He wanted her. She wanted him. It was simple. Easy.
This is what she wanted and she was taking it before she never had it again. Moving her hands up his arms, she tightened her fingers around the back of his neck and pulled him down those few inches until their mouths touched, their breaths mingled for a second before the hot slide of his tongue touched her and she let him know exactly what she wanted.
It wasn’t gentle and, Lord help, her she didn’t want it to be. She wanted the power and intensity of this man. She parted her lips and his tongue ravished her, conquering and taking, staking a claim that was his to take. Before she realized his intent, his hand slid into the V of the robe and his fingers were touching the bare skin of her chest, then her breast, closing around it. She gasped into his mouth as his warm palm settled over the tightly pebbled nipple and he gently squeezed.
He murmured something against her lips and pulled away, only to grab her by the hips and lift her to sit on the back of the chair. A thrill shot through her belly at how easily he could lift her. It was a strange thing to be excited about, she thought just before he fisted the sleeves of the robe and pulled them down each shoulder to her elbows, baring both of her breasts to him. An embarrassed flush quickly stole over her. She’d never thought to bare herself to a man with all the lights in the room blazing and she realized she really hadn’t thought this through at all.
What if he kept the lights on the entire time? The door was locked from the outside. What if Zane came in? About a million other questions rushed through her mind at once, but every single one of them fell away when he buried his hand in her hair and brought her mouth to his again. Her hesitation was forgotten completely when his fingers went back to her breast, this time plucking the tightened peak and then rolling it between his thumb and forefinger. Seductive pleasure moved through her body like warm honey, turning her limbs heavy and making her entire body pulse and come alive.
She didn’t even realize she’d parted her thighs, seeking to get closer to him, until he stepped into the cradle of her hips and pressed his impossibly thick erection against her center which was already throbbing. When he pressed forward, she cried out softly and he tightened his fingers in her hair, pulling her head back, baring her neck to his hot, open mouth. She shifted restlessly. Even through the barrier of her robe and the towel she could feel herself become more aroused from the weight of him pressing against her, then from the friction as he moved, hitching his hips a bit forward to rock against her.
His mouth and tongue roved over the sensitive skin of her neck as he made his way downward, his tongue flicking into the hollow above her collarbone. When he kept moving downward, her breath stopped as she realized his destination. Every muscle in her body tensed, her hands clenching tight to his shoulders, almost afraid that he would stop. Then his mouth was there, his breath warming her skin, making her flesh prickle in anticipation. His fingers relinquished their hold on her nipple to move down to cup the flesh of her breast as an offering, just before his mouth closed hungrily over the sensitive tip, pulling it into the incredibly soft heat. Her cry filled the room as he sucked deep, sending pleasure shooting directly to her core, somehow making her ache even more for him. Of their own volition, her hips pressed forward, seeking that wonderfully hard part of him and he groaned with her nipple still in his mouth, the vibration of his voice tantalizing her already sensitive flesh. He flexed into her, pressing against her throbbing core, as he let go of her nipple only to move to the other one and start again.
Her legs had gone around his waist, struggling to somehow bring them into closer contact, but their clothing was in the way. Feeling her way down his shoulders, her palms skimmed over his broad chest and flat stomach to the towel knotted at his hips. She tugged blindly until it finally gave way and she pushed it down so that he sprang gloriously free. His manhood was both hot and silky smooth against her palm as she explored him. He was so much larger than she’d thought a man would be. When she wrapped her fingers around him, they didn’t quite meet, giving her a quick burst of panic that he quickly extinguished by releasing her breast and taking her mouth again, forcing her attention back to him and his kiss.
Tightening her fingers around him, she stroked gently and he broke the kiss with a curse. She paused, thinking that she must have hurt him, but his hand covered hers and in a voice rough with pleasure, he whispered, “Again,” against her lips. More than happy to oblige, she repeated the movement with him guiding her, elated to realize that she could give him pleasure.
After a few more times, he groaned, biting her lip as he broke away. Reaching for him to pull him back, he brushed his lips against hers almost tenderly as he placed his hands beneath her bottom to pick her up and walk her to the bed. His eyes were dark, the pupils almost obliterating the ring of green, and the effect made him look so intense that another shiver of desire mingled with a bit of fear that she wouldn’t know how to handle this man once he was completely unleashed shook through her. Without breaking eye contact, he reached down and pulled the bedspread back, revealing the snowy-white sheets underneath. Then he sat her down on the edge of the bed, pulling purposefully at the robe. She tried to help, but her arms were caught in the sleeves.
“The back, the tie is in the back,” she managed to explain, grabbing at the belt. She gasped in surprise when he turned her so that her front pressed down into the mattress, but she didn’t care anymore when she felt him tugging at the knot. It gave way and he pulled the satin robe down, freeing her arms as he pulled it down her legs and then off completely. She started to turn around, but he pressed a hand to her lower back.
“Stay there.” His warm palm roved downward and she had a quick thought that he did indeed intend to spank her now. But he only squeezed the flesh of her bottom while his other hand caught in the bend of her knee and pulled it up to rest on the edge of the bed. “You’re beautiful.” There was unmistakable awe in his voice.
