“No!” she yelled out, still trying to grab his wrists. “You’re a chip hog and I stole them because you were taunting me.”
“Well, I’m still taunting you. What are you going to do about it now?”
She giggled uncontrollably, even trying to roll over onto her stomach to get away from his nimble hands. “Stop!” she begged. But he easily flipped her back, grabbing both of her arms in his free hand and holding them over her head.
That was when Sierra knew she was really in trouble. Her laughter died and her breathing was still heavy, but now for a completely different reason. Her body was suddenly very aware of his larger frame over hers, his hips pressing against hers. Even as she looked up at him, she felt his body’s reaction to their closeness and her pulse skyrocketed.
“I want you,” he said softly but with an urgency that had been controlled before.
“It can’t work,” she replied but it was hard for her to remember why it wouldn’t work. In fact, it was painfully difficult for her to remember that she didn’t really like this man, didn’t want to deal with his arrogance and confidence. At this particular moment, she couldn’t remember that they were not meant to have a relationship because right at this moment, all she wanted was for the moment to go on and on. And to have him bend down and kiss her, to feel his lips against hers.
When he finally did that, she lifted her head to meet him as much as she could with her arms pinned above her head. When he felt her lips quiver under his, his hands released hers and came down to cradle her head. He tried to be gentle, but it was difficult when she was kissing him back just as passionately. Aware of his size against her slender figure, he rolled off of her but pulled her to his side, his leg shifting ever so slightly so that one of his was in between hers. His hand reached down and pulled her knee, cradling his hardness against her hips.
He almost groaned when he felt her hands on his head, her fingers gently tugging at his hair, begging him without words to come closer. She shifted her legs, pressing her own hips closer, finding his hardness and thrilling him with her eagerness to be close to him. His hands shifted her, pulling her harder against him and one hand slid underneath the flannel shirt, finding the soft, delicate skin underneath.
With a groan, he pulled back and looked down at her. “We have to go back to my place to continue this,” he said and stood up quickly, reaching down to give her a hand as well. “Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any protection with me.” When she put her hand into his, he almost lifted her up when he pulled her into his arms to kiss her once again, deeply, while his hands went to her hips and pulled her closer again. “You feel incredible! I can’t believe I wasn’t prepared for this. Let’s go.”
Chapter 6
He was already bending down and stuffing the blanket and food items back into the bag, preparing to store them in the back of the ATV when her senses came back to her.
“Wait,” she said when he lifted her up, about to carry her along to the back of the bike. “What are we doing?” she asked, her hands braced on his shoulders.
“We’re going back to my place. Then I’m going to carry you into my bedroom,” he kissed her, putting her onto the seat of the ATV and lifting his own leg to straddle the seat backwards before bending low over her as he kissed her again and again. “And then I’m going to make love to you as we were doing moments ago.”
He’d already stuffed the picnic materials into the holder when his words sunk in. “Wait, we can’t do that.” She was shaking from the impact of both his words and the need to do exactly what he’d said. She wanted nothing more than to make love with this man but they couldn’t do that. There was too much between them, too much history and she couldn’t do that to him.
She’d forgotten that she didn’t like him. His eagerness, the excitement, his humor and so many other things had obliterated her irritation with his arrogance and his high-handed nature. After today, that no longer mattered. Besides, he wasn’t acting arrogant and conceited now. He was sweet and kind and gentle. And fun! He was a different person out here in the wilderness than he was in the office. She liked this man. She’d laughed with him and he’d made her relax. She hadn’t had a great deal of that in her life so far and she didn’t want to ruin it by having sex with him. Not with this dreaded secret she’d been keeping from him.
He stilled and looked at her worried features. With a deep sigh, he came back to stand in front of her. “Tell me what’s wrong, Sierra. Because what we were just doing felt extremely right.”
She bit her lip, unsure of what to say, how to convey her regret without telling him everything.
“There are things about me that you don’t know about. My past isn’t…nice,” was all she could say. She tried to tell him everything, knowing that he deserved the truth. But something held her back. A look in his eyes, the patience and kindness she’d suspected before, but hadn’t ever witnessed. It was probably the perfect time, but she simply couldn’t form the words.
His work-roughened hand came up to caress her cheek and she closed her eyes to keep herself from leaning into his hand and giving him yet another mixed message. “Okay, so you’re not ready to tell me what’s holding you back. We’ve only known each other for a short period of time and you need to know more about me. You don’t fully trust me yet.”
That wasn’t it, she thought silently with misery overwhelming her. “Actually,” she said as she twisted her fingers together, “you need to know me better. There are a lot of things about me that you might not like.”
He almost laughed out loud at the idea of this sweet, gentle, intelligent woman having a past that could be so horrible. “So tell me now. I can look at your lips that are still soft and swollen and that might counter any anger I’ll have with you for whatever heinous crimes you’ve committed in the past.”
He was trying to make her laugh, but it really wasn’t funny. “You joke but…I really am not who you think I am.”
He couldn’t help it when she said things like that. He threw back his head and laughed. “Sierra, there’s no way you can convince me that you aren’t the sweet, warm, caring woman I’ve come to know over the past few weeks.”
“I’m not all that sweet,” she grumbled, wishing he wouldn’t make her sound like a saint. “I’m not really all that kind either.” He’d agree with her as well once he heard how cruel her father was before he’d died in prison.