Sweet Talking Cowboy (7 page)

“I’m flexible.  Are you?”  His voice was beginning to sound
rough and deep.

Briann knew that staying would change every plan she’d made
for her future.  No big wedding to Jeffery next year, no comfortable life
moving in circles of super respectability. If she stayed, all that would
disappear.  If she stayed, she’d spend the night in Slade Butler arms and she
couldn’t think of anything she wanted more.

His eyes watched as she considered what he was asking of
her.  He knew it was a big decision.  He knew he was asking her to break every
moral rule she’d lived her life by.  He stroked her cheek gently.

“How will we explain this to the people back home?”  She
finally asked.

He shrugged.  “We’ll be honest.  I’ve never been much for
sneakin’ around.”

“What will Aunt Poog, Uncle Mike, and your father think of
us?”  She feared disappointing them.

Slade was glad she hadn’t mentioned Jeffery or Tanya.

“They’ve all made hard choices in their lives.  They might
not like it, but they aren’t us, Bri.”  His hand slipped from her cheek behind
her neck, his thumb stroking slow seductive circles below her ear.

He saw the verdict in her eyes even before she gave the
slight nod of her head and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against
him.

As she slipped her arms around behind his ribs, she tilted
her head back and looked up at him.  “But you have to make that call.  I’m not
sure I can.”

He dropped his head and kissed her tenderly.  “I’ll call
them about supper time.  They’ll be in the house together, so they can have
each other to help them deal with the shock.”  He teased after the kiss ended.

She laughed softly.  “You’re making a joke, but they will be
shocked.”

“I don’t think Mike will be as shocked as you might
imagine.  I believe he’s noticed how I have problems focusin’ on anything but
you, when you’re around.  And my father, well, he might be surprised, but he’ll
certainly understand.”

“Aunt Poog and Uncle Mike will be disappointed in me. They
didn’t raise me to….”

Slade cut in before she could finish.  “Shhh.  Don’t start
feeling guilty already.”  He glanced around the barn.  “Come on, there’s
nothing here that needs your attention until tomorrow.”

Keeping one arm around her, he guided her out into the
gathering darkness of the night.  “Wanna go eat supper somewhere nice?”  He asked
as they approached his truck.  He pulled the driver’s side door open so she
could get in and slip across the seat to make room for him, his eyes devouring
the sight of her rounded bottom as she climbed into the truck.

She shook her head from side to side.  She was so nervous
her stomach wouldn’t have held food even if she were hungry.  She knew she’d
agreed to spend the night, not just so she could be here with him but so they
could share the same room.  She was going to sleep with Slade Butler and she’d
never slept with or been intimate with any man.  There was no denying that if
he’d been sober last night she would have gladly stayed in that room with him,
but what she’d felt then was pure raw passion.  What she was feeling now was
somewhere between anticipation and fear all wrapped up in a bundle of nerves.

Slade sensed her anxiety and turned to look at her as he
slipped into the driver’s seat.  “Are you regrettin’ your decision already?” 
He lifted one of her hands to his lips.

“It’s just that some things are easier if they… just
happen.”  She watched him kissing her hand.  It was still surprising to see
Slade touching her like that, much less, to think about making love with him.

“When I was thirteen years old, following you around the
barn, riding horses for you, I had such a crush on you.  I dreamed about
kissing you when I grew up.  I had that crush on you for a long time.  Until
you went to Texas.  Then you stayed there, and I grew up without you.”

“And Jeffery moved in on you.”  His voice was still soft,
but there was an edge to it when he said his half-brother’s name.  He wasn’t
kissing her hand anymore, but he continued to hold it.

“Jeffery and I have always been friends.”

He nodded in agreement.  “I know.  I guess I just don’t like
knowin’ that you were attracted to him.”

“How do you think he’ll feel when he finds out about you?”

Slade grinned, and then shrugged.  “I don’t worry much about
how Jeffery feels about anything.  I think you’re tryin’ to talk yourself into
goin’ home tonight.”

She shrugged.  “Maybe I should.”

