Hannah Howell (12 page)
Authors: Stolen Ecstasy
After briefly debating marching right after her, Hunter sat down to eat first. He ignored the amusement of the other men, although it was hard to hide his shock when he actually saw a grin on Tom’s usually impassive face. Hunter felt some form of sustenance was needed before facing Leanne. He also needed to find out more about what had happened while he had been squabbling with Lucia.
“So Luke attacked her?” He aimed his question at all three men.
Leaning back in his chair and lighting the cigarette he had just rolled, Tom nodded. “Jumped her while she was alone. None of us saw him return. I heard what was going on when I got back. Told him to get off of her. He didn’t. Tried to draw on me.” Tom shrugged and took a long drag on his cigarette.
“Well, I thank you.”
“No need. That’s one thing I don’t turn my back on.”
“I thought he was settled with a whore at the cantina. I saw him there.”
“Yeah, and he saw you go to Lucia. Figured you’d left Leanne free for the taking,” Charlie growled.
“He figured wrong, didn’t he.”
“She shouldn’t oughta be treated like that.”
“Jed’s right,” Charlie said before Hunter could speak. “You don’t want to be bothered with her no more, say so, and me and Jed will take care of her. Better that than you keeping her part of some stable. She ain’t like Lucia. She ain’t no whore.”
“I know that.” Hunter pushed away his now empty plate. “This really isn’t any of your business.”
“Me and Jed are making it our business.”
It was hard, but Hunter hid his surprise. Charlie and Jed had never gone against him. In fact, they never went against anybody. Yet, there they sat looking identically belligerent, clearly intending to fight about this particular matter.
“Are you now. That still doesn’t make it your concern. However, to placate your spinsterish curiosity, I’ll tell you that I didn’t go to Lucia for a rutting. I went to tell her adios, to make sure she didn’t come here. Satisfied?” He felt almost guilty over his harshness when both men flushed. “Luke told her about Lucia?”
“Reckon so,” Jed replied. “We didn’t say it direct, but we mighta hinted it enough for her to figure Luke was talking true.”
Hunter swore. Innocent though he was, it was going to be awkward at best to convince Leanne. Maybe if he went in and bled on her a little he could at least win some sympathy, he thought wryly as he glanced down at his wound.
“Lucia do that?”
“Yeah, Tom. She ran out of things to throw and came at me with a knife.”
“Lucky she didn’t have a gun,” muttered Charlie.
“She calm when you left?”
Hunter finished his coffee before answering Tom. “Disarmed but threatening.”
“She bears watching.”
“What can she do?” Hunter was not sure an infuriated whore was worth worrying about, but suddenly he wondered if he was being careless.
“You like surprises?”
“No, dammit. All right, we’d better keep an eye on her until we’re sure she won’t try to exact revenge for imagined slights.” He stood up. “Well, I’m for getting this seen to and get ting some rest.”
“You sure she’ll let you in there?” Charlie eyed the closed bedroom door warily as Hunter headed towards it.
“Oh, she’ll let me in. The question is whether she lets me stay in there or throws me out on my ear.” He smiled crookedly and opened the door.
As Hunter shut the door quietly behind him, Leanne barely paused in brushing out her hair. It was not until he sat down on the bed that she deigned to take any real notice of him. He eyed her as if daring her to complain. She decided she dared as she turned to look at him.
“I would not get too comfortable if I were you.”
“No? When I left this morning this was still my bed.”
“A bed you have graciously allowed me to use,” she ground out, “and I have decided that I would prefer to sleep alone.”
“Why?”
“You can ask that after what you have done?”
“I haven’t done a thing today that you should get annoyed about.”
“Really.” Her voice was heavy with scornful disbelief. “From where I sit it smells like you have had yourself a fine old time.”
“She threw perfume at me.”
He sounded so calm and sincere that she felt inclined to believe him. That only added to her anger. Lucretia Borgia probably sounded sincere too as she told her victims it was a health tonic she served, a nasty voice whispered in her head. She refused to let herself be hoodwinked by a few softly spoken words holding the ring of truth.
“I’m getting blood on the bed.”
Giving a small, exasperated sigh, she gathered up strips of linen to tend to his wound. Hunter never took his gaze from her as she helped him strip down to his trousers, then washed and bandaged his wound.
For a brief moment he wondered why he was even bothering to explain himself. He was doing it simply because he wanted to, because he felt she deserved some explanation. She was totally dependent upon him, a victim swept up in the mess he was in. She had given him her innocence but pressed for no promises. She had her pride. He also admitted to himself that he did not like her thinking that he could treat her so callously.
“I was not rolling about in lustful abandon with Lucia,” he finally said, his voice quiet but firm.
She glanced up at him, noting how directly he met her gaze. “Then why go to her at all?”
“A reasonable question.” He thought about the best way to answer. “I knew that she’d come around the minute she heard I was here. I wanted to avoid that.”
“So what if she did?”
“Are you telling me I was wrong to be worried about a former lover meeting a present. lover?”
She decided not to answer that, on the grounds that she might incriminate herself. “Former?”
“Very former. Unfortunately, she never seemed to accept that we were through. I went over there to be sure that she understood.” He sat down beside her on the bed, noticing that she no longer looked quite so furious. “She is hot-tempered”—he touched his bandaged wound—“as you can see, and possessive. She claims promises were made. It’s a lie. I bought her just like hundreds of men before me and made no promises whatsoever. I knew she was a mistake from the beginning, but she was handy, cheap, and I had an itch.”
