Taking Her Chance (2 page)

“Well, I’m glad you were smart enough to stop when your body called it quits. What kind of business interests do you have?” She ate her steak with gusto, all trace of her nerves gone.

“Let’s see, I have my clothing and riding tack lines along with a line of boots. I’ve also invested in some startup businesses that I’m waiting to see pan out.”

“Holy cow, Chance. You really did hit it big in the PBR. I’m impressed you did something with your good fortune besides piss it away on beer and… what did you call them? Buckle bunnies?” She laughed a deep sultry chuckle that warmed his insides and made his cock stand up and take notice. That, along with the tantalizing vee of her neckline, and he could have skipped the rest of dinner to get straight to dessert.

“My mama always said idle hands did the devil’s work. Besides, my body was my way of life for years before I hit it big. What good was wrecking that with booze, women, and late nights? I watched too many good cowboys wash out from playing hard in and out of the ring.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it aside. “So, Beth, are you going to explain to me why you ditched me that night? Because I’m not comfortable with this date going any further until I understand what happened.” He reached across the table and rested his hand on top of hers.

She flushed red again, hesitated. With a big sigh, she raised her gaze to meet his and nodded. “I guess you deserve an answer. Before I was born, my mamma was an up-and-coming model. She had a contract with a big New York modeling agency and was planning to move there in a few weeks. Then she met my daddy at a Houston honky-tonk. It was love at first sight, she said. Two weeks later she bailed on her contract, married my daddy, and settled down to take care of him. Nine months after that, I showed up and then in another two years came my little sister.” She took a sip of her wine, and when she looked back at him her eyes were filled with sadness.

“What happened, baby?” He squeezed the hand he still held captive.

“My mamma took us and we went to visit grandma, but we came home a day early. We walked in on my daddy chasing some naked twenty-year-old blonde around the house. Me just a toddler and my sister still in diapers, poor mamma took us and fled the house. She drove us around for hours before she could walk back in that house. When she did, he was gone. He left a note and said he’d made a mistake marrying her. A few weeks later the divorce papers came. It turned out he’d been cheating on her the entire time they were married. She was left destitute. No money. No job. No skills. She sold the house, moved home with her mamma, and worked as a waitress at a diner until I could afford to take care of her.

“Anyway, fast forward to the night we met. From my point of view, it could only be classified as magical. It was everything mamma said love could be, and it scared the ever-loving hell out of me. Pictures of us living in domestic bliss flashed through my head, but not one of those pictures included me putting on a suit and going to work at an advertising agency. The fear of making the same mistake my mamma did drove me out of your bed and kept me from returning your phone calls.”

“Oh, baby, I wasn’t looking for a wife back then. Nor have I ever wanted to keep a woman barefoot and pregnant in my kitchen. Your drive to succeed was, and still is, one of the most attractive things about you.” His heart ached for everything they’d missed out on because she hadn’t stuck around to talk about her fears.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t give you a chance. I just knew if you opened your mouth and tried to sweet-talk me into giving up everything I wouldn’t have been able to say no. I needed to experience success in my own right. I’ve paid the price for that choice every night and day since then.” She picked up their joined hands and rubbed her cheek against his knuckles.

He groaned, wanting desperately to be in her room, alone and naked.

“No man has measured up to my memory of you. It didn’t take me long to quit trying to date. Work became my sole focus and it paid off in that I have my own agency. But there’s still a big, huge gaping hole in my life.”

Chance felt his mouth go dry as the Chihuahuan Desert. He’d heard enough; it was time to pick up where they’d left off all those years ago. “Come on, baby. I think I’ve got just the thing to start filling that hole.” He stood up, pulled her chair out for her, and slung a possessive arm around her shoulders. She belonged to him and he wanted every man on the Golden Mustang Dude Ranch to know it. Hell, he wanted every man within a one-hundred-mile radius to know it.

Beth opened the door to her cabin and gasped. On every available surface candles were strewn, casting a soft glow on the big open room.

He leaned over and whispered into her ear. “Do you like it, baby?”

“Oh, Chance, it’s amazing. When did you have this done?”

