His for the Taking

Don’t think about it.

But how could he forget how tight she’d been, or how she’d held her breath so long after he’d entered her, she’d scared the hell out of him?

“Are you okay?” he’d whispered.

“Better than okay.” When she’d pressed her soft mouth to his throat she’d sent him over the edge. He’d apologized, but she’d begun to kiss him again, and he’d hardened inside her almost instantly.

“I’ve had a crush on you for years,” she’d said. “I just never thought you could care for someone like me.”

“Well, I do.”

“Sometimes I still have to pinch myself so I know I’m not dreaming.”

Now, determined to push the bittersweet memories aside and regain control, he counted slowly…backward from one hundred to zero. Long before he reached zero, more memories bombarded him, each one sweeter than the last. Then he couldn’t count, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but feel his testosterone-engorged body thicken.

More than anything, he wanted to touch her warm, velvet skin, to taste her sweet lips…just one more time. Maybe once he was sated, he would be rational enough to remember how shabbily she’d treated him.

As if she sensed him, she slid into the water, screaming because it was so cold, and then swam away from the dam, leaving a trail of graceful ripples flashing in her wake.

Instead of listening to the voice of reason that told him not to play with fire, he strode down to the bank and stood above her in the long shadows of the cypress trees, watching her swim, willing her to turn and face him.

When she did, her face whitened with shock. “Cole! What are you doing here?”

The alarm in her slanting blue-violet eyes cut him to the quick. But still his tone was hard when he said, “I heard you were chasing Cinnamon on my land, so I came looking for you.”

When her exotic face went even whiter, his own craven desire made his gut clench.

Without another word, she dived underneath the water and swam as far away from him as she could. When she finally came up, she crossed her hands over her breasts and scrambled behind the nearest rock. “I—I didn’t mean to bother you!” she began, blushing furiously as she gasped for breath. “If I’d known you were in town—I would never have come here! Your brother, Adam…He told me you wouldn’t be back anytime soon. I swear he did!”

“Didn’t you see the No Swimming signs? A kid nearly drowned here a couple of years ago, after a flood. Cinnamon is not worth risking your pretty neck by swimming here alone.”

“Okay. I won’t do it again. If you’ll just leave, I’ll dress and go.”

“The last thing I want is you dressed and gone.”

The stark look of terror reappeared in her eyes. “Don’t start!” she whispered. “Please—”

The shame and fear in her frantic gaze tore at his heart. He remembered how sensitive she’d been on the subject of her mother and how shy she’d always been about sexual matters, especially in the beginning. But she’d never been this skittish. Suddenly he wished he could take back the suggestive comment.

“Somebody told me a while back that you’re a mother now…that you have a little boy…”

Her violet-blue eyes widened with even more fear. Why?

“I just meant that as a mother, you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks—like swimming here alone.”

“My son is no concern of yours!” Her voice was high and thin. “You made that very clear—”

“When did we ever discuss your son?”

“What?” She seemed to catch herself. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I saw your signs. It’s just that I’m upset because you startled me. I shouldn’t have gotten in the water without a buddy. If you’ll just leave, I’ll get out, dress and go. Like I said.” She had begun to shiver, and her lips were blue.

“You can swim as long as you like…now that I’m here to watch over you.”

“I don’t want you here watching over me.” Her teeth were chattering.

“Right.” He set his hot, insolent gaze on her.

“Cole, I’m…I’m freezing. If…you won’t go, would you please turn your back so I…can get out and dress?”

“Okay, already.” Halfheartedly, he turned his back.

Not trusting him, she hesitated. A moment or two later, he heard water splash on limestone, followed by the whisper of damp feet on grass and the breaking of twigs as she scampered across the rocks to retrieve her clothes.

When a low curse escaped her lips, he turned out of concern and was rewarded with another glimpse of her tantalizing breasts and thighs. His breath hitched as she struggled to push her slim arms through the knotted sleeves of her wet, tangled T-shirt. Absorbed in pulling on her jeans, she didn’t look up and see that he couldn’t take his tortured eyes off her.

When she’d fastened her cutoffs, she looked up. “You cheated,” she said.

“Sorry.”

“I guess I shouldn’t wonder, since you’ll always think I’m the kind of girl who doesn’t deserve your respect.” With an indignant frown she leaned down and secured the now-docile Cinnamon with a leash.

“Damn,” he muttered, feeling guilty as well as angry.

That she could chastise him, for anything, when she’d jilted him for Turner, was gallingly unfair.

“Don’t worry. I won’t presume to trespass on your land again,” she said almost haughtily.

“You can swim here anytime,” he said coldly. “It’s just that I’d prefer that you bring a friend with you the next time.”

“Who? With the exception of Miss Jennie, people here don’t really like my mother or me much. If you’ll recall, I…I never had any real friends in this town.”

“I hear eight men stopped by to check on Miss Jennie this mornin’.”

“For your information, I wasn’t ever who you thought I was or who they probably think I am. It’s taken me a long time to believe in myself…after…after the way you and the town treated me.”

“Oh, really? I find that surprising. For someone so sensitive and romantic, you sure as hell slept with me and then ran off with Turner without so much as a goodbye.”

When her skin went as pale as the bleached limestone bank, he felt as if someone had kicked him in the gut. But even as she began to tremble, her eyes blazed.

“Believe what you want about me!” she whispered as she hugged her arms around herself. “I’m glad I don’t have to care anymore.” But her eyes belied her indifference.

When he’d left the rig today he’d sworn he wouldn’t rehash the past, but now he had to ask. “Tell me why you ran off with him. You owe me an explanation.”

“Once…I foolishly thought…maybe I did owe you. So, before I left, I called you to explain, remember?”

Fury that she would lie so carelessly swelled inside him. “The hell you did! You called me eighteen months later—when it was a little late, since I was already married to Lizzie!”

“No! I called you the night I left. But your mother answered the phone. She told me exactly what you told her to tell me, that she didn’t want my kind in your life. So, excuse me if I didn’t call you back. I had a lot on my plate. But my problems then are none of your business now.”