by Roni Adams
As the waves subsided, Buck remained inside her, pelting and nibbling her skin from behind. He had no idea if she ever fully woke up or not as he snuggled her tight against him again.
****
The sounds of the shower running and the smell of old coffee woke her up. Sara sat up and immediately pressed a hand to her head. “Freakin’ Charli,” she muttered.
It took only seconds for the rest of last night to come back—and to remember why she was in Buck’s room and not her own. She swallowed hard. Charli had gotten her to this point, but she didn’t tell her what to do next. Did she join him in the shower? Was that what women did the next morning? She may have had some false courage helped by the alcohol last night but, this morning, she was pure chicken.
Scooting out of bed, Sara stumbled across his room, fleeing to her own shower before he could come out. For good measure, she flipped the lock on her bathroom door and then stood under the hot spray until the water calmed her down.
Did she regret what happened? A slow smile tugged her lips. Hell no. It was wonderful. Even having parts of her aching and screaming with pain this morning was worth every bit of what she’d shared with Buck.
But now what? And not just what was going to happen when they were face to face again, but what about the situation back home? Charli had told her to put it out of her mind last night and she had. Today was a whole different story. She leaned her forehead against the shower wall. Making love with Buck hadn’t helped her situation at all—if anything, it made it a hundred times worse.
Jackson’s voice telling her about the stipulations of her father’s Will echoed in her ear again, along with Cord’s rationale for why they should marry for the sake of the family business. But the memory of Buck’s whispered words in her ear last night, words she’d never heard her best friend say before, pushed aside all the other thoughts. The memory of his hands on her was vivid, his body covering hers as he taught her the secrets that lovers shared. Lovers. She and Buck were lovers now. Her breasts tingled and her lower regions ached, and not from what they’d done, but from anticipating what she wanted to do again.
She lifted her head and shoved her face under the spray. She wasn’t going to think about Cord and the Will, not until she had to. Not until she was back home and reality had to be faced. For now, she wanted to steal another day and night with Buck, away from responsibilities and the future.
What would Charli do? Sara snorted. She knew exactly what her devil-may-care friend would do—have as much sex as she wanted and enjoy every second of it, not feeling the least bit concerned about tomorrow. Charli would live for today and, damn it, so would she. Twenty-five-years old and never had a lover. It was beyond time that she grabbed all the pleasure she wanted. If Buck was at all concerned about it, he’d tell her. He wouldn’t have any issue telling her if last night was a mistake.
Her insides clenched and she frowned. Was he regretting it? This morning when he’d made love to her again didn’t seem like the actions of a man who had regrets. She smiled and shut the water off. Nope, they were both on the same page, just like always. They were going to do whatever they wanted together during this little reprieve from their lives.
By the time she’d finished showering and blow drying her hair, she was anxious to see him and yet scared to death that it would be awkward. With her stomach full of butterflies, she opened her bedroom door to the sitting room. Buck was on his cell phone
His eyes met hers and she held his gaze. Cord—she could tell by the way the conversation centered on the results of their week so far and what they had left to do.
Her face flamed. Cord would never in a million years think that she and Buck were doing what they’d been doing. Hell, no one would probably believe it. That was probably a good thing. If she had to go back and live an entirely different life, it would be good to not have anyone know what had happened in Houston this week.
Buck grinned and held out his hand. She walked across the room and he held the phone away to lean down and capture her mouth with his.
“Good morning, again,” he whispered. He kept his arm firmly around her as he returned the phone to his ear. “Well that’s good that you’re feeling better, and yeah we’ll follow up with those guys from Australia. I’ll have them give you a call before they leave the States.”
He lowered his mouth to hers again and Sara wrapped her arms around his waist, melting into him. He tasted of mint and coffee. She flattened her hand along his hard abs loving the way his muscles felt under her palm.
Buck tore his mouth from hers again to talk into the phone. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. Listen I gotta run, we’re going to be late. See you Sunday.”
He closed his cell phone, tossed it on the nearest chair and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her properly. Sara arched into his kiss with as much hunger as if she hadn’t seen him in a year.
Breathing hard, he broke off the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. “Tell me you’ve got no regrets. Put me out of my misery or tell me to go to hell but I’ve been waiting since five a.m. to know what you’re going to do.”
Sara was shocked. He was nervous? Of me? The huge cowboy who could bring someone down with a single glance was terrified of what she was going to say. She squeezed his buttocks in her palm and pressed into him. “You didn’t seem very nervous about it a couple hours ago.”
Buck laughed. “I’m telling you, I’ve been on edge, scared to death you were going to beat the crap out of me.”
Sara left his arms. “I told you last night, I wasn’t drunk.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Okay, maybe a little drunk, but I knew what I was doing and what I wanted.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe you don’t know me better than that.” She poured herself a cup of coffee and noticed the tray of food. “Holy crap! Did you think you needed to feed me to regain my strength?”
