The Girl Nobody Wanted Lynne Raye Harris

by Lynne Raye Harris

  “Heaven help me, I can’t say no,” he told her. “I’m selfish, Anna, and I want what you’re offering me. Remember that later.”

  “I don’t care,” she whispered.

  Leo’s eyes were dark, hot and full of promise. Anna was afraid—of course she was!—but she was also ready to live. To do something wholly for herself without regard to what anyone else thought or believed.

  He propped himself on an elbow, one hand coming up to stroke the wet skin between her breasts. Water beaded in the trail he left behind. And then he was cupping her jaw, tilting her head back, his head lowering so slowly she thought she might scream.

  “I’m going to kiss you, Anna. The way you should have been kissed long before now.”

  Her eyes fluttered closed, and then Leo’s mouth was on hers, his lips full and warm against her own. Anna’s heart beat hard as he kissed her. It was a soft kiss, a lovely kiss. Everything she could have hoped for in her first real kiss.

  And yet she knew there was more, knew that a kiss could grow wild and needy, and she wanted that. Wanted Leo to kiss her like he was starved for her. She moved beneath him, and he made a noise in his throat that sounded so sexy she wanted to melt.

  “Patience,” he said against her mouth.

  “No,” she breathed.

  He laughed, and then his tongue touched the seam of her lips. She opened to him, her arms drifting up to wrap around his neck as his tongue plunged into her mouth and tangled with her own.

  He tasted like salt and mint and his mouth was hot compared to the coolness of the water. Kissing Leo was a revelation, an unveiling of worlds she’d known existed but had never experienced for herself.

  So this was what kissing was about. How could your body ache so much from the fusing of mouths? How could you feel so hot and unsettled simply from that one act? How could you want so much more than you’d ever wanted before? How could you feel as if you needed more or you would die?

  Leo’s hand left her jaw, slid down her neck until his fingers spanned her breast. Her nipples were tight points, and he made that sound she loved when he realized it. His thumb teased across her aroused flesh, sending little spikes of pleasure shooting through her body. If she were that sensitive when he touched her through the fabric, what would happen when he removed her bra?

  His arousal pressed against her, creating the most delicious sensation whenever either of them moved. She wanted more of that feeling, more of the sensation of spiraling out of control. She wanted it before she started to think too much, before she started to remind herself of all the reasons she shouldn’t do this. She was determined to be brave, to do her own thing, but a lifetime of habits didn’t cease with one decision.

  The kiss grew hotter, Leo demanding more from her, and she answered him eagerly, drinking his kisses as if they were water in the desert. He peeled her bra away from one breast, and then he was kneading her nipple between his thumb and forefinger while she gasped and arched into the caress.

  He broke the kiss and bent to her breast, sucking her tight nipple between his lips. The desire was explosive. Every tug of his mouth created an answering spike of pleasure in her sex.

  The surf gently rolled in, covering their lower bodies on every wave, but Anna didn’t care if it covered her head so long as Leo never stopped what he was doing. She realized she was clasping him to her, her fingers buried in his lush, dark hair. He peeled the cup from her other breast and sucked that nipple, too, his fingers taking over where his mouth left off on the breast he’d abandoned.

  “Leo,” she gasped as she tilted her head back in the sand. The sky above was so bright, so blue. The sun was sinking toward the horizon, and dusk wasn’t too far away now. No one had come for them—and she was perversely glad.

  Abruptly, Leo stood and reached out for her. “Not here,” he said.

  She took his hand and let him pull her up and lead her toward the shelter. There, he pressed her down onto the survival blanket he’d laid out earlier. The blanket was silver, made of thin thermal sheeting, and Leo paused for a moment, grinning.

  “What?” she said, her heart pounding recklessly.

  “Gives new meaning to ‘served up on a platter.’”

  She looked at him quizzically.

  “The blanket is silver, like a serving platter. And you are delectable.” He came down on top of her, hovering above her body without quite touching her. “And I am a very lucky man.”

