Country Roads(94)

He looked up from his plate. His eyebrows were still drawn together in a frown but one corner of his mouth kicked upward. “Does that mean you go out of your way to provoke me?”

“No, that comes naturally,” she said, going back to her chicken.

He snorted in agreement. “Why do you like it? Make-up sex?”

Chewing, she shook her head. He leaned back in his chair, twirling his knife as he waited for her to swallow. “It shows you care,” she said.

The glinting amusement in his eyes died, and he put the knife down. “Trust me, sweetheart, I care.”



Two hours later Julia snuggled herself up against Paul in his big sleigh bed. “I’ve never had sex like this before.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

She felt a blush creep up her neck to her cheeks. “I mean this intense, this, I don’t know, sexy.” She realized she sounded like an idiot so she made it worse. “You’ve probably had lots of great sex, but I haven’t.”

“I’ve never had sex like this, either.”

She lifted her head to look at him. “Really? This is unusual for you too?”

“God help me, yes,” he said, and pulled her closer so she couldn’t see his expression. He held her so tightly she could barely breathe, but she didn’t complain, understanding that whatever emotion had him in its grip was powerful. Some primitive part of her reveled in being able to affect him so strongly. She could feel the quiver of tension in his arms, hear the deep breaths he was drawing in and expelling as he fought for control.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her lips brushing his skin.

His arms relaxed so she could breathe. “I’ve got an armful of gorgeous, naked woman. What could be wrong?”

“For a lawyer, you’re a pretty bad liar.”

“After two orgasms, you’re going to insult me and my profession? I call that ungrateful.”

“I call it the truth.” She knew it wouldn’t do any good to push him. He would just slide past any question he didn’t want to answer with a joke and a smile. Besides, she didn’t want to ruin what might be their last night together.

She thought she’d pushed too hard when he shifted her gently away from him and got out of bed. “I’ll be right back,” he said, disappearing into his bathroom.

Julia frowned when he returned with a wooden-handled brush. “Is that for something kinky?”

“It’s for your hair,” he said, stacking two pillows against the backboard before he slid into the bed beside her. “I promised I’d help you untangle it.”

“Oh right,” she said, the little clutch of anxiety dispelled. “I think it’s hopeless.”

“I have very good hands.” He flexed his long fingers.

“No argument with that.”

He settled her so her head rested on the quilt covering his abdomen and her hair spread upward over his chest. “I’ll try not to yank too hard.”

“I’ll brace myself.” In fact, all she felt was a deliciously sensuous tingle skimming over her scalp as his deft fingers sifted through the strands of her hair. Her eyelids drifted closed. “Mmmmmm. Feels so good.”

“You’re enjoying having your hair pulled?”

“It’s like a massage, only better because my hair will look good at the end.”



Paul chuckled as he worked out a knot in the mass of red. He spread the disentangled strands over his palm and smoothed them with the brush, admiring the glint of gold among the auburn. Once it was glistening like silk, he moved it away from the still-snarled part.

Between knots, he indulged himself by letting his gaze trace the bare curve of Julia’s spine down to where the quilt draped over her hips. The weight of her head pressed comfortably on his midsection while her bare shoulder brushed his hip. Contentment washed through him like the warm water of a Caribbean island. It was a sensation he wasn’t accustomed to.

“Mmmmm,” she purred again.

Maybe after she left, he should get himself a cat. He’d heard they could induce something close to this mood in other people. He was dubious, though, since not even other women had ever made him feel like this before.

She sat up abruptly, jerking the snarl he’d been working on out of his hands. “Ouch!” she yelped as she clutched the quilt to her chest with one hand and rubbed her scalp with the other.

“You have to warn me when you’re going to move. I had my fingers woven into a tangle.”

“I figured that out.”

She looked cute and disgruntled with half her hair flowing over her shoulder like a satin curtain while the other half resembled a poorly constructed bird’s nest. A smile lifted his lips.