Riding West (3 page)

Parker was pretty sure at that moment he had died and gone to heaven.

He broke the kiss, the throbbing in his cock and the ache in his testicles making him wonder just how long he would actually last once he was inside her. He kissed the fragile line of her jaw, the small hollow beneath her ear, and whispered, “Let‘s get into bed.”

Not waiting for a reply, he lifted Celia in his arms and laid her down on the soft, patterned blanket. He followed at once, covering her body so his erect cock rubbed her thigh, his mouth taking hers in a kiss that this time was neither gentle nor in the least chaste. He invaded and probed with his tongue, rubbing hers suggestively. Celia opened for him willingly, and the light sensation of her fingers exploring the contours of his shoulders and back made him dizzy with need. His hand cupped her breast as they kissed, and he felt her tremble slightly.

“So beautiful,” he murmured against her lips. “Do you have any idea how you feel to me?” He stroked the abundant fullness of pliant flesh in his hand, his thumb slowly circling the nipple.

“No,” she whispered. “Tell me how I feel.”

“Like a dream come true.”

“Oh…”

She gasped when he lifted his mouth from hers and moved lower, to first lick one taut nipple, and then suck it slowly into his mouth. He massaged her other breast as he suckled, testing the fullness and weight. Her reaction was immediate as she arched with a small wild cry.

Parker had always wondered if she would be as audacious in bed as she was in everything else.

The answer was yes, he had a feeling. He was a damned lucky man.

“That feels so good.” Her fingers sifted through his hair and she pressed closer. “I never imagined.”

The rhythm of her breathing already suggested arousal, as did the restless way she moved beneath him. Some women had very sensitive breasts, and apparently she was one of them, he realized with an inner smile. He transferred to the other breast, lavishing attention on not just her nipples, but the valley between, playing with the mounded flesh, nuzzling the undersides until she panted and moaned.

Perfect. He‘d imagined having her hot, wet and willing beneath him a thousand times.

He shifted lower, skimming his mouth down her ribcage, licking her navel in a teasing stroke of his tongue, and then kissing the dainty blond curls between her legs. “Spread open,” he urged, his fingers insistently easing her thighs apart.

“What are you going to do?” Surprisingly, she didn‘t resist but let him push her legs apart.

Parker grinned and positioned himself. “Something you‘ll like a lot. Just relax and enjoy yourself, sweetheart.”

“I don‘t think—”

Her protest was cut off sharply at the first glide of his tongue between the moist folds of her labia. Her clitoris was already slightly engorged in arousal and he began to lick gently and circle the small bud. His hands slid beneath her to cup her luscious bottom and hold her in place. Celia reacted almost violently to the touch of his mouth between her legs, her slender body jerking. “Parker!”

Then she moaned.

She tasted sweetly female and it gratified him to know he gave her pleasure. More than anything, he wanted to feel her first climax with his mouth on her wet, warm sex. He teased and tasted, parting the folds to expose the pink satin flesh, savoring every secret place. Within moments she moaned in open abandon and spread her legs wider, her pelvis lifting in supplication. He could feel the rise of her approaching orgasm and certainly hear it in her obvious and vocal enjoyment.

Her low scream echoed in the quiet of the cabin when she went over the edge and her body twisted and shuddered in release. Parker waited until she was still and lax before he moved up between her open legs and kissed her lightly.

“Since I could tell you liked that, I‘ll share with you a little secret, sweetheart. We‘re just getting started,” he told her with a dark smile.

———

That thing was just too big, she knew it as she watched from beneath the veil of her lashes. Surely all men weren‘t so large? Parker positioned himself between her legs, and with his hand guided his swollen penis so the dark crest touched her female entrance. Celia was too sated to be truly afraid of what came next, though normally she imagined she would be. Her body felt light, floating. That Parker would put his mouth
there
was an astounding concept. That it would feel so absolutely wonderful was just as shocking.

“That‘s it,” he whispered, the pressure of his penetration beginning to stretch her vaginal passage. “Don‘t tense up. I don‘t want this to hurt you.”

