Pleasure. Pleasure such as she’d never known—that Peter had never even tried to give her. But Kieran drove all memories of Peter from her mind as he dipped deeper still, wet his fingers on her, massaged and stroked until she was flushed and gasping.
“The scent of you,” he rasped. He lifted his fingers to his lips and tasted what she gave so freely. “The taste.” Drawing away to kneel at the foot of the bed, he pulled her with him and set her legs to either side of his shoulders.
“Kieran.” His name became a moan. He discovered with his tongue and lips the same territory his fingers had explored, but now the journey was one of ecstasy. He drank from her eagerly, greedily. Her breathing became labored and her hands worked into his hair, clutching and releasing again and again.
It was almost beyond bearing. She was ready for him, more than ready. Yet he tested her one last time, thrusting deep with his tongue as if he could consume every remaining drop.
Alex bucked against him, her hands dragging at his hair, pulling him up.
“Kieran… Now. Now…”
Bracing himself on his arms, he slid up the length of her. His eyes were liquid gold, hot and rich, glaring at her with naked desire. He was a force of nature: irresistible, Potent, undeniable.
Her denials were long since vanished. He took her lips with sudden ferocity, positioning himself to thrust hard and hot into the center of her body.
And stopped. He went utterly still, head flung back, eyes squeezed shut. Sweat glistened on his forehead.
“Kieran?” Her fingers brushed his cheek, urgent and tender.
“I’m… afraid,” he panted.
“Of what?”
“The beast is so close—”
Alex laced her fingers in his hair and pulled him down. “It’s part of you, Kieran. I’m brave enough for both of us.”
He groaned, a cry wrenched from his very heart, and plunged down, entering in one smooth stroke. She gasped and rose to meet him. And they danced the mating dance, older than the forests and the prairies, the one instinct that made all creatures kin.
The joy drove out every shadow of the past. Her name came to her from his lips, transformed by his husky voice into something sublime. The name was beautiful. She was beautiful. With each thrust it was as if he left part of himself inside her, gave her his inherent perfection. Together they made a bond that went far beyond mere pleasure, far beyond dreams.
But the miracle wasn’t finished. Not until Alex whimpered and arched against him one last time, her body convulsing around him, caressing him to his own climax. She held him tight as he rode out the last waves and lay panting above her.
He rolled onto his side and pulled her with him, cradling her with arms and legs and the steady exultation of his heartbeat.
Fairy tales are real, Alex thought, dazed with joy. She wanted to tell Kieran, but her throat was too filled up to make any sound.
So she let herself simply feel. All she wanted of the world was here. There was no yesterday, no tomorrow. Kieran had robbed her of her past and given her himself. That gift was worth any sacrifice.
Any sacrifice at all.
Chapter 16
“I’ve talked to Lori, Kieran.”
He turned away from the window, and she almost forgot what she was about to say. To look at him now, to feel freely and without denial, to see him look back without disgust, with hunger in his eyes—it was a miracle she’d never dreamed of having again. The light of early morning softened his features and glowed in his eyes, rivaling the sun itself.
“What did she say?” he asked. Calmly, now, with none of the self-recrimination he’d shown last night. As if their lovemaking had healed them both a little, somehow.
Alex went to him. “She won’t travel any farther with us, Kieran. She’s still too scared… not thinking clearly either, I suspect. She told me she’d called her sister in Calgary to come get her here, but her sister has to work and won’t be able to make it until late evening. It looks as though it’ll be another day’s wait here, but”—she met his eyes—”I don’t think we should leave until we know she’s safely away with her sister.”