Page 112 of Snowbound Surrender
“What were we thinking?” Randall agreed.
He straightened, and his gaze focused on her chest, or rather her clothes. As she finished with the buttons of his vest, giving him a moment to shrug out of it and drop it to the floor, he studied her blouse. She wasn’t wearing anything fancy, just a simple blouse and skirt with a wide belt, as had become the fashion. But he seemed confused.
“They’re in the back,” she panted, then turned, lifting her hair—which was only half up, the rest free down her back—to show him a row of buttons.
“Thank heavens.” He breathed out and reached for the fastenings of the wide belt first. “For a second there I thought I was going to have to rip the clothes from your body, and that’s not as easy as it sounds.”
She couldn’t help but laugh, at the absurdity of his comment and the entire situation. But also at the wriggling pleasure thatfilled her as his hands made quick work of the buttons down her back. Her blouse and then her skirt sagged loose. Cool air kissed her warm skin, and as soon as Randall had pushed the lightly puffed sleeves of her blouse down over her arms, he kissed her as well.
A shudder hit her at the brush of his lips against the back of her shoulder, and she sighed loudly with the joy of it. Who would have thought that the simple act of a man kissing her and smoothing his hands along the stiff fabric of her corset from behind could provide such scintillating bliss? It wasn’t nearly enough, though.
She went to work on the hooks of her corset, and as soon as it dropped to the floor, she spun to settle herself back in Randall’s arms again. “It’s not fair for me to be the only one undressing,” she whispered, glancing up at him with a new kind of impishness. She unfastened the buttons at the top of his shirt, but before she could make it through more than a few, Randall pulled his shirt off entirely.
“You’re right.” He tossed the shirt aside and went to work on the fastenings of his distinctly tented trousers.
Never had undressing or watching someone undress felt more like unwrapping a Christmas present. Maybe it was the alcohol working its magic that banished every bit of self-consciousness, though she suspected it was much more. She licked her lips and watched hungrily as inch after inch of Randall’s skin was revealed, broad chest, flat abdomen, strong thighs, and, at last, an impressive staff that sent expectant prickles dashing through her. When he kicked aside his trousers, standing tall, her knees went weak and a distinct part of her clenched with need.
“Now you’re the one being unfair.” His voice took on a new, silken, almost demanding tone. She pulled her eyes up from hismanly bits in time to meet his eyes as he reached for the hem of her chemise.
He made quick work of the flimsy garment and of her drawers as well, leaving her in nothing but her stockings, her garters pinching in a way that made the rest of the sensations of her body that much more heightened. Her initial instinct was to cover herself, but she fought that, reaching for him instead.
“You’re so beautiful.” His hands caressed her bare hips, dipped down to explore the curve of her backside, then ventured up her sides to test the weight of her breasts. “But then, I knew you would be.” He imparted his words against the line of her neck, followed them with soft, succulent kisses.
“You’re the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen.” The words sounded deep and strange as she arched toward him, letting, no, hoping, no,achingfor him to touch her in a thousand intimate ways.
He seemed to read her thoughts, brushing his thumbs over her nipples until they formed tight, aching buds. She let out a breath that could well be described as a whimper and spread her hands across his back.
As intoxicating as the moment was, there was too much strain in exploring each other standing up. She felt it, and she knew Randall felt it too when he moved his hands to her waist and bottom and lifted her clean off the floor and into his arms. She wrapped her legs around him by instinct, then gasped at the sensation of that stiff part of him rubbing against the juncture of her thighs. It was like kindling bursting alight. She knew that she needed much, much more of that.
Randall twisted and marched straight to her tiny bedroom, pushing the thin curtain aside with one hand and holding her against him with the other. There was hardly space to turn around in the teensy room, so with one sharp pivot, he twisted to lay her on the narrow bed, then descended to cover her.A whole new world of delight met Miranda as he nudged his way between her thighs and kissed her. He guided her to lift her arms above her head, then left them there as he traced his fingers and palms down the length of her body.
