“If I touch you now,” he rasped, holding still as a statue, “I won’t be able to stop.”
His words lit a fire inside Ruby that burned low in her abdomen. She shimmied out of her shorts. “Then don’t stop.”
Lincoln’s soft intake of breath wasn’t lost on her.
He gripped her by the hips, spun her around, and pulled her back against his chest.
Ruby lifted her gaze to the mirror in front of her, lost in a haze of lust and wonder as Lincoln pushed back the hood of his cloak.
Those electric blue eyes burned with a passion as hot as her own. “Run, Ruby. I’m barely clinging to my control.”
Wetness flooded her thighs at his words. “I don’t want your control, Lincoln. I want you. All of you. Don’t hold back with me.”
His huge hands came around her to cup her tender breasts. He gently pinched her nipples between his forefingers and thumbs.
Ruby’s back arched in hunger. She wanted him to squeeze her harder, to roll her nipples between his fingers, to take her to a place she’d only dreamed of.
“Open for me.”
Lifting her legs, Ruby immediately draped them over his knees as she’d done before, opening herself to his heated gaze.
He leaned down until his lips brushed against her ear. “There will be pain when I take you. I’m much larger than your small opening.”
Desire mixed with anxiety flooded Ruby’s senses. She wanted him inside her…filling her. “I want you, Lincoln. All of you.”
His fingers tightened on her nipples, sending powerful currents of need straight to the juncture of her thighs.
She could feel herself swelling, pulsing, preparing for him.
Lincoln flattened his palms and coasted them down her body, stopping on the insides of her thighs. He spread her wider.
Ruby was on fire. She never imagined in her wildest fantasies that she would want someone so much.
He brushed a thumb across her swollen center.
Ruby’s hips bucked in reaction. “Lincoln,” she gasped, holding his gaze in the mirror.
“What, Ruby? Tell me what you want.” He flicked his thumb over her again.
Ruby lifted up higher, seeking, searching for anything to relieve the bone-deep desire screaming through her body. “You. I want you. Make love to me, Lincoln.”
A half-strangled moan slipped from his lips. He spread his knees wider, letting the towel fall away, then lifted Ruby up and guided his erection along her center.
Ruby gasped in shock at the sheer size of him. “Oh God, Lincoln.”
Lincoln’s erratic breathing heated the side of her neck. “Please don’t tell me to stop.”
Stop? Ruby thought in a lust-filled daze. She wouldn’t stop him now if the house was on fire.
She reached down with both hands and encircled his great length, wringing another strangled sound from his throat.
Looking into his handsome face, his gorgeous blue eyes, Ruby knew one thing for certain. It was Lincoln she wanted to give herself to. All of him. Not just the beautiful man staring back at her from the mirror, but also the Beast behind her who remained in the shadows.
Ruby pulled her legs from Lincoln’s knees and stood. It almost broke her heart to see his devastated reflection, to hear his choked moan of disappointment.
She slowly turned between his open thighs and lifted her hands to touch his face.
He jerked back in horror. “What are you doing?”
Ruby ignored his desperate attempt to prevent her from touching him and climbed onto his lap. “I want you, Lincoln. Not just the man in the mirror, but you.”
Brushing the half-askew cloak from his shoulders, Ruby straddled his lap and laid her palms against his cheek. “Kiss me.”
“Ruby…” he choked out, tears gathering in his soulful blue eyes.
Ruby couldn’t hold back her own tears. She allowed them to fall, to bare herself to him, not just in body, but in soul as well. “Please, kiss me.”
Lincoln’s entire body trembled as he hesitantly leaned down until his mouth hovered an inch above hers.
She could feel his hot breath on her face, smell his amazing scent that sent more desire pooling between her legs. “Please…”
With that one tear sparkling on his lashes, Lincoln closed the gap between them and softly brushed her lips with his.
Ruby was lost.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lincoln’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces the moment Ruby touched his face. But nothing prepared him for the tears of surrender in her eyes or the feel of her lips moving beneath his.
