Page 20 of Summer on the Ranch (Royally Wed #1)

A lex had thought about their kiss on a nearly hourly basis since it had occurred.

So she should have been prepared for the impact of having Mitch kiss her again.

She shouldn’t have been surprised by the fire that leaped between them or the way her body seemed to melt into a needy pool of desire.

But she was surprised by all of it. She gasped at the feel of his firm mouth against hers.

His lips brushed hers, slowly at first as if he had to rediscover every curve, then faster, building tension.

Without quite being sure how, she found that she’d raised her hands to his broad shoulders and rested them there. As Mitch’s tongue stroked against her bottom lip, she tensed her fingers, hanging on to him as her world started to spin.

When she parted her lips for him, his tongue slipped into her mouth.

He tasted sweet and hot and male. He explored her, his touch making her shiver with delight.

They circled around each other, under and over, the rhythm making her sigh.

This kiss was as good as the one she remembered.

Better, maybe, because this time she wasn’t so startled by the intense wanting that seemed to be flooding her.

Heat flowed through her blood, igniting fires in her breasts and between her legs.

She felt tension in her stomach and dampness on her panties.

She shivered with delight and a little fear.

It was as if her body had been taken over by someone else.

Or maybe it was because for the first time in her life, she couldn’t think.

She could only react and feel. Mitch was, she realized, her ultimate escape, and she never wanted to have to go back to the regular world.

‘‘What?’’ he asked, pulling back slightly. ‘‘What are you thinking?’’

His voice was low and husky, his breathing rough. She could feel herself struggling to fill her lungs, as well. ‘‘That when I’m with you, like this, I’m just like everyone else.’’

His eyebrows drew together. ‘‘I don’t understand.’’

‘‘Here, in the truck cab, we have our own little world. The regular rules don’t apply. I don’t have to worry about doing the right thing or think about my responsibilities. I can just be a normal woman.’’

‘‘Is that a good thing?’’

‘‘It’s magic, as are you.’’

He chuckled. ‘‘Princess, if anyone has any power in this situation, it’s you. I’m doing all I can just to hang on and act my age.’’

He still cupped her face. Now he moved his thumbs against her cheeks, then across her mouth. She parted her lips and licked the salty pad. They both shuddered.

‘‘See what I mean,’’ he said. ‘‘You’ve got me so turned on that I’m about to explode. All that and we’ve only been kissing for five minutes. Imagine what would happen if this was a real make-out session.’’

‘‘It isn’t?’’ she asked before she could stop herself. ‘‘How disappointing.’’

Mitch sucked in his breath. ‘‘I can’t tell if you’re teasing or serious.’’

She wanted him to kiss her again. She wanted him to touch her and do all those things that teenagers routinely did together when they parked here at Submarine Point.

Her body felt tingly and hot and tense, and she wanted more of those feelings.

She wanted Mitch to hold her close and make her forget about the rest of her world.

For just one night she wanted to find out what it was like to be the same as the rest of the world. For one night she wanted the magic.

‘‘What if it’s both?’’ she asked.

‘‘Both is tricky,’’ he admitted. ‘‘Both means that there’s a line drawn somewhere, and while I can get really close to it, I can’t cross over it.’’

She wasn’t sure about a line, but she did know that there were certain things she wasn’t willing to do with him.

‘‘Are you going to give me any hints?’’ he asked.

‘‘About the line?’’

He nodded.

‘‘No, I think you need to learn that all on your own.’’

They were flirting again, she thought with some surprise. They were having fun and talking and soon they would be kissing. ‘‘I didn’t know it would be like this,’’ she said without thinking.

‘‘The truck, the great view or my incredible company?’’ he asked.

She laughed. ‘‘All of it.’’

‘‘So the royal set is more reticent when they make out in their trucks.’’

She thought about her brief kisses in the past. They’d been chaste and uninspiring. ‘‘They don’t generally make out in trucks, or in anything else.’’

‘‘What? No foreplay. They just get right to it.’’

She could feel herself blushing. ‘‘No, it’s not like that, either.’’

He leaned close and brushed a kiss against her mouth. ‘‘Am I talking too much?’’

‘‘No. I like the conversation. It relaxes me.’’

