Only 06 - Winter Fire

fear…”
    His eyes closed. The longing in her voice was echoed in his own heartbeat, his own soul.
    â€œJust live here and now?” he asked.
    â€œYes. Like a good dream, the kind you wake up from smiling instead of sweating.”
    â€œLike a dream,” he said. “Nothing before and nothing after. Just a sweet dream…”
    His lips whispered softly over her hairline, her eyebrows, her cheekbones, the corner of her mouth.
    â€œCase?” she whispered.
    â€œJust a dream,” he said. “That’s all. Just a dream.”
    The tip of his tongue traced her upper lip, then her lower one, leaving a delicate fire in its wake. Her breath caught and her heart turned over at the tender caress.
    Then she remembered his blunt warning.
    Don’t tease me into making you pregnant. I would hate both of us for it .
    The leather poke that Lola had given Sarah was back in the cabin. She knew if she went to get it, Case would withdraw again behind his carefully built walls.
    Only now, this instant, was he vulnerable.
    Like her.
    It doesn’t matter , she thought. I’ll be gone from Lost River ranch before either one of us knows if I’m pregnant .
    And maybe, just maybe, I can get so far inside those walls of his that he can’t shut me out ever again .
    She didn’t really believe it, but she hoped…
    Her teeth nipped his lower lip. The startled breath hetook was the opening she wanted. Her tongue slid into his mouth and began exploring.
    Without knowing it, she shivered and made a throaty sound of pleasure when she tasted him.
    â€œI love your taste,” she whispered. “I love the way your teeth feel so slick and hard and your tongue is all velvet and warm.”
    Case made a low sound. His arms tightened until he held Sarah in a powerful, warm vise.
    â€œYou shouldn’t say things like that,” he whispered.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œYou’ll make me lose my head.”
    â€œJust for a while. Just a dream. That’s all,” she whispered. “A dream.”
    Before he could pull away, she shifted in his lap, trying to get even closer to him. As she moved, her hip rubbed over his aroused flesh.
    He was full, hard, ready.
    She made another low sound and moved again, frankly caressing him, knowing at some deeply feminine level that this was the way to reach past his barriers, if only for a time.
    Just a dream .
    He tried to speak. All that came out was a throttled groan when her mouth slanted over his. The taste of her as she met and matched his hungry tongue, the feel of her moving in his lap, and the ragged catch in her breathing told him that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
    The knowledge was like raw whiskey in his brain, stripping away his control. He fought against himself even as his tongue stabbed into Sarah’s mouth again and again, seeking her as deeply as she was seeking him.
    Yet no matter how fully their mouths joined, it wasn’t enough. He needed more, much more. He needed all of her.
    Her name was a husky question on his lips.
    Her answer was a hungry movement of her body that inflamed him.
    Case stopped fighting against what he needed more than the blood in his veins. Beneath the blanket he had wrapped around her, his hands sought and found the feminine weight of her breasts.
    He stroked her urgently, but it was skin he hungered for, not clothing. Quickly he unbuttoned her flannel shirt and undid the ties of her chemise.
    His fingers were cool from the night. Sarah gasped when they plucked at her nipples. When he hesitated, she put her hands over his and held them to her breasts.
    â€œDon’t stop,” she whispered.
    â€œMy hands are cold.”
    â€œCold?” she laughed raggedly. “They’re fire. Pure, wonderful fire. I want them all over me. But most of all, I want to have you inside me again.”
    He made a deep, broken sound and pushed her back onto the bedroll. Together they fought their way through clothing until she felt him opening her naked thighs.
    The scent of her arousal pushed him over the edge. He caressed her once, deeply, and felt liquid fire spill over his hand. He tried to say her name but couldn’t. She had taken his breath.
    Long legs wrapped around his hips. He yanked at his pants until they were open, then barely managed to throttle a groan when her hips lifted to him, touching him with fire.
    He rubbed against her slick heat. She shivered with pleasure and