“We’ll need to wait it out here before going to the house. Otherwise, we’ll only be soaked through all over again.”
“I really am grateful to you for saving me.” Her voice, soft and without her previous anger, held a huskiness that was quite appealing. “And I’m sorry for biting you. I was in a dither about Shasta, though that’s hardly an excuse for such appalling behavior. You must think me a terror.”
“Perhaps at the time I would have agreed,” he replied, moving next to her and taking a seat. “This gentler side, I could get used to.”
Her lips tipped up into a small smile, but she didn’t reply. They lapsed into silence, the only sound that of the driving rain pounding on the roof and an occasional nicker from the horses.
Sitting close, he could feel her brush against him as she adjusted the blanket or took an indrawn breath, the latter barely a whisper of motion along his side. His body stirred, fueled by the fact she was bare beneath her cover.
A shudder passed through her suddenly.
“Cold?”
“Yes, the water was frigid, but you know that. Aren’t you chilled?”
He lifted an arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, enfolding her within his blanket as he did so, allowing them both the benefit of shared body heat. This placed her head close to his, her hair brushing his cheek, and as she turned to look up at him, her breath was warm on his skin. Without thinking, he lowered his head and touched her lips gently with his own.
She stiffened, but didn’t pull away. Encouraged by her response, Luke didn’t back off as he knew he should, pressing for more instead. After a moment, she surprised him by leaning in and parting her lips. It was an invitation he couldn’t deny. Without hesitating, he deepened the kiss, introducing his tongue in a gentle foray between warm lips that were sweeter than late wild strawberries and utterly intoxicating. As he delved deeper, his mind warned him this was not a good idea. But after she’d readily accepted his kisses, his body wasn’t listening. Burning hot for her, his defenses had weakened and his reservations dissolved, vanishing as easily as fog in a ray of sunshine.
* * *
You must put a stop to this.
The voice in her head was lucid and making a good deal of sense, though her body, roused by the smell of man, leather, and the freshly washed air from the rain, ignored its admonition. Although never having been with a man before, she was starved for affection. Not only did her body crave what Luke was stirring inside her, so did her heart. She was tired of being lonely and yearned for a kind word, a gentle touch, a smile, a soft kiss, all given tenderly. Even if the spanking hadn’t been so tender, his care for her afterward, once she’d stopped fighting him, had been all of that and more.
Not since her father’s death had she felt kindness from a man. Not from her half-brother Slim, who was distant and standoffish. And, never from her one and only beau, Jarrett Skeens. What if this was her last chance to feel such kindness from a man?
Her life had been hard for twenty years and there was no indication that the next twenty were going to be any different. Slim, her papa, Jarrett, and herself, they were nothing like the wealthy landowning Jacksons. They’d fought and scrapped for everything they had in their lives, the boys reverting to underhanded dealings and walking the fine line between right and wrong ever since her papa passed. A Jackson couldn’t be interested in a woman like her, from the wrong side of town, not for more than what they were sharing right now in this barn.
Her ardor cooled a bit as she thought of the woman that Luke would one day take as his wife. Someone pretty, no doubt, like Jenny Harper, who was newly married to his older brother Heath. Or perhaps, one as spunky and smart as she was beautiful, like Janelle, wife to Aaron, the youngest of the brothers, who was also the territorial marshal. She couldn’t compete with the well-bred Jackson wives, which meant tonight was all she’d ever share with Luke.
Would that be enough for her?
Her mind had wandered, despite the persistent press of his lips, and he must have noticed because his mouth lifted ever so slightly, moving over her cheek, spreading kisses downward over the column of her throat. He nudged the blanket aside with his chin and tucked his face into the open collar of the man’s shirt that she wore. His tongue slipped out and licked at the pulse at the side of her throat. Long and slow, his warm wet mouth grazed her skin and all thought left her mind. Her head fell back and, helpless to resist, she offered him more. She didn’t object when he drew the blanket from her shoulders, or when one by one, he opened the buttons along the placket of the borrowed flannel shirt.
