Chapter Fifteen

 

 

 

 

Dinner had gone by in a blur. Carolina replied as if on auto pilot. This time it was just Sarah, Wade, Matt, and her. There was talk of a picnic tomorrow. Both she and Matt had agreed politely, but not coldly. They kept trading looks that made her face feel as if she were of victim of sunstroke. Once, Sarah even asked if she needed some aloe for her sunburn.

By nine o’clock they returned to his house. Matt escorted her to the guest room, then all but pushed her inside. He slammed the door behind her, not giving her the chance to say yes, no, or maybe go to hell. From inside the room, she heard the front door slam shut. She couldn’t see outside toward the front of the house but the scream of his tires peeling out of the drive was unmistakable.

Where was he going? The image of his housekeeper flooded Carolina’s thoughts. No way. Becca was so infatuated. No man with any sense would dabble in casual sex where the woman was hopelessly in love. She bet McLemore was clueless that the girl was hung up on him. On her way to the ranch, the Uber driver had passed the local bar. The McLemores lived outside what was truly a small town. Yet it contained a large bar and dance club for the local ranches. Only an idiot couldn’t connect the dots. If there was a stud about town, Matt fit the bill. As did all his single brothers, even Cory was a charmer.

Mr. McLemore in action could do a meet and greet in five, sweet-talking his way into any woman’s bed. Or heart? There had to be a line a mile long of breathless cowgirls angling for his attention.

She hadn’t meant to push Matt away by acting like he didn’t matter. Carolina wanted to smack her palm against her head. Hard! That was some plan she’d come up with. No rules. Short-term.

Dammit! Red-hot anger burst in her chest. Carolina picked up a brush and hurled it at the bed. Jesus, he made her so mad! She wanted to throw something else. Throw everything in the room right out the door. Hurl away her emotions! If only it were possible to siphon away frustration. She didn’t have anything or anyone to fight in front of her.

Double dammit!

Glaring about the room, she found herself staring at her suitcases. Well, at least she done one thing right. She’d brought a pair of trainers. The only way to vent her frustration involved a run. This ought to be the perfect place. The road from Matt’s house to the main drag was about a mile, at least. She could run it up and back; by then she ought to feel some relief.

It took ten minutes to find her shoes and change into running shorts and a tee. Then like a bat out of hell, she flung open the terrace doors and bolted. There was a full moon and the road glimmered in the silvery light. Carolina began jogging but soon she was full out running. Sweat poured down her face and with the back of her arm she wiped her brow. At times she couldn’t keep up a full-on run, so she jogged. At the main road, she spun around and jogged all the way back to Matt’s. Her legs turned to jelly as she opened the terrace door.

She kicked off her trainers and didn’t recall crossing the room. At the bedside, she sank down on the cool softness. Her head fell onto the pillows. Errant droplets of sweat burned her eyes—at least that’s what she told herself it felt like. On the way back to Matt’s, she’d run out her anger. Then a new trail of moisture—one leaking from the corners of her eyes—washed down her face.

Lying there, tired, spent, overwrought confirmed by the runaway thud of her heart, Carolina’s only game plan amounted to focusing on her next breath. Then the one after that… She closed her eyes and Matt filled in the spaces of her mind. That Aramis scent of him weaved a thread of something evocative through her senses. But each time she tried to hold on to the memory it fled from her grasp. Yet deep in her core, she knew… oh god, she knew. This time, she couldn’t outrun this fiery attraction to one cowboy. Her body responded as if he were in the room, right there next to her on the bed, and she moaned his name, “Matt.”

***

 

Had it been hours since she’d fallen asleep or minutes? Carolina pressed her cell phone screen. It was nearly midnight. One phrase and one cowboy kept returning to her. Short-term. That’s when Matt’s expression had darkened in anger. Duh! It was like being on the receiving end of a hard volley that she’d lobbed his way. Not very nice.

