Chapter Fourteen
The day was one of Texas’ glorious winter gifts, the sun blazing yellow, the sky a heavenly blue. To Sarah and Reno everything seemed newly washed, the way their lives had suddenly become. The air had a fresh scent to it, and even the birds seemed to be singing just for them.
When they pulled up at the ranch, Sarah got out of the car and Reno came around to her side, pulling her body to his. He leaned down and kissed her with such thoroughness her knees were weak. He had held back for so long. Now the dam had broken, and he couldn’t keep his hands away from her.
“Careful,” she told him, “or we night find ourselves naked in the dirt right here.”
He chuckled. “At least, it will give those idiots peering out the window something to look at.”
Sarah looked over his shoulder to see Lindsey racing toward them from the house, followed more slowly by Nick and Tony.
“I’ll get Molly,” Reno told her.
“Sarah, it’s so good to see you out and looking so great.” Tony winked at her. “My brother’s lucky he got to you first, or I’d give him a run for his money.”
“Well, she’s taken,” Reno told him, even as he smiled.
Lindsey hugged Sarah. “You look absolutely amazing. As if you’re a whole new person.”
“I feel like it,” Sarah said, laughing.
“And you’re recovered from your surgery?”
Sarah nodded. “The doctor said I heal fast. I’m glad, because I want us to put that whole nightmare behind us.”
Lindsey looked over her shoulder to where Reno was holding and cuddling Molly.
“But something good came out of it,” she reminded Sarah.
“A lot of good.” She lowered her voice. “He told me about Maggie last night.”
Lindsey’s eyes widened. “Good for him.” She hugged Sarah. “I see all good things ahead for the two of you.”
“Me, too.”
“For the first time in what seems like forever, he’s relaxed and at ease. He’s actually smiling.”
Reno shook hands with both men. Nobody said anything, but the emotion that passed among them all was almost tangible.
“I think Molly’s about ready for her nap. Is the other crib still set up?”
“It is. Let’s get her upstairs. Jason’s already napping. We’ll have a few hours to act like adults.”
The afternoon was tranquil. That was the only word for it. They watched football games, Sarah and Reno next to each other on the couch so close not even a sheet of paper would fit between them. He held her hand most of the time, the rough texture of the warm skin feeling good against her palm. Even when they ate, he found excuses to touch her in some small way.
When it was time to leave, Sarah got Molly ready. She smiled as Reno, without prodding, put the baby seat in the car and took Molly’s things from Mary. She loved seeing the two of them together. If they never had a biological child of their own Molly would be plenty for them.
The little girl dozed on the ride home and barely woke when Sarah took her in the house. When Sarah came into her room after settling Molly in her crib, Reno was stretched out on her bed, stark naked, hands behind his head and a lazy grin on his face.
“We should think about redecorating the room,” Sarah told him, dragging her eyes away from his swollen, waiting cock. “Something that would personalize it and make it truly ours. New colors, new furniture.” She tilted her head. “Does that appeal to you?”
The look in his eyes told her he was only interested in one thing. “Sounds interesting. We’ll talk about it in the morning. Tonight, you’ll have to be satisfied with just me.” He reached out a hand to her. “Come to me, Sarah.”
She drew her sweater over her head, tossing it to the side, then shimmied out of her jeans. After the previous night, she found herself surprisingly unselfconscious undressing in front of him.
“You take my breath away,” he told her as she joined him on the bed.
“Same goes.”
They made love as if they’d been doing this forever, knowing the secrets places on their bodies and how to move just so.
“I hope we get ourselves under some kind of control soon,” he muttered when they lay back, spent. “Otherwise we’re going to die from happiness.”
Sarah laughed, a warm, bubbling sound. “They say that’s the best way to go.”
He rolled onto his side and tucked her up against him, pulling the covers over them both. “I love the feel of you in my arms,” he told her. “Sleep, baby. We’ll have good dreams.”
****
When Sarah brought Molly downstairs the next morning to feed her, she found Reno already in the kitchen. She was grateful to see he’d brewed a pot of coffee and poured a cup for each of them. He leaned against the counter, drinking his while he watched her feed Molly.
He wasn’t dressed in a suit today, even though it was Monday. He’d pulled on gray slacks and a red V-neck sweater. Casual clothes. While she finished with Molly, he called Angela, his new secretary, to tell her he’d be out for the day. Sarah wondered what that was all about.
“You don’t have to stay home today,” she told him. “We’ll be okay.”
