“I haven’t seen you dancing naked in the sunlight next to the creek in my favorite makeout spot. That’s a sight to behold.”
“This is your favorite spot?”
“Since high school.”
“So you’ve brought other girls here?” She wasn’t crazy about that idea. So far she’d been part of several firsts with him and she’d like to keep that streak going.
He seemed to realize she wasn’t happy about being taken to the same rendezvous point he’d used for his other dates. “Well, yes, but not in the daytime. And definitely not when the mosquitoes are around.”
Morgan laughed. “Now I feel special.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Can, please. Your turn, nature boy.”
Watching Gabe rip off his clothes was almost worth getting bitten by mosquitoes, but to her relief, they weren’t landing on her, at least not yet. So she was free to admire the ripple of Gabe’s pecs as he pulled off his shirt and dropped it to the ground.
A mosquito landed on his chest, and she reached over and slapped it. “Ow.”
“Oh, I’m so sure that hurt. Hitting you is like smacking a piece of granite. You have such a hard body, Gabe.” Sunlight burnished his chest hair, turning it to gold. She gave in to temptation and ruffled it with her fingers.
He caught her hand. “Back off, lady. I gotta finish this striptease before the skeeters attack again.”
“Go for it.” She stepped away, can at the ready.
Once he’d shucked his jeans and underwear to reveal what was going on under that confining material, Morgan concluded this plan of his might not be such a mistake, after all. Her body hummed in anticipation of having that gorgeous equipment deployed in the interests of her pleasure.
But first he had to be anointed with mosquito repellent. “Hold out your arms.”
He covered his crotch with both hands. “Spray me like this.”
She gazed at him. “I just allowed you to spray every inch of me with this stuff. Are you worried about getting some on your Johnson?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
“Why? You said it was environmentally friendly.”
“That doesn’t mean dick-friendly. Your special parts are tucked away, but mine are right out there, and I don’t care what the label says, I don’t trust it not to…make me sterile or something.”
She choked back a laugh. He was deadly serious about this, as most men were about their pride and joy. He wouldn’t appreciate her amusement. And for all she knew, the bug repellent might sting his more tender parts. “You could’ve put on a condom first.”
“No, because then spray could get on it, and I’m not taking a chance with your special parts, which will soon come in direct contact with my special parts.”
“You know, that’s touching in a weird kind of way.”
“Just spray me, okay?”
“You bet.” She walked around behind him. Now there was a view. Mountains and wildflowers were nice and all, but she’d take a screensaver showcasing Gabe’s buns any day.
His buns looked as tight as his pecs. She gave him a sharp slap there to check it out. “Hey!”
Just as she’d thought. Satisfyingly firm. “Sorry. Mosquito.” Then she began spraying because actual mosquitoes were showing up.
“That’s good enough.”
“But I’m not sure I got every—”
“I’ll take my chances.” He grabbed the can from her and tossed it on the ground. “You’re torturing me.”
“With mosquito spray? Now who’s the wimp?”
“Not the spray, the jiggle.” He pulled her into his arms and cupped one slightly sticky breast. “You were bouncing all over the place. I couldn’t wait another second to get my hands on you. You feel so damn good, Morgan. No wonder the mosquitoes want to suck on you.”
“But you’d better not. I probably taste awful.”
“Probably.” He ran his hands over her breasts, fondling them with obvious relish. “But I can touch. Before we go back, we’ll take a quick dip in the creek.” He slid his hands down to her waist. “Was there really a mosquito on my butt?”
“No.”
“Then you deserve some payback.” He gave her a swat on the rear. “Hey!”
“I’d kiss it and make it better, but you probably taste like turpentine, so I’ll have to settle for a tush massage instead.” He began a slow kneading motion that stimulated all of what he referred to as her special parts. Soon she was breathing like a long-distance runner.
“Mmm.” She closed her eyes and let her head fall back as he built the tension within her. “Like that?”
“Uh-huh. But two can play at that game.” Opening her eyes, she reached down between his legs.
He groaned. “So they can.”
“Is this what you had in mind when you brought me down here?”
“We’re getting closer to my vision.”
She stroked and teased him until his balls began to contract and his penis was slick with moisture. “How’s that?”
“We need that condom.”
“Allow me.” Stepping out of his arms, she knelt on the blanket and located the condom lying there. As she turned back to him, she was in the perfect position to slide it on, but she couldn’t resist wrapping her hand around him first and nibbling a bit. “Morgan…”
“You didn’t get sprayed there. You taste delicious.”
“You’re playing with fire.”
“No, I’m playing with your magnificent pe—”
“Put the condom on.” He spoke through clenched teeth. “Please.”
“Okey-dokey.” She was trembling a bit from excitement and fumbled the job, but finally managed it.
Grasping her by the shoulders, he hauled her to her feet and covered her mouth with his in a kiss filled with desperation. Then he drew back, panting. “I need you on your back on that blanket, Morgan. And no fooling around.”
His urgency thrilled her to her bare toes. She cradled his face in both hands. “Somebody’s a wee bit tense.”
“And somebody has the remedy between her soft thighs. On the blanket, Morgan.”
