diana palmer

by unlikely lover

  She could hardly breathe through her fury. She felt as if her lungs were on fire. "You. .you. .!" She searched for some names she'd h/ ^rd at the garage and began slinging them at him.

  "Now, shame on you," he scolded, bending unexpectedly to drag her up to sit in the saddle in front of him. "Sit stil !" he said roughly, controlling the excited horse with one hand on the reins while the other was on Mari.

  "I hate you," she snapped.

  He got the gelding under control and wheeled it, careful not to jerk the reins and unseat them both. The high-strung animal took gentle handling. "Care to prove that?" he asked. She didn't ask what he meant. There was no time. She was too busy trying to hold on to the pommel. She hadn't realized how far off the ground that saddle was until she was sit ing in it. Behind her, she felt the warm strength of his powerful body, and if she hadn't been so nervous, she might have felt the tense set of it in the saddle. He rode into a smal grove of oak and mesquite trees and dismounted. Before she knew it, she was out of the saddle and flat on her back in the lush spring gras with Ward's hard face above her.

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  "Now," he said gently, "suppose you show me how much you hate me?"

  His dark head bent, and she reached up, unthinking, to catch his thick hair and push him away. But it only gave him an unexpected opening, and she caught her breath as his full weight came down over her body, crushing her into the leaves and gras .

  "Bet er give in, honey, or you could sink down al the way to China," he commented wickedly. His hands were resting beside her head, and somehow he'd caught hers in them. He had her effectively pinned, without any effort at al , and was just short of gloating about it. He wasn't trying to spare her his formidable weight, either, and she could just barely breathe.

  She panted, struggling, until she felt what her struggles were accomplishing and reluctantly subsided. She contented herself with glaring up at him from a face the color of pickled beets.

  "Coward," he chided.

  She was very stil , barely breathing. His hands were squeezing hers, but with a cares ing pres ure not a brutal one. The look in his eyes was slowly changing from faint amusement to dark pas ion. If she hadn't recognized the look, his body would have told her as he began to move subtly over hers, sensual y, with a practiced expertnes that even her innocence recognized.

  "Yes, that makes you tremble, doesn't it?" he breathed, watching her as his hips cares ed hers.

  "Of course. .it does," she bit off. "I've never.. felt this way with anyone else."

  "Neither have I," he whispered, bending to brush his hard mouth over her soft one. "I told you that when I got home, and I meant it. Never like this, not with any 94

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  one. ." His eyes closed, his heavy brows drawing together as he slowly fit ed his mouth to hers.

  She wanted to protest, but she couldn't move, let alone speak, and his mouth was making the most exquisite sensations in places far removed from her lips. With a shaky lit le sigh she opened her mouth a lit le to taste his and felt him stiffen. She felt that same tautnes in her legs, her arms, even in her stomach, sensations that she'd never experienced. His hard fingers flexed, linking with hers cares ingly, teasing as he explored her mouth first with his lips and then with the slightest probing of his tongue. She hadn't been kis ed that way before, and her eyes opened, puzzled.

  He lifted his head a lit le, searching her face with green eyes that were dark and mysterious and as full of answers as her blue ones were full of questions.

  "You can trust me this once," he whispered, sensing her apprehension in the smooth as silk young body that wouldn't give an inch to the dominance of his. "Even if I went half mad with wanting, I wouldn't risk trying to make love to you within sight of the barn."

  He couldn't have been les convincing, but she did trust him. She searched his eyes, feeling the warm weight of him, smel ing the leathery scent that clung to him, and she began to relax despite the unknown intimacy of the embrace.

  "You've never felt a man this way, have you?" he asked quietly. "It's al right. You're old enough to leave chaste kis es and daydreams behind. This is the reality, lit le Mari," he whispered, shifting his hips as he looked down into her wide, awed eyes. "This is what it's real y like when a man and a woman come together in passion. It isn't neat and quiet and uncomplicated. It's hot and wild and complex."

  "Is it part of the rules to warn the victim?" she asked in a husky whisper.

