He chuckled at her unexpected reply. “In that case, I guess I’m going to have to confess that I’m actually an outlaw seeking refuge, and I’ll be taking you hostage.” Making good on his threat, he moved into the entryway, closed the door behind him, and forced her up against the wall with the muscular heat of his body.
Her luminous brown eyes widened in mock fear and genuine excitement as she entwined her arms around his neck. “Dare I hope you’ll be ravishing me?”
Dropping his duffel bag, he plowed his fingers into her hair so he could lift her mouth to his-not that she was resisting much. “Didn’t your parents ever warn you just how dangerous an outlaw could be?” he growled.
“Oh, yeah, they’ve tried, but I can’t help my attraction to a man in chaps and spurs,” she admitted, her voice dropping to a honeyed purr. She lifted her hips, encountering the thick length of his erection framed between the crotch of his chaps. “Especially an outlaw who has a weapon as impressive as yours. I hope you aren’t afraid to use it.”
A guttural groan ripped from his chest. He’d been hard for the past ten minutes, ever since she’d opened the door, but her teasing, arousing monologue increased the pressure in his groin to near pain. “Damn, but you’re feisty.”
She flashed him a sassy grin. “Shut up and kiss me, cowboy.”
Not one to refuse such a tempting offer, he gave her exactly what she demanded-a hot, deep French kiss that quickly had them both wild for so much more. He lifted his mouth from hers long enough to pick up his duffel, then he swung her into his arms, swallowing her squeal of alarm as his lips closed over hers once again for another tongue-tangling kiss. Maneuvering her through the condo to the bedroom took effort, especially since she now had his face between her hands and was kissing him senseless. With every jangling step he took, her breathing deepened, and her urgency seemed to mount, matching the frenzied beat of his heart.
He found the bedroom minutes later, but not before taking a quick tour of her office, where Teddy breathlessly informed him they were in the wrong room-unless he wanted to use her desk. Tempted, but determined to make love to her properly this first time, he continued, stopping briefly in the hallway to readjust his hold on the woman in his arms while she placed damp, openmouthed kisses on his neck that made him weak in the knees. He bumped his hip against the dresser, muttered an oath that made her giggle, and blindly searched for her bed in the dark. Finally, his knees connected with something soft and wide, and he unceremoniously dropped her onto the mattress. She yelped in surprise, and he heard the springs creak as she bounced.
Setting the duffel close by, he switched on the lamp on the nightstand, illuminating the room, and Teddy, in a soft glow of light. She was sprawled on top of the floral comforter covering the bed, her blond hair a cloud of silk around her head, her eyes alight with awareness, and that scrap of nothing nightie up around her hips. He was certain the diaphanous panties barely covering her mound were designed to drive a man to primitive measures. He was nearly there.
Tipping the Stetson back on his head, he eyed those long, slender limbs of hers with unabashed male appreciation. “I think this is the part where I ravish you,” he said wickedly.
A pretty shade of pink flushed her skin, and she tilted her head speculatively as her gaze once again took in his attire. “Why are you dressed up like this?” she asked, her voice as soft as the moonlight filtering in through the bedroom window.
“This last fantasy is for you, Teddy,” he said, and knew by the slight catch to her breathing that she understood the significance of this final performance as her cowboy.
She stared at him in anticipation as he lifted a small recorder from his bag, put it on the nightstand, and hit play. Seconds later, the same upbeat, rockabilly tune he’d danced to for her birthday filled the silence of the night, the pulsing sound as provocative as the look darkening her eyes.
Spotting the Stetson he’d given her that same night, he retrieved it from the dresser, and settled it on her head, grinning at the luscious picture she made. “Merry Christmas, honey.”
He straightened, intending to get the show on the road and give this woman a fantasy she’d never forget-and an incredible night that would hopefully change the course of their relationship. Rocking and rolling his hips to the rhythm of the country beat, he reached for the top snap on his western shirt to rip it open.
“Wait!” she blurted, holding up a hand to stop him.
He immediately ceased all movement, paralyzed with the unsettling possibility that she might be having second thoughts about them, about this.
