Page 27 of Puppy Kisses

Yes, she got into trouble sometimes. And, yes, it wasn’t always fun to be chased by men with guns or find that she’d committed herself to rebuilding a grouchy woman’s garden from the ground up.

But those same impulses had brought her here, hadn’t they? Standing in front of the most glorious man in the world, offering the best parts of herself to him? How could anyone who’d had Adam Dearborn inside her feel any other way?

“You mean other than the thousands of dollars I’ve coerced you into paying my company?” she quipped.

“Don’t.” He gripped her wrist again, this time in a quick dash that seemed awfully similar to the rope he’d hurled to capture Dawn the cow. His reflexes were incredibly quick, his aim perfect. Like her poor bovine namesake, she didn’t even have a chance to struggle. “I’m just trying to understand, that’s all. There’s a whole world outside this ranch. Places to go, people to see—”

“People to do, you mean.”

The circle of his fingers tightened, but he otherwise let the comment pass. “This thing between us is only fun because it’s temporary—because it doesn’t mean anything. You’re not a permanent fixture around here, so it works.”

She was having a difficult time determining whether he was making a statement or asking a question. She didn’t like the underlying message either way, so she decided to address the few questions she had answers for.

“I rescued Gigi because she needed to be rescued. I’m training Uncle because I believe he’ll be a real advantage to you around the ranch. I offered to help Bea because you were in a tight spot and someone had to step up.” She took a deep breath, since this last one was the most important. “And I’m offering sexual escapades in inappropriate places because I like it. I thought you did, too, but if I’m wrong, I’ll respect your wishes and back off.”

“Of course I like it,” he said, the words so violent they were almost a curse. “That’s not the point.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him what the point was, but he answered her before she had a chance to utter so much as a syllable. The answer came not in words and not in gestures, but in a kiss so sudden that even Uncle let out a yelp of surprise.

Adam hadn’t let go of her wrist, opting instead to give it a tug and pull her body flush with his. His mouth found hers with unerring accuracy, the crash of lips and shock of intimacy sending her head reeling. Although this had been her goal—to drive him out of his mind with desire, to force him to admit that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him—she wasn’t quite ready for so explosive a kiss. In the ordinary way of things, Adam was a highly thorough lover. He rarely left any part of her untasted, took his time making sure that she was panting with desire and dripping with need before he thought of his own pleasures. Dawn had never been much of one for long, leisurely make-out sessions, but Adam refused to be hurried.

This kiss wasn’t like that. It was almost as though he’d forgotten everything the two of them had ever shared, had wiped the slate clean and decided to approach this whole arrangement of theirs with renewed vigor.

This kiss washungry.

He didn’t wait for her to part her lips and let him in, didn’t nibble gently at the edges of her mouth. The press of his mouth was hot and greedy, and there was no chance to hesitate as his tongue swept a victory path over hers.

His free hand came up to grip her around the back of her neck, his fingers spreading wide as if making a claim. He wasn’t tugging her hair, but there was a threat of it in the curl of his fingertips, as if he was prepared to go to any lengths to ensure that this kiss didn’t end before he was damn well good and ready.

There was at least a full minute of this assault, of his hands and his tongue, of his determination to set every nerve Dawn possessed on fire. On fire was exactly how she felt, too, and in ways that sparked feelings she’d long since thought she didn’t possess.

In fact, if she didn’t know any better, she’d say Adam was kissing her—that she wasbeing kissed—for the first time in her entire life.

“Oh my,” she said as soon as his mouth lifted from hers. Her head whirled and her body throbbed, but she still managed to blink up at him until the world stopped spinning. “Youdolike it, too, don’t you?”

His laugh was short and gruff, but it was a laugh nonetheless. “You know I do. I always have. But I’ll be damned if we’re going to go sneak to the back of the barn like a couple of animals in heat.”

An animal in heat was exactly what she felt like, so that didn’t sound like such a terrible plan. When his arms were around her like this, his body rock hard in all the places it touched hers, she’d do just about anything to keep going—straw itch mites and rats be damned.

“Zeke and Phoebe are in the house, so we can’t go there,” she mused. “My car’s windows are tinted, but it’s not very roomy inside. And I suppose we could always sneak to the root cellar, but Zeke once told me that the latch catches and traps people down there sometimes. So that’s probably out.”

“Yes, Dawn. The root cellar is out.”

She scanned her memory for likely trysting places, but it was difficult to come up with a good option while the two puppies sat at their feet. They could hardly take them into a hayfield with them.

Adam heaved a sigh and pulled away, the air between them like a bucket of cold water. “You can stop trying to come up with alternate options, because I’m not having sex with you this morning. There’s too much work to do.”

“Fine.” She gave up fighting. She had to. Adam was right when he said that this thing between them worked because it was temporary, fun. Meaningless.

Just like me.

“But I still think it’d do you a world of good to release some of that pent-up…energy.” She bit her lower lip and considered the man standing opposite her. He was like a statue made of lightning. One touch, and he’d break off into a thousand bolts. “In fact, if you’d like to take care of it right now, I’ll keep an eye on the puppies. No one would care if you popped into the shower for a few minutes.”

He gave a short laugh and ran a hand through his hair. “You think I haven’t done that already this morning?”

Every part of her body gave a sudden, lust-filled pulse. Even the parts of her that shouldn’t tingle at such a thought—her nose and her toes and, from what she could tell, her appendix—seemed suddenly alive with possibility.

“You didn’t,” she said, her mouth dry.