Taking off his Stetson, he slipped past her, set it on a chair, and pulled the champagne out of the ice bucket. “I had a signal set up with the waiter. When I ordered the wine he knew to get the wheels in motion and set this up.” He popped the cork and poured two glasses of effervescent wine. He glanced at her, unsure for a moment. “I wasn’t sure who I was going to meet here tonight and well, if we hadn’t clicked I wouldn’t have wanted to put any pressure on you or whoever else it might have been. But if there was a spark, I wanted to be prepared. I just could never have guessed that I would have walked in to find you.”

“I still can’t believe it. I mean I submitted my application just a few days ago.” She shook her head and then sipped the straw-colored liquid.

“A few days! I’ve been waiting for six months.” Chance sounded almost disgruntled.

Laughter bubbled up from deep within. “Let me guess, you basically described me on your application? Because I absolutely requested an exact replica of you, at least what I could remember.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I did the same thing. I wonder how Selena Markam knew to wait? How she knew you would eventually seek out her services?”

“I don’t know, but honestly at this moment I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

“I agree.” He set his glass down and stalked toward her like a mountain lion hunting a deer. Cornering her against the bed, he pulled her flute from her suddenly nerveless fingers. “I want to taste your sweet lips again, Beth.”

A dull throbbing pulsed between her legs that matched the racing rhythm of her heart. Earlier she’d been so stunned at seeing him that their kiss floated like a light haze over her memory. His hands landed on her hips and pulled her in close. She slipped her tongue out to moisten her parched lips and slid her arms up around his neck. He stared directly into her eyes, leaving no question what he wanted from her. His tongue surged into her mouth, staking his claim. The dampness between her legs seeped into her lacy panties and her nipples hardened.

He touched, stroked, and tasted every crevice of her mouth in the most erotic kiss she had ever been party to. Had he gotten better at kissing? She would have sworn there was nothing to improve on before, but this… This assault could only be described as mind-blowing. Desperate for more, she pressed herself closer to him. His arms tightened around her and then they were falling.

With a little grunt from him, they landed on the bed and rolled so that his body pinned her beneath him. He broke the kiss and smiled down at her. “Now I’ve got you right where I want you.”

She giggled and pressed a kiss to his jaw, followed by another, and another. Craving the feel of his skin against hers, she began tugging his shirt out of his pants. “Shirt. Off.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He lifted up and knelt, straddling her hips. In short order his shirt disappeared, revealing a toned and sexy chest that cried out for her attention. Beth couldn’t help but lick her lips in anticipation of kissing every inch of his skin.

Before she could put into action her very lusty thoughts, he had the hem of her shirt in his hands, tugging it off. His eyes lit up when he spied her black lace bra. Warm masculine hands gently cupped her breasts on top of the lace and he flicked his thumbs over the distended nipples. Her breath caught in her throat, pleasure shooting from her puckered nubs to her pussy.

“I take it you have matching panties under that nothing of a skirt?” His voice sounded strained, almost a growl.

“Mmmm. I know one way you can find out.” Did she just purr at him? Something about this man made her feel ultra-sexy.

“So do I.” He slid off and stood her up at the side of the bed. With the flick of a wrist her skirt gapped open and slid down her legs. She stood before him in nothing but black lace and a pair of red cowgirl boots. “Dear Lord, give me strength,” he mumbled before suckling one lace-covered breast. Switching to the other side, he cupped her ass and kneaded. All the while, Beth fought the urge to shove him back and cover his torso with kisses. In the end she lost the battle.

With a little cry of frustration, she pushed him back on the bed and clambered over him. With his hips pinned securely under her, she ran her fingers over the flat, disk-like nipples that peeked out from under a light dusting of hair. “Sorry, I couldn’t wait my turn.” She waggled her eyebrows and bent over to trace the path her fingers took with her tongue.

“By all means.” He groaned and gripped her hips as she teased his nipples. His big hands slid around and gripped her ass, grinding her against his trapped erection. She moaned and swirled her hips. Moving down his torso, she found the impediment of his belt buckle. Dipping her tongue into his belly button, she worked the buckle loose and then opened his jeans.

