Only His

13

«Are you all right?» Caleb asked finally, afraid to open his eyes and see how much pain his unbridled passion had caused Willow.

Reluctant to disturb the golden aftermath of ecstasy, she made amurmurous sound and rubbed her cheek languidly against Caleb’s chest.

«Willow?»

She tilted her face back until she could see her lover’s tawny eyes.

«Forgive me,» Caleb said in a raw voice. «I didn’t mean to hurt you.» He shook his head in a gesture of bafflement. «I’ve never lost control like that.»

Willow’s slow, womanly smile made heat slide impossibly through Caleb’s veins.

«If you’re waiting for me to berate you, you’ll wait a long, long time,» she said, kissing his shoulder, smiling.

A strong finger tilted Willow’s chin up until Caleb could look directly into her eyes. He saw no pain, no shadows, nothing but the radiance of a woman who had found completion in the elemental union of male and female.

«I didn’t hurt you?»

«Well, you almost did at first. You’re, er …»

«Too rough,» he said bluntly.

Willow gave him a surprised look. «That wasn’t what I meant.»

He waited.

«Caleb,» she said in exasperation, «you must have noticed that you’re a big man. Big hands, big feet, big shoulders, big…just big, that’s all.»

He saw the red staining Willow’s cheeks and the laughter lurking in her beautiful hazel eyes. His heart ached at the thought of hurting her in any way at all. Gently, he kissed her lips and wished that she were anyone except Reno’s sister — even a fancy lady who had known many men.

But Willow had been a virgin, and she would always be Reno’s sister.

No point moaning over spilled milk, Caleb told himself grimly. What’s done is done and I wouldn’t undo it even if I could. I’ll die remembering what it was like to take Willow, to hear her sweet cries, to feel her release tugging at me. A virgin, and she burned me alive.

Maybe I’ll get lucky. Maybe that son of a bitch will be killed by Indians or break his neck looking for gold. Maybe he’ll be dead before I find him.

The thought was like a balm spreading through Caleb. But life hadn’t taught him to believe in the easiest solution to any problem. It had taught him to do what had to be done, because too many people just looked away and left the dirty work for other people to take care of.

People like Caleb Black, who knew that the simple justice of an eye for an eye was never simple and rarely just, but the alternative was a West where the weak went unprotected andunavenged, a West where men without conscience preyed upon those least able to defend themselves.

If Reno isn’t dead before I get to him, he soon will be. Or I will be. Or both.

Caleb gathered Willow close and held her, simply held her, for his thoughts were tearing at him.

«What’s wrong?» she asked. «Didn’t you enjoy what we did?»

He smiled sadly and buried his face in lavender-scented hair. «If I’d enjoyed it any more, I’d have died.»

Willow laughed, but there was a catch in her voice. «Yes, it was like that, wasn’t it? Dying, but not quite. Being reborn, but not the same.» Her arms tightened around Caleb. «I’ll never be the same again. You’re part of me now.»

«Remember that,» he said, holding her hard, his voice rough. «Remember that when you look at me and see the man who took your innocence. I should have controlled myself. I didn’t. I couldn’t. I’ve never been like that with a woman. I’m sorry, Willow.»

«I’m not. I love you.»

Willow held her breath, wanting to hear him say he loved her. All that came was the steamy whispering of the water around their joined bodies as Caleb turned his head and claimed her mouth in a kiss that was both tender and so intense that it left Willow shaken.

«Someday you’ll remember having said that, and you’ll wish you had held your tongue,» Caleb said quietly. «But I’m glad to hear it. I’m glad to know I pleased you.»

Fear squeezed Willow’s heart, draining some of the radiance from her. «Caleb, what’s wrong? I don’t understand.»

«I know.» He took a deep breath and tried to tell Willow about his dead sister and the man who had seduced her, but Caleb could no more force himself to speak and destroy the light in Willow’s eyes than he had been able to prevent himself from taking the gift of her untouched body. «After we find your brother, you’ll understand.»

