Almost Home (29 page)

"Panties, too," he said, gazing down at the
heat of her.

"I'm a little ahead of you," she said
nervously.

"Oh, I don't think so," he murmured, as he
slipped off his jeans and his briefs in one swift motion.

Naked, he was magnificent, muscle and bone, strength
and power, so male, so handsome, so desirable. She would have taken her time
just looking at him, but he pushed her back against the hay and pulled her
panties down to her ankles.

He gazed at her with an expression in his eyes of pure
unadulterated lust. She'd never had so much attention, so much focus, so much
desire, directed at her. And she reveled in it. He made her feel like a woman,
a very wanted woman.

Then he swore under his breath.

"What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"What the hell are we doing? I don't have
anything, dammit."

"Have anything?" she mumbled in confusion.

"Birth control. Protection."

"Oh." She'd been so lost in the passion she
hadn't even considered the need for that. It was completely irresponsible.
Completely reckless and foolhardy. She knew better. But this was so unfair. She
wanted Zach more than she'd ever wanted any man in her life.

"Wait," she said, suddenly inspired. "I
have something." She reached for her purse and pulled out the package they'd
gotten at Veronica's. "Remember these?" She ripped open the package
and pulled out a bright green glow-in-the-dark condom.

Zach grinned at her and they both began to laugh. Zach
laughed so hard he lay back down on the hay and said, "I think I've lost
some momentum here, Kat. I don't know if I can wear one of those without
laughing, and…"

She leaned over and put a finger over his mouth. "I'll
help you get back in the mood."

"Oh, yeah? What are you going to do?"

She kissed his mouth, stroking his tongue with hers,
then running her mouth down the side of his cheek, the corner of his neck,
until he groaned and tossed her on her back.

"Okay, I'm back in the game."

"That was fast," she murmured as he kissed
her lips, her face, her jaw, working his way down to her breasts, drawing on
each one until she was gasping for release. "Zach, you're driving me
crazy."

"I want you crazy," he murmured. "I
want you wild."

She looked into his eyes. "I am wild—for you."

Her words seemed to disturb him.

"Before we go any further, you should remember I'm
not a long-term kind of guy. I don't want to pretend. I don't want to make
promises I can't keep."

"Shh." She put a finger over his lips. "Love
me, Zach, even if it's only for the next five minutes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's going to take a hell of a lot longer
than five minutes."

"Prove it."

He did exactly that, kissing her senseless, running
his hands up and down her body until she thought she would catch fire, arousing
a need in her so great, she welcomed him into her body with a deep groan of
satisfaction. He filled all the empty places in her heart. They fit perfectly.
She was no longer alone, but a part of someone else. It had never felt so
right.

Katherine wrapped her arms around his waist and moved
her body with his, the friction building with each thrust, each kiss, each
touch, until she cried out his name, until her body shook and trembled with
sweet release.

When he tried to move off of her, she tightened her
arms around him.

"I'm too heavy," he protested.

"Not yet. Don't leave me." She knew she was
pleading for more than just the next thirty seconds. Thankfully, Zach didn't
take it that way.

"Come with me then," he said, as he rolled
over on his back, pulling her astride him.

She loved the way the hair on his legs grazed her
thighs, the hard planes of his body meshing so perfectly with hers. As she
smiled down at him, her long blond hair drifted against his face. He pulled a
piece of hay out of it with a grin.

"Ever had a roll in the hay before, Miss
Whitfield?"

"As a matter of fact, this was a first. How about
you? How many other girls have gone home with straw in their hair?"

"Oh, a couple dozen."

She laughingly slapped him on the cheek. "You're
not that good."

"Hey, I think I did pretty well. So did you."
He dropped his voice down to a sexy whisper that made her want to do it again,
even better this time.

"Not bad for a city girl, huh?"

"Not bad for any girl." He drew the strand
of her hair across his lips. "You smell like flowers."

"My shampoo."

"No, it's you. Every time you come around, I
smell lavender."

She caught her breath. "Me, too. I smell lavender
all the time. It's in my chest, in my quilt. And when I went to the garden, it
was incredibly strong. I almost feel like the scent is telling me where to go."

"Well, I don't care what got you here."

"You know, I've never gone to bed with a man I've
known less than a week."

"We're not exactly in bed."

"You know what I mean. Be serious."

"With you wriggling your butt like that? Impossible."

She traced a finger along his jawline, then followed
it with her mouth, delighted to feel him growing hard beneath her. Lifting her
head, she smiled down at him. "So soon, Mr. Tyler? You're quite a
stallion, aren't you?"

He laughed. "I've never been compared to a
stallion before. So what are you going to do now? Take me out for a ride?"

"Mm-mm, not a bad idea," she said, pressing
her lips against his chest, trailing her mouth over to one nipple and flicking
the tiny point with her tongue.

"Uh, Kat, I think this horse is ready to go."

"Hey, I'm the rider, I'll decide when we're ready
to leave the barn."

