And still he didn’t stop. Burrowing deep, he brought her upward again, until her breathless cries filled the room and she lost track of whether she was standing or falling. Then strong arms swept her up and laid her, quivering and moaning, on the bed.

  He kissed her mouth, her closed eyelids, her cheeks and her hair as he crooned soft words of praise. Yet he was the one who deserved praise. She would give it, too, if she ever recovered, if her vocal cords ever began functioning again and her lungs could drag in enough air.

  For now, all she wanted was to lie here with her eyes closed and savor the wonder of an orgasm to end all orgasms. And she thought she’d understood what sexual pleasure was all about. Not even.

  At some point he stopped kissing her and the next thing she felt was her boots coming off. She thought that was funny, because she’d forgotten she was still wearing them. But she didn’t have the energy to laugh. Once the boots had hit the floor, he pulled off her jeans and panties.

  Then she heard nothing but silence. Wondering if he’d left the room, she opened her eyes to discover him gazing at her. She didn’t mind. After what they’d just shared she could hardly play the modesty card.

  Besides, judging from his expression, he was mighty happy with what he saw. He looked—there was no other word for it, although thinking it made her blush—awestruck. She’d never experienced that before. It felt kind of nice, but strange, really strange.

  He swallowed. “You’re so beautiful, Lily.”

  Now she really was blushing. Letting him stare at her as if she had an amazing body was one thing, but hearing him say it out loud was going a little far. “Thanks, but you don’t have to say that just because we—”

  “It has nothing to do with that. Yeah, I wanted to get you naked for my own selfish reasons, but I hadn’t counted on how seeing you that way would affect me. I was too busy a while ago to pay attention, but believe me, I’ll pay attention from now on. You’re magnificent.”

  “Magnificent? No.” She rolled to her side and propped her head on her hand. “I’m reasonably good-looking.” She swept a hand down her body. “Except for all the freckles.”

  “Are you kidding me? Your freckles are the best part of you.” He grinned. “Well, okay, maybe not the best part.”

  “You’re referring to my brain, of course.”

  He continued to smile as he unbuttoned his shirt. “Of course.”

  “I always wanted to be that tanned girl you see in bathing-suit commercials, but I don’t tan. Mostly I look as if someone sprinkled me with nutmeg.”

  “Or cinnamon.” He unsnapped the cuffs of his shirt, took it off and tossed it on the old rocker she had sitting in a corner of the room. “I like nutmeg and cinnamon.”

  Talk about spicy. The guy could fill out a white cotton T-shirt. A few minutes ago she’d thought her sexual urges were tamed for now, but watching him undress taught her that wasn’t exactly true.

  “Nutmeg and cinnamon remind me of pumpkin pie. You know, your hair is sort of pumpkin colored, so it all fits.” He reached behind his back and grabbed the neck of his T-shirt to pull it over his head.

  “FYI, most girls don’t like to think their hair is the color of a pumpkin, even if it is.”

  “Uh-oh. Did I lose points?” His voice was muffled as his head disappeared temporarily inside the T-shirt.

  By the time he’d pulled it off and tossed it on the rocker with the other one, she’d dismissed the pumpkin-colored-hair remark. Regan O’Connelli stood before her, a tousle-haired, shirtless cowboy fantasy if she’d ever seen one. She gazed upon the bounty he presented so casually, as if the sight of him half-naked wouldn’t set her heart to thumping.

  “No, you didn’t lose points.” She couldn’t stop staring. Women bought calendars with photos of guys like this, men with broad shoulders, powerful pecs, washboard abs and a sprinkling of dark hair as a final touch. But Regan was no two-dimensional pinup. He was the real deal—irreverent enough to make her laugh, sexy enough to send her libido into overdrive and sentimental enough to hold images of emotional cliff diving close to his heart.

  “I’m glad.” He sat on the rocker and pulled off a boot. “I’d hate to lose points at a critical time like this.” His muscles bunched as he took off the second boot.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it.” She considered going over to help him with the rest of the process, because she desperately wanted to touch him. At last she’d be allowed, probably even encouraged, to smooth her hands over the sculpted planes of his body.

