by Bobbi Smith
A flush of fevered passion pulsed through Lianne as his mouth moved over hers. As much as she wanted to believe that she didn't desire Adam, that she hated him, her body responded wildly to his. Lianne clutched at his shoulders as she swayed toward him.
Adam broke off the kiss to gaze down at her. His eyes were a glittering reflection of the strength of his own desire. He kissed her again tenderly and felt her willing response. He drew back slightly as he slipped a supporting arm about her waist. With the gentlest of encouragement, he started to guide her toward his room, all the while pressing her close to his side.
Chapter Thirteen
For a moment Lianne went along with Adam. His kiss had been a very potent reminder of the ecstasy she had found in his arms. There was nothing she would have liked more than to forget everything and lose herself in the sweet heat of his embrace, but with the torrid memory of his loving also came the soul-chilling memory of the aftermath and his cruelty.
"No, Adam . . . no, we can't do this." With the last of her willpower Lianne stiffened and pulled away from him.
"You're a fool if you think you can deny this thing that exists between us," Adam declared hotly, trying to draw her back into his embrace.
"You said yourself that what happened between us was a mistake!" she countered, thinking of his betrayal.
Adam knew she was right. Logically, what was happening was all wrong, but he was beyond caring. Lianne was all he wanted, and he would not be denied. He gazed down at her, his dark eyes aglow with the fever of his desire.
"Lord, I know this is wrong . . . a mistake . . . but I want you, Lianne . . ." He groaned as he crushed her to his chest and kissed her. His hands tangled in the thickness of her hair as he held her close.
Adam's kiss started off almost forcefully, as if he sought to subdue her objections, but abruptly he changed. With the lightest of caresses his lips explored hers teasingly, seeking to coax from her that which he couldn't demand. He wanted her to give herself to him freely. He did not want to take her against her will.
Had Adam continued to be forceful with her, Lianne would have fought him, but when he became gentle, her resistance crumbled. Her slumbering passion stirred to life. As his lips left hers to seek out the sensitive cords of her throat, her need for him was stoked to a fever pitch.
"Oh, Adam . . ." Lianne sighed. She had fought this physical need for as long as she could, but she couldn't refuse him any longer. She was afire with the yearning to be his again. Willingly she looped her arms about his neck and returned his kiss fully.
Adam knew the moment Lianne surrendered. Without further hesitation, he lifted her into his arms and kissed her. Mindless to all but the need to be alone with her, he strode purposefully to his room and entered, closing and locking the door behind him.
The light from the lamp he'd left burning cast a golden glow about the room as Adam moved to the bed and lay Lianne upon it. He followed her down, not giving her time to think or protest. He wanted her too much. He needed her too much.
Protest was the furthest thing from Lianne's mind as she welcomed Adam to her with open arms. All rational thought had fled. Her response to him was elemental. Lianne was woman and Adam was man. As he moved over her, she eagerly caressed him, tracing the hard-muscled planes of his back and shoulders. She lifted her lips to accept his kiss, and she returned it full-measure. Her tongue boldly sought his in a hungry, challenging exchange.
Lianne's caresses thrilled Adam, and he gave full rein to his own desires. With a quiet sense of urgency, he unfastened her gown and slipped it from her shoulders. He managed to untie the narrow ribbon at the top of her chemise, but the buttons gave him a moment of trouble. Lianne wanted nothing more than to feel the touch of his lips upon her aching breasts and so she brazenly helped him.
Adam held his breath as he watched her loose the three tiny buttons. When she finished she looked up at him and smiled a heated, seductive smile of invitation. His gaze shifted from her passion-flushed face to the partially exposed, creamy swell of pale flesh.
"You're beautiful, Lianne," he murmured thickly as he stared down at her in sensual appreciation. He kissed her once, softly, briefly, and then shifted his weight lower. It seemed to Adam that he was moving in almost slow motion as he bent to press his lips to the partially exposed tops of her breasts.
