by Sandra Brown
He stood and swept her into his arms. He had never been in the bedroom, but he went to it unerringly and deposited her on the bed. He spread her hair out behind her head, combed his fingers down her breasts and stomach, then stood.
“If you have any reservations about looking at a naked man, you’d better turn your head,” he warned with a smile as he began tearing off his clothes.
“I don’t have any reservations about looking at you naked. In fact, I’ve fantasized about it.” She flung her arms over her head and stretched in anticipation.
He groaned. Her position only made her back arch and her breasts strain toward him. “Are you doing that on purpose?” he asked as he grappled with his belt buckle.
A laugh rippled through her. “Yes.”
“I thought so,” he grated as he tugged at a suddenly inoperable zipper.
“It’s your fault. You told me what to expect.” Her voice dropped in volume to a sexy whisper. “I can’t wait.”
His oaths were heartfelt as he pulled down his pants and kicked them free. Then, hooking his thumbs in the waistband of his briefs, he peeled them off.
The sight of his aroused manhood brought an involuntary gasp to her lips and that in turn brought an abrupt halt to Hunter’s rushed, frantic motions. He let himself down beside her gradually and took her hand between both of his.
“Don’t be frightened of me, Kari. I couldn’t bear that.”
“I’m not frightened,” she said breathlessly as he leaned over her. She touched his brows to smooth away the wrinkle of worry. “It’s just that you’re so beautiful.” He didn’t hear the words, but read them on her lips.
“Ah, my love.”
Sighing, he pulled her into his arms. He buried his face in the wealth of her hair and breathed deeply of its perfume. He drew her closer, pressing her breasts against his chest, and arching her against his hips. His hands spread wide and smoothed down her back.
“Help me with my slacks.”
She eased away from him and unbuttoned her slacks. With his help she dragged them down her legs. He laid them carefully at the foot of the bed, then turned back to her. This time her panties were pale ivory. He gave her time to protest when he curled his fingers into the elastic band. When she didn’t, he lowered the panties past her hips, her thighs, her knees. He carefully slipped them over her feet and removed them.
He made a low, satisfied sound deep in his chest when his eyes took in her nakedness. His palms slid up her long silky thighs. One hand brushed over the soft tuft of dark-gold hair. Then his lips.
She sighed his name.
He lay down beside her and planted a warm, wet kiss on her responsive mouth as his hands celebrated her shape and the texture of her skin, each hollow and curve of her body.
He kissed her neck and ears. The base of her throat was outlined by his tongue. Fervent kisses were pressed into the plumpness of her breasts. Airy ones were dusted onto her nipples.
He parted her thighs and his caressing fingers found her dewy with desire. “Kari,” he groaned and complimented her on her readiness. He knelt between her legs and draped her thighs over his. His hands slid beneath her and tilted her hips toward him.
“I know it’s been a long time for you. Stop me if I hurt you.”
“You won’t.” She raised her hands to his shoulders and clutched them as he guided himself into the smooth sheath of her body.
He was very thick and very hard. She was tight and small but yielding. He didn’t take her all at once, but by slow precious inches. When he was fully buried inside her, he looked down into her face and smiled. His eyes said all that needed to be said.
His strokes were long and sure, extensive and exquisite. With each one, Kari was made ever more aware of what it was to be a woman being loved by a man. For the first time, she knew her true nature. This was what she had longed for. Now she had the answer to everything that had been unclear.
When the tumult came, he made certain she could feel all of him, then bathed her with his fire, even as she poured her love on him.
Chapter Eleven
SHE WAS GLAD HE WAS STILL SLEEPING. AFTER A NIGHT OF such loving, she had wanted to wake up before he did so she could study him without his knowing it. Her smile as she gazed down at him was complacent. How handsome her lover was!
His tousled hair showed up darkly against the pillow and across his brow. His lashes were straight and black. She loved his eyebrows. They were thick and uneven, the eyebrows of a man with integrity and intelligence. Perhaps his nose was a trifle long, but it was slender and finely shaped.
Silently she scoffed at herself. She was thinking like a fool, but she was foolishly in love. Had anyone ever told her she would be lying naked in bed next to Hunter McKee, D.A., she would have thought that person insane.
Yet here she was, and she couldn’t think of any place she’d rather be.
The lower half of his face was shadowed by morning whiskers. He might look very attractive with a beard, she thought. But then those grooves that were drawn down the sides of his mouth—during a particularly affectionate moment the night before, she had insisted they were dimples—would be covered up, as would that determined chin. And what a shame it would be to hide that sensuous upper lip behind a mustache. No, his face was too well chiseled to be covered with a beard and mustache.
Only the fear of waking him prevented her from touching his mouth. It was a pleasure-giving instrument with an uncanny sensitivity to her needs and desires. Even now her stomach experienced that delightful sinking feeling as she recalled the way his lips and tongue had introduced her body to carnal pleasure.