Carolina grimaced from the prick of shame twisting her stomach. Wide awake, she bolted upright. There had to be more. One moment they were off to FedEx, then the next they were separated by doors and walls and words.

She scrambled out of bed. Her clothing was wrinkled and dried sweat coated her cheeks. With her makeup bag in hand, she went to the bathroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth. Patting her mouth with the corner of the towel, she held her gaze in the mirror. Her eyes didn’t look back at her, but searched instead for the answer as to what Matt was doing at that moment.

She wasn’t a prisoner, just not the perfect guest she imagined Matt was accustomed to “entertaining.” But if she wanted answers, they’d wouldn’t come by way of osmosis. She had to search for the truth and take it by the horns, if it came to it.

Outside in the hall it was dark, but not pitch black, and she walked toward the foyer, the dividing point of the house. Beyond, there was the living room and on the other side of Matt’s house lay his room.

She crossed the smooth floors, quickly glancing at the front doors, and wondering if he had returned. His keys were in the bowl on the side table.

“I’m here,” he whispered from the dark.

Her heart leapt into her throat. “Whoa, you scared me!” Carolina would’ve walked right by him.

Matt slowly rose from the sofa. “That wasn’t my intent, sugar. Christ, what happened to us?” He pulled her into his arms.

For seconds, he didn’t do more than hold her. Maybe it was her or him, or them, but they started to move. Gently swaying. No music, only their breathing and the sound of their feet moving over the floor. Matt’s lips brushed against hers, without stopping, light as a breeze and warm.

His touch made Carolina want more, much more. She was thirsty for his kisses. “Please, don’t be angry.”

“I’m not.” Matt’s mouth hovered above her lips. “What do you want?”

She closed her eyes for a brief moment. “You,” she breathed out. “I want you.”

His lips caught hold of hers. He delved his tongue into her mouth, exploring and savoring, giving her the chance to relax under his touch until she was heated and ready to go on.

Alone together, this didn’t seem at all farfetched. Not when his touch was gentle and sweet, and there wasn’t any danger of someone barging in on them. Carolina’s body responded to each sweep of his tongue. His hands arduously glided up and down her skin, going from pleasantly heated to warm, melting her restraint. Goosebumps flared on her skin each time Matt’s fingers trailed along her neck.

“I love how sensitive you are to my touch,” he whispered.

“You can’t imagine how your hands feel on me.”

She grazed her fingers over the muscular bands along his arms. Matt was shirtless and she didn’t lightly rub, but pressed her palms and pushed. The feel of his warm smooth skin was intoxicating. The friction of flesh over flesh sent bullets of molten pleasure through her body.

Matt bent and picked up a crystal goblet. He returned and pressed the edge to her lips. He tipped the glass and obliging him, she tasted the heady red wine. He sipped from the same spot on the glass. He offered her another sip.

It was even more intoxicating the second time. Matt drained the glass. She lightly fingered the cords on his neck as he swallowed. He towered over her like a fortress in the silent darkness. Only their breaths broke the stillness. Without warning, Matt framed her face within his large hands and their lips met. Evocatively, he kissed her until she returned his kiss, movement for movement.

Their coming together was like a dance. She followed his lead, their heads slanting and their hands rubbing, kneading, holding. When they moved, blindly kissing, it didn’t matter if they bumped into furniture and the wall. They were an island of hunger afloat in a sensual ricocheting dance of need and desire. Matt kept her body against his, a wall of hard muscle. They were hip-to-hip, heartbeats fluttering and echoing across chests.

Her insides pulsed as the ache to feel this man inside her cartwheeled. In a second, she’d be out of her head! The flames Matt ignited were unlike any she’d experienced. He took his time. Without haste, he taught her to relish the subtle. She wanted to cross over barriers of flesh, bone, and breath, move beyond words and thoughts into the timeless where they didn’t need to worry about today or the future.

“Come to my bedroom,” he said, still holding her tight in his arms.

