STORY EXCERPT

The bridge across the San Pedro River loomed a short distance ahead. She turned Duke onto the wooden planks. He balked, scrambled for purchase. His hooves slid and stomped on the hollow-sounding surface. His lurching action made it impossible for her to keep her balance.

She lost her seat and slipped down the side of the smooth leather. She struggled for a firm hold on the saddle, but another violent motion from Duke sent her flying over the side of the bridge.

Cold water slapped her body hard as she landed face down in the river. In shocked dismay, she gasped for air, choked on the water, and stumbled to unsteady feet. In water up to her knees, her arms and hands flailing, she fought for balance against the slow-moving current.

Panic shook her at the thought of the bandits close behind. She couldn’t let those killers catch her. She had to corral Duke and climb back in the saddle—fast. She shivered and staggered toward the bank as cold water sluiced from her bodice and skirt. She wiped water from her face. Her palms smarted from scrapes caused by sand and pebbles where her gloves had torn.

The thunder of horses’ hooves drew nearer. Stumbling, she pivoted on her waterlogged boots and looked back. Stark terror threatened to overwhelm her at the sight of a man riding toward her. He wore a tan colored hat, tan shirt, and blue trousers. She couldn’t tell who he was from this distance. He could be one of the outlaws.

Tall in the saddle, dark and menacing, had he fired his gun at her? She had to get away. A big patch of white covered his horse’s face. Wait. She’d know that horse anywhere. Diablo. Kurt MacConnor’s paint stallion, raced toward her.

She sloshed toward the bank, searching for shelter. The explosion of small arms and the thunder of hooves sounded close. Too late. She turned to face the threat and squared her shoulders to meet her fate.

“Get ready,” he shouted, the urgency in his voice not lost on her.

Heavens, it would have to be Mr. MacConnor. As he barreled toward her, she spread her feet apart and widened her stance, poised to grab hold and swing up behind him.

Diablo plunged into the river. Water sprayed in a fan like sparkling prisms of sunshine all around him.

Mr. MacConnor reached down and caught her beneath her arms. A gasp escaped her as he swept her up onto his lap. Tuckedin front of him with her feet dangling to one side, she wondered why he hadn’t pulled her up behind him. Gunfire blasted ever nearer. Now she understood. She slid her arms around Kurt MacConnor’s ribs and gripped his heated, solid torso like a lifeline. 

Diablo never faltered. His strong legs splashed through the slow current as he carried them to shore and galloped toward town. She clung to Mr. MacConnor’s coat and looked back for Duke. “My horse!”

“Got to get you out of here. Horse is on his own.”

Even as apprehension forced her to wonder at Mr. MacConnor’s intentions, she saw that Duke raced after them. Uneasy relief filled her at the sight. “He’s following.” Unfortunately, she saw several of themen only a few hundred feet behind Duke.

 He appeared darkly dangerous and handsome as usual, with the wind tugging at the midnight hair beneath his hat brim. She sat on his lap soaked through, drenching him as water streamed from her hair and her favorite riding habit.

She held tight while his mount galloped toward town. Her mind whirled with questions. Why hadn’t she noticed him somewhere on the road? What was he doing out here when his office was in town?

Every now and then, she’d noticed him riding or walking through Leland Valley. As she clung to him now, she contemplated the cold, hard look in his gray eyes. By his chilling demeanor, she figured Kurt MacConnor could be counted on to protect her. Surely, he wasn’t involved with those violent lawbreakers.

He glanced down at her. “You all right?”

The angry sound of his voice gave her pause. “Yes, I’m fine.” She considered his piercing gaze, his eyes more silver than gray. With a deep breath, she inhaled the scent of damp horses and leather, hard-working man and shaving soap. Startled by the sudden desire to rest her face against his neck, her heart thundered in her breast, and she stiffened. Freighter, ladies’ man, and who knew what else? Mr. MacConnor was not the proper sort.

“Keep your head down,” he barked.

Cassie glanced over his shoulder first, then followed his bidding. She’d seen that Duke still ran behind them, but the men following had slowed their pursuit and stopped firing. She hoped they were afraid to ride into town. She couldn’t lose her favorite of the horses she’d been training to those evil men…or have him return home with an empty saddle and alarm her father even more.

She pushed dripping locks of hair out of her face with one hand while she held on to her rescuer with the other. Though the hot sun beat down, the wind streamed through her soggy clothing and chilled her. She shifted on his lap and felt his rigid muscles beneath her. My word.

Suddenly aware of her improper seat, she fought the disturbing sensation between her thighs in her most private parts. She eased back, striving to put some distance between them without letting go and losing her balance. His gaze remained fixed on the road ahead.

After a short while, he glanced over his shoulder. “We’re close enough to town. They won’t follow.” He slowed his horse to a lope.

“Thank you for coming to my rescue. Dam—darn those drifters. If they hadn’t been trespassing on my dad’s land, this wouldn’t have happened.”