“Much as I hate to admit it,” he said grinning, “I think they’ll get along at Guardian without me. I just hope they don’t find out.”
Sarah settled Molly in her playpen with her favorite toys and turned on the mobile attached to one side. That would keep her occupied while she fixed breakfast for herself and Reno. She could feel his eyes on her as she moved around the kitchen.
They were some time getting through breakfast, because it turned into a sensual exercise. Sarah made scrambled eggs and sausage, and Reno insisted on feeding her the sausage by hand. As he placed each spicy piece on her tongue, she sucked at his fingertips, touching the edges with her tongue. That made him lean over and trace her lips, licking the taste of the sausage from them. He fed her the eggs one forkful at a time, first himself, then her, his tongue tracing her lips after each taste. When he thrust his tongue into her mouth, she sucked on that, too, loving the mingled taste of coffee and Reno.
Cleaning up became even more of a challenge. She stood at the counter in her nightgown while Reno cleared the table. With each delivery she felt his hot erection probing at her buttocks. She had barely gotten the last dish in the dishwasher before he swept her up in his arms and carried her upstairs.
Pulling the covers back with one hand, he deposited her on the bed, pulled her gown over her head, stepped out of his sweat pants, then mounted her. She was wet, as she always seemed to be when he touched her. In two days, she had gone from ice maiden to wanton, carnal need consuming her so strongly she couldn’t shut it off.
His mouth took hers in a hungry, greedy kiss, his tongue dueling with hers, her own twisting against his. He licked the roof of her mouth and the inside of her cheeks, each stroke of his tongue sending sensations straight to the heart of her pussy. She threaded her fingers through the heavy silk of Reno’s hair, pulling his head even closer to her.
His hands slid down her body to find her nipples, pinching and rolling them until they stood up in hard, stiff peaks. Her heart raced and her pulse throbbed as her body responded to his touch. He shifted his body back and forth so his cock rubbed against her clitoris, driving her need higher than she’d thought possible.
She slid her hands around to find his flat nipples, pinching them as he had hers and scraping her fingernails over them. Reno lifted his head, the rhythm of his breathing changing and becoming uneven.
“I want you now,” he rasped.
She opened her legs as he moved into position. They were both so ready, when he slid his cock inside her, she took the entire length of him in one stroke. They lay still for a moment, savoring the feel of her slick inner muscles grasping at his shaft. Then the room was silent except for the sound of skin against skin, heavy panting, and their mingled shouts of joy as their climax crashed through them.
Reno collapsed against her, catching his weight on his forearms as they struggled to drag air into their oxygen-depleted lungs and calm their galloping hearts.
“That was…incredible,” Sarah said in a weak voice when she could speak again.
Reno kissed her softly. “Every time with you is incredible.”
“Did we save enough energy to transfer all your clothes to my room?” she asked. “That’s on our agenda for this morning. Remember?”
“I don’t think I could move my body, much less my clothes.” Reno chuckled, but he slid off the bed and pulled his pants back on. “All right, woman. I’m up and on my feet. Let’s get busy.”
When they were finished moving his clothes and personal belongings from one room to the other, Sarah surveyed the results with great satisfaction. To her, the sight of their things mingled together was an affirmation of the pledge they had made to each other and the night before.
“Pretty pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” Reno wrapped his arms around her from behind and tucked her head under his chin.
“You bet. Now I feel as if we’re married.”
“Oh, we’re married all right,” he told her in his deep voice. “Trust me. There’s no doubt about that.”
“Don’t forget, I want us to think about making some major changes in here.”
“We will. We’ll do something. But I have other things on my mind at the moment.” He stood for a long moment, looking at the closet again, scanning the clothes. He had the same speculative look in his eyes Sarah had noticed in the kitchen.
Sarah hugged herself nervously, wondering if something about the closet bothered him. He turned her around to face him, a somewhat unsatisfied look on his face. Was something making him uncomfortable?
“Is my face smudged?” she asked at last. “Why are you staring at me that way?”
“Because it gives me enormous pleasure.”
She could see desire smoldering in his eyes. And something else, something she couldn’t quite identify.
“What’s going on behind that smile?” she asked. “Are you hatching something?”
“You bet.” He grinned at her. “Do you think your folks would take Molly until after supper?”
“I’m sure they would if they don’t have plans. They love having her with them. Why?”
He rested his hands lightly on her shoulders. “I want to take my beautiful bride shopping, if that’s all right.”
“Shopping? For what?” She was totally bewildered.
