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  When neither of them could take it any longer, Alex backed up against the glass shower doors and grabbed Nicole by the waist. “Wrap your legs around me, hon.”

  Those now familiar thrills whirled through her belly as she climbed him. She braced her hands on his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist as he positioned his erection at the entrance to her channel.

  Warm water continued to spray on their bodies and their faces as Alex brought her down on his cock, hard. Nicole gasped at the sudden feel of him deep inside her. It had only been yesterday since he’d fucked her last, and it already seemed like too long.

  Alex backed her up against the cool tile and began fucking her deep and hard. His balls slapped against her pussy and their flesh smacked together with every thrust. He fucked her harder and harder and her climax built up so high she knew it was going to be incredible.

  When she finally reached that peak, she let loose with a scream. Alex shouted and she felt his pulsing release inside her core.

  As she came down from the high of her climax, Alex held her close and brushed his lips over hers. “Nicole Landford, you are one hell of a woman.”

  Chapter Eight

  Alex held Nicole close as they swayed to a slow song in the middle of the crowded dancehall, and she snuggled against his chest. She felt so comfortable with him and he smelled damn good, of male musk and freshly laundered shirt.

  He stroked one hand through her hair as they danced, and rested his chin on her head. She liked how that felt. Maybe too much.

  It had been almost four weeks since the day her car had broken down at Alex’s ranch. Almost four weeks of great sex and feelings building up inside her that scared her shitless. She’d never been serious about any man, and she wasn’t about to start. Damn it, she was single and happy and intended to stay that way. Her parents had a good marriage and Nicole really didn’t have anything against serious relationships, except for herself. She loved her freedom.

  Alex’s hips molded to hers as they swayed to the music, and her pussy tingled as she felt the firm outline of his erection through the thin material of her skirt. She liked that she had that power over him, that he desired her so much all the time. But what worried her was the way he seemed to be taking this sex thing way too seriously—he had from the start. It was good the month was almost up. She didn’t want him getting too attached to her. They would just have to be good friends.

  She bit her lower lip. Could they go back to being friends after all they’d shared this month?

  Country western music throbbed through the dimly lit dancehall that smelled of cigarettes and the yeasty odor of beer. Nicole had been in the mood for dancing, so Alex had taken her to the dance put on by one of the local clubs. But as they swayed to the music, she found herself wanting to be alone with him again.

  The past few weeks their sex had been wild and passionate, but there were times when it had been slow and sensual. She’d never fucked one man so much, or for so long, and no other man had even come close to comparing to Alex when it came to sex. When it came to anything else…like emotions, maybe…she wasn’t even going to go there.

  “What are you thinking about, hon?” came his low husky voice.

  She tilted her head so that she could reach his ear. “Fucking your brains out.”

  Alex stilled for only a second, them grabbed her by her hips and held her so tight against him she could feel his belt buckle digging into her belly along with his powerful erection.

  He gave a low groan. “You say the sweetest things.”

  Nicole laughed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and flicked her tongue in his ear. “I want you now, cowboy.”

  Alex growled, a low throaty sound that told her how much she turned him on. He released her only long enough to grasp her hand and lead her through the crowd, and out the front entrance of the dancehall.

  She expected him to take her to his truck, to go find themselves a deserted road, but instead, he yanked her around the corner of the hall and into the darkness. All she could see was Alex outlined by a pulsing blue neon light. A loud country western tune pulsed through the night in time with the pulsating sensation in her pussy.

  With a quick movement that caught her off guard, Alex pinned her up against the wall. Nicole gasped as he pushed up her shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and when he palmed her bare breasts, and tweaked her nipples, it caused her to cry out with excitement. He caught her mouth with his in a frenzied kiss that she matched with her own fervor. Her hands found his belt buckle, and in two seconds flat she had his incredible erection in her hands.

  “God you turn me on, woman.” He grabbed her ass, hiked her legs up about his hips, pushing her skirt up around her waist. He pressed her tighter against the wall. Her nipples hardened even more in the cool night air, and her bare pussy was wide and exposed.

  “Fuck me, Alex.” She squirmed as he took his erection in hand and brought it to her folds.

  He drove his cock into her. Nicole barely kept from screaming at the intensity of the sensation of him thrusting into her, knowing they could be seen at any moment.

  She gripped his shoulders as he fucked her hard and deep. She couldn’t help the sounds that escaped her, each cry blending into the night with the throbbing country western tune.

  “I’m gonna come, hon,” he said close to her ear.

  But she was already there. Alex barely captured her mouth in time to swallow her scream. She couldn’t have held it back if she’d tried. He groaned as his body jerked against hers and she felt the spasms of his cock deep inside her channel.

  While they both fought to catch their breath, Alex held her tight.

  “You’re all mine, you wild woman,” he murmured. “And I’m not about to let you go.”

  Nicole wiggled out of his grasp and tugged down her shirt and her skirt. “You’ve got to stop that possessive crap.” She pushed her hair out of her face and eyed him squarely. “How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t own me?”

  His mouth quirked into that sexy grin that always made her knees weak. “Doesn’t matter how many times you say it. You’re already mine.”

