TemptedByHisKiss (20 page)

Then he’d simply had to have a taste of her, just one small sip before he cut himself off from the source. Like strong spirits, she was another intoxicant he knew he needed to give up for his own good—and for hers. But even as he told himself to release her, he couldn’t, the hot satin of her mouth too delicious to resist, the glide of her tongue like a benediction for his soul.

Just one more minute
, he told himself.
Just one last kiss.

Deepening their embrace, he kissed her harder, trying to wring every last ounce of pleasure out of the moment. She hummed low in her throat and returned his ardor, arching against him with a sinuous slide that nearly dropped him to his knees. Her beautiful, pale hair flowed around her shoulders like a sleek curtain. Tangling his fingers into her tresses, he stroked the golden length, then turned his face into its fragrant softness. Breathing in the heady scents of honey and woman, he closed his eyes and fought his hunger.

And what a hunger it was, the ache to have her riding him more powerful than ever. He trembled and struggled to make himself relinquish her. But her sweet little palms began to rove over him, one hand gliding up over his
shoulders and the back of his neck before she threaded her fingers into his hair.

Abruptly, he raised his head and began to move away, tapping into some unknown reserve of strength. But Meg hardly seemed to notice his resistance, her cheeks flushed, her lips moist and rosy from his kisses, the silvery blue of her eyes hazy with undisguised passion.

God help me, he thought.

Reaching up, she brushed aside the edge of his unbuttoned shirt collar to reveal the scar encircling his throat. He tensed, for the first time truly caring what she saw, and whether it repulsed her. He was about to withdraw when she prevented him with a single, delicate touch. Using only the tip of her finger, she traced the shape and path of the mark from one side to the other.

“Does it hurt?” she asked softly.

“No,” he croaked, his voice so thick and rough he scarcely recognized it as his own. “Not anymore.”

“But it must have hurt when it happened. It must have been agony.”

He didn’t answer; he couldn’t, particularly not after she leaned forward and replaced her fingertip with her lips, kissing him there with a tenderness that proved his complete undoing. Air squeezed like a bellows from his lungs, blood running hot and thick to pool in his groin.

His senses scattered as he felt the last vestiges of his conscience drift away like so much faerie dust, his need for her far greater than his resolve. Spearing his fingers up into her hair, he twined the skeins around his wrist and tugged her face up, plundering her mouth in a fiery assault that left her gasping and clinging. Using his tongue to skillful effect, he made passionate forays between her lips that were alternately fast and frenzied,
then slow and sultry, keeping them both poised on a needle’s edge of passionate madness.

Maybe I am mad, he thought as he broke their kiss long enough to slide her robe from her shoulders.
Mad to want her so. Insane to take what I have no right to possess.
The thought slowed him for an instant as he moved to open the brief row of buttons on her nightgown, pausing while he slipped the first one free of its mooring.

Bending, he pressed his lips against her jaw and neck, scattering kisses over her skin before he moved to catch her earlobe between his teeth. He blew softly against her and felt her answering shiver. “Make me stop,” he entreated. “Send me away.”

Meg swayed, his words coming as if from a distance even though she stood inside his arms. Giddy with desire, she could barely think, needing his mouth on hers again, his hands caressing her skin.

Send him away? she pondered. Why would she do that? How could she, when she wanted him more than her next breath? More even than her life? How could she let him go when she loved him? And suddenly, in that instant, she knew the truth of the thought, the strength of the emotion.

Oh, heavens, how could I not have known before? How could I not have realized that I love Cade Byron?

Wanting only to be with him, as close as she could manage regardless of the risks, she turned her face and kissed his cheek, his mouth. “Don’t stop,” she whispered. “Don’t leave me.”

Something fiery and fierce burned in his eyes, turning them as bright as molten green glass. Then he gave her no further time to think, his hands working open
the placket of buttons on her nightgown, nearly tearing them off in his haste. Shoving the loosened cloth down over her shoulders, he cupped her naked breasts in his hands, fondling her with a touch that bordered on the reverent. He made circles with his thumbs, rousing the tips to taut peaks before he leaned down to take her in his mouth.

