“Please, Jess, I need to know.”
Jessie considered her words carefully before speaking. Over the years, she had suppressed her own feelings, always placing Kincaid’ s needs above hers, and up until now she hadn’t allowed herself to dwell on the things that were lacking in their relationship. She simply accepted that Kincaid wasn’t capable of reciprocating the feelings she had for him. After all, he hadn’t promised forever , and if she was willing to settle for that, it was hardly his fault. But looking at him now, seeing the genuine pain in his eyes, she finally had to admit to herself that it wasn’t enough.
“It was always good between us,” she began hesitantly. “I don’t want you to think I cried myself to sleep every night or secretly resented that you couldn’t give more of yourself. It’s just…well, it seemed like you used making love to me as a way to erase the awful things you’d gone through rather than a way to express how you felt about me.” Jessie stopped when she saw the look of mortification on his face. “Oh , Kincaid , I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you, honestly. It was probably just my imagination or maybe I was feeling sorry for myself.”
“Stop it,” Mitch growled. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for Ad…for my inadequacies!”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “You’re angry with me. I knew I shouldn’t have told you. I should have kept it all to myself and…”
Jessie was silenced when Kincaid’ s mouth captured hers in a hard, hungry kiss. A soft moan vibrated in the back of her throat when his hand glided up her side to gently cup her breast. His thumb rasped across the peak, slowly moving back and forth until her whole body ached for his touch. He tortured her with the gentle kneading of her sensitive flesh, tormenting her even further when his tongue danced around hers; taunting and teasing and driving her half mad with desire.
“I want you,” he whispered hoarsely. “You have no idea what you do to me, Jess.”
He fumbled with the buttons on her blouse , popping several of them in his haste to remove it, then just as quickly dispensed with her bra. His eyes raked over her silky skin before he reached for the snap on her jeans.
“Tonight I’m going to make you forget the bad memories, Jess. I’m going to make love to you until you can’t remember how it was before.” He shoved her jeans and panties off in one fluid motion then stood up and tore off his own clothes. Heat surged through his body as he lowered himself over her.
“Tonight is for you, my love . O nly you.”
***
Jessie watched them from her balcony window, an irrational uneasiness clinging to the back of her mind. Hank had pulled the tractor up to the garage and enlisted Kincaid ’s help in fixing whatever it was that ailed it. It was losing power, he’d told them, and since the other men would be out with the herd or mending fences all day, Kincaid was nominated to be his assistant. She was sitting at the kitchen table sipping her second cup of coffee for the morning while Hank waited for Kincaid to get ready.
“Have you checked the torque amplifier?” Kincaid asked as he pulled on his boots.
Jessie’s head shot up, looking first at Kincaid and then at Hank. The older man arched a brow at her, but other than that his facial expression didn’t give anything away. They both knew Kincaid was good at a lot of things, but understanding the mechanics of a tractor wasn’t one of them.
“You been reading farm magazines, boy?” Hank grunted.
“No, no magazines, old man . I have succumbed to the lure of the computer age. I figured if I was going to live on a ranch I’d better know something about the equipment that
Jessie considered her words carefully before speaking. Over the years, she had suppressed her own feelings, always placing Kincaid’ s needs above hers, and up until now she hadn’t allowed herself to dwell on the things that were lacking in their relationship. She simply accepted that Kincaid wasn’t capable of reciprocating the feelings she had for him. After all, he hadn’t promised forever , and if she was willing to settle for that, it was hardly his fault. But looking at him now, seeing the genuine pain in his eyes, she finally had to admit to herself that it wasn’t enough.
“It was always good between us,” she began hesitantly. “I don’t want you to think I cried myself to sleep every night or secretly resented that you couldn’t give more of yourself. It’s just…well, it seemed like you used making love to me as a way to erase the awful things you’d gone through rather than a way to express how you felt about me.” Jessie stopped when she saw the look of mortification on his face. “Oh , Kincaid , I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you, honestly. It was probably just my imagination or maybe I was feeling sorry for myself.”
“Stop it,” Mitch growled. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for Ad…for my inadequacies!”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “You’re angry with me. I knew I shouldn’t have told you. I should have kept it all to myself and…”
Jessie was silenced when Kincaid’ s mouth captured hers in a hard, hungry kiss. A soft moan vibrated in the back of her throat when his hand glided up her side to gently cup her breast. His thumb rasped across the peak, slowly moving back and forth until her whole body ached for his touch. He tortured her with the gentle kneading of her sensitive flesh, tormenting her even further when his tongue danced around hers; taunting and teasing and driving her half mad with desire.
“I want you,” he whispered hoarsely. “You have no idea what you do to me, Jess.”
He fumbled with the buttons on her blouse , popping several of them in his haste to remove it, then just as quickly dispensed with her bra. His eyes raked over her silky skin before he reached for the snap on her jeans.
“Tonight I’m going to make you forget the bad memories, Jess. I’m going to make love to you until you can’t remember how it was before.” He shoved her jeans and panties off in one fluid motion then stood up and tore off his own clothes. Heat surged through his body as he lowered himself over her.
“Tonight is for you, my love . O nly you.”
***
Jessie watched them from her balcony window, an irrational uneasiness clinging to the back of her mind. Hank had pulled the tractor up to the garage and enlisted Kincaid ’s help in fixing whatever it was that ailed it. It was losing power, he’d told them, and since the other men would be out with the herd or mending fences all day, Kincaid was nominated to be his assistant. She was sitting at the kitchen table sipping her second cup of coffee for the morning while Hank waited for Kincaid to get ready.
“Have you checked the torque amplifier?” Kincaid asked as he pulled on his boots.
Jessie’s head shot up, looking first at Kincaid and then at Hank. The older man arched a brow at her, but other than that his facial expression didn’t give anything away. They both knew Kincaid was good at a lot of things, but understanding the mechanics of a tractor wasn’t one of them.
“You been reading farm magazines, boy?” Hank grunted.
“No, no magazines, old man . I have succumbed to the lure of the computer age. I figured if I was going to live on a ranch I’d better know something about the equipment that
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