The questions Willow would have asked were scattered by Caleb’s kiss. She didn’t understand the yearning in him, or the darkness. She didn’t understand the unhappiness she sensed in him when she spoke of love, yet she knew all of those things existed as surely as did the stirring of his body within hers once more.

What Willow did understand was that she wanted to bring Caleb ease and laughter, to be the sunrise banishing darkness from his life.

Reluctantly, Caleb ended the kiss. «If you don’t get off my lap,» he said, biting Willow’s lips just a bit fiercely, «my good intentions will go to Hell in a handcart.»

«What good intentions?»

«I’m trying not to seduce you again.»

«Ever?» Willow asked, unable to conceal her dismay.

Caleb closed his eyes and silently conceded that it would be better if he never pressed into Willow’s soft body again, sinking into her, losing himself in the baffling, overwhelming currents of passion that flowed between the two of them. But the thought of never taking her again was unbearable. He had never known anyone like Willow. She satisfied him as no other woman ever had, teaching him how hungry he had been before he had found her.

And he had just begun to plumb the depths of the passion in her.

«I’m trying not to seduce you right now,» Caleb said, his voice thick.

«Why?»

«It’s too soon for you. I don’t want to hurt you.»

Willow smiled slightly. «You aren’t hurting me.»

«I’m not moving in you, either. But I will be real quick if you don’t get up.»

Caleb put his hands around Willow’s waist and began lifting her from his lap. The feel of her gliding over his hardening flesh took his breath away. He heard her stifled gasp and his hands tightened, testing the sleek resilience of her waist. The gasp became a throaty sound of pleasure.

«Stop it,» Caleb said, bending until he could bite the smooth skin of Willow’s shoulder.

«Stop what?» she murmured as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

«Making me want to stay in this pool and take you until I’m so weak I drown.»

«Weak?» Slender hands kneaded Caleb’s shoulders and the thick muscles of his biceps. «You feel about as weak as a mountain.»

«Didn’t you know? Being with a woman weakens a man.»

Willow laughed and moved her hips, frankly measuring him. «Do tell. When?»

His breath came in hard.

«When does it weaken you?» she repeated as she moved her hips again.

Caleb’s slow smile made Willow shiver with anticipation.

«You’ll be the first to know,» he promised. Then he set his teeth and lifted her free of his aroused flesh, biting back a groan as he did so. «After you, the water feels cold.»

When Willow understood the meaning of his words, she took a quick, broken breath. «And I feel empty. Is it — is it natural to want you like that, to want to stay that way forever?»

Caleb’s tawny eyes changed as the heat of his body redoubled, set afire by the knowledge that Willow truly enjoyed having him inside her.

«How did you stay innocent so long?» he asked.

«I didn’t feel this way with other men. Only you,» Willow said simply. «Even my fiance. When Steven held my hand or kissed my cheek, it was nice, but it didn’t make my heart run away and my chest so tight I couldn’t breathe.»

«Your fiance?» Caleb said harshly. «Are you engaged?»

«He died three years ago.»

Visibly, Caleb relaxed. «The war?»

Willow nodded.

«Do you still love him?»

«No. I know now that I never loved him. Not really. Not the way I love —»

Caleb’s quick, fierce kiss shut off Willow’s words. «Out of the water, woman. My good intentions are shrinking by the second.»

«Shrinking? I would have said the opposite,» she muttered beneath her breath.

There was a crack of surprised laughter from Caleb, followed by a single word. «Out!»

He emphasized his command by putting his hand on Willow’s smooth bottom and giving her a boost. Just as his palm fell away, his touch changed to a caress that traced the shadowed curve between her hips.

Breathlessly, Willow scrambled out of the warm water and picked up the cotton blanket she had left on the rocks. She turned around just as Caleb emerged from the pool. Silver rivulets poured from his body, highlighting every texture of his masculinity. The blunt thrust of his arousal was startling.

«Too late to run now,» Caleb said dryly, watching Willow’s eyes widen as she measured him. «We fitted together like a hand in a velvet glove and you loved every bit of it.»

