Texas Heroes_ Volume 1(59)

And they laughed together, a sweet rush of unity after all that had divided them.

“Here.” Boone reached for it.

“Oh, let me,” Maddie purred. But first she pressed him back and straddled him, using her own tongue to paint a taunting trail over the broad, muscled chest, across the ridges of his belly, down the faint line of hair leading to—

Boone’s fingers clenched in her hair. “Sweet hell, Maddie…”

She looked up at him, smiling wickedly. “Only seems fair.”

“Give me that—” He reached for the packet.

“Unh-uh.” She slipped to the side and bent over him.

And took him in her mouth.

Boone’s head went light. “Maddie…” he warned.

She could hear the strain in it. She would have smiled, but she was half-crazed herself.

“Not…now. Maddie….” His voice was a harsh plea.

One long, slow swirl upward and around the head, then—

Boone grabbed her waist in his strong hands and lifted her, reversing their positions, then snatching the condom from her hands. “You are driving me insane, woman.”

She laughed.

For a second.

Until, with one stunning thrust, he was inside her.

And Maddie wasn’t laughing anymore.

Then it was all heat and speed and power.

Madness. Desire beyond measure.

Boone tried to go slow, but even if he could have, Maddie wouldn’t let him, and with every stroke, every dive into the bliss of her body, he lost himself in the magic that was Maddie Rose.

Her eyes went black with desire, spark-shot with longing. His body screamed for release, yet he could not bear for this to end.

“Maddie—” he gasped. I love you.

But the words stayed inside, too new and too tender.

Boone tried to say it with his body instead. Maddie’s sweet flesh surrounded him, gloved him like softest velvet. In all his life, he had never felt this sense of belonging.

Hold me tight, Maddie.

As if she’d heard him, she did, wrapping the long legs of his dreams around his waist and pulling him even deeper.

“Maddie…sweet—” He clutched at her and tried to hold on. “I can’t wait much longer. I’ve wanted you too long.”

“Don’t wait.” Maddie dug her fingers into his hair and arched against him, pressing heated kisses against his neck. “Please don’t wait.”

Soon there was no thought, no reason, nothing but the rush of blood, the press of flesh, the slick heat of body against body, denied too long.

“Come, Maddie. Come with me,” he whispered.

Her eyes drifted shut.

“Look at me,” he demanded. “I want you to know it’s me who’s inside you.”

Blue eyes could burn with fire, she discovered. Could slice through her, laser-hot.

“I want—” she didn’t know what she wanted, except him. More of him. Forever of him.

“I know,” Boone answered. “Come with me, sweetheart. Let’s make the heavens burn.”

With every stroke, Maddie flew higher, losing herself in the wonder of this man. Boone filled her, completed her…made her want to crawl inside his fire and burn to cinders.

And then it was too late for either of them. The fire, so long denied, would be denied no longer.

The power of the moment stunned them speechless, sent them soaring.

For one precious moment, Boone and Maddie became one. One heart. One mind. One soul.

As Maddie convulsed around him, Boone knew that this was all of heaven he would ever need.

And Maddie nestled into the arms of the only man she had ever loved.

I love you, Maddie, again he wanted to say.

And he almost did. But something within him hesitated.

Then Fate conspired with reality.

Dancer cried out in pain.

And the only future Boone could imagine crashed courses with the one his wounded soul craved.





Chapter Eleven





Three hours later, a faint light pearled the sky. Inside the barn, no one noticed.

Boone stole a look at Maddie and saw dark hollows beneath her eyes. More than once, he’d urged her to go to the house and seek her bed.

But not once had Maddie faltered. Even now, at the end of a long night with no sleep and too much emotion, she held steady. Her shirt was buttoned crooked, the last three buttons missing. Maddie hadn’t turned a hair, had simply tucked it into her jeans and gone on.

Damn. What lousy timing. All his attention had to stay on the mare and the unborn foal that would be the first building block of his future.

Never mind that it was a future that no longer seemed enough.

He wanted Maddie. It was that simple. Not logical, not practical, not possible—but he still wanted her. In his bed, yes, but also in his life.

For a few tempting seconds, Boone considered asking. Then he looked at Maddie, really looked, and realized his folly.