The long, sensuous exploration left her feeling exposed and deliciously helpless. She was his, completely, and he seemed determined to make the most of it. His mouth followed where his hands led, and as he enveloped one breast, raking his tongue across her nipple, she gasped in delight.
“Randy.” She breathed out his nickname, all hints of the silliness it usually brought to mind replaced by pure intimacy.
He hummed in victory, leaving her breast to kiss his way down the flat of her stomach, around her navel, and lower still. He scooted further down the tiny bed as he went, until with a sudden jolt he nearly fell off the end. His eyes went wide in shock and he tensed as he balanced himself, then he broke into slow, luxurious laughter. Laughter which only heightened Miranda’s feeling that she was about to explode into light.
“All right,” he said, crawling his way back up until his face hovered right above hers. “Looks like we’ll be saving some things until we have a larger bed.”
Miranda’s thoughts scattered in a thousand directions, caught between “what things?” and “you mean we’ll definitely do this again?” She couldn’t get a single thought to pass her lips, though, especially when Randall dipped down for another soul-stealing kiss.
When he broke that kiss, giving her a chance to breathe, his hand was already moving down across her hip toward her inner thigh. “We’ll just have to try this, then.”
The titillating hint of his words was followed moments later by the stroke of his fingers across the most intimate part of her. Miranda gasped and arched, trying her best to wriggle her legs wider apart in the confined space. Her efforts were a smashingsuccess, and he delved deeper, sending bolts of pleasure through her. He found and teased a particular part of her, and she gasped, “Yes, let’s try that.”
Devilish laughter shook his chest, adding to the already unbelievable sensations his hand was producing. Her body thrummed to all of it, reaching higher and higher as he stroked and circled, until she hit a swelling burst of sensation with a loud, “Oh!”
The throbbing, shivering, electric feeling of utter pleasure and intimacy swallowed her whole, like nothing she’d ever experienced. But as amazing as it was, she didn’t want to experience it on her own. Instinct drove her to reach for Randall, to close her arms around him, hands reaching for his backside, nails pressing into his flesh, urging him to give her more.
He accepted her prodding with a growl that had her pulsing with need all over again, before her body’s shudders were completely finished. He shifted, gripping her thighs and maneuvering them until she was even more open to him. Her breathing came in short, shallow gasps, her skin prickling as she knew her whole world was about to change.
She felt a hot insistence sink into the part of her already slaked with pleasure, and then he pushed. Not only did the whole world change, but she embraced that change wholeheartedly, straining into him as he filled her. The momentary shock of tearing within her was quickly replaced by the instinctual perfectness of being stretched, taken, possessed. She cried out with bliss at the feeling, repeating those cries with heavier and heavier breaths as he thrust and moved inside of her.
Soon his cries mingled with her own, the two of them giving into utter abandon. The tiny bed creaked and thumped against the wall to the point where Miranda would have laughed if shewasn’t so absorbed in the pleasure of Randall. And then his body tensed, an otherworldly moan of completion welled from him, and he gradually subsided into gentle rocking. Even that gave way as he relaxed, spent, and flopped to her side as best he could.
There wasn’t enough space in the bed to spread out, but Miranda didn’t care. She wanted to remain wrapped up with Randall for as long as possible. If it made her just as wicked as any of the other women who had done the same thing in the saloon’s beds, then so be it. In her heart, she knew that what she’d just experienced went far beyond anything the whole world had ever known.
The moment Randallpeeled his eyes open the next morning, he knew things were different. And that was putting it mildly. For the first time since arriving at The Holey Bucket, he woke up warm. The soft heat of Miranda’s body twined with his warmed him inside and out. He wasn’t going to lie, she felt good stretched beside him in the tiny bed. There wasn’t really room for both of them, but they were making do. Just like they had for the past…was it six days now? Seven? He’d lost track.
