She raced over to him and knelt down beside him, trying to ignore the fact that the only clothing he had on was a pair of black briefs. “Derringer? Are you all right?” she asked, a degree of panic clearly in her voice. “Derringer?”
He slowly opened his eyes and she couldn’t stop the fluttering of her heart when she gazed down into the gorgeous dark depths. The first thing she noticed was they were glassy, as if he’d taken one drink too many…or probably one pill too many. She then took a deep breath when a slow smile touched the corners of his lips and those knock-a-girl-off-her-feet dimples appeared in his cheeks.
“Well, now, aren’t you a pretty thing,” he said in slurred speech. “What’s your name?”
“Puddin’ Tame,” she replied smartly. His actions confirmed he’d evidently taken one pill too many since he was acting as if he’d never seen her in his life.
“That’s a real nice name, sweetheart.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, cowboy. Would you like to explain why you’re down here and not up there?” She motioned toward his bed.
“That’s easy enough to answer. I went to the bathroom and when I got back, someone moved the bed and I missed it.”
She tried keeping the smile from her face. “You sure did miss it. Come on and hold on to me while I help you back into it.”
“Someone might move it again.”
“I doubt it,” she said, grinning, while thinking even when he was under the influence of medication, the deep, husky sound of his voice could do things to her. Make the nipples of her breasts strain against her damp shirt. “Come on, you have to be hurting something awful.”
He chuckled. “No, in fact I feel good. Good enough to try riding Sugar Foot again.”
She shook her head. “Not tonight you won’t. Come on, Derringer, let me help you up and get you back in bed.”
“I like it down here.”
“Sorry, pal, but you can’t stay down here. You either let me help you up or I’ll call one of your brothers to help you.”
Now it was he who shook his head. “I don’t want to see any of them again for a while. All they know how to say is, I told you so.”
“Well maybe next time you’ll listen to them. Come on.”
It took several attempts before she was able to help Derringer to his feet. It wasn’t easy to steer him to the bed, and she suddenly lost her balance and found herself tumbling backward onto his bed with him falling on top of her.
“I need you to shift your body a little to get off me, Derringer,” she said when she was able to catch her breath.
He flashed those sexy dimples again and spoke in a voice throaty with arousal. “Um, why? I like being on top of you, Puddin’. You feel good.”
She blinked and then realized the extent of her situation. She was in bed—Derringer’s bed—and he was sprawled on top of her. It didn’t take much to feel the bulge of his erection through his briefs that was connecting with the area between her legs. A slow burn began inching from that very spot and spreading all through her, entering her bloodstream and making her skin burn all over. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the nipples of her breasts, which were already straining, hardened like pebbles against his bandaged chest.
As if sensing her body’s reaction to their position, he lifted his face to stare down at her and the glassy eyes that snagged hers were so drenched with desire that her breath got caught in her throat. Something she’d never felt before, a pooling of heat, settled between her legs, wetting her panties, and she watched his nostrils flare in response to her scent.
The air between them was crackling more than the thunder and lightning outside, and his chest seemed to rise and fall with each and every beat of her heart.
Fearing her own rapid reaction to their predicament, she made an attempt to gently shove him off her, but found she was no match for his solid weight.
“Derringer…”
Instead of answering her, he reached up and cupped her face into his hands as if her mouth was water he needed to sip, and before she could turn her mouth away from his, with perfect aim, he lowered his mouth and began devouring hers.