WB (19 page)

I watched as he withdrew his finger and with unhurried hands unzipped his pants, pulled his boxers down and proudly bared his lower body to my avid gaze.

He was big, too big. The head of his cock glistened with silky moisture and the shaft was thick enough that I would have a hard time getting my fingers around it. I wasn't sure what the normal size was for a penis, but I was sure that his wasn't it.

The shaft was delicately curved upward and ropey veins ran along the sides and under my interested gaze I saw it grow longer and thicker. Uh oh, I didn't like to think how much bigger his cock was than his finger as he moved to lie between my thighs again.

He spread my legs wider and with a gasp I realized the time had come. Fatalistically, I had always known that there was no one I wanted to make love with but Gage, but now that I was about to I was nervous.

“Um, Gage, I don't think this will work. Maybe we should slow down, have some lunch or something …. ”

His face was tight and fierce with longing and I felt the head of his cock bump alarmingly against my widespread softness. I tried to bring my legs together, but with a laugh he pushed them apart again with his knees and said, “Look at me while I fuck you.”

I couldn't look away and I didn't remember when I had shoved my arms up between us, but with an equal mix of excitement and fear I gripped his upper arms as he began to press into my body.

At once I tried to relax as a feeling of fullness stretched my opening wide. Gage's mouth was open in a rectus of pleasure and I felt relief that it wasn't as painful as I had been told it could be.

The head of his cock was fully inside me and the feeling was of delicious tightness and friction. I let my breath out in a rush and waited to see what would happen next. His hips rocked forward slightly and I felt him slide against my engorged clit as he slid further inside of me. I moaned in reawakening pleasure.

This was nice, very, very nice. For a few moments more I relaxed as I felt Gage slowly rocking back and forth starting up a delicious rhythm and making me moan with delight.

Then, he said so softly, I almost didn't hear him, “You're so tight angel. It will only hurt a moment.”

I had a moment to wonder what he was talking about, he was inside me, the

uncomfortable part I had been so worried about was over and frankly, it hadn't been as painful as some people said. Then he thrust forward and I felt a tight stinging pain as his cock speared into WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 76

my delicate flesh wringing a surprised scream from me. He was deeper than before and I gasped at the feeling. His eyes were locked on mine with a look so carnal it made my sheath spasm around his hardness. He groaned and his arms shook as he hovered above me, unmoving for several seconds.

Just when I was feeling that I wanted him to move, to do something, he slowly pulled almost all the way out and then I felt his long, hard length slide all the way in again. With each thrust he stretched me anew and I moaned at the tight pain of it.

I felt invaded and overwhelmed and I watched as Gage's face became tight, his eyes glassy and pupils dilated, his cheeks flushed from his exertions. The pain faded but the feeling was so strange, not at all what I had expected from sex.

I felt his hand reach down and in a gentle rhythm he rubbed my clit in time with his thrusts. Soon a rising feeling of pleasure began to pulse inside of me and I realized in amazement that I was close to orgasm too.

I could hear him whispering encouragement to me, telling me how good I felt, how tight and wet and how much he wanted me to come with his cock buried deep inside me. His words tipped me over the edge and with a hoarse cry I climaxed, spasming around him in waves of joy and felt him explode a moment later.

He pulled away carefully and I felt him slide out of me and I felt strangely sad to be apart from him again.

His back was turned to me as he dug through his bag and finding what he wanted zipped the bag closed again and turned around with a small silky cloth and used it to gently wipe away the wetness from my thighs and crotch.

“Any regrets?” He had a strangely vulnerable look on his face as he waited for my answer.

“No.” I said slowly. I didn't, at least not now, with my breasts tingling, my mouth kiss sore and a mellow pulsating feeling between my legs.

I felt pretty good actually. I wanted to run on the beach, fly a kite and eat a gallon of chocolate truffle ice cream all at the same time. I was restless, excited, the sensations were so strange that I wasn't sure what to do with myself. Usually, I was a pretty calm person, but since meeting Gage my emotions were all over the place, it was exhilarating and terrible at the same time.

He smiled and gave a relieved laugh. It was weird to think he had been worried. The man was gorgeous and I knew about a dozen women who would pay a month's salary for a fraction of what I just experienced with him. As a matter of fact, I had seen over a dozen women's gratitude for his sexual prowess, my mouth turned down at the thought.

“How many women have you been with Gage?”

His stare was direct as he took in my focused gaze and tightly clenched fists.

“Why do you want to know?”

“I just do. Don't say you wouldn't have asked me how many men I was with if you knew I wasn't a virgin.”

“I wouldn't have. Whatever you did with other men is in the past. All I care about is that you are with me now.”

I was surprised by that. His behavior so far had suggested a certain caveman

possessiveness and to find out he didn't care what I did before meeting him seemed out of character, but kinda nice too.

WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 77

I didn't know what to say now, it seemed churlish to want to know about his past lovers.

I should let sleeping dogs lie as the saying goes, but I still felt uneasy not knowing. I wanted to hear it from him.

“Were you in love with any of them? Did you want to marry anyone before me?”

He threw his head back and laughed and then leaned forward to give me a quick, hard kiss. My lips clung to his as he pulled back. He stood up and pulled on his boxers with a quick movement and I looked him over with a proud eye, he was really something to look at. Like a living statue of David, all muscled and firm, even his knees were manly and beautiful.

“Careful angel, you sound like a jealous wife. I liked them. They were all very kind and generous women. There, is that enough for you? I don't really want to talk about the past. I think we should start planning for the future.”

Jealous? Of course I was! I had seen my first and only lover with dozens of women.

Worst of all, they were all the complete opposite of me. I was so jealous of them my stomach burned and my throat felt tight with suppressed emotion.

