Jennifer Lewis - The Maverick's Virgin Mistress / Lone Star Seduction

Some of them looked familiar, like Remy, the exchange student from France she’d dated (very) briefly her sophomore year of college. And Lars, the boy from Minnesota who’d made the mistake of challenging Alex to a game of tennis when he came to pick her up.

Others looked new, unfamiliar, each handsome and smiling and staring at her with the heat of passion in his eyes.

Until a fierce growl erupted out of the night—wait, wasn’t it day?—and sent each suitor scurrying into the distance, passion forgotten.

Stop! The silent words had scratched at her throat. Wait! Don’t leave me here all alone.

Please?

A sob rose in her throat and tears behind her eyelids. The growl filled the air around her again, and she turned, frightened of the monster who’d chased away so many strong men.

But the monster was also a man. Tall and broadly built, his dark eyes filled with…love.

Her brother, Alex.

“Oh, Alex, why do you have to be so suffocating? Let me be. Let me live!” The words rattled in her brain as the first tears flowed.

She realized she’d woken up at the exact moment in the dream when she’d looked down at her hands. They’d been gnarled and spotted with age. Wrinkled and ringless. The hands of an old woman.

She glanced at them now in the dark, relieved by their smooth, familiar outline in the reflected glow of moonlight through the crack in the curtains.

In the dream they’d been different.

She startled awake as the horrible truth of the dream sank in: she was still a virgin. An eighty-year-old virgin.

A racking sob heaved her chest. Why me? What was so wrong with her? Sure, she wasn’t the most beautiful woman in the world, but ordinary women managed to marry and have children. Or go on dates.

Or even go all the way.

Just once!

She’d been so sure she’d break her losing streak tonight, that Rick would finally pop the rather wizened cherry she’d been keeping secret for years now because it was so horribly embarrassing to be still a virgin.

Twenty-six, for crying out loud! She was probably the only twenty-six-year-old virgin in the entire state of Texas. Or the whole United States.

Maybe even the whole world.

A wail escaped her lips as she collapsed back on to her pillow. At that moment, light streamed into the room as the door was flung open. Rick stood in the doorway.

“Alicia, what’s the matter?” His voice rang with concern.

“I…I…I…” I want to make love to you.

Did she want him to know that she was a freak? A grown woman who’d never been kissed below the neck? Who’d never seen a man naked, or felt his hands on her bare skin?

Tears streamed down her face.

Rick approached the bed. “Don’t cry, Alicia. I know last night was a horrible shock. But at least no one was hurt. They’ll rebuild the barn and they’ll catch the criminal who set the fire.”

Through her fog of tears she felt his fingers caress her tangled hair. But she didn’t want comfort. She wanted breathless passion.

She thrust out her arms and wrapped them around his neck, then crushed her mouth against his. Parted in surprise, his lips hesitated a moment before joining in the kiss.

Rising to her knees, she pressed her body against his through her long nightgown. Her nipples hardened against the bare muscle of his chest. The stubble of his cheek was a sweet balm to her fevered skin.

Don’t stop! She tightened her grip around him, determined not to let him escape.

“Alicia.” He managed to free his mouth for a second to gasp her name. “I’m not sure this…”

She fumbled with the strings of his pajama pants, unsure how her hands had found them, but intent on getting them undone immediately.

“Sweetheart, it’s okay.” Rick flinched as her hand brushed against his rock-hard erection.

She yanked on a string, but the knot was tight and she couldn’t work it loose. Still jerking at it with one hand, she raised the other to tug down the shoulder strap of her nightgown.

The thin satin tore easily and she pulled down the gown to bare her breast. Cool night air tightened her nipple.

“Touch me,” she pleaded, still tugging at his pajamas.

Rick lifted a tentative palm to her bare breast. She shuddered hard as he brushed her nipple.

“Alicia, I don’t know if this is a good idea.” She heard him swallow. “You seem a little…overwrought.”

With a burst of elation she pulled open the knot holding his pajamas closed and started to push them down over his hips.

“Really, I think we should slow down.” His pulsing erection and husky voice contradicted his words. “How about…a cup of tea?” he croaked.

Alicia froze. “Tea? What is it about me that makes you think of tea at a moment like this?” Suddenly, fierce sobs racked her body. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong?”

Her words rang out into the silent air of the hotel room and bounced back at her off the polished surfaces.

“Nothing’s wrong, Alicia. You’ve just had a long day and you need some sleep.”

“Sleep is the last thing I need.” Her voice quavered as she readied herself to make her terrible confession.

Rick’s eyes were midnight-blue in the scant light that streamed through the half-open doorway and outlined the ripped muscle of his neck and shoulders.

“I need you.” Alicia drew in a shuddering breath. “I’m a virgin.”

Justin almost fell off the bed. “You’re kidding me.”

“Would I kid about something like this?” Alicia’s big brown eyes glittered with tears.

“Wow. I mean, that’s amazing.” His erection throbbed.

“It’s not amazing, it’s depressing.” She picked up the torn section of her nightdress and held it over her bare breast. “I can’t figure out what’s wrong with me.”

“Absolutely nothing is wrong with you. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. You’re the sweetest—”

“I don’t want to be sweet!” Desperation flashed in her eyes. “I want to be wild.”

Rick glanced down to where his fierce arousal jutted beneath his untied pajama string. “I think you’re well on your way.”

“You’re shocked.”

“In the best possible way.” He lifted a thumb and brushed away the tear that ran down her cheek. It broke his heart to see her so sad. “It’s a very erotic revelation.”

She blinked, her lashes wet. “It is?”

“Absolutely. It means you’ve never tasted the most intense sensations in the whole world, and you’re about to experience them for the first time.”

Her eyes widened. “I am?”

“Absolutely.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. They parted, warm and yielding. His tongue flicked into her mouth and he felt her shiver in response.

Gently, he pushed aside the hand covering her breast and replaced it with his own. Her nipple peaked beneath his palm, and sent a flash of heat straight to his groin.

He stroked her nipple with his thumb as he pulled back from the kiss. Her tears had vanished, leaving her eyes bright and curious.

“That feels good,” she whispered. She bit her lip, suddenly shy.

“Excellent.” He lowered his mouth to her breast and blew. The nipple tightened in response.

“Ooooh,” she murmured, arching her back.

He licked a circle around the areola and drank in her rich, feminine scent as he tasted the honeyed silk of her skin.

She rocked against him when he took her nipple in his mouth and sucked. Then he slid the second strap of her nightgown over her shoulder and placed his palm on her other lush, full breast.

Under his fingers, her heartbeat was rapid with excitement.

The soft fabric of her lace-edged nightgown—appropriately virginal—slid down to her waist and he kissed her belly.