When she whimpered and arched her neck for more kisses, he put his hands on her butt and lifted her so that her legs wrapped around his hips and her cleft rode his erection.
“I am so tempted, but I think—”
“Don’t think.”
“But—”
“No buts.”
“Forever… I want forever this time.”
“I swear to God, Charmaine, this feels like forever.”
She laughed in a suffocated manner. “You just want to get laid.”
“Yeah. Forever.”
She laughed again. “You don’t take me seriously. You think I’m just a brainless bimbo.”
Hell and damnation! She is going to talk this thing to death. Only she could talk down a hard-on. “I’ve developed a fondness for bimbos. And I don’t know how much more serious I can get at the moment.” He ground his hips against her in emphasis.
“Yeah, but will you respect me in the morning… as a business partner?” Charmaine wiggled her hips slightly to keep herself from slipping. That slight abrasion of her latex crotch against his denim one felt like an electric shock of the best possible kind. It would take no effort on his part at all to eat the spandex out of the joining of her thighs if it would mean that he could plunge himself into her hot sheath.
But no, sanity was returning. Dammit! He pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against hers, panting for breath. When he was able to speak, he said, “So you want forever and a dude ranch. A little greedy, don’t you think?”
She put a hand to his cheek gently. “I’m worth it, Rusty.”
“I know that way too well.” Even so, he released his hands from her butt and let her slide to the ground with a painfully pleasurable drive-by over his erection. Setting her at arms length away from him, he added, “But I don’t much relish trading sex for favors.”
“Don’t insult me by implying that I would prostitute myself that way. Bimbo or not, if I made love with you, it would be because I wanted to. Period.”
“Enough with the bimbo rant! I used that word to you once ten years ago. Are you going to punish me for that for the rest of my life?”
She ignored his words and continued her explanation. “Try to understand this, Rusty, because it’s important. You may call it born-again crap, but what it means to me is that next time I get involved with a man it’s going to be more than a roll in the hay, married or not. And that man has got to value me for being more than a good lay. I am smart, and I am sexy. Both of those attributes are equal.”
“Did I just get a lecture here?” he asked, smiling.
“Uh-huh. Is it sinking in yet?”
“It’s starting to. But you know, honey, that respect thing goes both ways. I’m a trained veterinarian, and I know a hell of a lot more about ranching than you do. It’s about time you started giving me credit, too. And, furthermore, you walked out on me ten years ago. You were the one who threw in the towel. Talk about unresolved issues!”
She appeared about to argue, then changed her mind. Instead, she nodded.
He reached out a hand and ran the pad of his thumb over her kiss-swollen lips.
She sighed.
“What if I said that I think… that I think…”
“Spit it out, cowboy.” She gazed at him with such soulful intensity that his heart about flipped over.
“… that I think I might still love you. Would that melt any ice?” He’d thought this when they’d engaged in almost-sex the night before, but he hadn’t planned to say it out loud. It just slipped out.
“Oh, baby.” She was the one who ran the pad of her thumb over his kiss-swollen lips then. And he was the one to sigh. “It would melt a mountain of ice, a continent. But love is not enough. Teenagers think it’s the end-all and be-all. I certainly did when I married you in a heated hurry. There has got to be more this time.”
It’s all I’ve got to offer, though. And still it’s not enough. He stepped back from her and put his hands in the air in a surrender gesture. “So be it. But I’m warning you, babe. No more twitching your tail in my face.”