I didn't want him to talk about the future with me. The future was the one thing I didn't want to think about. Today was a little detour to fantasy land. I figured I had a few days with Gage, learning to control my magic, and, hopefully having more mind blowing sex, then it was back to my safe, boring life. I wasn't bitter, I just wanted to enjoy what time I had with him before leaving him behind.

What we had now couldn't last, we were two ships passing, or whatever that saying was about ships and people, or maybe it was people steering ships in troubled waters? Anyway, we were strictly temporary. It was best this way, no one could get hurt as long as we were honest and he let me leave when my training was done.

He was gathering up the supplies from our magic practice and with a surprised

exclamation I realized we only had a few minutes to get everything off the beach before the tide swept in.

Two of his bodyguards rushed down the narrow winding stair to help us carry the table and the bigger items and I felt a red blush sweep over me. Had they seen anything? In the excitement of the moment I had completely forgotten that the guards had positioned themselves at the top of the stairs and on the rocky point overhanging the beach to the west. Both of those guards would have had a perfect view of Gage and me.

A sick feeling burned in my stomach and I cast a quick glance at Gage. Did he realize that we might have been seen? Would he care? He was laughing over something one of the guards, Aaron, I think his name was, had said. In my excitable state I thought they were laughing at me and I had a sudden urge to hit them both over the head with the copper bottomed pot I was carrying.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. The last thing I needed right now was to lose control again. I thought about the bedroom door exploding and Lillian's office window and felt my heartbeat ratchet up a pace. Not good, I needed something calming. Something good and sweet and relaxing. A distraction of the soporific kind.

“I need Pride and Prejudice!” I didn't realize I had said it out loud until I saw the guards staring at me curiously and Gage giving me a concerned look.

“Um, the Jane Austen book … it was made into a miniseries ….” My voice trailed off uncomfortably and I saw the guards exchanging grins. Wow, did I feel like a dork now. This was becoming an epidemic with me lately.

WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 78

“Aaron will get you a copy then.” Gage said and I saw the guard Aaron give me a quick nod and a loopy grin. Well, at least I provided a laugh for everyone.

The house was warm and cozy. I made my way to the kitchen and after a few minutes of opening and closing cupboards I found coffee, filters, a bag of sugar and a carton of cream (the same brand I bought at home). Gage was nothing if not thorough. I had to marvel at the fact that I didn't feel angry about him knowing so much about me. I wished I knew more about him.

I heard a sound and looked up to see Gage standing in the doorway. His short hair was windblown and he had pulled on a dark gray sweater and changed into form fitting jeans. He looked so good I wanted to tumble him to the kitchen floor and explore every inch of his hard body again. With an effort I stopped myself from getting up and going to him.

“Do you want some coffee?” I asked.

He shook his head and strode forward. His hands were warm as he worked them under the collar of my shirt and began to gently knead my tension away. I could feel the tightness in my shoulders loosening and he made a pleased humming noise in the back of his throat as he swept my hair to the side and using gentle pressure worked out the knots.

I felt a soft kiss on the top of my head and turned to look at him. “You're beautiful Anna.”

“Um, thanks, you're nice to look at too.” He laughed and spun the stool I was sitting on around so that he could look me in the eyes.

“I can't decide what I like better; the kitten or the tiger,” he said with a slow grin. I gave him a playful slap on the shoulder and he stepped away quickly with a laugh.

“I'm going to call your mother and brother tomorrow morning.”

He had a serious look on his face as he said this and his hand was unconsciously rubbing my palm in a circular pattern.

“Okay, why?”

“To invite them here for the wedding. That way you can invite your friends too. I know your mother would like the wedding to take place in France, but there will be time enough to introduce you to her friends and family. We could spend some time there after the wedding. I have business in Australia next week, so the wedding will have to wait until I get back …”

“I can't marry you Gage.”

The sexy soft look on his face dissolved and he leaned away from me with an angry growl. Here was the Gage that I didn't like. His face looked carved from marble and the look in his eyes said, 'beware, this way lies danger.'

“Look, we hardly know each other. Be real, I've seen the women you usually go for and I'm not one of them. I can't fit into all of this,” I waved my hands at the professionally appointed kitchen with its eight burner stove and industrial size refrigerator. In my earlier explorations I found seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, a cedar lined sauna that seated eight, five fireplaces, a wine cellar and a wet bar for heaven's sake! This was a rock star's hideaway, not the home of a lowly legal secretary like me.

He looked really angry now. Gage smiling and laughing was breathtaking, like a fallen angel or one of Michelangelo’s statues come to life. But when he was mad, like he was now, he looked almost demonic and I felt myself shrinking back against the counter. His eyes were chips of ice and I felt a shiver race up my spine as I watched his face harden in reaction to my rejection. To cover my nervousness I took a long sip of coffee and scooted back in my seat.

“You are mine Anna. Since the day you showed up in my dreams, from the moment I WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 79

touched your hand at Celeste's apartment. Soon you will come to accept this and stop fighting me at every turn.”

Women had been turning down men's offers of marriage for centuries. But, I had the feeling that he hadn't been turned down for anything, ever. A part of me felt happy to be the first. He was entirely too arrogant for his own good and it was long past time for him to encounter someone who was less than happy to go along with his carefully laid out plans.

I hopped down from the stool and walked around the side of the center island hoping to put a little space between us. But, either he didn't get the hint or chose to ignore it and he followed me as I made my way from the counter to the doorway to the living room.

I didn't see any of his bodyguards in the room and a quick glance at the stairs and open dining room showed they were similarly empty. I really didn't want to be alone with him when he was in caveman mode, but his guards were doing their guard thing somewhere else.

“Where's the muscle?”

His mouth twitched in a reluctant grin, “They're outside, patrolling the edges of the property. Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?”