Page 34 of Too Hot To Handle

„It’s all right,“ Reever breathed, brushing Tory’s lips with his open mouth, biting at her gently. „I won’t take you by surprise, little one. You’re going to have your eyes wide open – and so am I.“ He shuddered as his violently aroused flesh nudged against Tory’s moist, vulnerable core. „I’m going to enjoy every instant of you every way I can. I’ve never wanted a woman like this. I want all of you, Tory. I want to watch your face as you change from virgin to lover with a single stroke of my body.“

Tory shivered and moved beneath Reever while he teased her with his hands and the hungry, hot length of him rubbing over her. Always he stopped at the edge of taking her, barely penetrating, giving her just enough of himself to make her wild to have more. Finally she gave a ragged cry and arched herself against him, instinctively trying to capture and hold him within herself.

As Tory’s hands gripped the hard muscles of Reever’s buttocks, he jerked reflexively, sliding more deeply into her, stopping just short of the irrevocable instant when he would transform her. She twisted wildly as she tried to evade his restraint. Her body was like his, hot, shining with a mist of desire that increased the sensitivity of skin rubbing over skin. She twisted again, blindly seeking what he had prepared her for. His arm wrapped powerfully around her hips, stilling her movements. With a thick sound he bent and took her mouth, pinning her completely, letting the shaking wildness pass.

„Look at me,“ Reever said in a gritty voice. „Tell me how you want me. Slow or fast, tender or wild, whatever you want. I want it to be so good for you. I want it to be the best you’ll ever have.“

Tory’s eyes, almost black with desire, opened. „How should it be? How is it best?“ she asked, her voice trembling.

„Hot. Deep. Forever.“

Tory’s nails dug into the rigid muscles of Reever’s body as the words burst through her. „Yes,“ she whispered, arching helplessly against him, repeating the word with each rapid breath she took.

Tory felt Reever going deeper into her and shivered as his heat became part of her. When he reached the fragile barrier he stopped. She opened her eyes, knowing that he was watching her, waiting for her.

„Am I hurting you?“ he asked, and his whole body trembled with the effort of controlling his own violent need. „Tell me, green eyes. I’ll never forgive myself if I hurt you.“

The contrast between Reever’s gentle words and the savage restraint of his body undid Tory. She shivered repeatedly as fire raced through her. All she could say was his name, but he felt the wild heat of her melting around him and knew that at that instant she could feel only pleasure. He thrust into her, sweeping aside the barrier, sheathing himself deeply in her welcoming softness. He saw her eyes widen with realization and heard her breath sigh out in a moan of sensual pleasure that was also his name.

„You’re mine now, little cat,“ Reever gritted, bending to take Tory’s mouth as completely as he had taken her body. „Oh, God, you feel good, hot and sweet and deep.“

Reever’s tongue thrust and withdrew slowly, matching his other movements within Tory. She trembled and washed over him in hot waves of pleasure. She sought to take more of him and give more of herself as she reached instinctively for the ecstasy that shimmered just beyond reach.

When Reever felt Tory twist beneath him, seeking him fully, his control slipped. He arched into her, filling her, wanting the same release that she was reaching for. Her tiny, wild cry ripped through him. Desperately he forced himself to lie still, afraid that his instant of uncontrolled need had hurt her. But when he would have withdrawn slightly in order to spare her, she grasped his hips, trying to get closer to him.

„Do you want more of me, little one? Is that it?“ Reever asked, biting Tory’s nipple with sensual restraint, shuddering when pleasure burst through her and melted over him in the same hot instant. „Wrap your legs around my hips,“ he urged huskily. „If it hurts, I’ll – “ His voice broke as she shifted, wrapping around him, taking all of him, and telling him of her pleasure with every movement of her slender body. He rocked slowly against her, feeling currents of fire gather with each hot, sliding instant. „Am I – hurting you?“ he asked, barely able to breathe, moving in tight, tiny circles against her, inflaming both of them.

