His Abductor's Desire (4 page)

The brush of his tongue against hers sent a shudder of pleasure along the length of her spine, while at the same time his fingers lightly pinched the nipple they had been teasing. She cried out into his kiss, certain her body was about to erupt into flames. He captured her mouth again and thrust his tongue inside in a rhythm that showed her exactly what he planned to do to her body. She quickly caught on to the game and parried his every thrust.

He groaned softly as he pulled away and moved down her neck, reigning openmouthed kisses and nipping the tender flesh on his way to her breast. The purely male sound thrilled her and she arched herself against him. He responded by gently rocking his hips into hers, grinding his thickened erection against her aching center.

“Charity?” Dew’s voice seemed to come from nowhere. “Are you in here?”

The fog of arousal lifted just enough for Charity to realize that Dew called to her from the door of the barn.

“Yes,” she called back, but her voice was husky and failed to carry far. The very sound of it made her blush. “I-I’m here,” she tried again. Her hands came up to Brent’s shoulders and pushed him back.

He barely moved except to lock his gaze with hers and his hands tightened possessively at her waist.

“Do you need help?” The question was hesitant.

Did she? Yes, Charity decided, she needed help walking away from the temptation currently enfolded in the embrace of her legs. With the appropriate amount of humility, she quietly began to disentangle herself from him. But for a heart-stopping moment he refused to let her go and she found herself locked in a silent battle of wills. His gaze implored—no, his gaze basically ordered her to stay, but she couldn’t.

“Not this way...please.”

“If you were wearing a skirt I’d be inside you by now.”

She swallowed a moan and hoped he didn’t feel the way her sex pulsed at those words. She dared not disagree because it was the truth.

“Go.” His voice was gruff as he reluctantly pushed away from her.

Charity didn’t look back as she got the hell out of there.

* * *

Brent waited until he heard the large length of wood that secured the barn door fall into place before he sank to his knees in the straw, eyes closed tight as he battled the desire that raged in his body. She still wanted him. If nothing else, he knew that much and the knowledge was like a balm to his tortured soul.

But even more, he realized the depth of his wanting for her. Not only for the girl he remembered, but for the hellion who had come to life in his arms. And for the first time he let himself question exactly what it was he felt for her.

Chapter Four

That night Charity lay in bed split between rejoicing that Brent obviously still desired her and silently chastising herself for wanting to go to him again. She must have moved at least twenty times to leave her bed, only to find her reason and force herself to stay. When she did finally find sleep, her tortured dreams were filled with Brent. Brent kissing her, touching her, making love to her. She awoke the next morning wanting him more than when she had finally gone to sleep and found herself seriously entertaining the idea that maybe she did need to get him out of her system.

With a slight laugh at the ridiculous idea, Charity sat up in bed. But a movement from the ladder caught her attention and she turned her head to see a large frame filling the area above the ladder. Her dream come to life.

For one moment, equal parts terrifying and exhilarating, she thought Brent had escaped and come to her. Then she heard Elle’s commanding voice prodding him into the loft area and her head appeared at the top of the ladder. Charity immediately noticed he had changed into a fresh pair of soft buckskin pants and lawn shirt. She recognized them from the trunk of clothes that had belonged to Dew’s father, where they’d pilfered their own masculine disguises. His hair appeared to be damp, as if he was coming fresh from a bath.

She tried to calm the racing of her heart as she rose from the bed, holding the blanket in a death grip.

“You might have warned me,” she spat at Elle.

The other woman only smiled a pleasant “Good morning,” as she came up the ladder, forcing their captive farther into the cramped sleeping area. Brent looked less than amused as he stood there, neck craned to the side to avoid the low roof with hands chained before him, while Charity made her awkward way around him. She intentionally ignored the way her backside brushed against him as she scooted past.

The sun wasn’t up yet, but even so, Charity usually awoke if she heard Elle and Dew stirring below. It irked her that she had slept through the morning’s activities. She hastily grabbed clothes from her chest and went downstairs.

By the time Elle came back down, Charity was dressed and helping prepare the horses for travel.

“Sorry for the rude awakening, my dear. I assumed you would be up.”

Charity eyed her doubtfully but didn’t voice a reply.

“Are you sure you’ll be safe with him?” Dew asked in a moment of doubt as she mounted her mare.

