Before the Dawn

by Denise A. Agnew

  A glorious heaven hovered near and she reached for it. She trembled on the brink. His mouth closed over hers, his tongue pumping into her mouth as his thumb caressed her pleasure button over and over. Seconds later the ecstasy rushed through her body, her fingers tightening on his shoulders, her body contracting and releasing over the finger buried inside her. She heard whimpering moans turn to a scream, muffled by his lips and realized she had flown off the edge of the world.

  Elijah shifted, parting her thighs with his hips. The broad tip of his cock, so smooth and hard, touched her. He pushed slightly and entered. She gasped in delight as his thick, broad flesh parted tissues aching for yet another release.

  “All right?” He kissed her forehead, her nose. “Am I hurting you?”

  “No. It feels…”

  “Yes?”

  “So right.”

  Braced on his elbows, he gazed down at her, his eyes bright with feral hunger, his voice raw. “Do you want this, sweet Mary Jane?” His hips moved and his cock left her. She moaned and he brushed the length of his flesh over her wet folds, teasing and testing. “Do you want me deep inside you?”

  As he continued to tease her, the ache in her body rose. Her hips arched into his and enjoyed the slick slide of heat between her folds.

  She barely managed the words, caught up in a daze. “Please, Elijah.”

  “Hold tight to me.”

  As his lips covered hers, he thrust again, then back. Each slow intrusion tested her tightness, stretched and glided until with a harder thrust he sank deep. She gasped into his mouth, and he pulled back, sliding out of her. She moaned with disappointment and arched her hips again.

  His eyes narrowed, concern plain to see. “Did I hurt you? You’re so tight.”

  “No, you did not hurt me.” A small smile touched her mouth. “Do it again.”

  A broad grin broke over his lips, and when he entered this time, her gasp held the wonder of a woman discovering physical love for the first time. What little she understood about sex after Thaddeus had taken her, had not prepared her for the heat, the thickness and hardness of Elijah’s body as he slid full and deep. His hips came flush against hers. He could go no deeper. She felt stretched, but a delicious, growing ache filled her center where Elijah rested.

  She clenched and released over his thickness, and now it was his turn to gasp. “Mary Jane.”

  His hips started to move, each slow, silken thrust parting her flesh, caressing.

  “Oh, I… Oh, Elijah, what is happening?”

  “I’m loving you. Just loving you.”

  With those words, the steady excitement escalated. She never knew anything as wonderful as these sensations could exist. The motion, the heat, the fullness combined. Moans parted her lips as her hand glided over his hard body, exploring with frantic need. He thrust with long, deep strokes until the pace quickened and their panting breath filled the night. Ragged breaths tore from her throat as the pleasure grew. She needed more but did not know how to ask for it. He sucked one nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue. He touched a place high up inside her that felt so wonderful Mary Jane let out a whimpering cry.

  Elijah opened his eyes and watched her, trying to leash his passion. He wanted to draw this out, to rein in the seething pleasure that ached in his cock and balls. He rested inside her, pressing down hard, and her eyes widened. Five years of celibacy threatened to unravel him. His arms shook as he braced above her, his breath shuddering as his body screamed for completion. Mary Jane was a light he never knew could exist in his world, a beauty that illuminated the darkness that had taken root in his soul. With her there could be nothing but light and comfort, and a thousand brilliant days and nights.

  He stared down at her rosy, parted lips, her eyes glazed with pleasure. Wonder filled him, and shocking happiness he had abandoned long ago. Sheathed in her heat, he knew only the deepest contentment, the rightness of being a part of her. Her body clenched and released around him, tiny whimpers escaping her throat.

  “Please, Elijah. It feels…”

  “What does if feel like, darlin’?” The aching question barely made it past his throat.

  “So wonderful.” The amazement on her face said it all.

  Any worries about hurting her vanished as her hips squirmed against him, and her hands cupped his buttocks. He returned to long, slow thrusts, determined she’d know ecstasy before he found his.

  Savage need gripped him. Mine. She is mine.