The cool air of the barn brushed across her breasts as he spread the material wide, but only for a moment. The chill was forgotten in the next instant as his hungry mouth captured the hard, pointed tip between his warm lips and began sucking with an exquisite, mind-numbing pressure. What could only be described as pure bliss rushed through her as she cried out, arching her back wantonly as she pulled his head in tighter. He tumbled her onto her back in the hay and came over her, moving to her other breast to bestow upon it the same incredible attention.
“Luke,” she whispered, with a low, throaty rasp unlike any she’d ever used before.
“So beautiful.” Warm breath bathed her damp skin where his mouth played. “We shouldn’t, but I’ve got to have you.” His voice was low and husky, filled with a need as strong as her own. As he looked up at her, his mouth hovering over a glistening wet nipple, she caught her breath, seeing the burning passion reflected in his eyes. In the low lantern light, the flecks of amber in the dark brown irises seemed to glow like molten gold. She was mesmerized, unable to look away as he demanded simply, “Tell me you want it too, sweetheart.”
She hesitated for a fraction of a second, calling herself mad for daring to think about giving her virtue to a man who wasn’t her husband, and one she barely knew. However, something inside her said, why not? It was the last thing of value she had and why not give it to a man of her choosing—a strong, handsome, virile man who she desired, rather than out of necessity later to some unknown miner, farmer, or cowboy. Besides, she wanted this man. Nodding her head, she agreed.
He rose over her, his hands already loosening his belt, but he hesitated, urging, “Say it, darlin’, so I know for sure.”
“I want it too, Luke.” Boldly, she lifted her arms to him. He came over top of her, his bare chest and abdomen grazing her breasts and belly, the dark crisp hair igniting little tingles of sensation at every point of contact. She was sure he could hear the thud of her racing heart, or feel the flutter of her pulse in her throat. Her hands curled around his shoulders, hanging on, fairly certain of the mechanics of it all, but not sure how he would go about making it happen.
Luke didn’t leave her to wonder long as one of his knees nudged her legs apart, spreading them wide enough to accommodate his hips. Rather than leaving them hanging awkwardly over the end of the hay bale, he curled her legs, one at a time, around his hips. Wisteria felt him nudge between her thighs, a place no man had ever been before. Her heated blood raced through her body and seemed to concentrate there, on the spot that tingled and ached in anticipation. His lips found her throat as his fingers touched her intimately, searching briefly before grazing over a spot that made her heart pound in her chest. She was unable to contain the moan that escaped her lips, or the involuntary lifting of her hips as she sought more of his tormenting fingers.
Unexpectedly, his hands left her, and her moan became a whimper.
“Hush now, I’m not going anywhere.” His answer came as something smooth and warm probed her center. Not his fingers, this was larger and more insistent. It entered only a bit at first, and she felt her insides stretch to accommodate his size. At once, the reality of what she was doing sobered her, making her tense. Her hands slipped down, opening flat on his chest.
“You’re big,” she squeaked in alarm.
“Not so very big,” he soothed in a gentle voice as he slowed his progress. As he did so, his hand
slipped between their bodies, fingers returning to that special spot that made her body quicken with need. He resumed the gradual advance and slid deeper. “That’s it, beautiful. Even if I’m a bit more than you’re used to, if you relax you can take me.”
Her eyes flew open. He thought she was experienced. And why wouldn’t he, the way she had thrown herself at him like a brothel girl, begging to be taken. She needed to fess up, promptly.
“Luke, I—”
Her explanation came too late as his hips thrust forward, sending the hard length of him incredibly deep inside her passage. A pinch of pain accompanied his claiming of her body. Her breath rushed in suddenly at the shock.
“Damn.” A mixture of intense pleasure and a certain amount of anger was unmistakable in his curse. His head came up, staring fiercely down at her in question. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded hoarsely.