“Show me the way, cowboy.”

Matt eased from her, drawing away the warmth of their contact. The absence made Carolina crave him all the more. Crave another chance to slide her tongue into his mouth to taste wine and smoke and him. She didn’t have to wait long. His arm snaked around her waist, rejoining their bodies. He led her to a different hall, down a corridor toward an open doorway.

One lamp shone in the corner. His massive king size bed was centered against the far wall, flanked by matching nightstands of dark wood. The room was open, as was his whole house. Done in blues and greens, his room reminded her of trees, sky, water.

Matt halted before they entered the room. He swung her against the hallway wall, pinning her with his body, and palming her face with his hands. “You’re the first woman I’ve brought back here. No one who I’ve dated has been in this house. Somehow, we got side-tracked today. Maybe it’s ‘cause we started out on the wrong foot back in Miami. My point is, I don’t bring women to the ranch just for the hell of it.” He gently shook her as if she needed help absorbing his message.

And she did. She understood he was trying to make her feel comfortable and that made a whole world of difference. He lit a fire and she was ready. None too gently, she twined his hair between her fingers and pressed up against him. “Just so you know, I don’t sleep around either, cowboy.”

He rotated and swept her into his room. Moonlight cast silvery shadows from the windows. Carolina looked up. There were mirrors on the ceilings and she asked, “What do you do with those?”

“They were a joke installed by my not-so-funny younger brother. On more than one occasion, I’ve contemplated removing them.” Matt shut the bedroom door and joined her next to the bed.

She eyed the mirrors, laughing. “Don’t. They might be a joke but they’re super sexy.”

He nuzzled her neck and she relaxed into his embrace. Tonight, she had no second thoughts. This was all about stepping outside herself, not trying to plan or formulate what her future held.

Matt traced a line from her jaw, down her neck, past her collarbone. At the hem of her shirt, he hooked his finger, and their eyes met. “Lift your arms, sugar.”

The material glided easily over her head. Shadows fell across his face until he smiled and his teeth flashed white in the darkness. Power emanated from him. He went to the night stand and struck a match. The burst of flame cast a column of light that licked up his face and chest. The man was seriously built. Over his carved pecs was a smattering of dark chest hair. His abs were taunt, toned; a smooth roadmap of grooves over planked muscle. Carolina didn’t have time to do much admiring, though.

Matt returned, lifting her chin so their gazes fused. “We’ll go as slow as you need or as fast as you can handle.”

“Sounds good.” Sounds perfect. She bit her bottom lip that had begun to quiver. The man seemed to know what to say to make her go from zero to hot and bothered.

He kissed her deeply and a decadent hush washed over Carolina. She grasped his muscular arms, needing someplace to anchor her wayward reaction. Her body tingled, alive with excitement.

“I need you. Inside me.” Carolina pulled her shorts down. She unhooked her bra and stood before him equally topless.

His eyes caressed her skin, tracing her breasts. Her nipples beaded into maddening points, beacons of ache and longing. It took all her control to hold back from crushing her body into his. Ever so gently, he moved his hands down her chest, making her breath hitch. Matt trailed the tip of his finger along the curve of her breast. He took possession of her nipple. No longer gentle, his fingers flicked, rolled and plucked the tip.

Sparks of pleasure shot through her body. Christ, his hands felt amazing! Staying still required every ounce of Carolina’s concentration. He captured her other breast and then once more, her mouth. The feel of him consumed her. A whole-body spasm unfurled and she trembled.

Matt bent his head down, taking her nipple into his warm mouth. He sucked her tip and delivered what she desperately needed.

Shivers raced up and down Carolina’s spine and she cried out, “That’s it!”

He alternated between her breasts, teasing her with languid licks to squeezing sucks and a biting nip. Carolina jerked. As if a switch had been flipped, an electrical jolt shot from her breasts to her sex. This was pure euphoria. She threaded her fingers through his hair, hungry to get closer to him, wanting him to consume her entirely. Matt groaned, pressing against her. The thrumming of anticipation tightened in her belly. Her longing for fulfilment roared to life.

