“Hunger. That’s what it is.” She gazed at him, all dark hair, dark eyes, dark angles in the secret shadows of the quickening night. Even his voice was a dark murmur as he called her name.
“Domini. Open your mouth for me. I want you to give.” He took her lower lip between his teeth and flicked his tongue over her lip. She leaned into him, closer, wanting more, a deepening tremble whispering of desire.
Luke spread his hands until his thumbs coasted up from the curve of her hips, shaped her waist, and then slowed to measure each quickened breath as he raised them to gently press the sides of her breasts.
“Frightened?”
“Yes. Not of you. The things you make me feel are too powerful, Luke.”
“I know.” His mouth kicked up at the corner. “Scares the hell out of me. I want you so much. You’ve got a body that’ll make a bad man damn proud that he’ll never, ever be good.”
She tilted her head back against his powerful onslaught, willing herself not to panic as he kissed her with a force and passion that overwhelmed her.
Domini didn’t dare let herself think about the step she was taking. She felt as wild and reckless as one of the storms she loved to watch. This time Luke made her feel she was caught in a storm’s center, spinning out of control.
She knew her strength of will was no match for his. If Luke could, he would make love to her and walk away.
They would both lose.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Her fingers caught the back of his head, entwining in the still damp length of his hair. Domini opened her mouth for him, just as she opened her heart.
Luke gathered her closer to the heat of his body. He cupped her buttocks, bringing up against his hard, aching flesh. He rocked against her heavily, making sure she was certain of how much he wanted her. A small whimper escaped her lips, a cry that he stole.
“That’s it, Domini, give yourself to me. Nothing held back.” Open and hungry and demanding, his mouth covered hers again. His hips ground against the cradle of her hips, needing to sheathe himself in her softness.
He loathed his own lack of control. Emotions battered him like the storm he said he would unleash. He wanted her with a passion that blinded him to all else.
But within the desire churned a deep resentment that Domini, with her innocence and trust, dared to make him want, dared to make him feel again.
His fingers clenched the cloth of her gown while he fought not to tear it. She made him wild. His need for her was so intense he thought he would explode from it.
She didn’t fight him, didn’t plead for gentleness. She came to him like a willow to the wind, bending but not breaking.
With a groan Luke tore his mouth from hers and threw his head back. Breaking? Sweet Christ! He didn’t want to break her. And while threads of resentment lingered, he knew he didn’t hate her.
“Luke?” She cupped his cheek, frightened by his withdrawal. She burned and Luke was the only one who could satisfy the passionate need she had learned from him.
It was her soft, trembling whisper of his name that undid him. He wouldn’t allow the word to form in his mind, the one word that encompassed what he felt for her, but he could find the strength to temper his passion.
He hadn’t reckoned on Domini needing more from him.
Her lips brushed against his rigid jaw, scattering kisses that were a healing balm. Her lips glided down the bare, strong column of his neck with sighs of pleasure. Her hands fell to his shoulders with a kitten-like kneading that brought a groan from deep inside him.
Domini pulled back. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.”
The word was clipped and harsh. Domini tilted her head back to gaze up at his face. “Did I do something wrong?”
“The only thing you’re doing wrong is stopping. It’s so wrong that you’ll hurt me. So bad,” he murmured, using his lips, teeth, and tongue to return the pleasure against the smooth, silky length of her throat, “that I don’t think I’ll recover.”
“I’m glad, Luke. I … like touching you.”
“Then touch me. And when you’re done, I’m going to touch you. Like I’ve dreamed about.” He freed her hair from its loose braid and spread the heavy, straight satin thickness down her back.
“Do men like to be touched?”
“Don’t you know?” he caught himself and grinned. “No. How could you? But you will, Domini. Go ahead. Touch me.” He could barely make out the sheen in her eyes, for true night had laid a blanketing cover across the land.
He sensed her hesitancy didn’t come from reluctance but from not knowing where to begin. He didn’t trust himself to lead the way. If he took hold of her hand he was likely to teach her how to caress his violently aroused flesh. A move like that would cheat both of them.
