His Private Pleasure(35)

In retrospect, she probably shouldn’t have provoked him. Only he was so much fun when riled up. Fun, but dangerous when it came to upsetting her plans to dictate the direction this particular interlude would take.

His smile was incredibly sexy. “Oh, but I am starving,” he all but purred. “Feels like I haven’t eaten in days.”

Definitely dangerous.

“And I don’t feel like sharing.”

She slid her hands down his chest, preparing to move away and glide up the stairs to the deck in front of him, giving him a nice little view—or should she say, preview—of what she had in store for him. She’d dressed with great care. More for what she’d left off than for what she’d put on. After all, she’d come directly from meetings with both Avis’s ladies and Tucker. Liza wondered if Dylan would enjoy knowing that all the while she’d sat there, oh-so-stylishly dressed, beneath it all she was undressed, exclusively for him.

But Dylan locked his hands around her wrists before she could slide around him. He pulled her palms from his chest and pushed them behind her back, which shoved her up tight against him, all her curves and needs tucking tightly against all of his. She tried not to let that little moan of wanton pleasure slip out, but it was damned impossible.

His grin turned downright lethal. “I don’t think I can wait another moment to…sate my appetite.”

Any thoughts she had of pushing him away in order to reestablish her control of the evening’s activities flew right out the window when he spun her around and pushed her up hard against the side of his truck. Still holding her hands, wedged now between her lower back and the warm metal of the side door, he lazily took a nip of her mouth, then dropped a wet kiss on the curve of her neck. Then, before she could counteract with some kisses of her own, he very slowly—very, very slowly—slid his body down hers until he was crouched in front of her.

He looked up at her, then dropped a carnal kiss right at the juncture of her thighs, her silk skirt the only barrier…and far too much of one, she instantly decided.

“Never tease a starving man,” he admonished, then nudged her skirt up with his nose, only to groan in deep appreciation at what he found. “But feel free to invite him in like this anytime you want.”

She was saved from having to string even two words together when his oh-so-clever tongue slipped easily behind the tiny triangle of silk masquerading as panties. The delicate threads of elastic holding the ensemble together gave way easily to his teeth, letting the scrap of silk flutter to the ground as he turned his attentions to…sating his hunger.

Liza learned that, out in the open air of the mountains, moans of pleasure echoed almost as loudly as shrieks of ecstasy. He let her hands go, though she didn’t move them. In fact, whatever concentration she was capable of was focused exclusively on staying upright under his incredible assault.

He slid his palms beneath her skirt and cupped her buttocks, then slowly nudged her legs farther apart. It was almost as decadent a pose as he’d had her in that night on his kitchen counter, only somehow, despite the fact that she wore more clothing, she felt even more vulnerable. Feeling the night air caress her skin only intensified the slippery coolness of her silk shirt on the rest of her. She wanted to rip it off. No, she wanted him to rip it off, bare all of her to the mountain air…to him.

She had no time to contemplate the wanton way her mind worked when it came to Dylan Jackson. He slid first one finger, then another, inside her, and she climaxed so abruptly it made her gasp in shock.

“Damn,” she faintly heard him swear. Then he was standing, jerking at the snap of his jeans, pulling her thighs up over his hips. “I wasn’t going to… Not yet, but—”

“Just do it, for God’s sake,” she all but growled, never needing anything as much as she needed to feel him fill her up right now. Every nerve ending was still clamoring from her release, and she knew the instant he pushed into her she would very likely—

“Yes! Dear God, yes,” she panted as he thrust forward. Stars literally swam as she screamed over the edge again. She crossed her ankles behind his back and held on for dear life as he thrummed inside her, growling in release moments later.

He buried his face in the damp curve of her neck. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, grinning like an idiot. “I give up,” she murmured.

“Give up what?” The words were muffled against her throat.

“Ever trying to be in charge around you.”

He lifted his head, chuckling. “Sweetheart, you drove me around like a new car just now.”