  Mary Jane caught his rhythm, moving to the tantalizing strokes that pushed his thick length in and out. A tingling sensation started in her middle, and she centered upon it. Boldly she explored his body until her hands clutched at him in desperation. Back and forth his hips swayed, slowed to a pace that maddened her. Blood rushed in her ears as hot pleasure stoked between her legs and expanded to the little button he’d teased so unmercifully. He buried his hands in her hair, his face in her neck. His breath gusted against her skin as his hips started to move faster. His thrusts increased in intensity, each deep plunge sending such sweet bliss through her. The bed creaked beneath them, and even the sound of it increased her pleasure.

  Then wild heat blossomed and exploded in her loins, and she cried out again and again as the bliss tore her apart, and she writhed in his arms. As she shivered in delight, his strokes quickened to a hard beat until he stilled, stiffened and growled. His hips jerked and his entire body quaked as he growled again and again, and she felt hot spurts bathe her inside. His seed. She was taking his seed, and the thought sent more sweet shivers through her body.

  He raised his head and in the gathering dusk she could still see the deep green of his eyes, and a melting expression that proved his feelings. “I love you, Mary Jane. I love you.”

  She smiled as her heart expanded with a new joy, and she could say without hesitation, “And I love you, Elijah.”

  As their breathing slowed, he slipped to the side and drew her tight to him. A warm contentment flowed within and without, a sense that what they experienced transitioned from darkness into light. She knew somehow before the dawn came, she would feel renewed in body and soul. Their connection had brought her the greatest happiness she had ever known.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mary Jane awakened in the early morning with Elijah’s arms wrapped around her as she lay on her right side. His hands drew her back against him. He teased her nipple, fingers compressing until an arousing sting made her gasp and arch her back. Her buttocks pressed into his erection, and she realized her body wanted him already.

  “I want you.” His hot breath stole over her ear, his words coaxing her. “I want you.”

  He lifted her thigh and his thickness pushed into her folds and parted sensitive tissue, sliding slowly but deeply until he filled her as far as he could go. He pressed and retreated, thrust and drew back, the pace an intoxicating blend of sensuality and invasion. As his touch teased her nipples, he feathered and stroked her pleasure center. Sensations heightened, flowing and ebbing until she did not know where she started and where he began. As the excitement surged to a furious buildup, she heard her own groans and did not restrain them. Ecstasy culminated in great waves, surging and shifting until she fell back to earth with a sigh.

  Elijah felt her flesh pulse as her cry echoed in the small room. Need rose, and he closed his eyes and fell into the bliss.

  He’d awakened with his arms around her, his body absorbing the softness and heat, his craving for her a live thing beyond control. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, she was soft and wet and tight, tightening around him as he kept his thrusts slow. Every time he entered, her breath would hitch. More than animal needs coursed through his body. As he pushed deep inside, and Mary Jane’s heat and wetness clenched his hardness, he thought he’d die right there. Nothing had every felt as beautiful as sinking into her body, as pouring his seed into her womb. A primitive desire surged into his blood. He wanted her mad with desire, writhing on his cock until she begged him for more, to bring her to an
edge she’d never experienced. He thrust hard, pounding into her until he grunted with each motion.

  He flattened his hand over her belly, his voice thick in her ear as he made demands. “God, darlin’, you feel so good.”

  And as her muscles clamped down and shivered around him, he shoved hard and bliss released his seed. He gasped, a groan of soul-melting ecstasy escaping his throat.

  He finally stilled and listened to their breaths panting in the otherwise quiet room. Nestled together perfectly, their hearts thumped as one.

  “You all right, darlin’?”

  She rolled towards him, and in the dim light he saw her smile. “I am more than all right, sir. I do not think anything could have prepared me for…this.”

  “This?”

  “Our…marital relations.”

  He chuckled and kissed her quickly. “I meant what I said last night. I love you.”

  She cupped his face, and even in the low light he saw her beautiful smile. “And I meant what I said. What I feel with you and the love right here in my heart is more than I can express, Elijah Jonas McKinnon.”

