He never considered how his hard work looked on his body, but he was suddenly damn proud of it. He let her explore his shoulders, spine, around to his pecs. When she skimmed a palm over his abs, dangerously close to his fly, he sucked in a breath.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured before claiming her mouth.
They rolled again with her seated atop him, tongues tangled in a wild dance of need. She straddled his hips, and her dress gathered around her hips. Throbbing, he resisted the need to plunge his fingers into that shadowed space he remembered so well.
Wild with desire, he cupped her breasts. She threw her head back and covered his hands with hers, guiding him to pull her strapless bodice down. Shock tore through him as he met bare flesh. She wasn’t wearing a bra. That perkiness was all her.
“Sugar, you’re driving me crazy.”
“I’ve never driven a cowboy crazy before.”
He groaned as he caressed her breasts. Plucking at her nipples caused her to grind her sex down on him. He stared at her face as he twisted the little pink buds until they stood erect.
She reached between their bodies and caught hold of his belt buckle. Her face was intense as she managed to undo his belt then fly. When she slid her hot hand inside and gripped his cock through his briefs, he totally forgot the need to go slow.
He pushed upward into her hand, letting her feel his length. She caught her lower lip between her teeth, and he couldn’t stand it another minute. He had to get her under him.
Flipping her, he pressed her down into the wool blanket. “I wish it was more, baby. A soft bed with luxurious sheets.”
“This is the most perfect view, Hank.” Her tone was genuine, her eyes burning.
Stripping her would live in his memory forever. As the red fabric fell away to reveal golden skin, he noticed her stiffening. “I’ll warm you in a minute, sugar.”
“No, it’s not…”
He leaned away to meet her gaze. “Talk to me, Charlotte. Let’s not allow anything between us this time.” Her throat worked. His own clogged as he realized she was close to tears. “What is it?”
She took his hand and guided it to her hip, just over the cut of her panties. Not understanding, he kneaded the skin.
And fell still.
The skin was different—harder, twisted. He removed his hand to see.
“A burn?” he asked, relief coursing through him. She’d put the brakes on because of a marking on her body?
“Y-yes. My ex—” She broke off, battling with tears, though she didn’t let any fall.
She was strong too. In that instant, he fell head over boots in love with her.
“Sugar, this,” he slid his hand over the puckered skin, “isn’t a flaw. It’s a survivor’s story. It makes you more beautiful to me.”
A sob left her, and he captured it with his mouth. Kissing softly again, going slow to allow her time to recover. When he eased a finger under the edge of her panties, she bucked.
He had her back in focus.
“This time I get a taste.” He traveled down her body, kissing neck, breasts, belly. He grazed his lips over her burn, and she twisted her fingers in his hair. He found the shape of the scar with his mouth, horrified that someone would do this to her and thrilled that she’d given him such a gift in confiding.
Hooking his fingers in her tiny cotton panties, he drew them down her thighs and off her ankles. Somewhere along the way her flat sandals had been kicked off. With a wicked grin, Hank grabbed her ankle and drew her toes to his lips. “These pink toenails are dangerous, sugar. They lured me in from the start.”
Her smile flashing in the moonlight was the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen. He kissed each toe on that foot then stretched out between her thighs. Honey scents dizzied him.
Lowering his head, he steeled himself. If he didn’t, he’d lose it before he ever got inside her. He touched his tongue to her slick folds and groaned. Sweet heaven coated his tongue.
She cried out, head thrown back, mouth open in an O of pleasure. Pressure built in his groin as he ran his tongue up and down her seam, gathering all the juices he could. When he teased her swollen nubbin, she grabbed his hair in both fists and said that very unladylike word that had captured his heart weeks ago on the road.
* * *
The one thing in Charlotte’s life that had held her back was now just a pinprick in her conscience. Hank had dismissed her burn as if it wasn’t something ugly to hide away. Every pass of his tongue against the marred flesh had stripped away the shackles she’d lived with for months.
Her heart soared even as she quaked under his tongue. Passion flowed in her veins, and she knew she had to come to terms with loving this man.