The Outcast tp-3

by Beverly Barton

  Evening shadows fell across the room. Only the dreary gray gloom of cloud-obscured light came through the windows. She could see his body, naked except for his shirt, big and hairy and muscled, his flesh a natural light olive hue. His partially erect manhood lay nestled in a bed of brown hair. She had an irresistible urge to touch him, to circle him and discover the feel of his masculinity. When she reached for him, Reece grabbed her hand, bringing it down on his stomach, trapping it beneath his own.

  They lay side by side, their heads resting on the pillows. Glancing over at him, she smiled. "Reece?"

  "Are you all right, Elizabeth?"

  She saw the concern in his eyes, the fear. "Yes, I'm all right. It's just that I want more. I want to touch your body, to taste you. I'm aching inside, Reece."

  Reece lifted himself up on one elbow. "Keep talking like that, Lizzie, and I'll be ready in a couple of minutes."

  She ran her hand down his chest, stopping just a fraction above his manhood. "My breasts are so tight and heavy."

  Reece looked at her large, firm breasts, noting how rigidly her nipples stood out, as if begging for his mouth. He flicked one nipple with his tongue. Elizabeth squirmed, moaning and reaching out, circling Reece.

  Reece clasped her hand, covering it with his own, showing her how he liked to be touched, what movements gave him the most pleasure.

  "My whole body throbs," Elizabeth said. "I have this tingling sensation down here." With her unoccupied hand she covered herself, indicating the area. "I took away your pain, Reece, now I want you to take away mine."

  Reece removed his shirt, tossing it atop their other clothes on the floor, then reached up and tugged down the spread and blankets. Elizabeth lifted up as Reece pulled the covers down enough so that they could slip underneath. He slid his arm behind her back, dragging her up against him.

  "Warm?" he asked.

  She nodded.

  "Comfortable?"

  "I would be if I weren't hurting so much."

  "Do you want me to take you again, right now?"

  "Yes."

  Reece laughed. "The first time was for me. The second time is going to be for both of us.''

  Elizabeth kissed his chest. Reece shoved her slightly away from him, turning her over on her side.

  "What are you doing?" she asked.

  He rubbed her shoulders, lifting her long hair aside to kiss her neck. "I'm making love to you, Lizzie. Slow, sweet, passionate love."

  "Oh."

  "Just relax, baby, and let me take you where you want to go."

  He kissed and licked and caressed every inch of her back side, from her neck to the heels of her feet. Elizabeth squirmed and moaned and begged Reece to stop tormenting her, but he continued with his magic foreplay, teaching her what an incredibly sensuous woman she was. Her body, though tense with need and anticipation, became pliant in his hands, warm, quivering putty to be molded to his specifications. By the time he turned her around to face him, she was crying with her need, pleading with him to take her, to ease the agony that had built inside her.

  Reece spread her legs, positioning himself between them, but he did not take her. Instead, while she clung to his shoulders, biting her nails into his muscles, he lowered his head and took one of her nipples into his mouth. She arched up off the bed, her femininity open and waiting for his possession. With every stroke of his tongue, every touch of his fingertips, Reece brought Elizabeth closer and closer to the brink.

  "Please, Reece. Please..."

  "You're almost ready.''

  "I am ready!"

  His fingers sought and found her moisture, hot and dripping with desire. "You are ready, baby. So very, very ready."

  When he entered her with one swift, firm plunge, she took him into her, accepting him fully, clinging to his shoulders, wrapping her legs around his hips. She met him thrust for thrust, giving and taking in equal measure, reveling in the feel of him buried deep within her, savoring the fullness of him that made her complete.

  "Ah, Lizzie... so good, baby. You're so good."

  "Love me, Reece. Love me!"

  He took her hard and fast then, with a frenzy she equaled with her acceptance, her raging hunger to find fulfillment. Their bodies moved in unison, to the undulating rhythm of mating. The tightness within her released, exploding shards of breathtaking pleasure through her whole body, the throbbing spasms of her climax continuing on and on until satiation claimed her. Reece followed her over the precipice, falling headlong into an earth-shattering climax, his body jerking as he jetted his release into her receptive body. He groaned with pleasure, falling on top of Elizabeth, whose own body still pulsed with the aftershocks of such a fierce loving.

