Except now. Now she was within his reach.
She boldly perused his bare arms, chest and shoulders before raising her gaze to his face. Her eyes transmitted raw desire.
He’d never gotten so hard so fast. Never felt an all-consuming passion for a woman like he did with Kate. Acting on instinct, Rio moved toward her.
Her hand shot out, the flat of her palm against his chest halting forward progress. Her dark eyes held uncertainty now, a look that was both apologetic and pleading. “I don’t have anything with me.”
As his brows rose in silent question, she flushed. “Protection.”
“I have condoms,” he admitted, then rushed to add, “in case my luck changed.”
He took her hand off his chest and pressed a kiss against the back of her fingers, almost afraid to breathe for fear she’d change her mind. “And it appears that it has.”
Though he didn’t voice it, the question hung between them.
“Just to be clear, this isn’t ...” She frowned.
His stomach dropped.
“I mean, this doesn’t change anything. I’m still leaving, but we have tonight.”
He released his breath and nodded. So he had one shot to convince her to stay, to show her what they could have. Or all night, if he were supremely fortunate. He tugged on her hand. She stepped across the threshold, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him.
Her approach was honest and straightforward and so Kate it made Rio’s chest ache. He couldn’t think about how little time they had together or this night would take on an air of desperation. That scenario didn’t sit well. Maybe he was crazy, but he needed her to feel so completely loved that it became impossible for her to even think of leaving. Tall order, but he was willing to give it his all.
She withdrew, her gaze searching his face for a moment.
When he threaded his fingers into her hair and stroked her cheek with his thumb, her eyelids drifted closed. She turned her face into his hand and trembled as she caught the tip of his thumb in her mouth and gave it a gentle suck. He nearly lost it right then and there. “Damn, Kate.”
“Shh. Let’s not talk or think about whether it’s wise or how this will effect tomorrow. Please. Can’t we just enjoy this and feel it and be together?”
At least she acknowledged this could change things. “I don’t have to dissect anything, but I think it’s important we communicate our needs and what works for us.”
She nodded, understanding in the gaze that lowered to his lips. “I want to kiss you until one of us can’t stand any more. I want you to kiss me” — her gaze lifted to his again. — “wherever you wish.”
“Do it,” he commanded.
So she did. The woman nearly took the top of his head off with an explosion of kisses. Slow drags of her lips that left him holding back a whimper for more, playful nibbles followed by long, blood-drugging kisses that left him weak in the knees. And just when he began to grow impatient for more, Kate rewarded him with hard, frantic clashes of tongue and teeth and heavy breathing. He was drowning in her and loving it.
Except, whoa. Wait. His plan was to be the seducer, and doing it so well she couldn’t think about leaving. He had to slow things down, take his time with her. “Kate.”
“I know. Too many clothes.” The words came in breathy pants as her mouth blazed a trail down his neck.
Oh, hell yeah, there was. He dragged her up against him and heard the breath rush into her lungs when the painful, hard length of him pressed into her soft belly.
She ran cool hands over his ribs, released the fastener on his jeans, tugged at his zipper. The rasp was a sound he heard every day, but this time it was oddly erotic.
Rio stepped back and whisked Kate’s sweater off, revealing a thin camisole of white silk underneath. Her dark nipples appeared as shadows against the fabric. Crazy with desire, Rio lifted her and captured the tip of one in his mouth, sucking on it through the thin barrier.
Kate gasped and cried out.
He pushed the fabric up, exposing first one perfect round breast, then the other, giving each one individual attention. Kate’s wriggling made him raise his head to investigate. He liked what he saw. She’d whisked the soft cami onto the floor, leaving nothing but bare skin.
Perfect.
Except this wasn’t controlled. He had to slow things down. At this rate, he’d take Kate against the damn door and hurt her. This was her first time after giving birth. She deserved gentle and easy. He just wasn’t sure he could slow her down, but he had to try. “Kate. This is insane. I could hurt you.”
“You won’t, Rio. Please don’t stop. I’ve wanted you for so long.”
