Staking His Claim (Ranchers of Chatum County 1)

It was the please that did it.

She let go of the covers.

He held her eyes with his and slowly pulled the sheet and comforter down her body until they were pushed to the foot of the bed. Slowly, he lowered his eyes to her naked body.

He gently pushed her knees apart, and the raw emotion on his face as he saw the effects of his handiwork left no room for her embarrassment. She saw unmistakable tension in his face as he put the cloth to the feminine mound between her legs and began to softly cleanse away the blood, the sweat, and the smells of sex.

Elaina was utterly unable to speak as he performed this service for her. Everything he was feeling was there, right before her eyes. Possessiveness, satisfaction, tenderness, ownership.

Her face paled and a fine trembling began at the base of her spine and travelled out to encompass her limbs. Just because she was emotionally ready for sex, didn’t mean she was ready for this.

She cleared her throat in agitation and his attention lifted. His eyes were hot on hers and glowed with a savage, inner fire. His voice was deep and purposeful when he spoke. “Thank you.”

She searched his expression as a soft kiss of blushing heat covered her cheeks. She knew he was thanking her for the gift of her virginity. She softly nodded in acknowledgement.

“You still think you need to go home?” He waited for a second before continuing, “I want you to stay.”

Elaina studied him, trying to get a handle on his true meaning. Her expression clouded with unease and a sudden need for caution infiltrated her being.

She didn’t think he meant to stay just the night. He wanted her to stay longer. Or he would as soon as tomorrow came. She might be new at this, but she wasn’t naïve. He had every intention of doing exactly what he had spelled out before. Sleeping with her again and again and again.

And then what? Whatever he wanted, that’s what. Although he was being gentle at the moment, Elaina knew him well enough to know it wasn’t his standard operating procedure. He wasn’t above railroading her into getting what he wanted, and she needed to find it within herself to exert her demands.

If she didn’t—well, she couldn’t contemplate that. “I think I better go back,” she said.

“Why?”

“I just should. I don’t want a bunch of questions tomorrow. I want to wake up in my bed.”

“I want you to wake up here, beside me,” he voiced his opinion, determination in his tone.

She studied him briefly before trying to get him to understand. “This is all new for me, you know?”

“Yeah, I do know, more than anyone else on the planet. So, why are you wanting to run, to not share this with me?” he growled.

She bristled but tried to hold on to her emotions. She spoke with quiet firmness. “There’s a hell of a lot of emotional crap going on inside me right now. You think it was only by circumstance that I was still a virgin at twenty-two?”

His arms crossed over his chest, his muscles laced into corded bands of steel. His eyebrows came together in a hardened frown. “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

“Well you’re acting like I shouldn’t need some time to myself. I need to regroup, take a bath—”

“You can take a goddamn bath here, Elaina.” He swung his arm in the direction of the bathroom before continuing, “So tell me how it was.”

“Tell you how what was?”

“You started it. You asked the damn question. Why were you still a virgin? Was it because you never had the opportunity?”

“Really? You think that?” Surprise and a small amount of indignation colored her voice.

“Fuck no. I think every goddamn straight guy in his right mind that came across you wanted to crawl on top—”

She sucked in her breath in a gasp and his words came to a halt.

Her shoulders stiffened and her tone chilled a degree. “I don’t even want to talk about this. I don’t know why I worded it that way. I’m just saying that even though I haven’t dated a lot, what we did tonight meant something to me. I don’t sleep around—yeah, I’ve had opportunities in the past—” He growled at her words and she went on, “but it was never the right time, or the right person—”

“So I was the right guy and this was the right time—”

“Maybe not the right time—you pushed me into this—”