Silver Nights With You (Love in the Sierras Book 1) (21 page)

Jared would be patient. He knew where she lived and even which room she occupied. She couldn’t stay in there forever. Eventually, she had to venture out on her own, and when he refused to show his face for a good while they would all began to relax into vulnerability. He smiled as he thought of getting his hands on the body of Lila Cameron. It would be entertaining to hide away with her for a few days.

“So, what’re we going to do now?” Bobby’s voice broke through his thoughts.

Jared rubbed his tired eyes with his good hand. “Right now, I’m going to get so drunk that I don’t feel a damn thing and then I’m going to sleep until my body wakes up. Then…” his deformed lip curled, “I’m going to start cracking skulls. I don’t know who was telling the truth, but they’re both in on it.”

“And the girl?”

“And the girl is going to have a lot of making up to do for the amount of pain she’s caused me.”

They arrived when the waxing gibbous was high and shrouded in cloud and there wasn’t enough light to get a full view of the place. The homestead was completely empty. Every piece of furniture was gone, even the stove. They bolted their horses in the stables and spread out before the fireplace.

The night was surprisingly warm for mid-September in the mountains, most likely due to the heat of the four bodies spread across the floor. Lila was in the center with Argyle and Philip on one side and Morgan on the side closest to the door. She had been facing her father while she listened to the three men clutter the air with all sorts of noise until she rolled onto her back with a sigh and rested an arm across her forehead. She could see the moon and a pocket of stars surrounding it through the window beside the door.

Her mind was roiling, and the warmth of the room began to stifle her. Quietly, she sat up and looked at each man. Every eye was shut so she stood and went to the window. A gentle breeze shivered through the tree limbs and she longed for the coolness of it on her heated skin. After another quick glance over her watchmen she grabbed her tiny satchel and slipped out of the front door and into the night. The wind rustled through the distant trees, announcing its approach long before it ever swooped down on her and she spread her arms out wide to let it swirl around her.

Each time the breeze diminished, the smooth gurgle of the river reached her ears, and she walked beneath the canopy of fruit trees to its banks. Silver water slid over rocks and bits of wooden debris and Lila reached down and unlaced her boots. Once her stockings were removed, she stuck a bare foot out and dipped it into the water. It was cool enough to prick her skin and she gasped with a small chuckle.

She unbuttoned the buckskin vest and slung it over the branch of a peach tree. Her shirt followed it and next her skirt and petticoat until she stood in her chemise. She fished the night gown and robe out of her satchel and hung them next to her clothes. The cool air moved deliciously over her skin as she pulled the garment up and over her head.

The gown was soon falling around her waist and ankles and she thought she heard a faint rustle from the brush nearby. She crossed her arms over her breasts and swiveled around, peering into the darkness. Her ears strained at every sound, but all she heard above the restless babble of the river was night owls and cricket song. Warily, she grabbed the robe and tied it around her midsection.

She pulled the pins from her hair and reached up to comb her fingers through it. When she turned to make her way back to the house, she saw Morgan leaning against a tree nearby. His eyes glinted as they locked onto hers.

"Nightmares?" he asked.

"Not tonight." Her chest tightened as her fingers curled around the knot of her robe. "I have too much on my mind to sleep after everything that's happened. This was one of the worst nights of my life."

He pushed off of the trunk and walked toward her with a teasing grin. "Surely my proposal wasn't
that
bad?"

She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "What proposal? I don't recall ever hearing you ask
me
to marry you."

His forehead scrunched as he thought. "You're right. I never did ask you." His arms curled around her lower back and held her tight to him while he looked into her eyes. "Marry me, Lila? There's no one else I want to share my life with. If you think I'm worthy enough, let me be the man to love and protect you."

She took a deep breath as her fingers smoothed up his arms. "I think I fell in love with you from the top of the ridge, looking down on this place." Her voice was breathy as she fought back emotions. "You took my heart that day and made me love you more in every moment since. I want nothing more than to be your wife."

He touched his lips to hers. There was passion in the kiss, but it moved as an undercurrent to the waves of emotion surging through them. Lila dug her fingers into his head of soft curls and stood on the tips of her toes to bring her closer to his mouth. Morgan ran one hand up her back and the other tightened around her waist, pressing her body against his. She moaned softly.

