Too Hot to Handle: A Loveswept Classic Romance (10 page)

Callie thought for a moment, forcing herself to be as honest as she could. Finally she looked up at John Henry with a pained expression. “I’ve forgotten how to share my life with anybody else,” she said softly. “I’ve forgotten how to love.”

He nodded. “Well, then go and practice at it. No harm in practicing, is there?”

• • •

Matt put the beef on the counter and sprinkled it with seasoning. The potatoes were already baking in the oven. He didn’t know when Callie would be back or if she’d be back that day. She was simply gone, and John Henry didn’t know where.

Matt went to the back door and leaned against it as he studied the mountains turning blue in the distance as the sun set. It was a potent, heart-catching sight. He felt lonely, surrounded by nature’s beauty and yet isolated from Callie.

She’d known he’d be there that evening after work. She wanted him there, he knew that. So where was she? Matt dropped his chin to his chest and thought for a moment. Probably on some impulsive protest mission to save something or someone. He respected her idealism, loved it. But it overwhelmed him sometimes.

The kitchen was warm with the feel of her, and he smiled as he looked around. The bright yellow tablecloth was dotted with her red dishes. In the center was a clear jar filled with wild daisies he’d found growing along the roadside, and the purple flowers that hung from the well-house roof. He was placing the steaks on a broiler pan he’d found, when he heard the creak of the front steps.

“Hey, you!” he yelled. “I’ll strip your hide off! Get away from the porch!”

At the sound of Matt’s order Callie’s lips began to crinkle. After coming to a momentary stop she ran up the steps and through the cabin to the kitchen.

“Strip me, will you?” she said tartly, smiling at him.

“Oh.” Her sudden appearance surprised him, and her inviting words were too much to comprehend.
Matt’s mind went blank for a second. “I thought you were William,” he murmured.

The corners of her mouth drooped into a mock frown. “Oh, phooey. I was so looking forward to being stripped.”

“You were?” She’d jolted his control again. As quickly as he’d seen her, all his careful dinner plans had evaporated, and he couldn’t remember what he’d meant to do. He stood there staring at the mass of dark hair tangling wildly about her face and down her shoulders.

Her soft print dress came from a secondhand shop, he remembered her telling him once. It was a work dress, nothing fancy, loose and comfortable, with short sleeves. Her legs were bare, and plain leather sandals encased her feet. Her casual attire made Matt glad that he’d given up wearing nice clothes there. Now he enjoyed cut-offs and T-shirts, and went barefoot.

Callie gazed at his tall, enticing body with frank appreciation.

“Sorry to be late,” she murmured.

“Where were you?” he asked bluntly, feeling hurt.

“Just taking care of necessities.” She smiled in a mysterious way.

Matt felt himself harden as he looked at her beautiful face, her expression reflecting the same kind of need he was fighting so hopelessly to control. He thought he was misinterpreting her change of heart. He turned quickly toward the sink and rearranged the steaks in the broiler pan.

Callie felt a wave of disappointment sweep over her. He wasn’t going to make it easy for her. She would be forced to pursue him, and she didn’t know how.

“An encyclopedia salesman came by,” he mentioned. “But he left quickly.”

“Oh, no,” she said. “You weren’t rude, were you?”

“Not me,” Matt protested innocently. “I wouldn’t hurt a poor salesman. It was William who gave him the message.”

“William? What did he do?”

“Well, William took it on himself to protect me. Would you believe that? That four-legged shaggy beast took off after this hapless guy and ran him up the apple tree.”

“Where’s William now?” Callie made a move toward the front porch.

“No, don’t worry. He must still be out by the barn, stuffing himself.”

“With what?”

“Ice cream.”

“Where’d he get ice cream?”

“I brought it to him from the store. I owed him some kind of reward for attacking someone besides me. Don’t you think?”

She walked out back, and Matt followed her, smiling. William was exactly where Matt had said he’d be, slurping the last of a rounded-out gallon of ice cream. His whiskers dripped with the melted pink liquid as he glanced up at Callie and burped noisily before returning to his treat.

“Strawberry,” Matt whispered in her ear. “And don’t you dare tell him that ice cream is made from cow’s milk. He thinks it’s fruit juice.”

