Always (25 page)

      She was soft and warm and Taylor. Sunshine and all things wonderful. Gordon lost himself in their kiss, tasting her singular, compelling flavor, savoring the molten flare of
 
his blood.

      Her slight weight pressed against him, erotic and tantalizing. He deepened the kiss, glorying in the feel of her tongue stroking his. Easing his hand along her rib-cage, he found the fullness of her breast beneath the thin cotton of the T-shirt between them.

      A tremor surged through him, but he held himself in check, pulled back just short of his point of no return. She'd come here to apologize–not necessarily to make love. Breaking their kiss, he brought his hands to her face and stared into her eyes. He should hate her. He should fight this.

      He couldn't.

      "Taylor," he whispered, surrendering to the tumult of desire that banished every logical thought he'd strived so hard to maintain. "I've wanted you every day of my life. I want you
now
."

      Her nostrils flared slightly and a slow, sexy smile parted her lips. "How much?"

      He flashed her a grin and pressed his hips against hers. "That much."

      She licked her lower lip as he lifted the corner of his comforter in invitation, and she slithered beneath it and against him.
 

      Reckless, wanton hunger flared in Taylor's belly. She wanted Gordon. Needed his gentleness.

      "You're beautiful," he murmured, kissing her tenderly. In that suspended moment, she surrendered. Denying this was futile, regardless of the consequences. Coming into his room tonight had been the hardest thing she'd ever done, but also the most irresistible.

      This moment was sacred–not something to be taken lightly. A hush of anticipation dawned as he lifted his face to meet her gaze for a few precious seconds. What was the emotion she saw blazing in his eyes? It made her stomach knot and her breath become imprisoned in her throat as she drowned in his gaze.

      She was hot–hotter than she'd ever been. She coiled into a tight, rigid sprocket of expectation. Her breasts ached for more of his touch.
 

      He slipped the T-shirt over her head and rolled her onto her back as he kissed each newly exposed portion of skin. Gently, he lowered his head to tickle the plain between her breasts with his tongue, making her groan in contemplation of more. Much more.

      Hovering over her, he stroked the curve of her thigh, sensuously easing his hand farther down.
We're naked
. She quivered against him, glorying in the feel of his warm skin against hers.

      "Are you a dream, or are you real?" he whispered.

      "If this is a dream, don't wake me," she breathed, imprisoned by the intensity of his gaze.
 

      Poised over her for a moment of sheer torture, he continued to stare. With trembling hands, she reached out to touch the taut, warm skin of his bare chest.
 

      He pulled her against him, his furred chest tickling her upthrust nipples. His erection pressed insistently against her hip, making her clench against the agonizing emptiness of her womb. She wanted him. All of him. And she couldn't help but notice that ten years had made a significant difference in many things.

      Yes, Gordon Lane had grown up in
every
way.
 

      Taylor willed all reservations away as passion grew, possessed and controlled her every thought and action. He ran his tantalizing fingers along her upper arms, then spread his hands flat against her rib-cage. He lightly stroked her waist and hips, bending to kiss the curve of her shoulder.

      This was the Gordon she remembered. He worshipped her as he loved her, making each caress, each kiss, even more potent. More delicious.

      Tracing circles around his flat nipple with her tongue, she felt it harden to a tiny nub. She stroked and kneaded his lower back, moving downward until his muscular butt seared the palms of her hands.
 

      He growled low in his throat and pressed the evidence of his arousal against her hip more firmly. A physical pain of desire gripped her with a need so profound she nearly wept from its intensity.
 

      His lips covered hers as he took her head between his large hands almost savagely, tipping her head back as his tongue thrust into her mouth. She returned his passionate kiss, savored and cherished it, spiraling toward a pit of rapture like nothing she'd ever known before.

      Even with Gordon. This was different than the fumbling, exploratory lovemaking of their youth. They were adults who knew what they wanted and how to give and take.

      And this was so much more than sex. Taylor's heart filled her chest with joy and an exquisite ache. God, how she loved this man. What a fool she'd been. So many lost years...

      But now was what mattered. She didn't care if this was right or wrong–and how could it be anything but right? She embraced this joy in the midst of all the pain and confusion. Gordon was strong and loving and gentle. She needed this. Needed
him
.

      He withdrew his mouth from hers, lingered above her to stare for a long, silent moment. His hands touched her belly, then fanned upward to tease the tender undersides of her breasts. An untamed, primal yearning pounded a constant cadence in her body. She curled her legs around his and pulled him against her.

      "Too soon," he murmured, obviously intent on torture with his dallying.

      He kissed his way downward. His whiskered chin scraped against her ultra-sensitive breasts until his lips opened moist and feverish to taste her nipple. First he teased, then suckled firmly until she moaned aloud from the wonder of it all.

      He eased one hand down her hip and pressed against the hard mound where her curling dark hair began. She gasped in anticipation and need.
 

      Wrapping her arms around his neck, she clutched his mouth to her breast as his hand slipped between her thighs to explore her most intimate region. He toyed with her, creating a desperate need for more. She felt swollen yet empty until his fingers finally filled her, making her press and arch against him.

      Memories fueled her. Other times. Other places. Other moments. The waterfall–their first time. The backseat of his old Jeep. Each time miraculous. Each time an exquisite pearl of a memory she had cherished every day since.

      Hungry to relive those moments, she held her breath in anticipation, the need to touch him overpowering her. He gasped as her fingers closed around his smooth-hot erection.

      "Easy," he muttered, dragging his mouth from her breast to gaze into her eyes.

