Free Courting Her Rebel: (Taken by Cowboys: Part 2) A Billionaire Western Romance by A.L. Loire Page B

she had also noticed Nate looking at her all throughout dinner. At first she’d thought it was her imagination, but then it became clear—he had his eye on her. And she had found it harder and harder not to stare back.
    She sighed. She was too tired to think clearly. As she drifted off to sleep, fragments of her afternoon with Spencer floated back to her, pricking her awake every time she thought the drowsiness would overtake her. His bare torso, rippling with muscles, as he splashed into the water . . . The thrill that passed through her when he pulled her towards him when she followed him in . . . The moment when he’d unhooked her bra and wrapped his lips around her swollen nipple . . . The glorious instant of penetration, his manhood stiff and throbbing, that made her desire sing in ecstasy . . .
    She felt herself heat up and dampen down below. With no panties on, she felt how open and ready she was for—what?
    Just then, there was a knock at the door. For a moment, she thought she had imagined it. Who could possibly be coming to see her at this hour? Actually, who could possibly be coming to see her at all? After a hesitation, she roused herself and padded to the door.
    “Jess,” came a low voice from the other side. “It’s me.”
    Her heart skipped a beat—or maybe three. It was as if he had heard her body’s call. She opened the door and her heart thrilled to see him standing there, her very own cowboy lover at her doorstep.
    “Oh, Jess,” he sighed. “You look—” Without completing his thought, he stumbled into the doorway and took her in his arms. Their lips met, and within milliseconds their tongues were interwoven, his caressing hers and inflaming the desire that the mere thought of him had awoken.
    He turned her around so she was facing the doorway and, closing the door gently, backed her up against it. Her breath caught in her throat and she moaned in both surprise and pleasure. He put one hand against the door to steady himself and ran the other down the swelling curves of her waist and hip. Without quite realizing what she was doing, she wrapped her leg around him, drawing him to her.
    His hand traveled beneath the hem of her tiny negligee, caressing the smooth underside of her thigh. His breath hitched. “This little black nightie and nothing underneath,” he breathed. “Goddammit, Jess. How can I control myself?”
    She felt his hand moving to the curve of her ass, kneading the full cheek. Oh, please , her desire begged. Please, just move your hands a little more . . . She was flooding with wetness, dying with need. “Don’t control yourself,” she choked out.
    As soon as she got the words out, he pulled away. The rush of heat left her, like a blanket being pulled off her back in the dead of winter. She gasped.
    “I’m sorry,” he said after a pause. He pushed away a strand of dark hair that had fallen across his forehead. They were both panting, eyes locked, like two wolves circling each other, ready to pounce. “I told you I wanted to go slow, and I meant it. I feel a pull towards you that I keep trying to explain to myself, but the fact is, I just can’t. It’s something special, Jess. I want to explore that feeling, and you, and do it right.” His gaze was lit with inner intensity, his hands shaking. He tightened them into fists, then released them. “I can’t have you thinking that I’m just interested in you for your body.”
    His words were equal parts pleasing and painful. Her heart melted at his expression of tenderness—but her desire was still big as the Wyoming sky. How could she make him understand that he could show her that he cared in that way, too?
    “My body needs you,” she blurted out. His eyes grew even wider. “It’s been so long since I’ve been touched like this,” she said. She could hardly believe she was speaking so honestly, voicing needs she hadn’t even admitted to herself. “Touched by someone who cares about me and who loves my body.