Reckless excitement curled through her, settling in the pit of her belly, spreading outward. Eager to taste him in a way she’d never experienced before, she closed her mouth intimately over him, indulging in the smooth, velvety texture of his skin, the virile heat of him sliding along her tongue…

His entire body instinctively bucked toward her, and he sucked in a swift, shocked breath. His hands lifted, knocking the Stetson on her head to the floor. His long fingers tangled in her hair, at first guiding her untutored, but very erotic offering, then in a frantic attempt to pull her away.

Swearing viciously, he dragged her back up again. She caught a quick glimpse of the hot need glowing in the depths of his gaze before he fluidly, effortlessly, turned her, banded his strong arms around her waist, and tucked her backside against the front of his body.

She gasped, her heart slamming against her ribs. It was like being surrounded by fire…so much heat, raw and intense. Flames licked along her back, her thighs, and that out-of-control wildfire even found its way to the tips of her breasts, and her belly, where he’d splayed one of his hands to keep her bottom nestled close to his groin. The dresser mirror in front of them gave her a perfect view of their intimate position, enabling her to see the flush on her skin, the exhilaration in her eyes. The alluring sight aroused her, made her pulse flutter anxiously for what was to come.

He buried his face against the side of her neck, and she shivered as his harsh breathing branded her skin. Gradually, his mouth charted a warm, damp path to her ear. “I feel at a distinct disadvantage here, darlin’,” he drawled in a low voice that rumbled along her nerve endings. “I’m buck naked, and you’ve got way too many clothes on.”

She wanted to laugh at his attempt at levity, but all she could think of was his hands sliding on her skin, his body easing into hers, and the wild ride he’d give her. “Then take them off,” she dared impudently.

A warm chuckle reverberated against her neck. “Yes, ma’am.” Sliding his hands beneath the hem of her gown, he slowly drew the soft material up and over her head, and tossed it somewhere in the room, leaving her clad in just her panties. She felt no embarrassment, only an acute desire for him to touch her as intimately as she’d touched him.

Somehow, he knew. As his gaze met hers in the mirror, he lifted his hands and cupped her swollen breasts in his palms, rasped his thumbs across her nipples until they were stiff and aching. Biting back a soft moan, she pressed her hands to the sides of his thighs, rolled her head back onto his shoulder, and arched her body more fully into his hands. He nuzzled her neck, stroked his fingers down her trembling belly and teased her through the damp, silky material of her panties until a whimper escaped her and her knees threatened to buckle.

Turning in his arms, she sought his mouth with hers, and he didn’t hesitate to give her the kind of kiss she craved. No more teasing. No more gentle humor. Just intense passion and sizzling desire. She wanted it all, and she wanted it with him.

While his mouth consumed hers, and his tongue delved deep, he moved with her toward the bed. The back of her knees hit the edge, and he urged her down upon the mattress, pushing aside the Stetson that had landed there earlier so she could lie down, though he didn’t join her. Instead, he dragged her panties over her slim hips and down her long limbs. Then he leisurely kissed his way up first one leg, then the other, stopping to explore every erogenous zone with his lips and tongue and the soft strum of his fingers.

The seductive journey took him all the way up to her quivering thighs, where he nipped the sensitive flesh with his teeth, then soothed the bites with long, slow laps of his tongue. He moved on to her belly, swirled his tongue in her navel, then closed his mouth over her breast and suckled the tender flesh until her entire body throbbed for that mystical release…

“Austin, please,” she begged.

He lifted his head, a wholly wicked grin slashing across his features. “But I’m not done ravishing you, darlin’. Any cowboy worth his chaps isn’t gonna leave his lady so worked up.”

Just when she thought she couldn’t stand any more of the dizzying sensations, he slipped down on the bed, used his palms to nudge her thighs apart, and claimed her in the most intimate kind of caress of all. His fingers filled her, sliding deeply. The heat of his mouth engulfed her. And the silky, rhythmic glide of his tongue sent her soaring straight into the realms of bliss.

Her release was swift and powerful, her cries lusty and unabashed. Her fingers twisted in the covers in an attempt to keep her grounded, but she flew apart anyway, reveling in the luxurious climax that seemed to go on and on. And when she finally tumbled back to earth, panting for breath, her body limp, she opened her eyes to find Austin standing by the side of the bed, sheathing himself in a condom.