  Nicole rolled her eyes and started to turn away, but Alex caught her in his arms. This time his kiss was oh-so slow, causing her head to spin and her brain to short-circuit.

  When he pulled away his look was more than possessive. No use arguing with him tonight. She’d be his—for a day or two more, and that was it.

  * * *

  “Nicole’s Bed-and-Breakfast,” Nicole answered the phone at the reception desk, barely holding back a sigh. It was the day after her night with Alex at the dancehall, and she found herself feeling down for some reason. Usually she felt pretty up after seeing him.

  “It’s Trace. You okay?”

  Nicole did her best to sound a little perkier to her best friend. “Sure. Great. What’s up?”

  “Just thought I’d call and see how you’re doing.” Trace paused. “It’s been almost a month now, hasn’t it?”

  Nicole almost sighed again. “Yup. Gotta break it to Alex today or tomorrow.”

  “Did you tell him?”

  “What, about the fact that I bet my cousins I would see one and only one man for a month?” Nicole shook her head, even though she knew her friend couldn’t see her. “One month of all-out sex, and that’s exactly what I did.”

  Trace sounded hesitant as she asked, “So…you haven’t developed any feelings for Alex?”

  “Of course not.” Nicole tossed her hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. “As if. I like my freedom. No man is going to take that away from me.”

  “Being married doesn’t take your freedom away from you.” Trace had a determined note to her voice. “If anything, it’s more freeing. You have someone you love, who you know loves you. It should be unconditional and it shouldn’t change who you are or what you do. It’s just…wonderful having someone there for you, someone who really cares about you.” She gave a little laugh and
added, “Plus sex all the time is an added benefit.”

  “Yeah. Well.” Nicole ran her finger over the old-fashioned telephone that was part of the B&B’s charm. “Serious relationships aren’t for me. If it wasn’t for the damn bet, I’m sure I would never have lasted this long with Alex, anyway. In fact—”

  A shadow fell over the telephone and Nicole jerked her head up to find Alex watching her. His jaw was set and anger darkened his hazel eyes.

  “Nicole?” came Trace’s voice over the phone line, but Nicole barely heard her.

  “Hang up.” Alex’s voice was tight, his mouth a thin line. “Now.”

  Nicole hesitated only a second. She had to face this, had to get it over with.

  “Listen, Trace,” she said as calmly as she could. “I’ve got to run.”

  “Everything okay?”

  “Fine. Sorry to run, but I’ve got a guest waiting.”

  When Nicole finally hung up the phone, she took a deep breath and met Alex’s gaze head-on.

  “A bet.” Alex’s thumbs were hooked through his belt loops, but his knuckles were almost white. “You fucked me because of a bet.”

  Nicole’s cheeks heated. “I never lied to you, Alex. You’ve known from the start that I was only in it for the sex. The fact that we had a lot of good times is just that. Good times. Fabulous sex and fun. That’s what it was all about.”

  Alex stepped behind the reception desk, caught her wrist, and jerked her toward him. “I don’t believe you,” he said, his mouth barely above hers. “I don’t believe I mean nothing more to you than another good fuck.”

  Nicole’s heart pounded like crazy. “I’m not into serious relationships.” She tried to shake her head but he slipped his hand into her hair and clenched it tight, keeping her from moving. “I never have been.”

  “You are now,” he said the fraction of a second before his lips came down on hers in a truly punishing kiss. It was hard and angry, a completely dominating kiss that sent her mind whirling and made her body weak.

  She couldn’t help how her nipples tightened and her pussy grew wet. She couldn’t help how her pulse raced and her senses swam. Her body knew him, wanted him, and she was completely helpless to fight it.

  He tore away from her, his eyes still angry, a harsh cut to his mouth. “I love you, Nicole Landford. When you get it through your thick head that you’re in love with me, too, then you know where to find me.”

  Alex released her, turned on his booted heel and strode out the door, then shut it behind him. Hard.

  Nicole’s hands started trembling and she clenched them into fists.

  Alex Grand was in love with her?

  No. That couldn’t be.

  A strange sense of euphoria overwhelmed her, like she could almost burst with happiness.

  God, she was losing her mind. She tried to stuff it down, to push it far away. “It would never work.” She clenched her hands tighter, her eyes still focused on the door.

  Nicole closed her eyes tight. “Freedom. I need my freedom.”

  Yet Alex had never crowded her the entire month they’d been dating. Yes, he was possessive when they were alone, but he never acted jealous about her past history. He had appeared to be confident in their relationship and in her as a person. He always asked her about work, enjoyed her B&B, and expressed how much he liked that she was an entrepreneur. He never questioned her need for time alone, never expected her to report in to him on where she was going, or insisted on going with her everywhere she went.

  She had all the freedom she needed.

  As she kept her eyes shut tight, she could see only images from her month with Alex, and even images from all the years they’d known each other.

  This month they’d had dinner, went dancing, helped one another out with their respective occupations, and even went shopping together. They’d laughed, they’d talked, and they’d argued like crazy. And they’d made love countless times. Wild, hot, animalistic sex, and slow, sensual lovemaking.

