skin."
She'd never heard anything quite as erotic as the deep whiskey tones of his voice.
Tongue-tied, she remained silent as his lips touched beneath her ear. Her heart raced,
her breath coming faster, and the ache of bitter memories disappeared under the
pleasure that darted over her skin.
"Cold?" he asked huskily as his lips traveled to the side of her neck, nestling,
trailing tenderly to her nape. He changed places, moving his attention to her left ear.
"No," she whispered, her voice a slender puff of sound as she took in a deep breath
and shivered in his arms.
He leaned back slowly and she instantly missed the carnal sensation of his lips
against her. He gripped the pommel and slid from the saddle. As she looked down at
him she was caught in the sharp, vivid hue of his eyes. His gaze stayed vigilant and
devouring, thrilling her deeply. As he lifted his hands, she took the cue and swung her
leg over the saddle. He clasped her waist and slowly lowered her, letting her body slide
against his. She grasped his shoulders, anchoring to his solid, immobile strength. She
brushed against every firm, muscled inch. Slowly, slowly he let her slide down until his
hard-on nestled in the V of her legs and came up against her clit. Her clit throbbed with
an almost painful pleasure and she almost drew her legs up around his waist, eager for
motion, for heat, for the pressure to never end. For a second he held her there, aware in
a way she couldn't avoid, of his steel hard presence and seized by a deep need that
started low in her belly and spread outward. Finally her feet touched the ground.
Excitement winged through her senses, quickening her breath. Gripping her waist, he
kept her flush against him and her hands rested on his chest.
"Do you know how much danger you're in?" he asked softly, holding her gaze.
"You already told me that. From this Shadow Realm."
"No." He moved, barely a twitch of his head. "From me."
"You wouldn't hurt me," she said with conviction, knowing it in her bones.
"I could. In more ways than you know."
"Because you're a trained killer?"
He nodded, and a sardonic smile barely touched his lips before it faded. "I can kill.
But I never have. I've always managed to control a situation before it got that far."
Relief loosened the last of the tension from her body, and she allowed herself to
relax against him. "That's something to be proud of. You completed your missions and
there was no need for…you don't have a death on your conscience."
Unlike me.
"And yet you're afraid of me." His gaze flickered relentlessly over her features, as if
to memorize minute detail.
"No." Anxiety sliced her as she wondered if he would pull away. "Not anymore. I
think I was…more afraid of myself than anything."
He drew his fingers across her cheek in sweet homage. "I see it in your eyes. Part of
you is afraid to reveal yourself to me."
"Maybe so." She spoke so softly she wasn't sure she'd said the words or merely
dreamed them. "Show me that I'm safe, Shane."
A cocky smile curved his lips as he traced her lower lip with his thumb. "You're not
safe."
As Emma's senses took in the excitement of his skin against her lip, she saw things
about him now with a clarity that fascinated her. The thickness of his eyelashes softened
his solid gaze, and as his lips parted slightly, the strength of his jaw relaxed.
"You're trembling," he said, his voice dropping low.
Bewilderment nagged her as huge sparks of desire exploded in her, each ignition
building until it throbbed in her belly. Her nipples felt tight and sensitive, her body
hyperaware of his with every moment that passed. His scent drew her closer, brought
her near to the edge. His strength, the forbidden knowledge that he'd been in a
dangerous job and survived it powering up primitive female responses. Every second
more that he held her, she lost her will to move away.
"Am I hurting you?" he asked.
She licked her lips and knew that he saw the gesture. "No."
Shane dipped his head slightly, and as his arms slid around her, he reached up to
cradle her neck. As she tipped her head back further to look at him, her hat fell off.
"Violence is in me, Emma. And I don't know when it might appear or if, when it
does…if I can stop it." His gaze searched her face, as if trying to read her mind. "I don't
want to hurt you."
Thoughts of answering him receded when he lowered his lips until they almost
touched hers. Time to retreat, Emma, if you're going to. But she couldn't, she wouldn't
deny herself a few moments of pleasure. She knew, without a doubt, that his kiss meant
paradise. Giving him permission to touch her, she allowed her eyelids to close.
His lips brushed hers in a feather caress. Gently he stroked, brushing back and forth
with soft attention. As a soft breeze danced around them, Emma's world narrowed to
the scintillating sensation of his mouth tasting hers tenderly. Every breath he took,
every gentle sweep of his lips on hers built a whirlwind of desire inside her.
She wanted more.
So few times in her life had she experienced a peak moment where time rolled
away and sharpened until nothing mattered but now and all other thoughts
disappeared. Now the day vanished, the hot plateau, the scrub brush, the trees, the cool
air, and left her cocooned within a fantasy world where sensation overwhelmed.
