Love Me, I Dare You! (Hell Yeah!) Read online

  “Ummm,” Josh started, then stopped. “Hmmmm,” he tried again.

  “That bad?” Emma worried. “Is it the styles I choose? I try not to clash colors, I sew little beads in the new ones I buy, a different shape for each color so I can keep track of what’s red, blue, yellow or whatever.”

  “No.” Josh hesitated again. “You do have a particular style,” he said, remembering the lace dress. “A bit…feminine.”

  “Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” She seemed so eager. “What should I do differently?”

  Hell, he didn’t know. “What you’ve got on is nice.” Josh looked at Emma closely. Truth be told, he’d always been more interested in getting clothes off a woman than analyzing them for their fashion value. He always concentrated on a woman’s body, not necessarily the clothes she was wearing. “You look cute.”

  Cute? Okay, she’d take cute. “How about my hair?” She picked up a strand. “The last time I saw it, I looked like Carrot Top.” She named a popular actor.

  Josh laughed. “Not hardly.” He took the curl from her hand and wrapped it around his finger. “Your hair is the color of a fiery sunset. Gorgeous.”

  Emma brightened. “Well, that’s something, huh? I don’t wear much makeup. I’m just afraid I’ll end up looking like a clown. Is it okay?”

  Studying her face, Josh had no trouble answering her. “You don’t need it.”

  She let out a big sigh. “Good. So, what do you think the problem is? Guys don’t ask me out, should I ask them or just do like I did with you?”

  “No, no,” Josh said emphatically, “don’t go asking men for sex, it’s too dangerous.”

  “No, silly,” Emma laughed, “I wouldn’t do that. I mean, should I ask them out or wait and let people set me up.”

  Joshua couldn’t remember ever having a conversation like this before, so open and honest with a woman. “Sure, this is 2016, women have an absolute right to ask men out on a date.” Hell, he’d been asked out more times than he could count. In fact, that was the norm with him. He didn’t have to pursue; he was constantly pursued.

  “Yea, I know.” She pooched her bottom lip out. “I’d just like to know how it felt. To be wanted.” Emma smiled brightly, a little too brightly. “I guess all girls do, don’t they? It would be nice to be asked.”

  Josh was about to protest, but she didn’t give him a chance and he was a little grateful. Right now, he didn’t know what to say.

  “You know, Avery wanted to set us up.”

  “Really?” Josh shifted uneasily in his chair.

  “I told her no,” Emma continued, “that I’d rather it happened naturally, but I knew it wouldn’t. So I decided to bid on you.”

  Josh couldn’t deny this woman’s effect on him. Just watching her talk to him so animatedly, so honestly, her lips so kissable, the swell of her breasts peeping at him from the low-cut neckline of her vest was incredible. Before he could tell her, Emma just went on as if she hadn’t expected any comment from him.

  “What about you? If you don’t mind, I’d like to know more about you. “What’s your favorite food?”

  “Steak and potatoes would have been my answer a few days ago, now I’d amend that to anything you would make me.”

  Emma’s heart leapt with his admission. “As long as we’re doing this, I promise to satisfy your appetite.”

  Josh knew full well her remark was made in all innocence, but his cock twitched in response anyway. “I don’t doubt it.”

  “What’s your favorite music?”

  “Country.”

  She laughed, “Of course it would be. Favorite color?”

  Staring into her eyes, he realized he had a new favorite. “Sapphire blue. How about you?”

  “Well, it used to be purple, at least I think I remember what it looks like now.” She found the handle of the cornbread pan and ran her finger over it. “I’m losing so much.” Her voice dropped a little. “Now smells are colors to me and my favorite is lavender.” Shaking her head as if to dispel a cloud, she took a deep fortifying breath. “Did you get full?”

  “Sure did, two helpings,” Josh rose and picked up both of their bowls and took them to the sink, favoring his hurt leg, but doing better than he’d done in a while.

  “Good, I’m glad. Tell me something about yourself, something you don’t tell just anybody.” When he didn’t say anything in the next couple of seconds, she tried to explain. “I know this is unconventional, you aren’t doing this because you were attracted to me and I’m not doing it because I have any illusions about our future…” she faltered, then continued, “we’re just sharing so much of ourselves, I want to feel connected to you.”