  "It is when the victim is as innocent as you," he returned. "I don't want a virgin sacrifice, you see," he added, bending again to her mouth. "I want a full-blooded woman. A woman to match me."

  At that moment she almost felt that she could. Her body was throbbing, blazing with fire and fever, and instead of shrinking from the proof of his desire for her, she lifted her body up to his, gave him her mouth and her soft sighs.

  Ward felt the hunger in her slender body, and it fostered an oddly protective impulse in him. He, who was used to taking what he wanted without regret or shame, hesitated. His mouth gentled, slowed and became patiently cares ing. He found that she followed where he led, quickly learning the tender les ons that he gave her without words. He let go of her hands and felt them go instinctively to his shirt, pres ing over the hard, warm muscles, searching. His heart pounded furiously against breasts whose softnes he could feel under him. He wanted to strip off his shirt and give himself to her young hands, he wanted to strip off her own shirt and put his mouth on those tender breasts and look at them and watch her blush. It was then that he realized just how urgent the situation was becoming.

  His body was taking over. He could feel himself grinding down against her, forcing her hips into intimate contact with his, he could feel his own taut movements. His mouth felt hot. Hers felt like velvet, feverish and swollen from the hungry probing of his own.

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  He lifted his head, surprised to find himself breathing in gasps, his arms trembling slightly as they held him poised over her. Her eyes were misty, half closed, her lips parted and moist, her body submis ive. His.

  She drew in a slow, lazy breath, looking up at him musingly, so hungry for him that she hadn't the strength to refuse him anything he wanted. From the neck down she was throbbing with sweet pulses, experiencing a pleasure that she'd never known before.

  "No," he whispered roughly. "No. Not like this."

  He rolled away from her, shuddering a lit le before he sat up and breathed roughly. He brushed back his hair with fingers that were almost steady but held a fine tremor. Mari was just realizing what had happened, and she stared at him with slowly dawning comprehension. So that was what happened. That was why women didn't fight or protest. It wasn't out of fear of being overpowered. It was because of the sweet, tender pleasure that came from being held intimately, kis ed and kis ed until her mind got lost in her body's pleasure. He could have had her. But he stopped.

  "Surprised?" He turned his head, staring down at her with dark green eyes that stil held blatant traces of pas ion. "I told you I wouldn't take advantage, didn't I?"

  "Yes. But I forgot."

  "Fortunately for you I didn't." He got to his feet and stretched lazily, feeling as if he'd been beaten, but he wasn't let ing her see that. He grinned down at her. "Men get good at pulling back. It comes from years of practice dating virgins," he added in a wicked whisper as he extended a hand to her.

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  She sat up, flushed, ignoring his outstretched hand as she scrambled to her feet. "I can't imagine that many of them were stil virgins afterward," she muttered with a shy glance.

  "Oh, some of them had great powers of resistance," he admit ed. "Like you."

  "Sure," she said shakily, pushing back her damp hair. "Some great resistance. If you hadn't stopped.. "

  "But I did," he interrupted. He picked up his hat from where he'd tossed it and studied the crown before he put it back on his head.
"And for the time being you can forget going back to Georgia," he added with a level gaze. "Lil ian needs you. Maybe I need you, too. You've given me a new perspective on things."

  "I've butted in and made a spectacle of myself, you mean," she said, her eyes quietly curious on his hard, dark face.

  "If I'd meant that, I'd have said it," he returned. "You're a breath of fresh air in my life, Mari. I was get ing set in my wicked ways until you came along. Maybe you were right about my at itude toward money. So why don't you stay and reform me?"

  "I can't imagine anyone brave enough to try," she said. She lifted her face. "And besides al that, how dare you cost me my job!"

  "You can't work in a garage full of men anymore," he said blandly. "Remember your horrible nightmares about the as ault?" he added. "Men make you nervous. Lil ian said so."

  "Those men wouldn't make anyone nervous. Al they did was work on cars and go home to their wives," she informed him. "Not one of them was single."