She somehow blushed anew at his observation. But he continued to look, the weight of his stare like a physical touch. The pause made her quite aware of her position and that she was open to him, nothing hidden from his view. Pressing her forehead to the bed, she went to move anyway, but his grip held firm on her knee. Then he did touch her, his fingers skimming over her bottom and downward to dip just a fingertip into her tight channel before moving down to the swollen bud that had been throbbing for his attention since he’d kissed her. “Jameson,” she moaned into the sheet.
Stepping forward and bending over her, his breath hot against her ear, he took the sensitive lobe between his teeth. “Hunter.”
“Hmm?” She pressed herself back against him, craving more contact.
“My name is Hunter.” Bringing his knee up to the edge of the bed behind hers, the tip of his shaft nudged at her entrance. “Say it.”
“Hunter,” she gasped and jerked at the unexpected contact. His hips flexed again, pressing himself against her as he moved in a gentle back-and-forth rhythm.
“You’re already ready for me,” he whispered, pleased, just before he buried his fingers in her hair and turned her head, taking her mouth in a deep kiss.
She wasn’t quite sure why that pleased him, but she didn’t care to reason it out just then and arched into him when his silken erection nudged against that particularly sensitive spot he had touched earlier. His hand came around her thigh, parting her folds to allow his thumb to circle the swollen flesh, drawing a moan from her. He did it again and again, making her jump beneath his touch, until he stopped kissing her and lifted her other leg so that her knee pressed into the edge of the bed. Still bent over her, one hand held her steady while the other guided the tip of his shaft to find her. He pressed against her, pushing forward until it was just inside her. She groaned at how good the fullness of him felt, stretching her to fit him, and pushed herself back onto him, needing more. Both hands gripped her hips tight, holding her steady for him
as he pushed forward, only stopping when the pressure turned to pain and she cried out.
“You really are a virgin?” His voice was rough with disbelief against her ear.
She nodded and tried to say something, but all that came out was “Mmm...” muffled against the sheets. The pain receded a fraction as he pulled back and she took a deep breath, but his fingers tightened on her hips and he pushed forward again, repeating the movement twice more until the strength of his hips pressed against her bottom as he sheathed himself completely within her with a soft growl. He fell forward then and was all around her. His chest at her back, the coarse hair of his legs against the backs of her thighs, his breath harsh and fast at her ear, his hard shaft buried deep inside her.
This was what it meant to be possessed by him, she thought as she lay there beneath him completely at his mercy. Then she couldn’t think anymore. His fingers found her again and he played with her, exerting soft pressure until her hips were thrashing, caught between his fingers and the mysterious throb of that incredibly large part of him inside her. The more she moved, the more frissons of pleasure rippled through her. Panting, she arched toward him, begging for more, and he shifted, pulling out a few inches just to push back into her in slow, gentle strokes, rocking into her.
“Hunter,” she moaned, burying her face against the mattress, but he tightened his grip in her hair and pulled back a little.
“Say it again,” he ordered, his voice rasping against her ear.
“Please, Hunter, more.” Her hips were restless now, searching for something she didn’t understand.
Only then did he became rougher, abandoning his play, to grab both her hips as he pulled out almost completely just to push back into her. She cried out from the exquisite aching pleasure that washed through her. The tenderness was still there, but the pain was long gone, to be replaced by a relentless need only he could fill. Her voice filled the room with each thrust, though she no longer cared if anyone was in the hall to hear her as waves of pleasure crashed through her, her body moving with his of its own accord, seeking something she didn’t know how to find.
But he did. He knew exactly how she needed him and his fingers teased her until she could think of nothing but him, until the ache was gone to be replaced by such pleasure that she screamed with it, her eyes closed so tight that she saw pinpricks of light as the waves broke over her.
“Emmy.” He repeated her name over and over against the shell of her ear as she found her release, making her breath hitch from the endearment as he drove himself into her until his breath stopped and he shuddered above her.
Chapter Twelve
Hunter didn’t know how long he lay there above her. With his face buried in her neck, his arms on either side of her barely keeping his full weight from her, he was having trouble regaining his composure. With every breath he breathed in her heady scent, salt mixed with the undercurrent of wildflowers, and he couldn’t get enough. His heart rate slowed as his breathing normalized, but he still couldn’t get his mind around what had happened. One minute they’d been talking, arguing, but then he’d kissed her and hadn’t come up for air until...well, until now.
Even now all he wanted to do was rock against her and keep her beneath him, some primitive voice in his mind repeating “mine” as he took her so many times she’d feel him for days. Even then he wouldn’t want to give her up, not until he’d gotten enough, but something told him it would be a very long time before he got enough of her. A soft hum of pleasure brought him back down and he realized he was tasting the tender spot behind her ear, the tiny indentation just where it met her neck, the tip of his tongue making small circles there as if he couldn’t help himself.
