Mustang Wild

by Stacey Kayne

  The light caress seared her body like a lightning bolt. Skylar cried out, her back arching off the grass.

  "Easy, honey," Tucker soothed, her unrestrained cry increasing his desire. He rubbed his palm across the smooth skin of her torso and got a similar reaction. He'd never been with a woman who was so responsive to his touch.

  It ain't a wonder, he thought. The way she keeps herself at arm's length from everyone, her body must be starving to feel a man's caress, and I'm a man who's been dying to caress her.

  He turned his attention to her other breast. The pink crown beaded beneath his tongue as he drew her into his mouth. Again Skylar gasped and bucked as though he'd burned her. Her fingers plowed into his hair, and Tucker wasn't sure if she was encouraging him or trying to stop him.

  He released her and eased back. "Didn't your beau love you like this?" he asked, somewhat confused by the shock and uncertainty he saw in her eyes.

  "No!"

  Tucker settled on the grass beside her, regarding the pure disgust in her expression. "Do you like it?" he asked, truly concerned. When her eyes only widened in response he pressed her for an answer, damned if he'd do anything she found offensive. "Skylar?" He propped up on his elbow and reached across her and brushed the warm skin of her waist.

  "I don't know," she said in a soft voice, shielding her eyes with long, golden lashes. She flushed from her forehead to her beautiful breasts glistening in the morning sun from his caresses. He was pretty certain she'd like it.

  Skylar eased onto her side and inched toward him, which Tucker took to be more of an act of shyness than actually wanting to get close to him. Watching her face, he stroked his palm across the soft skin of her stomach, moving slowly up her body until her breast filled his palm. Skylar shivered and moaned. When he stroked his thumb across the firm peak, her eyes widened and glazed with undeniable pleasure as her breath unraveled in a long, languid sigh.

  "Tucker?" she said, her voice trembling.

  "It's okay, angel girl," he soothed, plying her lips with gentle kisses. The realization as to just how innocent she was to this sort of play stunned him, and fueled his passion. "We'll take it real slow," he murmured against her lips.

  She answered him with a kiss that caused him to question his own restraint. She'll like it all, he silently vowed. He'd pour over her with the gentle subtleness of sunlight, taking her the way dawn takes the night sky, leaving no part of her untouched.

  Chapter 14

  Slow was another word for torture. Tucker's gentle touch and soft lips moved across her body like molten molasses, caressing her bare skin and drizzling pleasure from the tips of her fingers to her toes. He melted her muscles as he singed her soul with his sweet, hot fire.

  She wanted to feel more of him, but he kept himself just out of reach, constantly shifting above her. A cry of passion and impatience rose up from her throat. Tucker responded by returning his mouth to hers, treating her to a kiss which only fueled the fire building inside her. She trembled from the frightfully wonderful feel of his body again moving over hers, bringing him back into reach of her eager hands.

  She was delighted to discover he'd removed his shirt. Before she could enjoy her discovery Tucker's hand stroked across her belly, trailing down until he jolted her body with a rush of hot pleasure. His gentle strokes stripped everything from her mind but the wondrous feel of his intimate caress. Consumed by pleasure and the mounting tension pooling at her center, her body arched, seeking. As if answering her silent plea, Tucker's warm, wonderful mouth closed over the tight peak of her breast. She gasped, the wild sensations welling inside her becoming almost painful, frightening. "Tuck, no more, I—" The slow, deliberate swirling of his thumb over her sensitive flesh ended Skylar's words in a deep moan as pleasure pulsed through her body. He repeated the caress, his mouth loving her breast in the same sensual rhythm, and Skylar's world exploded in a burst of shimmering sensation.

  She gripped his shoulders as waves of fire burst through her, shaking her, consuming her. When Tucker finally moved over her, Skylar banded her arms around him, needing his weight to soothe the violent tremors racking her body.

  He murmured something against her ear, but his words escaped her, her mind still splintered by the effects of his sensual touch. Aching to touch him as completely as he'd touched her, she slid her hands down his lean back. Just as her fingers slipped beneath his denim waistband, his slick, corded muscles slid from her grasp as Tucker eased down her body, his lips blazing a trail of fire across her abdomen. His teeth grazed her stomach, stinging her with a rush of rippling sensation before he pulled away from her completely.

