A Compromising Affair. Gwynne Forster

you’d save me something. I didn’t want to awaken Heather and Judson so early, and I haven’t found my way around in their ultramodern kitchen. Who cooked?”

      “Hi,” Pamela said. “I did. Our cook usually isn’t here on weekends, unless we have several houseguests.”

      Almost as soon as they’d finished eating breakfast, the doorbell rang. Pamela drained her coffee cup and got up from the table. “That would be Miles to let us know he has the horses ready. The stallion is named Big Red, and the mare is named Sandy. They respond to their names.”

      After breakfast, they mounted the horses and started for the bridle path, a quarter of a mile beyond Harrington House, where Telford and his family lived. “You are an expert at this, I see. And something tells me that your horse knows it,” Scott said to Denise.

      She patted the horse’s flank. “Horses and I get along like peaches and cream. See how Sandy looked back at me when I patted her. She practically smiled. Men could learn a lot from horses.”

      “Yeah. And so could women. If you caress my flanks the way you caressed hers, I’d smile at you, too. Which way is the river from here?”

      “A little beyond that fork in the road,” she said. “And you’ve never indicated that you want to be patted anywhere, not to mention your flanks. I make it a rule never to read between the lines. If you want me to know something, spell it out. Last time I took something for granted, it ended in disaster.”

      “How long ago was that?”

      “Ten years. Ten long years,” she said wistfully.

      “Since then, I haven’t been within miles of any problems. I learn fast,” she said, immediately wondering whether she’d revealed too much.

      “I’m sorry, Denise. I apologize for being too protective last night, but I guess you’re very adept at handling that. Are we arguing or merely getting to know each other?”

      She pondered how best to respond to his question. She decided to be direct and honest with him, and slowed her mount to a trot. He did the same.

      She gazed around at the perfect July morning, flowers in bloom, birds chirping and flitting around and squirrels scampering across the horse trail. “For years, Pamela has said that I don’t show people who I am. She says I’m cool, even when I’m interested in something or someone. If she’s right, I have misled a lot of people in my lifetime.”

      “So we are not arguing. Good. The day we met at Judson’s barbecue, you were warm and approachable,” he said. “Maybe it was because of those worn jeans. The ones you’re wearing today are brand-new. Let’s tether the horses and walk awhile or sit on one of those benches and look at the river.”

      “Okay. I love to look at the water. There’s something magical about it.”

      He dismounted, walked over to Denise and raised his arms, and she lowered herself into them. “What would you think if I said I want you to fall in love with me?”

      Her lower jaw dropped and, to her own surprise, her fingers gripped his shoulders. “Be careful, Scott. You impress me as a man who measures his words carefully.”

      He held her closer. “Then I’ll phrase it differently. Will you give us a chance to see where we can take this relationship?”

      “Is there some reason why you don’t kiss me? You’ve had three opportunities, and you’ve never taken them.”

      “I pride myself on being a gentleman and treating women with respect. Right now, I am at the point of explosion, and I don’t trust myself to get any closer to you.”

      She could feel the tips of her nipples tingle as her heartbeat raced. What would he be like and how would she feel if his superhuman control deserted him? Her head told her not to tempt him, but her body paid no attention.

      “How will I know I want to give us a chance?” she asked him, ignoring the consequences.

      He stepped back, gazed at her for a second, took her hand and walked to a wooden bench facing the river and sat down beside her. She rested her head on his shoulder and snuggled close to him. His arm eased around her and tightened. She gripped his waist with her right hand, and then mindlessly she let her hand stroke and caress him. She heard him take a sharp intake of breath, and a second later, she was sitting in his lap. The fingers of his hand pressed the side of her right breast, and his other hand clutched the back of her head.

      “What kind of proof do you need in order to decide whether you’ll give this relationship a shot?”

      “Stop teasing me, Scott.”

      A hoarse groan seeped out of him, and at last she felt his mouth on her. Shivers coursed through her as he tightened his grip on her, as his tongue traced the rim of her lips and pried them open. He invaded her mouth, and like a flame doused in gasoline, heat surged through her body until she nearly exploded. She felt hot, as though her body could catch fire. His tongue sampled every crevice of her mouth, every centimeter of it. She heard herself moan and had neither the will nor the power to stop it.

      His fingers stroked and teased her breasts until she cried out. “I can’t stand it. Do something. Anything!”

      He slipped his hand into her bra, released her left breast and rolled her nipple between his fingers, while his tongue swirled in her mouth as she inhaled it deeper into hers. As her moans escalated, she began crossing and uncrossing her legs, sought the friction she so desperately needed. He dipped his head and suckled her nipple in his mouth. Within seconds, he was hard and bulging against her. She didn’t withdraw, but moved closer to him.

      “Denise!”

      “More,” she said. “More!”

      “Sweetheart! Baby. I’m on the verge of…” He abruptly pulled away from her. “Sweetheart, if we were in someplace private, we’d be making love right now. Do you realize that?”

      “Yes,” she whispered, shaken and still trembling with need. “I’ve never felt like that before, and I…I’ve never lost control like that.”

      She couldn’t tell him how badly she had wanted him inside of her and how badly she still did.

      “Give me a chance, Denise. I want to give you everything that a man can give a woman, and I don’t mean material things, either. Are you listening to me?”

      “After what just happened between us, Scott, I’d be foolish not to. I can’t believe I let myself—”

      He interrupted her. “Let yourself go? I’m on cloud nine knowing that you trusted me that much.” Suddenly, his face clouded in a frown. “Are you afraid to trust me?” Scott said. “Why? Have I done anything that suggests I’m not trustworthy? Talk to me!”

      “No, you haven’t. Quite the opposite. It was easy to…to let things move along. I thought physical attraction was the only thing I had to deal with. But now—”

      “Now, you have to deal with your feelings. Don’t make me pay for whatever happened in the past.” He looked over his shoulder toward the horses. “Red and Sandy don’t seem to be having a problem. If she’s in heat, we’ll have to walk home.”

      Thank God, she could finally laugh. How good it felt!

      He asked her what was so funny. “If she was in heat, Scott, Drake wouldn’t have let her get within a mile of that stallion, and she would never have been so docile when I was riding her.”

      He stared at her. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

      “You bet. Mares don’t like to be denied, any more than women do.” With that, she stood. “Let’s ride downstream. It’s beautiful down there, where the river curves.”

      He slowly raised his six-foot-four-inch frame from the bench. “Fortunately, I’ve learned to control evidence of my sexual frustrations,” he said. “But as Scarlett O’Hara said, ‘Tomorrow is another