Shane released his grip on her nape, as if assured she wouldn't flee. His arms
tightened around her, molding as his hands explored her back. His thighs went taut, his
chest crushing her breasts with a pleasant pain. Slowly his soft, exploring kiss
deepened, his tongue brushing over her lips with a teasing sensuality that thrummed
and sent quivers of excitement racing straight into her stomach and between her thighs.
In all her life, Emma had never known a desire as strong as the one she felt for
Shane. Regardless of previous questions that had bombarded her, nothing mattered but
this sweet instant in his arms.
Slowly he caressed her back then smoothed his hands down until he could cup her
ass cheeks in both hands. As he squeezed her ass gently, she gasped and his tongue
took her mouth, caressing and dipping, echoing the carnal movement as he rotated his
hips against her.
Answering a primal force, she plunged her fingers into his thick hair and his hat fell
off onto the ground. Everything about him pleased Emma, crazed her and drove her to
a mindless place she fell into without hesitation. As she met his tongue with her own,
caressing hungrily, a sense of inevitability moved within her.
A low whimper escaped her throat and he reached up to cup her breast. She gasped
into his mouth as she felt the gentle brush of his thumb over her nipple. Her nipples
ached to be tasted. Suddenly she didn't care where they were, only that he kiss her,
touch her, drive her to a heaven she'd dreamed about but never known.
Fire unleashed in her body. Shane shifted, a low, soft moan leaving his throat. She
heard his breath quicken, his muscles go tighter. A combined desire ripped loose from
the moorings and drove them toward a frantic conclusion she couldn't stop. His kiss
deepened, th
e cadence more frantic. His hands tugged on her shirt as if he wanted
inside but didn't dare undo the garment that shielded her from his lust. Lost in his kiss,
she whimpered. She heard a series of pops and the snick of something tearing gently.
Cool air on her shoulders awakened her to what he was doing. He shoved the plain
pink cotton, long-sleeved shirt off her shoulders as buttons came undone. One more
snick, and her bra came undone in front. His mouth devoured hers, his fingers found
and cupped the round globes of her breasts. Shane moaned against her lips as he
captured her breasts in both hands and worshipped them like jewels within a special
treasure. With gentle kneading, he plumped, caressed and shaped her, his large hands
caressing with a consistent motion she couldn't ignore and that set her senses
humming. Still he kissed her, his tongue foraging deeply into her mouth. All sense fled
as he clasped her nipples between fingers and thumbs. He crimped with tender, yet
steady tugs.
Oh, yes. God, that feels wonderful. Frantic to find relief from the pounding within her
core, she stood on tiptoe to align his hard cock with her clit. But he was too tall to do
this for long, and she returned, flat-footed, to the ground. He growled low in his throat
and stopped kissing her.
As he looked down on her, his eyes glimmered with heat, passion and demands.
For a moment, she thought he would speak. His gaze dropped to the breasts he held,
and his pupils dilated in appreciation. "Shit, these are beautiful."
Reverently he lowered his head and tasted one nipple with a single hot lash of his
tongue. Pleasure soothed through her as his tongue worked the naked tip, his palm
holding her breast upward for the feast. Her fingers went tight on his shoulders as she
shuddered under the awakening demands of her body, a body too long denied sexual
release. As Shane's tongue bathed the puckered areola, she savored how he moaned,
licked, slurped at the dusky pink skin. She'd never seen anything more erotic in her life
and wanted with a gnawing demand that propelled her into motion. Whatever
happened, happened.
He tortured the other nipple with firm, steady touches, his fingers gentle but
unrelenting. She tilted her head back and sighed, enjoying with hedonistic delight. "Oh,
Shane."
He switched to her other nipple, massaging with long strokes of his tongue then
settling in to suck with strong pulls. He worked her other nipple with his fingers, and
she writhed under the exquisite sensations. Heat spiraled low in her stomach and she
ached, driven by rising passion to find an outlet for her body's relentless ascent into
sexual overload. She panted, she wriggled in his grip, her hips arching. His cock
bumped her belly, hard and obviously hungry. The thought sent a twist of desire
straight to her pussy, and she felt her panties dampen with a rush of liquid.
"That's it," he said, his voice a whisper so low it blended with the surrounding
breeze.
With slow, languorous movements, he released her nipples. She almost moaned
with disappointment, and her eyes snapped open. Shane's expression, feral and still
filled with desire unchecked, coasted over her features. His hands slipped upward
under her torn open shirt and caressed her back.
Shane inched his way down her body, pausing to pinch at her nipples with one
sharp tug. Her nipples and pussy seemed intimately connected, the sizzle of his touch
rolling through her clit and into the folds between her legs. She hissed in a breath as he
peppered her stomach with quick, desperate kisses. He unzipped and unbuttoned her
pants, then rose to his feet again to capture her lips in another demanding kiss. She met
him kiss for kiss, licking her tongue into his mouth before he took over and assertively
thrust and plundered. He slipped one hand into the back of her jeans, his hand
kneading her bare ass with rhythm. His fingers worked their way under the elastic
band of her panties then skirted the crevice between her ass cheeks to work into the
area between her legs. She gasped into his mouth as the first hot stroke of his long
fingers pushed into her hot, dripping folds. One long finger barely thrust inside, but it
felt exquisite. Her body reacted, quivering in fine threads of pleasure as he plied her
folds with steady attention before pulling back.
