A Wife for a Westmoreland (8 page)

He pulled back slightly, wanting her to watch exactly what he was doing. What he was about to do. When he released the front fastener of her bra, his breath quickened when her breasts came tumbling out. They were full, firm and ripe and the nipples were dark and tightened even more into hard nubs before his eyes. And when he swooped his mouth down and captured a peak between his lips, she moaned and closed her eyes.
“Keep them open, Lucia. Watch me. I want you to see what I’m doing to you.”

He saw her heavy-lidded eyes watch as he tugged a nipple into his mouth and begin sucking on it, and the more he heard her moan the more pressure he exerted with his mouth.

But that wasn’t enough. Her scent was getting to him and he needed to touch her, to taste her, to bury himself in a feminine fragrance that was exclusively hers. He left one breast and went to another as he lowered a hand underneath the waistband of her lace bikini panties. And when his fingers ran over the wetness of her feminine folds, she writhed against his hand and let out a deep moan and whispered his name.

He lifted his head to stare down at eyes that were dazed with passion. “Yes, baby? You want something?”

Instead of answering, she began trembling as his fingers slipped inside her and he began stroking her while watching the display of emotions and expressions appear on her face. The breathless wonder drenched with pleasure that he saw in her gaze, in response to his touch, was a sight to behold and the sweetest thing he’d ever seen.

Lust thundered through him with the force of a hurricane and he knew he had to make love to her in the most primitive way. Leaning back, he eased to his feet and continued to hold her gaze while he tugged off his boots, pulled off his socks and unzipped his jeans. He took the time to remove a condom from the back pocket and held it between his teeth while he yanked down his jeans, careful of his engorged erection.

“Derringer…”

If she said his name like that, with that barely-there voice, one more time, he would lose it. The sound was sending splendorous shivers up his spine and there was a chance he would come the minute he got inside her, without making a single thrust. And he didn’t want that. He wanted to savor the moment, make it last for as long as he could.

When he was totally naked, he stood before her and watched her gaze roam over him, seeing some parts of him that she probably hadn’t seen their other night together. There was no shame in his game, but he knew deep down this wasn’t a game with him. He was serious about what was taking place between them.

Thinking he had wasted more than enough time, he bent over her to remove the last item of clothing covering her body. Her panties. He touched the center of her and she sucked in a deep breath. He tossed aside the condom packet he’d been holding between his teeth. “You’re drenched, baby,” he said in a low, rough voice. “I know you don’t believe me, but there is something about you that drives me crazy.”

When he began tugging her panties down her legs, he whispered throatily, “Lift your hips and bend your legs for me.”

She did, and when he removed her panties, instead of tossing them aside, he rubbed the lacy material over his face before he bent to the floor and tucked them into the back pocket of his jeans. He knew she was watching his every move and was probably wondering what on earth possessed him to do such a thing.

Instead of mounting her now, as he wanted to do,
there was something he wanted to do even more. Taste her. He wanted to taste all that sweetness that triggered the feminine aroma he enjoyed inhaling. It was a scent he was convinced he had become addicted to.

He lowered his body to his knees and before she could pull in her next breath, he pressed an open mouth to the wet, hot feminine lips of her sex. She groaned so deep in her throat that her body began trembling. But he kept focused on the pleasure awaiting him as he leisurely stroked her with his tongue, feasting on her with a hunger he knew she could not understand, but that he intended her to enjoy.

Because he was definitely enjoying it.

He’d been of the mind that no other woman had her scent. Now he was just as convinced that no other woman had her taste as well. It was unique. It was hers. And at the moment, as crazy as it sounded, he was also of the mind that it was also
his,
in a possessive way he’d never encountered before with any woman. The mere thought should have scared the hell out of him, but he was too far gone to give a damn.

When heat and lust combined and resonated off his mind he knew he had to be inside her or risk exploding then and there. He tore his mouth from her and threw his head back and released a deep savage groan. He then stared down at her while licking her juices from his lips. He felt as if he was taking part in a scorching-hot, exciting and erotic dream, and it was a dream he was dying to turn into a reality. And there was only one way he knew to do that.

He would take her and now
.

Without saying a word, he leaned over and spread
her thighs and placed a kiss on each before moving off his knees to shift his body over hers. Instinctively she arched her back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their gazes held as he eased his body down, the thick head of his shaft finding what it wanted and working its way inside her wet tightness. He paused when he’d made it halfway, glorying in the feel of her muscles clamping down on him, convulsing around him.

