Page 25 of Love Me, Cowboy
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Any sense of play went out of Claire’s head the moment Tyler rose above her and peeled off his shirt. Tan skin shifted over defined muscle, and a dusting of light-brown hair created a trail down along flat abs to disappear behind the shiny silver belt buckle.
Her mouth went as dry as a West Texas field in August, while her body felt as if she’d walked into a brush fire. Tyler Holly was the most beautiful man Claire had ever seen. He’d been long and lean the last time they’d been together, a boy with potential he’d yet to reach. But now.
Oh my, Claire thought.
Tyler seemed taller from her vantage point, flat on her back on the couch, and his narrow hips made her brain a little fuzzy. But it was the raw sense of power that took her breath. Years of fighting to keep his seat on a bull had turned Tyler’s body into a fine-tuned machine. One Claire was more than ready to ride.
Until she noticed the flinch when the shirt came off his left arm.
“Are you okay?” Claire asked, sitting up and then hopping onto her knees on the couch. “I keep forgetting about your shoulder. You look so perfect, it’s hard to believe there’s an injury under...” She waved a hand in front of his chest. “Under all that.”
Tyler stepped close and slid his arms around her back. “Did you say I look perfect?” he asked, nuzzling her ear lobe. “Are you sure you’re talking to the right guy?”
He was trying to distract her. Which was working. “You are perfect,” she breathed, melting at the feel of his warm breath on her neck. “But I don’t want to do anything that will hurt you.”
Pulling back, he locked green eyes on hers, and the grin disappeared. “The only thing that would hurt me right now would be to let you go, Claire.”
Sliding her hands into his hair, she sighed. “Then don’t do that, Tyler. Don’t ever do that.”
A second later, Claire found herself pressed against Tyler’s chest as he carried her through the cabin. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not making love to you on an old couch. You deserve better than that.”
He said making love, not having sex. A distinction Claire hadn’t given much thought but realized she should have. In her relatively short adult life, she’d had sex a handful of times. But she’d only ever made love with Tyler.
And by the time he dropped her to her feet and pressed her back against one of the four posts surrounding his bed, Claire knew this cowboy was the only man with whom she’d ever make love.
Kissing Tyler was like taking a drug, and she couldn’t have said how long she’d been indulging when they finally came up for air. They were as close as two people could be with their clothes on.
“I think it’s your turn now, Claire,” Tyler said, pressing her hair behind her ears before cradling her cheeks. “How about it? Will you let me look at you?”
Claire took in her surroundings, noticing the only light in the room came from the full moon shining through the windows flanking the bed. But even that felt like too much.
As if reading her mind, Tyler said, “You’re beautiful, remember? I’ll keep telling you that as long as I have breath in my body, but you need to feel it for yourself.” Taking her hand, he pulled her the few feet to stand before his closet door. Pulling her in front of him, Tyler dropped his chin on her shoulder as they both stared into the full-length mirror before them.
“What do you see?” he asked, and Claire had never wanted to hide more than she did in that moment. But Tyler was pressed against her back, his arms wrapped around her, giving her the strength she needed to look, really look, at herself.
“I see a short woman with wide hips,” she said.
Tyler squeezed. “Try again.”
With a deep breath, Claire did as ordered. The dress did make her hips look a little smaller. And her breasts. Well, they were big no matter what she wore, but they balanced out her hips, giving her an hourglass figure. Which was kind of sexy. She definitely had curves, but they were womanly, not lumpy as she’d always thought of herself.
“You’re getting it,” Tyler said. “I can see it in your eyes.”
And then she caught his gaze in the mirror, and for a split second, saw herself the way Tyler did. A tear turned her reflection watery. “I’ve never liked looking at myself before.”
“But you do now,” Tyler said, his voice deeper, vibrating along her spine as he lowered the zipper down the back of her dress. “You see what I see.”
Claire could do little more than nod as he slid the dress over her shoulders and down her arms. When the silky material landed in a puddle at her feet, Tyler ran his hands over her hips, then across her abdomen. Every touch bringing the beautiful figure in the mirror into sharper focus.
Claire didn’t only feel beautiful, she felt sexy and hot and more aroused than she’d ever been in her life. Tyler was giving her a gift. Giving Claire herself. And he deserved to be rewarded.
Turning, Claire reached for Tyler’s belt buckle at the same moment she took his lips with her own. Callused hands settled on lace, and the rest of the world disappeared. What could have been seconds or hours later, Claire found herself pressed between cool sheets and a hot cowboy with nothing between them but heat and moonlight.
When he took her nipple between his teeth, Claire moaned. When he slid a hand between her thighs, she bucked and bit his bottom lip. What began as a rush of limbs and sweat and nails digging into flesh, turned slow and languorous once they were skin to skin.