Sitting up on her knees in front of him, she chewed on her lower lip uncertainly. “Would you be terribly disappointed if I undressed you, instead of you stripping for me?” Her voice quivered with an endearing hesitancy, then her chin lifted with that sassiness he was coming to adore. “I mean, after all, this is my fantasy.”
He chuckled, unable to help himself. God, he loved how sexy and bold she was, and knew life with her would always be invigorating. “There’s nothing that would please me more,” he told her, a small part of his mind wondering how he’d be able to withstand such torment. “Where would you like to start?”
She crooked her finger at him. “Come a little closer.”
The rowels on his boots chinked seductively as he did as she requested. Now it was her hips that swayed to the music, her hands that lifted to his chest. Gripping the material in her fists on either side of the pearl buttons, she ripped open his shirt.
A groan of pure pleasure rumbled in her throat as she smoothed her palms over the heat of his skin and explored to her heart’s content, pushing him to the brink of madness. Following the light sprinkling of hair on his chest downward, she splayed a hand low on his taut belly and nudged him back a foot and stood.
With an intoxicating, feminine confidence that made him burn, she slid the tips of her fingers upward, flicking over his flattened nipples on her journey up to his shoulders, where she slowly dragged the shirt down his arms. And during this gradual striptease, when she had his hands tangled in cotton, she moved close and brushed her body against his to the beat of the music-her breasts, her belly, her thighs, all inflaming his senses.
His nostrils flared, and as soon as she tugged his shirt off and tossed it somewhere behind him, he caught her around the waist with one arm, slid a thigh between hers, and brought her flush to his hard length, trapping her arms between them.
She wasn’t intimidated by his domination, or the fierce arousal pressing against her belly. “Hold your horses, cowboy,” she whispered against his mouth, her gaze hot and eager for what was to come-albeit in her own sweet time. “This is my fantasy, and I’m not done yet.”
Austin groaned, certain he’d never be able to hold out.
With her arms locked between them, her hand found the bulge tightening the front of his jeans. Shamelessly, she cupped the fullness in her palm, stroked him to the beat of the music as her own hips gyrated provocatively against his. Austin gritted his teeth as a shudder ripped through him. Heeding that fierce warning, he let her go the same moment her fingers hooked around the sides of his chaps and she gave a hard yank. Velcro tore apart, and with a triumphant grin, she flung the soft leather aside.
And from there, with each article of clothing she playfully removed from his body and tossed haphazardly in the room, from his cowboy boots with those spurs he’d worn just for her, to his jeans and briefs and then finally his Stetson, she totally captivated Austin, bringing warmth and laughter to a place deep within him that had been cold and lonely for too long. She was wicked, amusing, damn sexy, and everything he wanted in a woman.
Teddy stared breathlessly at the gorgeous, naked man standing in the middle of her bedroom-her fantasy. Austin was, in a word, magnificent. He was solidly aroused, all aggressive male, and she thrilled at the notion that she’d brought him to this.
Not quite ready to relinquish the heady rush of feminine power coursing through her veins, she circled him, languidly caressing the firm slope of his back, his tight buttocks, and planting teasing, biting kisses along his throat and chest. Closing her eyes, she slid lower, until the very male essence of him brushed her lips-and heard a rough, strangled sound catch in his throat that was half pain, half pleasure.
Reckless excitement curled through her, settling in the pit of her belly, spreading outward. Eager to taste him in a way she’d never experienced before, she closed her mouth intimately over him, indulging in the smooth, velvety texture of his skin, the virile heat of him sliding along her tongue…
His entire body instinctively bucked toward her, and he sucked in a swift, shocked breath. His hands lifted, knocking the Stetson on her head to the floor. His long fingers tangled in her hair, at first guiding her untutored, but very erotic offering, then in a frantic attempt to pull her away.
Swearing viciously, he dragged her back up again. She caught a quick glimpse of the hot need glowing in the depths of his gaze before he fluidly, effortlessly, turned her, banded his strong arms around her waist, and tucked
