Anticipation Read online

  Deidre understood the anguish in his voice. She placed her hand over his, her heart tripping at a rabbit’s pace. “I know. Your integrity was one of the things I admired so much about you.”

  His body tensed behind her. “I’ll never say the words ‘will you marry me’ again.”

  The vehemence in his words told her just how much his ex-fiancée’s betrayal had hurt him. Deidre’s heart went out to this strong, self-contained man. Even though his statement tore her up inside, she admired him more for being honest with her upfront.

  Running her hand across his warm one, she laced their fingers together and let out a soft sigh. “We’ve both had our share of disappointments in life. I just want to feel your arms around me. I don’t have any expectations beyond that.”

  Jonas brushed her hair to the side and buried his nose against her neck. “I’m sorry, Deidre. You blew me away the moment I saw you again after all these years. There needs to be pure honesty between us.”

  “No expectations, Jonas….just anticipation,” she said at the same time the tiny niggling voice in her mind dared to rear its ugly head. I hope I haven’t built you up in my mind to be a bigger-than-life, beyond exceptional lover. But the throbbing ache between her legs reminded her that the man definitely knew how to leave her wanting.

  “Anticipation,” he said in a husky tone as he laid the reins across Admiral’s neck. The horse continued to plod along without guidance as if he knew the trail well.

  Deidre’s pulse thrummed when he placed his hands on her legs then slid her skirt higher, exposing her thighs completely.

  He cupped his fingers along the bend of her legs and began circling his thumbs on her muscles just above her knees. She bit her lip to keep from moaning at the sensations rocking through her.

  As he moved his hands higher, massaging her muscles in small circles, tiny tremors started in her inner thighs and slowly wound their way to her sex. With a low growl rumbling in his chest, Jonas shifted his weight forward in the saddle, forcing her body fully flush against the saddle horn until she literally rode the hard surface.

  Each dip and sway of the horse’s movements caused her mound to rub and bump against the saddle horn. Agonizing friction built and ricocheted through her sex, tensing her lower muscles. Deidre tightened her thighs around the horse and swallowed a moan.

  “I feel your tension. I know you’re holding back. I want to hear your excitement,” Jonas said at the same time he gripped her inner thighs and forced her legs open wider. His action no longer allowed her to stop the constant pressure against her sensitive parts. Deidre began to pant then gasp each time the horse’s movements made her body meet the molded surface.

  Jonas moved his thighs behind hers, keeping her sex flush with the horn. The sensation of his hard cock pressing against her backside made her want to whimper.

  “Your sweet ass rubbing against me is a helluva cock-tease,” Jonas said in a husky tone. His hands slid up her rib cage until they covered her breasts. “Do you feel how much I want you?”

  As his fingers brushed across her hard nipples, exquisite pleasure shot through her breasts and down her center. Deidre let her head fall back on his shoulder, shutting her eyes tight. The heat radiating from his hard erection seeped right through their clothes. She’d never been more stimulated.

  “Yes, and it’s definitely mutual,” she managed to babble out while a multitude of arousing sensations battled within her. The horse had slowed, but each step became a sensual punctuation to the built-up emotions roiling inside her. Her panting turned rampant as her sex began to throb, ready for release. “Jonas… I’m…”

  “I know, sweetheart. Let go. I want to hear your scream,” he said at the same he slid his fingers forward and pinched her nipples hard.

  Deidre barely registered his warm breath on her neck and his tender kiss grazing the sensitive spot below her ear. Her body took over and she cried out, arching her back. Sexual tension had built to a fevered pitch within her, refusing to back down.

  Jonas’ sexy growl preceded an aggressive thrust of his hips, which forced her to grind incessantly against the horn. Her breath hitched in eager response to his dominant action. Deidre knew his lovemaking would be this raw and primal, and just as exhilarating. Unable to move back, she rode against the hard surface, seeking release from the coiled arousal spiking within her.

