Taste of Passion (Madaris Novels)

by Brenda Jackson

  I love you, Mac,

  Luke

  Each time she’d read it she had felt a tingling sensation run all through her. “I told you that Luke’s coming for a visit this weekend,” she said, and knew she couldn’t contain the happiness or the excitement in her voice.

  “Okay, that explains the smile,” Peyton said, grinning. “But what’s the reason for all the flowers?”

  She inhaled deeply as an even bigger smile touched her lips. “Just because.”

  She knew the reason was a lot more than that but she wasn’t ready to share anything in depth about her and Luke’s relationship just yet. She was still rocking and reeling at the possibility that he did love her. The thought of something so wonderful made her giddy. He had also called her twice during the week and just the sound of his voice had been so uplifting.

  “All right, if you want to keep secrets about Mr. Hunk, then fine. Maybe you can bring us up to date on Whitedyer and Coroni and whether the police are closer to finding out who’s responsible for messing up your office and poisoning those cattle.”

  Mackenzie frowned. The entire issue was still a sore point with her. When it came to Whitedyer and Coroni, she wasn’t sure who had been the victor. At present both sides seemed satisfied with the turn of events. She had spoken to Detective Adams yesterday and he’d informed her that the authorities were still on top of things and had discovered that the tire tracks that had been near the corral matched the ones found near her demolished brick mailbox. But so far they had no proof that would link Whitedyer to any of the harassing incidents involving her. They were, however, checking out the possibility that as a cover, Perkins may have deliberately set up Whitedyer to appear as the party responsible.

  “Nothing really, other than the linking of those two sets of tire tracks. There haven’t been any strong leads to connect Whitedyer to any of those incidents, but Detective Adams has promised not to give up. He still thinks there’s something being overlooked.”

  Later that evening after eating a microwaved potpie and going over ranch business with Theo, Mackenzie took a shower and then changed into a pair of short PJs that had been a gift from Peyton for Christmas. Luke was supposed to arrive in the morning, and she was trying not to dwell on it too much, despite the anticipation she felt.

  He had said they were going to talk, and she agreed that that was something they needed to do. But he hadn’t been playing fair by sending the flowers. Okay, the ones he’d given to her on Saturday night at Whispering Pines were appreciated. The others that followed, as well as the cards that accompanied them, were meant to break down her defenses and get her thinking. And they had.

  What if she had been elevated to the number one spot in his life? What if he loved her as much as she loved him? The thought of that made a warm feeling envelop her. She had darkened the house and was curled up in bed with a book when she heard a knock on her door. She wondered if Theo was coming to tell her something was wrong. Ever since the cattle had been poisoned, Jake had arranged for his men to guard the ranch twenty-four/seven.

  She eased out of bed and slipped into her robe. Turning on the porch light, she looked out the peephole and her breath caught. Standing beyond her door was one mind-numbing, ultrasexy male. She couldn’t stop her body from responding to him or keep the heart she’d long ago declared as his from pounding furiously in her chest.

  He was leaning against her porch rail wearing a pair of jeans and a light-colored shirt. And as if he was aware that she was looking at him through the peephole, he tilted back his Stetson and gave her one heart-stopping smile.

  “Oh, mercy,” she whispered through moist lips and had to struggle hard to remind herself he was there because he wanted them to talk. But then another part of her remembered the card he’d sent with each floral bouquet. What the words on those cards had said.

  Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door and opened it. When her eyes met his, she fought the feeling of her limbs melting, and tried to ignore the sensations flowing through every part of her. She then forced herself to speak. “Luke. I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

  If he had been looking for one defining moment to confirm what his heart had already validated, then this would be it, Luke thought, as he stared at Mackenzie. She stood there, more than just a vision of loveliness. She was the epitome of any man’s dream, the personification of beauty at its purest and the embodiment of his future. Every single thing about her exemplified what a man could possibly want in a woman.

  And she was his.

  He would convince her of that only after making her believe how much he loved her and how much he wanted her in his life. “I finished all my practice sessions early and thought I’d head straight here.”

  There was no need to tell her that after leaving Wyoming he’d had taken two connecting flights, as well as driven another hundred miles by rental car, to reach her. He felt bone-tired but he would do so again, and again, if it meant looking into her face like he was doing now. “I hope you don’t mind my early arrival.”

  “No, I don’t mind,” she said, taking a step back and flashing him what was meant to be a smile. After entering her home and closing the door behind him, Luke had to restrain himself from reaching out and grabbing her. The awkward silence that enveloped the room had stopped him. Besides, he knew they needed to talk.

  “You’re ready for bed. Are you up to talking now? If not, we can—”

  “No,” she said quickly. “We can talk.” She crossed the room to sit down on the sofa and then looked over at him.

  Inhaling deeply, he moved to sit in the chair, noticing the flowers he had sent her that week. All three bouquets seemed to brighten the room and provided a nice floral fragrance. But nothing, he thought, letting his gaze drift across the room to where Mackenzie was sitting on the sofa with her legs curled beneath her, brightened a room more than she did. She looked totally breathtaking sitting there in her pink robe, and he was entranced by every little detail about her. From the pear-shaped birthmark on the back of her left hand that he could see, to the little pencil-point mole located at the base of her inner thigh that he couldn’t see, but remembered very well. He had definitely developed a taste for the finer things in life. In other words, he had definitely developed a taste for her.

