With their common goal of getting her to the Qualifier on the stallion and the passion they had for each other, they connected in every way possible: professionally, physically, emotionally. It made sense.
Unlike her attempts at Italian cooking.
Getting down on her knees, A.J. began to corral the basil she’d spilled under the table onto a piece of scrap paper.
Except now she had to pick.
As a trainer, Devlin was superlative. Patient, exacting when he had to be, constantly supportive, an expert. As a lover? Well, she hadn’t had the full experience but she imagined he’d be unlike any man on the planet. His touch over her skin, the way he moved against her, those strong arms…Everything pointed at pure, unadulterated bliss.
She went to get off the floor and smacked her head into the table.
Rubbing the sore spot as she gingerly got to her feet, she was grateful for the pain in a ridiculous way. It gave her something else to think about for a moment.
By the time A.J. finished cleaning up, the kitchen was sparkling and the smell of burned tomatoes and sour cream had been aired out of the house. Satisfied, she sat down at the table and rested her chin on her hands. Even if she was still a mess, at least something had been cleaned up.
After sitting for a while, she realized she was hungry but uninspired so she ended up having canned soup for dinner. Remembering what she’d done to the tomato sauce, she put on the stove timer while heating it up. Having already been through one olfactory nightmare, she didn’t want to know what toasted chicken and rice smelled like.
While she was eating, every sound, every murmur from the house, had her looking to the door, wondering if it was Devlin getting home. Hope and anxiety would spike in a rush and then abate, only to send her flying again when she heard another noise. It was an exhausting ride because the farmstead, like an old man with rickets, had a lot of creaks, and pretty soon she decided she knew why dogs slept all the time. Sentry duty was tougher than it looked.
As things got dark outside, A.J. settled on the couch, curling her legs up under her and pulling a throw blanket across her knees. She was looking out over the moon-drenched landscape, tracing the rails of the paddocks and the ring with restless eyes, when she made up her mind.
She couldn’t choose. More to the point, she decided she wouldn’t choose between the lover she wanted and the trainer she needed. They would make it work and that was that. And as for Devlin’s concerns, she would just explain to him how important he was on all the different levels he touched her life. She would make him understand. She just had to. And surely he’d appreciate her reasoning. After all, if she was picking anything, she was picking him. All of him.
Relieved, she fell asleep, and when she woke up, he was standing over her.
“What time is it?” she asked, glad he was home.
“Late.”
A.J. sat up, pushing her hair back from her face.
Against Devlin’s better judgment, he sat on the couch next to her. He wanted to know what she’d decided before he got too close. If she picked him as a trainer, he’d have to leave the room quickly before he did something they’d both regret.
Before he could ask for her answer, she said sleepily, “I’ve made up my mind. I want you. I need you. That’s all I know.”
His eyes darkened with need.
“Kiss me,” she said.
8
“I’VE WANTED this so badly,” he said, just before they kissed.
Devlin swallowed her sigh as their mouths came together. When he became breathless, he broke the commandment of her lips and buried his face in her neck as he sought to recover.
He needed more, so much more. Licking the outline of her lips, because he couldn’t get enough of the taste of her, he pulled back and shed his coat, flinging it to the ground. As it flew away, the jacket took with it the wall of self-control he’d built and tried to sustain over the past weeks. Crumbling like sand, its absence left him naked and at the mercy of his passions and, as he felt her pull him down on the couch against her, he shuddered with a need so great he thought he was going to be lost.
A.J. was also overwhelmed with anticipation. Running her hands over his shoulders and to the front of his shirt, she sought the buttons that were keeping his skin from her touch. She knew there was no turning back and didn’t care about anything except the stiff anticipation of his body and the way his hands felt traveling over her skin. Her world receded until her only reality was the weight of him over her, the delicious slide of his lips across her collarbone, his teeth as he nipped at her earlobe. Urgently, her hands fumbled with his shirt, ripping cloth as she struggled to get to the skin of his back. Her voice called his name hoarsely.
She watched as Devlin tore the shirt from his body and then wrenched up her own. She felt cool air tickling her skin and helped him free it, letting it fall into the heap that was growing as more of their clothes were tossed aside. She felt wanton and liberated, revealed not exposed, and all she wanted was to feel him seeking the heat at her core with the shaft that throbbed at his hips.
When her br**sts were bare to his eyes, Devlin sucked in his breath. She was resplendent with her hair spilling over her satin skin, her lips full and bloodred from his kisses, the salmon pink tips of her ni**les peaked with invitation. With delicious anticipation, he brought his mouth to her breast, tugging at the hard marble nub until she writhed under him. Slowly, he moved his hands down her taut stomach and began to unzip her jeans. Fevered though he was, he didn’t want to rush her, but when she lifted her hips and made it easier for him to free her, he clenched his jaw. With hands that trembled, he slid the pants down over her creamy thighs and then he was stroking her delicate ankles, learning the strength of her calves and finding the sensitive area behind her knees.
A.J. sought him out, bringing his lips up to hers and feeling his tight length over her. She struggled with the waistband of his slacks and he pulled back, swiftly peeling them off before returning to her in a rush.
“Devlin,” A.J. moaned. “Devlin?”
He made a noise that was an aching groan punctuated by a question mark. It was the best he could do.
“Devlin.” She was struggling to make her mouth work. “You should know I…”
Her voice trailed off as he slid his hands across the top of her panties.
“It’s been…” A.J. bit her lip as she felt him stroke over the flimsy cotton.
“Are you okay?” He saw passion and torment in her eyes. “Do you want to stop?”