Home > Branding the Virgin (Cowboys & Virgins #1)(9)

Branding the Virgin (Cowboys & Virgins #1)(9)
Author: Alexa Riley

When the tips of my fingers reach the edge of her panties, I feel Mary-Jane stiffen in my arms. I spread my palm out on the top of her thigh, halting my motion. Kissing her softly now, I move my mouth down her chin and to her neck.

“Slow, darlin’. We’ll go real slow.”

Rubbing the side of her thigh, I feel her relax in my arms as I place soft kisses across her collarbone and back up to her ear.

“There’s something about you that I can’t seem to control. But I can’t shake this need, and to be honest…” I pause to pull back and look into her eyes. “…I don’t want to. I like how your hand feels in mine, and I like the way you fit in my lap. This is fast, and I don’t know what you’re feeling, but for me, this has never happened before.”

She bites her lip and looks away before looking back at me and nodding. “Me neither, Ty. I’ve never felt this way before.” Worry sparks in her eyes, and for a second I think she’s going to tell me something. Instead she releases a breath and tucks her chin against her chest, so I can’t see her face. “Maybe this is too fast.”

I take my hand out from her dress and put it under her chin to make her look at me. “We’ll go as slow or as fast as you want, darlin’. But I aim to keep you.”

“There’s so much you don’t know.”

The sound of her voice makes my chest ache. It’s like there’s something she wants to say but she’s nervous. But there’s also hope there. There’s something she wants to tell me and she wants to be accepted.

“You got something you want to say to me?”

Her mouth opens, but then closes again. For a long pause I wait, but she just smiles at me and puts her head on my chest. “I’ll get there soon enough. But not yet.”

“Just as long as you stay, you can take all the time you need.”

We spend the rest of the dinner sitting in the same position, with her on my lap. I feed her and then feed myself, and we laugh as we talk. God, I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve laughed, and the thought feels strange. I didn’t know that I wasn’t smiling until she walked into my life and made me do it. It’s like one day she showed up and my life truly began.

After dinner, I wash dishes and refuse to let her help. So she sits on the counter next to me as I clean up the kitchen.

“I could get used to this,” she says, leaning back and drinking lemonade as she watches me work.

“Glad to hear it. Because you’re going to have to.” I give her a serious look, but she just laughs it off.

“You keep saying you’re going to keep me. Should I be afraid you’re telling the truth?”

I put the last of the dishes in the cabinet and walk over to where she’s sitting. I move slowly so she sees what I’m doing, and push her knees apart. Taking a step in between them, I pull her ass to the edge of the counter, making her let out a little squeak.

Her hands go to my shoulders, and a laugh leaves her lips.

“I love hearing that sound.”

I grasp her waist, and at this height we’re about eye level. I stand there for just a moment, marveling at her beauty and thinking about what she’d look like with her dark curls spread out over my bed.

“What have I done coming here like this?” she whispers. It’s like she’s talking to herself, but I answer anyway.

“You’ve come here and opened my eyes for the first time in my life. Don’t make me close them again.”

With that, my lips land on hers, and we stay that way, kissing in the kitchen until the crickets tell us it’s time for bed. I carry her to her room and summon all the strength inside me to leave her there and say goodnight.

After I close her door, I press my forehead to it, willing my body to walk away while my heart stays put. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but knowing when I wake up she’ll be here gives me hope.

9

Mary-Jane

I wake to a warm body melded around me, and a face buried in my neck. Ty’s slow, even breathing lets me know he’s still asleep. His earthy smell wraps around me, and I find myself pushing into him further, soaking up the comfort of him.

I can’t remember a time when I’ve lain in a bed and been cuddled. I should be mad that he snuck into my room, but I was sad when we parted last night. I’d wanted to lie down in bed with him, to fall asleep in his arms. Yesterday was more perfect than I could have imagined. The change in him was crazy, and I still don’t know what to make of it. He’d still seemed grumpy with others, but not with me. I oddly like that only I get that side of him. His words are always soft and low when he talks to me. Almost like I’m something precious he could startle. He’s handling me with care to avoid spooking me.

I’m falling for him and I’m not sure I can stop it. I can still feel his lips against mine. After I’d gotten out of the shower last night, I’d stared in the mirror for a long moment.

My lips were still swollen from his kisses, my belly was swollen with his child, and I looked how I’d always dreamed—happy after finding a man who loved me and excited to create a family with him. But it isn’t real. I have to be careful not to get carried away. Things haven’t gone as planned, and I’m scared to pop this little bubble. I’m wondering how things will change when Ty finds out. I wonder if he even wants children. He’s already spent a good chunk of his life helping raise his brothers and sister. His sister is barely out of the house, and to have a baby dropped on him might be an unwelcome shock.

   
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