by Starla Kaye
He almost turned around to leave and abandon this foolish idea. But she stopped him, saying softly, "Please don't go."
Hell if he could make his feet move. She called to everything in him.
With a sigh, he walked further into the room, now lit by the soft light from a bedside lamp. "I hope you don't regret this. Maybe you planned all along to wait for the man you would marry. I don't want to..." Oddly, the thought of her marrying bothered him. He really didn't want to think about that.
"I'm never getting married."
Her flat statement surprised him. He'd seen her with Chad's kids last Saturday in the park with Aimee. He'd come into town for some supplies and spotted them. He'd actually pulled over across the street and sat there watching them for a few minutes, until he worried that they would see him. But he'd known right then she was great with kids. She would make a great mother. "Sure you will. You're just taking longer than most women getting into this whole dating thing."
She shook her head. "Statistically marriages don't make sense. Look at all the divorces, all the kids with broken homes." She shook her head again. "I don't need all that potential misery."
"But you're great with kids. I've seen you with--" He stopped, praying she didn't recall seeing him watching her the other day.
"I love children and I plan to have at least two."
She looked pointedly at him. "I'm on the pill, so you're safe." She shifted her gaze away, unable to meet his eyes. "I've been sort of wanting to deal with my 'problem' for a while now. I've been prepared."
Okay, he was confused. "I'll take care of you this time, too. But if you're not getting married..."
She rolled her eyes. "You're as bad as Aimee. A woman doesn't have to be married to raise children. I'm going to adopt. Or maybe go to a sperm bank, which I'm leaning toward at the moment."
He understood what she said, knew the stats about marriage. Still, her attitude bothered him. It seemed wrong. "Maybe you'll change your mind if the right man comes along." Not Eric Boswell!
She shrugged. "Doubtful." She fussed with the hem of her short top again. "What about you? Do you plan to get married now that you're settling down? Have someone in mind already?"
He'd always known that one day he did want a family. He'd seen too many other football players struggling with their marriages. Not what he wanted. When he got married, he planned to be around his wife and kids on a daily basis. "Someday, yes. I've always wanted a real home, with a wife and kids. The time isn't right yet. I'm still adjusting to being a rancher."
He hadn't answered the "someone in mind already" question. At one point last year, he'd thought maybe he and Danielle might make a good long-term couple. Then his knee blew up on him. She'd started getting testy about his messing up his future career as a football broadcasting announcer, about his sponsors starting to lose interest in him. What she really meant was that her life as his public relations person had become difficult. So they weren't really an item anymore.
Something moved through her expressive eyes, but he couldn't quite decipher it. Sadness? Hope? He wasn't good at figuring out women's emotions. This was getting too deep for him. Time to get to why he'd come here.
"How about we move this along? Why don't you slip out of that little thing?"
Disappointment flashed over her face, that he recognized. "You want me to undress you, don't you?"
Her cheeks grew pink and she glanced away. "It's not a big deal. I can do it."
He shed his shirt and tossed it aside, then was at her side before she could even move. He heard her surprised indrawn breath as he carefully took hold of her short gown and lifted it over her head. Then it was his turn to breathe deeply. "You're beautiful." Her breasts were even plumper than he'd imagined and her waist not overly slender, but just right. He wasn't drawn to model-thin women who looked more anorexic than womanly.
He tossed the gown to the carpet and put his hands to her breasts. Two big handsfull. He gently squeezed, pleased to feel the nipples hardening against his palms. He was even more pleased to hear her quiet gasp.
"Can I touch you, too?" she asked timidly. Her gaze, though, was anything but shy. She wanted to touch him.
"Feel free."
He sucked in a breath when her hands moved to his chest. She smiled and trailed a finger down the narrow path of hair from his chest to his navel. His abdomen shuddered. He'd been stroked in hundreds of ways over the years, but nothing seemed to compare to the way she touched him. He was beginning to realize he might be in serious trouble here.
