Читать книгу Standing Outside The Fire - Sara Orwig - Страница 8

“That’s progress,” her handsome escort replied. “Knowing I’m dangerous to you just moved me out of ‘fun’ and ‘good’ for the evening.”

Knowing she should say no yet unable to resist, Erin picked up her flashlight and purse and handed him his flashlight. When her fingers brushed his, she drew a sharp breath. The slightest contact with him tonight had been electric. He was irresistible and he knew it and she was certain he had left an abundance of broken hearts strewn in his past. With all her being she was trying to keep a wall between them because there was a volatile chemistry that had sparked to life the first moment she had looked into his blue eyes in the hotel elevator.

He was so incredibly handsome! All evening it had been an effort to keep from staring at him.

In the dark lounge, he led her to a corner table. The place was half filled and a few couples circled the dance floor. Two walls were dark paneling with hunting pictures, mirrors backed the bar and the fourth wall was French doors opening to a terrace. Each table had a candle, and the entire bar was in semidarkness, yet with the candlelight, the room held a cozy atmosphere.

She watched while her new acquaintance ordered glasses of white wine. Golden candlelight flickered over his well-shaped hands. Her gaze drifted up. The yellow candlelight highlighted his prominent cheekbones and threw the hollows of his cheeks into shadows. His sexy, thickly lashed bedroom eyes guaranteed easy conquests and his full lower lip hinted at sensuality.

When she looked at his thick, wavy brown hair that was neatly trimmed above the strong column of his neck, she knew she was openly staring, but he was the handsomest man she had ever known. Only she didn’t really know him and she was wary of his flirting. All her life the only men she had dated were men she had known as friends. She never had blind dates, had never had a flash encounter that resulted in something more.

A short-sleeved navy sport shirt revealed this man’s impressive muscles that indicated he either worked out daily or was into a job that took a lot of physical labor.

She already knew his broad shoulders tapered to a narrow waist and trim hips. The sexy, charismatic man was dangerously appealing.

Unaccustomed to alcohol in any degree, she knew she should stop drinking wine, because she needed her wits to deal with such a heady combination of male sexuality and charm. And she suspected he was intent on seduction.

Her day had been dreadful. When she had flown into town, she had been exhausted and hungry only to be accosted in the hotel parking lot, adding to the miserable day. Encountering her dinner companion in the elevator with his cocky charm had made her smile and relax. All his talk about how gorgeous she was—she was certain he heaped the same compliments on any woman he dated. Still it was nice to be the object of those compliments.

She had wanted to get off the elevator and forget about him, but the man was too handsome to easily erase from memory. And in the elevator there had been sparks of attraction between them. She had felt it and she knew he did, but then, he probably experienced sparks with most of the females he encountered.

The moment she had stepped into the restaurant and spotted him across the room, her pulse had leaped.

Maybe it was the wine, but she felt exhilarated. All her tiredness and worries of the day had evaporated, and she had appeased hunger with a delicious steak dinner.

He stood and held out his hand. “Let’s dance.”

Taking his hand, tingles sizzling from that impersonal contact, she went with him to the dance floor, stepping into his arms and onto dangerous ground. Now she was in his arms, and every nerve in her body quivered. She could detect a tangy aftershave. Her thighs brushed his thighs. She was held lightly against him and she could feel the warmth of his body.

Giddy and breathless, she told herself it was the effects of the wine, but she knew it wasn’t. It was the man.

Dancing was paradise, and her partner was fascinating. How long since she had danced? She couldn’t remember. Probably last Christmas’s barn dance at the Kellogg ranch.

His arm tightened slightly, pulling her closer. They danced together with an ease that surprised her. At five-eight, she usually didn’t have to look up to men she was with, but she did now. He was well over six feet tall.

The next song was a fast number, and he swung into it without asking her. She danced around him, caught in the intensity of his blue-eyed gaze, knowing she enticed him just as he excited her. He caught her and spun her around, leaning over her, and for an instant they were frozen as she clung to him and gazed up into his eyes and saw the longing in their depths.

He swung her up, and they finished the dance and then began a slow dance.

“My head is spinning.”

“It’ll stop spinning with this music. Now it’s slow, deliberate, languid,” he drawled softly, his breath fanning her hair as he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.

She should push against him and step back to keep the dancing as impersonal as possible, but it was heaven to be held in his arms. She closed her eyes to enjoy herself without reservation. She was dancing with the most handsome, appealing man she had ever known. And the sexiest. She didn’t even know his name and they would soon part and never see each other again, but right now she was going to dance and enjoy another hour with him.

