Lover's Gold (42 page)

“I love you,” he whispered. He could feel the curve of her smile.

“I love you, too.”

His hand slid along her body to cup the heavy weight of her breast, still hidden beneath her chemise. The nipple pressed through the lace to harden against his palm. Her whimper of pleasure increased his attention, his fingers pushing the fabric aside to stroke bare flesh, his lips moving to her shoulders. She started to turn, but he gripped her firmly around the waist and held her in position.

“We have all night. I’m through with hurried embraces. Each time we’ve made love, I’ve wanted you so badly, I fear I’ve rushed us a little. You’re staying right where you are until I tell you to move. Tonight,” he teased, drawing a finger along her jaw, “I intend to torture you with pleasure until I drive you made with desire.”

She laughed softly, and he thought again how he loved the sound of her voice. But then, he loved everything about her, from the arch of her neck to the dimple behind her knee to the curve of her slender ankle.

He unlaced her corset, pushed the dress and the fluffy petticoats down over her hips, then bade her step free of the confining garments. She stood and turned to face him, in sheer pantalets, a delicate lace chemise, and milk-white stockings. The sight of her set his blood on fire.

“I think it’s time your husband inspected his property.” Lifting her fingers to his lips, he fixed his gaze on the quickening rise and fall of her breasts and ran a brown hand along her shoulder, then lower, until it dipped beneath the lace and covered the hard bud of her nipple. His swollen manhood threatened to speed the game, but still he refused to hurry. A tiny shiver and the catch of her breath told him his touch was affecting her just as he intended. With slow, deliberate movements, he stroked the flat spot above her navel. Her golden eyes reflected his own heated look, and her pink tongue moistened her full red lips.

“I think you’ve tortured me enough, my husband,” she said breathlessly. “Surely you can’t mean to deny me much longer.”

“The night is young, my wife,” he replied, continuing the game. “Let me enjoy the rest of you.”

Elaina swallowed hard, wanting to touch him as he did her, wanting to feel his lips on hers, craving the heat of his tongue, but reveling in the sport.

He inspected her arrogantly, circling her as if she were one of his finest brood mares, and her mind recalled the story he’d told her that day on the ranch, the story of the one fiery filly who could please him for life.

He stepped in close to nibble her ear, his tongue warm and moist against her skin. He ran a hand from behind her knee, up her thigh to her bottom, where he kneaded the lush roundness through the thin fabric of her pantalets. She moaned and reached out for him.

Ren only shook his head, enjoying these few moments of power. She was his now. His and his alone. He would protect her with his life, love her forever, and give her the pleasure of his passions. He unhooked her stockings one by one and slid them down her shapely calves. The game was beginning to wear thin, but he intended to continue as long as his body could withstand the torture. Though he ached with wanting her, in the end the pleasure would be worth it.

As he unbuttoned the front of her chemise, he noticed her face was flushed, her eyes nearly closed. He removed the garment and lowered his mouth to the taut peak of her nipple. When she shuddered and swayed against him, it almost ended the game.

“Ren, please,” she begged, and the husky desire he heard in her usually gentle voice renewed his determination.

“Soon, pretty lady. Soon the game will be over, and we will both be winners.” He slid his hand inside the waistband of her cotton pantalets to feel the silken triangle above her womanhood. She moaned and arched against him. His practiced hands moved between her thighs, stroking, heating; then his fingers slipped inside to find her wet and ready. As he slid the last of her clothes down her slender legs, he stroked the cleft of her womanhood until she writhed against his hand.

With a last long kiss, he knelt in front of her, his hands gripping her buttocks, holding her immobile.

“Ren?” she whispered, a little unsure.

“Let me love you, Elaina.” Then his tongue was touching her navel, leaving a hot wet trail as it moved down her body, through the tangle of soft black curls below, to settle determinedly on the cleft of her womanhood.

“Oh, God, Ren,” she whispered and laced her fingers in his hair. His mouth followed his tongue, and before Elaina could protest he had her writhing and moaning, begging him for more until she felt the first ripples of a climax that drove her beyond the brink of this world and onto another plane.

