The Gunslinger’s Untamed Bride

by Stacey Kayne

  “But they believe in you,” she said. “So do I.”

  The urge to kiss her burned through him, dissolving his restraint.

  He’d already made that mistake.

  “Darlin’, it’s late,” he said. “We both need to get some sleep.”

  “I know. But I like being near you.”

  She said the words so softly, Juniper wasn’t sure he’d heard her right.

  “Lily, I—”

  Her hands slid into his open shirt and across his chest, ending his words in a low groan. She shifted onto her knees, her green eyes a mirror of desire as her hands smoothed over his shoulders, around his neck and into his hair. She tugged him toward her, and he went willingly.

  He could no more resist the gentle hands drawing him to her mouth than he could have roped the moon.

  Chapter Thirteen

  T he moment his lips touched hers, Lily let go of everything but the wonderful tendrils of sensation she felt only while in Juniper’s embrace. His arms closed around her, crushing her against him. Her knees slipped past his hips, the sudden contact of his body creating instant friction. She’d been waiting for this moment ever since she’d left him standing alone in the moonlight.

  Returning his fervent kiss, she couldn’t taste enough of him, feel enough of him. The heat of his skin seduced her fingertips as she explored the bunched muscles of his shoulders and arms, pushing his shirt out of her way in the process. Her persistence stalled the hands caressing her back in sweeping strokes.

  His frustrated growl vibrated against her mouth as he released her to shrug off his shirt. The sight of his muscles flexing in the lamplight made her breasts ache. More than anything she wanted to feel her skin pressed to his. She grabbed up the bottom of her gown and wrapper and tugged them up, over her head.

  “Lily. You…”

  She was on fire. The look on his face, a combination of tenderness and desire, was compliment enough. She trailed her fingers across his muscled torso and was shocked by the ripples of pleasure she felt just touching him. The sheer power of Juniper’s body was startling, yet she’d never felt more secure.

  His fingers brushed her sides, the light touch eliciting a tingling surge that shook her. She’d never experienced this kind of passion, bursts of sweet lightning rippling through her mind, body and soul. She realized she wanted to delight him in the same way, ever so much. But she didn’t know how. She’d never felt such a need to be a part of someone. “I want to please you.”

  “You do.” His lips brushed her shoulder. She tightened her arms around his neck and felt a tremor go through him as her breasts pressed against his chest. His teeth grazed her skin bringing another shocking burst of pleasure. He kissed a trail across her throat, each brush of his lips making her tremble.

  “Are you innocent?” he whispered against her ear.

  The fact that he’d ask such a question after she’d behaved so brazenly made her smile. “No. Just inexperienced. I’ve never felt like this. Wanting to touch. To be touched.”

  Juniper leaned back, taking her with him, turning her onto the blanket. His smoldering gaze entranced her. Anticipation bubbled inside her.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  She only smiled as his lips slowly claimed hers. She’d never been so sure of anything in her life. She welcomed his warmth. His touch. Nothing had ever felt more right. She mapped his arms, his back, smoothing her palms down the firm contoured lines of his body until her hands collided with denim.

  She slipped her fingers just inside his waistband and slid them around to the front. Pulling at his button fly, she brushed against the blunt proof of his arousal.

  Juniper’s breath broke.

  “I want these off. I want to feel all of you.”

  Juniper groaned and lifted her hand away from his hungry body. He knew he should stop this here and now, before they both did something they’d regret. But there was a pleading in her gaze he couldn’t refuse, a need he sensed burning as deep as his own. He rolled to the side, tugged at the buttons and shucked his pants in one smooth motion.

  He pulled her back into his arms, desperate for her kiss. He melded their mouths, kissing her as though she might dissolve into a dream if he let go. She shifted against him like a living flame as he caressed the satiny swell of her breast and tight peak rising against his palm. Her hands pushed down his back leaving sparks beneath his skin as those slender fingers curved over his backside.

