The Outlaw Bride (19 page)

Connor didn’t give Kate the chance to argue. Proving his point, he kissed her again. Fully, completely, taking possession of her mouth. He swept his tongue over her lips, which parted with a gasp of surprise. She let her weight press against him, her hands sliding up over his chest.

Liquid heat raced through his veins. His tongue slid past the barrier of her teeth and boldly she met him with her own. He nibbled and played, sunk both hands into her hair and freed the glorious mane from the haphazard bun struggling to contain it. Pins clattered against the hardwood floor.

His breathing came in rapid gasps and need raged through his body, demanding release. Her fingers twisted into his shirt. She trembled in his arms and a low moan shivered through her, proving to him she was not immune, that whatever existed between them had infected her as well.

God help him, if he didn’t stop now, he would take her right here in the middle of the kitchen. She deserved better than that. She deserved to know this meant something to him. Everything. That he intended on her being a permanent fixture in his life.

He had to convince her not to leave.

Connor dug deep for the tiny shred of decency he had left and broke the kiss. He lifted his head and tried to restore reason—an almost impossible task with her still so close, her breasts heaving against his chest with each ragged breath.

“You can’t keep doing that,” she said, her voice small and breathless.

He wasn’t entirely sure why. The reason escaped him at the moment. Perhaps it would come back to him when he picked up the scattered remnants of his mind and pieced it back together. But for now—for now he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to feel her next to him.

“You have to let me go.”

He shook his head. Why did she keep saying that? Why couldn’t she see this was meant to be? Unless…did she not feel it too? “Is that what you want?”

“No. Yes.” Katherine couldn’t think of a reasonable argument to counter him. The instant his lips touched hers, every particle of her being stopped functioning properly and focused solely on the feel of his mouth, the way it moved against hers, the unsettling exhilaration that tore through her. She wanted him to touch her, to kiss her, to desire her. She’d tried to deny it, but the attempt had been flimsy at best and destined for failure.

She grasped onto the only thing she could to push him away. “I’m married.”

“I know.”

“But you don’t know all of it.”

“Then tell me the rest.”

Her mind reeled. Tell him the rest? Tell him he had just kissed a Slade? That the woman he held in his arms was responsible for his brother’s death? A chill crept into her bones. This had gone too far. She had let herself feel too much and pulled Connor into her heart when she should have pushed him away. She flattened her hands against his chest and pushed now, taking a step back on shaky legs.

Her insides trembled. She had waded into dangerous territory. She couldn’t stay here. Couldn’t risk his finding out the truth. He had been betrayed once, horribly. She couldn’t be the one to hurt him again. This thing between them, whatever it was, could destroy them both.

But oh Lord, what a sweet destruction it would be.

“I should never have let things get this far.”

His face hardened, as if bracing for the hurt.

“I’m a married woman,” she repeated.

He took a step toward her, a dangerous glint illuminating the black flecks in his eyes. “You’ve left your husband and I’m guessing you have no intention of going back.”

“In the eyes of the law—”

“Don’t quote the law to me, Kate.”

Connor took another step. She retreated and threw her hand up between them. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” He stopped. “Don’t touch you? Don’t kiss you again? Don’t make you sigh with pleasure like you did before?”

She swallowed. Sweet heaven, make him stop talking. “All of it.”

“Because you still love your husband?”

“No!” Revulsion shook her. “He’s a cruel man. But I married him and I can’t change that.”

“You can divorce him.”

She shook her head. It would never be that easy. “He would never let me go.” And he would never let anyone else have her. He’d kill whoever got in his way. Hadn’t attacking the stagecoach proven that? Innocent people had died. Good people. Connor’s people. “You don’t understand.”

“Then make me understand.”

“I can’t.”

His penetrating gaze rocked her. “You won’t.”

She pressed her lips together. Her heart beat painfully in her chest, each pulse sending shards of hurt shooting through every inch of her. If he so much as touched her, she would splinter into a million tiny pieces. “Please, just leave me be. I don’t want you. Not in that way.”