  “Leo, please,” she said as his mouth dipped to her throat. She wanted more. She wanted more now. Before she let her brain take over and ruin everything.

  “All in good time, sweet Anna. But first, I need you to know you can stop this at any time.” He gazed down at her, his expression grave, serious, and her heart turned over in her chest. “Just say no, and I’ll stop. Got it?”

  Anna nodded. She didn’t want to say no, and yet she had to acknowledge that she was uncertain enough of herself to possibly do so. Knowing she could was a huge relief.

  He bent to kiss her again, his hand burrowing behind her back. A moment later, she felt her bra snap free. For a brief moment she wanted to hug the fabric to her body, to keep herself hidden, but as Leo tugged it up her arms and off, she let go. His remarkable eyes were so dark, so hot, as his gaze slipped over her.

  “You are too perfect for words,” he said, before he claimed her mouth again.

  By slow degrees his kisses grew more heated, more demanding, his tongue sliding against hers in a rhythm that sent pleasure spiking inside her body, inside the aching core of her sex. The fire burned brighter, hotter with every kiss.

  She’d never felt like this, never felt this combination of heat and pain that filled her and made her desperate for relief. When would that relief happen? When would he enter her body and take her over the edge?

  She craved it. Feared it. Needed it.

  But Leo was in no hurry. He worked his way down her body, kissing her skin, licking her the way she’d wanted to lick him, while she squirmed and gasped. Every touch was a revelation. Every stroke of his fingers and tongue on her body only spiraled the need higher until she was ready to beg him.

  “Leo,” she said urgently.

  “Patience, Anna,” he said against her skin, the vibration of his voice humming into the deepest recesses of her soul. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

  His mouth trailed over her abdomen, his tongue dipping into her belly button, and then he was sliding her panties from her hips and pushing her legs open for his view. She made a sound of protest, sudden embarrassment scorching her from the inside out. She’d never opened herself to a man, never experienced that moment when his eyes darkened and his jaw hardened—and then his gaze shot to hers, a question in his gorgeous eyes.

  “Shall I stop?” he said, and she knew it wasn’t an easy thing for him to ask. He sounded tense, edgy. Cautious. And her heart melted.

  He looked so beautiful hovering over her, his jaw shadowed with stubble, his dark eyes glittering hot. His erection strained against the fabric of his briefs and she found herself staring at that part of him, wondering how badly this might hurt the first time.

  She wouldn’t lie to him. “I want to stop,” she said softly. His muscles tensed. She knew in that moment he would stand, would walk away and leave her alone if it was what she truly wanted. “But I want to continue even more.”

  “Oh, Anna,” he groaned. And then he bent and kissed her again, his fingers slipping into the slick heat between her legs, his thumb sliding across her clitoris. Sensation crashed through her. She’d done this for herself, of course, but it was different when he was doing it to her. More intense somehow.

  His long fingers shaped her sex, caressed every part of it—the plump outer lips, the delicate inner lips, the tiny ridge at the center where all her pleasure was focused. He stroked her again and again, concentrating all his effort on her most sensitive flesh.

  Until she came apart with a cry, her body stiffening in his embrace, her legs shaking with
the strength of her release.

  She moaned, long and loud, and Leo drank her soft moans into his mouth until she stilled.

  “Good?”

  She closed her eyes, turned her head into her arm and nodded once. Heat flooded her, but was it the heat of her passion or the heat of embarrassment? She didn’t know, and she wasn’t entirely sure she cared.

  Leo toyed with the pearls which still hung around her neck. “It gets better, Anna.”

  And then he slid down her body and touched his tongue to her sex. “Leo!”

  He pushed her legs open, took her with his mouth. She was shocked, and not shocked. She’d watched that video, watched the woman’s face as her lover had done exactly this.

  It was bliss. Sheer, heart-stopping bliss. Every nerve ending she had was focusing on that one spot, gathering tighter and tighter until she wasn’t certain she could take another moment of this sweet torture.