She could only welcome him, his strong fingers kneading the back of her neck, stretching gently up into her scalp. His lips held fast to hers but were not content to simply rest there. They moved in soft suckling motions, and she felt a rush of heat push through every limb. She leaned into him, allowed him to sample her lips, savoring the rebirth of jittery sensations she hadn’t felt since the last time he’d done this to her. He pulled her closer and submerged his tongue fully into the heat of her mouth. It slowly circled hers before stroking its full length as if trying to determine size and shape by taste alone. Her hands grasped his face as she allowed her tongue to spar timidly with his.

What started off as a shy exploration on her part quickly grew into a whirling heat for both of them, stoking a desire she was just beginning to understand. Her lungs burned for air just as he broke the kiss, but he held her close and rested his forehead against hers. Her palms were rested on his cheeks, the thumbs stroking absently as she breathed heavily. She could feel his erection straining against his pants.

“Lila,” he said hoarsely. “If we go any further I won’t be able to stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop,” she whispered. “I want my body to feel what my heart feels."

He swept her up into his arms and cradled her as he made his way to the stables. Once he set her down, he retrieved a candle from his bag and sparked a match to light it. A warm yellow light ebbed until it touched every bit of wood around them. The ground was covered in straw. Four horses were tethered behind a bit of frayed rope. Morgan grabbed an empty whiskey bottle from the corner of the enclosure and stuck the candle into its mouth, setting it onto a saddle rack.

His eyes were ablaze with desire and something more…promise. A promise of depth and intensity in every second of their lives, of tenderness and faithfulness, protection and encouragement. A promise of a lifetime of these moments and looks between them. She placed her hand in his and welcomed it all as he lowered them to a soft mound of straw.

Candlelight shimmered in the gold of his eyes and despite the love she saw, her body shook with nervousness. His lips curved in a smile as he brushed her cheek with his fingers. Those same fingers trailed down her throat and caressed the soft jut of collar bone where he had slid aside the shoulder of her robe.

He leaned down for one soft suckle of her parted lips before moving down to press his mouth to the sensitive area where her throat met her shoulder. His hand moved deftly to the knot of her robe and worked it free while he wet her neck with steamy kisses. Lila’s eyes closed as she turned her head to bare more of her flesh to his mouth. As if by their own will her hands smoothed up the length of his arms, seeking out each slope and curve of solid muscle.

His lips were on hers again, drugging her with the thoroughness of his skill, the languid curl and bend of his tongue against hers. Somewhere in the back of her consciousness she felt the thin fabric of her robe slide free of her arms and the tickle of his fingertips brushing from wrist to shoulder. Each caress was feathery and teasing, awakening her womanly essence for the first time.

She was sinking into the whirl of new sensations, a supple heat pulsing around and within her, but when she felt the first brush of his thumb across the hard bud of her nipple a jolt of pleasure rippled through her so fiercely that her eyes flew open, and she whimpered softly into his mouth. He stroked again, the rest of his fingers curving around the wealth of flesh. Her insides melted and she moaned.

The sound of her enjoyment quickened the pace of his desire and he tore his mouth from hers to lower it over the other breast. Through the soft cotton gown he pulled the bead into his mouth and suckled greedily. Lila was nearly undone. The fabric was damp in a circle as wide as the dusty rose aureole and her nipple a tiny bundle of fiery nerves striking flames out into her bloodstream to stoke every female part of her into a rage of pleasure and heat.

Her fingers raked through his hair and tightened around fistfuls of curls as she arched her back, thrusting her breasts as close to his mouth as the flesh would allow. She didn't know his hand had abandoned her breast until she felt the smooth climb of his fingers up the inside of her calf, then over the delicate mound of her knee and up again until his palm fit snug in the vee of her thighs, and she gasped. For a long moment he did nothing but hold her there, allowing her time to adjust to the feel of his hand in such a private place.

"You're so beautiful, Lila," he whispered as he moved to nibble her lips. "I want to touch every part of your body." Slowly, he worked his palm back and forth, petting and teasing. "Taste every sweet inch of you."