  He rested heavily atop her, his big body damp with sweat, even though the covers lay at their feet. Elizabeth clung to him, her own body damp from their lovemaking. She felt as if she were still a part of him, still connected. She could not bear to let him go.

  Reece eased off her, cradling her in his arms, never wanting to release her, wanting to keep her at his side forever. Reaching down, he pulled the covers up and over them. He kissed Elizabeth on the forehead.

  "I don't think I could bear to lose you, Lizzie. Not now." He hadn't even realized he'd spoken aloud until he heard the sound of his own voice.

  Draping her arm across his stomach beneath the covers, she cuddled closer to his side. "I'm yours. Now and forever. Don't you know that, Reece?" Don't you know that I love you?

  She felt his body go rigid, and knew only too well that he wasn't ready for her confession of love.

  "It's all right," she told him. "I won't leave you."

  They lay there together, in each other's arms, as evening turned to night. Elizabeth slept, warm, safe and content, protected in the embrace of the man she loved. Reece lay awake for a long time, thinking about his life and wondering if there was any chance that he could change. Was it possible for a hard-hearted, cold bastard like him to ever learn to love, really love, the way Elizabeth deserved to be loved?

  Finally Reece allowed sleep to claim him, but even in his dreams he could not escape the fact that Elizabeth Mallory cared for him. And more than anything, yes, perhaps even more than revenge against the Stantons, he wanted to be able to return her feelings.

  Elizabeth awoke to the sound of the winter wind whipping around the edge of the cottage, creating a keening whine. Opening her eyes to the morning sunlight filling the room, she glanced at the empty side of the bed and wondered where Reece was. The silence in the house chilled her far more than the frigid temperature in the room. Holding the covers around her to protect her from the cold, Elizabeth crawled over to the edge of the bed, leaned down and picked up her jeans and shirt from the floor, leaving her panties. She slid the garments under the covers and dressed as quickly as possible, then sat on the side of the bed to put on her shoes.

  She glanced into the kitchen when she emerged from the bedroom. Coffee brewed in the coffee machine; two clean cups waited on the counter. When she entered the living room Elizabeth felt the warmth from the roaring fire and also a distinct chill coming from across the room. She saw that the front door stood wide open, freezing air pouring into the cottage.

  Approaching the door, she noticed Reece standing on the porch, his back to her. She walked across the room and out the door, stopping just inches away from Reece.

  "It's a beautiful morning,'' he said, not turning around. "But it's damned cold. Are you wearing your coat?"

  Elizabeth eased up behind him, slipping her arms inside his coat and around his waist, hugging him to her. "You can keep me warm."

  In an instant he whirled her around and into his arms, opening his coat to pull her up against him. She smiled at him, loving the look she saw in his eyes, those lone-wolf amber eyes that told her how glad he was to have her near.

  "What time is it?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

  "Probably around seven-thirty." He rubbed her back with up-and-do
wn strokes, warming her with his touch.

  "How long have you been up?" She kissed his neck.

  "Not long. About twenty minutes." He nuzzled the side of her face with his nose. "I've made coffee." Reece turned her around so that they stood with her back to his chest, facing the front of the cabin. "You were right about the snow. There's less than two inches."

  Elizabeth glanced at the white-glazed scenery, a light dusting of snow producing a fairyland effect on the bare trees and brush, tipping the evergreens with a thin layer of ice. The wind howled, blowing snow in every direction, creating the illusion that it was still falling from the sky. Like tiny, delicate diamonds, translucent in the sunlight, the snow danced in the wind.

  "It is a beautiful morning." Turning in his arms, Elizabeth looked at Reece, absorbing the pure pleasure of being so near to him. "The most beautiful morning of my life."

  He took her face in his hands, gazing into her eyes, his look pleading with her for understanding. Then he kissed her, soft, delicate, gentle kisses.

  "Morning always comes, doesn't it?" She smiled at him. "I understand. No matter how magical the night might have been, today we're back to reality."

  "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I wish-"

  She covered his lips with her fingertips. "It's all right, Reece. I know what lies ahead of us, what we'll have to face. I suppose I just wanted a few more minutes of pretending everything is the way I want it to be."

