Thunder Canyon Homecoming / A Thunder Canyon Christmas: Thunder Canyon Homecoming

“Wasn’t it?”

“No,” she insisted vehemently, desperately. “It was a state ment of fact.”

He smiled again. “We’ll see about that, darlin’.”

“And stop calling me darlin’.”

“My apologies…Erin.”

The way he spoke her name made it sound more intimate than any words of passion that had ever been whispered between lovers in the dark. She fought the urge to shiver. She refused to give any outward indication of the effect of his nearness on her.

“And the reason I said ‘kisses’ is because there will be more,” he told her.

“That’s quite an assumption to make,” she said.

“I know.”

His lips curved, just a little, before they covered hers.

It was a gentle kiss this time—teasing, testing. As if, despite the previous kiss they’d shared, he was unsure what her response would be this time.

Erin had no doubts. She was sure that she could—would—resist.

Her certainty lasted all of about two seconds. Because in the moment that his mouth first brushed against hers, every thought of protest, every ounce of resistance, simply melted away in response to the heat that churned through her body.

The sciences had never been her forte, but she did understand the basics of simple chemistry. And it didn’t get much more basic than the rubbing of a man and a woman together resulting in physical attraction.

She knew there were exceptions to the rule. Trevor had been one of those exceptions. However, Corey was the poster boy for the rule. And in his arms, Erin was nothing more than a reactant.

She had no free will, no ability to control her own response where he was concerned, and no desire to be anywhere but in his arms.

Already the feel of his mouth on hers was familiar, his flavor addictive. She’d wanted this—wanted him—from the first, and the knowledge shook her. Or maybe it was the kiss that made her tremble.

Chapter Six

She’d said their first kiss never should have happened, and maybe she was right about that. But at this point, Corey thought that attempting to deny the attraction between them would be like closing the barn door after the horse had gotten out. And the desire that raced through his veins reminded him of Lucifer racing across the field, sampling his taste of freedom. Heady and reckless and desperate for more.

He desperately wanted more of Erin.

All of Erin.

He already knew how it would be between them, how she would feel, her naked body beneath his, moving against him, willing and eager. How she would wrap herself around him; how he would sink into her warmth and softness.

He could picture it clearly, and the details were so vivid and real, they made him ache.

But somewhere beneath the passion he tasted on her lips, there was something else. Just a hint of uncertainty, a touch of wariness. He could make her forget all of her doubts. He could simply keep kissing her, touching her and enticing her to the point that her desire overwhelmed any lingering reluctance. But he knew that they would both have regrets if he did.

No, he wouldn’t take her to bed until he was certain that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. So instead of letting his hands roam over her and touch her as he craved, he contented himself with holding her. Even when her arms lifted to link behind his head and her body softened against his, he held his own raging desire in check and continued to kiss her.

Just tasting.

Testing.

Tempting.

Except that he wasn’t just tempting Erin, he was tempting himself, too. And because there was a definite limit to how much temptation he could endure, he gently eased away. Slowly. Reluctantly.

Her eyelids fluttered, opened, revealing beautiful blue eyes clouded with confusion.

He brushed his thumb over the curve of her bottom lip, moist and swollen from his kiss, and felt her tremble again. He dropped his hand, realizing he was venturing a little too close to the edge of his limits.

“I’ll be seeing you again,” he promised.

And then, before he could forget his resolution not to take more than she was ready to give, he turned and walked away.

As Erin closed and locked the door at Corey’s back, she was more confused than ever. And considering how confused she was when she arrived in Montana, that was saying something.

She desperately wished she had someone to talk to about her feelings for Corey, but who?

Erika was probably the best friend she had in Thunder Canyon, but she was a newlywed who certainly didn’t need to be troubled by her friend’s romantic woes, not to mention that she was married to Corey’s brother.

Haley was the first friend she’d made in town, but as a waitress, part-time student and volunteer counselor at ROOTS—an organization she’d founded to help troubled teens—Haley had more than enough on her plate. And on top of everything else, she was in the midst of her own romance with Marlon Cates.

Erin was pleased that her closest friends were blissfully in love. She wasn’t so pleased that their happiness left her to figure out this situation with Corey on her own.

She really didn’t want to get involved with him, but she had a feeling he was right—she was already involved. And now that she knew he was planning to stay in Thunder Canyon, at least for the short term, she would have to figure out how she was going to deal with him.

Sure, she could just continue to ignore the attraction she felt, but her attempts to deny the feelings he stirred inside of her had already proved futile. All he had to do was touch her and all of her resistance melted away. And when he kissed her…well, just the memory of his kisses, the masterful seduction of his mouth on hers, made her sigh.

She’d been attracted to other men before, and she’d had a few relationships in her twenty-five years. She’d also had her heart knocked around a few times, and that wasn’t an experience she was eager to repeat. Of course, she’d been younger then and more naive, and she’d learned from her mistakes. She didn’t lead with her heart anymore, she didn’t believe everything a man told her (and she was especially skeptical of declarations of affection made while naked), and she wasn’t ever again going to stay in a relationship with someone because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings by telling him that there was no zing in the relationship—which is what had gone so wrong with Trevor.

Of course, lack of zing wasn’t a problem with Corey. The problem was too much zing. So much zing, in fact, it was interfering with the normal, rational functioning of her brain.

What she needed to do, if she wanted to ensure that her hormones didn’t overrule her head, was establish boundaries—and make sure that the man in question was aware of those boundaries. Because Corey Traub with his dark, bedroom eyes and slow, sexy smile and slower, sexier drawl was a cowboy who had undoubtedly left a trail of broken hearts all across Texas, and she had no intention of being his latest conquest. Even if the thought of being conquered by such a man held a certain undeniable appeal.

Which made her again consider that instead of ignoring the attraction, she should embrace it; instead of establishing boundaries, she should obliterate them. So long as they each knew what they wanted from the other, why shouldn’t they enjoy being together?

Maybe it was foolish to think that she could indulge in a casual no-strings affair when she’d never done so before. Or maybe that was just another reason why she should go for it. When she’d made the trip to Thunder Canyon, she’d done so knowing that the journey would bring changes to her life. Meeting Corey had given her another opportunity to make another change.

She’d never known anyone like him—he was larger than life, a man strong enough for a woman to lean on, a man she wanted to be with. He didn’t strike her as someone who did anything by half measures, and she knew that if she ever made love with him, it would be a spectacular experience.

What worried her was the possibility that he would seduce not just her body but her heart, and that when he was gone she would be left with only memories of the time they’d spent together and her heart in pieces.

Because he would go. She knew that. He had no more intention of staying in Thunder Canyon than she did—but she wasn’t ready to pack up her bags just yet.

And although heading back to San Diego held a certain appeal, she knew she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t go back to her old life and pretend that everything was as it had always been. She’d come to Montana because she needed answers, and she wasn’t going anywhere until she had them.

After another restless night, Erin got up Tuesday morning and readied herself for work as if it was any other day. Because her dreams had been mostly centered on Corey, she hadn’t come up with any revelations about how to tell her boss about the possibility that he could be her brother. Instead, she decided to act as normal as possible, as if nothing had changed.