  “Made love,” Nicole whispered as she opened her eyes and stared at the door that Alex had just walked through. “We made love.”

  No, it wasn’t that.

  Maybe it was?

  Wait, it was all about the sex.

  Nicole sighed. She finally had to admit it to herself—it hadn’t been all sex after all. She’d known it, she just hadn’t been able to face it.

  Well, when Nicole Landford wanted something, she went after it. And this time she knew exactly what she wanted.

  Chapter Nine

  Thunder rolled across the valley as Nicole kicked the flat tire of her ‘vette. “You have perfect timing, you know that?”

  Her features softened as she trailed her fingers through the dust on the corvette’s fender. “But if it wasn’t for you….all this—Alex—never would have happened. I owe you.”

  Nicole looked off into the dusk in the direction of Alex’s ranch. “If he’ll forgive me.” She rubbed her damp palms on her white jean skirt and set her mouth in a determined line. “He damn well better.”

  She leaned in the driver’s side window to snatch the keys out of the ignition, then headed to the trunk. This time after unlocking the trunk, she stuffed the keys into her skirt pocket before leaning in to grab the tire iron and the jack. She carried both to the front of the car before returning for the spare. When she finally managed to drag it out, the tire slipped against her chest, down the front of her white blouse and her white denim skirt, and landed on her sandaled foot.

  “Shit.” Nicole grimaced and held her breath for a moment until the throbbing in her big toe lessened.

  Great. Now she had a flat tire and she was filthy.

  She cast a glance at the stormy sky and almost laughed. At least she should end up getting a good shower.

  With fierce determination, she wrangled the tire around to the front of the car. She knew the routine for this old thing. Set the brake, place rocks in front of and behind each tire, just to make sure it didn’t roll down the slope, and then jack up the car.

  This part was the most fun, she thought as she slipped her torso beneath the car and placed the jack under the frame. Not. When she slid out from beneath the ‘vette, her skirt hiked up to her waist, and one of her buttons caught on the car and popped off.

  Nicole groaned as she got to her knees and rearranged her clothing. Lovely. She now had dirt in her hair and on her backside, black down the front of her skirt and blouse from the tire, and her hands were black from everything she had come in contact with.

  Raindrops splattered her face in big fat drops. And then it started pouring.

  Nicole snorted. A small giggle escaped. The next thing she knew she was laughing so hard tears rolled down her face, mingling with the rain. She slid down the side of the car so that her knees were bent and her back against the driver’s side door, laughing until her sides ached.

  She wiped tears and rain from her cheeks with her palms and realized she’d just spread the black from her hands all over her face.

  Nicole burst into giggles again. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with laughter as rain pelted her, soaking her clothing and her hair.

  Two large hands grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms down to her sides.

  She jerked her head up—

  To see the man she’d fallen in love with. “Alex.”

  “Now, hon,” he said with a grin as he released her. “Aren’t you getting to be a little old for mud pies?”

  She clenched both fists in the wet earth beside her and gave him a devious smile. “Not even close.” She brought her hands up and wiped mud down each of his cheeks. “I’ve wanted to do that since elementary school. Now we’re even.”

  Alex growled and jerked her to a stand. He pressed her up against the ‘vette, capturing her legs between his. “You’ve been a very bad girl, Nicole Landford.”

  She tilted her head back, mindless of the rain pounding down on them both. “Whatcha going to do about it?”

/>   Alex gripped his hand in her hair, dragged her to him and kissed her. Their mouths met with all the fire and passion they’d known since the first time they met. She gripped his shirt tight in her fists, and felt the mud from his cheeks slide onto her own. His tongue probed the depths of her mouth and she tasted him, wanted more of him.

  “Now,” she said when they broke apart, “I want you now.”

  Alex couldn’t argue. He wanted her just as badly. He picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his hips, as he carried her to the rear of the car. He freed one hand long enough to slam the trunk shut, then set her on it and moved between her thighs.

  Rain plastered her clothing to her skin. Her blouse gaped where she’d lost a button, and he didn’t hesitate to lose the rest of them for her. He ripped the blouse open and then yanked down her bra. Her big, beautiful breasts spilled out onto his palms, and she gave one of her sexy little cries as he pinched her nipples.

  Alex shoved up her skirt and tore off her thong. In mere seconds he freed his erection and plunged into her tight pussy.

  Nicole cried out at the feel of Alex pounding his cock into her at the same time rain pounded down on them. She felt so wild and free as he fucked her out on his ranchland. Anyone could drive by, or a cowboy could ride up, and they’d see Alex thrusting into her. But she didn’t care. All she cared about was Alex and how he filled her—mind, body and soul.

  When she came, it was with a scream that tore across the valley. Her body spasmed as her climax and raindrops washed over her body in one incredible sensation.

  Alex thrust hard and then he braced his hands on the trunk as he came with a growl. When his cock stopped pulsing in her core, he held her tight to him. “Tell me who you belong to, Nicole.”

  She sighed and kissed his wet lips. “You, Alex Grand. I belong to you.”