  "Come on back inside." He ushered her across the porch and into the cabin, closing the door behind them. "You're freezing, babe." He brought her cold hands up to his lips, cupping them and then blowing his warm breath over them.

  "How about breakfast? Toast and some scrambled eggs?" She pulled away from him.

  He caught her around the waist, pulling her up against him. "What time are you supposed to meet Sam at Gary Elkins's office this morning?"

  "Ten o'clock."

  Releasing Elizabeth, Reece shrugged off his coat and tossed it onto a nearby chair. "Toast, eggs and coffee sound good." Reece sat on the sofa.

  "Fine. I'll go fix breakfast." She started toward the kitchen.

  "Breakfast can wait." Reece glanced over his shoulder at Elizabeth, who turned and looked back at him.

  "I suppose it could, but if we're both hungry, why should we wait?"

  "I'd say that depends on what we're hungry for, wouldn't you?"

  Elizabeth swallowed hard, wondering if she could dissolve the knot in her throat. She took several tentative steps across the room, halting directly behind the sofa.

  "What are you hungry for?" she asked.

  Before she knew what was happening, Reece reached out, grabbed her and pulled her over the back of the sofa and into his arms. She squealed. He sprawled out the full length of the long wicker couch, resting her body atop his.

  "I'm hungry for you, Elizabeth. I didn't get enough of you during the night.''

  She straddled his lean hips, pushing one of her knees into the padded sofa back and balancing the other on the edge of a seat cushion.

  "I'd rather devour you first and save the eggs and toast until we've worked up a real appetite for food." Elizabeth unsnapped his jeans and released his zipper, finding him naked beneath his pants.

  Reece undid her jeans and tugged them down her hips. She lifted her body up enough from him to jerk the jeans past her knees and down to her ankles. Just as she started to kick them onto the floor, Reece tumbled them both onto the heavy, braided rug in front of the fireplace.

  "Reece!" Her jeans fell off her feet.

  He eased his own jeans down over his hips, anchoring them at midthigh, then he pulled Elizabeth on top of him, positioning her just where he wanted her. She adjusted her knees on each side of his hips, lowering herself onto his arousal. He surged up and into her as she took him into her body.

  He urged her breasts toward his mouth, taking one nipple between his teeth, nibbling, then stroking it with his tongue before suckling greedily. He allowed her to set the pace, to create the rhythm. Elizabeth took charge, building the tension higher and higher not only in herself but in Reece, allowing the primeval woman within her to dominate, to take her own pleasure as surely as she gave it to her mate.

  There before the blazing fire, Elizabeth took Reece, glorying in her own feminine power and accepting the fact that he possessed equal dominion over her. When their bodies burned with a fire hotter than the one that warmed the cottage, they shattered into simultaneous releases so intense that the aftershocks rocked them again and again.

  Elizabeth lay on top of Reece's sweat-damp body, exhausted from appeasing a hunger far greater than any she'd ever known. After endless moments Reece helped her to her feet and led her to the bathroom, where they shared a long shower, making love again before dressing and returning to the kitchen for breakfast.

  Elizabeth waited for Sam outside the renovated nineteenth-century antebellum cottage on Main Street where Gary Elkins's office was located. She felt a bit under-dressed in her jeans, sweater and winter coat, but she'd packed light when she'd left Sequana Falls, thinking of nothing except following Reece.

  At precisely ten, just as the town clock struck the hour, Sam Dundee stepped out of his rental car. Elegant in his dark suit and overcoat, Sam approached Elizabeth, giving her a quick hug.

  An attractive young receptionist greeted them when they entered the office, which had been decorated by someone with excellent taste and a flair for making an office practical and at the same time pleasantly appealing. "May I help you?" The receptionist smiled at Sam and Elizabeth, her warm brown eyes revealing her genuine friendliness.

  "We have an appointment with Mr. Elkins. I'm Sam Dundee." Sam assisted Elizabeth in removing her coat, then took off his overcoat and hung both items on a wooden rack near the entrance.

