Twelve Dates of Christmas: The Ballad of Lula Jo (Lonesome Point) (7 page)

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him or keep from remembering the way she’d once dug her fingernails into his muscled flesh as he moved inside her, bringing her to life the way no man ever had.

“I think that look just got Carter pregnant,” Mia whispered as she pulled up alongside Lula on the four-wheeler her father had declared the only trail vehicle fit for a pregnant woman.

Lula’s cheeks flamed. “Oh, hush. You’re such a mess. I think you, of all people, would have figured out who gets who pregnant by this point.”

Mia giggled. “I’m just sayin’, if you two aren’t
you know whattin’
, you should be. He’s been looking at you the same way.”

“I don’t kiss and tell,” Lula said primly, even as her gaze returned to Carter’s strong thighs draped over either side of his horse’s back.

Good Lord, the man looked way too good in blue jeans. Add in the brown sweater that emphasized his broad shoulders and the cowboy hat, and Lula was about to lose her mind. She was at the end of her rope and her cousin’s knowing smile wasn’t helping things.

“Why don’t you go catch up with your husband, Mia?” Lula said, making a shooing motion. “I like you more than I did a week ago, but you can still get back on my bad side.”

“Heaven forbid.” Mia winked. “Sorry Lu, but you’re not nearly as scary since you’ve been in love. You’re pretty adorable actually.”

Lula started to protest that she wasn’t in love or adorable, but what would be the point? Mia was going to believe what she wanted to believe, and the truth was Lula wasn’t sure how she felt. As frustrated as she’d been the past week, she’d also been having more fun than she’d had in ages.

The new memories she and Carter were making together were bridging the distance between the present and the past. It wasn’t so much that the love they’d had was coming back to life, but that something new was arising from the wreckage of their first romance. It was nurtured by the good things from their past and informed by the bad, and in her heart Lula knew it would eventually become something stronger and more solid than the love they’d found the first time around.

It wasn’t simply lust that made her skin hot when she was close to Carter, it was the love she felt for him, longing to be free. She didn’t want to hold back or be cautious. She wanted to show him how much she cared, in a way a man and a woman could only do when clothes were no longer in the equation.

So when Carter dropped her at her house after the trail ride, just as the stars were poking through the night sky and the gas lamps downtown were flickering to life, Lula held on tight when Carter tried to pull away from their hug.

“What’s up, babe?” He ran a gentle hand up and down her back that she knew was meant to be comforting but only made her nerve endings sizzle with more frustrated desire. “You okay?”

Lula shook her head but kept her cheek against his strong chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Lula took a deep breath. “What if I said maybe I’d changed my mind about taking things slow?”

Carter was quiet for a moment. “Have you changed your mind?”

“Maybe,” Lula said, still too nervous to meet his eyes. “Would that be okay?”

Carter took her face in his hands, gently encouraging her to look up until she tipped her head back. When she did, the expression on his face was enough to make her stomach flip and her nipples tighten. Carter looked like a man on the verge of starving to death, and she knew it wasn’t food he was hungry for.

“It would be more than okay,” he said, holding her gaze with a focus that made her shiver. “It’s what I’ve been dreaming about, but I don’t want to hear any
maybes
, Lu. When you ask me to come to bed, I want to be damned sure there’s no doubt about what you want.”

He leaned closer, whispering his next words inches from her lips. “Because once I get you there, we’re not leaving until I kiss every inch of you and make you come so many times neither of us has the strength to get out of bed for at least two days.”

Lula swallowed and a soft whimper vibrated her lips.

“So think about that tonight, beautiful.” Carter pressed a kiss to her forehead that she felt in a hundred different places. “I’ll be over tomorrow before supper. If you want to stay friends, that’s fine. Just meet me at the door with that pretty red dress on, and we’ll go out to eat. But if you want more, stay upstairs and don’t put on a damned thing, and I’ll have you for supper.”

With one final kiss to her cheek, Carter turned and walked away. Lula watched him cross the street, her entire body sending up a silent wail for him not to go.

She realized what he’d been up to now. He’d been deliberately withholding everything but the friendliest of touches, knowing nothing would drive her crazier. He knew her well, but she knew him pretty well, too, and her wheels were already churning, thinking of all the delicious ways she was going to drive Carter crazy tomorrow night.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Carter

To say Carter was disappointed when he crossed the street the next night to see Lula waiting in the doorway of Tea for Two in her red dress was an understatement. He was devastated, deflated, and realized he was in for another lonely night with nothing but memories of Lula to keep him company.

But he didn’t let his disappointment show. No matter how much he wanted to make love to L.J., no matter how crazy she’d made him the past week with every heated look and lingering touch, he wasn’t going to push her. He was in this for the long haul. She could have as much time as she needed. He had faith she would come to trust the love growing between them. Until then, he would keep enjoying her company and treasuring the moment at the end of the night when he got to hold her close, even if it was only for a little while.

“You look gorgeous,” he said, smiling as he climbed the steps to the porch. “Hungry? I thought we could walk down the street and grab Mexican or get fried chicken at the hotel if you’re in the mood to stay close to home.”

“I think close to home sounds best,” Lula said, a twinkle in her eye as she leaned against the doorframe. “I’ve never left the house without underwear on before, and I don’t intend to start now.”

Carter’s eyes widened. Before he could recover from his surprise, Lula lifted the hem of her skirt, revealing the lace where her thigh high stockings ended, but stopping before she confirmed whether or not she was kidding about her panties.

“It occurred to me last night that you’ve been playing games with me, Mr. Bryce,” she said, swishing the red fabric slowly back and forth, making Carter’s mouth go dry and his jeans get decidedly uncomfortable. “So I figured it was my turn to play a game with you.”