Ren came to his feet even before the delicious sensations had ended. She trembled as he scooped her into his arms, moved across the room, and placed her on the canopied bed. He left her only long enough to discard his own clothes, then returned and eased himself down beside her.

He nibbled the curve of her neck, kissed her deeply, using his tongue as a moist probe to renew her desire, which in seconds flamed to a blazing heat greater than before. Wanting him desperately, she reached for him, seeking his swollen member. He claimed her mouth, gently at first, then with driving need. She felt the tension in his body and knew the sport had ended. He was no longer her master, no longer in control. Now it was she who played the game.

She kissed him passionately, determined to provoke in him the same fever he aroused in her. She felt his hands caressing her thighs while she stroked his torso, nibbled his earlobe, nipped his shoulder. Corded muscles rippled beneath her hand as she moved lower until her fingers circled his huge pulsing shaft. She reveled in his deep, urgent groan. Taking his nipple between her teeth, she tugged gently, entwining her legs with his and feeling the prickly hairs of his sinewy thighs.

When she kissed him again, with tender, kiss-swollen lips, his tongue, hot and seeking, tangled with her own. She trembled and moaned and lost control of the game. Words of love tumbled from her lips as she pleaded and begged him to take her. He was her world. Her love. Her life. Flames of passion scorched her soul. She had to have him. She could play the game no more.

Ren positioned himself above her, pressing her into the mattress, controlling her body as he always did, knowing just where her pleasure would be greatest. With trembling fingers, she guided his shaft into her heated flesh, craving the fullness of him, begging him to make her complete. He buried his thick length inside her, and his powerful strokes, at first measured and controlled, soon turned reckless. He slammed against her, each thrust deeper than the last. She met each one with abandon. He was her husband. He was her love.

The waves of pleasure she felt with each surge amazed her, promising new and greater pleasure than ever before. She clawed his back and called his name, and he lifted her, grasping her buttocks to drive even deeper inside her. Fiery heat flamed through her, turning her liquid, melting her to silvery swirls of fulfillment. She cried his name, arched against him, then felt the warm wetness of his seed spilling inside her.

His kisses gentled as his mouth caressed her eyes, her nose, her mouth. It was a promise of things to come, of love and passion, of giving and receiving, of happiness and home. She knew theirs was a rare love, the kind only a fortunate few ever found. But it hadn’t been given to them. They’d had to reach out and take it. They’d each overcome vast obstacles before they’d been granted this love. They would never let it elude them again. Ren rolled to his side and pulled her against him.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I always have. I always will.”

She blinked at the tears of happiness she couldn’t hold back and gently kissed his lips.

“I’m so fortunate. The most fortunate woman in the world.”

Please look for Kat's latest,
AGAINST THE MARK
, (click the title for a Kindle or paperback version) available now on
Amazon
or in your local bookstore, a continuation of her NYT bestselling AGAINST series.

Against the Mark
:  The perfect murder is a work of art.  In one catastrophic instant, Hayley Warren's father was taken from her.  When P.I. Tyler Brodie agrees the help the hot little blonde, he doesn't realize the danger they'll both be in.  But Ty and Haley are determined to get to the bottom of the case…even if it mean's they die tying.

Look for other exciting romantic suspense and historical romance novels from Kat:

Hot Rain
: Allie Parker knows her best friends death was no accident, and in the wrong place at the wrong time, finds her only ally is mysterious Jake Dawson…can she place her trust, and her body, in the hands of a total stranger?  Only if she wants to stay alive!

The Secret
:
  Chance McLain, wildly good looking, superbly confident, is everything Kate Rollins doesn't want in a man when she lands in Lost Peak, Montana.  She has a son to raise, and a murder to solve…and Kate and Chance must believe in each other before they can believe in love.

The Dream
:  Every night Genny Austin is tormented by nightmares of a past she can't recall.  As crazy as it seems, Genny is convinced it's memories of another life lived long ago.  Jack Brennan is having nightmares too, but his are real.  Genny's lured into a world of passion and deadly riddles that only Jack can help her solve.