  "Yes, sir. Mr. Elkins is expecting you." Getting up from her tidy desk, the young woman led Sam and Elizabeth toward a heavy wooden door to the right of the reception room. She knocked, then entered, announcing Mr. Elkins's ten-o'clock appointment.

  Gary Elkins rose from a button-tufted hunter green leather chair, rounded his enormous antique oak desk and held out his hand to Sam.

  "Won't you come in, Mr. Dundee? I'm eager to find out how you can help me prove Reece Landry innocent of B. K. Stanton's murder. You said that you were contacted by a psychic who claims she had a vision about Reece, that she believes in his innocence."

  Elizabeth watched Gary Elkins as he shook hands with Sam and motioned for the two of them to sit, his gaze scanning Elizabeth quickly before he offered his hand to her.

  "And is this lovely young lady the psychic you told me about?" Elkins asked.

  Gary Elkins's white-blond hair was thin, his blue eyes pale and his complexion ruddy. Standing beside Sam, he looked like a kid, but then few men were as big as Sam Dundee.

  "This is my niece, Elizabeth," Sam said. "She's quite involved in this situation."

  "I see." Gary Elkins released Elizabeth's hand, motioned for them to be seated in the two Queen Anne wingbacks that flanked his desk, then returned to his chair.

  Elizabeth felt immediate warmth, honesty and good-heartedness coming from Gary Elkins. She sensed that not only were the man's credentials as a lawyer irreproachable, he was also a decent human being. She knew that she and Sam wouldn't be putting their trust in someone who might betray Reece.

  Sam glanced over at Elizabeth. Smiling, she nodded, reassuring Sam that they could confide in Gary Elkins. Sam returned the smile and the nod, then faced Reece's lawyer.

  "Not only do Elizabeth and I believe that Reece Landry is innocent, but we think he was framed for his father's murder," Sam said.

  Gary Elkins's eyes widened. "I see. Well, I agree with you, but I'm afraid that there's no evidence to substantiate that fact."

  "I intend to uncover that evidence, Mr. Elkins." Sam leaned back in the chair, crossing his legs as he relaxed.

  "Is your niece the psychic who had a vision about Reece?" Elkins glanced at Elizabet
h.

  "I am psychic, Mr. Elkins, but...I...I know Reece, personally," Elizabeth said. "And I know he didn't kill his father."

  "I'm afraid I don't understand." Elkins frowned. "I thought I'd met all of Reece's friends during the trial."

  "Look, Elkins," Sam said, "what I'm about to tell you will remain confidential. Understand?"

  "Yes, I understand."

  "When Landry escaped after the wreck nearly a week ago, he broke into Elizabeth's cabin in Sequana Falls-"

  "He didn't break in," Elizabeth said. "The door wasn't locked."

  Sam gave Elizabeth a hard stare, then turned his attention back to Reece's lawyer. "Landry was in pretty bad shape. Elizabeth nursed him back to health and the two of them became friends. He told her the facts about Stanton's murder and the trial. Elizabeth believed him, and so do I."

  "Why didn't you go to the sheriff?" Elkins asked. "Why did you come to me?"

  "Because Reece doesn't trust the sheriff's department, and I believe he's right in his distrust. But he wasn't sure about you, and I decided to find out for myself whether or not you were truly on Reece's side." Elizabeth scooted to the edge of her seat, clasping her knees with her open palms.

  "Do you know where Reece is now?" Elkins looked directly at Elizabeth. "If you do, then I urge you to contact him and tell him to turn himself in. If the local authorities find him, they'll kill him."

  Icy chills pelted Elizabeth's body. "They'll-"

  "Landry isn't going to turn himself in," Sam said. "I've talked to him, tried to convince him to give us a chance to dig up some new evidence, to wait for his appeal to go through."

  "Look, I don't know who you people are or why you've chosen to believe Reece, but he needs all the help he can get. So do I." Elkins slammed one hand down atop his desk.

  "Dammit, the Stantons possess a great deal of power in Newell and the local sheriff knows the family wants Reece apprehended dead or alive."

  The outer door swung open and a tall, slender brunette entered. "Not all the Stantons want Reece dead."

  "Christina!" Elkins jumped up, rounded his desk and rushed over to the woman who'd just entered his office.