“A new wardrobe.”
“But Reno, I have—”
“Not what I want you to have. You need more things like the outfit you wore yesterday. It gives you, oh, I don’t know, electricity?” He placed his hands on either side of her face and studied her. “Please let me indulge you. I had such a scare when you were shot, I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting to do things like this for you.” He winked. “And wear that outfit from yesterday.”
Reno had other things in mind, too, but he’d need to make a few calls to accomplish them. He’d do it while they shopped, when Sarah was tucked out of sight in a dressing room. He had always looked at money as just a means to an end. He’d never had it when he was younger so he’d worked hard to get it. Now that he had more than he knew what to do with, he enjoyed being able to use it in a manner that gave him real satisfaction.
Sarah’s parents were delighted to babysit as she’d expected and even offered to keep Molly overnight. Soon, Sarah and Reno were headed downtown to the Rivercenter Mall.
“I feel as if I’ve stepped into a reality television show,” she told him as he moved her along from store to store.
“Believe me, it’s real enough.” He grinned.
One thing was certain. The man had unerring taste. He sorted through displays, shooing her into dressing rooms, salesgirls following her with arms loaded. There was no question he was in charge today, but he was relaxed and comfortable, a man showing off his wife. He was having fun and so was she.
Sarah chuckled in one store at the sight of him lounging in a chair with an ankle resting on the opposite knee, looking magnificent.
“All the women are drooling over you,” she whispered when she came out to model an outfit for him.
“If you ask me, I think it’s the men who can’t take their eyes off you.” He touched her hand possessively. “I must be sure to let them know you’re taken.”
They smiled at each other, a smile full of intimate secrets that shut out everyone else.
While Sarah tried on clothes, Reno put the rest of his plan into action. He made calls on his cell phone, speaking in a low voice and watching for Sarah to appear. Things were coming together exactly the way he wanted.
By the time they stopped for coffee late in the afternoon, she was glad to have a minute to catch her breath.
“You must be out of your mind,” she protested again. “I don’t need all these clothes.”
“Yes, you do. You need more color, more…everything. Besides, I love buying things for you, so don’t argue with me. I’m a man who knows his own mind. Or so they tell me.” He chuckled.
“I feel like a kept woman.” She smiled.
“You are,” he said. “And I’m the one who’s keeping you. For a very long time.”
“Where did you learn so much about women’s clothes, anyway?”
“Watching my brother. And don’t ask me for details.” He grinned. “My lips are sealed.”
Reno had planned for dinner on the Riverwalk, but by the time they finished at the mall, he agreed with Sarah that home looked a lot better. “We can pick up pizza or something on the way,” he said. “That okay with you?”
“You bet. I’ll be glad to get home.”
It took both of them to carry the bags to the bedroom. Sarah hung up the things that needed hanging and left the rest for the next day.
“Right now, all I want is a shower,” she said.
She was already standing under the streaming hot water, letting it work on her still sore muscles when she felt him beside her, a hand sliding the soap along her spine.
“I believe this is my bathroom now, too,” Reno said in a low voice. “And my shower.”
Her fatigue dissipated as he slowly lathered her body. He made her lean forward, bracing her arms against the wall, while he covered her back from her shoulders to her ankles, up the insides of her thighs and into the cleft of her buttocks, his fingers lingering there and moving in a gentle motion. Then he turned her around and did the same with her front, circling the nipples and sliding lathered fingers into her sheath, paying careful attention to the sensitive flesh inside. As she began to shake with desire, he stopped and handed her the soap.
“Not yet,” he said. “My turn.”
He stood while Sarah moved the soap over his rock-hard body, covering every inch, rubbing his flat nipples until they were stiff, spreading the lather over his erection, running her finger over the tip, watching his face darken with desire. He turned off the shower, dried them both off, and carried her to the bed. She had thought herself too tired to want this tonight, especially after making love that morning, but his touch inflamed her and gripped her with a violent need.
He made slow, careful love to her, drawing out each orgasm until she was sure she would lose her mind, bringing her to climax again and again before entering her.
“Tonight I want nothing from you except to enjoy what I do to you,” he murmured in a husky voice. “You make me feel like a man possessed, Sarah. I can’t get enough of you.”
He was fierce and wild, at the same time gentle, claiming her with his love.
At last, he let her rest, tucking her in against him, her head on his shoulder. The last thing she remembered was saying, “We forgot to eat the pizza,” and hearing his laugh rumbling deep in his chest. Then she slept.