Dead of Winter (Battle of the Bulls #2) - T. S. Joyce Page 0,23

ready to be scared in such a way. It had been a long time since a man touched her, and never like this. Never like he was coveting her.

This connection he was building between them felt important.

Feeling brave, she rocked her hips against his. He gripped her waist on a groan, his fingers digging into her skin. With a smile, she tugged at the hem of his T-shirt until he lifted his arms up and allowed her to peel the fabric off him. His chiseled six-pack flexed with his breath, and his hair was all mussed, his smile lopsided. God, he was beautiful, if that word made any sense about a big, powerful man like him. A tattoo encircled his pec and shoulder. Tribal symbols followed the curves of his muscles. He didn’t take his eyes off her while she traced some of the lines of ink.

And he had this look on his face…

“What?” she asked, glancing at him, then away. At him. And away again.

“You’re beautiful.”

Her smile stretched her whole face. She busied herself with tracing the tattoo and then the curve of his shoulder down his triceps. “I am?”

He rubbed his thumb over the tattoo of the ram on her upper thigh. “I’ve never seen anyone like you.”

“Oh, I’m nothing special,” she whispered.

He lifted her chin with the tip of his finger and then cupped her cheek. “You’re so wrong about yourself.” Dead dragged his touch across her collarbone and then down between her breasts.

She was heaving breath by the time he reached her stomach. Just under the hem of her sleep shirt, he touched her skin, and she did something that shocked her. Something she’d never done before. Raven leaned forward and hugged him. Just wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his. And he hugged her right back. Dead didn’t hesitate. He wrapped his arms around her middle tight and held her close, their heartbeats drumming against each other.

“This is what we should do tonight,” he murmured against her ear as he rocked her back and forth gently.

“What?”

“Just keep it here. Not push it farther.”

She waited a few seconds to respond because it took a little bit to process the disappointment swirling around in her chest. “You don’t want more?”

“I’ve never wanted anything more than to flip you over on this couch and yank your panties off and bury myself inside you, Raven. I want you screaming my name. I want you coming over and over. I want to feel you gripping my dick while you beg to come again.” He eased back and looked her in the eyes. “But you ain’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. You’re bigger than that. Better. I can’t push us too fast and feel good about it tomorrow.”

She nodded, pretending to understand. Why did she feel so rejected right now? Her hormones were going crazy, wanting more. He’d made her wet, made her yearn for him, and then backed off. Even though it was for an honorable reason, her body was being a little ho right now.

“I understand.”

“Good. So, I’m gonna need you to call into work for the next week and come on the road with me so I can get more time with you.”

“What?” she blurted out.

“I’m not interested in a one-night stand, but I would definitely stick you with a dick on a second date.”

“Oh, my gosh,” she said through her shocked laughter. “I can’t… I can’t just call into work.”

“Why not? You don’t have any vacation days left?”

“Well…” She actually hadn’t taken any time off in two years. Her boss had actually been telling her she needed to get a life. “I don’t have any clothes.”

“Well, we have options there. You can wear all the Dead of Winter merchandise you want, or we can go shopping. I’ll choose your lingerie if you get stuck and can’t decide.”

She was stunned, just sitting here straddling Dead of motherfreaking Winter’s lap while he asked her to spend a week with him.

“Like a road trip?” she asked.

“We’re going to Lubbock next, down in Texas. It’s about twenty-four hours of driving and we have five days to get there, so we can set up for the rodeo down there. We’ll have to stop along the way so me and the boys can train, but Cheyenne has all that worked out. She’s found bucking chutes along the way. She’s basically connecting the dots on a map with training until we reach Lubbock. And if you need to change,