Caine's Reckoning (43 page)

“Your instincts are sound.”

Her “How do you know?” ended on a squeak as his thumb and forefinger closed over her aching nipple.

“Because everything you think is on your face.”

She shook her hair out of her face. “And what am I thinking now?”

He didn’t even hesitate. “You’re enjoying the feeling of being helpless.”

She blinked. Maybe he really could read her.

His fingers squeezed with delicate precision on her plump nipple. Sensation shot deep into her chest. Her knees buckled. He caught her on his thigh. Goose bumps chased over her skin, his laugh in hot pursuit, flowing over her throat and down her shoulder.

“You liked that?”

She dropped her head back against the pole. “Oh, yes.”

“What else do you like?”

“I’m not sure.”

His lips brushed her neck, then his teeth. Another shudder shook her. “But you have ideas?”

He nipped her neck. She grabbed his waist for support. “Some.”

It was a lie, she only had vague ideas of how she could be for him.

Another half step and his cock was pressing into her. “Let’s hear them.”

She’d started the game, and now she had to finish it. She just hadn’t expected it to be so hard. “I want to be your wife tonight.”

“You’ve been my wife for the last few weeks.”

She cut him a glance from under her lashes. He was watching her, measuring her emotions and whatever he could see, those vivid green eyes she’d once thought so cold, hot and dark above the harsh slash of his cheekbones, turbulent with the fires that burned within him. Fire he normally kept controlled and contained. Especially with her. And suddenly, she knew one thing for sure.

She raised her hands above her head, linking them at the wrist before pressing them back into the bedpost. “I don’t want to be someone you hold back with in bed.”

He accepted the invitation with a deep chuckle that shimmered through her senses, wending its way to her center. Her pussy fluttered with the same vibration. His hand clamped over her wrists, tugging her up and forward against him, into the green fire of his eyes. Her womb clenched with a desperate hunger as another chuckle wrapped her in its seductive embrace, and then she was falling through space, backward, her tumble caught by the mattress. Before the echoes of the first bounce ended, he was over her—big, dark and ready.

The unwelcome panic started the minute he came over her, his larger hands catching hers, pinning them back above her head, stretching her torso while his legs came between hers, making room for the solid weight of his cock to wedge tight against her. Another spasm, another gasp, pleasure and terror—present and past.

She dug her nails into her palms and raised her face for his kiss, her breasts for his caress, pushing aside the other images battering the edges of reality, demanding their chance. Desi kept her eyes wide open, locked on Caine’s face, refusing to give them dominance. They had no place here.

Screams whipped the edges of her mind as she rolled her torso against his, hooking her ankles behind his hips, pulling him down. He didn’t budge, just braced his arm to her side and continued to study her. His dark gaze skimmed her face, the slight tremor in her lips, the pulse in her throat.

“Kiss me, Caine.”

“Why?”

“Because I need you.”

“Uh-huh. What’s going on, Gypsy?”

The patience in his tone was like a mile-high barricade she couldn’t get over, the falter in her confidence a key to those swarming memories to unlock the door and plunge into the here and now until it was no longer clear who held her down, whether this was good or bad, whether she should plead or scream. All that came out was a whimper that broke past her control.

That fast and the weight was gone and she was no longer on her back but on her stomach with Caine as her bed. And his hand was cupping her head, holding her close. “Bad memories?”

She nodded, took one breath and then two before pushing herself up to straddle his waist. All that hard muscle nestled against her privates restored the edge of hunger. “Just for a minute.”

One hand lingered on her cheek, holding her still for his perusal while the other came down on her rear in a sharp smack. The sting shot deep into the seat of her desire, warming it. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not.”

“You were afraid.”

“And now I’m interested.” She wiggled on him. “Which are you going to focus on?”

His hand ghosted her hip. She shivered as her womb clenched. He smiled. “Definitely the last.”

“Good, because I want to be myself with you tonight.”

His hand passed over her hip again, this time delivering a little pat with his fingertips. It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough, but it did drive her forward with hope. “And who is that?”

A good question. She opened and closed her fingers on his shoulder, taking care to fit them precisely to the combination of bone and muscle. He was built so differently than her. So different than the men she’d known back home. Even all the padding in their suit coats hadn’t bulked them up to Caine’s strength. She met his gaze honestly. “I’m not sure anymore, but that soft little scared woman who you always have to be gentle around? That’s not me.”

“I don’t have a problem being gentle with you.” His thumb stroked across her cheek. “I actually like it.”

There was no way around it, she was just going to have to spit it out. “But I don’t like you always being gentle with me.” She took a deep breath and ignored the heat creeping over her cheeks. She’d never get what she wanted if she allowed shyness to rule. She dug her nails into the hard curve of muscle. And she wanted Caine. “You’ve only seen me since after I was kidnapped. You didn’t know me before.”

“I bet you were a sweet little thing.”

Good heavens, he really didn’t know her. “You would lose that bet. I was an absolute hellion.”

His indulgent smile irked her to no end. “I’m sure.”

“There’s a wildness in me, Caine. It scared my parents and a lot of the men who came to court me.”

The touch of his finger to the corner of her mouth was sweet. “It doesn’t scare me.”

“I know.” She reached behind her for the fly on his pants, patting his cock when it leapt to her touch. “But I find, when I’m in bed with you, my old problem returns.”

He immediately frowned, his gaze searching hers, no doubt looking for an imaginary dragon to slay. The man seemed to live in fear that she’d be upset. “What problem?”

“The wildness.”