Charity lied. “I’ll be fine. Just you be careful and get down mountain before the snow comes.”

Dew nodded. “It’ll be here before nightfall.”

Elle mounted her own horse and looked down at her. “Please talk to him.” She grinned before following Dew out of the small clearing.

Charity rolled her eyes, but spent the rest of the day avoiding the cabin as much as possible. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Brent again. It was that she didn’t know how to behave when she did. She was still his captor, but somehow she felt their roles had reversed. Dammit, how could the man be in chains but still be so dominating and desirable?

So instead of facing him, Charity spent her time checking and rechecking traps, chopping even more firewood and gathering the last of the berries. Finally the sun began to set and the temperature dropped dramatically. The wind howled through the pass and it was so cold it made her eyes tear. She made one last trip to the barn to make sure their horses had enough feed and water and then resigned herself to the fact that she would have to go inside.

As she walked to the cabin she came to a decision. She wanted Brent, badly, and if the encounter in the barn was any indication, he wanted her. Just remembering his touch warmed her. She needed to face him and purge him from her system. There had been times since their flight west when men approached her and she had discouraged any attempts at courtship. At the time she told herself it was because they would get in the way of her plans to avenge her father, but now she knew it was because she had subconsciously compared them all to Brent and found them lacking.

She needed to stop longing for him and the only way to do that was to finally have him. A shiver coiled through her at the thought. Fear? Anticipation? She wasn’t sure. The only thing she was sure of was that it meant giving up her virginity, but it was a small price to pay to exorcise Brent Davenport from her soul. Besides, he was the only man she had ever thought to give it to anyway.

When she stepped through the door to the cabin, she looked up and noted the bed had been moved closer to the railing so his chains could be affixed to the wooden balusters. He was lounging on the bed, apparently reading, but he had stopped when she came in and was now looking down at her with an unreadable expression.

Coward that she was, she quickly looked away and went to prepare their supper. It was a simple stew that had been simmering for the better part of the day, so minutes later she braved the ladder to deliver a bowl to him.

Again he did not speak, but only gave her a look she was unable to interpret.

Charity tried to keep herself from looking at him, knowing it would only make her nervous, but as always, her gaze was drawn to him with a force she was unable to control. Even wearing the simple shirt and buckskin pants he exuded a sophistication and masculine grace that both attracted and intimidated her. His only flaw was that his hair was slightly mussed, as if he’d run his fingers through the dark strands, and really all that did was humanize him and add to his inherent sensuality.

Since she had not spoken to him that day she forced to herself to speak. It was necessary to reestablish her role, even though she was still unclear on what that role was. “Please eat.” The words came out solidly. “We’ll talk afterwards.”

She beat a hasty retreat down the ladder, congratulating herself on getting through that encounter with her dignity intact and turning her thoughts to readying herself for the evening. Could she really do it? But the girl in her subconscious only wondered how soon it would be done.

* * *

An hour later Charity stood before the small table in the curtained off alcove in a far corner and wondered if she was actually insane to consider what she was about to do. She ran the brush through her hair again and then studied herself in the small hand mirror.

Yes. Yes, this was going to happen. Charity actually smiled at her reflection. She needed to live the rest of her life without Brent haunting her. If it took a night or two of sex, then she would happily pay that price.

She took a deep breath and peeked out from behind the curtain of the tiny niche that had been her sanctuary. There was still no movement in the loft. He could be sleeping for all she knew.

One more look in the small hand mirror revealed wild green eyes staring back at her. At least her honeyed brown locks were combed into order. She took another deep breath and gathered the buffalo robe about her more closely, hoping to hide her nakedness until she reached the loft.

On silent feet, she crossed the cabin, stopping only to add wood to the fire, before gingerly climbing the ladder. She dared not look up for fear of losing her nerve if she happened to meet his gaze on the way. When she cleared the ladder, Brent leaned back against the pillows and watched her warily, his book resting at his side. His bowl of stew had been eaten and placed empty on the bedside table next to the lantern.

When she didn’t speak for a moment, he prodded, “If you’re here to talk, please sit down.”

How did he manage to always look so calm and dispassionate? Then a vision of him lunging at her with his chains came back to her and she amended the thought. The memory actually made the nervous flutters in her belly become tingles of anticipation. She pressed her thighs together when she felt a responding flood of heat deep in her belly.

