"No one will hear it from me, honest. I'm sorry to bust in on your morning. I'll be out of your hair in a flash."

Raven squeezed her shoulder. "All right, but I moved all the riding gear to the storage closet in the garage. I'm hoping it motivates me to finish the tack room out in the barn."

138*

"Oops! Then I'm really sorry." Ray glanced up with remorseful eyes, two shades darker than Raven's. "Thanks again for letting us ride today. I'll feed them for you when we get done." She flicked her gaze to me. "In case you had other plans."

Don't blush, please don't blush, hold it in! With practiced casualness, I said, "Have fun on your ride, Ray."

She fought back a knowing grin. "Good to see you, Joslyn. Bye, Aunt Raven, thanks." She skipped rhythmically down the stairs and out the front door.

"G.o.d, Jos, I'm sorry." Raven approached tentatively, staring at me like she thought I'd be mad or something.

Embarra.s.sed, yes, but mad, no.

"So, how many of your relatives have a key to your place?" I asked dryly but let the humor seep through in my smile.

She blew out a relieved breath and launched herself into my arms. "Be glad it wasn't my brother or he'd be interrogating you right now. The witch trials would be considered a cakewalk by comparison."

"Remind me not to run into him again." I laughed and pressed my face into her slightly damp, citrus scented hair.

"New plan. We go to my house for that breakfast you were mentioning before Kelly gets here. Then we can spend part of the day paying attention to my neglected dogs."

Before she pulled back, I thought I felt her stiffen. More unidentifiable emotions drifted into her expression until happiness pushed them aside. I wanted to question what brought on the kaleidoscope of expressions, but she asked in that seductive voice that tested the strength of my legs, "And for the rest of the day?"

"Oh, I think we can figure something out." My fingers slid up from her waist to cup her b.r.e.a.s.t.s through her shirt, flicking over her nipples. She gasped when they hardened in response. Her head fell back, and I kissed the exposed *139 offering. "You're going to need to boost your energy for all the rest."

Her hand linked with mine and started us down the staircase. "You've been doing more than your share of the work. It's your energy I'm worried about."

We loaded into the car with silly grins and drove back to my house. The dogs, having not been gated into their sunroom crashed into us the moment the door opened.

"h.e.l.lo, puppies." I dropped to my knees and touched them all until their wiggling bodies calmed down. My silly grin widened to sheer happiness when I looked up and saw Raven had taken the same position a foot away. She loves my dogs. Now, that's s.e.xy.

"I feel guilty for keeping you from them."

"If they knew you were the reason they got to sleep all over my furniture last night, they'd want to go home with you."

"Hmm, a stickler for rules, eh?"

"They know their room, and it has plenty of comfy chairs to shed on. It's not like they're deprived."

"I'm still going to make it up to them." She pulled me up with her for an unrelenting kiss. "You play with them. I'll cook."

"They're going to want to keep checking on you, so we'll both cook. Besides, I like being next to you in a kitchen."

Her eyes glowed with my reference to the evening we spent at Amalia's restaurant. "That was a fun night."

"Fun and enlightening for me." I went to the fridge and started pulling out what we'd need for omelets.

"Amalia's a great teacher." Raven began slicing the green onions and mushrooms while I shredded the cheese.

"That, too, but my enlightenment came in the parking lot later." The knife in her hand stopped slicing as she turned to me. "You see, before that night, I'd never wanted anyone to kiss me as desperately as I wanted you to kiss me."

140*

"Oh, Jos, I wanted to. I almost did."

"Then you tore out of the parking lot so quickly I could smell the burnt rubber. Yeah, that did wonders for my ego."

I enjoyed baiting her.

"Stop." Her hand slid up my arm to cup my throat gently. The gesture felt intensely intimate. "I couldn't, not without your permission."

"You have it now." I tilted forward and met her lips, taking everything from this kiss that I'd been denied that night weeks ago. "Food, dogs, o.r.g.a.s.m, in that order."

"o.r.g.a.s.ms, plural. Yours, specifically." Her eyes sent me promises that I believed for the first time in my s.e.xually active life. She took me into her arms. "We'll go at your pace, sweetheart."

"I don't want you to get frustrated."

"I love giving you pleasure, in whatever form. I won't get frustrated that we can't give you release. Making love isn't about a race to see who makes it to the finish line. It's about giving and getting pleasure; it's about connecting with another beautiful soul."