She arched against his hard body, running her hands down his corded neck. Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she twisted in his arms, panting, “Cowboy, you’re driving me crazy.”

Matt lifted his head and their gazes bolted together. He cupped her crotch and squeezed, making her gasp into his face. Unwavering, he gritted out, “Let me.”

Stunned out of her mind, she nodded. Matt let go only to reclaim her entire body. His muscular arms encircled her waist, bringing her against him, crushing her breasts flush to his chest. He took ownership of her lips with a deep kiss that devoured her from the inside out.

So in need, Carolina pressed her hands down the front of his jeans. Groaning, she reached for and pulled the top button loose. She wiggled impatiently, taking hold of his waistband. Every muscle along his stomach hardened as she brushed across the head of his thick cock.

Power. That’s what this was. What they shared and she lingered, long enough to stroke the rigid bar of his erection up and down, not stopping until he was the one near the brink.

“How does that feel?” she rasped low in his ear.

“You’re playing with fire. Want to see what I’ve got waiting for you, keep teasing me.”

Oh but she would. This was a night of all nights.

Between kisses, he unzipped his jeans and unsheathed himself. Matt guided her hand along his length. Scorching desire filled Carolina. Ablaze, she stroked up his erection faster and ran her thumb over the bead of moisture at the slit.

“Yeah, like that.” Matt’s deep groan spurred her on.

She wanted to taste him and lowered to the floor until she was seated on her heels. Matt removed his boxers and jeans, fully freed. He was magnificently built. Saliva pooled in her mouth as he stroked his engorged cock. His thick erection rose from a base of black pubic hair. The sight of him working his flesh was so sexy and masculine. An erotic tease to her awaiting tongue. Her sex pulsed, glossed by her aching need to ride this cowboy.

Heat swirled under her skin. Thirsting for a taste, Carolina took hold of him. She licked the top of his crown, swirling her tongue around the head, enjoying how Matt groaned and held her face.

“Take it,” he ordered, pressing the crown into her mouth. “Suck it, baby. Slowly.”

Carolina loved how rough his voice sounded as he pumped his cock into her mouth. He smelled of musk and Aramis. He pushed past her lips, then retreated, staring down at her giving him head. Obeying, she dragged her tongue along the plump head, relishing his very male grunt. Thrusting again, Matt pumped his stalk. This time she took him deep, so deep. Over and over, he plunged in and out. He told her how good it felt, how hot her mouth was, and the things he’d do to her in his bed.

Tears welled in her eyes from his powerful pumping. Carolina sucked him deeper, harder—she didn’t want him to stop. Her sex was slick from her own arousal. In time with his thrusts, she worked her mouth over his erection, sucking the salty crystal droplets that kept coming.

“I’m gonna explode if you keep going.” Matt lifted her to stand. “Your turn, baby.”

They crossed to his wide bed where he pulled back on the bedspread. No sooner was she in his bed, did he capture her within his arms, pressing his mouth along the line of her jaw and down her neck. In a slide of his hand, her panties were plucked off her hips and down her legs. Now, she was equally free.

Matt pressed her down until she reclined on the pillows. His body was a welcome weight on hers, caging her between the bed and him. His mouth covered her lips, kissing her harder than before, a demanding intensity. He captured her breasts, nudging his rigid cock across her belly. He fondled her nipples and teased, no tormented her senses. At the brink, Carolina writhed, so worked up, so in need.

They clung to each other only stopping to catch their breaths. “Please,” she hissed. “I need you.”

“How much?” Matt’s eyes glittered dark passion.

God, she’d sell her soul! In a rush, she blurted out, “All the way.”

“Are you on birth control?”

Carolina could see herself reflected in those hooded depths and she replied, “Yeah. Now, stop with the questions!”