"I'm in big trouble, aren't I?" he asked
with a groan.

She laughed. "You better believe it. I want to go
fast this time. Show me what you can do."

"You better hang on."

"Believe me, I don't intend to let go."

Chapter
15

«
^
»

K
atherine was still hanging
on to Zach, one arm
thrown across his waist,
her head resting on his shoulder. Despite their cozy position, she sensed that
he was pulling away. He hadn't said anything for a while, and although the
silence had initially been filled with satisfaction, it was now beginning to
feel tense.

Katherine let her fingers caress his stomach, willing
him to relax, to stop thinking about what was next. Because she was afraid of
those thoughts, afraid that he'd pull away from her now that they'd made love,
now that the chemistry between them had been explored.

"It's getting late," Zach said.

She stiffened, hearing the coolness in his voice. Damn
him. He couldn't even give her another few minutes to pretend that he'd been as
moved by the passion between them as she had been?

"Kat? Are you asleep?"

For a moment she let her eyes drift closed. She'd like
to be asleep and she probably could be, if the pounding of his heart beneath
her cheek had not suddenly begun to race, if he'd stayed relaxed and loving in
her arms. But she had a feeling that man was long gone.

"Come on," he said, sitting up, gently
forcing her to sit up, too.

She looked at him with a fond, wistful smile, seeing
the straws of hay caught in his hair, and the smudges of her lipstick on his
mouth. She ran one finger against his lips, wiping away the last trace of
herself.

Zach caught her hand and pulled it away. "Don't
go starting that again."

"Lipstick," she said. "I was getting it
off for you." Actually, she'd been hoping to distract him from his current
goal of getting rid of her as fast as possible.

"Thanks," he said shortly. He reached for
his jeans and his shirt, slipping into them with quiet efficiency. Then he
picked up her panties and her jeans, handing them to her to put on. "Get
dressed."

Katherine would have hurried to cover her nakedness if
he'd shown any interest in looking at her, but his gaze seemed to be everywhere
but on her body. "I know we can't stay here all night, Zach, but the hotel
is a long way away."

"You'll be more comfortable there." Zach
finished buttoning his shirt, completing his suit of armor against her.

"You're certainly in a hurry to get rid of me,"
she complained, still holding her clothes in her hands.

He sighed. "I have to get up early. There's a lot
to do."

"That's not why you're rushing me out of here."

"Look, can we skip the morning-after talk until
morning?"

"No, we can't. What's the matter with you? Why
are you acting like I suddenly asked if I could move in with you? I just
suggested we spend the night together, because it's late and we're both tired."

"It's not that late, and I'm not that tired."

"You're afraid of me. Afraid of what you felt
just now."

"It was sex, Katherine. Great sex maybe, but just
sex."

"It was more than that. I saw a side of you I'd
never seen before."

"You saw my backside. So what?"

She looked into his eyes and shook her head. "I
saw into you, Zach. Don't try to tell me otherwise."

"Obviously there's no point. You'll think what
you want to think."

She swallowed back another protest. It wouldn't do any
good to argue with him. He had his mind made up.

"Fine, I'll go back to the hotel then." She
ran a ruthless hand through her hair, shaking out the hay and the memories.
When she finished getting dressed, Zach was staring at her, a hard look in his
eyes.

"I'm a fool," he said. "I knew what
kind of woman you were, and I made love to you anyway."

"What kind of woman am I?" she asked,
feeling hurt by his curt tone.

"The kind of woman who believes in the fairy
tale."

"And you don't want to be my Prince Charming."

"I'm nobody's Prince Charming."

"What if I told you I was just looking for an
ordinary man who wanted to love me?"

He looked straight into her eyes. "I'd tell you
he was probably in
California
."

His words stung, but they also made her angry. "Okay,
that did it. You've made me mad enough to leave now. Wasn't that your
intention?" She moved past him and climbed down the ladder, blinking back
a few unacceptable tears.

She would not cry in front of him. She would not let
him see that he'd hurt her. She would not let him think that she was an
emotional, softhearted, romantic fool.

He stopped her at the door of the barn. "I'm
sorry."

"No, you're not. Making love to me and shoving me
out the door just gives you one more reason to call yourself a bastard. Well,
congratulations. You've finally convinced me, too. Are you happy now?"

* * *

Are you happy
now?
Katherine's
words rang through Zach's head for the rest of the night and half of Wednesday.
As he sat at the computer, mulling over the farm budget, his mind kept
returning to her words.

He hadn't meant to hurt her, but the sex between them
had been more than he'd expected, more than he'd wanted. It had made him think
of love, and love was messy and emotional and complicated and hopeless.

It was best to end things now. He never should have
taken Katherine up to the loft, never should have made love to her, never
should have let her get inside his head, under his skin, into his soul.

It wouldn't happen again. It couldn't. Katherine would
be an easy habit to acquire and a difficult one to break.