0968348001325302640 brenda huber shadows

by Unknown

  “I sort of thought you’d have figured that out by now.”

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  The pink tip of her tongue slicked over her bottom lip, leaving a trail of inviting moisture in its wake. The mask of civility shattered. Cam wound his hand in her hair, fisting it at the base of her skull, dragging her head back. His other hand jerked at the string tied at her waist. His ravenous focus locked on her lips for a moment before he jerked his hungry gaze to her eyes. He was dead serious now.

  “I’m claiming you, Jillian.” He stole one swift, soul-deep kiss as the tie at her waist gave. Yanking his lips from hers, he nipped and suckled his way to her earlobe. Panting in her ear, he snarled, “From this night forward…I claim you as mine.” She whimpered soft acquiescence, trembling against him. The soft cotton pants slid down her trim legs, pooling around her bare feet. With a hungry growl, he released her long enough to whip the T-shirt over her head, leaving her in nothing more than a shell-pink, lacy bra and matching panties. If he hadn’t been so overcome with the need to mate, he would have fallen to his knees to worship at her feet. Thankfully, the sight of her, so stunning and delicate, harnessed some of the power surging through him. So many emotions seethed inside him, difficult to isolate or identify, and they all—each and every last one—centered around his stunning female.

  Remembering his vow to make their first time together special, he made a conscious effort to slow down. Slow was pure living hell, a nightmare of tormented desire. He whisked his own shirt over his head, not bothering with the buttons. A faint ping echoed in his ears as one of the buttons bounced off the far wall. It was a small wonder his zipper continued to hold against the heavy, excruciatingly painful weight of his erection.

  She gasped, staring goggle-eyed at the wide expanse of his naked chest, and he froze. Oh, hell…

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  He’d gone too fast, lost his head and scared her.

  He hadn’t prepared her, hadn’t explained anything to her at all. He was a bastard. A selfish, horny bastard. How could he have let things get out of hand so quickly?

  He struggled to find his voice, working to form the words of apology, but then she lifted her hands, splaying them on his chest, just over his heart. Her fingers, light as the stroke of a feather, traced his griffin. A murmur of unmistakable female approval bubbled in her throat. His words of remorse emerged as a greedy rumble of pleasure. With butterfly strokes, she touched him, smoothing her cool palms over his burning, aching flesh, exploring him, his chest, his ribs, his shoulders. Her eyes followed her hands. Then her lips did, and he thought he’d surely die from the pleasure alone.

  She glanced up at him. Her blue eyes glittered in the moonlight. She moistened her lips again.

  He was a goner.

  In seconds, he stripped the rest of his gear and clothing away. Cam snaked his arms around her, hauling her to him, crushing her against him. His throbbing shaft pulsed against her stomach, the contact of skin on naked skin ripped a tormented hiss from him. The lace and silk of her bra and panties—previously enticing—thwarted him now, providing far more barrier than his body could stand.

  Her bra came loose with a deft flick of nimble fingers. Impatiently sweeping the scrap of lace out of his way, Cam filled his hand with her silky smooth breast. Her pebbled nipple thrust against his palm, driving him out of his mind. He sank to his knees before her, caged her hips in his hands, and sealed his lips over her nipple, flicking his tongue over her, suckling her hard until her knees buckled.

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  continued his thorough ministrations on the other breast. JJ tossed her head back, moaning low and deep. She laced her fingers through his hair, cradling his head to her. The scent of her arousal wreaked havoc on his control. Cam buried his face against her flat stomach for a moment and inhaled, soul deep, savoring the flavor of her, absorbing it, letting it sink through him…become a part of him.

  Turning his lips to her flesh, he tasted her skin, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses from sternum to the scallop of lace below her navel. His hands slid from her hips down over her thighs. Her skin was the finest of silk beneath his fingertips. On the return trip back up her thighs, his thumbs hooked in the thin straps banded over her hips. With inescapable deliberation, he drew the lacy barrier lower and lower until her panties joined the pile of light blue cotton at her feet.