She swallowed, flushed scarlet, and said in a faint voice, «I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare at you.»

«You’re still staring.»

«Oh.» Guiltily, she closed her eyes.

Caleb took a step forward, bent, and kissed Willow’s cheek lightly. «Look all you like. I’m just teasing you. You’re so sweet to tease. Like licking honey.» He leaned over, scooped up his razor and his own blanket, and held out his free hand to her. «Come on. I promised to brush your hair dry.»

Her eyes opened. «And you always keep your promises, don’t you?»

«Always. Even the ones I don’t want to.» Caleb’s mouth flattened into a grim line. «Especially those.»

An eye for an eye.

«You don’t have to brush my hair if you don’t want to,» Willow said hesitantly. «I know it’s a lot of trouble getting all the tangles out.»

Caleb smiled and threaded his fingers more deeply between hers. «I love brushing your hair. It’s like brushing sunlight.» He saw her shiver and squeezed her hand. «Come on. It’s warmer in the meadow.»

Ishmael’s head came up the instant they stepped from the cover of the trees out onto the grass. The stallion watched for a few moments before he returned to eating.

«He’s wary for a horse that’s never run wild,» Caleb said.

«That wariness saved my life during the war. He’d smell the soldiers coming and set up a ruckus. Mama and I would run for the forest if she was well enough, or the cellar if she wasn’t.»

Caleb’s hand tightened. He brought Willow’s fingers to his mouth and stroked across them with his mustache.

«I don’t like thinking about you being in danger, being hurt, being scared, being hungry.» He hesitated, baffled by the fierce protectiveness he felt toward Willow. «It unsettles me.»

«Lots of women had a worse time of it than I did. I was lucky. The only soldier who ever found me looked the other way.»

«Maybe he had a sister.»

Something in Caleb’s voice reminded Willow that he, too, had a sister. «Maybe he did. Like you.»

«Rebecca is dead.»

Willow flinched at the barely repressed savagery she sensed beneath Caleb’s words. «I’m sorry.»

«She was seduced and then abandoned by a man. I went out looking for her lover to bring him back to marry her. She died of childbed fever. Her baby girl died a few hours later. I didn’t find out for a month.»

«Dear God,» Willow said. «I’m so sorry, Caleb.»

He looked down into her clear, compassionate eyes and wondered what she would say if he told her that the baby who had died was her niece.

«I swore to kill him,» Caleb said evenly. «When I find him, I will.»

Willow looked at the bleak expression in Caleb’s eyes and had no doubt that he would do just that. She remembered her first impression of Caleb. Dangerous. And her second. An implacable, dark angel of justice.

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life.

A chill moved over Willow’s skin, roughening it. There was an intensity and a power in Caleb that was almost frightening.

«You’re shivering,» Caleb said, frowning. He wrapped his blanket around Willow’s shoulders, led her across the meadow, and spread the cotton blanket she was carrying. «Lie down here. You’ll be warmer next to the grass where the breeze can’t get to you. I’ll get your brush and comb.»

Caleb left before Willow could tell him that she wasn’t cold, not in the way that he had meant. After a moment, she stretched out on her stomach on the blanket, trying not to think about the sister Caleb had lost and the man he had sworn to kill because of it.

Very soon, Willow realized Caleb had been right about getting warmer out of reach of the breeze. Before he had gone the hundred feet to camp, she pulled off the wool blanket and tossed it aside. The fine cotton and lace of her underwear dried quickly in the direct sun. Within minutes, heat infused her, making her feel languorous. She stretched luxuriantly, smiling at the sheer pleasure of being alive.

«You look like a kitten that’s just discovered cream,» Caleb said.

«That’s what I feel like,» Willow admitted.

She opened her eyes as Caleb knelt beside her. A single glance told her that he was still as naked as the sunlight, still powerful, still potent. When her eyes returned to his, the smile he gave her was both amused and rueful.

«You have a pronounced effect on me,» he said.