He loved her, loved her so much he realized he’d die without her.
She lifted up on her knees and deepened the kiss, wringing another moan from his pain-filled chest. The pain was real. A reminder that he couldn’t keep her, that this one night with her would have to last him a lifetime. And he would make it good for her if it killed him.
Breaking off the kiss, Lincoln gripped her hips and twisted around, laying her in the center of his big bed.
She stared up at him with trusting eyes. She trusted him not to hurt her, trusted him to love her. And love her he would.
He crawled up over her, opened her legs, and sat on his knees between them. He couldn’t seem to look away from her face, her tear-filled eyes.
Not trusting his claw-like nails, Lincoln placed his unsteady hands on the calves of her legs and glided them toward her knees. “I want to taste you.”
“Yes,” Ruby whispered, opening her thighs enough to give him room.
Lincoln had never tasted a woman before. He’d never touched one sexually at all, for that matter. He prayed he did it right.
“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked quietly.
As much as the Beast hated to admit it to her, he owed her his honesty. “I have never been with a woman before.”
More tears filled Ruby’s eyes. “I’m a virgin too, Lincoln.”
Lincoln stilled, not sure he’d heard her right. “What did you say?”
She didn’t look away in feigned embarrassment. No coy remarks left her lips. Her gaze softened even more. “You are my first, Lincoln.”
His heart began to slam against his ribs. Not only had Ruby freely offered herself to him, but she was giving him the most precious gift a woman could give…her virginity.
Humbled to the point of breaking, Lincoln reached up and cupped the side of her face. “Why, Ruby? Why me?”
“Don’t think, Lincoln. Just love me.”
Removing his hand from her face, Lincoln slid down her body to settle between her open legs.
Damn, she’s beautiful, he thought, wrapping his hands around her thighs to hold her open.
Her soft woman’s center had to be the most erotic sight Lincoln had ever beheld. Coupled with the intoxicating scent he’d come to know as Ruby, Lincoln was lost.
He wanted to bury his face in her heat and breathe her in, to lick her and devour her until he had his fill. But Lincoln accepted that he’d never get his fill of Ruby. If he lived a thousand years, he’d always crave her.
With a growl of hunger, Lincoln flattened his tongue and gently swiped it through her center, glorying in the sound that ripped from her throat.
“Lincoln…” she moaned, arching her back. She lifted her knees and draped them over his shoulders.
In his almost thirty years, Lincoln had never tasted anything as incredible as Ruby. Mindful of his sharp teeth, he loved her with his tongue, swirling it through and around her soft, wet heat until he thought he’d go mad with need.
Ruby’s hands suddenly gripped his hair with a strength that surprised him. Her breathing accelerated, her hips began to buck, and a sound slipped past her lips that sent him over the edge.
“Lincoln,” she moaned, her legs tightening around his neck.
He sucked her into his mouth.
Ruby’s back bowed off the bed. Her entire body shook, and the hold she had on his hair bordered on painful.
Still, Lincoln tor
tured her with his tongue.
With one last shudder, she fell limp beneath his face.
Lincoln carefully released her and lifted his head to see into her eyes. “I have never tasted anything as incredible as you, Ruby Atwood.”
Ruby’s hooded gaze held his. Through her erratic breathing, she whispered, “I want to feel you inside me.”
Lincoln’s heartbeat accelerated. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t care about the pain. I only know that I feel as if I’ll die if you’re not inside me, and soon.”
Rising up onto his knees, Lincoln gripped her thighs and pulled her bottom up onto his lap. He rested his thumbs on either side of her opening and gently pressed. There was no way he could penetrate her, and he knew it.
Ruby lifted her hips in invitation. “Please…”
Lincoln was lost. He wrapped a hand around his wide girth and guided it to her entrance. “Deep breath, Ruby.”
He pressed forward as gently as his trembling body would allow, watching as the thick head of his shaft slowly penetrated her tiny passage.