She shifted beneath him and he remembered how small she was and that he was probably crushing her. It took all he could do to pull himself out of her and then move to her side. Grabbing a pillow, he pulled himself up a few feet on the bed and grabbed her, hauling her up to lie next to him across the mattress. He caught a glimpse of red on her thigh and felt the first real twinge of guilt since everything had started. Christ, he’d never really thought that she was a virgin. Inexperienced, yes, but never had he thought that someone—anyone—in that godforsaken town wouldn’t have tried to claim her as his. How had she escaped the attentions of Campbell’s men? Was Campbell such a tyrant that none of them bothered with her? She was sweetness and gentleness wrapped in a package of strength and intelligence. It didn’t make sense that she would still be untouched.
Though guilt tried to stir within him, he couldn’t summon up the regret that he knew he should feel now. Looking down at her, his fingers trailing a lazy path up and down the silken skin of her back, he liked that he was the first man to claim her. He, who preferred women who knew what they were doing in bed, who preferred women who sought out lovers as aggressively as he did, was glad that she had been a virgin. It made that voice in his head all the louder.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
His hand curved over her bottom and he squeezed gently, the need to touch her so strong that he couldn’t seem to stop. She was lying on her stomach, still and quiet, and he needed to know how she felt, if she was still angry. His anger had fled the very moment he’d pushed himself inside her, but it hadn’t tamed his passion at all. He’d taken her as aggressively as he’d ever taken a woman when he should have been tender. Her first time with a man shouldn’t have been him mauling her. If he had known beforehand—but, no, he’d known as soon as he’d encountered her body’s resistance and the knowledge hadn’t made him gentle. Still, she had cried out her pleasure and he had all night to make it up to her and show her how it could be between them.
“Emmy?” Pulling the strands of dark hair that had fallen loose from her braid back from her face, he leaned over her and rubbed his lips along the delicate, peaches-and-cream skin of her cheek. “Are you all right?”
She opened her eyes slowly, sleepily, and turned her head so that she faced him. Settling back on the pillow next to her, he watched as she blinked and saw the exact second her gaze focused on his face and she realized what had happened. A moment of panic came over her, widening her eyes and tightening her jaw, but then just as quickly it fled to be replaced by something infinitely more serene. But he didn’t like it any better.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
She was shutting out her feelings, to push him away and keep him at arm’s length. He didn’t like it at all, but he didn’t blame her, not after the way he’d treated her. True, she had kissed him when he would have pulled away and it was she who had unknotted his towel and taken him in her hands. But it was Hunter who had nearly lost control and not regained it again until he’d been panting over her, his seed spilled deep within her. He never lost control like that. Hell, he didn’t even know if she knew how to take precautions against pregnancy. It wasn’t like him to be so irresponsible. Making a mental note to talk to Glory in the morning, he pushed the thought from his mind and focused on the woman next to him. When he found himself about to caress her face, he clenched his hand into a fist and pressed it into the sheet between them, determined to control the compulsion to touch her.
“I didn’t realize that was your first time. It doesn’t excuse anything, but I meant to be gentle. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
The brittle look of calm she wore dissolved and for a moment he was afraid tears would replace it, but she surprised him by smiling and then smothering a laugh against the pillow. He didn’t know what was funny, but found himself smiling anyway because he was so relieved that she wasn’t upset. Before he realized it, his fist had unclenched and he was rubbing a lock of her hair between his fingers.
“I’m sorry,” she said when her shoulders stopped shaking. “I just... I’ve never seen you look so uncertain.”
His smile widened. “Yeah, well, I’ve never taken a virgin before.” Then his smile fell away as his gaze traced her face. She
looked so damned innocent and desirable at the same time. “You’re not hurt?”
Shaking her head no, the smile on her face faded as well. A strange silence grew between them. They weren’t friends, they’d already established that, but they weren’t even lovers, not in the way he’d ever thought of the term. There was no word to describe them now. Captor and captive seemed absurd at this point. The hell if he knew what they were.
“I’m going to...” She pointed to the bathing chamber and gave him an embarrassed look as she slipped off the bed and all but ran from the room and shut the door behind her.
Taking a deep breath, he sat up and ran his hands through his hair. They had crossed a line tonight that he’d never anticipated. He’d bought her at the auction because he’d wanted her off display from those bastards staring at her. It had been impulsive, but the only way he could reasonably get her away from them without jumping onto the stage and hauling her off, which would have created more questions than he wanted to answer. He’d have done it if there had been no other choice, if someone else had already claimed her. Buying her the way he had would create enough questions, but he could deal with those. Everyone knew him as a man who enjoyed his fair share of women, he could explain the novelty of a virgin’s auction away and no one would question it. They all knew the Jameson accounts wouldn’t so much as shudder at the loss of fifty thousand dollars. He couldn’t so easily explain carrying her off as she screamed for help, which might very well happen once morning came and he had to take her out of here.
The patter of the slow trickle of water from the faucet hitting the porcelain bowl of the sink came through the bathing chamber door and he rose from the bed. Searching for his discarded towel, he retrieved it from the carpet near the chair. It was still damp so he cleaned himself and threw it into a corner. Deciding things might progress more smoothly if he wasn’t nude when she came out, he grabbed the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around his waist. The clean clothes he’d sent for hadn’t yet arrived from his townhome. Or if they had, he didn’t want to open the door to check the hallway.
The Innocent and the Outlaw (Outlaws of the Wild West) Page 13