  He slid down and drew the velvet tip of her breast into his mouth. She moaned, her body twisting sensually against him. His gaze on the thatch of shimmering gold and amber curls lower still, his hand slid down her belly to the slick heat of her core. At his first gliding touch Lily tensed. Her legs clamped tight, trapping his hand against her moist center, halting his progress.

  “Lily?”

  The small, gentle hands that had been caressing his back gripped his shoulders. She stared up at him with wide, blinking eyes, as though she’d just woken from a deep sleep, or a nightmare.

  “Do you want to stop?”

  “No,” she said in a pant, though he saw indecision in her gaze. “If you’re ready…I can…tolerate the rest.”

  “Tolerate?” He eased back. “The rest?”

  Whatever her past experience had been, her puckered brow suggested she wasn’t looking forward to receiving “the rest.” Her hands stroked down his chest encouragingly, her tense smile telling him she was ready to face whatever she thought he intended to do to her. Damn if he wasn’t touched by her bravery.

  He returned her gentle caress, watching her green eyes glaze with pleasure as he stroked her satin folds. He could bring her release without taking her. He refused to take anything else from this woman.

  He eased down, kissing her lightly. “I’m not going to take you that way, Lily,” he whispered. “So you needn’t worry.”

  “But I—”

  Whatever she was about to say was lost in a fragment of breath as he found and circled the slick bud of her passion. Heat welled to his touch. Her head tilted back, body arching, opening to him.

  My God. She had such passion in her.

  “I’m only going to give,” he said, his lips following the graceful line of her neck. “As much as you’re willing to take.”

  Lily didn’t understand his words, she only knew he was setting her blood on fire, melting her from the inside out with sharp, shocking currents of heat.

  The warmth of his mouth closed over her breast as his caress deepened, creating bursts of sweet lighting. His tongue and teeth teased until her back arched. She twisted against the mounting tension of his double assault. He treated her other breast to the same sweet torment. Pleasure spiked and burst, rippling through her until she cried out.

  “Shh,” he whispered against her skin.

  He expected her to be quiet? She could hardly think with what he was doing to her.

  “Juniper?” she said, realizing his lips were making a slow, tingling descent down her body. She shuddered as his breath dusted the vulnerable junction between her thighs.

  “Juniper!”

  His mouth claimed her in the most shocking way. A lash of intense pleasure impaled her back against the blanket. His tongue caressed and teased, ravaging her body with searing bursts of wild sensation. Every new surge of release coiled a deeper tension. She bucked against his hold. The pressure of his mouth changed, and fire burst and spiraled as her world came apart in wave after wave of shattering pulses.

  Regretfully, Juniper released her. Striving to maintain a shred of control, he kissed his way up her flushed skin. Her limp arms reached for him. Lily shuddered as he drew her close.

  He’d at least given her passion. Hardly a selfless act, he thought, grinning into her hair. He’d thoroughly enjoyed every heart-pounding moment of it. She nestled closer, the light whisper of her skin against his adding to the harsh grip of hunger still eating his body. Her lips brushed his jaw.

  “Did you enjoy ‘the rest’?” he
asked teasingly, kissing her flushed cheek.

  She moaned her approval.

  He dipped his tongue into the tender spot behind her ear, smiling as she trembled against him in response.

  “Juniper?”

  “Hmm?”

  Lily shivered as his mouth followed to the curve of her neck, her question escaping her thoughts. She’d barely settled back into her mind. She’d never imagined…anything so powerful.

  Easing up, Lily stared into eyes darkened by passion. She shifted more firmly over him. His aroused body rubbed against her core like hot stone, shocking her with a renewed surge of pleasure.

  Juniper groaned. His hands closed over her thighs, halting her movement and pulling her fully astride him.

  She glanced down at his body pressed to hers, and desire stirred, need coiling inside her. She moved again, measuring, melting as the tendrils of pulsing pleasure he’d created with his mouth reawakened.

  “Jun—”

  He moved beneath her, fragmenting her breath over the rest of his name. The teasing touches left her wanting more of him. She pressed harder, wanting all of him.

