by Carol Finch
“You’re right. And you should be,” he agreed with a husky chuckle. “You’re entirely too brazen to suit a proper gentleman. Lucky for you that I’m not one. I also work cheap.” His eyes twinkled with amusement. “Being the businesswoman you are, you should appreciate the good deal you’re getting.”
Maddie swore she’d fallen in love with Jonah all over again when he allowed her to see the playful side of his personality that he’d concealed from the world. The last of her awkwardness and apprehension fell away when he propped himself up on his forearms and made a thorough study of her.
“And, by the way,” he said huskily, “I don’t want to hear any more of that nonsense about you not being appealing. You’re beautiful, Maddie. Breathtaking is nearer the mark.” His hand glided down her collarbone, then swirled over her breasts before circling her navel. “Better decide right this minute if this truly is what you want, princess, because I’ve about used up the last of my restraint.”
“Right now, I can think of nothing I want more,” she said with a satisfied sigh. “All I want and need is you.”
Chapter Nine
Her body trembled in response to his featherlike touch and she swore she was about to melt bonelessly into the mattress. The emotional turmoil of the day drifted into oblivion as she focused absolute attention on the man who hovered over her, appraising her as if she were a priceless work of art. He made her feel incredibly desirable with just one heated glance, made her ache with each sweeping caress of his hand.
“Ah, Jonah…” Her breath hitched when he pulled the chemise over her head, then skimmed his warm lips over her beaded nipples.
When he took one sensitive bud into his mouth and suckled her, tingling sensations rippled through her. Maddie arched instinctively toward him as another fiery blast of pleasure sizzled through her body and burned into her very core. Impulsively she reached up to brush her fingertips over his muscled chest, but he grabbed her wandering hand.
“Not yet, princess,” he whispered against her skin. “Don’t distract me. I’m going to ensure you get everything you’re paying for tonight.”
“I asked you to teach me to please you,” she reminded him with a shaky breath.
She felt him smile against the quivering flesh of her belly. “You are pleasing me. Touching you pleases me immensely. Now hush while I concentrate on making a thorough study of everything about you that bewitches me.”
Maddie sucked in a ragged breath and dug her nails into the sheet as his hands and lips whispered over her flesh, igniting such white-hot pleasure that she moaned aloud. He divested her of her pantaloons, then flicked his tongue against her navel. The palm of his hand skimmed her nipples as his lips drifted over her abdomen.
“Jonah, please…” she murmured, unsure what she wanted from him. What could possibly appease this burning ache that pulsated in rhythm with her accelerated heartbeat?
“Not enough?” he taunted playfully as his questing hands brushed from her knees to her inner thighs. “Daredevil that you are, I’m not surprised. You want more?”
“Yes…” Her voice dried up on that shameless admission when his warm lips followed the titillating path of his hands. He sensitized every inch of her flesh and left her quivering in helpless response. The powerful undercurrent of desire he aroused dragged her into its hypnotic depths and left her shimmering with unrivaled pleasure. “Oh, my…”
Jonah brushed his free hand over the nest of curls between her thighs and felt hungry need clench inside him. When he glided his thumb over her softest, most sensitive flesh, he found her hot and wet, and he nearly lost it. She was like silky flames scorching his fingertips. Aching desire rocketed through him and exploded like fireworks.
He’d never devoted so much time and attention to a woman, but it seemed vital and necessary to discover how and where Maddie liked to be touched. He delighted in every muffled sound that he summoned from her, and he wanted to hear more, wanted to fill his senses with the taste and feel of this beguiling woman who had captivated him against his will.
When he dipped his finger inside her moist heat he felt her shudder in uncontrollable reaction. His own pleasure intensified tenfold as he stroked her intimately, and he heard her whisper his name with a ragged breath. She clutched at his arm, her nails unintentionally scoring the mending wound on his shoulder, but he didn’t care. There wasn’t enough pain in this world to override the masculine satisfaction he experienced when he made her luscious body burn with desperate need for him.