Seeing the tip of her tongue caught between the edges of her teeth, Luke coaxed her again to touch him.
“Wherever you want, Domini. There is no right or wrong way. There’s only what makes you feel good.”
“I thought you didn’t want to be good.”
A teasing grin creased his lips. “Then be bad, Domini. Be as bad as you want.”
He expected shy touches. Once again she surprised him. He even remembered wondering what surprises she held for him. When she eased his shirt off his shoulders Luke stopped thinking. A brush of her fingertips brought the sleeves down and the cloth settled behind him.
Domini let out a deep, shaken breath. She smoothed her hands over the curve of his shoulders. His skin was hot, blazing hot. And she told him so.
“You feel hard and strong. Like a hot, smooth, polished stone that the sun has caressed with its warmth.” She looked up to find his expression intense, night shadows cloaking his eyes.
“But you’re not stone. The Lord made you of flesh and bone and muscle. A pleasure for a woman’s eyes. Even more … so much more of a pleasure for her to touch.”
Her fingertips skimmed the strong length of his arms, then rose to his chest. Domini murmured surprise to find small nubs as hard and tight as her own nipples felt. Luke’s breath hissed out from between his clenched teeth when she kissed first one, then the other.
One hand caught her hair, drawing her head back. He held her away from him for a long moment, then took her mouth. His lips were hot, hot and wet in a kiss of fierce, burning hunger that allowed no shyness, no hesitation, no refusal. He could feel her trembling, or maybe he was the one who shook from the force flooding his body.
Domini surrendered to the mounting passion Luke freed. His widespread palms pressed against her shoulder blades, the small of her back, her hips, her buttocks, molding her body against the length of his, letting her feel the strength of his arms, the tension coiled in his muscles, his hard masculine flesh. Pliant and willing, she pressed against him. Hot and sweet, desire flared through her.
Luke broke off the kiss. His hands retraced their path up her back to thread the thick, silky length of her hair. His breathing was as harsh as her own. Without a word he scooped her up into his arms. Domini closed her eyes as he walked the few steps to the front of the cabin.
“Last chance, Domini,” he said in a whisper.
She kissed his hard, hot chest, then looked up. “You’d let me go? Now?”
“I’d rather use my own knife and peel off strips of skin than let you go.”
“Good. I want you too much to turn back.”
He kicked the door open. The room was dark; only the glimmer of dying coals in the fireplace relieved the blackness. She could barely stand when he set her down. She heard the scrape of his boots and the sound of a bar dropped into place across the door. There truly was no turning back from the risk she was taking.
“This time I won’t open the door for anyone.”
“I d-don’t want you to.”
“Second thoughts now?”
“No.”
Luke went to her, but he didn’t touch her at first. “No?” he repeated,
leaning close to brush his lips against her ear, his voice a breath of sound. “No, you don’t want this after all, Domini? Or no—”
“Luke, please.”
“I want to.” His teeth caught her earlobe gently, the tiny pressure shivering through her with pleasure. He backed off, the only sound their harsh breathing and the slide of leather from his belt. She had forgotten his knife and heard the thud of it falling with the belt on the wood plank floor. Minutes later, his boots followed.
“How many ways can I tell you yes, Luke? I came to you. I’ve told you that I want you. I—”
“You can show me, Domini. Show me how much you want me.”
Domini didn’t realize that she had backed up until the edge of the footboard stopped her. Luke came closer and she sidestepped as he caught her shoulders and bore her down to the bed behind her, following her down on the mattress, covering her with his strong, hard body.
This is Luke, she told herself, feeling the first wave of panic. Luke who’s scattering sweet, heated kisses across your face. Luke whose body you’re touching.
He rolled to his side, looming above her, his hand resting on her hip. “What’s wrong?”
“Will you be gentle with me, Luke?”