Tory’s whole body stiffened suddenly as her breath unraveled into soft, fragmented cries. Reever felt it begin for her, felt the tiny convulsions deep inside her. She opened her eyes and looked right into his, and her voice shattered as she called his name in surprise at the fire consuming her until she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, could do nothing but come apart in his arms. He held her tightly, rocking against her slowly, sweetly, deeply, holding back his own release with all his strength because he wanted it never to stop for her or for him. He wanted always to be deep inside her, to feel ecstasy ripple through her body, to hear his name a broken cry on her lips, to have it last until he died.

Then Reever could hear Tory’s cries no longer because he was calling her name as the world unraveled in slow motion, control slipping away from him in a series of soft, fierce explosions that were like nothing he had ever known.

Hot. Deep. Forever.

The meadow was exquisite, unexpected. On a stage of green grass, wildflowers swayed like dancers in the wind. Dense, nearly black pines ringed the meadow on three sides. On the fourth, low granite cliffs rose in a ragged stairway winding along the brilliant blue of Wolf Lake. Wolf Creek swirled gracefully across the meadow, murmuring and flashing through sunlight and shadow alike. A small cedar lodge had been built just below the crest of a ridge overlooking the meadow. The lodge’s windows shone with the same clear silver light as the creek.

A new road snaked over the ridge and on out to the county road two miles beyond. A faint trail led from the lodge to the lakeshore. Other meadow trails were being marked out by the ranch hands. The trails in the surrounding forest required more work. The sound of axes biting into wood rang through the silence, telling of men hard at work clearing paths for dudes who had never been on a horse, much less in a forest that hadn’t changed since Indians once glided through the shadowed silence in search of game.

„Payton was right about one thing,“ Tory said. She glanced sideways at Reever, who was standing next to her as they let their horses rest. „This is a beautiful place just to be alive in.“

Reever smiled and ran his fingertip down Tory’s cheek to her lips. „Yes,“ he said.

Tory’s heart stopped, then beat more quickly. In the past two weeks Reever had been so gentle and loving with her that sometimes it was all she could do not to cry. Never once had he been harsh or impatient with her, no matter what the provocation. It was as though he were trying to erase even the memory of seeing her eyes darken at his cutting words. He had taught her to ride and had nothing but praise for her grace and quickness while she learned. It was the same when he worked with her in the garden. He had been almost as excited as she was by the exuberant growth of the plants.

A pair of cowboy boots had turned up next to her chair at breakfast a week ago, just as the work gloves once had. All the men denied any knowledge of how the boots had gotten there. This time she believed the men. She had seen Reever’s face as he eased her feet into the polished leather as though the boots were crystal slippers left over from a fabulous ball. This morning it had been a hat that had appeared without warning, a soft, cream-colored Stetson that fit her perfectly.

Tory had tried to tell Reever that she couldn’t let him give her anything else after the boots. He had smiled and stroked her hair and told her that it must have been the tooth fairy because he had never seen the hat before in his life. Then he had brushed her lips lightly with his thumb, stilling her words and caressing her in a single warm touch. She hadn’t been able to prevent the two tears that had spilled down her cheeks, tears that he had caught on the edge of his thumb and then brought to his lips.

She had almost told him then. The words had ached in her throat as she loved him silently because he would not allow her to say the words aloud. But they were true just the same. She loved him until it was an agony and an ecstasy radiating through her silence, through her soul.

„Don’t look at me like that,“ said Reever, his voice husky.

„Like what?“

„Like the sun rises and sets in my eyes.“

„But it does,“ Tory said simply. Before Reever could voice the objections darkening his eyes, she smiled and added lightly, „That’s what happens when you face east early in the morning and west late in the day. Even a city girl knows that much, cowboy.“

Reever hesitated, then smiled, shaking his head. „Some city girl you turned out to be. I can’t believe it – dinner was late last night because you were out in the barn helping a heifer have her first calf. Lord, little one, I’ve seen men turn pale and run rather than help pull a calf. Not you. You lay right down next to me in the straw and pulled for all you were worth. By the time we got back in the house, you were wringing wet and covered with stuff from head to toe.“