“Do you remember what you said to me yesterday?” She opted to stand.

His brow furrowed as he thought back and then his lips twitched in a smile. “I said a few things.” But his gaze quickly scanned the length of her body and she knew, she
knew
, he was thinking the same thing she was.

“I’ve given it some thought and decided to take you up on your offer.”

He stared at her for a moment, the smile gone, and Charity felt a small thrill of victory that she had shocked him. But he didn’t make it easy. “What offer?”

Her shy gaze faltered for only a moment. “I want you to have sex with me, Brent.”

Chapter Five

After a day spent biding his time until she decided to see him, Brent couldn’t believe what Charity was proposing. Not once since she’d so agreeably brought him dinner had he thought that by “talk” she meant sex. He’d thought, hoped, that perhaps she was ready to talk about the past, to set him free. There were things that needed to be said. But he was too dumbstruck to say anything. And then she let the fur robe fall slowly to the floor, revealing her nakedness. His heart stopped beating and his breath lodged in his throat.

God, she was beautiful. Nothing could have stopped his gaze from roving the curves she revealed. Nothing could have prepared him for the abject and immediate response of his body to hers.

When he could finally find his voice, he tried to hide his response; there was no point in letting her know just how much she held him in thrall. “Until you’re begging for more?” he quipped, remembering the rest of his statement from the day before. But the humor failed to reach his eyes.

“Yes.” She surprised him by meeting his challenge.

As much as he wanted this, and he did want her badly, he had to know why she was doing it. Was it part of her scheme or did she really want him?

“Why?”

* * *

Charity closed her eyes for a moment. She had known this question would come up at some point and had decided honesty was best. After all, she could hardly hide the fact that she wanted him given what she was asking. But philosophical honesty was much easier than giving voice to the words.

“Because I’ve—” She swallowed because the natural progression of that sentence was “loved you since I was seventeen” and that was not what she meant at all. Love had never been a part of this and, quite frankly, it scared her that she had almost said it. Heart racing, she continued, “I’ve wanted you since I was seventeen.”

When he didn’t immediately reply, she opened her eyes to see if he had caught her slip, but he hadn’t moved and was still watching her intently. A muscle twitched in his jaw.

“And you’ve wanted me, too,” she boldly added.

When he still didn’t answer, she moved to pick up the robe, faltering for the first time as she wondered if this had been a bad idea. Maybe she had been wrong.

“Come here.” His voice was soft and hoarse.

Charity moved slowly to the bed and sat next to him, the robe clutched in front of her.

His hand moved almost instinctively to her thigh. “Darling, you—”

“Wait!” Her fingers covered his lips. “That’s the first rule. I don’t want or need any pretending. We both know I’m not your darling. I only want sex, no affectionate names or petting.”

“I’m not allowed to touch you?” His fingers clenched lightly on her thigh.

“Of course you can, but only what’s necessary.”

“Don’t you want to enjoy it?”

“All right, but only as it pertains to pleasure during sex,” she amended.

“Kissing?” He raised an eyebrow and she couldn’t tell if he was mocking her.

She started to say no, but then her gaze went to his lips and she remembered how wonderful they had felt on her body. Heat pooled in her belly. “Not on the mouth.”

“You kissed me on the mouth,” he reminded her in a whisper and suddenly his beautiful face was only inches from her own.

“I’ll refrain in the future.”

“Even if it pertains to pleasure during sex?” he asked just before his mouth covered hers.

Despite herself, she responded with all the pent-up desire inside her. Her lips parted under the firm pressure of his when she felt the delicious sweep of his tongue along her bottom lip. But instead of coming inside like she anticipated, his teeth lightly scraped her lip and he pulled away. When she opened her eyes in disappointment, he was smiling.

“The chains come off.”

“What?” The demand caught her off-guard after such a kiss.

“I’ll agree to your ridiculous terms if you agree to take off my chains.” He raised his arms to show her his bound wrists.

She was already aching and wet for him, the last thing she wanted was a negotiation. “The chains stay on.”

“Then I’m afraid I don’t agree to your terms.”