His eyes went from green to dark in a heartbeat. He cupped her rear in his palms. “And that is a problem?”

She bit her lip. “I’m afraid….”

“I thought you were starting to feel safe with me.”

The first two buttons gave without a fight. “It’s not about safe.” She paused, and thought again. “Well, maybe it is, in a way.”

She wasn’t as afraid with Caine at her side. A woman couldn’t ask for more protection than the men of Hell’s Eight. Caine pushed the left sleeve off her shoulder. It joined the right down by her hips. “What’s it about then?”

She shook her wrist free. “It’s about how I feel when I’m with you.”

“Safe?”

She shook her head. Pushing her hair back with her free hand, feeling like she was on the edge of a very high cliff, she confessed, “Wild, but trapped.”

Beneath her he froze, and his face got that closed expression that could mean anything, which didn’t do a thing for her nerves. She kept working at the buttons on his fly. The third button was more stubborn than the first two, just adding to the overall panic threatening to consume her.

There was no hope for it. It was too late to back out now. “I want to be what you want.”

“You are.”

She shook her head. “In bed you’re so worried about scaring me that I can’t do what I sense you want.”

“And what do you think I want?”

He’d already told her. Memories burned into her mind, tempting her with the remembered freedom, and horrifying her because she had been so wanton. Memories of her and him, together that first day. “Me following your commands and my instinct.”

“And I’ve been messing that up?”

She nodded. “You won’t let me get past the fear.”

He went quiet again and behind the steadiness of his gaze, she knew his mind worked, weighing what she said against what he believed. “And you want that?”

With everything in her, she nodded. “I’m so tired of being afraid.”

“So you want me to let go, to love you the way I want, and if you get afraid, just press on?”

“Yes.”

Caine looked up into those big blue eyes, and saw the truth of what she was asking. She’d convinced herself that the fear was worse than the reality and now she wanted him to take the choice away. He touched the blush on her cheek. It wasn’t going to happen. There were a lot of things he could make himself do, but forcing a woman wasn’t one of them. But maybe he could coax her. “I get to do things my way?”

Her eyes widened and her gaze locked with his. She sucked in a breath, but didn’t release it. It reminded him of how she’d looked that first meeting, kneeling in the grass, eyes pleading, mouth hot and determined. Desperate beyond measure. This was mighty important to her.

“Yes.”

“Then come here.”

H
e enforced the order with a tug on her hips. It took another tug before she realized what he wanted. She scooted forward, unconsciously letting him support her weight on his palms in another of those betraying moments of trust.

He didn’t rush her, just let his fingers sink into the lush curves as he admired the view. She had the daintiest little pussy he’d ever seen, as delicately made as the rest of her, dusted with a thin layer of blond curls that did little to hide the ripe flesh beyond.

Beautiful pink flesh just swelling with passion. Another nudge and she shuffled forward, her knees hitting the underside of his arms. She stopped, teasing him with her scent and the promise of her taste. His next nudge didn’t get a response. It only took a glance to figure out why. She had no idea what he wanted, which was a crime in his book. He stroked her buttocks, soothing her because he could feel the tension building. The woman had a real problem with always wanting to get things right.

“Remember the other day when I said I wanted to kiss you here?” A graze of his thumb indicated his meaning. The shiver that took her from head to toe indicated she got it.

“You mean before you reneged?”

“I didn’t renege, I gave you an IOU, and yes, then.”

He brought his thumb to the top of the seductive slit and pressed, prolonging the shiver. “What I want now is for you to bring yourself high enough so I can do it.”

The flush started in her chest and swept up over her neck and cheeks, building until she was rosy from the torso up. “You want me to…?”

She couldn’t seem to find the words to finish the sentence. He pulled hard enough that she didn’t have a choice but to work her legs over his shoulders before finishing for her. “I want you to set this little pussy on my face and let me just enjoy myself.”

The squeak she made gave birth to a smile. The eager little twitch of her feminine muscles sent a tide of lust through his body. Her scent wafted over him as she straddled his face, bathing him in moist temptation. Saliva flooded his mouth as desire rose in a relentless wave. The few seconds it took her to center herself stretched into eternity. When she made a tentative descent and then stopped, his growl was nothing short of pure frustration.

Shifting his grip to her waist, he took control from her, bringing all that lush, sweet temptation within reach. Another squeak and then an equally high-pitched “I can’t watch.”

His laugh took him by surprise. She was always making him smile, laugh, reevaluate what he thought was normal, disturbing the calm he was used to. He didn’t mind it nearly as much as he used to. “You can do whatever you want as long as you feel.”

He wanted her to feel. He wanted every kiss, every lap, every nibble imprinted onto her soul. He pressed a soft kiss to her right labia, repeating the gesture on the left, holding that connection a heartbeat longer as she swayed above him. He steadied her with a press from his palm. That lasted until he dipped his tongue between the silken folds, lapping gently, easing her into the idea of the total possession he was intent on. He could stay there forever, surrounded by her taste, her scent, her passion. If his angle was better.

Reluctantly, he pulled his tongue away from the fragrant haven, pausing a moment to let her flavor roll through his mouth before dispersing it with speech.

“Brace your hands over my head.”

After the slightest hesitation, she did, her hair swinging down, blocking out the light. He glanced up. She was watching him, a frown between her brows.

“I thought you weren’t going to look?”

“I can’t help it. It’s like watching lightning flash.”

He brought his right hand down. Skimming his fingertips over her buttocks, letting them glide into the crease between. “It gets you that hot, eh?”