Ruby winced, forcing his gaze back to her face.
“Too much?” He could feel the resistance as he came up against a barrier.
“No,” she breathed, lifting slightly and forcing him in a little more. “I can take it. Come here.”
Lincoln lowered over her, resting his great weight onto his elbows. “It’s killing me to hurt you, Ruby. I can use my tongue on you again. All night if you want.”
Her answer was to lift her legs, lock them around his ass, and jerk him to her.
Lincoln lost control. He wrapped a hand in her hair to hold her still, covered her mouth with his, and thrust.
Ruby cried out into his mouth.
Lincoln stilled, unable to move, yet fighting the urge to thrust again.
The feel of Ruby’s body holding him like a vise stole his breath and half his sanity.
He was throbbing, pulsing and shaking with the need to sink his entire length into her hot, welcoming body.
Lincoln lifted his head, noticing a tear that slipped from the corner of Ruby’s eye. “Oh God, Ruby, I’ve hurt you.”
“Don’t stop, Lincoln. It’s more pressure than pain.” Her legs tightened even more.
Staring into her eyes, Lincoln locked hands with her, lifted her arms above her head, and drove his great length fully into her.
A painful, heart-wrenching sound ripped from her throat. Her fingers tightened in his and her neck arched back.
Lincoln froze, his breath punching in and out of his lungs uncontrollably.
And then Ruby’s legs locked around his ass, a shudder passed through her, and she wriggled her hands free of his to grip the back of his head.
Her lips slanted over his.
Lincoln surrendered a thousand times in that moment, lost in the embrace of the one woman he would love forever.
Slipping his arms beneath her body, Lincoln pulled her firmly against him and thrust again. Heaven, he thought, slowly driving into her over and over. Home.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ruby held tightly to Lincoln, riding the crest of another orgasm. Once the pain of his initial entry had subsided, she’d experienced a pleasure such as she’d never known.
How could she have ever thought him a monster? she wondered, gazing up into his eyes as he sat up on his haunches and penetrated her with a finesse that belied his beastly state.
He was the most tender lover she could have ever asked for. Unlike Spencer with his fumbling and pawing touches.
No, Lincoln was her perfect fit.
The feel of his thick shaft stretching her, taking her to unimaginable heights left Ruby in a state of bliss she never wanted to return from.
Higher, he took her, pushing her, demanding her surrender with every calculated stroke.
Nerves came alive once again, stronger this time. It centered low in her abdomen, spreading out through her body with every thrust he made.
“Lincoln,” she gasped, her eyes pleading with him for the release she knew he could give her.
He growled low in his throat, never slowing the pumping of his muscular hips.
Ruby stared into his eyes, unable to look away as the heat continued to build.
He pulled her higher up onto his lap, never breaking eye contact, and brushed his thumb across her pulsing bundle of nerves.
Ruby screamed her release, her body seizing in an orgasm that tilted her world on its axis. It throbbed, convulsed, and exploded through her body with a powerful force that left her in a mindless, boneless heap.
Lincoln roared his own release, following Ruby into the abyss of a pleasure she knew she’d never know again without him.
He dropped down over her, his hips continuing to jerk in short, quick bursts. “Are you okay?”
Ruby smiled against his neck, inhaling his sensually masculine scent. “I’m better than okay. That was amazing.”
Lifting his head, Lincoln studied her face for a moment before gently pulling from her body.
He moved to get up.
“Where are you going?” Ruby asked, her gaze landing on his muscular rear as he crawled off the bed and strode to the bathroom. God, he has a fine ass.
He returned a moment later, holding a towel.
Flipping on the bedside lamp, he pulled the canopy back and returned to her side. “Open your legs for me, Ruby.”
“What are you doing?”
Moving her knees, Lincoln rested his palms on the insides of her thighs and applied pressure. “I need to see how badly you’re hurt.”