  “I want you,” she said huskily.

  Juniper clenched his teeth, the slick heat of her passion threatening to undo him. His body trembled. His muscles tightened, fighting the urge to slam into the tight satin sheath of her body.

  “I want to be part of you.”

  Her words dragged another groan from deep inside him. He threaded his fingers through her hair, drawing her mouth to his. “Then take me,” he breathed against her lips.

  Lily pushed up, her eyes wide with shock, but surprise quickly gave way to a spark of desire and curiosity.

  Juniper couldn’t help but grin.

  “How?” she asked, and his pulse kicked.

  I shouldn’t, he scolded, even as his hands stroked the back of her thighs, urging her up. Her gaze hot on his, she eased over him. The first touch of penetration brought an overwhelming sting of pleasure. The tight heat of her body slowly closing over him was the sweetest torture he’d ever known.

  Her fingers flexed on his chest. “Juniper?”

  He gripped her hips, lifting her slightly then flexing as he pulled her to him, over him, around him. A deep shuddering pleasure expanded between them. Her green eyes widened with surprise, desire blazing as she shared his tremors.

  She moved again, an agonizing retreat, a glorious penetrating return. He matched her rhythm, driving her faster, harder each time, until she took all of him.

  She was a vision burning into his soul: her skin flushed, every sensuous movement of her body hurling them toward oblivion. Juniper closed his hand over her hips and thrust harder.

  Lily arched, the tight sheath of her body convulsing around him. Her broken cries carried his name through the barn. He pulled her down on top of him and took her mouth in a hard kiss, muffling her cries as he turned her onto the blanket. He plunged deeply as pleasure burst through him. Lily’s arms and legs closed around him, gripping him tightly as he poured every bit of himself into her, their shared cries of completion lost in their joined mouths.

  Spent and panting for breath, he rolled to the side, keeping her pressed against him. She wiggled closer and pressed her face to his neck. Wet tears brushed hotly against his skin.

  Had he not felt her smile, he’d have worried he’d displeased her. Her deep, contented sigh dispelled that notion.

  “Oh, June.”

  He blindly reached for the edge of the blanket and pulled it over her. A grin on his lips, he gave in to complete exhaustion.

  Juniper woke before dawn to the swooping sound of a barn owl returning from its late-night hunt. The lamp spilled soft golden light over the stall. Lily lay snuggled against him, her thigh tucked beneath his, her arm draped over his waist. Strands of straw clung to the tangled curls of her hair.

  Disheveled, wanton and utterly beautiful.

  He didn’t want to wake her, but he knew he couldn’t watch her sleep in his arms much longer without exploring all that feminine softness, awakening her to the intense passion they’d shared the night before.

  He couldn’t chance them being caught together by any early risers. The last thing she needed was to be found in bed with her father’s killer. He was afraid to wake her, dreading the regret he’d surely find lurking in her eyes when realization set in of who she’d actually been rolling with in the hay.

  “Lily?” He brushed a light reddish curl away from her face.

  She snuggled closer, every shift tormenting his unruly body.

  “Wake up, sweetheart,” he said a bit louder.

  She stretched, the firm pink crowns of her breasts rising toward his mouth, tempting him. She lifted her head from his shoulder and blinked up at him, her full lips tipped with a smile.

  “Good morning,” he said, reaching up to pick a few pieces of straw from her hair.

  “Didn’t I fire you?”

  Chuckling, he pulled her down on top of him. She never failed to surprise him. He wanted nothing more than to enjoy this last bit of time alone with her. “A few times.”

  She kissed him lightly on the mouth. “I’m glad you didn’t listen to me.”

  “Should I get that in writing?” he teased.

  She made a purring sound, heedlessly stroking her body against his. Her eyes brightened, apparently liking his growing reaction.

  “Lily—” Her lips branded his chest.

  “You feel wonderful.” She loved his warmth, the scent of his skin. “My goodness,” she said, the words unraveling in a long sigh. “I had no idea anything could feel so good.”

