She gasped.
“You’re so perfect.”
Her body shivered.
“Are you cold?”
“Just the opposite. You make me hot. I think you’ve cast a spell over me, Cal Braxton.”
“Good.” Slipping his hands beneath her arms he brought her out of the water. She grasped his shoulders, wrapping her legs around him. He took his time as he lowered her.
He nipped a breast, then circled the orb with his tongue before sucking the pebbled nipple into his mouth. She moaned, arching toward him. He lowered her farther, his tongue tasting her skin, wanting even more. His mouth found hers again as their bodies began to join. She tightened her legs around him, pulling him deeper inside. Hot liquid fire filled him. He cupped her buttocks, rocking her against him, groaning with pleasure.
She nipped his neck with her teeth, then licked across the tiny wound. He sucked in his breath, pulling her closer, crushing her body against his. The heat of her body scorched him as she kissed his face.
“Look at me,” he said when her glazed eyes began to drift closed.
Slowly, her eyes opened and their gazes locked. He wanted to watch her. To know the very moment she was ready. He wanted to see the passion flare in her eyes. It had to be as good for her as it was for him. He’d settle for no less.
“Now.” Her arms tightened around his neck as her mouth moved over his.
“Not yet. Soon.” Cal wanted every one of her senses to explode when she came. He nibbled her ear; his tongue plunged inside.
She cried out. “I need you.”
He ignored her pleas for release. “I want to taste you again. All of you.” Cal raked his teeth along her neck. He looked deep into her eyes. “Next time you’ll let me. Promise me that you’ll let me kiss your sex, that you’ll let me lick every inch of it.”
“Yes,” she cried as her body trembled. “I need…I need…”
He thrust deeper.
She gasped and pressed closer.
Water splashed around them, slapping their bodies and intensifying the motion. The strain of holding back became too much as her hardened nipples brushed against his chest. Spasms clutched his body. The muscles in his legs grew taut as every part of him became a roaring fire burning out of control. When the explosion hit, it rocked him to the core of his being. He clasped her tighter against him, cupping her butt and pulling her in closer.
She cried out her pleasure when she came. Their ragged breathing echoed in the silence. Still holding her close, he moved to shallow water, and sank to his knees. Water lapped around their waists in gentle caresses.
Right now, he knew if Nikki asked him about what had happened between him and Cynthia, he would tell her every blasted thing there was to tell.
Yeah, he was in deep shit.
He drew in deep mouthfuls of air. No woman had ever made his legs tremble like this-hell, his whole body.
They finally waded to the bank. He spread the blanket and they collapsed on it.
“I could sleep the rest of the day,” she said, stretching as she rolled to her back.
Without really thinking, he cupped her breast, lightly massaging.
“Or not.” Her laugh was shaky.
He realized what he was doing and stopped, moved to his back as he lay on the blanket. “Sorry.”
“I’m not.” She moved into the crook of his arm, resting her head on his chest.
He stared at the tree limbs crisscrossing above him. This was nice, and he didn’t regret anything they’d done, either. He’d told himself after he discovered Nikki was a reporter out to get a story, he didn’t have to give her one, and he wouldn’t.
“I can’t believe you don’t have a girlfriend,” she said, breaking the silence.
And the moment was destroyed. One little sentence and she’d killed it.
“I’m a free agent,” he said.
“So you’ve never been engaged?”
Damn, if he didn’t know who she really was, he’d probably be spilling his guts right now. Telling her things that would end up in an article for the world to read. Except he did know better.
“I was engaged once, but it didn’t work out,” he said. Before she could probe further, he asked a question of his own. “What about you? Ever gotten close to the altar?”
“No. Marriage is way down on the bottom of my list of things to do. So, who was she?”
“Who was who?”
“The girl you almost married.”
“I didn’t marry her and that should be all that matters.”
“I guess every woman wants to know her predecessor.”
Cal turned in a way so that she was half beneath him. His lips found hers. She moaned when he deepened the kiss, but he abruptly ended it before he could go very far and jumped up instead.
“I promised Brian I would help at the ranch this afternoon.”
She frowned. “I think most of the afternoon is already gone.”
“So I guess I’d better get back.” He pulled on his briefs, then his jeans.
She didn’t look too happy, but she stood and reached for her clothes and began to reluctantly pull them on.
Damn, she was temptation. He quickly averted his eyes and grabbed for his shirt.
As soon as they were dressed, he helped Nikki mount. He played the perfect guide on the way back to the homestead, pointing out different kinds of trees. Once a jackrabbit popped his head up, long ears straight in the air. He kept the conversation going so she wouldn’t have a chance to ask any questions about Cynthia.
She didn’t look happy when he left her at the cabin. But she also didn’t have any fodder for a story, either.
Damn, he was good. He was still smiling when he rode up to the barn at the ranch. Barracuda, yeah, well she’d just met a shark.
Chapter 17
Brian walked around the side of the swimming pool, careful not to get too close to the little Darnell boys, who were splashing wildly. Jim Darnell was lazing in one of the lounge chairs but keeping a watchful eye on his sons. The boys’ father actually looked as if he were half dead. It must have been an active day for them.
“Do you remember when we had that much energy?” Jim asked without moving from his seat.
Brian looked at the boys. For just a second he saw a pasture with trees and low hills. He saw him and Cal racing across the space until their lungs felt as though they would burst from lack of oxygen.
Yeah, he remembered.
He also remembered Cal had wanted him to go riding, and for a moment, when they’d been talking, Brian had recaptured something that had been lost between them.
But then he’d thought about canceling when something business-related came up. He’d need to go out of town on Friday. It hadn’t even been that big of a deal, and he wondered why he’d even considered leaving. Cal was right: Brian needed to relax more, and maybe he wanted to spend a little more time with Cal. They hadn’t done a lot of things together since his brother arrived.
“It would be nice to have an overabundance of energy,” Brian told the father as he returned his attention to the young family. “Did you have a good day?”
“We went on an arrowhead hunt. I think your foreman took us over nearly all of the south end of the ranch on horseback, and now swimming.” He nodded toward his sons. “They’re like that battery bunny rabbit.”
They laughed. Yeah, he had a feeling his grandparents had felt the same way about him and Cal.
Katie Darnell came out to join her husband and sons. There was something different about her. She practically glowed. She didn’t look nearly as tired as when they’d first arrived. Apparently, she’d had a good day, too.