How long since she had been on a date and had experienced as much excitement? She knew the answer had to be calculated in years, not days or months. Which made her all the more vulnerable to the man’s magnetism.

He wanted to know her name, and instinctively she realized for her own well-being, she should keep a barrier between them. The wine had been a mistake because she knew her judgment had slipped or she wouldn’t be here, wrapped in his arms, slow dancing with him.

His arms tightened just a fraction, and they were barely moving now.

Why couldn’t one of the locals who wanted to date her have been like this? Excitement bubbled in her, and she kept telling herself to be careful, to resist this charmer whose name she didn’t know.

“I’ve thought of a list of names that might fit you—Laura, Emily, Katherine, Kate, Patricia,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her ear.

“None of the above,” she answered, leaning away to look up at him. The moment their gazes locked, her heart thudded. He wanted her and he wasn’t hiding it.

“I’ll tell you my name,” he said quietly, and she put her fingers against his mouth to stop him.

“Don’t tell me,” she whispered, intending to be emphatic, but her voice wavered as he kissed her fingers. Her stomach clutched and desire became a low flame inside her.

She sucked in her breath. “No names—remember?”

“I remember and I intend to win our bet.” He took her hand in his again and pulled her close and they danced. She moved with him, her fingers on his shoulder.

“I intend to figure out your name and to take you out again,” he declared.

While her pulse skittered, she leaned away to look up at him. “You don’t know where I live.”

“The world is a small place, and I get around a lot.”

“I’ll bet you do.”

“And for you, a man would be willing to go to the ends of the earth.”

“For a date? I don’t think so.”

He danced to the French doors and opened a door. Outside on the terrace, water ran from downspouts and dripped from the eaves, but the rain had stopped.

“Where are you going?” she asked as cool, damp air enveloped her. When they danced through the door onto the terrace, she felt a light mist.

“Out here where we can be alone,” he said, still dancing with her and closing the door behind them. He waltzed into the shadows.

“I think we’re getting rained on,” she remarked.

“Have you ever been kissed in the rain?”

Her heart pounded as she shook her head. “No, I haven’t.” She met his gaze squarely. She should look away, move away, do a thousand other things besides stand in his arms, but his compelling eyes held her. When his gaze lowered to her mouth, she couldn’t get her breath.

His hand tangled in her hair while his arm tightened around her waist, pulling her closer against him. When he lowered his head, she closed her eyes, wrapping her arm around his neck and turning her mouth up to his.

His tongue touched hers, and then he kissed her deeply. She was hopelessly lost as he leaned over her. Standing on tiptoe and kissing him in return, she wrapped both arms around his neck.

Her heart thudded, drowning out all other sounds. Her world narrowed to his kiss, sensations streaking in her and building a heat low in her body. Stunned by passion and the stormy longing that swamped her, she moved her hips against him and felt his arousal press against her.

A fiery hunger raged, and she ran her fingers over his strong shoulders and slid her hands up to tangle her fingers in his thick hair. Never once in her life had she been swept beyond reason into passion as she was this night.

Lights exploded behind her closed eyelids while she was consumed by longing. What was probably nothing unusual to him was a once-in-a-lifetime happening with her.

His tongue stroked hers, fanning the flames already blazing. Suddenly he leaned away a fraction. With an effort she opened her eyes, and her heart missed beats. His blue eyes blazed with desire until she felt as if she could be devoured merely by a look.

“Who are you, darlin’? I want to know you. What’s your name?”

“Erin,” she replied breathlessly, knowing she was crossing a line. “What’s yours?”

“Boone Devlin,” he answered, leaning down to kiss her again.

As shocked as if ice water had been poured over her, Erin pushed against his chest and stared at him. “Boone Devlin!” she exclaimed.

“You act like you know me,” Boone said, not caring at the moment and tightening his arm around her waist while she pushed harder against his chest.

“You’re Boone Devlin!” she exclaimed again, her eyes widening while she stared at him as if he had just sprouted purple hair.

This time her amazement got through to him and Boone leaned away, frowning. “Yes, I am. Do we know each other? I don’t think we do,” he replied as fast as he asked the question. “I couldn’t have possibly forgotten meeting you.”

“No, we don’t know each other, but we’re going to. I’m Erin Frye.”

“Damn!” he breathed, in turn shocked to learn her identity. “Erin Frye, the manager of the Double T Ranch?” he asked as he stared at her.

She nodded. “You know, we’re getting wet out here, and the mist is thickening. Let’s talk inside.”

Stunned, Boone could only gape at her while all his preconceived notions and imaginings of a tough, older ranch woman shattered into oblivion. “You run the ranch?”