Blinking back a rush of tears, she searched for words. She couldn’t tell him the reason. That she was using him for a night of passion then planned to flee in the morning. “I, um—well…” Hemming and hawing as though she lacked intelligence, she squirmed under his scrutiny. This spurred a groan from him and a gasp from her own lips as he was wedged in further.
“The damage is done,” he growled, dropping his head so that his lips brushed hers as he spoke. “This is one gift that once given can’t be returned.” He eased back slowly, returning with a slow glide back inside and advancing more. “Your heat is incredible. You’re also wet and very tight. Unless you’ve changed your mind—which would be the ultimate cruelty, but a decision I will honor—I want nothing more than to finish what we’ve started here, Wisteria. Then we’ll talk.”
He pulled back further this time, almost leaving her, then surging back at a changed angle, which created an exquisitely pleasurable sensation. She flexed her legs, encouraging the pumping motion of his hips.
“Finish,” she croaked as his fingers, still wedged between them, danced over the same spot that seemed to have the power to drive her mad.
“I was hoping you’d say that, darlin.” His lips lowered all the way, his tongue plunging into her mouth, at the same time he thrust into her below. There was no more pain, only an incredible fullness and an excitement created by his busy fingers.
Luke’s free hand came up to curl around her neck, his fingers threading through her hair as he held her steady for his kiss. The weight of his body pressing her into the hay, the scent of leather and man that surrounded her, the feel of his lips, his hands, his hardness inside her, all of it was wondrous, yet none of it was as she’d dreamed it would be. It was better.
As he moved inside her, something began building, a tension like the pull of a rubber band. Why and for what purpose, she didn’t know, except that it was because of Luke and she needed more of what he was giving her or she’d die of frustration.
Her arms tightened around his shoulders, clinging to him as her bare breasts rubbed against his solid chest, her nipples having turned to hard aching peaks. Her lips parted for breath, which invited his tongue more fully within. Already clamped around his hips, her legs hitched higher, one moving around his waist, while the other bent more at the knee, the heel of her foot digging into the flexing muscles of his backside. She enveloped him with her body and began meeting his thrusts, lifting her hips as he drove inside her.
Suddenly, she felt the band snap, the rebound sending waves of incredible pleasure washing through her. Her muscles clamped around his driving hardness as she huskily called out his name. Her actions caused a similar reaction in Luke. He groaned as his hips moved faster, his head arching back. Having recovered a bit, she realized she’d lost his mouth, nonetheless, the corded expanse of his throat was within reach. Lifting her head a fraction, she tasted the saltiness of his skin. It was so divine that she opened her mouth and latched on.
He seemed to like it, so she took more, sucking his skin between her lips as her tongue swirled over the roughness of his scruffy, salty, tasty skin. She felt a shudder pass through his body. Then he thrust incredibly deep once more and she froze as a flood of heat filled her, surprising Wisteria so much that she released his skin and let out a low moan. Luke’s mouth covered hers in an all-consuming kiss.
Long moments later, he drew away enough to look down on her, both of them still panting for breath.
“Are you all right, darlin’?” His gruff voice sounded low in the quiet barn and for the first time she noticed the storm had quieted, as had the rain, as if the tempest outside had passed along with their passion. Unable to speak, she nodded, the enormity of her decision weighing heavily upon her. It wasn’t that she’d gifted Luke Jackson with her innocence. That wasn’t it. Instead, she was afraid it was the unwitting gift of her heart that she’d regret giving the most once she was gone.
* * *
She’d gone quiet beneath him, unlike before when she’d railed at him in protest with plenty to say. Pushing up on his hands, he peered down at her in the low lantern light. Her eyes were closed, her face flushed. He could see her lips were puffy from his kisses and there was a faint redness on her cheeks from his unshaven face. Frowning, he eyed her tender skin, dropping next to her chest, which still rose and fell rapidly from their exertions. He should have gone more gently with her, but she hadn’t seemed to mind. After her initial resistance when he entered her, she hadn’t dissented once. In fact, she seemed to revel in their joining, her body responding beautifully. His gaze swept over her breasts, the nipples crinkled into hard peaks, the sight of which sent a surge of desire rushing through him despite the fact he’d only a moment ago spent himself inside her.