  "Come back," she said in a shallow breath, frustrated by his evasiveness to her touch. Her eyes fluttered open and gazed up at the bluest sky she'd ever seen.

  "Patience, love," Tucker answered, his voice thick, his breathing sounding hard and forced. "I'm only trying to give you what you're asking for."

  Asking for?

  Skylar propped herself up on her elbows. The sight of her own nudity stunned her. Tucker had distracted her so completely with his touch and undressed her with such subtlety that she hadn't fully realized she was lying in a meadow wearing nothing but sunlight.

  Tucker towered over her, his spectacular bronze skin glistening in the sun. His tousled hair hung in his eyes as his hands worked at the buckle of his belt.

  Skylar sat up in a rush. Drawing her knees to her chest, she banded her arms around them. Tucker's pants dropped from his hips to his ankles. He kicked them aside, leaving him just as naked as she. Skylar's breath lodged in her throat. Her body tingled, her skin prickled as her gaze traced his broad shoulders and the sculpted muscles of his abdomen tapering down to narrow hips, and below.

  "Oh my," she breathed, suddenly quite nervous about the physical details of coupling.

  Being raised around a bunch of men prone to relieve themselves whenever they felt the urge, she'd witnessed a fair amount of indecency. Tucker's powerful body didn't resemble the flashing glimpse of any cowhand she'd ever seen.

  She didn't realize she was gaping at him until he placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to meet his gaze as he knelt beside her. His eyebrows cinched together. "Skylar?"

  "I—I didn't realize...I've never seen...I just didn't realize," she said again.

  Tucker's lips quirked with a slight grin. "You've never seen a naked man?"

  "None like you. You're very.

  "Horny," Tucker supplied, silent laughter shaking his chest.

  His disarming smile reminded Skylar of the gentleness he possessed. The laughter in his eyes began to soothe the nervousness he must have sensed. Instead of crowding her, he eased back.

  Her gaze slid down the sculpted lines of his chest and torso, to the very male part of him that no longer seemed so different from the rest of his body. Skin over steel.

  "Masculine," she amended, her throat closing over the word. "And beautiful," she said in a gruff whisper as she slowly sought his gaze.

  The approval Tucker saw in Skylar's eyes washed over him like a caress. "You're very feminine," he said, smiling as he pressed his lips to her raised knee. And shy.

  She was wrapped up tighter than an armadillo. Her shyness continued to amaze him. He scooted a bit closer. When she didn't back away, he reached out to either side of her and stroked his hands up the smooth skin of the thighs she held tight against her chest.

  "Are you hiding from me?" he asked, leaning forward to brush his lips across her blushing face and timid smile. As his lips met hers, her arms curved around his neck. Tucker slid his hands between her raised knees, meeting no resistance as he gently eased them apart, bringing their bodies closer. Skylar returned his light kisses, allowing him to ease her back onto the grass.

  Her slender body felt so delicate beneath him. He pulled back to gaze down at her. The warmth in Skylar's eyes stole his breath, the uncertainty he'd seen a moment ago now lost in a glow of raw desire. He shuddered as she smoothed her hands acro
ss his chest.

  Hell. He was about to lose control just looking at her. Combined with her touch, things looked grim. He'd done his damnedest to avoid the feel of her hot little hands, her touch burning through the short rope he had on his control the way a flame takes to kerosene.

  "Kiss me," she said, her hands sliding around his neck, drawing him to her.

  More than eager, Tucker did as she asked. He brushed a trail of kisses down her neck, across her narrow shoulder. His name left her lips in a deep sigh, sending a tremor of sensation through his body. Tension strained between his shoulders as his body burned with an urgency he'd never felt with any other woman. He groaned as his shaft brushed against the sultry entrance of her feminine core then pressed into the satin heat.

  "Skylar," he sighed, clenching his eyes shut as his slight penetration jolted his body with fiery sensation.

