His kisses were soft one minute, rough the next. His hands, too, moved over her with exquisite tenderness, before gripping her painfully as if pulling himself back from the brink of something dark and dangerous.
He held her a little away, his eyes hot and fierce. “You need to stop and think what it is we’re about to do here.”
With a sigh she wound her arms around his neck. “I don’t want to think, Gray. I want to feel.”
“So do I. You don’t know how much.” Calling on all his willpower he removed her arms from around his neck and stepped back, breaking contact. “But one of us has to be sensible. Papa taught me that love, real love, means caring more about the other than about your own needs.”
“Love?” Her eyes, her voice, took on a new softness. “Do you love me, Gray?”
He wanted so badly to gather her into his arms and tell her just how much he loved her. Instead, he kept his hands at his sides, knowing if he dared to touch her again, he’d never be able to stop. “How could I not? You’re the finest woman I’ve ever known.”
She caught his arm. “Then love me, Gray. Hold me. Kiss me. Show me how much you love me. Here and now.”
He closed his fingers around her wrist. Even that small touch had sparks leaping between them. “Think about this. Just being here with me will ruin your good name in our town.”
“I can’t deny that I love being a teacher. I don’t want anything to spoil that. But I love you more, Gray.”
“It isn’t love.” He was already shaking his head in denial. “You’re just grateful because I saved you.”
Stung, she stiffened her spine. “You don’t think I know the difference between gratitude and love?”
“I think...” He needed to end this, and escape to the barn, before they did something she would deeply regret in the morning. “I think you’re confused.”
He yanked his coat from a peg by the door, then bent to retrieve his boots. When he straightened, she was smiling. A little cat smile that seemed full of secrets.
“Maybe I was confused, Gray, but I’m not now.”
He shrugged into his coat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re a good man. And I love that you’re looking out for me. But you said that we might be here for days.” While she spoke the blanket began to slip a notch, baring one shoulder. A look came into his eyes that was more feral than human. Seeing it, she felt a quick rush of fear, before forcing herself to say what was in her heart. “I don’t believe either of us is strong enough to resist for that long.”
With a muttered oath he reached a hand to the edge of the blanket, hoping to cover the expanse of flesh. Too late he realized his mistake. The moment his fingers came in contact with her skin, he could feel the blood roaring in his temples.
Instead of drawing away she stepped closer, until their bodies were brushing. With a finger she traced the outline of his lips. “Do you realize that in all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never once heard you speak my name?”
He couldn’t seem to drag enough air into his lungs. There was a pressure on his chest threatening to crush him.
In defense he framed her face with his big hands and stared down into her eyes with a look that would frighten most men. “Fiona. There. I’ve said it. Are you happy?”
She merely smiled. “Again.”
“Fiona.” Without realizing it, his tone softened, as did his touch. “Fiona. Fiona.” He whispered her name like a caress. His fingers curved around to tangle in the softness of her hair, and he buried his lips at her temple. “How I’ve wanted to say it out loud. It’s like music. Fiona. I love the sound of your name.”
She sighed, feeling a welling of love that threatened to swamp her. “And I love hearing you say it.”
He brushed his mouth over hers, nibbling the corner of her lips until she opened for him. Inside her mouth he whispered, “You realize we’ve already gone too far.”
“I do. Yes. I’m frightened, Gray, but I won’t go back.”
“I’m glad of that, because I can’t. I’d rather die.” He pressed his forehead to hers on a sigh. “God help me, Fiona. I’m scared to death. But I can no more resist loving you than I can refuse to breathe.”
TWENTY-THREE
“My sweet, sweet Fiona.” Gray ran a hand lightly down her back, gathering his forces for the storm he could feel building inside him. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted you?”
“How long?” She lay a hand on his cheek.
“Since first I saw you. Do you remember?”
“I do, yes.” The memory had her smiling.
“I felt as if all the breath had been knocked out of me. I couldn’t breathe. I stood there staring at you, and couldn’t think of a single thing to say. I thought I was in the presence of an angel.”
“And I thought you were the strongest man I’d ever seen. You carried my trunk as if it weighed nothing at all.”
“I wasn’t even aware of it. Only you.” He drew her close and ran his hands down the length of her. “You’re so slim. So small.” He framed her face and stared down into her eyes with a look that had her heart tripping over itself. “I’m so afraid I’ll hurt you.”
“Shh.” She pressed a finger to his lips and absorbed a rush of heat when he closed his hand over hers, drawing her finger into his mouth. She had never before experienced anything so intimate. “You could never hurt me, Gray.”
“I’ll try not to.” He ran nibbling kisses over her upturned face, brushing his mouth over her forehead, the corner of her eye, the tip of her nose. “My beautiful, wonderful Fiona. Now that I’m free to say your name, I can’t seem to stop.”
They were both laughing when he teased her lips until they opened for him. On a sigh he took the kiss deeper.
She thought she couldn’t bear it when his mouth left hers. But when his tongue slowly traced the curve of her ear, she trembled from the pure pleasure of it. He nipped at the lobe, before darting his tongue inside, causing her to gasp and clutch at his waist.
