HE’D TURNED HER DOWN.
The knowledge should have been enough to sway Abby from her current plan, but it wasn’t.
She hadn’t made it through boot camp and years of special training by being easily discouraged. When she made up her mind to do something, she did it.
Now was no different.
While Brent had turned her down, he hadn’t wanted to turn her down. He’d wanted to reach out, pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. She’d seen as much in the stiff set of his muscles. The flare of desire in his eyes. The tense set to his jaw. He’d wanted her, but he’d held back.
He was holding back now.
She watched as he sat behind the steering wheel, his hands clenching the wheel, as if he couldn’t quite decide what to do.
While he might not be able to make up his mind, she’d already made up hers. If putting on a sexy outfit hadn’t been enough to push him past the point of no return, she would just have to try taking it off. Slowly.
She leaned over and flipped on the ancient radio that sat on a nearby table. A turn of the knob and she cleared away the static and tuned in to a local country station. A twangy, sexy Big and Rich song filled her ears and she closed her eyes. The beat filled her head and thrummed through her body. She started to move her hips from side to side. Pushing her arms into the air, she slid her hands beneath her hair and lifted the weight, the same way she’d seen Winona demonstrate during her pole dancing snippet.
The realization that Brent was parked outside, watching her from his car made her heart pound and her blood race. Her body came alive, her nerves buzzing, and her movements grew more seductive as she listened to the lyrics about saving horses and riding cowboys.
She danced for the next few seconds, lost in the rhythm of the song and the seductive edge, until the music finally faded into a slow tune by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
Chancing a peek to see if Brent was still watching, she found the car empty. Disappointment rushed through her as she came to a dead stop and stared through the window. And then came the insecurity.
Maybe she’d read him wrong. Heaven knew it wouldn’t be the first time. She’d been so convinced that Hockey Hunk had returned her feelings, so dead set in the notion that he loved her as desperately as she loved him that she’d poured out her feelings that night only to have them thrown back into her face.
There’d been no feelings involved now. Just lust. And pride.
She was such an idiot.
Then and now.
“Don’t stop on my account.” The deep, sultry voice brought her whirling around to find Brent standing in the corner of the room. His eyes gleamed. Tension held his body tight. His muscles bunched beneath his white T-shirt. Taut lines carved his face, making him seem harsh, fierce, predatory.
She glanced at the closed door. She hadn’t heard it open. No footsteps. Nothing. It was as if he’d slid through the keyhole. “How did you get in here—” she started, but then he was right in front of her, his fingertip pressed to her lips.
“Don’t talk,” he murmured. “Just finish what you started.”
Suddenly the specifics of how he’d gotten into her room ceased to matter. The only important thing was that he was there. Right in front of her. Watching again. Waiting.
She licked her lips and touched a finger to her throat, to the frantic pounding of her pulse. Her hand lingered before she slid a finger to the edge of her dress, tracing the line where warm flesh met spandex before moving to the spaghetti strap.
Hooking her finger beneath, she slid the stretchy material down over her shoulder. She did the same with the other strap until the material caught only on her aroused nipples. She traced the indentation of one, fingering the peak until a gasp trembled from her lips.
Brent watched, his eyes dark and hooded and bright, bright blue—
Wait a second.
He didn’t have blue eyes. He had green eyes. Vivid, grass-green eyes that made her think of lazy summer days and endless stretches of pasture. She blinked and sure enough, his eyes were green again.
Again? They were always green. You’re so worked up that you’re not thinking straight.
And how. Her hands trembled. Her body shook.
“More,” he murmured, the one word throaty and raw and desperate.
A surge of feminine power went through her and she pushed the material down over her aroused nipples, to her waist. She eased it over her hips, her thighs, her knees, until it puddled around her ankles.
Leaning down, she grasped the edge of the dress and tried to step free. Her heel caught and she stumbled backward.
“Easy.” Brent caught her, his strong, powerful hands steady on her arms.
Heat rushed to her cheeks, but he didn’t seem the least put off by her clumsiness. His gaze smoldered. His touch lingered for a long moment, as if he hated to let her go. He did.
He forced his hands away and stepped back to give her the floor again.
She drew a deep, shaky breath and watched the flare of desire in his eyes when her breasts lifted up and out. The sight fed her confidence and she reached for her front bra clasp. A twist of her fingers and the cups fell aside. Cool air slid over her bare breasts, but then his gaze chased away the sudden chill as quickly as it had come. Her heart pounded harder. Her blood rushed faster.
Just like that, a drop of sweat slid down her temple. She was hot. A feeling that had nothing to do with the failing air conditioner and everything to do with the fire that burned between them.
She touched the undersides of her breasts, cupping the soft mounds, weighing them and feeling the heat of her own touch for a long, delicious moment. All the while, she imagined that it was Brent touching her, searing her.
She skimmed her palms over her nipples, down the plane of her stomach, to the waistband of her panties. The moment she felt the soft cotton, doubt pushed past the desire drumming at her temples. She wore plain regulation panties without a hint of lace. No sequins. No beading. Nothing even remotely sexy.
When she’d bought the new clothes, why oh why hadn’t she opted for new undies, too?
Because while she was, indeed, female, she didn’t think like one. She thought in terms of comfort rather than appearance. Functionality rather than seduction.
Brent Braddock didn’t seem to notice. He stared at her as if she wore the skimpiest thong. His gaze gleamed with excitement. Desperation. Hunger.
