more. With a feline look of satisfaction, she met his eyes and murmured, “Well, well, cowboy, I’m impressed. I’d say I was ready for round two, but even I need a little time to recoup after that bout. Give me five minutes to catch my breath, and I’m game.”
He laughed, delighted and aroused and, strangely enough, completely at home. “You’re something, Avery. I, for one, am glad I discovered you squatting on the ranch. You’ve definitely livened things up, and I say we head inside for the next round.”
“Are you ready for brownies? I could use a brownie or two for sustenance before we get started again.” She grinned and wriggled her hips, making him hiss.
“Vixen,” he said as withdrew, and buttoned up his jeans with a slight grimace. He rose to his feet first, before tugging her up into his arms, and carried her to the cabin. “I’ll feed you first, because then I intend to ravish you for the rest of the night, and if a brownie is what will keep your strength up, then so be it.”
She circled his neck with her arms and laid her head against his shoulder. “As long as I get a brownie, I’m all yours.”
Deep down, he wanted that: for Avery to belong to him, and not just for the night. He’d never met another woman like her and doubted, even if he waited a lifetime, that he ever would. And he knew that if he wasn’t careful, he would wind up falling for her, this brave, intelligent, beauty who turned him on with a mere smile.
But it would be a huge mistake to allow his heart to get involved when, soon enough, she would wipe the Colorado dust off her boots and leave him.
6
The next morning, a hand nudged Avery awake. She cracked an eye open and hissed as Colt turned on the bedside lamp, flooding the room with light.
“What the hell, cowboy?” She groaned and shifted to draw the blankets back up over her head and shield her eyes from the light.
“Time to get up. I have plans for you.”
More interested than she cared to admit, she peeked over the top of the covers and quirked a brow. “More than you’ve already done with me? Because I’ve got to say, I think we won the gold medal last night.”
He chuckled, a deep husky rumble in his chest that made her sex throb. “Not that kind of fun.”
She frowned at his reply. “Then what in the world could be so important at,” she glanced at the beside alarm, “five-thirty in the freaking morning?” It had been well past two in the morning when they had passed out from sheer erotic exhaustion.
“You mentioned that you liked exploring and going for adventures. There’s this great, out of the way stream where we could plunk down some fishing lines. But the thing is, if you want to catch some trout, we have to do it first thing in the morning.”
“But I don’t have any fishing poles. How do you expect me to catch a fish, with my bare hands?” she asked him, shivering as he tugged the covers away from her nude body. It was not fair, he was already dressed.
The corners of his mouth curled up and his gaze danced with merriment. “Now that would be a sight. Well, I ran home while you were sleeping, and grabbed my tackle box and poles.”
“What time did you get up? Good lord, man, don’t you sleep?” she asked, thinking of their overnight exploits.
“I do, but I find that I have a load of energy this morning,” he teased her.
Gosh, he was cute. She was getting a case for him. She could feel it. The mention of last night caused a cascade of shivers along her spine. “And I can’t convince you to come back to bed?” She shifted the blankets the rest of the way off, hoping like mad he’d say to hell with it and join her beneath the covers.
His heated gaze raked her body like a caress. “If you get up and go with me now, I promise I will ravish you this afternoon before I have to head home this evening.”
“Well, when you put it that way, how can I resist?”
He kissed her quickly. “You can’t, that was the plan.”
She rose, unmindful of her nude state, although she did appreciate the moan Colt uttered, followed by, “Could tempt a damn saint,” which he muttered under his breath.
She didn’t hide her body from