He frowned when he thought what would probably happen after that. Once Madison saw her mother and was reassured that she was fine, she’d probably return to Boston. He, on the other hand, would go back to Durango’s place and do what he’d intended to do from the beginning. He would get a little R and R before starting work on his next book.
Why did the thought of them going their separate ways begin to gnaw on his insides? Why did the thought of her sharing her newfound passion with another man bother the hell out of him? He had made love to other women and never felt troubled by the thought of them sleeping with someone else after their relationship ended. In fact, he’d always been grateful that his ex-lovers wanted to move on.
He inhaled deeply. He needed distance from Madison to think straight and to get his head back on right. She was making him feel things no other woman had made him feel and he didn’t like it worth a damn.
Easing from her side, he slipped out of bed and quickly pulled on his jeans, not bothering to put on his briefs or a shirt. He didn’t want her to wake up for fear that he wouldn’t know how he would handle things.
Before walking out of the bedroom he glanced back and wished that he hadn’t. His gaze roamed over her. She was curled on her side with a satiated smile on her lips while she slept. She looked like a woman made for passion and every muscle in his body ached to make love to her again.
He forced his gaze away as a thickness settled in his throat at the same time as one formed in his midsection. Stone slowly shook his head. He needed distance and he needed it now. Quickly walking out of the room, he closed the door behind him.
Madison stirred awake and squinted her eyes against the bright sunlight that was coming in through the window. She stretched and immediately felt the soreness in muscles she hadn’t used in a long time. She smiled. She had definitely used them last night.
Pulling herself up in bed she glanced around, wondering where Stone had gone. She knew they had planned to get an early start to reach his uncle’s place before nightfall but now she felt downright lazy. She didn’t want to do anything but stay in bed and wait for his return.
She drew in a shuddering breath when she remembered all the things they had done the night before. He had introduced her to passion of the most sensual kind. She had felt emotions and had done things with Stone that she had never felt or done with her former fiancé. A blushing heat stole into her features when she thought how Stone had touched her all over, tasted her all over, made love to her all over. Even now his scent was drenched into her skin. Her nostrils were filled with the aroma of him: manly, robust and sexy.
What was there about Stone Westmoreland that had made her throw caution to the wind and do what she’d done? What was there about him that made her eager to do it again?
When moments passed and Stone didn’t return to bed, and she didn’t hear any movement or sound from the opposite side of the bedroom door, she wondered where he had gone and decided to find out. What was he thinking this morning? Did he regret what they’d done? Did he think she assumed that now that they’d made love she expected something from him? She remembered distinctly him saying that he wasn’t the marrying kind. He believed strongly in the institution but also believed that marriage wasn’t for him. He had no plans ever to settle down. He had told her that he liked his life just the way it was. He enjoyed the freedom of coming and going whenever he pleased and not being responsible for anyone but himself. He didn’t want any worries, no bothers and definitely no wife.
She sighed deeply as she slipped out of bed. She glanced around for the clothes she had discarded the night before and decided that, instead of putting them back on, she would slip into Stone’s shirt. It hit her midthigh and she liked the way it looked on her because it symbolized that she was his and he was hers.
She shook her head, wondering where that thought had come from and decided not to think that way again. Stone wasn’t looking for a serious relationship and neither was she. Opening the door she knew she had to pull herself together before seeing him. The last thing she needed was to put more into her relationship with him than was really there.
Madison searched the house and found no sign of Stone. She stepped outside onto the porch. Then she saw him. He was in the distance, shirtless and riding without a saddle. Instead, a blanket covered the animal’s back.
She leaned against the column post and watched him. He had told her that he knew how to handle a horse and she’d seen firsthand how well he did so on their trek up the mountains. He had explained that his uncle had made sure his eleven nephews and one niece learned how to ride and had taken the time to teach each one of them how to handle a horse when they came to visit. She had to admit that those lessons had paid off. It was evident that Stone was a skilled horseman. He even shared with her that he owned a horse that was stabled at Highpoint Manor, a place where he could go and enjoy the Georgia Mountains on horse back. From Atlanta it would take him less than two hours to reach the Blue Ridge Mountains where he would get on the back of his horse for an excursion into the wilderness.
Something made him look her way and her breath caught when he saw her. He trotted the horse over to her, coming to a stop by the porch. “Good morning, Madison.”
“Good morning, Stone.”
Some part of her felt she should be embarrassed after how she’d acted last night and everything they had done together. But she felt no shame. In fact she wasn’t even feeling self-conscious that she was standing before him wearing his shirt without a stitch of clothing underneath. It seemed that all her proper Boston upbringing had gone back up North without her, leaving her doing and thinking all sorts of naughty things.
She tipped her head back to look at him. He was sitting on the horse looking sexier than any man had a right to look. Their gazes locked, held and she felt a quickening in her stomach. She also felt a stirring heat between her legs and as he continued to gaze down at her, she saw the color of his eyes darken as desire flooded their depths.