"Adam . . ." Lianne gasped as he brushed the delicate fabric aside and captured one pert peak with his lips. As he suckled erotically at her breast a surge of excitement jolted through her, centering and coiling deep in the womanly core of her body. Feverishly, she began to move against him, wanting him to fill the aching emptiness within her.
In answer to her unspoken demand, Adam pressed himself intimately to her. Moving his hips seductively against her, he let her feel the proof of his own matching desire.
Lianne caught her breath as hot, glorious warmth flooded her loins. She held his head to her, enraptured by the glorious feeling of his kisses upon her bosom.
Adam moved to claim her lips again as his hands worked at freeing her from her gown. They parted only briefly to divest themselves of their clothing and then came back together in an explosive embrace. Their need for oneness rendered them mindless. Hands touched and caressed, trailing patterns of fire over their already feverish bodies. Their lips met and lingered in arousing exchanges that incited their passions to even greater heights.
No longer willing to be separate from her, Adam parted her thighs and settled between them. Lianne could feel the heat of his manhood pressing against her, and she reached down to caress him and urge him on. The emptiness she was feeling was far too painful. She needed to be a part of Adam, to hold him deep within her body and to once more know the fullness of his love.
Adam needed no further encouragement. Covering her hand with his, he guided himself to the secret heart of her and sheathed himself in her body. Lianne arched to him, loving the feeling of being joined in such intimacy. When he began to move, she matched his rhythm.
No longer completely innocent of love's ways, Lianne wanted to try to please Adam. Her hands were never still as she explored the strength of his driving hips. Writhing beneath him in rapturous splendor, she could feel her own peak of excitement building. With each kiss and touch, she grew closer and closer to that tumultuous release only Adam could give her. As the frenetic pace of their joining quickened, her desire crested. Wave after wave of heart-stopping ecstasy washed through her, taking her to the ultimate joy and beyond.
Adam knew Lianne had reached the pinnacle, and the knowledge that he'd taken her to the heights sent his own passions spiraling out of control. He joined her in that delirious perfection, peaking in a throbbing, soul-stirring climax. Clasped together, their breathing ragged, their bodies damp from the exhaustive exertion of their mating, they lay silently enthralled.
Lianne's eyes were closed as she hugged Adam fiercely to her. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that anything could be so completely overwhelming. She felt drained, yet she also felt sated. It made no sense, yet it made perfect sense. This was where she wanted to be . . . where she felt safe and protected and shielded from all of life's ugliness. She drifted off to sleep then, borne away by a heavy velvet drowsiness that momentarily cloaked the terrible truth from her.
Adam lay perfectly still, his arms holding Lianne cradled tightly against him. He did not want to let her go. He wanted to hold her forever. In all his experience, Adam had never known such ecstasy. What he found with Lianne surpassed anything he'd ever known, and he didn't want it to end. He wanted the serenity and peace he found only in her arms. He needed it. . . . The thought faded as exhaustion claimed him.
Lianne opened her eyes and blinked in stunned disbelief. She was in Adam's bed, wrapped securely in his most intimate embrace. Sleepy confusion filled her as she fought to remember how she'd come to be here. She stared at Adam, thinking that in repose he looked much younger, almost boyish. Lianne smiled to herself as she thought him the most handsome ma
n in the whole world.
Adam must have sensed that she'd come awake, for he too stirred and opened his eyes. He was relaxed in her arms for a moment, but then he suddenly tensed. With a stricken conscience, he realized that once again he'd been weak in letting his passion for Lianne overrule his common sense. He had no business letting his emotions get out of hand like this. The complications that could result would be too far-reaching.
Yet, even as he knew that he had to stay completely away from her for her sake and for his own, Adam didn't want to leave her. She was so warm and giving. He felt as if the circle of her arms was a rare haven in the storm of his life, but that was a tempest into which he dared not bring her.
Cursing himself for his weakness, Adam released her and moved away. He hardened his heart as he went. At whatever cost, he had to put Lianne from him mentally and physically and keep her from him. This would be the last time he ever allowed himself a lapse of control.