  "How sad for you. What wonderful luck that Lil ian found me dying and sent for you." He grinned. "It 98 UNLIKELY LOVER

  isn't every girl who gets handed a single, handsome, rich bachelor on a plat er."

  "I am not a gold digger," she shot at him.

  "Oh, hel , I know that," he said after a minute, studying her through narrowed eyes. "But I had to have some kind of defense, didn't I? You're a potent lit le package, honey. A fish on the hook does fight to the bit er end."

  His words didn't make much sense to her, but Mari was a lit le dazed by everything that had happened. She just stared at him, puzzled.

  "Never mind," he said, taking her hand. "Let's go back. I've got a few odds and ends to take care of before lunch. Do you like to ride?'

  "I think so," she admit ed.

  "You can have your own horse next time," he promised. "But for now I think we'l walk back. I'm just about out of self-control, if you want the truth. I can't handle you at a close proximity right now."

  That was embarras ing and flat ering, and she hid a smile. But he saw it and gathered her close to his side, leading the horse by the reins with one hand and holding her with the other. The conversation on the way back was general, but the feel of Ward's strong arm had Mari enthral ed every step of the way. He went off to make some busines cal s. Lil ian took one look at Mari's face and began humming love songs. Mari, meanwhile, went up to her room to freshen up and took time to borrow one of the outside lines to cal Atlanta. Her boss at the garage was delighted to hear from her and immediately burst into praise of her unselfishnes to help that

  "poor dying man in Texas." How fortunate, he added brightly, that a young woman about Mari's age had just applied for a job the morning poor Mr. Jes up had cal ed him. Everything had worked out just fine, hadn't it, and how did she like Texas?

  She mumbled something about the weather being great for that time of year, thanked him and hung up. Poor Mr. Jes up, indeed!

  Ward had to go out on busines later in the day, and he wasn't back by supper time. Lil ian and Mari ate alone, and after Mari had finished helping in the kitchen, she kis ed her aunt good night and went upstairs. She was torn between disappointment and relief that Ward hadn't been home since that feverish interlude. It had been so sweet that she'd wanted it again and that could be dangerous. Each time it got harder to stop. Today she hadn't been able to do anything except follow where he led, and it was like some heady alcoholic beverage—she just couldn't get enough of him. She didn't real y know what to do anymore. Her life seemed to be tangled up in complications. She laid out a soft pink gown on the bed—a warm but revealing one with a low neckline—and fingered it lovingly. It had been an impulse purchase, something to cheer her up on a depres ing Saturday when she had been alone. It was made of flannelet e, but it was lacy and expensive, and she loved the way it felt and clung to the slender lines of her body.

  She ran a bath in the big Jacuzzi and turned on the jets after fil ing the tub with fragrant soap that was provided, along with anything else a feminine guest might need, in the pret y blue-tiled bathroom. To Mari, who lived in a smal efficiency apartment in Atlanta, it was real y plush. She frowned as she stripped off her clothing and climbed into the smooth tub with its relaxing jets of water surging around her. The apartment

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  rent was due in a week or so, and she hadn't paid it yet. She'd have to send a check. She also wished that she'd brought more clothes with her. She hadn't counted on being here for life, but it looked as if Ward wasn't in any hurry to let her go.

  Too, there was Lil ian, who was behaving herself only as long as her niece was around to make her. If Mari left, what would happen to the older woman? With Ward away on busines so often, it was dangerous for Lil ian to be left alone now. Perhaps Ward had considered that, and it was why he wanted Mari to stay. The real reason, anyway. He didn't seem to be dying of love for her, although his desire was apparent. He wanted her.

  With al her turbulent thoughts and the humming sound of the Jacuzzi, she didn't hear the door to her room open or hear it close again. She didn't hear the soft footfal s on the carpet, or the soft sound that came from a particularly male voice as Ward saw her sit ing up in the tub with her pret y pink breasts bare and glistening with soap and water. She happened to glance up then and saw him. She couldn't move. His green eyes were steady and loving on the soft curves of her body, and with horror she felt the tips of her breasts harden under his intent scrutiny.