He laughed low, his warm breath caressing her breasts as he opened her thighs, running his hands down from her knees. With her heart thumping wildly, Carolina moaned and tried to not jump this man’s bones. Without a hurry in the goddam world, Matt grazed his fingers closer, closer, then yes! She arched as if to meet his fingers peeling apart her sex.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

She shivered, gasping for breath, needing him to do more than talk! Fisting the sheets, she spoke between gritted teeth, “Matt, please!”

Before she finished his name, he plunged his two large fingers into her sex. Oh God! He repeatedly thrust and stroked her deeply—stroked her till Carolina’s muscles tensed and jerked. Her hips pumped and grinded. Then she rocketed upward into the ether of ecstasy, flexing against Matt’s talented fingers.

She twisted the sheets in her fists, gasping with the force of her climax. Her mind gave up thinking, and she floated in pleasure. The waves gave way and she took a deep breath, coming back to Earth. “You’re wonderful,” she hummed.

Matt spread apart her thighs and held her in place, burying his mouth in her overstimulated sex.

Unprepared for more pleasure, Carolina bucked against his lips and yipped, “Matt!”

Unrelenting, he clasped her hips, holding her down on the bed. The waves started up, again. This wasn’t possible.

Oh, but it was.

Matt plunged his tongue inside her sex as if he would drink her into the bliss of his mouth. Between her legs pulsed faster, faster. He delivered her, up and over, pushing past the crest of thinking into a glowing pool of carnal rapture.

Carolina was still in a place of oblivion. Matt’s movements were shutter flashes of what she could grasp, still half-sex-dazed from two orgasms. He moved over her body, spreading her thighs apart. She arched up by instinct to his virile ferocity. Matt fit his crown at her opening. His hands gripped her hips. Then in a wicked slam, he plunged into her in one sumptuous thrust.

Once again, she rocketed toward a screaming release. Her senses reeled as he seated himself root deep in her sex.

“Caro,” he groaned. “You feel so good, I could fuck you all night.”

Holding onto this man, she was filled, stretched to the limit by his girth. Another pound of his large cock and Carolina drowned in glittery pleasure. Giddy and lust drunk, she was convinced she was going to lose all sense of reason.

Matt groaned, driving his entire length into her on another hard thrust. He flexed his body, then pumped with greater force, his hips slapping against hers on his powerful downstroke. How they made love was nothing short of an erotic, decadent dance of being taken, really taken by a man who knew how to use his equipment.

Thrust after merciless thrust, he drove into her, his rhythm repeated over and over. His hands spread around her hips and he lifted, bringing her closer. She was so, so wet. The scent of Aramis and sex branded Carolina’s senses.

Matt pushed up on his arms, arching his torso, collecting his strength. He came at her with raw power, pumping his cock with the perfect pressure and so deep. Her craving for more grew hot and demanding.

All at once, liquid fire spread through her body. Dear God, it was like being in free fall as Matt took her over the edge.

“Carolina,” he growled, his mouth recapturing hers. It wasn’t the end. He positioned her legs over his shoulders. “Watch how we fuck.”

A wall of muscle, raw lust, and a dirty talking cowboy unlocked a vault that she didn’t even know she possessed. This joining of their bodies was so erotic.

Matt slowly withdrew his shaft, shiny from her juices. “Baby, the things we can do together,” he whispered.

“Please!” she rasped so in need.

His body pinned Carolina down, a willing captive. Pleasure cascaded over her from the friction of Matt thrusting, pumping, taking. Sex with this man was free, wild, and fierce.

Bliss whipped her into a frenzy. Her sex squeezed and throbbed around this man. In a rush of ecstasy, all she could moan was, “Oh!”

Matt’s muscles tightened as he groaned across her lips. One last kiss and he collapsed next to her on the bed. Sweat covered their bodies and they lay next to each other, his arm comfortably, possessively curled around Carolina.