She wasn‘t at all tense—she felt marvelous. Her breasts tingled and were oddly tight, and between her legs there was still a small pleasurable throbbing. Perhaps she should be more intimidated over the act she knew little about but was certainly going to happen. She just wasn‘t, because after all, this was Parker about to take her virginity. If anyone could be trusted to take care with her—his audacious kidnapping aside—he certainly was the one.

Celia rested her hands on his wide shoulders, relishing the feel of his muscled, male body. He was lean but hard, and seeing him naked and aroused had awakened feelings she didn‘t even know she possessed. His bare chest was solid and sculpted, and when it brushed the erect tips of her breasts, she felt a thrill of pleasure.

Shamelessly, she opened her legs wider, wanting him inside her with an inexplicable combination of instinct and desire. His cock felt as big as it looked, stretching her very wide, and his jaw clenched as he braced himself above her. Dark hair curled against the strong, tanned column of his neck.

“Are you all right?” The question was asked in a rough tone that sounded nothing like his usual voice. “Jesus, you‘re so tight.”

“I‘m fine,” she replied, but as she spoke, she felt a stinging pressure. “Wait, stop…it hurts.”

To her dismay, he completely ignored her request and instead, with a low murmured apology, thrust forward in an act of complete and full invasion.

It wasn‘t horrible, but the discomfort took the pleasure out of the moment. Celia cried out, more in surprise than pain. Now fully imbedded inside her, Parker looked into her eyes, his light blue gaze tender. “There‘s only one way to do this, sweetheart, and it always hurts the first time for a woman. Here, kiss me, and we‘ll wait until it feels better before I do anything else. Deal?”

“Deal,” she responded in a whisper, not certain what else he was going to do exactly, but the way he looked at her made her heart beat faster. Their intimate position, too, was exciting, with his cock completely filling her and his lean hips resting between her open thighs. Celia ran her fingers through the dark silk of his hair and her lips clung to his when he lowered his head and took her mouth.

They stayed that way for a long time, softly kissing, his arms braced to keep his weight balanced. Until this moment, Celia wasn‘t sure she‘d ever realized just how much bigger he was, his long body dwarfing her smaller, lighter frame. The frank masculine desire she saw in his eyes was exciting, also, and before long she shifted restively, lifting her hips a fraction.

He seemed to understand the signal instantly.

His cock slid backwards in a long withdrawal. When he moved forward again, a sound, unbidden, came from deep in her throat. She wasn‘t sure what was happening, pleasure or pain or a bewildering mixture of both, but whatever it was, it held her entirely captive.

“That‘s it,” Parker told her thickly, “let me know you like it. I sure as hell have never felt anything so good in my whole life.”

It wasn‘t like she wanted to make such unladylike sounds, but it seemed impossible to stay quiet. As he began to thrust in and out of her body, Celia got lost in the rising sensation of sexual enjoyment, the discomfort pushed to the background. Her head tilted back, and her hands grasped the solid strength of his upper arms. She gave a small, soft cry with each measured stroke.

He felt so big, his hard cock stretched her wide, and the sensation was incredible.

It was building again, she realized. That marvelous blissful pinnacle of release edged upward, spiraling through her body, making her moan louder and louder. He moved faster, as if he knew exactly the right pace, and she moved with him in accord, her hips lifting in carnal need.

His lashes drifted shut and he said through his teeth, “I know you‘re close, but I can‘t hold on. I‘m coming, sweetheart.”

At that moment, she shattered into a thousand pieces.

The pleasure was so intense, she could feel the fierce inner clench of her muscles as the first spasm came. The second wave came just as quickly and she cried out, holding on for dear life, her nails frantically digging in.

Parker went very still, deep, deep inside her. His powerful body shuddered time and again, and he groaned her name in a way that penetrated her haze of incredible enjoyable release. To her amazement, she could feel his cock pulse with the contractions of her passage, and the warm flood as he spilled his seed against her womb.

The sound of ragged breathing drifted with the low call of an owl outside the cabin. Parker stayed inside her, not moving, and when she finally opened her eyes, his finely modeled mouth was lifted slightly at the corner in a satisfied half smile. “That was a good start.”

It certainly had been. Her heart still pounded. Celia reached up and touched the clean line of his jaw, sliding her fingers to lightly trace his lower lip. “A good start to what?”