She was also tempted to touch his chest. When she had scooted from under his protective arm, he had rolled to his back and flung one arm over his head. The other arm looked like it had been caught in the act of reaching for her. His outstretched hand formed a loose fist on the sheet. She knew from experience that his chest hair could tickle her. The flat brown nipples nestled in that thick forest were as sensitive as hers. She had only discovered that last night under his patient tutelage.
His stomach was taut and corrugated with muscle. Over it, his body hair grew inward to form a sleek line that arrowed down past his navel before it furled around his sex. Her eyes scuttled in that direction now. She was almost relieved to see that the sheet reached his navel.
Recalling the pleasure he had given her, she closed her eyes and drew in a deep shuddering breath. But the pleasure hadn’t been all hers. She couldn’t help but feel proud of herself for the many times he had climaxed while holding her tight, whispering his adoration in her ear.
He was a fierce but tender lover, passionate but considerate, selfish but unselfish. Each time had been different, all of them exciting. If she made love to him every day for the rest of her life, it wouldn’t become routine or boring.
Her eyes made one last sweeping inspection moving up his torso to find him watching her. She blushed at being caught. “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough to get this.” He kicked the sheet aside. She looked at him. Her blush deepened. He lifted her hand, kissed the palm, and laid it on his chest. He stroked the back of it. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I’m sorry.”
“After last night, I didn’t think I could ever be embarrassed again.”
His smile was wolfish, but his eyes were gentle. “So, why the maidenly blushes? Because it’s daylight? Or because of my unabashed arousal?”
She ducked her head. “A little of both, I guess. It’s ridiculous, I know, but I’m still shy with you.”
He took a deep breath and laid his hand along her cheek. His thumb massaged her lower lip. “Don’t be, Kari. I want you to know me as intimately as I know you.” Then he quietly added, “You’re allowed to touch, too, you know.” He saw the panic flash in her eyes and laughed softly. “But for right now, I’ll settle for a good-morning kiss.”
He curled his fingers behind her neck and drew her down for a long kiss. Their mout
hs were as intimate as their bodies had been the night before. His tongue probed deeply and her lips moved warmly over his. When at last they pulled apart, he looked into her face and sighed. “Why don’t you look like hell in the morning? Other women do.”
She raised herself to a sitting position and put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or not. Just how many other women have you seen this early in the morning?”
Hunter was thinking how cute and pert her breasts looked and took a while before asking a question of his own. “Jealous?”
“No.” She flung her legs over the side of the bed and shrugged into a robe.
“Where are you going?” he demanded.
“To make myself presentable,” she said over her shoulder as she headed toward the bathroom. “I want to make sure I’m at least competitive with all those women you’ve awakened with.”
Shortly she came out of the bathroom dressed in a long lightweight robe that zipped up the front. Her hair was wet from a shampooing. The scent of wildflowers followed her into the room.
Hunter, who had just come from the bed, caught her against him and kissed her breathless. With his hands kneading her derriere, he asked, “Do I at least get breakfast for my trouble?”
She bit his lip. “You are a chauvinist.”
“Ouch!”
“Serves you right. That beard is scratchy.”
“I’ll forgive you if you’ll lend me a razor.”
“In the shower stall.”
Nursing his lip, he went into the bathroom trailing the sheet he’d wrapped around him toga-style. Kari laughed, feeling happier than she ever remembered.
The bacon had been fried and she was on her way into the bedroom to ask how he liked his eggs, when she met him coming out.
His hair had been towel-dried, but the wet strands lay helter-skelter around his head. He smelled of hot water and soap and clean damp skin. He had pulled on only the jeans he had worn the evening before. His feet were bare. The towel he’d used on his hair was draped around his neck. The dark hair on his chest was still slightly wet and curlier than before.
She was immobilized by a wave of desire and came to a standstill in the middle of the living room. Her mouth fell open slightly and her vision blurred.
His broad grin became an expression of puzzlement. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said on a soft puff of air. “I … you … I like the way you look right now, that’s all.”
“Get over here.”
She flew into his embrace eagerly and tightly wrapped her arms around his neck. Any remnant of shyness fell away as she molded her body to his. Her lips met his hungrily. He tasted delicious and she couldn’t get her fill.
“Kari,” he moaned when she left his mouth to nibble on his neck. He felt the gentle rasping of her teeth on his skin and it set his body to raging. “Don’t stop, baby. I like you this way. God, you’re wonderful … Sweet …”
She ran her hands down his sides and over the rippling hardness of his ribs. Her palms smoothed over the sculpted curves of his chest. Her fingertips flirted with his nipples. When they hardened, she sponged them with her tongue.
His head bumped back against the wall and he grimaced with an ecstasy close to pain. But he remained passive. She had been a responsive lover, but throughout the night he had been the initiator. His masculinity wasn’t at all threatened by this unexpected savage streak in her. He liked it.
Kari’s hands slid down his stomach. Her fingers tweaked the hair whorled around his navel. She investigated the dent with a capricious fingertip. She unsnapped his jeans and lowered the zipper.
“Yes, Kari, yes.”
Her hand slipped inside and encircled the hard, velvety warmth of his sex.