When he turned his head, those angry gray eyes locked on hers with a dangerous glitter.

ADULT EXCERPT

He unfastened the last button and parted her gown to reveal her creamy curves. Placing his hands under her arms, he lifted her to a sitting position, released her, and brushed her gown over her shoulders. She pulled her arms from the sleeves, and he let go of the garment. It floated down to nestle around her hips.

Grasping her small waist with his hands, he lifted her out of the yards of fabric, and set her on the bed beside him. She shivered.

He’d never seen her in this light before. Her skin shone like warm, pale gold. He reached for the sheet and urged her down next to him. Her loveliness caused his hand to shake as he caressed her velvety skin from shoulder to thigh. “You’re so beautiful.”

Her breasts, perfect globes crowned by dark, rosy, puckered nipples, drew him to taste her again. He touched the valley between her breasts and trailed his finger past her belly button to the triangle of dark curls between her thighs. She shivered. Leaning over her, he met her trusting gaze and covered her mouth with his. She taunted his lips and tongue, caressing and teasing.

His palm continued to explore the slender length of her, his raging desire tempting him. But, he ruled his primitive drive with an iron will. Refusing to plunge into her wet sheath, he swore to give her what she desired and hold the reins on his own rampant urges.

Tensing his muscles, he left her sweet mouth to trail kisses over her breasts. Her womanly fragrance surrounded him. She grasped his shoulders, her fingertips pressing into him as he placed gentle kisses around one turgid peak, then took it into his mouth and sucked, drawing the nipple deeper, tugging on her breast.

Cassie gasped, and a low cry escaped her as sensations streamed through her to swell low in her body. He moved to her other breast, and she arched beneath his chest, offering herself for his touch. She breathed in his welcome, familiar scent as he gave this breast equal attention.

Then his mouth dragged down to her waist and his hot, wet, tormenting tongue delved into her belly button. “Kurt—” She inhaled swiftly as the heated ache increased below in the most private places.

He rose up and stared at her bare body. She shivered with anticipation of the unknown. When he started to move lower, she grasped his shoulders. “Kurt? What are you doing?”

He raised his dark head and met her gaze, his eyelids heavy over those darkened, silvery gray eyes. “Trust me, babe.”

At first, she watched as he continued pressing kisses over her, from one hip to the other, causing her to tremble. She dropped her head back to the feather pillow when he moved over one delicate thigh, the heat of his breath teasing her most sensitive flesh as he nuzzled. She felt utterly decadent and didn’t care.

Her fingers slipped from his hair as he moved lower to caress her calves, ankles, and feet. She floated in a gentle river of warm sensation. When he moved back up her legs, he cupped his hand beneath one knee and bent it, raising her leg.

She watched him, her muscles clenching, her hands gripping the sheets beneath her, while he positioned himself between her legs and bent her other knee. She felt open and vulnerable. Yet she wanted him above all else.

He looked intently at her and she met his gaze. “Are you sure, Cassie?”

She smiled at him with her heart full of trust. “Yes, I’m sure. I want you to make love to me.”

Snug between her thighs, he supported his lean, muscular torso on his arms. Her body tuned to feel every minute sensation, Cassie inhaled quickly when he slipped his hands beneath her hips and tilted them. He lowered his head.

“Kurt.” She grabbed for him, tangling her fingers in the black, silky hair of his scalp. With his lips and tongue, he pressed hot, wet kisses against her swollen, sensitive folds. He licked her in one long sweep. She gasped and writhed as his tongue probed. She craved more and tilted her hips.

“That’s the way, hon. He delved into her most private place with the tip of his tongue.

“Oh, God, Kurt!” Tension coiled in her, impossibly tight.

She stared at his dark head, her fingers clutching in his hair. He taunted her until she dropped her head to the pillow. She undulated beneath his hands and mouth, and her body arched, shuddering. She felt poised on the edge of a precipice. Suddenly, she took flight and soared. Lights flashed around her, and sweet, exquisite contractions pulsed deep within, sending waves of ecstasy through her.

Slowly, the ripples ebbed to leave her floating, blissfully lethargic and feeling a boneless euphoria.

She opened her eyes to find Kurt watching her. She flushed, but realized he hadn’t become part of the glory.

He hadn’t completed it. She wanted what was missing. “That was…I’ve never felt such pleasure before, but I know there’s more. I want to experience all of it with you.” The night air cooled her wet flesh he’d been so wonderfully tormenting.

Without a word, he pressed a kiss to her damp curls. She felt his capable fingers parting her folds. One long finger caressed her then slipped gently inside her most private feminine place, stretching her. She closed her eyes and lay still, concentrating on his hands and fingers, the desire he built anew in her. Stroking in and out, he delved deep. Beneath the power of his caress, her hips tilted of their own accord, wanting more. She moaned at the acute sensations. He removed his hands from her. She opened her eyes.

His gray eyes were barely visible, hooded by thick dark lashes. He rose up on his hands and moved up her body. “Wrap your legs around me.”