* * * *
“Wait. I’ll go with you,” Ellie called out.
“Stay there.”
Ellie watched him for a minute before turning from the entrance and observing the space behind her. The cave was beautiful. Sunlight made a silver curtain of the water. The rock walls shone with colors of silver and shiny black. Soft sand formed the floor, and the sun coming through the falls, glanced off the silver and black and filled the area with sparkly light.
Checking on Rafe again, she saw he had made his way around the pond. He bent, moved everything off the blanket, grasped the edge of the covering, and shook it out. Then, he began to cautiously return.
Obviously, he knew this area well and had only needed a little encouragement to use the skills he still had. Ducking back inside, she walked to the end of the cave so he wouldn’t suspect she’d been watching him.
He came around the edge of the falls and flipped the blanket in the air. It settled on the sand. “Sit.”
Ellie stepped lightly to him and leaned into his body. “First, kiss me.”
“Imp.” He bent his head, and his lips covered hers.
His hands caressed the sides of her head while he ravished her mouth.
He trembled, and power flooded through her veins. She’d dreamed of having him ache for her.
Well, I am the only woman around
. She blocked her cynical thoughts. This was her time, maybe the only real time. She wasn’t going to spoil it with doubts.
He nibbled at the edge of her jaw and her neck before kissing the spot where her pulse hammered. She giggled at the tickly feeling and scrunched her neck.
“Ah, a sensitive point,” he whispered and proceeded to tickle her with more quick kisses.
Then the atmosphere changed as he swept her chemise from her body. Hot, wet kisses went over her chest until his mouth captured her breast. Her knees went weak, and he laid her on the blanket.
Now he gave all his attention to both breasts, suckling, licking, and nibbling. Fire raced over her. She pressed him closer and moaned.
His head rose, and those searing blue eyes seemed to see right into her mind. Reaching out, he found her face and softly touched her forehead with the tips of his fingers. Slowly, he explored the shape of her nose, her cheeks, along the line of her lips. Each movement made her heart quiver. She started to rise up to kiss him.
“No. Let me explore with my hands since I can’t with my eyes. I want to see you with my mind’s eye, not as I remember you so long ago but as the woman you’ve become.”
She caught her breath at his words and nodded. Lying still, she waited as he started again to explore her body.
Brushing her hair aside, Rafe’s hands slid over her ears. His mouth tasted her and his breath caressed each lobe, sending ripples of heat along her body. Lower, she began to ache, for what she wasn’t sure. Now, his mouth tasted the side of her neck, his tongue swirling against the place where her neck met her shoulder. His hands cupped her shoulders, massaging them while he stretched his body out along her length.
His lips moved across her chest. At her breasts, he stopped. His look so intent, she flushed. Again, his hands slowly cupped their fullness. He brought his head close and nuzzled each peak. He licked them and blew soft breaths across the damp, tight nipples.
Ellie ached for him. Her hunger increased to a ravenous lust, and she felt wet below. A smile crossed his face as though he knew exactly what she was experiencing and he enjoyed tormenting her. He nibbled at each breast, taking his time tasting and touching each one.
Almost angry now with her lustful hunger, Ellie daringly reached down inside his waistband and wrapped her hand around him. She was surprised at his silky hardness. Heat poured off of him. He jerked when she gripped him snugly, and then he calmly removed her hand as he continued his journey.
He bent and kissed her stomach, his tongue circling her navel, before he moved on to her legs. By now every nerve in her body quivered and ached with a voracious desire.
His warm, firm masculine hands skimmed magically across her skin. He massaged each curve of her feet, ankles, legs, and thighs. His lips followed his hands, tasting and nipping his way to the top. She jerked at the sudden breath on her lower lips as his hands touched her most private parts.
She stiffened.
“Don’t be afraid. Relax.” His voice was deep and slumberous.
Then his tongue brushed across her briefly, and her body arched.
His finger touched her swollen, wet lips and slowly moved to her opening as his thumb caressed her most sensitive spot, sending rippling waves of pleasure up her body. Her fingers raked through his hair.
“Let me touch you,” she whispered.
“Not yet. I’m not quite finished.” His mouth licked across the wetness, tasting her.
Her breath wheezed out. She tried to pull away, embarrassed at his actions, but he held firm to her hips and took his time exploring all the area with his tongue and teeth. She gasped as the waves of hunger poured over her. Twisting and turning, she moved her legs further apart to give him greater access. When she thought she’d die of the overwhelming desire coursing through every pore of her body, she suddenly was swept up and found herself moaning his name.
When she became aware again, she realized he’d moved to lie beside her. “You wish to do your own exploring now?” he asked, a smile on his face.
Although still weak, she turned to him and tasted his salt-flavored skin. Her teeth brushed across his chest and over his nipples. He took a sharp breath. She glanced at him and smiled. She nuzzled his hairy chest as her fingers rubbed his tight nipples.
Sliding further down, she scattered kisses over his hard, lean stomach and then helped him remove his last piece of clothing. She almost gasped when she saw the swollen evidence of his desire. Tentatively, she circled his shaft with her hand. He was hot, hard, and smooth. A tiny drop of moisture seeped from the top of his cock. On instinct, she leaned down and licked the salty drop away. She glanced at his tightly drawn face. “Does that feel good?”
“Very, but we can stop now,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “Nothing irrevocable has happened.”
Her throat tightened. Did he not want her? She studied the tenseness in his muscles. No. He was giving her a chance to change her mind.
“I want you,” she whispered.
He reached for her and pulled her alongside his hot body. Spreading her legs, he settled between them, his cock touching her most intimate area. His sightless gaze captured her attention. “You are sure? Once I start, I doubt I can stop.”