Adam sat up on the edge of the bed, taking care to keep his back to her. He didn't want to look at her. He didn't want to gaze upon her lovely body and remember the glory of her limbs entwined with his and the ecstasy of possessing her. He wanted to forget everything about her. He had to get control of himself and this crazy desire he had for her. Nervously, he raked a hand through his hair.
"Adam . . ." Lianne almost sighed his name as she watched the fascinating play of muscles across his back.
With a caressing hand, Lianne reached out to Adam, and it shocked her when he flinched at her touch and stood up. His reaction jarred her to the depths of her soul. He had claimed in the hall that they couldn't deny what was happening between them, yet now that they'd made love, he was coldly dismissing her. Lianne suddenly felt cheapened, used.
Fury filled her. Uncle Antoine had used her, taking what he could from her estate without giving any thought at all to her well-being. Now, Adam had used her, too, but in a different, even more devastating way. He had wanted her, and he had taken her. It had been a purely physical thing for him. What made her even angrier was that she had allowed it. A firm resolve stiffened Lianne. She would not be used by him or any other man ever again. Without further hesitation, she flew from the bed and began to dress.
"Damn you!" Lianne cried as she pulled on her clothing. Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
Adam reacted instinctively. In a flash, he was in front of her, grabbing her by the wrist as she would have stormed from the room. "Where do you think you're going?"
"What do you care?" she challenged viciously. "You got what you wanted, didn't you!"
Adam's stony expression didn't change at her accusation, and he made no effort to deny it.
A torrent of emotion welled up inside of Lianne. It was true . . . all of it . . . She glared at him furiously. "This is the last time I'll ever let you use me, Adam Trent!" Snatching her arm free of his grip, she rushed from the room without looking back.
Becky and Beau strolled together around the massive rotunda of the hotel, wandering idly though the galleries and arcades.
"What's going on between Adam and Lianne?" Beau asked in his usual point-blank manner.
"Why do you ask?" Becky paused in their walk to give him a curious look. She had begun to think that she was imagining things between them.
"Adam was acting strangely tonight. I mean, we had met earlier in the day, and his mood seemed regular enough, but tonight . . ." Beau shook his head in puzzlement.
"I know," she agreed, giving credence to his suspicions.
"She's a gorgeous woman," he said, "and yet when he spoke of her this morning, I got the impression from the way he was talking that she was just a young girl."
Beau's first remark annoyed Becky. Why did he notice how pretty Lianne was and not pay any attention to her? Becky put the thought from her as quickly as she thought it. She had absolutely no reason to be jealous of Lianne. Lianne was her friend.
"I think Adam may be attracted to her and doesn't know how to handle it. It's not as if things are normal for him right now," Becky confided.
"No. They're not, are they?" Beau was talking more to himself than Becky.
"Did Adam tell you how Lianne tried to run us off with a shotgun the first time we met her?"
Beau threw back his head and laughed at the thought. "No, but I'll bet that was something to see."
"It was." Becky laughed lightly as she remembered Adam's frustration. As she went on and told him the whole story, Beau listened intently.
"So, not only is Lianne beautiful, she's smart, too." He paused as he considered his friend's predicament. Adam might be attracted to Lianne and forced to live in close quarters with her, but his responsibility as he saw it was to Elise and to his mock, unannounced engagement to Suzanne. Adam was trapped. It was no wonder his mood had been black. Poor Adam.
"I like her a lot. She's going to help me fix up the house and grounds so it'll be ready for the party we're giving." Becky was pleased that she'd managed to bring their conversation around to something other than Adam and Lianne. "Are you going to come?"
"This is the first I've heard about it. When are you having it?" Beau asked, pretending not to know anything about the upcoming party.
"Probably in about a month. I'm sure it'll take me that long to get everything in order."
"If I'm in port, I'll make it a point to be there."
