He reached for her hand. "You ready?"
"I guess so." She moved into his arms. "But if there are any snakes, I'll never forgive you."
"No snakes," he said, leading her into the water. "Only a certain sea monster looking for a warm dark cave to explore."
She groaned. "That's really bad, you know that?"
"I didn't say I was a poet, darlin'. But I'm a pretty good dancer."
"So you've told me."
They were up to their waists in the water now. As he'd promised, it wasn't cold but warm and silken against her skin. He smoothed his hands along her hips and she pressed her palm to his chest, enjoying the feel of both water and skin, her senses heightened by the open air and darkness.
"Seems to me you've liked the dancing we've done so far," he said.
"Oh, yeah. I've liked it. I've liked it a lot."
He took her hand and led her farther out to where her feet no longer touched bottom. She started to tread water, and he dived beneath the surface. She felt him glide past her and then he was behind her, his hands on her breasts, his body pressed to hers. The warm water wrapped around them.
"Did you bring other women here to do this?" she asked.
His breath was warm against her neck. "I'm probably ruining my reputation here, but no. The summer of my junior year in high school, I spent a lot of time trying to persuade Analise Shroeder to come out here with me, but she told me if we got caught, her brothers would kill me. She had three older brothers who had all earned football scholarships to Texas A&M, so I decided it wasn't worth the risk, even to see Analise naked." He flicked her nipples with his thumbs, sending ripples out around them and deeper ripples of sensation through her. "I don't think it would have been half as nice as being here with you right now."
"That's right. My brother isn't going to kill you. He'd probably shake your hand instead." Truly, Zach would be pleased to see her happy in a relationship, even if the happiness was only temporary.
"And I think a man has to have a few years on him to truly appreciate women." She turned and his eyes met hers. "Everything about women." He cradled the back of her head in his hand. "They say good sex is in the brain as much as the body."
"So you think I have a sexy brain?" The idea pleased her.
"Woman, you have an amazing brain to go with this amazing body." He turned her around to face him and his lips closed over hers. She put her whole self into the kiss. Knowing that even when they were making love he thought about more than just her body moved her. She'd spent a lot of years convincing herself she was only interested in the physical side of a man/woman relationship, and in no time at all he'd proved her a liar.
She ought to hate him for that but here, with no walls to hide behind and no light but that of the moon filtered through trees, she looked into his eyes and knew she'd fallen in love with Kyle Cameron. She couldn't lie to herself anymore about that one.
But love hadn't robbed her of all her good sense, either. She wasn't about to bare her soul along with her body and take the hurt that confession was bound to bring. There was no reason for her and Kyle to be together in the long run, so she'd nurse her wounds alone later and make the most of the here and now. The thought added an urgency to her passion and made her forget her nervousness about snakes and wild animals and the darkness. She was Eve seducing Adam, with no one and nothing to stop her.
Smiling, she took his hand and guided it down until he covered her sex. He squeezed gently. "Feeling brave?" he asked.
"Feeling like I can't wait for you any longer." She gripped his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist, the water helping to support her.
He widened his stance, steadying them both. "Believe me, I know the feeling," he said and arched against her, his erection hard and hot against her clit.
"Then why don't you come inside and stay a while?" She trailed her fingers along his chest.
"Because you're not ready yet." He bent and suckled first one nipple, then the other, every pull of his lips sending a new tremor through her.
"H-how do you know if...if I'm ready or...or not?" she gasped.
"Because when I slide into you, I want you so wet and aching that you see stars from the first stroke." He slid his hands between them and buried two fingers in her. She tightened around him, a little moan escaping her.
"Stars?" she asked.
His thumb flicked across her clit. "You'll see stars and feel thunderbolts." He drove his fingers deeper, sending a spasm of arousal deep into her womb. She fought to clench her thighs together, but with her legs wrapped around him it was impossible. She was trapped, completely vulnerable, the sensation of lapping water, probing fingers, stroking thumb and the warm caress of his mouth on her breast overwhelming her. She began to tremble, quaking with desire. He increased the tempo of his stroking and murmured against her breast. "Come on, baby. Tell me how much you love it. No one can hear you out here."