  Leo gave her no quarter. He was relentless, flicking his tongue over her still-sensitive skin, licking and sucking her until the tension built so, so impossibly high—

  “Leo!” she cried, shattering beneath him, her body shuddering and shuddering until she lay on the blanket, her limbs melting, her body limp. She thought that if she never moved again, if she died here and now, she would be happy.

  Her body was dissolving, floating in a void, and yet she still felt restless and unsatisfied beneath the haze of pleasure. As if she hadn’t quite felt everything she could feel yet.

  Leo got up and walked away. The glorious heat of him, the flame and passion, was gone. Stunned, she rose up on her elbows, watched him as he stood with his back to her. He didn’t move, other than to rake a hand through his hair. Confusion raced through her.

  “Leo?”

  “We can’t go any further,” he told her, not turning to look at her. “We can’t risk getting you pregnant.”

  Anna blinked. And then she got to her feet. She was conscious of her nudity, but the sun was sinking low enough that it was darker beneath the trees. And she felt so very, very naughty right now. Confident and beautiful.

  Boldly, she went over to stand behind him. She couldn’t help but admire his body. He was so very gorgeous, so perfectly made. The muscles in his back bunched and stretched as he pulled his hand through his hair again. She wanted to trace every ridge and swell of him, wanted to spend hours learning his texture.

  Leo was so sexy. So male.

  So honorable.

  Honorable? Not a word she would have associated with Leo before today.

  She put a tentative hand on his strong biceps, felt the knot of warm muscle tense beneath her fingertips. Felt the sizzle of current that passed between them. It was odd, this feeling, and yet she was beginning to get used to it. She’d never felt that sizzle with Alex, but maybe that’s because she’d always been so rigid around him. So controlled and cool.

  She wasn’t cool with Leo. Not now anyway.

  “It’s okay,” she said, her heart thudding like mad. “I started the Pill six months ago.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  LEO turned to look at her. His expression was taut, controlled.

  She shrugged self-consciously. “I wanted to know Alex a bit better before we had children. I—I know it was my duty, but I wasn’t quite ready yet.”

  It was a small rebellion, but after all these years of waiting and preparing, she wasn’t going to get pregnant in the first month and then let Alex walk out of her life. She’d wanted more time. She’d needed to know him better, needed to know who she was as his wife. She’d felt illicit when she’d gone to her doctor to ask for birth control, but she’d always intended to tell Alex she was taking the Pill when they wed. She hadn’t meant it to be a secret—but it no longer mattered, did it?

  Leo put his hands on her shoulders, breathed out hard. Those clever hands slid down her forearms, leaving a trail of fire as they went. Simply from a caress.

  “You plan everything to the letter, don’t you?”

  She swallowed. “I am a bit obsessive about the details,” she said somewhat lightly. But deep down she cringed, waiting for his censure.

  Instead, he laughed, a deep sexy sound that thrilled her. “Anna, you are something else.”

  She tried to frown. “I’m not sure I want to be something else. I want to be interesting. Desirable. Not something else entirely.”

  He drew her to him. “Oh, you are definitely interesting and desirable. The other was a compliment. I can’t remember the last time—”

  He stopped speaking abruptly, and she reached up to slide her palm against his face. She couldn’t help it. She wanted to touch him. “Can’t remember the last time what?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

  And then he was scooping her up and taking her back to the blanket beneath the shelter, laying her down gently, kissing her again and again. The fires in her body stoked higher with every touch of his lips against hers. Leo was still wearing his briefs, and she arched against him in frustration.

  “You should know,” he said softly against her earlobe as he nibbled her there. “I am healthy. You have nothing to fear. I am always cautious with my … liaisons.”

  Liaisons. The word lodged in her brain, refused to fade away. She knew Leo had many lovers, knew she was only a liaison. This was temporary. It was here, now, a celebration of survival. They would be rescued eventually, she was certain, and they would go back to their lives.

  A pang of something pierced her but she dared not examine it.

  “Now, Leo,” she said as her eyes filled with ridiculous tears. “Please, now.”

  Before she changed her mind. Before the fears she’d buried down deep escaped the Pandora’s box of her soul. Before boring Anna took over again.