She nodded and held her hand palm upward to feel the rain. “It’s wet out here, Boone.”

He was totally stunned because she was absolutely nothing like he had imagined the manager of his ranch to be. The words the attorney had used to describe her spun through his memory: competent, tough, capable, experienced at ranching, knows horses, reliable, trustworthy. There hadn’t been one word about beauty, or being alluring or exciting.

“If you want to stand in the rain, you go ahead,” Erin said briskly. “I’m getting wet and I’m going in.” Turning, she headed into the hotel, and he came to his senses and caught up with her, taking her arm.

“Let’s adjourn to my suite and have coffee sent up and talk about this,” he said.

As she turned to look at him, he was certain that she was going to say no. “C’mon, Erin. We’re going to have to work together at the Double T, after all,” he urged.

She blinked as if she had never thought of such a possibility and then she nodded.

“Great,” he said, and motioned to a waiter. In minutes they were in the elevator, and Boone had the corked, complimentary bottle of wine in hand.

“I thought you were going to get coffee,” she said, eyeing the wine bottle. “I’ve had more wine tonight than I’ve had in the past two years.”

“We need to celebrate again,” he said, moving close, sliding his arm around her waist. He wanted her more than he could remember ever wanting a woman before. “Erin Frye,” he said in a low voice, and she took a deep breath as her eyelids fluttered.

“I still can’t believe that you’re Boone Devlin,” she whispered. She sounded breathless, and he could see desire in the depths of her green eyes. He leaned down to kiss her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Erin turned her face up to his. Now he wasn’t a stranger. She knew some of his history. And it was impressive. His years in Special Forces and his daring rescue of John Frates. John Frates had spent hours telling her about the men who’d saved him and how special and capable and brave and intelligent they were. For over the past four years she had been hearing about Boone Devlin, so the man was no stranger. And her caution and resistance crumbled into nothing.

Oblivious of her surroundings, Erin returned his embrace, kissing him while her heart pounded and passion possessed her. Wanting his kisses with an urgency that shook her, she poured her desire into her kisses. She was dimly aware when he walked her backward out of the elevator while he continued to kiss her. She pushed away and looked around the empty hall. “Where are we?”

“Almost to my room,” he said. He took her arm and led her down the hall. Her head was spinning, she was breathless, hot, and wanting to be back in his arms.

He unlocked a door, pushed it open and led her inside, kicking the door shut behind him and pulling her into his arms while he set the wine on a nearby table.

As they kissed, he leaned back against the door. His hand slid over her, stroking her back, sliding down over her bottom and her hips.

She trembled with desire. Holding him, she wanted him desperately. She kissed him, pouring pent-up needs and brand-new longings into her kisses. Unfastening the buttons of his shirt, she caressed his bare chest, tangling her fingers in a thick mat of hair.

He made a growling sound deep in his throat, and she could feel his heart pounding. When he shrugged off his shirt and dropped it, her desire ratcheted another notch. His sculpted chest was muscled, tapering down to a washboard stomach, and the word awesome came into her mind.

While she was consumed by passion, she could see the effect she was having on him. From the first moment, knowing him had been magical. Now to discover he was someone she had been hearing about for years was like being with someone she had known a long time.

As she ran her fingers across his chest, she was only dimly aware of his fingers at the zipper of her dress. In seconds it was gone, falling to the floor with a swish around her ankles. Pushing away her lacy bra, his fingers caressed her breasts, and she moaned, shaking and overcome by his seductive caresses.

“Ah, Erin, you’re beautiful!” he whispered, bending down to take her nipple in his mouth. His tongue circled the taut bud while she tangled her fingers in his hair with one hand and tugged at his belt with the other.

His hands brushed hers and then his trousers fell around his ankles. He kicked off his shoes, peeled away his socks and stepped out of his trousers. He leaned away, discarding his shoes and socks while she ran her hands over his magnificent body.

The man was all hard muscle. She leaned forward to shower kisses over his chest and heard him inhale deeply.

Her head spun and she was on fire. While he kissed her, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to his bed. He put her on the mattress and moved over her to trail kisses on her breasts, to stroke and kiss her nipples, first one and then the other, and then he traced kisses lower. His hands caressed her legs, sliding between her thighs and touching her intimately.

Erin was drowning in his lovemaking, her pulse drumming out all other sounds, her closed eyelids shutting out awareness of anything except his hands and mouth on her. She tangled her fingers in his hair and wanted him with a need she had never known in her life.

His slightest caress and kiss drove her wild. While her head thrashed back and forth, she moaned softly, stroking him, wanting to give herself to him completely. He was incredibly special and what had happened between them was unique, something she never thought would happen.