“How could you not agree?” Her eyes flared in anger. “Don’t try to pretend you don’t want to.” She looked down to confirm what she had already suspected; his erection was clearly outlined against the buckskin pants. “I know you want me. I’m not that innocent.”

If she had shocked him he didn’t show it. “Exactly how innocent are you?” His eyes darkened with an almost predatory gleam as his hands grabbed her arms possessively.

It should have invoked visions of the wolf just before he gobbled up Red Riding Hood, but instead of feeling alarmed, Charity felt her body awaken. She decided not to tell him she was a virgin. He would know soon enough and there was a small chance he would refuse her if he knew beforehand.

“It doesn’t matter unless you’d like to discuss your rather amorous past.”

“Fair enough. You’re right, I do want you.” As he spoke, Brent slowly lowered her across the head of the bed and crawled on top of her, which was possible thanks to Elle’s uncanny foresight in giving him long chains. “But if you insist I stay chained then I’m going to have you the way I want...the way I’ve wanted for a long time.” He ended quietly and she realized that was the point of the negotiation all along. To have her without any rules.

Only a fool could have denied that request. As she stared up into the depths of his gorgeous, sapphire eyes, she nodded, perfectly content with letting him do with her as he would.

He gently tugged the fur from her grasp and pushed it to the floor, but instead of looking over her body as she expected his gaze returned to her face. She felt it sweep her brow and cheekbones, then slowly move along the curve of her jaw before touching her lips and lingering there in a caress almost as intimate as a kiss. When he finally looked into her eyes, her lips parted in a hushed gasp at the intensity she saw there.

“B-Brent,” she whispered, her cheeks glowing pink.

He dipped his head then and she thought he might kiss her, but at the last moment his lips brushed her jaw and breathed a soft, “Shhh,” into her ear.

Her skin immediately prickled. Almost at the same time she felt his fingers pluck at an already taut nipple which caused her to arch into him and elicited a sigh from her lips.

“You’re so responsive,” he murmured as his teeth nipped her sensitive lobe. His fingers found her other nipple and gave it similar attention.

“Are you already wet for me?”

Charity closed her eyes, already anticipating pleasure as his hand roamed down her flat stomach to find out. Her thighs parted slightly when his fingers found the curls guarding her womanhood.

“Ah, and so you are,” he whispered in approval and pushed a finger inside, pulling a chain taut across her thigh.

Charity gasped aloud and curled her fingers in the blanket beneath her. His finger pushed in and out of her in a slow rhythm that soon had her hips rocking with the gentle motion. Her thighs fell open in wanton abandon as the pressure within her began to build. She opened her eyes to see him greedily drinking in the sight and Charity knew she should feel shame, but couldn’t find it in her. She only wanted more.

“Please, Brent.” Though she didn’t quite know what she begged him for.

His gaze whipped back to her face and he smiled, a smile that was both taunting and promising. “Soon,” he promised.

He moved his thumb so that he could rub slow circles around her clitoris, making the tender flesh swell and throb. Her hips gave an involuntary buck at the initial sensation but quickly picked up the new rhythm.

“More,” she whispered.

He smiled but didn’t answer as his mouth closed on her breast and he began to feast on a rosy nipple. She arched as a new wave of sensation overtook her.

All too soon he relinquished her nipple. He pushed himself up and sat back on his knees, watching her as he adjusted the front of his pants to accommodate the now uncomfortable swell of his erection. She was flushed from head to toe and writhing in dissatisfaction from the loss of his touch.

Brent partially unfastened his pants to relieve the pressure before gently repositioning her so that her feet were flat on the blanket with knees bent. When he would have pushed her thighs apart to enjoy the view of her open to him, she resisted. It seemed different without his hand there touching her. His gaze locked on hers over the length of her body.

“I’ve waited five years for you. I can’t wait anymore.” His voice was low, husky.

Without a word, her thighs parted for him. He kept his eyes trained on hers until finally he looked to her sex, swollen and glistening in her arousal.

Charity knew a moment of alarm when he moved toward her and would have closed her legs if a hand on each of them hadn’t stopped her. A thrill of forbidden pleasure coiled deep within her as she watched him descend to her sex. Surely he didn’t mean to actually kiss her there? But then his mouth closed over her and she felt his tongue replace the void left by his fingers. It felt like nothing she could have imagined. Her head pressed back into the mattress as her hips rose and her thighs fell to the sides, leaving her shamelessly open to him.