  Josh leaned on the counter, facing the sink, his fingers pressed into the porcelain of the sink so hard his knuckles were white. He struggled with what to say – his first instinct was to play it safe and say something joking like he didn’t wear underwear – but although he’d never admitted that to anyone, about half the buckle bunnies that followed the rodeo circuit could attest to it firsthand. Instead, he chose to tell her something he’d truly never confided to anyone else. “I’m afraid.”

  Emma stood up. “Afraid? Of what?” She wanted to touch him so much she had to put her hands behind her back to keep from reaching for him. “Just tell me who it is and I’ll brain them with a bottle of Jack Daniels.”

  Josh couldn’t help but smile at her feistiness. “Thanks, but the only way Jack Daniels would help me fight what I’m afraid of is if I drink the whole bottle.”

  Rising, she faced him, needing to be closer. “Tell me, you can trust me. I promise.”

  “I left Kerrville when I was eighteen, family problems.” He might be confessing some things, but there were others he didn’t have the courage to admit to someone like Emma. “Rodeo is all I know. I’m not sure how to fit in with life here at home. Working at Tebow is great, but I always thought when I left the circuit it would be with a big purse of prize money and a plan to be doing something for myself instead of working on someone else’s dream.”

  “I’m sorry. What is your dream?”

  Turning to face her, he was struck by the compassion in her eyes, those big blue eyes that were looking at his shoulder, the elegant line of her neck, the tiny strip of naked skin above her jeans. What was he doing? Here he was alone with a beautiful woman who was willing for him to touch her, to introduce her to the magnificent wonderful world of physical intimacy and he was thinking of something other than her? Was he crazy? “Right now, my dream is to share a little more alone time with you.”

  Emma shrugged, a little blush creeping up her cheeks. “Are you ready to get down to the good stuff?”

  And just like that he was concrete hard. A rare feeling was coming over him. The man known as the ‘cowgirl whisperer’, the rodeo Romeo whose reputation for giving women exactly what they wanted…was nervous. What the hell? This beautiful woman was placing herself in his hands – literally. “I am. Last night you learned how erotic just holding hands can be. How about we see what else we can discover?”

  “Yea.” She bounced a little in place. “I’m hoping we get to second base tonight.”

  Josh chuckled at her exuberance. “Well, I can almost guarantee it. Come here.” He took her by the hand and led her to the couch.

  Emma followed, her heart pounding a mile a minute. “What are we going to do? Don’t you want to go to the bed?”

  “Slow, remember? We’re not cramming for a test; I want us to take our time. Enjoy the journey.” Josh sat on the center cushion and pulled Emma down beside him.

  “Okay,” she answered with a hint of mischief in her voice, “I know what you’re up to, you want to get as much of my cooking as possible.”

  “Ha!” Josh laughed, teasing. “Guilty as charged.” He dipped his head down and layered his mouth over hers, capturing the little gasp of surprise. He caressed her trembling lips in a firm kiss that spiked his own desire off the charts.

  Delight hit Emma lik
e a bolt from the blue, electricity arced through her as his tongue swept through her mouth. Josh buried his hands in her hair, holding her still. God, if he only knew there was nowhere else on earth she’d rather be. She wanted him with an all-consuming craving. Wanting to be as near to him as possible, Emma slid her arms around his neck and held on tight.

  Josh felt his own head swimming. Emma was kissing him back, warm lips pressing, the tip of her tongue dancing along his. Her lack of experience was obvious and this excited him. She wasn’t skilled in the art of seduction like the other women he’d been with. Emma had come to him as pure as the driven snow and now she was teaching him a thing or two – like the thrill of knowing what she gave to him she’d given to no other man. Yea, maybe his thinking was totally unlike him, and maybe it was old-fashioned but the idea that he’d been her first brought him extreme satisfaction. Now all that was left was to give her the same thing – complete satisfaction.

  Deep, passionate, slow - - Josh kissed Emma, reveling in the complete lack of hesitation on her part. She held nothing back, coming up on her knees so she could press herself to his body, placing herself in his hands, giving herself freely to him. He was shaken. How could innocence taste like ecstasy?