She gasped against the pleasure as he kissed and licked and suckled, keen desire rising to settle between her legs, together with an aching emptiness that begged to be filled and appeased. Raking his teeth over her, she cried out, his tongue darting out to soothe her tormented flesh. Long moments later he raised his head and claimed her mouth again in a fervid mating, his hips arching against her own in a way that left her in no doubt of the intensity of his arousal. Then, as though he’d had all he could endure for the moment, he urged her backward onto the bed.

Quivering from the series of hot and cold chills racing over her body, she complied, stretching out across the sheets, her head sideways next to the pillows rather than on them. Dazedly, she watched as he tore at his waistcoat, a pair of buttons flying free to bounce across the floor. He seemed not to care in the least as he stripped off the garment, his shirt coming next, then his shoes, which he toed off with a pair of soft thumps.

She waited in a welter of expectation, a part of her eager to see what lay inside his pantaloons, the rest unsure, fearing her reaction should the sight prove intimidating. After all, he was a large man. What if he was more than she anticipated? What if she wasn’t enough?

But he granted her no further time for such uncer
tain musings, leaving his pantaloons safely fastened as he set the knee of his good leg on the bed and stretched himself beside her. Arching over her, he feasted on her mouth, drawing her fast and deep into a realm where nothing mattered except the astonishing beauty of his embrace. She moaned against his lips, the sound reverberating like a delicious purr inside their joined mouths. He smiled and kissed her harder, deeper, drawing forth everything she had and more.

All the while, his hands stayed busy, trailing over her skin with long, gliding strokes that made her body grow hot and moist, her limbs shifting in restless need against his own. He captured one of her legs, stilling her for a moment so he could fit his own between hers. Sliding upward, he insinuated his thigh against the part of her that ached the most, then rubbed, her nightgown bunched between her flesh in a way that only increased her craving.

Abandoning her mouth, he dappled kisses over her face and neck, across her collarbone and shoulders, before scattering a tantalizing line of them between her breasts. Burying his face against her, he reached up to caress one rounded globe with his hand, while he paid homage to the other with teeth and tongue and lips. At length he switched one for the other.

Not to be left out, she caressed him as well, eliciting a groan, then a shudder when she traced the broad shape of his arms and shoulders, then down the long, powerful line of his back. She gloried in the sensations, delighting in her exploration as she discovered firm, corded muscle covered by smooth, supple skin. Growing bolder, she let her fingers glide low, then lower still, pausing to slip underneath the edge of his waistband. She played her
fingers along the dip at the base of his spine, her touch drawing a ragged moan from his throat.

With an uncontrolled movement, he ground his erection against her hip, then angled his thigh higher and harder between her legs. She writhed in response, broken sighs escaping her lips as he widened his mouth to suckle more intensely against her breast, his clever hands cupping and stroking her in ways that increased her delight still more. Growing nearly insensible under his ministrations, time floated away like a ribbon caught in a breeze, her senses spinning out of control.

Without warning, he levered himself away, a rush of cool air flowing over her at the loss of his warmth. Reaching down, he seized her nightgown and yanked it off over her head, baring her fully to his gaze.

With a reflexive sense of modesty, she moved her hands to cover herself. But he stayed her with a touch, urging her to relax and leave her arms at her sides. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured, the expression in his eyes one of pure admiration. “I’ve imagined you like this, but my dreams failed to do you justice.”

Laying a large, gentle palm against her stomach, he smoothed his touch over her body in a way that sent her pulse into a wild, dangerous skid. He roamed over her hips and thighs, trailing downward to circle her knees and caress her calves, even her ankles. She was trembling by the time he retraced his path, a loud gasp rattling from her lips when he stroked the soft length of her inner thighs—up and around, then up and around again. With a quiet pause, he let his hand come to rest just below the triangle of blond curls that concealed her most tender flesh.

“Cade?” she said in a strained tone.

“Close your eyes,” he commanded. “Close your eyes and let me please you.”

“But you have…you do.”

“Good. Then let me please you more.” Parting her, he eased a finger inside and began to stroke.