  But if she stayed where she was, she could watch him take off the rest of his clothes, which would give her a visual that she’d cherish forever. It wasn’t every day that a girl had such a fine specimen of manhood undressing in her bedroom.

  After pulling off his socks, he stood and walked barefoot over to the duffle he’d left by the door. Unzipping it, he reached inside, took out a box and held it up. “Could this be the item you were asking about earlier?”

  “Uh-huh.” Seeing the box in his hand and knowing he’d soon be using its contents brought her right back to the trembling anticipation she’d felt when he’d first walked into her bedroom.

  “Didn’t know if I’d need these.” Opening the box, he held her gaze as he walked over to the bed.

  “Really? You couldn’t tell I was folding like a cheap card table?”

  His smile flickered. “I thought maybe you were, but sometimes when you desperately want something, you imagine what isn’t there.”

  “It was there.” A tremor of desire ran through her, making her hot and shaky. She lay back on the bed and drew in a deep breath. “Still is.”

  His hungry gaze swept over her, lingering on her tight nipples and flushed skin. “I can see that.” He took out a packet and laid it on the bedside table. “You can open that if you feel like it.”

  “Not quite yet, cowboy. Not until I’ve had my hands...and my mouth...all over you.”

  That got the reaction she was hoping for. He peeled off his jeans and briefs in no time.

  Her eyes widened as she beheld the gift she was about to receive. Regan O’Connelli had been blessed. And so had she, because for a solid week, that spectacular equipment would be hers to command. She couldn’t get much luckier than that.

  11

  REGAN WAS A huge fan of making love in broad daylight, but he’d never found a woman who agreed with him. Until now. Lily hadn’t suggested pulling the curtains or lowering the blinds. Instead her blue eyes sparkled as she demanded that he stretch out on her blue flowered quilt, smack in the middle of a patch of sunlight.

  He didn’t much care if he was illuminated, but when she straddled his thighs and sat there surveying the territory, those same sunbeams played with her curly red hair. He would still want her if she cut it all off, but he hoped she wouldn’t do that, because that hair symbolized her in a way he might never be able to explain. Maybe it was the shockingly bright color, or the riotous curls, or her decision to keep it long so it fanned out around her shoulders in such dramatic fashion.

  The sunlight also lovingly showcased her breasts. They weren’t large, but they were sweetly curved, tipped with rosy nipples and dusted with nutmeg and cinnamon freckles. Eventually he’d kiss every single freckle on her pale skin. But now she proclaimed it was her turn to kiss him, and he wasn’t about to deny her that.

  When she leaned forward, her stomach bumped his erect cock. She settled lower, brushing against it as if she had no idea what she was doing. Slowly she stretched down far enough to nibble on his mouth as her body swayed over his. Her tight nipples tickled his pecs, along with locks of hair that tumbled over her shoulders and onto his chest. And always, always, her flat stomach slid against his throbbing erection.

  Each time her flushed skin came in contact with the head of his penis, the sensation was that of warm silk caressing that increasingly sensitive spot. He stroked her smooth back and squeezed her firm backside. Seeking to even the odds, he allowed his fingers to stray, seeking that moist cleft he’d so recently tasted.

  “No.” She nipped gently at his bottom lip. “Not allowed.”

  “I think you like it.” The deeper he probed, the wetter she became.

  Her breathing hitched. “Stop. I want to concentrate on you.”

  He loved knowing he could affect her that way. He kept stroking. “Don’t mind me. Just keep doing whatever you’re doing, and I’ll keep doing whatever I... Ouch! That’s my earlobe!”

  “And those are my teeth.”

  “Sharp little dudes.”

  “I’ll make it better.” She sucked on the spot she’d bitten.

  “Mmm.” He hadn’t known his earlobe was an erogenous zone. Maybe with Lily every inch of his body was an erogenous zone.

