AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
“I’ve been wantingto do that for a while,” Drew admitted when the kiss ended long enough for her and Maisie to catch their breath.
“Why didn’t you?” Maisie’s voice was low and rough, little more than a panting whisper.
“I didn’t know it was an option.” Drew kissed Maisie again, pulling her body roughly toward her by a handful of wrinkled shirt, devouring her mouth with an overwhelming need to possess and claim every inch.
“I’m not sure it was until right now,” Maisie admitted, tilting her head back to give Drew access to her throat. She hissed in delight as Drew tasted the offering with her tongue from the point of Maisie’s chin to the hollow of her neck.
“What changed?” Drew unbuttoned the top three buttons of Maisie’s shirt, her lips traveling downward to kiss the tiny freckle between her breasts that was barely visible above the edge of her bra. That was going to need to come off, and quickly. But it would have to wait until she wasn’t holding up most of Maisie’s weight with hands firmly planted on her arched back.
“Honestly? I think this is the first time we’ve been truly alone since that last night in Vegas, not counting the drive I slept through.” Maisie clung to Drew’s head, showing no signs of letting go.
“That’s right. Vegas.” Drew removed her lips from Maisie’s chest and made a move to straighten up. “You wanted to talk about that.”
“Did I?” Maisie held on tighter, pulling her back down. One hand slipped under Drew’s shirt, practically scorching her with the touch. “I think I meant later.”
Later sounded like a grand idea. It really did. But now that the issue was in her head, Drew couldn’t let it go. She groaned inwardly at what she knew she was about to do.
Stupid Drew.
“I think we’d better do it now.” Gently releasing Maisie from her grasp, she stepped back enough to signal she was serious. Maisie sighed heavily but stood down as well.
“Why?” Maisie pressed, pouting with lips already swollen from kissing and begging for more. “We didn’t have to discuss everything to death last time we were together.”
“Neither one of us has any idea what we did or didn’t talk about last time,” Drew reminded her. “That’s how we ended up here, remember?”
“Married, you mean?”
“That. Plus, you out of a job and living on my ranch.” Drew shrugged. “Not that I’m complaining about that part. I like having you here a lot more than I thought I would.”
Uh-oh.That hadn’t been Drew’s inside voice. Maisie had heard that.
“I like being here,” Maisie responded softly, making Drew melt in place. “Which also comes as a surprise. And I like beinghere, with you.”
Drew let out a ragged breath as she took in Maisie’s earnest expression, her tousled hair and crumpled clothes. Her face was tilted upward at the perfect angle for kissing. Always a woman of few words, Drew cursed herself for not being able to shut up now. “I like it, too. But this isn’t a Las Vegas hotel room. It’s my home.”
Maisie was silent for a moment, but then a faint smile played across her lips. “Technically,thisisn’t your home. This is a hunting cabin, which you said yourself hardly ever gets used.”
“What are you suggesting?” Although Drew thought she had an inkling where the conversation was headed, and if she was right, she didn’t mind it one bit.
“Look, I can’t see the future any better than you can,” Maisie said. “I know it’s complicated, but maybe this cabin is kind of like a little Las Vegas on the Wyoming prairie. Maybe things can happen here that don’t happen back at the ranch.”
“What happens at the hunting cabin, stays at the hunting cabin?” Drew couldn’t resist a grin. “It might encourage me to take more time off.”
“Work-life balance is very important.” Maisie returned Drew’s grin, only maybe a little naughtier. She stepped forward, reaching up to sneak her hands under Drew’s collar and give the tense muscles one of her famously effective massages. “You’re very tense. I think maybe you should take your shirt off so I can help loosen that up for you.”
“Oh, do you?” Drew paused for a second, giving it some thought. As solutions went, this might not be ideal, but it wasn’t necessarily bad, either. Because one thing was clear. Things between them had changed. After today, neither one of them could return to the ranch and pretend it was all the same. Like a vacuum-packed mattress rolled up in shrink wrap, now that it had been released, there could be no squeezing this desire back into the box and closing the lid up tight.
“Well?” Hands still poised at Drew’s shoulders, Maisie gave her a questioning look.
By way of answering, Drew unfastened the top button of her shirt, and then the next and the next, never once looking away from Maisie’s captivating eyes. When the shirt was removed, they kissed again, slower this time, as Maisie’s fingers skipped across Drew’s muscles, promising more release than any back massage could offer.
By the time they reached the rug, Maisie had unhooked Drew’s bra and cast it aside, palm cupping the swell of a breast as a finger teased the nipple into a hard bud. Drew lifted Maisie’s top off, chucking it onto the floor in one flick of the wrist, while sending the bra to follow with the next. Drew wrapped Maisie in her arms, savoring the feel of Maisie’s naked breasts against her own as she dove in for a deep and sensuous kiss.
Lips still locked, Maisie’s hands worked feverishly, undoing the button and zipper on Drew’s jeans like a one-two punch. Then Maisie broke the kiss, lowering herself to her knees as she tugged the stiff denim downward—slowly but with intention. It was enough to inflame Drew’s entire body. Never in her life had she wanted something so badly as she wanted Maisie right then.
Maisie ran a hand down Drew’s leg, cupping the calf and giving it a squeeze. “So strong.” Her fingers walked up the other leg, exploring Drew’s taut stomach. “So many women would kill to have a body like yours.”