His mouth settled over her nipple again as he sent one bold finger to part the folds of her sex. Lila’s mind was torn between relishing the pleasure of his mouth on her breast and surrendering to the movement of his hand. He probed and stroked gently, making the outside as warm and moist as the inside and she felt her legs falling wider apart. His fingers moved over a small nub of flesh in her center and her belly quivered as he circled the area in a slow, torturous rhythm. He caressed again and again until his palm was damp and she was breathing hard. He claimed her mouth again and this time when she gripped his head it was to angle his face for a more thorough kiss. She was bound by ignorance so she showed him her need in the only way she knew how, by plundering his mouth with a reckless passion.

Morgan shed his trousers without breaking the kiss, and it was while she was so fully engrossed in his mouth that he plunged gently inside of her, breaking the barrier of her virginity as swiftly and painlessly as possible. Her mouth went still against his, her muscles clenched in her entire body, and Morgan’s arm went around her, holding her to him. His fingers threaded through her hair and massaged her scalp.

“Are you all right?” he asked tenderly.

“I…I think so,” she said, opening her eyes. “I wasn’t expecting it to hurt.”

“I promise you that’s the last time it will. It's only the first time that feels that way.”

She took a few deep breaths through the mild burn and when it subsided she leaned her head back to look up at his face filled with concern. She raised an eyebrow and couldn’t disguise her disappointment. Where were the shooting stars she'd heard whispered about among the girls back home?

“So, that’s it then? Is that all?”

Morgan chuckled. “Not by a long shot,” he said as he kissed her lightly on the lips. "Do you feel comfortable enough to continue?"

She nodded, and braced herself for more pain. His hips began a slow movement, stirring the hardness inside of her, and she sucked in a breath as her eyes glazed over in rapture. His own breath came on a pleased grunt at the tight sheath she provided him. With each thrust more of her tightness gave way to him, and he began to feel the slight answering undulations of her hips. He brought a hand down to grasp behind her knee and bring it toward her chest, opening her up even more. He was welcomed by a throaty moan and a small thrash of her head.

She ran her fingernails down the ridges of his abs, spreading them over skin buttery with sweat. Without thinking she smoothed them around until her palms found the mottled mess of scabs and she sucked in a breath so sharply that Morgan stopped instantly.

“What?” he breathed.

“Oh, my God! Your back…we shouldn’t be doing this!”

“Trust me, I’ll hurt worse if we
stop
doing this.”

“But what if it worsens your back?”

“Woman, it’ll take another mountain falling on me to pull me away from you. I’m exactly where I want to be.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “You’re sure you’re all right?”

“It’s sore, and I feel it,” he answered honestly. “So, imagine how much better this’ll be when I'm completely healed.”

He began moving again and all thoughts of protest went out of her head. Each thrust seemed to go deeper, to heighten the pleasure building within. Her back came off the ground and she sucked a breath in through her teeth. Her fingernails dug into where she’d curled them around his forearms. He held her suspended there before swiveling his hips, grinding their bodies together where they were connected and pulling back for another thrust. She chewed her bottom lip before moaning appreciatively.

He ran his hands up the outside of her hips, pushing the hem of the nightgown up farther so he could see her naked flesh. The bunched fabric was stifling to the soaring heat of her body so she reached down and grabbed it, pulling it off over her head. The burning embers in Morgan’s eyes were all the assurance she needed as she watched him feast on her nudity. She felt him grow even harder inside of her and he began to pull and plunge with greater urgency.

His hand moved back down to the tiny pearl of flesh just above where they were joined and he rubbed it gently, applying more pressure and quickening the pace to match his thrusts. Lila felt a fist clenching in the lower reaches of her belly and the muscles of her sex began to contract as if there was a tendon stretched between the two regions.

She read it in his face even as she felt it in her body, the buildup of pleasure simmering. She couldn’t breathe but she didn’t care. She clung to him as if he were her sole source of life. Her lips clasped to his and as the dam finally broke and the pleasure raced through her on a cry, she could not tell where her heaving began and his ended as their mouths remained locked together. His full weight was atop her while he continued to move in tiny spasms.