Raising Kane

by Long, Heather

  It was the first such offer he’d made since Kid arrived and the flames of desire firing inside of him banked briefly. What did he want his family to know? The words he had for Jason, those had to be delivered in person. He and his brother needed to talk and open the wound, lance it clean, and find a way to make peace together. Kid could only hope Jason remained willing after Kid’s rejection of his earlier attempts.

  Tapping his hand against the tabletop, he leaned forward. “Tell them I’m doing well. I hope to be home by Christmas, but I am unwilling to rush this process. If they need me sooner, I want them to tell you and I want you to tell me.”

  Quanto nodded. “You’ve earned that right, Kid. I won’t keep any news from you. When I last checked on them, they’d been struggling, but they were doing better.”

  Worry slid along his nerve endings. “What struggles?” Quanto explained the events as he understood them from sickened cattle to the surprising changes in Jo’s ability, until he paused on Mariska’s struggles. Cody’s mate needed serious time to grieve. It didn’t take an explanation for Kid to understand the grief was linked to her clan leaving her or why it had been so delayed—he’d stunted her ability to deal with it by trying to ease her with his gift. He relayed short bits on everyone, save Jason. “Why not any news of Jason?”

  “Buck has been guarded about your brother. He feels, and I don’t disagree, hard feelings exist among all the others where Jason is concerned and your brother appeared to be pulling away. However, neither Buck nor Delilah have allowed him to isolate himself completely.”

  “Because of me.” It wasn’t a question, but he could do something about it. “Can you get a private message to Micah?”

  Quanto nodded and looked surprised by Kid’s request and the specificity of it, but he promised to deliver it nonetheless. “I could take you into the dreaming tonight if you wish.”

  Kid shook his head. “No. Thank you, but no.” Tonight was for Evelyn and beyond that… “When I see them, I need to see them. They have a right to be angry with me. Jason has a right to say his piece in private. He tried and I didn’t let him. I’m not going to take the easy way out.” Quanto’s small smile added his approval to the concept. Pushing his chair back, Kid stacked the dishes. “I’ll wash up in the morning.”

  Amusement creased the corners of Quanto’s eyes. “Should I see if Wyatt will allow me to bunk in the barn?”

  Unrepentant, Kid met his knowing look. “You’ll be dreamwalking, so I doubt we’ll disturb you. However, staying on your side of the house would be appreciated.” He headed for the door. Evelyn had gone up nearly an hour before and he was tired of waiting.

  “Kid?” Caution underscored the request in Quanto’s voice.

  Pausing, he looked back. “Yes?”

  “Are you sure?” Worry tensed the Indian’s forehead.

  “She sees me.” He didn’t know if that would explain it to the old man or not. Frankly, it didn’t matter if Quanto or Wyatt understood. Kid did. What he felt for her wasn’t need, but desire and affection and want—and it was all his. “She really sees me.”

  They didn’t have anything else to discuss and Kid left him to take the stairs two at a time. He’d paused in the bathhouse after the ride back and did a wash up, rinsing away the sweat and the dust before dressing again. At the top of the steps, he let his eyes adjust to the shadows before making his way down the darkened hallway. Tightening the leash around his desire, he prepared for possible rejection. After all, she’d had time to reconsider.

  A part of him recognized that, as disappointing as the eventuality might be, he wouldn’t have a problem respecting it. She wasn’t every other woman he’d ever sated his need in. She was different.

  She was Evelyn.

  Stopping at her door, he ran his fingers through his hair and tried to calm his breathing. His heart hadn’t raced like this in years. I’m nervous. The thought excited and amused him in the same breath. Women didn’t unnerve him. They didn’t particularly scare him, either, but Evelyn—please don’t mess this up.

  He knocked once, firm and soft. She answered it so quickly, she must have been waiting just on the other side of the door. The only illumination in her room came from the moonlight spilling in the window and she wore a thin cotton shift. Her long, flaxen hair spilled freely down her back and over her shoulders. All the light in the room seemed to gather around her, casting her in the most ethereal air.