Hearing her admission, he knew he’d give her whatever she desired for however long he had with her. He’d do his damnedest to inject some measure of control when it was necessary, no matter how much it cost him. “I’m not stopping, Kate.”
Her hands roamed his body and his roamed hers. He explored soft curves, lean muscles and even softer skin, each new discovery a fantasy come true. Every touch of her hand and lips enflamed him more. Delicate fingers brushed over his nipple, making his erection jerk.
He reached for the fastener on her jeans, the skinny ones she’d begun wearing just last week that drove him crazy. Her well-toned legs, nipped-in waist and firm, bottom had fueled his fantasies day and night, making for many sleepless hours.
Though he discovered they had some stretch in them, peeling was required to take her jeans off. That action brought him to his knees, his face even with her abdomen as she stepped out of the bunched denim. A scrap of red lace covered a neatly trimmed triangle of hair, connected around her hips by a thin string. It was the first time he’d seen her stomach since A.J.’s birth. Then it had been a large, distended mound. Now it was taut again, with just a hint of roundness. Amazing.
Kate covered the area with both hands. “I’m working on it, but it’ll take some time for the stretch marks to fade.”
“You’re beautiful, Kate. Every inch of you. Even here.” Rio lifted her hands away and kissed the tiny purplish lines that concerned her, thinking of how hard she’d worked to bring his nephew into the world. The reminder was good. It gave him another chance to attempt a more leisurely pace and to remember how close they’d been that day. He had to savor each moment he had left with Kate.
Her fingers speared into his hair. After pressing another kiss just above the red lace, he got to his feet and scooped her into his arms.
A surprised gasp accompanied a firm hold on his shoulders, then she pushed a thumb under his chin, tilting it up. Her dark eyes smoldered, one of the sexiest things he’d ever witnessed in his life. “You keep looking at me like that, I won’t be able to maintain any sort of control.”
“What makes you think I want controlled?” she asked. “Control didn’t bring me to your door.”
“One of us has to —”
“Let go, Rio. Just love me.” She searched his face, waiting, as if there was some question that needed answering.
His ears roared. His pulse jumped. His mouth went dry from the shock of realization. Just love her? Somewhere between “I’m having your baby” and “we have tonight,” he’d lost his heart to Kate. He loved her. How the hell had that happened without him knowing it? Everything made more sense now, his desire to keep her around, his need to convince her to stay.
“Rio?”
The uncertainty in her voice and eyes had him shoving his discovery behind a giant wall of need. He’d deal with that later. Tonight he had the chance to demonstrate his feelings. It would have to be enough, for he’d already accepted her terms. His resolve renewed, Rio widened his stance and summoned a grin. “You sure you can handle all of me, unrestrained?”
A smile played about her lips. “Bring it on, big guy. I’m tougher than I look.”
Yeah, well, he already knew that. Rio took two steps and tossed her across his bed. Her surprised squeak wasn’t the least bit fearful and his grin widened with ge
nuine pleasure. He shucked jeans and briefs, made quick work of protection from his night stand, then followed her down. He kissed his way down those deliciously shaped legs to that dainty triangle of red lace. Her fingers pushed into his hair again as he placed a kiss there. He could feel the heat of her, and the need to touch, to make her his grew stronger than he’d ever experienced.
With infinite care, he pulled the bit of panty to the side and ran one finger through her slick opening. His erection saluted her body’s readiness. Despite his taunt to Kate, he took his time, lapping and nipping and finally pushing one finger inside her, then two. Her sighs became pants, her fingers clutching at his head and shoulders, trying to pull him closer.
He fully understood her need to join their bodies. That intensity lived in him too. But he wouldn’t be rushed. Using his hands and mouth, he brought her closer to the edge. Kate was bucking against him when he placed his thumb over the tiny nub of nerves and pushed.
She cried out, her eyes going wide then squeezing shut, her body convulsing around his fingers. He watched, pride and desire elevating his need to a painful pitch. Before the spasms had completely abated, he pulled the dampened panties off, pushed her knees wide and positioned himself at her opening. “Kate, look at me.”