“Wow,” she whispered, awed by her body’s ability to melt and surrender at Austin’s whim-first in his car earlier, and now. “Twice in one night. Incredible.”

Finished with the necessary protection, he knelt between her spread knees, then moved over her, settling himself between her still-quivering thighs. Bracing his forearms on either side of her head so they were face-to-face, he allowed a devilish grin to claim his lips. “Darlin’, we’re going for a third.”

Her pulse quickened, and leaped again when his thick sex slid against her damp cleft, the velvety tip of his erection finding the entrance to her body. She was primed and ready, but he didn’t penetrate more than a teasing inch. “I couldn’t…”

“Oh, yeah, you can.” His fingers wove through her hair, cradling her head in his big hands as he eased his chest against her breasts, crushing her with the delicious weight and heat of his body. His dark green eyes glittered with hunger, and powerful emotion that seemed to touch her soul. “And this time, I want to hear my name on your lips when you come…”

And with that demand, he filled her with one smooth, hard thrust. She gasped as her body stretched to accommodate him. He let out a low, animal groan as her sleek, inner muscles clenched him tight. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his hips and arched into him. He growled in response to her seductive move and surged against her, sliding deeper still.

She saw his restraint in the tight clenching of his jaw, felt it in the taut line of his body. Sliding her hands down his muscled back and over his firm buttocks, she urged him to take what he wanted and give in to those primal desires. “This ride is all yours, cowboy,” she murmured in a husky whisper.

He shook his head, humor dancing in those smoky eyes of his. “Ladies first,” he said, male arrogance tinging his deep voice. “I insist.”

She laughed lightly, but the playful sound ebbed into a moan when he bent his head and captured her lips with his, kissing her in the same erotic manner he made love to her. He had a point to prove, and set out to demonstrate the wonders of a female body, and just how well he knew hers.

He continued to kiss her, ruthlessly maintaining a steady rhythm designed to push her closer to that sublime ecstasy. Her heart raced, and incredibly, with each slow, measured stroke, each primal lunge, she felt the gradual building of yet another climax. Intense pleasure coiled inside her, urging her to move with him, toward the promise of something lush and wild and spectacular.

She was close…so, so close.

He lifted his head, sliding his mouth from hers to watch her expression. His gaze locked with hers, demanding and fiery. There was no way she could hide anything from him, he wouldn’t allow it. He coaxed not only her physical surrender, but an emotional one, too…and she found the feelings swirling within her thrilling, arousing and terrifying, because she’d never given a man what Austin silently asked for…her complete acquiescence, heart, body and soul.

“Let it go, baby,” he rasped, as if he understood her fears. “I’ll catch you when you fall.”

Helpless to deny him, she closed her mind to everything, ceasing to exist past the feel of him moving in her, over her…and then it happened, a blinding rush of sensation that stole her breath and spilled through her like liquid fire.

The orgasm was so intense, she grasped his shoulders for fear of flying apart. And just as she reached the peak and her body convulsed with the exquisite, sensual gratification, she gave him what he’d ultimately wanted.

“Austin…” she moaned huskily, raggedly.

A satisfied light glimmered in his eyes. “Yeah, just like that…”

In a series of hard, swift strokes he thrust into her, and as she watched him toss back his head and give himself over to his own violent climax, she realized she’d gone and done something utterly foolish… Something that would only lead to a wealth of heartache for her, false expectations from her parents, and a string of disappointments for the man who’d possessed her body so thoroughly.

She’d fallen hard and deep for Austin McBride.

STANDING BY the side of the bed, Austin stared down at the woman sprawled on her stomach amidst the tangle of sheets and blankets, unable to help the lazy smile tipping his mouth, or the warm inner glow chasing away the chill still clinging to his skin from his predawn quest through the misty, rainy morning to find Teddy a special Christmas surprise. No easy feat, considering every tree lot he’d driven to had sold out the night before.

Finally, his persistence had paid off. He’d found a lone, solitary tree in an abandoned lot, a scrawny five-foot Douglas fir with a broken limb and a crooked trunk that wobbled haphazardly on the wooden base it had been nailed to. Knowing how effortlessly Teddy could transform such imperfection, he’d claimed the tree. While he was trying to secure the five-foot shrub to the top of the Mustang, it had started to rain, a cold drizzle that gradually soaked through his shirt and jeans.