Taken, Not Spurred (Lone Star Burn #1)(29)
Author: Ruth Cardello

“Do they arrest you in Texas for this?” she asked in a rush, seat-belting herself back into the driver’s seat.

“I don’t know,” Tony said, his senses still full of her sweetness. “I’m not sure I care.”

The officer banged on the window again.

Sarah reluctantly turned the ignition and pushed the button to lower the window.

Shaking his head at the two of them, Dean said, “If you’re going to do shit like this, could you at least do it where no one knows you?”

Fuck.

The mocking lecture continued. “How about over the county line? Anywhere but here. Do you know how many calls I received?”

Sarah met Tony’s eyes and shook with a nervous giggle. She choked on the next, and then bit her lip and sounded like she was wheezing as she tried to contain another burst of amusement.

Her laughter was as irresistible as she was, and Tony found himself fighting back a chuckle, too. She caved first and laughed out loud. He joined her until they were both laughing so hard they couldn’t speak.

Dean leaned in and said something, but Tony didn’t hear what he said and didn’t care what he’d missed. He’d never seen anything more beautiful than Sarah, mussed from sex, laughing until she was crying. Gasping for air, she said, “I wasn’t sure I could pull off anything worse than this morning, but I think this tops it.”

Normally, the shocked expression on his brother’s face would have made Tony defensive, but he was already laughing, and somehow the stern expression only made the situation more amusing. He felt giddy. “I promised myself I would be more discreet with you, so no one would know.”

Sarah let out another peal of laughter. “Good plan, poor execution.”

Dean said, “Should I ask if you two are fit to drive?”

Sarah looked up at Dean and said, “This is not chemically induced.”

With one final measured look, Dean banged on the side of her SUV door and said, “I’m sure I don’t want to know, then. Just get to where you’re going before you cause an accident.”

For the first time in a long time, Tony was grateful that his brother was the local law. He leaned across Sarah and said, “Thanks, Dean.”

Dean’s jaw fell open and he shook his head in amused disbelief. “You’re welcome. I guess. Get out of here.”

Sarah started the car and as they pulled back onto the road, she pointed to a sign. She said, “He’s right. We didn’t even make it out of the county.”

“You know what that means?” he asked as a wonderful thought came to him.

“No,” she answered, glancing over at him, her laughter finally subsiding.

“We still have a long drive ahead of us.”

The heated look she gave him knocked all thought clear out of his head. “Good,” she said softly, and he marveled at how one simple word could make him want to throw away years of carefully staying out of the public eye and take her again on the side of the road.

Sarah Dery is one dangerous woman.

Chapter Eleven

Tony parked Sarah’s SUV in the driveway of a small, secluded cabin. Neither of them moved at first. Tony unbuckled his seat belt but didn’t open the driver’s door. He leaned back and looked over at her, apparently as relaxed as she was.

Sarah undid her own belt and smiled at him, not rising from her reclined pose. The afternoon sun was hidden deep in the tree line. “I thought you said it was a two-hour drive.”

Humor lit his eyes. “It always has been. We might’ve never gotten here if I hadn’t taken the wheel. You’re far too much of a distraction.”

Me? “I have never taken off and put on jeans so many times in my life.”

A smile spread across his face. “I believe that’s why man invented the dress.”

“Really? You’re claiming that one for Team Men?”

“Wear one for me sometime and I’ll demonstrate the genius of it.”

Sarah shook her head with amusement. “You’re incorrigible.”

He leaned across and kissed her lightly on the lips. “And you’re addictive. Let’s go inside.”

The kiss he gave her was so tender, so sweet, that she had to remind herself of his earlier warning. This wasn’t the beginning of something. This wasn’t even the end of something. This was just two people stepping outside of their normal lives to appease a mutual hunger.

Believing for even a second it was anything more than that would only lead to heartache. He’d stated what he could offer her and she’d accepted. Only a fool would start hoping for more.

He broke off the kiss and exited the car. Before she had time to even fumble for the door he had opened it and was lifting her into his arms. He carried her up the steps, paused briefly to unlock the door, then carried her over the threshold—like a bride.

She kicked herself mentally for the image.

For once can I just enjoy something without overthinking it?

He closed the door behind him with a kick and carried her up the stairs to the bedroom, where he laid her down on the soft covers of a full-size bed. Wordlessly, he began to remove her clothing.

He paused to admire each section he exposed and then kissed it—more an act of possession than foreplay. When she was completely nude before him, he ran a finger down her jaw, across her collarbone, and then over the aroused nipple of one of her breasts, circling it lightly. “You are so beautiful.”

Sarah held her breath. When he looked at her she felt alive, vibrant, and unable to deny him anything.

He continued his soft caresses across her stomach, moving down to tease her legs open by outlining one of her inner thighs. “Too beautiful for clothes.” He rolled up her clothing and threw it in the corner of the room. “While you’re here, I want you like this.” He bent and kissed the area just below her bared navel. “Just like this.”

Tony stood and shed his own clothing before lifting her in his arms again, sliding her beneath the covers, and joining her. He pulled her into his deliciously naked embrace and rolled her beneath him, his arousal boldly nudging against the inside of one of her thighs.

“And what about what I want?” she asked huskily.

Instead of answering, he sheathed himself in a condom.

I should tell him to go to hell.

I should demand he drive me back this very instant.

Tony took both of her hands in one of his and raised them above her head, holding them there effortlessly and then claiming her neck with his hot mouth. With one firm move, he slid a knee between hers and eased her legs wider. He poised himself above her, the head of his pulsing erection teasing the outer folds of her lips. Slowly he moved himself back and forth against her. Everywhere their bodies brushed ignited with consuming heat.