«I noticed.»

«Not frightened anymore?»

She shook her head.

«Embarrassed?»

«Well…» But she was unable to deny the blush that crept up her body.

Caleb laughed softly and brushed the back of his fingers over Willow’s flushed cheek. «You’ll get used to me, little one. Just like I’ve gotten used to being naked with you.»

She gave him a puzzled look.

«In some ways,» he admitted, «I’m as new to this kind of play as you are.»

Willow blinked. «You are?»

Caleb hesitated, wondering how to explain something he wasn’t sure he understood himself. He wanted Willow to know this was the first time he had found a woman whose sensuality increased and enhanced his own, each driving the other higher and then higher, teaching and learning with every touch, every cry, every kiss.

«None of the women I’ve known made me want to be buck naked with them in a sunny meadow,» Caleb said finally. «I doubt if any of them would have wanted to be naked with me. Not one of them could make me hard with a look, a word, a casual touch.» He made a baffled sound and added ruefully, «It’s damned unsettling, if you want the truth. You reach places inside me I didn’t know were there.»

«You do the same to me.»

Willow’s husky admission made Caleb want to ravish and cherish her at the same instant. The force of the conflicting urges held him motionless. Letting out his breath in a soundless curse, he picked up the wool blanket and began drying Willow’s hair, working quickly yet gently, touching her in the only way he would permit himself.

Soon Willow’s hair was lying in a rippling, shining fan over her shoulders. Long after the strands were dry, Caleb continued brushing, sifting through her hair, loving the feel of it caressing the sensitive skin between his fingers as he worked.

«You have the most beautiful hair,» Caleb said, finally setting aside the brush.

Willow sighed and stirred, sitting up with a fluid movement, her legs curled to one side. The wild electricity of her hair made it cling to her even as it divided over her breasts and fell to her hips. Caleb stroked a flyaway handful back from her face. She kissed the masculine fingers that were gently tangled in the golden strands.

«Thank you.» She smiled, remembering what he had once said. «In spite of your disdain at the idea, I think you would make a wonderful lady’s maid.»

Caleb’s smile flashed beneath his mustache. «Southern lady. My God, what a surprise you were,» he said huskily.

«Not southern,» Willow said. Then she looked down at the fine lace clinging to her body, clothing whose dampness emphasized rather than concealed her breasts, her waist, the shadowed secrets at the apex of her thighs. «And not a lady.»

«Hush,» Caleb said, putting his fingers across Willow’s mouth. «What happened wasn’t your doing. It was mine. But I can’t feel ashamed of what we did. It was too good for shame or regrets. Even if I could give you back your innocence, I wouldn’t. I’ve never been given a gift half so sweet. Don’t belittle yourself because of it.»

Willow’s smile was as beautiful and haunting as her eyes watching the man she loved, the man who had yet to talk of love to her. Yet Caleb was very gentle with her despite the harshness she knew he was capable of, a dark angel of justice, dangerous, deadly.

But not with her. Whether he ever spoke of love or not, he cherished her.

Willow kissed Caleb’s fingers and admitted to herself that he was right about what they had shared. She should be embarrassed to remember their intimacy, to look at his nakedness, to sense with such clarity her own nudity beneath the flimsy lace. But she wasn’t embarrassed. She had never felt more alive and yet more at peace than she did with Caleb. There was a rightness in being his woman that went to her very soul.

«I wouldn’t take my innocence back,» Willow whispered, kissing the calloused masculine fingers that were pressed against her lips. «I would never find a better man to give it to than you.»

The lines in Caleb’s face tightened as he heard Willow ’s soft words and felt the warmth of her lips whispering kisses against his hand.

«How do you feel?» he asked. «Still cold?»

Willow shook her head. Golden hair rippled and shimmered, falling over his hand like captive sunlight.

«No aches and pains?»

Despite the heightened color in Willow’s cheeks, her slight smile was as old as Eve. «No pains.»

«No aches, either?»

«None that can’t be cured. What about you? Do you ache?»