Slade bracketed her face with his hands and then whispered
softly, “You know that won’t change what happened between us.  It’ll always be
there.  I won’t ever be around you without wantin’ to hold you close and when
our eyes meet, you’ll know that I’m rememberin’ how you feel in my arms, how
soft and warm your lips are; and how much I want to make love to you.”

“And I’ll remember how complete I feel with your arms around
me, and how my heart goes crazy when I know you’re about to kiss me,” Brianna’s
whisper was almost soundless.

“Like it’s doin’ now?” Slade asked, his face moving closer
to hers.

“Mmmmhuh,” she managed as their lips met.

Slade raised his head, his eyes boring into hers.  “Do you
want me to help you load your trailer?”

She met his penetrating look for a long moment before a
smile parted her lips.  “Yes, I do.”  There was a pause, and then she slipped
her arms up and around his neck.  “Tomorrow.  Right now, I want you to kiss me
again.”

Briann had never even dreamt what it would be like to make
love with a man.  Jeffery had never allowed their kisses to get truly
passionate.  The few times she’d began to feel aroused by his almost chaste
kisses, he’d quickly put a stop to it, reminding her that they needed to wait
until they were married.

Slade wanted her and she knew beyond a shadow of doubt that
she wanted him as she could never have imagined wanting anything before.  With
his arms around her, his lips on hers, his body against hers, she couldn’t
think of anything but him.  Nothing else mattered but this over whelming need
to be closer to him.  To become a part of him.

They broke apart and Slade managed to keep the truck on the
road as he maneuvered through the early evening traffic back to the motel. 
Since Briann had planned to drive home that evening she hadn’t kept her room
but Slade had kept his.  He parked in back and in short order, he pushed open
the door to his room and led her inside.  Briann had a short flash of shyness,
then he pulled her between him and the door he was pushing closed and pinned
her against it with his body.  Then his lips found hers again and the shyness
was gone.  He kissed her again and again and then trailed heat down onto her
throat, his tongue igniting fire as it moved over her sensitive skin.

His body pressed against hers intimately and he growled
against her throat.  “Damn, Bri.  I’ve never wanted anything like I want you. 
My insides have been in knots all day.”

She felt the hardness pressed against her stomach and shyly,
she lifted herself on tiptoes to rub against it.

“Slade,” she whispered the confession she’d dreaded since
she’d agreed to stay.  “I’m not    experienced.”

He froze, then slowly lifted his head from where he’d been
nuzzling her neck.  “Not experienced?  As in, you’re a virgin?”

She nodded.  Slowly, he stepped back, the fire in his eyes
still smoldering with need.  “How inexperienced are you?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t know how to answer that.”

Boldly he lifted one hand and covered her breast the heat of
his touch even through her tee-shirt sending her eyes closed in anticipation. 
“Do you want me to stop?”

She shook her head negatively.  “I knew what I was agreeing
to when I said I’d spend the night.”  It was hard to talk with his hand
massaging her breast.  “I just need you to help me know what to do.”

His eyes held hers steadily.  “Darlin’ you just do what
feels natural.”  He dropped his head, his lips closing over her other breast,
and he blew his hot breath against her.  Even through her tee-shirt and bra,
the heat of his breath melted her bones.  She groaned softly and would have
slumped to the floor if his body hadn’t been holding her against the door.

Slade wanted her as he’d never wanted any woman before, knowing
how innocent she was, he forced himself to take his time.  He wanted her to
have no memories of this time with him, her first time, that weren’t good
memories.  He lifted his mouth to hers again, his lips melting across hers. 
His hand left her breast and using both hands he slowly pushed her tee-shirt up
and lifted it over her head.  He was slow and deliberate, giving her time not
only to experience each new sensation, but to relax, enjoy and respond to his
heat.

“Bri,” he whispered, “you can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted
to do this.”  He pulled her away from the door and keeping her body against
his, walked her backward further into the room.

Then he lifted his head from her neck and with slow
deliberation, he unsnapped each snap on his shirt and peeled it off.  “I want
to feel your hands on me, not my shirt.”

