Hiding Out At The Circle C Read online

  She blinked and braced herself by clutching his arms tightly. "That sounds nice," she said, her voice whispery and breathless, making Cam hesitate one last time.

  "What is it?" he murmured. "What else is it?"

  But she only shook her head. "Come with me," she said in that throaty, sexy voice that could drive a grown man wild. "Please?" Without waiting for an answer, she took his hand and led him outside, her skirt billowing in the gentle breeze. The storm from the day before had vanished, leaving everything sparkling and clean and gorgeous as only the day after a rain could be.

  "I'll never forget this day," she vowed with a vehemence that surprised him. "It's beautiful."

  "It is." Her hand felt small and fragile in his, and as she led him, he could only see the back of her petite frame. Her urgency, coming on the heels of her hesitation of weeks, seemed out of character. "Haley?"

  "Hurry, Cam."

  At the front door of the main house, she paused. "Nellie and Jason went to Colorado Springs to shop for the baby." She chewed her lower lip in a gesture he knew to be pure nerves. "Zach went to Tex's ranch to help out with something or other." She stepped inside and twiddled her hands together. "We're alone."

  He reached for her. "Alone is good."

  "I hope you don't mind, but I have something to show you upstairs."

  He followed her, watching the swaying of her narrow hips as she climbed the stairs. There was only one thing now that could ruin this—the unexpected return of his family. "Ah, Haley?" He wasn't worried about himself; he could take the ribbing he knew would be meted out often, especially at the dinner table. But Haley… It would mortify her. "Maybe we should go to your place. Nel's been in a mood ever since the doctor told her she has three weeks left to carry that basketball. Jas won't be able to tolerate her for long."

  She only gave him a quick, indecipherable glance and pulled him into his own bedroom. She stopped before his bathroom door, startling him with the mix of emotions he saw in her expression. Hunger and need combined with a strange aura of fear that confused him.

  "Are you afraid of me?" he asked, concerned. "Of this?"

  "No."

  "Are you sure? Because—"

  She laid her finger over his lips. "I'm not afraid of you, Cam. Or this. Well, maybe just a little nervous."

  He touched her face and kissed her gently. "If it helps, I'm nervous, too." He smiled past the almost-unbearable ache in his heart caused by his feelings for her. "I've never been someone's first." She smiled, and her lips brushed over his fingertips, causing a surge of blood that pooled in his groin. "I don't want to hurt you, darlin'."

  "You won't."

  Her faith in him gave him strength, but it also fueled the hunger, the need. "This is just the beginning between us," he promised, stroking her jaw. Beneath his fingers, she paled. "Haley?"

  She only shook her head, then reached up and unbuttoned her blouse with trembling hands. "I have no standard formula for this." She pulled the silky material away from her shoulders, revealing the virgin-white teddy she wore beneath. No frills, no lace, just creamy silk and smooth, pale skin. His mouth went dry as one of the teddy's thin straps slipped off her shoulder.

  "And no guidelines," she admitted. Her fingers started on the long row of buttons down her skirt. "So instincts and needs are going to have to be enough." She straightened as the skirt fell away from her hips, dropping to a puddle at her feet. "But, if it matters, I've never wanted anything so much in my life." She reached for the other strap of her camisole.

  "It matters." If her motions had galvanized him, her words stirred him into action. But, God, that body. She was moving too fast, when he wanted to go slow and savor. He stopped her fumbling fingers by brushing them with his. "Let me." His rough palms slid over the silky camisole, feeling the softness of her skin beneath.

  Fascinated, he let his hands roam over her as he dipped his head to seek her mouth. Her body seemed as taut as a wire and he tried to use his hands to reassure as well as seduce, attempting to convince himself that her unnatural stiffness was indeed just nerves. "Darlin'?" Even to his own ears, his voice sounded thick with arousal. "Tell me again that you're sure."

  He could feel her force herself to relax. "I'm sure." Her voice was husky. Sexy. Unbearably arousing. "I have to have this, Cam. Have to have you." She yielded against him with a sigh that humbled him to his toes. He understood this was much more than passion on her part; she was giving him her full and unconditional trust.

  Her fingers slid up under his T-shirt. As her gaze met his, she brushed them slowly over his chest, moving from side to side, exploring … and just that light touch drove him to a pitch of desire he hadn't known before. He kissed her—long, wet, deep—and she moaned low in her throat, letting her head fall back against the door as he devoured her jaw, her neck. Mindless now, beyond thought, he swept his hands down her sides, then slowly back up, his fingertips teasing the undersides of her breasts.

  Her low moan turned into a baffled whimper.

  Innocent, he reminded himself. Innocent. And he had her backed to the door, pressed between the hard, ungiving wood and his equally hard, ungiving body.

  "Not here, not against the bathroom door," he managed to say, grabbing her restless hands in his. He tried to scoop her up, but she stepped back and opened the door, her eyes naked and vulnerable.

  Cam spared her one last curious glance before looking into the bathroom. His breath stopped. Simply stopped.

  Lit by the soft glow of scented candles, the bathroom glimmered with shadows. In the center of the room stood his bathtub, filled with steaming water and overflowing with bubbles.

  She'd done this for him, recreated the fantasy that had so gripped him last night. His throat tightened.

  "Haley." He turned to her, brushed his fingers over her cheek. "It's beautiful. You're beautiful." He could feel her heart pounding against his, could feel the intriguing contrast between the silk of her garment and the smoothness of her skin. "I want you so much." He let his lips wander to the warm, sweet curve of her shoulder. "I've been waiting for this since that first night I saw you."

  She arched beneath his hands, making a soft noise of agreement, of surrender, that boiled his blood. Closing her eyes, she fisted her hands in his hair and dragged his mouth back to hers.

  He responded to her desperate urgency by tugging down her other strap and feasting on the skin he exposed one inch at a time. She made another sound, almost a whimper, and arched against him again, and his body answered helplessly in kind.

  God, he loved her. "Haley—"

  As if she could read his mind, she kissed him fiercely, stiffing his words. "Just this," she begged. "Just this."

  Frustrated, he kissed her back, hard. He finally knew how much he loved her—and she only wanted the mindless kind of passion he himself had always sought.

  Fine. He'd show her it didn't take words. He lifted her up against him, giving her deep, drugging kisses as he carried her into the bathroom. The candles shimmered and flickered, creating warmth and the sense of intimacy he'd craved to have with her. He'd take it slow, tormentingly slow, and make sure she felt each and every pinpoint of pleasure he could give her. Inhaling the sweet scent of her hair, her skin, he brought his mouth back to hers, teasing her tongue with his, thrilling to each little sound he coaxed from her.

  When he finally drew back, she murmured in protest and reached for him. "I'm not going anywhere," he assured her, pulling his shirt over his head. She stared hungrily at his chest, making him let out a laughing moan. "Come here, darlin'." He ran his fingers lightly down her arms, giving her the shivers. She stared at him wild-eyed as he smiled. "You're so lovely." Slowly, so slowly, he drew the camisole the rest of the way down, watching her face. He could see her confusion, her desire—a heady combination that made it easy to linger and savor, to temper his own need.

  When she lifted a hand to cover herself, he bent his head to kiss her fingers, then gently lifted them away. Holding her hands in h