Through The Leaded Glass (27 page)

And Kate was definitely his woman. For as long
as the heavens permitted her to stay.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

The heavens opened up before they’d made it
back to Shelton. Thunder, lightning, sheets of rain deluged them.
Alex’s cloak had provided Kate with little protection during the
ride, so when they ran into the keep, they were dripping water
everywhere. One more nightmare to add to this hellish
day.

Kidnapped, soaked, freezing, probably on her
way to pneumonia, and now, Gregorio had told her that Alicia was
missing before he and his brothers had headed back to their
camp.

This wasn’t like Alicia. She had to know Kate
was freaking out about this whole time travel thing, and her
disappearance just upped the freak-out meter to new levels. Then
there was the missing window and the very real possibility of
losing Emma, and, oh yeah, they
still
didn’t know who’d
kidnapped William so that threat was still hanging over their
heads. And then there was the possibility she might not even be
able
to return home, and, oh God, it was just too much. She
sagged against the wall.

Alex was at her side in an instant. “Are you
ill, Kate?”

In a manner of speaking… “I just want this all
to be over with.”

His fingers flexed on her arm and his mouth
thinned. “It will be. Soon. But, for now, we need to get you out of
those wet clothes.” He led her to the stairs. “I’ll send
Mary.”

Mary wasn’t who she needed. “I don’t want
Mary, Alex. And I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

He lifted her into his arms before she’d
finished speaking. “Thank God.”

“
Or me.”

He smiled. “Yes, most definitely you. And I
shall show you my appreciation in so many ways.”

She shivered as he took the stairs two at a
time and it had nothing to do with the rain soaking her skin. Each
step jostled her against him, the hard muscles of his chest flexing
against her arms, his biceps tightening against her thigh and
shoulder, and the electricity in the air from the storm couldn’t
compare to what his touch was doing to her.

Thunder rumbled over the castle rooftop, low
and close, as Alex kicked open the door to his room. It was dark
except for flashes of lightning arcing through the slats of an
interior shutter as the windowpanes rattled.

He set her down on new rushes, the sweet scent
of the herbs permeating the room in the damp air, and he lit a
single candle. He tugged her to him, tilting her chin up with a
finger. Stray raindrops slid from his hair to his cheeks. “I was so
worried, Kate.”

Kate reached up to wipe them away. “I know.
I’m sorry. But I couldn’t let that opportunity pass. I had to find
Alicia.”

“
You should have waited for
me.”

“
I didn’t know when you’d be back.
I didn’t know where you’d gone. Where did you go? Did you find the
window?”

“
I believe so, but we will know for
certain on the morrow.”

So tonight could be their last
night.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and
tugged his mouth down to hers. “Then let’s not waste another minute
of the time we have left.”

“
I don’t plan to.” He kissed her
then, his lips firm against hers, his tongue demanding entrance,
and it was so carnal her knees threatened to give out yet
again.

“
We need to get out of these
clothes,” she whispered against his mouth.

“
I couldn’t agree more.” He traced
the edge of her neckline, nipping little kisses along her jaw line
back to that sensitive area below her ear.

Her knees now on the verge of collapse and her
stomach swirling with want and need and so much desire it stole her
breath, Kate broke off the kiss and took a step toward his bed,
wanting to be there when her legs gave out. “You first.”

He took her dare, pulling his tunic off from
behind his head in that timeless way guys did, his smile lascivious
and sexy all at once. She’d forever remember him like this, rain
damp hair dripping onto that massive chest, breeches molded to a
washboard stomach, and a horseman’s powerful thighs. Her palms
itched to feel the light dusting of black hair on his skin and she
shoved back the bed curtain to hop onto the mattress. “All of your
clothes, Alex. You wouldn’t want to get your bed wet, would
you?”

He arched an eyebrow as he removed his boots
and pants in quick succession to join the pile on the floor. “That
depends.”

Then he stood in all his magnificent glory,
hands on his hips, his gorgeous chest vee-ing down past cut abs to
the taut lines of his hips where it was evident that he was more
than happy to see her

She tried to breathe. Really. She did. But her
tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth and her lungs were
refusing to cooperate.

Lightning flashed through the room then,
enough for her to see the amusement in his eyes.

“
Your turn,” he said.

Fine. Two could play that game.

She toed off her soaked slippers and drew her
skirt up her legs. Slowly. Revealing an inch at a time and reveling
in the heated look in his eyes as thunder crashed around them. But
Kate could barely hear it.

She untied her sleeve, letting the fabric slip
down her arm to pool on the floor, then untied the other one.
Alex’s gaze traced their path backward in the flickering
candlelight, up her arms to the skin above her bodice and she felt
his look like a caress. His eyes locked on hers and she knew she
didn’t have much willpower left. She wanted to be with him, naked,
toe-to-toe, breasts to impressive chest, and all parts in
between.

Willing her knees to function just a little
longer, she slid off the bed and took a few steps toward him. His
eyes never left her face.

“
I can’t undo the dress by myself.
Will you play lady’s maid?” She swept her hair aside and turned her
back to him.

“
I’ll be no lady’s maid, Kate, but
I’ll willingly be your lover.” His hands gripped either side of the
dress and ripped it apart to a crash of thunder. “Get these clothes
off.”

He did the same with her under dress and Kate
smiled as she held it against her. She shook her hair down her
back, the damp tendrils cool against her heated skin. “In a bit of
a hurry, are we?”

Alex lifted some curls to his lips. “I love
your hair, Kate.” He threaded his fingers down the length of it,
wrapping it around his wrist, and tugged. Her head fell back at
just the right angle for him to kiss her neck. “Since I met you, I
have dreamed of it draped over me.”