As Willow spoke, her hand moved beneath a veil of golden hair until she could touch the blunt masculine flesh between Caleb’s thighs. He jerked reflexively at the caress and his breath hissed between his teeth. Startled, Willow snatched back her hand.

«I’m sorry,» she said quickly. «I didn’t mean to hurt you.»

Caleb let his breath out, trying to still the violent beating of his heart. «You didn’t hurt me.»

«You — moved.»

«Have you ever been so close to a lightning bolt that you could feel currents racing through you? That’s what it felt like when you touched me. Only it was pleasure racing through me, not pain, and the force of it surprised me.»

Willow’s eyes widened.

Caleb smiled despite the fire still coursing through him. «Go ahead, honey. Explore. You won’t take me by surprise again.»

«I don’t want to hurt you,» she said hesitantly.

«Then you better pet me again, because I want those soft hands on me so much I ache.»

Willow looked from Caleb’s rather fierce smile down the length of his body. He was kneeling beside her, facing her, sitting on his heels, his thighs flexed to take his weight. The long, powerful muscles of his legs stood out in relief. So did the quintessentially male flesh that was so responsive to her touch. She could count his heartbeats without even resting her fingers against him.

Despite their recent intimacy, in many ways Caleb’s body was still a mystery to her. Hesitantly, Willow allowed her hand to settle on his thigh, curious about the elemental differences between male and female. The hair on his legs was thick, black, shiny, hot from the sun. His skin was warm and supple, and the muscle beneath was shockingly hard. His skin was darker than her own, though much lighter than the skin on his chest.

«You work stripped to the waist, don’t you?» Willow asked without looking up.

«Sometimes.»

Caleb’s voice was thickened by desire. He was discovering that being looked at by Willow was almost as arousing as being petted by her. The sensuality, curiosity, and approval in her eyes made him feel as tall as a mountain. And as hard.

«But never all the way naked,» Willow said, noting the fine pale skin sunlight had never touched before now.

«I told you, honey. In some ways this is as new to me as it is to you.»

She smiled. «I like that. I like knowing I’m touching you in ways no one else ever has.»

«You’re barely touching me at all,» Caleb pointed out hungrily, «but you’re right just the same. No one has ever been like you, Willow. You make it all new.»

Smiling, watching Caleb’s face, Willow traced the thick upper muscle of his thigh with her fingertips. She saw the narrowing of his eyes, felt the tightening of his legs, heard the swift intake of his breath as she came closer and closer to the hard reality of his desire. Her fingers tested the thick cushion of hair that surrounded his very different flesh. Hesitantly, then with greater assurance, she stroked the length of him, enjoying the heat and shifting masculine textures. When she reached the blunt tip, she made a surprised, approving sound.

«No wonder you didn’t hurt me. You feel like satin, all warm and sleek and smooth.»

Caleb’s answer was a groan and a wild wave of desire hammering through his veins. If he hadn’t already been on his knees, Willow’s words and the skimming caress of her fingers would have brought him down. He couldn’t prevent the potent response of his body, the silky residue glistening on her fingertips in stark testimony to the uncontrollable passion she called from him.

Willow’s hand stilled.

«I’m sorry,» Caleb said huskily. «I didn’t mean to shock you.»

«You didn’t,» she murmured.

«I sure as hell shocked myself,» he said.

Willow glanced up at him, surprised.

«I’m not used to losing control like that,» he said bluntly.

«Oh.»

«I’m not used to this at all.»

«Do you…» She hesitated. «Do you like having me touch you?»

Caleb smiled. «What do you think?»

Willow let her breath out in a rushing sigh. «I think I’ve never touched anything quite so fascinating. You make me shameless, Caleb. And I don’t even care.»

He bent down and kissed her gently. «There’s no need for shame between us. Shame is for people who cheat and steal and destroy. Being together like this is part of creation, and it’s good.»