Although he wanted to take her again to savor, and this time linger over her delectable body, it was too soon. He withdrew slowly, his focus shifting to his cock, wet with their combined essence and the proof of her innocence, her virgin’s blood. Damn! What had she been thinking? If she’d told him, he wouldn’t have taken her. At least he’d liked to think he’d have been honorable enough not to. She was temptation incarnate, however.
As he watched her scramble to cover herself, his thoughts returned to earlier and his planned wooing. He suppressed a laugh; this night had surely ended the need for a courtship. They’d have to skedaddle to find a preacher instead. A bedding before the wedding wasn’t the accepted way, but he’d take her as his wife because, as a Jackson, he would do the right thing and although it wasn’t a love match, there was fire between them at least, and he hoped in time they’d find happiness.
“The storm has passed. Let’s get you inside where you can get warm.”
“And then what?” she whispered. “Are you going to turn me over to the sheriff and have me tried as a horse thief?”
“Hardly,” he scoffed as he stood and righted his clothes. She was still struggling with her buttons when he pulled her to her feet. He brushed her trembling hands aside and did them up himself. The shirttail had fallen back into place and covered her, but she looked totally disheveled, as if she’d been tumbled in a haystack, which essentially, she had.
He smiled as he removed a piece of straw from her tousled hair. “I disagreed with the judge’s decision about your horse. As did my pa in the end. If you’d have stuck around long enough after court, he’d have told you himself.”
“Really? He was going to return Shasta to me?”
“Mm-hm. That’s the word he wanted with you, but after you back-talked Judge Wilson, which isn’t ever done, you shut out my pa before he got a word in sideways, also a rare occurrence. Then you hightailed it out of there like your skirt was on fire.”
“I, um…” She looked away. “I have a bit of a temper.”
“Do you now? I hadn’t noticed. Although, come to think of it, the knee to my groin and the teeth marks in my calf should have clued me in.”
Her eyes flew up to his, silently studying him in the low light, as if not used to being teased and trying to determine if he was serious or making fun. After a brief pause, she shook her head. “
You made me so angry it was either a) shoot you, b) fight you, or c) run like hell—um, I mean, blazes.” Amused by her slip, his brows quirked as he smiled. She scowled in response. “In hindsight, maybe I should have chosen option a.”
Laughing outright, he grabbed one of her hands and tugged her a step closer. “I’ve heard similar statements from my sisters-in-law and mother a time or two. We Jackson men must share bedeviling females as a common trait.”
She snapped her mouth closed, eyeing him warily, obviously not quite knowing how to take this side of him. He grinned, sweeping her up in his arms. His grin widened into a smile when she automatically wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on.
“What are you doing?”
“Carrying you up to the house.”
“Why? I can walk.”
“Yeah, I figured you could, although this is much more fun for me.” Stopping by the oil lamp, he extinguished it before opening the doors one-handed. The rain had passed and the clouds had cleared out, the moon lighting a path to his front door.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Which one was that?”
“What happens next?”
“A warm bath followed by a good night’s sleep and breakfast in the morning. I make a mean griddlecake.”
“I meant what happens to me?”
“We’ll talk about that after breakfast.”
He’d arrived on the front porch, his boots thudding with each tread.
“What if I don’t like griddlecakes?”
“Now you’re just being contrary. Everyone likes griddlecakes.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Correction, everyone likes my griddlecakes.”
At the door, he jiggled her a bit as he pulled it open, then kicked it closed behind them with a decisive thud before mounting the stairs in the dark with her in his arms.
Wild Wisteria Page 4
