“Wouldn’t miss it,” Sage said.
“And you?” Lawton asked Creed.
“Wouldn’t turn down another bite of those buffalo wings for anything. I’d walk through the blizzard to get at those things.”
“My kind of cowboy,” Lawton said.
Creed’s pickup was barely warmed up by the time they reached the end of the lane on the Canyon Rose. He’d put the console up so that there was a wide bench seat and Sage had moved right up next to him.
“I feel like a teenager,” she said.
“You don’t look like one. Who was that last fellow you danced with?”
“Joe Rendetta. He’s the vet from Claude. We see a lot of him.”
“He married?”
“Was but now he’s divorced. He and Lawton went to school together.”
“Does anyone get married and stay married in the canyon?”
“Grand did.”
“In this generation?” he asked.
“Lots of young women are workin’ on that,” she said. “You see anything you were interested in?”
“Yes, I did,” he said.
Sage’s breath caught in her chest. “Did someone introduce you to her or did you dance with her?”
“Both.”
Sage hadn’t wanted to share Creed, and riding home in the dark with nothing but snow still on the ground and cold wind blowing, she understood why. If he was suddenly thrown into a room full of petite, charming women eager to do whatever the hell he wanted in the bedroom, she’d soon be like yesterday’s newspaper. Tossed in the pile at the end of the sofa to take to the burning barrel.
“And who is she?” she asked, but she didn’t want to hear the name.
“You,” he said softly.
He parked the truck in front of the house and opened the door before she could answer. He hurried around the truck, opened her door, and slipped an arm under her bottom and one around her shoulders, just like in the visions he’d had that evening. Through the pounding in her ears and the beating of both their hearts, she could hear the soft crunch of the top layer of snow as his boots crunched their way toward the house.
And for the first time in her life, she forgot all about her size.
She leaned away from him enough to open both the glass storm door and the real door and he carried her over the threshold but he didn’t put her down. His lips found hers and the kiss spoke volumes. It said that all the cute little women at the party hadn’t appealed to him. That she was the one he wanted to be with; she was the one he had danced with; and she was the one he carried into the house. She put both arms around his neck and her feet hit the ground just enough to give her momentum to take a gentle leap and wrap her legs around his waist.
He cupped his hands under her bottom and the tight-fitting dress hiked right up as if it had a mind of its own. He took a step forward and set her on the credenza. The zipper of her dress came down and warm air flowed against her cool skin. How had he gotten her coat off? She’d had it on and now it was gone.
Her hands went to his chest to find that his coat was gone too. The man sure didn’t need lessons in how to undress a woman without her even knowing it. She unbuttoned his shirt and slowly ran her fingers across his tense abs and up across his chest. Lord, he felt good. Tight and ready and good, and from the hardness pressing against her stomach, something was happening below the belt buckle.
He peeled the dress down from the top without stopping the hard, demanding, and hot kisses. Next the bra came off and then he skimmed the bikinis from her hips slicker than skimming cream from the top of milk.
She moaned when he pulled her forward until her hips were at the edge of the credenza. When she opened her eyes, he was as naked as she was and his eyes had that soft, dreamy look in them, made even sexier with nothing but the light flickering from the fireplace.
“I want you,” she gasped.
“Bedroom?”
“No, right now,” she whispered hoarsely.
The washstand was exactly the right height for him to take her right where they were. Hard flesh joined hot flesh and her fingernails dug into his back. The last thing she thought before she gave up thinking about anything but satisfying the ache inside her was that she was damn glad she hadn’t put the ceramic nativity scene on the credenza yet. If she had there would be shepherds and wise men smashed all over the floor and Creed might cut his feet.
The thrusts started out slow but they got faster with each kiss and groan. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She just wanted release and when it came, he said her name in a ragged, hoarse breath. He backed up and she scooted forward, wrapped her legs tightly around him, and he carried her to the bedroom.
Then she was on the bed, in his arms, the covers pulled up over them, with that gorgeous thing called afterglow settling around them.
She giggled as she snuggled up next to him, sharing a pillow.
“Please don’t tell me you thought that was funny,” he gasped.
“No, it was wonderful…absolutely fantastic. I’ve never flown so high, Creed, or felt so safe afterwards. It was the place where I took flight from. I’ll have to polish the top of that credenza until it shines before next week and put the nativity on it or Grand will want to know why.”
He chuckled. “You don’t think your Grand and grandpa ever used it for that reason?”
“Yuck! Erase that picture from my mind.”
“You are so right. I’d rather have a picture of you wrapped around me in every sense of the word. You are a beautiful, sexy woman, Sage. You were the most gorgeous woman at the party tonight.”
The smile that covered her face was
