Jodi Thomas - Texas Rain

Before she could ask any questions, he lowered his mouth to hers.

Rainey felt her body grow warm all the way to her toes. He wasn't holding her anywhere, but she couldn't have pulled away. His lips were warm and surprisingly soft against hers. They moved slightly as if asking for something she didn't know how to give.

She sighed and closed her eyes. His kiss was almost as good as it had been in her dreams.

He pulled a few inches away.

When she opened one eye, he was studying her.

"Again?" His voice was low, a breath away from her lips. "Would you mind if I continued?"

"Please," she whispered and his mouth returned.

She leaned into him, loving the way his warmth surrounded her. Finally the Ranger she'd felt before months ago was against her making every part of her feel alive.

His big hand circled her waist as his gentle kiss continued. Then, as if he were teasing her, his tongue brushed a thin line across her bottom lip.

Rainey opened her eyes, braced her hands on his shoulders and shoved a few inches away. "I don't think you are supposed to do that." Her teachery voice sounded again.

He smiled. "Didn't you like it?" His hands were easy now on the small of her waist. She could feel the warmth of them through the layers of clothing she wore. She could feel him caressing her gently even as he studied her.

Turning her head slightly, she answered. "I'm not sure. I think I like it. Do it again so I can tell." This might be the one and only time in the whole of her life that a man kissed her. She wanted to make sure they were doing it right.

His fingers tugged her against him as his mouth lowered once more. This time his lips didn't stay closed completely and when his tongue slid along her mouth, he parted her lips slightly.

She straightened again despite his groan. "Where'd you learn to kiss like that?"

Travis laughed. "How'd you get to be a full-grown woman without learning how to kiss, Rainey?"

She didn't want to tell him how few times she'd been around boys, or men, near her age, so she leaned forward and touched her lips to his.

He didn't respond.

She tried again.

He waited.

Frustrated, she opened her mouth slightly and touched his full bottom lip.

He reacted, pulling her close and continuing the lesson.

She'd done it, she thought. She'd finally kissed a man the way a woman kisses a lover. As he nibbled on the corners of her lip, she decided maybe she should be writing this down. She'd never remember all she was learning.

She pulled away. "How…"

He pulled her back. "Stop asking questions."

She meant to protest. How else would she learn if she didn't ask questions? But suddenly she was lost in the pleasure of it all. This was no boy kissing her in the shadows of the ballroom. This was a man probably unaware that he was her first. She could feel a hunger in his kiss. He tasted of excitement spiced with a pleasure she'd never known.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands moved slowly up and down her back. The warmth of his touch melted all the way into her bones. She sighed, loving the feelings dancing in her veins.

He pulled back slightly. "You like kissing?"

"Very much." She leaned into him, letting the softness of her body press against him.

His hand moved along her back, molding her against him. "You feel so good against me."

She sighed again as he slid his fingers inside her cape so that not as many layers stood between them. He kissed her while his touch gently moved over her as if he needed to memorize the feel of her.

His mouth covered hers fully when his hand brushed along the bottom of her breasts. She jerked with the pleasure of it and might have fallen if he hadn't been holding her so tightly. When he repeated his action, she sighed softly and swayed with the wave of pleasure.

With the sigh, her mouth opened and he deepened the kiss, tasting her fully as though he'd been starving.

She didn't move, didn't protest as he molded her to him.

"This is what I've missed," he whispered against her lips, "since the last time I saw you."

His mouth moved from hers and trailed down her throat. She cried softly, missing the kiss.

He raised his head and stared down at her. She could see a fire in his eyes, a hunger and also uncertainty.

Placing her hands on either side of his face, she pulled his mouth back to hers. After a moment he understood and returned to kissing her.

She knew what he was doing would never be considered proper, but when he whispered her name, she held him closer.

His hand grew bolder, passing gently over her breast. Even through the layers of material she could feel the warmth in his touch.

Shaking with the wave of feelings flooding over her, Rainey cried out softly against his ear.

