Page 31 of The Rancher’s Ecstasy

His hands came up on either side of her on the wall. “If you don’t want this, you need to tell me now. I’m not sure I’ll be able to pull back if you want to stop me later,” his voice low and dark.

Her hands flattened against his chest, dragging a groan out of him and a moan out of her. “I don’t want you to stop.” A low whimper slid out of her as she closed her eyes. “Please don’t ever stop.”

A growl rumbled in his chest before his hands slid down the wall and gripped her hips and lifted her. He carried her like that to the bedroom and carefully laid her out on the bed. He straightened, unbuttoned his shirt, pulled it off and dropped it on the floor.

Emily watched as the blue shirt drifted to the floor and his hands went immediately to his nice jeans. She hadn’t yet seen him in jeans that weren’t faded from the heavy work he did every day on the ranch. She became mesmerized as his fingers slid the zipper down and his thumbs clutched the top of his jeans and pulled them along with his boxers down, displaying his erection.

Cole sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his cowboy boots, socks, and jeans before turning back to her. His fingers slid under her shirt and pulled it up and off her before it landed somewhere on the floor. He unclipped her bra and let it drop to the floor before he went for her jeans and underwear. The rest of her clothes came off, including her short boots. He quickly tugged her socks off before lying down beside her in the bed, one hand supporting his head as he held himself propped on his elbow. All this was done quietly. Neither spoke, they just concentrated on each other and the feelings swirling around them.

Cole’s hand landed on her stomach above her belly button. He studied the contrast between his callused sun-browned hand and the creamy softness of her stomach.

Emily’s gaze swept over him before freezing on his erection. Her heart stuttered. How had he been able to fit inside of her the first time they’d made love? It had been tight and had stretched her to just short of pain, but it was the most incredible feeling in the world. The only other man she’d ever made love with had been her ex-husband, and she understood how much he lacked in the size department, was a selfish lover, and didn’t know what making love was all about. Emily turned to press against him, but she was rolled to her back.

Cole caged her between his arms before reaching down and bringing her arms over her head and clasping them with one hand before spearing his fingers and fisting her hair, holding her head still for his mouth to taste hers. He lifted his head and groaned at the deep flush of desire on her face and the haze of need.

“You are so beautiful.” Emily’s body jerked.

“Don’t do that. You are beautiful to me, and I’m not going to stop telling you. I don’t expect you to believe me right away because you don’t know me well enough, but I do expect you to respect my opinions and stop fighting me every time I give you a compliment. You will eventually come to trust me.”

Emily stared wide-eyed up at Cole's hard, determined, masculine face and expressive eyes that showed his sincerity. She nodded mutely. A sharp river of excitement balled in her stomach when his hold held when she tried to pull her hands away from his grip on them above her head.

Cole’s eyes narrowed, and a scowl puckered his brows. “Are you trying to push me away?”

“No.” Emily shook her head.

“That’s really good. Because I’m not letting you go. Unless I hear you say stop, I’ll keep losing myself in your body and making you feel good.” His head descended and took her lips in a hot, drugging kiss. He swiveled his hips to get better contact with her moist softness at the junction of her thighs.

Several moments went by with Cole kissing and tasting her mouth and his body teasing hers by pressing rhythmically against her soft wet core. He pulled back only long enough to get a condom.

A groan slid out of both of them as he sunk into her until he couldn’t go any farther. They made slow, deep love until the wee hours of the night, cementing the bond between them.

****

Toward dawn, Cole tightened his arm that curved around Emily’s waist as he looked out the window across from the bed. He was tired, but he couldn’t shut down his reflection. He couldn’t get over the fear that had sliced through him when he found Emily earlier that night at the horse padlock. The thought of losing her physically hurt him.

He never expected he’d care about another woman again as much as he had when he first married his ex-wife, Lisa. But what he felt for Emily was more profound and made him feel whole when he hadn’t known a part of him was missing, and the loneliness went bone deep.

Chapter Nineteen

Another week passed, bringing cooler weather and less sunshine.

They spent every night together in her cabin. And every night the bond between Cole and Emily grew steadily. They often discussed the future and their hopes.

Emily turned in the manuscript she had started when she first came to the ranch, and her publisher said she was pleased with the way it turned out.

She started another novel her agent was excited about. Cole told her often how incredibly proud he was of her.

He commented that her ability to work while on the ranch gave him hope that they could have a relationship. If she could work here, she didn’t have to go anywhere else. Cole wanted her in the house, in his bedroom, in his bed. He wanted to plan a room in the house that Emily could use as her office. A place where it was quiet, and she had the privacy she needed for writing, but would still be close enough that it would calm the animal instinct to possess every part of her. Even knowing she was close, he didn’t feel whole until he could touch her.

He’d never felt this overwhelming need for a woman before or the immense possessive sensation that had him looking for her several times a day just to see her. He was afraid the only thing that was going to calm him enough that he didn’t panic when he hadn’t seen her in hours was marriage. But he didn’t think she would go for that this early in their relationship.

Cole sat in his office trying to get his work done as quickly as possible, so he could get to Emily. He was more desperate than usual to be with her. A feeling of misgiving tried to creep into his mind, and he didn’t like it. Was their relationship moving too fast?

He was second-guessing her feelings for him. The damage had definitely been done to Emily because of her first marriage, but he started to realize he’d also had some trust and insecurity issues because of his ex that needed to be dealt with.

Maybe it was because Emily had been acting off the last couple of days, and she never had an answer as to why. Sometimes memories of Lisa’s betrayal would sneak into his consciousness. He pushed them away every time, knowing Emily was so different from Lisa that he didn’t need to worry.

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