"Jesse, please," she begged. She couldn't have said herself whether she wanted him to stop or go on.
Jesse certainly had no intention of stopping. He was fascinated by the woman under him. By her scents and textures and tastes. She smelled of honeysuckle, but her taste was distinct, a woman taste that was meant for him and him alone. Her skin was like satin, or maybe silk, smooth and alluring. He couldn't touch her enough, couldn't taste her enough.
His mouth found hers again, and he brought their bodies into alignment, feeling the moist heat of her through the denim that still separated them. He wanted her. How he wanted her!
He released her hands to reach down toward his Levi's, but her hand was there before him.
"Let me."
Her eyes were lambent, heavy-lidded, the blue almost violet with desire. His loins tightened. He couldn't speak, so he nodded curtly.
She took her own damn sweet time with it. A button at a time he felt himself come free until she was holding him, surrounding him with her hand.
He hissed out a breath. "Damn woman. You're going to kill me with kindness."
Honey smiled seductively. "Then you'll die smiling, cowboy."
The crooked grin flashed on his face and was gone an instant later as she led him toward the female portal that awaited him.
He paused long enough to rasp out, "Are you protected?"
She nodded at the same time he thrust himself inside her. Hot. Wet. Tight. The feelings were astounding, and he groaned as he seated himself deep within her body.
For a moment he didn't move, just enjoyed the feeling of being inside her, of having joined the two of them as one. Right. It felt right And good.
"Honey, dammit, I-" He wanted to wait even longer, arouse her more, until she couldn't talk or even breathe. It was soon apparent she was as aroused as he. Her hands shoved his jeans down and she grasped his buttocks as her legs came up around him. He took his weight on his hands, leaving him free to caress her lips and breasts with his mouth.
Jesse felt a frenzy of uncontrollable need for this woman, at this moment in time. "Honey, I can't-"
He needn't have worried that he was leaving her behind. He felt the convulsions deep inside her and knew she had reached the same pinnacle as he. He threw his head back, teeth clenched against the agony of pleasure that swelled through him as he spilled his seed. He was unaware of the exultant cry that escaped him at that ultimate moment.
Honey felt the tears steal into the corners of her eyes as Jesse slipped to her side and pulled her into his arms. She held on to him tightly, afraid to admit the awesomeness of what had just happened between them. It wasn't what she had expected. The pleasure, yes. But the feeling of belonging…That, she couldn't explain and didn't want to contemplate.
"Honey? Did I hurt you?"
She felt his lips at the corners of her eyes, kissing away the tears. "No," she said. "You didn't hurt me."
"Then, why-?"
"I don't know," she admitted in a choked voice. Another tear fell.
He pulled her into his embrace. In a low voice, that rusty-gate voice, he said, "It felt right, Honey. It felt good. Don't be sorry."
"I'm not," she said. And realized she wasn't. Cale was dead; she was alive. She didn't fool herself. What she and Jesse had just experienced was rare. It hadn't even happened all the time with Cale. That must mean that she felt more for the drifter than even she had previously perceived. She wasn't ready yet to examine those feelings. She wasn't sure what she would find. She certainly wasn't ready to confront them head-on.
Honey changed the subject instead. "Jack will be showing up soon," she whispered.
"Yeah. I'd better get out of here." He grinned and slicked his hand through hair damp with sweat. "I could really use a bath."
Honey arched a brow. "Are you bragging or complaining?"
His eyes were suddenly serious as he said, "I got exactly what I wanted. Are you saying you didn't want it, too?"
"No. I'm not saying that."
He searched her eyes, trying to discern her feelings. First and foremost among them was confusion. Well, he could identify with that. Perhaps what they both needed now was time and distance. Especially since he could feel himself becoming aroused again simply by her nearness. "I'd better get that bath."
He pulled his Levi's back on and buttoned them partway, knowing he was just going to pull them off again down the hall, then turned back to look at Honey.
She had grabbed the towel and was using it to cover herself.
"I think I find you even more enticing half-clothed than when you're naked," he warned.
Honey clutched the towel closer, accidentally revealing even more skin. She was helpless to resist him if he touched her again.
Jesse considered making love to her again, but his common sense stopped him. Any moment Jack might return home. While-he hadn't allowed her son's objections to prevent him from pursuing Honey, he didn't want to confront Jack coming from her bedroom, either. He didn't want the boy thinking any less of his mother because of her relationship with some drifter. When the time was right, he would tell them all the truth and let Honey decide whether she wanted anything more to do with him-or not.
He finished his bath and went downstairs to make coffee, as usual. Shortly thereafter he was joined by Honey, fresh from her bath and looking even more alluring with her hair curling in damp tendrils around her face. She was wearing the same man's robe she had worn the first day he had arrived. He wondered if she had done it on purpose, to remind him that she had belonged to another man. He wanted to cross the room and pull her into his arms, but the wary look on her face held him apart.
"I started coffee," he said, to break the uncertain silence.
"How about eggs and bacon this morning?" she asked, heading for the refrigerator.
He let her pass by him without reaching out, but his nostrils flared as he caught the scent of honeysuckle from her hair. He watched her do all the normal things she had done for the past three weeks, as though nothing momentous had happened between them in the bed upstairs.
Then he saw her hands were trembling and realized she wasn't as calm as she wanted him to believe. He didn't think, just closed the distance between them. He had put his hands on her shoulders when a noise behind him froze them both.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Jack said belligerently, shoving open the kitchen door and letting himself in.
Jesse turned to face Honey's older son, but he didn't take his hands from her shoulders. "Your mom's making breakfast."
"That's not what I mean and you know it," Jack retorted.
Jesse saw the tension in the boy's shoulders, the suspicion in his eyes. There was no purpose to be served by aggravating him. He let go of Honey's shoulders, picked up the pot of coffee from the stove and returned to the table to pour himself a cup.
Jack watched with hostile eyes from the doorway, then marched over to stand before the hired hand.
Jessie had been expecting Jack to confront him, but he wasn't prepared for the bluntness of the boy's attack.
"You stay away from my mother. She doesn't want anything to do with you."
"That's her decision, isn't it?"
' 'I can take care of things around here now that school's out!" the boy said. "We don't need you."
Jesse heard the pain beneath the defiant words. "From what I've seen, your mother can use another helping hand."
"You can never replace my father!" Jack said. "He was a Texas Ranger, a hero. You're nothing, just some drifter who rolled in like tumbleweed. Why don't you go back where you came from?"
"Jack!" Honey was appalled at Jack's attack on Jesse. "Apologize," she ordered.
"I won't!" Jack said. "I meant every word I said. We don't need him here."