  He rocked gently against her, taking her with agonizing slowness. Skylar's soft moans clawed at his resolve, the tight passage of her body caressing him so completely, he couldn't breathe. Damn it all, he wanted this to last, but his body wasn't going to cooperate.

  He took her mouth in a deep kiss. Skylar folded her legs around his hips, demanding fulfillment.

  On the verge of losing control, Tucker gripped her hips and sheathed himself deep inside her.

  Skylar winced, tensing beneath him as he felt a delicate barrier give way to his intrusion.

  "Sky?" he said in a ragged breath, afraid to move. But even as his mind reeled from shock, his body shuddered with a tingling rush of pleasure. "Honey," he began again when he managed to pull in a full breath. "You're a—"

  His words ended in a groan as Skylar's hips rocked forward, taking more of him as her hands slid up the corded muscles of his back. Helpless against the pull of her body, Tucker brushed his lips across her temple, whispered her name and sank farther into the sweet, satin paradise.

  Any pain his breaching may have caused her had abated. The constricting proof of her pleasure was about to undo him.

  Shaking from the shimmers of sensation cascading through her body, Skylar tightened her legs around Tucker as he filled her to the point of bursting. And then he was moving, each thrust sending streamers of fire racing down her spine, pooling at her center until she cried out.

  Her body arched, trembling as pleasure pulsed through her. Tucker held her tight, her name echoed in her ears as her world splintered in a shimmering array of wild sensation. Moments later, Tucker collapsed on top of her, his breath rushing out in hard gasps near her ear.

  As Skylar's breathing started to ease, her muscles began to relax, leaving her with no more strength than a puddle of warm mud. "Oh my." She sighed against his shoulder, enjoying the salty taste of his skin. "I had no idea anything could...Tucker, what did you do to me?"

  He would have laughed at her innocent comment, had his mind not been so heavily weighted by the intensity of what he'd just experienced.

  A virgin. She had been a virgin! Yet she'd taken him with a hot, sensual passion that burned him clear to his soul. He buried his face in her hair. Bracketing his arms on either side of her head, he lifted more of his weight off of her without giving up the complete contact of their bodies. Skylar's long, lean body was a perfect fit to his, from her sweet lips, to her soft breasts pressed against his chest, to her delicate feet rubbing at the backs of his calves.

  "Tuck?"

  "Hmm?" he replied, kissing the shell of her ear. She was sweet.

  "Are you going to let me up?" she asked.

  The rumble of Tucker's laughter touched Skylar in a hundred intriguing places. She never imagined a body could feel so much.

  "I wasn't planning on it," he said, his seductive tone tightening the wonderful sensations still burning deep inside her. He released a low groan, and she wondered if he, too, had felt them.

  More of his weight shifted off her as he began to ease back. "Is your shoulder hurting?"

  Deciding she liked him where he was, Skylar's arms wrapped around him, holding him in place. "It's not hurting."

  "Do you want me to let you up?" he asked.

  Skylar was sure she should say yes, but she couldn't. It felt so soothing to have his warmth and his weight pressed against her, their bodies still joined. She slid her hands across the slick muscles of his back, loving the feel of his strength, knowing he was presently using those corded muscles to keep all his weight from crushing her as he sheltered her from the sun.

  "Skylar?" Tucker's lips dusted the pink scar on her shoulder, then her collarbone.

  "Why do you call me that?" she asked, tilting her head to give him full access to the sensitive skin of her neck.

  Confused by her question, distracted by the wild sensation building within his body, Tucker lifted his head. The openness in her questioning gaze seized his full attention. She was beautiful when she was guarded and stubborn, but with her defenses down, her beauty was breathtaking. He could get damn used to staring into those soft blue eyes. "Why do I call you Skylar?" he asked.

  She nodded.

  "Because that's your name, sweetheart. You made that real clear the first morning in my cabin. 'My name is Skylar'" he mocked, "'and I'm queen of my own mountain! I don't need you or any other fumbling cowboy.'"

  A giggle trickled up from her throat as she smacked her hand against his shoulder. "That's not what I said."

  "Close enough." He brushed light kisses across her smiling lips. "You were the prettiest woman I'd ever seen, standing there in my shirt."

