Second Sunrise Cowboy (Second Chance Book 8) by Rhonda Lee Carver Page B

desire came in waves, bittersweet. Sensations traveled down her, over her, through her. Sparks flashed through her veins and gathered like an inferno at her throbbing core.
    She stood on tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to get closer to the man who erupted such yearning within her. He broke her hold and dipped his head, kissing her breasts leaving a moist trail down the cleavage as his fingers slipped across her cotton covered slit.  Her pulse raced, her breath became uncontrolled pants. She wanted his mouth on her, everywhere, especially where his hands had touched.
    He gripped her ass again as a deep moan escaped his throat. He slid his hand along her trembling secret spot and she widened her thighs. Her panties became a barrier. She gyrated her hips, urging him to touch the folds without the barricade.
    Yes. So. Close.
    Suddenly he stilled. His breaths came in shallow wheezes as he stood straight, his gaze meeting hers in question. “Did you hear that?” he whispered.
    She hadn’t heard anything but the heavy beating of her racing heart.
    Their breaths mingled as they waited, bodies molded together.
    “Daddy?”
    Becca’s voice ripped through the silence like a blast of explosives. Cash jerked and stepped backward. Dakota slipped further into the bathroom out of the girl’s sight. Space. She needed to move farther, but the small bathroom didn’t allow her to go where she needed. She attempted to catch her breath, but it wasn’t easy when Cash still stood so close, his large body hiding her from Becca’s view on the other side of the doorway.
    He glanced at her, his chest still rose and fell, then he looked at Becca.“What is it, Becca?”
    “I need a drink of water,” Becca asked.
    “Sure, sweetheart.”
    Cash left the room and Dakota stayed pressed against the tiled wall trying to gain her normal breath. The man did amazing things to her body, to her soul. One touch and she was lapping at him like a thirsty animal. Her body demanded things her mind couldn’t quite comprehend.
    She heard water running in the kitchen, the tinkling of a glass, and mumbled voices. Dakota waited patiently, not moving. She heard soft footsteps going up the stairs. Seconds turned into long minutes.
    And then Cash returned.
    His chest wasn’t rising and falling as fast and some of the demand had left his gaze.
    He cursed and rubbed his hand down his face as he handed her a T-shirt. She didn’t need to hear his words to understand what he was silently telling her. Taking it, she pulled it on. His smell lingered on the soft, cotton fabric that fell to her thighs.
    He cursed, his warm gaze on hers with unleashed turmoil. “This was a mistake.”
     
    ****
     
    Dakota hadn’t slept but a wink or two.
    Lying in her aunt’s bed, she stared at the ceiling, her mind drifting to calloused hands and warm lips. Her dreams had been haunted by what happened last night—Cash’s lips on hers, her neck, her breasts, and his coiled muscles under her fingertips.
    His last words, “This was a mistake,” rolled around inside of her head. What exactly did he mean? She could have asked him, but instead, she’d left his house like she was escaping a monster.
    Cash had sparked something within her and he’d backed away so quickly that it’d taken her a good hour to start breathing normally again.
    Although she’d realized Becca coming downstairs had definitely put a wrap up on any chance of things going further, rejection lingered in her bones. She knew it was crazy of her to think Cash had rejected her, but in a way, he did.
    She’d never had low self-esteem, but what woman wouldn’t feel disappointed if a man told her he’d made a mistake by kissing her?
    Cash wouldn’t want a woman like her anyway. She wasn’t a country girl and she certainly didn’t have large assets like Lanie Madru.
    Unfortunately, she had started seeing possibility. Had she only seen what she wanted to see?
    Finally dragging herself from bed,