“
Then let’s make that dream come
true, shall we?” Kate let her dress fall and turned in his
arms.

His indrawn breath was reward enough, his “You
are beautiful.”

“
You make me feel beautiful.” She
kissed his chin.

Alex framed her face with his hands, his eyes
searching, holding hers as the thunder crashed again. Double arcs
of lightning lit up the room, but they couldn’t match the intensity
of the fire he lit inside her. The man was potent and her nerves
hummed; she wanted to touch, taste, feel, caress, slide over every
inch of his body.

She took his hands in hers, kissing the backs
as he’d done to her, then urged him onto his back on the bed. She
sat beside him and traced those long lines of his abdomen, brushing
the fine hair below his navel where his stomach
quivered.

“
You’re so beautiful,
Alex.”

“
Men are not beautiful,
Kate.”

“
You are.” She leaned over to kiss
his hip, the scent of him turning her on as she watched him
lengthen, thicken—

Then she found herself on her back, Alex
kneeling over her, his tongue spearing into her mouth. But it
wasn’t enough. She wanted him on her, touching her, easing the ache
he’d created.

She arched into him. “Get down
here.”

Alex nipped her chin and lowered himself.
“Your wish is my command, my lady.”

Those hokey words had never sounded hotter.
Never made her yearn for something more. Maybe “once upon a time”
and “happily ever after” weren’t so unbelievable after
all.

Not that it mattered—she was going to go home
tomorrow, remember?

A pit formed in her stomach that had nothing
to do with want and need and desire.

She pushed it aside. She wouldn’t let thoughts
of the future—
literally
the future—ruin tonight.

And then she couldn’t think as his lips worked
their magic down her throat to her collarbone. His tongue danced on
her skin and Kate speared her fingers through his hair.

Thunder crashed again, or maybe it was the
sound of her blood pulsing through her veins as he made his way
down to her breast, his tongue doing utterly wonderful and nasty
things to her nipple, things that radiated down to increase the
ache between her legs.

She arched against him, pressing her breast
more fully into his mouth, her pelvis against his thigh, needing
that pressure to prevent her from going insane with the pleasure he
gave her. “Alex, please,” she moaned as he kneaded her other
breast.

“
Say my name like that and I’ll
deny you nothing,” he growled, pulling back to look at her, hunger
in his eyes.

She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted
before. How was this possible? Why now? Why him? Kate licked her
lips and Alex groaned as lightning slashed across his face, air
sizzling with electricity.

He cupped her cheek, angling her mouth closer
to his. “If anyone is to be licking those lips, it will be
me.”

His tongue darted out to do just that and Kate
melted into the mattress. She writhed beneath him, her hands
circling his back, sweeping lower to the firm muscles that clenched
as his erection throbbed against her thigh. She slid a hand between
them and encircled him, smiling around his kiss as he thrust into
her hand. She stroked again.

The storm swelled around them, raging against
the walls, pelting the windows with its fury. Wind whipped against
the leaded frames, fine, rain-soaked mist discovering an entrance
and skimming over their heated skin but doing nothing to cool the
fire between them.

Kate ran her fingers over Alex and he groaned,
long and loud enough to rival the thunder. He was hard as steel
beneath the smooth skin. She skimmed the tip and he thrust his hand
between them to capture hers.

“
Kate,” came out in one long
guttural plea.

She slid her fingers over him again and his
eyes shot open.

“
Careful, Kate, or it may be over
before it’s begun.”

She gave him a wicked, wicked grin. “No
problem, Alex. We’d just have to do it all again.” Her fingers
circled the tip once more, finding a small drop of fluid. She
circled it on his skin with flickering fingers.

“
You will be the death of
me.”

And you will be the life of me
. She
almost said the words aloud. Almost, but not quite. Where on earth,
modern or medieval, had those words come from?

Alex moved between her thighs and in one
thrust was deep inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist,
her arms around his neck, and held on as waves of pleasure crashed
through her, each thrust sending the pleasure higher. Her muscles
tightened around him and she could feel every satiny steel inch of
him. In and out, his hips pounded against her, his breath sending
shivers through her body as she arched into him, climbing toward
something just out of reach.

The wind howled as the storm reached almost
hurricane strength. One of the interior shutters lost its battle
with the wind and slammed open, the window following shortly
thereafter, glass shattering to the floor, and the storm whipped
through the room, rifling the covers, whirling the bed curtains
around them.

She didn’t care if the room flooded. She dug
her nails into Alex’s back, holding on, trying not to slip off the
edge of the cliff he drove them torward as thunder roared into the
room, each rolling wave accompanied by Alex’s thrust. Rain crashed
through the broken window, beating the floorboards over and
over.

Alex mouthed her temple, her cheek, dragged
his tongue down her skin to beneath her ear where he softly bit the
column of her throat and she growled at the intense pleasure. My
God, she actually growled.

“
I can’t believe… this is… it’s…”
She gave up being articulate and settled for gasping her pleasure.
Alex didn’t seem to mind; he matched her sounds with his
own.

Thunder rolled over them as Alex reached
beneath her and clasped her backside, pulling her into him.
Lightning arced outside the window and the shutter cracked against
the wall again. Kate wound her legs tighter, keeping the rhythm.
She couldn’t get close enough to him.

His lips landed on her shoulder, his forehead
damp against her cheek. “Kate,” he rasped as his teeth nipped her
flesh. She groaned and he pounded into her. “Kate, dear God,
Kate—”