“You taste...” He ran hot, wet kisses along the smooth column of her throat. “So very sweet.”
She was chuckling as she arched her neck to give him easier access, but moments later, when he dipped his mouth lower, her laughter turned to a moan of pleasure mixed with surprise as little fingers of fire and ice trickled down her spine. And when his mouth closed over her breast, the sensations that ripped through her had her gripping his waist, afraid that at any moment her trembling legs might fail her.
The blanket slipped away to pool at their feet. He stepped back, his gaze burning over her.
She had always thought she would be embarrassed to have a man see her like this, but there was no shame in her. Instead, the look in his eyes made her feel beautiful. Desirable. It was a heady feeling, and one that had her smiling as he drew her close and gathered her into his arms.
“You’re even more beautiful than I dreamed.” He brushed her lips with his before trailing kisses across her jaw to the curve of her neck. “And I’ve had more than my share of dreams since you came into my world.”
“Would you care to share them?” .
He chuckled against her throat, sending a flare of heat straight to her heart. “I may. Some day. Right now, this is better than any dream.” He savaged her mouth with kisses until she sighed and moved in his arms, growing weak with pleasure. She wondered that she could still stand.
As if reading her mind, he took her hand and lowered her to the blanket at their feet.
She laughed. “How did you know my legs were about to fail me?”
“Because my own are none too steady.” He leaned up on one elbow and traced a finger down the length of her, from shoulder to hip, following that with light feathery kisses along her throat to her collar bone. “Your skin is so pale, it looks like spun glass.”
“And yours.” She reached her hands under the shirt he’d never managed to button, sliding it from his shoulders before timidly touching a palm to the dark hair th
at curled on his chest. “You’ve such a beautiful body, Gray.”
That had him laughing. “You have a strange sense of beautiful.”
“But you are.” Growing bolder she trailed a hand down the flat planes of his stomach and saw his eyes narrow, heard his quick intake of breath before he covered her mouth with his.
The press of his body on hers brought new pleasure. They seemed to fit together perfectly, like the pieces of a puzzle, her soft curves molding to his sculpted muscles.
She sat up, trailing a hand across his shoulder and down his arm, feeling the rope of sinew and muscle just beneath the firm flesh. “I’ve never known anyone as strong as you.”
“Remind me to thank my father for giving me all those farm chores at an early age.” He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, while his mouth moved over hers.
His kisses were no longer gentle, but possessive, and the arm that encircled her could have easily crushed her. As if remembering his strength, he softened his kiss and his touch.
Outside the wind battered and howled, causing the walls to shudder from the assault. Inside, the farmhouse was quiet, except for the hiss and snap of the fire in the kitchen stove.
Gray studied the woman who lay in his arms. Her hair, black as midnight, spilled in wild tangles around the face of an angel. But it was her eyes that held him. Blue as a summer sky, fixed on him with a look of such trust, they pulled him in to her very soul.
The storm raging outside was nothing to the storm building inside him. The need to take her was becoming an overpowering force. One he fought to bank. She was an innocent, and he was determined to make this as memorable as possible. It was, after all, the only thing he could give her.
And so he brushed soft, whispered kisses over her face, her lips, her throat, while his hands, those big, rough hands, moved over her with a sort of reverence, igniting fires wherever they touched.
He touched her everywhere, with teeth and tongue and fingertips. At times so gently it was like a whispered caress, at other times with a frantic rush that had her heart racing, her breathing harsh and ragged, and her body aching for more.
She could feel the coiled tension within him, and the valiant effort he made to control it. Knowing that she was the reason for it aroused and excited her in a way that nothing else could. She responded with a freedom she never would have dreamed possible. What was it about this man that she knew instinctively that she could trust him with her heart, her mind, her body?
Their kisses grew more heated as his hands explored more intimately. Gray thought of all the fantasies he’d enjoyed since first seeing her. No fantasy could compare with this flesh and blood woman in his arms. When he brought his mouth to her breast, she gave a gasp of surprise at the shock waves that rippled through her.
She clutched at him, and he saw the look of alarm in her eyes. At once his touch gentled, allowing her to relax in his arms. His kisses, too, gentled, as he traveled down her neck, across her shoulder, before burying his lips in the sensitive hollow of her throat.
Steeped in pleasure, she began to drift on a web of the most amazing sensations.
With quiet patience he led her to a new level of trust. He could see it in her eyes. Sense it in her whispered sighs and quiet, steady heartbeat. Feel it in the way she wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him ever deeper into her silken web.
He shed the last of his clothes and tossed them aside before gathering her close in an embrace that had her pressed to the length of him. He could feel the change in her—could see it in her eyes. Passion, that had been slumbering, was now ignited into a flame of need that had her returning his kisses with the kind of wild abandon he’d only dreamed of.
His fingers tangled in her hair, and he drew her head back while his lips covered hers in a savage, possessive kiss.
For the space of a moment she hesitated, as though startled by this change in him. Then, as his passion fueled hers, she leaned into him, inviting more.