“Come ride with me,” he said throatily. His voice was so husky it sent a sensuous chill down her spine.
Without asking where they were going or bothering to bring to his attention the fact that she wasn’t appropriately dressed to go riding, she accepted the hand he reached out to her. He leaned over and, with one smooth sweep, gathered her into his arms. However, instead of placing her on the horse behind him, he placed her in front of him turning her to face him. When she lifted a brow in surprise, he said, “You’re beautiful and I can’t help but want to look at you this morning.”
Madison smiled, touched by his comment. “But how will you see to lead the horse with me blocking your view?”
A grin touched the corners of his mouth. “You won’t be blocking it. Besides, I get the feeling this horse has been up here several times and knows his way around. I pretty much let him lead the way.”
Madison nodded, then held on as Stone urged the horse into a trot. When they got a little distance from the cabin he slowed the horse down to a walking pace. At first she had felt uncomfortable facing him while sitting on the back of a horse, especially with the way he was looking at her, but another feeling was taking over. It didn’t help matters when the horse came to a complete stop and began nibbling on the grass. Stone decided to use that time to nibble on her. He leaned forward and captured her lips, kissing her with an intensity that set her body on fire. She encircled his neck with her arms for support while enjoying their kiss.
“Aren’t you afraid that we’re going to fall off this horse?” she asked him when he pulled his mouth away moments later.
“No. It’s just like anything else you ride,” he responded, his tone breathy and hot. “You have to keep your balance.”
She wondered how a person could keep their balance when their mind was spinning. Stone’s kiss had rocked her world and she was dizzy from the impact. He had stroked her tongue with his, causing the heat that was already settled inside of her to go up another degree.
&
nbsp; “You look good in my shirt,” he said, before reaching out and undoing the top button. Then the second and third.
“Stone, what are you doing?” she asked in a startled gasp, barely getting the words out when he had eased but tons four and five free. She brought her hands up to cover his.
“Undressing you.”
Madison could clearly see that. She glanced around. “But, but, we’re outside in the open.”
“Yes, but we’re also alone. No one is here but you, me and this horse, and he’s too busy filling his stomach to worry about what we’re doing.”
“Yes, but—”
That was as far as she got when Stone recaptured her mouth and at the same moment gently slid off the horse with her in his arms, snagging the blanket in the process.
When he ended the kiss and placed her on her feet, she met his gaze and he thought about how different she was from all the other women he had been with. With Madison, he had no control and he wondered if she knew just how seductive she was. He had a feeling that she didn’t have a clue.
Stone had left her alone in the cabin because he’d needed distance to think, but all he’d done while out riding was think about her. He couldn’t erase from his mind how she had made him feel when she had run her hands over him, sending shock waves of pleasure through his body. Nor could he forget how she had smiled at him after they had both reached their pleasure, snuggling closer to him, resting her head against his chest and going to sleep in his arms like it was just where she wanted to be. Just where she belonged.
With that memory firmly imbedded in his mind, he reached up and began stroking her hair, needing to touch her, to feel connected. He watched with penetrating attentiveness as her breathing quickened, her eyes darkened and her lips parted.
He gently cupped the back of her neck and drew her closer to his face. Bringing her lips just inches from his, he whispered, “I want to make love to you, here, under the Montana sky.”
He watched as her eyes drifted closed and when she reopened them, the eyes that looked at him were filled with desire, as well as uncertainty. He wanted to keep the former and remove the latter. He reached for her hand and began slowly stroking her wrist in a slow seductive motion and watched as the uncertainty in her gaze faded.
“I want to make love to you under the Montana sky, too,” she whispered when only desire shone in the depths of her dark eyes. Her voice was so low he could barely hear the words.
Stone drew in a sharp intake of breath as the intensity of just how much he wanted Madison hit him. Taking her hand in his, he led her through a path that was shrouded with lush green prairie grass. When he found what he thought was the perfect spot, he spread the blanket on the ground, sat down and pulled her on to his lap.
His mouth captured hers and with a shaking hand, he removed his shirt from her body. Moments later, he pulled back and stood to remove his jeans; taking a condom pack from the pocket before tossing them aside. His hand continued to shake as he sheathed himself.
He is a beautiful man, Madison thought as she watched what Stone was doing. A sheen of perspiration covered his chest; a chest she knew was broad and muscular. Then there were those strong thighs, firm buttocks and the huge erection that promised more of what they’d shared last night.
She inhaled deeply. A slow throbbing ache had started low and deep in her stomach, inching its way through every part of her body. She actually felt a climax building and Stone hadn’t done anything but kiss her…but the look in his eyes promised everything. And she wanted it all.
She wanted Stone Westmoreland.