For a moment, she thought he would ignore her request. She knew if he did the last vestiges of her resilience would crumble to dust. But just when she thought her battle lost, Connor spun on his heel and stalked toward the door without another word. It slammed behind him with a forceful finality.

Katherine’s body sagged. She closed her eyes and pressed a shaking hand against her forehead. What had she done? She’d sent away the only man she’d ever cared about, made him think she didn’t love him. But she did. She loved him so much her heart ached from the force of it.

The door shuddered against the frame and her gaze shot up just in time to see Connor descending upon her with all the determination of an avenging angel.

“Dammit, Kate, that was the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard!”

She didn’t have time to mount a protest. Connor’s body slammed into hers, propelling her back against the wall. His mouth possessed her. His tongue plundered. Explored, tasted, coaxed. The last of Katherine’s defenses disintegrated and she returned his kiss with all the pent-up desire she’d tried so hard to overcome. She couldn’t help herself. She wanted him with a ferocity that terrified her.

His fingers inched her skirt up. She hadn’t bothered with stockings when she’d changed and his hands on her bare skin drove her mad with longing. She wanted his hands everywhere, on the most intimate parts of her. She lifted her leg to brush against his. He cupped the underside of her knee, tugging her closer, until not even a wisp of air could fit between their bodies. His hardness pressed into her.

Katherine lost all sense of time, of right and wrong, of promises and fear and the fact nothing could ever come of this. Everything fell away until all that remained was this moment, this man, and the feelings erupting through her body and bursting from her heart.

When she thought she would drown in the madness of it all, Connor lifted his mouth from hers. A gentle hand caressed the ridge of her cheekbone, as if she were made of glass so delicate it would shatter at the smallest touch.

“Tell me again you don’t want this.” Desperation and desire colored his voice. “Tell me you don’t want me.”

One last opportunity dangled in front of her. She could say the word and he would let her go, walk away. She knew he would. One more lie and she could save herself. Save them both.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t.”

Connor wrapped her in his arms and lifted her off the floor. His mouth never left hers as he blindly made his way from the kitchen. Her feet didn’t touch down until they reached the bedroom.

“Once I shut this door, there’s no turning back. If you don’t want this—if you’ve any doubts—tell me now.”

Her chest rose and fell. She should stop this. She knew she should. It didn’t change anything. She would still leave, there was no helping that. But God help her, she wanted just one perfect moment before she did. She needed to know what it was like to be held in arms that loved instead of destroyed, by hands that gave instead of took, by a heart that touched her own.

“I want this.” More than she had ever wanted anything. More than her next breath.

Connor reached behind him and with a quick flick of his wrist cut off her last chance to do the right thing and just walk away.

Their breaths mingled and for a moment neither of them moved. Tension crackled in the air between them. Katherine reached up and cupped the side of his face, the bristles of his evening beard rough against her palm. His brilliant blue gaze pierced her through the moonlight that filtered into the room.

Connor lowered his head slowly. His body trembled with restraint. She knew he wanted to toss her back onto the bed and find his release deep within her. She wanted it too, with a desperate, pulsing ache she was powerless to ignore.

His lips touched hers, tentative at first. She opened her mouth to his, let the tip of her tongue gently sweep across his bottom lip. He inhaled sharply and gathered her to him, crushing their bodies together. The kiss deepened as he eased her back onto the mattress.

No words were exchanged. His hands explored her body, peeling away each layer of clothing piece by piece until no barriers existed between them but her chemise and drawers. Time and again, his hands and his mouth brought her to the brink, then shied away, until she thought she would scream from the exquisite agony of the sensations pulsing through her body.

Her breath caught as his tongue flicked over her nipple, moistening the thin cotton still covering it. As he took the hardened bud in his mouth and suckled it, she thought she would go mad. Perhaps she already had. Every inch of her demanded his touch.

