“Eggs, bacon and biscuits. If you have some jelly to go with them, that would be nice.”
Her brows lifted as she looked at the back panel of the range to see that the oven was baking. “Biscuits? You know how to make biscuits?”
He laughed at her dismay. “I found your dry mix. It was easy.”
“But you have to knead them, roll them out and cut them!”
Laughing, he held up a hand in defense. “Sorry. I’m not that good. I just dropped them from the spoon. But they’ll be edible.”
Just to look at the man, she figured the most he would know about cooking was to open a can of soup or slap a sandwich together. He’d totally surprised her. Something he’d been doing ever since she’d first spotted him in Sierra General.
“I can’t wait to try them,” she said.
She left him tending the meat, and after placing jelly and honey on the table, she opened the drapes to the patio. The mountain blocked out the sun, but the white coat of snow on the ground illuminated everything.
“Hey, that looks like a winter wonderland,” Mac said as he placed the plate of bacon on the table. “Do you have a sled?”
“No.”
“What about skis?”
She joined him at the table. “Yes. Put away in the attic. Do you know how to ski?”
He laughed. “Only on water. Remember, where I come from we don’t ever see this stuff.” He gave her a suggestive wink. “I’m trying to picture you as a little ski bunny with a stethoscope.”
She laughed. “I put that away when I’m on the slopes. But it’s been a long time since I’ve skied. I guess as a person grows older work starts to replace play.”
“Unfortunately,” he agreed as he pulled out a chair and gestured for her to take a seat. “Everything is ready, my lady. Just sit and let yourself be served.”
Feeling ridiculously pampered, Ileana eased down in the chair and waited while he placed the rest of the food on the table, then served her a small glass of orange juice along with a cup of coffee. And all the while he moved about her, the only thing Ileana could think of was the way he’d kissed her last night, the way he touched her hair, the way he’d intimated that he wanted to make love to her.
Make love to her! The thought of it had kept Ileana awake long after she’d gone to bed and thinking of it now made every nerve inside her shiver. Would she be a fool for encouraging him? He would eventually be heading back to Texas. But, oh my, he was here with her now. And this might be her only chance to taste real love. To pass it up would be like closing her eyes to a beautiful sunrise.
They consumed the rich breakfast—and delicious biscuits—and then Ileana cleaned the dishes while Mac took a shower and changed into a set of her brother’s old clothing.
He emerged in the kitchen just as Ileana was hanging a damp dish towel. The worn flannel shirt was just a bit snug, and she swallowed hard as her gaze traveled over his hard, muscular body.
“I’m all finished here,” she said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go get dressed, and then if you like we can walk down and check on your truck.”
“Fine,” he said. “While you’re doing that, I’ll stoke up the fireplace.”
Hurrying to her bedroom, Ileana searched out a pair of jeans and a red, cable-knit sweater with a turtleneck. After jerking the clothes on and a pair of snow boots, she pulled her hair into a ponytail and swiped on a dab of lipstick.
Mac was waiting for her in the living room, and she fetched a barn coat and a plaid muffler from the closet before they headed outside onto the deck.
“Wow! This is spectacular,” Mac exclaimed as they paused to lean against the railing and gazed out across the snow-covered mountains. “Too bad it isn’t Christmas. I’ve never seen a white one.”
Just having him with her felt like Christmas to Ileana. Excitement was surging through her, making her suddenly feel very young and carefree. She wanted to laugh and smile, the same reckless way her mother did whenever she won a derby.
She pulled on a red knit cap, then latched on to Mac’s arm. “Come on,” she urged, “let’s walk down the mountain and see how bad the road looks.”
The steep wooden steps were practically hidden beneath the deluge of snow, making their descent slow and cautious. Once they reached the ground, they discovered the depth of the white powder was over a foot deep and almost reached the top of Ileana’s boots.
