Love Loyal and True (Must Love Diamonds 2)

His body pressed hers against the vehicle, hot and hard as his breathing grew shallow.

“One night.”

Those two rough words were a question, a warning, and a promise all in one.

She should say no. She should be smart like he’d tried to be. But she’d never felt more alive in her life, more wanted, than this moment with him.

“One night,” she managed to whisper in agreement.

Roxanna expected him to kiss her then—ached for him to kiss her—but he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. She was suddenly too nervous to ask where they were going, and moments later they reached his Land Rover. He opened the passenger door, but instead of stepping aside for her to slide onto the seat, he leaned inside, grabbed something from the glove box, then slammed it shut, and then the door.

He took her hand again and they were halfway to the stables when it dawned on her he’d grabbed a condom. Her stomach flipped over. She hadn’t had to think about protection in a very long time. She was on birth control, but that wasn’t the only consideration.

At least he was prepared.

At the stables, he reached behind a bush growing close to the brick wall, and a moment later he’d unlocked the side door. After he put the key back, he held the door open and arched his brow at her.

“Still want to do this?”

She fought a confused frown at the challenge in his rough voice. Was he trying to scare her off? Get her to change her mind by offering an offensive quick roll in the hay?

One look into his eyes and she saw that’s exactly what he was doing.

Because it was a misguided attempt to save her from herself, she overlooked the potential jerkiness of the move.

Roxanna held her head high as she strode past him into the dimly lit stable. Over the years, she’d come down with Asher to see the horses a few times, and like always, she was grounded by the earthy scent of horses, hay, and oiled leather. The stable manager, Estefan Torrez, was a stickler for keeping everything neat and clean, so it had never smelled like she’d expected a barn to smell.

The click of the lock behind her made her nerves flinch, and she drew in another deep breath of the soothing scents. This night was hers. She was going to make the most of it.

A moment later, Loyal brushed past her with a blanket in his hands. Her heart kept a fast rhythm in her chest as she followed silently. He entered an open stall with hay stacked inside, and studied the layout for a second.

“This should work.” He pressed both palms on a couple of bales stacked nearly waist-high against the wall of the neighboring stall and gave them a few crude, hard shoves. “Perfect.”

After tossing the blanket over the bales, and dropping the condom on the edge of the blanket, he reached up to untie his costume cape. Not once did he turn to look at her, and Roxanna narrowed her gaze at his calculated, matter of fact approach.

Time to turn the tables.

Chapter 14

Loyal knew there was a very high probability when he turned around Roxanna would slap him across the face.

He’d deserve it, too. Hoped for it.

His heart thumped so damn hard as he tossed his cape on the hay beside the blanket. He was scared right now. Of wanting her too much. Of liking her too much. The damn woman kept rising to his challenges, shocking him again and again while turning him on in a way that threw him wholly off balance. He felt out of control and needy around her, and he didn’t like it one bit.

Instinct urged him to run as fast as he could in any direction away from the brunette witch behind him. His dick kept his feet planted firmly in the stall.

After a final deep breath to prepare, he turned around so she could smack him and storm out and he could get on with his life.

But one look at Roxanna, and his breath seized in his lungs. He was fucked.

Well and truly fucked.

She stood about three feet away, the front of her suit unzipped from throat to navel. The open material revealed the swell of her small breasts and his body throbbed when he realized she wore no bra underneath that leather. It immediately had him dying to know about her underwear.

Without meeting his gaze, she shouldered past him, then boosted herself onto the hay to sit facing him. His mouth went dry when the top of her suit gaped open, giving him a teasing glimpse of her dusky, pebbled nipples.

When she finally did lift those long, sooty lashes to meet his gaze, she arched an imperious eyebrow, as if to say, “Well? Let’s get on with it.”