  Her body tensed and her heart seemed to skip several beats right before her climax spiraled within her. She gripped the back of Jonas’ neck and turned slightly, burying her face against his throat and jaw as the waves of her orgasm began. Body-rocking, heart-stopping splinters of pleasure rolled through her. Her thighs clenched the horse’s sides and she drank in Jonas’ sexy masculine smell while reveling in each sensual quiver that flowed through her body.

  Once her heart rate began to slow, Jonas cupped her breasts and pulled her back against his chest. “Damn, woman. That has to be one of the most erotic experiences…” His voice broke and he laid his forehead on her shoulder, exhaling a shuddering breath.

  Now that her senses were returning, Deidre realized the horse had stopped walking. Jonas was breathing hard…harder than she was at the moment.

  She glanced around her and noted they’d stopped at the very same spot Jonas had lifted her down from his horse ten years before—the same day he’d said, “In another life…”

  When he lifted his head, she kissed him on the jaw and smiled. “Does this place look familiar?”

  “We’re on Mendez property now,” he said in a tight voice before he lowered himself from the horse.

  “I never knew that.” Deidre didn’t know what to think about the brief change in his mood when he lifted her down without a word. Once her feet touched the ground, she laid a hand on his chest, her stomach tightening in worry. “Jonas?”

  His hands moved to her shoulders and then to the back of her neck, massaging the muscles. He pulled her close and his lips hovered over hers. Deidre’s heart began to hammer all over again.

  “Now I can finally do something I’ve wanted for a decade,” he murmured.

  The banked tension in his shoulders conveyed just how much restraint he employed. Jonas’ fingers trembled ever so slightly as he slid them into her hair. Cupping the back of her head in a firm hold, he covered her lips with his.

  As his mouth slanted across hers and the dominant thrust of his tongue demanded the same instant response, Deidre fell deeper into his strong embrace. Every warm, wet nuance of their tongues’ seductive slide against each other, their bodies melding into one another while their hearts thumped in tandem staccato beats, sent a heated flush of thrilling erotic vibrations all the way to her toes.

  Jonas’s kiss was so thorough and mind-numbingly sexy as hell. He blew through her expectations—he was decadent, chocolate sin. She relished every rasping movement of his mouth over hers, craving more.

  She wrapped her arms around his trim waist and kissed him back with just as much fervor. From his shoulders’ bunched muscles, to his tight grip on her, to the hard press of his mouth against hers, his kiss had a possessive undertone, as if he feared she might bolt any second. Deidre wasn’t going anywhere. The man fulfilled every fantasy she’d ever had about him, ten times over. And all this before he ever slid inside her.

  He lifted his head and his breathing came in heavy pants as he leaned over her shoulder to pull something from his horse’s saddle bag.

  Jonas’ intense expression sent a shiver down her spine as he released her and held out a jean jacket. He seemed to be waiting for her to put it on. Deidre raised an eyebrow, but slipped her arms inside the material without question.

  As soon as she’d pulled on the jacket, Jonas lifted her in his arms and carried her off the path to set her feet on the ground in front of a tree.

  When he placed his hands on her shoulders, she felt them tremble slightly as he stared into her eyes. “I’ve never ached for a woman as much as I have for you.”

  Without even trying, thi
s man stole her heart. He swept it right out of her chest and thrust it back, beating so rapidly she didn’t know if her breathing could keep up with its thunderous pace.

  Despite her best efforts to remain unemotional, tears welled. “Kiss me, cowbo—”

  Jonas didn’t give her a chance to finish. He yanked her hard against his chest and his lips claimed hers once more.

  Deidre expected a frantic, hard kiss. Instead, the tender brush of his lips across hers only seduced her further. He suckled her bottom lip before his tongue slid inside her mouth to glide alongside hers in a leisurely, yet decadent, sensual dance. Moist heat flooded her core with each slow swipe.

  Deidre responded in kind. Her hands skimmed his chest then continued upward until her fingers speared through his hair. When she knocked his hat off and began to suck on his tongue, Jonas let out a primal grunt, cinching his hands around her waist. His kiss deepened, moving more possessively across hers as he lifted her and set her back against the huge oak tree behind them.