She laughed. “Well, if that’s the case, the ride was a little bumpy, but boy, the jump from zero to sex will take your breath away.”

It should have been awkward, pulling up pants and smoothing down skirts, all while standing in his driveway, for Christ sake. But instead it felt…fun. Sexy. Intimate. Maybe having their own private little pleasures wasn’t such a bad thing.

“I brought the wine,” she said. “But it’s still in the car.” She shot him a sly grin. “I was so busy plotting your downfall, I forgot it. I guess I should have gotten you drunk first. Maybe I’d have had a shot at the upper hand for a change.”

He snagged her arm lightly as she moved past him toward her car, and spun her gently back around and flush up against him. He did that far too smoothly, and she fit him far too well. “Hey.”

“Hey, what?” she asked lightly. But her heart had started to pound. A different sort of thunder than it had moments ago in the heat of passion. It was the way he was looking at her now, when passions had been sated. If was far more…intimate than when he’d been deep inside her, driving her over the edge. She worked not to rub at the prickles of awareness that raced along her skin.

“That was… What we just did…” He shook his head, his self-deprecating smile all the sexier for how endearing it was. “I didn’t plan that. Attacking you like that. I actually thought we might be civilized about things tonight. Nice dinner, followed by some wine. Then maybe I’d lure you to my bedroom, make slow, passionate love to you.” His grin widened. “You know, like real people, instead of the wild animal I seem to be whenever you get within three feet of me.”

“Was I complaining?”

“No. And I’m not, either.” He laughed. “What guy in his right mind would?” He tugged her closer, tipped her chin up, his smile fading. “I missed you these past couple of days,” he said quietly, and quite seriously.

“Yeah?” She traced her fingertips across his cheek. “Me, too. Weird, huh?”

His lips curved just a little. “Not so weird, maybe.”

“Then you’re not mad? About Pearl staying here with me?”

“Frustrated at times,” he said frankly, then dropped a devastatingly gentle kiss on her lips. “But it’s worth it knowing that you’re still close. That I get to do this.” He kissed her again, nudged her lips apart and sank into her. “This I could get used to,” he murmured, finishing with a light kiss to the tip of her nose.

Liza’s heart shouldn’t have swelled, shouldn’t have stuttered, shouldn’t have tumbled. But it did. She shoved herself away from that dangerous emotional precipice and did what she always did—let her mouth race ahead of her heart. “Well, you might not be so thrilled when you hear my agenda for the next couple of days.”

He winced despite trying to look brave and sincere, and she laughed right in his face. “Don’t worry, it’s just a town council meeting. How much trouble could I cause you?”

He merely looked at her, then made her laugh again when he said, “I might just have to get a second set of handcuffs. I have a feeling they’re going to come in handy while we’re together.”

Liza’s heart stumbled again. While we’re together. Meaning they wouldn’t always be?

What, did you honestly think he was thinking long term? So he wanted to romance you a little instead of rutting like a wildebeest. Did you really think he envisioned wedding bells and diamond rings?

No, she honestly didn’t. What terrified her was that, maybe, she had been. For a second, anyway. Good thing he’d brought her back to earth before she got too high. The fall hurt a lot less that way.

She laughed, not caring that it sounded brittle even to her own ears, and extricated herself from his embrace. “I promise to behave if you promise to keep me unfettered this evening.” She moved past him more assuredly this time and scooped the wine bottle from the passenger seat of the car, carefully walking along the opposite side of his truck to ensure she made it to the deck stairs without being waylaid.

She needed a few moments to regroup, that was all. She was here to have fun. And if she was enjoying the townspeople and getting involved with things besides the sheriff’s naked body, then she was damn well going to let herself get involved. Probably she and Dylan would burn out on each other at some point, anyway. If that point coincided with Pearl’s leaving to give testimony, then all the better. Liza would depart knowing she was better for having stayed in Canyon Springs.