She obeyed with a pleasure-drugged droop to her eyelids. He couldn’t stand to wait any longer and pressed forward, sliding inside her with an unhurried pace that nearly killed him.
Her mouth formed an O, and she sucked in little gasps of air.
Setting his jaw, he stilled. “You okay? Am I —”
“Oh! Yes. Don’t stop. I’m serious.”
The tremors still shooting through her body were driving him insane. He closed the gap between them and began to move. Kate’s eyes glazed over just before she pulled him down for the hottest kiss he’d ever known. Her hands were everywhere, cocooning him in pleasure, bringing him to the edge of his release with alarming swiftness.
Rio dug deep for some last shred of control, but she broke away from the kiss and framed his face with her hands. Her gaze was locked on him. “Don’t you dare hold back now. Stay with me. I’m so close. Again.”
Thrilled at the surprise in her voice, he did as she asked, throwing staying power out the window in favor of the intensity they craved. Pleasure swept over them, caught them up in a powerful wave so strong, riding it out left them winded and slick with sweat. When he’d regained some basic brain function, Rio rolled to the side to take his weight off her. He caught a glimmer of moisture in Kate’s eyes and tilted her chin up. “Damn. I knew it. I should’ve been more careful with you.”
Kate shook her head, a tear spilling over. She laughed, but it came out more like a sob. “It was perfect. I don’t know why I’m teary. Residual hormones I guess. I know it’s clichéd, but would you just hold me?”
“Glad to,” he murmured, folding her into his embrace. Though it would take super-human effort, he would be happy to do so all night long, if that’s what she asked of him. Thankfully, she didn’t. After some time, Kate squirmed in his arms. Rio rolled her beneath him and initiated soft, slow kisses. Her languid sighs encouraged him, though neither of them seemed inclined to rush now. He demonstrated the finesse he hadn’t exhibited the first time, and she showed him some of her own. When Kate crested, Rio joined her and once again their bodies sang with pleasure.
Chapter Twelve
Though she’d only enjoyed a few intermittent naps during the night, Kate was wide awake at dawn and staring at a vacant pillow. She heard the low murmur of his voice and occasional creak of the rocking chair from the next room as he spoke to A.J. It shocked her how left out that made her feel, how much she longed to join them in their morning ritual.
She closed her eyes and imagined herself in the rocker with them, the velvety feel of A.J.’s skin against hers. She could almost smell the sweetness and weight of him in her arms and Rio’s hair-roughened chest at her back. Fairy tales. This was real life.
Rio and A.J. had become a family without her. Though it hurt, she was glad for it. That was the way it should be.
Oh, after last night, she didn’t doubt that Rio would welcome her into the equation, even after she’d shot down his suggestion to stay. She’d seen it in his eyes, felt it when he joined their hands, locked his gaze with hers and pushed into her body time and time again. Remembering their lovemaking sent delicious shivers traversing her body.
Those memories would have to sustain her for a long time. She rose from the bed and crossed to the French doors that led to a small balcony. A slight ache between her legs was tangible proof of her inability to extract herself from Rio’s bed last night. She had to be stronger today.
Kate opened one of the doors inward and listened, straining for the sound of snow plows. The crack of ice on frail branches buffeted by wind, the slight intermittent whistle of sudden gusts through the trees, and occasional bird sounds were all that greeted her. Those plows had to reach here sometime today. They just had to. She didn’t know how much longer she could insulate her heart against Rio while being held in his tender embrace.
Though the snow had stopped coming down during the night, the breeze lifted the soft powder in dancing whirls like happy snow fairies. There were tiny ones on the balcony that tried to come inside, but fell apart on her toes as they met the warmer air. Shivering now, she eased the door closed and used the rumpled sheet off the bed to wrap around her body.
“Toga-style. I like it. Very sexy.”
Kate pivoted toward the sound.
Rio stood in the open doorway, holding the baby. A secret smile lurked about his generous mouth. “Good morning.”