Oh glory be! The man went commando. Eager now to fully unwrap her present, she yanked his pants down his legs and discovered that he still had his boots on. Double damn. For the moment she would work around it. Turning back to his exposed cock she licked her lips in anticipation. He was beautifully made—long enough to give her pause and thick enough that her fingers just missed connecting. And best of all, he was hers, at least for tonight.

She paused but pushed away the unwanted thought that maybe this could be a second chance at a future. For now she wanted a second chance at tasting the man himself. Leaning over, she slid her tongue over the head of his cock and dipped into the slit that leaked a drop of pre-come. The slight saltiness of the clear fluid teased her tongue and made her hungry for more.

Relaxing her throat and mouth, she sank down on his hard shaft, swallowing him whole. It was more than she’d ever taken like this, and she had to focus to let him slip into the back of her throat. But heaven help her, it was worth it to watch his eyes widen in shock and feel his hands thrust into her hair.

“Oh, baby. Yes,” he muttered, followed by a deep, chest-rumbling groan.

She lifted up and then repeated the process, sinking back down.

“Do you know how gorgeous you are? Damn, woman.” His hips thrust forward, meeting her downward stroke. “So sexy watching you take me like this after imagining it so many nights.”

She matched the rhythm he set, reveling in the taste of him and the sheer power she held in pleasuring him like this. After a few more strokes he pushed her away.

“So good, baby, but I want to come inside you with your sweet heat wrapped around my cock.”

Her pussy clenched in response to his words as her juices flooded her panties. She wanted that too. “Oh, Chance. Yes. Please. Now.”

“Soon. First I want to taste your sweet honey. Help me take my boots off.”

She climbed off the bed and straddled one leg with her ass facing him. She bent over and tugged on the boot. She had it halfway off when his finger slid up her aching slit and swirled around her entrance. “Oh, Chance.” She pushed back onto his finger, enjoying the delicious slide of his thick digit into her hot sheath.

“My boot, baby.” He withdrew his finger.

Looking over her shoulder, she shot him a nasty glare. Stupid man. Pulling the boot free, she switched legs and removed the other one before he could tease her further. Boots gone, she finished off his pants and socks, leaving him as naked as the day he was born.

Sitting down, she took care of her own boots, but before she could strip the black lace away, he stopped her.

“Hold on. I want to take care of all the lacy parts.” His wicked smile promised she would enjoy letting him have his way. He started by nibbling on her lips. His molten kisses soon trailed down her jaw to her neck and over her collarbones. Each touch of his mouth on her skin sent ripples of pleasure coursing through her body. Finally he reached behind her and unhooked her bra, letting it slide forward to unveil her breasts.

“Baby, those may be the prettiest titties I have ever seen.” He reminded himself not to pounce on the poor woman. Though at the moment, she looked as though she might welcome a little pouncing. He pressed her back onto the bed and straddled her hips so that he could feast on her pink-tipped breasts.

He could easily spend the next twenty or thirty years enjoying those luscious mounds and not get tired of doing so. The soft flesh molded to his big hands, and every stroke or touch seemed to cause her to shiver. Sucking in earnest, he loved that she knotted her fingers in his hair as though she might not ever let him stop.

Bound and determined to move south, he had to tug a bit to get her to let go. Sliding down, he knelt on the floor and spread her legs. With a smooth pull of her hips, he slid her ass to the edge of the bed and managed to pull her thong down and then off. He spread her legs wide and drove his tongue deep into her sopping entrance. Something primal clawed its way up from the depths of his soul and claimed her. Then and there it screamed out
mine
. She was his and no other would touch her again. Ever.

He plunged his tongue in and out, mimicking what he wanted to do with his cock. Her needy core clenched around him, trying to keep him with her. He slid two fingers deep into her heat as he switched to flicking the turgid little peak with his tongue. She moaned and thrust her hips against his mouth and hand.

“Please. Chance, I need more. I need you to be inside me.” Her husky pleadings grated on his tenuous control.