by Sara Orwig
The kiss was insistent, demanding. She was torn between pushing him away or pulling him close and taking what he offered. She had intended to keep more distance between them, to protect herself and the boys, yet Cal’s kisses made her shake with longing and excitement. Never had she known a man like him and she wanted to say yes, to be drowned in the passionate love that his kisses hinted at. At the same time, doubts besieged her.
“Cal, wait. Not so fast.” She started to twist away and his arm tightened around her waist to hold her.
“You’re not going to resort to force,” she snapped, peering up at him.
“Not in the next million years. I want you calling my name in passion, never fear or anger.”
“Then let me go. I’m not ready for this.”
“You’re more than ready,” he drawled, his fingers trailing along her throat. “I feel your pulse racing, Juliana,” he said, his fingers pressing against the pulse throbbing above her collarbone while his arm around her loosened. “Your heart is thumping as fast as mine. You know what we do to each other without trying. Let’s try and see what fireworks we can set off.”
His words made her tremble and his hand stroked her nape and shoulder and hip while his other arm held her lightly.
His hands slid up and framed her face. “I want to be the man in your life and in your bed. And in your body,” he added in a husky rasp. “I want you to open your legs to me and when you do, you’ll open your heart.”
His soft words whispered in her ear made her shake. She felt on fire, torn between wisdom and his promises.
“Cal—”
He bent over her, kissing her hard while his hand slipped along her thigh. If she said no and walked away now, she wondered would she be throwing away something special that she would never find again? And maybe if she took what he offered, she would bind him to her family. After a year of family life and blazing passion, he might be ready to settle down.
He raised his head to look at her, running his finger along her lower lip. “You’ve been giving yourself completely to your family. Tonight, it’s time you take something for yourself. You’ll give to me, but I promise you, Juliana, I’ll give to you, too.”
And she knew he would. He was right—what they had was already spectacular.
His head dipped and he nuzzled her throat. “Let go, Ju- liana,” he whispered. “Let all the old fears and doubts go. Let’s take what we’ve found.”
She capitulated. If it were only this one night, she wanted to be loved wildly. At least once, she wanted what he would give her, his vitality, his passion, his need.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him and returned his kisses, giving and taking with an abandon she had never known.
Cal knew the moment she made her decision and her body pressed against his with urgency. His hands caught the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it up over her head and tossed it aside, hearing it land with a wet plop on the terrazzo floor. He wanted her and he knew he was changing their relation- ship, sealing it tonight. The woman was gorgeous. He felt the thrusts of her hips against him and his temperature climbed. His hands shook as he fought to control the urge to strip her and push her down and envelop himself in her soft warmth.
She was the kind of woman who would give body and soul and suddenly he wanted to bind her to him with more than a diamond and a piece of paper and a ceremony. His hands slid over her body that was cool and wet. He unfas- tened the button to her cutoffs and realized that she wasn’t wearing anything beneath the shorts.
He throbbed, his jeans constricting him, yet he wanted to feast his eyes on her, take time to seal this night in her memory and her heart. He pushed away her cutoffs, held her hips and looked at the perfection of her body, sliding his hand over her tiny waist, the flare of her hips. His finger slipped between her legs and she gasped as his mouth nuz- zled her ear.
“You’re ready for me. You’re wet and warm.”
Letting go of her doubts, she moved her hands over his strong shoulders, the hard muscles of his chest and his flat belly. She tugged at the button on his wet jeans, and finally freed him, pushing them away. Her fingers touched his arousal and he gasped and caught her wrist.
“Not yet, love. I want to discover what I can do for you.” He cupped her breasts, his head bending as he flicked his tongue over her taut nipple.
Juliana closed her eyes, her fingers roaming over his hard body while fires built within her from his kisses. In min- utes, he picked her up, carrying her to the small downstairs bedroom and kicking the door closed behind him. Carry- ing her to the bed, he reached down while he kissed her and switched on a small bedside lamp that shed a faint glow in the room. Cal wanted to look at her, to memorize the sight of her, to watch her reaction to everything he did.
He set her on her feet while he kissed and caressed her and stroked her inner thighs that were silken smooth. Her legs parted as she moaned softly and his fingers stroked her soft folds and found the taut bud. She cried out when his hand moved with a tantalizing pressure against her.
He shook, trying to control the urgency that built in him. He wanted to take her to the heights of passion. She was special, his woman tonight, part of his heart.
Juliana’s fingers bit into his shoulders and her hips moved wildly. Need heightened and she clung to him, while his arm steadied her and he kissed her hungrily. Her body tight- ened, her hips moving, his hand an exquisite torment until her body spasmed with release.
“Ah, Juliana,” he said, kissing away her soft cries and picking her up to place her on the bed.
Instantly, she came up. “No. You haven’t let me touch you yet,” she whispered, pushing his hips and stepping off the bed swiftly, going down on her knees to caress him. His body was magnificent. She ran her fingers over his man- hood, exploring him, feeling the smooth tip, taking him into her mouth and hearing his groan of pleasure as his fingers tangled in her hair. She stroked him with her tongue and felt him shake. Her hand moved between his legs to caress him. Eager to know him as he did her, her hands trailed along his thighs. His legs were hard muscle and she ran her fingers over them lightly, delighting in the masculine feel of him.