It took them a few minutes to make the trek from the driveway to Ileana’s house, down the mountain road to where they’d left Mac’s truck. When they finally reached the vehicle, they stared in amazement at the high drifts of snow piled around it.
“Do I have a truck under there somewhere?” Mac joked.
“I’m so sorry, Mac.”
They were standing close together in the middle of the road, and now Mac glanced at her.
“Why should you be sorry?” he asked, amusement curving his lips. “You didn’t make it snow.”
The morning was perfect with bright sun and no wind. The snow acted like an insulator, buffering the sounds around them, except for one lone cry in the sky. Ileana glanced up to see a hungry hawk circling the valley below. She understood the bird’s lonely frustration. She’d lived it for most of her adult life.
“No. But I caused you to get stranded. And now you can’t get down to the main ranch house. Unless one of the hands brings a bulldozer up here after you.”
His arm suddenly snaked around her back and edged her closer to him. “Why would I want to do that?” he asked lowly. “Don’t you think this is where I want to be? With you?”
She began to shake and her trembles had nothing to do with the cold. “I…I don’t know, Mac.”
With his eyes locked on hers, he curled his other arm around her waist and pulled her forward against his chest. Her heart hammering, her head tilted back, she watched the smile on his face disappear, his gaze turn sober.
“Oh, Ileana, you don’t know much about men, do you?”
Her head swung back and forth. “I know how to treat one whenever he has an illness.”
“Then I’d better let you know that I’m sick—sick to have you in my arms. Hurting to make love to you.”
Ileana was too stunned to form any sort of reply. But then words didn’t appear to be what he wanted from her anyway. Like the hawk she’d spotted earlier, his lips swooped down on hers in a kiss that was rough and tender, shocking and delicious.
With a tiny moan of surrender, Ileana flung her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. Mac’s hold on her tightened as his lips slanted hungrily over hers, searching, prodding, asking her for things she’d never been asked for before.
If she opened her eyes, she felt the sky would be whirling around their heads, or was it the center of her being that was spinning out of control? She didn’t know. The only thing she knew was that she wanted to get closer; she wanted this man in the most basic way a woman could want a man.
She couldn’t have guessed how long the kiss went on. But by the time he finally tore his mouth from hers, she was gulping for air, and her knees were on the verge of collapsing.
“Oh, sweet angel,” he whispered against her cheek. “I never expected to want you like this. I never expected to feel like this.”
“Neither…did I.” She tried not to groan out loud as his nose nuzzled the stretchy fabric of her cap away from her ear and his teeth sank gently into the soft lobe.
His mouth nibbled at her ear, then tracked a moist trail back to her lips. After another long kiss that completely robbed Ileana of breath, she clung to his shoulders for support while her head tilted back and away from his tempting lips.
“Mac, we’re standing in foot-deep snow! Don’t you think we should go inside?”
For a moment he looked totally dazed and then a grin appeared and he began to chuckle. The sound was so warm and nice and infectious that Ileana immediately began to chuckle, too.
“I knew you had more sense than any woman I ever knew!” H
e grabbed her hand and began to tug her up the hill.
After several slips and falls that had both of them rolling and laughing like children in the snow, they made it onto the deck and into the house.
Once inside, they shed their wet boots and coats in the short foyer, then in silence, Mac took her by the hand and led her into the bedroom where he’d slept the night before.
Earlier this morning he’d straightened the bedcovers, and now he placed Ileana gently on top of the quilt and then stretched out beside her. As he gathered her to him, he could feel her trembling and felt his own heart hammering out of control.
“Are you cold?” he whispered against the top of her head. “Do you want to get under the quilt?”
She leaned her head back far enough to look at him, and Mac spotted something in her eyes, a forlorn plea that touched his heart, thickened his throat.
“I’m fine. I just…this is something I’ve never done before, Mac. I’m afraid I’ll ruin everything. You’ll be disappointed and—” Too choked to go on, she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against his.