She bit his shoulder to muffle her scream, some shadow of awareness not believing that someone wouldn't come running to investigate a shout. Her climax rocketed through her, and she clung to him with her legs and arms, supported by him and the water.
She didn't know how long they stood there like that before he pushed her gently away. She let her legs slip from around him as he towed her toward shore. When her feet touched the gravelly creek bottom, she must have moaned her regret, because he bent and kissed the side of her mouth. "I'm not going anywhere," he said. "It's just my turn now."
While she watched, still dazed, he waded to the bank and retrieved his jeans. Moonlight glinted on a familiar foil packet as he slipped it from his pocket. Laughter bubbled in her throat. "I can't believe you came prepared," she said. "Did you plan this?"
"Not plan, exactly." He tore open the packet and sheathed himself. "But I've been carrying this around with me all day." He started toward her once more. "I was determined to get you alone sometime."
He put his hands on her hips, his penis nudging between her thighs. "Think you can wrap your legs around me like that again?"
She laughed. "I think I can manage."
The position didn't afford the opportunity for much movement, but that in itself gave the moment an added intensity. Facing each other in the moonlight, literally wrapped around each other, they looked into one another's eyes. She brushed the hair back from his forehead and kissed the bridge of his nose, thinking how she would never tire of looking at a man who gazed at her with such tenderness.
He clutched her bottom and fit himself deeper into her. Gentle waves lapped around them with each shallow thrust. From time to time they stilled and indulged in long, deep kisses, their tongues as entwined as their limbs. And then they would begin to move again. She felt the tension within her begin to build and saw the same urgency in his eyes.
He thrust deeper now, the water slapping against her back as he moved faster, harder. She dug her fingernails into the skin of his shoulder and closed her eyes against the heat spreading through her. The light that exploded behind her eyes as she came was very like stars, and when he shouted his release, she wondered if he'd felt the lightning.
Spent and shaky, he withdrew from her and helped her to stand. He kissed her forehead and then her eyes, like a benediction. "Thank you," he whispered.
"For what?" She smiled. "I ought to thank you for bringing me here. The water and the moonlight--it's like a dream."
"You're a dream," he said. "I--"
She put her fingers over his lips, silencing him. "Don't say anything. I don't want any words cluttering up the wonderful way this feels."
He hesitated, then nodded. "All right. No more talking. Not tonight. But we'll talk soon."
She turned away, heading for the bank. She would put off talking as long as she could. Talking could lead to discussing the different directions they were headed. She wanted to avoid that conversation as long as possible.
The door creaked open and Kim entered carrying a tray in both hands. "Good morning," she said. "Mama thought you might want some coffee."
Steam curled from the oversize mug that sat next to a plate of the most delectable-looking coffee cake. A glass of orange juice completed the offerings. Guilt over every bitchy thought she'd had about Kyle's sister pinched at Theresa. "That looks wonderful," she said, hurrying to take the tray from the girl.
"I brought you these, too." Kim held up a pair of red high-heeled sandals.
Theresa blushed. "Where did she find those?" she asked, remembering how Kyle had hurled them into the darkness.
"They were in the front yard this morning when I went out to get the paper." Kim sat on the edge of the bed. "What were they doing out there?"
"When your uncle Kyle and I went for a walk, they were slowing me down, so he made me take them off and he tossed them on the grass. I guess we forgot to go back for them." She took a long drink of coffee, hoping the girl didn't notice how red her face was bound to be. After the creek, she'd been doing well to remember her name, much less a pair of uncomfortable shoes.
"They're really pretty shoes." Kim ran her finger over the ankle strap of one of them. "But they do look like they'd be hard to walk in."