“I’m fine, really.” For some reason, it embarrassed Ruby for him to clean her up.
Crawling over her, Lincoln settled between her thighs. His face paled significantly. “There’s a lot of blood. You’re sure there’s no pain?”
“Virgins sometimes bleed their first time, Lincoln. I’m really fine. I would tell you if I wasn’t.”
Lincoln gently pressed the towel against her center and held it there. “I’m honored that you gifted me with it. Though, I would give anything to go back and take away the pain it caused you.”
“I wouldn’t,” Ruby whispered. “I wouldn’t change a thing. Now, come here.”
He removed the towel and tossed it to the floor before easing up next to her and pulling her head onto his shoulder.
Ruby snuggled in close, basking in the afterglow of the love they’d just made. A yawn quickly overtook her. “The hurricane that’s been swirling out in the gulf?”
“Mmmm,” Lincoln responded, pulling her more firmly against him.
“I heard on the radio while I was in the pool that it’s taken a turn and is heading this way.”
He kissed her on the forehead. “How long before it’s expected?”
“Three days, tops.” Ruby’s eyes grew heavy with sleep.
“I’ll need to make more preparations. Is it still a category two?”
Ruby fought another yawn, her eyes slowly closing. “According to the weather channel, it is, but it could strengthen with landfall.”
“But your court date—”
“Is first thing Thursday morning. The hurricane, if it hits here, isn’t due to land until late Thursday night.”
“I don’t like the idea of you being in the city that close to the time of the storm.”
Ruby kissed him on the shoulder. “I won’t be. I’ll be back long before the rain even starts. Besides, it’ll give me a chance to check on things at home.”
Lincoln stiffened. She felt the moment he emotionally withdrew from her.
What had she said that would warrant such a reaction? “Did I say something wrong?”
He only shook his head. “You should get some sleep. I’m sure you have a lot to do tomorrow to prepare for your hearing.”
Strange, Ruby thought, staring into the shadows. They’d just had the most incredible night of her life, and she suddenly felt more distant from him than she had in weeks.
Had he used her and was now closing himself off from her? She prayed not. He’d seemed to derive as much pleasure from her as she had from him.
Ruby wasn’t sure how long she lay reliving every detail of their lovemaking in her mind before her eyes drifted shut and sleep finally claimed her.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Lincoln lay completely still, staring up at the canopy top of his bed. Ruby would be going home soon, and he needed to prepare himself for her departure.
He gently pulled his arm free of her sleeping head and slipped from the bed to stand in front of the window.
Ironic that he’d fallen in love with an Atwood. The one family he’d hated his entire life.
Leaning forward, Lincoln pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the window. The hatred he’d grown so accustomed to over the years seemed to have left him the moment Ruby had taken him into her arms. Hell, if he were honest with himself, the minute she’d stepped into his life.
Lincoln no longer despised Agatha or Charles, and somewhere deep inside, he found himself grateful for them. For had it not been for Agatha’s curse, he’d have never met her granddaughter, Ruby.
He turned from the window to watch her sleep. How peaceful and beautiful she looked lying in the center of his big bed. He wanted her again.
Shaking off the lustful images of her writhing beneath him, Lincoln shifted his attention to the mirror sitting beside the bed. He would get rid it in the morning. It would only serve as a reminder of his curse.
Lincoln wanted to remember the last month of his life with Ruby as the Beast. For in the form of the Beast was where he’d learned to love.
And love her, he did. More than he’d ever thought possible.
Emotion choked him to the point he couldn’t breathe.
He staggered over to the table the glass-covered rose sat on and gazed at in sorrow. No matter how much he loved Ruby, he couldn’t force her to stay. The humane part of Lincoln knew he had to let her go, and the Beast within him submitted.
Opening the drawer on the small table, he pulled out the deed to Ruby’s house. With an unsteady hand, he grabbed a pen and signed his name at the bottom, reverting it back to her.
Ruby and the Beast: A Beauty and the Beast Novel Page 13