Suddenly, with a growl, he pulled her to her feet, his dark eyes like a blow when she looked at him. He swung her onto the bed and moved between her legs, bending down, his tongue stroking her inner thighs while she arched and cried out, yearning for him, the tension coiling in her.
“Cal, come here. Now…”
“Not yet. Not nearly yet,” he said gruffly, trailing his tongue over her. “I want you to let go completely. I want you to cry out for me.”
He was consumed by a need for her honeyed warmth. At the same time, he wanted to stroke and kiss her into com- plete abandon. “This is the wedding night we should have had.”
Juliana watched him, her fingers tangling in his hair as his head dipped between her legs, his mouth moving intimately on her, learning her secret places, his hot tongue stroking her. She arched beneath him.
“Cal! Please-”
“Say it. Say you want me inside you.”
“I do. Now!” she cried, losing all inhibitions and re- straints toward him, wanting him with wild desperation while his tongue drove her to the brink and she writhed be- neath him.
Juliana felt as if she would shatter into a million pieces. Straining against him, she ached for him. She wrapped her legs around his shoulders, tugging on him. “Cal! Now.”
He moved close over her, his mouth against her ear. “That’s it. Let go, love. Give me yourself.”
He shifted and the hot tip of his manhood pressed against her and withdrew. With a cry, she arched against him, seeking him, her legs wrapping around him.
“That’s it,” he whispered, lowering himself, easing into her and waiting while she bucked beneath him and cried out, her fingers raking over his back.
“I want to pleasure you, to make you mine, Juliana. My wife, my love.”
The seductive words were as arousing as his lo
vemaking. She arched again and Cal shifted, moving slowly, driving her wild. He was big and hard and hot within her, filling her. Lights exploded blindingly behind her closed eyelids and she clung to him, feeling fulfilled, yet wanting him to move, to take her to release.
His mouth crashed down on hers, his kiss taking her be- yond thought, while his body began to move rhythmically and she followed, matching him. Her hands raked over his buttocks, pulling him closer, stroking him.
“Juliana! Love!”
She clung to him, the words dimly registering as she moved wildly and then tumbled over the brink and shook with the explosion of release. His hard body shuddered, his hands biting into her shoulders while he groaned and thrust into her rapidly.
His weight came down on hers and his mouth covered hers again as he kissed her hard and long, bruising her lips, yet Juliana returned his kisses with the same fervor. She stroked him, wanting to hold him forever, wanting the mo- ment never to end.
Cal held her, feeling her hands flutter over him, remem- bering her passionate kisses. Her wild responses had burned through him; she was as fiery as he suspected. Their love- making had been spectacular—more than he’d expected and he knew that he had expected a lot. He wanted to win her over, to make this marriage a permanent one.
“I have to say I told you so,” he whispered, his tongue flicking over her ear.
She laughed softly, turning her face to his. He looked into her wide blue eyes and felt his heart drum. “You’re my woman, love.”
“Bully. Seductive bully is what you are.”
“Maybe, but you seemed to like it.”
“Did I ever,” she rejoined.
He rolled over, taking her with him while his hands slid over her. “You’ve very special, Juliana.”
“Cal, let’s just see what develops. I don’t know that I want to do this again for a while. It’s too much,” she said, frightened now that sensibility was returning, afraid he would want marriage until the end of the year and then still want a divorce. “Now we can’t get this marriage dissolved because it was consummated.”
“Damn straight you can’t! I don’t want to.”
“You don’t really know.”
He gazed at her solemnly while he pushed damp tendrils of blond hair away from her face. “Yes, I do know exactly what I want.” His arms tightened around her and he bent his head forward to kiss her, and the spiral started again.
Startled, she looked up at him. “Again?”
“Yep,” he answered as he kissed her neck. “See what you do to me. So easily.”
Juliana closed her eyes and stroked his back, wanting this strong, tough man. Did he mean what he was saying? Or was it all his seductive charm at work to get what he wanted? It was obvious the man was accustomed to getting his way. And now, was she irrevocably in love with him?
She stroked his smooth back while he showered kisses over her and climbed off the bed to pull her into his arms and lean down to kiss her again.
And the second time was even better, Cal thought later, as she wrapped herself around him and kissed his throat.
“Juliana—”
“You want something.”
He chuckled softly. “Have you gotten to know me that well that fast?”
“That’s the tone any man uses when he wants some- thing,” she said languorously, but suddenly Cal didn’t want to think about her with other men. He wound his fingers in her hair and tilted her head back to look into her eyes. “If that damn Barry comes back to town, you’re married now.”
“I know that.”
He shook his head. “I have never in my life been jeal- ous, but the thought of you with any other man—”
She sat up slightly to look at him. “What brought that on? I wasn’t talking about other men. And of all people, I’m the last woman you have to worry about with other men.”
“I don’t know how you kept them away, but I’m glad you did.”
“You’re the only man in my life. I wish I felt I was safe with you. I still think you’ll break my heart.”
