Falling For A Redneck (10 page)

Marissa could only listen
, stunned as a picture of the man before her emerged. One not afraid to admit he’d made mistakes. One who had learned from them and moved on to become a better person and parent. Someone worth respecting. Someone way too easy to fall for. Someone who deserved better than her.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“As lovers, I think it only fair that you know where I’m coming from. No secrets. This is who I am. Take it or leave it.”

“We’re not lovers,” she replied out of habit.

“Are you arguing, princess?” he said, coming over to her and leaning over the chair, one hand braced on each armrest.

Marissa caught her breath and
peeked up at him, wanting nothing more than to kiss him and do other things. More carnal things.

But h
e deserves better than me, a bitch who is only half a woman.

“Come on
, princess, why the sad face?” He tilted her chin up to force her to look at him. “Would us becoming lovers be such a bad thing?”

“Getting involved
period is a bad idea.”

“Why?” he whispered
, rubbing his calloused thumb across her bottom lip.

And while Marissa could think of a hundred reasons why they shouldn’t get involved, she couldn’t voice them, not when he stared at her so tenderly.
Like she was worth something. Like he cared.

She didn’t stop him when he brushed his lips across hers
, a sweet, gentle caress that brought tears to her eyes.

I can’t
do this.
She’d end up getting hurt. And the thought of the pain propelled her out of the chair and away from his tempting lips.

“
Just where do you think you’re going?” he said with a frown.

“I should go home now. I feel fine
, really.”

The furrows in his forehead deepened. “The doc said you needed to be woken every four hours. I intend to see that you obey.”

“You can’t give me orders. I’m a big girl, and I’ve decided I’m going home.”

“Arguing
, are you?” he said, his eyes turning smoky. “I warned you what would happen if you did that.”

Marissa shut her mouth
, but too late—or not soon enough. He pulled her into his arms and claimed her protesting lips. She sagged in his arms; why fight it when she knew she wanted it? She’d deal with the pain of rejection later. For now, she’d live in the moment, take what he offered. The future be damned.

She pressed her lips back fiercely against his
, and he responded by simply sweeping her into his arms and carrying her princess style up the stairs.

During the short voyage from living room to his
bedroom, his mouth never left hers, and she basked in the warm glow their touch spread through her body. It even made the ache in her head seem distant.

Gently, h
e laid her down on a bed, and she opened her eyes when his lips left hers.

He stared down at her, a rueful look on his
face. “You look so yummy right now. But…”

“But what?” she asked, feeling cold now that she no longer lay in his arms. Had she made a mistake?

“You need to rest without me mauling you. You’re still recovering from a head injury, and, well, I tend to be rather vigorous in the bedroom. I get the feeling you are too.”

Me
, passionate?
Not according to her ex-boyfriends. Then again, none ever roused her like Dirk did. Marissa blushed, both pleased and embarrassed by his assessment. Yes, she doubted either of them could be passive when it came to bedroom games, the one place where their bodies and minds seemed in harmony.

“Here,” he said
, going to a drawer and pulling something out. “I don’t have any nighties, obviously, but my T-shirt should be big enough to cover you … unless you want to sleep nude,” he said with a leering smile. “No wait, on second thought, forget I said that. No way would I be able to keep my hands off you if you were naked.”

“Are you going to help me?” she asked with a smile, astonished at her own forwardness. Screw her head injury
; she had other body parts throbbing now.

Dirk groaned and shook his head. “
Damn, princess, you really aren’t going to make this easy. I’ll be back in a minute. Get changed.”

A smile curled her lips at his compliment. Funny how he could make her feel so desirable with just words.

Removing and folding her garments neatly, she stacked them on his scarred wooden dresser, leaving only her panties on before pulling on the oversized T-shirt. It hung almost to her knees, the cottony material soft and clingy. Being clean, it lacked his scent, but she reveled in the feel of something that had been so close to his skin now hugging hers.
God, what is wrong with me, getting turned on by a T-shirt?

She c
lambered onto the bed, and only a minute or two passed before Dirk returned, his eyes alighting on her immediately, tracking the length of her long legs up to the hem of the shirt. His frank appraisal made her nipples tighten and protrude against the soft material, a fact his hungry eyes didn’t miss. But still he stood in the doorway not coming near, which wouldn’t do at all.

“There should be a law against a woman
looking that sexy in my clothes.”

Again, heat warmed her cheeks
, and that wasn’t the only place getting hotter. Marissa didn’t know how to act coy or girly, but she did know she wanted him beside her in this enormous bed of his. It had nothing to do with feelings, just pure lust, and maybe a tiny bit of fantasy. While she understood they had no future together, for the moment she wanted to pretend that this could be her fantasy life. One where she played the part of loving mother, and when the kids went to bed, father took her to carnal heights she never dreamed possible.

She patted the bed beside her and said in a husky voice she never knew she had
, “Remember the doctor said you had to keep a close eye on me.” Brazen hussy, but judging by the smoldering look on his face, he liked it. He stripped off his shirt, leaving his chest bare, a first, given that in their previous encounter they’d never technically stripped. The sight made her whole body tingle.

Big
was the only word to describe him. Wide shoulders with thick muscles all over. A broad chest with even more slabs of muscle. The guy resembled a walking titan.

While his head might sport
only a thin stubble, his chest was another matter, with dark, curly hair covering him from between his flat nipples, tapering down to his waist to disappear under his waistband like a mysterious road she wished to follow and explore.

