Final Hours

by Cate Dean

  She was already moving in when he captured her lips.

  They both moaned at the contact. It was different this time; instead of overpowering her, he drew out the kiss. His lips tasted, his tongue teased. Her fingers twisted into the front of his shirt. She needed—oh, God she needed him. Wanted him.

  Before she could move Kane caught her around the waist and settled her in his lap. His hard length pressed against her, and she couldn’t help herself. She moved closer. The heat, the feel of him left her breathless.

  He deepened the kiss, and her body responded. She wanted to be closer, touch all of him, feel that heat inside her. His tongue stroked hers, matched her rhythm as she rocked against him. With a harsh gasp he broke off the kiss.

  “Beth—I need you to—”

  “Stop?” She sounded as breathless as him.

  “God, no.” He cradled her cheek, his fingers trembling. “I want you, Elizabeth Barritt. I have never wanted another woman like this, never let them in. I don’t quite know how it happened with you.” His lips brushed over hers, whisper soft. “But there it is. I don’t want to rush. I need to touch you, all of you.” She swallowed, her desire building with every word. “Let me just touch you.”

  Elizabeth nodded—and gasped when he closed his mouth over her breast.

  His tongue dampened the cotton of her shirt, drawing small circles around her nipple. Her head fell back as his tongue slid across the tight peak, heat building, hotter, faster. She gripped his ribcage and braced herself so she wouldn’t slide off his lap.

  He froze. His right hand caught her wrist, and he freed her breast.

  “Kane—”

  “You can’t—” He cut himself off and tugged her hand away from—oh. His back.

  “Look at me.” Elizabeth used her free hand to cup his chin when he didn’t move. “Please.”

  After letting out a defeated sigh, he did.

  “Beth—”

  “I don’t care about the scars. I don’t see them, Kane. I see you.” She moved her hand up, until it cradled his right cheek. His scarred cheek. How was she going to make him believe they really didn’t matter to her? The solution popped in her head, so obvious—and for her, a potentially disastrous option. “Take your shirt off.”

  “What?” He clearly expected anything but that.

  “Please.” She eased her hand out of his loosened grip, started unbuttoning her own shirt. “I show you mine, you show me yours.”

  He shook his head, but his eyes followed her fingers as she slowly released each button. She swallowed, aware of his gaze, and waited for the inevitable disappointment. Small was a nice compliment for the size of her breasts, and the least flinch-inducing she had received from the two other men she slept with. Both of them unfortunate, and deeply regretted. She badly wanted Kane to be different. For what she sensed between them to be different.

  She usually wore a thin silk chemise. It was all she needed. But because she had on a sleeveless shirt when they first met, and didn’t want to deal with the possibility of slipping straps, she wore nothing underneath but skin.

  She let the shirt slide down her arms.

  Kane stared at her. She braced herself.

  “Beautiful,” he whispered. “God help me, you are so beautiful.”

  Both hands cupped her breasts. She let out a gasp as he touched the one part of her body that always embarrassed her. He leaned in to kiss first one, then the other, his tongue brushing over each nipple.

  She swallowed, managed to get a whisper out of her tight throat. “I figured you would be—disappointed.”

  He snorted against her breast. She let out a startled laugh; it turned into a low moan as he kissed his way up to her throat, and kept going, ending at her ear. “I am anything but, love. Did I not tell you I was a leg man? You have a spectacular pair.” His warm breath left her shivering. She clutched his shirt, so she didn’t dig her fingers into his chest. “Your lovely, pert breasts are simply a bonus.”

  “Pert.” A breathless laugh escaped her. “Can I just say—thank you.” She pried her hands off his shirt. “Your turn.”

  “Beth—”

  “I have always been embarrassed and ridiculed, Kane. Do you have any idea how scared I was, how scared I am, about all of this? I don’t have much in the way of experience. Can you please let go of my breasts? I can’t think when you touch me like that.”

  A smile tugged at his mouth, and he lowered his hands. “Better?”

