In the Arms of the Rancher: In the Arms of the Rancher / His Vienna Christmas Bride. Jan Colley

pressing into her body.

      Kate drew a deep breath before trying to speak. “What do you think we should do about it?” she said, surprising herself with her brazen response to him. Never before had she felt like this, and certainly never with…oh, the hell with him. He was a nothing compared to Hawk. No, he was a nothing, period.

      “I suppose I could think of a few things,” he drawled, his lips a hair’s breadth from hers. “We could start with losing our clothes.” His tongue tickled the corner of her mouth.

      She hadn’t known a touch so simple could cause such a burning reaction. Kate couldn’t wait to find out what else she hadn’t known. Eager to learn, she cupped his head with her hands, and whispering, “More, please,” she roughly drew his mouth to hers.

      Hawk was quick to comply. This time his kiss wasn’t as long, but it was just as powerful. Breathing deeply, harshly, he murmured, “I’m going to burst out of these jeans if I don’t get them off soon.”

      Having no idea that the smile was seductive, Kate lowered her arms and stepped back, looking directly at the spot he indicated.

      “This I want to see,” she murmured.

      Shoes, socks and pants were removed and kicked aside before he answered.

      “Well, I didn’t mean literally.” His gaze devoured her as he dug into a pocket of the discarded jeans, withdrew a foil packet and laid it on the nightstand.

      Kate’s breaths were coming out of her body in tiny puffs. Her throat felt parched. Curious, she shamefully lowered her gaze to his boxer shorts, her breathing halting altogether at the sight and size of the bulge there. She tried to swallow, was unable and had to try again. She never even saw him pull off his golf shirt.

      “Not fair,” he said, his own voice sounding desert dry. “I’m doing all the undressing.”

      Raising her glance, she gasped for breath at the sight of the width of his flat, muscled chest. She blinked as it and he moved closer. She looked up and immediately down again as he pushed down the boxers and kicked them aside.

      Good grief! The man was big, absolutely beautiful in form, and perfectly proportioned. Reluctantly returning her gaze to his face, she found him watching her, as if studying her reaction to his nakedness.

      “You’re…you’re beautiful,” she whispered, staring into his smoldering gaze.

      “Men aren’t beautiful.” There was a trace of pleasure in his voice at her compliment.

      “Sure they are,” she said, a wave of her hand brushing aside his rebuttal. “At least you are.” She hesitated a moment before blurting out, “Anyway, I think you are.”

      Hawk stepped up close to her, his hand reaching for the belt of her robe. “I disagree with you, but I confess I did like hearing it.” The belt knot loose, he gently parted the sides of her robe to glide a slow look over her body. “Now, that’s my definition of beauty.” Slipping the silky cloth off her, he let it drop to the floor.

      Kate was hot and cold. She was shivering on the surface of her body, but a fire blazing inside.

      “Hawk?” It was the only word she could manage from her dry throat. It was enough.

      “Anything you want, Kate. Anything,” he murmured, throwing back the bedcover and sweeping her into his arms to lay her in the middle of her bed. The next instant he was beside her, drawing her to the heat and hardness of his body.

      “Another kiss,” she said, moving with him as he flipped onto his back, drawing her over his chest. His hands cradling her face, he slowly drew her lips down to his. His tongue was ready for the meeting of mouths, laving her lower lip, driving her wild for more.

      Feeling like a column of flames burning only for him, she shuddered at his intimate exploration of her body…every inch of her body. And all the while he murmured to her about what he would do next, sending her anticipation, excitement and tension higher and higher.

      Her breathing as rough as his, moaning softly, Kate matched him kiss for kiss, stroke for stroke, thrilling at the sound of his own deep-throated moans.

      “That feels so good,” he whispered when at last she took him in her hand, marveling at the thick length of him. “But be careful. Don’t go too far.”

      “Are you sure?” Kate didn’t need to ask him what he meant; she knew very well. Still, obeying an impish urge, she wriggled down his now sweat-moistened body and took him into her mouth.

      Hawk’s body jerked as though he had been touched by a live wire. “Kate…I…” His voice gave way to a groan and he arched into her as she laved him with her tongue. “Damn, Kate. You’ve got to stop now.” His voice was ragged yet his hands were gentle as he grasped her shoulders and pulled her body up the length of his.

      “I thought you might like that,” she said, the same impish feeling driving her to tease him.

      “Like it?” Heaving a deep breath, he rolled both of them over until he was on top of her. “Oh, you have no idea. I loved it.”

      “But…” she began, enjoying teasing him.

      “But I want to be inside you,” he said, settling his body between her legs.

      Kate sighed as she watched him tear the foil packet, sheath himself. She arched her hips as he slowly, too slowly, slid himself inside her, joining them as one.

      Dragging harsh breaths into her chest, Kate sighed with pure pleasure as he began a steady rhythm, slowly building the tension coiling inside her.

      Catching him by the hips, she pulled him deeper inside her quivering body, needing more and more of him until, with a soft cry, the tension snapped, flinging her into a shattering release.

      A moment later she heard Hawk exhale a gritted “whoa.” And felt the shudder of his body as he exploded within her.

      With a heavy sigh, Hawk settled on top of her, his face nestled in the curve of her neck. Drained, satiated, Kate idly stroked his shoulders, his back, and kissed his forehead in thanks for the pleasure he had given to her, a pleasure she had never before experienced.