She didn’t want to think about the implications of what that might mean. At the moment she couldn’t give herself that luxury. The only thoughts she wanted flowing through her mind were intimate ones. She forced the lump in her throat away, as a little voice in the back of her mind whispered, live for the moment. Enjoy this time with him to the fullest.
After Stone finished putting on the condom he paused as his gaze held Madison’s. Last night while making love, he had never felt so connected, so joined, so linked to a woman. It was as if they had formed a kinship, an unshakable attachment, a special bond that he couldn’t dismiss even if he wanted to.
Maybe it was pure insanity on his part to think that way. In that case, he might as well call himself crazy because the thoughts were in his head and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about them now. He would have to figure things out later because what he wanted more than any thing, even more than his next breath, was the woman who was sitting on the blanket watching every move he made with so much desire in her eyes, it only made his body harder.
He let out a deep breath and wondered how he could have gone through life for thirty-three years and not known of her existence. She was beautiful, exquisite and, for now, right this minute, she was his.
His.
He swallowed deeply, knowing he had to say something and that he needed to choose his words carefully. He wanted her to know, he had to let her know, that this wasn’t just another coupling for him. What they shared all through last night, as well as what they were about to share now were special to him and totally out of sync with how he usually did things. He wanted her to know she had touched him in a way that no woman had done before.
When he moved his mouth to say the words, Madison leaned forward, reached out and placed her fingers to his lips. She wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say, especially if it was something that would break the romantic spell between them. She didn’t want to hear him stress once again the kind of man that he was. She knew that he was not looking for a serious involvement and she respected that, but neither of them could turn their backs on the passion that was now raging between them. Right now, all she wanted to think about—all she cared about—was that this wonderful man had given her a real taste of passion, something she had never experienced before. He’d also shown her how it felt to fall for someone.
And she had fallen helplessly and hopelessly in love with Stone Westmoreland.
He pulled her fingers from his lips and leaned forward, brushing those same lips against hers before letting the fullness of his mouth settle over hers, kissing her with an intensity that sent heat soaring through her veins. The same wanting, longing and desire that she had encountered from the moment she’d met him took over and she pulled him down to her, determined to make this morning a repeat of last night.
He broke off the kiss and his hands and mouth went to work to drive her insanely out of her mind. She twisted and moaned beneath him sighing his name and reaching out to capture in her hands that part of him she wanted so badly.
When she held his thick arousal in her hand she folded her fingers around him, squeezing him in her palm. She looked up, met his gaze and asked, “Ready?”
The heat from his gaze nearly scorched her insides and when he smiled she became entrenched in passion so in tense she could barely breathe. “Ready,” he replied.
She let go and the solid length of him probed her feminine folds as he rolled his hips, finding the rhythm he in tended for them to share. Sweat appeared on his forehead and she knew he was just as over the edge as she was, just as hungry for this.
Lowering his head, he captured her mouth, sought out her tongue at the same exact moment that he entered her, swallowing the moan that came from deep in her throat. He lifted her hips and wrapped her legs around him as he went deeper. She felt all of him, every single inch of his intimate flesh. He thrust back and forth inside her as he deepened the kiss they were sharing.
Stone released her mouth when a growl erupted deep in his throat. Sensations spiraled through him. He increased their rhythm and his body began moving faster, his thrusts became harder and went deeper. All of him worked tirelessly to satisfy this woman he was making love with and when he felt her body begin shuddering in an orgasm that made her cry out, he knew he had again succeeded.
He threw his head back as his thrusts quickened even more and he knew that, for as long as he l
ived, he would have memories of the time he had made love to her under a Montana sky. When he felt her body explode in another climax, he was there with her and continued to pump into her until he had nothing left to give.
“Stone!”
“Madison!”
Everything transformed into one sensuously dizzy moment and he captured her mouth, needing to be joined with her from the top all the way to the bottom. And she returned his kiss the same way he was giving it to her, responding to every delicious stroke of his tongue.
Moments later, Stone slid from her body and gathered her into his arms to hold her as she slumped against him. She tucked her face into the warmth of his neck, and he couldn’t help but wonder just how he would handle things when she returned to Boston.
“Are you sure that you won’t mind staying here another night?”
Madison looked across the kitchen table at Stone. They had made love once again after returning to the cabin and drifted off to sleep. Hunger had awakened them a few hours later and after dressing—or half-dressing, since she had put his shirt back on and he was wearing only his jeans—they had stumbled into the kitchen. For two people who prided themselves on possessing endless energy, they were definitely wearing each other out.
Surprisingly, the kitchen cupboards weren’t bare. There were a number of cans of soup and they decided to share some tomato soup.
“Yes, I’m sure, as long as we have something to eat.” She smiled. “Besides, it would be dangerous to travel if we were to leave now. Soon it will be dark.”
Stone nodded then reached across the table and captured her hand in his. “Do you regret that we didn’t head out first thing this morning as we’d planned?”
Ignited by Passion Page 10