by Heidi Betts
There, his motions stopped. His breathing sounded in her ear, matching the rise and fall of her own breast as the scent of lilacs enveloped them.
"That's as far as I can reach from here,” he whispered, his lips gently brushing against the sensitive skin of her ear.
"Then maybe you should . . . join me. So you have better access,” she suggested.
Chapter Twenty-three
He was already naked, wet, and throbbing like a thumbnail bashed by the head of a hammer. It would have taken a herd of stampeding long-horns, six mountain lions, and Callie's brother standing over them with a shotgun to keep him from climbing into that big brass bathtub with her.
"Slide forward,” he said, straightening and laying a hand flat on her back.
When she did, he stepped carefully into the tub and dropped to a sitting position behind her. With one arm wrapped around her waist, he pulled her toward him until not even air could circulate between their two forms.
"Now this is what I call a bath,” he murmured in her ear.
He felt her smile, a bit of the nervous tension running out of her limbs as she leaned against him and willingly let her head fall back on his shoulder.
"So you really aren't angry with me for talking to the sheriff."
It was more a statement than a question, but Wade answered, anyway. “I'm not angry, no. And even if I were, I don't think I could stay mad for long. Not with this luscious body fitting me better than my own skin."
His hands, soap and all, drifted up her torso to gently cup the swells of her breasts.
"You must think I'm terribly wanton,” she said. “To let you take me to bed yesterday evening. To invite you into my bath tonight."
He crooked his knees, boxing her in even more securely. “Wanton women are my very favorite kind. Besides, I'm a bit of a wanton man myself,” he said while his fingers continued to explore.
"Do you know,” he intoned in a low voice, “that I've been dreaming of this since the first moment I saw you?"
"You did catch me off guard."
"Before you realized I was in the room, I just stood there, watching you. I couldn't help myself; you were glorious."
"I was naked,” she corrected, slapping playfully at his upper arm. “You should have been a gentleman and covered your eyes."
"I was a gentleman . . . I didn't strip down and join you right then and there. And believe me, sweetheart, I sorely wanted to."
Sliding along his body, she twisted to face him. “Well, maybe this will make up for it."
Her spread fingertips molded to his chest. Soap falling forgotten to the bottom of the tub, he framed her face and said, “It makes up for everything."
Then he kissed her, letting his lips and tongue thank her. Telling her without words how much she was beginning to mean to him, how grateful he was for her faith and support and companionship.
When anyone else would have turned him in, or done their best to escape, Callie stayed. She'd stayed, she'd believed in him, she'd tried to help him clear his name.
She'd let him make love to her. Invited it, welcomed it, threw herself into the act with all the energy and enthusiasm of a woman in love. And that was just fine with Wade, because he was beginning to think he made love to Callie with all the energy and enthusiasm of a man in love.
They might have no future together, but they had now. A beautiful woman naked in his arms, a bath of warm water bound to have him smelling like a lilac bush by morning, and an opportunity Wade wasn't about to pass up—no matter what tomorrow might bring.
With his mouth still melded to hers, he ran his hands down her sides to her buttocks and upper thighs. Straightening his long legs as best he could in the squat tub, he urged her to open her legs and straddle him.
Tonight she wasn't nearly as modest as the night before. She not only let him arrange her limbs the way he liked but moved with him, leaned into him, rubbed her breasts with their pebble-hard nipples on his chest and dug her nails into the flesh of his back.
He moaned deep in his throat as Callie came up on her knees, causing his rigid shaft to brush against the downy softness at the apex of her thighs. Her water- and soap-slick hands moved over his chest, kneading the firm pectoral muscles and teasing the arrow-sharp nubbins that his nipples had become.
"You drive me crazy, do you know that?” he rasped.
"Good crazy or bad crazy?” she asked, arching her pelvis in such a way that his member became trapped between their bellies, adding pressure and heightening his arousal.
"Just . . . crazy-crazy,” he nearly growled. “What are you doing?"
"Biting your neck."
"I feel that.” Her teeth took tiny nips at the iron-tight tendons wending their way to his collarbone, followed by the silky slide of her tongue laving away the sting.
"Do you want me to stop?"
Hell, no. He wanted to see just how far she'd be willing to go. “Not on your life."
He felt her lips curve and looked down to find her grinning, her gaze canted up toward his.
While she was busy heating his blood from the outside in, Wade took advantage of her distraction to toy with the damp strands of hair that had come loose from her topknot. Trailing them over her bare shoulders and then letting the backs of his fingers drift down the milky white softness of her arms, her waist, then back up to her breasts.
Their fullness intrigued him, made him want to trace the contours, explore textures. With his thumb, he sampled the satiny smoothness of one round globe, then the darker, puckered circle of her areola, and finally the tiny pearl of her nipple. The stiffened bud contracted even more beneath his ministrations, and she gave a little moan of pleasure.
He repeated the motions with her other breast, leaning his head back on the rim of the tub as Callie's mouth found one of the bronze medallions that bisected his own chest.
"Where did you learn to do that?” he asked, eyes falling closed and hands clasping her rib cage for stability.
"I'm experimenting,” she answered between licks. “Why, don't you like it?"