  Skylar shivered as she felt his body stir deep inside her. "Tuck? I thought you, er, we...were done."

  "Done." He met her gaze. "After the way your sweet body burned through my control? You have to give me a chance to do better."

  "Better?" Skylar said in a faint voice, growing dizzy from the thought as her body seemed to cry out in anticipation.

  He flashed a teasing smile. "Just what did your beau do with you, anyhow?"

  Skylar couldn't believe he'd asked her such a question while they were still intimately joined. But then, she'd not expected any of Tucker's lovemaking surprises.

  "Duce must have had ice running through his veins."

  "Duce? You think I did this with Duce?"

  "Not anymore. You should have told me you were a virgin."

  "Told you?"

  "Yes. Told me. If I'd known, I would have—"

  "Stopped?" she suggested, torn between insult and flat-out irritation. He was obviously worrying about the implications that came with taking a woman's virginity. Expecting him to become defensive, she was surprised when his lips curled into another smile as he settled more of his weight on top of her.

  "Not likely," he said.

  "You don't have to worry about me crying holy matrimony just because I'm inexperienced. This changes nothing."

  Skylar's stern expression slammed Tucker back into the harsh reality of the present moment. Hell. He hadn't even thought about that. He should have been worrying about his freedom, yet getting away from Skylar was the last thing on his mind. Nor was she showing any signs of wanting to be left alone.

  Her fingers lightly traced his shoulders, moving down his arms, turning his blood to fire as desire filled her eyes. The depth of her passion had been as surprising to him as the depth of her innocence. Her unbridled response had blazed through his control, burning him until he was shaking with the eagerness of a weak-kneed greenhorn who'd never had a woman. And he hadn't. Not a woman like Skylar.

  Tucker shifted slightly within her.

  Sighing, Skylar slid her hands around his sides and down his back. The slight sound of satisfaction sent a wild shudder of pleasure crashing through him. He trembled as the tight heat of her body constricted around him. He groaned, and repeated the slow deliberate movement.

  Hell He was about to do it again.

  Chapter 15

  Her eyes closed, lying on the cool grass in a tangle of sweat-dampened limbs, Skylar didn't know illusion from reality anymore, and i
t was a glorious, delirious feeling. She listened to the tranquil chirping of birds and Tucker's deep, steady breaths. A light breeze whispered across her bare skin, causing her to snuggle closer to the warmth of Tucker's body.

  He stirred at her movement, lifting her head higher on his shoulder. Skylar pressed her hps against his neck, tasting his warm salty skin. She smiled as his arm tightened around her waist, holding her securely against the length of his side.

  "You awake?" he asked a moment later.

  "I'm not sure I'm alive."

  The low rumble of his laughter vibrated against her skin. Easing from her embrace, Tucker sat up then stood. "Come on," he said, smiling at her as he reached down to help her up.

  Skylar sat up and stared skeptically at his outstretched hand.

  "Honey, you look like a woman who's been thoroughly ravished. But I know a fun way we get you spiffed up."

  "Spiffed up?"

  "Yep. We're gonna have a bath in the river." He grabbed her by the hand, pulled her to her feet and began leading her toward camp. "You flash me one of those sweet, seductive smiles and I might even let you scrub my back."

  "Tucker, I don't—"

  "No arguments," he said as he picked up the soap and washcloth she'd set on top her saddlebags.

  Skylar's mind reeled as he tugged her after him, walking naked, toward the river. "Tucker?" she finally managed to get past her lips.

  "Oh, all right," he said, again taking her by surprise as he stopped and lifted her into his strong arms. "I'll scrub your back first."

  "Put me down!"

  "Not on your life, honey. It's time you learned how to lighten up and have a bit of fun."

  She realized he wasn't heading down to the shoreline, but rather walking out to the rock perch she'd found him on yesterday. Her eyes darted back to his. She recognized that evergreen glint. "You wouldn't."

  "You wanted to romp in the water with us yesterday," he said, never slowing his powerful stride. "Admit it."

  Skylar whipped her gaze back toward the river coming into view below. She tightened her arms around his neck. "Tucker—"