  He shook his head when she started to lift her hands to them. "No," he said gently, moving toward her. "No, don't cover them, Mari." She could hardly get her breath. Although she'd never let anyone see her like this in al her life, she couldn't stop him. Mari couldn't seem to move at al . He towered over her, stil and somber, and as she watched, he began to roll up the sleeves of the white shirt that was open halfway down his chest. He'd long ago shed his jacket and tie, although he was stil wearing dres boots and suit trousers. He looked expensive and very masculine and disturbing, and as he bent beside the tub, she caught the scent of luxurious cologne.

  "You mustn't!" she began frantical y.

  But he picked up the big fluffy sponge she'd soaped and shook his head, smiling faintly. "Think of it as a service for a special, tired guest," he whispered amusedly, although his eyes were frankly pos es ive. "Lie back and enjoy it."

  She started to protest again, but he didn't pay the least at ention. One lean hand moved behind her neck to support her in the bubbling water while the other slowly, painstakingly, drew the sponge over every soft line and curve of her body.

  She hadn't realized how many nerve endings she had, but he found every single one. In a silence that throbbed with new sensation, he bathed her, pausing now and again to put the sponge down and touch her, experience the softnes of her skin with the added silkines of soap and water making it vibrantly alive. Her eyes were half closed, languorous, as his fingers brushed lightly over her smal , high breasts and found every curve and hardnes , every sensual contrast, every texture, as if she fascinated him.

  She trembled a lit le when he turned off the Jacuzzi and let the water out of the tub, especial y when he began to sponge away the last traces of soap, and her body was completely revealed to him.

  He lifted his dark, quiet eyes to hers and searched them, finding apprehension, fear, awe and delight in their blue depths. "I've never bathed a woman before," he said softly. "Or bathed with one. In some ways I suppose I'm pret y old-fashioned."

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  She was breathing unsteadily. "I've never let anyone look at me before," she said in a hesitant tone.

  "Yes. I know." He helped her out of the tub and removed a warmed towel from the rail. It was fluffy and pink, and warm against her skin as he slowly dried her from head to toe. This time she could feel his hands in a new way, and she clutched at his broad shoulders when he reached her hips and began to touch her flat stomach. She felt a rush of sensation that was new and shocking.


  ' 'Ward?' she whispered.

  He knelt in front of her, discarding the towel and al pretense as he held her hips and pres ed his mouth warmly against her stomach. She cried out. It was a high-pitched, helples cry, and it made his blood surge like a flood through his veins. His fingers flexed and his mouth drew over her stomach with agonizing slownes , moving up with relentles hunger to her soft, smooth breasts.

  She held him there, held his hard, moist mouth over the tip of one, felt him take her inside, warming her. He touched her then in a way she'd never expected, and her breath drew in harshly and she shivered.

  "Shhhh," he whispered at her breast. "It's al right. Don't fight me."

  She couldn't have. She shuddered and trembled, crying as he made the most exquisite sensations felt in the nether reaches of her slender body. Her nails dug into him and she couldn't help it.

  "Marianne," he whispered, shifting his mouth over hers. He stopped his delicate probing and lifted her in his arms. She felt the soft shock of his footsteps as he carried her to the bed, felt the mat res sink under their combined weights.

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  His mouth moved slowly back down her to her stomach, her thighs, and then she did fight him, fought the newnes and the strangenes and the frank intimacy. He lifted his head and slid back up to look at her shocked face. "Al right," he said gently. "If you don't want it, I won't force you." Her face was creamy pink now, fascinated. He looked down at her body, smoothing over it with a lean, very dark hand, savoring its soft vulnerability.

  "This is so new," he whispered. "I never realized how soft a woman's body real y was, how exquisitely formed. I could get drunk just on the sight of you." She was trembling al over but not from the soft chil of the room. She felt reckles under his intense gaze. He looked up into her eyes. "You aren't protected, are you?" he asked softly.