He held her tenderly, stroking her until she took his touch without fear. When he moved freely once more over her body, his caress seemed familiar, and she silently welcomed it as if it were something she hadn't known to miss all her life.

With his hand capturing her breast, he raised his head enough so that their eyes met. "You like this?"

"Yes," she whispered as he tightened his grip slightly and sent fire dancing through her veins.

"And this." He kissed her so gently she ached for more.

"Yes," she answered as she pressed against him, feeling his palm flatten against her soft flesh.

His words came low, whispered in her ear as almost a thought passing between them. "Then marry me, Rainey."

She pushed out of his arms and bolted several feet down the street before she heard him whisper her name once more.

The wind seemed suddenly bitter cold after being next to him, but she didn't turn around. She knew he followed but she wouldn't, couldn't face him.

Here she'd thought how nice the evening was after he finished scaring her half to death and bullying her. They'd had a pleasant meal, he'd doctored her hand as if he truly cared. They'd enjoyed great kisses and a touching that still made her shake with pleasure, then he proved himself insane by asking her to marry him.

All she thought she wanted was his letters. They were enough. Why did he have to show her more tonight? She liked the kissing, the touching, but that didn't mean she wanted marriage. She'd crossed half a country to be free, and she would not be giving that freedom up just because he made her heart race. She had more sense than that.

As she hurried along it crossed her thoughts that maybe Travis only wanted her for a night. Maybe he'd just offered marriage without ever planning to carry through. She didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved.

The dream of Travis McMurray was safe, but the reality was frightening. All these months she'd told herself that she would never give up her freedom and be ruled by some man. She'd fight to the death before she'd let her father catch her and force her to marry.

Then Travis appeared and tried to chain her with kisses.

She wasn't falling for it, no matter how much she liked the way he touched her.

Travis followed Rainey through the streets seeing that she got home safely. He made no effort to catch up to her, even if he had been able. Except for a few very memorable parts, the evening had been a disaster. He'd had better days when he'd been outnumbered by outlaws. It appeared he took to stepping out with a woman with about the same skill as he showed when dancing.

If he hadn't frightened her to death pulling her into the alley, his proposal of marriage surely did the job. The only explanation he could come up with was that he must have suffered brain damage from being wounded. A minute before, the idea of marrying her had been the furtherest thing from his mind. He was simply enjoying holding her, touching her, teaching her how to kiss. Then suddenly it crossed his thoughts that she'd know how next time. And next time it would be someone else kissing her.

That was it, he decided. That was the moment all rational thought snapped in two and he asked her to marry him. Him! The man who never wanted to marry. Never wanted a family. Never wanted a wife at home worrying about him.

He followed her another block. He knew nothing about her that would even hint that she'd be a good wife. She was a thief. Definitely violent, she'd tried to stab him less than two hours ago. Maybe that should have given him a hint as to how the evening would turn out. No doubt about her being a liar: It had taken him three times to get her to settle on a name, and he wasn't sure she'd given him the right one yet.

So why had he asked her the one question he thought he'd never ask?

Travis swore, knowing the answer. This fairy woman brought the only sunshine to his colorless life. When he was with her, or even thinking about her, he felt more alive than he ever had. She felt so right in his arms, like a piece of his heart had always been missing and, somehow, she completed him. And touching her… he didn't even want to think about the way touching her made him feel.

Suddenly she stopped and looked back to see if he followed, and to his surprise she appeared relieved to see him. He walked to within stabbing distance of her, but kept his guard up knowing she probably had her little fingers curled around her knife.

"I hate to ask for a crazy man's help," she said, moving her fists to her hips. "But I have to get to the back of the boardinghouse, and I don't think I'm brave enough to walk into that blackness alone. Would you consider accompanying me, Mr. McMurray?"

"Why don't you just knock on the front door?"

"Mrs. Vivian will not open it before seven a.m. It's one of her house rules. She locks the house up and takes the only key to her room."