Although she knew those hard words were not directed at her, she felt their sting. They described her as well. She tried to turn away, but he grasped her firmly by the chin and forced her to face him.
“No, little one, it’s not the same.”
“I didn’t say—”
“Didn’t have to. You looked like I’d hit you. She’s a whore. You’re not.”
“Some might disagree.”
“And they’d be wrong. Hypocritical as well, I’d wager. I don’t usually speak so harshly about women like Lucia. Who am I to judge? But she earned the words. She could be married to the richest don, a dozen kids at her feet and a member of the church choir, and she’d still be a whore. I didn’t want her coming anywhere near you.”
He brushed kisses over the bruises on her cheeks. “I should have been here.”
His soft words brought back the horror of that moment with Luke. She shuddered, then shook the memory away. It was a lot nicer to hear what he was saying concerning herself. The words were not sweet or romantic, but they eased a lot of her pain.
“You can’t watch me every minute of the day and night.”
She was studying him, and he endured the examination patiently, meeting her searching gaze without wavering. It was not until she looked away, frowning in thought, that he allowed himself the pleasure of looking at her. Her hair was loose and freshly brushed, falling down her back in tempting waves. She wore only her camisole and drawers, the former lacy and feminine, the latter plain and masculine. It was an intriguing mix. He decided she was adorable. His patience began to wane.
“Going to let me stay?”
Hoping she was not letting her heart make a complete fool of her, she looked at him. “You didn’t do anything with her?”
Cupping her face in his hands, he answered, “Not a thing save duck a lot.”
“All right.” She stood up. “Lie down and I’ll help you with the rest of your clothes.”
As she started to put out the candles he almost told her he did not need help, but the temptation to let Leanne undress him was too much to resist. When only one candle near the bed remained lit, she started to undress him. As she bent to undo his trousers her hair fell forward to shield her face but he still knew she was blushing. Her slim neck was colored by it. He made little effort to hide how her actions aroused him. He almost laughed at the way she flipped the sheet over his lower half before slipping into bed at his side.
Leanne tried to calm the feelings running rampant within her. Although she had seen him naked before, it had always been with the heat of passion dulling her sense of modesty. He was so beautiful in her eyes, so strong and gloriously male. She was startled from her admiration when his arm slipped around her waist and he gently yanked her closer to him.
“What are you doing?” She fought to keep her voice calm, even stern, but there was still a hint of breathlessness in it.
“I thought we were going to christen this bed tonight.”
Despite the fact that he was kissing her ear, she struggled for common sense. “You’re wounded.”
“A scratch.”
“More than a scratch and it needs to be pampered for a while. What you suggest requires a little more effort on your part than you should expend right now.” She was disappointed but knew it would be better for him if he simply rested.
“I might not have to exert myself at all.”
“Oh? How’s that?”
“You could be clever.”
“Clever? Hunter”—she blushed—“I’m still new at this. I don’t think I’ve reached clever yet.”
“You’re probably right.” He brushed a kiss over her mouth and closed his eyes. “Tomorrow night for certain.”
Leanne glanced up at his face. He looked relaxed, ready to go to sleep. There had been no note of annoyance or disappointment in his voice. Intuition whispered that he felt it, however.
Using a light touch, one she hoped was sensually pleasing, she slid her hand over his chest and slowly down his side. Having made that first bold step, she began to get some ideas. A few were gleaned from the way Hunter made love to her and a few were straight out of some of the scandalous dreams she had been afflicted with since meeting the man. Her thoughts made her blush, but she did not allow that surge of modesty to deter her.
Hunter felt his drowsiness fade with each stroke of her hands. He came wide awake when her tongue swept over his nipple. Sliding his hands into her thick hair he gasped when she gently suckled him.
“Leanne . . .”
“Shush.” Caressing his lean hips, she kissed her way towards his taut stomach.
“Shush?”
“Mmmm. Shush.” She dipped her tongue into his navel and felt him shudder. “If you say too much I might chicken out.”
“God forbid.” His voice was already thick with desire, a desire that soared to dizzying heights as she drew idle designs on his inner thighs with her tongue.
He closed his eyes. Using every ounce of will he had, he struggled to keep a tight rein on the passion she was stirring in him. He wanted to enjoy her lovemaking for as long as possible. What meager restraint he was able to maintain completely shattered when first her hand, then her mouth, touched upon the source of the aching need gripping him so tightly. He cried out, his whole body jerking in reaction to the shaft of pleasure that tore through him.
Surprised and a little concerned about his strong reaction, Leanne backed off. He had kissed her in such an intimate way once and, although shock had forced her to push him away, she had felt pleasure. She had assumed he would too, but now she wondered. She hoped she had not done wrong, for making love to him had stirred her own desires to a feverish pitch. The last thing she wanted was for him to call a halt.
“Wrong?” she whispered.
“Hell, no. Right.” His grip tightening in her hair, and he urged her mouth back. “So damned right I don’t think I can take too much of it.”
Moments later, he knew he had to stop her. He dragged her up his body, then eased her down upon him until they were joined. The warm welcome he found, proof that she had been fully aroused simply by making love to him, stole what little restraints he still had.
Although startled slightly by the new position, Leanne was soon caught up in Hunter’s intense desire. She drove them quickly towards the gratification of their needs. Weak from the strength of the release they shared, she collapsed in his arms. It was comforting to find that he was trembling as much as she. Surprisingly, she did not feel embarrassed at her daring, or at the pleasure they had shared.
“I thought you said you weren’t clever,” he murmured when they finally found the energy to separate and she curled up by his side.
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