  “Josh?” she whispered when her lips slid from his mouth to his cheek allowing her to take a breath. Every inch of her skin felt like it was sizzling, alive with the need to touch and be touched. “Can I?” Her hands went to the front of his shirt, fumbling with snaps she couldn’t see.

  “God, yes.” Josh needed no more urging. He jerked his shirt open, giving her open access to make herself at home on his body.

  “I wish I could see, I bet you’re beautiful, you feel beautiful.”

  Josh closed his eyes, amazed at his reaction to Emma’s tender exploration. As she ran her palms over his pecs, the small flat discs of his nipples tightened. He groaned as she caressed his abs, then ran her hands up to his shoulders, placing a kiss over his heart.

  “Now, my turn,” he hissed through clenched teeth. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her again. Forcing himself to take his time, lest he rip the material, Joshua began to undo the buttons of her vest, exposing the soft, round tops of her breast. “You are exquisite,” he said in an almost reverent whisper. Josh wished he had the ability to verbally paint her a picture, a way to show her what he saw, a way to capture the look on her face. Her eyes were sparkling, full of expectancy, and when he opened the front clasp and her perfect breasts spilled out into his hands, he marveled at the delectable sight in front of him.

  “Truly?” she lifted her hand to grasp his bicep, slowly sliding her palm down to his wrist, goosebumps rising on her flesh as she relished the warmth and masculine texture of his skin beneath her fingertips.

  Josh swallowed, the woman had no idea what she was doing to him. Those soft little hands running over his sensitive flesh – gentle, soft strokes – were stealing his ability to think. “Really.” He wanted nothing more than to touch her everywhere, but especially here. “You look like what a woman is supposed to look like.”

  A pink blush bloomed on her face as his gaze moved over the graceful slope of her shoulders, the delicate collarbone, the dusting of freckles over the top of her chest, the plump roundness of her breasts. “I can feel your eyes on me.” Her nipples puckered as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “No, don’t do that.” The expression on her face slammed into him, those sapphire blue eyes were dark with blatant desire. “I need to touch you.” At Josh’s entreaty, Emma dropped her hands. With as much control as he could summon, he raised his hand to her breast, circling one puffy pink areola, playing with the distended nipple until she moaned. She was tensed, the only movement she made was to inch a bit closer, making her body more available to him. Her breath was coming fast, little pants of excitement. “More?”

  “Oh, yes. Please, Josh. You touching and kissing my breasts was my favorite part.”

  “We’ll see if we can’t add more favorites to your list.” Pressing Emma back on the couch, he came over her. Shifting so there was no pressure on his knee, he bent to gently lick one swollen peak. When he did, she very nearly levitated from the couch. Josh clasped her arms and licked some more, circling the nipple, then taking it between his lips to suck.

  Emma whimpered, arching her back. “Josh, that feels so good!”

  The woman was killing him. She tilted her head back, exposing her throat, inviting him to kiss. He didn’t miss the opportunity. She was so incredibly soft. Grasping a breast in both hands, he pushed them together, moving his mouth from one to the other until the tips were stiff and wet from his kisses. “You want more?” he asked.

  “Anything,” she panted, “everything.”

  “Let’s get you out of these pants.” She raised her hips, helping him strip them off her body. He smiled when he saw her pink panties with delicate little bows on the hips, but he was in too much of a hurry to appreciate them. “Damn, look at you,” he said lowly. “The other night, the light was too low, I couldn’t see you, not like this.”

  “Josh?” She held up her hands, beseechingly. He stretched out next to her so she could touch him. “I need to see you too.” She set out to map every inch of his body with her fingertips.

  “How do I feel?” Josh asked, wanting to understand the emotions flitting across her face.

  Emma made herself happy. Shoulders. Pecs. Abs. Back. Thighs. She avoided his manhood, she didn’t feel sure enough of herself for that. “Your body is a series of destinations, so many places I’d love to stay, to get to know.” She giggled, running her lips over his lightly furred chest.