Was she starry-eyed? In a dreamworld of fantasies? she asked herself. She didn’t care as she ran her hands over his strong shoulders. She glanced at him to see him leaning over her, his taut muscles taking her breath, and she closed her eyes again.

She clung to him as if he were the only solid thing in a world spinning crazily away. And even though they had just met for the first time tonight, he was no stranger. She knew myriad details about his past life. Knew what foods he liked and didn’t like, where he lived. She had seen pictures of him, but she hadn’t connected the pictures with the man because they had been photos taken at a distance, blurred, worn with time. They were pictures of a shaggy-haired man with a cap on. The cap was gone and the long shaggy hair was gone and he didn’t look as thin as he had in the pictures.

Boone wanted her with a hunger that was amazing, and she wanted him with a need that was staggering.

He touched her intimately, stroking her, driving her to oblivion, and then his tongue was on her, heightening all the need he had already built in her.

“Boone, please…” She whispered his name, her words fading away. She gasped, sitting up and wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him down while she kissed him. Then she took his shaft and slowly kissed him, feeling him tremble until he came up off the bed to wrap his arms around her so tightly it took her breath. He cradled her against his shoulder, kissing her and making her tremble.

“Love me. Love me now. This will be a night to remember.”

He leaned over her, laying her down on the bed again while he knelt between her legs.

“Are you protected, Erin?”

She shook her head and he stepped off the bed. When he did, she sat up and caught his arm. “Boone—”

“Just a minute,” he said, crossing the room to retrieve a packet from his flight bag. He returned and leaned over her to take her in his arms and kiss her.

When he moved between her legs, she stared at him, memorizing each detail about him while her heart pounded with eagerness. When she looked into his eyes, her breath caught.

Blatant desire burned in blue flames. She held out her arms and he came down into her embrace and then so slowly entered her.

“Boone! I want you!” she cried out, wrapping her long legs around him tightly.

“Ah, Erin, darlin’.” He moved slowly and withdrew and she gasped, arching against him and pulling him to her as he entered her again slowly and then he halted. “Erin!”

“Love me,” she whispered, pulling at his shoulders. He raised up slightly, startling her. She opened her eyes to look up at him and see a frown creasing his forehead.

“You’re a virgin!” When he started to scoot away, she held him, her arms tightening.

“Make love to me, now, Boone. I want you,” she cried fiercely, tugging him to her. She leaned up to kiss him, catching his lower lip gently in her teeth and then stroking his lips with her tongue before her tongue went into his mouth.

“Erin, you don’t know—”

“Yes, I do know!” she exclaimed. “I want you!” She pulled him down, kissing him as she held him tightly with her arms around his neck.

He entered her again and she felt the tightness, some pain, and she knew he was about to pull away again, but she clung to him. He entered her fully, filling her slowly, and in seconds urgency drove her to a wild rhythm with him.

“Boone!” she cried in a frenzy.

“Erin, darlin’.” He kissed her while they moved together, and then they crashed over a brink and stars exploded behind her closed eyelids as ecstasy enveloped her.

They gradually slowed, their pounding hearts returning to normal, their ragged breathing leveling out.

He kissed her and stroked her and finally rolled onto his side, keeping her with him. She opened her eyes to find him watching her.

“Boone, I think I’m in heaven.”

He tightened his arms around her and smiled at her before he pulled her close and kissed her gently. “You’re beautiful and wonderful and I can’t believe my fortune,” he whispered. He framed her face with his hand. “You were a virgin. I know I must have hurt you.”

“Not really,” she told him, caressing his cheek, feeling the short stubble.

Erin was still euphoric from their lovemaking.

He stroked her back while he showered her with light kisses, kissing her temple, her cheek, her throat. He brushed her tangled hair away from her face. “I want to hold you forever,” he whispered.

“I still can’t believe it’s you. I’ve heard about you for over four years now and I knew you were coming to the ranch sometime soon, but I didn’t know exactly when.”

“I called and left messages.”

“I haven’t been there to get them.”

She stroked his shoulder and his marvelous chest, leaning away slightly to look at him while she ran her fingers over his jaw, then down again across his chest.

“So you flew into town tonight?” she asked.

“This afternoon. I was with my friends the Remingtons and Whitewolfs.”

“I’ve heard about them. And I’ve met Mike Remington. They were in the military with you and were included in John’s will.”

“That’s right.”

“If you were with them in the afternoon—you already had dinner when you ate again with me.”

He grinned. “I wanted to eat with you.”

She rubbed his flat stomach. “Can’t tell you’ve had two dinners.”

