to him even as he positioned himself, and then finally, when an instant seemed like an eternity, he drove into her in one long, shuddering stroke.
She gripped his hair, clamped her legs around him and rode. She was prepared for a quick climax, wanted it, but he seemed determined to draw it out, to make it last.
“Hurry!” she whispered.
He threaded his hands through her hair and pulled back her head to expose her throat. “Not a chance,” he said between kisses. “Not when I’ve been waiting for you all day long.”
Then, moving excruciatingly slowly, he teased her into delirium, into ecstasy, until she cried out for mercy.
“For someone who doesn’t want anyone to know we’re here, you sure are making a lot of noise,” he said.
“Hank, please,” she said, her voice muffled against his shoulder.
“I’ll please you, darlin’, have no fear,” he said. Then, in a ripple of movement, he turned her so that she was lying back on the ledge, the smooth surface firm against her back. He rose above her, almost like a phantom in the mist, and then before she could pull him to her, he plunged into her so that she cried out in surprise.
And then she wondered how she could have lived all of her life without knowing what sex, real sex, was like. It had never been like this. It had never been so passionate, never engaged her body, mind and soul, and it had never been with a rugged cowboy who knew how to bring her to these heights. The planes of his face were pressed to hers, the angles of his body complemented the curves of hers, and their hearts throbbed to the same rhythm.
As they raced together toward the moon, she spun away on the ripples of the pool, was drawn into the ribbons of moonlight, became one with the silvery mist. She became satin, she became silk, she became the moon mirrored in his eyes. She inhaled his breath, rose on its life force to spiral into a place she had never gone before, and she was going there with him, Hank, her perfect cowboy.
She thought she might have cried his name, didn’t care if anyone heard, and in that moment she knew she was one with the universe and that Hank was the universe for her now, in this moment.
And then, before she could drift down from that wonderful place, she felt her muscles clamp and convulse, felt his shudder at the core of her being and closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to overflow.
Tears of happiness. And tears of sadness that it had taken her so long to find this man.
ERICA OPENED her laptop. Time to write to her sister.
Hi Char
Did I ever tell you about my fantasies of the perfect cowboy? Well, I’ve found him.
Love,
Erica
Erica,
A man who already has a baby isn’t perfect by any means. A baby takes a lot of time and work. A baby gets in the way of a developing relationship. A baby is, well, a baby. You don’t do babies, remember?
It sounds like you’ve taken leave of your senses. Isn’t it time for you to fly back to New York?
Your devoted sister who is beginning to wish that she’d never mentioned Rancho Encantado, Charmaine
To my devoted sister,
Char, I really like this baby. Also, Kaylie has not stood in the way of our developing relationship. If anything, she has enhanced it by making me notice what a fine person Hank is.
Besides, I’ve really got the hots for this guy.
But enough talk. I’m going to sleep. It’s late, and I’m going to his place to cook breakfast for him early tomorrow morning. I think I can manage fried eggs. Can seven-month-old babies eat fried eggs, do you know?
Love from your grateful sister, who can’t imagine never having visited Rancho Encantado,
Erica
Erica
YOU MUST HAVE LOST YOUR ALLEGED MIND! YOU DON’T LIKE BABIES AND YOU HATE TO COOK. FIXING BREAKFAST EARLY IN THE MORNING? SHEESH! I KNOW YOU WENT THERE TO GET A MAKEOVER, BUT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE YOUR BRAIN ALONE.
CALL ME, ERICA. CALL ME RIGHT NOW. I MEAN IT.
Charmaine
Chapter Twelve
Hank woke up the next morning and lay in bed, eyes closed. He could still see, in his mind’s eye, moonlight dancing over the smooth curves of Erica’s body, casting her breasts in sharp relief. Her face in that magical light had appeared carved in silver and was more memorable than any daydream he’d ever had.
He stepped back into that memory, felt her