Part 4 (1/2)

”Ahem, perhaps I should get a lift with you, too,” James teased.

”No, you shouldn't,” Joshua growled.

”Maybe you're right,” James said, failing to hide a mischievous grin.

Rachael now appeared cooler and calmer as she sashayed over holding each end of the towel as it hung around her neck.

”Here's your coffee, Rachael. Strong, dark, and definitely not sweet.”

36.

James handed a coffee to her and one to Joshua. As he turned to get his own from the house, she flicked her towel, lightly catching him on the b.u.t.t.

”Ow! Careful, darlin', you'll give me ideas.”

”Ideas? What a novel experience for you.”

He clutched his chest. ”You wound me with your sharp wit, but now I know you'll be thinking about it.”

”For goodness' sake, don't you ever stop?” Joshua sighed.

When James was about to answer, Joshua interrupted. ”It was a rhetorical question, I know you don't.”

After they had finished their drinks, Joshua and Rachael left in the same vehicle she'd arrived in four days ago. Trying to put the maximum possible distance between them, she positioned herself on the far side of the cab next to the door. The a.n.a.lytical side of her mind recognised that natural animal instinct was making her wary. He was a prime male in close proximity to a fertile and, if she were honest, receptive female. Gosh, I can't stop thinking like a vet. It's pathetic.

They drove for a while in silence. The cab, which at first had seemed so s.p.a.cious, now felt confining. She could see, hear, and smell him. If she wanted to-and she did-she could touch and taste him. But there was something else, a sixth sense maybe, operating on another level. Her chest swelled as she breathed deeply, her nostrils flared when she caught a slight waft of his masculine scent, and her body sang in recognition of a primeval melody that her mind refused to acknowledge: special, compatible, potential mate. Of course, it could just be the ”pheromone fairies” out to trick her into doing something rash. Already she felt that her panties were damp just from being so close to him. She was finding it difficult not to fidget and wriggle.

37.

As he slowed the truck for the cattle grid at the border of the property, Joshua briefly glanced at Rachael. She didn't look comfortable, but then neither was he with a raging hard-on straining to get out of his jeans and say h.e.l.lo. d.a.m.n but his c.o.c.k was turning into a demanding dictator. Attempting to ease the tension building between them, he asked Rachael about her immediate plans.

”So you're fixing up Flora's Place to move into?”

”Yes,” she explained. ”Colin, Mark, and Susan are great, but I think I'm cramping their style, if you know what I mean.”

”Um, I can imagine, but what about your style?”

”Nothing to cramp.” She sighed and shrugged.

”I find that hard to believe.”

”Well, I did have a boyfriend, but it ended three months ago.”

No boyfriend, good.

”You seem to enjoy flirting with my brother.” There, he'd said it, the thing that bothered him.

”Yes, but you know what they say about flirting don't you?

Flirtation is just tension without the intention,” she quoted.

Clever, and perhaps she doesn't fancy my brother.

”That's probably why you don't flirt, Joshua.”

”What do you mean?” He was intrigued by her observation.

”I doubt you do anything without intention.”

She was right.

Suddenly he swerved the UV off the road and brought it to an abrupt halt behind a clump of thick bushes. In one fluid quick move, he slapped both seat belts open and dragged her across his lap.

”WaWhat are-”

”What am I doing? I want you in my bed. I've thought of little else since I met you, but I can't wait,” he ground out.

Raw instinct pushed all thoughts from his mind other than to take this woman and to screw her senseless. With an arm under her, he 38 roughly pulled her to him and crushed his mouth down on hers. It wasn't a gentle kiss but a fierce possessive a.s.sault on her lips that claimed her mouth, allowed no refusal.

At first, she weakly attempted to resist, with a protest m.u.f.fled by his kiss. ”You're a client. This is not professional.”

”Who cares?” He knew in the back of his mind that he should, but the aching need to have her was simply too strong.

He pressed harder and she responded by relaxing her jaw and parting her lips. It was sheer bliss as she willingly received him and they shared their first kiss, full of pa.s.sion and promise for things destined to come. His tongue slipped into the warm wet confines of her mouth, then thrust deeper, duelling with hers. She snaked her arms up around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. He could sense her fevered desire. It matched his own.

He moved his free hand under her T-s.h.i.+rt, pus.h.i.+ng it over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

”Front fastener,” she said throatily.

”Smart girl.”

He deftly unclipped her bra and released her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, beautiful, ample pale globes topped with pretty, candy-pink nipples. His c.o.c.k would fit nicely between them, and that image flitted in his mind as he buried his face and sucked hard on each pert bud while he undid the b.u.t.ton and zipper of her jeans. He slid his hand under the sc.r.a.p of lace that masqueraded as underwear, down over her smooth, partially shaved mound, and felt the moist evidence of her arousal. He gently skimmed his middle finger and thumb over her wet p.u.s.s.y lips and then pressed on her c.l.i.t in a circular motion.