The Mighty Quinns: Teague. Kate Hoffmann

took her hand and tucked it inside his jacket, pressing her palm to his chest. “Nervous,” he whispered, a smile curling the corners of his mouth.

      “It’s been a while,” she admitted. “For you, too?”

      He nodded. Teague took his horse’s reins in his other hand and led Hayley toward the shack. He untied Molly’s reins and secured both horses to the hitching rail before grabbing his saddlebags. Then he took her hand and they walked up the steps. Hayley paused on the porch. If this shack looked anything like Wallaroo did, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go inside.

      “It’s all right,” he said, opening the door.

      Hayley waited as he lit an oil lamp. A wavering light filled the shack and she walked inside. Nothing had changed. It was exactly as it had been ten years before. She’d expected cobwebs and dust, but the interior was surprisingly tidy.

      “I come out here every now and then and do a bit of housekeeping,” Teague said. He set his saddlebags on the small table in the center of the room. “I guess maybe I was hoping I’d find you here one day.” He pulled her into his arms. “And here you are.”

      Teague pushed the door and it swung shut. He slowly drew her jacket down over her arms then tossed it aside. He shrugged out of his own jacket, letting it drop to the rough plank floor behind him.

      When he paused, Hayley reached out and began to unbutton his shirt. She wouldn’t be satisfied until they both were naked and lying next to each other in the narrow bed against the wall. As soon as he saw what she wanted, Teague grabbed the hem of his shirt and yanked it over his head.

      Hayley’s breath froze as she looked at his body in the soft light from the oil lamp. This was no boy. He was Teague, but a different Teague—tall, broad shouldered and finely muscled. Where he’d once had a dusting of hair on his chest, there was now a soft trail from his collarbone to the waistband of his jeans.

      Her hand trembled as she smoothed her fingers over his torso. He reached for her T-shirt and pulled it over her head. His gaze immediately dropped to her breasts and he smiled, running his finger beneath the lacy edge of her bra. “Pretty,” he said. “I now have hair on my chest and you have expensive underwear.”

      “I guess we really have grown up,” Hayley teased.

      Slowly, they continued to undress each other, tossing aside items of clothing one by one. When he was left in his boxers and she in her panties and bra, they stopped. Years ago, she’d always been a bit apprehensive about getting completely naked. It was the only thing that made her feel vulnerable.

      But Hayley wasn’t a girl anymore. And she wanted to show Teague she was ready to make love to him as a woman, completely free and uninhibited. She reached back and unhooked her bra, then let it slide down her arms. Catching her thumbs in the lacy waistband of her panties, she pulled them down over her hips. Then, without hesitating, she reached over and skimmed his boxers down, his erection springing upright as the waistband passed over his groin.

      Hayley straightened and let her eyes drift over his body, taking in all the details. Teague had been a lanky young man, but now he was a fully formed male, with a body that would make any woman weak in the knees.

      “God, you are beautiful,” he murmured, reaching out to run his hand over her shoulder. “But then, you always were.”

      “We’ve both changed,” she said.

      “One thing hasn’t changed,” Teague countered. “I still want you as much as I did the first time we made love.”

      “And I want you,” she said.

      Teague pulled her against him, soft flesh meeting hard muscle. He was so much taller now, and stronger, and she was surprised by how fiercely he took control. But this was still Teague, still sweet and gentle as he laid her on the bed, then stretched out beside her.

      How many times had she fantasized about this? And it had always been the same, the two of them, here in this place, lying naked in each other’s arms. Now that her fantasy had come true, she didn’t want it to end. Was it possible for the scene to play out again and again, not in her head, but in a brand-new reality?

      THE SENSATION OF Hayley’s skin meeting his set Teague’s desire ablaze. Though he’d often thought back to their times together, he hadn’t remembered feeling this incredible. Her skin was silk, her scent like an exotic aphrodisiac. And her body was made to be slowly explored.

      Making love with her now would be different from when they were teenagers. They’d both had other partners, and experience was always the best teacher. He stretched out above her, bracing his weight on his hands as he kissed her. But he was like a man parched with thirst. There had been no other women for him, not like Hayley. Desire had been fleeting, something easily satisfied by a one-night stand. But this was much more. As their mouths met again and again, teasing, tasting, he challenged her to surrender.

      Her hands smoothed over his face, and every time he drew back, her eyes met his. There was no doubt about what she wanted. Desire suffused her expression, from her damp mouth to her half-closed eyes.

      Teague slowly moved his hips and the friction of his cock against her belly sent currents of pleasure shooting through his body. He was hard and ready and longing for the moment when he’d bury himself inside her. But there was no telling how he might react. It felt like the first time, as if every sensation were multiplied a thousand times over. And if he responded as he had that night so long ago, it would be over before it really began.

      Her hands drifted down his chest, then grasped his hips, pulling him into each stroke. She moved beneath him, twisting and arching, deliberately taunting him with what she offered. He wanted to take it, right then and there. But Teague fought the impulse and slowly slid down over her body.

      The bed was narrow, not made for full-scale seduction. In the end, he knelt beside it, his lips trailing kisses from her belly to her thighs. Everything about her was perfect. This was his Hayley, the girl who had owned his heart for all those years. And yet, she was something more now. She was a woman who had the capacity to break that heart all over again.

      Teague didn’t care. He didn’t care if she disappeared from his life tomorrow. Tonight was all he needed. It was a perfect ending, a way to close the book on all the questions. He would be satisfied and he’d sure as hell make certain she was, too.

      Hayley’s fingers tangled in his hair as he continued to explore her body with his lips and his tongue. He waited, wanting her to guide him. And when she did, when she drew him to the spot between her legs, Teague didn’t hesitate.

      He knew exactly how to make a woman writhe with pleasure, how to bring her close to release and then draw her away from the edge. She moaned and whimpered as he took her there, controlling her pleasure with each flick of his tongue.

      But Hayley was impatient with the teasing, and every time he slowed his pace, she tightened her grip on his hair. The pain only added to his need to possess her. Teague brought her close one more time, then slid up along her body.

      He was breathless now, his need driving him to seek her warmth. She reached down between them to stroke his cock and Teague held his breath, determined to maintain control. He knew he’d have to retrieve a condom, but her touch felt so good that he didn’t want her to stop.

      She rolled on top of him, her fingers still firmly wrapped around his shaft, then straddled his thighs. Teague watched her as she bent over and placed a kiss on his belly. As she moved up his chest, his fingers tangled in her hair and he relaxed, grateful for the respite.

      Yet Hayley wasn’t about to stop. She was damp from his tongue and when she shifted above him, he found himself suddenly buried inside her. A tiny gasp slipped from her lips and Teague clutched at her hips, determined to stop her.

      He should have known better. When Hayley wanted something, anything, there was nothing that could stand in her way, safety be damned. And it was obvious what she wanted. “Should we stop?” he whispered. “I brought condoms.”

      “It’s