He quirked his lips at her frank perusal and
joined her on the bed.

“Aren’t you going to take your jeans off?” she asked
, eyeing his lower torso.
Hmm, I wonder if it also looks as big as it felt?

Marissa thought she heard him grumble something about bossy women, but he left the room for a moment and came back dressed in a pair of track pants.

She arched a brow, and he grinned. “Left these in the bathroom when I changed earlier. I figured it would be safer if I changed out of sight. I don’t trust that glint in your eyes,” he joked.

Marissa just smiled. He shouldn’t trust her. Because head injury or not, she wanted him. Now she just had to persuade him to see it her way.

Lying down on the bed beside her, he pulled her in close, a solid warmth against the length of her body. Marissa felt her tingles turn into heat that spread through her body, making her feel feverish. She laid her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest. Lightly she rubbed him, enjoying the feel of his smooth skin and even the coarse feel of the hair that covered his chest. She skimmed her hand over one of his flat nipples and felt a tremor go through him. Smiling to herself, she let her hand slide lower, following the curly trail until her hand rested on a very prominent bulge easily felt through his track pants.

He tensed beneath her touch
, and she held her breath, waiting. When he didn’t move, she gave the rock in his pants a light squeeze and waited again.

She didn’t wait long.

“Dammit, princess,” he groaned before rolling her onto her back and covering her body with his own, his lips eagerly seeking hers.

Marissa met his passionate embrace and threw in some tongue
, a sinuous delight that had him pressing hard at the junction of her thighs. She arched her hips into him, grinding her pelvis against his, frustrated at the cloth that separated them.

She reached down and tugged at his pants
. He caught her hands and pulled them above her head, trapping them. She squirmed, excited by his manhandling. Their mouths meshed, fueling the building fire in her body.

When he slid his mouth from hers, she mewled in loss but then hissed in pleasure as his seeking mouth found an erect nub and tugged on it wetly through the fabric of the shirt she wore. He teased her, nipping and sucking at her nipples while she panted
, her hands still trapped no matter how she resisted.

“Please, let me touch you,” she begged.

His reply was to release her hands, but only because he had a better use for his. He squeezed and fondled her breasts. But Marissa couldn’t handle any more. She wanted him inside her, now.

She pushed at him
, and he rolled onto his back. She used his capitulation to tug at his track pants. He lifted his hips and helped her ease them off, allowing his cock to spring out. Before she could climb on top, he’d gently rolled her underneath him, his hard prick probing the entrance of her wet pussy.

“
This can’t be good for you,” he groaned against her lips. The tip of his erection rubbed teasingly against her sex, driving her insane.

“
Making me work for it is worse,” she retorted.

M
oaning, he tried to pull back, but her arms and legs wrapped around him, holding him close. “Shit, let me just grab a condom. I’m medically clean, but I don’t want to accidentally get you pregnant.”

Marissa went slightly rigid beneath him, but her desire overrode her usual ice.
“Don’t worry, I’m clean too, and you don’t have to worry about me getting pregnant. It’s taken care of.”

She didn’t feel a need to mention how.

At her words, his lips captured hers again. The head of his erection pushed against her wet sex and then plunged in. Marissa arched. The thick feel of him inside her pushed her to the edge of orgasm. She dug her nails into his back as he pumped her. He drove his slick length in and out of her with ease. Wet and ready, she’d never imagined a passion like this. Such need.

She unwrapped her legs from around him and let them fall to the side, opening
herself wider to take him in deeper. And deeper he went, each thrust hitting the end of her channel and jolting her with pleasure, a maelstrom of bliss that built in layers until, with a scream that he captured with his mouth, she went over the edge and exploded into thousands of pieces. Her sex clung to his cock, milking it.

He
grunted as his body went rigid above hers, and she felt the spurting warmth inside her as he found his release. His heavy body collapsed on her, and he panted heavily in her ear. Marissa stroked his back, too overwhelmed to speak.

I thought yesterday might have been a fluke. I mean
, come on, I’ve never been easy to orgasm, but there’s something about my redneck. Something powerful that makes me melt. I never thought I’d be the submissive type, but now, after being taken by a real man, I can see the appeal. Not that I’ll ever tell him.

Dirk rolled onto his side, but he kept her close to him, big arms wrapped around her like a warm blanket. Cuddled for the first time in her life, Marissa fell asleep, content.

Every couple of hours, Dirk woke her as per the doctor’s orders, although the doctor would have been shocked at his methods. Stroking her body to life, he waited until her eyes fluttered open and she responded to him. With soft sighs, she welcomed his hardness inside her body, their middle of the night couplings less intense but all the sweeter for their gentleness.

In the morning, he woke her with a kiss. “Two choices
, princess,” he whispered in the ear he nibbled on. “One, you stay here in my bed until I can escape the garage while the sitter minds the boys, or—”

“Or I leave before she sees me,” said Marissa
as the light of day crept through the windows, shattering the reverie of the previous night. Her body felt sore, pleasurably so, but the dream was over.

Time for real life again.

With a hard kiss on the lips and a promise to call him if she needed him, Dirk left her alone in her house. A house that seemed so cold and unwelcoming after the day spent in his.

“Come on
, Marissa,” she spoke aloud. “Get your head together. Sure, it was nice. But it’s over now. You have nothing in common with him. And even if you did, he’d run away once he found out you’re damaged goods. A guy like him in his prime, he’ll probably want more kids with whomever he decides to settle down with.” A thought that made her sad and, yes, even jealous.