closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath before he opened them again and gazed down at her. “I’m not looking for anything long-term, Fee.”
“Neither am I,” she said truthfully.
She ignored the little twinge of sadness that accompanied her agreement. She wasn’t interested in anything beyond her time in Wyoming. At the end of her stay, she would go back to her life in California and he would stay here on the Big Blue ranch. Other than a trip back to film the video for the Lassiter PR campaign, they wouldn’t be seeing each other again. That’s the way it was supposed to be—the way it had to be.
“Let’s go into my room, sweetheart,” he said, taking her by the hand to lead her across the hall to the master suite.
The lightning flashed and thunder continued to rumble loudly outside, but Fee barely noticed as Chance closed the door behind them and led her over to the side of his king-size bed. When he turned on the bedside lamp, she looked around. The furniture was made of rustic logs, and with the exception of a silver picture frame sitting on the dresser, the room was decorated in the same Western theme as the rest of the house. The photo inside was of a young boy and a man who looked a lot like Chance. Before she could ask if it was a picture of him and his father, Chance caught her to him for a kiss that sent waves of heat coursing through her and made her forget everything but the man holding her.
“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve thought about doing this over the past week?” he asked as he ran his index finger along the thin strap of her nightie. “Every time I’ve looked at you, it’s all I can think about.”
“I hadn’t...really given it...a lot of thought.” Did he expect her to form a coherent answer when the intimate tone of his voice and his passionate words were sending shivers of anticipation through every part of her?
Needing to touch him, she placed her palms on his chest. “I have, however, thought a lot about you and how much I’ve wanted to do this.” She ran her fingertips over the thick pads of his pectoral muscles and a heady sense of feminine power came over her when she felt a shudder run through him. “Your body is perfect. I thought so when we were at the spring.” She touched one flat male nipple. “I wanted to touch you then, but—”
“By the time the night is over, I intend for both of us to know each other’s body as well as we know our own,” he said, sliding his hands down her sides to the lace hem of her nightgown.
His sensuous smile caused an interesting little tingle deep inside her as he lifted the garment up and over her head, and then tossed it aside. He caught her hands in his, took a step back and held her arms wide. His eyes seemed to caress her, the need she detected in their green depths stealing her breath.
“You’re absolutely beautiful, Fee.”
“So are you, Chance.”
He gave her a smile that curled her toes, then brought her hands back up to his broad chest. “Ladies first.”
She realized that he wanted her to feel comfortable with him and was willing to allow her to explore him before he touched her. His concession caused emotion to clog her throat. She’d never known any man as thoughtful and unselfish as Chance Lassiter.
Enjoying the feel of his warm bare flesh beneath her palms, she ran her hands down his chest to the ripples of muscle below. When she reached his navel, she quickly glanced up. His eyes were closed and his head was slightly tilted back as if he struggled for control.
“Does that feel good?” she asked, kissing his smooth skin as she trailed her finger down the thin line of dark hair from his navel to where it disappeared into the waistband of his jeans.
“Sweetheart, if it felt any better, I’m not sure I could handle it,” he said, sounding as if he’d run a marathon. When she opened the snap, he stopped her and took a step back. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’d love nothing more than to have you take my jeans off me, but this time it’s something I have to take care of myself.”
Slightly confused, she watched him ease the zipper down and when his fly gaped open, she realized the reason for his concern. “If I had tried... Oh, my... That could have been disastrous.”
Grinning, he nodded as he shoved his jeans down his long, heavily muscled legs and kicked them over to join her nightgown where it lay on the floor. “When I got up to go get a drink, I just grabbed a pair of jeans. I didn’t bother putting on underwear.”
Fee had purposely kept her eyes above his waist in the pool, but as she gazed at him now, she realized how truly magnificent his body was. Chance’s shoulders were impossibly wide, his chest and abdomen sculpted with muscles made hard from years of ranch work. As her gaze drifted lower, she caught her breath. She’d felt his arousal when they’d gone skinny-dipping, but the strength of his desire for her was almost overwhelming.
“Don’t ever doubt that I want you, Fee,” he said, taking her into his arms. He lowered his head to softly kiss her lips, then nibbled his way down to the slope of her breast. “You’re the most desirable woman I’ve ever met.”
Her pulse raced as he slowly kissed his way to the hardened peak. But the moment he took the tip into his mouth, it felt as if her heart stopped and time stood still. Never in her entire twenty-nine years had she experienced anything as exquisite or electrifying as the feel of Chance’s soft kiss on her rapidly heating body. When he turned his attention to her other breast, her head fell back and she found it hard to draw in enough air.
“Does that feel good?” he asked.
Unable to speak, she merely nodded.
Taking a step back, he held her gaze with his as he hooked his thumbs in the waistband of her bikini panties and slowly pulled them down her legs. When they fell to her ankles and she stepped out of them, he smiled and wrapped his arms around her. The feel of her softer skin pressed to his hard flesh caused her to sag against him.
He swung her up into his arms to carefully place her on the bed and she didn’t think she’d ever felt more cherished. She watched him reach into the bedside table to remove a foil packet, then tucking it under his pillow, Chance stretched out on the bed beside her. He’d no sooner taken her back into his arms when lightning flashed outside and a loud clap of thunder caused the windows to rattle.
When the lamp flickered several times, he gathered her to him. “It looks like we might lose power.”
The feel of all of him against her caused a shiver of excitement to course through her. “I’d forgotten it was even storming.”
“And I intend to make sure you forget about it again,” he said, covering her mouth with his.
He kissed her tenderly and ran his hand along her side to her hip. The light abrasion of his calloused palm as he leisurely caressed her was breathtaking, but when he moved his hand to touch her intimately, Fee wasn’t certain she would ever breathe again.
As he stroked her with a feathery touch, the ache of unfulfilled desire coiled inside her. She needed him more than she’d ever needed anything in her life, but she wanted to touch him—to learn about him the same as he was learning about her.
When she moved her hands from his chest and found him, he went completely still a moment before he groaned. “You’re going to ruin...all my...good intentions, Fee.”
“What
