Page 36 of Back in the Saddle

She closed her eyes, trying not to think about his broad, muscular chest. Feeling it pressed against her just moments earlier made it almost impossible. She was trying to ignore the earthy smell of his skin.

Her throat worked but no words came out.

He smirked, clearly satisfied with her reaction. ‘I just want to get to know you better. That’s all.’

‘Why? I told you I’m going back to Scotland in less than a year.’

He laughed, raising his arms in the air. ‘Honestly, I don’t know why.’

He was close enough for her to practically feel the heat coming off his body. A mix of the unforgiving temperature outside and whatever this thing was between them.

Caroline tilted her head and looked into his eyes. ‘You’re not the problem. I am,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t trust myself when I’m around you.’

He gazed at her. ‘Caroline …’ His hand closed over hers. He took a deep breath. ‘Damn, I really want you. You have no idea—’ He didn’t manage to finish the sentence.

Caroline crushed her lips to his, pushing herself up on her tiptoes to reach him, her hands behind his neck, pulling his head down to her level.

Hunter wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. He kissed her back like an astronaut drifting into space, her body the only gravity worth holding on to.

They pressed against each other, so close she felt his heart beating against her chest.

Her mind went blank.

All she could think about were his hands travelling up her body, his tongue crushing against hers, the feel of his lips on hers. The way he kissed her was like she was the only air he needed to breathe.

She was floating in the ocean, and he was the only supply of fresh water. She wanted to drink him in until she was fully satiated, until she couldn’t manage another drop of the delicious nectar of desire.

His teeth grazed her bottom lip, and her senses exploded.

She moaned into his mouth.

He responded with a low rumble that vibrated through her, curling her toes.

Each kiss knocked the previous one off the top of the urgency chart. Soaked in honeyed need, Caroline’s insides were on fire. If she was a believer, she would imagine her soul was about to rid itself of her body and ascend somewhere greater.

His hands slid under her top, his fingers caressing the smooth skin on her abdomen. He stopped just as he reached the level of her waist.

Caroline gasped to draw air, her lips zapping with electric protest to the loss of contact with his. ‘Why did you stop?’

‘I wanted to check you were good with this.’ His hand slowly inched up over the base of her ribs.

She drew a shaky breath. ‘Don’t stop.’

His lips curled in a smirk. ‘So, I take that as a yes?’

She groaned, grabbing the front of his shirt and finding the buttons. She unbuttoned the second one, pausing every other heartbeat for a breath.

Hunter’s lips were on hers again and, somewhere halfway through, she lost count of the buttons, the heartbeats, and the breaths. It was a sweet oblivion, and gods, she was willing to burn in its bliss.

He pushed her against the wall of an empty stall opposite Ringo Thunder’s, pinning her hands above her head. He kissed every inch of her bare skin – the top of her cleavage, her neck, behind her ear, her cheeks … He dropped a much gentler kiss over her eyes, and she was senseless.

If he wasn’t holding her up, she was certain she’d sink to the floor, unwilling and unable to stand up.

‘Boss, are you in here?’

They froze as the heavy footsteps entered the barn. Pulling apart from Hunter, Caroline’s eyes widened in horror as the realisation of what she had done hit her.

She had never,ever, done anything like it in her life. Her hand flew to her mouth, still throbbing from the kisses and the biting, and everything else they did, and even more from the things she was certain they were about to do if they hadn’t been interrupted.