He shifted above her, nudging her thighs apart with his elbows, then glanced up her shapely body to see those amber eyes aflame with desire. He committed her expression to memory before he lowered his head to flick at her sultry flesh with the tip of his tongue. Her breath unraveled as he offered her the most intimate of kisses and caressed her gently with his thumb and fingertip.
Suddenly her body contracted around his gliding hands and lips, and he felt her wild release echoing through him. Urgent need—so intense that he shook with it—nearly overwhelmed him. But Jonah denied himself so he could bring her slowly to climax again. His name was an incessant chant on her lips as he imitated his most fervent desire with the thrust of his tongue and fingertip.
And this time, when she came apart beneath his intimate caresses, he reached down to unfasten his breeches, then tossed them aside. He was more than ready and willing to be there for her at the moment she wanted him most.
Maddie was so desperate for him that she closed her fingers around his rigid length to guide him to that place deep inside her that burned with fiery need. He had teased and tormented her almost beyond bearing, and the empty ache he left burgeoning inside her demanded to be filled. She understood exactly what she had craved earlier—what she now needed madly, obsessively. He had aroused her to the point that she wanted him more than life itself, more than she wanted air to breathe. She needed to feel him inside her, needed to be flesh to flesh with him—right this very instant. In another moment the tormenting pleasure he aroused was going to be the death of her, she was sure of it.
His powerful body surged over hers and he settled exactly upon her. Nothing could have prepared her for the impact of delicious sensations that pummeled her as he braced himself on his muscled arms and moved gently, tentatively against her.
And that drove her crazy. He was trying to be too careful with her, and she was impatient to ease the wild ache that burned for him. He was intimately close, but he was still too unbearably far away to appease her.
“Not enough,” she choked out as ardent need shook her.
His startled gaze dropped to her face and he stopped dead still, the muscles of his arms bulging as he hovered over her.
“Don’t you dare hold out on me, Jonah,” she demanded as she arched upward, urging him deeper. “I want all you have to give and I’ll accept nothing less.”
A scampish grin spread across his shadowed face, showing a flash of white teeth. “Insist on your money’s worth, do you?” His playfulness faded and a tender expression softened his rugged features. “I was trying not to hurt you, princess. You should be thanking me.”
“Well, I’m not grateful. I’m on fire and you’re the one who started it. Now finish this before I die of unfulfilled torment.”
Maddie grabbed a handful of his raven hair and dragged his head to hers. She kissed him demandingly, possessively, then gyrated her hips against his in a provocative plea for more.
Jonah decided he had unintentionally offended Maddie by treating her as if she were made of fragile crystal. Princess or not, the lady knew what she wanted and how she wanted it. He gladly accommodated her, because holding himself at bay was taking its toll.
He thrust deeply into her and felt the fragile barrier give way. But Maddie didn’t cry out. Didn’t so much as whimper or flinch. She held on to him as if she never meant to let go, wrapped those sleek, well-toned legs around his waist, clenched her thighs against his hips and moved with him in perfect rhythm.
That was so like his Maddie, he thought as raging pleasure streamed through him like a flash flood. Nothing timid or hesitant about her. She met him thrust for urgent thrust and nipped at his shoulder as he drove into her with no restraint whatsoever.
He was caught up in the tumultuous conflagration of passion that exploded around him. White-hot flames scorched him inside and out. Fiery need blazed hotter until it consumed him completely. His thoughts went up in smoke as immeasurable pleasure expanded, at such a phenomenal rate that he feared he would combust.
Windswept waves of heat crashed over him and he plummeted through time and space like a meteor blazing a path to its own flaming destruction. His body shuddered repeatedly in the aftermath of unbelievable passion.
It was like nothing he had ever experienced or could have possibly imagined.
