She thought he didn’t want her. That she’d overstepped the mark. God, he was a shit. His heart wanted to tell her she was wrong, that he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any woman, and that he’d do anything to keep her safe. But the best way he could do that was keep his hands off her.
Heath forced steel into his frame and headed in the opposite direction, willing his erection to subside. The last thing Isa needed in her life was the man responsible for bringing her here, whether or not it had been intentional. His priority was to get her home.
Nothing else.
23
Isa stared at Heath’s retreating silhouette, her cheeks branded with embarrassment. Even though it would have been insane, her first thought was to run away, get as far as possible and lick her wounds, alone.
As she had always done.
He headed down the incline toward the water’s edge and then vanished from sight. She took a swig of water, swallowed the lukewarm liquid. Something was eating at Heath, something he wouldn’t disclose. He must have his reasons, but their discussion confused her. Heath wanted her. The evidence was there in his body language. The heat in his eyes before he walked away. None of it made any sense.
Her instincts told her she should leave him be; she might not like what she found if she pushed too much.
She stood up, studying the direction in which he’d headed. Her heart still raced from his touch, her skin sensitized. He’d woken a deep hunger within her that had been asleep for so long—perhaps forever. It scared her but it was also edged with excitement.
Isa exhaled a shaky breath. If being stuck on this rock had taught her one thing, it was that she was still a fighter. She thought she’d lost that long ago, when she’d given up on all her dreams for Karl. But she had never lost the fight, it had just been buried deep, waiting for her to wake up.
There had been too much loss already. She might be dead tomorrow, but if she fell now, she would be fighting. And she wanted to fight for Heath. She wanted him. Longing made her knees tremble and her breath catch.
Brushing crumbs from her legs, she tracked his path, down through the bushes to the beach on the other side. The night air was still, the lush shrubbery silent as she pushed through. On the far side of the greenery the hot springs reflected the three moons hanging yellow and fat in the evening sky. Her footsteps crunched loud as she headed to the shoreline, searching for him. He’d only been gone a few minutes; he couldn’t be far.
Water broke some distance from the shore and a shadow cut through the steaming water. For an instant, her pulse picked up, images of the gray killers from earlier in the day flitting through her memory.
Heath stopped short of getting out, rising to standing chest-deep in the rippled water.
The air was tangy with minerals. God, what would it feel like to get in the hot water with him? She needed no more persuasion. All of her ached to be in steaming water, to cleanse the arid dust from her skin. With trembling fingers she stripped out of her coveralls and then kicked off her underwear. She forced her hands at her sides, fighting her instincts to cover her breasts and the dark curls between her legs. She might not be twenty-one anymore, but she was proud of her body.
Her gaze collided with his, the tension between them shimmering white-hot across the water’s surface.
Moonlight accentuated the strong lines of his jaw, drawing her attention to the muscle working there. Yes. She was right. Every doubt evaporated. Heath wanted her. For the first time, maybe the last given their circumstances, she would do what gave her happiness.
Because she wanted him just as much.
She waded into the water and gasped. Blessed heat at the most perfect bath temperature soaked into her chilled skin and muscles. She gawped at her feet, wiggled her toes in the firm sand. It glittered golden under the flaxen moonlight. Heaven. She sank deeper and stifled a moan as the heat undid knots she hadn’t even known were there, penetrating the marrow of her bones.
Finally, she reached Heath.
His hair was slicked back off his forehead and water beaded his skin, accentuating the delicious edges of his chiseled body. Her attention lingered on his abdomen, on the defined ridges, the slick trail of hair leading from his navel to beneath the water’s surface.
His gaze scorched across her naked skin. “Isa…”
She closed the distance between them and pressed two fingers to his lips. She’d spent her life pleasing others, trying to make Karl happy.
This she wanted for herself.
“I make my own choices, Heath and I choose you.” She stroked the strong line of his jaw.
“You sure?”