“I‘m not planning on us going home for a few days at least.”

The feel of him still inside her and the husky promise in his voice made her stomach tighten. “Is that so?”

“We need some time to talk, and maybe we‘ll find time for other things, too.” His lashes, so dark and long, lowered a fraction.

He was too damned handsome for his own good, Celia thought. She arched a brow. “What kind of other things?”

“It‘ll be my pleasure to show you.” His smile slid into a wicked grin.

Gerald Evans tossed his dusty gloves on the table and scowled. “He did
what
?”

His oldest daughter, Rose, looked unhappy at having to repeat the story. “Well, he actually tied her up and tossed her over his shoulder. Then he just rode off.”

“This was yesterday?”

Blond and pretty in a light green gown, the spitting image of her mother twenty years ago, Rose reluctantly nodded.

“They‘ve been gone the whole night?”

“Yes.”

“I‘ll kill him.”

“No, you won‘t.” His wife handed him a cup of coffee and smiled.

The day had dawned with beautiful clear skies and the kitchen was bright and sunny, fragrant with the homey smell of baking bread. Outside, his three sons unloaded the wagon of supplies, and he could hear Joshua and Jared having a good-natured argument over where to store the new fencing wire. Gerald had stayed overnight in town because he‘d met with his banker to arrange a draft for some new stock he‘d planned on buying, and so he‘d been darned happy to be home.

Until he‘d found out his youngest daughter had been kidnapped from his own front porch.

Holding the steaming cup, he registered his wife‘s serene expression with suspicion. In her fifties, she was still a lovely woman with blond hair showing just a hint of gray, unlined skin and refined features. Lila looked back innocently, but they‘d been married a long time and he knew her well. He asked curtly, “Give me one good reason I shouldn‘t beat that boy to a pulp. Any man who ties up a woman and carries her off overnight has some pretty obvious intentions.”

Pulling out one of the pine chairs from around the huge table, Lila sat down and calmly reached for her own coffee. “Yes, I‘d say he does.”

“They aren‘t married yet. Parker had better have kept it in his pants.” Normally he never would have said such a thing in front of his daughter, and he felt his cheeks flush. “Sorry, Rose.”

She laughed and gave him a slightly mischievous look. “With three brothers and a bunkhouse full of ranch hands, I‘ve heard worse around here, Pa, believe me.”

Lila said reasonably, “He
wants
to marry her, Gerald, so quit blustering. You know how he feels about Celia, just about everyone around here knows how he feels. If this is how he thought he could convince her, who cares if they marry before or after.” One dark blond brow rose just a fraction.

Dammit, she still had the ability to leave him speechless after more than thirty years of marriage. They hadn‘t exactly waited until their vows had been legal and binding to consummate their passion for each other, but the gentle reminder didn‘t make him feel a whole lot better. Joshua had been born eight months after their wedding.

“She‘s my child, and I want her to be happy. If she turned him down flat the first time, what makes you think things will be different now?”

His wife and daughter exchanged a look that made him feel like an idiot. Rose said, “She‘s every bit as in love with Parker as he is with her, Pa. I know she‘s a flirt sometimes, but that‘s the exact point. Celia never pays attention to anyone else unless Parker is around to see it. Otherwise, she pretty much ignores other men, she always has. It‘s been Parker all along. She‘s just never let him see it.”

The last thing he wanted to do was defend the man who‘d essentially abducted his daughter against her will, but Gerald found himself saying, “Teasing him that way…it‘s plain mean.”

“She does it—consciously or unconsciously—to rile him up enough to declare himself.” Lila looked a little too pleased with herself. “I guess it finally worked.”

Women
, he thought in disgust with a mental shake of his head. He had a pretty good idea his wife had a hand in all of this, because he just didn‘t see the very patient and responsible Parker West concocting such a harebrained scheme.

Yes, this was definitely Lila‘s meddling.

Gerald muttered to his wife, “I hope you know what you‘re doing.”

———

Her lashes fluttered and lifted, registering dappled sunlight at the same time she caught the tantalizing smell of frying bacon in the air.

Where was she?