  The moisture in his mouth dried up and his heart slammed against his ribs. A shy smile curved her petal pink lips and she stretched out a hand to tug him into the room. He stumbled forward a step, his mind and heart raging at the sensory overload his shields couldn’t filter—because the tangle of need came from inside him.

  “I thought you changed your mind.” The uncertainty and relief in her whispered rebuke jolted him.

  Sliding his hand up to cup her cheek, he stroked his thumb against her smooth skin. “I’m sorry. Quanto needed to talk.”

  “I wondered.” She closed her eyes and leaned into his caress. When her eyes opened, a hint of mischief dawned in her expression. “I decided that if you didn’t come to me, I’d go to your room.”

  Delight speared him and he raised his eyebrows. “That would have been a bold gesture.”

  “Am I being too forward?” Hesitation stole away her smile.

  “No,” he murmured and leaned in to brush his lips to the corner of one eye then the other. He wanted to take his time, explore every inch of her skin, to capture her every reaction to his touch. He longed to know what she would enjoy. Could he stimulate her fascinatingly clever mind even as he sought to captivate her body? “I promised and I’m here.”

  Her hands settled against his chest, her provocative and frustrating touch unsure as she rubbed him through the shirt. He wanted skin to skin, but if he stripped this might be over far sooner than he wanted. She deserved patience and pleasure.

  A shudder raced up his spine as her nails scraped over one of his nipples. Curiosity filled her expression and she did it again. The sizzle traveled through his system and his cock hardened to a near painful state, the arousal so instantaneous it occurred to him he’d been suppressing it. Fisting his control in both hands, he reached behind him to close her door and slide the lock.

  Evelyn watched with luminous eyes, her teeth worrying her lower lip. “I am suddenly very nervous, but don’t take that as a reason to stop.”

  He was doing his damnedest to not read her, but the shields he’d erected crashed together. Longing slammed into them, wanting out. Capturing her hands against his chest, he rubbed his thumbs against her wrists. Her heart beat nearly as franticly as his. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my shields up.” He wouldn’t lie to her, even if it discouraged her from exploring their connection any further.

  “Are you trying to scare me, William?” Only the teasing lilt to her voice and the curve of her smile kept the words light.

  “Honest, I want to feel you. To know what you like, what you don’t, when you’re nervous, when you need more…” The words sparked a fresh wildness to vibrate through him and his shields went ragged. They couldn’t keep him contained, and he blocked everything but her. She was the only one who mattered.

  She swallowed hard and stepped closer, the warmth of her seeping into his pores. “I trust you, remember?” With gentle fingers, she traced his face. “I just wish I knew more about what to do…”

  Her innocence cut him off at the knees. “Just be you. If you fall, I’ll catch you. If it’s too much, you tell me—just like you did on the porch. Promise me?” He had no idea how he would stop, but he would.

  Her lips compressed then her chin raised. “William, since I’m unfamiliar in these areas of…discourse, how much talking is necessary before you kiss me?”

  Laughter broke through the knots of tension and he grinned. Mentally satisfied, he let the shield go and her need powered through him, anchoring to his own until the chains went so deep he might never extract t
hem. Shifting his hold, he carried her to the bed and sat down, cradling her in his lap. His gaze fixed on the gleaming wetness of her lips.

  Impatient, she shifted against him and brushed her lips from his jaw to his cheek before daring a questioning touch to the corner of his mouth. Sliding his hand up into her hair, he fisted a handful to hold her still as he took her lips. Wonder echoed back at him, laced in delight. The twin sensations seasoned the different flavors of craving pulsing within him. He wanted to savor each moment, yearned to explore each nuance of her touch.

  He could easily separate her feelings from his own, even as the emotions spiraled together. Hers remained so distinctly feminine, he wanted to roll them and play. God, he wanted to play. Slow and steady, he took his time with the kiss. He demanded access and she opened her mouth to him, so he could sweep his tongue across hers. The sweetness of her flavor, like honey and the unique taste that was wholly Evelyn—tart and sweet—burst across his taste buds.