His questing fingers brushed against her ribcage.

She jumped, startled by the sensation and the bubble of laughter that welled inside of her.

Connor lifted his head from her breast, one golden eyebrow raised. He flashed a grin, roguish and unguarded. The strain and stress of his life peeled away, giving her a glimpse of the boy beneath the man. It robbed her of breath.

“Why, Kate,” he said, his husky voice dancing over her nerves. “Are you ticklish?”

“It appears I am,” she whispered, though she hadn’t realized until just this moment. No one had ever tickled her before, even inadvertently. Her heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings, beating against her chest.

His eyes softened and he lowered his mouth to hers. “Mmm, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

She could feel the smile playing on his lips. The idea that she was responsible for it filled her with a strange protectiveness, a need to keep it there, to keep the harshness of the world from stealing it away again. She wanted to give him ease and comfort. She wanted to give him herself, join herself to him. It made no sense, they had no future. But she couldn’t stop herself.

Katherine struggled for sanity, but with each touch, each caress, her tenuous grip on reason grew weaker. She was drowning in him, and it both frightened and consumed her.

Connor inched his body downward. His mouth burned a line of kisses from her breast to her navel until the tip of his tongue trailed along the edge of her drawers. She drank in a greedy gulp of air. Her stomach tightened against the assault.

His hand glided past her hip and took a slow, deliberate path over her thigh and shin, scalding every inch of her sensitive skin as it brushed along the back of her leg. Then he reached beneath her and cupped her bottom.

He held her to him, his fingers playing with the edge of her drawers. They teased the small of her back as his tongue darted against her belly.

Was there a sweeter torment than this? She couldn’t think of one. She couldn’t think much at all beyond the havoc he was wreaking upon her senses. She craved more. She had never experienced such exhilaration. A primal need surged from somewhere deep inside of her and threatened to erupt. She shifted slightly, coaxing him to settle between her legs, the need to feel him within more potent than ever.

Connor lifted his head, the dainty pink tie to her drawers held between his teeth. He reached up far enough so the bow undid itself. The material around her waist loosened and he let the ribbon go. It fell against her skin, followed by his lips as he placed a soft kiss against her stomach. He glanced up at her through dark lashes. The moonlight caught his blue eyes, turning them silver. There was a question in them, and Katherine realized he was waiting for her permission before he went any further.

With a shaky breath she realized this was it. The point of no return.

She lifted her hips, a silent answer to his unspoken question. The hint of a smile played about the corners of his mouth. He inched his body downward, taking her drawers with him as he went. His knuckles grazed her backside, sending rivulets of pleasure spiraling outward. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss against the cotton still covering the curls at the juncture of her thighs.

“Connor!” His name rasped out of her as she bucked against him. He yanked her drawers further down and she kicked them free, reaching for him. But he had lifted himself onto his elbows, just out of her reach. He lingered above her thighs, his tantalizing mouth too close to her most sensitive spot for her to even think clearly.

“God, you’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”

He had imagined her like this? The notion made her tingle, part pride, part embarrassment as he lay there looking at her as if he wanted to devour her. She wished he would.

“Come here,” she pleaded, needing him closer.

He crawled over her, holding his weight in his forearms, his gaze steady on hers. Slowly he lowered himself down, and she savored the moment, that delicious instant when their bodies met without any barriers between them. Skin touched skin, inflaming her inch by inch. His arms enfolded her, his need pressed hard against her thigh.

She thought she would die from the want of him.

He kissed her eyelids closed, then pressed his mouth against her temple, her cheek, her ear.

“Kate…”

He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. Impatience flooded through her. Her legs tightened about his waist and she rocked against him, urging him on. Her hands grasped at his back. Nails dug into his flesh, reaching for something only he could provide.

“Please,” she whispered against his mouth.

Connor raised his head and peered into her eyes. Two narrow lines etched deeply between his brows. “Kate—”