  Cam rocked back on his heels as he stared up at her. Never in his life had he seen anything…anyone…so beautiful, so precious. She made to shield her body with self-conscious hands, but he wouldn’t allow it. He captured her wrists, pulling them down to her sides. His eyes, worshipful and greedy, devoured every inch of her. When at last he found his voice, his whisper couldn’t have been more reverent, more sincere had he been standing at God’s altar, surrounded by a choir of heavenly angels.

  “So beautiful…”

  She blushed beneath his steady regard, but her attention focused now on his straining erection. He flexed his proud, masculine strength for her, stifling a devilish grin. Her eyes widened and she caught her breath. His grin broke free.

  Dropping a swift kiss to the perfect, golden skin of her taut stomach, he rose, gathering her against him. Twisting, he levered onto the bed with one 257

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  knee, laying her on the mattress before him like a feast…like a virgin sacrifice to an insatiable god. He claimed her mouth again, weaving a heady spell with his lips and tongue. Her hands grew restless upon him, tracing over his back, squeezing his shoulders, caressing his chest, trailing a blaze of passion across his skin.

  When they slid lower, their goal unmistakable, he captured her wrists once more, pinning them to the mattress above her head, strung too tight to risk her hands on him there. He was too close to that precarious edge of wild, unrestrained abandon. The reins of his control were slippery at best now. One tiny tug of those beautiful hands of hers, and he wouldn’t stand a hope in hell of keeping the starving animal inside him tethered.

  Keeping her wrists manacled with one hand, he trailed his fingers down the length of her arm, over the outer slope of her breast, across the shallow valley of her stomach. He traced tender kisses down the length of the scars along her forearm. She was perfection. He couldn’t get enough of her. Angling his head, he slanted his mouth across hers, taking the kiss to a new level. Cam nudged her thighs apart with his knee, feathering his fingers over the delicate skin on her stomach, down to the mound of soft curls at the apex of her thighs. She started—just a tiny jolt of awareness—and puffed a tiny sigh against his lips. She was already damp against his palm. He’d done that to her, effected her so strongly.

  The knowledge cranked his blood from a bubbling simmer to a hard, rolling boil.

  She was so hot, so wet, his shaft jerked against her hip, ready and eager. Groaning into her mouth, he slicked his fingers against her, burrowing them into her heat, teasing and satisfying as she squirmed and strained for more, bucking her hips against his hand—whimpering against his mouth.

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  Determined to make this last as long as possible, he shifted above her, nudging her thighs farther apart. He meant to slide lower, to take her with his mouth first and taste her passions, savor them. But the moment he knelt between her thighs, she thrust her hips up, brushing the length of his straining erection with her damp womanhood.

  Her blatant invitation was his undoing. If he didn’t bury himself deep inside her, right now, he’d go out of his mind.

  ****

  JJ strained against the iron band of his hand around her wrists. He’d drugged her with his intoxicating kisses, and now he was tormenting her with his body. The sight of him, kneeling on the floor before her in all his aroused splendor had brought her a whole new meaning to the word terror. His size alone was daunting—daunting, hell, the man was freakin’ enormous—but the very thought of not going through with th
is—not making love with Cam—was more than she could bear.

  He’d caught her by surprise when he’d carried her up the stairs, but she wouldn’t have—couldn’t have—told him to stop if her life had depended on it.

  Honestly, what woman wouldn’t melt…just a little…at literally being swept off her feet and whisked away like Scarlett? He hadn’t declared himself, hadn’t spoken the sentimental words of promise most women needed before they would even consider allowing things to progress to this point.

  But words weren’t important to her. Words could be a lie just as easy as they could be the truth.

  Actions held sway with her, and Cam’s actions—

  though at times arrogant and bossy—were noble.

  With Cam, she felt safe…she was safe. With Cam.

  He’d set her skin on fire with his bold, possessive strokes. Her head swam with his kisses. And if he didn’t ease this burning ache deep inside her, she’d 259

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  scream, go utterly mad. Insane. A drooling, blathering idiot.