  He swept his fingers through the long curls that covered one breast. No, not quite all of her breast. A nipple peeked out and tempted him. He brushed his tongue over the hard tip and she gasped. Then he couldn’t stop. She was life and love and tasted better than any desert. His mouth painted kisses down, down, down until he parted her thighs and inhaled her musky arousal.

  His tongue flicked over her folds and their creamy essence. She gasped. “Elijah. Oh, what…?”

  “Shhh. Lie back and enjoy.”

  As his mouth and tongue worshipped her, he drank in her taste, her gasps and sighs. She clutched at his head, and urged onward, he learned what made her cry out, what made her pleasure build to the highest point. Discovering her secrets one by one gave him an equal joy, and he desired nothing more than filling her with shattering ecstasy as often as he could. Her breath caught as Elijah smoothed his tongue over the top of her sex. Her musk tasted delicious, her perfume a heady elixir he wanted to feast upon for hours. Soon she twisted and begged and he slipped a finger within and added a new rhythm to match his tongue. She shook and gasped, her body quivering as he took her over the edge.

  “Oh my,” she said softly. “That was… I never…”

  “Until now.” He laughed softly. He slid up her body and rested beside her. After brushing a long length of hair from her eyes, he smiled. Her beauty stunned him.

  Her eyes held a wonderment and love he’d never hoped to see again in a woman’s face. “Sure, and I must be the luckiest bastard that ever once lived in Ireland, Mary Jane.”

  She cupped his face, and that single touch sent his heart soaring. When she’d witnessed his tears without ridicule, without calling him less than a man, he knew Mary Jane belonged in his heart.

  “No more nightmares, Elijah?” Her eyes searched his.

  He smiled. “Not a one, my darlin’. Not a one. All I can do is hope they don’t come back.”

  After a short silence, tiny frown lines appeared between her pretty eyes. “We are not married, Elijah.”

  Panic returned to his thoughts and threatened to diminish the security he acknowledged moments before. Could it be she didn’t wish to marry him?

  He clasped her left hand and looked at the ring. “You’re saying you don’t want to marry me?”

  Her mouth popped open, eyes filled with denial. “Of course I do. I love you so much.”

  Warmth encased his heart. She loved him. Oh God, how wonderful that felt.

  “What of your family?” he asked.

  Her mouth drew tight with doubt. “They shall be scandalized, but I am finished with pleasing them. With trying to pretend I am something I am not.”

  Gratified, he smiled. “What type of wedding would you care for, darlin’? One of those fancy to-dos?”

  Her frown deepened. “Any way I can marry you, I will.” Her eyes brightened. “Let it be here, in Portage.”

  “Without your family?”

  She propped on her elbow and looked down at him. “There is good possibility they will reject the idea of us marrying. If we do not want a scene, we could marry before we arrive in Pittsburgh.”

  “Where we marry or how is of no consequence to me, Mary Jane. Having you for my own is all I care about.” Other concerns started to bombard him. “Damn. Damn.”

  “What is it?”

  “I have no money, no possessions except for that ring. Nothing to offer you.”

  Her frown grew as wide as a river, and she sat up. As coverings fell to her waist, he was treated to a blatant display of beautiful breasts. He fixated there for a moment, then forced his attention back to the unhappiness on her face.

  “Nothing to offer me, Elijah McKinnon?” She sighed again. “Maybe two weeks ago I would have agreed. Would have said an Irishman would never have my heart. But now…now I could live a pauper’s life as long as you were in it. You could go back to blacksmithing if you like, or any number of occupations. I do not care about any of it except for being with you.”

  He scrubbed one hand over his face. “It’s a fine thought, but you must be sure. I want you to have a comfortable life.”

  She rolled her gaze to the ceiling, then sighed. “A fine, comfortable life is well and good, Elijah, but without love I doubt it is worth it. I could marry the richest man in the world tomorrow and it would mean nothing to me. Do you know why?”

  He dared ask. “Why?”

  She ruffled his hair. “Because he would not be you. Get that through your thick Irish skull, McKinnon. The thought of leaving you, no matter how long… I cannot do it. I do not want to. If you want me to return to Philadelphia, I would follow you.”