"Good." Becky couldn't prevent the happiness she felt from reflecting in her voice. Her mood was so lighthearted as they headed back upstairs that she took Beau's arm without a second thought. It almost felt like her dream come true as she walked beside him. With childish delight, she let her imagination run away with her, pretending to be his and his alone, pretending that they were on their honeymoon and were going to live happily together for the rest of their lives. Had she known of Beau's real thoughts, she would have been hurt and angry.
Beau was wondering how to spend the rest of the night. He'd thoroughly enjoyed his lively assignation with Katie earlier that evening, and since he wasn't due back at the Sea Shadow until daybreak, he was seriously considering returning to the saloon to see her again. The thought appealed.
"Which room is yours?" he asked as they reached the correct floor.
"It's down near the other end," Becky told him, all the while trying to think of a way to make him take notice of her. Brazenly, she considered inviting him into her room, but she quickly discarded that idea. Once she got him in there, she wasn't sure exactly what to do with him. Oh, she had a glimmer of an idea about what went on between a man and a woman, but since she'd never done more than kiss a boyfriend when she was sixteen, she had no idea of how to go about seducing a man as worldly as Beau. She realized with some despair that this was not going to be easy, but, she decided silently, whatever it took, she was going to do it. She was going to marry Beau Hamilton. "This is my room," she admitted reluctantly as they reached the correct door.
Gentleman that he was, Beau took her key from her, unlocked the door, and then handed it back. "Good night, Becky."
"Good night, Beau." Becky repeated dutifully, and then knew a moment of consternation as he gave her a quick, brotherly peck on the cheek and headed off down the hall.
She almost screamed her frustration. Beau was getting away! All her efforts to look beautiful for him, all her flirting and planning, had been for nothing! Beau was leaving, and she wouldn't get to see him again for weeks and weeks!
"Beau!" she called out to him before she realized what she was doing. "Beau, wait!"
"What is it?" Beau paused to look back, puzzled by her call.
It was then that Becky ran to him and, without preamble, threw her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers for a kiss, full on the mouth. Becky put every ounce of knowledge she had about kissing into that exchange. With the utmost of loving enthusiasm, she pressed her lips to his in her best effort to communicate all the emotion she felt for him.
For a moment Beau was stunned and stood stock-still w
ith his arms akimbo. The sudden awareness of her as a woman full-grown left him perplexed. He wasn't quite sure how to react to the soft feel of her very enticing curves against him. This was Becky, for heaven's sake! Beau finally had enough sense to gently grip her upper arms and move slightly away from her.
"Becky," he began firmly, intending to tell her that her behavior was not quite proper, but the look in her eyes stopped him. "Good night, Becky."
Becky had put her all into that kiss, and she was mortified that Beau could end it so easily and with such coolness. A painful flush stained her checks, and she was grateful for the shadows in the hall that hid her embarrassment from him.
"Good night, Beau," she whispered, then turned and fled to the safety of her room.
Beau watched her go, feeling slightly bewildered. He had never thought of Becky as a mature female before, and the recognition troubled him. Of course she was lovely, but she had always been lovely. Even as a young girl, she'd had the looks of an angel, and her beauty had only improved with her maturing. He gave a slight shake of his head. Ladies' man that he was, he wondered why he'd never noticed her before. She'd grown up right before his eyes and, until this moment, he'd never realized it.
Still, he reminded himself, Becky was Adam's sister. She was not fair game. She was sweet and pretty and completely untouchable. Beau knew there was no point in even thinking about tempting himself, and he knew he'd have to be more careful not to be alone with Becky in the future.
The hotel's bar was doing a booming business as Beau entered and glanced around. His encounter with Becky had left him feeling in need of a drink, but the thought of returning to visit Katie at the other saloon had faded in appeal. He was surprised to see Adam standing alone at the far end of the bar nursing a drink.
Adam noticed someone heading his way and cringed inwardly when he realized it was Beau. He'd needed some time by himself to sort out his thoughts, but it was obvious he wasn't going to get any.
"I wondered what you had in mind for the rest of the night," Beau chided as he joined him.