Hunter’s breath hissed through clenched teeth. He cursed. He sighed her name. Her caress was all the sweeter for its innocence. Her fingertips explored him lightly, deftly, curiously, and stirred him to heights of passion he’d never experienced before. He wanted to be his hardest, his strongest, his most powerful, for her.
She dropped to her knees.
“Sweet heaven,” he moaned. He knew he might very well die from the pleasure, but, God, what a blissful death it would be.
When he could bear no more, he knelt with her. In a frenzy, he unzipped her robe and tore it from her body. Together they fell to the floor and with one swift, sure thrust, he possessed her.
She cried out her joy, arching her body against him and receiving each pumping thrust greedily. The crisis was immediate and explosive. Afterward they lay panting against each other.
Still gloved inside her, he rubbed her ear with his nose. “Your timing is something else, madam.”
Her fingers made languid passes through his hair. “What do you mean?”
His lips brushed a soft kiss over hers. “Why didn’t you try that little experiment while we were still comfy in bed? You could have saved yourself from lying on the floor.”
She grinned like a little girl caught doing something naughty. “Well, now I know where that old saying came from.”
“What old saying?”
“The one about being between a rock and a hard place.”
He chuckled between taking bites of her neck. “You’re about to be again.”
“Hmm? About to be what?” She sighed drowsily as he massaged her breast, then lowered his head and polished the tip with his tongue. When he pressed his hips forward, her eyes popped open.
He smiled down into her face. “That’s what I mean.” But he withdrew and stood to help her to her feet. “However, I’m going to be a gentleman and carry you to bed first.”
They were still kissing when they reached the bed and he lowered her to the pillows. “I thought you wanted breakfast,” she murmured, her lips moving on his chest.
“And I’m going to have it,” he said, lowering himself over her. “Right now.”
He was stretched out full-length between her legs. His cheek rested on her stomach. His arms were wound around her waist. Beneath him she lay in splendid exhaustion. She wore nothing but his eyeglasses perched on the tip of her nose. Her fingers idly strummed his shoulders and back.
“I’ve learned all there is to know.”
“About what?” He blew softly on the white peach fuzz that dusted her belly. It could only be seen from this perspective.”
“About foreplay.”
He laughed and raised his head, propping his chin on her stomach. He rubbed it back and forth across her skin. “And what do you think?”
“That I’m too tired to ever move again,” she said sleepily. “I’m beginning to think you meant it when you said that if you ever got me in bed, you would keep me here a month.”
“I might.”
Her stomach vibrated with a soft laugh. “Then you’ll have to allow me food breaks.”
“I gave you lunch.”
She opened one eye and peered down her body at him. “Two stale Nutter-Butters and one cold slice of bacon hardly qualify as lunch.”
He climbed up her body and dropped a kiss on her mouth. “What are you complaining about? I’m the one who should be weak from overexertion. Have you kept count of how many times I—”
“That’s just it. You’re already taking me for granted,” she said with a delectable pout that he felt compelled to kiss away.
“So, what all this boils down to,” he said when his lips were finally satisfied, “is that you think I should take you out for a bodacious dinner.”
“An expensive one. Two entrées, double dessert.”
“All right,” he sighed. “But before I let you up, I want to see if I’ve missed anything.”
He pulled his eyeglasses from her nose and put them on. When he glanced down her body, his jaw fell open and his eyes rounded as though in great surprise. He was staring at her breasts. “You’ve got two of them!?” he exclaimed.
Kari collapsed with laughter.
* * *
/> His tongue painted lazy circles up the insides of her thighs. “Hunter,” she sighed his name, her breath disturbing the soft hair on his belly. “This is decadent and depraved.”
“It certainly is.” His lips were totally uninhibited.
“You admit it?” Her words came out in breathy gusts. Her fingers made deep impressions on the muscles of his back as they clenched reflexively.
“I’ll admit to loving you.”
“Oh, God.” He kissed her with profound intimacy. “I’m going to die from your loving.”
“No, you’re not. You’re about to be reborn.”
His tongue was devilish and darting, sensuous and slow, unbridled and unashamed. Rolling her head from side to side over the furred warmth of his middle, she strangled out soft ecstatic cries as waves of pleasure surged through her.
But even that wasn’t enough of a release. He repositioned them and lay above her. Her arms went around his neck in welcome. When he entered her, her body closed around him like the petals of some exotic flower.
“I’m shameless with you.” He began to move within her. She covered the taut perfection of his buttocks with her hands and pressed him deeper.
“There should never be any shame between two people who love each other.”
“It’s not shameful to while away hours doing nothing but this?”
“What else are rainy afternoons during vacations good for?” He barely got the words out before their passions simultaneously erupted.
Later they watched the incessant downpour from the warmth of the bed. Heavy drops clung to the eaves like jewels from a chandelier. Silver rivulets coursed down the windows. She lay curled against him, her back to his front. Their legs were tangled beneath the covers. His arms were around her and his chin was hooked over her shoulder.
“Kari?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m truly sorry about the baby you lost.”