  His lips branded the side of her throat, sending shivers of molten desire racing through her veins.

  She rocked her hips, lifting them, rubbing the sensitive nub of her need along the rigid, steely length of his shaft, and he growled against her skin.

  Her wrists were free at last, and she sank her fingers deep in his hair. His fingers bit into her flesh as he slammed her hips back onto the bed, holding them immobile. His chest rubbed against her breasts with every ragged pant…both hers and his. He moved, settling himself between her thighs, nudging them farther apart. She obligingly wrapped her legs around his waist, tilting her hips despite his efforts to restrain her.

  Did she have to beg?

  She would…in a heartbeat.

  His fingers tightened on her hips. She’d have bruises tomorrow, but she couldn’t have cared less.

  He muttered a harsh expletive against the ridge of her jaw, and the broad head of his penis parted her.

  At the intimate contact, his body shuddered atop her, his muscles quivered, straining and rock-solid.

  He pushed inside her, inch by excruciatingly slow inch, stretching her, filling her. The burning need increased exponentially. But he held her fast, refusing to let her move.

  Holy Crap. He was going so…damned… slow.

  She clutched at his shoulders, digging her fingernails into muscle. “Cam,” she pleaded.

  “No…hold…still,” he ground out, teeth gritted, panting. “So…tight…don’t want…to hurt…you…” She nipped at his chin with her teeth, seeking his lips. He gave them to her, and she immediately sank her tongue inside his mouth, assuming control of the kiss. She would get her way. Her hands cupped his buttocks, pressing him closer, gaining 260

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  only one more precious inch of him. Frustrated, she clenched and relaxed her inner muscles, clenched and relaxed, drawing him deeper, tugging at him.

  “Damn it, JJ,” he growled against her mouth.

  His grip on her hips tightened painfully, and he shifted for better leverage.

  JJ clamped her legs tight around him, fearful he intended to retreat. Without warning, the world suddenly shuddered beneath her as he gave one short, angry hiss, and slammed himself to the hilt inside her. Startled, overcome by the blissful friction, she cried out, but he didn’t stop. He was like a madman possessed now, wrapping his arms around her, pounding urgently inside her, over and over, grinding himself deep, groaning.

  Even as he drove into her, he whispered apologies in her ear, his voice hoarse, guttural. But she wasn’t in pain, couldn’t understand why he kept telling her he was sorry. She’d never felt better. She could die right now, a happy, satisfied woman.

  JJ fisted her hands in his hair, jerking his head back until he finally focused glittering, contrite emerald eyes on hers. The lines of his face were strained, his gaze troubled, even as his hips continued to pump frantically between her thighs.

  “Stop apologizing,” she ordered. “I happen to be enjoying myself here.”

  Then she seized his lips, pouring every ounce of feeling she possessed into her kiss. Abruptly, buried deep, he froze. Cam tore his lips from hers and stared down at her with an odd mixture of awe and desire etched upon his face. It was as if a strange peacefulness had come over him, soothing the jagged edges of his need.

  Cam lowered his head to hers once more, his lips sliding over hers with newfound control, though this kiss was every bit as powerful, every bit as soul-consuming as his carnal possession of seconds 261

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  before. Just as she began to sink under the tide of his desire, he pulled away. Not just from the kiss, but from her body as well.

  Confused, JJ gurgled a protest. Without warning, Cam flipped her over onto her stomach and spread her legs. Faster than she could blink, he gripped her hips, pulling her back and up. In one long thrust, his shaft sank deep inside her, deeper than ever before.

  But he wasn’t done.

  Cam splayed his hand under her chest, pulling her up until his chest pressed against her back. His calloused palm covered her breast, kneading, caressing. His free hand slid around her waist and down, nimble fingers furrowing through her curls.

  With his lightly bristled cheek, he nudged her head until she looked up. Straight at the large mirror above the antique dresser across the room.