“Next time I get to order you around.” But secretly she liked his take-charge attitude. When it came to sex, commands could be exciting.
Crouching down, she sat on the blanket and then stretched out. The sand crunched underneath her and she wiggled a little on the blanket, molding the ground to her body. Then she gazed up as sunlight filtered through the green leaves of tree branches that arched over the tiny beach.
In the time it took her to draw one quick breath, Gabe was there. Bracing his arms on either side of her shoulders, he probed once and then thrust deep with a growl of satisfaction.
Morgan sighed with pleasure and wrapped her arms around him. Then she wrapped her legs around him for good measure. Even when they were both sticky with mosquito repellent, being naked with Gabe had become her favorite thing. The connection was magic, and would, in a few moments, become transcendent. Except for the mosquito that had just landed on Gabe’s shoulder.
“Gabe, there’s a mosquito on your—”
“Don’t care.” His eyes were twin flames of blue as he eased back and pushed forward again. “Nothing matters but this.”
11
Nothing matters but this. The words seemed to echo through the forest as Gabe looked into Morgan’s eyes and began the age-old mating rhythm that he craved with every ounce of his being. He’d never been so focused in his life, and that was saying something for a guy accustomed to fierce competition.
When Morgan came, arching upward with a joyous cry, happiness surged through him because he’d given her pleasure. Then his own orgasm ripped through him, narrowing his world to this time, this woman, this driving need to be joined with her.
For long seconds he was blind and deaf to his surroundings as his body absorbed the shock of that climax. But gradually the shudders grew less and he became aware of sunlight on his back, the loamy scent of new grow
th and water sliding over stones.
He looked into Morgan’s eyes and found lazy contentment there, which pleased him. But her blue-green gaze was filled with something more, something tender and new. He wondered if she knew how much she was allowing him to see, and how vulnerable that made her. His chest grew warm, as if someone had covered him with a soft blanket. Just like that, their relationship moved beyond lust into territory that Gabe hadn’t traveled much in his adult life.
He should be worried about that, but he couldn’t bring himself to worry when the air smelled of evergreens and great sex. Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers. “Ready for a dip in the creek?”
“I’ll bet it’s ice-cold.”
“Yep.” Leaving her warmth, he divested himself of the condom. He’d deal with it later, after they’d washed off the sticky repellent.
“We don’t have towels.”
“We’ll use the blanket. Up you go!” He scooped her into his arms.
“Gabe! I can get myself in.”
“Ah, but will you?” He carried her to the edge of the pool and sucked in a breath as he stepped into the water. He wasn’t even sure he could do this, but they both needed a good dunk.
“I heard that! I heard you gasp. If it’s that cold, then I’m not going in.” She tried to wiggle out of his arms.
“Yes, you are, and so am I.” He waded into water cold enough to freeze his nuts. “Stop struggling, or…” He lost his footing and they both went down, accompanied by her ear-splitting screech of dismay and his pungent swearing.
He scrambled to his feet and stood in waist-deep water. He could feel his privates shriveling in protest. Morgan faced him, her mouth open in a silent scream as water streamed down her face from her dripping hair. Her chest was heaving, which was a bonus, and her nipples were puckered into tight little raspberries. Cold as he was, Gabe enjoyed seeing that.
Figuring the best defense was a good offense, he grinned at her. “Refreshing, huh?”
She gulped in air. “Refreshing? Try hypothermia!”
“Ah, it’s good for you.”
“You think so? Then take this!” She splashed frigid water all over him.
“Two can play that game!” He splashed her back, and the war was on.
At some point during the battle Morgan started laughing, probably because she’d adjusted to the water temperature and the exercise had warmed her up. Gabe decided that it might be safe to advance in her direction without danger of being kneed in the groin, so under cover of myriad showers of water, he managed to get close enough to grab her.
She yelled and pretended to fight him off, but in the end she pulled his head down for a very wet kiss with lots of tongue involved. Apparently he was forgiven.
Caressing her water-slicked body gave him ideas for the future involving showers and possibly hot tubs. But if they didn’t stop kissing like this, he’d have to do something more immediate to satisfy them both, and he wasn’t willing to deal with mosquitoes a second time.
Reluctantly he lifted his mouth a fraction from hers. “We need to leave.”
Her breath was warm on his lips. “Just like a man. Throws you in the water but won’t let you stay.” Beneath the water, she fondled his cock, which was already growing rigid.
“Just like a woman. Complains about going in and complains about getting out.” He should make her stop doing that, and he would…in a minute.
“Just like a man. His brain says go, but his dick says stay.”
He had a tough time arguing with that. He should end this maneuver while he could still walk. Ah, but her touch was heaven.
“How’re you feeling?” she murmured.
“Rooted to the spot.”
“Good. ’Cause I want that blanket first.” Letting go of his penis, she splashed her way toward the beach and was wrapped in blue-and-white checks before he could take his next breath.
“You set me up!”
“Payback!” she sang out.
