Chapter 15 #2
The kiss wasn’t overly long since the husband broke away and cast his gaze down, his face turning a splotchy red. The wife patted his cheek, then smiled at Silver as if to say I dare you to do better.
Silver smiled back. She’d never been particularly daring. But this was a fairly harmless challenge, wasn’t it? After all, she and Dustin were supposed to pretend they were newly married in order to keep anyone from suspecting they were at the ranch for other reasons.
Without giving Dustin the chance to object, she pivoted into him, raised both hands to his face, then guided him down quickly so that their lips touched.
His eyes were wide, and she could feel him begin to pull back in protest. Before he could break free, she leaned more fully into him so that her body rested against his.
The touch of her body halted him. In fact, his hand slid swiftly to the small of her back.
She meshed her mouth against his more firmly, her eyes falling shut at the pure bliss of feeling the hard length of his torso but also his hard mouth.
Oh, sweet heavens. He felt good. So, so good.
She’d only kissed him that one time their last summer together. Even so, being against him felt natural and familiar and right, as if the circle of his arms was home and she was finally back where she belonged.
He didn’t move for a long second. But she didn’t care. She plied his mouth anyway, tasting him, tugging on his lips, and letting herself enjoy this forbidden moment.
His hand at her lower back tightened. Then before she knew what was happening, he was responding to the kiss. He angled in and took over, his lips crashing against hers with a decisiveness and power that made her dizzy with desire.
The truth was, she was massively attracted to Dustin, so much so that she could no longer deny she’d been waiting for and wanting this kiss from nearly the first moment she’d seen him a couple of days ago.
She rose up into him, wrapping her arms around his neck more securely and opening up the kiss so that she could experience more of him, all of him.
He seemed to sense what she was asking for, and he took her offering and delved in more thoroughly and fully.
One of his hands found her loose hair and wound deeply into her dark strands.
He wrapped his fingers into a fistful and at the same time kissed her harder, as if to tell her she was his and his alone.
She wanted to be his and his alone. She wasn’t sure where that thought came from, because it couldn’t happen.
Even so, in the moment, she loved this closeness, this passion, this pleasure she was feeling with him.
It was like getting a taste of a beautiful fairy tale with a happy ending, one in which the prince and princess, although kept apart through all kinds of difficulties, found each other and couldn’t hold back their love any longer.
Love?
Was it possible she was still in love with Dustin after all these years?
Maybe that’s why none of the other men she’d dated had ever worked out—because they couldn’t measure up to Dustin and all his wonderful qualities.
Not only was he the handsomest man she’d ever met, but after peeling back his stoic demeanor, he was gentle and kind and sweet.
He always looked out for the interests of others, lived with integrity, and remained fair and loyal.
If she was perfectly honest with herself, she even liked his seriousness.
Even if she was trying to get him to enjoy life a little more, she didn’t want him to change who he was.
Maybe because she also liked that he was grounded, levelheaded, and careful—all qualities she appreciated because she sometimes lacked them.
Whatever the case, she was right where she wanted to be. Even though their kiss might be for show, it felt real enough that she didn’t want it to end.
“Come on, Stan!” The shout of the young wife nearby broke through the haze of sweet pleasure Silver was experiencing with Dustin. “We can do better than that!”
As if the shout had brought Dustin back to reality too, he broke his hold on Silver’s mouth and took a step away, releasing her altogether.
She wanted to grab him back, jump into his arms, have him carry her to the cabin, and . . . what? She shook her head. This wasn’t real. Their relationship was pretend. In fact, they had no relationship at all.
His eyes were glazed, and his chest heaved in and out, as though he’d just finished a tough cardio workout. He didn’t look at her. Instead, he jammed one of his hands in his short-clipped hair while he blew out a tense breath.
“Kiss me again, Stan!” The young wife seemed to be climbing up her husband like a squirrel scaling a tree.
Stan was doing his best to heft her higher, and at the same time, was bending in and trying to latch onto her lips, opening and closing his mouth the way a guppy went after fish food.
A burst of laughter welled up in Silver, but she cupped her mouth to keep it in.
At the same time, she could sense Dustin watching her.
As she met his gaze, his eyes also held humor.
She dropped her hand from her mouth and smiled at him.
When he gave her a tiny, crooked smile in return, she felt as though she’d just won a trophy.
She slipped her arm into the crook of his and began to tug him past the squirrel-guppy show. “Have a wonderful night, you two,” she called out as she and Dustin left the couple behind to enjoy each other.
She pulled Dustin along, half jogging the short distance to their honeymoon cabin. Only after they stumbled inside and closed the door behind them did she allow her laughter to ring out. Although Dustin didn’t laugh, his grin widened as he watched her.
Oh, he had such a wonderful grin. It was a million times better than seeing a colorful sunset, a famous painting, or even a newborn foal. Maybe because his smile was so rare? She wasn’t sure why she loved his grins, but she was glad she’d had the opportunity to make him smile.
She flopped down on the cozy sofa near the fireplace, leaned her head back, and exhaled a satisfied breath.
Dustin stood near the table, and as he watched her, his expression turned serious again.
She didn’t want the fun to come to an end, didn’t want him to return to being her bodyguard, didn’t want to go back to the professional interactions. She patted the spot beside her. “Come sit with me and let’s watch a show until our dinner arrives.”
He didn’t budge. Instead, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, and his shoulders stiffened. “We can’t let that happen again.”
“Let what happen?”
“You know.”
Yes, she did know, but she didn’t want to have this conversation. She wanted to avoid it forever. “Let’s play some cards. Or maybe we can sit in the hot tub.”
He leveled a stern look her way, one that was way too brooding and sexy. “We can’t kiss again.”