He wanted to take things slow, but the feel of her gripping him had him groaning deep in his throat, and when in a naughty, unexpected move she licked out her tongue and flicked his budded nipple before easing it into her mouth with a hungry suck, he took in a sharp breath at the same time he thrust hard into her.

When he heard her cry out, he apologized in a soothing whispered voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Just lie still for a moment.”

He used that time to lick around her mouth, nibble at the corners, and when she parted her mouth on a sweet sigh, he eased his tongue inside and sank right into a hungry kiss filled with more urgency and desire than he’d ever known or had ever cared knowing. Until now.

And then he felt the lower part of her body shift beneath the weight of his. He pulled back from the kiss. “That’s it, baby,” he crooned close to her ear. “Take it. All that you want.”

His body remained still as she moved her body, grinding against him, dipping her hips into the sofa cushions before lifting them up again, arching her back in the process. Then she began rotating her hips, pushing up and lowering back down.

Derringer’s body froze when he remembered the condom he’d tossed aside and he knew he needed to pull out now. But heaven help him, he couldn’t do so. Being inside of her like this felt so darn right. He kept his body immobile until he couldn’t stay still any longer and then he joined her, driving his erection deeper into her. He thrust in and out with precise and concentrated strokes that he felt all the way to the soles of his feet.

He had thought their first time together had been off the charts, but nothing, he decided, could compare to this. Nothing could compete with the incredible feeling of being inside her this way. Nothing. Desperate to reach the highest peak with her, he took total possession of her, kissing her with urgency while their bodies mated in the most primitive pleasure known to humankind.

He whispered erotic things in her ear before reaching down and cupping her face in his hands to stare down at her while his body continued to drive heatedly into hers. Their gazes locked and something happened between them at that moment that nearly threw him off balance. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice was taunting that this had nothing to do with possessing but everything to do with claiming.

Denial froze hard in his throat and he wanted to scream that it wasn’t possible. He claimed no woman. Instead, he grunted savagely as his body exploded, and then he heard her scream as she cried out in ecstasy. He kept thrusting into her, pushing them further and further into sweet oblivion and surging them beyond the stars.

L
ucia moved her head slowly, opened her eyes and then came fully awake when a flash of sunlight through her bedroom window hit her right in the face. It was then that she felt the male body pressed tightly against her back and the heated feel of Derringer’s breathing on her neck.

She then remembered.

They had made love on the sofa before moving into her bedroom where they had made love again before drifting off to sleep. Sometime during the wee hours of early morning they had made love again. The entire thing seemed unreal, but Derringer’s presence in her bed assured her that it had been real.

Her body felt sore, tender in a number of places, but mostly between her legs, and she wouldn’t be surprised if her lips were swollen from all the kissing they had done. Her cheeks flooded with heat thinking about
a number of other things they’d gotten into as well. She had proven to him in a very sexual way that she definitely knew how to ride a stallion. He had taunted her to prove it and she’d done so.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she thought how she would handle things from here on out. She knew last night meant more to her than it had to him, and she could handle that. But what she wouldn’t be able to handle was letting things go beyond what they’d shared these past few hours. She loved him and for him to ever make love to her again would turn things sexual, into a casual relationship that would tarnish her memories rather than enhance them. She was smart enough to know when to let go and move on. Now was the time.

Tears flooded her eyes. Derringer would always have her heart, but the reality was that she would never have his. And being the type of person that she was, she could never allow herself to become just one in a long line of women vying for his attention. She preferred letting things go back to the way they were between them before they’d become intimate.

The way she saw things, if she never had him then there was no way she could lose him. She couldn’t risk a broken heart because of Derringer and she knew her place in his life. She didn’t have one. If she began thinking of developing something serious with him knowing the kind of man he was, she was setting herself up for pain from which she might never be able to heal.

She would continue to love him like this—secretly. She had gotten used to doing things that way and, no matter what, she couldn’t let their sexual encounters—no
matter how intense they’d been—fill her head and mind with false illusions.

She swallowed when she felt Derringer’s penis swell against her backside and tried to convince herself it wouldn’t be a good idea to make love to him one last time. But she knew the moment he pulled her closer to his hard, masculine body that she would. This would be saying goodbye to the intimacy between them. She knew it even if he didn’t.

“You’re awake?” He turned her in his arms to face him.

Desire rippled through her the moment she looked into his face. Propped with his head on her pillow, his eyes had the same desire-glazed look they’d had that first night they’d made love. It was a sexy, drowsy look, complete with a darkened shadow on his chin. No man had a right to look this good in the morning. He looked so untamed, wild and raw. His rumpled look was calling out to her, arousing her and making her want him all over again.