  “Thank you.” She squashed the need to cover herself, a habit she picked up the first time she saw other girls in the gym shower. Girls with actual breasts. And damn him, she wanted his hands on her again. Now. “I have felt this connection with you since you jumped out of thin air and changed my life. I know what caused the scars on your back.”

  “Beth—”

  “Let me finish.” He flinched, but kept eye contact with her. “To me, they’re just part of you. It doesn’t matter if you decide to tell me what happened, or keep it to yourself. What does matter is this—I don’t see the scars.”

  He stared at her for endless seconds. Just when she was ready to admit defeat he closed his eyes, eased his shirt off. Elizabeth climbed off his lap and knelt on the bed beside him. After another long hesitation, he swallowed and turned his back to her.

  When she pressed a kiss to the first scar he jerked away. “No—”

  “Hold still.”

  “Beth.” The anguish in his voice drove through her. She responded by wrapping her arms around his waist, laying her cheek, her breasts, against his back. “God—”

  “I want to know all of you. Even if we never see each other again after tonight, I want you.” Her heart pounded, and she waited for rejection. He let out a shuddering breath and laid one hand over hers.

  “You touch me, Beth, in ways no other woman has. God help me.”

  She smiled. The wry humor she loved returned in those last words. Taking them as permission, she lifted her head, kissed the next scar. Her breasts brushed against the ridged skin as she slid down his back. Kane lowered his head, and she wasn’t sure who was more breathless.

  Up close, in the bare lamp hanging over the bed, the scars were uglier than she expected, crisscrossing each other, some so thick and wide she knew the whip had struck him, over and over, in that spot. She prayed that whoever did this to him had been visited by Karma. Repeatedly.

  He pulled her hands away when she reached his lower back.

  “Kane—” She didn’t have time to do more than gasp when he turned around and yanked her into his lap. His lips claimed hers in a kiss that threatened to set her on fire. She held on and tried to keep up.

  Their bodies pressed together, skin to skin, heat flaring as she felt his erection push against her. She arched into him, her hand going down to her waistband. She wanted to feel all of him, now. Her fingers fumbled on the button, managed to free it, and jerked down the zipper.

  Kane broke off the kiss, batted her hand out of the way and set her on her feet. His fingers slid the trousers and her underwear over her hips, his touch leaving a trail of heat on her bared skin.

  He kept going, revealed her legs inch by agonizing inch, until her clothing finally pooled around her feet.

  “I was right,” he whispered. “Spectacular.”

  His hands slid back up her legs, his fingers spread to curve around her calves, linger on the sensitive spot behind her knees. By the time he reached her thighs she could barely stand. Kane lifted her and set her in his lap.

  The wool serge of his trousers scratched the inside of her legs, and the fabric shifting against her sensitized skin was unbelievably arousing. His stomach quivered against her fingers as she slowly unbuttoned his fly. His erection pressed against her knuckles, straining under the cotton of his underwear. With a low growl he caught her around the waist, set her on the bed and stood. Bent over to keep from hitting his head, he strode to the door. Elizabeth’s heart skipped when he engaged the lock.

  He turne
d around, hands on the open front of his trousers. By the time he reached her he was naked. Elizabeth watched him, her heart beating fast, her hands shaking. He moved like a cat, swift and graceful. Those clear grey eyes were dark and intent as they skimmed down her body. Need burned through her at the heat in his gaze.

  She let herself look at him, all of him, refusing to be embarrassed. Her eyes widened, and her heart practically jumped into her throat when she saw how big he was. She wasn’t sure she could—she was so small, and the other men had been less than average—

  “Beth.” His voice was raw, his hand trembling when he held it out to her. It made her feel better, knowing she wasn’t the only one affected by nerves. “We’ve reached the point of no return, love.”

  She swallowed, stared at his hand. God, she wanted him—so much it terrified her. She also knew this would end in heartache, at least for her.

  She didn’t care.

  “No regrets, Kane. Not for me, not ever.”