  When he saw her watching him expectantly, he knew it was time to have his say. And he hoped she would believe him. “I’d heard some years ago that a Madaris man would know the woman for him when he saw her. That night I saw you at the Brothers’ Auction, I felt uneasy. Syneda had schooled us all week about what we were supposed to do. Walk out on stage and capture the attention of every woman there.”

  A smile touched the corners of his lips. “I walked out on stage, met your gaze, and became the one captured instead,” he said. “I knew what my plans in life were and that I had yet to achieve a number of them, so I dismissed the possibility that you were the one. I was attracted to you and that was far as I would allow my mind to go.”

  He paused a moment then added, “Even after we’d made love that first time, I kept fighting the thought, the very idea that you were beginning to mean something to me.”

  “When did you start thinking differently?” she asked.

  He smiled. That was easy enough to remember. “After leaving here that day heading out for L.A. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, dreaming of you, missing you, and wanting you. And then Blade pissed me off by insinuating that Wyatt and Tanner would be hitting on you at QT’s party. That set me off big-time, made me see red, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. Then I couldn’t deny my feelings any longer and had to admit to myself that you meant a lot to me. You meant everything and I couldn’t, I wouldn’t, risk losing you to another man for failing to acknowledge how I truly felt.”

  He breathed in deeply before getting out of the chair and walking across the room to her. She scooted over and made room for him on the couch as he sat down. “I can understand, considering what I told you that day, why y
ou don’t want to believe me,” he said. “I’d done a pretty good job of convincing you that there could never be anything between us and that there was no way I could ever love you or any woman.”

  He took her hand in his. “But the truth of the matter is that I do love you, Mac.”

  A smile touched the corners of his lips. A dimple appeared right center. “I won’t lie and say I didn’t fight the feelings all the way, because I did. I didn’t want to love you. I didn’t want to love any woman. I just wanted to be a rodeo star. A wife, kids, home, picket fence, and all that stuff could come later. I was determined to compete with Blade for the oldest Madaris bachelor position. But things weren’t destined to be that way for me. Now I do want a wife and more than once I’ve imagined you pregnant with my baby. After I regain the title I’d like to come back here and open a rodeo school and give other youths who have dreams and aspirations of one day performing in the rodeo the opportunity that Jake and Blaylock gave me by teaching me at an early age how to handle a horse and steer.”

  His lips curved and then he said, “You said it was all about possession for me, and in a way you’re absolutely right. I can’t imagine you with anyone but me. I couldn’t tolerate you with anyone but me. I want you and I love you. And I will do anything and everything it takes to make you mine.”

  Mackenzie looked into Luke’s eyes and felt an emotion flowing between them that she had never felt before. And then, without a shadow of doubt, in her heart she knew. Immense joy filled that same heart as, fighting tears, she whispered, “I’m already yours, Luke, and I’ve been yours since the first night I saw you. I knew then that you were unlike any other man I’ve known. But like you, I fought the very idea that it was more than a physical attraction between us. That night when you looked at me, I knew you were seeing the real me, the one very few people see or take time to get to know. It was as if you were staring deep into my very soul.”

  She looked down at their joined hands. “I fought my feelings for you, too, but when you came here to recuperate, I had to face them all over again.”

  She looked up at him and a smile touched the corners of her mouth as she said, “It was then that I admitted to myself what I’d denied over the past five years. That I loved you. And when we made love, I knew within my heart then but was willing to settle for just those stolen moments.”

  Luke raised her hands to his lips and kissed the knuckles before saying, “I’m not willing to settle for a few stolen moments. I want it all. You. The rodeo. Everything. And I believe I can have everything. It will be a challenge but I can’t and won’t give you up, Mac. I want to marry you, be with you forever. Father your babies. Make a home for us. Here. Or Houston. It doesn’t matter as long we’re together.”

  At that moment it took great effort for Mackenzie to breathe. Was he saying what she thought he was? Her heart soared at the very thought. For clarification, she asked, “What are you saying, Luke?”

  He looked deep into her eyes. “I’m asking you to believe in me. To believe in us. And to plan a future together by saying that you will be mine for life.”

  He eased off the sofa and onto the floor before her on a bended knee and asked, “Will you marry me, Mac, and do that?”

  Mackenzie fought the tears that threatened. Her hold on his hand tightened as she stared into the depths of his dark eyes. She drew in a shaky breath and then said, “Yes, I will marry you, Luke.”

  And then she felt him sliding something onto her finger and glanced down. Her breath caught when she saw the beautiful diamond ring he had placed on her hand.

  “I brought this with me, hoping you believe the words from my heart, Mac. By consenting to be my wife, you have made me a very happy man.”

  Mackenzie couldn’t stop the tears. She wanted to say that, in turn, he had made her a very happy woman, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, she leaned down toward his lips the moment he tilted his head up toward hers. Their mouths connected and she felt the contact all the way to her toes. They were sealing his proposal, their agreement to become one in heart, body, and soul.