  “Be my guest.” He couldn’t get enough of looking at her. She was perfectly formed, as if she’d been sculpted by a master, a treasure no man could resist. He couldn’t stop running his palms over her body. Her full firm hips were just made for a man’s hands. “I ache with the need to bury myself inside of you.”

  “Do it.” She gave her permission without hesitation.

  Josh fought for control. “Tonight isn’t about me. We’re not rushing this.” He molded his body to hers, the velvet of her skin sliding along his was intoxicating.

  “But I need…”

  She didn’t get to finish her sentence. Josh covered her mouth with his as his hand trailed south, moving to caress her between the legs. “You’re so wet,” he breathed as he began to stroke, his fingers dipping in to find their way inside a place that only he had touched. “God, you’re tight,” he murmured against her lips.

  Her only response was a series of small, soft sensual sounds that only spiked Josh’s arousal more. Josh rose to his hands and knees, grunting at the slight pain, then settled himself on top of her. Emma opened her thighs, letting her legs fall open as his mouth met hers in a frenzy of nips and sucks.

  Emma thought she would pass out as the sensation built in her core. Josh took both her hands in one of his and pulled them over her head as he ground his erection against her mound. She could feel the hard thick length of him as it rubbed in just the right spot. “Josh, oh, Josh,” she moaned, everything seeming to build to an inevitable crescendo. As he rocked in and out, Emma felt the ache inside her grow. She wanted him so much, she wanted all of him. Josh deepened the kiss, his tongue performing an erotic dance with hers. Emma endeavored to memorize every moment, so she could relive it again and again.

  Josh was completely entranced. Everything had changed. He was used to doling out orgasms, giving himself release and the varied women pleasure – no strings, no commitment – hell, sometimes he hadn’t even remembered their name a few hours after the encounter had ended. This was different. Emma was different. She’d given of herself. She’d shown him kindness. He wanted to please her – not because he could, not because the act gave him pleasure – but to make her happy, to show her how a woman should be loved.

  His mouth was back on hers, and an indescribable heat was beginning to build where he was rubbing himself faster and faster against her slic
k, slippery sex. They bodies weren’t joined, but her heart was fast becoming attached to him.

  “Tell me what you’re thinking,” Josh found himself asking. Talking during sex wasn’t something he normally wanted to do. With Emma, especially knowing that she couldn’t see, he wanted to make sure she was with him every step of the way.

  “I feel like I’m flying into the sun,” she gasped. A desperate need she’d never known existed pushed her higher and higher with the heady press of his powerful body pushing her into the cushions of the couch. With every stroke of his tongue, with every brush of his chest against her nipples, with every pass of his cock over her aching femininity, the pleasure only mounted and mounted. Exhaling a soft sob, she rose up to eat at his lips, feeling a sweet tension wind itself so tight, she tore her hands from his to cling to his shoulders. Josh was carrying her away on a wild storm of passion. Every time he thrust, she met him, raising her hips. His hands moved over her fevered skin, urging the storm to rage. “Josh!” she cried feeling the tempest rise within her. One more nudge of her clit by his stiff cock and she was jolted by a strike of lightning so hot and so intense that she screamed his name.

  Feeling her shatter in his embrace, Josh couldn’t hold back. In the next breath, he roared her name, “Emma!” and spilled himself over her silken smooth flesh. Feeling her tremble in his arms was a heady experience, one he wasn’t ready to let go of. Her whole body had bloomed, her cheeks and tits were rosy. “God, you’re absolutely irresistible.” Josh layered his lips to hers for one more slow, sweet, rock-your-world kiss before blazing a trail down her neck and back to her breasts, lapping and licking until she was quivering anew. “Want more?”

  “As much as you’ll give me,” she answered, her fingers weaving through his hair as he ministered to the sensitive rosy crests of her breasts. “But I want to please you too, remember that, I don’t want this to be one-sided. Will you teach me how to love you?”

  And just like that, Josh’s world shifted, transformed in front of his eyes. The role of teacher and pupil was reversed; Emma was instructing him on matters he’d never dreamed would be pertinent to him. Sharing. Caring. Putting someone else first. “Tomorrow, I’ll pick you up and we’ll have a full size bed to play in. Sound good?”