  She lay back on the narrow bed, no longer afraid. The yellowed sheets were feather soft and cool on her overheated skin. He slowly unbuckled the transport, took it off his wrist and set it on the trunk at the end of the bed, his gaze never once leaving her.

  “How do you feel about foreplay?”

  “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing since you kissed me?”

  His laughter had her tingling. It cut off with an abrupt curse. He dove for his trousers and searched every pocket.

  “No—damn it.” He looked at her. “I didn’t plan to—hell. I have no protection.”

  “Kane.” She pushed herself up. “You won’t need it.”

  “I’ll not be so irresponsible, not when—” He cut himself off, cursing again.

  “When we won’t see each other again after this. You can say it. I won’t fall apart.” She studied the bed. “It won’t be a problem, because I can’t have children.”

  “Oh, love.” He sat on the bed, his hand close to hers, but not touching. “I am sorry.”

  With a sigh she pulled her hand into her lap, already resigned to his rejection. “It’s okay. I’ve known for a long time. I had a bad infection when I was young. It left me sterile. I completely understand that you don’t want to—”

  “Did I say that?”

  She looked at his hand, then up at him. “You didn’t have to.”

  His hand reached up, cradled her cheek. “Then allow me to make my position clear. I am not the men who rejected you because of what happened when you were a child.” He leaned in until his lips brushed her ear. “I am the man who is going to make love with you.” She swallowed, and closed her eyes.

  “Kane—”

  “Do you trust me?”

  She opened her eyes, found him waiting for her. She wanted to trust him, believe in him. “I’m not—”

  “I am healthy, and my record is clean. You can trust my word, or say no right now. Though I think that may kill me.” She let out a breathless laugh, then a soft moan as he kissed the tip of her nose, the curve of her cheek. “Please say yes.” He hovered at the corner of her mouth, his breath warm on her skin. “You are a temptation I can’t refuse any longer, Beth. I want to feel you,” he whispered. “I want to be inside you. Skin on skin.”

  Desire flared, and a need so powerful she couldn’t wait another second. She met his lips, and heat shot through her. He lowered her to the bed, the weight of his body on hers like coming home.

  He kissed her with a fevered passion he hadn’t shown before now, as if he’d been holding back, afraid to scare her. He shifted, and she gasped when the tip of his erection pressed into her. She opened for him, already wet. Her body arched up, needing to feel more of him, all of him.

  “Beth—”

  “Please, Jackson—oh, God—” He eased into her. Slow, too slow. She arched higher.

  “Bloody hell—” He pushed her back to the bed, slipped out of her. “You are so tight. I don’t want to hurt you, Beth.”

  She reached for him, already missing the feel of him inside her. “If you stop, I’ll kill you.”

  He laughed. It changed to a low moan as she lifted her hips and took him in. He sank in deeper, still too slow, and she grabbed his hips, urging him down.

  “You are so tight—” He groaned. “Oh, God, Beth—”

  “I won’t break, Kane. I want to feel you, all of you.” He swallowed. Elizabeth couldn’t believe she was ordering a man inside her. Immediately. “Take your time, if you have to. Just not so slow I have heart failure waiting for you to finish.”

  He smiled. “As you wish, love.” He leaned in, whispered against her lips. “I prefer to ease myself into tight spaces.”

  And that was exactly what he did. Elizabeth’s already unsteady breath became sharp gasps as he took the slow route, entering her inch by hot, thick inch. Her body stretched to accommodate him, her fingers clutching the sheet as she fought to keep herself from bucking up. He finally embedded himself completely, and she caught his hips and held him there.

  His warm, heavy body pressed her to the bed, and the exquisite sensation of his hard length inside her, filling her like no man ever had, took her breath away.

  She lost her breath again when Kane started to move. And damn him, he did it slowly, torturing her. He upped the torture by closing his mouth over her breast, his tongue tracing a lazy circle around her nipple, matching his slow rhythm.