  Her startled gaze locked on the entwined couple writhing erotically on the bed. Then Cam parted her golden curls, and she couldn’t tear her gaze from what he’d revealed. He kneed her thighs farther apart, pulling her back against him, tilting her as he began thrusting up and into her. His fingers massaged the tiny nub between her legs. The thick girth of him stretched her as he sank deep. The sight was almost as erotic as the sensation.

  His hand released her breast, only to capture the other. He rolled her taut nipple between his thumb and forefinger, and stroked his way over her ribs and her stomach. His mouth seared her throat.

  His teeth nipped. He was pure seduction now. Every move, every caress, every kiss, every thrust was raw sensuality, inescapable and intense.

  Her head lolled back against his shoulder, but she continued to observe the couple in the mirror through hooded, passion-glazed eyes, surrendering her body—surrendering everything inside her—to 262

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  him. “You belong to me now, JJ, as I belong to you.” Cam’s deep voice was hoarse in her ear. The reflection of his bright emerald gaze bore into hers for one defining moment. Then he caught her earlobe between his teeth, nipping lightly. She gripped the sides of his thighs as he continued to glide in and out of her. He caged her to him in strong arms. “I swear…I will cherish you.”

  Tension built and crested until she teetered on the brink of shattering. With every word he spoke, his thrust held more power, more purpose. His lips slid to a point, just behind her earlobe, a sensitive spot that sent delicious shivers coursing through her, pushing her closer to the fall.

  “I give you my loyalty…and all that I am,” he panted raggedly against her skin. “I will keep you safe…always…”

  With his final words, something happened…something strange. A tiny flare of pain scored that sensitive place behind her earlobe where his mouth rested, pulsing and throbbing at first, then dulling to a faint twinge. At nearly that exact moment, he rocked hard into her, touching her just so, setting off a chain reaction deep inside her body she had no way of controlling, no way of resisting.

  With a sharp cry, she shattered in his arms, her body’s inner muscles clenching hard on his shaft as she dug her nails into his thighs.

  A dark growl rippled up from Cam’s chest, vibrating against her back. He tossed his head back, letting the roar pour forth as he crushed her to him, spilling pulsing warmth deep inside her.

  Exhausted, limp, JJ let Cam maneuver her until she lay on the bed, cradled in his arms. He kept her back pressed tightly to his chest, surrounding her with his warmth. A conte
nted smile curling her lips, she drifted to sleep with his bicep as her pillow, his 263

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  arm her blanket. His large, hot hand splayed over her stomach.

  His shaft—still surprisingly hard—buried deep within her.

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  Chapter 18

  JJ woke to the muted warble of cheerful birdsong. Yawning, she rolled over, stretching the stiffness from her abused muscles. Cam had been a demanding lover—more demanding than she’d ever imagined possible—waking her up several times last night for vigorous bouts of lovemaking.

  In the middle of one such session, he’d growled in her ear—almost a complaint—that he couldn’t get enough of her. More importantly, he’d shown her…every time he took her. Even when they weren’t making love, he hadn’t stopped holding her, hadn’t stopped touching her. In the quiet times between loving, he’d kissed her, nuzzled her, laced his fingers through hers, whispering warm affections against her skin. He’d been like a man possessed, driven by the need for constant physical contact. By turns dominant and possessive, and then playfully yielding and affectionate.

  Satisfying warmth crept into her cheeks as she recalled the last time he’d taken her, in the early shadows before dawn. Before she’d fully gained consciousness, Cam was already kissing her senseless, cradling himself between her thighs, thrusting slow and deep. He’d teased her with gentle kisses, nuzzling her until she giggled, then he’d gazed deep into her eyes with an impassioned intensity, made her heart flutter beneath her breastbone. His lips returned—time and time again—to the responsive place behind her earlobe, the place that had briefly stung last night.

  At last, when he’d carried her to the peak and 265

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  swept her over, he’d sealed his lips over hers, drinking her cries in like the elixir of life. He’d thrust harder, faster for a moment, then stiffened in her arms, pulsing and exploding deep inside her.