«Yes,» she whispered. «It’s good. Lock and key. Woman and man. Two halves of a beautiful whole. All my life I’ve known that withoutreallyknowing.» Willow smiled at Caleb. «How dull the world would have been if male and female were the same.»

Caleb laughed, then his breath caught as one of Willow’s slender hands glided between his legs, seeking more of the primal differences between male and female. Enjoying her open curiosity, Caleb shifted, allowing her to find what she sought. He was rewarded by a gentle exploration that brought him to the brink of losing control once more. He groaned, trying to stifle the overwhelming pulses of ecstasy. He was only partially successful.

With a soft sound, Willow touched the liquid silk of passion once more.

«How long,» she asked softly, «do you think it would take you to get used to losing control?»

«I don’t know,» he admitted in a rueful voice, «but I get the feeling you’re planning on finding out.»

«Do you mind?» Willow’s voice was as gentle as her fingers curling around him, exploring and memorizing him with slow movements of her hand even as she cupped him in her palm. «I’m discovering that I like touching you where you’re most a man. I like seeing your eyes narrow and your whole body tighten as you fight against losing control. You’re so strong, Caleb. I love that strength.»

One of Willow’s fingertips skimmed the blunt satin flesh whose smoothness and taut heat fascinated her. A sultry drop formed beneath her touch. She shivered visibly as her own body secretly answered. Her hands moved lovingly, cradling him, testing him, teasing him, admiring him.

Caleb shuddered in response to Willow’s honest sensuality. A lightning stroke of desire surged through him. He heard her quickened breath and felt her fingertips gliding over his hot flesh, enjoying the result of the silky pulse that had escaped his control.

«Do you mind?» she asked again.

«Touch me any way you like. Let me touch you in the same way,» Caleb said, words pouring recklessly from his lips as hungers he had never known existed were called from him by Willow’s hands. «Let me show you everything I ever wanted with a woman. And then let me give you things you can’t even imagine with a man.»

«Yes,» Willow whispered, drawing her nails very lightly down his straining flesh. «As long as I can keep touching you.»

Caleb made a thick sound while her hand moved warmly, pleasuring him, enjoying him with an honesty that aroused him to the point of agony.

«If you keep that up, I’ll lose control,» Caleb said almost roughly. «Is that what you want?»

Willow looked at his tawny eyes, felt his power, sensed the life coursing through the flesh she held so intimately, and realized that she wanted him in just that way. «Is that kind of pleasure…allowed?»

Caleb met Willow’s luminous, smoky glance and knew with a distant sense of shock that he was going to give her what she wanted. Her sensuality burned through his self-control in ways that would have angered him if her honesty hadn’t disarmed him so completely at the same time.

«Curious little cat,» Caleb said huskily. «Go ahead. It’s just as well.»

«What do you mean?»

His laugh was too short, too hard. «Feel me, honey. I want you like Hell on fire, but it’s too soon for you to take me again. I’d hurt you.»

Willow looked from the topaz blaze of Caleb’s eyes to the hungry flesh she was stroking. He was hard, hot, full, and she could feel his heartbeat pulsing heavily.

«As for what’s allowed,» Caleb said, «I never was a man for fences and foolish rules. Anything you want is allowed. I mean it, Willow. Anything.»

«Even this?» she asked, giving in to the temptation that had become unbearable.

She bent down, sending her hair sliding across his naked legs and the far more sensitive flesh she was cradling in her hands. The cool golden strands were in violent contrast to Caleb’s own heat, but nothing was as stark as the searing instant when her lips parted and the tip of her tongue caressed the same satin texture that had so intrigued her fingers.

«You’re even smoother than I thought you would be,» Willow whispered as she straightened.

Taken by surprise once again, Caleb fought for control of his own body. The wild little caress was the last thing he had expected from Willow. It slid past all his defenses, leaving him completely naked in her hands. He felt the first shuddering pulses of release tear through his body. With a low sound he gave himself to ecstasy and to the girl who was watching him with wonder in her eyes.

When Caleb could breathe once more, he brought Willow’s hands up his body and kissed them.