“I don’t know if I can. I’ve never been any woman’s first lover before you. An’ I’ve never wanted any woman the way that I want you.”
“I trust you, Luke.” To prove to him that she did, Domini didn’t hesitate before hiking up the skirt of her gown, the move taking her petticoats with it. Freeing her other hand, she untied the knife sheath from her thigh.
“Here,” she said, holding it out to him.
He took the sheathed weapon from her trembling hand, knowing the cost to her. This weapon was her protection, and giving it to him made her totally vulnerable to him. Trust. This was another measure of her trust in him.
Solemnly he leaned over and placed it on the floor, then turned back to her. “You won’t ever need that again. Not with me. Not as long as I’m around.”
To silence her question of how long that would be, she reached for him, drawing him down to her waiting lips, to a body flushed with passion as he settled his weight to her side.
Gentleness demanded a high price from him. His body was tense and seething with need, but he forced himself to open the buttons of her gown slowly, to kiss each bit of flesh he revealed.
Gentleness brought him rewards. Domini arching up the moment he lifted his head, her soft murmured plea for more a song of desire he silently echoed.
“I’ve undressed you in my mind more times than I want to remember.” He slid the sleeves of her gown down her arms, trailing his lips behind. Her hands tangled with his in her need to touch him, and together they rolled to the side and back. Luke tossed the gown aside. With his fingertip he traced the edge of her camisole.
“You’re so soft, Domini.”
“And you sound so surprised, Luke.”
He wasn’t sure if she could see his grin in the dark. “I am. I never gave much thought about a woman’s body being more than a way to slake a need. But with you…” Words failed him. He kissed the skin above the ribboned edge. Using his teeth he pulled the end of the ribbon until the bow was undone. Watching her, he hooked his finger into the first ribbon cross to work it loose.
The tug of his finger on the laces pulled her camisole lightly against her swollen breasts. Each small tug of cloth sent heat currents from the aching peaks of her breasts to her stomach, her thighs and knees. Restlessly she stirred beneath him. She moaned with the ply of his fingers brushing the valley between her breasts. Again and again he repeated the sensual caress, until Domini thought she would go mad from the fever flushing her.
When he was done, he slid the soft cotton cloth back to reveal her breasts, then tugged the ties of her petticoats free.
His hands touching her were gentle, and he watched her as the rough texture of his work-hardened palms covered her breasts. Her eyes closed briefly, and a breath of need escaped her throat as the first intimate touches released a flood of sensation. His thumbs barely brushed the sensitive, hardened peaks, and she arched upward, crying out his name.
Domini tried to unclench her hands from the blanket beneath them and couldn’t let go. Her stomach muscles were taut with anticipation as he peeled away the rest of her clothing. Luke’s hands were trembling against her bare flesh, and he dragged in hard, shuddering breaths when she lay naked. Domini fought not to cover herself from his gaze. She ached and felt her body swell with desire. His rough fingertips grazed her skin with light touches that did nothing to ease the tension holding her; if anything, the pleasure intensified.
One hand slid beneath her back as Luke bent his head. He felt the wild shivering that ran through her, tightening the nipple that nuzzled against his lips. Her hands rose to his shoulders. His tongue flicked out, circled her, drew her into the heat of his mouth until her breath broke and her fingers were digging hard into his skin. She cried out again when he closed his teeth over her with exquisite care, her body twisting slowly as the wild passion matching his own sang free.
He ached to tangle his fingers in the black silk that hid sleek depths, longing to know if she wanted him as much as he wanted her, needed as much as he needed to join their bodies. Her hips were moving with the same rhythms of his mouth on her breast, her legs shifting restlessly against his.
He wanted to taste every bit of the golden skin he had dreamed of until he woke sweating from fevered heat. But Domini was reaching out, touching him, her fingers trembling as she stroked the taut muscles of his stomach. He caught his breath when she hesitated, and then he pressed his hand over hers, dragging it down, covering the hard masculine flesh even soft denim couldn’t hide.