  Spreading his hands against her back, he began to stroke her, light and steady, through the shift. Her heart raced and her nervousness fluttered back to life, butterflies trying to escape and pressing closer to him at the same time. He fought for patience. She liked firmer touches and he glided his hands down to her hips, holding her mouth hostage, and deepened the kiss.

  Evelyn wasn’t a passive lover, despite her uncertainty. Her curiosity had her mirroring his touches. She stroked his shoulders, slid her hands into his hair, then down his back. The light scrape of her nails through his shirt sent a pulse through his cock. Her bottom pressed against his lap, sweet torture every time she shifted.

  Need arced through her, conflicting desires filling her with confusion, and he slowed his touch, soothing with his body even as he told his gift to behave. Trailing kisses from her mouth, he teased her earlobe. So many sensitive spots on a body, so many places to tease and to kiss.

  He planned to map each one. Her breath caught in a delicious gasp when he used his teeth and grazed the soft skin of her throat. Adjusting his hold again, he rolled her onto the bed, laying her head against the pillows and keeping his arm braced so that his weight was above her. Slow, infinitely slow, to give her time to adjust to each step of the dance.

  Blazing eyes met his as he nudged her shift up, tracing the soft line of her thigh. His insides quivered and his cock strained against the buttons of his denim, but he ignored all of those needs intent on satisfying a far deeper one. The shift rose to bare her abdomen and the fact that she wore nothing else.

  Heat blasted through his mind, setting all of his good intentions on fire. Her thighs pressed together and he could feel the embarrassment engulfing her. “You’re exquisite,” he murmured, gliding his palm up and down the length of her thigh, telling her with touch and words how deeply she affected him. “Soft and sweet and so very lovely…”

  She bit down on her lower lip, a quiet plea in her expression. “I’m not afraid…”

  He chuckled and leaned down to kiss the lie off her mouth. “It’s okay to be nervous. We can go as slow as you need.” Even if it killed him, he’d take the sweet torture for her. “Don’t worry about hurting my feelings if you need me to wait or to stop.”

  “What if I want you to do something else?” There she was, the bold and brave soul who’d soldiered through an unspeakably difficult journey alone into the unknown. Pride surged through him.

  “Anything,” he vowed, teasing a caress around her knee and delighted as the muscles softened from their clench. The scent of her arousal intoxicated him and he wondered if she’d allow him the privilege of kissing her as deeply between her thighs as she’d allowed him to plunder her mouth.

  She shifted restlessly and her thighs glided together and then apart. When he traced his hand up the inside of her leg, her hips arched and unmistakable hunger slammed into him. “I want—I don’t know the words for what I want.” Her face scrunched in complaint.

  Gliding his hand up to her sex, he found it dewy wet and drenched. Cupping his hand to her, he watched with joy as her eyes widened and question collided with eagerness and surprise. Pressing the heel of his hand to her, he rubbed once and then twice and she exploded. Her whole body arched, her back bowing, as she let out a soft cry. A groan tore free from his throat as he drank in the beauty of her reaction, both visually and emotionally.

  Something wet dripped down his cheek and splashed against her leg, but he ignored the tears. He didn’t want to miss a moment of her completely unabashed reactions. Gentling his touch, he petted her down and then eased her thighs further apart. Evelyn lifted her head and her foggy wondering gaze met his as he slid his hands beneath her to cup her bottom.

  Surprise blossomed again and trepidation stole through her. But he yearned for a taste and pressed his mouth against the soft, sweet skin and licked her from her entrance to the tight button without ever looking away from her. The tension in her circled tighter and she spread her legs further, the muscles of her abdomen going hollow and taut. He closed his eyes and sank into the taste.

  Tongue working in and out, he glided up and down her labia, exploring every reaction until he took her clit between his lips and thrummed it with his tongue. Her body went wild around him and he laughed against her, drunk on her reactions, before he teased her to the edge again, unmerciful in his demand for her pleasure.

  His control frayed by the time he gave her a last lazy lick and began to prowl up her body, pushing the shift out of his way until she stripped it off completely and flung it away. Her fingers dug into his scalp as he pressed a kiss to one turgid nipple and she tugged his hair. Lifting his head obediently, he gazed at her.