Was his voice just a little hoarse? Did she do that to him?
He swept his hand through the water, creating little wavelets that hit the swell of her breasts.
She nodded but glanced around, memories of the cage and Heath’s near drowning still too fresh. “Is it safe?”
“Yes. Selachmi live in cold water. Warming up?”
“God, yes.” She dipped lower and sank under the surface, letting the liquid heat perfuse her scalp. When she surfaced, she wiped water from her eyes. “I can’t even afford baths this deep back home,” she muttered.
“Here.” He placed a small rock in her palm and rubbed it in a lazy circular motion, creating bubbles. The press of his fingers ignited fire under her skin, leaving her bereft when he released her. He ducked under the water and appeared with a second one. “You use it like soap.” The scent was fresh, like cut grass and lemon combined.
He buffed the stone between his hands and then stroked the suds through his hair. His gentle movements were hypnotic, the flex of his skin over tight muscles, his wide shoulders and trim hips.
Ripples circled outward when he submerged to rinse the soap, the water smoothing into glass in seconds. Isa spun, panic flaring in her throat. She palmed the surface of the water. “Heath?”
He emerged several feet away, water sheathing off his body, pale moonlight highlighting the V-cut of his abdomen.
Oh.
She was staring but didn’t care. She craved his touch. He strode toward her, water surging low on his waist, his blue eyes fathomless.
When he stopped, he grasped her wrists. “Let me.” He took the soapstone and turned her so that his heat and hardness bumped against her backside. She was so not imagining it. Isa closed her eyes, soaking in the sensation.
The soapstone made a soft shushing noise in his palms and the hairs along her nape pricked in anticipation. Then his fingers grazed the top of her scalp, before pressing with more force in small circular motions. The lather smelled herbal, but more than anything else, it smelled clean.
Heath massaged the soap into her hair. Lather foamed and slipped down the length of her neck in a slow sensuous slide. His movements were unhurried, his fingers gentle but powerful, melting any remnants of tension as he worked from her crown to the top of her spine. Isa tipped her head forward so he wouldn’t miss a single inch. God. It was all she could do to remain standing. Her scalp hummed with pleasure and her knees threatened to give way. Isa couldn’t remember the last time she’d experienced something so heavenly.
He tugged her closer still and lowered his head, grazing the shell of her ear with his mouth. His lips hovered there for an instant, the trace of his breath electrifying every nerve in her body. She gripped his muscled thighs to prevent herself from toppling as with skilled fingertips he pressed the tender skin at her temples, then stroked across the curve of her shoulder. By then, she was putty. He could do whatever the hell he liked.
“Rinse.” He applied gentle pressure on her shoulders, and she dipped under the steaming water. Silence enveloped her, the muted escape of bubbles the only sound in her ears. Seconds later, firm hands slipped under her arms and pulled her back to the surface facing him.
Isa touched his jaw, the stubble of the last few days rasping under her fingernails. She dropped her hand to his collarbone, reading the tracery of pink lacerations with
her fingertips “You’re healing well.”
He snuck a hand around her waist and crooked an eyebrow. “I have an excellent nurse.”
She smiled and closed the distance separating them till they were only inches apart, her breasts pressed against the defined planes of his chest, her belly feeling the heat of his jutting erection.
His eyes were turbulent. She smoothed them with her fingers. “It will be okay. I’m okay.”
The tendons in his neck strained. “You should be resting. You all but died today.”
“But I didn’t.” He was still trying to redirect her. Impatient, she tapped a finger against his chest, emphasizing her point. “I might not have chosen to come to Resu, but I’m here now.” She glanced up at him. Her voice was husky. “And I can make my own decisions.”
His expression softened and his hold on her tightened, binding her to him. “I want you. All of you. I want to touch you. Drive you crazy.”
His gaze was ravenous. Not because it was convenient, or he’d made a commitment that he regretted. He just wanted her.