My heart, which had been thumping heartily since she'd first kissed me out on that ledge, felt like it stopped entirely.

She understood me and accepted me without judgment.

Slipping, slipping faster. I still had time to grab onto something before I fell completely, but did I want to?

Chapter 18.

T raitors! Ungrateful little turncoats. The minute a beautiful, kind woman comes around, they jump ship and lap at her feet like she was the one to feed them, love them, and walk them for their entire lives. Hmph! My furry deserters lounged at Raven's feet and flanked each side of her, throwing whoa-is-me eyes and aren't-I-the-cutest glances at her. Seeking any form of attention, even if it was just a quick pat on the head. Doggie-Hos, every last one of them.

"They have your number." I shook my head as she shifted position to bring her back and shoulder up against me. The dogs took the opportunity to reposition some of their limbs on her lap and stretched out legs.

She chortled, burrowing into me until my arm came around and tucked her in. "This from Ms. Take In Seven More Dogs Than I Wanted? You're just jealous that after only a day, they're ready to go home with me."

"Who wouldn't be?"

She twisted to face me and winked. Charmer. "Speaking of which, can I interest you in coming home with me again tonight?"

My head pitched back. "My place isn't good enough for you and your merry band of defecting dogs?"

142*

Brown eyes widened, giving me both surprise and joy.

"Are you inviting me to stay over?"

"It's the only way I'll get to see my dogs tonight," I joked.

A mock huff left her lungs before she swung up and over to straddle my lap. The porch swing rocked with her movement and the two smaller dogs jumped off with the sudden motion. I stared up at her, recognizing the glint in her eyes. My body responded to her seductive glance and the gentle rocking of her hips against my lap.

"Give me a better reason, or the dogs and I go," she ordered with feigned seriousness.

"We had an agreement this morning. So far your guilt has kept us from completing all three." I referred to the fact that since breakfast we'd spent the whole day and evening giving attention to the dogs with walks, throwing retrievable items, and watching them take a swim in the pond on my property. Other than a caress or two before a nap in the late afternoon sunshine out here on the swing, we'd yet to get around to item three on the list.

Her hips undulated against my lap, and I bit back a groan. "Remind me?"

"Hmm, let's see," I drew out. "There was food.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, check, check, check. Then I believe it was the dogs. All five of them, check to the fifth power. After, I think we agreed to paint the barn/guesthouse/extra building that currently serves no purpose."

The motion of her hips this time was forceful enough to get us swinging again. "Really? Is that how you remember it?"

My hands fisted against her hips as we swayed to and fro. "Yep."

"I'll only help with painting if you help build a tack room in my barn. I figure you've got some experience with *143 that." Her eyes twinkled at me. "Oh, and if we don't use any of those colors you've already got up over there."

"What?" I looked over at the building with the three blocks of color. True, they'd been up there for months because nothing jumped out at me yet. "Marco can't stand them either. He's refused to send over his painting subcontractor to help me if I'm using one of them."

"Wise, wise man," she heckled.

"Well, you can just try and get him to help you build that tack room, lady."

"Hmm, what's his phone number? Maybe he's free tonight."

Her brazen tone made me laugh. "You'll be occupied.

Item number three and all."

"That was what again?" The heat spread from our joined limbs to every part of me. I couldn't take the teasing much longer. On the next swing forward, I planted my feet and lifted off. Raven shrieked, wrapping her legs around my waist and tightening her hold on my neck. "Strong little thing, aren't you?"

"Watch it, now. You've got, what, three inches on me, and if you clear a buck twenty, I'd be amazed." Her legs slid down from my waist and planted on the ground. She nipped my lips twice before kissing me thoroughly. One of her intoxicating moans filled the night air on my porch. "I take it I've convinced you to stay tonight?" I asked when her mouth glided over to nibble along my jaw. She groaned and gripped me tightly against her. "Long enough to let me convince you to play hooky with me tomorrow?"

"What?" She pulled back to stare at me.

"I don't have any meetings until Tuesday, and I'm guessing that you've never taken a day off work in your life."

One look at her face gave me my answer. "You want to spend the day with me tomorrow?"

144*

"Definitely. Well, you and your horses. I'm using you, you know."

"Oh my," Raven breathed with a soft smile. "Normally, I'd be able to think of a comeback, but all I can think to say is, use anything you want of mine."