  “You’re still dressed.” Her grievance carried heat and demand in one.

  “If I undress, I’ll be inside you. I won’t be able to stop.” The only thing keeping him out of her right now was the constriction of his pants and, God knew, he wanted to be inside of her.

  Her lashes fell and shielded her eyes, a sleepy look so sensual and pleasured it stroked him like a caress. “I want you inside of me.”

  Kissing her lush mouth hard once, he levered himself off the bed and stripped out of his clothes. He was far from done exploring, but what his lady demanded, he would give her. Stepping back to the bed, he paused at her upraised hand. She’d risen on the bed and stared at him, her gaze a long, lazy hot stroke across his skin.

  But when she reached his chest, she frowned and stretched out her fingers to trace the three deep scars the slashed diagonally across from his shoulder to just above his stomach. “What happened to you?”

  Skin quivering at the deep tenderness and concern rifling through her desire and the butterfly kiss of her touch, he covered her hand on his chest to hold it still. “An accident. It doesn’t hurt.” Not anymore and a small price to pay for a friendship he valued. However, he wasn’t inviting the past into this room, not now.

  Her gaze drifted lower and his cock bounced against him at her attention. Patience and control fraying thin, he kept rigidly still for her inspection. “You’re beautiful, William.” She murmured, her gaze rising up to meet his.

  “If you say so, ma’am.” But his face actually heated and deep inside, some fist he hadn’t been aware of clenching eased its bruised grip on his heart.

  “I am a little concerned, however.” The note of humor in her voice softened the worry.

  “About what?” He followed her back onto the bed as she drew him closer and grinned as her legs cradled him. The contact of her skin on his crackled and forming words became more difficult.

  Instead of answering, she explored the ridges of his abdomen with her fingers and her touch drifted perilously close to the hard length of his arousal. If she touched him, he might come right then and there. The muscles in his arms stood out in sharp relief as he braced his weight, a hand on either side of her head. He wanted to lunge inside of her, but she petted him, her touch oddly soothing and utterly erotic. Up and down his chest she caressed, tracing the scars and down to his
sides and finally dipping below to touch one tentative finger to the hard length jutting between them.

  Hissing out a long breath, he held completely still.

  “I don’t know if you will fit.” Apprehension echoed in the sensation of her, bleeding through the wonder and pleasure still humming in her system.

  The very innocent and naïve alarm tickled him and gave him the control he needed to keep from thrusting into her and proving just how well he would fit. Instead, he bent his head to nuzzle her mouth and teased her lips apart for a long and satisfying kiss. Inch by inch he lowered his hips to meet hers, teasing both of them by rubbing his erection along the damp heat of her sex. Each stroke sent a wild tingle arcing up his spine, agony and ecstasy in the pleasured suffering. When he lifted his head, their ragged breaths mingled—all of her fear drained away and she arched her body up to him, a supplication and demand in one.

  “It will hurt at first,” he warned with the last shards of his control. “But I’ll go very slow until you’re used to the feel of me.”

  Shifting, he wrapped a hand around his cock and guided himself to her entrance. Her nails dug into his shoulders in anticipation, the sharp sting a powerful counterpoint to her eagerness, an impatient fever that echoed his. Her gaze dipped between them and then up, locking on his as he began to ease inside of her.

  She was so slick, sweet, and hot, the inferno of it threatened to burn him up, yet he pressed forward. Tightness resisted him, and her nails bit deeper into his skin. Burning came from her, a painful hiss of her breath. When he would have slowed further, her legs wrapped around his hips and she arched up until he slammed to the hilt.

  Sweat dripped down his face. He settled deep and brought his elbows down to rest above her shoulders. Kissing her slowly, he let her get used to the sensations. Passion flushed her face and the hard clamp of her tight inner muscles held him fast. “Are you ready?”

  The finite control began to slip through his fingers and still he waited for her little nod. She leaned up to nibble a kiss to his throat, the caress sending liquid fire racing down his spine. When she moved, so did he. Her breasts slid against his chest as he eased out and back in again, the gentle rocking motion hell on earth to his senses when his body and his mind wanted more.