  The rough, unyielding surface of the bark behind her, coupled with the hard muscles flexing underneath her fingers made Deidre’s skin prickle in fervent response.

  Jonas’ fingers slid her skirt up, lifting it until his warm hands connected with her thighs. “Your skin is so soft,” he mumbled against her mouth, then he kissed her jaw as his fingers traced a seductive path up her inner thighs toward her sex.

  A sexy smile tugged his mouth upward as his fingers touched a patch of moisture along the inside of her leg. “The fact you’re so wet makes me want you even more.”

  Deidre’s sandals crunched the dead leaves under her feet as she spread her legs wider. She licked her lips and let her eyes close slightly. “Touch me. I’ve waited long enough.”

  “My pleasure, darlin’,” he said, and cupped her sex with an aggressiveness that almost sent her over the edge.

  The surprised look that crossed his face when he realized she didn’t have any underwear on made her smile. “Thought I’d make it easy for you.”

  “The better to have you whenever and wherever I want,” he rasped as he stepped closer, towering over her. His expression turned impossibly sinful right before he thrust a finger deep inside her. Deidre let out a gasp at the pleasurable invasion.

  When he circled his finger, touching all the right places deep inside her, then rubbed the pad on her G-spot, she gripped his shoulders. His actions caused carnal sensations to quickly build inside her.

  “You make me burn, Dee. I want you so damn bad I might lose it just unbuttoning my pants.”

  No, she mentally screamed. Gripping his belt buckle, she yanked it open. “We certainly can’t have that,” she replied as she pulled on his jeans button and unzipped his pants for him.

  When her fingers brushed against his erection through his fitted gray cotton briefs, Jonas shuddered. He quickly withdrew his finger from her body to grip her wrist and pull her hand away. “Darlin’, I’m so primed right now, a breeze would send me over.”

  She chuckled at his comment while she continued to tug on his jeans and underwear until they were past his knees.

  When her gaze landed on his heavily veined erection, jutting full and proud against his lower abs, she whispered, “I want to touch you,” as she dug her nails into her palm to keep from doing exactly that.

  Heat flared in Jonas’ gaze before he closed his eyes and laid his head back, facing the darkening sky. “Then touch me, sweetheart.”

  Anticipation

  Chapter Four

  Deidre’s heart hammered as she uncurled her fingers and surrounded his hard erection with her hand. His skin felt so silky soft she couldn’t resist sliding her hand down his impressive length to the base.

  “Fuck!” he barked at the sky through clenched teeth.

  She noted his hands were clenched by his sides and glanced up to see the tendons on his neck standing out as if he were exerting tremendous effort not to react to her touch.

  Bending over, she gave the tip of his cock a tender kiss then straightened. “My thoughts exactly.”

  Jonas’ blue gaze lasered into hers at the same time his hands gripped her thighs. “Condom.” The word came out on a low groan.

  “Which pocket?” she asked as she bent and tugged at his jeans waistband.

  “My right. Front.”

  Deidre fished around in his front pocket and grabbed the packet. Without a word, she ripped open the plastic and began to slide the protection down his engorged erection.

  Jonas’ hips flexed forward and his eyes closed. With each brush of her fingers along his cock, he let out harsh breaths until she’d placed the condom completely over him.

  Once she’d finished, his breathing had turned shallow. With her hands on his shoulders, Jonas gripped the back of her thighs and effortlessly lifted her up until the tip of his cock rested against her entrance. The sensation of his erection barely touching her felt so erotic she squeezed her pelvic muscles to stop the achy sensation pulsing within her. God, she’d never been more ready in her life.

  Jonas held her suspended above him, his cock brushing her entrance for a couple of long heart-stopping seconds. A sudden look of sheer unadulterated lust crossed his face and his fingers tightened around her thighs. “I feel how hot and wet you are through the condom.”

  She wound her fingers in his hair and gave the thick locks a slight yank. “Ten years is a long time to yearn.”

  His arms began to quake and a look of primal possession flashed in his eyes as he took the couple steps toward the tree. Setting her back against the surface, he gripped her backside and thrust deep inside her.