He broke the kiss at the same time, but if she worried he might stop, he proved her
wrong in the next second. Shane wasted no time kneeling in front of her again. His
smoldering eyes and his firm grip on her hips said he didn't plan to stop yet.
She put her hands on his head but couldn't bury her fingers in his luxuriously thick
hair because he'd restrained it with a tieback. His tongue flicked around her
bellybutton, his hot breath stirring goose bumps across her skin. She groaned softly,
falling into a world where nothing mattered but his fabulous touch. When he drew her
jeans downward with her panties, her heart thumped with forbidden excitement.
Oh, what am I doing?
Surrendering. Giving. Discovering what is between us.
He shoved her garments to her knees and the warm wind brushed like loving
fingers over her lower butt, her thighs and emphasized her vulnerability.
He grasped her butt cheeks and then pulled her forward without hesitation. She
gasped as he buried his mouth in the heated softness.
the rough soft combination as his tongue massaged her labia, laving over sensitive skin
with steady, long strokes. Heat rose inside her pussy, and she felt her escalating arousal
flow liquid and creamy. She felt plump, soaked, unbearably excited.
He drew in a deep breath. "God, you taste good."
She closed her eyes, her head thrown back as waves of ecstatic enjoyment drew her
senses into a spiral rising straight upward.
Another hot lick, and his tongue speared straight between her swollen folds. She
shuddered. "Oh, Shane."
He moaned softly and fucked her with his tongue. He reached up and stroked his
thumb over her clit. Another gasp left her throat. Then his tongue left her channel and
stroked fast and rhythmically over her clit. She clasped his head between her palms, her
hips twitching, and gasps of pleasure rising higher as his assertive touch pushed her to
the edge. With steady persistence, he worked her sensitive clit and wet folds with
increasing movements she couldn't resist. She fell into the feelings, refusing anything
from the outside to end this rocking, fantastic ride. A second later, he covered her clit
with his mouth and sucked. She came apart. She sobbed out a breath as orgasm
slammed into her. Quavering, shaking, gasping, she took the full force of the blast. He
held onto her hips as she twitched and writhed and her cries of completion echoed in
the air.
Suddenly he drew away and the world came crashing back.
* * *
Chapter Eleven
Shane stood as he drew her panties and her jeans up over her hips. His smile was
tender and rueful. With a slow, methodical pace, he redid her jeans, her bra.
Some of her shirt buttons had been lost in the haste. "Sorry about your shirt."
Still bre
athless with wonder, she said, "I have others. Why are we stopping?"
"I can't," Shane said huskily as he held Emma at arms' length. His eyes blazed with
undiminished need. "If I don't stop now, I'll make love to you right here. Right now. I
want to take you back to the ranch house and show you how much I want you. On the
bed. In the shower. Wherever you want it." He grinned. "Besides, all we have up here
are pinecones, pine needles and summer heat to cook our ass. Wouldn't you like to be a
little more comfortable?"
She had to agree with that. "Yes."
"And we need protection," he said. "I'm not getting you pregnant."
She nodded. "I'm glad you're thinking of that, but I'm on the Pill and I'm healthy."
His gaze intensified. The slight flush in his cheeks, the unsteadiness in his voice, the
quickness of his breathing…all of it betrayed him. The man was turned on by her
statement, by the knowledge he could come into her bareback. If that wasn't enough,
the huge bulge in his pants would give him away. He wanted her. Yet he was telling
her that he couldn't go further, couldn't give her what she wanted more than anything
right this moment. It was maddening and exciting. Trembling with aftershocks, she
watched as he bent over and picked up both his hat and hers. After Shane handed her
the baseball cap, she plopped it on her head. He placed the cowboy hat over his
gleaming hair.
As the realization of what they'd done vibrated through her in powerful waves of
reality, she wondered if she'd soon regret their impulsive action. They'd proved their
physical attraction, but what did she want? A short affair that would burst like a
supernova, bringing her a deeper pleasure than she'd ever experienced? No. Because it
would have to end. She took a deep breath, trying to steady the drumming of her heart,
but she couldn't speak. An ache formed in her heart when he remained silent. He
walked toward the edge of the ridge and the closer he got to the deadly drop-off, a
notch of dread rose, unreasonable and unbidden, into her.
"Shane, don't go so close to the edge," she said suddenly. "Please."
Keeping his back to her he asked, "Are you afraid I'll step off?"