She leaned into him and placed her hands on his chest.  His
quick snatch of breath gave her a feeling of power and she slipped her hands
boldly up and down his torso.  His eyes had closed at her first touch, but when
she looked up at him again, they were open and she reveled at the desire she
saw in them.

He stood still, wanting her to feel free to touch and
investigate his body, his eyes watching her face as she explored his deeply
tanned chest.

Briann loved the feel of his hard muscles beneath her hands. 
The sprinkling of dark hair across his chest narrowed as she looked lower and
she was intrigued by the narrow band of curls that dipped down and disappeared
below his belt buckle.  Her hands explored the hard ridges of muscles across
his stomach, but when they began dropping lower, he caught them in his.

“Not yet,” he cautioned.  “But soon, sugar.  Soon we’ll each
know the other’s body very well.”  He had already discovered her bra was a
front fastener and with one swift movement, he opened it and pushed it back off
her shoulders.  His eyes were heavy with longing as he looked at her.  “You are
so beautiful.”

She managed a nervous smile.  “So are you.”

He grinned.  “Men aren’t beautiful.”

“You are,” she insisted.  “I love the hardness of your
muscles, the heat of you, the way I feel when I touch you.  I just want to keep
touching you.”

“No holds barred, baby.  Touch all you want.”  He dropped
his head and flicked his tongue against the base of her throat.  His hands
covered her bare breasts and he gently stroked the hard pebbles that formed
beneath his palms.  He gasped in surprise when her lips closed around his dark
paps.

“You even taste good,” she murmured.

The heat of his hands wondered over her upper body just as
her own were doing to him, but then he pulled away from her.  “I’m going to
finish undressing you, Bri.  If there’s any chance that you want to stop this,
now’s the time.”

While he spoke, he dropped his hands to the waist band of
her jeans and unfastened her belt-buckle and the top button beneath it.

She shook her head slowly.  “I don’t want to stop this,
Slade.  I want whatever comes next.”  She watched his hand slide her zipper
down even as her own hands reached for his buckle and pulled it loose.  “I want
to undress you too, and feel all those muscles that I haven’t been able to see,
with my hands.

He growled again, his hands slipping down inside the back of
her jeans pulling her against him.  “I don’t want to rush you.  I want to make
sure you know just how good this can be, but if you keep talking to me like
that, those little hands of yours are going to be more than I can take.”  His
mouth found hers and they melted together, their tongues stroking each other
sensuously.  His hands slipped lower beneath the seat of her tight jeans and he
lifted her up.

Instinctively, Briann’s legs opened and slipped around his
waist, fastening her ankles together behind him.  The heat between her legs now
snugged up against the hard ridge in the front of his jeans.  He wished she was
still backed up against the door, but since she wasn’t, he lowered her onto the
mattress his hips held securely between her legs.  The hard ridge of his
arousal nestled against her.  He lifted his head and looked down at her.  “You
might not have done this before, but, baby, you know just how to dance this
dance.”

Briann smiled.  She unfastened her legs and dragged her
hands up his back, but then pushing them back down.  “I can’t seem to get close
enough to you.”

“Soon, baby,” he growled against her neck.  “We’re gonna be
a hell of a lot closer.”

Slade slipped to the side and with one hand, he left trails
of fire as he searched for the spots that gave her the most pleasure.  His
mouth sought and closed around the tight bud of her breasts, first one and then
the other.  He sat up long enough to snatch her boots off and work her jeans
and panties down but then he finished pushing them off her legs with one foot
while his hands returned to her body.  Her eyes closed as he stroked the length
of her ribs, down her hip and across her stomach.  She gasped as his hand
slipped lower and dipped between her legs, his fingers gliding into the hot,
moist crevasse protecting her most intimate place.  She’d never dreamed that a
touch could bring such pleasure.  The sound of her gasping brought a grin to
his lips.  “I’ve found your magic button.”  His whisper was ragged in her ear.

She managed a nod, her arms clinging to him as if she was
afraid of losing him, almost panting for breath.

“It gets better,” he whispered as he nibbled his way down
her body.  She found she couldn’t be still as he trailed heated kisses across
her hips and then slipped his hands beneath her, lifting her hips slightly.