  She wanted to scream in fulfillment. He felt that good.

  A shudder shook his frame and he murmured her name at the same time he withdrew and pistoned back inside her channel so hard her back slid up the tree trunk several inches.

  The slick slide of his cock rubbing against her walls made a jolt of animal-like need take over her body. In the span of two heart beats, she realized exactly why Jonas made her wear his denim jacket. He was protecting her skin from the tree’s rough bark. Her respect for his thoughtfulness deepened as she dug her fingers into his shoulder muscles.

  Tightening her thighs around his waist, Deidre pulled her body flush with his then ran her tongue along his neck. She nipped at his skin, satisfied at the groan that pushed past his lips. “Sex with you is exactly how I thought it would be. You’re rough yet tender in the ways that matter. I want more,” she demanded in a heavy whisper next to his ear.

  Jonas’ breath escaped in a deep bellow as his fingers massaged her rear. “Deeeeidra,” he said before he pressed her body against the tree and leaned into her, thrusting upward. Seated deep inside her, his entire body primed and tense, he buried his nose against her neck, and said in a ragged voice, “I want to take you so deep and hard it scares me.”

  The slight tremble in his low-spoken words made her heart trip several beats. She placed her hands on his cheeks and lifted his head so he had to look at her. “It should only scare you if I didn’t want it.” Her heart pounded and small pre-climactic tremors started in her sex as she clenched her inner muscles around his cock. “I definitely want it. I want every bone-crushing, body-rocking, ram-until-I-scream thrust. Give me the fantasy I’ve masturbated to on more nights than I care to remember. I want the ride of my life and I know you’re the man to give it to me.”

  Her last words caught in her throat as he began to grind his hips against hers in slow, measured circles. “The idea of you masturbating while thinking of me is the hottest turn on.”

  The heavy press of his body against her clit felt so good. With each slow circle he made, her breath hitched a little higher. “Yes,” she breathed out as she closed her eyes and hammered her fist against his shoulder. Her stomach muscles clenched while almost-there vibrations feathered her core in teasing pulses.

  “Open your eyes,” he demanded at the same time he rolled his hips against her pubic bone, this time in the
opposite direction. “I want you to see the man who’s deep inside you. I’m no dream man, Deidre. I’m flesh and blood and so damned jacked-up by your arousing body I can’t think straight.”

  Her gaze locked with his intense one and she slid her hand into his shirt collar. She brushed her fingers teasingly against his skin before digging her nails into the warm flesh on his shoulder. “That makes two of us. Make me come, cowboy.”

  As soon as she spoke, Jonas quickly withdrew and slammed into her once, twice, a third time. He was on his forth thrust when her body clenched tight and her orgasm crashed through her. “So…so good,” she stammered, her walls tightening and releasing in euphoric spasms. With every shuddering contraction within her core, her pulse soared higher while her nipples throbbed from the erotic friction of his chest rubbing against hers.

  Jonas stopped his thrusts, burying himself inside her while she gyrated her hips and rode his erection through the rest of her climax.

  When she came down from her high, the look of sheer willpower on his face, the hard, on-the-edge tension made her want to cry. “Aren’t you going to—” she started to ask.

  “Had no idea how damned sweet you’d be,” he said softly as he withdrew and sank back inside her channel, his movements a slow, methodical, determined rhythm.

  When her body began to respond to his pace, her nipples tightening and her juices gathering once more, Deidre leaned close and whispered in his ear, “Come for me, lover.”

  And that was all it took. Jonas let out a low growl as his tempo quadrupled in speed. Fast and furious felt just as glorious to Deidre, but apparently the man refused to go over the edge alone.

  “I want you to scream.”

  “I’m fine. Let go,” she panted.

  “To hell with that,” he said through clenched teeth at the same time his fingers moved closer around her rear and pulled her butt cheeks apart.

  The sensation of his fingers separating and stretching her sensitive skin was a surprising turn on. Deidre gripped his shoulders and tensed her body, keening as her walls shuddered with an even more explosive, higher-pitched orgasm.