Callie laughed. Matt put one arm around her shoulders, and she wound her arm around his waist. They ambled back inside in companionable silence. Callie glanced around, seeing for the first time the
pan of steaks, the table already set for a meal, and the jar of wild flowers. “What are you doing, Matt?”

“Waiting for you to come home.” He turned her to face him and folded his arms around her. She felt his lips touch a spot behind her left ear, and the strength drained out of her legs. His hair was faintly damp, and smelled of the apple-scented soap she kept in the bathroom.

“Did you just take a shower?” she asked curiously, lost in the taste and touch of him.

“Yes. Outside by the well. William even gave me permission to do that. He’s decided I belong.” He pulled her closer as he fit his hard masculine body snugly into the hollows of her female softness. “And I do belong, Callie. I belong right here, holding you, kissing you, loving you.” They were silent for a second. Then he whispered, “So you’re hoping to be stripped of your clothes, are you?”

“Yes,” she whispered, “I’m ready.”

“Oh, Callie,” he murmured as he absorbed the full impact of her invitation, both with her body and her words. Her kiss seared him, and he sensed that their passion would bind them together in spirit as well as flesh.

He tore his mouth away from hers. “Are you sure, Callie? I want you. I’ve wanted you from that first moment. I’ve wanted to touch you, to make you burn with the fire you started in me.”

“I’m sure, Matthew. I’m very sure.” Her heart was racing wildly, and she thought her body must be screaming out loud with the desire she felt spinning through her. Her fingers were tugging at his shirt, and she felt his body shudder beneath her touch.

He caught her hands and pulled them away, breathing
raggedly as he tried to slow the tide of desire that threatened to overwhelm them. “Wait, Caroline.” His lips struggled with the words at the same time that his body was grinding itself against her. “We’ve got to talk about this.”

“Talk? After all these weeks, you want to talk, now?” Callie felt reality swim through her thoughts, momentarily stilling the passion that had racked her.

“No, it’s just that we have to be sure. I mean, Callie, are you certain that you want us to make love?” He’d been stunned by her boldness. He’d planned to woo her very carefully. Now she was unbuttoning that old dress and pulling it down her golden shoulders. He’d have to speak quickly or he wouldn’t be able to. “I mean, well, are you … Hell, this is very hard.”

“That’s nice. If my biology serves me right, that’s just how you’re supposed to be.” She chuckled, uncertain about how to handle the next few moments. She slid her arms out of her dress, revealing the thin cotton camisole that she substituted for a bra when the weather was hot.

Once again Matt thought, she had made him fumble for words and lose his polished control. He felt like a schoolboy, uncertain of what he was expected to do next. She slid the dress down her thighs, and he stared at her white panties.

“Undress me, Matthew,” she urged tenderly.

His reservations took flight at the sight of the glowing welcome in her eyes. He took her hands as she stepped out of the dress and pushed it away with the toe of one sandal. She kicked the sandals off. Her legs were long and sun-kissed, with only a
faint indention of paler skin along the lower edge of her panties.

Matt let go of her hands and ran his fingers across her thighs. She moaned as he eased her panties down. The soft brush of hair at the V of her legs was lush and full. He touched it reverently, and she quivered. Then he slid his hands up her stomach and cradled her breasts under the camisole. A second later, the camisole lay on the floor.

“Well, Matthew?” What was meant as a teasing challenge came out as a husky whisper. “Are we going to give this mismatched pairing a try?”

“Oh, Caroline.” He swept her off her feet and carried her the few steps into the bedroom. He settled her on the bed and lowered himself over her, sucking in his breath as she began touching him.

“Lovely, so lovely,” he murmured as he caressed her breasts. His fingertips skimmed every inch of their surface before his lips captured one dusky nipple. He delivered a loving examination of every inch of her, delighting her until she thought she would explode with need.

She wanted to touch him, to return the pleasure, but she couldn’t do more than cling to his shoulders, his head, his neck as he kissed her. His hands moved languidly, sliding between her thighs. She opened herself to him willingly, arching against his exploration. She closed her eyes as his lips moved to where his hands had been. She felt a great ripple begin to build, a ripple that threatened to explode inside her.

She tried to squirm out of his reach, to hold back, to stop the release of … Then it was too late, and she heard a cry of pleasure that rang through the room. Callie realized dimly that it came from her.

