the only sibling to not find love had taken its toll on his sanity. Cindy offered him a reprieve, an escape from the stress in his life. He hadn’t realized how loosely he was bound together until his lips met hers. Matthew wanted to let everything go and lose himself in this girl from his past.
“Matthew,” she whispered, not pulling away.
“What, darlin’?” He peppered kisses down her neck, savoring the softness of her skin. A sequence of events had begun, and he couldn’t stop them. His cock pulsed, pressed tight inside his Wranglers. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he had Cindy screaming his name.
“You’ve created a fairy tale here, Matthew. But I don’t get one. I’m the little girl who wanted the little mermaid to get her legs, because she was me.”
“Hush. I’m here now. Things are going to change.”
“I can’t do this…”
“You’re doing just fine.” He lowered her to her back, the sun highlighting the blue of her eyes as it shone down from above. Her blonde hair pooled behind her, her chest rising and falling in deep waves. “I won’t hurt you,” he promised. Matthew wasn’t just talking about her body. He wouldn’t break her heart either. His daddy had taught him well, and he planned to follow through and marry Cindy if she gave herself willingly. He wouldn’t walk away.
“I told you I’m not breakable.”
“Good thing,” he said. Matthew slid his hand down her side until he reached the edge of her shirt. When he slipped his fingers under the material, she flinched. He didn’t stop. He smoothed his hand up her stomach, her skin warm and supple like her neck. He needed her, wanted her. Matthew returned to her lips, tasting, nipping, exploring.
“Matt—”
“Hush now.” He cupped her breast over her lace bra, squeezing the fleshy mound. Being with Cindy awoke the beast within him. He wanted to take her hard and fast, but he knew she wasn’t an easy woman. He’d have to take his time with her, show her he was different than other men. “I told you I’d show you how much I liked you.”
“I’ve never…”
“Never what?” He fiddled with the button on her jeans, eager to impale his fingers into her little pussy to test her readiness.
She sat up in a rush, her breathing labored. “This. Any of this. I’ve never been with a man, Matthew.”
He eased her back down, softly brushing her hair back. “In how long?”
Cindy looked him in the eye. “I’ve never been with a man. Not now or ever.”
“But you’re my age. How’s that possible?” Matthew wasn’t Don Juan, but he’d been with a handful of women. Most of the guys his age had been with much more.
“I just can’t. I have too much to hide.”
She leaned into his touch as he caressed her cheek. Maybe this woman was just as deprived of affection as he was. With a tough-as-nails mother and sister, he’d never really experienced the tender loving of a woman he often heard of in country songs. He craved it like nothing else.
“You want me because what you see is normal. But you know what I really am under these clothes,” she said.
He became frustrated. “You’re not talking about your leg again, are you? Is that what’s holding you back?” Matthew rose to his knees in front of her and tugged her jeans down her hips. She protested, fighting and kicking, trying to pull her pants back up.
“Matthew! Don’t you dare!”
He’d show her one way or another that she didn’t disgust him like she thought. The girl was born with a birth defect. How could he fault her for that? She was also the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen this half of the province.
Once he got her jeans partially down, he stood up and plucked them off completely. She quickly pulled her knees close to her chest and hugged her legs. The devastation in her eyes broke his heart. He exhaled, tossing the pants as he returned to the ground.
“Do you think I’m that superficial, Cindy?”
“Turn around,” she whispered.
Peter James
Mary Hughes
Timothy Zahn
Russell Banks
Ruth Madison
Charles Butler
Mandy M. Roth, Michelle M. Pillow
Lurlene McDaniel
Eve Jameson
James R. Benn