Barbara Dunlop - Dan All Over Again - Dan All Over Again / The Mountie Steals A Wife

But she put the pad in her tote bag, pulled out a tube of sunblock and started slathering it on her shoulders and face. He watched her fingers slide over her skin and the way the sun glistened over the slick areas. The breeze lifted the hair from her shoulders as she tilted her neck to rub lotion down the length of it. That reminded Dan of the massage to come.

When she was finished, he rolled his shoulders and asked, “How about putting some of that on my shoulders?”

“I don’t suppose this would count as the massage, would it?” she asked, coming over.

“Babe, you’re surfing in Nebraska if you think I’m letting you out of that one.”

“You’re a hard man, Daniel McDermott.” She closed her eyes. “Oh, brother, did I walk into that one. Okay, go ahead. Give it to me. I mean, say whatever it is you’re going to say about being hard. I know you want to. Let’s have it.”

He could only stare at her. “You lost me after you asked me to go ahead, give it to you, and knowing I want to, much less letting you have it.”

Her face flushed red. “You have a dirty mind. Now turn around.”

“Me? My mind’s as pure as the Hudson River. You’re the one assessing my hardness, not to mention the string of invitations afterward.”

“Augh! They were not invitations.”

“Were, too.”

“Were not! Just because you have sex on the brain, so like a typical male, you think every word out of my mouth is some kind of invitation, but let me tell you, buster, I have no intention of falling for your charms or innuendoes…”

Blah blah blah. He wasn’t sure he could use her skimble-scamble against her, so he tuned out her words and concentrated on those soft, sweet lips of hers. The way they moved around her words, the way the bottom edge of her top teeth showed once in a while, and every so often the tip of her tongue would peek out to tantalize—

“Dan? Are you listening to me?”

She ducked down to the level of his eyes. Well, at least he wasn’t gazing at her chest. “Of course I am. I was paying quite a bit of attention to your mouth—I mean, the words coming out of your mouth.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I ought to…”

“You’ve already thrown me off my boat and hooked me in my butt. What else can you do?”

“Maybe I should throw you off your boat again. The guys seemed to enjoy that.”

He pressed the tip of his finger to her collarbone. “You are not throwing me off my boat again, understand?”

He didn’t like the devilish grin on her face as she saluted. “Aye, aye, captain. Now turn around.”

He closed his eyes the moment her hands made contact. The lotion was cool on his hot skin, and it smelled light and airy. Her touch was soft and slow as she swirled the lotion on his shoulders. When she reached up to his neck, he felt goose bumps rise all over his body, accompanied by an involuntary sound coming from his throat.

“Remember when you used to rub my back when we went grocery shopping together?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“And when I made spaghetti sauce, I’d be at the stove and you’d just come up behind me and start doing what you’re doing now?”

“Yeah.”

She sounded noncommittal, so he added, “You couldn’t keep your hands off me, could you?”

And then he felt a big glob of lotion slide down his spine.

“Oops.” She cleared her throat. “Well, I did admit to being flaky back then, didn’t I?”

He squirmed as the lotion dripped lower. “I think I liked you better when you were flaky.” He could have sworn more lotion dripped down into his shorts.

“Why, because now I can resist your charms, and keep my hands off you? Because rubbing sunblock on you doesn’t have to be a sensual experience?”

More lotion puddled in his shorts. He would have complained, but she kept right on kneading his back with her fingers. He could live with the puddle, he supposed.

“Don’t you worry about becoming boring with all these rules and lists?” he asked.

“Boring? I’m not boring, I’m sensible. Like right now, it’s sensible to put lotion on you, since you can’t reach your back.”

“So what you’re doing now is strictly industrial?”

“Strictly. You think I’m enjoying this? Running my hands across your broad shoulders, feeling your biceps tighten beneath my touch, feeling all that smooth, warm skin and the way—” She cleared her throat again. “Turn around, and I’ll put some on your nose. You always did get a pink nose when you went fishing.”

He sat in the chair and positioned his face inches in front of hers. Those sparkling green eyes of hers met his, and her mouth went slack. That’s what happened right before she knew he was going to kiss her. And since he didn’t want to let her down, he decided to oblige. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened slightly. She wanted this kiss, too. His mouth was only a hair away from hers. A hair away from heaven.

And then she creamed him with a palm full of lotion. Her eyes were still wide and slightly startled, but she busied herself with smoothing in the lotion as though the most delicious experience wasn’t about to happen between them. He could smell the butter rum on her breath, speaking of delicious. Those sucking noises weren’t helping things, either. Her eyes were on his the whole time she smoothed on the lotion, rubbing it in over and over. He felt her finger run along that fine scar on his cheek the way she’d done a thousand times. The scent of her, the lotion and those candies, combined with her touch and close proximity were doing heady things to him. When was the last time he’d felt like this?

When he was married to her.

“Can I have one?” he asked, making her fingers stop.

“One what?”

“Candy.”

He could see it in her eyes, the memory of the times he’d asked for one when he really meant he wanted the very one in her mouth. He didn’t waste another second, didn’t want to lose the moment.

He leaned forward and moved his mouth against hers in a slow back and forth motion, testing the waters, seeing if there were any nibbles. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her mouth molded to his. Warm, sweet lips that were soft beneath his. She was going to have to break the kiss, because he wasn’t going to give her an out.

Somewhere in the logical part of his mind, he became aware of a cool sensation in his lap. He wasn’t cool down there, that was for sure. He pushed away those thoughts and focused on the heat of her mouth and the texture of her lips.

My, but she felt good, even this small bit of contact. He didn’t know where he was anymore, or why he was there. All he felt was her mouth against his, hers slightly open. When he inhaled, he tasted butter rum. Ah, that’s why he was there, to steal her candy.

He opened his mouth on the next kiss, pushing a little harder. She made a hoarse sound, and he wanted to capture it, swallow it. Her mouth opened to his so easily, almost as though she’d been anticipating this kiss as much as he had. The candy was anchored to the roof of her mouth, and he left it there for the time being. He slid his fingers up into her hair, his thumb grazing the edge of her ear. He felt her teeth scrape his tongue as he slid inside. She made another sound, and he moved closer and dived deeper inside her mouth.

Pure, sweet delight filled his senses. Not just the butter rum, but all the textures and tastes of her mouth, all the memories that assailed him. He even heard bells ringing as though a thousand angels blessed this kiss. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest, and realized he was breathing heavily, too. Her tongue traced the length of his, pausing at the tip before going down the other side. He could lose himself in her, but he’d come on a mission. His tongue scooped up the small, smooth ring.