  Her breath warmed his ear. “Move your hands away from my happy place, cowboy. It’s my turn. I promise you’ll be glad you gave me one.”

  That sounded promising, so he slipped his hands free and stroked his damp fingers up and down the backs of her thighs. “Can I do this? I love touching you, Lily. Your skin feels...almost as if it’s humming.”

  “I know.” She licked a path down the side of his neck. “And it’s your fault, too. It’s like I stuck my finger in a light socket. But I’m going to make you come, and then you’ll be in the same shape as me.”

  He groaned as she continued to tease him. He didn’t want to come yet. She could play around if she wanted to, but he wanted the joy of sinking into her and creating that ultimate connection. That was important to him.

  But he was in danger of forgetting what was important as the underside of his cock grew slick with the moisture that gathered on the tip in response to her casual, seemingly accidental, touch. It was no accident, he was sure, and his balls drew up, aching with anticipation. At last she began nibbling lower, trailing kisses along his collarbone and gently biting his nipples.

  He hadn’t known that would make his bad boy twitch, but it did. Maybe whatever she did with her mouth would have that effect, but he was yearning for one certain caress. He hoped that was part of her plan, but if she didn’t go that route, he might spontaneously erupt just thinking about her hot mouth taking him throat-deep.

  No, no spontaneous eruptions. He clenched his jaw and stopped stroking her satiny back because he felt the need to grab a handful of her comforter in each fist. She made agonizingly slow progress down past his ribcage to his abs. His cock waited, rigid but under control, until she followed his example and dipped her tongue into his navel. Damn. His penis jerked. His body trembled, and by some miracle he didn’t come.

  He almost told her to stop right there and get the condom, but he wanted... Oh, he really hoped that she’d... Ah... Her mouth closed over his much-teased cock and slid down, down, down, until the vibrating tip touched the back of her throat. His heart beat like a wild thing, and breathing became his second most difficult task—not coming being the first. But this was what he’d been waiting for, what he didn’t want to miss if he could hold out. If he could stand the pressure when she...began to suck.

  His eyes rolled back in his head. He wasn’t sure if it was her technique—wonderful!—or his supersensitized cock, but this felt like the best he’d ever had. He was tempted to let her finish it. So tempted. His body clamored for release. But then he wouldn’t know how it felt to be joined with her in that most basic way. He couldn’t explain why it was so important to him. It just was.

  Putting a stop to the joy she was bringing him was easier said than done. He made several attempts, but then she’d use her tongue a certain way, or scrape her bottom teeth gently along the lateral ridge, and he’d be lost again.

  Finally he gripped her head with firm purpose and lifted her away. “No more.” His voice sounded like a rusty hinge.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No.” He gulped in air. “It’s so right it’s scary. But I want... Please get a condom. Please.”

  Her voice was gentle. “Sure.”

  As if she understood. He’d believe it. They had so much to learn about each other, but in this it was as if they’d always been linked. Crazy thinking. But he couldn’t say it wasn’t true.

  She put on the condom, which was a good thing because he might have fumbled the job. He was still lying there panting and holding on to her quilt for dear life. But when she’d finished, calmness settled over him.

  She would have straddled him, but he stopped her. “Lie back, sweet Lily. It’s my turn again.”

  Maybe she saw the sense of purpose in his eyes, because she stretched out beside him. When he rose over her, she welcomed him into the haven of her arms and the shelter of her body with a knowing smile.

  He found his way with unerring precision. Gazing into the twilight blue of eyes glazed with passion, he drove home. He watched the spark ignite in her and fed that flame with steady, sure strokes. He didn’t speak. Neither did she. Their bodies said all that needed to be said.

  Her breathing quickened and her lips parted. “Yes,” she murmured.

  “Yes,” he echoed as he felt her body rise under him. He pumped faster and she tightened around his cock. “Yes, Lily.”

  “Yes!” She arched in his arms, and he loosened the iron grip that had kept him in control. One more thrust, two, and he surged into her with a bellow of satisfaction that mingled with her cries of release. Burying his cock deep in her body, he shuddered in the aftermath of a climax that felt absolutely, completely right.