  Pleasure and amazement filled him. “You would do that?”

  She nodded emphatically. “Without a doubt.”

  A smile spread over his face and extended to his heart. “Then let us go to Pittsburgh and your family. Even if they hate me, it won’t matter. We will do what we want and choose what we want.”

  She tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. “Scandalous.”

  Wonderment replaced worry as he drew her back into his arms. “I can’t believe you would give up crinolines and corsets for me.”

  She elbowed him gently. “Who said I plan to give up crinolines and corsets?”

  He clasped one of her butt cheeks and squeezed, then slapped it gently. She squealed in surprise. He chuckled as she blushed. “Crinolines can’t disappear too soon for me, darlin’. I prefer you naked.”

  She grinned. “Do you?”

  He pressed the rising evidence of his desire into the folds between her legs, teasing her with his promise. “I do.” When he kissed her to demonstrate, another thought invaded, and with it, another confession. “Mary Jane, I owe my life to you.”

  She brushed her palm over his hair, then slid her fingers into the thick strands. “Are you certain it is not the other way around?”

  He nodded, the movement emphatic. “My mind was once consumed by one thought—revenge. Because of you, I’m changed forever.”

  Pittsburgh

  Two months later

  Mary Jane reached for a glass of wine and sipped the drink with relish. Her throat was parched, and the reception was in full tilt with fifty people in attendance. Certainly not the size of a society wedding…a wedding to a wealthy man would have garnered more adulation. Yet Mary Jane would have it no other way. Would want no other man but Elijah Jonas McKinnon. As she watched over the crowd, she caught sight of Elijah’s brother Zeke and his lovely wife and their baby daughter chatting amiably with two other guests. She knew Elijah was elated that they had ventured to Pittsburgh for the wedding.

  “He is a fine, fine man, Mary Jane,” Mary Jane’s sister, Faith, said as they mingled with the small crowd after the wedding.

  Mary Jane, who wore a beautiful ecru dress her mother had paid for, smiled with gratification. “I am so glad you think so. I know
I do.”

  Her family had started off scandalized, just as she thought they would be. But, when they saw she refused to back down, they retreated from their position. When they also learned that Elijah had saved her life, that he risked everything for her, their concern about him eased into admiration.

  Mary Jane found it immensely pleasing that she no longer cared what society felt, and that she embraced her true self once more.

  Faith pushed a curly length of golden wheat hair from her eyes, clearly angered at the recalcitrant hair. “I do have to admire you for…well, telling Mother the wedding would happen with or without a trousseau, with or without money. You were very persuasive.”

  Mary Jane gazed at her petite sister, so in contrast with herself, and so much more feminine. Yet even Faith had changed. Mary Jane did not know why or how, but it might have something to do with her recent announcement that she, too, planned to wed. A very stuffy, older gentleman she claimed to love. Mary Jane doubted it.

  Faith had gone from sunny disposition to staid old matron in a heartbeat. Mary Jane aimed to discover why as soon as the wedding finished.

  Her mother now sat next to Elijah on the couch in the family parlor, her expression as welcoming as sunshine from the heavens. Elijah had charmed all the women in the house.

  “It is too bad it was not a bigger wedding. You certainly deserved one,” said Mary Jane’s older sister, Cora, said.

  Cora, with her tall and rather thin frame, was as dark as Faith was blond. Mary Jane, being in the middle with coloring, wondered off and on if her sisters could possibly be offspring from different fathers.

  Not that she would say as much. Heavens, no.

  Cora looked down on Mary Jane and sighed. “Elijah is wonderful. Now that he has that job with the newspaper here, he will bring in a decent living and not just be a proper but poor husband.”

  Leave it up to Cora to speak about money and its necessity.

  The only thing Mary Jane regretted was that Elijah’s nightmares had not left him forever. Sometimes he still awakened in the middle of the night with his past invading his dreams. But demons haunted his mind less and less. He assured Mary Jane that with her by his side, those dreams would someday disappear forever.