«Now you know,» he said.

Willow’s smile was another kind of caress. «Yes.»

«And now it’s my turn to know you in the same way.»

Her eyes widened. «I don’t understand.»

«You will.»

One of Caleb’s hands touched Willow’s mouth, sealing in her questions with a sensual pressure before sliding down to the hollow of her throat. The rapid beating of her pulse was evidence that pleasuring him had excited her. His hand slid under golden strands of hair until it rested between the smooth rise of her breasts.

«No objections?» he asked softly.

Willow shook her head, making light shimmer through her hair.

Caleb’s other hand eased beneath Willow’s hair. When he began sliding the camisole from her body, she made no protest. As the fine lace floated to the ground, he looked at her openly, approving of her, feeling a fierce satisfaction when her nipples became tight pink buds in response to his glance.

«What are you thinking?» Caleb asked.

Once it would have embarrassed Willow to answer, but no more. Caleb had given himself to her without restraint or hesitation. She could do no less with him.

«I was thinking of being kissed,» she said simply.

«Here?» He touched the velvet tip of one breast.

Willow trembled as pleasure showered through her. «Yes.»

«And here?»

The other peak hardened beneath his touch.

«Yes,» she whispered.

«I’m thinking about it, too.»

Caleb bent and kissed Willow’s breasts, brushing his mustache across her slowly, repeatedly, enjoying the breaking of her breath at each caress. His long fingers stroked her waist, then retreated down her body, taking the last of her clothing.

«I’m thinking about kissing you here, too,» Caleb said, pressing a fingertip lightly into her navel.

The unexpected caress sent a sunburst of sensations radiating from the pit of Willow’s stomach. Her breath came in with a surprised gasp. Caleb’s hand slid lower, drawing a shivering sound from her. She was soft, sultry, welcoming.

«And here.»

Willow made a breathless sound that was pleasure and surprise combined.

«Open for me,» he whispered, bending down, touching his tongue to her navel.

The gentle brush of Caleb’s fingertips between her thighs was exquisite. Willow gave a ragged little sigh and shifted her legs, allowing him more freedom. The gliding, probing intimacy of his finger made her gasp. The liquid ease of his penetration was a sweet revelation for both of them.

«Hot little cat,» Caleb said, biting her belly gently. «I can feel how much you liked making me lose control. I’m going to enjoy doing the same to you.»

Gently, Caleb bore Willow back onto the blanket until she was lying down once more.

«Tell me if I hurt you,» he said, easing deeply into her. «You’re so small…»

Willow shuddered.

«Did that hurt?» he asked.

«No.»

«You trembled.»

«I was remembering.»

«What?»

«You. Inside me.»

Caleb smiled and bit Willow a little less gently, drawing another small cry from her. His thumb moved and splinters of fire pierced her, melting her in a shimmering rush. She felt the spreading warmth of her response and stiffened in shock.

«Caleb, I didn’t mean to —»

«It’s all right,» he interrupted, laughing softly to feel the heat of Willow’s pleasure on his hand. «It happened in the pool, too, but you couldn’t feel it. I could, though. It drove me right over the edge.»

He smoothed his cheek against the golden thatch that shielded her softness.

«Open more for me,» Caleb whispered.

Willow’s legs shifted again, making room for him to kneel between them. A hard thumb circled the satin knot of nerves that was no longer hidden. Streamers of pleasure burst through her, making her cry out. When he lifted his thumb, she moaned a protest. He smiled and redoubled his touch inside her, pressing sensually, teasing her with the memory of what it had been like to be filled completely. The heat of her response spilled between them.

«That’s it, little cat,» Caleb said, bending down to Willow. «Tell me you like my hands as much as I liked yours.»

His tongue circled the satin nub, touching her with a whip of fire. The caress excited her beyond bearing. Pleasure burst again, a hot rain that she shared helplessly with him.

«Sweet woman,» he said, tasting her.