She looked so smug that he couldn’t help laughing. Maybe he’d had this much fun with other women, but if so, he couldn’t remember. This relationship was quickly taking center stage in his life, the very place that used to be occupied by cutting-horse events. Now there was a startling insight.
And maybe it was no coincidence that Morgan was suddenly so important to him. He’d allowed Jack to sidetrack his plans and Morgan had come along soon after. By distracting himself with Morgan, he avoided having to challenge Jack. That was not good, not good at all.
MORGAN HAD BEEN so busy drying off and dressing quickly to ward off the mosquitoes that she hadn’t paid much attention to Gabe. He’d seemed pretty busy doing the same, so they hadn’t taken time to make pleasant conversation. While he dressed, she’d waved her borrowed hat to keep the mosquitoes away. They’d managed to ride back through the woods and into the meadow without getting bitten more than a few times.
But once they were in the meadow, Morgan could tell that something was bothering him a lot more than a few mosquito bites. Being a direct sort of girl, she decided to ask him about it. “Are you upset because I abandoned you in the water?”
He smiled at her, the first time he’d done that since climbing out of the pond. “Nope. It was funny.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
His sigh seemed to come from somewhere deep inside. “As you’ve probably been able to tell, I’ve loved every minute of being with you these past two days.”
Uh-oh. This was how guys started a kiss-off speech. She told herself not to panic, but panic was exactly what she felt. Even though she wasn’t interested in a permanent commitment, she’d still allowed herself to become invested. And now he sounded ready to change the game.
“If it’s your mother’s matchmaking that’s bothering you, I can fix that,” she said. “I won’t spend any more time at your place, and I probably shouldn’t be riding your horse, either. She’s reading far too much into it.”
“It’s not my mother. It’s me. I’ve devoted the past ten years of my life to honing my skills in the arena. Every summer I’ve competed, and every winter I’ve trained to get even better. I eat, sleep and dream competition.
It’s all I’ve cared about since I graduated from high school.”
“I admire that kind of intensity.”
He gazed at the Tetons outlined against the blue sky. “So do I, and I’ve lost my edge.”
“Lost it? Since when?”
He turned to her. “This summer. And the thing is, I was worried about my slump, but the more I’m with you, the less I care about it.”
“Wait a minute.” Her sense of justice prevailed.
“That’s been all of two days. And it’s not as if I’ve been hounding you for attention, either. I didn’t plan to see you until tonight. You’re the one who called and asked if I’d come out to the—”
“Hey, hey, I know. I said this was my deal. You haven’t done a thing except be your wonderful, sexy self. I’m the one who’s allowed this to become an obsession that’s taking my mind completely off riding.”
A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. If he was losing focus, it didn’t matter whether she’d caused that to happen or not. She would still be labeled as the reason, the fly in the ointment, the glitch in the plan. The bottom line was that with her around to tempt him, he would lose his motivation to do what he’d spent all those years training for.
“Gabe, if you need to get back out there and compete, then go! I’ll be the first one to push you out the door. Hell, I’ll push you out and lock it behind you!”
He angled Finicky so that the two horses almost touched before pulling back on his reins. “Let’s stop a minute. This isn’t the kind of conversation we should have when I can’t touch you.”
“Isn’t that the crux of the problem? You can’t keep your hands off me?”
“No, that’s not the problem. Touching you is a privilege and I love doing it.” He reached for her hand.
“Back off, co
wboy.” She guided Top Drawer a short distance away. “You’ve made me feel like Typhoid Mary. You can talk from over there.”
He groaned in obvious frustration. “I’m not saying this right. The problems began before I met you and came to a head when I left the circuit to bring home an injured horse.”
“Doozie.”
“Yes. I’ve stayed home to take care of her, but now Jack’s questioning whether I should go back out on the circuit…ever.”
“Is it up to him?”
“Technically he controls the finances.” Gabe scratched his shoulder.
Morgan remembered the mosquito that had landed there when they were making love. The way this discussion was going, they wouldn’t be doing that again soon.
“But I own a fourth of the ranch,” Gabe added, “and I could use that as leverage.”
“And force the issue. Now that I’ve met Jack, I can’t see that turning out well.”
“Doesn’t matter. Either I want this enough to fight for it, or I don’t deserve to be out there.”
“And you want to be out there.”
He gazed at her, his blue eyes troubled. “It’s been my whole life, Morgan. And Top Drawer has a shot at the Hall of Fame if I can get my act together and win more prize money on him. He has the heart and the ability. He just needs me to focus better.”
“The Hall of Fame sounds like a big deal.”
“It is.”
“I’m beginning to see why your mother thought it was so significant that you loaned me this horse. What in hell were you thinking, letting me ride him?”
“I don’t regret that for a minute.” He paused. “But you’re right. Loaning him to someone I barely knew wasn’t very smart. Still, if I hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have enjoyed these past two days together.”
She swallowed. “It’s clear that you need to call a halt, though. Get your life on track.” She sounded a little gruff, and she couldn’t help that. He’d taken her into the candy store, let her taste some of the best truffles, and now it was over. She was allowed to be disappointed.
“I’m thinking so,” he said gently. “Sorry.”
Ambushed! Page 11