  And then with their mouths still joined, he eased to his feet and pulled her up off the sofa with him, molding their bodies together as their tongues mated hungrily.

  She gasped when he swept her off her feet into his arms. “Luke, put me down! Have you forgotten your injuries? You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  He smiled down at her, taking in the fullness of the lips he had just thoroughly kissed. “My injuries are fine and I’m about to do what I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Carry you to the bedroom.”

  And he did just that, moving through the house at a slow pace until he reached her bedroom, then crossing the room and placing her on the bed. He stood back and stared at her, feeling a fullness in his heart. What he’d told her earlier was true. He could imagine her stomach swollen with his child. A child that would grow up bathed in their love.

  “Strip for me, Mac,” he said, his focus trained directly on her.

  She smiled. “If I strip for you will you do the same for me?”

  He chuckled. “Gladly.”

  “All right then, cowboy. Get ready to take your boots off.”

  Easing up on the bed, she proceeded to remove her robe to reveal the silk short PJs underneath. She tortured him somewhat when she slowly began unbuttoning her top, revealing just a little portion at a time of creamy skin.

  “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he asked when she finally tossed aside her top, showing perfectly shaped twin mounds.

  “I’m just giving you what you asked for,” she said, shifting her body to remove her shorts. It took only a moment and she smiled when she had accomplished the task, leaving her completely naked. She glanced over at him. “Now it’s your turn.” She found a comfortable spot on the bed to watch, lying flat on her stomach and resting her chin on her elbows.

  He chuckled, bending down to remove his boots and placing them aside. “I don’t intend to waste plenty of time like you did,” he said, straightening and then nearly tearing his shirt from his body, sending buttons flying.

  She laughed. “I guess you have another one of those shirts.”

  “Yeah, in the rental car outside.” And then he went to his belt buckle and slid if off before easing the jeans zipper down. He smiled over at her. “I’ve been thinking of you a lot since QT’s party. You don’t know how much I want you, Mac.”

  She heard an intensity in his voice that sent heat flooding through her, weakening her limbs. “And I want you, too, Luke. So come here.”

  He had taken off his last stitch of clothing when she’d made that demand and he walked naked over to her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her like a man determined to make her his.

  His to love, protect, and cherish.

  She was his future, a future he was no longer hesitant to face. “I love you,” he whispered as he tumbled her onto her back and followed her down into the soft covers. Those were three words he hadn’t thought he would ever say to any woman, but he was saying them to her. And he intended to worship the body that was hers . . . and now his.

  Starting at the base of her throat, he took his time as his mouth moved all over her, reacquainting his tongue with the smoothness of her skin, the texture and taste. Driven by the love he felt in his heart, he gave unwavering attention to the twin mounds of her breasts, taking the nipples in his mouth, cherishing them, loving them with his tongue and creating a level and a degree of heat within her that had her unable to stay still.

  “Like that?” he asked softly as his mouth began moving lower.

  “Yes, but only because I love you.”

  Her words sparked the flame inside him even higher, and when he settled between her legs and placed his mouth on the swollen and wet area between her thighs he heard her let out a deep moan.

  He held her thighs to keep her from moving as he loved her this way, using his tongue to drive her to mindless pleasure. And when he felt her body shudder, a whirlp
ool of sensations flooded through him and he knew he had to join his body with hers. Now.

  He shifted positions and eased his body over hers, settling between her spread legs, leaning down and kissing her at the same time he entered her body in one, deep powerful thrust.

  “Luke!”

  The moment he was inside, fully embedded within her, he felt her feminine muscles clamp him tight. Let go and then clamp him again. And that’s when he lost what little control he still had. He wanted her with a hunger that overwhelmed him and it showed in the way he began mating with her, thrusting in and out of her body, tilting her hips at an angle to take even more of him, as she fluidly moved her body to receive each and every stroke.

  And then an explosion hit and he felt his entire body shattering at the same time her nails dug deep into his back and she screamed out his name.

  His name.

  And when he thrust hard one last time the world surrounding them ceased to exist. It was as if they were suddenly plucked from this place and transported to another, where they were dipped in a sea of earth-shattering ecstasy, searing passion, and fulfilled desire.

  At that moment nothing else mattered. Nothing beyond them existed. Intense pleasure was theirs for the taking and they grabbed hold of it and didn’t let go.

  The following morning Mackenzie forced her eyes open, feeling blissfully content and sexually drained. Luke had told her how much he loved her and then he had showed her the extent of that love when he had made love to her.

  She lifted her hand and gazed at the sparkling diamond ring he had placed on her finger last night. It was a beautiful representation of his love. Their love. She felt intense happiness all the way to her bones and could only sigh in pleasure.

  She heard the shower going and remembered Luke inviting her to join him there. But at the time she could barely breathe, much less imagine moving her body to do anything other than lie there in bed for a while, trying to regain her strength. It always amazed her how much stamina luscious Luke had. Once unleashed, it was unlimited. And all concentrated on her. And more specifically, the pleasure points between her thighs.