  So much in his life had gone wrong, but in this golden moment, with the sun warming his shoulders, he was happy. Perhaps a man couldn’t ask more than that.

  * * *

  LILY BLAMED LACK of sleep the night before, but somehow she and Regan ended up wrapped in each other’s arms and oblivious to the rest of the world for the rest of the afternoon. The sun was low in the sky when she woke up to a crunching noise just outside the bedroom window.

  Regan obviously didn’t hear anything. He held her close, his breathing shallow, his eyes closed. Slowly she extricated herself from his embrace and eased out of the bed without waking him. Poor guy was dead to the world.

  It didn’t take her long to figure out where the strange sound was coming from. Sally peered through the window for a moment before resuming her snack, which was the bedroom windowsill. That was new. Until now, the horse had eaten only the porch railing.

  Lily glanced back at her queen-size bed, where Regan slept on. He probably needed the rest. For all she knew, he hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep for six months. Stress could do that to a person. But after the stress-relieving afternoon they’d shared, he might sleep for twelve hours.

  Locating her go-to sweatpants and a sweatshirt, she decided to put on her socks and boots, because she’d learned the hard way that it wasn’t smart to deal with a horse either barefoot or in flip-flops. The first time she’d been stepped on while wearing flip-flops, she’d been lucky and hadn’t broken any toes. She wasn’t willing to trust her luck that way again.

  But what to do about Sally? Lily admitted that Sally destroying the house and Buck obliterating the garden had gotten old. The paddock was an excellent idea, and she was embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of it before. The horses would still have a measure of freedom, but they wouldn’t have access to the entire property. Horses shouldn’t be allowed to chew on the house. They could munch on wild grass instead of whatever had struggled to grow in the flower bed.

  Lily let herself out of the house as quietly as possible before crossing the porch and walking down the steps. She had to avoid two piles of horse manure on her way around to the bedroom window where Sally was helping herself to the windowsill. Normally Lily would’ve been on poop patrol with the little tractor parked behind the barn, but today she’d been otherwise occupied. Mmm, had she ever.

  It occurred to her that normal people didn’t live this way, with animals free to destroy property and leave their little offerings where someone might step in them. She might have come to that conclusion eventually, but maybe not before some disaster that was bigger than a chewed-up building. Thank heaven for Regan O’Connelli, although if Nick had come out here on Friday he probably would have advised her to change her ways.

  But Nick didn’t have time to help out regularly at Peaceful Kingdom. Besides his work at the clinic, he had a wife and a fifteen-year-old who desperately needed him to provide fatherly guidance. Nick would have advised her to hire some employees, which she might do, anyway, but Regan had been available to move in and prop up this teetering operation immediately.

  When she thought about how she’d resisted her attraction to him because she’d worried about a rebound relationship, she had to shake her head. If she did turn out to be a rebound for Regan, so what? He wasn’t the kind to use her and dump her, and he was offering to help her turn this dicey situation into a workable rescue operation. If she could help him through this difficult time in his life, then she would, without selfishly worrying about whether she’d get hurt in the process.

  Rounding the corner of the house, she approached Sally, who glanced at her with disinterest before resuming her meal. The mare had probably chosen this end of the house because the pig wallow was on the other end. In general, the horses had avoided the pigs, and vice versa.

  The pig wallow should be moved, too, now that Lily thought about it. She’d dug it there so Wilbur would be close to the shelter of the house and she could keep an eye on him. But a sturdy pen a distance away with added protection from the elements made more sense. And the pigs, much as she hated to say it, would have to be in separate pens at mealtime. She’d caved and given Harley more food this morning, which was the only reason he hadn’t gone after Wilbur’s dish.

  With a sigh, she walked over and caught hold of Sally’s halter. “I’m dealing with a steep learning curve, Sally, old girl. Good thing a knight in shining armor showed up. Come on, now, come away from the windowsill.” She gave the halter a gentle tug.