Diana Palmer - Date with a Cowboy - Iron Cowboy / In the Arms of the Rancher / At the Texan's Pleasure

His big, warm hand contracted around hers. “Didn’t you?” He tilted her chin up so that he could see her cheek. “At least it isn’t bruised,” he added quietly. “I’ve never wanted so badly to manhandle a woman. Max needs to take some classes in anger management.”

“She thought I was laughing at her.”

“Tony explained it.” His hand tightened. “You keep your distance from Tony,” he added firmly. “He’s not what he seems to be. He could hurt you.”

“He would never lift a hand to me,” she protested at once.

He stopped dancing for an instant and looked down into her wide eyes. “I don’t mean physically.”

She frowned. “He’s very sweet to me.”

He started dancing again. “You remind him of his sister.”

“Yes. He said she died.”

He made a slow turn, one that drew her very close to his hard-muscled body and made her tingle all over. “Tony has issues you’re better off not knowing about.”

“Cy Parks knows both of you.”

“I’ve lived here several weeks,” he said carelessly.

“That isn’t what I mean.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’ve known Cy for a while.”

She was really curious now. Most people knew that Cy Parks, Eb Scott and Micah Steele had been professional mercenaries, soldiers of fortune, before they settled down in Jacobsville. She knew next to nothing about Jared Cameron. She wondered what secrets he was keeping.

He saw that curiosity in her eyes and just smiled. “Never you mind,” he told her, drawing her closer. “I don’t plan to waste the evening with walks down memory lane. I’m much more interested,” he added huskily, “in making new memories.”

His hand slid gently up and down her spine in sensuous little forays that made her feel boneless. It worried her that she didn’t want to protest the near intimacy of his hold. If he ever turned up the heat, she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist him. She couldn’t help but remember what Max had told her about Jared’s easy conquests and his indifference to them afterward.

“I had Tony drive Max to the airport,” he said after a minute.

Her heart skipped. “She’s gone?”

“Yes. She’s gone.” He didn’t mention the vicious things Max had to say about Sara and Jared’s interest in her, or the threat he used to get her out of town. Tony wasn’t too keen on leaving Jared alone while he escorted the lawyer to the airport, either. It had been a battle.

“Is Tony coming over, then?” she asked.

He stiffened. “Yes,” he said, but he didn’t sound happy about it. “I meant what I said. You don’t need to start looking at Tony as a prom date.”

“I didn’t go to the prom,” she said absently. “And it’s not your business who I look at. I came with Harley,” she added firmly.

He drew back so that he could see her eyes. “And you’re going home with me,” he said softly.

How she wished that her excitement hadn’t shown when he said that. She couldn’t walk off with another man when Harley had brought her here. It would have been unthinkable …

“Sara,” Harley said from beside them, grimacing, “I’ve got something to do for the boss. It can’t wait.”

“I’ll drive her home,” Jared told the younger man. “No problem.”

“Sara, is that all right with you?” Harley asked gently.

She nodded. “It’s okay. What is it? Or can’t you say?”

Harley shrugged. “I really can’t,” he replied. He forced a smile. “We’ll do this again, Sara.”

She smiled back. “Of course.”

He nodded to Jared and walked off toward the parking lot, looking forlorn even from behind.

Jared was smiling.

Sara frowned. “Did you have anything to do with that?”

“You mean, did I ask Cy to occupy Harley so that I could take you home? Of course I did. I don’t like competition.”

She was gaping. “Excuse me?”

His arm contracted. His eyes were strangely darkened as he met her own. “I’m possessive,” he said softly. “Territorial.”

“About … me?” she asked, unbelieving.

“Of course about you,” he muttered.

“But Max is beautiful,” she began.

“Max is the past,” he said bluntly. “She knows it.”

That was thrilling. Exciting. Her whole face lit up. He was serious!

He stopped dancing and traced her mouth with a long forefinger, teasing her lips apart in a sensuous tension that grew by the second. “You’re tired,” he whispered. “You’ve done too much. You need to go home, and I have to take you because Harley left early.”

She nodded, wordless.

He caught her by the hand and tugged her to Cy and Lisa. They said their goodbyes. Jared asked Cy to tell Tony where he’d gone. He put Sara in the Jaguar, buckled her up and revved off toward her small house.

They didn’t exchange a single word during the short drive. The tension between them was so thick it was almost tangible. Sara felt hot all over. The feel of Jared so close to her had removed all her inhibitions. She couldn’t think past wanting to kiss him until her mouth hurt.

He cut off the engine in front of her house and turned to her. “We’ve reached the point of no return,” he said curtly. “Either we go ahead, or we stop seeing each other. I’m too old to stop at kisses.”

She stared at him helplessly, all her upbringing urging her to tell him to leave, to go inside by herself. All her life, she’d done the right thing, the safe thing. But she loved this man. If she said the wrong words now, she knew she’d never be in his arms again. The thought was torture. Then she caught herself. She was being overly worried. He wanted to do some heavy petting. Of course. He wasn’t a kiss-at-the-front-door sort of man. And if things got too hot, well, she’d just find an excuse to get up. Easy.

He got out of the car, opened her door and locked the sleek vehicle before he followed Sara up onto her porch. Nervously she unlocked the door and went inside. She reached for the light switch, but he was right behind her. He stayed the movement, locked the dead bolt and suddenly swept her up into his arms and brought his mouth down on her soft lips.

The sofa was only a few feet away. It was long and wide, just right for two people to lie on. Sara felt his weight with a sense of destiny. It was the most glorious thing she’d ever felt, all that hard, warm muscle down the length of her body. She seemed to throb like her own runaway heartbeat while Jared made a midnight snack of her mouth.

Before long, she was as anxious as he was to have her blouse and bra out of the way so that his hands, and then his mouth, could explore the softness of her warm skin. By the time he slid his hands under her skirt and against her bare legs, she was shivering all over.

She felt his body vibrate, as if he was as electrified as she was. He whispered something under his breath that she didn’t understand. Apparently it wasn’t too important, because only seconds later, she felt him against her in a way that was as new as it was frightening.

She started to protest, but it was already too late. His mouth ground into hers as his body suddenly invaded the most secret place of her own. The delicious sensations she felt when they began were now absent as she felt him insistent and demanding, his big hand under her hips, holding them steady as he pushed down hard. He groaned as he felt the soft barrier give. His control was gone at once. He drove for fulfillment; abstinence and too many beers had robbed him of self-control. He felt the rush of pleasure like a hot wave over his body, leaving him to shudder in a tense arch that was like rain after the baking desert.

When he regained his control, he felt her trying to get away from the crush of his body. He was aware of broken sobs. Trembling. Audible misery.