  He shrugged out of his briefs, and then she felt him—the hot, hard head of him at her entrance. “Anna,” he said, his voice strangled with the control he exercised. “Are you certain?”

  She couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. Her pulse drummed in her throat, her ears, even the soles of her feet. She was certain, certain …

  She pulled his head down to hers and thrust her tongue into his mouth. He moaned softly—and then he moved, thrusting into her body. There was a slight moment of pain before he broke through the barrier, but then he was inside her fully.

  Their bodies were joined together more intimately than she’d ever imagined. It was odd to feel a man so deep inside her, to feel the throb of his pulse as he held himself very still and kissed her softly.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Anna wrapped her legs around his hips, knowing instinctively that’s what she was supposed to do. “Yes,” she breathed. “Oh, yes.”

  The pain was nothing compared to the pleasure. Finally, she’d done something for herself—she’d made a decision and done what she felt was right for her, not what anyone else wanted her to do. It was exhilarating. So damn exhilarating.

  Leo began to move, slowly at first and then more quickly as she caught his rhythm and rose up to meet him over and over again. Her heart swelled with feelings she didn’t want to examine, and her body caught the edge of the wave and began to soar further and faster as Leo made love to her.

  She had no idea what to expect, but she hadn’t quite expected this. This perfect joining of bodies, this sharp edge of feeling, this physical pleasure beyond anything she’d imagined before. She was molten, glowing, burning hotter and hotter with every stroke of his body into hers.

  And then she reached the peak of sensation, caught herself on the edge of the precipice, held herself suspended there for what seemed an eternity of the most exquisite pleasure/pain she’d ever known as her body kindled. She was a flash fire, a firecracker waiting to explode.

  And then she did explode, soaring over the edge, free-falling into nothingness as Leo took one stiff nipple into his mouth and suckled hard.

  She was aware of Leo following her, of his body pumping into hers harder and faster, of him stif
fening and groaning as he spilled inside her.

  He swore, hot words that made her sex clench around him. His breathing was hard, but so was hers. He touched his forehead to hers, being very careful not to crush her beneath him.

  “That was amazing,” he said. “You are amazing.”

  He was still inside her, still hard, and she tilted her hips slightly, wondering if she would feel anything now that it was over. His breath hissed in.

  “You want to kill me, don’t you?” he said, and she could hear the laugh in his voice.

  “Definitely not,” she said, feeling more powerful than she ever had before. “I’m not quite finished with you yet.”

  He did laugh then.

  The sun went down and Leo built a small fire near their shelter. They had a lantern for later, but the fire was enough light for now. After he fanned the flames to life, Leo dragged dried food packets out of the survival kit and they had a picnic. They had also gotten dressed again, their clothes having dried in the sun.

  Anna was rather disappointed to sit by the fire with Leo and not be looking at his bare chest, but it was cooler at night and the clothes were definitely needed. She hugged her stiffened jacket around her and glanced over at Leo. Firelight caressed the planes of his face, shadowing his cheeks and the cleft in his chin. Sitting here now, like this, she couldn’t believe they’d made love only a short while ago.

  She was in some ways a different person than she had been this morning. Oh, not fundamentally different. She was still a nitpicky perfectionist and she still had a desire for order and neatness. Anna sighed. She was also still afraid of looking like a fool in the press, and she still wished she could run away until everything blew over and she ceased being the jilted bride.

  But at least she could now say she’d experienced passion. And, oh, what passion. The memory of it made heat flare to life deep in her belly. Leo had initiated her into a world she’d never known. He’d turned her inside out and made her into a raw, needy creature who’d craved his touch.

  So much so that she’d begged him to make love to her again soon after the first time. This time, however, he’d rolled onto his back and let her take the lead. She’d been shy at first, afraid, but then she’d discovered how powerful it made her feel when she controlled the pace. Leo was so in charge of his emotions, his reactions—but at one point his head fell back and his eyes closed and he swallowed hard. And that was the moment when triumph swelled in her veins, when she felt her feminine power fully.