Buck picked up the note and handed it to her.
Sara read from the paper and grinned. “I wonder where she’s waking up this morning.” She relayed the incident with the napkins and the men who had approached them.
Buck picked up his cell phone. “Maybe we should call her.”
Sara sipped her coffee and shook her head. “Nah, leave her be. We’ll see her later today.” She picked up a grape and popped it into her mouth. Okay, here was the weirdness. The awkward ‘what now?’ stuff. She drank her coffee and picked up a strawberry, trying to pretend she didn’t notice. When Buck still didn’t say anything she looked back at him. “Can we not do this?”
“Do what?”
“This whole weird, what do we do now thing. I hate this.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “I know I can feel it too.”
Sara popped another grape into her mouth and chewed. “Let’s try this. Pretend I’m any other woman you’ve just slept with for the first time. What would you do?”
“Sneak her out the back door before my brothers get a look at her.”
Sara shook her head. “Be serious. We’re all the way in Houston. What would you do?”
He hesitated for a second and then walked across the room. He took her hand and picked up the plate of grapes then sat down on the oversized chair, set the plate on the end table, and pulled her into his lap.
“Well first, I’d say good morning.” He kissed her and cuddled her in his arms. Then he reached next to them and picked up a grape. “Then I’d feed you breakfast in bed, but since you’re already up I’ll just do this.”
He slipped the grape between her lips then leaned over and kissed her. When he released her, she chewed as he picked up another and popped it into his mouth. He didn’t chew, though. Instead, he opened his mouth over hers and passed the grape to her.
“Hmm.” She liked the way he did that. It was sexy and made her want him all over again. She chewed and swallowed. “Then what would you do, after breakfast I mean?”
Buck covered one breast with his hand over her T-shirt and she caught her breath as n
eed spiraled through her.
“I’d make love to you until lunch.”
Sara leaned in towards him.
He sighed and dropped his hand from her body. “Unfortunately, we have that appointment with those ranchers from Australia in about fifteen minutes. You better eat up so we can go meet with them.”
Sara frowned and leaned back into him, wanting his touch, wanting last night to start all over again. “Can’t we change the meeting, go this afternoon?”
Buck kissed her hard and she grabbed his head, twisting her body in his lap. His hand slipped to her jean-clad thigh and she whimpered, wanting him to touch her again.
But he pulled away to pick up another grape and feed it to her. “We can’t. The only time they can meet us today is at 9:00. We gotta go, or we’ll lose that entire deal.”
“Business before pleasure,” she grumbled.
He stared at her. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure there’s plenty of time for pleasure, I promise. If you’re sure that’s what you want.”
“How long do you think this appointment will take?”
Buck groaned around a grin. “Too long. But then, five minutes is going to be too long to wait.” He gently pushed her until she stood up. “Come on, the sooner we do this the sooner we can get back and I can show you why they call it afternoon delight.”
****
Buck knew he had a goofy smile on his face, but he couldn’t help it. He hadn’t come to Houston expecting anything like what had happen to take place. The best he’d hoped was that Sara would have a good time, and they’d be able to talk and get back the camaraderie they’d always enjoyed. Watching her as she talked with the Aussies, he couldn’t help but want her desperately again. He slid his hand along the back of her chair, needing to feel a connection to her. When she looked over at him and smiled, his heart flipped over.
Her green eyes sparkled and in the half second they beamed into his, he knew she’d been thinking the same things he was thinking about. There was a sexual charge in the air and he wondered if the others at the meeting sensed it. Maybe it was just his imagination.
He’d never experienced a high like the one he was on now. With other women, there’d been physical satisfaction, sexual release and even enjoyment, but what had happened between him and Sara was so much more intense. Making love with her was as much fun as everything else they did together. They’d always had this bond and now they had the whole package, the emotional and the physical connection.
“Don’t you think that’s the way to go?”
Buck blinked, having no idea what they’d just asked him.
Sara laughed softly and her hand fell to his leg under the tablecloth.
“I’m sorry, gentleman,” he apologized. “I have to be honest, I was a million miles away. Can you repeat that?”
The others laughed. “No worries, Buck. It’s been a long week for all of us and we all have things back home we need to tend to. I simply said I’ll give your brother a call before we leave and set up that appointment for next month.”
The Australian ranchers stood up and Buck and Sara both rose to shake their hands. After the men left, they sat back down. Sara picked up her orange juice and finished it off.
“I think that went good,” he said. His hand was once again along the back of her chair and he wove a strand of hair though his fingers.
Sara chuckled. “How would you know? Were you even in this conversation?”
Buck half grinned. “I can’t help it. The last thing my mind is on right now is business. All I can think about is how crazy this is.” He leaned towards her and kissed the side of her neck, loving the way her breath caught. “And how much I want to do it all over again...and again and again.”