She tried to jerk her hand away.
Luke held her tightly. “You wanted to touch me, Domini. That’s part of me, too. And where I want your touch most of all.”
She was shocked by the shape and size of him. But when he moaned deeply and arched against her hand, Domini was tantalized by the thought that she could give him the same pleasure his caresses had brought to her. The heat of his lips, the light sting of his teeth grazing her shoulder, sent heat flooding her. She rubbed her cheek against the damp skin of his chest, trying to still the shaking in her hands as she sought to open the buttons on his pants.
She returned the same open-mouthed kisses, his skin as hot and damp as her own. She freed one button, but the pressure of his hard flesh against the buttons made it almost impossible for her clumsy fingers to open them.
Luke fought the temptation to strip off his pants. He rolled over on top of her, kissing her senseless, fighting for control, so afraid that the hunger of his body would make him hurt her. He wanted her too wrapped in passion to feel fear, too fevered to fight him when he claimed her as his.
Domini felt as if she were a helpless pool of need and want. He kissed every thought from her mind but him. Nothing existed but the hard body covering hers, the heat of him pressed between her spread legs, his hands taking his weight as he loomed above her.
He was gone for long moments, stripping off his pants, and she closed her eyes, suddenly feeling shy to look at him.
“Open your eyes, Domini,” he whispered as he stretched out over her. “I want to see you when I make you mine.”
He lowered his body to hers slowly, savoring the feel of his hot, damp, naked skin on hers. He could feel every beat of her wild pulse. It echoed his own. Every quiver of excited pleasure that coursed over her caressed him.
His kiss was wild, possessive, and demanding. Domini’s answer was no less. She twisted beneath him, stroking the length of his back, feeling the tension riding his body increase. She was lost in the scent and taste of Luke. The weight of his body both eased and fed the need that spiraled through her. Her tongue dueled with his. She spread her legs beneath him, lifting her hips, wanton as she rubbed against him.
“Christ! You’ll burn me
alive, Domini.”
“Yes. That’s what you’re doing to me.”
He touched her then. Stroking her until her body drew taut, her cry a plea mixed with his name as her head was flung back and she opened to him. He had never felt as male, as powerful as he did now, with Domini sobbing his name as she convulsed against him.
He lifted her against him and came up against her damp tightness. He wanted to take her slowly. He wanted to be tender. Pressing into her, feeling the sleek heat begin to give way, yielding to him a little at a time, Luke knew he couldn’t give her what he wanted. He was too hot. Too hard. It seemed he had wanted her forever.
Her fingers bit into his arm. She tensed against the pain. There had to be pain before there was pleasure. Someone had told her that. Tossing her head from side to side, she could feel how tense she was. He was so still and she couldn’t stand the waiting.
“Luke, please…”
He bent as if to take her lips, only his teeth caught her earlobe. He bit down hard as he thrust through the fragile barrier.
His tongue soothed her earlobe, his murmurs lost in her cry as he sank into her, heavy and hard and deep, filling her with his strength, stretching her until she denied him, then showed her she could take more. She clutched him tightly, their bodies slippery with sweat, and he pulled her legs around him as he pushed into her, slamming her against the mattress until the rope springs were strained. His mouth claimed hers, his tongue delving in the same demanding rhythm as his body, as he filled her again, and again.
She clung to him, his name a litany of need and demand. Domini clamped her thighs to his powerful hips as he brought her more pleasure than she had ever believed in. She was frightened of the tightness that held her, more savagely than Luke’s surging thrusts.
“Come to me, Domini. You can’t hold back,” he whispered as the tremors began for her.
“No. It’s … oh, God, Luke…”
“I know. Christ, I know.” But he didn’t stop, there was no mercy in him, no pity to let her retreat. He breathed her name, drunk on the power of what she made him feel, and drove deeper inside her. He let go of all constraint, his thrusts deeper, uncontrolled, his only thought to take possession of every bit of her.
Whisper My Name Page 20