I sucked in a breath at the honesty that came through with her offer. I immediately regretted having kidded with her. "We need to go inside now because I'm not letting the mosquitoes feast on you before I can."

"Best idea I've heard all day," she agreed, slipping her hand into mine. She was a hand holder, and while I'd never been, I didn't find myself minding at all.

I tugged on our connected hands and brought us in through the sunroom. My dogs plopped onto their favorite beds with a snap of my fingers. I closed the door so they wouldn't be tempted to jump the gate anytime during the night. I wanted Raven to myself.

Clothes got stripped away in between kisses and provocative gropes. Her moans encouraged my own as I sat her on the edge of my bed. Kneeling between her legs, she gave me full access to bring her off swiftly with my mouth, temporarily quenching her need and further igniting mine.

"My G.o.d," she panted, her torso rocking forward through the aftershocks of her climax. "That was instantaneous."

I reached my arms around her still trembling body. "No, that was impressive."

"Com'ere." Raven pulled me up from my knees to stand in front of her. She leaned forward and kissed the swell of my breast.

I gripped her face as her mouth performed arousing magic on my sensitive, and until this woman, attention-deprived nipples. Her hands skimmed up the backs of my legs, grasped my b.u.t.t, dipping then gliding up to my back.

When they crested my shoulders and moved down to where *145 her mouth attached itself to me, I groaned at the throbbing I now felt between my legs. "Feels so good."

Her fingers slipped down to their starting places, and I waited for them to repeat their path. Instead, I felt them press into the backs of my knees. I didn't immediately relent until she slid back on the bed and the pressing turned into pulling. My right leg knelt onto the bed beside her thigh, and my left followed suit until I was straddling her lap.

"Show me," she whispered, tilting her face up to look at me.

"What?" I swooped down to kiss her masterful mouth.

When the kiss broke, she said, "I want to watch you this time."

My legs contracted in response, straightening to lift me up from her lap. Her hands gripped my shoulders from the back to keep me in place. I realized my eyes were closed, so I opened them, searching her out. This wasn't a request I'd ever complied with in the past.

"You're still anxious about getting to a release, Jos. I can see it," she said softly. While we'd spent hours exploring each others bodies, I'd only climaxed the one time. I couldn't deny that I was concerned it was a fluke and that it would eventually disappoint her. "I told you that I'm happy to give you as much pleasure as you can handle, but I know you want to climax." She held my face in her hands. "Show me how you make yourself come."

I waited for embarra.s.sment to touch me, but her husky plea prodded the flames of my desire. Looking down, I watched her eyes dilate with another wave of arousal. I leaned in and kissed her again, forsaking my usually strict inhibitions. My hand left her shoulder and sought the inside of one straining thigh. Discovering a surprising slickness, I jolted in disbelief at how excited I was.

Raven broke our kiss to look into my eyes. "You're beautiful, Jos, and so d.a.m.n s.e.xy. Show me, please."

146*

The familiar motion of my fingers brought out unfamiliar responses under the weight of her rapt attention.

Her eyes moved from my hand up to my b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which swayed close to her mouth, then up to my eyes as I watched her watching me. Her desire pulsed over me in waves that threatened to drown. When her eyes dropped back to my pleasuring motions, her hands slid down to my thighs and gripped tightly. Her stabilizing grip set my other hand in motion, seeking out one of my nipples. Her eyes flipped up to observe the spiking tip in front of her face. When she parted her lips, I groaned involuntarily.

"Raven, please!" I pleaded, feeling both close and miles away from the edge. I wanted her to be the one to push me over. "You, please, you. Take me. Make me come."

She gripped my forearm, keeping my hand in place. Her face tilted up, and I dipped my head to kiss her, needing that contact. When she pulled back, her eyes moved back down to the crest of my thighs. Her hand slid along my arm, fingers linking with mine. After several combined circles of our fingers, she pulled my hand away and placed it on her breast. The slickness on my fingers lubricated her nipple as I teased the hardening tip mercilessly. When her hand returned, she went directly for my aching c.l.i.t. She'd paid close attention and the expert stimulation propelled me toward climax.

"Give this to me, Joslyn." Desire and something else turned her eyes into potent beacons.

I looked into the beautiful brown, reading every emotion from excitement to rapture. They told me that she considered my o.r.g.a.s.m a gift. That was when I felt myself fly apart. "I'm coming for you, Raven!"