Sara laughed but didn’t pull away.
When he leaned back, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay, then. We should figure out what we need to wrap up and what we can skip.” Her eyes sparkled as she said the last part.
Buck wiggled his eyebrows and kissed her mouth again. “I promised Boyd I’d go with him to look at some information on that breeding program he’s thinking of trying. You don’t have to go if you don’t want.”
“What time is that?”
“In about an hour actually. There’s a million other activities we could do this afternoon, but I’m all for skipping those.”
Sara lifted her eyes to meet his and he watched as a flush crept into her cheeks. God, she’s something. He loved the way she didn’t play games and pretend she didn’t want to do the same thing he did. There was no coyness with her, but then why would there be? Sara was always very upfront about everything and he shouldn’t have expected she would be any less about this. Once she’d made up her mind about something, she dove in headfirst, never hesitating.
He reached out and touched her cheek. When she turned her face to kiss his palm, his body roared to life and he wrestled with whether they could steal away for the next hour.
“I think I’ll skip that thing with Boyd,” Sara said. “Maybe I’ll be real lazy and lay by the pool for a couple hours—maybe take a nap, since I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
Buck’s gaze fell to her mouth and he leaned in even closer, his lips over hers. She tasted like orange juice and he kissed her gently, mindful that they were in the middle of a crowded dining room. “It’s your own fault you got no sleep,” he teased when he broke the kiss.
“I wasn’t complaining,” she whispered.
As he kissed her again, he couldn’t help think how hard it was going to be for her to turn over control of the ranch to Cord. He’d have to help her adjust to that. His mind whirled with images of their life back home. They should get their own place, move away from the two family homes a bit and have some privacy. A few weeks ago, he’d been thinking about building his own house anyway, now they could build it together.
“Buck!”
They broke apart as Charli’s father, Chase Boyd, appeared. “There you are. ‘Bout ready? Hey Sara, how’re things going this week?”
“Going good, Chase, thanks. Where’s Charli? Since there’s nothing on the schedule this afternoon for me, I’m going to go for a swim. I was going to see if she wanted to do some laps in the pool with me.”
Chase laughed. “I can’t keep track of that girl. She did mention having dinner with you two later tonight. We have to head back tomorrow, you know.”
They stood and he put his arm around Sara’s waist, unable to stop himself from touching her as they walked out of the restaurant. “I’ll see you around two-thirty,” Buck squeezed her close for a second before releasing her.
Sara nodded and watched the two men walk away. Punching in Charli’s number on her cell phone, she went to the elevator to head to her room to change. The call went right to voice mail. “Hey, I’m heading to the pool if you want to join me for a swim. Buck’s with your father and he mentioned having dinner tonight. Call me or meet me down at the pool.”
****
The pool area wasn’t crowded and, after a number of laps, she climbed out and relaxed on the lounger with a magazine. Sara glanced at her watch for the third time in the same hour. Time dragged. All she could think about was being with Buck again. Who’d have thought her best friend could have such a hold over her? All she wanted to do was climb back in bed with him and explore his body inch by glorious inch as he did the same to hers. With her eyes shut, she stretched lazily, remembering every delicious part of last night and this morning.
Unable to stand it any longer, she shoved her magazines and cell phone back in her small tote bag, put her cover-up on and headed upstairs to take a shower and wait for Buck.
She pushed open the door to their suite and stopped dead. Buck was already back. He walked out of his bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. The corner of his mouth lifted up and his eyes glowed as they connected with hers. His hungry gaze slid down her body. He lifted one eyebrow and whistled low. She smirked. Obviously the new bikini was a hit.
&n
bsp; He stopped in the middle of towel drying his hair. “Nice suit.”
Sara dropped her tote bag on the floor and kicked off her flip flops. “I’m glad you like it.”
Buck walked across the room and tossed the towel he’d been drying his hair with on the floor. The uncharacteristically sloppy gesture on his part made her eyebrow shoot up.
When he was directly in front of her, he reached out and drew her wet ponytail over her shoulder wrapping it around his fingers. “How was the swim?”
“Good.”
He smelled of his favorite soap. His chest glistened with droplets of water and she reached out to catch one drop as it slide down to his stomach. His mouth fell to her neck and she closed her eyes, bracing both hands against his chest. Tingles started in her toes and moved upward in delicious sensations spiraling through each nerve ending. His lips were amazing against her skin and her knees grew weak.
He shoved the cover-up she wore off her shoulders until it fell to the floor. “Did Charli show up?” he asked against her collarbone.
She tipped her head as his lips trailed down even further. “No,” she croaked.
“Hmm,” he muttered.
One long finger slid along the material of her bikini before slipping inside to trace the top of her breast. They were heavy and aching for his touch, her nipples hard little points pressed against the scrap of red fabric.
“H-how was the demo?” She wiggled towards him, her hands sliding around his waist to flatten on his back.