The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

teasing a seductive path down to the hardened muscles of his chest. Her mouth lavished his nipple, tenderly caressing the tender orb.
    Suddenly, unable to take the ecstasy anymore, he lifted her up and rolled her to her back in a single movement.
    She wrapped her legs around him as he placed his manhood at her womanly entrance. With a primal surge, he entered her, needing to feel her flesh surrounding him, burying himself deep within her.
    Her soft whimpers of pleasure increased with each long, slow stroke of his body as he slowed his pace, feeling the need to make it last. This moment with this woman had to last a lifetime. In less than two days, she would be gone, a distant memory to keep him warm on cold winter evenings and hot summer days. But his life would never be the same.
    Rose had changed him, made him see life from a different angle. Made him realize just how empty his existence had been until she'd stumbled into his world.
    And once she was gone, how lonely he would be once again.
    His lips covered hers as they shared the breath of life, his nostrils filled with the scent of Rose, the taste of Rose on his lips. And he was consumed with a passion that surpassed anything he'd ever felt before.
    He clasped her hands in his, bracing against her, plunging deeper and deeper into her, feeling as if his soul was joining with hers. Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheek. Her body quivered as she shuddered with completion.
    "Travis," she whispered in the dark, and his heart swelled inside his chest. God, this woman had a way of making him feel larger than life.
    He couldn't hold back any longer. He'd waited as long as he could, but Rose was ready once again. And this time they both rode a star to the moon and slowly fell back to earth clasped in each other's arms.
    ***
    The moon had risen to its full height and was once again descending when Travis awoke with a start. Rose lay curled against him, snug in his arms, her silken skin warm against him.
    In the moonlight, he could see her eyelashes curled against her pale skin, the dark shadows underneath her eyes. She looked so innocent, so peaceful and gentle, the will of iron and steel hidden beneath her kind heart. This tiny woman who had tested his strength in so many ways lay curled, sleeping, in his arms.
    They had only hours before dawn. Only days before she went away permanently, leaving him alone once more. He'd never known just how isolated he was until she'd come into his life. But now he knew his existence before Rose had been dull and lifeless. Now he wondered what he would do once she was gone.
    It wasn't as if he'd fallen in love with her. But he couldn't keep his hands off her. There was this persistent itch that only she seemed to soothe. Her touch brought instant relief to his drought-ridden soul and left him hungering for more.
    Maybe it would have been different if both times the sex hadn't been so gratifying as to leave him stunned at the intense satisfaction. But Rose had taken him to heights of pleasure that he'd never before experienced.
    He'd resisted succumbing to her magic every step of the way, but somehow he'd been unable to defy the potency of her charms. And deep down, he no longer wanted to.
    She intrigued him. She frustrated him and challenged him at the same time. Life would indeed be dull without her. He didn't know why her leaving should matter so much, but it did.
    Rose wasn't what he wanted in a wife, so he hadn't fallen in love with her. She wasn't quiet, meek, and trained in all the fine arts a lady should know. She didn't know how to cook, clean, or live the life of a rancher's wife.
    She wasn't a lady, but she was so much more.
    Rose Severin was an enigma who constantly kept his life in turmoil. She was a good woman, and he'd taken her virginity.
    For a moment he stopped, stunned. He had taken her innocence.
    Tonight he'd slept with her beneath his mother's roof. A good woman would insist upon marriage.
    He didn't want her to leave.
    A good woman would insist he must marry her.
    Rose was a good woman. Indeed, it was his duty to marry her.
    Travis pulled her tighter against him. It would be less than honorable not to offer her marriage, and he was an honorable man. He had to offer her marriage; he had no choice in the matter. It was the solution to his dilemma.
    In the morning he would insist they marry. Then she wouldn't be leaving.

Chapter Eighteen

    Rose stirred sleepily in Travis's arms when the light, feathery kisses he