She barely registered the warm light in his eyes before her chest contracted. Her gaze riveted on the bundle in his arms, the bundle from which a tiny hand rose and waved about with a happy noise that was part gurgle, part goo. Rio stepped over the threshold and her heart rate rose. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Crap. The question came out much harsher than she’d intended.
Rio’s eyes narrowed, became more cautious. “Greeting you. I thought I heard you moving about. Didn’t want you to think I’d abandoned you.”
Not after they’d made love off and on all night. Her mind supplied the words his mouth didn’t. How considerate. But that was Rio. Kind. Generous. Reliable. An exciting lover. She’d once thought of him as lethal and that opinion hadn’t changed. He was lethal to her resolve. She had to regain some of her equilibrium after succumbing to temptation.
The gleam in his eyes even more guarded now, Rio took another step toward her.
God. She’d known there would be a price to pay for coming to his room but hadn’t expected it to be quite so acute. This was killing her, her body betraying her because even with A.J. in his arms, she craved Rio’s touch. “Five feet, Rio. That’s the rule. Don’t come any closer.”
His chin came up. His jaw tightened. His eyes went steely-hard. A staring match ensued. Finally, he spoke. “My mistake. I don’t know how I could have forgotten.”
Her conscience pinched, hard and swift at the element in his eyes she couldn’t or didn’t want to identify. But this wasn’t her fault. She’d been up front with him, hadn’t she? She’d warned him that their being together wouldn’t change anything. Even so, she couldn’t stand the strain she’d deliberately inserted between them and attempted a smile that fell flat. “No harm done. You just caught me off guard.” She offered the lame explanation for her former curt tone and tried to soften it even more. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
“Yeah.” The one-syllable response didn’t give anything away, but his face reflected disappointment as he left the room.
It pained her that she’d put it there.
Always before, the promise of her immediate future, her dream of college life and bright, shiny freedom had buoyed her. This morning, the gleam had diminished. More than anything, that terrified her. The snow plows better clear the nearby roads soon. She had to leave.
&
nbsp; * * * * *
Rio had observed Kate peering through the window off and on all day, worry between her brows. And she’d avoided his touch. Hell, she’d avoided him, period.
“It’s starting to get dark. They’ll probably reach us tomorrow,” Rio assured her, though he’d been wishing for the exact opposite all day. Secretly, he hoped the damn plows would fall apart and take weeks to repair before they reached their door. Futile waste of time. Even if such a bizarre thing happened, the trusty Colorado sunshine would melt the snow enough in a day or two for Kate to leave.
He crossed to stand behind her, ran his hands over her sweater-covered arms, cupped her elbows and drew her back against him. Sometime during the day, he’d let go of his anger and examined the hurtful morning scene with more objectivity. He’d seen animals react the same way when cornered and understood why she’d pushed him away. Self-preservation. After all they’d shared, Kate was running scared and that’s why she’d snapped at him. It still stung, but Rio set it aside.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and felt her stiffen. He’d expected worse. “We’ve got a bonus. Another night. Is that so bad?”
She turned in his arms, creating some distance between them. “I don’t think so. Last night was a one-shot deal. I believe I made that clear.”
“You did, but weather is an extenuating circumstance. What’s the harm in an encore?” He leaned in and kissed her. Nothing overtly sexual, just a soft press of their lips together with his hands on her shoulders. Maybe he lingered over it some to remind her of the tenderness they’d shared and kneaded her taut muscles in the process, but he didn’t push. Rio didn’t relish another slap to his bruised heart. At least Kate allowed the kiss, even if she didn’t participate.
Kate crossed her arms under her breasts and stepped back. “One night and you were bringing A.J. to me as if everything had changed. And that despite my making it clear that I intended to leave. I’m not sure I can trust you to keep things in perspective.”
He’d been testing the waters a bit but wasn’t about to admit that and risk her anger. “I entered a room with A.J. while you were in it, which I’ve done many times before. That’s not the same thing.”
Nobody's Baby Page 17