He shifted and yanked her down over him, tangling his legs with hers and rolling over on top of her. “Never will I break your heart or leave you.”
She looked up at him, pushing locks of black hair back off his forehead and wondering how much truth his words held.
“Juliana, which bedroom shall we move into? Yours or mine?”
Startled, she gazed up at him and saw he was earnest. “It’s too fast.”
“No, it’s not. I don’t want to have to find nooks and crannies where we can make love. I want a place of our own to be with you, and one bedroom is the only place that can be. We’re married, remember?”
“I remember,” she answered solemnly, “but I can’t go that fast.”
“Give it a try. I’ll see to it that you’re happy once you do. Your bedroom is the big one.”
“Cal, I don’t—”
His mouth silenced her as he kissed her hard. He shifted beside her, his fingers trailing over her, sliding down to cup her breast, his thumb flicking over her nipple. She moaned, her hips arching until she tore her mouth away.
“You’re a dirty fighter.”
“Absolutely. I want to win,” he whispered and bent his head again to kiss her. As she moaned and arched against him, he raised himself to look down at her. “Shall I move into your bedroom?”
“No,” she answered, shaking her head, afraid he was moving into her life too swiftly and completely and there would be no defense against the hurt she would experience later.
He bent over her again, taking her breast in his mouth, his tongue drawing circles where his fingers had been. The next time he asked her, he was between her thighs. He paused to look at her, his fingers flicking over her so lightly. “Babe, can I move into your room tonight?”
“No! You’ll not sweet-talk—” She gasped as he bent and caught her soft folds gently with his teeth. Then his tongue stroked her.
“Cal!”
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered.
“I want you inside me. Now!”
“And I want in your room, tonight.”
“Yes! Yes, I hate you for it.”
“No, you don’t. I’ll show you how little you hate me. Put your hips up here,” he said, brushing her with the tip of his hard shaft.
With a cry, she arched, doing what he wanted, knowing he was going to get everything he wanted.
Later, as she snuggled in his strong arms, she sighed with contentment and smiled. “You’re a low-down, dirty rotten scoundrel.”
“But I get my way,” he said with satisfaction. “And I promise, you’ll be glad I’m in your bed.”
“Unfortunately, you’re right.”
He tilted her face up to his. “Why unfortunately? I think it’s grand.”
She looked down, running her forefinger in circles on his chest, curling hair around her finger.
“Still think you’ll get hurt?” he asked.
“You were so certain you didn’t want to get married.”
“Well, a gorgeous blonde with three great kids came along and changed my mind.”
She looked into his dark eyes and wondered how much he really had changed. “They’re three rowdy boys and one has serious problems. Only time will tell, Cal.”
“Time and a few other things that ought to be indica- tions,” he said, rubbing against her.
Aware of his virile naked body pressed against hers, Ju- liana ran her hand down the length of him, over the curve of his slender hip, along his muscled thigh as far as she could reach. “I have to admit, it’s nice to think about having all this in my bed.”
“And in your body,” he said, nuzzling her. “It was fireworks, love.”
She tingled and looked up at him as he watched her. De- sire burned in his eyes and she felt his manhood change, pushing against her. “Cal?”
“I’ve waited for you for a lifetime,” he growled in a husky voice. “Come here, Juliana.” His arms t
ightened and he leaned over her to kiss her again.
Cal wondered if he would ever get enough of her. She was more than he had ever dreamed of in his wildest fantasies. He felt as if he wanted to devour her, to learn everything that turned her on and thrilled her. “Let’s go to the moon, baby,” he whispered in her ear, biting lightly and turning her over to move above her.
Later, he carried her upstairs to her big bedroom and they showered together.
Near dawn, as she emerged from the bathroom, she stood across the room and looked at him sprawled in her bed, a sheet thrown casually across his hips.
“I see disapproval,” he said with amusement, the corner of his mouth lifting.
“I think it would be nice if the boys didn’t discover our new status by finding you in my bed. I’d rather tell them.”
“Would you now? That should be interesting. What are you going to say?”
She stared at him in consternation. She had a towel wrapped around her and her hair loosely pinned on top of her head. His gaze drifted down slowly over her and be- came heated as he looked up.
“Don’t do that. I’m going to be so sore, as it is. My body isn’t accustomed to this.”
“I think you like for me to look at you and I’ll guarantee you I can’t stop. We’ll mend and besides, that’s the best kind of sore. And your body is going to get accustomed to nights like this. Come here.” He sat up, spreading his legs apart, the sheet still low across his groin.
She felt a thrill curl in her at his words and the look in his eyes. At the same time, she knew he was using his charm again to get what he wanted. She shook her head. “Now, you listen to me. Don’t start the sweet talk. I think I should tell the boys.”
“So, what will you say?”
“That we’ve decided…” Her voice trailed away and she rubbed her forehead. “Damn you. What will I tell them?”
“Come here, Juliana.”
She looked at him, feeling a clash of wills, but at the same time, her pulse jumped and her heart pounded and she couldn’t get her breath. Her gaze was locked with his as she walked to him and he pulled her between his legs and watched her. She saw the satisfaction and hunger in his gaze, making her tremble as desire burst within her again.