He cupped the back of her neck, his lips hesitating a breath from hers. “Isa.” His voice was a throaty growl that shot straight between her legs, rumbling from deep in his body as he kissed and nibbled at her skin, every instant fiercer than the last. She closed her eyes, luxuriating in the affectionate trail.
His kisses descended, grazing the sensitive skin of her throat and collarbone. Then he pulled back, rubbing the soapstone between his hands again. A wicked look glinted in his eyes and then soapy hands smoothed over her breasts, driving the last cautious thought from her head. He thumbed the delicate skin of her nipple, the sensation amplified by the slippery suds. Pure pleasure enveloped her, wrapping her in a delicious haze that blocked out the world.
Isa arched into his touch, a strangled moan falling from her lips, her eyes closed to everything but him. She tipped her pelvis, grinding against the delicious hardness of his erection. He responded with a growl, bucking against her, as hungry for her as she was for him.
He sluiced the soap from her breasts with water, her skin pebbling in the cooling night air. His caress slipped lower, sweeping across the base of her spine and then grasping her ass. With a deft tug he hooked her closer, spreading her legs with a powerful thigh.
Deft fingers slid around her hip, then down to her swollen folds in a languid, tantalizing slide. Heath smiled, his attention trailing lower until he slid under the water, his hands never leaving her or ceasing their caress. She steadied herself against his shoulders, expecting him to surface but he didn’t.
What was he doing?
That was her last coherent thought as his forehead crashed against her pelvis and then his mouth was on her. His tongue was hot and forceful and he wasted no time seeking the nub of her sex. Her entire body trembled, she was so on edge from all the events of the past two days. He sucked her clit into his mouth, driving a gasp from her as he shouldered her legs further apart, the exquisite friction feeding hot desire in her belly. His hand stroked the small of her back, supporting her while he drove her closer to the edge.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she gave herself over to sensation. No man had ever touched her like this. Heat and aching pressure built in an unstoppable wave low in her pelvis as he plunged one, then another thick finger inside her. Isa rode his hand, helpless against the slide of his tongue against her clit and the insistent press of his fingers filling her.
Didn’t he need to breathe? But she didn’t want him to stop for anything in the world.
Finally, he burst out of the water, water cascading from him like moonlit glass, his tongue leaving her clit in a long lazy slide that blasted through her body in a merciless strike.
He yanked her close, his mouth hot on her ear as he held her captive, his fingers still working pleasure deep in her body. She bucked against him, small animalistic mews escaping into the still air as he drove her higher. “I want to see you come,” he muttered in her ear, his own voice thick with desire.
She was breathless, panting as she bit down on his shoulder as heat and pleasure pulsed deep within her, her body clamping down hard as she came apart under his touch. His movements slowed as she sagged against him, catching her breath as she waited for her pulse to descend from dizzying heights.
He brushed wet strands of hair from her eyes and kissed each of her eyelids in turn.
When she could focus again, he was right there.
Heat still licked between her legs. “We’re not done yet.”
He groaned. “You trying to kill me?”
She slid her hand down his abdomen to the swollen head of his cock. With firm pressure she slid her finger over the tip and around the curved head, teasing him with her fingers, not recognizing the hunger in her voice. “I have plans for you.”
24
Heath bent down and swept Isa close. Her arms entwined around his neck, drawing him into an embrace he never wanted to end. He strode out the water before she could protest, heading toward the fire he’d lit earlier.
The sand warmed his feet, charged by Resu’s unrelenting sun. He fell to his knees on the blanket next to the flames and they tumbled as one. Isa shrieked and then dissolved into giggles. The sound of her laughter was a balm to his troubled soul.
He tilted her head so that the only place she could look was at him. Tremors coursed through him. Smuggling for a living had put him in countless dangerous situations. But nothing floored him like this woman.
She smiled, her eyes dreamy, and drew him down into an addictive kiss. He should walk away from her, keep his distance but he was here, naked. Losing himself in her.