"I do like it,” he said through his teeth. “I just didn't expect you to catch on so fast."
"You told me last night that I could do whatever I wanted to you, that I was in charge."
"That was last night. Tonight, I thought I'd take the lead."
She raised her head and gifted him with a dazzling smile. Part vixen, part innocent, it made Wade feel entirely wicked.
"But you weren't doing anything,” she chastised lightly. “Just sitting there."
"And you wanted me to . . . do something?"
When she only inclined her head, he asked, “Like what?"
Her coquettish smile turned into a pale peach blush. “Like . . . what you did last night."
He arched a brow. “Such as. . ."
"Being inside me,” she murmured quietly, avoiding his gaze.
Using the pads of two fingers, he tipped up her chin until her brown eyes stared directly into his. “You don't have to be shy with me, Callie girl. Remember? No matter what we do together, it's all okay."
The sides of his thumbs rubbed circles on her cheeks and jaw. “Do you want me to be inside you?” he asked softly.
Bottom lip pulled taut between her teeth, she gave a slight nod.
"Then put me there."
Her irises widened and turned an even deeper brown. She swallowed. But her obvious hesitancy didn't keep her from running a hand down the line of his chest, to his abdomen and lower, to the jutting hardness of his erection.
Below the water, her fingers closed around him, firm yet gentle. Callie the Curious, as usual, had to explore. She stroked up and down the velvety length a couple of times, which Wade endured by locking his jaw and praying for inner strength.
But when she dabbed at the tip of his shaft with one dainty fingertip, his hips arched, his lips stretched over his teeth, and he swore black enough to color the air around them.
At his sharp curse, she pulled back, her
touch lightening on his member. “What is it?” she wanted to know. “Did I do something wrong?"
Wade let out a strained laugh, even as he silently castigated himself. She was too new at this, too skittish for him to be making any sudden moves or harsh noises as he just had. He needed to reassure her and give her space to discover her own sensuality.
Because, quite simply, she was the most beautiful, sensual woman he'd ever met. She deserved to realize and acknowledge that side of herself.
Of course, then she would know just how much power she held over the male of the species, and that could spell trouble. A woman who knew she could have any man in existence on his knees at the crook of one little finger was a dangerous woman, indeed.
"You didn't do anything wrong,” he assured her. “Not only do you do everything right, but you do it too damn well. And I'm just not a strong enough man to take it."
Her nose wrinkled at that, but the corners of her mouth turned up. “So should I . . . go back to what I was doing?"
His head fell back as he groaned dramatically. “If you must,” he sighed. “Only . . . be gentle with me."
With a grin, she returned a firm hold to his member and sat up on her haunches. Wade ground his teeth together to keep from moaning aloud and watched as she centered herself atop him, then lowered herself until he was fully embedded.
His hands went straight to her waist, just above the curve of her hips, but he only flowed seamlessly with her movements instead of encouraging or controlling them.
Callie's body rose and fell, riding him like a well-trained equestrian. Whether it was the water or her own feminine wetness, he was surrounded by moist heat. Encompassed by comfort and love and a serenity he'd seldom, if ever, known.
Water sloshed against the sides of the tub as their pace increased. The muscles in her legs and buttocks flexed as she moved against him.
He slid his hands up from her hips to her breasts as he leaned forward to take her mouth. And then back down while they kissed, pressed breasts to chest, abdomen to abdomen, pelvis to pelvis.
Her arms wrapped securely about his neck, hands gripping her own elbows, while the full length of his forearms pressed tight to her back and his fingers dug into the supple flesh just below her shoulder blades.
As much as he wanted to let Callie retain control, things were getting too intense. His blood was pounding too fast in his veins. His heart was beating too loud in his ears. Fire was blazing too hot in his groin.
No matter how hard he fought it, he couldn't keep his hips from moving. From meeting each of her downward slides with an upward thrust of his own.
In between kisses, Callie's breath started coming in short, shallow pants. Wade felt like heaven, filling her completely, holding her close. She'd never felt so safe. So cherished and wanted. The sensation of warm water flowing all around them, lapping at their bodies, only made the experience more intimate.
Her stomach flipped over as the muscles lining her feminine passage began to convulse. She gasped sharply, her head falling back, Wade's grip on her waist tightening as they climaxed together.
For long minutes afterward, they lay there, her head resting weightlessly on his shoulder, his arms looped loosely around her waist. The water turned cold, covering her arms with gooseflesh, and still Callie lacked the strength to move.
"You're going to catch a chill,” Wade mumbled.
She moaned in reply, too tired and spent for coherent speech.
His chin bumped against the top of her head as he chuckled. “Since you seem to be in such a charitable mood, there's something I want you to think over."
She waited, concentrating on nothing more than his warm, solid body making such a wonderful bed beneath her.
"I've been mulling it over, and I think you should marry me, Callie girl."
Chapter Twenty-four
For a moment, she didn't react. When his words finally did sink in, her eyes popped open, but even so, she remained still.
He couldn't be serious. They'd only known each other a matter of weeks.
A small voice in her head reminded her that a few weeks had obviously been long enough for her to be lured into bed by the man, but she quickly tamped down on the too-late bout of conscience.