His tongue plundered her relentlessly, until she was writhing beneath him yet again. Before she realized what was happening, she felt the pleasure tightening within her and her body began to tremble.

“Not yet,” Brent ordered and moved away from her.

Charity did cry out then as he left her just short of fulfillment. However, it was a small consolation when she saw he had only moved to sit back on his knees to fully unfasten his pants. The moment his erection sprang free he moved over her with single-minded determination. She gasped when his hardness brushed intimately against her, sending a pulse of pleasure straight to her core. Before she had completely recovered from the unexpected sensation, he aligned himself with her opening and plunged upward with one deep stroke.

The cry of pain that filled the cabin was unmistakable.

Brent froze. “You’re a virgin!” Clearly her virginity had not been expected.

“Yes,” she whispered, eyes closed against the warmth of his shoulder.

He mumbled something but Charity felt the words more than she actually heard them. Resting on one forearm above her, Brent’s other hand gently kneaded her hip, the chain resting heavily between them, and worked its way up to her breast. His lips reined soft kisses on the path from her ear to her cheekbone before finding her mouth. When she responded to him and kissed him back, his hand went back down to guide her leg around his hip.

She moaned softly and felt the stirrings of her previous arousal coming back to life.

Sensing the change in her, Brent turned his head, trailing moist kisses along her cheek until his lips reached the shell of her ear. “Are you all right, darling?”

“Mmm,” was all she could manage but it was enough.

He withdrew maybe an inch, no more, and slowly sank back into her. Charity bucked in response to the unexpected sensation of pleasure when his rigid length stroked against a particularly sensitive spot within her. The pain lingered but only slightly and when he withdrew almost completely only to push home again, the gratification far outweighed the hurt. On the next stroke, her hips rose to meet his.

Brent’s own masculine groan broke through her haze and emboldened her to open her eyes and meet his gaze. He looked back at her with such intensity and tenderness it left her awestruck. Her fingers tangled in his hair to bring his mouth down to hers. Whether she should have avoided a kiss, she didn’t know, but the closeness, the intimacy, was what she needed. Whether she admitted it to herself or not, she craved that from him even more than the sex.

As they kissed, her hands moved to his shoulders and she realized for the first time that he was slightly shaking in his effort to hold back.

She broke the kiss to whisper, “Don’t hold back. I need you.”

He groaned and buried his face in her neck as he began to thrust into her with unrestrained enthusiasm. Charity was unprepared for the way her body responded immediately to the intensity of his arousal. She suddenly wanted him deeper, even though that seemed impossible, and brought her knees up to open herself wider for him. He grabbed her thighs and showed her how to put them high around his back and they both cried out at the new level of pleasure that brought them.

The rhythmic sound of the bed squeaking filled the cabin and she became faintly aware of what an embarrassing and yet completely provocative sound it was, before she had no more conscious thoughts. For one blissful moment she became a creature of pleasure and sensation, lost in the intoxication of him pumping inside her as her sex gripped him and the pressure of her orgasm built. Her hands sought and found his buttocks, leaving fingernail markings with each pump of his hips.

“Come for me, darling.” His voice was harsh and almost unintelligible against her skin but it was enough to help her reach the peak. She cried out her pleasure as her muscles contracted around him, sending Brent into a frenzy of uncoordinated, violent thrusting until he found his release within her.

Charity lay quietly for several minutes, enjoying the pleasant numbness of her body as it recovered from her orgasm and the unexpected pleasure of his body on top of her. They both struggled to regain their breath in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

Finally, he stirred and rose up to look at her. “That was a long time coming.” He stated with a half smile, a small twitch of the lips she had seen numerous times but had forgotten she loved until now, his voice still husky from sex.

It was such an honest statement that she gave a smile which became a laugh when she could hold it in no longer. He laughed, too, and suddenly the words seemed like the funniest understatement ever uttered.

“I never realized it would be so good,” she marveled after the laughter had died out.

Brent’s fingers buried themselves in her hair and he dropped his forehead to hers. “It’s because we were meant for this, Charity.” He meant it. Their lovemaking had been everything he’d been afraid that it might be, terrifying to a twenty-two-year-old intent on freedom, but like coming home to the man he was now.