Gasping for breath, Jonah wrapped Maddie possessively in his arms and held her against his thudding heart as the last of his strength and energy deserted him. Sweet mercy, he thought as he struggled to regather his scattered senses. No one had ever demanded so much from him, and he had never given of himself so freely before. This was something so far beyond sexual satisfaction that Jonah couldn’t identify all the mind-boggling sensations and tangled emotions that rumbled inside him.
And that rattled him beyond measure.
When Maddie stirred beneath him, Jonah willed himself to ease down beside her, but she grabbed hold of his bare hips and held him in place. Another startling, indescribable sensation rippled through him when she pressed a feathery kiss to his shoulder and sighed in satisfaction.
Damn, sharing forbidden passion with Maddie must have turned him into a sentimental sap. He felt a goofy grin quirk the corners of his mouth as unparalleled contentment settled over him.
“Well worth the cost,” she murmured, her raspy voice whispering against his neck.
He lifted his disheveled head and found her smiling impishly at him. Jonah committed that endearing expression to memory, too. In the years to come he wanted to reflect on this remarkable night and remember everything she’d said and how she’d looked when they surrendered to a wildfire of ineffable desire.
“Thanks, princess.” He pressed his lips to her kiss-swollen mouth, finding that he wasn’t in his usual rush to get up and dress before making a hasty departure.
“Jonah, I—” She clamped her mouth shut, then smiled again.
“You what?” he prompted, but she shook her head, sending a tangle of riotous curls over his forearm.
“Nothing important.”
He didn’t press her for an answer, just dropped another kiss to her dewy lips. When she moved sensuously against him and wrapped both arms around his neck, he felt his male body stirring inside her. He marveled at her amazing ability to arouse him so soon after he swore she had worn him out completely.
“If I have only this one night with you, then I don’t intend to waste time sleeping,” she assured him as her hands glided down his back to caress his hips. “I want more….”
Jonah didn’t deny her. Couldn’t. Not when her lush body called to his and hungry need pelted him all over again. As they moved together as one, Jonah lost the ability to process thought and he soared off into a maelstrom of pleasure. He proved to himself once again that for all his tested strengths, he had one great weakness—his passion for Maddie.
And later, while they lay spent in each other arms, another corner of his hardened heart crumbled to pieces when she reached out to trace the curve of his mouth, his cheek and his chin, and then said, “You please me immensely.”
Jonah trailed his forefinger over the gold band on her finger, then brushed one last kiss over her lips. She snuggled up against him as if that was where she belonged, and drifted off to sleep. Jonah draped a protective arm around her and tucked her head beneath his chin.
He could get used to this if he wasn’t careful, he mused as he closed his eyes. But he wouldn’t allow himself that luxury, because therein lay torment. This was the only night he’d ever spend with Maddie—and it was definitely one more than he should have spent with her. But at least he had treasured memories to cherish until the end of his days.
Maddie awoke the next morning to find Jonah gone. It was better this way, she assured herself. No tearful goodbyes to give her feelings away. She glanced sideways to see one of his pistols lying on the nightstand, although the rest of his gear was gone. Lost in erotic memories of the most incredible night imaginable, Maddie pushed herself upright. She plucked up the clothes that Jonah had thoughtfully draped over the edge of the bed….
Thoughtfully? She smiled in affectionate amusement. Hard-bitten though Jonah Danhill appeared on the outside, he had a tender streak. She’d seen plenty of evidence of his attentiveness and consideration the past few days—and last night.
Wincing at the unfamiliar tenderness between her thighs, Maddie walked over to pour water into the basin and wash her face. An impish smile pursed her lips when another round of erotic memories assailed her. She still couldn’t believe she’d been so bold and demanding with Jonah. The man obviously brought out her most brazen characteristics. Heavens, the things she had said to him. The things they had done in the heat of mindless passion!