She arched, inadvertently driving him even farther inside. Her body responded, sending down a rush of wetness that made his caresses that much easier, that much more inviting. As he’d asked, she let her eyelids flutter closed, her head rolling against the sheets, while need coiled hot as a brand through her belly and between her legs. Unable to govern her reaction, her breath came in fast, little pants, her legs parting as he continued his deep inner massage.

Leaning up, he caught her mouth in a slow, ravishing kiss, tangling his tongue with hers in an imitation of what he was doing to her below. She gave a muffled cry when he added another finger, filling her in a way that drove her right to the edge. A few strokes later a swirling flick of his thumb sent her hurtling over, her fingers clenching in his hair as she shook with release.

But he wasn’t done, stoking her desire with deep, open-mouthed kisses that made her moan, his fingers building her need once more so that she could do nothing but yearn, held utterly in his thrall until he finally took mercy and sent her flying yet again.

Dazed and drifting, she sensed him working open his falls, her ears picking up the quiet sound of him peeling off his pantaloons and tossing them to the floor. She discovered she was right when she felt the delicious, hair-roughened slide of his naked legs against her own. His chest was covered with a mouth-watering expanse of hair as well; dark, crisp curls of which she only then
took full note. But she had no time to appreciate the sight, her attention diverted by the erection he’d revealed to her curious gaze.

Her eyes widened, her throat growing dry, as she realized how large he was—even bigger than she had imagined, his arousal jutting out at a thick, insistent angle. His flesh twitched as if it craved her attention, but she had no chance to overcome her inhibitions and touch him before he loomed up and over her.

Spreading her legs farther apart, he fit his long body in between, his hips touching hers, his erection brushing across her belly. Holding most of his weight on his arms, he reached down to position himself against her, then slowly pushed himself inside.

She met his gaze, his eyes glittering with undisguised hunger, a warm flush staining the crest of his cheeks as though he’d been holding himself back until now. And she realized that he had, taking care to see to her pleasure before seeking his own. Curving her arms around his shoulders, she forced herself to relax and allow his intrusion, his shaft stretching her to the point of discomfort.

He kissed her while he thrust gently, soothing her with his lips and tongue as he worked to join their bodies. Each push brought him deeper inside, until with one last, firm thrust, he took full possession. She cried out against a stab of pain, the sound caught inside his mouth as he apologized with tender kisses and calming caresses.

Smoothing her hair away from her face, he skimmed his lips over her cheeks and temple. “I’m sorry,” he said, unsatisfied desire, mingled with compassion, turning his voice into little more than a rasp. “It can’t be helped
this first time. Stay still for a moment and the pain will ease.”

And he was right, she discovered, her inner muscles adjusting to his invasion in a surprisingly short time, especially after he used a hand to coax her to wrap her legs around his waist.

The movement drove him deeper, his jaw flexing with barely repressed need. Suddenly, his restraint broke and he drew partially out of her body, only to come surging back seconds later. Slanting his mouth over hers, he kissed her with a dark rapacious hunger, tangling his tongue with hers as he pumped faster and harder, each new thrust taking him deeper, his every touch a catalyst designed to spark her desire.

And spark her hunger he did, passion claiming her with the force of a storm. Need ripped through her in a rough, sultry wave that made her writhe and shake in its grip. Catching Cade’s rhythm, she tried to match his sensuous moves with her own, arching up to meet him as he drove himself at a relentless pace.

Reaching between them, he stroked her with his fingers—first her breasts, then lower down where she ached with an intensity that made her want to weep. Inflamed and yearning everywhere he touched, she feared she might expire if she didn’t find relief soon, his name a prayer on her lips. And then, just when she thought she could take no more, he thrust harder and deeper inside, his hand angling her hips to take all of him and more.

She flew apart then, senses spinning out of control as ecstasy crashed over and through her in a blissful torrent. She wailed out her pleasure, Cade smothering the sound with his lips as she clung to him like a lifeline. Quivering and quaking, she sailed on a rapturous haze,
her mind all but ceasing to function beneath the delicious aftermath.