  Juniper grinned up at her. “I’d say you tolerated me quite well.”

  Recalling her words from the night before, heat rushed to her cheeks. “I didn’t know it could be like that,” she admitted. “No wonder Edmond was so furious with me.”

  Juniper quirked an eyebrow and shifted up onto his elbow. “The previous lover?”

  “Oh, dear.” While she knew nothing of paramour etiquette, mentioning a man’s name while lying naked in the arms of another was surely in poor taste. “I’ve spoiled the moment, haven’t I?”

  He smiled and leaned up to kiss the tip of her nose. “Not possible.”

  She was certain he couldn’t have given a sweeter answer.

  “But now that you’ve piqued my curiosity, who’s Edmond?”

  “The man who ruined me.”

  Juniper’s muscles bunched beneath her as surprise and anger darkened his eyes, and she realized he must have been thinking she meant by force.

  “No, no,” she said, patting his chest. “It was all my doing. Edmond was, um, well-known for socializing with the ladies, you could say. I was looking to be rid of my virginity and he was quite willing to perform the chore.”

  Juniper was struck damn near speechless. “Chore?” he asked in disbelief.

  Lily sat up, the flush in her cheeks brightening as she grabbed the nearest item of clothing, which happened to be his blue shirt, and held it to her beautiful blushing breasts, shielding her nudity. “It certainly felt like a chore to me,” she said, pushing her tangled hair away from her face. “Who better to divest me of my innocence than a professional philanderer? Or so I thought at the time,” she added in a whisper. “I will admit it was not one of my better plans.”

  Understanding her initial unease last night when he’d first touched her brought a rush of new concern. Juniper sat up, his arm curving around her slender waist. Her mouth set in an unhappy curve, she didn’t look up at him.

  “Was he rough with you?”

  She fiddled with a button on his shirt. “Not exactly. I was hardly his first deflowering, and he seemed determined to…well, he didn’t want it to be painful.” She glanced up at him from beneath thick amber eyelashes. “It didn’t work. I was woefully naive and I didn’t like him touching me. I just wanted it over with.”

  “Why the rush to be rid of your virginity?”

  “My relatives were det
ermined to marry me off. They wanted access to my inheritance by arranging a suitable husband, meaning a man they could control. I wasn’t having any part of it. Nor had I expected…sex,” she whispered, “to be so painful. The moment I was breached I assumed the deed was done and pulled away.”

  “Before he, uh…”

  “That wasn’t the worst of it. We were in his carriage, having left in the midst of an opera. I wanted to be seen with him, so that my aunt wouldn’t doubt my claims of indecency, which turned out to be an unjust concern. No one in San Francisco could doubt the indecency of our brief affair.”

  “Why’s that?”

  Regret became a lump in her throat, stalling her voice. “In my haste to get away from him, I fell out of the carriage, tumbling to the ground in an open ball gown. Edmond landed on his knees in the doorway in an attempt to catch me. His trousers in a heap, the solid proof of what we’d been doing stood out clearly in the lamplight, there for all to see. The opera having just let out, there were plenty of onlookers.” She leaned forward, pressing her warm face against his chest. “Startled shrieks could be heard for miles.”

  “Ah, Lily,” Juniper said, his hand gently stroking her hair.

  “It was dreadful. I wanted so badly for the ground to just open up and swallow me.”

  “All that to avoid courtship?”

  “I hadn’t intended on such public humiliation.” She sat back, curious about his reaction. Though Juniper had the good grace not to laugh at her misfortune, she saw a touch of amusement in his eyes, which added to her embarrassment. “Good grief, why am I even telling you all this?”

  “Perhaps you fear another embarrassing scandal?”

  I should. Somewhere deep in her mind, she knew she’d spent the night with a man she’d hated for most of her life, whom only days ago she had intended to kill. All those thoughts faded as her gaze slid across his muscular form. Scandalous.

  Her lips slid upward in a crooked grin. “You’d be worth the scandal.”