With a hand on her shoulder, he eased her back from him. “Ileana? My God, are you—are you telling me you’re a virgin?”
A blush stung her face as her head barely moved in an up and down direction. Even though he’d suspected that Ileana had never had sex, he was still stunned by her statement, shocked to think she’d gone all these years without being physically connected to a man. And all he could do was stare at her as though he was seeing a different Ileana, one that was far too precious for him to touch.
“Please, please Mac. Whatever you’re thinking—just don’t laugh at me.”
The anguish on her lovely face tore right through Mac. How could she ever think he’d want to hurt her in such a way? Had some other man insulted her innocence? If so, he wanted to kill him.
“Laugh? Oh, sweetheart, nothing about this is amusing. I’m—” He shook his head in wonder. “I’m thinking all these years—you’ve saved yourself for your husband.”
Closing her eyes, she cupped her hands around his face. “In the beginning, when I was very young and romantic,” she whispered. “Now, I—I’ve just been saving myself for the right man. And that’s you, Mac.”
Chapter Nine
M ac had never felt so humbled or special in his life. Nor had he ever felt anything so valuable in his arms.
Groaning with misgivings, he said, “Ileana, sweet, sweet, Ileana. I don’t have the right to do this. And later, after I’m gone, you’ll have regrets—and I don’t want—”Before he could finish, she lifted her head and pressed kisses on his cheek. “Now is not the time for you to go all gentlemanly on me, Mac. The only regret I’d have is if you go without making love to me. I’m not in my twenties anymore. I’ve waited a long, long time for a special man to come along and look at me. You’re here, and I don’t intend to let you leave before we are together.”
And he couldn’t leave, Mac thought. Hell, it would probably kill him if he tried to get off the bed and leave her now. Just having her sweet voice in his ear, her soft little hands stroking his face was enough to cause explosions of desire beneath his skin. Besides, she needed him almost as much as he needed her. He could hear it in her voice, feel it in her touch. The knowledge filled him with a power that left him trembling.
“I’m not going anywhere, my lovely girl,” he whispered against her ear, then with another hungry groan, he brought his lips on hers.
Over and over he kissed her until Ileana’s senses were whirling, her body twisting into fiery, agonizing knots. Need began to consume every inch of her, dictating her every move.
Desperate for any sort of relief she could find, her fingers reached for the buttons on his shirt and fumbled until she had the two pieces of fabric pulled apart and his hard chest exposed for the pleasure of her exploring hands.
As her fingers skimmed his heated skin, she could hear the sharp intake of his breath, feel the tightening of his abs, and his reaction amazed her, pushed her reticence behind and emboldened her exploration.
Soon his hands were plunging beneath her sweater, sliding up her rib cage until his palms were cupping her breasts, his fingers kneading her nipples through the thin lace of her bra. But eventually the barrier of fabric became an offensive intrusion, and he broke the contact of their lips in order to lift the sweater over her head.
When her bra followed the garment onto the floor, Ileana had expected to be completely embarrassed by the exposure of her naked breasts. But there was such a tender, reverent look in his eyes that all she could feel was utter happiness, a need to give him more and more.
“You’re so lovely, Ileana,” he said huskily as his gaze devoured the picture she made lying against the patchwork quilt. “So precious.”
Bending his head, he placed a trail of moist kisses across her throat, along her collarbone, then down the valley between her breasts. Each patch of skin that his lips touched sizzled like water drops on a heated frying pan. But when his mouth finally settled over one budded nipple, the sizzles turned to outright explosions, and in a matter of moments she was writhing against him, silently begging him to make their connection complete.
When he finally lifted his head and looked questioningly down at her, she pressed her palm against the region of his heart. It was thumping rapidly against her fingers, almost as rapidly as her own heart was beating behind her breast. And once again, Ileana was amazed that she could have that much effect on this man. That she could actually fill him with that much excitement.
“Love me, Mac,” she whispered breathlessly. “That’s all I ask.”
He drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “And that’s all I want, baby. To love you.”
She sighed, and then in a low, awkward rush, she quickly informed him that he didn’t need to worry about birth control; she was protected with the pill. “I—my GYN prescribed it for me—for reasons other than sex.”
Smiling down at her, he reached for the zipper on her jeans. “Now you have one more reason for taking it,” he said in a wickedly suggestive voice.
In a matter of moments he’d stripped away the remainder of their clothing, and as he rejoined her on the bed, their arms and legs tangled like a moonflower vine waiting to bloom in the dark.
Mac’s hands and lips spread magic over Ileana’s body, stroking and touching, tasting and teasing. In turn, Ileana took her cue from him and used her own hands to express the needs that were crying out within her body. As her fingers explored the hard length of his muscles, raced over his feverish skin, she realized she didn’t want to just receive pleasure. She wanted to give. She wanted to send his senses to the same height he was sending hers.
Yet when he rolled her onto her back and his mouth made a slow descent up her thigh, she was so lost in sensation that all she could do was grip the quilt in her two fists and wait with an anticipation that was nigh to painful.
“Let me taste you, Ileana,” he murmured hoarsely. “Let me taste your sweetness.”
Stunned at what he was about to do, she had no strength to protest, and then when his tongue gently probed at the intimate petals of her womanhood, any protest she might have had evaporated.
“Oh! Oh, Mac! Mac, I need you!”
She’d barely uttered the garbled words when wave after wave of incredible sensations began to wash over her. Her upper body strained toward him, and then her control slipped. Mindlessly her fingers dug into the flesh of his shoulders while she splintered into a thousand shards of glittering crystal.
Moments later, as she floated back to reality she was certain her body was incapable of feeling more, but Mac instantly proved that wrong as he shifted his position so that his mouth was back on hers, scorching her senses, stirring the simmering fire in her loins.
“I can’t keep going, honey,” he muttered. “I have to get inside you.”
Wordlessly, she wound her arms around his back and urged him down to her. “I want us to be together, Mac. Like this.
As one.”
Mac’s desire was already near the breaking point. But something about her voice caused him to rein in his needs. This wasn’t just about him. Ileana was rewarding him with everything she had to give, and he wanted this time for her to be even more glorious than her dreams.
Cupping his hands along the sides of her face, he bent his head and kissed her trembling lips.
“Hang on to me, my darling,” he whispered against her mouth. “Hang on and don’t let go.”
He entered her as slowly and gently as was humanly possible. During the process he could feel her flinch and draw back. When that happened, he focused his attention on her lips, teasing and tugging with his teeth and tongue, while at the same time giving her time to adjust to having him inside of her.
When a moan of need finally sounded deep in her throat and her hips began to thrust upward toward his, he was sure the bed rocked beneath them. Stars exploded behind his eyes, and the only thing that existed at that moment was her soft, pliant body surrounding him, her eager hands racing over him, her lips pressing kisses across his chest.
The more he tried to restrain his thrusts and make it all last for her, the more he pushed them both over the edge. For Mac, time could have stopped or spun even faster. All he knew was that he suddenly felt her body tightening, convulsing, and then he had no choice but to fly straight toward the sky and burst through the clouds.
Mac was still trying to gather his breath and his dazed senses when he felt her faint stirrings beneath him. At some point his weight had collapsed on her, and now it took all the strength he could muster to roll to one side.
Even opening his eyes took great effort, and as he glanced over at Ileana he wondered what she’d done to him. Sex had never drained him like this before.
That wasn’t just sex, Mac. You poured out a part of your heart to her. And you might as well get used to being weak because you’re never going to be whole again.
He tried to push the thoughts away, tried to convince himself that this encounter with Ileana was nothing different. Yet as she opened her eyes and looked at him, he knew he was lying to himself. Everything about being with Ileana had felt new and earth-shattering.
A Texan on Her Doorstep Page 13