“Please don’t change your mind now.”
He ran his fingers over one breast while his other hand rubbed her clitoris. She moved her body against him. His tongue licked and tasted her as he slowly put one finger into her tight opening. She gasped, and he went still.
“Don’t stop,” she begged and sighed when his finger began to move gently along the walls of her vagina.
After a few moments, he put another finger in and stretched her opening. She moved restlessly as the pressure built. There was an uncomfortable tightness at first, but as his fingers began to go in farther, the discomfort lessened. He moved up beside her and suckled on her breast as he continued the motions below. A shocking and yet delicious pleasure began to overwhelm her. She threw back her head and moaned.
“I want you inside me,” she pleaded.
He placed his pulsing cock at her opening and surged forward. Hot, searing pain brought her out of her desire-filled haze. Tears seeped from her eyes. He’d filled her. He didn’t move.
“I’m sorry.” He kissed the tears away. “It won’t hurt after the first time.” Slowly he began to move inside her.
At first her body resisted, but then tingles replaced the pain, and heat and pleasure built to an increasing intensity until she couldn’t breathe. Time stood still. She gasped for air and found his rhythm, moving with him toward something she needed, wanted. Her body tightened around him.
“My love, you’re so sweet.” His lips covered hers, and he plunged harder. She wrapped her legs around his middle and raised her hips even higher to meet him. Everything exploded for them both. She heard his shout as she spiraled out of control.
They lay entwined, breathing hard. Finally, he moved first.
“I’m too heavy for you.”
“No,” she protested and put her hand on his chest.
He chuckled. “Come on.” Pulling her up, he ran his hand over her mussed hair. “What time is it?”
Glancing out the opening of the cave she saw the sun had lowered. “It’s probably midafternoon.”
Rafe picked her up in his arms. He carried her through the falls and jumped into the cold water.
She threw her arm out and hit his shoulder. “That was mean.”
“You need to get cleaned up and dressed. Your family will wonder where you are. We have to go back.”
Rafe’s sensible words hurt her feelings. How could he switch so fast from the ecstasy of moments ago to going home? She swam toward the opposite shore, with him following in her wake. Their coupling certainly hadn’t been
his
first time, and for someone with more experience, this was probably not a particularly momentous event.
But to me, it meant everything
.
* * * *
Her silence worried him more than he wanted to admit. He wished he were able to see her expressions. Damn this blindness. He swam in the direction of her strokes and followed her out of the water then realized they’d left the blanket and some of their clothes. He dove back in and swam to the falls, went into the cave to get their belongings, and carried them back, walking along the edge of the pond. He knew this area better than the inside of his home.
When he was young, he had spent hours swimming and enjoying the beauty of the falls. Here he escaped the constant teaching and preparation necessary to have him ready to assume the dukedom at anytime. He’d never brought anyone with him until now.
“I dried off with your shirt.” She handed him the damp garment.
“This is almost dry,” he said holding her shift out.
His hand brushed hers as she retrieved it. In the quiet, heat shimmered between them. It took all his determination not to take her again. His cock pulsed with desire. Forcing himself, he turned away. Dressed, they rode back to his lodge.
“You’d better go home.” He raised his head toward the sun. “It’s getting late.”
“I’ll come back tomorrow. We’ll go for another walk.”
“Don’t. We can’t keep this up. You don’t belong to me, and with my disability I’d be a burden to a wife.” He raised his hand as though anticipating her response. “Don’t say you wouldn’t care. After a time you’d find you hated being tied to me.”
“No. I love you.” The words hung in the thick air between them.
“You think you do because I’m the first man you’ve been with. There is no future here.” He dismounted and turned toward the barn, letting his horse lead the way. He didn’t look back as she rode off.
“Bastard,” he snarled to himself.
What the hell had I been thinking?
Chapter Five
“Eleanor.” Her mother’s voice stopped Ellie as she headed out the door to the barn. “Where are you going? The seamstress will be here shortly to do the final measurements for your new gown”
For a moment, Ellie couldn’t think of a response. “I, ah, was going to see Mrs. Brown. I heard she’d been sick.”
Her mother narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Ellie felt the warm flush on her cheeks.
“Well, I’m glad I caught you. Cook has some soup and fresh fruit that you can take to her. Tell her I’ll be over tomorrow. But first you’ll do your final fitting.”
Ellie wanted to groan out loud. Now she’d be even later going to see Rafe. But Ellie could hardly tell her mother she had been on her way to see the man she loved to try to convince him that he loved her, too.
“Come with me.” Her mother led Ellie to the back of the house where the seamstress waited for her.
“Good morning, Lady Upton and Miss Upton.” The older woman smiled and motioned Ellie to her side. A gown of white silk with wide green strips hung over her arm. “I hope you like the material I used for your dress.” She held the fabric against Ellie.
“Excellent, Mrs. Davis,” Her mother congratulated the seamstress. “This material will be most complimentary for Eleanor’s coloring.
Ellie studied her appearance in the mirror. Mama and her sisters had golden hair and pale, porcelain skin. Ellie favored her maternal grandmother in both looks and temperament. Grandmamma had been outspoken and independent until the day she died three years ago, much to Ellie’s mother’s chagrin.
The green in the material brought out the red highlights in Ellie’s brown hair and contrasted well with the creamy color of her skin. If only Rafe could see her in this gown and lose the picture of the tomboy he must carry in his head. He had treated her like a desirable woman yesterday.
Sure, after you practically threw yourself into his arms.
“Ellie, pay attention.” Her mother took the dress and helped her daughter put it on. Mrs. Davis bustled around her, sticking pins in various places to get the right fit.