"They are. Not very practical for the country." She took a bite of coffee cake and all but moaned. "Your mother sure is a good cook," she said.
"She's in the kitchen right now fixing all kinds of things for the barbecue."
Theresa's stomach gave a nervous flutter. "Do you know the people coming to this barbecue?" she asked.
Kim shrugged. "I know most of them. Most of the neighbors will be here and people from town. But it's not like at roundup, when a couple hundred folks might show up to help. There'll probably only be a few dozen today."
"A few dozen sounds like a lot of people to me."
Thirty
had sounded like a lot when Kristen had named the number last night. The guest list apparently kept growing. She took another drink of coffee. And what would they all think of Kyle's city girlfriend? It annoyed her that she even cared. After all, what did a bunch of strangers' opinions matter to her?
But Kyle's opinion did matter, and for his sake she wanted to make a good impression. "Where is your uncle right now?" she asked.
"He and Daddy are out by the cooker watching the brisket." Kim made a face. "It doesn't really need watching, but they stand out there and talk and pretend they're working. Mostly I think they do it so Mama won't think they're not busy and start bossing them around."
Theresa stifled laughter, imagining the two men hiding out from Kristen.
"So where did you and Uncle Kyle go on your walk last night?"
"Oh, we went down to the creek."
"Did you go swimming?"
Coffee sloshed in the cup as Theresa set it down hard on the dresser. "Wh-what makes you say that?"
Kim shrugged. "Nobody goes to the creek except to swim or fish, and I never heard of anybody fishing in the dark."
She laughed at the logic, but wasn't about to admit guilt. "Kyle wanted to show me the creek." That was no lie, at least. He'd shown her the creek and a lot more. She felt warm and dreamy at the memory.
"You have such cool clothes. What are you going to wear to the barbecue today?"
Kim's question snapped Theresa out of her daydream. "I don't know. What do you think I should wear?"
"Wear your leather pants. Nobody around here wears leather pants." Kim tilted her head to one side. "My dad sometimes wears leather chaps, but those don't really count." She giggled. "When he wears them, Mama tells him he has a cute butt."
Theresa remembered Kyle in his chaps. Yes, they did do a lot for a man's butt.... She shook her head. "I've already worn my leather pants twice this weekend. Besides, this barbecue is outside, isn't it? I need something cooler."
"You could wear jeans. That's what most people wear." Her expression became animated and she sat up straighter. "I know. Wear a dress. Some of the women wear sundresses. You'd be cool and I bet you'd look really pretty, too."
"I don't know. I don't usually wear dresses." She thought of the eyelet-lace number she'd packed on a whim. She'd never actually worn the dress. At least not in public.
"Did you bring a dress? Or maybe you could wear one of Mama's." She frowned at Theresa's chest. "Though you're bigger in front than she is, but maybe she has something stretchy."
"I brought one dress." She went over to her suitcase and unearthed the white dress.
"Wow! It's gorgeous!" Kim slid off the bed and stood close to Theresa, hands behind her back as if she was afraid of touching all that lace. "That would be perfect."
"You don't think it's too dressy?" Theresa frowned at the eyelet panels running under the arms and down the sides of the skirt.
"No, it looks really summery and pretty. You'd have to be careful not to get barbecue sauce on it, though."
"I think I could do that." For one thing, if she wore this dress, she'd be too nervous and self-conscious to eat. But it might be fun to show Kyle that she could be as feminine and frilly as the next gal--when she felt like it.
"You should wear it," Kim said.
She nodded. "All right, I think I will."
"Great. I'll go get the iron so you can touch it up. And Mama has some white flowers in the back flower bed that would look awesome in your hair."
"I don't know about the flowers...." But the girl had already left the room, eager to help transform her own personal Cinderella. Theresa sat on the end of the bed and stared at the dress. She only hoped she didn't end up looking like a fool by the time the day was over.