He moved to her cheek, then to her earlobe and nibbled. She shivered.

‘‘Are you nervous?’’ he asked.

‘‘Yes.’’

‘‘Why?’’

He pressed a damp kiss against the side of her neck. More shivers rippled through her as her breath caught and her heart rate increased. ‘‘Because I…’’

He licked a sensitive spot right behind her ear, then slid his hands through her hair, tugging gently until she tilted her head back. Then he nipped the point of her chin before trailing kisses down the front of her throat.

‘‘Go on,’’ he murmured at the hollow of her throat. ‘‘I’m listening.’’

‘‘You might be listening,’’ she gasped, ‘‘but I’m having trouble speaking.’’

Shivers and heat and that wonderful tingling radiated from everywhere he touched.

She held on to his upper arms, pressing her fingers into the thick muscles there.

She’d read about passion before, had overheard conversations between women in airports or in boutiques, but she’d never experienced anything like it in her life.

She’d even begun to wonder if there was something wrong with her.

After all, she’d never felt that she was missing out on anything.

She thought she might be one of those people who simply didn’t have a strong physical connection or need.

But now, with Mitch holding her and kissing her, she knew that she’d been too quick in her assumption that the problem was with her. Obviously she’d just never been kissed the right way…or kissed the right man.

The latter thought terrified her, so she pushed it away.

Experience, she thought dreamily as he circled the hollow of her throat with his tongue, was a wonderful thing.

At least now she would have a benchmark by which to measure other men.

Except she didn’t want to think about being with other men.

She only wanted to be with Mitch and have him keep touching her exactly as he was.

He pulled her closer. She started to move toward him, but their legs bumped.

‘‘This isn’t working,’’ he grumbled, then placed his hands on her waist. ‘‘Am I allowed to touch the royal body or would that be a violation of your parameter?’’

She tried to smile, to match his teasing mood. ‘‘I believe we might allow that to happen this one time.’’

‘‘We?’’

She sniffed. ‘‘The royal we.’’

‘‘Ah. The rest of us are very grateful for your generosity. Now slide that long, gorgeous leg of yours across my lap and have a seat, young lady.’’

He shifted her until she was straddling him. As she did so, he slid lower in the seat so that when she lowered her weight, the heated place between her legs came down squarely on something hard and thick and very male.

His hands moved to her hips and he adjusted her slightly. ‘‘Perfect,’’ he murmured, then pressed his mouth to hers.

Her mind raced in a thousand different directions, even as she instinctively responded to his kiss.

She clung to his shoulders, more because she felt herself spinning out of control than because she needed to touch him, although she did need to feel his strength.

Sensations from different parts of her body collected in her brain until there was too much information with too much happening at once.

Even as she moved her tongue against his and found herself drowning in his kiss, she couldn’t ignore his strong fingers kneading her hips and holding her against him. Against his…his…

Alex shuddered, afraid to even think what it was.

He was aroused. Even as inexperienced as she was, she knew that much.

He pressed close to her, a hard ridge that seemed so male and aggressive against her damp melting center.

Then there was the intimacy of their position and the way he’d shifted her so easily, as if the female body and all the possibilities were familiar to him.

Why wouldn’t they be? she asked herself. After all, he’d been married before. No doubt there had been other women, too. Girlfriends. Women on the rodeo circuit. What had he called them? Buckle bunnies?

She would have thought that she would find his experience intimidating, but instead she found herself grateful that one of them knew what they were doing.

Based on the way he kissed her and held her, she had a feeling that Mitch had assumed she wasn’t a virgin.

A voice inside of her warned that if she told him the truth, he would stop what he was doing and get her back to the ranch as quickly as he could.

She didn’t want that. She didn’t want him to stop because she was enjoying everything he was doing.

She wanted to know what happened between a man and a woman.

Well, maybe not all of it—she didn’t think she was ready to let go of her virginity—but she wanted to do at least a few things she’d only read about.

‘‘I can’t believe what you do to me,’’ he murmured against her mouth. ‘‘You feel so good, taste so good.’’

She wanted to respond in kind, but she was two-parts embarrassed and one-part shy. She settled on breathing his name.