«Caleb,» she said urgently, for the tension in her was becoming unbearable. «I —»

Pleasure burst within Willow again, taking her voice. Caleb made a low sound of satisfaction and encouragement, asking for more of her response, luring her closer and closer to the brink of ecstasy with each sultry flick of his tongue, enjoying her in a way he had never enjoyed a woman before. His teeth closed gently on the violently sensitive nub, holding her captive for silky caresses that were like nothing she had ever imagined.

Suddenly, Willow knew what it felt like to be touched by lightning. A sound of anguished pleasure was torn from her as her whole body tightened. She called Caleb’s name again and was answered by a caress whose intimacy ripped away the world, hurtling her into wild ecstasy.

After a few more moments, Caleb reluctantly released Willow’s shivering flesh and kissed a path up her body. Her eyes opened, dazed by the pleasure whose aftermath was still rippling through her in ever widening rings.

«Such beautiful eyes,» Caleb said. «Beautiful mouth, beautiful breasts, beautiful…woman.»

Willow saw the luminous approval in Caleb’s glance and shivered again. She slid her arms around him, urging him to press full length against her, needing to feel him along her whole body. Understanding her need, for it was also his own, he braced his weight on his elbows and lowered himself until he touched every inch of her.

Sighing, Willow hugged Caleb even closer, quivering with every other breath, still captive to the ecstasy he had given her. The weight and textures of his body covering hers felt incredibly good. Without thinking, she rubbed against him, liking the heat and strength of him. He eased more of his weight onto her, no longer trying to keep her from feeling all of him. When she sensed the hard masculine need in him, her breath came in swiftly.

«You have the damnedest effect on me,» Caleb said, his voice gritty and rueful. «So stop wriggling and hug me until it goes away.»

«Is that the way it works?»

«I don’t know. I’ve never had this problem before.»

«You haven’t?»

«No,» he admitted, biting Willow’s ear delicately. «Just with you.»

Willow gasped and tightened her grip on his big body. The heat and power in Caleb sent pleasure rippling through her once more. Instinctively, she shifted, wanting to bring him even closer. He tried to throttle a groan but was only partially successful.

«Caleb?» she asked huskily.

«Hold still, honey.»

«I have a better idea.»

Willow’s legs shifted again, separating until she could feel the blunt thrust of his hunger pressing against her. She moved her hips slowly, wanting a different kind of closeness. The sound of Caleb’s breath hissing out told her that he was as aware of her welcoming, sultry core as she was.

«Damn it, Willow. I don’t want to hurt you.»

«Does the key hurt the lock?» she whispered.

«Not when they’re made for each other. Were you made for me, little cat?»

«Yes,» she said huskily. «Only for you. Take what’s yours, Caleb. Give me what is mine.»

For a long, burning moment he looked down into Willow’s hazel eyes, in thrall to her honesty. Certainty condensed within him, the realization that he could no more turn away from her than a river could run back from the sea.

Caleb breathed Willow’s name as he bent to kiss her. Slowly he claimed what was his and gave what was hers, merging their bodies a shimmering fraction at a time, feeling the sharing all the way to his soul. The breath came out of her in a long, rippling sigh that was his name. He wanted to ask if he was hurting her, but before he could find the words, her body answered. The tiny, secret contractions of her pleasure urged him deeper, gilding him with her response. He answered with a silky pulse that mingled his essence with hers, easing his way even more until their joining was deep and complete.

The feeling was exquisite. Willow’s eyes opened as she felt herself coming slowly undone, ecstasy stealing through her. She whispered Caleb’s name, trying to tell him of the beauty he was giving her, but she knew no words to describe the transformation taking place in her body. His kiss told her that he understood, that he was being transformed as surely as she was. She heard her own name breathed against her lips, sensed the pulses of his ecstasy rippling through his body into hers.

The knowledge that Caleb was coming undone as slowly and completely as she was sent another shimmering tide through Willow, consuming her and him as well, fusing them in a union that was both primitive and sublime. Neither knew where self ended and other began, for there was no self, no other, simply an incandescent whole where once two halves had been.