The curve of her breast fit perfectly in his hand, heavy and full, her hardened nipples brushing against the flat of his thumb.
“This should be a soft bed,” he muttered against the base of her throat.
“This is perfect.” There was a granite edge to her voice as she stroked his hair, scratching her nails against the sensitive skin. She sucked in her lower lip, small white teeth denting the flesh that he wanted to savor. Desire raged through him like a hurricane, charged with the animal instinct to claim her.
Her hand slid south and she grasped his cock, her free hand cupping the weight of his balls. Heath groaned, as all rationality left the building.
Tonight, he told himself, just tonight, she could be his. No one could blame him, they might not even get off this rock alive.
This would be his secret before he took her back home to Earth.
Reality intruded. Damn. he mustered his resolve. “Contraception?”
“I have an implant,” she muttered in his ear, her voice lush with desire.
The implant protected against disease as well as pregnancy. Heath pulled back and studied her face. Her eyes were dilated with lust. For him. “Tell me you want this.”
Isa grinned and stroked the length of his cock, her grip strong and commanding. “Be with me,” she said, her voice breathy.
He dug his fingers into the flesh of her hips, kissed her earlobe and grazed his teeth along the sensitive cartilage, hungry to have her as his own, to mark her. This, it had haunted his dreams the night before, Isa naked, all slender limbs and soft skin.
The high clasp of her hand was unrelenting, driving heat and pleasure to the base of his spine. Gods, he needed her now. He tasted mineral saltiness as he nipped at her ear lobe until her grip on him tightened. He thrust up into her grasp, on the last threads of tenuous control, greedy for the slide of her skin against his.
The head of his cock bumped against her slick wetness. With one thrust, he seated himself deep within her. The velvet softness of her body holding him tight. And for a second her violet-blue eyes were wide open, baring her soul to him.
Heath breathed in her scent. Isa was giving him everything, and he swore he would do the same.
They began to move in an urgent rhythm, her satin slickness sparking lightning through his cock. Heath lifted himself and found her clit again, lubri
cating his finger with her arousal, adjusting the pace as she rocked to match his touch. She was panting now, her rapid breathing sexy as hell. He gripped her hips, aware he was digging into her skin but unable to stop himself as she tilted her pelvis, allowing him to lodge himself deeper, riding him hard, taking him higher. He never wanted it to end.
Sensation obliterated the last of his restraint when her inner muscles clamped around his cock, her second release powering through her. His orgasm hammered through him seconds later, hurtling him over the edge in a white sheet of oblivion.
Gradually, he stilled in the aftermath and relaxed, soaking up the gentle rise and fall of her breathing. It soothed Heath like nothing ever had. He pulled her into the crook of his arms, wrapping himself around her in a protective cloak. He kissed her shoulder, gathered the sweep of her hair, and smothered her neck with more.
“Hey.” Clumsy fingers pulled at him. Her voice was a sleepy mumble.
“You okay?”
Isa shot him a wicked smile. “Very.”
Heat from the fire warmed the exposed skin of his back. It would be cold tonight and soon it would be morning but he didn’t want to think about that. He pulled the blanket over her flank and propped himself up on one elbow, sneaking glances at her curves as he surveyed the beach.
For tonight, they were alone and everything was as it should be. Heath stroked her arm, staring at the dying fire. He should put more wood on but the thought of leaving her side so soon was torture.
She twisted to face him, smiling. Firelight danced in her eyes and dimples he’d never noticed before marked her cheeks. He could watch her all night. Heath swept a tendril of hair from her cheek and kissed the spot.
“I think I need another wash.” She sat up holding the emergency blanket to her chest, feigning shyness, before she cast the covering away revealing her glorious nakedness. A broad grin illuminated her face. Heat flooded his cock. It didn’t matter that he’d been with her only moments before.
Hunted Page 11