"How about we get you out of these jeans?" Her voice was a husky purr now. Her fingers moving to unbuckle his belt, to unbutton his pants.
When he felt her fingers touch his skin so near his throbbing erection, he moaned and took over. He shucked his jeans and undershorts in a quick move, stepping out of them. He stood before her in nothing but a raging hard-on and white athletic socks. She stood before him in barely-there blue panties.
As she looked down, she giggled.
"What?" he asked slightly offended. Surely she wasn't laughing at his cock. It hadn't been this big, this hard in a long time.
Again, as if she read his mind, she shook her head. "No, it's not what you're thinking. I'm very impressed by your...your shaft." Her cheeks were pretty and pink again. "It's the socks. Sorry, but they look ridiculous."
He pulled them off, comforted by her thinking his shaft impressive. Then he reached for her panties. "I can't say as these look 'ridiculous' on you, but I'm thinking totally bare would be better."
He felt her trembling as he slowly pulled them down and off. He inhaled the scent of an obviously aroused woman. Desperate desire coursed through him. He needed to slide between her legs, drive into her warmth. Slow down. Virgin.
Breathing raggedly, he turned her toward the bed and reached for his jeans. He dug around for his wallet and pulled out a condom. He never left home without one. He should have brought more than one for tonight. No. This would be her first time. He had to be gentle with her. Once would be enough...had to be enough.
* * *
Kandee lie snuggled close to Sean, quietly crying, not wanting him to see her tears. But, although she tried to sniff them back, one fell on his chest. He reached down to lift her face so that she had to look at him. His expression mirrored concern, but she cut him off. "Not to worry. Tears of happiness. Women do that sometimes, which I'm sure you know."
"Something that always confuses us men." Still, he looked relieved. "I was afraid I'd hurt you. I tried damn hard to be as gentle as I could. Tried to take a long time getting you ready."
Never in her life would she forget exactly how gentle he'd been, how long he'd taken arousing her. What he'd done with his tongue! Oh wow! She'd read a lot about cunnilingus, both the facts of it and in so many romances. Nothing came close to experiencing the real thing. She considered begging him to do it again, but he appeared exhausted. It was time to send her lover--yes, he was her lover!--home to get some sleep. He was a rancher now. He had chores to do, responsibilities at his ranch.
"I hate to say this," she let the regret sound in her voice, "but it's time you went home."
To her surprise, he shook his head and clamped a hand on her bare bottom. "Not until I warm this sweet butt."
"I didn't think you were serious." His hand squeezed her buttock, sent a quiver through it. Hopefully she asked, "Foreplay? Before you..."
"Oh, I was definitely serious. I'm determined to get you to stop this flirtation game you play, with me...with other men. Especially with other men." He lightly swatted her bottom.
She frowned up at him. "I wasn't exactly flirting with Eric, but I think he thought I was." She frowned even more. "You, though, are so difficult to flirt with. It makes me frustrated, so I try harder. And then get into trouble for being so brazen. It's not fair."
"I don't like you flirting with others, but I don't really mind it with me. What I don't like is being manipulated."
He pulled her comp
letely on top of him, cupped both of her butt cheeks. "You're so determined to get what you want. What man could resist when you wave that 'I'm a virgin' thing in front of him like a red flag into front of a bull? Not me. I'm not that damn strong."
She felt his erection growing beneath her stomach and her body responded, aching again. It was hard to concentrate on his words. "If I wasn't determined, I wouldn't have made it out of this town. I wouldn't have gotten through college and gotten started in a career." She squirmed and drew in a quiet moan of delight. "I set goals. I meet them. There is nothing wrong with that."
"I was one of your goals. At least my being your first lover." His tone had turned brittle, angry. He shoved her off of him and sat up, shifting to the side of the bed. "You used me."
"I used you?" She scrambled up to kneel next to him. She poked him in the arm, unconcerned with his immediate scowl. "Who came to my house in the middle of the night? Who just finished having sex with me? I didn't do this by myself, buddy boy."
