he wasn’t a total stranger. He was a friend of the Browards and highly regarded by her mother, Gwen. Still she knew it was crazy to go with him. But something inside her wanted to go against the grain of her own personal conventions. It was, after all, New Year’s Eve.
She let her eyes travel across Austin’s broad shoulders. If she couldn’t be in his bed, she had the odd wish to be positioned under it, hidden from view. She wanted to listen to him breathe and feel the weight of his body dangerously close to hers.
She looked into Austin’s eyes and nodded her answer.
What would Mara and Robyn think? she thought.
They’d be jealous as all get out.
Laney hid a brief smile as they emerged into the chilly air. She hitched up her dress slightly and followed him down a wide dirt path.
The sky was clear and brilliant with stars and the temperature seemed to drop even more as they walked. By the time they arrived at the little home, which was located adjacent to a large pasture, she was shivering.
Laney rubbed her bare shoulders and read the hand-carved sign on the door. “‘Shepherd’s Cottage.’ Cute name. What does it mean?”
She stepped inside and Austin closed and locked the door behind them.
“This place was built a long time ago for people hired to mind the cattle. If they didn’t want to go home, they could sleep here. Since this ranch is now primarily used for breeding and raising horses, the owners use it as a guest house.”
She rubbed her bare shoulders again and shivered when Austin ran his hands down her arms. Her skin immediately goose-pimpled under his gentle touch while his reassuring smile warmed her in places his eyes couldn’t see.
“I’m sorry it’s so cold in here. It will only take me a minute to get the fireplace going.”
He shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and helped her into it. “In the meantime, you can wear this.”
His jacket was way too big, but it was warm. She wrapped it around her body and inhaled the hint of spicy cologne that came with it.
“Make yourself comfortable.”
She nodded and took a few steps forward. As she looked around, she realized that the cottage had only one room.
On her left, fairly close to the door, there was a sitting area facing the fireplace, a galley kitchen with a breakfast nook and a door she assumed led to the bathroom. The white-washed walls held various pen-and-ink drawings of landscapes, horses and mountains.
She pivoted to the right and spotted a small alcove with two steps leading up to an old-fashioned iron bed, covered in a thick ivory satin duvet.
Cozy was one word that came to mind.
The other caused her to bite her lip. She quickly turned back toward the living area. Austin was down on one knee, tending to the fire. The muscles beneath his shirt rippled under the white fabric as he arranged the kindling and the logs. Her breath caught in her throat as he struck a match and set the wood aflame.
But it wasn’t until Austin stood up, grasped his Stetson with one hand and placed it on a peg by the front door in one fell swoop, that she lost it. To her, that simple gesture meant that he was home, and just for tonight, she was right here with him.
“Why did you kiss me?” she blurted.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “Why did you kiss me back?”
Laney opened her mouth, as if an explanation would simply form without any thought. Kissing Austin back wasn’t that simple. Neither was the reason.
She shrugged, a little too hard, and his tux jacket fell to the floor.
“I think we both need to find out,” he said, approaching her. “Don’t you?”
His low voice, a rich undercurrent to the pop and hiss of the kindling, made her knees shake.
A moment later, Laney felt herself nod, so intrigued by him that she found herself holding her breath as he unbuttoned his shirt.
He shed it quickly, not saying a word, not inviting her to look away. Somehow he knew that her eyes had been opened to something that needed to be explored.
The white T-shirt he wore cloaked those muscles that she knew were always there but could never touch. When he stood in front of her, so tantalizingly close, she couldn’t help herself. She reached out and ran a finger down the middle of his abdomen. The ridges there were tight and hard, yet pulsed with barely contained energy.
He groaned and his hands grasped her waist as he pulled her against him. At once, she pressed her lips firmly against his neck and froze, plying his salty skin with her tongue, while his fingers deftly manipulated the zipper of her evening gown. It slid to the floor and Austin stepped back, yet not so far that she couldn’t see the well of desire in his dark eyes as they swept over her lace bra and panties.
The answers they sought lay in the crackle of wood and the gentle hush of their breathing, yet for a moment, neither moved.
Austin took a step back, hesitating now, but Laney pulled him back, not willing to let him go.
For reasons she didn’t fully comprehend, she needed to know him. She needed to feel this. His hard length, still clothed, rolling against her bare stomach. She weaved her body against him until he grunted and threaded his fingers in her long hair. He kissed her deeply, his tongue on a mission with no map. She was his guide, opening herself to him, allowing him to drink of her, knowing innately that he would never be satisfied, wanting him to keep on needing.
His mouth worked down her neck, his fingers twisting in her bra straps, kneading her shoulders, unhooking her bra. That male energy pulsed tight against her, making her yearn to take him in her mouth, to feel that energy spread through her body.
He lifted his lips and his hands spanned her bare back, drawing her even closer to him, and her nipples rubbed against his bare chest.
Laney moaned and Austin lifted her up in his arms. She allowed herself to be carried by him, not fighting the primal urge to be dominated by this man.
She wanted this.
Although they couldn’t voice it to each other, deep down they had a common goal: to discover and to forget.
Austin laid her gently on the bed and she watched with wide eyes as he unzipped his trousers. Eased off his briefs. At the sight of him, she gasped. The length, wide as a river; smooth as glass on top, hard as a rock underneath, power coursing through unbidden. Her mouth began to water and she reached for him. Austin lay upon her, his smile almost imperceptible, his body elongated and seemed to never end. In the firelight, his skin was dark bronze, moist with sweat, firm with muscle. She trailed her fingers down his back and over his round buttocks and spread her legs in anticipation.
Their lips ground together again, tongues darting and playing, as they both sought to prolong their desire and their time together.
Austin’s fingers tweaked one of her nipples and she writhed beneath him, wanting more of his touch and more of him.
Sensing her need, he ended the kiss, cupped her breasts and lapped at her large nipples until they were hard. She looked down at the wet, swollen peaks and bit her bottom lip, as Austin pursed his lips and gently blew them dry.
Moving downward, Austin tongued her belly button, making her laugh. Her giggles quickly turned into gasps as he kissed her inner thighs, causing her muscles to quiver uncontrollably.
Laney moaned as his tongue hungrily darted across her skin, swirled briefly into her wet core, and out again, landing firmly on her ultra-sensitive pearl. Like a marionette on an invisible string, his gentle lips controlled her, beckoning her to buck. It only took a few moments and when she did, the satin sheets rolled underneath them. She cried out, fisting and clutching at the duvet, now a stage, barely able to contain her ecstatic agony.
After