“I’ve worked it off,” he said, and she smiled. “The Remingtons wanted me to stay with them tonight, but I came back to the hotel.”

“I’m glad. This never would have happened if you had stayed at their house. Or if it hadn’t rained, because I would have flown into town and gotten my car and driven home, but that’s why I’m in the hotel. Earlier tonight they had a gully washer and a bridge to the ranch is out.”

“I would have come to Texas sooner if I had known about you.”

She smiled at him as she stroked her hand over his hip and down his thigh. Something flickered in the depths of his eyes and he rolled away to stand, picking her up in his arms.

He carried her to the shower where he set her on her feet and turned on the water, watching her all the time. They soaped each other off, slowly, their gazes locked, and desire flared again in Erin and she knew he wanted her. He was hard, his shaft thick, ready for loving. She wound her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

He turned off the water and grabbed towels and they toweled each other dry and in minutes were kissing again. He carried her back to bed to pull her into his arms.

“I don’t want to hurt you anymore tonight. We’ll wait, darlin’. We can kiss and cuddle for now.”

“I didn’t know it could be like that,” she said as she snuggled into his embrace. He ran his fingers up and down her back.

“It can get better than this for you. Long, slow, loving, and it’ll be the best ever.”

As he held her with his fingers lightly tangled in her hair, he asked, “How did you get to be manager of the ranch? You’re young for that job.”

“Not so young. I’ve grown up around ranch work all my life.” She lay wrapped against him, her legs entangled with his, the sheet under her arms, and she gazed into his blue eyes. Bubbly, excited, she wanted to talk to him, to touch him, to kiss him. It was an effort to pay attention to his conversation, and she fought the temptation to pull him close and kiss him again. His fingers moved over her shoulder and down her arm, tingles dancing in their wake.

“I inherited my job,” she replied breathlessly. His light strokes that were casual were stirring desire. “My father was the manager, but he had poor health. My mother died when I was young.”

“I lost my dad when I was young—I was eleven,” Boone said. “How old were you when your mom died?”

“Fourteen and my sister, Mary, was sixteen.”

“It’s rough, but you survive because you have to.”

“Through the years my dad taught me how to do the things he did, so when I had to take over, it was gradual and I knew what I was doing.”

“And you like your work?”

“I love it. That ranch is my whole life. My family has worked for the Frates through generations—since the first Frates settled on the land.” She touched Boone’s chin lightly, gazing up at him. “Are you coming down here to try to make a lot of changes?”

“Right now, I want to see the place and how it works. You can help me with that.”

Her heart skipped a beat as she gazed up at him.

He kissed her lightly on the temple. “You’re not at all what I imagined. I’m still amazed.”

“John thought the world of you and the other guys who rescued him,” she said.

“I’m still in shock over my inheritance. All three of us were stunned to learn we inherited fortunes from John Frates.”

“You saved his life when he was held hostage,” she said while Boone toyed with locks of her hair. She felt the faint tugs against her scalp.

“That was our job in Special Forces. We were just doing what we were supposed to do,” he said. “That’s the way all of us feel about it.”

“There were four of you, weren’t there?”

“Yes,” Boone said, his eyes getting a faraway look. “Colin Garrick. He was killed in another operation later. An exceptional man.”

“I’m sure all of you were exceptional men. Exceptional, delicious, sexy, confident,” she whispered, showering light kisses on his throat and shoulder and down on his chest.

His arms tightened around her, and he turned her face up to his, and she saw the desire that had rekindled in his eyes. He pulled her closer in his arms and kissed her, pushing her down on the bed and leaning over her.

She wound her arm around his neck and her other hand ran down his smooth, muscled back, down to his firm buttocks. She was still astounded she was in bed with him, being loved by him.

“Darlin’, I think you’ve demolished me,” he drawled in a sleepy voice.

She laughed softly. “I hope I have burned you to cinders.”

Smiling at her, he rolled onto his back, pulling her against him with one arm around her waist while he toyed with her hair with his other hand.

“Erin, darlin’, you’re wonderful,” he whispered.

She kissed his shoulder, and his arm tightened while his hand combed through her hair and then danced over her back to her buttocks, then down along her thigh.

“I guess you’re not too demolished,” she whispered when his arousal pressed against her.

“Yes, I am, but you’re fanning fires back to life,” he said in a husky voice, “but we’ll wait.”

He fell asleep in her arms and Erin’s lids soon closed and she was asleep.

Some time later, she woke and stirred, momentarily disoriented as she started to stretch and felt a warm body against her. The arm around her waist tightened, pulling her close. Her eyes flew wide as memory crashed over her.