Page 44 of The Rancher’s One and Only

“Okay,” she said.

She took a breath, then another one, and struck out as quickly as possible. Her hand didn’t quite reach his body, he was so expertly positioned to stay out of her range.

“That was good,” he said. “Let’s do some reps.”

He was, it turned out, a very good teacher. He got her so that she was doing the palm strike with relative ease.

“And then, when you strike, I don’t want you to just breathe. I want you to shout.”

“What do I shout?”

“You can just scream. Or you can say no. A lot of people like no. It’s direct.”

She did another rep, and this time, when she did the palm strike, she said, “No.”

“Okay,” he said. “A little louder. Don’t just say it. Shout it.”

“No!” She projected this time, using her stomach muscles to push the word out along with the palm strike.

And it felt satisfying. Good. She imagined Gavin, imagined telling him assertively to back off. Making her point with her palm strike. She did feel more empowered. He was right. This was something that worked. Something that felt like it mattered.

This was so much better than she had anticipated. This was his version of taking her stargazing. And she loved it.

She repeated the palm strike until she was sweating. And then, he reached around and grabbed her, pulling her up against his body, facing away from him. For a moment she was completely stunned.

“I’ll show you how to get out of this.” But his voice changed, and she felt her body go pliant. Liquid. She had a feeling it wasn’t supposed to do that if she was being attacked. “Oh… Oh.”

He released his hold on her. “Sorry. I should’ve mentioned that I was going to do that before I did it.”

“No. It’s not… There was nothing wrong with it. I…” She looked up at him, and she felt herself being drawn toward him. She felt like something organic might happen. Like maybe she didn’t even have to say anything. Like maybe he felt it too. But there was a burning insecurity inside of her. Even though she knew that Gavin was the problem, she had this feeling like some of that might’ve been her fault. Like she didn’t always know what signal she was sending off, or what signals she was receiving. And that wasn’t even all him. That was other things in her life. Things that were difficult and spiky. Interpersonal relationships that she didn’t fully understand.

She understood that right now, though, she wanted him.

“I…” Then she stretched up on her toes and brushed a kiss to his mouth. She was ready to pull away, but then he cupped the back of her head and held her there. Let the kiss linger. For one second, two. Three. She sucked in a sharp breath as he pulled away.

“Oh.”

“You were supposed to palm strike me,” he said.

“Really?”

“No. I was kidding.”

“Oh. I… You’re really a good teacher.” Don’t do it. Don’t say it. “I was thinking that maybe you could teach me…”

She could see the discomfort in his eyes, the flash of horror. And she was going to say it anyway. “I was wondering if you could teach me about sex.”

“Oh God.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Inappropriate. And you don’t want to. Because I have gopher teeth. I’m very weird, and you don’t have to do that. I know, it’s a lot, and I already told you that I was a virgin, and then I went and said that. I told myself not say it. I’ve been thinking it for days and I kept telling myself that I shouldn’t say it—”

He cut her off. With his mouth. She found herself being pulled up against that strong, muscular body, his lips moving over hers. It wasn’t like anything she’d ever experienced before. But then, she never been kissed. Not other than the time that Gavin tried to strong-arm her into one. It didn’t count. That brief brush of his mouth on hers before she pulled away. Before she absolutely slapped him down for forcing his attentions on the student. For kissing someone who wasn’t his wife.

Yeah. All that was totally different than this.

She clung to the front of his shirt, which was damp with sweat from the demonstration they’d just been doing, and she let him kiss her. Let him amp up the heat between them. She let herself get carried away. For a moment, she didn’t have any thoughts. She didn’t have any insecurities. She didn’t have anything but this. His mouth on hers. The unrelenting need pouring through her veins.

This was unlike anything. Ever. It was amazing.