      His eyes–and other parts of his anatomy–were filled with promise. Taylor's breath caught in her throat as she ran her fingers over his swollen, pulsing manhood. He was so engorged her fingers couldn't completely close around him.
 

      Gordon kissed her again while his fingers continued to dominate her fevered flesh. She moaned and writhed against him, maintaining her grip on his erection as he urged her higher and higher in her crusade for completion.

      He left her lips to kiss his way downward again, tarrying to impart equal treatment to both her breasts, licking the sensitive peaks–one, then the other–until Taylor thought she'd go mad. "Please, Gordon. Now."

      Chuckling, he kissed his way lower, finally displacing his hand with his hot, seeking mouth. She gasped when his fingers again filled her while his mouth claimed the most sensitive part of her with maddening tenacity. Blackness surrounded her as he took her closer and closer to a pinnacle of joy she wanted so much she felt like screaming.

      When at last she exploded, thrusting herself against his warm, wonderful mouth, she separated from her body. She became a billion minuscule fragments floating lingeringly back to earth, each particle stunned, filled with a perfect contentment.

      Though even in that moment of bliss, she knew there was more. Much more.

      Growling, Gordon slid back up her body. She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him closer. A hunger like nothing she'd ever imagined coiled inside her, making her arch and moan.

      Finally, he pressed himself against her and she opened like a flower to the sun, starving for full possession and the fulfillment he promised. "Gordon," she whimpered, and was rewarded with a guttural and supremely sexual sound from deep in his chest as he filled her.

      Full. Complete. Whole. She didn't breathe for several seconds as she reveled in the wonder of their union. She'd never felt so complete. This was so right. So perfect. She wriggled against him, trying to take even more of him into her.

      He froze above her. "Be still," he warned in a raspy voice. "I want this to last. Forever."

      
Forever
. Murmuring her agreement against his chest, she tried to keep from moving, but her body seemed intent on following its natural instincts. She constricted around him

–couldn't get enough of him.

      He moved against her at last and she gasped with wonder. Angling her hips, she met him thrust for thrust–savored each glorious moment as she spiraled ever-upward. This man was Gordon.
Her
Gordon. At least, for now.

      An inferno built within her, so powerful, so all-encompassing, it would have to burn itself out. Only the man who'd set the blaze could extinguish it.

      She bit her lower lip until she tasted blood as he moved faster and harder. Her body swallowed and accommodated his with a voraciousness that stunned her. She rose higher and higher until she exploded beneath and around him. Her face felt numb and tingly as all her blood rushed to fulfill nature's most powerful sensation.

      He tensed against her, she felt him throb and pulse with life as he came into her. A perverse sense of power washed through her and she clung to him in pure, uninhibited, carnal
 
bliss.

      The desire to possess Gordon Lane again had been more powerful than anything she'd ever felt in her entire life. Even more devastating than the urge to run away all those years ago. She kissed his sweat-slick shoulder.

      "Taylor...." His voice was low and husky as he drew a ragged breath and released it into her hair. "Taylor."

      He rolled to his side and ran his hand along the curve of her hip. "I...I..."

      "Shh." She pressed a finger to his lips. "This was something we couldn't have prevented if we'd tried." She smiled slowly. "And I'm very glad it happened."

      Gordon gazed into her eyes. She saw a hint of hesitation in the aqua depths. She recognized it and wondered about its source.
 

      "What's wrong?" she asked, then wished she hadn't. Nothing should be permitted to decimate this moment. It was too perfect.
Was...

      "I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I have condoms in the nightstand, but..." With a sigh, he pulled her against him and kissed the top of her head. "I couldn't think of anything but being with you, inside you again."

      "Neither of us thought." She stroked the fine hairs at his nape. "Just like our first time."

      He raised up and gazed down at her, a gentle smile curving his full mouth. "Better."

      "Mmm, I think you've learned a few tricks since then," she whispered, "but I've never forgotten that day. I never will."

      "Nor will I."

      "You're a beautiful man, Gordon Lane."

      "Nobody's ever called me beautiful before." He pulled back to scowl at her in mock-indignance. "Handsome, maybe, but definitely not beautiful."

      "All of those things. Handsome, beautiful and–"
 
She bit her lower lip. She'd been about to say "mine." The thought that something so important could come so easily to her lips was terrifying. "I'm sorry."

      "For what?" He gently kissed her lips, then raised up again. The glow from the oil lamp cast shadows of light and dark across the planes and angles of his handsome face. "For making love with me?"

      "With me," Taylor repeated, warming within. "I like that."

      "It's true." His smile lit his eyes. "Only you. Always you."

      She tilted her head to one side to gaze into his eyes. Even if she should feel ashamed of the wild abandon she'd shown her lover, she didn't.
 

      Gordon ran his fingers through his hair and chuckled. "You've become a hell-cat in your old age." He gave her a crooked grin when she gasped out loud. "It's true."

      Taylor stuttered and felt her face flood with heat. "Hell-cat?" She was stunned yet flattered. "I'm...I'm sorry. I...I had no idea."

      "
Sorry
? Definitely do
not
be sorry. It was the best–the very best," he vowed, then his expression grew solemn. "Everything I remembered...and so much more."

      "Oh, Gordon." Words burned in her heart, begging to be released. "I'm so sorry I left. So very, very sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

      "You're back now," he murmured, kissing her again. "That's all that matters."

      Her stomach lurched. Didn't he realize she couldn't stay in Digby? That she had a life and a career waiting for her beyond this small mountain town?