A vein pulsed in his neck, his giveaway sign that she was pushing his buttons. "You enticed me here with all your games. That teasing stuff. The sinfully skimpy clothes. Being too damn hot for your own good...certainly for my own good."
They glowered at each other, frustration simmering between them. "Come here. I'm going to burn that ass of yours so that you won't even think about trying to manipulate me again. Or any other man."
"I don't think so." She sat primly instead of getting off the bed and running away from him. Challenging him.
He ground his teeth and then tugged her over his knees. His thighs were hard, muscled and it was awkward and uncomfortable being in this position. Embarrassing, too. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't ever dare a man like me."
"Don't do this." She wriggled in an attempt to slide off his lap. "I won't tease you ever again. I won't..."
He tucked her firmly against him with his left arm and held her in place. His big right hand came down hard on her right buttock. "This will help you remember your promise."
"I'll remember, I'll remember," she gasped as his hand fell over and over. "Ooooouch! Stop! Stop!"
He went right on spanking her. "I've barely got started, so settle down."
She tried to keep quiet, tried not to fight him. When she'd protested during a spanking from her father, it had only made the situation worse. Sean's hand was bigger, landed harder. She tried to focus on something else. She should be pleased now that she'd finally had sex for the first time in her life. And she had been...until he'd decided to ruin it by doing this.
"I'm not happy with you," she mumbled. She just may not even speak to him again. She'd gotten what she wanted and once with him should be enough. Still, she was afraid it wouldn't be.
The stubborn man kept right on blazing away on her poor bottom. "You. Will. Not. Use. Me. Again." He punctuated each word with a smack that resounded around the room. "Do you understand?"
She'd been holding her breath, squeezing her eyes shut against the mounting pain. But the extra hard slap along with his question made her cry out, "Yes! I understand!"
With one final swat, he released her. "We're done here. Time for me to go home."
She scooted off his lap, wincing, giving him an irritated look through her teary eyes. Her hands shot around to rub at her sore bottom. "As they say 'don't let the door hit your ass as you're leaving.'" Then she walked with as much dignity as she could muster to the bathroom and slammed the door.
"If you were my woman, I'd burn your butt all over again for that. Bratting isn't something I like," he called out.
She heard him moving around in the bedroom, obviously dressing. For a second she worried that he might come in and give her another spanking. She locked the door just in case. Then feeling confident, she yelled back, "Good thing I'm not your woman!" Why did that declaration not sit right with her? Why did it make her sad?
He didn't bother to answer, but she heard him walking away. Good! She was so done with him. Right? Right.
* * *
The day felt endlessly long, but then Sean hadn't had more than an hour's sleep before his alarm had gone off. He could have ignored it. He had good ranch hands more than capable of handling everything without him, but this was his job now. He'd worked hard at being a quarterback, took his responsibilities to his team to heart. This should be no different. So he'd dragged himself out of bed and spent the day trying not to think about Kandee and what they'd done in the wee hours of the morning.
His cell phone rang just as he was about to head into the house to clean up. Stopping on the porch and looking back at the dark clouds spanning the sky, he wondered if they would get snow for Thanksgiving, still two days away. Absently he answered, "Sean."
"You broke down, didn't you? You went to bed with Kandee." Chad sounded almost angry, certainly annoyed.
"She told you?" More likely she'd told Aimee, who had told her husband. Damn. Would the whole town know about it? He'd had more than enough gossip spread about him in his lifetime.
"Overheard them talking over coffee this morning. Kandee came knocking on our door before the kids were even up." He hesitated. "She wanted Eric's phone number. Something about wanting to ask him out, take the initiative. She told Aimee that now she was ready to move fully into the dating game. That you'd come to see her real early this morning."
Sean bristled. Eric! Damn! "He only wants to take her to bed," he grumbled.