Hadn’t she always sensed this darker side of him? Wasn’t it this mysterious, brooding man who had first captured her heart? Now she found herself drawn into his darkness. The controlled passion in his kisses made her shudder. She felt the same trembling response in him each time she returned his kisses. With a single touch he could take her higher than she’d ever believed possible.
He touched her everywhere. Where his fingers trailed, his mouth followed, until she felt as though her body had become a bright, hot torch, burning only for him.
“Wait, Gray. I need a moment.”
“And I need you. This.” Beyond hearing, driven by a blinding, desperate desire, he took her on a dizzying, heart-stopping ride, taking her ever higher and higher. With teeth and lips and tongue he drove her. With his fingertips he pleasured her. He found her, hot and wet, and took her up and over the first peak.
Stunned, she clutched at him, unable to do more than cry his name as her body shuddered. Instead of offering her the relief she sought, he took her again, leaving her no time to recover her senses.
Her body had become a mass of nerve endings. Her mind so blinded by need, she could no longer think. Only feel.
She touched him as he was touching her and was amazed at his quivering response. Reveling in her power, she grew bolder, bringing her mouth across his shoulder, down his chest, and lower, to explore and pleasure him as he had pleasured her.
Pleasure became need. Need was close to madness. He could feel it rising up, taking over his will. Still he held back, wanting to take her to the very edge with him.
Like a man too long starved, he feasted on her as though he would never have enough. In turn he fed her with his kisses. Like one who had glimpsed paradise, he was determined to take them both there. Each time his passion threatened to slip out of control, he eased back until it was contained. All the while he drove her higher, until she writhed and moaned beneath him.
The heat from the stove mingled with the heat of their bodies, until they were slick with sheen. Their throats were clogged, their breathing ragged. And still they were lost in the passion they’d unleashed.
Fiona’s world had narrowed to this room. This man. The scrape of his big, rough hands over her skin was more erotic than anything she could have imagined. The taste of him, dark and mysterious, filled her lungs. The feel of those muscled arms gave her pleasure beyond belief.
She shuddered and strained as he moved over her, his flesh as hot and wet as hers. She had long thought of lovemaking as a single act. Now she knew that it was so much more—hunger and need and trust.
Gray loved watching her. The way her eyes widened with each new surprise. The way her body arched for him, before going limp with each new spear of white, hot pleasure. The way she focused on him, as though he’d become the center of her universe.
He had thought he was teaching her the ways of love, but at the first touch of that exquisite body, he’d found himself completely lost. His sweet, innocent Fiona had become, with but a single touch, a temptress, taking him on a path he’d never known before. And he delighted in it. And in her.
He knew it was impossible to hold back the needs that were clawing at him, fighting to be free. Though he struggled to resist, the need was too great. The thought of taking her, hard and fast, had him trembling.
He felt her gasp as he brought his mouth down her body. Felt her shudder as she rode another wave of pleasure.
Her eyes opened, and he felt himself drowning in those soft blue depths. He allowed himself to sink deep as he entered her.
She didn’t think it possible to absorb any more pleasure, but now she wrapped herself around him, drawing him in. And then she was moving with him. Climbing with him. She felt this incredible strength, as though she could fly to the heavens and beyond.
His eyes were steady on hers as he cried out her name. It was the last coherent thought before they slipped beyond anything of this world.
Together they leaped into space.
And soared.
&
nbsp; * * *
They lay still joined, their breathing ragged, bodies slick with sheen, and waited for their world to settle. When he found his breath Gray touched a hand to her cheek. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.” It was all she could manage.
He withdrew his hand and stared at the drops of moisture on his fingertips. Tears? His heart stopped as he propped himself on one elbow and stared down at her. “I’ve made you cry.”
“No, Gray. It isn’t you. It’s us. This was so...” She struggled to find a word. “Incredible.”
He felt his heart begin to beat again. “I didn’t hurt you?”
“Hurt me? Oh, Gray. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced.” She felt suddenly shy. “Is it always like that?”
“It can be. When two people take care with each other.” He gave her a long, measuring look. “You’re so beautiful, Fiona. I still can’t believe you’re here with me.”
“Believe it.” Now it was her turn to touch a hand to his face. Delighted with such freedom, she sat up and gently pressed him back against the blanket.
“What are you doing?”
“What I’ve long wished I could do.” She traced a finger over the curve of his eyebrows. “Such amazing eyes you have, Gray. I swear you can see clear through to my soul.”
“A myth. But I’d be happy to let you go on believing that.” Oddly content, he folded his arms behind his head.
“Such thick, dark brows. I’ve watched them knit together in anger, or lift in surprise.” She moved her finger over his nose. “And this perfect, noble nose. It suits this noble face.”
“Noble?” He grinned. “I’ve never thought of my face as anything but plain.”
“That’s because you have no vanity. Hush now, and indulge me.” She followed the slope of his cheek to his lips. “Oh, this mouth. I’d never dreamed it could bring such pleasure.”
He couldn’t help but be drawn into her playful mood. “Just one of my many talents, Miss Downey.”