“Oh, Matt.” She bit her lip as he raised dark eyes to look at her. “I’ve never made love that way before.”

“Neither have I,” he confessed. The wonder in his voice fell across her like a gentle ray of heat. “Callie, do you know what miraculous changes you’ve wrought in me?”

“No,” she said breathlessly.

“Neither do I, but don’t ever stop.”

They laughed softly. “I’d like to do more,” she whispered. “But you’re wearing too many clothes.”

He stood up and began to strip, his eyes never leaving her face. When he was naked he waited silently for a moment, for her reaction. Her sharp intake of breath spoke more loudly than words.

“Oh, Matt, you’re … you’re a collector’s item yourself.”

He grinned, and lay down beside her. “No, what I am is so deeply in love with you that all you need to do is touch me and I’ll … Callie, don’t do that, or I won’t be able to hold back. You might get … We can’t …”

“Oh, you’re so sweet. So thoughtful. But we can, Matt. I took care of that this afternoon.”

Matt’s breathing was harsh and loud as Callie pulled him over her, guiding him to the spot already aching to be filled. He stopped for a moment and looked at her before beginning to press slowly down, pushing himself inside her. Then he began to move slowly, holding back as though he were afraid she would break.

Callie wrapped her legs around his body and pulled him closer, arching herself against him. “Callie,” she heard him whisper, and she lost all pretense of restraint. What she’d felt before paled in comparison to the flood of feelings he had begun in her body.

“Oh, Callie, I’m trying to hold back, but I can’t,” he said thickly. “Hurry, my love, come with me. Hurry. Please, my darling Callie.”

His motions and the deep need in his voice fueled the storm swirling inside her until she knew she’d have no trouble giving what he asked for. The release that followed seemed to catch her in the shudder of his body as he joined with her in a final shattering earthquake of passion.

When she finally floated back to reality she felt him lying on top of her, still joined, carefully rubbing her breast with one hand as though it were the most precious object in the world. There was a completeness about the feel of him against her, and Callie wondered how she’d spent so many years not knowing that such a sweet unity of emotion and sensation was possible.

Matt raised himself on one elbow. “Am I too heavy?” He started to move away.

“No!” Callie clasped her legs around him, holding him tightly against her. “Don’t move. I don’t ever want this to stop.”

“Was it good, Callie? I mean, did you feel what I did?”

“Isn’t that what men always ask?” she asked teasingly, then hastened to reassure him when she saw the flicker of concern in his eyes. “Oh, Matt, it’s never been like that for me. I never knew anything could be so beautiful.” Her voice dropped as she tried to explain. “Tyler and I … We had good intentions, but …”

“Didn’t you have anyone to compare Tyler to? A beautiful woman like you?”

He kissed her breasts gently, running his tongue
around her nipples in a way that set off little sparks of fire beneath her skin.

“No, Matthew, there was only Tyler.” She struggled for words. “I know you’re experienced in making love, but Tyler and I never really got the knack of it. Even after six years … we just weren’t compatible that way. We were terrific in other ways, but in bed … Maybe it was my fault …” She stopped, embarrassed.

Matt looked down at her, affection gleaming in his eyes. “I’ve had experience, Callie, maybe a great deal of it, by your standards.” He paused, hunting for honest words that weren’t too crude. “Callie, a man almost always reaches a climax, but only occasionally, with someone very special, does he combine that physical release with something spiritual.” He touched her face lovingly. “I swear to you, it’s never been wonderful like this for me before.”

He lowered his head to capture her mouth, and within seconds she felt him stir inside her again. His tongue examined and probed and demanded the same in return.

She could taste the flavor of passion on him, and it made her writhe. This time their movements were slow and gentle as the need built to a gentler kind of loving release. Even then Callie couldn’t keep back the ecstasy, and Matt gloried in the cry she made as he filled her with his pleasure.

Later she lay in the circle of his arms, his leg across her lower body as though he were afraid she might escape. Neither of them spoke, but the silence was sweet and full of emotion. Callie needed a moment to sort out the new feelings she was experiencing. Every part of her felt sated and tender, and
light enough to fly. She smiled at the thought that the anchor of Matt’s leg was all that kept her from floating blissfully out the window into the magenta evening sky.