Maddie splashed more cold water on her pulsing face and forced herself to concentrate on the matter at hand. She needed to mount her horse and gallop home to receive updates on the activities that had transpired during her absence. She hoped she didn’t have to contend with the loss of more livestock to rustlers. But no matter what the losses, she needed to concentrate on delivering the ransom to the specified location so she could get her sister back—and she damn well better get Chrissy back in the same condition she’d left in! Maddie vowed not to rest until those who were responsible for this hellish nightmare received their comeuppance.
With one last wistful glance toward the bed, she headed for the door. She had lived out her secret fantasy with Jonah, and she accepted the fact that he had walked out of her life. It wasn’t what she wanted, but the past six months had taught her that Fate wasn’t always fair.
She would do what needed to be done. Only in private moments would she look back and remember the night Jonah had introduced her to pleasure beyond description. Their splendorous tryst had launched into oblivion the maddening ordeals she’d encountered. She had needed that desperately. Now she had to focus on her responsibilities and concerns for her sister.
No regrets, Maddie told herself resolutely. She had turned to Jonah for strength, comfort and passion, and he had done likewise in a moment out of time. They had taken pleasure in each other after they had run the entire gamut of emotion the previous day.
Maddie was thankful she’d had the good sense to close her mouth before she had blurted out her affection for Jonah. He hadn’t wanted personal involvement, after all. She had no intention of making him feel guilty because he couldn’t return her love.
No, it was better that she’d kept her feelings to herself, she mused as she descended the steps to the empty saloon. Her affection, and the intimacy she’d shared with Jonah, was private and personal. She would keep it that way. As much as she might wish otherwise, what was between them was over. Done, Maddie told herself sensibly.
Starting now, her only purpose in life was to retrieve Chrissy and ensure nothing like this ever happened again.
Jonah watched Maddie’s whiskey-colored eyes widen in surprise when she veered from the saloon and saw him leaning against the hitching post in front of the hotel. A wry smile twitched his lips as a becoming blush suffused her face. No doubt she was instantly reminded of the intimacy between them. That made two of them.
“You’re still here?” Maddie said, astonished, as Jonah handed her the satchel she had left in her hotel room.
“Yup, so’s Boone. He’ll be along any moment. We’ve decided to come with you.”
Her hands stalled in the task of tying the satchel behind her saddle. Her gaze riveted on him. “But you said—”
&nb
sp; “I know what I said,” he interrupted. “Changed my mind.”
“You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
When an impish grin slid across her lush mouth, Jonah nearly groaned aloud. The expression was exactly like the one he’d seen last night when he’d glanced down at her—while they were as close as two people could get.
His body hardened instantly at the provocative memory.
“This new development with Avery and your two friends aroused my suspicions,” Jonah informed her. “I’ve decided to check it out.”
Maddie nodded as she pulled herself onto the mare and settled her skirts modestly around her legs. She glanced sideways to see Boone approaching, and she tossed him a smile.
“Morning, paleface. Sleep well?” Boone asked.
When Maddie blushed seven shades of red, Boone’s perceptive gaze landed squarely on Jonah and locked there for a long moment. Feeling awkward and ill at ease, Jonah mounted up and headed west. He heard Boone’s amused chuckle following him down the street.
Damn, sharing intimate glances with Maddie was awkward enough without Boone knowing what had happened between them. Soon as he got his ornery Kiowa cousin alone he was going to lay down the law before Boone embarrassed Maddie. These newfound feelings of possessiveness and protectiveness wouldn’t permit him to let her suffer humiliation.
“See anything of Gibbs and Newton?” Jonah asked Boone a mile later.
“No, but then I was preoccupied for part of the evening,” Boone said, casting Jonah a wry glance. “I did see Selmon and Lewis this morning. They’d passed out in the alley behind one of the saloons. The only thing I could get out of either of them was that they’d gotten paid in whiskey money for their efforts to overtake Maddie. From what I saw they drank all their profit last night.”
“I will be tremendously relieved to deliver the ransom money,” Maddie insisted as she trotted toward home. “No one will be able to take it away from me now and I’ll have my sister home again.”