Besides, making love with someone and marrying that person were two different things. Especially when the man was on the run, being hunted, with no clear sign of regaining his freedom on the horizon.
She would be crazy to say yes.
And yet she wanted to. So badly, her heart twisted with the effort of not accepting.
"I know it's sudden,” he said, breaking into the cacophony of her thoughts. “I know there's no reason in the world for a woman like you to agree to marry a man like me. An escaped convict, a man with a price on his head and no prospects beyond being sent back to prison."
Lifting her head from the soft pillow of his chest, she saw his lips twist. It made her want to reach out and smooth away the small lines bracketing his mouth.
"But I do have something to offer.” He sat up in the tub, bringing her with him. “I told you once before that the reason Neville Young was so eager to get his hands on the Circle M was because he thought there was a mine hidden somewhere on the property. A gold mine."
When Wade made a motion to stand, Callie stood up with him. Beads of water rolled down their bodies as he reached for a towel and shook it open. Wrapping it beneath her arms and around her torso, he overlapped the edges and let her hold them in place over her breasts.
Not bothering to cover himself, he lifted her into his arms, stepped out of the brass tub, and headed for the stairs. He didn't speak again until he'd carried her up the flight of steps and deposited her in the middle of the wide bed, settling himself above her. His long, nude frame rested against her, her towel soaking up the excess moisture from both their bodies.
"You probably ruined my floor, you know, tromping up here without drying off first."
"Do you want me to go back and clean it up?"
"Yes, I do,” she said, tipping up her nose primly.
"All right,” he answered slowly, “but I'm going to need your towel.” And with a quick twist of his wrist, he pulled the thick nap out from under her.
Callie squealed, but he ignored her, stalking from the room completely naked, dragging the towel behind him. She watched the flex and release of his taut bottom as he moved and was glad he was facing the other direction so he wouldn't see her appreciative grin.
He was all lines and planes of hard-packed muscle that hadn't been there when he'd first arrived. But with his own handiwork in the kitchen, his gaunt face and weak limbs had filled in nicely. He looked healthy now. And, judging from their latest bout of lovemaking, his stamina had certainly improved, she thought, her mouth curving into a satisfied smile.
For several seconds after he disappeared, Callie stared at the empty doorway, awaiting his return. Then she scrambled over the mattress, loosening the covers and climbing under.
She pictured a nude Wade, bent over the stairs, sopping up the water they'd tracked through the house, and smiled. She hadn't actually meant for him to go back and clean up but was rather amused that he'd jumped so quickly at her complaint.
Maybe he was good husband material, after all.
Of course, he hadn't mentioned marriage again since carrying her up here. Maybe it had been merely a passing fancy, not a sincere proposal.
In which case, Callie still didn't know how to feel.
Stark naked and as confident as though he were fully dressed, Wade strode back into the room, the used towel balled up in his hand. He tossed it aside and headed straight for the bed.
He joined her under the covers, snuggling up next to her, sliding his hands along the mattress until they wrapped around her and pulled her flush against his warm, hard length.
"Now, where were we?"
"You were sopping up the water you dripped when you carried me upstairs."
"But I finished that,” he retu
rned. Smiling crookedly, he added, “You're a damn hard lady to impress, do you know that? Any other woman would find it romantic if I swept her into my arms and carried her off to the bedroom."
She cocked a brow. “And just how many other women have you carried to bed?"
Turning serious, he said, “You're the first. You're also the first woman I've ever asked to marry me."
Her stomach clenched at that, all the same wants and worries and arguments playing through her head once again.
"Neville Young thought there was a gold mine on my property, and he was right,” he announced, his fingers curling in at her waist. “What he didn't know is that the deed to the mine is separate from the deed to the Circle M."
She frowned, trying to absorb what he was saying.
"It's a little complicated, but suffice it to say that I inherited ownership of the mine from my grandfather a few years back, then bought the adjoining property when I decided to raise cattle. The opening of the mine is hidden, and I've never told anyone exactly where it can be located. But even if Young finds it, even if he starts digging, with the counterfeit deed he has, he can't lay a true claim to anything but the ranch land."
"So Neville didn't know they were two separate properties, with two separate sets of documentation."
"Right. And when I realized he'd stolen the deed to the Circle M, I hid the deed to the mine where he wouldn't find it. Where no one will find it, believe me,” he said vehemently,
"But if you marry me, Callie, I'll sign the mine over to you and tell you exactly where it's located so you can hire men to work it, if you want. That way, I'll know you and Matthew are taken care of, no matter what happens to me."
Callie swallowed, blinking back tears. “You don't have to marry me for that,” she said softly, stroking his stubbled cheek with one hand. “You can tell me where the mine is now, or simply sign it over to Matthew for when he gets older."
"I know I don't have to marry you. I want to. I've never met another woman like you, Callie. Taking responsibility for a child who's not even yours, believing in me when no one else in this world has. . .. I know I turned your life upside down by coming here. I've put both you and Matthew in danger, and taken advantage of you in more ways than I can count. But I'm also falling in love with you, Callie. I have feelings for you that I've never felt for anyone else."