Impatience rushed through her, chasing away the insecurity and filling her with pure, raw need. A need she had to satisfy or else.
She pushed the panties down and toed them to the side. When she leaned down to work at the straps of the shoe, Brent’s voice stopped her.
“Leave them on. They’re sexy.”
You’re sexy.
His deep voice echoed in her head, but she didn’t see his lips move. Before she could wonder about it, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers in a quick, hungry kiss that sent electricity zinging from the point of contact.
The sensation ended all too soon and he pulled away. Then he simply stood there. Staring at her. Waiting for more.
She quickly obliged. She touched the tip of one breast and circled before moving to the other. She rubbed her nipple and squeezed, making her own breath catch before she moved lower, over her belly button, her pelvis, to the damp, swollen flesh between her legs. She stroked herself and her nerves hummed. Another lingering stroke and she pushed deep inside her drenched flesh.
Pressure gripped her, so sweet and intense, and she gasped. She’d pleasured herself many times before, but it had never felt the way it did now. With Brent so close. So interested.
She fanned her fingers, pushing and wiggling until her body swayed from the desire gripping her.
But it wasn’t enough. She wanted his fingers inside of her. His touch. Him.
And he wanted her.
“Just sex,” he murmured, his gaze suddenly wary. “That’s all this is. I don’t want to date you or get to know you or listen to your life story. I’m not looking for a relationship.”
“Neither am I.” She closed the few inches that separated them. Staring up into his heated gaze, she murmured, “Your turn.”
He hesitated a split-second and she feared he would turn and walk away, the way he’d done last night. And today.
Not this time.
Instead, he reached out and rasped one nipple with his knuckle. Pleasure bolted through her and she caught a gasp that bubbled from her lips.
He slid his arms around her and down the small of her back until he cupped her buttocks. As if she weighed nothing, he pulled her legs up on either side of him and lifted her. He settled her firmly against the rock-hard length barely contained by his zipper.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and lost herself to the delicious friction as he rocked her. The course material of his jeans rasped against her sensitive flesh, and pleasure rushed through her, igniting every nerve ending until her body glowed from the feel of his.
A day’s growth of beard rubbed against the tender flesh of her neck, the slope of her breasts, chafing her and stirring her sensitive skin. He arched her backward, drew one swollen nipple into his mouth and sucked her so hard she almost fainted from the pleasure.
The sensation was both pleasure and pain as he suckled and nipped with his teeth. No man had ever done that and she arched as warmth gushed between her legs from the pure intensity.
Then he captured her lips in a kiss that sent her senses reeling. His tongue tangled with hers, delving and tasting until she could barely breathe.
He turned and she felt the mattress at her back. He leaned back and made quick work of his jeans until he stood before her wearing nothing but a look of pure intent.
She leaned up on her elbows as her gaze swept him from head to toe. Muscles carved his torso, from his bulging biceps and shoulders to his ripped abdomen. Dark, silky hair sprinkled his chest, narrowing to a tiny whorl of silk that bisected his abs before spreading into a soft nest that circled his sizeable erection. A drop of pearly liquid beaded on the plum-like head of his penis and she had the insane urge to lean forward and taste him.
Before she had the chance, he turned and retrieved a condom from his pocket.
He tore open the foil packet and rolled it down his hard length. Catching her bent knees in his hands, he parted her and gazed at the heart of her.
No man had ever looked at her so fiercely, so intently and a wave of doubt spiraled through her. She tried to close her legs.
“Don’t be shy now. Not with me.” His gaze caught and held hers. “Not ever with me.”
She nodded and let herself open. He looked his fill, his gaze roving over her, his eyes flaring so hot and bright that she felt her own body temperature rise.
When she was this close to going up in flames, he leaned over her and plunged his hard, hot length inside, until flesh met flesh and he filled her completely.
The feeling took her breath away and her heart stopped for a long moment. She’d never felt as close to a man before.
Sure, she’d had sex. But it had always been swift and to the point. The primary goal? To get to the good stuff. The orgasm itself.
This was different. This was the good stuff. His body flush against hers. His lips driving her insane. His hands roaming over her body. His erection rasping her tender insides.
He pushed himself an inch deeper before he started to withdraw. She clutched at his shoulders, desperate for more as he plunged back inside. In and out. Over and over. Until her nerves spun out of control.
Sensation snatched her up and whirled her around like a tornado. The air rushed from her lungs and the room started to spin.
He pushed deeper, harder, faster, until she couldn’t take anymore. Pleasure crashed over her, turning her this way and that, spinning her faster than she’d ever thought possible in her wildest, most erotic fantasies. This was a fantasy, she reminded herself even though it felt so incredibly real. The roughness of his skin, the power of his body, the possessiveness as he stared down at her and bucked into her one final time.
His back arched, his muscles strained. His eyes glittered, blazing a bright, brilliant purple—
She blinked and the vivid color faded into a sea of sparkling green. Confusion rushed through her, but then he rolled onto his back and pulled her flush against his side. His arms went around her and he held her tight, as if she were his one and only. His woman. And he never meant to let her go.
It was a crazy, hopelessly romantic thought. The kind straight out of a cheesy romance novel, but then that’s what this was. A fairytale.
A fantasy.
One that would end all too quickly once Rayne arrived in Skull Creek and she returned to her life.
It would be over all too soon, which was why she intended to relish every moment of what was happening right now.
She closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into his embrace.