“Play with me,” Carter said, his voice husky. “I’m yours.”

Lula’s red lips curved seductively. “Then you admit that you were deliberately depriving me of anything but a friendly hug just to drive me crazy?”

Carter grinned. He should have known nothing would get by L.J. “I might have thought that was the quickest way to convince you that this
just friends
thing is for the birds.”

She laughed that smoke and sugar laugh, which was one of his favorite sounds, and crooked her finger. “Then come on in, cowboy. I think it’s your turn to be teased.”

“Tease me all you want,” he said, stepping inside and kicking the door closed behind him. “But I’m going to kiss you first.”

His arm wrapped around her narrow waist, pulling her against him. He dropped his lips to hers and kissed her the way he’d been dying to since the moment he’d laid eyes on her. He kissed her like she was the woman he loved, the woman he craved, the woman he’d dreamt about during the long, lonely years without her.

He kissed her until every fear and worry faded away and there was nothing but Lula’s smell, her touch, and the magic they made when they were in each other’s arms.

Lula

Carter’s mouth fused to hers and his tongue licked the seam of her lips, shooting a shockwave of desire through her that stole her breath away. She opened her mouth to him and his tongue slipped inside, stroking against hers, awakening the hunger that had been burning inside her all week.

From a distance, the controlling voice in her head insisted she had to stick to her plan to deliver a proper teasing punishment, but her heart said plans were overrated. Especially when the man of her dreams was making love to her mouth with his tongue—savoring her, tasting her, devouring her with a single-minded passion that assured her there was nothing else in the world he’d rather be doing than kissing her senseless.

“Carter,” Lula mumbled, gasping as his free hand cupped her bottom through her dress, pulling her close to where he was so hard she could feel him pulsing against her stomach through their clothes.

“You really aren’t wearing panties, are you?” he asked, his breath coming faster as he backed them both toward the stairs.

“Why don’t you find out?” she asked with a wicked grin. The smile lasted for all of the three seconds it took for Carter to jerk her dress up around her waist and slip his hand between her legs. Lula’s pulse spiked at the sudden intimacy, but it was exactly what she needed, what she craved.

“Jesus, L.J.” Carter moaned against her throat as he discovered how wet and swollen she was from a single kiss. His hand shook as he teased through her slick folds, making it clear he was as affected by the chemistry between them as she was. “I’ve been dreaming about this for so long. I can’t wait to taste you.”

“Take me upstairs,” Lula begged, driving her fingers into his soft hair. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”

“I’ll never keep you waiting again,” he promised, sweeping her into his arms. “I swear, Lu. I’ll never keep you waiting, and I’ll never let you down.”

Upstairs, Carter lay her on the bed and stripped her bare, kissing her until her head spun and her pulse raced. He teased her nipples with his tongue, licking and sucking, sending shivers of delight along her nerve-endings. He awakened the bliss in every secret place—from the hollow behind her ear to the sensitive skin above her hip that always made her moan. He made love to her like a man who had never forgotten the magic they made together, stoking the passion inside of her until she was trembling.

“Please,” she begged, squirming beneath him, the feel of his erection hot against her thigh as his tongue teased her already sensitized nipples, driving her crazy. “Please, now.”

“Are you sure? There’s no rush,” he said, trapping her nipple gently between his teeth as his fingers slid in and out of her.

But it wasn’t his fingers she wanted. “I’m sure,” she said, unable to resist the urge to buck into his hand, even as she reached down, stretching until she was able to wrap her fingers around his shaft. Her eyelids fluttered as she stroked him up and down. He felt amazing, so thick and hard, and so hot that his skin felt feverish.

They were both on fire, and there was only one thing that would put out the flames.

“Make love to me, Carter,” she whispered as she continued to stroke him, summoning a ragged sound from low in his throat. “Make love to me until I forget we ever spent a day apart.”

Without another word, he spread her thighs wide, positioned himself at her entrance, and drove inside with one long, liquid thrust, holding her gaze as he filled her completely, leaving no place left for Lula to hide.

“I love you.” Tears stung her eyes as she wrapped her legs around his waist and urged him deeper still. There was no point in trying to conceal the truth; he was going to see everything in her eyes. He was going to see every year she’d spent wishing things had been different, lamenting the fact that they hadn’t lived the life they were meant to live.

But maybe now they could, maybe it wasn’t too late.

“There was never anyone else in my heart, Lu.” Carter withdrew until only the tip of him was inside her, before driving slowly back in, love and desire flickering across his handsome features as he filled her. “Never has been, never will be. It’s always been you. Always.”

“Always,” she echoed, moaning as he circled his hips, nudging at the bundle of nerves at the top of her, increasing the urgency building low in her body. She arched into him as his tempo quickened, matching him thrust for thrust, breath coming faster and her features twisting as she neared the edge.

But she didn’t duck her head or try to hide as her orgasm overtook her, shooting through her body like lightning, so fierce and sweet it was almost too much to take. She held Carter’s gaze, and as they tumbled over together, she swore she could see straight into his soul.

This was more than sex, more than even making love. This was communion, intimacy so intense that there was no space between them, no boundaries, no room for lies or half-truths or anything but naked feeling. And at that moment, there was no doubt in Lula’s mind that Carter meant every word he’d said since he came back into her life. He loved her, treasured her, and all he wanted was to spend the rest of their lives making up for lost time.

“Yes,” she whispered as he stilled inside of her, his breath warm on her neck as she smoothed her hands up and down his back. “Yes.”

“Yes,” Carter sighed, not seeming to need clarification about what they were both agreeing to. But he must have seen to the heart of her, too. He must know that she was done fighting this thing.