“I never let myself dream. I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
She draped a chain of flowers around the brim of his Stetson. “My sisters and I were orphaned when my parents were killed in a car accident. I was eighteen and had just graduated high school. Dori and Tillie and Fiona were still in school. The ranch went to the bank for debts. I found a job in Casper that paid enough to feed us and keep a roof over our heads. That didn’t leave much time for dreaming.”
“Let’s pretend you’re a real princess, and you can have anything you want. What would you wish for?” Faron asked. He laid a handful of flowers he had broken off just below the bud in her lap.
She scooped up the white, yellow and blue flowers and lifted them to her nose to see how they smelled. “I’d wish for a man to love me. And for children. I’ve always wanted to have children.”
“How many children?” he asked in a quiet voice.
“More than one,” she said definitely. “I liked having sisters. I grew up knowing I never had to be alone.”
“Do your sisters live close?”
“Unfortunately they’re scattered across the country. Every Fourth of July we get together. That’s the only time everyone can get free.”
Which meant she spent the rest of the year alone, Faron deduced.
Her lashes fluttered down to conceal her eyes. “You’re not wearing a ring. Are you married?”
“No.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“But you’ve had lots of them, I suspect.”
Faron eyed her askance. “What makes you say that?”
“You’re awfully charming, for one thing.”
He shrugged. “If you say so.”
She smiled. “I do. For another thing, you don’t seem in any hurry to…” Her cheeks felt warm. “I don’t know exactly how to say this.”
“Jump your bones?”
Her flush deepened. “Well, I wouldn’t have said it quite that way, but—”
“The afternoon isn’t over yet.”
She swallowed hard. “Then I’m not safe with you?”
“As safe as you want to be,” he said in a husky voice.
His eyes were more green than gray as they sought hers. Belinda was aware of a frisson of desire that began in her belly and spiraled upward. She could feel herself being drawn to him. She had already begun to lean toward him when she realized what she was doing. She jumped abruptly to her feet, scattering flowers around her. “It’s getting late. I have to go.”
She had already started toward her horse when he caught up to her and grasped her arm, stopping her. “Are you sure you can’t stay a little longer?”
Belinda looked at the sun lowering in the western sky. Why, several hours must have passed! Where had the time gone? The Cowboy had cast some sort of spell on her to make her forget who—and what—she was. She would be lucky to get back to The Castle before suppertime. Madelyn would worry if she wasn’t home by then. “I have to leave. Really, this has been lovely, but I have to go.”
“Where do you live? When can I see you again?”
“You can’t!” She hadn’t meant to be curt, but she couldn’t bear to see the look in his eyes if he ever found out she was a widow, a woman who should be in mourning. “You can’t,” she said more calmly, but just as firmly.
“Why not?”
“Because…please don’t ask me to explain.”
“All right.”
Belinda breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be premature.
“I’ll settle for a goodbye kiss.”
“What?”
He didn’t give her a chance to argue about it, simply pulled her into his arms and captured her mouth with his.
The Cowboy’s kiss was like nothing Belinda had ever experienced before in her life. He tunneled all ten fingers into her hair. His lips softened on hers, and his tongue slipped inside her mouth to tease and to taste. For a moment she was quiescent. Then she kissed him back.
Faron hadn’t known what to expect when he kissed his Princess. He had supposed from her shyness that he would be tasting innocence. For a few moments he had. But she had pulled him down to a deeper, darker well of desire than he had ever explored with a woman. A well where feelings and emotions were intimately bound with the physical act of love.
He lifted his head far enough to look into her eyes. “Princess?”
Belinda gazed up into gray-green orbs that were fierce with need. She reached up to touch the beauty mark on the Cowboy’s cheek, then trailed her fingertips back down to his mouth, which was still wet from their kiss. She traced his lips with her forefinger, then looked up into eyes that had darkened with desire. She raised her mouth and touched it lightly to his. Then her tongue slipped inside his mouth to taste him.
She could feel the restraint he exercised to remain still for her kiss. It made her dare more. Her hands slipped around his neck and her fingertips teased the hair at his nape. She kissed the edges of his mouth and lingered to nip at his lower lip with her teeth. A harsh sound grated deep in the Cowboy’s throat, and Belinda found herself answering with a kittenish purr of satisfaction.
He kissed his way along the edge of her jaw to her ear and caressed the delicate shell with his tongue. His breath was hot and moist and sent a shiver down her spine. Then his tongue slipped into her ear, and her belly curled with erotic sensation.
Belinda’s eyes closed in surrender as her body swayed toward his. The Cowboy’s arms closed around her, pulling her tight against him. She could feel the blunt ridge of his manhood against her femininity. As he rocked their bodies together, Belinda felt her knees give way.
The two of them slipped to the ground together. Belinda was aware of the cool grass beneath her, but it was the warmth above that she found so intriguing. The Cowboy held most of his weight on his arms, but their bodies were pressed together from the waist down, their legs entwined. His mouth found hers again, and this time he was more impatient.
One yank ripped the first three buttons on her shirt free. His mouth was reverent as he kissed the creamy mounds that spilled out of her lacy bra. He freed the bra itself, and his mouth latched on to a rosy crest. When he began to suck, Belinda’s whole body arched up into his.
She was desperate to touch his skin, and she pulled at his shirt to free it from his jeans. She tried to unbutton the buttons, but her hands were trembling too much. The Cowboy ripped the shirt off himself, sending buttons flying. Then he pressed their bodies together, flesh to flesh. Belinda made a soft little sound in her throat as the crisp hair on his chest brushed her tender nipples.
“Princess, you feel so good. You feel so right.” His hand slid down to unsnap her jeans. The rasp of her zipper coming down sounded loud in her ears. Before she could come to her senses his mouth had captured her breast again. The Cowboy sucked and nipped and sucked again so the sensual tension never let up.
His hand slid down inside her panties, through her feminine curls until he found the tender bud he sought. Belinda nearly came up off the ground as his fingers began to work their magic.
“Come apart for me, Princess,” Faron crooned. “Be beautiful for me, only me.”
He shoved her jeans down out of the way and unfastened his own. Belinda caught his face with both hands and brought his mouth up to hers.
“Kiss me, Cowboy. Please,