Country Roads(48)

“I see.” He sounded more sorrowful than mad, which made her feel worse.

She gave him the gallery’s phone number and bid him a terse good-bye.

Walking over to the sofa, she flopped onto it, tilting her head over the back and crooking her arm over her eyes as she tried to untangle the threads of the conversation. Her uncle was upset that she discounted his opinion of her Night Mares, but he was also genuinely worried the stress of the reception would cause a seizure. His concern was real and it undermined her ability to hold on to her anger. He had hurt her deeply, but he also loved her and it tore at her to cause him pain in return.

She pulled her arm away from her face. With all Carlos’s pressuring, she’d almost missed something: when she’d told her uncle not to come to Sanctuary, he’d backed down and shifted to telephoning Claire. She couldn’t help feeling a small spurt of triumph. Maybe she just needed to treat Carlos more like Darkside: show strength, hide fear. Except her uncle was far more difficult to handle than the stallion.



Paul walked up the creaky wooden steps of the former Plants ’N Pages. Julia had asked him for a ride out to Healing Springs Stables so she could soak up more artistic inspiration. Peering through the screen door, he saw her in front of an easel, frowning and working a brush through a rag. Her hair was wound up into a lopsided knot, her face was smudged with white paint and charcoal, and all he wanted to do was tackle her onto the ratty velvet couch shoved in a corner of the empty shop.

He cleared his throat as he opened the door. Julia jumped and turned her head, a wide smile banishing the unhappy stare. “Thank God! I have artist’s block or something.”

In two strides he was behind her, pulling her soft curves against him. He nuzzled his face against her neck. “You smell delicious.”

“The only thing I smell like is gesso and turpentine.”

“Eau de Artiste,” he said, enjoying the feel of her warm body in his arms. “My favorite fragrance.”

“Mmm, I’m a fan of Legal Eagle,” she said with a shimmy that had him tightening his grip on her waist.

Needing a distraction, he looked over her shoulder at the easel. It held a canvas about two feet by two feet, its surface a bright, unsullied white. He glanced downward to where the legs of the easel stood in a drift of sheets of drawing paper covered with roughed-in drawings of horses. “Tough day at the office, eh?” he said.

She huffed out a breath. “I’ve never had this problem before. There was always something that wanted to be on the canvas.”

He felt tension pulling her away from him. “Maybe your brain is just overloaded with new images.” He tried for a deep, seductive tone as he added, “And new sensations.”

He cast a thankful glance skyward as she relaxed back into him. “That makes sense,” she said. “And there’s my biggest distraction. You.” She turned and plastered herself against him, wrapping her arms around him and murmuring his name. A quick wash of gratification at her last words was swamped by a stronger reaction to the press of her pliant body against him.

He’d been interested in the couch before, but now he was more focused on the counter. It was closer. He straightened so her feet came off the floor and walked them both over to where he could lift her higher to seat her on the linoleum. She opened her knees and he stepped into the space between her thighs. As he slid his hands up under her T-shirt and circled his thumbs over her already hard nipples, he heard the click of paintbrushes hitting the tile floor. Her head fell back, and he ran his lips up the exposed arch of her throat to take her mouth again.

He felt her fingers at the buttons of his shirt, and then her hands were on his bare chest and his rib cage and his abdomen, her warm, exploratory touch making his erection harder and harder. When she pulsed her hips against him, he passed the point of no return.

Her jeans and panties hit the floor, and he unzipped his fly to roll on a condom in record time. He had just enough brain left to make sure she was ready, although touching her wet heat nearly sent him off. Then he thrust inside her, his hands filled with the delicious curve of her buttocks as he held her at the edge of the counter.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she pushed her hips into his thrusts, so he went deep every time. He freed one of his hands to slide his finger down between them so he could add to her sensations.

“Paul! Oh yes, there! Oh please, more!” She went completely still for a long moment, and then she screamed and convulsed around him, her muscles clenching and relaxing, clenching and relaxing.

He gritted his teeth against the urge to finish, waiting until he felt the tension in her body soften slightly. Then he withdrew and surged in once more and joined her in a climax that left his body wrung out and his mind wiped blank.