A Real Cowboy Never Says No by Stephanie Rowe Page A

thing for her to have done, but she could see from the intensity of his gaze that he meant it. By thinking about his horse's well-being, she'd somehow passed some test she doubted he even knew he had. Her heart tightened for him. This wasn't simply a man whose kisses ignited a passion in her. It was a man who'd suffered greatly as a child, and dedicated his life toward keeping his family together, a man who was touched by the fact she'd cared about his horse...a man who was afraid he'd break her if he breathed on her.
    She smiled, her heart softening as she ran her fingers over his cheek. "You're a good man," she said softly. "Your brothers are lucky to have you."
    He went still, and for a moment, she thought she'd said the wrong thing by bringing up his brothers. Of course it had been a mistake. His brothers were his reality, the meaning of his life, the rock that had held him together for so long...and she was not a welcome part of it. "Listen, I don't want to interfere—"
    He cut her off with a kiss, a kiss that was almost desperate with need. The fierceness of the kiss broke through her walls, and she wanted to cry with the intensity of her response. She understood the loneliness that drove him, because she'd lived it with AJ, and because she'd experienced it in the years since her parents' car accident.
    Chase was so alive, so passionate, a survivor who had transcended his past and become an indomitable force. Still kissing her, he eased her backward, until he was on her, his weight pressing into the bed. It felt so good to be beneath him, to feel his warmth and strength enveloping her. Her entire body practically vibrated with a need for him, a need that was nothing like what had driven her into AJ's arms.
    AJ had been about finding comfort with a friend in the midst of devastating grief. This moment with Chase was about her own need as a woman. It was about Chase as a man. It was lust and desire, and something more, an attraction and a source of strength greater than she was. She tugged at his shirt, pulling it out of his jeans, needing to feel the man beneath the rugged exterior.
    He eased off her and dragged his shirt over his head, showing a lean body cut with the muscles of a man accustomed to a physical life. Scars crisscrossed his flesh, and her heart tightened at the reminder of all he'd suffered. She instinctively sat up and pressed a kiss to the one over his heart, a jagged line that looked like a knife had torn his flesh apart. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
    His fingers tangled in her hair, and he went still as she kissed another mark on his ribs. "It's okay," he said softly. "It was a long time ago."
    "Never long enough," she said, as she kissed a scar on the front of his shoulder. "It's always too raw," she said. "I know it is."
    Chase felt his entire body shudder as Mira kissed each of his scars. He didn't even think about them anymore, but having her isolate them one by one brought them all roaring back to life. But it felt different now. Instead of flashbacks of the pain and fear he felt as a kid, his muscles relaxed, releasing the tension that he'd been holding for so long. His muscles trembled as they let go, as if they didn't even remember how to be normal.
    Then, she rose to her knees, as if to go around him and see his back. He stopped her, pulling her against him. "My turn," he said.
    She smiled as he bent his head, the intoxicating smile of a woman who had stopped his world on its axis. He kissed her, this time a slow seduction. He tasted her lips with careful purposefulness, taking the time to slide his tongue across every inch of her mouth, memorizing the feel and taste of her.
    He started to lower her to the bed again, and she pushed at his chest. "Boots?"
    "Boots?" He nibbled his way down her neck. "What about them?" He had no idea what she was talking about. All he could focus on was her.
    "I think they're super sexy and everything, but I don't want to be the woman who isn't even worth