“Sort of,” she said, yawning, and couldn’t help the anticipation she heard in her voice. And when he gave her a dimpled cowboy smile, sensations shot through her entire body, but especially in the area between her thighs.

“Then let me wake you up the Derringer Westmoreland way.” He then captured her mouth at the same time he tossed his leg over hers, adjusting their positions to ease inside her body.

“Oh,” she whispered, and when he locked his leg on her and began slowly moving in and out of her and capturing her lips with his, she figured there was
nothing wrong with one for the road…even though she knew she would end up in heaven.

Derringer’s smile faded as he buttoned up his shirt and stared at Lucia. “What do you mean we can’t ever make love again?”

He saw the flash of regret that came into her eyes before she stopped brushing her teeth long enough to rinse out her mouth. “Just what I said, Derringer. Last night was special and I want to remember it that way.”

He was confused. “And you don’t think you can if we make love again?”

“No. I know about the women you usually sleep with and, personally, I don’t want to be one of them.”

He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest, not sure he liked what she’d said. “Then why did you sleep with me last night?”

“I had my reasons.”

His frown deepened. He couldn’t help but wonder if those reasons were the same ones he had initially suspected her of having. And it didn’t help matters to know that every time he had made love to her they had been unprotected. The first time had been a slip-up, and then after that, he’d deliberately chosen not to think about it. Why he’d done such a thing, he didn’t know. He usually made it a point to always use protection. Even now, Lucia might be pregnant with his child.

“And just what are those reasons, Lucia?”

“I’d rather not say.”

Anger ignited inside him. That response wasn’t good enough.

“Oh!” she cried out in surprise when he reached
out, snatched her off her feet and tossed her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and strode out of the bathroom.

“Derringer! What in the world is wrong with you? Put me down.”

He did. Tossing her on the bed and glaring down at her. “I want to hear these reasons.”

She glared back. “You don’t need to know them. All you need to know is that I won’t be sharing a bed with you again.”

“Why? Because you think you’re pregnant now and that’s what this is about?”

Shock leaped into her face. “Pregnant? What are you talking about?”

“Are you on the pill or something?”

He could tell his question had surprised her. “No.”

His frown deepened. “There’s only one reason I can think of for a woman to let a man come inside her. Are you going to deny that sleeping with me this time around…as well as the last time…has nothing to do with you wanting a Westmoreland baby?”

He saw her throat tighten. “The last?”

“Yes,” he said between clenched teeth. “I know all about your little visit that night when I was drugged up on pain medication.”

She blinked. “You know?”

“Yes, and I couldn’t figure out why you, a virgin, would get into my bed and take advantage of me. And, yes, I do remember you were a virgin even if I couldn’t recall your identity.”

She angrily reared up on her haunches. “I did not take advantage of you! I was helping you back into
bed after you fell. If anything, you’re the one who took advantage of me.”

“So you say.” He could see fury consume her body. and smoke was all but coming out her ears, but he didn’t care.

She rolled off the bed and stood in front of him, almost nose to nose. “Are you insinuating I slept with you that night to deliberately get pregnant? And that I only slept with you last night and this morning for the same reason?”

“What am I supposed to think?”

She threw her hair over her shoulders. “That maybe I am different from all those other women you spend your time with, and that I would not have an ulterior motive like that,” she all but screamed at him.

“You said you had your reasons.”

“Yes, I have my reasons and they have nothing to do with getting pregnant by you, but everything to do with being in love with you. Do you have any idea how it is to fall in love with a man knowing full damn well he won’t ever love you back?”

“In love with me,” he said in a shocked stupor. “Since when?”

“Since I was sixteen.”

“Sixteen!” He shook his head. “Hell, I didn’t know.”

She placed her hands on her hips and her eyes sparked with fire. “And you weren’t
supposed
to know. It was a secret I had planned to take to my grave. Then like a fool I rushed over to your place when I heard you’d gotten hurt. And when you fell, I rushed up the stairs to help you back into bed and you wouldn’t get off me.”

He lifted a brow. His head was still reeling from her admission of love. “Are you saying I forced myself on you?”

“No, but I would not have gotten into bed with you if you hadn’t fallen on top of me. And then, when you began kissing me, I—”

“Didn’t want me to stop,” he finished for her. Her cheeks darkened and he knew he’d embarrassed her. “Look, Lucia, I—”

“No,
you
look, Derringer. You’re right. The thought of pushing you off me only entered my mind for a quick second, but I didn’t set out to get pregnant by you that night or any other night.”

