A Cowboy for Holly

Chapter 7

He was everything she remembered and more. In seconds, they were both naked and sprawled across her too-narrow bed. The last of twilight lit her room with a silvery glow, and she looked up into his eyes and saw all the passion and warmth that had haunted her dreams for a week.

He bent his head to take first one of her nipples, then the other, into his mouth. She gasped and arched into him, sliding her hands along his back, feeling the muscles beneath his tanned skin flex and bunch. He didn't waste time and she didn't want him to. It had been too long since she'd touched him. Since she had held him this close to her. And it wasn't close enough. Not yet.

Electricity seemed to arc back and forth between them, and Holly gave herself over to what only Ben could do to her. Her mind blanked out and her body took over. Sensations poured through her as his hands caressed every line, every curve. He kissed her and she melted into him, taking everything he offered and giving everything she had.

And when, finally, he reached down to grab his pants and pull a condom out of his wallet, she could only gasp for breath and smile. "Came prepared, did you?"

He gave her a fast grin. "Came hopeful. Determined. Damned if I haven't missed you, Holly."

"I've missed you, too, Ben," she admitted, knowing she was giving him the ammunition to tear her heart to pieces later.

"I'm glad to hear that," he told her and quickly sheathed himself.

Then he was moving over her, covering her body with his. Holly reached up and smoothed her palms across his chest, her fingernails lightly scoring his skin. He shivered and she bit back the smile that wanted to curve her mouth.

"Now, Ben. Please, now."

He entered her in one long, slow slide and she gasped at the tender invasion. He filled her completely and she sighed as he moved inside her. Lifting her hips, she echoed his movements and fell into the rhythm he set. Tenderness faded and became desperate passion as two people came together again in a dance they knew well.

Her body coiled with tension and she raced toward completion. Hands grabbing at his shoulders, legs wrapped around his hips, Holly clung to him, kissing him, breathing in the scent of him. And when her release crashed down on top of her, she heard him whispering....

"Take me, Holly," he said, voice tight with need. "Take all of me and let me have you..."

She was still shaking, still riding that incredible wave of pleasure when she felt him follow her. Then, wrapping her arms around him, she held him tight as the world exploded.

***

Ben reached over and turned on the lamp beside the bed. With his woman in his arms, he could put up with anything. Including the damn pull-out mattress and the bar beneath it that was digging into the small of his back.

He smiled to himself briefly. His woman. That was what she was, whether she was willing to admit it or not. He'd known it from the jump. From the first moment he'd seen her standing outside the corral fence, watching him take one of the new mares through her paces. One look was all it had taken to draw him in, and damned if he was going to let her get away from him now that he'd found her again.

"Glad we got that settled," he murmured and dropped a kiss on top of her head. One hand smoothed her silky hair back from her face, then slid down to stroke her shoulder, her arm.

"Mmm..." She sighed and snuggled in closer to him, her head on his chest, her arm draped across his middle.

"Gotta say, though, I won't mind being back home where there's enough room for both of us in my bed."

"Uh-huh." She paused, then tipped her head back to look up at him. "Wait, what?"

"Home. To the ranch." He chucked her chin with one fingertip and bent to kiss her briefly. "I'm only here for the weekend, Holly. I came here to get you. To bring you home. We both know we belong together."

"You? What? Me?"

He grinned. "Think this is the first time I've seen you semi-speechless."

"You can't mean that. Any of it."

"Damn straight I mean it. And as nice as this was, I've got to say I won't miss this bed of yours. It's hardly big enough for you and you're a tiny thing. Me? My damn feet are hanging over the edge."

"Ben..." She squirmed against him, trying to ease back, but he kept his arm around her, holding her in place.

"Don't," he told her, somehow knowing that she was going to try to put distance between them. He shifted her over onto her back and levered himself over her. "Don't start pulling away. Holly, you know you want this as much as I do."

"It doesn't change anything, though." She reached up and cupped his cheek in her palm. "You still live in Montana, I don't. You're still rich, I'm not—"

"And what?" he demanded as his temper spiked. The woman had a head like a rock. "I'm going to decide someday that your blood's not blue enough, is that it?"

"Maybe," she said, and pushed at his chest.

He relented and eased away from her so she could scoot off the bed. While he watched, she scrambled for her clothes and dragged them back on. Ben felt as though he was standing outside himself watching this whole scene play out, and damned if he could think of a way to help himself.

Irritated and just a little frustrated, he reached for his jeans and tugged them on, standing beside the narrow torture rack she called a bed. Glaring at her now, he said, "So no matter what I say, you'll keep comparing me to the jerk you knew before."

"Oh, Ben," she said on a sigh, "I know you're a better man than he was. But—"

"Yeah," he muttered darkly, "but."

He stomped into his boots, snatched up his hat from the floor and absently skimmed his fingers over the brim. When he lifted his gaze to hers, he shook his head and said, "You're wrong, Holly. About all of it."

"Ben—"

He settled his hat on his head and, still looking at her, said softly, "There's one more thing you should know, Holly. I love you."

She swayed in place as if his words had had a physical impact. Her eyes went wide, and she took a hard, fast breath. "Ben, I wish—"

Whatever else she might have said died unspoken.

He continued. "Well, anyway, that's what I came to New York to tell you. So—" he paused and waved one hand to encompass her small, colorful apartment "—when I've gone home and you're here...alone...I want you to remember that."

He walked to the door and closed it softly behind him.

Holly's knees gave out and she dropped to the edge of the bed and let the tears come.