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be?
    He fanned his fingers over her side close to her breast.
    “Utah, there are condoms in the drawer.”
    He froze, the happy expression rapidly fading. Their gazes held, and she tried to convey how wrecked she really was—from his leaving, her stupid decision, and from the mess she’d made afterward by marrying someone who drank too much from the start.
    “Dammit, I shoulda come after you and begged you to go away with me, Caroline.”
    She opened her mouth to speak, but he flipped off her and extended a long arm toward the nightstand. She stared at his big, tanned shoulder while he found the box of condoms.
    He set the twelve-pack on the tabletop with a small thump. Irritation rolled off him.
    “You don’t like that I keep condoms in my nightstand.”
    Piercing her in his gaze, he said, “I don’t like that I was stupid enough to stay away so long. You should be my wife by now.”
    Just the word “wife” sent her heart racing. Back when he’d given her a slim engagement ring with a diamond chip, she’d been far from afraid. Now the entire institution of marriage spelled something entirely different in her mind.
    Yet the way Utah drawled those words sent undeniable warmth to her heart.
    She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and inhaled his spicy scent. She was probably making the biggest mistake of her life, but she didn’t want to stop. “Be glad I’m the kind of woman who needs condoms.”
    He grunted and removed a packet from the box. She could show him the trick where she opened the foil with her teeth, extracted the condom with her tongue, and then rolled the rubber over his shaft without using her hands, but he probably wouldn’t appreciate her knowledge.
    When he cuddled close, she curled her body around him and let the longing swell again. She’d spent too many years waiting for this day not to take full advantage.
    Caroline removed the packet from his hands and straddled his big, hard body. “I like having you between my legs again.”
    His hair tumbled into his blazing eyes. Clamping his hands on her waist, he licked his lips with mesmerizing thoroughness. “Get that rubber on me, cowgirl. It’s time for that long, slow ride.”
    She encased him in the barrier, grinning like an idiot the whole time. Only when she slid down his thick shaft did she sober. Her breath caught in her throat.
    “Hell, baby. You’re so fucking perfect.” He grasped her hips and set the pace. After a full minute of his mushroomed head pounding deep in her body, her wild need took over, and she started to move.
    When she went too fast, he whispered, “Long and slow.”
    The sensation in her chest scared the hell out of her, but she couldn’t stop now. She’d escaped Jeremy and her former life so she could have experiences like this. Though she knew her encounter with Utah was far from…what had he said? A one-time thing.
    Riding him with abandon, driving her pussy down on his big cock, she leaned over and kissed him with every ounce of love coursing through her veins. He locked her to him, his face fierce.
    “Take what you need, baby.”
    “I should have shown up at the county line.”
    With a groan, he thrust his tongue into her mouth, and both of them slipped over the ledge. Tumbling common sense over boot heels, she clung to Utah and rode out her pleasure. She collapsed atop him, and he lashed her body tight against his, breathing so hard her hair fluttered.
    “Tomorrow I’ll wake up and discover I’ve typed this story out on my computer screen instead of my feature story.”
    His chest vibrated with a laugh. “Maybe this is your feature story, Caroline.”
    She tucked her head to his neck and closed her eyes. “Whatever it is, it feels good.”
    “I’m glad. Because I need to ask you something important.”
    “What’s that?” Satisfaction was spreading through her like warm molasses, but a simple stroke to her nipple would spear her with lust all over again.
    He tightened his hold on her. The