  He was driving her crazy. She dug her fingers into his hips, fought to breathe. “Kane—” When his mouth found her other breast, he gently scraped his teeth over her nipple. Heat scorched her, and she arched off the bed. “Oh, God—”

  He kissed his way up her breast, followed the line of her exposed throat, his breath hot on her damp skin. He captured her lips, the kiss wilder, more reckless, his tongue sliding against hers.

  He freed her mouth, his low groan sending shivers through her, and she rocked against him, the pressure, the heat inside her building.

  “Oh, God—Kane—I never—”

  “Let go, Beth.” He brushed his lips over hers, his breath warm as he whispered. “Just let go for me.”

  He pulled out of her almost completely. She tried to follow him, not wanting to lose his heat. With a low chuckle, he paused for an endless second before he slid himself in, slowly. Too slowly. She thrust her hips up, moaning as he sank into her.

  “Kane—”

  “Look at me.” She did, and her breath caught as he eased out, then filled her again. “God help me, you are so beautiful.”

  He kept up the slow rhythm, his gaze on her. Sweat dripped off the ends of his hair. Their bodies slid together, hot and slick. His arms trembled with the effort, and she watched his eyes change as that admirable, infuriating control started to slip.

  He increased the tempo, bless him, and she matched his pace. A hot, throbbing ache built inside her, drew in tighter with every thrust. His lips claimed hers, his kiss almost violent as he took her higher. She gripped the sheet, cried out against his lips as she moved faster. He broke off the kiss, his breathing ragged.

  “God, Beth—I can’t—” He drove himself into her harder, more desperate, until she thought she would burst apart.

  They both gasped for breath, her body straining for release. He finally lost control and thrust himself in, deep and hard. His shuddering release triggered her own, and she came apart in his arms.

  ~ ~ ~

  Elizabeth fought for breath. It wasn’t easy, with Kane sprawled on top of her. She hoped that was the reason she couldn’t move her arms.

  His gasping breath ruffled her sweat damp hair.

  “Kane.” Her whisper barely reached her own ears. She tried again. “Kane.”

  He grunted, pressed his lips to her throat. Heat spread through her. “You taste like flowers,” he whispered.

  “And you’re delirious.” She smiled, utterly, completely relaxed. This wasn’t normal for her. Normal was frustration, and her wondering what all the fuss was about sex.

  She got i
t now.

  Her hand slid over his back. He growled against her throat.

  “You walk on dangerous ground, love.”

  She stilled, afraid she’d overstepped by touching his scars.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It seems,” he lifted his head, slid up her body until his mouth hovered over hers. “That just your touch is enough to arouse.”

  Her eyes widened when she felt him twitch against her leg. “Kane—”

  “Sorry, love. I have no control, with you so warm and soft under me.” His fingers traced a path up her thigh. She shivered—and gasped when he slipped his hand under her hip. He moved until she felt his erection press into her, hard again, and throbbing. “God, you feel so good.”

  She wanted him inside her again. But she let out a harsh breath when she tried to take him in. Her body was sore, and it told her. “Wait.”

  He froze, cursing under his breath. “I’m such a selfish bastard. Forgive me, Beth, I know you must be tender.”

  He started to pull out of her, and she grabbed his hips.

  “Don’t you dare stop.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, love.”

  “And I want you, Kane.” The words she never said to a man before poured out of her. “I want to feel you inside me, to lose myself with you again. I need you, Kane.”

  “Beth—”

  “Make love with me.”

  He groaned, and captured her lips in a desperate kiss as he eased himself inside her. Elizabeth moaned, swollen and sore. But her body reacted instinctively, opened for him, and she fought to breathe as he filled her.

  Before she could catch her breath he started moving inside her, hot and fast. She forgot any discomfort as she met every thrust.

  Her body bowed off the bed when the orgasm hit her, hard and unexpected. He held her in place, drove himself into her. His lips found hers, his kiss as desperate as his need. With a long, low groan he stiffened, and she dug her fingers into his hips as he climaxed. Her body tightened around him, surprised her with a second, uncontrollable orgasm.

  They collapsed to the bed, Kane still throbbing inside her.