Carol Ericson - Circumstantial Memories

Licking his lips, he dug his elbows into his thighs and hunched over the laptop again.

Julia dropped onto the sofa next to him, wiggling her hips to scoot in closer. Her fingers played across the broad slabs of muscle on his back outlined by his T-shirt. Then she flicked them through the curls at the nape of his neck. “It’s been a long time.”

He snapped the laptop shut on Shelby ’s dimpled smile. “You’re playing with fire, Julia.”

“Maybe I want to get burned.”

He twisted toward her, capturing both of her wrists in one large hand. “Prepare to get scorched.”

Leaning forward, he took possession of her lips in a kiss so hot that she could’ve sworn the coral nail polish on her toes melted. Did she really think she could call the shots and control the tempo with Ryder McClintock? The man always knew what he wanted…and took it.

Better yet, he knew what she wanted.

And right now, his warm hand with its rough finger pads moving up her thigh hit the spot precisely. He pulled her into his lap and angled his mouth over hers, deepening the kiss. Reaching beneath his shirt, she trailed her fingernails along his sides and splayed her hand across his flat, hard belly.

A breath hitched in his throat and he pulled her lower lip between his teeth. When Ryder kissed her, really kissed her, the sensation lasted for days. That, she remembered.

She slipped two fingertips just inside the waistband of his jeans. In response, he slid his hand into her panties, cupping her bottom. Always had to do her one better.

His mouth lingered on hers for a moment longer before his tongue teased her earlobe. Arching her back, she brushed her breasts against his solid chest. Ryder hooked a finger around the strap of her sundress and dropped it off her shoulder. He planted a path of kisses down her neck, sending a shaft of pleasure to her toes. She shuddered, a moan escaping from her lips.

“Do you remember everything now?” He caressed her cheek, his blue eyes darkening with passion.

“Everything about you,” she breathed out, curling her arms around his neck.

Apparently she had the right answer. Ryder pushed up from the sofa, lifting her in his arms as if she weighed as little as one of those kittens Shelby wanted.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her into the bedroom and tossed her on top of the new bedspread.

She snorted. “Are you in a hurry or something?”

“You had the luxury of not remembering what you were missing all these years.” He yanked his T-shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. “While I dreamed about you every night.”

She drank in his bare chest, all hard angles and flat planes. His biceps bunched in knots as he reached forward and unbuckled his belt. It gaped open and Julia’s gaze snagged on the bulge in his jeans. Those must’ve been some dreams he had.

He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off one boot. As he struggled with the second, she heaved an impatient sigh and scrambled off the bed. She landed in front of him and tugged at the stubborn boot. With a final pull she tumbled backward, landing on her bottom, Ryder’s boot in her lap.

Laughing, Ryder pulled off his socks and tossed them over his shoulder. “Never helped a man with his boots before?”

“You never wore cowboy boots in Paris.” She tossed the boot over her shoulder and prowled toward Ryder on her hands and knees.

His lids dropped half-mast over his eyes, as he leaned back on the bed on his elbows. Julia crawled forward and settled between his legs. She unfastened his jeans now tight over his crotch, and his erection tented his plaid boxers.

She ran her hand over his hard desire and swallowed. How could she have ever forgotten? He stood up, and she pulled down his jeans and underwear over his muscled thighs.

“Come on up here.” His husky voice sent a ripple of longing down her back.

He encircled her waist with his hands, and she stood on her tiptoes to press the length of her body along his. The warmth of his bare skin seeped through the thin material of her sundress.

“Did you learn modesty somewhere along the line?”

She shook her head, and Ryder reached around and tugged down her zipper. The dress fell from her body with a whisper, and Ryder pulled her back into his arms as if he couldn’t bear to have any space between them.

Then he fell backward on the bed, bringing her along. She shimmied out of her panties and straddled his hips. She leaned forward, her body hovering above his, and whispered, “I’m ready for my riding lesson now.”

“You don’t need lessons, babe, just a refresher course.” A big grin split his face. “But before you take me for a ride, I’m going to take you for a ride.”

Gripping her waist, he flipped her onto her back and skimmed his erection between her breasts and along her belly. His lips followed the same path, and Julia lifted her hips in anticipation of his sweet caress.

As his mouth met her heated flesh, she dug her heels into his buttocks. The memories flooded her mind as the sensations flooded her body. Ryder had put her first. He always had.

Her fingers clawed through his hair as he took her to a precipice as high as the Colorado Rockies that loomed majestically outside her window. Her climax ripped through her, and while her muscles still clenched in wave after wave of pleasure, Ryder entered her. Julia squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to wring every ounce of joy from the feeling of completeness Ryder gave her.

“Open your eyes,” Ryder commanded in a guttural voice.

Her lids flew open and her eyes met Ryder’s fierce gaze. His breath hissed between his teeth as he drove into her. He growled his release and she folded around him, never wanting to let go.

Later, Julia curled up against his side, her fingers playing across his collarbone. She landed a kiss on his shoulder. “How could I have ever forgotten that? Forgotten you?”

“Brody was wrong about a lot of things, but I think he hit the nail on the head with this one. I had already come back into your life. You felt less urgency to remember me.”

“Maybe. Now our time together is all I can think about. All I want to think about.”

“My thoughts are running in one single direction right now. Ready for the refresher course?”

“Mmm.” She trailed her tongue along his throat, savoring his salty, masculine taste.

The phone on the nightstand interrupted her single-minded course and she pulled away from the feast in front of her. “I have to get this in case it’s the Stokers. Shelby gets homesick sometimes.”

She fumbled for the phone across Ryder’s chest. “Hello?”

“Julia, this is Sheriff Ballard. I have some interesting news for you about Dr. Brody.”

“You found him?” She bolted upright.

“Yeah, we found him all right. At the bottom of the gorge off Highway 160.”

The rosy flush on Julia’s face faded to white. Ryder smoothed her hair back from her cheek and mouthed the words, “What’s wrong?”

She held up her hand to him. “I-is he dead?”

Brody was dead? Relief surged through his body. He couldn’t help it. The proof they had against Brody didn’t amount to much, and Ryder didn’t want the doctor out on the streets.

“Uh-huh, I see.” She clutched the phone in her hands, her knuckles as white as her face.

Ryder couldn’t take the suspense anymore. He snatched the phone from Julia’s stiff fingers. “Ballard, this is Ryder. What’s going on?”

“Dr. Brody’s car went off the road on Highway 160 and plunged into the gorge. He’s dead.”

“Do you think he did it on purpose?”

“I don’t know. The Colorado State Patrol just recovered the car and his body. No autopsy or accident report yet. I’ll keep you posted. By the way, you know your brother graduated from the police academy today and is coming home day after tomorrow, don’t you?”