"And you don't?" Chad released a deep breath. "I thought you weren't going to avoid Kandee. Thought you were determined not to give her what she wanted."
"I did avoid her for almost a week. But the crazy woman haunted me every minute of the day...worse so at night." He stared off across the ranch yard, the darkening sky making his mood even sourer. "I broke down, okay? I absolutely lost it."
"Now what are you going to do about her?"
What was he going to do about her? Stay as far away from as possible until she left after the first of the year? That was a hell of a long time to avoid her. This was a small community. He'd bump into her from time to time. He sighed. "Damn if I know."
"So you don't care that she's intending to go after Eric Boswell now? That she's basically tossed your sorry ass aside and is moving on." Chad sounded almost amused, challenging at the same time.
He hated the idea, especially of her having anything to do with the charmer doctor. The two men might want the same thing from Kandee--to share her bed--but Sean... What? How was his wanting to slide between her legs again and drive them both to orgasm any different than what Boswell wanted?
"It's her business, not mine."
Chad snorted. "Right."
Before Sean could protest he got another call. "Just a second. Someone else is trying to reach me." He didn't look at the caller ID, oddly hoped it was Kandee.
"If you're not coming here to New York City for Thanksgiving, then I'm coming there," Danielle announced.
Sean groaned, certain his life couldn't get any more complicated. "We can talk over the phone." But he knew that wouldn't satisfy his publicist, his ex-lover. "Don't come here."
"I'll be there tomorrow." She disconnected before he could protest further.
He took a second to curse a blue streak, then he went back to Chad. "My life has now gone straight to hell. I'll be watching football on Thanksgiving Day instead of playing in a game. I'll be watching it alone, too." He grumbled yet another curse. "Kandee is pissed at me and turning to another man. Shit, I hate that!"
He blew out a deep breath. "Worse yet...Danielle is coming here. Tomorrow."
To his disgust, Chad chuckled. "I hadn't realized how deadly dull life was around here before you came back to town."
"This isn't funny," Sean growled.
"Come here for Thanksgiving dinner. Bring Danielle. Kandee is going to be here, probably with Eric. It could pretty darn interesting around here."
"Hell no!"
Chapter Five
Snow threatened the area and many flights had bee
n cancelled or delayed for two days now back east. Sean had thanked his lucky stars for that small break. He'd hoped the travel situation would stay this way, at least for the woman planning to come here and cause even more chaos in his life. Danielle didn't like travel problems. Hopefully she had given up on the foolish idea of coming to see him. She wasn't going to change his mind anyway.
He stood by the window in his kitchen, sipping coffee to get warm again. He'd already done his share of the morning's chores and was taking the rest of the day off. Even though he'd first refused Chad's offer of going to his friend's house for Thanksgiving, he'd changed his mind. Chad could be pretty persistent. Now that he wouldn't be dragging Danielle with him, he felt better about going. Besides, Aimee was one hell of a cook.
He scrubbed a hand over his face and felt the stubble there. It was time to get cleaned up and head on over to Chad's. They wouldn't care if he showed up early for the mid-day meal. He set the cup of coffee on the counter and headed for a shower. As he hurried through the house, he tried to tell himself for the hundredth time at least that he wasn't going to Chad's to check up on Kandee. It didn't matter to him that she might be there with Boswell. That wasn't his business. He'd bedded her, given her what she wanted, and he'd spanked her for using him. He was done with her now. So why the hell did he feel like punching someone? She made him crazy.
A few minutes later he stepped into the shower and closed his eyes, letting the hot water pound down on him. His tight and sore muscles relaxed under the heavy spray. Even his dick was finally slack. Thank God. He'd sported a semi-hard erection ever since he'd left Kandee's house. His body couldn't seem to forget how nice and soft and warm and perfect she'd felt. But it needed to, because he wasn't--absolutely was not--having sex with her again. SEX. He was determined to see what had happened between them as only having sex, not making love. No, not making love! Even if that's what he'd told her.