“But you let me make love to you without any protection.” He remembered all too well that he hadn’t used a condom this time either.

“Then I can accuse you of the same thing. Trying to
get
me pregnant,” she all but snarled.

“And why would I do something like that?”

“I don’t know, but if you’re willing to think the worst of me, then I can certainly do the same thing with you. You had taken the condom out of your wallet last night, why didn’t you put it on?”

Derringer tensed. To say he’d been too carried away with making love to her would be to admit a weakness for her that he didn’t want to own up to. “I think this conversation has gotten out of hand.”

“You’re right. I want you to leave.”

He arched his brow. “Leave?”

“Yes. And my front door is that way,” she said as she pointed to the door.

He narrowed his eyes. “I know where your door is located and we haven’t finished our conversation.”

“There’s nothing else left to say, Derringer. I’ve already told you more than I should have and I’m ashamed of doing it. Now that you know how I feel, I won’t let you take advantage of those feelings. For me it’s even more important to protect my heart more than ever. Nothing has changed from the way you’ve always looked at me. Most of the time you acted like I didn’t exist.”

“That’s not true. I told you I was attracted to you a few years back.”

“Yes, and I honestly thought it meant something and that you were seeking me out after all that time. Now I know you only did so because you knew I was the one who slept with you that night.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment and then asked, “How did you know? I figured you wouldn’t remember anything.”

He jammed his hands into his jeans. “Oh, I remembered just fine, and you left a little something behind that definitely jogged my memory. Something pink and lacy. I just couldn’t remember who they belonged to. My security system gave me the answers I needed. I had video cameras installed outside my place last month. You were the woman I saw entering my house that evening and the same one I saw sneaking out the next morning with a made-love-all-night-long look all over you.”

Lucia tightened her bathrobe around her. “Like I said, that wasn’t the purpose of my visit. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“It had been storming that night. You hate storms. Yet you came to check on me,” he said.

That realization touched something within him. The reason he knew about her aversion to storms was because of something Chloe had once teased her about from their college days in Florida that involved a torrential thunderstorm and her reaction to it.

“Doesn’t matter now.”

“And what if I say it matters to me?” he all but snarled.

“Then I would suggest you get over it,” she snapped back.

“I can’t. I want to be with you again.”

She narrowed her gaze. “And I told you that we won’t be together that way ever again. So get it through that thick head of yours that I won’t become just another woman you sleep with. You have enough of those.”

Emotions he had never felt before stirred in Derringer’s stomach. He should leave and not come back and not care if he ever saw her again, but for some reason she had gotten in his blood and making love to her again hadn’t gotten her out. Instead the complete opposite had happened; she was more in his blood than ever before.

“I’ll give you time to think about what I said, Lucia.” He turned to leave the room knowing she was right on his heels as he moved toward the living room.

“There’s nothing to think about,” she snapped behind him.

He turned back around after snagging his Stetson off the rack. “Sure there is. We will be making love again.”

“No, we won’t!”

“Yes, we will,” he said, moving toward the door. “You’re in my blood now.”

“I’m sure so are a number of other women in this town.”

There was no point in saying that although he’d had a lot of women in the past, none had managed to get into his blood before. When he got to the door, he put on his hat before turning back to her. “Get some rest. You’re going to need it when we make love again.”

“I told you that we—”

He leaned forward and swiped whatever words she was about to say from her lips with a kiss, effectively silencing her. He then straightened and smiled at the infuriated face staring back at him and tipped the brim of his hat. “We’ll talk later, sweetheart.”

He opened the door and stepped outside and it didn’t bother him one bit when she slammed the door behind him with enough force to wake up the whole neighborhood.

Chloe leaned forward and kissed Lucia on the cheek. “Hey, cheer up. It might not be so bad.”

Lucia covered her face with both hands. “How can you say that, Clo? Now that Derringer knows how I feel, he’s going to do everything in his power to find a weakness to get me back in his bed. I should never have told him.”

“But you did tell him, so what’s next?”

She lowered her hands and narrowed her eyes. “Nothing is next. I know what he’s after and it’s not happening. And just to think he knew I was the one
who slept with him that night, when silly me thought he didn’t have a clue. And now he wants to add me to his list.”

Chloe raised a brow. “Did he actually say that?”

“He didn’t have to. His arrogance was showing and that was enough.” She doubted she could forget his exit and his statement about their talking later. She was so angry with him. The only good part about his leaving was the mesmerizing view of his backside before she slammed the door shut on him.