, stripped his boxers off and pulled the drawer open to get the condom he had placed there.
Nick let Dallas watch him unwrap the condom and then roll it onto him. He wanted her to see him—to see what was about to be inside her.
Skin to naked skin, Nick covered Dallas’s body with his, settling himself between her thighs, teasing her slick opening with his tip.
“You’re shaking.” Nick rested his forehead on hers. “Baby—you’re shaking.”
Dallas wrapped her arms around his back, opened her thighs wider for him and lifted her hips to take him inside of her.
“Just hold me tighter.”
Nick joined their bodies together and held her tightly as they found a natural rhythm that brought them both pleasure. He had never made love like this—so close, so quiet, so intimate. He kissed his cowgirl, taking her breath into him, tasting her, wanting to go deeper, wanting to last longer. More than anything he had ever known, loving this woman was a feeling he had craved but never found. Until now. Until Dallas.
“Are you coming?” Nick felt Dallas’s body tighten and shudder.
He raised his head—he wanted to see her face as she found her bliss in his arms. The look on her face as she climaxed was so beautiful, so sexy, he wanted to join her. As Dallas made another little whimper, Nick lifted his body upward, braced his arms and pressed himself deeper into her center. Then he began to thrust into her, fast, hard—one last thrust and he threw back his head and groaned.
* * *
Dallas watched Nick climax, admiring how handsome he was in that moment. She had felt his erection last night, and this morning. She knew how much he wanted to make love. Even when she had first awakened, she wasn’t sure that she could let her guard down with Nick in that way. But after breakfast, while she was showering, her mind had started to imagine what it would be like to feel Nick inside her. Her mind wanted to make love, her heart wanted to make love and when her body came on board, she emerged from the bathroom with lovemaking in mind.
Nick opened his eyes, so blue and clear, and stared down at her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his chest rising and falling from the exertion.
Dallas reached out her arms so he would come back to her. It felt so good to have his weight on her—to feel him inside her—it was difficult for her to imagine that she had deprived her body of this experience for such a long time.
They were damp with perspiration, hot and still feeling languid with pleasure from their lovemaking. Nick left her for a moment to dispose of the condom, but he returned to hold her again. From her vantage, it seemed that Nick didn’t want to let her go. He had held her like he meant it when he told her last night that he loved her. And even though she couldn’t bring herself to say the words back to him, no matter how many times she tried while they made love, she felt as if she had fallen for Nick. This must be what love felt like.
Nick rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes. “I have to let you go.”
Dallas had her hand over his heart and her head resting on his shoulder. “I have to let you.”
Nick hopped in the shower and rinsed off their lovemaking, but Dallas wanted to keep Nick’s scent on her body for a while longer. She pulled on her jeans and boots and kept his T-shirt as a keepsake. Nick came out of the bathroom fresh from the shower and carrying a hanger with a pair of pressed chinos.
“I take it I’m not getting that back?” he said.
Dallas gathered her crazy hair back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. “Souvenir.”
Nick pulled on his chinos, zipped up the zipper, but left the top button undone. He walked over to her and put his arms around her.
“People usually take souvenirs to remember things they’ll never see again.” He was studying her so seriously. “You aren’t trying to tell me something, are you?”
The truth was, making love with Nick was a calculated risk—there was a chance that she’d just given herself to a man she’d never see again. But then again, wasn’t everything in life tied to risk?
; “No.” She tugged her body out of his arms.
Nick tried to lighten the mood in the room, which had turned more somber now that they were preparing to go their separate ways.
“You aren’t a love-’em-and-leave-’em cowgirl, are you?”
Dallas crossed her arms in front of her body. “You can come see me anytime you want.”
Nick, who had to get to the airport, had returned to dressing. He shrugged into his button-down shirt. “I wish I could see you tomorrow.”
It sounded sincere, and at this point she didn’t have any reason to doubt him. Nick wasn’t a troll—he didn’t have to fly all the way to Dallas to get a date. She believed that this strong attraction she was feeling for him was entirely mutual between them.
“That’s not possible.” She turned away from him so she could admire that incredible high-rise view one last time.
“No.” Nick tucked in his shirt and buckled his belt. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I wish it were.”
Nick packed up his overnight bag, and after one last look at the view, Dallas left the lovely Four Seasons room. They rode down together in the elevator in silence—the conversation that had flowed so easily between them had dried up.
The valet brought the Porsche around to the front of the hotel, and Nick held the passenger door open for her before he took his place behind the wheel.
“You spoiled me rotten to the core this weekend,” Dallas said as Nick put the car in gear and headed back to the arena.
“That was my goal.” Nick smiled at her.
Dallas leaned back in the bucket seat and watched the Houston skyline pass by. In less than an hour, she planned on loading Blue into the trailer and getting on the road back to Montana. She’d drive as long as she could stay awake and then she’d pull over in a truck stop to sleep. No more heavenly Four Seasons bed for her; no more fabulous Four Seasons spa tub.
When they arrived at the arena, many of the exhibitors had already left—the parking lot was nearly empty.